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Ezekwesili, others call for value-based democracy as Wole Soyinka turns 85

Editorial
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Ezekwesili, others call for value-based democracy as Wole Soyinka turns 85

OBIAGELI Ezekwesili, Senior Economic Advisor, Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI) along with other speakers at the 11th Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series has called on Nigerians to insist on values in determining those who become their leaders and how the polity is administered.

The former Nigerian Minister of Education and Minister of Solid Minerals made this call at the lecture held on Saturday, 13 July at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, in commemoration of the 85th birthday of Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature and Grand Patron of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

According to Ezekwesili, who was a candidate in the 2019 elections, good governance is rested on good values.

She said: “If we are lacking in the building of those values and the shaping of those values, then we will have to wait endlessly. The people who should win our vote should be people with values and character. Age should not just be the determinant of the people who should lead us; it should be age plus values.

“Citizens have abandoned politics in the hands of politicians. So, our political parties have become a venture of political entrepreneurs. It cannot work that way. Political parties are supposed to be the government in waiting.”

Other speakers at the lecture themed, Rethinking Credible Elections, Accountable Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria were Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, Director, Voter Education and Publicity, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); Amina Salihu, Senior Programme Officer, MacArthur Foundation; Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative; and Rotimi Sankore, Editorial Board Chair, Nigeria Info Radio Group.

Osaze-Uzzi said the citizens should go beyond thinking and rethinking elections, to acting to see the change they seek.

He urged stakeholders to begin to focus on the electoral process in terms of voter registration, technology and infrastructure, the registration of political parties and other determinants of successful elections.

The crucial issue of gender balance was introduced to the discussion by Amina Salihu who called for gender-based affirmative action in governance.

She said women have been “minoritised” because although they are half the population their voices have been diminished. Amina Salihu used the opportunity of the lecture to push for naming and shaming of sex offenders through the launch of a national sex offenders register which she assured will happen shortly.

Speaking of appropriate technology for elections,  Sesan said technology hardly needs to be sophisticated and expensive.

According to him, INEC should have sent text messages to its over 80 million registered voters when the 2019 election was postponed just a few hours before the 2019 Presidential elections. He charged the Commission to take advantage of technology to educate the technology savvy new generation of voters including the additional 20 million plus youth who will be eligible to vote by 2020.

Nigeria Info Radio Group, Editorial Board Chair, Sankore said the role of the media is to report factually and seek to educate and solve problems rather than add to it. According to him, the media needs to engage with data and evidence. Rotimi Sankore cited examples relating to conflicts in the northern parts of the country, health, education and the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA), of how the lack of in-depth reporting, verification of facts and deployment of evidence by the media have denied the people the opportunity to engage issues appropriately.

In his opening remark, Ropo Sekoni, the Board Chair of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), organisers of the programme, mentioned that the lecture’s theme was topical given the insecurity that permeates the system.

Kole Shettima, Director of the Africa Office of the MacArthur Foundation, whose organisation supported the lecture expressed the foundation’s excitement to be part of the occasion.

He appreciated the WSCIJ for improving the lives of the citizens by making government accountable through investigative reporting.

The son of the celebrant, Olaokun Soyinka, thanked the WSCIJ on behalf of the family for the consistency that has brought the lecture to its 11th edition and its focus on promoting the culture of investigative reporting. He observed that Soyinka’s struggle to hold power accountable and fight against impunity are still relevant today and admonished young people to draw the battle line between those who are prodemocracy and does who are not rather than between the young and the old.

Motunrayo Alaka, the organisation’s Coordinator appreciated the speakers and panellists, the WSCIJ board, WSCIJ staff, her family, the media, Wole Soyinka and his children. She mentioned that it has taken the support of all the relevant stakeholders to keep the lecture on the same date, Wole Soyinka’s birthday for ten years.

The lecture was opened by a viewing of a documentary which chronicled the life, writings and the crucial role Wole Soyinka played for the emergence of Nigeria.

The event attended by journalists, policy makers, representatives of pressure groups and non-governmental organisations, students and other members of the public, was moderated by Stephanie Busari, Supervising Producer, CNN Africa.

Gas Flaring: Investors scale evaluation phase, as petroleum ministry closes bid round

Amos ABBA
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Gas Flaring: Investors scale evaluation phase, as petroleum ministry closes bid round

ON Thursday, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Folasade Yemi-Esan announced the completion of bid round to secure flared gas for monetisation under the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, NGFCP, as successful candidates are expected to be announced next week.

NGFCP was launched in December 2016 to eliminate gas flaring in the Niger Delta by monetising flared gas, which accounts for 22 million tonnes per annum of carbon emissions.

Yemi-Esan stated that the initial evaluation exercise was complete with successful bidders to be contacted next week.

“We received over 238 statements of qualification of which we’ll be selecting 205 applicants who will be contacted by email this week with invitations to attend a Qualified Applicants’ Workshop 19th August at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, in Abuja ahead of the Requests for Proposals, RFP, phase,” she said.

Justice Derefaka, general manager of NGFCP, also assured bidders who were unsuccessful at the initial evaluation exercise, that they could be considered if they formed a consortium.

“The 33 unsuccessful applicants will still have a chance to participate with a successful consortium, subject to acceptance by those consortia, but the burden of arranging such alliances will not be the responsibility of the NGFCP,” he said.

Nigeria aims at attracting investors to deploy innovative technologies that will utilise flared gas at over 198 flaring sites across the Niger Delta.

Eradicating gas flares in the Niger Delta has been the Nigerian government’s policy for decades but companies ignored small fines set to dissuade the violation.

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, in particular, has been unable to enforce compliance, despite the threat to revoke titles from those in breach of the rules.

New regulations have raised the penalty from 0.03 cents per thousand cubic feet of associated gas flared for companies pumping more than 10,000 barrels per day of oil to $2. The fine for companies producing less than 10,000 barrels per day is 50 cents, offering respite for marginal field producers.

“The strategy of eliminating gas flaring within two or three years will have a huge multiplier effect on economic development, attracting investment topping $3.5 billion, and contributing to Nigeria’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions under the COP-21 Agreement, signed after the 2015 Paris Climate Conference,” Justice affirmed.

Nigeria to produce military gears locally

Jennifer UGWA
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Nigeria to produce military gears locally

GODWIN Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank on Thursday under the directives of the presidency revealed that military uniforms among other clothing for government workers would henceforth be produced in Nigeria.

The meeting in Abuja discussed the enforcement of Executive Order 003 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, mandating all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to source their textile needs locally in an effort to revive the country’s Cotton, Textiles and Garment (CTG) sector.

Emefiele said full compliance with the order would help in curbing the pressure on foreign reserves through demands for forex for the importation of textile and clothing materials.

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“It has the capacity to transform Nigeria’s rural economy and revive the textile and garment industries by creating over two million jobs, improve internal revenue across three tiers of government, and reduce $4 billion import bill incurred annually on textile and apparel.

“Our model in achieving this presidential directive is to facilitate long term contracts five years or more with our textile and garment factories to produce uniforms for our armed forces and uniform services using local fabrics and textile materials.

“We have the mandate of Mr President to ensure that all uniformed services and theatre wears in hospitals and medical facilities be sourced locally from the Nigerian CTG sector,” said the CBN governor.

To ensure the enforcement of the Presidential Order, he said the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has been notified to enforce compliance among MDAs as the CBN will work out payment terms that fit budget releases for uniforms for various organisations.

Another suit challenging Buhari’s academic credential meets dead-end at Appeal Court 

'Kunle ADEBAJO
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Another suit challenging Buhari’s academic credential meets dead-end at Appeal Court 

A SUIT to nullify the candidacy of President Muhammadu Buhari based on alleged shortcomings in his academic qualifications has been struck out by the Court of Appeal as the case was filed after the time allowed by law.

The court’s Abuja division upheld, on Friday, a similar ruling earlier delivered by the Federal High Court, which had noted that the matter was “brought outside the specified period of time”.

The appellants were Kalu Kalu, Labaran Ismail and Hassy Kyari el-Kuris.

“We have decided to settle on the preliminary objection. To determine the issue, we have to pay serious attention to when the cause of action arose,” Mohammed Idris, who read the judgment, observed.

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“I have no doubt in my mind that the cause of action arose on October 18 when the documents said to be false that is the Curriculum Vitae and affidavit were submitted to INEC in form CF001.”

He held that the action was instituted after the stipulated period of 14 days legally permitted for pre-election matters, and therefore statute-barred.

The counsel for the appellants, Ukpai Ukairo, had however submitted that the cause of action commenced with the announcement and publication by the electoral commission of successful candidates for the general election on October 25, 2018.

And since the case was instituted on November 5, 2018, he argued, it was well within the time permitted by the constitution.

The three-member panel that presided over the matter was headed by Justice Atinuke Akomolafe-Wilson. It had, on Monday, reserved judgment for today after listening to the arguments from the counsel.

Allegations contesting Buhari’s qualifications and eligibility for a presidential election were also levelled in the build-up to the 2015 general election.

In April 2015, two cases filed to challenge the then-president-elect were withdrawn by the plaintiffs and then struck out by the Federal High Court. Representing one of the plaintiffs, Mike Ozekhome had told the court the reason for the withdrawal was to give the incoming administration time to focus on the “enormous task” of governance.

Another suit instituted by Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaiwe, an Abuja-based lawyer, which claimed that Buhari did not partake in the 1962 Cambridge West African School Certificate examination as claimed, was also suddenly withdrawn in June 2016.

To bring the enduring controversy to end, the West African Examination Council had, in November at the Presidential Villa, presented Buhari with an “attestation certificate and confirmation of school cert result”.

Court Jails eight internet fraudsters

Editorial
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Court Jails eight internet fraudsters

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, July 11, 2019, secured the conviction and sentencing of four internet fraudsters, Shotayo Ahmed, Ale Olugbenga Abraham, Preye Kinsley and Akintoye Toluwalope for possession of fraudulent documents before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Shotayo Ahmed, on or about the 8th day of December, 2018 at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, had in your possession an email opened with the name madeleinepalm133@yahoo.com, wherein you chatted with a white man represented yourself to be a lady in order to create a relationship to entice him to give you money which document was printed out from your email account madeleinepalm133@yahoo.com in your presence, which you ought to know, having regards to the circumstances of the case, that the document contains the false pretence.”

Also on Thursday, July 11, Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, convicted and sentenced four internet fraudsters, Ibrahim Habeeb Olalekan, Ogunlami Adetokunbo Gabriel, Adeosun Adeyemi and  Sadiq Adeola, to one year imprisonment each for possession of fraudulent documents.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Ibrahim Habeeb Olalekan, on or about the 13th day of June, 2019, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, had in your possession document titled “persona Info”, where you represented yourself as Nancy Crawhorn (a female), which representations you knew or ought to have known to be false.” They pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against them by the Commission when they were arraigned.

In view of their pleas of guilt, the prosecution counsels, Samuel Daji, E.S.Okon and Ukemruwem Anana, informed the court that the defendants had entered into a “plea bargain” with the EFCC.

Consequently, the facts of the case against the defendants were reviewed by the prosecution.

The prosecution counsels informed Justice Taiwo’s court of the defendants’ confessional statements to the EFCC and that several items were recovered from them.

Their statements, as well as documents recovered from them, were tendered and admitted in evidence by the court.

In view of this, the prosecution urged the court to “convict the defendants as charged in the plea bargain agreement”.

Justice Taiwo, after perusing the facts before the court, convicted and sentenced both Ahmed and Abraham to three months imprisonment each.

The Judge also convicted and sentenced Kinsley and Toluwalope to four months imprisonment each.

All items recovered from the defendants were ordered to be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Justice Taiwo further gave Ahmed, Toluwalope and Abraham an “option of fine” of N250, 000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) each.

The Judge, however, refused Kinsley an option of fine.

The defendants before Justice Dada also pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to them. In view of their pleas of guilt, the prosecution informed the court that the defendants had entered into a “plea bargain” with the EFCC.

The facts of the case against the defendants were reviewed by the prosecution. The prosecution also told the court that the defendants wrote confessional statements to the EFCC and that several items were recovered from them.

The defendants’ statements to the EFCC as well as the documents recovered from them were tendered and admitted in evidence by the court. The prosecution, therefore, urged the court to convict the defendants as charged in the plea bargain agreement”.

After going through the facts of the case before the court, Justice Dada convicted and sentenced the defendants to one year imprisonment each.

The Judge also ordered that all items recovered from the convicts be forfeited to the Federal Government. Justice Dada, however, gave the convicts an option of fine of N250, 000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) each.

The Judge further ordered the convicts to write an “undertaking” with the EFCC, promising never to go back to the crime.

The convicts were further ordered to be remanded in prison custody pending the fulfilment of the option of fine.

Nigeria rakes in over USD $25bn dollars in export value, spends close to $10bn on imports within eight years in West- Africa

Jennifer UGWA
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Nigeria rakes in over USD $25bn dollars in export value, spends close to $10bn on imports within eight years in West- Africa

NIGERIA is considered the largest economy in Africa with a Gross Domestic Product change rate of 1.9 per cent in 2018 and projected to hit 2.1 percent by the International Monetary Fund in 2019, thereby making her a huge potential beneficiary of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

Globally, The Observation of Economic Complexity ranked Nigeria 49th in the world with an export value of about $47billion and 58th in the world with an import value of $34.2billion.

In West-African, from 2010 to 2017, Nigeria raked in over $25 billion from her export activities with other West –African nations. Cote D’Ivorie comes top amongst nations to which Nigeria sell, contributing a total sum of almost $14billion dollars, followed closely by Senegal at over $4billion dollars, Ghana at $2.8billion, Togo $1.4bn and Liberia, $870million.

The countries make the top five West-African states from which Nigeria benefit more doing business with.

However, with Nigeria as a signatory to AfCFTA,  the country’s level of importation is expected to rise even as her exports gain momentum as lesser tariff plans would make the movement of goods amongst the borders easier and predictably would lead to more imports into Nigeria for her teeming population.

Also, in eight years, Nigeria had spent almost $10billion dollars on importations within the region. Cote D’Ivoire tops the list of five countries from which Nigeria imports in West Africa, with export values amounting to $4.47billion, followed by Niger, $2.12billion; Ghana, $1.21 billion; Mauritania $383million; and Togo, $338million.

‘‘As African leaders, our attention should now focus on implementing the AfCFTA in a way that develops our economies and creates jobs for our young, dynamic and hardworking population

‘‘Our consultations and assessments reaffirmed that the AfCFTA can be a platform for African manufacturers of goods and providers of service to construct regional value chains for made in Africa goods and services,” the Nigerian president had said after signing the trade treaty in Niamey, Niger on 7, July 2019.

Nigeria also recorded 100 per cent of importation ratio from Saint Helena, Mauritania 95.08 per cent, Gambia 78.04 per cent and Niger 77.67 per cent from 20110 -2017.

With the import ratio rate recorded with the British overseas territory, Nigeria has however never reported exports to the territory.

GT Bank clinches Euromoney best bank award in Africa

Jennifer UGWA
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GT Bank clinches Euromoney best bank award in Africa

GUARANTY Trust Bank Plc on Wednesday was named the Best Bank in Africa 2019 by Euromoney at its annual Awards for Excellence which held at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London.

The Nigerian Bank was also named the Best Bank in Nigeria for a record ninth time, reflecting the Bank’s position as one of the best managed financial institutions in the country.

Segun Agbaje, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank, in his vote of thanks said that the award for the financial institution serves to indicate the progress been made to ensure the delivery of the best banking experience that captures what customers want.

“They are also a testament to our leading role in driving world-class corporate governance standards, excellent service quality and innovation in Africa’s banking industry.

“At GT Bank, we are passionate about building the bank of the future by leveraging the best of technology to add real value to our customers’ lives, and these awards illustrate the hard work and commitment of our staff, management, and board towards achieving this goal,” Agbaje added.

GT Bank brand is regarded by industry watchers as one of the best run financial institutions across the continent and serves as a role model within the African financial service industry.

The bank, reportedly recorded modest growth in key performance indicators for the full year 2018 with profit before tax for the 12 months rising to N215.59 million.

Key financial extract of the bank last audited report and account for the year ended December 31, 2018, showed that that gross earnings rose to N434.7 billion in 2018 as against N419.23billion recorded in 2017.

It boasts of an assets base of $6.8 billion, making it one of the biggest banks in Nigeria.

GT Bank’s assets are worth about $11.77 trillion.

DBS was named as the world’s best bank for 2019, while JP Morgan won world best investment bank of the year and Andreas Treichl, the chief executive of Austria’s Erste Group, was named Euromoney’s banker of the year. Erste’s Treichl recognised as the banker of the year.

GMDs of the NNPC who had managed Nigeria’s oil “cash cow” since 1999

Amos ABBA
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GMDs of the NNPC who had managed Nigeria’s oil “cash cow” since 1999

THE newly appointed Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Melee Kyari, on Monday, took charge as the boss of the national oil company.

With this appointment, Kyari joins the long list of Nigerians who had held sway at the NNPC since Nigeria’s return to civil rule in 1999.

The ICIR profiles the eleven Nigerians who have managed Nigeria’s state-run oil firm from 1999 to date.

Jackson Gaius Obaseki (May 1999- November 2003)

Gaius-Obaseki served as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, from May 1999 to November 2003. He hails from Edo State and graduated from the University of Ibadan, having studied Geology.

He joined the NNPC in 1972 and rose through the ranks until he was appointed Group Managing Director of the corporation in 1999.

Obaseki changed NNPC’s external oil marketing strategy and, acting on President Obasanjo’s order, he announced the cancellation of all annual sales contracts for crude oils and fuel oil. Obaseki’s aim was to cut out the middlemen and limit term contracts to bona fide end-users and large volume traders.

Funsho Kupolokun (November 2003 – December 2007)

Born in 1947, he holds a first degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lagos where he studied as a Shell scholar in 1971.

He was on training attachment to the Algerian National Oil Company where he worked as Production Engineer in Sahara Desert Oil field of Hassa-Messand from 1973 to 1974 before joining the Nigeria National Oil Corporation currently the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

Occupying strategic roles within NNPC, which includes Head of Special Projects in the NNPC JV, Head of Petroleum Engineering Department, Group General Manager and Head of NNPC’s London office, Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment.

He was instrumental in developing a fiscal policy document famously known as MOU, to salvage the economy when a crash in oil Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC,  price structure resulted in low prices.

The structure guaranteed a steady income for the country and encouraged operations to thrive for the low operating cost to promote efficiency in the industry and earnings from oil operations.

Appointed as Special Assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Petroleum Matters in 1999, he was subsequently appointed the Group Managing Director of the Corporation in 2003 to drive the reform of the oil & gas sector until he was relieved of his appointment in 2007.

Abubakar Lawal Yar’Adua (August 2007- January 2009)

Abubakar Yar’Adua was born in July 1949 in Katsina State. He never worked anywhere outside the NNPC after joining the Corporation as a member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, at the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, KRPC, in 1976.

A graduate of Chemical Technology from Sofia University, Bulgaria in 1974, from where he also obtained a Masters degree in 1976. Yar’Adua rapidly rose to become Executive Director of KPRC in August 1995 and then Managing Director from June 1999 to January 2000.

He was the Executive Director, Refining and Petrochemicals of the NNPC before he was appointed to run the affairs of the corporation.

Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo (January 2009- April 2010)

Born in April 1959. Barkindo who hails from Adamawa State bagged a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Southeastern University in Washington, DC.

He served as Deputy Managing Director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, a joint venture between NNPC, Shell, Total and Eni. Earlier in his career, he was Special Assistant to former Minister of Petroleum Resources and OPEC Secretary General, Rilwanu Lukman.

Barkindo also worked in several key roles at OPEC between 1986 and 2010. In 1986, he was appointed to Nigeria’s delegation to OPEC, and from 1993 to 2008, served as Nigeria’s National Representative on the Organization’s Economic Commission Board.

From 2009 to 2010, he served as Group Managing Director of the NNPC,

Shehu Ladan (April 2010- May 2010)

He holds the reputation as the shortest tenured GMD of the NNPC, considering he was fired 7 weeks after his appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan.

After his call to the Nigerian bar, Ladan’s NYSC primary assignment was the State Ministry of Justice, Kano. He proceeded to serve as Staff Solicitor of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria. He was also Legal Adviser Kaduna State Rural Electrification Board, REB, and Assistant Director Federal Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Jos.

Ladan was appointed as Commissioner of Education in 1987. In 1989, he was appointed Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. He moved to the oil and gas sector in 1990 where he held various positions then rose to become NNPC’s Group General Manager of Human Resources in 2004.

In 2006, he was appointed the Deputy Managing Director/CEO of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, Ltd, a joint venture company that has NNPC, Shell, Total and Agip as shareholders.

In April 2010, he was appointed the Group Managing Director of the NNPC after he took a brief recess from the industry.

Austine Oniwon (May 2010- June 2012)

Oniwon who hails from Kogi State was born on April 1, 1951. He holds a bachelors degree in Chemistry from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He started his working career with the NNPC in 1977 and rose to become Head of Planning at the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company in 1987. From 1988 to 1991 he was the technical assistant to the Group Executive Director, GED, Downstream and later Head, Engineering and Technical Services Department, ETSD, of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company from 1991-1992.

Oniwon was General Manager, GM, Information System, Engineering and Technology Directorate before moving on to function as Senior Technical Assistant to the GMD and GM, Information Systems Department at the GMD’s office.

He was appointed GMD of the NNPC in May 2010 and retired having attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 in 2011.

Andrew Yakubu (June 2012 – August 2014)

Yakubu was the 15th NNPC chief. He was a 1979 graduate of Chemical Engineering from the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and joined the NNPC after completion of his youth service programme.

He rose through the ranks to become Managing Director of Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company and GED in charge of Exploration and Production. He is an indigene of Kaduna State and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE.

Under his watch, the NNPC went through a series of corruption allegations that threatened its integrity and accountability as a state-owned oil company.

Joseph Thlama Dawha (August 2014 – August 2015)

Joseph Thlama Dawha served as Group Managing Director of the NNPC until August 2015. He had also served as acting GED of Exploration & Production at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in March 2014.

Dawha served as the Managing Director of Integrated Data Services Ltd, IDSL, since 2005. He hails from Borno State and served at IDSL diligently over the years in various capacities, in the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry.

Ibe Kachikwu (July 2015 – August 2016)

He was born in December 1956, in Onicha-Ugbo, Delta State. Kachikwu is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Nigerian Law School. Also, he obtained a Master’s and Doctorate Degree in Law from Harvard University.

Ibe Kachikwu has 30 years of experience in various management positions in the oil industry. He was also a general counsellor ExxonMobil in Nigeria. Ibe Kachikwu was appointed as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Chief Executive in August 2015.

Maikanti Baru (August 2016 – June 2019)

Born in July 1959, he hails from Jama’are in Bauchi State. He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) with first class honours. He also bagged a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering.

He served as director of the NNPC-owned Carlson Services, UK, Limited between December 2004, and January 2007. He was appointed Special Adviser (Upstream) to the Minister of State for Petroleum before been elevated to the position of GMD of the NNPC.

He was NNPC’s chief technical negotiator on the West African Gas Pipeline project from July 1999 to April 2004 and was Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS.

Melee Kyari (July 2019 till Present)

Kyari is the 19th GMD of the NNPC with outfield pedigree in petroleum economics and crude oil and gas trading.

He had a bachelor of science B.Sc degree in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Maiduguri. He completed his youth service as a Well Site geologist with the Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure, DFRRI, between 1987 and 1988.

Between 1988 and 1991, he worked with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency before joining the NNPC subsidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited, IDSL, where he worked as a Seismic Data Processing Geophysicist in the Data Processing Department.

In 1998, he was appointed the Exploration Geophysicist Production Sharing Contract, PSC, of NAPIMS until 2004 before he was placed in charge of the Abuja NAPIMS office.

In 2006, he was appointed the Supervisor PSC, Crude Oil Marketing Department, COMD, of the NNPC, from where he rose to the position of Head, and later Manager of Production Contracts Management of the COMD between 2007 and 2014.

Kyari was appointed General Manager Oil Stock Management, COMD where he worked till 2015 before being appointed Group General Manager, COMD and later Nigeria’s National Representative at OPEC.

During the handover ceremony, he said the corporation under his leadership would make all the four refineries in the country working before 2023, a goal none of his predecessors was able to realise in their time.

Time will tell whether the new GMD will make good his promise.

Court jails ex-DG Shamonda over diversion of N603m rehabilitation fund

YEKEEN Akinwale
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Court jails ex-DG Shamonda over diversion of N603m rehabilitation fund

A FOMER Director General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), John Ayoade Shamonda, has been convicted for diversion of N603milion meant for the rehabilitation and replacement of damaged hydrological equipment.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC) in May 2016 arraigned Shamonda before Justice Ademola for alleged mismanagement of the intervention funds earmarked to rehabilitate and replace damaged hydrological equipment across the country due to the 2012 flooding.

A statement by the Spokesperson of ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, explained that the former DG was arraigned on a 10-count charge bordering on knowingly making false statement and virement without approval.

Okoduwa said the offences were contrary to and punishable under sections 16; 17(1)(c) and 22(5) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.

While the convict had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, the prosecution during the trial presented seven witnesses while 26 documents were admitted as exhibits.

According to her, the court was also told that Shomonda, while being the DG of NIHSA, had written to the then Minister of Water Resources,  Sarah Ochekpe, requesting for N603million for the rehabilitation and replacement of damaged hydrological equipment across the country following the devastating incident of flood in 2012.

“Furthermore, the court was informed that the former DG in disbursing the money, did not follow the ‘procurement plan’ for which the money was released,”Okoduwa said.

“Instead, Shamonda approved that N2, 767, 500.00 be used for “Sallah welfare package” which was paid to all staff of the agency. Also, he spent N25, 749, 390.60 on a National Stakeholders Workshop.”

“Shamonda was also alleged to have purchased two Toyota Prado jeeps and two Hiace buses totaling the sum of N49, 157, 955. 00,” she added.

In his judgment, Justice Ademola found the accused guilty, and convicted him on counts 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 to one year imprisonment or an option of fine of N50, 000 on each count which sentences are to run concurrently, while he was discharged and acquitted on counts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.

Justice Ademola in the ruling said, “This is no doubt a very unfortunate case as all the witnesses had testified that no money was traced to the personal account of the convict. It seems to me that the convict is merely answering to his over-zealousness. However, ignorance of the law is no excuse.

“The essence of sentencing is not only to punish the convict but to send a warning signal to the general public”, he concluded.

Okoduwa stressed that the offence of virement at S. 22(5) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 is a strict liability offence for which public officers will be convicted not minding whether the money so diverted was utilised for a legitimate need or not.

“The conviction sounds a note of warning to all public officers to steer clear of unauthorised virement,” she said.

“It is important to note that the mischief the section the seeks to curb is the tendency of public officers to embezzle public funds.”

Shamonde hails from Fiditi town in Oyo State and had his secondary education at Olivet Baptist High School. He also attended University of Ibadan.

World Population Day 2019: How many people really live in Nigeria?

'Kunle ADEBAJO
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World Population Day 2019: How many people really live in Nigeria?

DIRECTOR-GENERAL of the National Population Commission (NPC), Ghaji Bello, on Wednesday, said the estimation of Nigeria’s population presently stands at about 198 million.

The NPC was set up by the federal government to collect and publish data on population, so it is the topmost authority on the subject.

“We arrived at the estimated 198 million after elimination of all the variables like mortality rates,” Bello told the News Agency of Nigeria, ahead of the World Population Day marked globally today.

But the agency gave the same figure well over a year ago.

Eze Duruiheoma, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and NPC’s immediate past chairman, made the disclosure in April 2018 while delivering a talk at the 51st session of the Commission on Population and Development in New York.

“Nigeria remains the most populous in Africa, the seventh globally with an estimated population of over 198 million,” he said.

Whereas, in 2017, the commission’s Director-General had given the country’s population as 182 million. That estimate, he had explained, was based on “the population of 140 million recorded in the last census a decade ago, using an annual growth rate of 3.5 per cent weighed against other variables such as rising life expectancy and a declining infant mortality rate”.

So, is it that Nigeria’s population has remained the same since 2018 or has the NPC simply failed to update its data to reflect the country’s growth rate?

What is Nigeria’s true population estimate?

The website of NPC has been inaccessible for a while and the data reports and publications previously uploaded could not be extracted.

However, data from the commission first published as a gazette in 2009 and titled “Population Figures and Growth Rate Based on 2006 Population and Housing Census” has been made public by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The document shows population estimates between 2006 and 2016 based on the last census conducted by the commission. An analysis of the data shows that the progression over the years since 2006 are all based on the assumption that there’s a constant growth rate of 3.25 per cent.

The NPC projected that Nigeria’s population as of 2016 would be an estimated 193.4 million. Using the same growth rate figure, then the country’s population in 2019 should be 212.9 million. But international organisations have formed a different assessment.

The United Nations’ Economic and Social Affairs, in its 2019 World Population Prospects Data Booklet, has stated that Nigeria’s mid-year population is 200.9 million in 2019, will be 263 million in 2030, and 401 million come 2050. The growth rate adopted by the agency, for 2019, is also a modest 2.6 per cent.

So, is the NPC wrong to have maintained that Nigeria’s estimated population is 198 million even since April 2018? Bola Lukman Solanke, a senior lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University with a Ph.D. in Demography and Social Statistics, does not think so.

“We should understand that all population projections all over the world are based on assumption. The way we do it technically is we have low variant, medium variant, and high variant,” he explained to The ICIR.

“That 198 million he is talking about is the medium variant. He is not talking about the high variant. He is just being realistic. It is an average person that will say because it is a new year, we expect the population to increase.

“But when you are talking in terms of the aggregate, the increase or the reduction are not that obvious. So you want to play safe by holding on to the 198 million which they reported last year. Aggregating population to determine increase or decrease is not done per month or per quarter; we do it yearly … I believe that’s why the NPC director is not going beyond that.”

Solanke also said the accurate estimate of Nigeria’s population depends on who is making the estimate and what assumptions they rely on to make projections, based on 2006 census figures.

“Roughly now, what we adopt, we are talking in terms of about 198 to 200 million, based on the growth rate obtained from the 2006 census,” he said.

Awaiting an overdue census exercise

One fundamental reason for the conflicting reports about Nigeria’s population estimates is that no population count has been conducted since 2006. The United Nations Population Fund has recommended that a national census is conducted every 10 years.

“Though it is a very laborious and costly operation, it is a vital one. Only a census can provide the fine-grained and accurate data needed by analysts and policymakers to make informed, evidence-based development policies,” it states.

“A series of censuses allow experts to assess the past, describe the present and estimate for the future.”

Nigeria’s constitution does not state how frequently censuses are to be taken in the country, but only empowers the NPC to undertake “periodical enumeration” of the population using surveys and censuses. This is however not the case in some other countries. For instance, the constitution of the United States mandates that a census be done every 10 years.

The NPC had said the census proposed to be held in 2018 and projected to gulp N222 billion could not go as plan due to poor funding, but it assured last weekend that one will be done before the end of President Buhari’s second term.

Solanke blames what he calls “political pressures” for the delay of census-taking and inflation of figures in Nigeria.

“Ordinarily, it’s supposed to be a routine statistical exercise, but in Nigeria, it is politicised. I understand that there are aspects of the constitution that provide that states of the federation, they receive money from the federation account based on the population,” he noted.

“And then the Independent National Electoral Commission also delineates constituencies based on population, so every politician wants to struggle to make sure that his area or his constituency has an inflated figure. That has been the problem we have, but we are supposed to take the census only as a statistical exercise without political involvements.

He added that Nigeria is already behind schedule and needs to have another census soon, whether emphasis is placed on politics or technicality.

“We need this information to update our national database for administration. A lot of new things are emerging. If we really want to administer this country efficiently, we need this accurate population census.”

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