The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • Fury as bulldozers pull down N3b estate

    Fury as bulldozers pull down N3b estate

    AN estate valued at about N3b has been levelled by bulldozers deployed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration Development Control Unit, but not without a spirited backlash from those on the receiving end.

    A sizeable angry crowd was soon mobilised. Placards denounced the demolition and questioned the legality of the demolition.

    The 500-unit housing estate belonged to Minanuel Investments Limited.

    The representative of the developer, Festus Adebayo, described the act as mischievous and unwarranted, adding that “the papers and other documents to support the development are valid and free from all encumberances before and after the company took possession of the land from NCR Associates in 2004.”

    It was also alleged that the estate has been re-allocated to some senators by the FCT authorities.

    Adebayo said that the demolished houses were 80 per cent completed before they were pulled down, stressing that “the company received all approvals to build and develop these destroyed residential houses which were planned to be handed over to owner-contributors by the end of October, 2012.”

    He stated that no notice was issued by demolishers.

    He said that the demolished houses consisted of 372 units of three- and two-bedroom bungalows, which had over 95 per cent subscription from civil servants, aided by bank loans and mortgages.

    Adebayo said that the swiftness with which the properties were destroyed was reminiscent of military fiat.

    “It is unthinkable that residential houses designed for low income earners are destroyed in a country which has a housing deficit of over 16 million,” he explained.

    He said that the subscription for the houses was in connection with social housing under the national housing fund.

    Chairperson of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Hajia Binta Ibrahim who commiserated with Minanuel Investments, described the demolition as an act of economic sabotage.

    “This has defeated the present administration’s agenda on mass housing, while also discouraging private developers to participate in mass housing programmes in Nigeria.”

    Ibrahim stressed that there was no justification for the action, adding that REDAN was poised to defend Minanuel Investments as it lawfully acquired the property.

    The Director of the FCT Development Control Unit, Yahaya Yusuf said the 100 houses demolished in the Estate were illegal structures.

    Yusuf explained that the demolition became inevitable due to what he called the recalcitrant attitude of the estate developer who allegedly continued to build on the plot of land based on a backdated title documents from the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

    He noted that AMAC allocation stopped being legal documents in 2004 while the building plan approval from AMAC also lost authenticity in 2006.

    Yusuf said even after an advertisement by the FCTA that developers should stop encroaching on lands meant for other purposes for mass housing, several developers failed to yield.

    His words: “Failure of the estate developers to heed the advertorials prompted the Department to commence removal of such illegal structures.

    “This exercise affected estates belonging to Nigerian Prisons Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and Liberty Estates. Also removed from a buffer zone along Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) where 140 illegal structures belonging to one Messrs Sunshine Estate Limited.

    The Director said when the Department of Development Control noticed that developers were not complying, the sunshine estate, liberty, civil defence estate, prison service staff housing estates among others were demolished and were told to come forward for revalidation of their land titles at the Urban and Regional Planning Unit.

    His words: “In the case of the estate that has just been removed, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) has been involved right from inception.

    “When announcements were made that development should be suspended along airport road, the department informed REDAN and even went on a tour of the affected estates with them and REDAN assured the authority that their members will suspend further development pending new layout but these developers ignored all the warnings which necessitated the demolition.

    It would be recalled that the National Assembly has also threatened to demolish the estate for allegedly occupying the land belonging to its members.

    Senator Smart Adeyemi, the Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, was said to have issued the threat.

    Adeyemi said that the estate developer had acquired the land hitherto allocated to some National Assembly members.

    “We are surprised to see a developer building on a district that belonged to Nigerians, including National Assembly members.

    “We will not condone this act because these buildings are illegal, the developer is not supposed to erect buildings here.

     

  • Anti-corruption committee inaugurated

    Anti-corruption committee inaugurated

    The Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ekpo Nta has cautioned the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed against unnecessary transfer of anti- corruption agents.

    Nta spoke after inducting a five-man anti-corruption committee for the FCTA.

    The committee was set up to monitor and prevent any act of corruption in the FCTA and its parastatals.

    The committee, which was inaugurated by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Anthony Ozodinobi, was saddled with the mandate of anchoring FCT Administration’s anti-corruption initiatives.

    The Permanent Secretary, who was represented at the occasion by the FCT General Counsel/Secretary of Legal Services Secretariat, Mrs. Ima Douglas Ekpongette remarked that the inauguration is a manifestation of the zero tolerance to corruption of the President Goodluck Jonathan Transformation Agenda.

    Ozodinobi noted that the ongoing trial of those involved in the oil subsidy scam clearly demonstrates the commitment of this administration to transparency and good governance.

    The Permanent Secretary warned that the anti-corruption train is gathering momentum, even as he said that the era of business-as-usual is fast fading away.

    According to him, the terms of reference for the team include carrying out activities and initiate measures aimed at checking corruption in the FCT Administration; liaising with anti-corruption agencies with a view to evolving sustainable ways of eliminating corruption within the FCT Administration.

    Other terms of reference are to enlighten and educate FCTA staff on the dimensions, evils and consequences of corrupt practices as well as preparing and forwarding to the office of the Permanent Secretary periodic reports on the activities of the team.

    The five-man team has Mr. Yakubu Ozigis and Mr. Olumuji Peter as chairman and Secretary respectively.

    Other members are Abubakar Yakubu, MallamYajiwa and Alhaji Yakubu.

    Responding on behalf of members of the committee, Mr. Yakubu Ozigis promised that the team would live above board as no stone will be left unturned in carrying out the responsibility.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Kuatsea Justin, who represented the chairman of the ICPC at the occasion, praised the FCT Administration for the keen interest it has shown in fighting corruption which he said has become endemic.
    He disclosed that the ICPC would soon start the rating of agencies and organisations across the country.

  • Transcorp Hilton donates $3000 foodstuff weekly to hospital

    Transcorp Hilton donates $3000 foodstuff weekly to hospital

    Transcorp Hilton Hotel has shown its humanitarian side. The hotel’s new General Manager, Etienne- Charles Gailliez, told reporters that the hotel has been donating food items worth $3000, every week for five years to a hospital in Kubwa as well as supporting HIV/AIDS activities at the Hearts Foundation.

    This gesture, he said, is a way of giving back to its host community. As part of its social responsibility initiative, the hotel recently held an International Youth Week, during which it educated youths on the running of a hotel.

    On his arrival, Gailliez said the country is on the verge of having its first seven star hotel in Abuja. He said he has garnered a wealth of knowledge which he hopes to employ in raising the hotel to a seven-star hotel.

    He explained that “a seven star is just the way you offer the services”.

    Some of the transformations he hopes to bring include refurbishments which, according to him, “are not just changing the tissue of the sofa, but in essence, answering such questions as, is this the design we want? Is this how we want it?”

    Etienne is looking forward to exploiting social networks, and sophisticated technology such as I-pads and smart phones, to make activities such as booking reservations and ordering meals a whole lot easier.

    He also looks forward to transforming the menus to ‘offer healthy food’.

    On the issue of challenges, he said the security problems in the country in the light of the recent bombings is ‘a part of political life,” adding, “we have taken measures  to protect our guests”.

    On the issue of reward and incentives for clients and staff, Transcorp’s new General Manager said the hotel has a reward system called the ‘H-Honors’, whereby guests who enroll into the “frequent stay” are rewarded with air tickets and accommodation.

    Etienne said that Transcorp Hilton has the highest staff retention and that the hotel is re-negotiating new terms of service, which he said are the best any team member could possibly enjoy in Nigeria.

    Though the task ahead seems daunting, the new boss at Transcorp Hilton maintained there is reason to worry.

    ‘We have to show  our resilience, take it one day at a time, and say yes, we are there, and ensure always that our customers have a safe place to stay. I think we can do that for the community’.

  • ‘Our leaders have betrayed us’

    ‘Our leaders have betrayed us’

    Residents of Iddo Sarki community in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), have spoken out against what call the neglect suffered in the hands of their representatives.

    They said the representatives have betrayed the trust reposed in them.

    The traditional head of the community, Alhaji Adamu Hassan, who spoke through his secretary, James Bulus, said their representatives are only concerned about their selfish gains rather than the welfare of the community.

    He said that their farmland was confiscated from them by government on several occasions without compensations, and their representatives didn’t speak against the action.

    “We the indigenes of this place don’t know our fate in terms of where to live; we are being denied our rights over our farmlands and our leaders are not saying anything,” he said.

    He said that the community is yet to enjoy the dividends of democracy promised by the leaders when they were soliciting for votes.

    According to him, the deprivations and victimisations faced by natives of the Federal Capital Territory is due largely to the fact that people usually appointed to run the affairs of the FCT are non-natives.

    He appealed to the Federal Government to accord FCT a special status, such that natives of the territory are accorded the opportunity of overseeing the affairs of the territory.

    Bulus recalled that when the seat of power was still in Lagos, the natives of the state were accorded their full customary rights to land ownership and wondered why their case is different.

    He complained that the road linking the community with other communities is in a deplorable state and appealed to the council authorities to do something about it.

    Bulus praised the authorities of the Abuja Municipal Area Council in the area of healthcare delivery, adding that the community has a functional primary health centre with adequate drugs as well as personnel.

    He however said that the community lacks potable water, adding that the water projects carried out by AMAC and the MDGs in the community have since broken down.

    In the area of agriculture, Bulus complained that farmers in the community have not been able to access the government subsidised fertilisers and other farm inputs.

     

  • Pharmacists crack down on illegal premises

    Pharmacists crack down on illegal premises

    The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria has sealed two pharmacies at Gwarimpa for allegedly violating the council’s license registration and professional conduct rules.

    Mr. Peter Iliya, Head of Abuja Zonal Office of the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, expressed surprise that the proprietor of Justima Discount Pharmacy Ltd, who claims to have come from the USA, could break into a sealed premises in gross violation of extant rules.

    Iliya said the manufacture, retail and wholesale of pharmaceutical products are guided by rules and regulations hence the decision to re-seal Justisma Discount Pharmacy and Fanprecare because they are both unlicensed premises.

    He said the operators require valid registration licenses duly issued by the Pharmacist Registration Council of Nigeria, while an inspection committee is supposed to inspect the premises of prospective operators in order to ascertain whether they have adhered strictly to laid down rules and procedures.

    “The affected parties will now face an investigative panel and later a disciplinary tribunal,” he added.

    Peter Iliya warned those without premises registration licence to stop operating or face sanctions from the council.

     

  • FCTA tackles deforestation

    FCTA tackles deforestation

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has set up a 25-man committee to tackle deforestation in the Federal Capital City (FCC) and the six area councils.

    Chairperson of the Deforestation Committee and Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, said that the committee was established to fashion out a holistic approach to the hazards of deforestation in the FCT.

    Akinjide, who inaugurated the committee, explained that the FCT was faced with various environmental problems such as excessive heat, erosion, bush burning, flood, and loss of soil fertility which has contributed to food insecurity.

    “The effects of deforestation in FCT today cannot be over-emphasised since it is witnessed by all and sundry. It is evident in the increased FCT daily temperature in recent times. Few years ago, the highest daily temperature was as low as 27 degrees C  but now is between 34 degrees C and 37 degrees C in some months of the year.

    “My attention has also been drawn to the increasing rate of deforestation in FCT which is seen in heaps of firewood, bags of charcoal along our major roads, piles of timber exploitation from already over-exploited forests,” she stated.

    The minister urged members of the committee to identify the immediate and remote causes of deforestation in the FCT and also proffer effective ways of enforcing the existing forest law in the territory.

    She also directed the committee to recommend possible areas of inter-departmental collaborations with a view to curbing deforestation and ameliorating its effects.

    “The inauguration of the committee will no doubt help to foster a harmonious relationship with our environment and lead to achieving a sustainable environmental development especially now that the entire world is facing the menace of climate change/global warning that are having negative effects on the environment and man,” she added.

    Members of the committee include: Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat in the FCT, Mrs. Olvadi Bema Madayi; Secretary of Area Council Service Secretariat, Alhaji Yahaya Ibrahim; Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council, Hon. Micah Jiba; Chairman of Bwari Area Council, Hon. Peter Yohanna; Chairman of Kuje Area Council, Hon. Danladi Etsu Zhin; Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Hon. Zakari Angulu Dobi; Chairman of Abaji Area Council, Hon. Yahaya Musa Muhammed, and Chairman of Kwali Area Council, Hon. Joseph Shazin.

    Also on the list of members are: Director of Engineering Services, FCTA, Mr. Adamu Abu; Director of Urban and Regional Planning, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman; Director of Satellite Towns Development Agency, Alhaji Tukur Ibrahim Bakori; Director of Parks and Recreation, FCTA, Mr. Ologun Rowland; Director of Development Control, Mr. Yahaya Yusuf, and Director of Compensation and Resettlement Department, Mr. Francis Okechukwu.

    Other members of the committee are: Director of Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Alhaji Isa Shuaibu; Director of Federal Department of Forestry, Mr. John Auta; Director of Agriculture in the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat of FCTA, Mr. Adamu Wakili Zinze; Deputy Director (Agric Services), Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat of FCTA, Mrs. Margaret Gwamma; Director of FCT Fadama III, Alhaji Danladi Salisu Ibrahim; and representatives of Minister of Environment, Green Tree Africa Initiative and Abuja Green Society.

     

  • Minister to help the physically challenged

    Minister to help the physically challenged

    Nigerians should be sensitised on the need to give equal opportunity to everybody, including the physically challenged, in order to build a compassionate society.

    The call was made by the Minister of State, FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, in her office during a courtesy visit by members of Abuja Association of the Deaf.

    Oloye Akinjide decried the situation whereby the less privileged in the society are stigmatised and treated as second-class citizens.

    She said the quintessential performances of the physically challenged at the just concluded Paralympics has shown their commitment, discipline and dedication which essentially made them to put Nigeria’s name at the epicentre of the global map through their world breaking record.

    Oloye Akinjide added that President Goodluck Jonathan having recognised the historic achievement of the Nigerian contingent to the Paralympics, has decided to honour the athelets for making the country proud.

    Earlier in his address, the leader of the delegation and chairman of Abuja Association of the Deaf, Mr Mabawonku Abdulwasiu, sought the minister’s assistance particularly in employment, economic empowerment, participation in sports and politics and equal treatment.

    Mr Abdulwasiu also called the minister’s attention to the imperative of government to provide sign language interpreters to interpret news on the NTA network news for the benefit of the deaf.

    He also requested the minister to assist the organisation towards the success of the forthcoming International Week of the Deaf (IWD) which will be celebrated in Abuja from October 13 to 20 .

    The association’s chairman remarked that there is need for minister’s intervention in the areas of quick passage of Disability Bill, establishment of disability desk in the FCT offices as well as provision of affordable housing and transportation to solve problems besetting his members.

    Replying, Oloye Akinjide who directed Social Development Secretariat under her ministry to look into the requests made by the ssociation with dispatch, also emphasised the essence of forging a partnership with the association in order to address their challenges.

    Abuja Association of the Deaf (AAD), an affiliate of the Nigerian National Association of the Deaf, was established in 1998.

  • Foundation trains 25 in entrepreneurship

    About 25 people have graduated from an entrepreneurship and internship mentoring scheme in Abuja. The mentoring programme, which aims at enhancing self-sufficiency among youths was organised by the Afrigrowth Foundation.

    The foundation also plans to use the programme to develop a learning centre which will be committed to conducting trainings that would strengthen the internal coordination of civil society groups.

    The graduating students were full of excitement as they file out to receive their certificates of participation.
    President of Afrigrowth Foundation, Mrs Dayo Keshi who spoke at the graduation ceremony of the third batch of the mentorship training said the graduating set really made the foundation proud through their commitment and resilience.

    She added that another batch of 25 will also receive training to bring to 100 the number of those that have been trained by the foundation.

    “They have been trained in entrepreneurial skills, leadership abilities, and the social media so that they will become future employers of labour. This will make them not to depend on non-existent white collar jobs,” she said.

    The Guest of Honour at the ceremony, Innocent Enejo enjoined the graduates to be committed in what they do in order to succeed as entrepreneurs.

    “You must be resilient, desperate and passionate to succeed. You should have a prepared mind as it is not the function of what you have learnt in school but the zeal and commitment in you to make it in life.

    “Don’t outspend your money before they come. Dream big and don’t give up as there are many opportunities for you outside there that you can tap from,” he said

    The Executive Director of the TY Danjuma Foundation, Lady Amedormey, who commended the training ability of Afrigrowth Foundation said TY Foundation will be sponsoring the 100 mentees with the sum of N6m.

    Highlight of the ceremony were presentation of prizes and certificates to participants as well as the presentation of business plans by the graduating students.

  • Communities benefit from empowerment scheme

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has provided about N250m as community empowerment agricultural revolving loans for 385 communities across the six area councils of the FCT.

    Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, who disclosed this while on an inspection tour of farms at Kuchibuyi and Guita communities of Bwari Area Council, said the community empowerment agriculture initiative is meant to empower women and youths in 385 communities identified by the FCT Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Baseline Survey conducted in 2008.

    She said N60m was provided in 2010 for the community empowerment agriculture loan scheme, while N120m and N60m were provided in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

    According to her, out of the N250m made available for farmers, including women and youths, the sum of N120m has been accessed by the benefiting communities through four Micro-finance Banks (MFBs), namely EWT Micro-finance Bank, Fims Micro-finance Bank, Hasan Micro-finance Bank and Credit Link Micro-finance Bank.

    “We are supporting the poor and rural communities through capacity building in modern farming techniques and agric-businesses to address poverty issues, unemployment and gender equality among the rural populace, thereby improving their income and quality of life.

    “This initiative started in 2010 with 60 communities across the six area councils and by 2011, the initiative was scaled up to 180 communities with FCT UNDAF II supporting 60 communities.

    Currently, the scheme is in 236 communities across the six area councils and the remaining communities will be covered before the end of 2013,” the minister said.

    Earlier, EPRS Director, Ari Mohammed said the scheme was designed to boost agricultural production, create employment and reduce poverty in the FCT.

    He further said that under the scheme, agricultural inputs such as tractors, improved seed, pesticides and fertilisers are provided for the communities, while extension workers are also deployed to the communities to supervise the various stages of production.

    “The scheme will help promote value-addition, technology in agro-processing, packaging and quality control and also revitalise the rural economy in these communities,” Mohammed said.

    Meanwhile, farmers and members of communities in the FCT have urged the FCTA to extend the timeline of the empowerment agricultural scheme to three years instead of one year.

  • Politics of First Lady’s sickness

    The Presidency relapsed to the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua era last week when the news of the sickness and treatment of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan  in a Germany hospital broke.

    She had left the country unannounced and her media managers never felt it was necessary to tell the people about her whereabout after all, she was not the elected president of the country, hence the need to keep it top secret.

    It was the same situation the country found itself in the Yar’Adua era when those around him felt the issue of his sickness be treated as top secret and that explained why he was smuggled back into the country in the dead of the night. Just like the issue of Yar’Adua’s illness, the media was awash with the First Lady’s secret trip with different ailments named for her sudden disappearance from the Presidential Villa. Though her media aide has denied all the speculation, saying she went for a well deserved rest after so much work in the last one month or so.

    At the time of compiling the activities that shaped the Presidency last week, the return date of the First Lady was yet to be ascertained.

    However, while the constroversy lasted, the Presidency was a beehive of activities. Right from the first working day of the week with President Goodluck Jonathan launching the second phase of YouWin which focused on women. The focus on women, Jonathan noted, was because of their ability to create a multiplier effect of funds besides the fact that it was in line with the United Nations charter.

    He also revealed that since the commencement of the programme last July, about 933 of the 1200 beneficiaries of the first batch of YouWin award winners have received the first tranche of about N1.03 billion from  the funds, with an assurance that the few yet to receive will do so by the end of next week.

    Ogoni leaders meet Jonathan, say no to secession
    The Ogoni people, in the course of the week, were at the presidency. They distanced themselves from recent cession declaration by members of a faction of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People pledging to the unity of the country. The people also used the opportunity to make their position known to the presidency on the issue of  the $1 million recommended by United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) as start-up point for the Ogoni clean-up. They insisted that it must be wholly spent on Ogoni alone.

    The insistence, according to Ogoni people, followed Federal Government decision to expand the scope of work of the Ogoni Environment Restoration Agency specifically recommended by UNEP for the Ogoni to include other areas experiencing hydro-carbon pollution.

    They were able to extract some assurances from the President who told the Ogoni people that the report will not be diluted when its time to implement it.

    The President also assured that government was yet to authorise any firm to take over from Shell the oil wells in Ogoniland, adding that it is not done in consultation of the story.

    Military capability and Boko Haram
    At a time when many thought that the country’s military would have been overstreched by the activities of the terrorist group, Boko Haram and other sectorial crisis, the Presidency said it was not so. It assured that the involvement of the military in checking social unrest including the Boko Haram insurgency has not in anyway reduced the effectiveness of the Armed Forces in defending the territorial  integrity of the nation.

    Minister of State, Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, who took her turn to brief the President on the performance of the ministry viz-a-viz the 2012 budget implementation, disclosed the readiness of the Armed Forces in meeting up with it’s primary responsibility.

    The minister who was responding to concerns raised about the high level of involvement of military personnel in handling the scourge of terrorism in the country, said that all arms of the military still had enough troops to be deployed in the case of any eventuality.

    N5000 note and the people
    The Federal Government may have decided to go ahead with the introduction of the N5000 denomination  despite the huge criticism that greeted the idea.

    The proposal got the endorsement of the  National Economic Management Team (NEMT)- a conclave of some senior government officials and prominent businessmen after the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’ Sanusi Lamido Sanusi cleared all grey areas sorounding proposal which already has the blessing of the President.
    The new higher denomination  will be introduced along with the new coins of N5, N10 and N20. The policy is expected to take effect in 2013.

    Meanwhile, the National Asembly has asked the CBN to apply brakes on the proposal for now.

    But NEMT argued that it was the primary responsibility of the CBN to effect changes in the nation’s currency with the approval of the President. The economic team also allayed the fear that the introduction of the note will lead to high rate of inflation, saying that there is no link between inflation and currency denomination.

    Besides, the group argued that the introduction of the higher currency will help shore up the value of naira as most people who store money in hard currency would now embrace the high denomination.

    Presidency also voted the sum of N65.223billion  for the Benin-Sagamu road at the Wednesday weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Jonathan. Nigerians have been calling for the repair of the road whichn has becme dead traps for motorist plying the route.

    Jonathan engages civil society groups on constitution
    The presidency also did the unexpected within  week in review as it gathered together who is who in the country’s civil society organisatons. It was the first Presidential Retreat for Civil Society, Organisations and Professional Association. It was also part of the 52nd Independence Anniversary of the country.The main issue was the Constitutional amendment.
    Jonathan in his remark promised to deliver a people oriented constitution that would ensure development of the country.

    In this regard, the president also  assured that the contribution of the people will be considered in the amendment processes.

    He argued that a constitution must originate from the people and bear clear imprint of their contributions.
    Jonathan also explained why government was  engaging the civil society in the constitution review process, saying that government want to tap onto their vast knowledge of constitutional review borne out of many years of consistent effort to craft a people’s constitution for the country.

    President Jonathan also assured that the report of the  former Chief Justice of Nigeria , Justice  Alfa Belgore Committee which harness all areas of consensus in past constitutional conference will soon be forwarded to National Assembly alongside the proposed bills.

    meanwhile, the National Assembly has set a deadline of second quarter of 2013 to conclude work on the amendment of the 1999 constitution. The set date was to ensure that the process does not rolling into electioneering period.