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  • FinTechs, banks in desperate battle for market control

    FinTechs, banks in desperate battle for market control

    Technology is rapidly reshaping financial services operations. Banks and Financial Technology (FinTech) companies have identified a shift in consumer behaviour towards digital channels. Rising acceptance of FinTech start-ups’ services by bank customers threatens lenders’ control of over N30 trillion assets and revenues in the banking sector. That dominance is changing as FinTechs begin to offer products and services previously exclusive to the banks. Many lenders are fighting to reclaim lost businesses by investing in technology. COLLINS NWEZE captures the ongoing digital disruption in the banking sector and what it means for operators and customers.

    Michael Phillips, 35, was leaving home for work when his smartphone beeped with a familiar Facebook message alert. It was another reminder for him to renew that month’s subscription for his DStv – pay-to-view cable service.

    His four-year-old daughter, Nancy, had reminded him the previous night that the subscription would be expiring that Monday morning. Two payment options came to his mind. The first was to renew the subscription through internet banking platform. The other option was to use the Paga network.

    Few minutes later, he opted for the Paga option, one of the Financial Technology (FinTech) firms and money transfer service provider. FinTech is the new technology and innovation that competes with traditional banking methods in the delivery of financial services.

    As little as the N100 transaction fee seems, it represents one of the millions of revenue leakages facing commercial banks daily. Paga now has over 7.5 million customers in just eight years of its operation.

    A few years ago, Phillips could not have imagined paying his bills online without going to the banking hall.

    Another bank customer, Lucy Osademe, chatted endlessly on her two mobile smart phones as she waited in a long queue within Ikeja to withdraw N10,000 at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Then the machine stopped dispensing cash; the long queue disappeared.

    Osademe decided to go into the banking hall where he met a longer queue. One hour later, a customer service officer announced a system downtime.

    “Please, the system is very slow. Kindly give us more time to process your transactions,” the officer pleaded. It took one hour before Osademe was paid.

    Yet, for the likes of Phillips, willing to leverage on the FinTech opportunities to settle their financial obligations, many, like Osademe, are frustrated by the poor quality of service they get from their banks. There are equally a larger number of customers who have lost confidence in the banks’ internet or mobile banking platforms.

    “Mobile payment is where the world is heading and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind. We do not compete with the banks since our funds are saved with them. But, there are places where we clearly compete, and there are more places where we collaborate to do what we are doing,” Paga’s Co-Founder, Jay Alabraba, who has been in a rush since taking up the top job eight years ago, said during a chat at his Lagos office.

    The Paga chief insisted that change was needed because brick-and-mortar approach to banking is expensive and not accessible.

    He said: “Nigerian consumers are changing. They are getting busier with no time to waste. They want to get their services nearer to where they work or live. Shopping is becoming entertainment and recreation while the phone is becoming their most intimate relationship. That explains why we are stepping in.”

    As the banks and FinTech firms battle for the control of the more than N30 trillion banking assets and revenues in the financial sector as highlighted in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) economic report for June, their customers are taking strategic decisions on which platforms to embrace.

    But, it is not just Paga that is making banks rethink their continued existence, since technology firms crept into some businesses traditionally meant for the lenders. Social media platforms, e-commerce providers, and mobile money services, technology payment firms have brought new twists to how banking is done.

    Managing Director, Cellulant Ghana, Albert Ngumba, said his firm facilitated payment for agricultural value-chain, helping Nigeria farmers to buy fertilisers, paying through Cellulant platform instead of banks. Famers can also perform financial transactions, including savings, transfers, loans, micro insurance using its platforms.

    “We sit between the banks, mobile operators and merchants. We power payment and make transactions easier for the people,” he said when contacted on telephone.

    “Our wallet account holders can now enjoy the convenience of ATM cards to take out money from a machine and buy products or services. They don’t have to carry cash because they can get it from almost any ATM machine and pay bills easily and quickly,” he added.

    Also, before the coming of Treasury Single Account (TSA), Nigeria’s notoriety in the public finance management brought the country to the state of near-economic-collapse.

    But today, Remita, an e-payment solution developed by SystemSpecs and adopted by the CBN for the payment and collections of funds for the Federal Government has turned the backbone of TSA implementation.

    The TSA consolidates all inflows from government agencies, using the Consolidated Revenue Account (CRA) at the CBN.

    Prior to the advent of Remita, commercial banks were responsible for the collection, processing and management of government revenues. The deployment of Remita has reduced government’s debt servicing costs, lowered liquidity reserve needs and boosted effective use of surplus cash.

    “Remita processes over $30 billion transactions every year, and that’s just within Nigeria,” SystemSpec’s Chief Executive Officer, John Obaro, said.

    Besides lowering the level of corruption, he said the TSA greatly exposes the emerging potential of FinTech industry in the country.

    Other platforms that have taken chunks of banks’ businesses and profitability are: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, My Space, Tumblr, Instagram, Alibaba, Jumia, Konga, Supermart, Amazon, Square, Cellulant, Apple, Google, Visa and MasterCard.

    Companies, such as Uber, Taxify and Airbnb have equally developed radical business models that continue to surprise many institutions.

    Secure online payments systems, such as PayPal and mobile payments and transfer solutions, are changing the ways in which payments for goods and services are made. These firms are helping consumers to make payments, secure credits, and do things that banks consider impossible. They satisfy customers’ thirst for speed and variety, leaving banks struggling for customer loyalty.

    An Executive of the Research and Policy Department, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Kabir Katata, said digitisation has changed financial services landscape.

    To him, FinTech firms are latching on clear evidence that consumer behaviour and expectations of service and experience are changing.

    He said the take-off of e-commerce and emergence of fast-rising online outlets, such as Jumia, Konga and Supermart, are opening up new avenues for e-payments and data collection that were previously left for banks.

    Speaking at a media conference in Kano State, Katata described FinTech as a technologically-enabled innovation in financial services that could result in new business models, applications, processes or products with an associated material effect on the provision of financial services.

    He said: “Multiple technologies poised to drive the next wave of financial services are converging in maturity. FinTech threatens to disrupt financial markets with the banks taking the threats like the loss of control, the emergence of a non-regulated environment, market fragmentation, and loss of revenue—very seriously.”

    Katata disclosed that while many banks have been able to retain their customers through traditional channels and digital service offerings, recent shifts are threatening the customer base of those yet to key into it. Even long term banking relationships at traditional banks, he added, is susceptible to disruption.

    Managing Director, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), Adebisi Shonubi, noted that transaction at banks’ branch transactions have dropped by 25 per cent in the last one year, as more customers embrace electronic payment.

    “Banking transactions are moving towards zero human interactions, saving cost and time for customers,” he said.

    A Senior Manager, Management Consulting, KPMG Nigeria, Bode Abifarin, disclosed that one-third of Nigeria’s population is below 24 years. The implication is that with a growing middle-class population, internet penetration and usage, which are the backbone of FinTech firms, the sector is set to grow significantly.

    Abifarin said: “KPMG survey shows that 77 per cent of Nigeria’s banking customers now use social media for personal purposes. The problem is that Nigeria’s banks have largely failed to translate this passion for the internet and social media into increased adoption of internet and mobile banking solutions and that is what FinTech firms are leveraging on.”

    Echoing him, Partner, Technology Advisory, KPMG in Nigeria, Boye Ademola, said that digital platform businesses are also leading a quiet revolution in Nigeria and indeed, Africa. Over the last 18 months, Jumia, an e-commerce platform and another Nigeria’s leading FinTech firm, attracted investments of $425 million and $250 million respectively. He said these firms are valued at over $1 billion each. “They both have footprints across Africa and are looking to become formidable platform businesses,” he stated.

    Even global financial institutions have seen the rising influence of FinTech firms.

    Speaking at the 2017 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank, IMF Managing Director, Ms. Christine Largade, acknowledged the rising excitement about FinTech.

    She said: “We cannot be sure, but we know that digital currencies, new models of financial intermediation, and artificial intelligence will change the way we do our job. Our key message is that it would be wise for central bankers and regulators to prepare for the potential benefits and challenges of FinTech,” she advised.

    Ms. Largade said that FinTech might provide solutions that respond to consumer needs for trust, security, privacy, and better services, change the competitive landscape, and affect regulation.

    She admitted that boundaries among service providers are blurring, barriers to entry changing and improvements in cross-border payments likely.

    SystemSpecs Executive Director, Deremi Atanda, said the rising influence of FinTech in banking is not a threat, but would improve banking penetration in key segments of the economy.

    He said that technology is key in realising the CBN’s financial inclusion plans.

    “If financial inclusion is about bringing people into the formal economy, then FinTech is making that happen and that can only boost economy. So, FinTech is accelerating the rate of economic growth by bringing more people into the financial system,” he said.

    Atanda, who spoke on the theme: “Regulatory concerns on risks: Challenges and the resulting impacts on FinTech adoption” at a financial inclusion conference in Lagos, said the introduction of FinTech cannot in anyway threaten banking services. Rather, it will compliment them.

    He said: “Well, I do not think the banks are jittery about FinTech roles in providing financial services. It is not an immediate threat in this immediate environment. At the end of the day, payment is cultural. And it must also be within context. And so, technology will always follow the ways and manners of people, even though it can be disruptive in nature.”

    The SystemSpecs’ director said lenders will have to leverage on infrastructure such as internet penetration, data, identity, which FinTech firms are trying to ramp up.  Atanda said: “It is not that FinTech is going to disrupt banking per say, the mix of it accelerates the growth, exchange of value, and boosts the economy in general.

    “The role we (FinTech) play is just as enablers and facilitators within a collaborative ecosystem, because one party cannot do it all alone. We are going to be working with regulators, banks and other financial service providers and generally everyone focused on seeing transactions thrive.”

    According to him, 70 per cent of FinTech transactions are centred around remittances and lending as they do not take deposits like commercial banks.

    Pointing out that it was not unusual to see regulators clash with FinTech innovators, Atanda said regulators must ensure that technology being adopted does not have unintended consequences that challenge what they saw in creating those things.

    The CBN Director in charge of Banking and Payments System Department, ‘Dipo Fatokun, said the demand for the services of FinTechs will continue to rise, even as they need commercial banks’ for them to operate effectively.

    He noted that the increasing roles of FinTech companies in the payment system will allow banks to focus more on their traditional role of financial intermediation.

    Fatokun predicted the rise in the need for collaboration between the FinTechs and banks, as none can displace the other.

    The CBN director explained that banks in developed world focus on their core functions and leaving other roles to service providers.

    Fatokun said: “FinTechs have always been in existence. It’s just that more prominence is being given to their roles. In some jurisdictions FinTechs are being allowed, or plans are under way to allow them connect to the central bank which, previously, was the exclusive preserve of the commercial banks.

    “The fear has always been there that FinTechs will take over the roles of the banks and that a time will come when there will be no bank. FinTechs are not licenced as financial institutions, they cannot take deposits. They can only facilitate payments or make it easier but the banks will still continue to play a very big role.

    “Banks provide hundreds of services outside of payments. They open Letters of Credit (LC), give out loans and you can only give loans if you take deposits. The banks provide guarantee, either an advance payment guarantee or a performance bond for contractors. For you to do that, you need to be a licenced financial institution.”

    According to him, FinTechs have played a complementary role for the baking industry and that have made it possible for banks to provide services at cheaper rates and expand their services to the grassroots.

    Konga said it has opportunity to create an operating system for e-commerce not only in Nigeria, but across Africa. It admitted that one needs heavy lifting and deep pockets to succeed in this business insisting that the entrepreneurial energy of Nigeria is greater than what Konga alone can do.

    Jumia is taking the local market very seriously, just as it has taken precautions to guide against fraud.

    It said the online retailer introduced cash-on delivery policy to ensure that customers match request with product quality.

    But, Board Chairman, Parkway Projects, owners of ReadyCash Mobile Money, Richard Obire, explained that three parties are involved when mobile money transaction takes place.

    The banks, telecom operators and the mobile money operator are all involved, sharing the fee that come with the transaction.

    Obire, who was former Executive Director, Keystone Bank, said the cash involved in the transaction sits in the bank, although represented by electronic wallet.

    He said the coming of mobile money is not totally taking away business from the banks, but is helping the lenders to tap into the unbanked market.

    “The entire banking system is an ecosystem where the players are given roles to play. Such roles including banking the unbanked through mobile money will deepen the financial system,” he said.

     

    Banks fight back with innovation, collaboration

    As banks’ revenues fall, the lenders are looking at areas to bridge the gaps. There is the zeal to raise cheap funds, finance power sector projects, mortgage, agricultural and educational businesses.

    Some banks have also gone into Facebook banking, social lending and partnership with global payment and technology firms.

    Wema Bank’s Deputy Managing Director Ademola Adebiose said his bank is playing big in the digital space, where lies the future of banking. He said the mid-tier lender introduced Alat, a fully digital platform, to enable it capture the grassroots customers and the youths. Adebise said: “Digital banking is becoming more attractive to banks and their customers. It is catching the attention of everyone thinking of speed, efficiency and cost saving in banking.”

    He explained that the lender had reviewed its marketing strategy, and made huge investments in the digital space. The Alat platform, he said, has over 100,000 customers, mostly the youths.

    According to him, WemaBank is collaborating, not competing, with FinTech firms.

    Adebise said: “I think we should see it as how do we build an eco-system. Yes, I have my customers. The FinTechs have their products. They will need to access my customers and we need to collaborate.

    “It is not an issue of whether they are taking over or not. And mind you, the business of banking is regulated. The CBN is charged with the responsibility of regulation. But we cannot rule out the threat presented by FinTech and any forward looking organisation or bank must identify the areas of collaboration to build the ecosystem. You cannot be competent on everything.”

    Besides, FirstBank, Fidelity and Union banks have partnered with PayPal to enhance online payment for shoppers. The partnership enables the lenders’ customers to register for a PayPal account from their internet-banking accounts.

    By linking their-issued debit, prepaid or credit cards to their new PayPal account, customers can then shop and pay on millions of websites around the world from their personal computers, tablets or smartphones, without having to share financial information with the seller.

    Fidelity Bank Chief Executive Officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo, described the introduction of PayPal as a deliberate attempt by the bank to make financial services easy and accessible to its customers.

    Specifically, he said that the development is in line with the bank’s commitment to consistently deploy innovative strategies to make life easier for its customers.

    Aside partnership with payment firms, some banks have also developed products that are technology-driven. The GTBank Instant, First Instant and Sterling Social Lender accounts were built by GTBank, FirstBank and Sterling Bank respectively to enhance social banking.

    Here, customers can open accounts online, and that creates convenience for them.

    For instance, Sterling Bank’s Social Lender Account allows it to grant loans to customers on Facebook. It provides a platform for online fans, followers who are customers of the bank to obtain micro-credit loans via social media starting with Facebook and Twitter.

    The bank said approval of the loan happens within 10 minutes, and that borrowers can make the request online and get their accounts credited with the fund.

    It explained that although it started with N3, 000 for borrowers, the amount will gradually rise, and is targeted at customers with urgent cash need.

    Adaku Obi, a customer who benefitted from the loan narrated her experience: “While going to Yaba some days ago, I had no cash in my wallet. I needed cash badly. My cheque book was not even with me. I couldn’t find my bank branch around because I wasn’t familiar with the area.

    “So, I tweeted at the handle of my bank. The response was swift. In 10 minutes, my account was credited with N3, 000 short term credit. That is how interesting banking has become.”

    Access Bank Plc, Visa and shoptomydoor.com, an online shipping company are collaborating to give Visa cardholders opportunity to shop online at retailers in the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK) and China. Such customers, the bank’s Executive Director, Personal Banking, Victor Etuokwu, said, will also enjoy exclusive shipping discounts and shop from the world’s major international retailers with more flexibility and convenience.

     

    Stakeholders speak

    Financial pundits believe that banks do not fear other lenders but the start-up in a bedroom. Managing Director, CRC Credit Bureau Limited, Tunde Popoola, said deepening the financial landscape creates room for new players to emerge.

    Popoola said: “When the financial system is deepened, the banking industry will be the ultimate gainers. The good thing is that people now have more choices to make. It is only banks that key into the new opportunities that will benefit.

    “But, if they are able to innovate, and device ways of seeing their customers not necessarily coming to the banking halls, but getting the services they need wherever they are, then, they will be the gainer at the end of the day. Lenders that are unable to get to their customers through some of these forms and processes will lose the market.

    “Organisations such as Paga, Cellulant, are all part of what we are expecting. More of them will come. We have those who are in the telephone territory. There are those in the credit card territory and they are not formal banks. These are the things that will become the formal feature of our economy.”

     

    Connecting past with future

    White Sapphire’s Chief Executive Officer Biyi Fashoyin said it is not just the banks that need to innovate, the world itself is now a global village, and the social media is a community by itself.

    Fashoyin said: “Any corporate entity that ignores the social media and technology is just on its own peril. Everybody now is now on social media, including the kids. Any wise bank will know that’s where the market is. It is a ready market.

    “The industrial revolution came at a time. Europe, America and some other countries took part. Some other countries especially in Africa stayed back. Eventually those that participated became the global powers. Those that abstained were labeled third or fourth world countries.

    “That is exactly what is going to happen to the business world. Any bank that is stepping back now, running away from the current realities which reside in the social media space, or the virtual world, will soon be out of business.

    “My advice is that every bank should come in and plug into it. That’s where your market is. That’s where your future is. Your future is actually in the social media,” he said. Fashoyin, who is a social media adviser, admitted that the platform has become a place for the good, the bad and ugly.

     

    Global trends

    At the international level, FinTech firms are among global business leaders. Alibaba Group Holding Limited, a retail and technology conglomerate provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals and electronic payment services.

    As of last month, Alibaba’s market capitalisation stood at $486.27 billion. It is one of the top 10 most valuable and biggest firms in the world.

    PayPal’s services allow people to make financial transactions online by transferring funds electronically between individuals and businesses. Through PayPal, users can send or receive payments for online auctions on websites like eBay, purchase or sell goods and services, or donate money or receive donations.

    Amazon, has 230 million accounts, and dominates online shopping.  The tech giant is the largest Internet retailer in the world measured by revenue and market capitalisation, and second largest after Alibaba Group in terms of total sales.

    The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 2017 digital banking survey found that 46 per cent of customers skipped bank branches altogether, relying instead on smartphones, tablets, and other online applications.

    U.S. Financial Services, Industry Leader, Neil Dhar, writing in this month’s edition of the PwC Financial Services report titled: Digital Transformation in Financial Services, said both wholesale and retail users now expect a digital experience from their financial institutions.

    Dhar said: “It is about differentiated customer experience, providing what customers want, when they want it, and how they want it, whether you are a bank, insurer, or asset manager.

    “This is not just a matter of cosmetics. Banks need to change their back-end operations to support it. And they will need to think differently about how to solve problems because technology is not a silver bullet.”

     

    Stakeholders proffer solutions

    Wema Bank Executive Director of Retail & North Directorate, Moruf Oseni, advised banks to take steps that would enable them meet customers’ needs better.  He said that customers should be given a priority in designing banking products and services.

    Oseni advised: “Banks must become customer-centric because the disruption in the banking industry is real. There are two ways to react to it. Its either we sit down and wait to be protected by the regulators or work with the ecosystem to build the future of banking.”

    On competition in the industry, he said: “Competition in the e-payment space is stiff. Bank to bank competition is not even as deadly as FinTech startups-bank competition. Any bank that is not innovative in the times we live in will die a natural death.”

    Ms. Largade advised regulatory authorities to balance carefully, efficiency and stability trade-offs in the face of rapid changes, and ensure that trust is maintained in an evolving financial system.

    She urged the authorities to calibrate regulation in a manner that appropriately addresses the risks presented by FinTech firms without stifling innovation.

    In the days and years ahead, the big question will not be whether FinTechs have come to disrupt or complement banking operations, but which of the sectors controls the over N30 trillion assets and revenues that define Nigeria’s financial sector as a leader in the sub-regional banking businesses. The market will always favour operators that meet customers’ demand for speed, efficiency and security, in the delivery of financial services.

    In a report by Ernst & Young (EY) entitled: “Unleashing the potential of FinTech in banking”, the multinational professional services firm, advised banks to determine how best to engage with FinTechs, given the contrasting sizes and cultures of their respective organisations. FinTechs also need to know how best to approach and navigate their way through banks.

    EY said the most successful banks will be those that improve speed and reduce costs by collaborating with a range of different partners in building the strongest network.

    To achieve the future state, the banks must unleash the FinTech potential in their own organisations – and both must forge ahead to get better to successfully drive innovation. There is no alternative to this collaboration to stay in business.

     

  • Ogah: I’m not desperate to be Abia governor

    Ogah: I’m not desperate to be Abia governor

    A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Abia State, Dr Uche Ogah, yesterday said his demand to be sworn in as governor was not borne out of desperation.

    He said contrary to impression being created, his case against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was far from being an ambush.

    According to him, his victory at the court is valid and not “a hurriedly executed legal ambush for the acquisition of political power as being insinuated by some persons.

    “My case is strongly anchored on facts, and the refusal of Ikpeazu to respond to the core issues and his resort to propaganda speaks volumes,” Ogah said.

    At a briefing in Lagos through his counsel Mr Monday Ubani, Ogah said his case commenced before Ikpeazu’s swearing in as governor and had reached the Supreme Court before returning to the lower court.

    Ogah said his claim was that Ikpeazu was not eligible to participate in the primaries on the basis that he failed to pay his taxes as and when due as required by the 1999 Constitution, PDP’s Guidelines and the Electoral Act of 2010. He said on the face of it, Ikpeazu’s tax clearance was questionable.

    The Tax Clearance form (Code PD002/G), dated November 4, 2014, and sworn to at the High Court Registry, Aba, shows that Ikpeazu’s tax receipt number for December 2011 is 0012849; that of December 2012 is 0012846 and that of December 2013 is 0012847 and 0012848.

    “Did he use one booklet to pay tax for three years? Is he the only one paying tax? How come the tax number which ends in 49 came first rather than last?,” Ubani asked.

    He said Ogah went to court soon after the primaries because the PDP’s appeal panel failed to respond to his complaints about Ikpeazu’s alleged non-qualification.

    When he filed the suit in 2014, Ikpeazu challenged the court’s jurisdiction. The appeal process got to the Court of Appeal until it was decided by the Supreme Court which ruled that the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear the case.

    The first judge handling the case, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, withdrew from the case on the basis that he was accused of bias and returned the file to the Chief Judge. The matter was re-assigned to Justice Okon Abang.

    “If Ikpeazu is convinced about the rightness of his cause, he should vacate the seat, plead his case in a court of law and when granted victory come back rather than resort to propaganda,” Ubani said.

    According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should not be blamed for issuing Ogah with a certificate of return because the court ordered that it should be with immediate effect.

    Besides, there was no order to the contrary brought to INEC’s notice. “We got an enrolment order which INEC complied with,” Ubani said.

    The lawyer said legal steps would be taken to discharge the restraining order made by an Osisioma High Court stopping Ogah’s inauguration.

    “We have to vacate the order lawfully even though the judge who made the order did not indicate a return date,” Ubani said.

    On why Ogah should be sworn in, the lawyer said an appeal does not operate as a stay of execution in pre-election matters, adding that it is “absurd” for a court of coordinate jurisdiction to arrest an order made by another court.

    “The Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General of the Federation should have ensured compliance with Justice Abang’s order in the absence of any contrary order, because the judgement says ‘with immediate effect’, and an appeal does not mean a stay of execution because it is not a criminal case,” Ubani said.

    He said Ogah would not take the laws into his hands but would pursue his case to the logical conclusion through the courts, adding that he was not desperate to be governor.

    Ubani said Ogah, an oil magnate, entrepreneur, investor and President of Master Energy Group, a conglomerate with over 15 subsidiaries and interests across a variety of industries with over 40,000 employees, “is not in the race for the money”.

    “He sees involvement in politics as an opportunity to have more solid and sustainable impact on Abia,” he added.

  • Desperate situation, desperate solution!

    Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose took the bull by the horn when last week, he banned grazing and rearing of cattle in the state. In their stead, he wants all those interested in cattle farming to get their own private ranches. A bill will soon be sent to the State House of Assembly to make the movement of cattle from one location of the state to another a criminal offence.

    Apparently irked by incessant attacks in the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen which peaked with killings and maiming in Oke Ako in the Ikole Local Government of the state, Fayose promised to confiscate any cattle seen anywhere in the state, except the ranches created for them by their owners.

    For those who have followed the murderous activities and criminality of the herdsmen in parts of the country and the seeming inability of the federal government to find a handle to them, Fayose’s therapy would seem a desperate solution to a degenerate problem.

    Before now, tempers have been high across the country due to the relative ease with which heavily armed Fulani herdsmen attack, kill and destroy villages ostensibly to settle disagreements with their host communities. From Benue to Kaduna, Enugu to Oyo states, their activities have left in their trail, sorrow and awe as host villagers are murdered and rendered refugees in their ancestral homes by an invading insurgent group that operates with near invincibility in the face of the inability of law enforcement agencies to apprehend them.

    Day after day, week after week, the scourge has refused to abate despite the outcries of the most vulnerable communities of the herdsmen onslaught. As things stand, it would seem the fear of Fulani herdsmen has taken the toga of the beginning of wisdom. Why not? Not with the dexterity and near invincibility with which they operate. Not with the inability of the local population to match the superior gun power of the invaders. And when you add these to the inability of law enforcement agencies to apprehend them in action or abort their plans, the situation becomes that ugly. Not unexpectedly, this has encouraged the herdsmen to take laws into their hands in the style of the atavism of the state of nature.

    Even in cases where villagers had prior information of impending attacks and promptly reported to the law enforcement agencies, nothing was done to forestall them. That was precisely the case with the killings in Enugu State where even after the governor was given copious assurances that security agencies were on top of the situation, the worst still happened.

    Events in the latest attack in Ekiti State curiously followed the same predictable pattern. There were reports that even when the villagers reported the attack as it was going on, no respite came their way as the police refused to go into the bush with them.

    Given the foregoing, the frustrations that led Fayose to these rather drastic measures can be understood. It is a desperate effort to protect his people from the frequent killings that are now consequent upon cattle rearing and movement of cattle from one place to another. It also underscores most poignantly the inherent contradiction in the seeming high premium cattle breeders now place on that animal over and above human life.

    If the measures succeed to checkmate the clashes between his constituents and the herdsmen thereby saving valuable lives, the end has justified the means. It is not a matter of whether one likes Fayose or not. We all do not have to like him anyway. That is hardly the issue now.

    We may also not like the messenger. But it is not a matter of taking the message and discarding the messenger. No! Both the message and the messenger are very relevant and useful in the instant case. After all, is it not said there is sense in nonsense?

    The measures stand as Fayose’s solutions as chief security officer of the state to the clashes between the herdsmen and the local farmers. They may seem radical; they may appear harsh and capable of creating difficulties for genuine cattle breeders on the short run. There is also the difficulty of immediate enforcement in view of the fact that the herdsmen are already in the bushes in the state. For now, that is his response to the wanton slaying of his people by an invading insurgent group that places higher premium on cows over and above human lives and it cannot be faulted. Those who criticize his approach to this debilitating problem should come forward with their own solutions. He could ill-afford to sit by while his people are slaughtered by an invading insurgent group that has scant regard for human lives.

    He wants to get at the source of this crisis and stem subsequent attacks. And in this, he sees controlling the movement of cattle from one place to another as the appropriate starting point.  He is interested in saving lives and any other consideration should count less when it comes to the first law of nature – self preservation. Those were the issues of prime concern to the governor especially given suspicions that there are other motivations for the resurging onslaughts of the Fulani herdsmen.

    It is difficult to fault the decisions irrespective of the difficulties they will create for cattle breeders in the interim. There could be the issue of where breeders will house their cattle between now and the time such ranches are established. All these immediate problems are to be admitted. But they have arisen because those whose duty it is to provide solutions to the drift to the precipice have failed to take action. They have become relevant in the face of the failure of the state to rise to its basic function of guaranteeing law and order.

    So it is not enough to fault the strategy adopted by Fayose. He saw a yawning vacuum and sought to fill it. Those who created that vacuum should take vicarious liability for whatever shortcomings there are in Fayose’s therapy to the looming conundrum these attacks have come to represent. It may turn out the most dramatic way of drawing attention of the authorities to the potent danger in the senseless killings by Fulani herdsmen across the country.

    And if the measures succeed in challenging the federal government to the reality of finding lasting solutions to this debilitating ill, then they have achieved their purpose in a teleological sense. Responses from the government have centered round the creation of grazing reserves. It has set aside N940 million in the current budget for the creation of such reserves across the country. There have also been denials over a purported bill before the National Assembly for the creation of grazing routes.

    But whereas grazing reserves can be created for states in the north that are traditional cattle rearers, it makes no sense to talk of such reserves in the south. For Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, his state has no land for gazing reserves. Not only is the proposal against the Land Use Act, Ajimobi contends that it is also against the “law of natural justice to grab someone’s land to cater for another one’s cattle”. He spoke for many.

    The other idea of grazing routes is also a contradiction of sorts as evidently dramatized in a recent interview by the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbe. He underscored the contradiction in the proposal when he said you cannot create a grazing route to someone else’s farmland. So we are left with the ranches which Fayose prescribed for those interested in cattle breeding in Ekiti State.

    More seriously, this government must act quickly to diffuse the time bomb which these attacks have become. Resurging feelings by communities that they have no alternative than to resort to self-help in the face of the inability of the government to rein in the insurgents can only lead to anarchy. Fayose’s action should be a sufficient signal to the degenerate level the situation is inevitable sliding.

  • British invasion: ‘Beware of desperate politicians’

    There is a twist in the controversy surrounding the British invasion of Benin Kingdom in 1897.

    A great, great-grandson of Oba Ovonramwen N’Ogbaisi, Prince Samwonyi Ovonramwen, has cautioned the Bini of Edo State to beware of desperate politicians who would not define the issues confronting them as a people.

    Ovonramwen said: “some politicians only hide behind patronage or mercantilist politics of the wasted years to benefit their selfish ends. They are caught by cold, fear and trepidation at the sight of well-rounded contenders for the same office. For God’s sake, leave our great great-grandfather out of the murky waters of politics. Let politicians play politics.”

    He added: “My family line is the only one still bearing the name Ovonramwen and this has ensured that his good name has not been erased from the consciousness of the people. That underscores how proud and honoured we are to be associated with our root.

    “How easy it is to pursue selfish political interest under the pretext of public good! Apart from little known Ovonramwen Street, no other monument of importance immortalises Oba Ovonranmwen in Benin City. I wish deserving effort is directed at correcting this.

    “In 1897, the British invaded Benin Empire, conquered it and carted away its most priced assets. The motive for the invasion was purely economic and political. As earlier correspondences have shown, the invasion and subjugation of the empire was inevitable and only a matter of time.

    “The role of the key actors, including nobles, courtiers and ordinary citizens, were contingent upon the dynamics and exigencies of the time. It can only be understood and appreciated therefrom. And we know for a fact that the character, mood and temperament of 1897 were not captured by anyone and cannot be resurrected with accuracy more than a century after.

    “Over the years, there have been speculations and tell-tales with regard to the role played by some key leaders and participants. The British conquerors wrote from their angle but nobody recorded the views of the Edo participants in the unfortunate episode.

    “However, what can be reconstructed with the tools of research has been accomplished by the most celebrated historian on the subject – Prof. Phillips Igbafe. Let those who seek genuine knowledge submit themselves to the discipline of reading published works.

    “It is barbaric, unjustifiable and pointless to hound anyone or scion of any of the families today on account of the purported role played by his great, great-grandfather. If all of us were to look back into remote history and the role played by our various great, great-grandfathers, Benin City and Edo land would be immersed with vile, hatred, bad blood and vindictiveness.

    “Let us beware of desperate politicians who can hardly define the issues confronting us only to hide behind patronage or mercantilist politics of the wasted years.”

  • Tribunal compromise: APGA is desperate

    Tribunal compromise: APGA is desperate

    The government of Abia State has condemned attempts by some elements, especially the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), to malign the integrity of members of the election petition tribunal.

    The government said the tribunal had lived up to expectation in attending to the petitions before it dispassionately, and so wondered why the opposition would want to tarnish the image of the members.

    APGA, in two advertorials said the tribunal chairmen and members had been compromised, with the state government buying houses for them outside the country.

    But Chief Press Secretary to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Godwin Adindu, has described as unfounded, the statement attributed to APGA that members of the tribunal had been compromised.

    Adindu said the government did not influence results of the cases decided so far.

    “Therefore the claim by APGA that members of the tribunal had been compromised and induced to divert justice is uncalled for.”

    The CPS said such statements make mockery of a party which claims to be law abiding. He maintained that since there was a window in the Appeal Court for redress, there was no need for such unguarded statements which could incite the public and heat up the polity.

     

     

  • Boko Haram desperate, says army after explosions

    Boko Haram desperate, says army after explosions

    There were multiple blasts in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital last night.

    Boko Haram terrorists were believed to have struck a mosque and the area outside the building, according to witnesses.

    A statement by Army’s acting Director of Information Col.Sani Usman said:

    “This is to inform the public that there were three improvised explosive devices explosions at Gomari and Ajilari general area in Maiduguri at about 7.21pm today evening.

    “Although details are not clear, it is important to note the attacks signify high level of desperation on the part of the Boko Haram terrorists.

    “Security personnel and emergency management teams have been drafted to the area and appropriate security measures being taken.

    “We would like to state that the Nigerian military would not be deterred in its determined efforts of defeating Boko Haram terrorists in the shortest possible time.

    “We would like to assure the public also that now the terrorists have  shown their ugly presence  in such areas, there is need for more vigilance, security consciousness and prompt reporting of suspicious persons or group of persons in their midst. This would enable the security take appropriate measures against them.

    “It will be recalled that their previous attempts to attack and blow up Allau dam was thwarted”

    Boko Haram yesterday denied claims by the authorities of winning the six-year war against insurgency after the army said it was pushing “for the final defeat” of the militants.

    “We are still at battle ground,” Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terrorist group was quoted to have said in an audio recording posted on YouTube. It could not be immediately verified.

    Shekau’s status has been hazy for a long time with claims and counterclaims on whether he is dead or alive. It is believed in security quarters that he may have died and that some sect members are impersonating him.

    Besides, the fact that yesterday’s message was relayed on an audio rather than video, which he had always used, is another pointer to the fact that all is not well with Shekau.

    [ad id=”403656″]Comments by the military are “propaganda” and “lies”, Shekau said in Hausa, dismissing claims that the group would be flushed out before the end of the year as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The military could not be reached for comments. Text messages sent to both the army spokesman and the acting Director of of Defence Information were not replied. They also did not pick calls.

    President Buhari has ordered the military to end the insurgency in three months.

    ”Buhari said he is going to finish with us in three months. You did not finish with us; there is a lot more to do, you Nigerians, you Chadians, you Cameroonians,” Shekau said in the audio recording.

    The latest attack by the group was staged in Cameroon at the weekend.Two young suicide bombers killed three people in far north Cameroon yesterday..

    The youths set off their suicide belts in the town of Mora as a police officer became suspicious of their appearance and approached to question them, a security source said.

    “The toll is five dead, including two civilians, a police inspector and the two suicide bombers,” a security source at the scene told AFP.

    A separate source close to regional security forces confirmed the toll and said the attackers, who aimed to target the town’s market, were a “young girl and a young boy”, without giving any more details.

    “If they had succeeded in their plan, the toll would have been terrible,” the second source added.

    The military has started reopening some of the schools closed for the past two years in Borno State. Troops reopened a public school in Gwoza on Saturday.

    Military spokesperson Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said schools were being reopened. Troops continue to recapture territory from the insurgents.

    The UN children’s agency said at least 1.4 million children are displaced by Boko Haram’s uprising.

  • Boroffice: Mimiko desperate for relevance

    Boroffice: Mimiko desperate for relevance

    The senator representing Ondo North, Robert Ajayi Boroffice, has described Governor Olusegun Mimiko as an accidental critic, desperate for relevance.

    Boroffice said the governor “an exemplar of bad governance” cannot advise the Federal Government on sound economic policies.

    The senator, who was reacting to the governor’s statements during the sixth Gani Fawehinmi Annual Memorial Lecture in Akure, said the governor was using the programme to promote anti-people policies, which the late Fawehinmi fought against.

    “Governor Mimiko is an emerging accidental critic, who is desperate for political relevancy and has persistently fired shots at President Muhammadu Buhari even at the slightest chance since there is virtually no on-going activity or project in Ondo State.

    “He is advised to reflect on his new found role because it is absurd, hypocritical and likewise nonsensical for a renowned exemplar of bad governance to advise the Federal Government on sound economic policies,” Boroffice said.

    He said Mimiko was a beneficiary of the President’s sound economic policies.

    “Nigerians now testify to the significant improvement in power supply.

    “The Federal Government has unveiled an economic blueprint that places more emphasis on investment in people, education, job creation and social sectors to reduce poverty; diversification of the economy in agriculture, technology, manufacturing and entertainment; national school feeding scheme and the conditional cash transfer to N25 million poorest households in the country.”

  • Ibe desperate to help Liverpool

    Ibe desperate to help Liverpool

    Anglo-Nigerian winger, Jordon Ibe, is desperate to play an important role for Liverpool in the remaining matches of the English Premier League (EPL) season.

    The youngster has been missing in action since he sustained a knee injury during the Reds‘ UEFA Europa League defeat against Turkish side Besiktas on 26th February.

    Ibe spent the majority of the first half of the current campaign on loan at English Championship side Derby County, before returning to Anfield in winter and making his mark on the first-team.

    The 19-year-old has been going through series of light training, but Liverpool are yet to put a timescale on a potential return.

    “I’m enjoying it [training] and hopefully I can push on now, keep doing the gym sessions and hopefully get back into training soon and play again,” Ibe told Liverpool’s official website.

    “I was a bit nervous coming back because I hadn’t been out on the grass for four weeks, but everything is going well. It was the ligament on the side of my knee and they said I could be out for six to eight weeks, but everything has gone smoothly from here and hopefully I can crack on now and get back in action.

    “Things happen for a reason so hopefully I can just learn from this, build up the strength in my knee and come back stronger and hopefully be even better.”

    Ibe has an option to choose to play for either England or Nigeria and recent by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has alerted England to fast-track Ibe to their senior set-up to prevent him from being snapped up by Nigeria.

    According to reports monitored by SL10.ng, Ibe has been considered for an invitation to the Three Lions.

    He could be included in the England set-up for the friendly trip to face the Republic of Ireland in June and a qualifier against Slovania a week later.

    Ibe has already represented England at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-20 levels but he also qualifies to play for Nigeria through his father David and the former African champions, Nigeria will use all the available opportunities to convince him to wear the Green and White shirt of Nigeria.

  • This desperate descent into chaos

    That Monday, as the constitution was again suspended by the state … Mount Olympus bent its knees so that the country could slide easily into the sea; and it did

    Along the way, Nigeria’s various governments appear to have had only one thing on their minds: just surviving, even if at the expense of the people. It seems they have always existed just not to be booted out by any of the waiting predatory groups of adventurers making forays into just any territory that promises wealth, fame and power without borders. On account of this preoccupation, dear reader, your average governments have never had your or my past, present and future on their minds. I think they have left all that to you and I to plot out in the best way we can. This is why most of us have now taken to providing all our own amenities like water, electricity, roads, hospitals… Right now, I am trying to see how to apply for a licence to declare my house a local government HQ. You ask if I can do that? Yes, but wait a minute now; let me just check the country’s constitution which we do not seem to understand nor care much for.

    In truth, not many of us have paid much attention to that constitution. The blessed thing is supposed to guide our thoughts, words and deeds as a nation, keep us within the bounds and borders of reasonable stupidity and careful abandonment of sense, and assist us not to wander, somnambulant style, into the territory of our insane neighbours. In truth, all our neighbours are always insane and we are always sensible, right? Anyway, the constitution is supposed to guarantee that even though we belong to a small microcosm of defined monkeys, we are housed within well-defined walls of human authority.

    Strangely though, our successive governments always swear to uphold it yet they make light of the strength of the constitution to transmute us into something reasonably resembling human beings. In short, they do not let the thing make us human. They thwart it, manipulate it, mishandle it and bandy it around as if it were some weightless tome. Indeed, they seem to have turned its weighty matters into chaff so weightless it is blown around by nothing heavier than breeze.

    If the blessed constitution were to go around with a cane, nearly every one of us would have been thwacked in our behinds with great gusto. There are enough evidences and then some to show how we as individuals and governments have defied due processes of instituting and removing people into and from offices, blocked others’ roads, and made life miserable for others. There are enough evidences and then some to show inappropriate appropriations, misappropriations, financial misgivings, governmental recklessness, and so on. Now, to top up all these inappropriate behaviours, the state is actively engaged in encouraging the growth and sustenance of sectional militias.

    States as a unit normally flee from situations that bring about the disintegration of the law. This means that the state normally comes down heavy on any unauthorised group of people who arm themselves and behave in a military fashion such as fighting an individual or the rest of the country. This is why the rest of the country has ostensibly been up in arms against the boko haram. I say ostensibly because there are many things we the people do not seem to understand regarding the state’s response to that group. It would appear that, rather than quash the group, the state has been doing some abracadabra with it (the group, that is) for reasons best known to it (the state, that is).

    Lately though, Nigeria has been showing some hard-to-understand sleights of hand with the other militias resident within the walls of the country. To begin with, that militias exist within the country is bad, very bad. It is worse that, rather than go all out to exterminate them with the force of the law by hurling the constitution at them, the state appears now to be doing business with them; it is giving them contracts! Seriously?!

    There was first the Niger Delta militant force which constituted itself into a fighting force. True, the region had its legitimate grievances of utter and callous neglect by the country, especially as it produces the nation’s resources at great cost to it. I would be equally aggrieved if I were that region. This column has reiterated that the response of the government was not well thought out or thought through. That region had legions of grievances, many of which could be replicated in other regions of the country. The thing to have done was to spread the resources round the country in an even way such that no one would feel left out. Any mathematician would tell you that whatever you do to one side of an equation must be replicated on the other side to achieve balance at the end. So please don’t think I’m the bright one here; it’s the mathematicians.

    By giving people pay-outs in the name of amnesty, the country is only breeding a set of louts not primed for self-sustaining work, a result that time only will reveal in all its immensity. As it is now, youths from that region are not being taught to regard integrity as a necessary aspect of personality development. They are being taught to look down on work as something others do to keep their (i.e. the youths) souls together. In short, the country is corrupting the souls of these youths. How do I know this? From my little corner of the country, I hear that there are specific hotels in Abuja which house these youths doing nothing from morn till eve but ‘just spending money.’

    As if that were not enough, this government has gone ahead to give them ‘pipeline protection contracts’; another name for another set of pay-outs. Alarmed, the rest of us have looked on. Then the government has gone on to not only recognise a hitherto banned militia, the OPC, but has also given it its own share of the national contract to also ‘protect pipelines’. Seriously, where are we going with all these state dole-outs?

    It seems that Nigeria is running into chaos with ‘automatic alacrity’ and gusto. It became obvious last week Monday when a part of the city of Lagos was seized hey presto by a collection of overpaid, overindulged and state-pampered groups in the name of a protest. The constitution is clear on the conduct of assemblies and groups. That Monday, that constitution was again suspended by the state as the group not only brandished weapons but shot randomly in the glare of the police who not only did nothing but escorted them around. In the name of the law, there should have been some arrests; but that day, Mount Olympus bent its knees so that the country could slide easily into the sea; and it did.

    As I have always maintained on this column, an election is only an election. God willing, this country will outlive many elections yet. The prayer is that the country will still serve many generations. Yet, many of us will lie on our death beds in old age wondering what all the fuss was about, what all the desperation was about. At that time, we will wish for a return of time to correct things but time would not grant us that wish.

    There is still time to rescue the country and the time is now. It starts by honouring the contents of the constitution, not throwing it to the dogs on account of one person’s ambition or desperation. Let us be officials and gentlemen in the matter of the elections and in all else. All that make for eye-sores and ear-sores should be done away with. Remember, there is God o, even in elections.

  • ‘2015 poll: Jonathan is frustrated, desperate’

    ‘2015 poll: Jonathan is frustrated, desperate’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) described yesterday the use of foul language at President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaigns as a sign of desperation and frustration.

    Its National Secretary, Mallam Mala Buni, said the party would democratically defend its votes in next month’s elections, contrary to insinuations that it would use other means.

    The party, he added, is committed to a violence-free poll.

    Speaking on his party’s position on the next month’s elections with reporters in Abuja, Buni said: “That (foul language) tells you the President’s desperation. He knows certainly he is losing the election. You see for somebody to say Gen. Muhammadu Buhari represents darkness and President Jonathan represents light, maybe he is not in Nigeria.

    “As a sitting President or a ruling party, what is expected of the PDP or Jonathan is to enumerate their achievements. When we are talking of Nigeria now, our number one priority is a consensus that we need security. We need to secure the environment first; we need to secure the country first before any other thing.

    “It is all out of desperation. It is frustration because if you don’t have anything to say, you will mount the podium to say things that are not having any direct link with the people you are talking to.

    “For somebody who fails to secure the environment or his own territory, will he be considered to be representing light? And will somebody who everybody knows has a track record of integrity be representing darkness? That comes only from a party like the PDP.

    “They should have buried themselves in shame. All these things that they are saying are giving us more followers because everybody knows they are not telling the truth.

    “What we expected will be their driving force or drive the process of their campaign would have been their achievements.

    “You can now see out of desperation and emptiness, they don’t have anything to offer than attacking our candidate, Gen. Buhari, or attacking APC. So, you can now see the desperation. And that tells you they know they are losing the election.