The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria

  • NLC threatens to join ASUU strike

    NLC threatens to join ASUU strike

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday threatened to join the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in solidarity strike if the Federal Government failed to address the body’s demands.

    NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar, made the threat at the opening ceremony of the “2013 Rain School’’ in Uyo.

    “We call on the federal government to have meaningful dialogue with ASUU with a view to implementing the agreement.

    “The state governments should equally obey the law and pay minimum wage to teachers and the local government workers as well as the 27.5 per cent teacher’s enhanced salaries.

    “Should these strikes persist, workers of Nigeria will not hesitate to join them in solidarity,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Omar as saying at the forum.

    Omar said the modules of the rain school were designed to train members of affiliate unions and state councils of the NLC.

    “This is in order to equip them with necessary skills to empower and protect their rights at workplace.’’

    He said the theme of the 2013 Rain School was imperative due to the obvious violation of workers’ rights in the workplace and in the larger society.

     

  • ‘Why Nigerian courts exercise universal jurisdiction over war crimes’

    Can Nigeria exercise univer-

    sal jurisdiction over crimes

    against humanity as contained in the Rome Statute?

    No, say experts.

    But Nigerian courts may exercise such universal jurisdiction over war crimes under the Geneva Convention Act because it covers all nationalities, regardless of the place where the offence was committed.

    These were part of the issues discussed at the 7th Training Course on International Criminal Justice and its Administration, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) at its University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Yaba campus.

    The adoption of the Rome Statute in 2002 ushered in a new era in the administration of criminal justice worldwide.

    This Statute established the International Criminal Court (ICC) and vested it with jurisdiction to try a category of offences therein described as crimes against humanity no matter where such crimes are committed.

    As a result of this, many countries of the world have tried and at times convicted non citizens for crimes committed outside their shores.

    NIALS Director-General Prof. Epiphany Azinge (SAN) said not many lawyers were acquainted with the Rome Statute – the law setting up the ICC.

    Besides, all the technicalities, doctrines and principles that characterise the Rome Statute is not taught in any university or faculty of law, nor is it normally part and parcel of programmes mounted by institutions and organisations.

    “The institute has taken it up as our responsibility annually to train new participants and build capacity in this area.

    “We appreciate the fact that increasingly across the world, particularly in Africa, we have been having instances of atrocities committed that all fall within the definition of and characterisation of the Rome Statute either as crimes against humanity or genocide and all the other components that make up the jurisdiction of the ICC.

    “We also train people, including prosecutors, to understand exactly, the principles and doctrines that apply to the ICC and those that can be domesticated as it were, that is, those techniques that can be used internally.

    “But more significantly, we have noticed increasingly that Africans are playing very significant and dominant roles in the ICC and Nigerians have also had their say in the running of the ICC.

    “To that extent, we feel there is need to build capacity in that area and introduce greater number of Nigerians to the workings of the ICC so that we can always replenish our number.

    “In other words, by the time a set of Nigerians leave the ICC as prosecutors, other Nigerians will go in and fill their positions,” Azinge said.

    The NIALS boss spoke on the training’s benefit to participants.

    “The armed forces and other participants are those who would also want to know the limits of the engagements by making sure that they adhere strictly to the rules of engagement as far as warfare or any combat activities are concerned.

    “So, the involvement of the military in our training programme is one that is welcome because naturally it will have to tailor the way the military will behave when they have assignments internationally or locally to make sure that they apply and adhere strictly to the rules of engagement.

    “With all these and all the faculties that are at our disposal, we believe that the programme is one that has been running well and this one will not be an exception.

    “We believe that by the time the participants go, they will be better enriched in knowledge and understanding of the workings of the ICC and of course, the issue of justice system as it affects the ICC and the administration of the ICC in general,” Azinge added.

    Former Dean, Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Prof. Demola Popoola, said the adoption of the Rome Statute has opened a new chapter in international law .

    “A comprehensive legal and institutional regime now exists in the field of international criminal justice”, he said.

    He quoted former United Naitons Secretary-General Mr. Koffi Annan, as saying that the Rome Statute “will not only affect the conduct of states, but quite importantly as well guide and shape the behaviour of individuals. It is a landmark development in the evolution of international criminal law and the annals of human history.”

    Discussing the sources of international criminal law, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Chima Centus Nweze, said the evolution of the notion of international crimes has an engaging history.

    According to him, historically, the concept of crimes was un-known to classical international law; international torts (also known as “delicts”) being the only form of wrongs recognised by the law of nations.

    “Indeed, the declaration of a ‘war of aggression’ as ‘an international crime’ was only achieved as late as the 1920s.

    “This was followed by attempts at evolving means for ‘ensuring the repression of international crimes’.

    “Even then, the concept of crimes only gained full endorsement in the lexicon of international law when the law accepted the concepts that pirates were ‘enemies of mankind’ and that piracy was ‘an offence against the law of nations.

    “Prior to this, it must be emphasised that domestic law had recorded breath-taking strides in this direction. Thus, there is evidence that the United States of America was a forerunner in this regard,” Nweze said.

    On the charasterictics of international crimes, Nweze said they bear certain peculiar characteristics that distinguish them from ordinary municipal crimes.

    He said they are offences that violate the bristle bond of humanity; hence, an offender is seen as hostis humani generis – an enemy of mankind.

    “The implication of this attribute of international crimes is far, reaching, thus, notwithstanding the similarity in the nomenclature of such offences in international criminal statutes with domestic crimes; their most striking feature is the dissimilarity in their characterisation.

    “Thus, crimes against humanity are distinguished from crimes in domestic penal statutes by the threshold test which requires that they be committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians and that the perpetrator had knowledge of the attack,” Nweze said.

    The Court of Appeal justice, a former university teacher, said the concept of universal jurisdiction is only invoked in relation to international crimes and finds firm roots in customary international law.

    “It’s true meaning, according to Prof. Theodore Meron, is that ‘International law permits any states to apply its laws to certain offences even in the absence of territorial, nationality or other accepted contacts with the offender or the victim.

    “A state exercises universal jurisdiction when it prosecute crimes committed outside its borders, without regard to the nationality of the perpetrator or victim, the location of the crime or other specific link to the prosecuting state.

    “The provenance of the authority for the exercise of universal jurisdiction is purely doctrinal. It is traceable to the principle that every state has an interest in bringing to justice the perpetrators of particular crimes of international concern.

    “As already shown above, the offenses involved in the exercise of this jurisdiction violate the bristle bond of humanity.

    “That is why customary international law permits states to exercise universal jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes.

    “Universal jurisdiction is exercisable by Nigerian courts over war crimes under the Geneva Convention Acts for it covers persons of all nationalities, regardless of the place where the offence was committed,” Nweze said.

    A former international prosecutor and senior UN lawyer Charles Adeogun-Phillips, said no individual is exempt from ICC prosecution on account of official functions or position in government.

    According to him, the act of aggression can include, among others: invasion, military occupation and/or annexation by use of force, blockage of ports or coasts if it is considered a manifest violation of the UN charter.

    “Except when the situation is referred to the court by the United Nations Security Council, the ICC has no jurisdiction over crimes of aggression committed in the territory of a state which is not a party to the Rome Statue or by its citizens,” the lawyer said.

    He listed crimes against humanity to include murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation, persecution, enforced disappearance of persons, the crime of apartheid, among others.

     

  • Insecurity is a threat to Nigeria’s existence, says lawyer

    Insecurity is a threat to the coun-try’s unity and requires more than use of force to tackle, a lawyer and dispute resolution expert, Adedapo Tunde-Olowu, has said.

    “I do not think Nigeria has faced a more serious threat to its existence as a nation since the civil war ended in 1970,” he said.

    He said to end insurgency, the government must address its causes holistically.

    “As you are aware, the security situation, in many parts of Nigeria is fragile and unpredictable. Terrorist attack, civil disturbances and kidnapping have become the order of the day in many parts of the country. Tensions have exacerbated between the followers of major religions in the country

    “Short of all the rhetoric, the turbulence we are experiencing in Nigeria today has its roots in religious, socio-economic and political factors. Religion cannot be divorced from politics and the level of our country’s economic development,” he said.

    Tunde-Olowu, who is a partner at Lagos law firm Aelex, spoke at a media briefing on its forthcoming 9th Annual Lecture titled: In God’s Name: Politics, Religion and Economic Development. It will hold on Thursday at the AGIP Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, by 2pm.

    “Given our security situation, you will agree that the theme of this year’s lecture is relevant and speaks directly to our current situation.

    “In Nigerian politics, there is a continuous balancing of religious interests. I must say that the interaction between politics and religion is not necessarily negative.

    “The major religions of the world emphasise the core values of accountability, honesty and service to mankind. If these values are imbibed by our leaders, we will certainly have a more stable and progressive country.

    “Unfortunately, it appears that religion is being used by politicians to secure political gains and silence the opposition,” he said.

    Tunde-Olowu said insecurity has cost Nigeria a lot. “Stability is an important factor for attracting investments to any country.

    “No foreign investor will invest his money in a country plagued by instability and civil unrest. Even the local businesses cannot thrive under these conditions.

    “We must remember that Nigeria has a mono-culture economy, which is plagued by corruption and a huge infrastructural deficit. Violence and insurgence simply aggravate our existing problems and make the country an unlikely destination for business.

    “These developments will certainly have a negative effect on our fragile economy and stall our economic growth.”

     

  • Independence of electoral umpires in Nigeria

    Independence of electoral umpires in Nigeria

    INTRODUCTION:

    Regardless of the political machinery they operate, most modern societies now have formal and informal mechanisms for regulating and legitimising access to public power. Societies where representative governance has taken root have gone further, entrenching universal adult suffrage and, with it, regular free and fair elections to key public offices. To complete the democratic paraphernalia, these societies tend to have special umpires to ensure that elections mandated by the ethos of democratic governance are not a sham and that the results thereof are a genuine result of the exercise of universal adult suffrage. The umpires in question are electoral umpires; they are state or quasi-state apparatuses with varying measures of autonomy constituted in or for any given society to fulfil functions and purposes relative to the conduct of such elections as required in free democratic societies.

    2.As electoral umpires are tools for exercising universal suffrage, the level of independence they enjoy is intricately connected to the enjoyment of the right of franchise. The independence of electoral umpires is therefore an important factor in any assessment of a country’s democratic credentials. However, two juxtaposed but intertwined factors are germane to the independence of electoral umpires: the aspirations of predominant political force and the rule of law. The one determines whether there is universal suffrage while the other ensures that electoral umpires are kept on legal watch which guarantees the level of independence the country’s level of political development is able to allow the electoral umpire.

    3.In the United Kingdom (UK), the conduct of elections is by an independent body set up by parliament known as the The Electoral Commission. The Commission regulates party and election finance and sets standard for well-run elections. It supports a healthy democracy, where elections and referendums are premised upon principles of trust, participation and are under no political influence.

    4.The major functions of the Commission include registration of political parties, ensuring that the populace understand and follow the rules on party and election finance, publish details of where parties and candidates get money from and where and how the money is spent, ensure that people understand that it is important to register to vote, know how to vote and indeed vote at elections.

    The commission is headed by 10 commissioners supported by a Chief Executive and an Executive team. The Commissioner are accountable to Parliament but are independent of political parties.

    5.The Commission is largely perceived to be independent of the Government in power and its decisions are usually accepted by political parties and the populace as the true outcome of elections.

    This commentary is, however, a brief assessment of the independence of electoral umpires. Its objective is to survey the effect of predominant political influence on the independence of the electoral umpires we have had in Nigeria’s quest for democratic governance.

     

    The relevance of impartiality to electoral umpireship:

     

    6.Whatever political theorists may say about its propriety, Nigerian courts have held that the primary purpose of an election is to determine the wishes of the majority of the electorates. See GWADABAWA V KWANGI [1998] LRECN 219 at 222. To this end and in a plethora of cases, the appelate Courts in Nigeria –i.e. the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Nigeria– have declared the overriding importance of the actual and perceived independence electoral umpires. Thus in INEC V. OSHIMOLE [2008] 3 LRECN 649, the Court of Appeal frowned at a separate Appeal filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against the Ruling of a Tribunal. The Court of Appeal had the following to say about the duty of agencies and officials charged by law to conduct elections and the impropriety of such agencies and/or public officials appealing against decisions resulting from legal contests between candidates at elections:

    “INEC as I said earlier has the exclusive power to conduct elections and declare results; it does not share that power with anyone. It conducts the elections and its mandate is to see that the elections are free and fair. To that end, INEC is expected to and must be seen as an impartial umpire. “Impartial” means “not supporting one person or group more than another; neutral; unbiased” –See Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary’, 6th Ed. INEC and its officials appear to have derailed from their role in this case.” [Emphasis supplied]

    7.A similar observation was made by the Supreme Court in AG FEDERATION V ABUBAKAR & 3 ORS [2007] 4 SC (PTII) 62 where it was held as follows:

    “Also the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) by its statutory existence is an independent body with constitutional powers to conduct elections in Nigeria. It must not only be an umpire, it must be seen, in the eyes of reasonable men, to be an impartial umpire in the conduct of an election. INEC must never by act or omission place itself in a position where imputations of partiality in favour of one party against another party is levelled against it. Neutrality must be the watch word of the body – it must always remain fair and focused.”

    8.The above stated position has in the recent past been taken to heart by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and in so doing, INEC has largely restrained itself and refrained from contesting the decisions of first instance Tribunals in elections conducted by INEC. This has gone a long way in also enhancing the credibility rating of INEC in the electoral process.

    9.This cannot be said of State Electoral bodies that are saddled with the conduct of elections into Local Governments. In the 2011 Local Government Election, conducted in Lagos State, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) vigorously contested every decision by the Local Government Election Tribunals where other political parties than the Ruling Political Party in Lagos State were declared as the winner of the Local Government Elections. Appeals were filed by LASIEC and it was a surprise that the Local Government Election Appeal Tribunals constituted by serving High Court Judges in the state did not follow the example and admonition of the Appelate Courts in INEC V OSHIOMOLE (Supra) and A.G. FEDERATION V ABUBAKAR & ORS (Supra).

    It is hoped that the Appellate Courts would continue to set the standards and the Lower Courts would take a cue as this would enhance the credibility of the States electoral bodies.

    10.From the foregoing therefore, it would seem that the courts in Nigeria equate the independence of electoral umpire to actual impartiality as may be gleaned from the conduct of the umpire.

    The integrity and efficiency of the electoral umpire not only affects the conduct of an election but also determines the collective mood of the country before, during and after major elections. Save for the June 12, 1993 presidential election which was adjudged be the freest and fairest in the history of electoral contests in Nigeria. Other elections in Nigeria have been severely criticised by observers, analysts, politicians and social commentators. Some of the criticism are justified while others have remained largely partisan. In reacting to the flawed elections in post-independence Nigeria which ushered Sir Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister, Chinua Achebe, the late author, poet and acclaimed social critic in his very last major work “There was a Country, A Personal History of Biafra” said as follows:

    “Later it was discovered that a courageous English junior civil servant named Harold Smith had been selected by no other than Sir James Robertson to oversee the rigging of Nigeria’s first election “so that its compliant friends in [Northern Nigeria] would win power, dominate the country, and serve British interests after independence”. Despite the enticements of riches and bribes (even a knighthood, we are told), smith refused to be part of this elaborate hoax to fix Nigeria’s elections, and he swiftly became one of the casualties of this mischief. Smith’s decision was a bold choice that cost him his job, career, and reputation (at least until recently)”.

    Thus elections in Nigeria began to suffer serious criticisms right from the beginning of Nationhood.

    Electoral umpires of Nigeria

    11.History teaches that across Africa political life in the pre-independence period must be divided into the pre-colonial and colonial period. Also, as a study of the many well-run African empires were ruined by colonial meddling and interventions. The idea that special bodies are needed to moderate the entrance of suitable persons to wield public office was well known to the tribes constituting Nigeria long before our contact with the West. In the old Oyo Empire for instance, as far as the high office of Alafin of Oyo was concerned, the Oyo Mesi, made up of seven councillors of the empire, performed almost all the functions we might ascribe to any modern day electoral umpires except perhaps the conduct of elections. And so far as the right of a people to shape their political destiny is allowed to flourish, once the selfish interest of imperialists is accounted for it becomes clear that bodies like the Oyo Mesi were only as useful as any electoral umpire constituted to serve the powers that be.

    12.However, that was before the imperialists invaded Africa on a self-appointed mission to ‘civilise’. The British divide and rule policy of colonial governance interrupted the primordial systems evolved over time for filling public office and corrupted many of them. The deposition of Oba Ovonranwen and the exiling of King Jaja of Opobo are clear examples. And this is well documented in accounts of political life in the pre-independence period. (See: Gazetteer of Ilorin Provinvce compiled and published in 1929 by The Hon. H.B. Hermon-Hodge -Colonial Resident of Ilorin; Adu Boahen, Topics in West African History [Hong Kong: Longman, 1966] at 136). In summary, governance in the colonial period was generally at the pleasure of the colonialist and, despite the cordon sanitaire of indirect rule, it is now common knowledge that the words democracy and colonialism do not and can never mix.

    13.However, in 1923 following the coming into effect of the Clifford Constitution in 1922, elections were held for the first time in Nigeria at which adult males earning up to British 100 shillings and who were resident in Lagos or Calabar were allowed to vote. As the Clifford’s Constitution established no electoral body to conduct elections, the colonial authorities had direct oversight of the electoral process so that before the elections, in exercise of his powers under the Nigeria Legislative Order in Council of 1922, the Governor appointed registering officers in the municipal areas of Lagos and Calabar to issue notices in gazettes to persons claiming to be entitled to be registered as voters.

    The electoral umpires at that stage of the colonial venture were therefore the registering officers who were obviously subject to direct control of the colonial government. This was the position until the 1958 Nigerian (Electoral Provisions) Order in Council was promulgated, which created the Electoral Commission of Nigeria which was charged with the responsibility to prepare voters register and conduct elections. It was largely modelled after the British Electoral commission which was earlier discussed.

    14.As the foregoing account of electoral umpireship in colonial times reveals, imperial Britain which was the predominant political influence of the time was without doubt the real electoral umpire for Nigeria in the colonial period.

     

     

    That and the limited franchise granted Nigerians at the time meant that imperial Britain was very much in charge of whatever passed for ‘electoral process’ at that time. It is therefore not surprising that eminent Nigerians have alleged that the British colonial expedition to Nigeria tried to use the Electoral Commission of Nigeria (ECN), established to conduct 1959 elections to impose Northern Nigerians at the helm of affairs after independence. This sentiment was expressed in Chinua Achebe’s book earlier referred to.

    After Independence in 1960 the Electoral Act of 1962 was enacted for the whole of Nigeria as its first electoral law. However, the law did no more than re-state the 1958 Electoral Regulations so that the electoral umpire remained the Electoral Commission. After the military coup in 1966, the Electoral Act was suspended and the ECN dissolved so that Nigeria was without an electoral umpire until the 24-man FEDECO1 Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) was constituted by the Obasanjo military administration through the Electoral Decree of 1977. FEDECO’s functions included the conduct of elections, delimitation of constituencies and registration of political parties – much the same as the INEC, on paper at least. In 1976, the General Olusegun Obasanjo military administration appointed Chief Michael Ani to be the chairman of FEDECO for the 1979 elections. In 1982 another Electoral Act was enacted for Nigeria which defined the duties of the already existing Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) in greater detail.

    15.By the end of the second republic, the Nigerian Army had litrally dismantled the country’s political structure and become Nigeria’s predominant political influence. It was under these circumstances that FEDECO was dissolved by the General Mohammadu Buhari junta on the 31st of December, 1983. Another military junta led by General Ibrahim Babangida established the National Electoral Commission (NEC) in 1987 to administer the Juntas transition programme to civil rule. The NEC was hailed as a step in the right direction till Babangida’s painfully elongated transition programme revealed that it was merely a weapon for tenure elongation, a view confirmed when the 1993 elections adjudged to be the freest and fairest election in Nigeria was annulled. The public perception of electoral umpireship was at the lowest after the annulment. Everyone in the country saw Professor Henry Nwosu’s NEC as toothless and unable to assert its independence under Babaginda’s Rule of the gun.

    16.In 1993, the Abacha led junta dissolved Bangida’s NEC and, in December 1995, established the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) to replace it. The general perception was that the only difference between NEC and NECON were the two last alphabets of the NECON’s acronym. And although NECON conducted elections to Local Government councils and National Assembly, it was common knowledge that NECON had one overriding agenda: to perpetuate Abacha’s military rule by transforming him to a ‘democratically elected president.’ Following General Abacha’s sudden passing in 1998, General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s Administration dissolved NECON and established the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in August 1998. INEC comprises a Chairman and 12 National Commissioners, two members being drawn from each of the six geopolitical zones of the country. Like its predecessors, INEC has been riddled with criticisms and labelled a lackey of whoever wields the reins of power. The same criticism pervaded the era of Professor Maurice Iwu, a fine gentleman but with the odds stacked against him, he could only manage to deliver amidst condemnations particularly from the opposition to the Ruling Political Party.

    The perception persisted until the coming of Professor Attairu Jega as head of INEC and the gains of opposition parties in some states of the Federation reduced significantly the barrage of criticism of the Electoral umpire.

    17.The current Electoral umpire for National Elections in Nigeria today is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and it is established by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Establishment) Act Cap 15 laws of the Federation of Nigeria (the Act). Section 4 of the Act spells out the functions of the INEC. These include the organization, conduct and supervision of elections, registration of political parties, monitor the organization and operation of Political Parties including their finances, voter registration and the preparation, maintenance and revision of voters registers, monitoring of political campaigns, provision of rules and regulations governing Political Parties amongst other functions.

    18.It is to be noted that Item 22 of the Executive Legislative List under the Part 1 of the Second Schedule (Legislative Powers) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as altered provides that the Federal Government and by extension INEC may only conduct election into the offices of the President and Vice President or Governor and Deputy Governor and any other office to which a person may be elected under the Constitution excluding election into a Local Government Council or any office in such council.

    19.Section 2 of the Act deals with the membership of the Commission while Section 3 deals with the tenure of office of members. Also contained in the Act are subsidiary legislation dealing with guidelines for elections into offices of the President and National Assembly.

    20.While INEC has remained very active in its role as organizer, conductor and superior of elections, its role as designed in section 4 of the Act with regards to monitoring the finances and operations of political parties (Section 4c, 4d and 4e) have been at a low ebb. The independence and impartiality of INEC is not to be measured only during elections but in the manner in which it carries out its supervisory role over the operations and finances of political parties even in between electoral contests. The supervisory role that INEC should play over political parties as aforesaid should be comparable to what the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does with the banks and banking institutions or what other regulatory bodies do within their spheres.

    21.INEC must actively engage political parties and supervise their operations and finances. Rules and penalties for breaches must be well defined and spelt out and the interaction must be in public space. This will have a positive impact on the public and improve the perception of the public on the impartiality of INEC. The general public will therefore having perceived INEC as a effective and impartial regulator carry the same mind set into elections. It has been said that the business of politics is too serious to be left in the hands of politicians. INEC must step up its game and improve significantly on its regulatory role.

     

    CONCLUSION

     

    From the foregoing, it is clear that the Electoral Umpires we have had in Nigeria have never really had any measure of independence which would ensure their impartiality. In the colonial times, imperial Britain was the hand beneath the gloves of electoral umpireship. Under the military, the various electoral umpires were either put in place to elongate tenure (Babangida) or to outrightly defeat clamour for democratic governance (Abacha). Under the 1999 constitution, things have not changed much and the INEC is generally considered to be partial and in favour of whoever happens to be the government of the day. Therefore, in accordance with the judicial pronouncements reproduced earlier, it is fair to assert that Nigeria has never really had an independent electoral umpire and the lesson here is the futility of embarking on journey towards democratic self-governance which does not have a fully independent umpire both in laws setting up the body and in the perception of the public. This malaise is not restricted to the National umpire, it is in fact worse with the states electoral bodies saddled with the conduct of Local Government Elections.

    ON CHIEF AFE BABALOLA SAN

    “I have known Aare Afe Babalola all my adult life and he has always been a reference point for many in the legal profession in Nigeria and overseas. I remember that in 2003, I picked up courage and approached him one evening at Emanuel Chambers. I was straight to the point. I asked for his guidance in my quest to take silk. He asked 3 questions:

    1. When I was called to the Bar,

    2. How long I had established my own practice

    3. The highest fee I had charged as professional fees at the time and lastly

    4. If I owned my own residence

    I think he was satisfied with my answers and he allowed me to visit his chambers every weekend to discuss my progress until 2005 when I was called into the Inner Bar.

    Aare Afe Babalola is not only a colossus in the legal profession, he has also firmly established perhaps the best privately run and funded university in Nigeria, that is, the Afe Babalola University in Ado Ekiti”.

  • QUOTE OF THE DAY

    QUOTE OF THE DAY

    “We want to ban European refineries from buying un-certificated oil. 400, 000 barrels a day is a huge loss. We need to get traceability of oil to avoid theft. The oil companies are involved in this and everybody is making big money.

    The bunkering tankers are better equipped than the Nigerian Navy, This is a huge international organised crime. We did it with diamond; we can also do it with oil.”

    Mitchell Rivasi (Acting Co- President ACP- EU) on the need for Europe to ban stolen oil from Nigeria.

  • Nigeria worse hit by U.S. shale oil

    Nigeria worse hit by U.S. shale oil

    Rising shale oil production in the United States has slashed light oil imports from countries such as Nigeria and Algeria by more than half in the past two years. The unexpectedly rapid growth in shale oil output has rightly been termed a supply shock by seasoned observers, but it is also a quality shock.

    “US light tight oil is distinctive in that rising production is causing an unexpected quality shift in the global crude mix,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. “The shock waves of rising US shale gas and light tight oil… are reaching virtually all recesses of the global oil market,” the IEA wrote in its 2013 Medium-Term Oil Market Report.

    “These powerful forces are redefining the way oil is being produced, processed, traded and consumed around the world. There is hardly any aspect of the global oil supply chain that will not undergo some measure of transformation over the next five years.”

    In the first three months of 2013, US refiners cut their crude imports to just 681 million barrels, down from 785-800 million barrels in the same period in 2012 and 2011. The reduction has fallen entirely on light grades, those that compete most directly with similar domestic production from shale plays such as the Bakken and Eagle Ford. Imports or medium and heavy crudes have actually risen over the past two years.

    According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), imports of light crudes with an API gravity of 35 degrees or more fell to just 76 million in the first quarter of 2013 from 130 million in the same quarter in 2012 and from 162 million a year before that.

    Production down

    Imports from Nigeria, which produces mostly very light low sulphur oils, have fallen more than 52 million barrels, while crudes from Algeria were down by 21 million barrels. By contrast, imports of medium and heavy grades testing 30 degrees API or lower are slightly higher since 2011.

    Legal restrictions prevent US oil production being exported. But by displacing an equivalent volume of light crude from Nigeria and Algeria, and forcing those countries to find new markets in Europe and Asia, US shale oil is effectively making its way onto the global market.

    In consequence, the global crude slate is becoming lighter (and sweeter), radically altering the pricing relationship between light-sweet and heavy-sour oils, and slashing the traditional premium refiners have to pay for light grades such as Brent.

    At the same time, demand from refiners is shifting to heavier oils which yield more diesel, as improved vehicle fuel efficiency and ethanol blending mandates nibble away at gasoline consumption in the US.

    North American shale production is expected to expand another 2.3 million barrels per day by 2018, and account for well over 25 per cent of global incremental output, according to IEA. Before the shale revolution, the consensus view was that the global crude slate would become heavier and sourer, as dwindling output from high-quality fields in the North Sea and elsewhere forced refiners increasingly to rely on marginal supplies of heavy, tarry crudes from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Canada.

    Refiners in the US and Asia responded by investing heavily in units to strip out the undesirable sulphur and convert the heavy residuals left over from processing heavier and sourer crudes.

    Shale has upended all those calculations. Crude from the Bakken typically tests at 40 degrees API or even more. Saudi oils are often 30 degrees or lower. Venezuela’s crude is often below 20 degrees and sometimes as low as 10.

    Shale oil is a “good fit for some US refineries which had seemed on the brink of closure, (but) the supply boom is proving a challenge as well as an opportunity for others, which had bet on a widening heavy-light price spread and invested massively in upgrading capacity,” according to the IEA.

    Lifeline

    The impact is not confined to the US. As light crudes from Nigeria and Algeria are displaced from North American refineries, they must find new markets in Europe and Asia, where they compete with local supplies such as Brent and Malaysia’s Tapis.

    The unexpected lightening of the crude slate has thrown a lifeline to refineries on the US East Coast and in Europe which had failed to invest in expensive conversion equipment. It has also shifted the balance of power within Opec even further away from light producers in Africa and towards the heavier oil producers in the Gulf.

    Rather than selling into the Atlantic Basin, African light oil producers are being forced to reorient their exports towards Asia, where shipping routes are longer, and refiners have more flexibility and can drive a harder bargain, eroding the traditional premiums which their exports have commanded.

  • Nigeria’s economy in bad shape, says US-based economist

    Nigeria’s economy in bad shape, says US-based economist

    A UNITED States-based Developmental Economist, Mr. Odilim Enwegbara, yesterday said the nation’s economy is in bad shape. He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to overhaul his economic management team.

    The economist said the nation’s economy was better under former President Olusegun Obasanjo than under the present administration.

    He asked the President to drop the Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, from his cabinet.

    The economist also urged President Jonathan to call the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, to order on the Rivers State political crisis.

    Enwegbara, who addressed reporters in Abuja, noted that the present members of the nation’s economic team have hijacked the President.

    He said: “To manage the economy is not purely an economic issue. It requires politicians because they are emotionally attached to the problem and they have something at stake, if the economy is not moving well. But it’s not for all those so-called technocrats.

    “The people we have so far called in to manage our economy are incompetent and they have not demonstrated interest in the masses.

    “They come up with cooked-up figures, which I always challenge. But I can tell you that our economy is worse than during Obasanjo’s era.

    “Mr. President should overhaul his cabinet and bring in people who will really transform the economy. He needs such a minister who will tell him: ‘I want to create 10 million jobs in a year’ and he will be able to verify the workability of such proposals.”

    Responding to a question, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-trained economist said he was worried that some members of the Economic Management Team have hijacked the President.

    Enwagbara added: “I am one of those who say, ‘let’s close our borders so that the pressure to import will be closed’.

    “Our monetary and fiscal policies are disjointed and turned upside down. They are not developmental; they are anti-growth, anti-job, anti-everything.

    “But they have hijacked our honest President and clapped hands for him. The man has joined hands with them and also is also clapping.”

    The economist said the problem of the economy has nothing to do with borrowing but diverting the borrowed funds into private pockets and stashing such in foreign economies. He asked the President to drop the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, from his cabinet.

    Enwegbara said: “The problem is the person whom they made the Minister of Finance. I know her since years back. I invited her to MIT to a conference I organised; I respect her. But she cannot manage this economy. She has never managed any economy.

    “She has been a staff of the World Bank, running the politics of World Bank. To manage the economy needs people who are on the ground, who have gone through the process.

    “She has lived outside this country for too long and came back from a broken institution. The system they put in place (World Bank and IMF) is to plunder our economy. You can’t tell me when her children are Americans; she came from the headquarters of American imperialism. I don’t see that patriotism in her.

    “She has to prove to me that she is patriotic. Let her bring her children to the country so that they too will interact with others and they will tell them, see our situation.”

  • A day at Seme border

    A day at Seme border

    Seme, the border town separating Nigeria and Benin Republic, has since gained notoriety as a  haven for smugglers, reports Bukola Afolabi who visited Cotonou, capital of Benin Republic, en route Seme recently  

    To say that Seme, the border community which divides Nigeria and Benin Republic, is synonymous with smuggling is not in doubt. Curiously, the border community didn’t just become notorious overnight, in fact, according to knowledgeable sources, it literally acquired that badge of dishonour centuries ago.

    To the discerning mind, smuggling is what defines the essence of Seme town, but this is not exactly so for first time visitors. Like every first timer, this reporter had paid a whistled trip to Cotonou, capital of Benin Republic, en route Seme recently along with other co-travellers, who in the reporter’s reckoning were probably students attending tertiary educational institutions, traders or businessmen heading for Cotonou or Lagos, the commercial capitals of both countries, ostensibly on business trips.

    A journey of discovery

    A visit to the border shows that the place is in dire need of rehabilitation. The border post is so badly organised that the various security agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Immigration, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Police, operate from mere containers instead of proper offices.

    More shocking is the fact that there is no clear demarcation between the Nigerian side of the border and that of Benin. As a result, anyone could easily cross from one side to the other, as long as they have enough money to grease the palms of the perpetually greedy uniformed personnel there.

    Mrs. Adebola Abiodun, a businesswoman who just started plying the route, told The Nation how and why she decided to trade along the border.

    Mrs. Abiodun, who hitherto worked in one of the new generation banks, recalled that she had to quit the banking job to set up shop on her own at the instance of her husband.

    ”Shortly after I got married, my husband asked me to stop working. He gave me money to start business, and I decided to be selling rice in bags and it was a lucrative business idea. At a point, my sister told me about the potentials in trading to and from Cotonou and I decided to try this line of business. In the past, she used to help me to buy some of the items that I was selling but this time around I decided to follow her to see things for myself,” she began.

    Expatiating, Mrs. Abiodun described with glee the modus operandi deployed by most prospective smugglers desperate to evade customs.

    ”When we get to the border, we would park our car very close the filling station and from that point, we would now take a bike to stamp our passport. Just before we get to where to stamp the passport we would come across different people, some in uniform as well as others who would not be in uniform. Those in uniform are the immigration men who would ask us our mission.”

    Abiodun added that “the first time I went with my sister, we encountered up to five check points before getting to the point where we would stamp our documents. When I asked my sister why she gave them money, she told me that it was the norm in Seme, the border community between Nigeria and Benin.

    “Interestingly, on the Benin side they too also request for money. We left time early in the morning and we got to Seme around 9am and entered Cotonou around 12pm. My sister has a regular Cotonou driver who took us to the market and it was really hectic.

    By 4pm we had finished buying what we wanted. I remember that the driver asked my sister if it was the usual way and she said yes. On getting to the border on our way back in order not to pay at the border we had to contract 15 bike men to help us transport the bags of rice to Badagry.

    So they carried the rice one by one and I discovered that those bike men were living in the neighbouring village of the border. So it was usually difficult for the custom men to stop them and they actually know some of these boys.”

    She continued: “When we get to the boarder we would just stamp our passport and pick our car to drive down to where we are going to pick our goods.

    I was surprised because those boys actually got to Badagry before us. Each bag of rice they carry is N1,500 and some can even carry two bags. Most passengers, especially those who have more bags to carry, prefer to be taken across the border in a tricycle than on a motorcycle because it is cheaper.”

    Complicity of uniformed personnel

    There is an appalling evidence of general complacence on the part of uniformed personnel on the Nigerian side, part of the reason why the porous nature of this border has been the cause of constant anxiety among the country’s leaders and other concerned citizens.

    Between both sides of the divide, there are up to a dozen checkpoints. Illegal immigrants are allowed to pass through each checkpoint unchecked as long as they are prepared to part with some money.

    The fees are not fixed but are usually determined by the security personnel at each checkpoint. You also run into Fatai Adebambo, a fabric merchant who is very familiar with the terrain. He observed that most vehicles that passed through the checkpoints and their passengers were not checked.

    Obviously, the drivers of the vehicles were either well known among the security operatives, some of who wore plain clothes, or they were accompanied by hired ‘agents’ whose job is to negotiate with the former.Sometimes, an illegal immigrant could be charged as much as N10,000.

    Interestingly, the naira, despite its current devalued state, is the preferred currency at the border. Even the Beninoise security operatives at the checkpoints insist on being bribed with the Nigerian currency, rather than the CFA, which is clearly less fancied.

    Apart from the absence of proper vehicle routing and inspection facilities at the border, most of the Nigerian security agencies have been operating inside Beninoise territory since 2001.

    Unconfirmed reports also revealed that customs officials have preference for female smugglers, with whom they have dalliance, a weakness most smugglers now explore.

    “Smugglers use more of the female transporters since the customs officers allegedly release the smuggled goods, especially when such goods are also owned by women,” a source revealed.

    Loss of revenue

    Seme, described as Nigeria’s busiest land border and source of internally generated revenue for the country, ironically is also partly responsible for the decrease in revenue recorded by the Nigerian government as a result of the rise in smuggling activities.

    Corroborating this view, a customs officer who would not be named said it is true that the border town has led to loss of revenue for government as a result of the nefarious activities of smugglers.

    He, however, said it was heartening to note that the customs service had been able to achieve an increase in the revenue from the border post in recent times.

    “About N2 billion was recorded as revenue from that end in the last few months. There is still evidence that the country loses a huge sum of money to smuggling every year.”

    Burgeoning trade in second hand goods

    The border is particularly notorious for car smuggling as there are several smuggling rings operating in the area.Most of them operate side by side with some of the licensed auto marts.A case in point is a popular car mart otherwise known as ‘Britain’.

    It is divided into three equally large sections, namely Senkanji, Mefo, Ritis, Zone Fifa, Autodiale and Al Madina. The complex is owned by a group of businessmen licensed by the Beninoise government.

    A guide conducted The Nation on a tour of some bush tracks used by smugglers to transport Tokunbo vehicles from Benin to Nigeria. “Usually the smugglers prefer to enter Nigeria just before midnight,” a source said.Rice also sells like hot cake too.

    David Ejim, another rice seller, told The Nation that the uniform men on this route are not helping matters.”The fact that the government has banned importation of rice, how does this rice get into the market? Those of us that ply this route discover that custom men do help these smugglers very well because it is a matter of cash.”

    According to Ejim, “They (customs officials) actually open the border for them at midnight to bring in their goods from 12midnight to 2am. That is when you will see them driving through the bush tracks.”

    He pointed out that the tracks eventually lead to Owode, Idi-Iroko or any of the 54 routes recently identified by the Ogun State Command of the NCS.

    At the Benin end of the Seme border, the Krake Market has serviced the needs of the residents of the border community, as well as traders from Nigeria, for many years.

    Here, the main items sold include sugar, fruits, rice and frozen foods. Its strategic position right at the border somewhat suggests that it thrives on the greed of itinerant smugglers, young men and women eager to earn quick money, and their accomplices among the uniformed personnel manning the checkpoints.”

    If you are friendly with the security men, you will have little problem crossing to the market to buy whatever you need,” informed Monsieur Sebastian Cakpo, a resident of Seme.

    This obvious interdependence between the traders at the market and the Badagry – and the security men who naturally augment their earnings with the illicit pickings from illegal immigrants.

    These Tokunbo goods which are either legal or contraband are usually bought at a relatively cheaper price in Benin Republic for consumption and sale in Nigerian markets.

    These goods, although cheap, require tax excise duties to be paid for them to be imported into Nigeria, but most Nigerian trans-border business owners take to smuggling as the last resort for importing goods when they cannot afford the payment of tax duties.

    But as smugglers risk their lives in search of livelihood, they are met with the Nigerian Custom Service who are deployed to control the influx of contraband goods into the country.

    The smugglers who have mastered this illicit trade employ different mode of operation in order to scale these security checks by adopting different smuggling tactics.The modus operandi of these smugglers differs depending on the merchandise being smuggled.

    Car smugglers usually move in convoy, driving recklessly through the bush-path to avoid the custom officials who might seize their consignment because of their failure to obtain task clearance for these Tokunbo vehicles.

    Rice/textile material smugglers stock their stuff vehicle seats and compartment in order to scale the security checks, while jewellery smugglers stuff their merchandise in their hand bags, and other ridiculous places to beat the strenuous checks on the road.

    These smugglers who trade in different items like rice, frozen foods, shoes and bags, used clothes, used cars, are usually battle ready for the custom officers who man the border post.  These smugglers are up to the task of confronting the gun touting officers of the Nigerian Custom Service with their arsenal of dangerous weapons of guns and charms.

    Most confrontations between customs officials and smugglers sometimes lead to the loss of lives/seizure of goods from these smugglers, though sometimes casualties are recorded on the side of the custom officials.

    Terrorism ring

    It is also being speculated that such routes are also used to smuggle in arms and ammunition, a trend that is believed to have possibly far-reaching consequences for the current war against terrorism in Nigeria and indeed the West African sub-region.

  • Don bemoans drug misuse in Nigeria

    The avoidable loss of lives as a result of improper use of drugs by patients and lack of monitoring mechanisms by pharmaceutical and health practitioners is generating concerns among stakeholders in the health sector.

    Speaking on Saturday at a one-day seminar organised for stakeholders in the country’s health and pharmaceutical sector, Prof. Folakemi Odedina, Pharmacist and Research Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Florida, United States of America, said that efforts in medication management in Nigeria were too negligible and have led to improper use of drugs by patients resulting into the loss of many lives.

    She noted, “At the medication use process, the medical expert should monitor the usage of the drugs to prevent prescription error, dispensing error, medication error and administration error.”

    While commenting on the attitude of Nigerians towards drug use, she opined that a lot of Nigerians were ignorant of the contra-indications of the medicines they take, a situation, she explained, that worsens the illness being treated instead of curing it.

    “While people take medication to get better, it can even get worse if they take an overdose or underdose or if their medication interact with the food they eat, their other medication or herbal products being consumed,” she said.

    According to her, Nigeria needs to intensify research and monitoring in order to identify medication errors and develop safety measures, as there was a dearth of records and data on the magnitude of drug usage in the country.

    At the seminar tagged: “Medicine Therapy Management” held at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Odedina adviced pharmacists, physicians and clinicians to go beyond mere prescription, but also monitor how their patients use the drugs given to them.

    Speaking further on the purpose and objective of the seminar, the university don said, “We are here to train all stakeholders on how to manage medication therapy and this is the beginning of our relationship with the University of Ibadan and University College Hospital (UCH).

    “We are trying to build centres of excellence for medication use and those centres will then become places we can address any medication problems within Nigeria. We are hoping that by having strong partnership with the University of Florida and Kings College Hospital, London, we shall build solid information for medication therapy,” she declared.

     

  • ‘Most companies face unfair competition in Nigeria’

    ‘Most companies face unfair competition in Nigeria’

    Mr. Dirk Modderman is Managing Director/Chief Executive, Eternit Limited, one of the foremost building materials companies that have been operating in the country over the last four decades. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf he speaks on the building industry vis-à-vis challenges of housing deficit, among other issues. Excerpts:

    As a company that has been operating in the country over the last 40 years, what are the challenges that you have had to contend with over time?

    One of the main challenges that we still have is that we have a lot of competition from inferior products. We see that in the Nigerian market there is a lot of inferior products and unfair competition. I don’t mind competition; I’m all in favour of it, but when it’s unfair competition like you have in Nigeria at the moment, which is definitely to the disadvantage of the Nigerian people, then we have a problem with that. That is one of the major challenges we have at the moment. I mean there are products in the market that are not up to standard and this is not good enough. When we’re talking about PVC, there are four countries in the world where this PVC is allowed and Nigeria is one of them. Even in the whole world and China where PVC is produced, it is forbidden to be used, because of poor quality. So in their own country (China) where PVCs are produced, they are not

    allowed to use it. The reason for this is that PVC has fire hazard and it is poisonous, it is also very cheap and it should not be allowed.

    Thankfully, we have the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) whose charge is to make sure that no inferior products are allowed into the country.

    What makes it cheaper and why can’t you bring down your own cost?

    One of our main ingredients for our production is cement, 70 to 80 per cent of cement. We use cellulose, which is paper, which also comes from local waste paper. Everything we use during our production process is sourced locally and those prices we cannot artificially reduce. There is no government subsidy, so we have to do everything by ourselves, but for some imported products there are lots of government subsidies, which we don’t have. So that makes our products slightly more expensive than competitors.

    Now, at this moment, there is a good trend in this company, which is that price of cement is under pressure to go down, that will automatically make our products cheaper and we have been able to remain at the same price for over two years. So, instead of following inflation with 10 per cent price increase in the last two years, we remained at the same price and we want to remain at the same price two to three years, that means that our products will significantly be cheaper than they used to be.

    Is the business atmosphere not better now than during the period of Niger Delta militancy, given the fact that you operate from Sapele, in Delta State?

    I was not here at that time and so it is very hard to judge how the atmosphere was at that time. I cannot compare, but I can tell you that at this moment the atmosphere in the company is good. For Delta State specifically, it is very pleasant to work with the Nigerians here, at local level. The level of knowledge that I need in the factory is very okay. The commitment of the people to do production and to really help the company move forward is very high, so everybody realises that the company is a big economic sector in this area and we achieve a lot of participation, both of the community, but especially from the workers within the community, to really make it a success. Sometimes they have to make sacrifices, but they are willing just to make sure that the company survives and prospers and that is something I really appreciate.

    What is this about dry construction that you mentioned?

    Normally, when you conventionally build a house, you take brick or block and cement. In the case of dry construction, what you use for the outside wall are steel, block and cement, but for the inside walls, you use steel framing where we put either plastic board. We didn’t introduce this dry construction in Nigeria before, because the wood was fairly cheap and we could not very well compete with it. However, now, the quality of wood at this moment is quite poor, the quality of the steel that we can produce by ourselves in Nigeria is enormous, it is a very high quality, and it is affordable. So, it means the price of dry wall is cheaper than conventional building, and this is the moment to put that one into the market. The quality of the product is better, the walls are absolutely straight, and it is fast to install, and cheaper than conventional building.

    Moreover, the weight of buildings done with dry construction is lighter than conventional building. That’s why we say now is the time to put this in the market. Dry construction buildings are not fragile.

    They are solid, but for the outside wall, we always recommend that cement and block be used but for inside you use steel panels for partitioning. It also takes less space, so it means for the same square metre your rooms will be certainly bigger. The other thing is since we don’t use wood inside the partitioning any more, the quality will be very good. Up to a few years, the wooding roof thing was used and now it is still being used a lot, but the quality of wood really is deteriorating in Nigeria and what does this imply? Once, the wood starts to dry up and it would crack the roofing sheets and if aluminum, it would bend the aluminum or push the nail through and it would start leaking. With steel panels, no termite, no rot and with this one, it is 40 years guarantee.

    We understand that your firm has been investing on local skills lately. What have you been doing in this respect?

    Eight hundred people will be trained in the installation of new products and this will be continued in subsequent years. Not all the people know how to install our products to bring out the beauty in them; so, we have built on the communication component of our activities, even as we unveil new products, some of which come cheaper than conventional building materials.

    To promote them, we have to make sure that our installers know how to employ them, and we train installers at no cost and give free manual on how to do it. Aside this, we are involved in other socially responsible corporate activities, including taking care of the full running cost of Mona Primary/Secondary School, renovation of the palace of the Orodje of Okpe, and assistance to the local council in environmental matters, among other areas.

    We understand we have a big responsibility because we are one of the biggest employers here; we do these things, otherwise, it will be very expensive for the community. Our interest is in the welfare of the local community and we sponsor many of its activities.

    There was campaign against asbestos in roofing material. What led to this? Asbestos is made up of small fibres used in holding the product in place, but has now been replaced with artificial fibre. Asbestos, when used to hold product in place, is not harmful itself, but can be otherwise during damage, when dust from it becomes harmful. At Eternit, the last line of our products with asbestos content was churned out of our factory as far back as in 2001. For the sake of emphasis, and to correct the impression that Eternit products are asbestos products, none of our products contain asbestos. The asbestos component of our products mix has been replaced with synthetic new technology fibre over a decade ago.

    What is your assessment of your organisation’s product quality and customer relations?

    We have to produce high quality products if we must remain in the business following strong competition with foreign products being imported into the country that are cheaper than Eternit products. This is why our watch word at Eternit is quality and no compromise about it. We have recently put great emphasis on customer relations and thus we adopt as norm customer relationship marketing. As a socially responsible organisation, we have contributed tremendously to our operating environment in all facets. The company is one of the few ones with certification for quality products, process and procedures, environment management and occupational health as well as safety system.