The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria

  • Nigeria not Egypt, says Kalu

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu has said Nigeria and Egypt does not share the same political history.

    Kalu said: “We are quite different. Egyptians are used to wars and military rule. Nigerians are not. We only fought a Civil War. For the North Africans, they have seen invasions and battles.”

    He said because deposed President Mohammed Morsi withdrew a suit against journalists and imposed a state of emergency in three cities, before the military struck some Nigerians are drawing a comparism.

    “That I can understand. However, from 1952 when the Society of Free Officers toppled King Farouk, all Egyptian leaders until Morsi were of military background.”

    Gen. Mohammed Najuib, Col.Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat were part of the revolution. Hosni Mubarak, a fighter pilot, also headed the Air Force. It is not the same in Nigeria,” Kalu pointed out.

    “Nigeria has seen 14 years of civil rule since 1999, and our soldiers do not really have the Mamluk mentality. The Nigerian military also love democracy.”

     

  • Tope Folarin wins 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing

    Tope Folarin wins 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing

    Nigeria's Tope Folarin has won the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as
Africa's leading literary award, for his short story entitled 'Miracle' from
Transition<http://dubois.fas.harvard.edu/transition-magazine>, Issue 109 (Bloomington, 2012).

The Chair of Judges, Gus Casely-Hayford, announced Tope Folarin as the winner of the
£10,000 prize at a dinner on Monday evening at the Bodleian Library in Oxford according
to a statement by organisers. 

'Miracle' is a story set in Texas in an evangelical Nigerian church where the
congregation has gathered to witness the healing powers of a blind pastor-prophet.
Religion and the gullibility of those caught in the deceit that sometimes comes with
faith rise to the surface as a young boy volunteers to be healed and begins to
believe in miracles.

Gus Casely-Hayford praised the story, saying: "Tope Folarin's 'Miracle' is another
superb Caine Prize winner - a delightful and beautifully paced narrative, that is
exquisitely observed and utterly compelling".

Tope Folarin is the recipient of writing fellowships from the Institute for Policy
Studies and Callaloo, and he serves on the board of the Hurston/Wright Foundation.
Tope was educated at Morehouse College, and the University of Oxford, where he
earned two Master's degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. He lives and works in Washington,
DC.
    Also shortlisted were:

·         Pede Hollist (Sierra Leone) 'Foreign Aid' from Journal of Progressive
Human Services<http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wphs20#.UZOV4bVlk_g>, Vol. 23.3
(Philadelphia, 2012)
www.tandfonline.com/loi/wphs20#.UZOV4bVlk_g<http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wphs20#.UZOV4bVlk_g>

·         Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Nigeria) 'The Whispering Trees' from The Whispering
Trees<http://www.parresiapublishers.com/>, published by Parrésia Publishers (Lagos,
2012) www.parresiapublishers.com<http://www.parresiapublishers.com>

·         Elnathan John (Nigeria) 'Bayan Layi' from Per
Contra<http://www.percontra.net/issues/25/fiction/bayan-layi/>, Issue 25 (USA, 2012)
www.percontra.net<http://www.percontra.net>

·         Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria) 'America' from Granta<http://www.granta.com/>,
Issue 118 (London, 2012) www.granta.com<http://www.granta.com>

The panel of judges is chaired by Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, art historian and
broadcaster, who presented the eight part documentary series 'Lost Kingdoms of
Africa' on the BBC. He is currently a Research Associate at SOAS and consultant to
the King's Cultural Institute. Gus sits on the Tate Britain Council and the National
Portrait Gallery Board of Trustees.

Alongside Gus on the panel of judges this year are award-winning Nigerian-born
artist, Sokari Douglas Camp; author, columnist and Lord Northcliffe Emeritus
Professor at UCL, John Sutherland; Assistant Professor at Georgetown University,
Nathan Hensley and the winner of the Caine Prize in its inaugural year, Leila
Aboulela. This is the first time that a past winner of the Caine Prize has taken
part in the judging.

Once again the winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize will be given the opportunity to
take up a month's residence at Georgetown University, as a Writer-in-Residence at
the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice and will be invited to take part
in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town in September.

Last year the Caine Prize was won by Nigerian writer Rotimi Babatunde. He recently
co-authored Feast, a Royal Court/Young Vic co-production which ran at the Young Vic
as part of World Stages for a World City.

Previous winners are Sudan's Leila Aboulela (2000), Nigerian Helon Habila (2001),
Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina (2002), Kenyan Yvonne Owuor (2003), Zimbabwean Brian
Chikwava (2004), Nigerian Segun Afolabi (2005), South African Mary Watson (2006),
Ugandan Monica Arac de Nyeko (2007), South African Henrietta Rose-Innes (2008),
Nigerian EC Osondu (2009), Sierra Leonean Olufemi Terry (2010) and Zimbabwean
NoViolet Bulawayo (2011).
  • Gana seeks autonomy for local governments

    Gana seeks autonomy for local governments

    The Federal Government has been advised to make the 419 local government areas that make up the northern part of the country autonomous.

    A former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, gave the advice on Monday at the inauguration of the Northern Local Government Chairmen’s Forum (NLGF) in Abuja.

    Prof. Gana, who in his keynote address as the chairman of the Board of Trustee (BoT) of NLGF, noted that local government is a strategic and vital organ of government, also advised the chairmen not to divert resources allocated to them for the development of their councils.

    He urged the chairmen to develop a tremendous capacity for accountability, stressing that accountability is very important in public office especially at the local government levels.

    “We want to use this opportunity to appreciate the Senate and the House of Representatives, that they are very much on course that the autonomy of local government is well spelt out, well protected, and well constitutionally provided in the constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria. But, please, use that autonomy well, use it for the people of Nigeria,” he said.

    The newly formed forum comprises chairmen of 419 local government areas from the 19 northern states in the country.

    The forum is aimed at fostering unity and peace among the people and engendering the socio-economic development of the region.

  • Four DIGs, 191 officers for trial

    Four DIGs, 191 officers for trial

    Four Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) are among 195 senior police officers facing charges before the Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC) for various cases of misconduct, DIG Suleiman Fakai, has said.

    Fakai, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Administration, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a news conference.

    He stated that 17 Commissioners of Police, two Deputy Commissioners of Police and six Assistant Commissioners of Police would also appear before the committee.

    “We have a total of 195 officers appearing before us for various cases of indiscipline.

    “We have four AIGs here to face us, 17 CPs, two DCPs, six ACPs and the remaining are from CSPs to ASPs,’’ he said.

    Fakai, who chairs the committee, said one each of CP, ACP, and CSP, and two SPs as well as eight CSPs had been dismissed for serious cases of misconduct in the last one year.

    According to him, two CSPs, one SP and 13 ASPS were compulsorily retired, also for misconduct, while a DCP, three CSPs, seven SP, a DSP and 10 ASPs were demoted during the period.

    Fakai said that the current police administration had in January 2012 inherited over 3,000 cases of indiscipline, but added the cases had been reduced to the barest minimum.

    “The Force Disciplinary Committee comprise of all the Deputy Inspectors General of Police and the Force Secretary who serves as its secretary.

    “The committee essentially reviews disciplinary matters involving officers from the rank of ASP and above who may had erred in the course of their duties,’’ he said.

    He said the committee was mandated to make appropriate recommendations to the Police Service Commission on all cases it handled.

    “This is in line with extant provisions and Force policy guiding discipline geared toward upholding professionalism, respect for rule of law and human rights among senior police officers,’’ Fakai said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the committee meets fortnightly, except in emergency situation, to consider cases of misconduct forwarded to it.

    The committee is expected to meet between July 8 and July 12 to hear disciplinary cases against the 195 senior officers appearing before it.

     

  • Oil not improving Nigeria’s GDP, says PETAN

    Despite Nigeria’s over 50 years of oil and gas exploration, production and export, the sector has not impacted positively on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the President of Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr Emeka Ene, has said.

    He compared Nigeria with other countries, noting that the impact of oil and gas activities on the GDP has remained flat since 1960, indicating that there is no much difference between condition of living now and what obtained in the 1960s when measured on per capita basis.

    “The impact of oil and gas activities on the GDP, which is a good indicator of economic progress in a country, shows that Nigeria’s GDP growth from 1960 has remained flat when benchmarked against the GDP growths of developing countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others.

    “What this means is that the conditions of life and living today are not necessarily better than what they were in 1960 when measured on per capita basis,” he said.

    Ene, who spoke on the need for the National Assembly to pass a balanced Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), said manufacturing and in-country capacity haven’t progressed much, stressing that this is major challenge to development of the economy.

    He said: “PIB affects us in a direct way and we will like to see a PIB that encourages and continues to encourage investment in every capacity not just today but over the long term.”

    He said the oil industry has a long production cycle, which makes it difficult to get investors easily. “For instance, if you discover an oil field today, you cannot get money from the field until 10 years down the line, if it is a major field. So it takes a lot of guts or a stable economic investment environment to invest in something you cannot get anything from till the next 10 years.

    “This is the challenge the service companies have. Therefore, there is need for Nigeria and, indeed, all oil producing countries to have Petroleum Industry Acts that are stable. For instance, in the last five years, we have had only two projects that have crossed the Final Investment Decision (FID) stage. We expect more of these projects to come on stream because each project is tied to capacity development.”

    He explained that the PIB is beyond what governments and host communities’ take.

     

  • Julius Berger Nigeria: Firm and better?

    Julius Berger Nigeria Plc strengthened its overall performance outlook with improved cost and resource efficiency as it sought to restructure its balance sheet into a more supportive base for sustainable long-term returns. While immediate performance was evident in appreciable increases in the top-line and bottom-line, significant reduction in gearing ratio from about 165 per cent to 54 per cent and stronger retention further stabilized the outlook for the construction company.

    Audited report and accounts of Julius Berger Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2012 showed that turnover increased by 19 per cent while profits before and after tax grew by 24 per cent and 82 per cent . The improvement in the underlying profit-making capacity and returns of the company was underlined by increases in all profit-making indices.

    Julius Berger started the arduous task of strengthening its balance sheet, especially reduction of huge overbearing debt. With the retention of about 63 per cent of net profit for the year and 48 per cent reduction in borrowings, it brought its financial leverage to its lowest position in recent years while increasing equity funding for operations.

    While the decision to retain much earnings and strengthen the balance sheet resulted in modest increase in actual cash payouts to shareholders, it substantially increased the underlying value of the company as net assets per share rose by 55 per cent. Besides, returns on equity and assets were higher at 53 per cent and 6.9 per cent in 2012 as against 45 per cent and 5.8 per cent in 2011. Almost a double in dividend cover suggests the company is in better position to sustain dividends in the years ahead.

    However, the immediate liquidity of the company weakened during the period, though it remained positive and within acceptable limit. With less financial coverage and significant reduction in working capital, the liquidity position was the low point of the performance outlook.

     

    Financing structure

    Group total assets inched up by 3.9 per cent from N172.25 billion to N179.03 billion. Balance sheet size was driven mainly by long-term assets which rose by 35 per cent from N71.40 billion to N96.65 billion as against 18 per cent reduction in current assets from N100.84 billion to N82.39 billion. Total liabilities was almost flat at N163.89 billion in 2012 as against N162.50 billion in 2011. Bank loans had dropped by 49 per cent from N16.04 billion to N8.21 billion. Paid up share capital remained unchanged at N600 million, consisting of 1.2 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. Equity funds however rode on the back of retained earnings to N15.14 billion in 2012 compared with N9.75 billion in 2011, indicating an increase of 55.4 per cent.

    The underlying financing position was stronger with equity funds accounting for 8.5 per cent of total assets in 2012 as against 5.7 per cent in 2011. Both reduction in loans and increase in equity funds substantially deleveraged the balance sheet with debt-to-equity ratio of 54.2 per cent in 2012 as against 164.6 per cent in 2011.

     

    Efficiency

    Average number of employees increased from 18,670 persons to 19,234 persons. The staff structure however remained almost the same with wide gap between senior staff and junior staff as well as senior and management cadre. Some 95.3 per cent of employees were categorised as junior staff while 4.04 per cent and 0.63 per cent fell under senior and management staff respectively. Although average cost per employee improved from N2.32 million to N2.57 million, the staff structure counterbalanced such robustness, especially in the absence of a breakdown of staff costs across the cadres. Total staff costs had increased from N43.23 billion to N49.44 billion.

    Fundamentally, the company was more efficient and relatively productive during the year. While average contribution of each employee to the bottom-line improved from N0.532 million to N0.642 million, total cost of business, excluding financing charges, dropped marginally from 93.7 per cent to 93.6 per cent of total turnover.

     

    Profitability

    Civil works provided the main linchpin for top-line performance in 2012. While the group recorded improvements across business lines, the size of civil works and growth rate reflected on the total turnover. Civil works also remained relatively more profitable than other segments. Turnover in the civil works segment rose by about 21 per cent from N103.40 billion in 2011 to N124.99 billion in 2012. Building works, the second largest segment, was almost flat at N76.31 billion in 2012 as against N75.89 billion in 2011. Services contributed a modest N271.96 million to group turnover, 16.3 per cent more than N125.76 million contributed in 2011. Broadly, construction contracts accounted for about 97.7 per cent of group turnover with an increase of 17.7 per cent to close 2012 at N196.95 billion as against N167.40 billion recorded in 2011. Contribution from provision of services meanwhile more than doubled at N4.61 billion compared with N2.01 billion recorded in previous year, an increase of 129.4 per cent.

    With these, group turnover grew by 19 per cent from N169.41 billion to N201.57 billion. Cost of sales increased by 15 per cent to N156.73 billion compared with N135.79 billion. Gross profit leapt on higher margin to N44.84 billion, 33.4 per cent above N33.62 billion recorded in previous year. Total operating expenses increased by 39 per cent from N22.92 billion to N31.86 billion. About 80 per cent increase in non-core business incomes mitigated 39 per cent increase in interest expenses, leaving pre-tax profit with an increase of 24 per cent. Interest and other incomes increased from N1.17 billion to N2.07 billion while interest expenses rose from N1.95 billion to N2.71 billion.

    Both the civil and building works maintained considerable profitability during the period. Profit before tax stood at N12.34 billion in 2012 as against N9.93 billion in 2011. After taxes, profit for the year jumped by 82 per cent from N4.41 billion to N8.01 billion. Basic earnings per share stood at N6.83 in 2012 as against N3.68 in 2011. The company distributed N3 billion on the basis of N2.50 per share as dividends for the 2012 business year, a modest increase of 4.2 per cent on N2.88 billion paid out on the basis of N2.40 per share for the 2011 business year. With large retained earnings, net assets per share increased from N8.12 to N12.62.

    Beyond the surface, the group’s underlying profitability improved during the period, indicating that the outward profit and loss growths were driven by fundamental strengths. Gross profit margin improved from 19.8 per cent to 22.2 per cent. Pre-tax profit margin also increased from 5.9 per cent to 6.1 per cent.

     

    Liquidity

    The liquidity position of the company declined during the period. Current ratio, which measures the relationship between current assets and relevant liabilities, declined from 1.60 times in 2011 to1.20 times in 2012. The proportion of working capital to turnover dropped from 22.4 per cent to 6.7 per cent. Debtors/creditor ratio stood at 158.5 per cent in 2012 as against 451.8 per cent in 2011.

     

    Governance and structures

    Julius Berger Nigeria is the leading construction company in Nigeria. Incorporated in 1970, it became a publicly quoted company in 1991 and now has 1.2 billion shares in the hands of more than 10,000 shareholders. There were no major changes in the ownership, group structures, board and management of the company during the period under review.

    Bilfinger Berger SE, remained the majority core investor in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, with 39.87 per cent equity stake. Watertown Energy Limited holds 10 per cent equity stake, the second largest by a single shareholder. Other substantial shareholders include the Lagos State and Benue State, which hold 5.50 per cent and 5.21 per cent through their investment companies.

    A major shareholder, Oasis Petroleum Company, which held 9.7 per cent equity stake by the year-end, reduced its stake to 0.2 per cent, boosting current percentage holdings by less-significant Nigerian shareholders to 39.2 per cent. Altogether, 77 per cent of the equities of the company were in strategic, non-retail holdings, leaving 23 per cent equity stake as free float. Its free float was three per cent above 20 per cent minimum requirement of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Julius Berger Nigeria Group includes four wholly owned subsidiaries and two largely-owned subsidiaries.

    There were no major changes on the board and management of the company. Avm. Mohammed Nurudeen Imam (rtd) still chairs the board of directors while Engr. Wolfgang Goetsch remains the managing director.

    Julius Berger Nigeria generally complies with code of corporate governance and the scope and presentation of its report were adequate.

     

    Analyst’s opinion

    The performance of the company was showed a commendable consolidation of its growth strategy, driving top-line while reducing the inefficiencies and drags-such as huge borrowings, which stifle returns to shareholders. While the company has ruled out new capital issue, management has outlined aggressive steps to recover debts. A stronger balance sheet and sustained internal efficiency will ensure increased profitability. Julius Berger Nigeria’s top-line performance remains relatively assured given Nigeria’s infrastructural requirements and the leading position of Julius Berger Nigeria in the building and construction industry. It recently won the multi-billion Naira contract for the Lagos-Sagamu Expressway while it has secured letter of intent for the landmark second Niger Bridge, which will be jointly owned by Julius Berger and other stakeholders under a private public partnership (PPP). Besides its stronghold in public sector, increasing diversification into the private sector and emerging opportunities in the power and energy sectors suggest a robust business portfolio.

  • What has the word availed Nigeria?

    Since, The Nation berthed on July 31, 2006, it has grown into a household name in news venture in the country. While some dailies have made one or two of the economy, commerce and crime their foci, the paper’s forte has always been politics. Can this be faulted? Hardly. Is not politics the determiner of who gets what, where, when and how across ages and climes? Is not politics the driver of the economy, commerce and crime in an inextricably twined web of statistical interconnectivities? What aspect of our national life in Nigeria deserves better attention than that which has enabled self-anointed/appointed stakeholders across space and time more than a fair share of the proverbial national cake?

    Given such a situation as we lament daily and for the change we all crave, what have The Nation’s inimitable wordsmiths and others in some other news-based establishments not said that need to be re-said. Despite efforts of the Wole Soyinkas and now late Chinua Achebes, what has the word really offered Nigeria, a nation where milk and honey literally flow but where facts and truth have merged to affirm a minimum of 9 in every 10 of its citizens as living the unliveable and enduring the unendurable. Such horrifying litany of award-winning oddities the whole luckless lot daily endure!

    In spite of its 160 million population and a gargantuan wealth, petrol and non-petrol, electricity supply has remained far less than 10 per cent required capacity, and this after the billions of dollars sunk into revamping the energy sector; importation the only significant source of supply of petroleum products in a country in which the crude was discovered over 50 years ago; infrastructural facilities, including road and rail network, entirely fallen with no appreciable efforts at reversals.

    The hospitals, including so-called first rate tertiary ones, barely fortified to muster beyond primary roles of minimal diagnosis and drug dispensing;

    inflation at double digit and cost of staple foods infernally intolerable for a masses pummelled by a concourse of unfriendly measures by a federal admiralty that seems located in the moon.

    How can we have improved electricity, roads, rail system, education and health system, reformed police/revamped and redirected security system, reduced poverty, maternal/child/infant mortality/morbidity and desirable social security payments for the elderly and the teeming unemployed Nigerians when the proverbial national cake must go in slices to placate the ever ravenous

    gluttony of only the political leadership!

    What better explanation for the vanishing trillions and the under-performing economy between our so-called young democracy and our malformed hearts? Should we as Nigerians not begin to question the ages of socio-economic dislocations which fertilised foundations for the emergence of the Boko Haram?

    A recent comment by Joel Brinkley, former correspondent of the New York Times, was meant to be a stinker which failed to stink being too familiar. Opening his write-up on a piece he titled “Nigeria’s squandered opportunity”, Joel explained how 17 well-fortified ambulances meant to service only President Goodluck Jonathan during health and other emergences which had lain unused months in front of his office vanished into thin air just after being exposed through a newspaper photo publication.

    This is, according to him, while most healthcare centres in the country’s localities cannot afford ambulances and lacking in other basic enablement; despite a daily earning of 224 million dollars from oil.

    One seems needlessly worried to realise why it has always been Nigeria’s so-called leaders who see bloom/hope where doom/gloom reside; why it has always been the Minister of Finance who sees the economy performing and Gross Domestic Products (GDP) on the rise when an extreme majority can hardly manage one square (meaningful and health giving) meal on an average day!

    Remember, the now jaded conclusions of researchers and economists that majority of Africans live below the poverty line as they (on average) subsist on less than one dollar (about N180) a day. Really? But, I know single mothers whose entire family of four (mother and three children) live on less than N400 a day!

    Our leaders contend the health sector is comparable to any other while they, the purveyors of power, would junket to America, Germany and India each time they have headaches and other vamped emergencies. How can we believe our lives are not cheap when police bullets and trucks are sending us in scores to undeserved graves daily? Our courts have become punishment centres for ‘small mortals’ while the ‘big fishes’ who daily purloin the trillions off the common till in turns remain not just untouched but even better protected with state might!

    That lone woman, Ruth Adehwe Aweto, former head of the Federal Cooperative College, Eleyele, Ibadan in Oyo State and her lieutenant, are currently in jail for inflating the college’s staff figures. Yet, those who have stolen nearly Nigeria’s entire mint still strut the streets as free men.

    As the mortars maul the supposed insurgents, as the streets of Kano, Maiduguri, Sokoto and Kaduna are plastered in the blood of the enemies of the state, properly so-called, Nigeria’s political leadership should admit significant responsibility for the errors which engendered the mutation of humans to vampires. Indeed, from the famished jungles of Ibadan/Lagos, the despoiled creeks of Bayelsa/Rivers to the arid wastes of Sokoto/Kaduna, poverty, in its virulent consumptive power, has neither distinguished in colour nor spared in content. We must just admit there is a Boko Haram in waiting in one form or another across other settings in Nigeria’s much raped landscape!

    Yes, only a deeper-going and genuine overhaul of the traditional conduct of governance by governments in our country can meaningfully reverse the hate-filled atmosphere that we have today. But, is government attuned to such alerts and ready to do the needful? Messages seem to have been cast overboard alongside the messengers. Baby and birth water useless? The word might not have failed Nigeria but Nigeria has failed the word. In spite of ages of robust messaging through pre-eminent messengers in news dailies, weeklies and in printed forms of higher hues, Nigeria remains in flux and fixated: governance in shambles, corruption, which defines wilful defilement of essences, the commonest quality of public officials. Nigeria’s seems to be the story of the aberrant son whose conducts consistently inverse wise counsels of his father. Our figures (both petro-trillions and sheer population) have not affected our fortune: our politics is for poverty. We lament devaluation when we cannot produce common bolt; we complain of inflation when we have not learned how not to be fed by others. We talk of hoisting a satellite when we cannot fly common balloon!

    Most entities (where transparency in governance is a fixed certitude, where life counts and excesses bridled by impartial laws) have moved to the computer age and beyond when we have not entered even the machine age, a necessary start for masters of the art and science of survival in a world of competition.

    Our democracy has been a demon which only consolidates our location in the worlds of the undeveloped. Lo, what has the word availed Nigeria, a country where everything is available but where nothing is on offer? How really can the word be made to work for the country? How can politics be tuned to the cause of hope for the teeming disoriented 90 per cent? How can this country be steered away from a steady and predictable slide into an Egyptian/Tunisian Hobbesian status. Now nasty and brutish with all auguries of long and consistently sought cataclysm, life has stopped just of being entirely short here. The messengers may have to recast strategies if Nigeria must work.

  • Nigeria can only be saved by cultural defences

    The war against terror may consume Nigeria except cultural defences are built across the nation, the Special Adviser to the National President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on anti-terrorism and security matters, Rev. Ladi Thompson, has declared.

    Thompson said sponsors of terror in the nation are working tirelessly to spread the attacks to the South, a development he said can be curtailed through cultural defences.

    Speaking in a chat last week in his office, Thompson said: “If we don’t want the Boko Haram insurgency to come down South and consume this nation, we must begin to build defences along cultural lines.”

    The defences, he explained, have to do with respect for human lives and strong aversion for killing under religious guise, which he said stopped with the abrogation of ritual killing before independence.

    “Africans believed in rituals and human sacrifices but our forefather rose against the practice. This is the same path that Boko Haram wants to take us through again.

    “It is up to different ethnic nations to rise up in unison and insist anyone who kills for religious reasons is satanic and unworthy of relations,” he added.

    He pointed out that different nations have always rallied round different cultures to save threats.

    While the United States of America relied on its culture of equality and democratic freedom, Thompson said the United Kingdom thrived on the culture of stoicism while France’s culture of refinement has been a main stay.

    The cleric said Nigeria as a multicultural nation has different defence themes that can help out.

    He advised that youths of each region should also be mobilised and empowered to resist unnecessary religious aggression and persecutions in any part of the country.

    Allaying fears such groups will turn to armed militia organisations, Thompson said they will operate under strict regulations and supervisions with regular contacts with community leaders.

    According to Thompson: “This is one of the things that can save this country with the increasing inability of government forces to tackle terrorism.

    “If we handle it at the community level, we would save this country and flush out insurgents that have infiltrated government forces from among us”.

  • ‘NIGERIA FIFA RANKING JUSTIFIED’

    ‘NIGERIA FIFA RANKING JUSTIFIED’

    THE latest FIFA ranking has once again left mouths of Nigerian soccer followers wide open in disbelief. They still can’t fathom why the Super Eagles should be making southward slide in spite of their outings in recent times.

    The Super Eagles dropped four spots on the FIFA ranking to finish in 35th place in the new listing released on Thursday.

    Shouts of ‘f-o-u-l’ are loud enough for all to hear. Has FIFA been fair to Nigeria in this monthly ranking? What justifications does the world football ruling body have for rating Mali and Algeria above Nigeria? Did Nigeria not in the period under review humiliate Tahiti at the Fifa Confederations Cup? Did they not also beat Kenya in Nairobi, and get a draw away at Namibia in the world cup qualifiers?

    Even as the confusion continues to reign former Nigeria coach Adegboye Onigbinde, a member of CAF and FIFA technical committees, reveals to Goal the yardstick for the listing.

    “It’s a cumulative assessment of the team’s performance over a period of time. It’s also determined by the level of competition and the friendly matches played. If you beat Brazil and Argentina last month, but in subsequent matches defeat Uganda, Zimbabwe and Malawi, are you moving forward or backward,” Onigbinde asked.

    Reacting to claims that Nigeria ought to have moved upward based on their Confederations Cup outing,he further enlightened that participation in competition is just a part of many criteria taken into consideration.

    “Not only competitions but friendly matches. Can you tell me how many friendly matches they played and against who? Playing of friendlies are of various levels too. We have Grade A, Grade B and so on and so forth. Nigerians should not think about the competitions the Super Eagles took part in, what of the friendly matches they played and the level of development in the country?,” concluded the season football technocrat.

  • ‘Telecoms sector is in dire straits’

    ‘Telecoms sector is in dire straits’

    Lynda Saint-Nwafor is a Core Network Planning Engineer at MTN, where she has been helping to define MTN’s Technology Strategy and Roadmap, designing and planning all aspects of MTN’s network operations. In this interview with Bukola Afolabi, she speaks on development in the industry.

    Could you say that the industry has fully recovered from the issues of flooding and armed insurgent attacks on telecoms infrastructure?

    Not at all, the industry has not fully recovered. This is because it will take more than targeted interventions to make sure that floods don’t become an issue this year and also rebuild the entire infrastructure that we lost to the insurgency. Recovery is going to be a long process because as we speak there are more attacks on our infrastructure in the North, and in some of those places where the attacks have subsided, access is restricted because security agencies are still giving us a red flag. So, it’s going to take a while for the industry to get back to where it was pre-flood and insurgency.

    What is the level of repair work right now?

    We had over 220 sites impacted by the incessant attacks in the North and to date we have been able to restore services to about sixty percent of those sites. We monitor the improvement in security in those areas before we deploy our staff and contractors for restoration activities. But I must say that there are some areas we were not allowed to come back. The communities feel that the presence of telecoms infrastructure is a risk to them and so do not want anything to do with us, posing a big challenge to the restoration effort.

    Has old equipment anything to do with poor quality of service in Nigeria?

    No, but the reality is that just like everything else, every equipment has a useable lifespan. But even for those old equipment, software upgrades and feature updates are provided by the vendors such that it continues to deliver value. So whilst old equipment doesn’t directly have any impact on quality of service, they might be inadequate in meeting the evolving needs of the market which is why upgrades are critical and essential.

    What’s the average lifespan for telecoms equipment?

    I can tell you that there are networks elsewhere in the world still running on equipment installed as late as fifteen years ago. As long as routine maintenance is carried out as and when due, telecom equipment will still deliver value but the challenge is that same equipment might not be able to deliver new services that are required by some subscribers. For example, a mono service Base Station delivering only 2G services can operate for donkey years but unsuitable to deliver 3G services.

    What is responsible for the success recorded in the telecom industry in Nigeria compared to other African countries, despite our highly challenging business environment?

    Three things in my view have been responsible for the success we have recorded. Firstly, the vibrant regulatory environment. This is because without a predictable regulator, I am not sure we would have been able to achieve some of the successes we have achieved in the past eleven years. The second thing is the market. Nigeria is a country of over 160 million people in dire need of telecommunications services. The last but not the least is that we have operators with financial depth to make the right level of investments required to adequately penetrate the market.

    What’s your assessment of ongoing efforts to protect telecom infrastructure, particularly the critical Information and Communications Technology infrastructure bill?

    I believe it’s a step in the right direction. Telecommunications is not a luxurious service; it’s an essential service with substantial impact on the economy. I believe that the current efforts being driven by the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobolanle Johnson, are commendable. They are long overdue. It will be a welcome development to see the bill passed.

    What has your experience been, working in a field dominated by men?

    Well, I have had a wonderful and extremely rewarding experience. This is because of the immense opportunity to enrich the lives of millions of Nigerians in a very challenging but thriving environment. It is indeed a humbling experience for me. Professionally, I don’t see myself as a woman, because that for me is creating a barrier. And once barriers are created, it’s only the mind that can extricate them. Essentially, I see myself as a professional who is here to deliver value. Having said that, it is quite an arduous task to be a successful professional, a successful mother and a successful wife. For that to happen, one has to have a fantastic support structure and that I have in my dear husband who is ever willing to offer his support. I also have a wonderful family that is always there and most importantly, I have a wonderful team – a breed of young professionals who are 99.9 percent Nigerians and are the best of the breed that this country can offer. Our team has been able to do things that were hitherto unimaginable and I am very grateful. I am extremely blessed to be where I am today. The grace of God has also been sufficient and His mercy never ends.

    Broadband penetration has remained poor. What is MTN doing to improve the situation?

    MTN is the first network in Nigeria to deploy data services everywhere we have a footprint. However, we are always looking for opportunities to improve the services that we deliver. We therefore have plans to deploy circa 3,000 3G base stations this year in addition to the ones in existence. We are upgrading our transmission backhaul infrastructure, modernising it from the traditional TDM to IP which delivers fast data services. On the core network, we have completed the upgrade to Evolved Packet Core which supports delivery of next generation data services and is also access agnostic.

    When do you estimate that 4G/LTE will fly in Nigeria?

    The regulator has given an indication of 2015 for the auction of 4G spectrum licences. By and large, if the spectrum is auctioned by then, we would see LTE services in Nigeria in 2016. It would probably take between six months and a year to deploy capacity across the country. However, there is an indication that some spectrum in the 800MHz band has been licensed to a new operator, which means there will be LTE services once the new operator is able to roll out the network. For us in MTN, preparing the network for LTE is one of the core objectives of the modernization project and we are ready on many fronts to deliver LTE services.

    How much has MTN invested in network infrastructure so far? Are we going to witness more investment in the network in the years ahead?

    MTN has invested over ten billion dollars in network infrastructure in Nigeria and that explains our Market leadership and our very extensive fibre infrastructure, the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Last year alone, we invested over 1.6 billion dollars and this year we are not relenting. We are investing even much more. We are not shy to make these investments as we still see value and potential in this market. We believe in the Nigerian market and will continue to make the necessary investments where and when required.