Fifa president to visit Nigeria

The Nigeria Football Federation on Sunday announced that President of Federation of International Football Associations, Gianni Infantino, will visit Nigeria in June.

A statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by NFF’s Assistant Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, said that the visit was a fall-out of NFF President, Amaju Pinnick’s recent meeting with Infantino in Mexico.

The statement said that during the visit, the FIFA president would visit President Muhammadu Buhari and also attend the final of the NFF/ZENITH Bank Future Eagles Championship.


He will also have an evening with Corporate Nigeria and as well as have an interactive session with a horde of African FA Presidents who will also be in Nigeria to receive him,’’ it said.

It added that Infantino believed that Nigeria was a big country and a massive football-playing nation that should help with the new FIFA leadership’s drive to truly develop the game.

Infantino assumed office as head of world’s football governing body after winning election at an extraordinary general congress in Zurich on Feb. 26, 2016.

Man United/Bournemouth match called off over suspect device

Manchester United’s final Premier League game against Bournemouth on Sunday was  abandoned after a suspect package was found in one of the stands at Old Trafford, Soccernet reports.

The bomb disposal squad was called in and a controlled explosion carried out within the stadium. Greater Manchester Police described it as an “incredibly lifelike explosive device” but added that the “device wasn’t viable.”

Before the controlled explosion took place, Greater Manchester Police assistant chief constable John O’Hare justified the abandonment by saying in a statement, “We don’t make these decisions lightly and we have done this today to ensure the safety of all those attending.’’

The Stretford End and Sir Alex Ferguson Stand were evacuated at around 2.40 p.m. after an announcement was made for security personnel to invoke “operation red code.”

Police rescue boy from abductors

OPERATIVES of the Rivers State Police Command have rescued an 11-year-old boy identified as Chisom Okafor from four men suspected to be ritual killers.

Chisom’s abductors had taken him away on May 1, 2016 after a friend to his father, Okorie, sent him on an errand. Chisom, who hails from Ndimoko community in Anambra State, was said to have be whisked away by his abductors in a Sport Utility Vehicle.


Chisom, who could not express himself clearly in English Language, said he was blindfolded up to a point by his captors and was only left to go when the police stop the vehicle conveying him.

Explaining that he was a son of a carpenter, Chisom said his father had a week before his abduction taken him to Okorie to learn a trade.

He said, “I was taken away by four men from Ndimoko. I am Chisom from Ndimoko in Anambra State. They blindfolded me and I did not know where I was. They removed the blindfold when they got to police checkpoint.

“They drove away after I got down from the vehicle when the police said they wanted to search the vehicle. The police are still looking for how they can take me to my parents,” Chisom said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad, told newsmen that Chisom was rescued by policemen who were on a stop-and-search on Eliozu Bridge in Port Harcourt.

Muhammad said the four suspects escaped after the boy (Chisom) came down first on the directive by the police that occupants of the vehicle should come down for a thorough search of the SUV.

“It was at that point that the suspects left the boy behind and zoomed off. After several questions, the boy made us to realise that he was kidnapped by suspected ritualists.

“We suspect the four men are ritualists because the father of the boy is just a carpenter. We have intensified investigation to ensure we get those behind the boys kidnap.

“We are also working towards locating the community of the boy with a view to reuniting him with his parents,” the state Police spokesman said.

Muhammad urged the parents and other relatives of Chisom not to panic, adding that the police was making arrangement to locate the victim’s community after his rescue.

UK ready to return looted funds, says AGF

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, said on Sunday that the government of the United Kingdom had shown its commitment towards repatriating funds stolen from Nigeria.

Malami returned from the United Kingdom on Saturday after a two-day International Anti-Corruption Summit also attended in London last week by many world leaders including President Muhammadu Buhari.


The minister told our correspondent on the telephone on Sunday that the UK expressed commitment towards repatriating Nigeria’s looted funds during a bilateral meeting between the two nations.

He said though there was no estimate of how much of the Nigeria’s funds stashed in the UK, but “it has been compiled for certainty.”

 Malami said apart from the meetings which Nigeria had with the UK, there were no bilateral talks between Nigeria and other nations.

He said, “There was no sideline talks as such, but then there has been a bilateral meeting, other than the conference, in which express commitment has been shown by the leadership of the UK towards the idea of loot recovery.

“The UK has shown extra commitment apart from the resolution that was unanimously passed at the conference. Nigeria was treated as a priority in terms of execution of such commitment.”

While giving the assurance that Nigeria would soon start reaping the benefits of the international conference, the minister  admitted that the resolution reached with other nations in London was not within the nation’s “exclusive control.”

“This is not something that we are exclusively in control of, but honestly there is a great goodwill and great commitment working mutually. So, very soon, Nigeria will start reaping the benefit,” he said.

A 34-paragraph communique issued at the end of the London conference was captured under three sub-themes – “Exposing corruption; punishing the corrupt; and supporting those who have suffered from corruption and driving out corruption.”

Repatriation of proceeds of corruption to the victim nation is part of the resolution reached at the conference.

 The communiqué read in part, “The proceeds of corruption should be identified, seized, confiscated and returned, consistent with the provisions of UNCAC. We will continue to strengthen our legal frameworks for asset recovery. We will work together to enforce confiscation orders across borders including, where legal systems allow, administrative freezes, non-conviction-based confiscation orders or unexplained wealth orders. We will ensure that we have the authority to take prompt action, where possible, in response to requests by foreign countries to identify, freeze, seize and confiscate the proceeds of corruption.

 “We will afford one another the widest measure of cooperation and support, applying the provisions of UNCAC and other relevant international instruments or mechanisms to which our countries may be a party to.

“We recognise that resolving complex asset recovery cases is assisted by partnership and cooperation between requesting and requested states.

“Recognising the importance of strong political commitment and interaction, and building on the experience of existing regional fora, we welcome proposals for a Global Asset Recovery Forum to be held in 2017, co-hosted by the United States and  United Kingdom, with support from the joint World Bank and UNODC Stolen Asset  Recovery Initiative (StAR), which will focus on assistance to Nigeria, Ukraine, Tunisia  and Sri Lanka. We will also support a broader use of the global and regional asset recovery inter-agency networks to obtain investigative and legal assistance in tracing and freezing the proceeds of corruption.”

We’re probing Aregbesola over alleged LG funds diversion – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission may have started investigation into the allegation of diversion of local government funds levelled against the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State.

The EFCC’s Zonal Head, Ibadan, Akaninyene Ezima, said this in a letter of invitation sent to the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State.


According to the EFCC’s letter of invitation made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Sunday by the Chairman of CSCEOS, Mr. Sulaiman Adeniyi, the anti-corruption agency invited the group to come and clarify some areas in the petition against the governor.

The EFCC’s letter, dated May 13, 2016, with reference No: CR: 3000/EFCC/IB/T.B/VOL.1/79 was titled, “Investigation Activities: Acknowledgement/Invitation letter.”

The invitation letter read,  “This is to acknowledge the receipt of your petition dated  April 4, 2016, captioned Report of Illegal Diversion of 30 Local Governments’ monthly allocations by the Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.

“Why Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State is calling for investigation and stoppage of Releasing of Local Government monthly allocations to Osun State through  Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and to inform you that investigation has commenced.

“In view of the above, you are hereby requested to report to the EFCC Zonal Office at No.16 Revd. Oyebode Crescent, Iyaganku, G.R.A., Ibadan, for an interview with the undersigned through the Head, Team B, on May 17, 2016, at 10am prompt.”

The governor and  some of his aides were accused of diverting LG allocations by the human rights group in a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The group had claimed that the governor suspended democratic structure in the councils and had mismanaged funds allocated to them.

The CSCEOS’s petition read in part, “To affirm this illegality and unconstitutionality, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola suspended the democratic system in the constitutionally recognised  30 Local Government Areas of Osun State by appointing the grade level 14 local government staff as ‘council managers’ to man the council areas of the state instead of ‘democratically-elected chairmen  and councilors’ as stipulated in Section 7(1) of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in order to give Aregbesola a leeway in the criminal diversion of local government funds.

“That the Federal Government, the National Assembly and its anti-graft agencies should investigate the acclaimed road projects embarked upon by Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola on behalf of the local government areas of the state without following the due process of the Public Procurement Act.

“The violation of all due process in managing the public finances of Osun State by Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola has been seriously impacting negatively on the lives of the state masses including the state  and local government local  workers with their retirees alike.”

FIFA President, Infantino, to grace Zenith football final

Following robust and illuminating sessions with the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation at the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico City, the president of football’s world governing body, Gianni Infantino, has promised to visit Nigeria in a few weeks.


NFF President Amaju Pinnick said at the weekend that during the visit, which date will be communicated in a number of days, the world’s number one football administrator will pay a courtesy call on His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), attend the finals of the NFF/ZENITH Bank Future Eagles Championship, have an evening with Corporate Nigeria and also have an interactive session with a horde of African FA Presidents who will also be in Nigeria to receive him.

Pinnick said: “The FIFA President says Nigeria is a big country and a massive footballing nation that should help with the new FIFA leadership’s drive to truly develop the game. He is excited about our various capacity –building and youth development programs and that is why he is coming to watch the NFF/ZENITH Bank Championship finals.

“He sees a lot of potentials and dynamism in the current NFF leadership and says he would love to work with the NFF for the general development of the game.”

Why I appointed Samoura as FIFA scribe – Infantino

As football buffs around the world wonder the rationale behind FIFA’s appointment of Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura as the new secretary general of the world body, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has explained why the 54 year old Senegalese got the nod.


Still subject to passing an eligibility check, Samoura who will replace acting secretary general Markus Katttner in mid-June, has worked for the United Nations since 1995, when she led UN humanitarian efforts in Chad and Nigeria.

According to Infantino, “Fatma is a woman with international experience and vision who has worked on some of the most challenging issues of our time.  She has a proven ability to build and lead teams, and improve the way organisations perform.

Importantly for FIFA, she also understands that transparency and accountability are at the heart of any well-run and responsible organisation,”said Infantino.

Responding to her appointment, the Senegalese lady who is making history as the first woman to occupy that position said that she is excited about her new role as it would afford her the opportunity to show the stuff she has in governance and management.

“Today is a wonderful day for me, and I am honoured to take on the role of FIFA Secretary General,” said Samoura in an official statement.

“I believe this role is a perfect fit for my skills and experience – strategic, high impact team-building in international settings – which I will use to help grow the game of football all over the world.

“I also look forward to bringing my experience in governance and compliance to bear on the important reform work that is already under way”, she stressed.

Meanwhile one of the three female members currently on the FIFA Council, Moya Dodd from Australia described Samoura’s appointment as an important step towards greater diversity and independent thought.

Mexico arrives as Nigeria top seeding in men’s doubles

Mexico became the first country to arrive Lagos for the ITTF Premier Lotto Nigeria Open, as France-based duo of Salvador Uribe and Mercedes Madrid touched down aboard an Air France flight in Lagos.

Also, Nigeria’s Segun Toriola joined the league of foreign legions that will compete in the $46,000 prize money tournament which serves off on Wednesday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

In the men’s doubles, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri and Bode Abiodun have been seeded number one in the men’s doubles seeding while officials from Egypt and Algeria are expected to arrive on Monday May 16 while players from Europe and Africa are also expected in Lagos for the tournament.

Meanwhile, 2010 African champion, Sarah Hanffou is expected to partner with Nigeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike in the women’s doubles of the championship.

NANS urges Buhari to probe N2.9bn Olympic fund

As Nigerian athletes continue to complain over poor preparations ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe how the N2.9 billion he released to the defunct National Sports Commission (NSC) for the preparations for the Games   was spent.


The government had last year released the said fund for the country’s participation for the All Africa Games, the Youth Olympics and the preparation for the Rio Olympics.

But the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung had repeatedly claimed that the former Director General of the NSC, Mallam Alhassan Yakmut never briefed him concerning the money, an allegation which Yakmut has vehemently denied.

In a statement issued in Abuja at the weekend and signed by the National Director, Sports, NANS, Comrade Godwin Erheriene, the body said the matter must not be swept under the carpet since the money in question ought to have made it easy for the athletes to prepare for the global fiesta.

However, the body pleaded with the government to try and release another for the training of the athletes while it probes into what really happened to the N2.9 billion earlier released.

According to the student body, it will be meaningless if Nigeria will send athletes to the games without adequately preparing them to give optimum performance.

The statement further urged the government to put measure in place to ensure that the fund will not be misappropriated if eventually it decides to release the money which it added is for the good of Nigerian athletes preparing to defend the name of Nigeria in Brazil.

“Lack of fund should not continue to be the excuse of sports men and women in our great country Nigeria which is also the giant of Africa. Nevertheless we urge the government to track every amount they want to approve for the training of our athletes to ensure that they get what is their due” the statement concluded.

Davido’s baby mama reportedly ‘bounced’ from daughter, Imade’s 1st birthday

Super talented artiste, David Adeleke, aka Davido threw a grand party to celebrate his beautiful daughter, Imade who turned a year older on the 14th, May, 2016.

However, it was learnt that Davido’s babymama, Ms. Sophie Momodu was ‘bounced’ from the party which held at her grandfather’s residence at Esther Adeleke Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

The event was graced by celebrities like Tiwa Savage, DOTUN of Cool FM, Peter Okoye and some other top celebrities who all came with their kid(s).

FG to repatriate funds, prosecute looters hiding in UK – AGF

Buoyed by a swath of agreements reached with other countries in London last week, the Federal Government is to begin moves to prosecute corrupt Nigerian politicians who have fled to Europe and other parts of the world.

Besides, the Nigerian Government has reached an agreement with the United Kingdom to repatriate the slush funds stolen and hidden away in that country by crooked Nigerians.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, confirmed the decisions to Vanguard in a telephone interview last night.

Although the minister did not say how much of stolen funds the country was going to repatriate from Britain, he confirmed that an agreement had been reached on how to return the money to Nigeria.


The AGF said,” We have agreed that all those who stole money from Nigeria and hid them in other parts of the world should be traced and prosecuted and the money repatriated to Nigeria.

“We have determined how much the cash is in the UK but there is an agreement already with the British Government on repatriating the money to Nigeria.

“The meeting on anti-corruption which Britain hosted last week in London with President Muhammadu Buhari and other world leaders in attendance, reached several agreements that would help to stem the tide of money laundering and corruption in Nigeria.

“Among others, Nigeria and others agreed for an international collaboration for a joint action that none of the 54 countries should allow its shores to be used holding looted funds.

“That agreement also calls for sanctions against any member that allows its territory to be used in safe-keeping looted funds.

“The agreement also paves the way for the establishment of anti-corruption centers in these countries and a fundamental framework for the repatriated of looted funds to where the money was taken,” Malami said.

It will be recalled that the Nigerian leader and others converged on London last week to seek ways of ending rising cases of looting of their nations’ resources by powerful citizens.

Nigeria is known to have suffered serious funds leakage through years of plundering by powerful politicians and top government officials who hide away in the UK and other parts of the world where their loot is also hidden.

Iran cracks down on Instagram modelling, 8 arrested

Iran has arrested eight people for working in “un-Islamic” online modelling networks, particularly on Instagram, the head of Tehran’s cybercrimes court said on state television.

The arrests were made under a two-year-old sting operation named “Spider II”, targeting among others models who post photos online without the hijab covering the hair that is compulsory for women in public in Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution.

It identified 170 people running online Instagram pages — 59 photographers and makeup artists, 58 models, 51 fashion salon managers and designers, and two active institutions, according to a statement from the special court.

“We found out that about 20 percent of the (Iranian) Instagram feed is run by the modelling circle,” Javad Babaei said on state television late Sunday.

They have been “making and spreading immoral and un-Islamic culture and promiscuity”, he said.

Babaei said it was the judiciary’s duty to “confront those who committed these crimes in an organised manner”.

In addition to the eight arrests, criminal cases have been opened against 21 other people, he said.

The sting operation has homed in on a database of over 300 popular Iranian Instagram accounts and connected accounts, Babaei said.

His comments followed a live “educational court session” on Sunday at which a former model said she had been earning money through the popular photosharing mobile application Instagram.

The average monthly income for a successful model is 100 million rials ($3,330), the woman, named as Elham Arab by the judiciary-linked website Mizan Online, told Tehran’s prosecutor.

Instagram is extremely popular in Iran. Unlike Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which remain blocked, Instagram is accessible to Iranians.

The crackdown seems to refer to the eight arrests announced by judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie in early March.

He reported the “arrest of eight models, some of whom were released on bail and some informed (of the law and freed).”

“Some of them had heavy charges like spreading prostitution and promoting corruption,” he said.

“Some … entered these networks unknowingly and thought these are commission jobs they are being paid for, so these people were not arrested.”

Fuel Price hike: Marketers short-change motorists

Petrol stations in the country seem not to be satisfied with the recent hike in the price of petrol to between N135 and N145 per litre, as majority of them now resort to under-dispensing of the product.

WE observed in Abuja and environs that a number of the petrol stations, though selling at N145 per litre, had manipulated their pumps, and were now defrauding motorists with incorrect measurements.

Petrotec filling station in Suleja, Niger State, along the Abuja-Kaduna Expresway, was selling at N135 per litre, but a motorist complained that he bought 20 litres of petrol but was served about 15 litres.


At the NNPC Mega Station at Kado in Abuja, one motorist complained that before the hike, it took N2,500 to fill his tank when it was half tank but was shocked to spend N5,000 to fill his tank in the same position at the NNPC petrol station.

He wondered why it would take double the initial amount, when the price was not doubled.

Motorists called on the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and other regulatory agencies to come to the aid of motorists and sanction defaulting petrol stations.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics, NAEE, weekend, emphasized the need for the Federal Government to fix the country’s refineries, stating that if all the refineries were working at about 80 to 90 per cent capacity, the price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, would drop to between N115 and N125 per litre.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Professor Wumi Iledare, President, NAEE, also called for the proper calibration and adjustment of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency’s, PPPRA, pricing template for a market dictated margin.

Marketers willing to forfeit N16.5bn subsidy claims

Petroleum marketers are going to forfeit N16.5 billion in possible subsidy claims due to oil price increases at the international market over hoarding of product, which they preferred to call inventory stock.

But the losses are more than made up for the high inventory level built at the time of the sudden pump price increase in Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also called petrol.

At the new pump price of N145 per litre, marketers are more than willing to forfeit any subsidy claims prior to the price increase as they were already reaping about N58.50 per litre against the previous pump price of N86.50 per litre. As a result, less N13 per litre, the marketers still have a handsome excess profit of N45.50 per litre.


gathered that subsidy levels as at May 6, had reached the N13 per litre mark before the Federal Government made the sudden announcement of N145 per litre for petrol on May 11.

This is to avoid further accumulation since there was no provision for subsidy in the 2016 national budget.

Neither the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, nor the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, the industry regulators, has offered any figure on the inventory level at the time of announcement of the pump price change. But  Vanguard learned that this was already running into billions of naira, as daily accumulation is put at N520 million i.e. 40 million litres x N13.

Hoarding, belated announcement

Product hoarding helped to build inventory levels, especially as marketers were expecting early announcement of the pump price increase, which came five days later, a development that led to the resurgence of long queues at filling stations nationwide.     Some marketers, who spoke in confidence told Vanguard on phone, said: “PPPRA was about to come and take stock at the tanks and depots, but they were told to forget it as the announcement was expected to be made that evening. So nobody actually came to take the inventory.”

Against this backdrop, the marketers admitted that “no marketer has the moral right to go claim subsidy for 2016 no matter how small, because they have gained on inventory. The reason is because on the day the announcement was made, everybody had product (petrol) in their tanks, which means that there was some inventory.”

Speaking in defence of the hoarding of product, one of the marketers, who preferred anonymity said: “It was not intentional at all. What happened was that we were loading out to petrol stations and there was this confusion, because the announcement should have been made last Saturday (May 6), so some marketers were waiting for the minister (Petroleum Resources) to make the announcement.”

Besides, he noted, the minister’s announcement was in breach as according to him, “there was not supposed to be any announcement; the trigger we were all expecting was for PPPRA to change their template. The change in template would have triggered all of us into action and if anybody had asked, we would have referred them to the PPPRA template. Somehow, Kachikwu (Minister of State for Petroleum), decided it was best for him to talk.”

Forex and  pump prices

Apart from the 80 per cent pump price increases, the fact that marketers were told to source for their foreign exchange, forex, from secondary sources is another cause for worry, as this has further devalued the naira.


As at Friday, the naira exchanged at N360 to $1, against N289 at the time of the price increases at the parallel market. To this extent, pump price should be actually higher than N145 per litre, which the PPPRA even alluded to on its website at over N243 per litre.

This means that if oil prices rise higher than current levels to possibly above the $50 per barrel mark as being expected, then Nigerians would be subjected to further fuel pump price hikes.

The inability of the Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to acquire forex at official rate of N197/$1, compounded the petrol scarcity situation in the country.

However, another marketer argued that this may not necessarily be so, saying: “If oil price rises significantly, then we will go back to government to talk. Significantly, levels would be above N5/Litre differential, but that will be an internal discussion because we have accepted that this system has come to stay, and we are going to work with it and make sacrifices here and there.”   Vanguard gathered that only three of major oil marketers— Total, Mobil, and Conoil— benefitted from the intervention.   According to our source, “the likes of Total, Mobil and Conoil, were those that got assistance from offshore companies – Total got from its upstream company, Mobil the same, while Conoil was assisted through the minister’s intervention by Shell; and that was only for one cargo, which they took to Port Harcourt. The others could not muster enough FX.”

In view of the confusion over what is happening in the downstream petroleum sector on account of the price increases, and confusion over palliatives or not as well as labour unions division on the matter, the coming days will be a deciding factor on whether the new price remain or not.

Declare state of emergency over shortage of Maths teachers ‘

Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, Professor Adewale Solarin, weekend, decried shortage of mathematical science teachers at various levels of education in Nigeria.

He stated this at a press briefing in Abuja to announce the international symposium on “Current trends in mathematical science and applications” organised by African Academy of Sciences, AAS, and African Mathematical Union, AMU, holding May 17, 2016 in Abuja.

Solarin said dearth of teachers for mathematics-related subjects was partly responsible for the phobia and poor performance of students in mathematics in public examinations.

He urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on mathematics.


NMC Director General, who is also President, African Academy of Sciences, noted that African mathematical scientists resident in Africa were gradually becoming endangered species because the number of such scientists had been dwindling in quality over the years.

Solarin said: “To compound matters, many African countries, including Nigeria, have witnessed an unprecedented proliferation of universities and other tertiary institutions all over the continent with inadequate matching funds.”

He, however, noted that Africans, including Nigerians, have made tremendous contributions to progress in mathematics.

He said: “We have had Nigerians that are publishing their contributions in the best journals in the world. If their contributions were not up to international standard, they won’t have been accepted for publications in such journals.”

The director general said the symposium would provide cost-effective way of training mathematics teachers in various institutions across the country.

He disclosed that over 100 Nigerians had participated in the pre-symposium school or workshop, where they were trained extensively for two weeks from May 3 to May 16, 2016.

Solarin also revealed that the symposium would have about 20 non-Nigerian experts to share knowledge and experience through interaction with the young mathematical scientists in the country, saying this would further increase interest of many Nigerians in the study of mathematical science.

President of African Mathematical Union, Professor Aderemi Kuku, in his remark, said Africans had made great impact in the field of mathematical science in the world, adding that the symposium would provide opportunity for African mathematicians and scientists to say what they are doing in their countries.

He noted that even though African could boast of well-trained mathematical scientists and about the best education the world could offer in famous universities and institutions abroad, said what was lacking is the critical mass needed to teach in the younger generation in the continent.

Kuku said: “By critical mass, for instance, in New York alone, you can count over 1,000 mathematicians with Ph.Ds who are doing excellent work.”

Stock market investors lose N1.2trn in 4 months

The lackluster performance that pervaded the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, in the last two years has continued in 2016 as investors in the market have lost as much as N1.2 trillion in the first four months of the year (January – April). This automatically leaves the NSE as the worst performing stock exchange among its peers in other African countries.

 Available data showed that the NSE has returned negative 12.5 per cent within this period, thereby consolidating the negative performance sustained in the last two years.

Opening the year at N9.50 trillion, the market capitalisation of all listed equities slumped by N1.2 trillion, representing -12.5 per cent decline compared to N8.62 trillion posted at the end of April, 2016. Also the All Shares Index, ASI, which opened the year at 28,642.25 points, fell by 3,579.84 basis points to close at 25,062.41 points, again, representing -12.5 per cent year-to-date return.  The NSE had in 2015 retreated by17.4 per cent compared to a decline of 16.14 per cent in 2014.

The ASI lost 6014.90 points or 17.4 per cent to close for the year at 28,642.25 on Dec. 31, 2015 from the 34,657.15 it opened for the year, while market capitalisation, which opened for the year at N11.478 trillion in 2015, lost N1.63 trillion to close at N9.850 trillion on Dec 31, 2015.

Meanwhile, operators have blamed the declining returns in the nation’s capital market to poorly articulated economic policies by the economic managers. They averred that getting the economic policies right as well as major improvement in macro-economic environment hold the key to resuscitating and keeping the market on the path of positive growth. They also believe that attracting retail investors back to the market would improve the general performance of the Exchange going forward.

Performance of other majorequity markets in Africa(January – April)

Of all the major stock exchanges surveyed by Financial Vanguard, FV, the NSE recorded the worst investors’ return during the first four months to April, 2016. Just like the first quarter of the year where the NSE underperformed all the major exchanges, it continued the trend into the fourth month, coming just closely behind Ghana and Zimbabwe stock exchanges which returned negative 8.3 per cent and 7.9 per cent year-to-date respectively. The NSE outperformed only Mauritius Stock Exchange which recorded -1.6 per cent return.

The Egypt Stock Exchange outperformed all the other major exchanges during the four month period, recording 11.0 per cent returns, followed by Tunisia’s Dar es Salaam with 6.2 per cent returns. BVRM and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, JSE, recorded 4.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent returns respectively, while Nairobi Stock Exchange returned 0.6 per cent to investors.


Constraints for the NSE

David Adonri, Managing Director, Highcap Securities Ltd, attributed the negative RoI to the impact of declining price of crude oil, which severely affected commodities exporting markets, of which Nigeria is one. He fingered lack of policy direction by the new government of Nigeria, the delay in take-off of the new government and consistent declining of macro-economy as part of the problems.

“You can see that inflation rate moved away from single to double digits and then exchange rate crisis, coupled with the energy crisis. Those were the factors that affected the macro-economy that impacted negatively on the capital market,” he stated.

He, however said that the market may not dwindle further, as it has experienced the worst situation this year because “the government is gradually picking up and the crude oil market is becoming more stable. I believe that macro-economy will improve as we move forward and that will impact positively on the capital market.”

Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, Managing Director/CEO, Cowry Asset Management Limited, said: “There are multiple problems, among which are the issues of policy environment; because the government has not come out with a well defined economic blueprint, the economic agents like fund managers have been shying away from risky investments, which equity investment naturally represents. They have been underweight in equities and rather overweight in fixed income instruments because they need to have clearer policy environment.

“The second factor is the capital controls imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in terms of foreign exchange. What we have seen is consistent exit of foreign portfolio investors from the market. Another thing is the depletion in the reserve; the reserve that should give investors confidence of the ability of the government to meet its foreign currency obligation has also been weak because of the low crude oil price.

“And then the issues related to the performance of the quoted companies. We have seen a situation where most of the quoted companies are declaring decline in earnings apart from the few which seem to have weathered the storm. But even then, if you look at those of them that have published their first quarter results, most of them have decline in their earnings and profitability.

“The banking sector which account for significant part of the market, is also going through some difficulties. We have seen an increase in Non-Performing Loans, NPL, which is a pointer that the earnings will further deteriorate. So, those factors have made investors to shy away from the market, Chukwu stressed.

He added that the up-tick in inflation, which has forced the monetary policy authority to increase interest rate to 12 per cent is also part of the problem, saying, “the CBN has made it clear that it will likely further increase the interest rate. So, investors will naturally wait for that further increment in interest rate; they will rather play in the short end of the market hoping that as interest rate goes up, they don’t need to invest in risky assets.”


The leeway

Suggesting a way out, Chukwu warned that if the present policy environment persists, if the performance of quoted companies continues to deteriorate, if the banking industry continues to see higher indices of NPL and if inflation continues to rise and there is no redefinition of the economic policy, including adjusting the exchange rate, then the prices of equities will deplete further in the course of the year.

He said there is need for the government to come up with a comprehensive economic policy that would address the issue of exchange rate, interest rate and also inject liquidity into the system by supporting the creation of credit through lower interest rate which would complement government’s expansionary fiscal policy. “If these issues are addressed, then both domestic and foreign investors will resume their interest in the market. Until that is done, you are not going to see a sustained rally in the equities market,” he enthused.

According to Jude Fejokwu, chief analyst at Thaddeus Investment Advisors & Research Ltd, retail investors are critical to the positive performance of any developing country’s stock market. He blamed the Nigeria regulators for their over dependence on foreign investors, saying that it has whittled down the drive to increase domestic retail investors’ participation in the market.

“The appeal of foreign portfolio investors with their large briefcases have stolen the hearts and minds of market regulators in Nigeria. The refusal to raise the domestic retail investor to a major player from a peripheral player has been the bane of the Nigerian market for more than five years now. This has led to market returns being consistently inconsistent.

“The Exchange hierarchy have advised retail investors to invest in mutual fund s instead of directly. I have never been in support of this, especially in Nigeria where their operations are shrouded in secrecy with the tacit co-operation of market regulators,” Fejokwu said.

He noted that the All Share Index rose by 3.1 per cent in February when there was an increase in retail investors’ participation by N17.36 billion ($87m).

“The Caracas Stock Exchange (Venezuela) market index is up nine per cent YTD while the Nigerian index is down 13.5 per cent. The Caracas market is retail investor driven and continues to be on the upbeat despite perilous times for the country’s economy and its people,” Fejokwu said. He maintained that while volume (number of investors) brings stability to markets, value results in activity. “Both are important. The former is the foundation that keeps markets even keeled,” he observed.


For Emeka Mmadubuike, Chairman, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), comparing the NSE with other frontier markets that their economies have some level of stability is a disservice of the nation’s capital market. He stated that considering the overwhelming challenges confronting the country at the moment, it would be unusual for NSE, which mirrors the economy to perform better than what it is today.

“In fact, the market will not have been a good mirror of Nigerian economy if it had performed better. Remember that for the first 11 days of the year, the Index went down by over 22 per cent. So recording just a 12.5 per cent decline in the last four months means that things are gradually picking up,” he posited.

Foreclosing the possibility of a further decline, Mmadubuike stated that the market would improve once there is an improvement in the macro-economic environment. Adding his voice, Adonri noted that improvement in macro-economy will attract various categories of investors, both institutional, foreign and retail, saying that all of them are needed to to bring back liquidity to the market.

Battle for 2019 has started —Sheriff

Ali Modu Sheriff, National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said, yesterday, that the battle for 2019 general election had started in earnest.
This came as former Senate President, Senator David Mark, raised the hopes of the PDP, that the inability of ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to find what he described as compass to navigate the ship of the state and respond appropriately to the yearnings of Nigerians was an ample opportunity for the party to bounce back to power.

Appealing to aggrieved stakeholders of the party to put aside their differences, the chairman said PDP could not afford to remain divided if its desired goal was to be achieved.

He also distanced himself from the comment made by Inuwa Bwala, his media aide, regarding the call for Sheriff to step down.

Bwala had referred to the stakeholders, who made the demand as “self-styled” elders, threatening to report Jerry Gana, former Minister of Information and leader of the group, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly defrauding the PDP to the tune of N500 million.

   But reacting at a media briefing in Jalingo, Taraba State capital, Sheriff said: “As a well cultured and astute politician, I would never make any comment that would ridicule the party.”

He added that it was not in his character to join issues with highly respected elders, noting that he never authorised any of his aides to react to issues raised by the aggrieved elders.

Sheriff said the elders deserved the right to complain about issues they considered inimical to the progress of the PDP.

He explained that the present leadership of the party was poised to lend a listening ear to all shades of opinions, with a view to strengthening it to face the challenges ahead.

“Under our leadership and the support and encouragement of stakeholders and supporters, PDP will definitely bounce back in 2019,” he said.

Mark calls for truce to resolve party pmpasse

Meanwhile, former Senate President, Senator David Mark, has raised the hopes of the PDP, that the inability of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to find what he described as compass to navigate the ship of the state and ultimately respond appropriately to the yearnings of Nigerians was an ample opportunity for the party to bounce back to power.

According to Senator Mark, if the party must come back to power, following its defeat by the APC, after 16 years in government, there was urgent need for a truce among party members ahead of the May 21 national convention.

He also advised the party to avoid the pitfalls of the past, such as imposition of candidates against the wishes of the majority.
Mark in a statement by his Media Assistant, Paul Mumeh, said: “We are returning the party to the people and let the people decide. Nigerians can now spot the difference.

“The PDP is still the right choice. Therefore, we must respond positively and ultimately return the nation to the path of glory once more.”

On North Central zonal congress
Speaking to the North Central delegates to the PDP zonal congress in Abuja, weekend, Mark said he was worried by the emerging disaffection within the PDP ahead of its 2016 national convention.


He said: “I think we have realized our past mistakes and learned our lessons. We cannot afford crisis or disaffection within our fold any more.

“It is time for all genuine men and women of our party to make the necessary sacrifice and work honestly towards a united and more cohesive party.”
Mark, who noted that there were bound to be disagreements in any human endeavour, said: “We must put aside sentiments, personal interest and reconcile honestly and genuinely for the larger interest.”

Senator Mark craved credible electoral process that would produce credible and acceptable candidates for elections, adding that if things were done the right way, democracy would thrive and endure for the good of all.

At the North Central Zonal Congress elections conducted by former Minister of State for Education, Mr. Kenneth Gbagi-led panel, Mr. Theophilus Shan was elected Zonal Chairman, Mr. Maurice Tsar, zonal Secretary, while Mr. Joel Adagadzu was elected zonal organizing secretary, among others. All the officials were elected through a consensus .

Former governors of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam; Niger, Abdulkadir Kure and Babangida Aliyu; Senators Jerry Useni; Suleiman Adokwe; Philip Aduda and scores of House of Representatives PDP members from North Central zone were among those who attended the congress.