Nigeria Content Online

Market overview The stock market
had been mixed so far in the week having given up part of the gains
accrued in the past weeks. The market ended last week’s trades with
some declines after witnessing fluctuations in terms of its daily
performance. By the end of the week, the NSE AS index closed at
27,400.21 basis points, down by 2.10 per cent while the market
capitalisation lost N142.34 billion in a week after closing at N6.63
trillion .
The volatile
movement of the market’s indices was as a result of profit taking
transactions on one hand and purchase activities, which were mostly
speculative, on the other. The decline was also occasioned by losses
with stocks in major blue chip companies.
Furthermore, listed
companies continued to announce their annual results for the year 2009.
First Bank, Skye Bank, NAHCO, and BIGTREAT were among the companies who
released their corporate earnings and performance in the just concluded
week. However, the market further retreated due to disappointing
earnings reports from some of these companies.
Meanwhile, the
acting president Goodluck Jonathan during the week signed into law the
2010 appropriation bill of N4.6 Trillion. The budget is aimed to
accelerate economic recovery through targeted fiscal interventions
designed to stimulate the economy and support sustained private sector
growth. This has been based on assumptions reflecting outlook for the
fiscal year, including: oil production of 2.35 mb/d; benchmark oil
price of US$67/barrel, and average exchange rate of N150 to the US
dollar.
Looking ahead, the
market will focus over the coming weeks on more corporate results and
other economic indicators even as speculation and the taking of swift
profits continue to dominate market activities. Currently, attention is
drawn to 2010’s first quarter results in light of NSE’s registered
gains during the first three months of the year. The market will remain
steady in the coming weeks as investors monitor new moving factors on
the strength of future corporate earnings.
During the week,
both the market capitalisation and the NSE AS Index lost 2.10%
respectively. So far, the market has recorded a YTD-high market
capitalisation of N6.78 trillion, representing a YTD yield of 35.88%.
Overall, the market traded a total of 3.36 billion units of shares,
valued at N35.82 billion in 52,134 deals.
Most Active Sector The Banking sub
-sector remain the most active (measured in terms of traded volume) as
it recorded 1.43 billion shares valued at N19.64 billion exchanged in
18,798 deals while the Insurance sub -sector was second with traded
volume of 494.24 million shares valued at N532.78 million in 3,467
deals.
Corporate actions and results In the past week,
First Bank Plc proposed a dividend of 10 kobo and one new share for
every eight shares held in its corporate earnings and benefits
announced.
Guaranty Trust Plc
also released its interim report for the period ended (Q1) March 31,
2010 to the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The company declared
a Gross Earnings of N44.382 billion and a Profit After Tax of N8.847
billion.
In addition, Skye
Bank Plc released its full year audited financial report. The bank
declared a gross income of N126.665 billion and a profit after tax of
N1.130 billion. The directors also recommended a dividend of 5 kobo per
share.
Market outlook The stock market
will likely be driven again by company earnings reports over the next
two weeks, as investors try to get a sense of how well corporate
profits and benefits will hold up in second quarter of the year.

One of the most damning broadsides
directed at the Central Bank in recent times has come from the office
of the National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd).
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recent intervention “seemed to have
damaged economic activities in the banking sector to the detriment of
the larger society,” Mr. Gusau said in his address at a security
awareness seminar organised for newly appointed ministers by his office
in Abuja two weekends ago.

Alarmed by both the
strength of this indictment and the very senior person making it, the
analogy which readily came to mind, was of an anthropomorphic kind.

Confronted by a
brain-dead patient on some fancy life-support system, what is the right
thing to do? This is one helpful way of addressing the dilemma raised
by the general. It is easy (one of the benefits of hindsight) to
attribute the “seven years of plenty” that preceded the current crisis
in the economy to the activities of the banks. And to proceed from this
to the argument that by hobbling the banks, the CBN is directly
responsible for the current fortunes of the economy. The difficulty
with meeting the falsities in this argument lies in being able to avoid
talking down to one’s interlocutors.

So why not have the
General Gusaus respond to two related questions: How much of the
massive growth in credit to the private sector, which happened in the
years of plenty, went the way of productive activity, and how much to
speculative ones? What role did structural policy play in the many
private decisions to allocate resources in that period?

A hard decision well made

As with the patient
on life-support, the decision to pull the plug on non-performing
economic entities is not readily made. But it is justified in terms of
a cost-benefit assessment and useful when closure definitely would have
a cathartic effect. Rarely, if ever, have those whose call it is to
pull such plugs been accused of murder.

Evidently, to
prefer the financial services sector the way it was before the advent
of the current regime at the CBN is to lose sight of one of the more
important lessons from Japan’s recent economic history. In the late
1980s, when Japan allowed the yen to rise in response to American
concern over its huge current account surplus, the asset price bubble
and the “lost decades” that followed were in part the result of a
failure to implement structural policies in aid of the transition from
external sector-led growth to one driven by domestic demand. The most
notable of such failures, if the IMF’s April World Economic Outlook is
to be believed, was the failure to “clean up the banking system.”

As the main
financial intermediator in any economy, the biggest danger from banks
is that lax controls allow them earn more money from trading on their
own account and for favoured clients, rather than from arbitrating the
efficient allocation of financial resources in the economy.

What manner of gains?

The gains from
greed and enlightened self-interest are not the same thing. Neither is
their effect on the economy. The one is the excess that results in
crapulence, indigestion, and obesity, all harmful in equal measure to
all that indulge in it.

The other involves
the pursuit of personal gain, while acknowledging the rights/needs of
others. The emplacement and enforcement of laws and rules in any
society based on competitive capitalism should aim at incentivising the
latter set of behaviour, while clamping down on the former.

Even though the
current management of the CBN appreciates this fact, the bank still
needs to do a lot more to cleanse the banking sub-sector in a way that
makes monetary policy management easier.

Take for example
its latest directive to banks to quote their rates as a function of the
policy rate. Imagine the moral outrage when deposit rates are quoted as
MPR-5, and lending rates as MPR+10. Yet, the problem is not with rates
at the retail end of the market. It is instead about the structure of
the MPR itself.

For so long, it has been out of
alignment with all the rates it is meant to control, only because it
has no relationship to inflation. Would General Gusau support a policy
rate expressed as the sum of the inflation rate plus the trend growth
rate of the economy?

The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) said the world economy is recovering from the
global crisis better than expected, but sees activity reviving at
different speeds in different parts of the world.

In its latest World
Economic Outlook (WEO), made available on the organisation’s website,
the IMF said among the advanced economies, the United States is off to
a better start than Europe and Japan. Among emerging and developing
economies, emerging Asia is leading the recovery, while many emerging
European and some Commonwealth of Independent States economies are
lagging behind.

The report stated
that China’s growth is forecast at 10 percent in 2010, with India also
at a rapid 8.8 percent. Sub-Saharan Africa has weathered the crisis
well and its recovery is expected to be stronger than in previous
global downturns. In the depth of the crisis last year, world economic
activity contracted by 0.6 percent, as world trade slumped and credit
froze up.

“We find ourselves
at an important new stage of the crisis,” IMF Research Department
Director, Olivier Blanchard, told an April 21 news briefing in
Washington, as made known by the report. “A global depression has been
averted. The world economy is recovering, and recovering better than we
had previously thought likely.”

But he added that achieving strong, sustained, and balanced growth would require more work.

Outlook still uncertain

The report said
that despite improvements, the outlook remains unusually uncertain, and
downside risks stemming from fiscal fragilities have come to the fore.
A key concern is that room for policy maneuvres in many advanced
economies has either been exhausted or become much more limited.
Moreover, sovereign risks in advanced economies could undermine
financial stability gains and extend the crisis. The rapid increase in
public debt and deterioration of fiscal balance sheets could be
transmitted back to banking systems or across borders.

These problems
underscore the need for policy action to sustain the recovery of the
global economy and financial system. Given the still fragile recovery,
fiscal stimulus planned for 2010 should be fully implemented, except in
economies that face large increases in risk premiums.

The report said the
policy agenda should include several important elements. “The key task
ahead is to reduce sovereign vulnerabilities. These should include
clear time frames to bring down gross debt-to-GDP ratios over the
medium term, as well as contingency measures if the deterioration in
public finances is greater than expected. If macroeconomic developments
proceed as expected, most advanced economies should embark on fiscal
consolidation in 2011.”

The report also
added that as high unemployment persists in advanced economies, a major
concern is that temporary joblessness will turn into long-term
unemployment. Beyond pursuing macroeconomic policies that support
recovery in the near term and financial sector policies that restore
banking sector health (and credit supply to employment-intensive
sectors), specific labour market policies could also help limit damage
to the labour market. In particular, adequate unemployment benefits are
essential to support confidence among households and to avoid large
increases in poverty. Education and training can help reintegrate the
unemployed into the labour force.

Policymakers need
to try to ensure that the next stage of the financial sector
deleveraging process unfolds smoothly and results in a safer,
competitive, and vital financial system.

Looking further
ahead, the report stated that there must be agreement on the reform
agenda for financial regulation. “The direction of reform is
clear-higher quantity and quality of capital and better liquidity risk
management – but the magnitude is not. In addition, uncertainty
surrounding reforms to address too-important-to-fail institutions and
systemic risks, make it difficult for financial institutions to plan.”

The IMF urged that
policymakers must strike the right balance between promoting the safety
of the financial system and keeping it innovative and efficient.

Balancing Stability Agenda with Risks

Bismarck Rewane,
Managing Director, Financial Derivative Company, said the Nigerian
economy is projected to grow by 7.53 percent in 2010, according to the
Nigerian Bureau of Statistics. “Nigeria’s proneness to adverse external
shocks in the oil market and disruptions in oil production are major
risks to growth in 2010. Inflation is also another risk that must be
managed in 2010.”

Mr. Rewane, in his
April edition of the firm’s economic update, said potential threats of
inflation will be from the proposed deregulation of the downstream oil
and gas sector, massive pre-election spending, and the implementation
of 2010 budget with a planned spending increase of about 50 percent,
compared to 2009 figures. Also, about 45 percent of the 2010 budget is
for recurrent expenditure.

“Rising
unemployment and the prevailing credit squeeze in the banking sector
also pose a major threat to overall growth of the economy. The Central
Bank of Nigeria is therefore, faced with a daunting task that must see
it weather the potential shocks to the macro economy and at the same
time, follow through with financial regulatory reform programme.”

He said the
financial system is vital to the development of any economy and so, it
is important that steps are taken to ensure that financial institutions
are strong, safe and efficient.

“However” he said, “focusing on financial regulation at the expense
of the macro economy could also have the undesirable consequence of
jeopardising the overall growth of the economy.”

“In 1899, Economist and sociologist
Thorstein Veblem coined the phrase “conspicuous consumption” in his
book ‘The Theory of the Leisure Class’ 1899. He argued that some
consumption is intended to send a message about the consumer’s status
rather than just to satisfy a need. They buy certain goods because of
what those goods reveal about their standing in society, rather than
the intrinsic enjoyment they derive from the purchase.” Conspicuous
consumption is the ostentatious display and consumption of resources by
largely the wealthy class, to advertise their wealth. As the term
“keeping up with the Jones'” suggests, we measure our success against
others around us and have become so consumed with the image of
affluence, that we fail to be satisfied with the happiness and
contentment that comes from financial stability and good old fashioned
family values.

National Currency

A national currency is a source of
national identity and pride and an anchor for a country’s economic
prosperity. The Nigerian naira is of great value to our national psyche
and deserves our faith and respect. It must be treated and used
responsibly if it is to have its pride of place in our national
heritage.

Nigerians are world renowned for
teeming social activity and the throwing of lavish parties. Indeed we
have been described as “a merry making people on the west coast of
Africa.” The “spraying” of money at social events such as weddings,
christenings, anniversaries and funerals is often attributed to the
Yoruba, a practise that has now spread widely to other communities
across the country.

Upon closer examination, it appears
that where this was indeed the practise in the past, its purpose was to
display appreciation and gratitude and it was practised with some
restraint; indeed a sense of decency, simplicity, modesty, and
frugality prevailed. The phenomenon of “show”, appears to be more
recent and grew largely from the emergence of a new class in the 1970s
following the oil boom, and was made popular by praise singing
musicians who waxed lyrical in their releases by singling out some of
the wealthy in their midst.

Wining and dining at such gatherings,
is often accompanied by the irritating closure of public roads, loud
music, dancing and much festivity. The celebrant is joined on the dance
floor by guests who begin to paste the currency notes on their forehead
and fling money at them, the “spray” of money cascades to the floor and
people stamp and dance on it with someone assigned to pick it up.

The CBN Act of 2006 singled out the
practise of “spraying” as the worst form of abuse of the naira. The
Act, which was signed into law, stipulates that anyone caught spraying
the naira will be jailed for six months without an option of fine.

A widening abyss

Indeed, the ignorance of conspicuous
consumption has serious societal implications and the upsurge in
incidents of violence is not an isolated phenomenon. Differences in
culture, religion and politics are often blamed as the catalysts of
unrest, but the strong underlying economic factors that fuel violence,
unless remedied, can create irreparable damage to our economic
development and our collective psyche.

The ever widening abyss in incomes of
the rich and poor, and the show of opulence and ostentatious living by
the rich is slowly giving rise to a sense of despondency, deprivation
and degradation among much of the populace that lives largely in abject
poverty.

Whilst most people appear to have
accepted their lot, a small minority have become restive and translate
their resentment and wrath into acts of social disorder. Such
resentment breeds a desperation that can become extreme and manifests
in lawlessness, armed robbery, kidnapping, and murder.

Conspicuous spending sends a powerful
message to the society, and in particular the impressionable youth,
that they must strive to make money by any means. On the contrary, they
must be encouraged to value education, hard work, ambition and ability,
and the belief that true success comes from the dint of sheer hard work.

Financial, social and economic discipline

“Economy is a poor man’s revenue;
extravagance, a rich man’s ruin,” said Lydia Maria Child. There will
always be people that have much more than you; nicer homes, cars,
clothes, jewels. It is tempting to try to copy or outdo them but you
then put yourself under intense pressure. Focus instead on your own
particular situation and your long-term financial goals.

The “play now, pay later” syndrome
implies that people who spend a large part of their wealth on acquiring
luxuries, often on credit, are in essence undermining their future
financial security. Some people “appear” to be wealthy, yet the
feverish display of opulence may be shielding huge debt.

The phenomenon of wasteful and lavish
consumption to enhance social prestige can be reversed where the
mindset shifts towards the timeless disciplined approach to creating,
building and retaining wealth. This comes from a systematic approach to
saving, investing and spending. Acquiring and maintaining long-term
financial security is a process with few short cuts, but the rewards
over time, are well beyond the thrills of any instant gratification or
outward appearances.

The world’s top
cellphone maker Nokia cut its profit outlook and delayed the launch of
phones it needs to compete with the iPhone and Blackberry in the
fast-growing high end of the market.

Nokia still lacks a
top-range model to challenge Apple’s iPhone three years after its
launch. It’s last high-end hit phone was the N95, which was unveiled in
2006.

Nokia reported on
Thursday a rise in January-March earnings and sales, roughly in line
with expectations, but cut the outlook for its 2010 operating profit
margin at its key phone unit to 11-13 percent from 12-14 percent.

The average forecast of 33 analysts in a Reuters poll was 13.7 percent.

Shares in Nokia
were 14.5 percent lower at 9.64 euros by 1142 GMT, dragging the STOXX
Europe 600 Technology Index .SX8P four percent lower.

The smartphone
market continued to expand through the economic downturn, helped by
cheaper models, and research firm Gartner has forecast it will grow a
whopping 46 percent this year.

Nokia delayed the
renewal of its Symbian software — seen as crucial to improve its
position in the high-end of the market — to the third quarter from
second quarter.

“This is pretty
significant as Nokia and Symbian have lost a lot of market share in the
last few years,” said analyst Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics.

“Psychologically it
is a blow as well as iPhone, Blackberry ad Android are surging ahead
with software updates. Symbian cannot afford any delays,” said Mawston.

Smartphone prices drop 17 pct in one quarter

Nokia slashed
prices of its cell phones across its portfolio this week, with the
deepest cuts of around 10 percent seen for some smartphone models, data
seen by Reuters showed on Thursday.

Nokia is struggling
to battle with new rivals Apple and Blackberry maker Research in Motion
(RIMM.O) at the high end of the cellphone market, and sees a cheaper
price as its strongest weapon to hold on to market share, analysts said.

Nokia is benefiting
from growth among cheap smartphones, which dragged the average sales
price of a Nokia smartphone 17 percent from the previous quarter to
just 155 euros ($208). This compares to more than $600 for iPhone.

Apple’s quarterly
results blew past Wall Street expectations on the back of record iPhone
sales earlier this week, and the company gave a strong revenue
forecast, sending its shares to an all-time high.

For Nokia,
underlying first-quarter earnings per share rose 40 percent from a year
ago to 0.14 euros ($0.19), marking the first annual rise since the
second quarter of 2008 but missing the average forecast of 0.15 in a
Reuters poll of 43 analysts.

Earnings were
boosted by massive cost cuts as Nokia slashed thousands of jobs last
year, aiming to reduce costs at its key handset unit alone by more than
700 million euros to counter recession-hit demand.

January-March sales
at the market leader, which makes one in three phones sold globally,
grew 3 percent from a year ago, also rising for the first time since
the second quarter of 2008.

Nokia shares had
gained 26 percent in 2010 prior to the result, boosted by strong
fourth-quarter results and hopes that its smartphones business was
winning back lost market share. The share remains 8 percent higher for
the year.

($1=.7439 Euro)

Nigeria’s economy is set to grow 6.3 percent this year and
consumer inflation should stay in double-digits through 2011 as the government
slashes fuel subsidies and increases budgetary spending, a Reuters poll showed
on Thursday.

A poll of 11 analysts forecast Nigerian inflation to average
12.6 percent in 2010 and 11.5 percent next year.

That marks an acceleration since a previous poll in January,
which forecast 11.4 percent inflation this year but did not forecast inflation
next year.

The National Bureau of Statistics last week estimated March
inflation at 11.8 percent.

“Inflation will be sustained at a high level as the effect of
fuel price deregulation and expansionary fiscal policy becomes apparent,” said
Alan Cameron, analyst for London-based Business Monitor International.

The poll forecast sub-Saharan Africa’s No. 2 economy to grow 6.3
percent this year, down slightly from 6.7 percent last year and compared with a
forecast for 6.4 percent growth in a previous poll in January.

Analysts expected the budget’s fiscal deficit to grow by 3.5
percent this year, according to the poll, below government expectations of more
than 5 percent.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi warned last week that
double-digit inflation was a threat, but his top priority remained stimulating
economic growth and getting credit flowing in Africa’s biggest energy producer.

The central bank last week forecast GDP growth to average 7.5
percent in 2010.

“Nigeria’s balance sheet remains strong,” said Thalma Corbett,
chief economist at NKC Independent. “Continued strong growth in the services
and agriculture sectors will boost economic growth, as will oil output
expansion.”

Fuel deregulation

Sanusi has backed federal efforts to deregulate the fuel sector,
saying it may cause a brief spike in inflation but the economy would benefit in
the long run.

Despite vying with Angola as Africa’s top oil producer, Nigeria
imports some 85 percent of its fuel needs because of the disrepair and
mismanagement of its four state-owned refineries.

Fuel subsidies cost the government more than $4 billion a year.

Analysts said increased government spending this year would also
contribute to double-digit inflation.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to sign into law
this week a N4.608 trillion budget, which lawmakers hope will help Nigeria out
of a downturn.

The poll’s forecast that the fiscal deficit would grow 3.5
percent this year, below government expectations of more than 5 percent, was
based on weaker-than-expected capital spending projections.

“We see the fiscal deficit coming in below official expectations
given that the capital expenditure component of the budget is unlikely to be
fully implemented,” Cameron said.

More than a third of this year’s budget is for capital spending
on areas including infrastructure, the power sector and development in the
oil-rich Niger Delta.

The oversubscription of Oando Plc’s Rights Issue announced on
Thursday was expected, some operators at the Nigerian capital market have said.

Gbenga Emmanuel, a portfolio manager at WealthZone Company, said
the 128 per cent subscription which the company recorded during its Right Issue
offer was “not surprising” to us market operators.

“We had predicted that the Right Issue would be oversubscribed
because investors’ interest in Oando, an indigenous oil company in Nigeria with
upstream and downstream operations, is still very strong,” he said.

Mr. Emmanuel said many of the company’s shareholders bought
additional rights during the offer. “Only few of them sold their rights,” the
finance analyst added.

Tunde Oladapo-Dixon, Chief Executive Officer of StockPicks
Consulting, also said the company’s Right Issue was oversubscribed because
“about 80 per cent of subscribers took their rights while some sold off their
rights.” Oando issued 301,694,876 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N70 per
share to existing shareholders who names appeared on the register of the
company as at the close of business on December 18, 2009. The issue opened on
January 25 and closed on February 19.

Indication of confidence

Oando, one of Nigerian energy groups, yesterday announced that
its recent Rights Issue was oversubscribed. The company, which has a primary
listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange, in a statement, said the Rights Issue that was
expected to raise N21 billion returned 128 per cent subscription.

Wale Tinubu, Oando’s Group Chief Executive, said, “We are
extremely pleased with the positive reaction to our rights issue in spite of
the seeming apathy to capital market investments.

This is an indication of the confidence of investors in our
ability to optimise resources to create superior returns. These funds will
complement our ongoing strategy of investing in high margin businesses as well
as supporting our expansion plans to take maximum advantage of opportunities
within Africa’s energy landscape,” he said.

Raising more funds

Seeking shareholders’ approval to raise the fund last August,
Mr. Tinubu, said the aggressive growth saw the company become highly leveraged,
and would therefore need to pay down and restructure some its loans under
better terms.

He added that the company also needed to raise further capital
from debt and equity financing sources to develop its new acquisitions that can
diversify its revenue stream.

As a result, the shareholders gave their approval and support
for N220 billion capital raising exercise last year. Specifically, the N20.4
billion begin the first phase of the capital raising programme, according to
Mr. Tinubu, “is an important step for Oando towards refinancing the acquisition
of upstream assets, providing operational capital to fund the operation of
upstream business and short & medium term investments in its gas and power
business segment.” He explained that after the right issue, what will follow
will be a combination of international debt and equity offerings through which
Oando hopes to raise between $500 million and $600 million. The final phase, he
added, would be a public offer later in the year.

High earnings

Oando, which has six business divisions -Exploration &
Production, Energy Services, Gas & Power, Marketing, Supply & Trading,
and Refining & Terminals, on April 12, announced results for the year
ending December 31, 2009. Its Pre-Tax profits increased by 21 per cent to
N10.1billion compared to N8.3 billion same period in 2008, while earnings per
share increased by 23 per cent.

In 2004, Oando raised N16 billion, the highest at that time by a
non-financial institution, through a rights issue and public offering at that
time. The funds realised accelerated the company’s transformation from a
downstream business into one of Nigeria’s largest indigenous energy groups.

Regester Larkin, a
London-based company in the provision of reputation strategy and
management services to the oil and gas sector, is providing a platform
to enable oil companies to build capacity and network with their peers
in other parts of the world.

To this end,
Regester Larkin will conduct a four-day intensive and holistic training
programme in crisis management for Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)
managers, Corporate Communications and Human Relations professionals
from international, national, and local energy companies. The programme
comes up between July 19 – 22, 2010 in London.

Rob Sherwin,
Director at Regester Larkin, said the training “will equip participants
with the fundamental skills and workable tools to enable the various
professionals and their companies to manage crises while protecting
their reputation and their license to operate.”

He emphasised that
the training will cover international best practices in crisis
management, crisis spokesperson training and coaching, simulation, and
the roles of professionals in times of corporate crisis.

Adedayo Ojo,
Managing Director, Caritas Communications, the Nigerian affiliate of
the company, said the programme will not only train and update the
participants on ways of minimising the potential damage that corporate
reputation suffers as a result of crisis, but also provide an
opportunity for Nigerian participants to share experiences and build
network with their peers from around the world.

He, therefore,
calls on relevant professionals and energy companies in the country to
avail themselves of the opportunity and be part of the programme.

Regester Larkin is
a specialist reputation strategy and management consultancy. Regester
Larkin works with multinational, state-owned, and indigenous energy
companies around the world to protect and capitalise on their
reputation through strategic communications, reputation management, and
crisis preparedness.

If technology can
be considered an enabler and used to solve everyday challenges and
problems in our society, then perhaps using CCTV to combat crime either
as a deterrent or to actually investigate and solve crimes on our
streets, housing developments, housing estates and town centres etc is
quite a valid preposition.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV)

Closed-circuit
television (CCTV) which essentially refers to the use of video cameras
to transmit data (images) to a bank of monitors in a control room. All
such data can also be recorded over time and can stand up as evidence
in a court of law when prosecuting any kind of crime.

Statistics exist
certainly in more developed countries to confirm that the presence of
CCTV alone serves as a deterrent to and in solving crime.

In developing
countries such as Nigeria where armed robbery, kidnapping, carjacking,
motoring offenses etc is becoming prevalent, there is, in my view a
need to implement an efficient CCTV architecture across the country as
a whole, as mentioned earlier it will not only serve as a deterrent but
will assist in investigating and gathering evidence to recover stolen
items and prosecute such offenses to the full extent of the Law.

Successful usage of CCTV architecture

CCTV architecture has successfully been used to great effect in the following manner in other countries;

>> Used to monitor airports, roads, shopping centre, government buildings and establishments in real time.

>> Investigation even after a crime has been committed as you are relying on recorded video data.

>> Regular traffic updates and monitoring of accidents and hotspots etc

>> Number
plate recognition which when integrated with the Car Registration or
license plate database can assist in instantly identifying any
offenders.

>> Directed surveillance of suspected offenders.

>> Video data
images of any individuals on a police watch list can be processed
through an automatic face recognition system to confirm their identity.

>> Emergencies and other special events

>> Talking CCTV allows the operator talk directly to individuals committing anti social behaviour etc.

Managing CCTV

It is probably best
to implement, run and manage CCTV infrastructure independently
(preferably by private sector organisations for obvious reasons) and
put in place procedures to allow the various organisations that may
need to or are allowed to access such data in a very controlled manner
to ensure that the confidentiality and integrity of all such data is
maintained.

According to a BBC
news report, as of 2002 there were 25 Million cameras worldwide, 2.5
million in the U.K. alone and the average UK citizen is caught on
camera 300 times a day, your guess is as good as mine on the exact
numbers today.

There are arguments
against the proliferation of CCTV cameras (as postulated by civil
liberties organsations across the world) primarily on the basis, that
CCTV can be used by the government to perpetuate itself as a ‘Big
Brother’, monitoring and encroaching on people’s privacy which is quite
a valid argument when it is used in a negative way. But what about the
list of items mentioned earlier on, that CCTV can be used to combat?

Like everything
else, where CCTV architecture is implemented and used correctly, the
benefits of having such an infrastructure implemented across all major
towns certainly outweighs the disadvantages.

Implementing a
suitable CCTV infrastructure is certainly a worthwhile investment,
either by the public or private sector and will overall assist in
reducing crime, concentrating on categories of crime that are either
highest volume or that are of greatest concern to the public, reduce
levels of anti-social behaviour that blights the quality of life in our
society and ultimately reduce the fear of crime and disorder.

Airlines around the
world began to confront a huge backlog of passengers on Wednesday,
after six days of European airspace restrictions had forced the
cancellation of more than 100,000 flights and cost the airline industry
an estimated $1.7 billion.

While officials
said it could take weeks for some travel to return completely to
normal, some airlines in Europe and Asia said they were moving rapidly
to restore flights. Eurocontrol, the agency that coordinates regional
air-traffic management, said three-quarters of the 28,000 flights
scheduled for European airspace were expected to fly on Wednesday – the
highest proportion in days.

About two-thirds of
scheduled departures and half of arriving flights were operating at
Heathrow Airport outside of London. At Frankfurt International Airport,
about half as many flights as normal were taking off and landing.

A spokeswoman said
that airlines had added 90 supplementary flights in and out of Heathrow
since Britain reopened its airspace late Tuesday, becoming the last
major European country to do so after a huge plume of volcanic ash
spreading south and east from Iceland disrupted travel over much of the
continent.

But flights were
not resuming as quickly at other British regional airports. Only 10 per
cent of scheduled flights at Edinburgh operated on Wednesday morning, a
figure that was expected to rise to 50 per cent by the evening. In
Aberdeen, only 30 per cent of morning flights operated, while 65 per
cent were expected from 5pm.

The International
Air Transport Association (IATA), said Wednesday that the crisis had
cost airlines more than $1.7 billion in lost revenue through Tuesday.
At its worst, the association said, “the crisis impacted 29 per cent of
global aviation and affected 1.2 million passengers a day.” Before
restrictions were eased, the chaos had lasted twice as long as the
three-day closing of American airspace after the attacks of September
11, 2001, which devastated many airlines financially. By midday in
Paris, Air France said that it had been able to restore almost all
service across its entire network, and had flown more than 40,000
stranded passengers back to France since Monday.

The airline said it
expected to operate all its scheduled long-haul flights on Wednesday
and many European flights except for those to northern and northeastern
Europe, where some airports remained closed.

Aéroports de Paris,
which operates Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, said all
intercontinental arrivals and departures and 75 per cent of European
and domestic flights were expected to operate Wednesday.

British Airways
planned to operate all of its intercontinental services from London’s
Heathrow and Gatwick airports on Wednesday, although many of its
domestic and European flights remained cancelled until at least
Wednesday afternoon.

Britain’s National
Air Traffic Service said it had handled roughly 130 flights in the
airspace over England and Wales between 1am and 7am on Wednesday and 35
flights in Scotland and Northern Ireland. British airspace would be
largely open on Wednesday, except for parts of Scotland with a “dense
concentration” of volcanic ash. Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier,
said it expected to resume a full flight schedule by early afternoon.

With their call
centres jammed by customers trying to re-book their flights, some
airlines found innovative ways to speed the process, including social
media networks.

The Dutch carrier KLM advised passengers on its Web site that re-booking could be done via Twitter or on its Facebook page.

According to
forecasts by Britain’s Met Office meteorological agency and the
Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London, winds were expected to continue
blowing the highest concentrations of ash westward toward the northeast
coast of Canada. By midnight Wednesday, the cloud was expected to be
largely clear of Europe, lingering over only Ireland and parts of
northern Scotland.

The New York Times