Nigeria Content Online

The federal
government will integrate all activities in the country’s mining and
steel sectors into the mainstream of the national economic framework,
as part of efforts to diversify the country’s revenue base from oil.

Musa Sada, the
minister of mines and steel development, said in Abuja during a meeting
with the World Bank Task Team Leader, Ekaterina Mikhaylova, that the
ministry is currently working with the ministry of finance and the
national planning commission to achieve this objective.

“The nation’s
mining sector, if well developed, would assist the country to diversify
its mono economic base on crude oil and create a second line of
economic resource for the country,” Mr. Sada said.

The minister
identified appropriate operational framework as one of the areas that
would attract private investors to the sector, pointing out that the
intervention of the World Bank in the country’s mining sector through
the provision of a legal and regulatory framework for sector operations
has inspired confidence in both local and foreign investors.

To create more
awareness on the sector, the minister said copies of the Draft Minerals
and Mining Regulations produced during the recent Stakeholders’ Forum
on the review of the document would be taken to the forthcoming
International Fora in South Africa and Canada for investors’ inputs, to
give international mining operators confidence on the operational
guidelines in Nigeria.

He commended the
successes recorded so far from the World Bank grants for the nation’s
mining sector, noting that there was a remarkable improvement between
the achievements recorded before and after the World Bank intervention.

While urging the
World Bank to extend the proposed additional financing for the mining
sector to cover the steel sub-sector, he was optimistic that it will go
a long way to facilitate the development of the sector, particularly in
the area of industrialisation.

Earlier, Mrs.
Mikhaylova, a senior mining specialist to the World Bank, said she was
in Nigeria to finalise the appraisal for the additional $80 million
World Bank financing credit for the Sustainable Management of Mineral
Resources Project. The funding would be released between June and July
this year.

The additional
financing project meant to ensure the sustainability of the progress
made so far in the project, she explained, was a continuation from the
first phase, which was meant to help collect geo-data of the nation’s
mineral resources, finalise activities, as well as provide equipment to
artisanal and small scale miners (ASMs), and host communities as well
as capacity building.

Though Mrs.
Mikhaylova assured the mines and steel minister that the steel
sub-sector would be accommodated by the additional funding scheme, she
said the ministries of finance and justice would be involved in the
negotiations to finalise all technical issues, considering that some
legal regulatory adjustments and capacity building would have to be
addressed.

Mrs. Mikhaylova
implored the federal government to continue its collaboration with the
World Bank to achieve a sustainable development of the nation’s mining
industry.

Nigeria’s foreign
exchange reserves slipped slightly to $33.12 billion naira by the end
of January from $33.53 billion two weeks earlier, and remain down more
than a quarter from a year ago, the Central Bank said on Wednesday.

The foreign
reserves of Africa’s top oil and gas producer have fallen over the past
12 months despite rising oil prices and production, raising concerns
about government spending in the run-up to April elections. They are
now 27 per cent below year-ago levels.

The government has
said the decline is partly due to spending to maintain a stable naira
currency in the face of higher dollar demand, as well as spending on
the power sector and seed capital for a planned sovereign wealth fund.

Central Bank
governor, Lamido Sanusi, told Reuters last month monetary tightening,
higher money market yields, a recovering banking sector, and higher oil
prices and production should help stop the reserve depletion.

Uju Udeme, the
president, Asaba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture
(ASACCIMA), said the association was committed to the promotion of
industrial and commercial activities in Delta State.

Mr. Udeme said this
in Asaba on Wednesday when members of the association visited the state
commissioner for special duties in-charge of Direct Labour Agency
(DLA), Ngozi Okolie.

He said that one of
the objectives of the association was the promotion of the interest of
its members and harnessing and strengthening of the resource base of
private sector operators.

According to him,
key areas in promoting the private sector-driven economy include
telecommunications, tourism, agriculture, oil and gas, transportation
and finance.

“We are aware that
your agency is involved in the construction and maintenance of roads
across the state. And we also know that the impact of road in the
development of the economy of the state cannot be over emphasised,” he
added.

Uncertainty in the investment clime may be pushing investors to opt for more secured investment instruments.

Some
investment advisory firms have been encouraging their clients to switch
to money market instrument in order to secure their investment and
enjoy more returns. This may have counted for the loss recorded in the
equities market in the last one week.

FSDH Securities Limited, an investment advisory firm, recently challenged its clients to reconsider their investment plans.

“In
recent times, we have observed that the return on Nigerian Treasury
Bills (NTBs) investment has been higher than the returns on Fund
Placements. This has resulted in increased participation of
institutional investors in NTBs. Driven by our desire to continue to
provide our individual clients with opportunities to grow their
investments through value added products, services and supports, FSDH
wishes to introduce you to investment opportunities in the NTBs,” the
firm stated in a note to its clients last week.

Treasury
Bills are short term debt instruments issued by the Federal Government
through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide short term funding
for the government. NTBs are the most liquid money market securities
backed by the guarantee of the Federal Government, and are usually
issued for tenors of 91 days, 182 days, and 364 days.

Treasury
Bills are discounted, purchased for a price less than their face value,
and at maturity, the holder of the bills is paid the full par value by
the government.

Last week, 91-day and 182-day treasury bills were sold at marginal rates of 7.3 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively.

Flexible tenors

According
to FSDH, investment in NTBs provides opportunities with flexible tenors
and attractive returns. Upward adjustment in the Monetary Policy Rates
(MPR) last month from 6.25 to 6.50 per cent resulted in rise in key
money market rates.

Analysts at Afrinvest, another investment firm, in their out outlook expect investors to react to the increase.

“Investors
reacted to the increase in the MPR as yields on tradable maturities
inched upwards in the two-way quote market for NTBs last week,” said
the firm in its weekly report on Friday.

Marginal drop in bond yields has also made the treasury bills window more attractive.

Victor
Ogiemwonyi, managing director of Partnership Investment Limited, a
Lagos-based financial and investment company, said investors who want
to stay safe would prefer to invest in NTB.

“Investing
in NTB is like taking a neutral position when you do not know how
things will turn out, when you do not want to make long term
commitments. Bond is long term; equities could dip at this time of
market uncertainty. If I was advising, I will say stay three to four
months with treasury bills,” Mr. Ogiemwonyi said.

The
stock market shed N343 billion in the last one week, closing on Tuesday
at N8.541 trillion. It, however, rose yesterday, by 0.77 per cent to
close at N8.607 trillion.

Mr. Ogiemwonyi said investment decision would depend on the risk appetite of the investor.

“There are others who are speculative, who can see some prospect in
the clutter of uncertainty. To this group, I would advise them to
invest in equities because some opportunities exist in the stock market
right now,” he said.

Sustaining the
progress recorded under the Federal Government amnesty programme for
former members of armed militant groups in the Niger Delta is important
for lasting peace in the oil producing region.

Timi Alaibe, the
outgoing special adviser to the president on Niger Delta affairs said
yesterday in Abuja at the formal handover ceremony to his successor,
Kingsley Kuku, that he must build on the foundation already laid for
the growth and development of the country’s oil bearing areas.

Mr. Alaibe, who
recently resigned to fly the Labour Party flag in the forthcoming
governorship elections in Bayelsa State, claimed that the amnesty
initiative is the most efficiently conducted programme in Africa,
pointing out that this is the first time that known members of armed
militant groups would accept to drop their guns and embrace peace.

“The amnesty
programme is a resounding success. This is the first time that those
who were carrying arms are transformed into those writing examinations
on non-violence, having shown their readiness to embrace integration in
the society,” he said.

He said the
programmes and operational structure already put in place under his
leadership have charted the pathway for his successor’s success, to
achieve the Federal Government’s objective of providing employment for
youth in the area.

Mr. Alaibe said a
total of 12,917 former members of various Niger Delta armed militant
groups participated in the demobilisation and integration process
through non-violent and conflict resolution programmes, while an
additional 6,166 others enlisted last December.

“I believe my
successor has the pedigree and experience to carry on, to help realise
the Federal Government objectives of creating jobs for the youth and
guaranteeing peace in the Niger Delta region,” he said.

Kingsley Kuku, the
new special adviser to the president on Niger Delta Affairs, and former
spokesman, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), pledged his commitment to sustain
the amnesty programme. Mr. Kuku said 13, 043 former militants were
successfully demobilised in 11 batches between June and December last
year.

About 11,000 of the
demobilised ex-militants were posted to various institutions for
training, with 38 sent to South Africa, 34 currently in training in the
country, while 212 are in Ghana for a similar training.

Coca-Cola Nigeria
Limited has announced the appointment of Kelvin Balogun as the
company’s new chief executive officer, effective February 1, 2011. Mr.
Balogun succeeds Islay Rhind, who will be retiring from The Coca-Cola
Company.

Mr. Balogun, who
becomes the first Nigerian CEO of Coca-Cola Nigeria, joined the company
in October 1999 as strategic planning & business development
manager. In February 2002, he moved to East Africa, where he held
positions of increasing responsibility in Kenya, Tanzania, and the Horn
of Africa before assuming the role of strategy director for the
Coca-Cola East & Central Africa Business Unit in May 2008, with
responsibility for strategy development across 27 countries.

Mr. Balogun’s last
role in East Africa was that of general manager for the East Africa
& Mozambique Franchise, leading Coca-Cola’s operations and market
development in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique.

Curt Ferguson,
president of Coca-Cola North & West Africa Business Unit, had this
to say – “Kelvin is well grounded in the business and has a strong
track record of performance. He successfully rebuilt some of the key
business drivers for profitable growth in several East and Central
African markets. We are confident that he will accelerate the growth
momentum that our business has built in Nigeria and will lay a solid
framework for sustainable market leadership.”

He began his career
in 1989 as a business analyst at Accenture in Lagos, and rose to the
position of senior manager & head of strategy competency. He has an
MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University in Atlanta
and a Bachelors degree in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering
from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife. He is also an alumnus of
the Lagos Business School and the Logistics Strategy School at the
Cranfield University in the UK.

“I am excited by the opportunity to return home and help shape and drive the Coca-Cola business here,” said Mr. Balogun.

“Nigeria is a strategic growth market; my colleagues and I will
focus on strengthening the fundamentals of the business, deepening the
bonds between our brands and our consumers, and expanding our market
leadership,” he further said.

Positive sentiments
returned to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday after the
market had recorded losses in the last five trading days.

The Exchange market
capitalisation of the 201 First-Tier equities closed higher yesterday
at N8.607 trillion after opening the day at N8.541 trillion, reflecting
0.77 per cent increase or N66 billion gains. Meanwhile, the market had
lost over N343 billion in the last five trading days.

All the sectoral
indices closed positive on Wednesday as the NSE-30, which measures the
performance of blue chips in the market, gained by 0.88 per cent; the
NSE Banking gained the highest points at 1.84 per cent; Oil & Gas
went up by 1.13 per cent; Insurance up by 0.16 per cent, while the NSE
Food & Beverages retraced by 0.11 per cent.

Commenting on
Wednesday’s trading, analysts at Proshare Nigeria, an investment
advisory company, said the nation’s capital market witnessed “trend
reversal on the back of renewed bargain tendency, adding that “the key
benchmark indices climbed up, taking support from moderate buying
witnessed across the sectors.”

“The impressive
activities witnessed in the banking sector with rescued banks taking
the lead coupled with buying in Food & Beverages, Insurance,
Petroleum, and Marketing sectors impacted the positive outlook
recorded,” they said.

Bola Oke, a finance
analyst at WealthZone Company, a fund management firm, said the market
may remain positive throughout this week because “investors have
returned to the market to take advantage of some defective (blue chips)
stocks that their prices are low.”

Higher gainers

At the close of
trading on Wednesday, the number of gainers closed higher at 39 stocks
compared with the 16 gainers recorded on Tuesday, while losers closed
lower at 23 stocks as against the 39 loserWs in the previous trading
day.

Diamond, Fidelity,
and Spring topped the price gainers’ table with an increase of five per
cent each, while two other banking stocks, Access and UBA, followed in
the chart with an increase of 4.95 and 4.93 per cent.

On the flip side,
Longman Nigeria, Niger Insurance, and Intercontinental Wapic Insurance
led the price losers’ chart with a decline of 5.00 each, while Polyrod
and Premier Paints followed with a decline of 4.97 and 4.96 per cent.

The Banking subsector

The market
transaction volume on Wednesday was 249.23 million units valued at
N2.23 billion, as against the 242.41 million units valued at N2.15
billion recorded on Tuesday.

The volume recorded
in the subsector was driven by transaction in the shares of Zenith
Bank, UBA, Guaranty Trust Bank, Unity Bank, and First Bank. The total
volume of 137.61 million units valued at N1.76 billion traded in the
shares of the five stocks accounted for 39.01 per cent of the entire
market volume and their value represented 29.69 per cent of the
market’s value.

Meanwhile, the NSE said Capital Bancorp Limited, one of the
suspended stockbroking firms, has met the N70 million minimum capital
base requirements stipulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ten other firms have complied since the sanction two weeks ago.

It is difficult to
resist the temptation of writing about the unfolding turmoil in the
Maghreb region. The events in Tunisia, Egypt, and other countries that
up until recently seemed untouchable by popular revolt is instructive
in many ways.

In Sub-Saharan
Africa, we appear to be sitting on the ringside, buffered by the
dessert, maintaining largely deserted streets, and probably see the
uprisings up north as opera.

The courageous
uprisings in North Africa reveal the complexity of history. Just take a
look at Cote D’Ivoire with two presidents and divided streets. Cabals
with political leverage have played various cards to maintain their
hold on power and as long as the people are divided, their reign is
secure.

It is also
instructive that a movement can erupt without a physical icon or
individual leader and led by even loose collectives as we see in Egypt.

But this piece is
not about all of these places. It is about our own backyard, Ayakoromo
in Delta State. This community received an end of year package from the
Nigerian military on December 1, 2010 when bombs and other weapons of
war were unleashed on it. Their crime? There was or had been a militant
camp in or near the community.

According to
reports, the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) attacked the community in
their effort to apprehend or annihilate John Togo, the leader of a
group known as the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF). When the news
broke, the JTF announced that they had captured and destroyed the camp
of the NDLF. However, the militant group claimed that they had
destroyed the camp themselves and relocated weeks before the attack.

The attack resulted
in extensive destruction of property and displaced thousands of
innocent folks who had to run to refugee camps in Warri and environ.
The aged, infirmed, and others who survived the raid but could not run
away apparently remained in the community which was taken up by the
troops. The number of lives lost is contested. The community has used
stakes to outline a spot they claim is a mass grave of the victims.
This is a totem to an outrage.

Dreams betrayed

The tragedy of
Ayakoromo is the tragic manifestation of dreams betrayed in the
evolution of our national history. Ayakoromo underscores the fact that
the citizenry of this nation have not in any deep qualitative way,
enjoyed better respect of their human rights under military autocracy
or under democratic structures. Apart from the casualties of the civil
war, more lives have arguably been lost under civilian rule than under
the military.

We are in no way
nostalgic about the days of the jackboot, but think of what the
ordinary people have suffered since ‘agbada’ replaced ‘khaki’ in the
corridors of power.

Odi happened soon
after the return to civil rule in November 1999 when the town was
shelled (no metaphor meant), bombed, and wrecked by the Nigerian
military on the pretext that they were searching for some ‘kidnappers’.

In the attack,
about 2800 lives were wasted and a blanket of silence still shrouded
that monster assault. There has been no inquiry, and those who survived
learnt their lessons from the several graffiti left behind by the
rampaging troops who were obviously out on a mission to decimate the
local population.

This was followed
by that of Odioma. Last May, the Gbaramatu kingdom of Delta State
received a dose of the lethal medicine. We are not mentioning several
cases of lesser magnitude that have occurred in-between.

Consider also the
unravelling events in Jos, Maiduguri, and Bauchi. Bombs are used freely
and now lynch mobs appear to have stepped into the fray. What do these
portend for the forthcoming elections? The mass response of the
citizens to get registered may be an indication that Nigerians are
ready for change, to do things right. Are our leaders ready? One can
only hope that we are not waiting until folks immolate themselves and
trigger a Tunisian run.

Every assault is
treated as being of no consequence. There are no enquiries. There are
no punishments. Sometimes, there may be grudgingly given apologies, but
generally, justice is not served. The streets of Jos and creeks of the
oil fields run with the blood of the innocent. Is the life of the poor
of such little value that we can simply shut our eyes and move on as
though nothing has happened?

Certainly, we
cannot afford a reign of terror either from the military or armed gangs
in our country. The onus lies on the government to provide security for
the Nigerian people. The Nigerian security forces cannot be allowed to
terrorise, kill, and destroy at will under any guise. Where individuals
run foul of the law, it is the job of law enforcement agents to fish
such out and bring them to justice through constitutional avenues.

The time has come
for the books to be opened and all the cases that have been swept under
the carpet openly examined in a special commission of enquiry.
Offenders, military or civilian, should be appropriately sanctioned.
Other elements of justice must encompass restitution; including the
rebuilding and upgrading of destroyed communities should be the
undertaken. The tragedy of Ayakoromo must not be repeated.

Donations of
blankets and rice to victims of these attacks may be good, but the real
relief will only come when governments own up to their responsibility
to protect lives, apologise to the people, and commit never to turn out
troops against the people.

We see pictures of
jet planes and helicopters flying low over protesters in Egypt. We see
protesters step on armoured tanks. Here, when helicopters, gunboats,
and air force planes swooped over Gbaramatu and Ayakoromo it was not to
warn anybody. It was to bomb, level, and kill. This must stop.

The National Health
Insurance Scheme says it has registered about five million federal
civil servants, representing about 95 per cent of the target
population.

Its executive
secretary, Dogo Muhammed, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Abuja on Wednesday that the figure covered family members of the civil
servants.

He said that the scheme had stabilised and that it had attained the target population given to it by government.

“We all appreciate
that NHIS has stabilised both in the target population we were given,
that is, the federal government employees and their families. We have
captured over 95 per cent of that and we have just been doing the
mop-up or when new people are employed, we have to register them,” Mr.
Muhammed said.

He further explained that the scheme had been experiencing some challenges in getting to the states.

Mr. Muhammed said
that they are working hard to ensure that the Act establishing it was
amended to accommodate other sectors and also to make it compulsory for
all.

Investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday
recorded more losses on the value of their equities, as market closed trading
on negative note.

The NSE market capitalisation of the 201 First-Tier equities
closed yesterday at N8.541 trillion after opening the day at N8.575 trillion,
reflecting 0.39 per cent decline or N34 billion losses. The market had lost
N168 billion at the close of trading session on Monday.

However, the transaction volume recorded yesterday appreciated by
16.87 per cent to close at 330.40 million units exchanged in 6,349 deals as
against a decline of 22.69 per cent recorded on Monday to close at 282.72
million units exchanged in 5,768 deals. Market value also moved up on Tuesday
by 5.38 per cent to close at N3.28 billion as against a decline of 8.93 per
cent recorded the previous trading session to close at N3.11 billion.

Analysts at Proshare Nigeria, an investment advisory firm, said,
“The southward trend continued though waning momentum in sell activities.”

Gainers unchanged

At the close of trading on Tuesday, the number of gainers remain
unchanged as the 16 gainers recorded the previous session while losers closed
lower at 39 stocks when compared with the 50 losers in the previous trading
day.

Air Service and Neimeth topped the price gainers’ table with an
increase of 4.98 and 4.96 per cent respectively. Afro Media and Guaranty Trust
Bank followed in the chart with an increase of 4.84 and 4.42 per cent.

On the losers’ side, Royal Exchange and UBA led the price
losers’ chart with a decline of 5.00 and 4.98 per cent respectively. Africa
Petroleum and Presco followed with a decline of 4.96 and 4.94 per cent.

Bank leads

The banking subsector led the market transaction volume on
Tuesday with 242.41 million units valued at N2.15 billion exchanged in 3,829
deals, as against the 208.28 million units valued at N1.84 billion exchanged in
3,275 deals recorded on Monday.

The volume recorded in the subsector was driven by transaction
in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, and
Oceanic Bank. The total volume of 133.76 million units valued at N1.45 billion
traded in the shares of the five stocks accounted for 40.49 per cent of the
entire market volume and their value represented 44.27 per cent of the market’s
value.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Monday that
all registered capital market operators are required to provide, within two
weeks, current information about their organisation as it is “currently updating
their information on the commission’s database.”