Communique Issued at the end of 5th- Meeting of the Governors of the North-East held in Jalingo, Taraba State. Tuesday, 6th- July, 2021.

The Executive Governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States, under the auspices of North East Governors’ Forum, held its 5th meeting in Jalingo, Taraba State and discussed, among other things, the challenges facing the sub-region. Under the Chairmanship of the Governor of Borno State, Professor, Babagana Umara Zulum, the Forum resolved as follows: 1. The forum notes the general improvement of the Security situation in the region and calls for continuous collaboration of all the security agencies in the country to sustain the gains. The Forum, condoles Mr. President, the Nigerian Army and the families of the late Chief of Army Staff Major General Ibrahim Attahiru and the other officers who lost their lives while on duty. It also congratulates the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, Major General Farouk Yahaya on his appointment. 2. The Forum calls on the diplomatic community, partners and donor agencies supporting the region to activate the process of transiting from humanitarian to stabilization and durable solution within the region. This will ensure sustainability and give people the opportunity to help themselves out of poverty. This will address socio-economic dimension of insecurity in the region. 3. The Forum also notes the negative impact of drug and narcotic substances in the region and the extent to which it fuels the insurgency and other forms of criminality in the region. It therefore calls for support in the area of stopping drug trafficking and enforcing narcotic control within the region and across the borders. 4. The Forum notes the good work of the Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria (REAN) and resolved to support the agency to deliver on its mandate within the region. It however, calls on the agency to intensify working with designated Focal Persons at the individual State level to ensure justifiable spread of projects across the region. 5. While noting the activities of the NEDC as an intervention agency in the region, the Forum expressed deep concern that the level of consultation between the Commission and the various State Governments within the region on project priorities and locations is low and the speed of work on those projects already in place within the region, is slow. The Forum therefore calls on the Commission to consult the various State Governments within the region on priorities for intervention, location of projects and the development of the North East Masterplan. It equally calls for expedited action to complete the existing projects in the region. 6. The Forum notes the technical support on potentials for growth and development of the region especially the Agribusiness Programme using innovative financing model of the Adamawa State Government by the Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP), and agreed that the research be extended to all the States of the region. Forum therefore directed the management of ARDP to immediately prepare and submit the project proposal to the NEGF Secretariat for onward transmission to the various States for implementation. 7. The Forum while interacting with the Commissioners of the Federal Character Commission, appreciated their effort at ensuring compliance with the Federal Character principle. It however, expressed dismay over the shortfall in the number of applicants from the region in the recent recruitment into some Federal Agencies. The forum therefore, resolved to follow up with all the concerned agencies to ensure that the region gets its fair share in the recruitments into the concerned agencies. 8. The Forum deliberated extensively on the presentation on the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project and noted with dismay, that the project as important as it is, to Nigeria and the North-East sub-region, is surrounded by a lot of contractual encumbrances which have stalled its take-off and realization. The Forum, therefore calls on the President to accord the project the desired seriousness by establishing a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to address the encumbrances and bring the project to reality. 9. In its bid to reposition Education in the sub-region, the Forum has received report from the North East Council on Education. It has taken the Councils’ advisory on the improvement of quality and performance of students and teachers screening and training in the region. 10. The next meeting of the Forum is to be held in Damaturu, Yobe State, on Saturday, 9th October, 2021. Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, FNSE, mni Chairman, North East Governors’ Forum (NEGF)/ Executive Governor of Borno State

Abdulrazaq Not ‘One-Chance’ Governor, Kwara Senators Reply Lai Mohammed

Senators from Kwara State have dismissed the claim that the people of the state had made a huge mistake by voting Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as governor. “One chance” is a term popularly used to refer to theft by deception. Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, at the unveiling of a factional All Progressives Congress (APC), secretariat in Ilorin last weekend, said he regretted supporting Abdulrazaq. “It was immediately after the governor emerged as the party’s candidate for the election that it dawned on us that we had entered ‘one chance’,” he had said. But senators Sadiq Umar (Kwara North), Lola Ashiru (Kwara South) and Ibrahim Oloriegbe (Kwara Central), at a joint briefing after Senate plenary on Wednesday, threw their weights behind the state governor, who, they said, was living up to expectations. “The governor is the leader of the party in the state. We, in the National Assembly, recognize the governor as the leader of the party in the state. “The governor is not a ‘one chance’ governor. 2019 was a revolution and God loves Kwara and he made Abdulrazaq the governor, who is living up to people’s expectations. See also Mind your Language: Rape charity group warn Anthony Joshua “Other stakeholders might have a different expectation that the governor may not be able to meet. It is natural. That is going to be looked into,” Senator Umar said. On the factional APC office unveiled by Lai Mohammed, the lawmaker acknowledged that there were internal wranglings in the state chapter of the party but assured that the “disagreement will be resolved.” He also expressed optimism that the party would not lose the state despite the crisis, saying: “PDP will not return to Kwara State, not in the nearest future. We will continue to struggle to control the State.

Samuel Ndubuisi, scientific institute MD, killed by gunmen in Enugu by Jesupemi Are

Samuel Ndubuisi, managing director of the Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI), has been killed by gunmen in Enugu state. SEDI — based in Enugu — is a federal government institute under the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI). Ndubuisi and his police orderly were said to have been shot dead by gunmen along the centenary city junction axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway. According to NAN, the driver of the vehicle reportedly survived the attack, and was taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention. When contacted, Daniel Ndukwe, the state police spokesman, confirmed the incident. The spokesman said, the attack happened at about 4pm but information concerning the incident is still sketchy. “Information surrounding a shooting incident today, 07/07/2021, at about 1600hrs, along Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, said to have led to the death of a man and his police orderly is still sketchy,” Ndukwe said. “Meanwhile, preliminary investigation has commenced. Further development will be duly communicated, please.” The incident comes hours after Ifeanyi Okeke, chief executive officer, AutoEase, a vehicle body repair outfit, was killed about two kilometres away from the point of the latest incident. He was said to have been killed in the presence of his seven-year-old son. In another incident in May, Stanley Nnaji, a former judge of the Enugu state high court, was shot dead by gunmen.

NYSC Scandal: Adeosun speaks on judgment but silent on certificate forgery she committed ByPremium Times

Mrs Adeosun celebrated the judgment despite the fact that it left the allegation of forgery of NYSC certificate hanging around her neck. Former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday, celebrated a court judgment which trivialised her failure to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme prior her appointment in 2015. In a statement, the former minister described the judgment as vindicating her “after a very traumatic spell”, although she was silent on the forgery of the NYSC exemption certificate she was caught to have committed to be appointed minister in 2015. The judgement, too, was silent on the forgery scandal. This is because the minister who instituted the suit apparently to obtain a judicial clearance did not present it before the judge for a review. But despite the judgement leaving the forgery allegation hanging around her neck, Mrs Adeosun issued a subtle threat to institute a legal action, perhaps against PREMIUM TIMES, whose report exposed the forgery scandal in 2018. “I wish to add in light of the court’s ruling, I will at the appropriate time and without hesitation, take all further steps necessary within the law to protect my reputation,” her statement read in part. Taiwo Taiwo, the judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, said in his judgement, that the former minister did not need an NYSC certificate to be appointed a minister or elected into a legislative house at either the federal or state level. But the verdict left the more serious allegation that she forged a certificate of the NYSC purporting to have exempted her from the scheme unaddressed. Revelations A PREMIUM TIMES investigative report had exposed how she skipped the scheme and went on to forge a certificate purporting that she was granted an exemption by the NYSC. She was forced to resign following PREMIUM TIMES’ revelation in 2018. RelatedNews THROWBACK: How Kemi Adeosun admitted using forged NYSC certificate to be appointed minister UPDATED: NYSC Scandal: Court grants Kemi Adeosun reprieve but silent on certificate forgery Former finance minister, Kemi Adeosun returns to public life, launches foundation UPDATED: ANALYSIS: Pantami’s case portrays screenings by SSS, Senate as charade She admitted in her resignation letter to the President that she realised that the NYSC certificate she presented was “not genuine” after the PREMIUM TIMES report. She also admitted presenting the same certificate to be appointed the Commissioner for Finance in home Ogun State in 2011. The judgement given in her favour on Wednesday appears to be at variance with the NYSC law, which stipulates that the one year-long service is compulsory for all Nigerians who graduate from universities or equivalent institutions at less than 30 years of age. TEXEM Eligible Nigerians who skipped the service are liable to be sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and/or N2,000 fine, according to Section 13 of the NYSC law. Read her full statement: My lawyers have informed me of the judgment by the Federal High Court, Abuja, in the case of Folakemi Adeosun v The Attorney General of the Federation (FHC/ABJ/CS/303/2021) in which the court, presided over by Honourable Justice Taiwo Taiwo, ruled that the constitution does not require me to present my first-degree certificate or any other certificate, including the NYSC certificate, to be appointed a Minister. More importantly, he also ruled that I was not eligible to perform NYSC by virtue of the constitution. This is the position I have always maintained and am happy for this official clarification. The ruling vindicates me after a very traumatic spell. It is, however, not only a personal victory; it’s also a victory for many Nigerians in the Diaspora under similar conditions who are desirous to serve their country. I wish to thank God, my family, friends, my counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and numerous well-wishers for their love, care and concern throughout this difficult period, which has lasted 3 whole years. I wish to add in light of the court’s ruling, I will at the appropriate time and without hesitation, take all further steps necessary within the law to protect my reputation. I thank you all.

Social Media And The English Language By Reuben Abati

I get confused these days reading many of the posts on social media, and text messages sent through cell phones, because of the kind of new English that young people now write. The English language is without doubt quite dynamic. In the last 200 years, it has lent itself to many innovations, as cultural, religious, and situational codes have transformed the language and extended the dictionary, with new words and idioms. The kind of new English being written by twitter and what’s app users, particularly young people is however so frightening and lamentable, because it is beginning to creep into regular writing. Texting and tweeting is producing a generation of users of English, (it is worse that they are using English as a second language), who cannot write grammatically successful sentences. I was privileged to go through some applications that some young graduates submitted for job openings recently and I was scared. This new group of English users does not know the difference between a comma and a colon. They have no regard for punctuation. They mix up pronouns, cannibalize verbs and adverbs, ignore punctuation; and violate all rules of lexis and syntax. They seem to rely more on sound rather than formal meaning. My fear is that a generation being brought on twitter, Facebook, instagram and what’s app English is showing a lack of capacity to write meaningful prose, or communicate properly or even think correctly. To an older generation who had to go through the rigour of being told to write proper English, and getting punished severely for speaking pidgin or vernacular or for making careless mistakes of grammar and punctuation, the kind of meta-English now being written by young people can be utterly confusing. The irony is that it makes sense to the young ones, and they can conduct long conversations in this strange version of the English language. I’d not be surprised if someday a novel gets written in this new English, which seems like a complete bastardization. You may have come across the meta-English that I am trying to describe. It is English in sound, but in appearance it has been subjected to the punishment of excessive abbreviation, compression and modification. Hence, in place of the word “for”, you are likely to see “4”, and so the word “forget” becomes “4get”, or “4git”, “fortune” is written as “4tune”, “forever” as “4eva”. The word “see” has been pruned down to a single alphabet “C”, same with “you” now rendered as “u”. In effect, you are likely to read such strange things as “cu” or “cya” meaning “see you.” Some other words have suffered similar fate: “straight” is now written as “Str8”, “first” as “fess”; “will” as “wee” (I can’t figure out why), “house” is now “haus”; “help” has been reduced to “epp”; (“who have you epped?”) instead of the phrase “kind of”, what you get is “kinda”, “money” is simply “moni.”, the computer sign ”@” has effectively replaced the word “at”; “come” is now “cum”, the conjunction “and” is represented with an “n” or the sign &, “that” is now “dat”, “temporary” is likely to be written as “temp”, “are” as “r”, “your” as “ur” “to” as “2”, “take” as “tk.” In place of “thank you”, you are likely to find “tank u”, “with” is now “wit” or “wif”, and “sorry” is commonly written as “sowie”. I have also seen such expressions as “Hawayu?” (“How are you?”), or “Wia r d u?” (“where are the you?”). The you? The me? The us? By the time these new words get combined in what is supposed to be a sentence, you’d have a hard time looking for the sense beyond the sound. On many occasions, I have had to call the sender of such messages to explain what he or she is trying to communicate in simple English, and if it is on social media, I still often call for help. In recent times, I have encountered such messages as “This kidney gist is giving me heddik. I wee hold ya hand if you need kidney love you till we find a miraku. It kent happun pass dat.” Try and help translate that into correct English. And how about this: “As fuel don add moni, everybody don park dem moto for haus.” Pidgin English? Well, may be. Or this: “B/c we d p’pl thought #fuelscarcity was temp. with the fuel hike policy, high cost of living is now a perm cond’n in Ng.” Oftentimes, this special prose arrives amidst a number of other confusing symbols, emoticons, memes, acronyms and abbreviations, looking like a photographic combination of English and hieroglyphics. Some of the more popular abbreviations include Lmao (“laughing my ass off”) lol (“laughing out loud”), lwkmd (“laughter wan kill man die”), stfu (“shut the fuck up”), omg (“Oh my God”), rofl (“Rolling on the floor with laughter”), uwc (“you are welcome”), smh (“shaking my head”) brb (“be right back”), #tbt (“throw-back Thursday”), #WCW (“Woman Crush Wednesday”), and such new words as “bae”, “boo”, “finz”, “famzing”, “Yaaay”. Not to talk of such expressions as “You should mute me now”; “get wifed-up”, “birthday loading”, “you hammer”, “kwakwakwakwa. This paring down of language gets really worse when it is further reduced to mere jargon that is understood only by the young people who are adepts at it. You can take a look at your child’s text messages or BB or what’s app and not be able to make any sense out of the jumble of incorrect English, graphics, memes and pure lingo. The danger is that sexually suggestive conversations can be carried out by two young persons, texting each other, and a dinosaur-parent would have no idea. What can any parent make out of the following for example: “10Q” (it means, thank you), “1174” (this means nude club), “121” (one to one), “143” (I love you), “182” (I hate you), “1daful” (Wonderful), “2BZ4UQT” (Too busy for you, cutey), “420” (Marijuana), “53X” (Sex); “9” (Parent is watching), “PAW” (Parents are watching); “99” (Parent is no longer watching), “ADIDAS” (All Day I Dream About Sex); “aight” (all right), “AITR” (Adult In The Room); “AML” (All My Love); “B4N” (Bye for now), “BF” (Best Friend) and “BFF” (Best Friend Forever). This resort to abbreviations, lingo and special English reveals certain things about the growing up generation. There is a fascination with speed- when they get on their phones and other appliances, they want to get the message out of the way as quickly as possible, and they have a lot to say. There is emphasis on secrecy and privacy: that’s why there is so much concern about third party presence. Many of the children who have become socialized into this new mode of communication are not always able to differentiate between correct and incorrect English, and this is why parents and teachers must be concerned. It is possible to assume that the teaching of morphology and syntax in our various schools is no longer as rigorous as it used to be. Anyone who was brought up in those days on a compulsory diet of Brighter Grammar By Ogundipe, Eckersley and Macaulay and Practical English by Ogundipe and Tregdigo) would find it difficult to write this new English being made popular on social media. It would feel like an act of murder. Teachers and parents have a responsibility to ensure that their children are able to learn the very minimum of skills: the ability to communicate in decent prose. Some persons may well argue that this may not be the most important of skills required to live in a modern age, or that it doesn’t really matter in the long run, but I really doubt if a time will ever come when the business of communication will be reduced to a mastery of abbreviations and lingo. The ability to write clearly strengthens a person’s ability to think clearly and to communicate effectively. It should not be surprising that many young persons these days, seem more at home in the world of gadgets and electronic appliances. They are forever texting or playing computer games and trapped in the electronic, virtual, space. They live both online and offline, spending a better part of their day on websites, thus, their emotional development is tied to this reality. Most parents lack the knowledge of what happens in the social media, and while some parents are trying to learn very fast, a knowledge gap still exists between them and their more digitally savvy children. But this should not result in the abdication of responsibility. The abuse of the English language, and the inability to write well, is certainly not the only risk that an obsession with social media poses for young people. Parents also need to worry about addictiveness, exposure to inappropriate content and liaisons: all kinds of paedophiles and sexual predators operate online looking for innocent victims and luring them with sweet lingo. There are bullies too, harassing and stalking their targets. Under ordinary circumstances, parents have a duty to teach their children basic etiquette: this is even more required as they relate with others and navigate both online and offline spaces. Back to the issue of language, our despair is slightly moderated by the fact that the interface between man and technology through the social media has also resulted in much useful creativity. New words have been invented through the social media, which are now gradually finding their way into mainstream English and the dictionary. In 2013, the word “selfie”- referring to a photograph taken by oneself with a smartphone, or Ipad- was declared the Oxford Dictionary Word of The Year. Similarly, such words as textspeak, texting, sexting, twitter troll, tweeps and emoticons, are becoming common words in regular, daily communication. Words like “friend”, “timeline”, block” and “like” have also assumed new meanings and recognition, the same with such other words as: “unfriend”, “unlook” “twitter status”, “profile”, “trending”, “timeline”, “twitterati”, “blogging”, “bloggers”, “tweet”, “retweet”, “hashtag”: all of which have caught the attention of lexicographers as clear evidence of the living and evolving nature of the English language. If this is all that there is to social media and the English language, there probably would have been no cause for alarm, but the emergence of a generation of young Nigerians who cannot spell well, punctuate properly, or get their tenses right, because they now write social media English may have far-reaching implications for the use of English as a foreign language in our society.

Women in Agriculture: How I turn fish into different products – Farmer

Olubunmi Agbato processes fish into 10 products which has attracted international grants. Olubunmi Agbato is the Chief Executive Officer of B-Spice Fish (a subsidiary of Bspice products and services limited) in Oyo State. She processes fish into 10 products which has attracted international grants to her business. In this episode of our Women in Agriculture, Ms Agbato shares her experience. PT: Can you put us through your journey in Agriculture? Ms Agbato: Firstly, I’m an aquaculture person which is like a subsection under agriculture. I studied Aquaculture and Fishery Management in university as an undergraduate and a postgraduate. I am still doing my research in that field. Tactically, I’m into food fish value addition, processing, marketing and sales. I do more product development but you can say that it all started in university. PT: Agriculture is a course people don’t apply for willingly, what inspired you to study agriculture at the university? Ms Agbato: In all honesty, I didn’t want to study agriculture in the university and I’m more of a spiritual person. I was supposed to study pharmacy but due to some reasons I had to choose between agriculture and microbiology. I prayed and concluded that whichever way it is I should dwell in that and I also know a lot of pharmacists that are not doing so much so I just prayed and I think the guidance was to move on with agriculture. But as a young girl, I didn’t want to do agriculture. I happily applied for pharmacy in the university of Ibadan but as God will have it, I’m doing agriculture. PT: Since you started your career in agriculture, have you had any regret of going into the business? Ms Agbato: So far so good. I’ll say it has been so so great. I’m not saying there are no challenges but I have no regret. Regret? No! Challenges? Yes. A lot of it. Technical challenges, workmanship, etc but so far so good we are scaling through them one after the other. But for regret, I love what I’m doing so no regret at all. PT: How many ponds do you have? Ms Agbato: I have a fish farm comprising six ponds. Two large ponds and four smaller ponds with a capacity of 10,000 fishes or about 10 tonnes weight fishes. PT: Some fish farmers produce the feeds for their fishes, do you produce fish feeds? Ms Agbato: I don’t but my husband does produce fish feeds and the machines for its production. He is an engineer and produces the fish feed aspect of the business. Sometimes, we buy fish feeds but it’s when the fishes are growing till about eight weeks old that we switch to our own produced feeds. PT: When did you start your fish business? Ms Agbato: From the year of registration I’ll say 2017. But in 2016 I was already doing my awareness and practice. PT: It took you a year to create awareness for your business, most likely it may be presumed you didn’t have the resources to start immediately. How did you raise capital to begin your farming? Ms Agbato: It was not easy at all. The first equipment that led to all this, although very small, cost about N100,000 and that money was raised during my service year. I did a lot of work as a corp member which gave me the avenue not to touch my alawee at all. I got my processing oven which processes plenty and we were saving up. Along the line, I got a grant from an international organisation in 2020. And that helped us move up from where we were to where we are now. Basically though, I’ll say from my savings and my husband. PT: Association have helped and informed a good number of farmers, do you belong to any association? Ms Agbato: Yes, I’m a member of the Fish Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (FFON) and also the Fishery Society of Nigeria (FSN). Olubunmj Agbato PT: Since you joined these associations, have you benefited from any government policy at all? Ms Agbato: So far so good. In this industry it’s more like the fastest growing sector and a lot of assignments are still undone. I won’t say I’ve benefited directly but as a member of an association we do meetings where we learn and unlearn from each other but politics; no. Finance; No. Personally, I got my support from international bodies but locally it’s just to learn from each other. So many policies from the government are unfavourable. We have been discussing certification for people to scale up their businesses. For example, now it’s cheaper to get a NAFDAC certification which is fair but what of other requirements which are not favorable for a starter. How will you ask a starter to have a building structure of about 8 to 10 rooms, is that person still a starter? So being in an association, there are many things we end up discussing even though there might be slow impact but there’s progress. TEXEM PT: You mentioned getting international grants, what would you say attracted the international grant to your business? Ms Agbato: The creativity and the gender because the first two organisations I had to work with have invited me as a stakeholder because they felt since a woman can do this she can inspire other women to do such too. PT: Creativity; what is the special thing about your product that attracted international organisations? Ms Agbato: We are into catfish farming and from catfish we have value actions. So from catfish we have about 10 other products. We have fish powder which can be included in baby food to increase their nutrition. We have fish pellets, fish oil, fish cake, fish cookies, etc. Those actually leave a way for us in the market because people could find something different than the regular fish processors. PT: You earlier mentioned you have challenges and there are basic challenges that affect agriculture these days. Challenges that include insecurity and the likes. So how have these challenges affected your business? Ms Agbato: There are so many challenges and I’ll discuss the ones that are particular to me and the insecurity also. Firstly, my workstation is different from my farm. My farm is just for fish production but my workstation is in the heart of Ibadan where people are working and you can bring in your fresh stuff and we can add value for you. At my workstation we have this big generator we use in powering the facility which was stolen and it’s about five months old now. We reported and there’s a police station which is not far away. We also have security but the generator was stolen. The generator we use for work has been stolen, the electric supply is bad, there are insecurity issues on the farm. You hear people saying people come to their farm for grazing but on my farm, there are missing fish. That’s a major issue. I’m considering stopping the fish production part and going into purchasing fish from other farmers due to the challenge of missing fish. You get there today and they tell you fish is stolen, tomorrow fish is stolen and so on. We don’t know if it’s the people in charge, the farm manager, the grazers, etc. You’ll be expecting a particular quantity from the farm but when you get there it has reduced. As a business owner, I have my own personal challenges which includes staff. Getting people to work with you for a long time is hard. People can get greedy along the line, people are not willing to do dirty jobs because the process is dirty but with the best products. You get an elderly person and over time gets greedy, you get a younger person who gets lazy which makes the work difficult. PT: You said you have about 10 products from fish and fish is a durational animal where you start today and wait for them to grow into maturity. How do you meet up with the demand of the products? Ms Agbato: We do a lot of statistics and we do buy from other farmers. We have partnered with so many other farmers. Some are on the agreement that I consult for your farm but you own everything and when it’s time to take to the markets we buy off from them. Some we ask to bring their money while we do the technical part and when it’s time to sell we buy from them at the regular rate that is obtainable in the market. Speaking of statistics, we don’t grow our fishes to the fully grown size and at some point we stopped supplying pepper soup joints and restaurants. We stopped selling fresh fish and diverted all our energy to value addition. Maybe in future we can go back to them as for now we grow every four months and just for the value addition. Also in statistics, we stock up monthly. We stock one pond this month to harvest in four months and then next month, stock another one to harvest after four months of stocking and so it goes so as to have fish in constant production which is still not sufficient. Seventy per cent of the fish used in our production is gotten from other farmers which is a major challenge to us. That is the problem with our lack of capital. We could do the production ourselves if the capital was there and not have to buy from other people. So generally, finance is a major challenge in this business which is affecting virtually everyone. You mentioned seasonal fish that are not catfish. They are not cultured fish. They are captured fishes. Those captured from the world are bought at their season. We have a facility where we can store fish for about 6 months which is the strategic farming and production we do. PT: What do you think it means for a woman to make a significant difference in agriculture considering the fact that it is regarded as a man’s thing? Ms Agbato: Being a woman in the agricultural venture is one hard thing and to be in Nigeria is another thing entirely. Sometimes, it’s courage as we just have to keep encouraging ourselves. It’s harder for me now that I’m married with children unlike when I was single without kids. For some single people, it’s still very difficult though. But what worked for me is that we decided to go into that part that doesn’t require us to be on the farm all the time. For a woman, for you to do it you’ll have to make up your mind. You can’t do agriculture online, you have to be available, hardworking, consistent, etc. What also helped me is that my husband is in the feed production aspect of agriculture which makes him oversee what goes on on the farm while I do my thing at the workstation. As a woman, take one step at a time and look out for women empowering organisations that can maybe give things that’ll make it easy. Also getting training under the agricultural venture they want to go into is very important. PT: Storage and preservation are important segments in the value chain considering that it is into fish farming and processing. And I believe there are some times you have to store and preserve your fishes and products. So, aside from price destabilisation, are there other problems these storage and preservation have caused? Ms Agbato Storage issue is a problem although we have our ways of solving issues like this. We have a problem with storage especially when there’s no power supply. If we are expecting a fish supply at 12pm and due to logistics, it came in at 6pm all we can do is condition it. If some are going to die due to being weak and some are freshly dead what we do is we cut up and put in the freezer but then what if there’s no power supply and we can’t run the generator over the night, we just incur the loss. But then losses are avoided, especially those that can be prevented from the beginning. But losses that can’t be prevented are losses incurred after processing. For example, maybe while processing, the fish got burnt or got soiled due to insufficient heat. These losses are part of the reasons we have other products. When we see a product not looking marketable, we improvise and that gives us another product. There are times we buy because it’s their season and it’s cheap at that time and we start seeing ants and other insects and even before then we put them on discounted prices so as to prevent losses. But for us, we don’t do anything outside biology. Everything we do is biological as we don’t use chemicals or anything but the problem of storage is there. PT: Do you export some of your products? Ms Agbato: No we don’t as we are yet to get an export certification. But sending to people who have African stores abroad or maybe people who need for private consumption we send to them through export agents that we partner with.

How I Made It: Resilent Banking Guru, Jim Ovia by Zara Shenew

An unmistakable icon of Nigeria’s banking sector, Mr. Ovia is the founder Zenith Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Nigeria. Zenith bank is widely known as a leading bank today from Ovia’s astute leadership. He headed the bank for 20 years until he resigned in July 2010. Four years later, he was brought out of retirement to be reappointed as chairman in 2014. Due to owning 11.29% of the direct shareholding in Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, will earn over N9 billion in dividends this year from the financial year of 2020. This is made possible by the number of shares Ovia holds in the lender, as the single majority shareholder of the bank. This makes him one of the highest-paid company chairman in 2020. Jim Ovia was born on the 4th of November, 1951 to the large family of Obi Olihe of Agbor-Obi, in Agbor, Delta State. He narrated in his memoir how his father died in his mid fifties, when Jim was just four years old. His mother, left to fend for herself and her family, “called upon her intuitive entrepreneurial skills to set up her own small trading business.” He attended Ika Grammar School, Bojiboji-Owa for his secondary education, before going to Lagos to join his elder brother. While in Lagos, he started his banking career in 1973 as a clerk at Union Bank, (formerly Barclays Bank) working at the branch at Oba Akran way, Ikeja. He worked for 3 years as a bank clerk before moving to USA, where he became widely read. He got a degree in Business Administration from Southern University, Louisiana, USA, in 1977, then a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. Ovia founded Visafone, which was later acquired by MTN Nigeria. In 2015, he was profiled by Forbes to worth at least $550 million. His major drive in establishing his foundation is, in his words “to equip the future of our nation Nigeria, with the necessities for leadership and foster an ICT literate society that innovates and protects the future.” The Jim Ovia Foundation Scholarship was founded and funded by Mr. Jim Ovia in 2004, to provide financial aid to outstanding Nigeria youths. The scholarship gave rise to the MUSTE scholarship in 2007, where awardees are given funding for undergraduate study for the duration of their undergraduate program. The award includes tuition and maintenance allowance. The scheme offers an average of 100 opportunities every year. The Financial records show that as at October 2010, Mr. Ovia has invested 100 Million Naira in the program on 1,500 beneficiaries. The businessman also owns Jim Ovia Scholarship, Jim Ovia ICT Entrepreneurs Program and most recently, the Jim Ovia Foundation Leaders Scholarship (JOFLS) Fund (in partnership with Africa America Institute (AAI)