Shareholders of Zenith Bank Plc on Wednesday approved final dividend of N55.573 billion for the year ended December 31, 2016, bringing the total payout to N63.422 billion.
The dividend, which translates to N1.77 per share, was paid out of N129.65 billion recorded for the year.
Peter Amangbo, Group Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc
The shareholders gave the approval at the Annual General Meeting held in Lagos.
In all, the bank paid a total dividend of N63.422 billion, having paid an interim dividend of N7.849 billion before now.
In approving the dividend, the shareholders commended the board, management and staff for growing its profit after tax by 23 per cent from N105.531 billion in 2015 to N129.65 billion in 2016.
The bank ended the year with gross total assets N4.739 trillion, up from N4 trillion in 2015.
Addressing the shareholders, the Chairman of the Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, said despite the challenging operating environment, the bank was able to fully exploit the available opportunities to post the impressive results.
According to Ovia, in line with its commitment to delivering superior returns to its much-valued shareholders, the bank ensured that a good chunk of the profit is set aside for them.
He said: “In this regard, we have declared and paid you an interim dividend of 25 kobo per share in the course of 2016 financial year.
“We hereby propose a final dividend of 177 kobo per share.
“This brings the total dividend for the year ended December 31, 2016 to 202 kobo per share as against 180 kobo per share paid he previous year.”
Ovia stated that even in the face of a very challenging operating environment, Zenith Bank has maintained its culture of outstanding performance and industry leadership.
He said: “As a bank, we are monitoring developments both in the local and global economy and applying pragmatism and dynamism as appropriate.
“Our strategy and approach to the pursuit of financial inclusion and sustainability gives us a lot of competitive advantage to explore even new frontiers in the market.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo, said as an institution of well-primed people, the bank relied on a its pool of exceptional staff to make sound and timely decision and addressed issues in a manner that anticipated developments and demonstrated excellent understanding of the dynamics of the market and economy in 2016.
Amangbo said: “We shall continue to demonstrate extraordinary commitment to our customer s while maintaining focus on all the areas fundamental to adding value to our partnership.”
Looking ahead, Amangbo said although 2017 will come with its challenges and opportunities, “but I am confident that our determination, resolve and rare commitment to customer as well as our adaptive ability will ensure resounding results”.
If the Rainforest Resource and Development Centre (RRDC) were to have its way, Dansa Foods, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group, would cough up a whopping N100 billion as aggravated ecological damage to the Cross River National Park.
Agbokim Fall in the Cross River National Park
In a pre-action notice by Messrs Kanu G. Agabi & Associates, solicitors to RRDC (a non-governmental organisation), the Calabar-based Dansa Agro Allied Plantation Limited that is said to operate the Dansa Factory has been accused of trespassing as well as carrying out unlawful and adverse activities within the confines of the Cross River National Park, Oban Division and its buffer zones, “thereby degrading the conservation value of the Park, along with its flora and fauna”.
The notice reads: “The position of our clients is that your activities within this conserved area have adverse effects on the fauna and flora and the general configuration and character of the Park. Amongst others, these include extensive logging, excavation, clearing, grading and related destructive activities resulting in permanently obliterating the rich rainforest heritage of these places. Our clients are also certain that all these activities amount to illegalities that contravene the National Park Service Act, Cap. N65, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (LFRN).”
Stressing that the Cross River State National Park which is allegedly being encroached upon is a gazette territory, the notice adds that “our clients are certain that your operations within the legally defined boundaries of the Park and its environs are threatening the survival of the Park and its wildlife, as well as its buffer zones and ecosystems as the capacity to sustain the natural process have been seriously undermined.”
The RRDC is thus seeking to take action in the High Court of Cross River State against the Dangote Group because, among other issues raised, the only authorised person vested with statutory power to alter the boundaries of an existing National Park in the country is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The notice then sought five reliefs, among which is aggravated damages of N100 billion to restore the vegetation to its natural state, and made payable to the Cross River National Park for ecological damages allegedly incurred.
It is likewise seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining Dansa companies (Dangote Group) “either by yourself, your servants, privies, assigns, contractor or any other person however designated or addressed, acting under your company’s power or authorisation from entering into the gazzatted portions and buffer zone of the Oban Hill Division of the Cross River National Park and do anything which involves performing acts of excavation, grading, leveling of ground, clearing, deforestation and or in any way howsoever altering the configuration of the soil or the character of the park.”
On Friday, March 17 2017, the Lagos State Government demolished and forcefully evicted the Otodo Gbame community, an act that has been greeted by widespread condemnation.
The exercise was said to have been carried out in disregard for a subsisting order of court prohibiting the eviction of Otodo Gbame and other Lagos waterfronts communities.
But government said the action was carried out in order to forestall an environmental disaster and another round of deadly skirmishes that led to the razing of the Otodo Gbame community in November 2016.
It adds that the action was informed by the overriding public interest to ensure that the waterfront area is free from environmentally injurious and unsanitary habitation.
The kids appear to care less about the happenings around themA bulldozer in actionHomeless…What next?View of a disappearing communityHeading to where?
From Ikeja Local Government Secretariat, near Computer Village, to Alausa, the seat of power, thousands of protesters marched peacefully, in an apparent defiance to the some provisions of the new Environment Law, which seemed to favour water privatisation.
The street protest held on Wednesday, March 22 2017 to mark the World Water Day, a day set aside to take action to tackle the water crisis all over the world.
The protest held at the instance of civil society groups like the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Joint Action Front (JAF), Africa Women Water Sanitation and Hygiene Network, and Child Health Organisation.
Others are Climate Aid, Centre for Dignity, and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE).
The protestersAchike Chude of the Joint Action Front (JAF) addressing the protestersGovernment officials addressing the protestersArmed police officers form a barricade
Though the new Lagos Environment Law was signed into law by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode some three weeks ago, Lagosians only decided to challenge it through a street protest on Wednesday, March 22 2017, to mark the World Water Day (WWD).
The anti-water privatisation street protest
World Water Day, observed on March 22 every year, is about taking action to tackle the water crisis all over the world.
From Ikeja Local Government Secretariat, near Computer Village, to Alausa, the seat of power, thousands of protesters marched peacefully accompanied by four vans laden with police personnel.
In their sky blue customised T-shirts, the protesters wielded different placards condemning the privatisation of water in Lagos.
The event was made possible by coalition of civil society groups, including Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Joint Action Front (JAF), Africa Women Water Sanitation and Hygiene Network, and Child Health Organisation.
Others are Climate Aid, Centre for Dignity, and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE).
In a statement presented to Governor Ambode at Alausa, the organisers acknowledged the administration’s “giant strides in the delivery of democracy dividends to the citizens of Lagos State in various sectors”. Hence they declared their readiness to support the administration in achieving its set goals, “which will in the long run make life meaningful for all the citizens of the state”.
However, they reiterated their concern on the government’s plan to secure universal access to water through privatisation of Lagos water infrastructure.
“As we have mentioned in our earlier communication on this same issue, evidence abounds showing that countries that have experimented the public private partnership (PPP) model of water privatisation burnt their fingers,” they stated.
But the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, argued that every developed country in the world is operating on the PPP model in water distribution.
While addressing the supporters at the House of Assembly gate where armed police erected a barricade to ward off the protesters, the commissioner said government’s intention is for the good of Lagosians.
On a sarcastic note, leaders of the protest said PPP means “Public money in Private Pockets”.
The statement, signed by Akinbode Oluwafemi of ERA/FoEN, Achike Chude of JAF, Oluwatosin Kolawole of Climate Aid, Alex Omotehinse of CDHR, Veronica Nwanya, Vicky Urenma among others, reads in part: “The models upon which the PPP is based has failed to uphold the human right to water and has locked governments into long term contracts. Such deals have proven exceedingly difficult for cities to exit, despite rate hikes, service cut-offs and unfulfilled infrastructure promises, and they prevent cities from making crucial progress towards real solutions to water access challenges.
“Your Excellency, Lagos does not need to experience social conflicts or drown in debt to steer clear of this slippery road fraught with booby traps.”
An attempt to open the doors wide for privatisation through legislation, according to them, was the injection of anti-people sections in the initial draft of the newly signed “Laws relating to the Environment for the Management, Protection and Sustainable Development of the Environment in Lagos State and for Connected Purposes”.
“Criminalising the drilling of boreholes and setting fines and prison terms for people who go out of their way to obtain a free gift of nature are practices that only remind us of the long-gone military era. It is on this premise that we are, again using this medium, asking you to reject water PPP projects in the management of Lagos water infrastructure,” they added.
They asked the governor, among other things, to:
remove all the remaining provisions in the new Lagos Environmental Law that opens the doors for privatisation in the form of PPP or any other
institute Water Trust Fund that will expand public financing of the water sector
reject contracts designed by or involving the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which operates to maximise private profit, and
build the political will to prioritise water for the people by investing in the water infrastructure necessary to provide universal water access.
When the government officials, accompanied by men of the SSS, approached the protesters, there were shouts of “We want to see our governor”, “When Ambode wanted our votes, he came to us, we want to see him now”, “This is the way they had been treating us everytime we come here”. But all these fell on deaf ears, as the commissioner eventually addressed the crowd
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 clarified its position on why what it terms “illegal shanties and unwholesome habitation” were cleared around Ilado and seafront areas beside Freedom Road, in Lekki, Lagos.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde. He says government did not flout any court judgment over the demolition of Otodo Gbame
The government in a statement said the Environment Ministry’s action was carried out in order to forestall an environmental disaster and another round of deadly skirmishes that led to the razing of the Otodo Gbame community in November 2016.
In a statement signed by the State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, the government said the action was informed by the overriding public interest to ensure that the waterfront area is free from environmentally injurious and unsanitary habitation few months after it was consumed by fire and rendered uninhabitable.
The government denied flouting any court judgment as alleged, insisting that it owes a duty to the larger population of the state to ensure that public health and safety is maintained.
According to the statement, the Otodo Gbame community is one of the 39 claimant communities that had commenced action to enforce their fundamental rights pursuant to Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 before Onigbanjo. J of Lagos Division of the High Court of Lagos State in Suit No. LD/4232MFHR/2016..AKAKPO & 38 ORS vs. AG L/S & 3 ORS.
It added however that the trial judge did not deliver judgment on the matter but rather referred the parties to Multi Door House for mediation.
Ayorinde said: “The leave granted to enforce their rights was tantamount to an order of status quo ante bellum on the parties, which amongst other things required that the claimants do not take any action within the area after it was destroyed by fire.
“The undisputed fact is that Otodo Gbame was engulfed by fire that razed down the entire community in November 2016, which rendered the area uninhabitable.”
According to the Commissioner, since the claimants had submitted the case for adjudication, it would be unacceptable for them to return to the area or to erect shanties and perpetuate unsanitary and environmentally dangerous conditions, hence, the need for the government to maintain order and public safety.
The statement maintained that the state government was mindful of the welfare of the affected citizens and had indeed expressed its concerns and willingness to explore an amicable resolution insofar that the demands of the claimants are reasonable and lawful.
It insisted that the government would neither be stampeded nor blackmailed into abdicating its constitutional responsibilities to guard against a potential health and environmental hazard in the area by condoning what amounts to a breach of environmental and urban planning laws.
The statement reminded the public that Lagos State Government had swiftly responded through its fire services and emergency rescue operations as well as the Police to assist the residents and nearby locations when the entire community was razed down in November 2016 as a result of inter-ethnic clashes there.
Ayorinde stated that the state government had no interest in the area other than to ensure that the delicate ecosystem of the waterfront remains safe, clean and secure.
He added the state government appreciates the understanding of the general public and assures its unflinching commitment to the development of Lagos State as an ideal megacity that is sensitive to the needs of the public as well as open and continuous dialogue.
In furtherance of its continued commitment to interventions that transform lives and improve the health and well-being of communities in Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria Plc has constructed seven hand pump water boreholes in Bebi Community, Obanliku Local Government Area (LGA) of Cross River State.
L-R: Sustainable Development & Alcohol in Society Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Osita Abana; Director of Water, Cross River State Ministry of Water Resources, Dan Ebri; Corporate Relations Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Sesan Sobowale; Country Director United Purpose, Nigeria, Tim Connell; and Area Sales Manager (Cross River/Akwa Ibom) Guinness Nigeria Plc,Chidi Umeh, at the commissioning of boreholes donated by Guinness Nigeria Plc at Obanliku Local Govt Area of Cross River State, recently
The donated boreholes, which will provide more than 7,000 persons with year-round access to safe drinking water, were unveiled recently at a ceremony which the company held to mark this year’s World Water Day.
Guinness Nigeria’s continued commitment to initiatives that improve access to safe water was underscored at the event by the company’s Corporate Relations Director, Sesan Sobowale, who represented the Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria. Sobowale noted that the company would continue to play a leading role in enhancing access to safe drinking water in the country.
He said: “The boreholes we are commissioning today are the latest addition to the range of water projects Guinness Nigeria has delivered in states across the country as part of Diageo’s flagship ‘Water of Life’ programme. Since 2007, our ‘Water of Life’ programme has provided clean drinking water to over 10 million people in 18 countries in Africa. Under the aegis of the ‘Water of Life’ programme in Nigeria, water facilities have been constructed in 35 communities across the country. We are pleased to note that, through these water projects, Guinness Nigeria has helped over 1.5 million Nigerians access clean water and ultimately improve their overall health and wellbeing.”
Also speaking at the ceremony, Dan Ebri, Director of Water at the Cross River State Ministry of Water Resources, commended Guinness Nigeria’s commitment to initiatives that promote access to safe drinking water in Nigeria.
He said: “I commend Guinness Nigeria’s commitment to interventions that tackle the challenge of water scarcity in rural areas especially in Cross River State. I also thank the company for partnering United Purpose to deliver programmes that have helped Obanliku LGA to achieve ‘open defecation free’ status. The impact your partnership has made is laudable.”
The clan head of Bebi Eastward in Obanliku LGA, His Royal Highness Atung Francis, also expressed the community’s profound appreciation for the donated water facility. He observed that, prior to the donation, community members trekked to the hilltop – a distance of about three kilometres to fetch water.
Guinness Nigeria’s latest intervention in Obanliku LGA comes on the heels of a previous pilot project which facilitated the construction of 10 boreholes in rural communities in Cross River State’s Abi, Bekwarra, and Obanliku LGAs. The pilot project (which was also delivered in partnership with United Purpose) helped over 11,000 people in these LGAs to access safe drinking water, and trained 120 community members on basic borehole maintenance and water resource management.
In his remarks at the commissioning ceremony, the Country Director of United Purpose, Nigeria, Tim Connell, acknowledged Guinness Nigeria’s contributions to the SWISH programme in Cross River State, saying: “I am pleased to see the positive impact we have been able to make in Cross River State partnering Guinness Nigeria. Today, Obanliku LGA has become the first LGA in Nigeria to achieve ‘open defecation free’ status, and more persons in the local government area now have access to clean drinking water. I would like to thank Guinness Nigeria for its contributions towards these milestones.”
Guinness Nigeria’s Water Sanitation and Hygiene Interventions in Cross River State have been delivered under the aegis of the “Safe Water and Improved Sanitation and Hygiene”’ (SWISH) programme the company has been implementing in collaboration with United Purpose.
United Purpose is the executing agency of the Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN) programme, a five-year initiative of the UN’s Global Sanitation Fund and the Nigerian government, which uses the empowering “Community-led Total Sanitation” approach to trigger community-wide demand for improved sanitation and hygiene without the use of external subsidies.
Through the RUSHPIN programme, over two million rural people in Cross River and Benue states are taking control of their own health by ending open defecation and washing their hands with soap at critical times.
Last year, Guinness Nigeria commissioned water facilities which it constructed in Gwam, Bauchi state (in partnership with Water Aid) and Tyowanye, Benue State (in partnership with OXFAM). These water schemes are said to be currently providing safe drinking water for over 20,000 people living in beneficiary communities.
In commemoration of the 2017 World Water Day on Wednesday, March 22, the Climate and Sustainable Development Network of Nigeria (CSDevNet) has called on governments at all levels in Nigeria to focus on water issues and match commitments with actions by allocating significant portions of their budget to projects that make safe water available all over the country.
Water supply in Gaya Silkami, Adamawa State. The CSDevNet wants government at all levels to prioritise water
Considering that a significant portion of the country’s population currently does not have access to safe drinking water and that water-related diseases account for almost a million deaths each year, the civil society network affirmed that people’s access to water and sanitation should become key priorities for local, state and federal governments in order to put the country on the path to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In a statement signed by Sam Jinadu on behalf of the National Network Coordinator, CSDevNet underlined the fact that equitable access to water and sanitation cannot be achieved in Nigeria “without good local governance, sustainable management of natural resources and effective urbanisation.”
According to Jinadu, “Nigeria requires commitment at the highest levels, in order to ensure the availability of safe water resources in every town, village and city.”
With approximately 90% of the world’s wastewater flowing untreated into the environment while more than 923 million people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water, the civil society group believes the focus on wastewater for this year’s World Water Day makes it imperative for government, development partners and non-state actors to explore means of upscaling treatment processes and operational systems that will build Nigeria’s capacity to deploy wastewater in meeting the growing water demand in cities, support sustainable agriculture, and enhance energy production and industrial development.
The CSDevNet is a network of over 300 civil society organisations cutting across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. The network brings together organisations, comprising grassroots community practitioners, trusts, federations of slum dwellers and pastoralists, youth, media, women and faith-based organisations to commonly promote and advocate pro-poor, climate-friendly and equity-based responses to climate change and sustainable development.
Senegalese footballer, Sadio Mané, has predicted that the Terranga Lions will beat the Super Eagles when the two African super houses clash on Thursday, March 23, 2017 in an international friendly in London.
Sadio Mané
Three-time African Champions Nigeria has not been beaten by their next opponent in the last 15 years, which was in February 7, 2002.
Liverpool striker Mané has turned a blind eye to those statistics, starting that Senegal will beat Nigeria if its current form is anything to go by.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) plans to use the upcoming matches against Senegal and Burkina Faso to prepare the national team for the African Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa in a few months’ time.
In the update of FIFA rankings, Senegal is ranked second in Africa, while Nigeria occupies the seventh position.
Meanwhile, 16 players under Coach Gernot Rohr had a training session on Wednesday morning. Those at the training session were Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, Carl Ikeme, Noah Obazee, John Ogu, Isaac Success, Chidozie Awaziem, Wilfred Ndidi, Ahmed Musa, and Tyronne Ebnehi, to mention but a few.
As planet Earth celebrates the 2017 World Water Day on Wednesday, March 22 2017, Lagosians are calling on the state government to make potable water accessible to them in order to reduce the huge amount of money they spend in buying water, as well as to check the spread of water-borne diseases and related illnesses threatening lives and livelihood.
Observers believe that the bulk of the Lagos population have limited access to potable water
The theme for this year’s World Water Day celebration is: “Wasted Water”.
“Water has now become a very scarce resource. A 20-litre gallon of water which we used to buy for N20 a few years ago now sells for up to N100, which is an increase of about 400%. For a family of just five like mine, it means the little monthly pay goes to water alone. That makes survival a living hell for the masses,” narrates Philip Ikechi, who resides along Iyabo Street in Sari Iganmu, as he joined neighbours in scampering to harvest rain water.
Our correspondent gathered that, in Sari Iganmu and its environs, as well as Amukoko, Orile and Ijora Badiya, as well as several other communities in Lagos, acute water scarcity has become a way of life, so much so that money spent in purchasing water can be equated with major expenses like house rent and education.
This, perhaps, explains why residents earnestly pray for rainfall even though, elsewhere in the state, the rains are dreaded because of the tendency to accelerate flooding which render many homeless.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says 3.4 million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, diarrhea and dysentery, even as 80% of diseases are attributed to lack of access to portable water.
A cross section of Lagos residents expressed dissatisfaction over the perennial scarcity of portable in their neighbourhood.
“I don’t know why water remains a big challenge in a state that is surrounded by large bodies of water.
“You buy a gallon of water for as much as N70 and sometimes N100 in a family of four, how do you survive?” says a resident.
“With the new Lagos environment law which places restrictions to individuals sinking bore holes, measures should be put in place to cushion the effect on the masses,” intones another resident.
A visit to some communities in the state revealed that most households depend mainly on water from open wells and boreholes provided either by their landlords or by water vendors.
For instance, residents of Mafoloku in Oshodi and Iju Ishaga where there is water corporation presence say government should reduce their sufferings by making public water available.
A resident, Nurudeen Oyewode, explains: “In my area, we have had to rely on private efforts; that is privately generated water supply, not public. It is my landlord that actually provides water for us. And within the community, I can spot about two other places where they have public water. Those public water water spots are private sector-driven and not from government. It just amuses me, my area is close to where you have one of the largest water works in Lagos, that is the Iju area of Lagos, but we don’t benefit from it. It has always been that we had to rely on what the landlord put in place for us. And anytime we don’t have water we have to go and buy. We would buy the roll of truck containing 10 gallons for N500.”
In Ketu and few other areas where people seem lucky to have public water, the residents complain that the water is not good for drinking as the water pipes laid many years ago are contaminated, and thus expose them to health hazard.
Some Residents observed that most public water facilities in the state provided by organisations or individuals including politicians as corporate social responsibility have long stopped functioning due to lack of maintenance.
Those still working are said to be very far from the people, prompting them to engage the services of water vendors popularly called Meruwa to fetch them water at a high cost.
Concerned Lagosians are worried as they likened the water problem in the state to the popular words of the ancient Maraina, which says: “Water water everywhere, but non to drink”.
Records show that 70% of an adult body is made up of water at birth, and it accounts for approximately 80% of an infant’s weight.
To maintain that level, a report says a healthy person is expected to drink about three gallons (48 cups) of water per day, while another has shown that drinking about seven to eight glasses of water daily is important for good health.
For residents in parts of Lagos and people in other areas that lack access to good water, experts say one major consequence is the acceleration of kidndey diseases among those who do not drink enough, while water borne diseases will be rampant.
Director of Children Health and Nutrition, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Folashade Oludara, stresses: “We are in a tropical region, which is very hot. We need water to rehydrate ourselves and it is recommended that every one should take at least two to three litres of water per day for the kidney to function well and prevent renal stones. We need not just any water but potable water. If you dont have access to adequate potable water, you develop water borne diseases like typhoid, poliomyelitis, diarrhea, dysentery, cholera and associated diseases, which the country has been battling to check.”
She advises that while there is need to expand access to water to the greater percentage of the masses, people should learn to conserve water for the available one to go round.
“We have always been advocating that if you use the toilet or whether you go to pass urine, you are supposed to watch your hands. Before you handle your food, you are suposed to wash your hands with soap and under running water to prevent contamination; and, in doing that, you have to conserve water. Don’t open the tap for water to waste,” she counsels.
All the respondents seem optimistic that there will eventually be a society where global best practices would be adopted to make water accessible to all, thereby achieving the Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
