President Goodluck Jonathan to host paralympians

President Goodluck Jonathan is to host the Nigerian delegation to the paralympic games as well as members of the Falconet in appreciation of their sterling performance.

The Nigerian paralympians Tuesday night rejected the National Institute for Sports hostel accommodation reserved for them after they touched down in Lagos from their triumphant run at the London 2012 Paralympics Games.

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, told state House correspondents that the superlative performance of members of the Team Nigeria Special athletes at the just concluded Paralympic Games in London "have wiped away our tears".

According to him, the Paraolympians and the Falconets performance at the just concluded FIFA Women U-20 Championship in Japan was brilliant, and the planned reception this saturday is to send a clear message that all athletes are important.

"They (Paraolympians) have wiped away our tears. The message they have sent is that we need a greater passion in what we do. Their performance confirms that every citizen is important. The reception will send a clear message that all is important", he noted.

On the Falconets, the Minister described the performance of the female junior team that came third as "ventilating", adding that "they showed a lot of talents and defeated very great football nations.

"They have demonstrated that when women are asking for 35 per cent they mean it. It is a clear indication what women can do better where men have failed".

At the London Games, the Nigerian special athletes won a total of 13 medals; six gold, five silver and two bronze medals. The performance lifted the dampen spirit of Nigerians when the able bodied athletes could not win a single medal at the main London Games London.

Hisses, Sighs as Paralympians reject NSC's accommodation

However Nigerian paralympians Tuesday night rejected the National Institute for Sports hostel accommodation reserved for them after they touched down in Lagos from their triumphant run at the London 2012 Paralympics Games.

Some of the athletes spoken to submitted that the NIS hostel did not match their status as paralympics heroes.

The athletes were treated to a mini reception at the National Stadium Lagos. And they were shepherded into the NIS hostels by the National Sports Commission Liaison officer in Lagos, Mrs. Tayo Oreweme, but one by one they sneaked out of the premises preferring to lodge in comfortable hotels on their own, while those who have homes in Lagos went to their abodes.

"We felt that they will be secured at the NIS after a reception was held for them at the National Stadium. I'm aware that some of them went home, but I cannot say if they protested against what was offered to them," said Secretary-general of the Nigeria Paralympics Committee, Dr. Frank Thorpe.

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75 percent of Nigerians oppose new N5,000 bank note

A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that 75.1 per cent of Nigerians are opposed to the currency restructuring by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which will lead to the introduction of the N5'000 note and the conversion of lesser bills to coins.

According to the poll conducted by the NBS, only 16.1 per cent of the Nigerian populace are in strong support of the CBN policy while 4.04 and 4.62 per cent were partially in support and against the currency restructuring policy respectively.

The proposal to introduce the larger bill and convert the N20, N10 and N5 bills into coins has generated a lot of controversy with many groups issuing statements against the CBN initiative.

However, the CBN says it will introduce the new note and coins come 2013 despite the opposition the policy is receiving.

The unyielding stand of the CBN may not be unconnected to the full support given to the policy by both the federal and state governments. The policy has also received the approval and backing of the presidency.

Nigeria's Economic Management Team also believes that the move will help drive the country's economy and discourage the high demand for the US dollar, saying the N5,000 bill will only be for banks and a few "heavy cash users".

But many are of the view that the new policy will engender corruption, fuel inflation and negate the "cashless" policy of the CBN, which was designed to promote the use of non-cash transaction instruments.

FBN Capital Limited, in its bulletin just released, had noted that "some opposition can be attributed to a generalised lack of trust in any official measure with economic or financial implications".

On the cost of managing cash, FBN Capital said, "We note the high, but falling, cost of currency management. Over N125 billion was spent in the past three years printing and minting currency. If this move goes through, we expect to see significant savings made, as the new currency note becomes easier to carry and manage.

"We are also of the view that there is no proven evidence of a correlation between inflation and higher currency denominations. Inflation as we know it is fuelled by too much money chasing fewer goods.

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Video - CBN Governor says former President Obasanjo is a good farmer but bad economist

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has berated former president Olusegun Obasanjo for his stand on the planned introduction of N5, 000 note, saying he was a very successful farmer but a very bad economist.

Sanusi, who defended the proposal to introduce the N5,000 note next year, said Obasanjo as head of state introduced more high-currency denominations than any other leader in the history of Nigeria.

Obasanjo had, last Thursday, stated that the introduction of the N5, 000 note would kill production and affect small businesses negatively.

The CBN governor, while delivering the keynote address at the 6th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja yesterday, pointed out that Obasanjo introduced the N20, N100, N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, yet inflation was low during his tenure.

Sanusi said: "I like General Obasanjo; he is a very successful farmer but a very bad economist. He has introduced more higher denominations in Nigeria than any other head of state. He did the N100 in 1999, N200 in 2000, did N500, I think, two years later and, in that period, inflation was low because it was accompanied by very tight monetary and fiscal policy reforms.

"So for somebody who has gone through that to stand up and say that introducing higher denomination will cause inflation... I don't know if somebody wrote the speech. I am trying to see him, or maybe he was misquoted. Because if he actually said that, then, he must be the single most important determinant of inflation in our history, given the number of notes he has introduced."

According to him, simply producing higher denominations cannot cause inflation if it is not accompanied by an increase in money supply. "We all know that you cannot have inflation simply by introducing higher denomination if you don't increase money supply, and yet we keep repeating the opposite."

The CBN governor said that the apex bank had reduced the cost of cash management from N49 billion in 2009 to N32 billion in 2011, adding that it planned to bring it further down to N25 billion by 2014.

"We started a project, over two years ago, aimed at reducing the overhead in the Nigerian banking industry by at least 30 per cent in a two-year period. That project involved shared services and cash management and cash production and data control and operations. It involved an increased use of technology; so you now have PoS terminals, ATMs, mobile banking, NIBSS transfer, the clearing days have been shortened," he said, adding that the CBN had looked at how it could be more efficient in the management of cash. "In 2009, we did a survey and saw that, of all the cash transactions done in banks, only 20 per cent were for more than N150,000, and that 10 per cent accounted for over 70 per cent of the value of cash. So a very small number of customers are the heavy users of cash and we pay a lot of money printing paper for them," he stated.

The CBN governor said the accounts were there for the record: the total cost of printing and minting all denominations of currency in Nigeria in 2009 at N47 billion, in 2011 at N32 billion and 2014 at N25 billion. He said that 50 per cent of the total cost of procurement could be saved.

Malam Sanusi said printing of the N5, 000 notes could not cost more than N2 or 3 billion.

He noted: "In the 1970s when the N20 note was introduced, N20 was the equivalent of $30. In 2013, when we introduce the N5, 000 note, N5,000 will be the equivalent of $30. It's the statistics. If we could buy $30 with one N20 bill in 1978, you now need 250 N20 bills to buy $30 and we have to print the whole250 notes, pay for the paper, pay for the ink, pay for the security features, for the transportation, for insurance, for clearing, for the bullion van for the ... processing, disposal..."

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Team Nigeria wins gold at World Chess Olympiad

It was celebration moment in Nigerian camp Monday in Istanbul, Turkey following the confirmation by FIDE that the country's male team displace other contenders to win the Category E of the 40th World Chess Olympiad rounded up Monday night.

Monday's feat was the best performance of the country at the biennial event since 1998 when International Master, Odion Aikhoje won gold medal on board two.

Significantly, this is the first time Nigeria will come top at any team event in chess.

When Team Captain, Lekan Adeyemi, led the team to mount the podium at the closing ceremony, it was a loud ovation to worthy champions of the category who came into the tournament as underdogs!

It worthy to note here that the male team had to wait for the official confirmation after a not too impressive draw it secured in the final game.

And when the smoke cleared, the Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) President, DCP Sani Mohammed, commended the players for a battle well fought in the last 11 days of mind games.

"Many pundits did not give this team a chance because most of the payers were attending the competition for the first time but I had fate in them and the technical crew and the result here has shown that we have abundant talents in the country," Mohammed remarked Monday night.

However, while the male team were able to sustain their lead in the category till the end of the competition, the female slipped into the second position after a disappointing 1.5-2.5 lost to South Africa and it was Chinese Taipei that emerged top with 10 points as against Nigeria's nine (same as Thailand but the country's representatives won on a tie break

En-route achieving this feat, International Master, Dapo Adu, led the team to secure a 2-2 score line with the Physically Disable Chess Association (PDCA). The US-based Nigerian star drew the first blood with a King's Indian attack against Vit Yarmonov (2333) after 35 moves.

The Nigerian knew nothing short of a win will turn the tide against Nigeria. He thus put his opponent under pressure for the greater part of the game.

However, Bomo Kigigha lost to Vit Valenta (2162) who took advantage of active Bishops in the middle play and sacrificed his Queen for a Rook on move 22 but reclaimed a Knight and a better positional place and the Nigerian fighter had no option than to resign.

On board three, Nonso Orawgu lost to International Master, Ruben Bernarch, (2121) but Adeyinka Adesina restored Nigeria's hope with another mastery win against Bernard Valenta.

Aside the teams' effort, Nsisong Asanga also bagged FIDE Candidate Master title following her six points out of nine games she played in the tournament.

At the last edition of the Olympiad in Russia, the male team placed second while their female compatriots finished third with Charles Campbell and Olamide Ajibowo bagging Candidate and FIDE Master titles respectively. This edition was a rapid improvement of the country's participation at the elite chess event.

However on top board, Armenia edged out perennial rivals, Russia on tie break after both nations finished with 19 points.

This Day

Lagos to introduce Chinese language in school curriculum

Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, said on Monday that the state government would introduce Mandarin, or Chinese language, in public schools' curriculum as from next session.

Oladunjoye said this in a statement signed by the Ministry's Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Lanre Bajulaiye, and made newsmen

The commissioner said this after a meeting with the delegation from the Chinese Confucius Institute, University of Lagos.

She said that learning the language in the state's public schools would be an opportunity for the pupils and students to speak the language and be able to adapt to the Chinese culture.

Prof. Caleb Orimoogunje, Director of the Institute, said the institution was ready to assist the state with necessary logistics to make the teaching and learning of the language easier.

Orimoogunje added that Prof. Lirong Jiang, a co-director of the institute, would help in the take-off of the programme.

Jiang said the institute, as a representative of the Chinese culture in Nigeria, was set up to satisfy people's need about the country's culture.

She noted that the language became necessary because China had become the new destination for economic growth and technological development.

"The Institute is prepared to provide Chinese instructors to teach the language and culture in the state's public schools as soon as the Memorandum of Understanding is signed between the state and the institute.

"The knowledge of Chinese language will help students to further their studies in China and carry out research in various fields of human endeavour as China has become a success story in the world economy," she said.

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