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20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2022 Eko NAFEST 2022: Lagos emerges overall winner Stories by Osa Mbonu-Amadi, Arts Editor LAGOS State has emerged the overall winner at the 2022 National Festival of Arts & Culture, which began last Monday November 7 and ended November 13, 2022. Lagos clinched the first position for the competitive events, beating Bayelsa and Rivers states to second place while Ekiti came third. In his closing speech, Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, said the events of Eko NAFEST 2022 are lessons in the art of peaceful co-existence in a multi-cultural and diverse society like Nigeria: “We all have demonstrated what it means to co-exist peacefully in our various interactions through the different games and other cultural activities that took place over the past few days at the National Institute of Sports building at the National Stadium, Surulere.” The Governor said winning in the competitive events should not be the main emphasis, but the unity the games and cultural products have instilled into participants: “It is instructive to note that although winners have emerged in the various categories of the competitions, the emphasis is not on who won or otherwise; what is of uttermost importance is that these games and cultural competitions have united all the participants as one which to me, is the spirit of this national festival.” Governor Sanwo-Olu also observed that “apart from the platform for cultural exchange which this festival provides, a lot of businesses, hospitality outlets, transportation, among others have felt the impact of the huge contingents that gathered here in Lagos for this Eko Nafest 2022.” The highest point of the governor’s speech, however, came when he took time to re-enact the exclusive human interest story which Vanguard Newspaper pulled out from the middle of the Eko NAFEST and published while the festival was still ongoing: “I must not forget to mention one of the very gratifying and interesting moments of this event when the children participants paid a visit to my wife, our Mama NAFEST, where I met Precious Olabanjo, an SSS 2 student with Model Secondary School, Alagbaka, Akure, Ondo State. “Her touching story of how she got selected for the essay writing competition alongside her colleague as reported in the Vanguard Newspaper some days ago, shows that this NAF- EST platform, apart from integrating different culture, is also a nurturing ground for the younger generation. “The most striking part of her story was her determination and conviction that she would make her school and Ondo State proud by going back home with good reports and Otunba Segun Runsewe (left), announcing winners at Eko NAFEST; from right, Mrs. Tonye Briggs-Oniyide, Rivers State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism; Prof. Rasak Ojo Bakare, Ekiti State commissioner for Arts & Culture and others. laurels. “Precious was not alone. Some other children participants shared almost similar stories about their expectations for attending this event, and I am very pleased that the expectations of these children were not dashed as some of them are now proud owners of Laptops, (computer)Tablets and other gift items courtesy of our Mama NAFEST. “I must commend the concept of carrying these school children along in this cultural event. This is the best way we can sustain, protect and preserve our culture for posterity. “The main organizer of this annual event, which is the National Council for Arts and Culture, should continue to engage more children in this competition, introduce them to our cultural heritage and sustain the children corner of this competition so that more talents can be discovered and groomed. “It is my belief that if we take deliberate steps to put these youths on the right path through positive orientation and meaningful engagements, the rate of youth-related crime and violence will gradually reduce and the whole society will be better for it. The governor reteirated the need to use NAFEST to harness our differences: “One of the lessons from this year’s NAFEST is that if we pay enough attention to harnessing the differences in our culture, it can assist in building consensus and bond of friendship towards genuine reconciliation that will promote the much needed unity, reduce tension and tribal conflicts in the country. “While it is almost impossible not to have our differences, considering the multiplicity of our culture and languages as Nigerians, we must always follow the path of dialogue and other non-violent approach in resolving potential issues ca- The student who wept @ Eko NAFEST To have the rare opportunity of attending NAFEST, Nigeria’s annual iconic arts and culture festival, is usually a thing of joy for everyone. It was therefore strange for Vanguard Newspaper to find OlabanjoInioluwa Precious, an SSS 2 student at Model Secondary School, Alagbaka, Akure, Ondo State, weeping. Vanguard spoke to the weeping student, and this is her story: “A letter was sent to the principal of my school to present candidates for essay competition at Eko NAFEST 2022. So, we were taken to the Ministry of Arts and Culture in Ondo State to write qualifying essays. After the evaluation, I was picked as the second person to represent Ondo State. The person who came first was OgeneFejiro from another school. “When I got home, I went online to search for everything about NAFEST. I got to know that it is the 35th edition, being hosted this year by Lagos State, and there are different activities scheduled for the festival like essay writing competition, Ayo traditional board game, children’s music competition, fashion, drama competitions, free skills acquisition, etc.” Precious told Vanguard that she and Fejiro “were groomed for two Saturdays to come to Lagos to represent Ondo State at Eko NAFEST 2022 essay writing competition.” The title of the essay was “Arts, Culture & Tourism as Tools for Peaceful Co-existence in Nigeria”. About 30 (expectedly well-known brilliant) students wrote the essay in Ondo, and Precious and Fejiro were selected to come to Lagos. •Olabanjo Precious Theme, curat ator for ArtMiabo Festiv tival 2023 After two successful editions, ArtMiabo International Art Festival (AMIAF) announces its third edition, in Lagos.Chief Executive Officer and founder of AMIAF, MiaboEnyadike, disclosedduring the 3rd edition preview that the success of the 2022 event, which featured artists from Africa and Europe has encouraged her team to go ahead with the next event. Held at Ebonylife Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, the 2022 edition themed “Remake the World” featured 24 artists from Africa and Europe, with gallery representation from France and South Africa. Noting that the last two editions have been of tremendous experience, Enyadike said the dynamics of the culture environment in general cannot be left out of visual arts. The theme of AMIAF 2023, she explained, is appropriating Afrobeats, which is Nigeria’s big cultural export to the world. “The theme is Art in Afrobeats, appropriating the Popular music genre from Nigeria that’s making wave not just across Africa, but outside the continent,” Enyadike stated. “The Afrobeats genre being streets generated has its colours of which exist abundantly in fine art and this much is exactly what the contents will be reflecting at AMIAF 2023.” Holding on 27 April-May 1, 2023, including a workshop on the theme of the art festival, the yearly AMIAF features 24 artists from different parts of the world as well as others inspired pable of igniting violence. “I plead with all participants at this event to continue to imbibe the good virtues learnt through the platform of this year’s NAFEST and also share these good lessons with your kinsmen in your respective States.” by Afrobeats, Enyadike said. “We are hoping to exhibit Art that has Afrobeats feel; something that radiates street expressions and reflects the vibrance of the Afrobeats music genre.” Managing the creative contents of AMIAF 2023 has been put on the shoulders of Yusuf Durodola, a performance and video artist. Announcing Durodola as the curator of AMI- AF 2023, Enyadike said she was convinced that “he is the right choice,” to do creative justice to the presentation of the event. Apart from Durodola’s MiaboEnyadike, Founder/CEO, ArtMiabo International Art Festival. experience as an artist who has made input at different levels into quite a number of exhibitions, the curator also exhibited in the last edition of AMIAF. “It’s a privilege for me to be the curator, particularly being an artist and knowing that the show is all about fine art,” Durodola enthused. While noting that the contents of AMIAF 2023 is fine art, he agreed that “yes music is the influencer.” Durodola recalled how the history of art movements influenced quite a number of other cultures, and argued that “Afrobeats can be seen through fashion, art, among others,” noting that people relate to Afrobeats in visual rendition too. “For example, we have metal works being painted in vibrant colours, so representing Afrobeats.” The curator explained that the real musical contents for AMIAF 2023 will be different and not interfering with art as seen in some art events in Lagos, recently. He however assured that “there is going to be a tour of the Fela Shrine in Ikeja” by artists and visitors to AMIAF. In expanding the scope of AMIAF to consolidate on the patronage of the last two editions, quite an effort is ongoing from the festival’s marketing desk. Heading the marketing unit is Uche Agu, whose focus is to improve on the volume of patronage and quality of visitors to the event.
Losses in blue chip stocks reverse gains in equities By Peter Egwuatu The bounce back recorded in the stock market last week has been reversed following massive selloffs and losses in blue chip companies including, Airtel Africa, Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria. The development significantly impacted the major market indices, with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX All Share Index, ASI dropping 0.68 per cent Week-on- Week, WoW, to close at 43,968.75 points from 44,269.18 points penultimate week. As a result, the ASI’s Year-to-Date (YtD) return fell to 2.93%, while another major indicator, the market capitalization, lost N161.54 billion WoW to close at N23.95 trillion against N24.112 trillion recorded penultimate week. Analysts have explained that the bearish run on the stock market in the past three months was driven by Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, rate hikes and others factors like 2023 general election, insecurity and Foreign Exchange market instability. Analysis of the market last week showed that Airtel Africa lost 0.39% WoW, Dangote Cement (0.62%) and MTN Nigeria (2.04%) to keep the market in the red, eroding gains in First Bank Nigeria Holdings which moved up by 3.54%, Access Corporation (1.26%), and Geregu 8.50%. Commenting, analysts at InvestData Consulting, stated : “We expect mixed sentiments to continue on portfolio repositioning and bargain hunting in the midst of expected macroeconomic data and election uncertainty, as investors are Vanguard, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2022 —21 taking advantage of the low prices to reposition ahead Q3 GDP report and year end seasonality. “The next outcome of Monetary Policy Committee, MPC meeting could trigger the news-based market movements.” Commenting as well, analysts at Cowry Asset Research said, “Going into the new week, we expect the market to trade in the bullish region despite the absence of a major trigger that is likely to drive activities in the market for investors seeking alpha. However, we continue to advise investors to trade on companies’ stocks with sound fundamentals and a positive outlook amid the macro-dynamics which remains a headwind.” Another investment house, Cordros Capital, while projecting on the market outlook for the week, stated: “We expect economic growth to remain pressured in the short-to-medium term, given the troika effects of (1) tight monetary conditions, (2) a fall in real household incomes, and (3) supply constraints exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Accordingly, the economy is on course for its fastest return to recession since the mid-1970s.” MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2022 Banks’ consumer loans decline 17% as CBN tightens money supply •Interest rates trending higher •Customers are now resisting loans —Bankers By Babajide Komolafe For the first time in three years, banks reduced consumer loans by 17 per cent (N400 billion), in one month, following a decline in money supply triggered by the inflation-fighting measures of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. Consumer loans are lendings by banks to one or more individuals for household, family, or other personal expenditures. Consumer loans have been rising in Nigeria since September 2019 when the CBN introduced the minimum loan to deposit ratio (LDR) policy which stipulates that banks must give out 65 per cent of their total deposits as loans. As a result, consumer loans rose steadily by 93 per cent to N2.33 trillion in May 2022 from N1.21 trillion at the end of June 2019. However, Financial Vanguard findings from CBN’s data indicate that at the third year anniversary of the product in June 2022, the volume dropped by 17 per cent, month-on-month, to N1.93 trillion from N2.33 trillion in May 2022. Analysis of the data further showed that during the month, banks slashed personal loans to customers by 19 per cent, MoM to N1.45 trillion from N1.79 trillion in May. The banks also slashed retail loans by 13 per cent, MoM to N483 billion from N554.8 billion. As a result of this development, Consumer loans recorded the first quarterly decline in the second quarter of 2022. According to the data Consumer loans fell in Q2’22 by 15.2 per cent, quarter-on-quarter, QoQ, to N1.93 trillion from N2.28 trillion in the first quarter of the year, Q1’22. Following the same trend, the share of consumer credit in total private sector credit shrank by 2.1 percentage points to 7.2 per cent, from 9.4 per cent in Q1’22. The decline in consumer loans in June was triggered by the decision of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, on May 24th 2022 to tighten money supply in a bid to curb the continued increase in the prices of goods and services which triggered a persistent rise in the inflation rate. Hence, the MPC on May 24th raised the Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, which is the benchmark for interest rates in the country, by 150 basis points to 13 per cent from 11 per cent. Since then the CBN has further raised the MPR by 250 basis points to 15.5 per cent while it also tightened money supply by raising the Cash Reserve Ratio, CRR of banks to 32.5 per cent from 27.5 per cent, following continued rise in the inflation rate which rose to 20.77 per cent in September. Interest rates on the rise Consequently, banks raised lending rates, and the average prime lending rate rose by 370 basis points to 12.23 per cent in September from 11.96 per cent in May. Similarly, average maximum lending rate rose by 270 basis points to 28.06 per cent in September from 27.79 per cent in May. Confirming this development, a top management staff of a Tier-1 bank pleading anonymity, told Financial Vanguard that the interest rate charged by his bank on consumer loans was increased from 18 per cent prior to the MPR hike, to 20 per cent after the hike. He added the bank had wanted to increase interest rate further to 22 per cent but the decision was postponed till another time. However, Financial Vanguard findings from the money market show that many banks have raised their lending rates to between 21 and 23 percent for prime lending, while other categories of lending are as high as 28 percent. The rise in interest rate, according to another Tier- 1 bank branch manager, has affected demand for consumer loans. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said some customers just refused to take new loans after concluding repayment of the old ones because they considered the interest rate prohibitive. She added that another factor is that banks have either stopped approving consumer loans or have raised interest rates for customers in some sectors of the economy or some companies considered not as vibrant as before. She said her bank, for example, has stopped approving loans to staff of a mobile telecommunications company because the company is considered to be struggling financially.
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