Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam on Monday asked security operatives to intensify aerial surveillance and conduct mop up operation around the vulnerable areas across the state and beyond.

This, the governor said is necessary to end the Boko Haram insurgency and ensure quick rescue of the abducted schoolgirls of Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi, Yobe State.

Gaidam who received the Chairman and members of the fact finding committee to unravel the circumstances behind the abduction of the Dapchi School Girls said this will ensure fishing out the terrorists from their hideouts.

“Carrying out aerial surveillance and mop up operation around the hideouts of the insurgents will curtail their operation thereby restoring peace in the state and beyond.

“I appeal to the Federal Government to come up with comprehensive strategy of mopping up remnants of the insurgents in all their hideouts within and outside the state,” the governor said.

The Governor said he had pleaded with the Chief of Army Staff and the theatre commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole for the restoration of Army personnel in Dapchi and praised their prompt response even as they have deploy securities to schools across the state and other vulnerable areas.

While raising optimism that the committee will work towards the actualisation of its set objectives, Governor Gaidam assured the team that his government and people of the state will accord them the needed support.

“It is my hope that the committee would be strictly guided by its terms of references and we are also hopeful that they will justify the confidence and trust reposed in them in them by the National Security Adviser and indeed all Nigerians.”

The leader of the fact finding team, Rear Admiral Victor Adedipe informed the Governor that the committee will trace the circumstances that led to the abduction of the schoolgirls as well as suggest ways of preventing further occurrence among others.

The committee according to Adedipe has earlier interacted with the Chief of Army Staff and the theatre commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri and will hold similar discussion with the GOC 3rd Division in and other relevant stakeholders in Yobe state.

The committee which has 12 members drawn from various security outfits and others relevant stakeholders also has two representatives from Yobe state.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/03/dapchi-abduction-gaidam-asks-security.html

The Federal Government has said that due to its agricultural revolution, the number of farmers empowered across the country has increased from five million to over 12 million within two years of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this, on Sunday, at Government House, Birnin-Kebbi, during his two days official visit to the state.

The minister said the agricultural revolution story of the state has projected Nigeria as a food-producing nation.

Said he, “Our detractors would not believed us what this government has achieved on agricultural revolution, that is why we decided to come here and go to different villages where farming are taken place to tell the whole world our story.”

The minister who said that Federal Government would empower more farmers to encourage them on food production.

Governor Bagudu, in his remark, told the minister that apart from successes recorded in agriculture, Kebbi State is blessed with different cultural festivals such as Argungu fishing festival, Hottungo, Regatta, Uhola at Argungu, Suru and Zuru local government areas are potentials needed to be resuscitated.

Governor Bagudu also said that the incessant crisis between farmers and herdsmen across the country was due to climatic change, saying it has no religious or tribal colloration.

The governor, however, urged the Federal Government and Nigerians to help Fulani herdsmen and fishermen across the country in areas of education, modernisation of their trades stressed that most of them were not educated and easily prune to crimes.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/03/fg-empowers-12m-farmers-in-2-years-says.html

Six thousand Cross River youths are to benefit from the state social intervention scheme initiated by the governor of the state as one of the measures to kick poverty troubling the lives of so many youths out of the state. Governor Ben Ayade made the announcement at two separate events tagged: grand reception, organized in his honour by stakeholders of his senatorial district in Ogoja Local Government of Cross River State (headquarters his senatorial districts) The governor stated that the creation of 6, 000 new jobs for indigenes in the central and northern senatorial districts of the state will help in reducing the level of poverty among youths. Stakeholders of both senatorial districts charged the governor to without delay seek re-election in 2019, citing job creations, prompt payment of salaries, ongoing construction of cocoa processing factory at Ikom and rice mill at Ogoja, completion of Garment Factory in Calabar, among other projects as his achievements. Ayade who was being gven a rousing welcome by the people of his senatorial district by the mammoth crowd at the Ogoja township stadium a situation that made it very difficult for security agencies who were at the event to control the crowd because of the population density of about 4000 individuals who had come from far and near to grace the ceremony. The academic don turned politician, who acknowledged that the crowd was huge, stressed that it was the first time the people from the northern senatorial district would be gathering in that number. “This is the first time that the people from the northern senatorial district are gathering in this huge number for one purpose. I feel touched by this act. Ayade said. In his words the governor said,”I want to announce the creation of 3, 000 new jobs for unemployed youths in the northern senatorial district. I have also announced the same number of jobs for unemployed youths in the central senatorial districts. “The heads of local government administrations in the various local government areas are to compile the lists of the unemployed youths, especially those of you that have come to honour me.” Earlier, Chairman for the Central Planning Committee for stakeholders in the northern district, Mr Idi Yakubu, called on the governor to with no further delay seek another term in office to enable him complete the various programs and projects initiated by his administration. Speaking also at the grand reception ceremony, chairman for the event, Brig.-Gen. Anthony Ukpo (retd), maintained that as the first governor from the northern senatorial district it was pertinent for the governor to do his two terms stressing that Ayade’s goodwill had endeared him to not only the people of the senatorial district but also to the people of Cross River State. In his good will message Representative of the Bekwarra stakeholders, Mr. Emma Enamhe, averred that nobody could fault the strides made by Governor Ben Ayade’s led administration since he assumed the office as governor of the state in May 2015. Also speaking at the event, member of the Board of Trustees of the Ayade Ethical Group, Mr. John Abuo, called on Gov. Ben Ayade to focus in the empowerment of young people particularly in his senatorial district so as to reduce unemployment to it barest minimum. Ayade who earlier addressed the people of the central senatorial district at the Ikom township stadium where thousands of his supporters and stakeholders of the central senatorial district had also organized a reception ceremony to honor the governor, Chairman for the occasion and the event/ ex-milad of Bayelsa State, Col Pam Ogar, (retd.) eulogized the governor on the giant strides made since he came on board and charge the governor to seek for re-election. Ogar said, “We give you our prayers, accept this endorsement willingly, we are following and watching you to go beyond and do brilliantly well all the pencilled programmes and projects you have enumerated.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/6000-youths-to-benefit-from-ayades.html

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is to spend the sum of N32,194,984,518,00 for the payment of staff salaries and other emoluments in 2018 fiscal year. The director of DPR, Mr Mordecai Baba Ladan, stated this during the agency’s budget defence/presentation before members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Upstream in Abuja. He explained that the agency got approval via the envelope system in the total sum of N34,873,019,019.00. According to him, out of the sum, N1,331,020,000‎ will be spent on capital while overhead will take the sum of N1,347,018,501. “DPR has 1,100 staff with offices in about 28 states of the federation including Abuja. As the sole regulator of the petroleum industry in Nigeria, we cover the upstream, mid-stream and downstream sectors of the industry. “We also monitor tank farms numbering over 200 and 32 export terminals which culminate in the whole gammot of activities we engages in,” Mr Ladan said. He stressed that as a sole regulator of the petroleum industry in Nigeria, the agency needs adequate funding for the effective discharge of its role and achieve sufficient results for all stakeholders. Chairman of the Committee, Hon Victor Nwokolo (PDP, Delta) and his colleague, Nasir Ali Ahmed (APC, Kano), had queried the agency, noting that 50 per cent of N1 billion released in 2017 could only achieve just 56 per cent utilization. While Hon Nasir Ali Ahmed noted that in 2017, DPR’s capital budget was N1 billion with 50 per cent of the sum released and a utilisation level of 56 per cent, Chairman Nwokolo asked why the agency would propose N1.2billion in 2018 when it couldn’t utilise the N500 million that was released to it in 2017? DPR head of Planning, Folasade Odunuga, who was backed by the head of finance, explained that ‎the capital expenditure for 2017 extends till March 2018, adding that various milestones of the agency’s capital sub-heads had been completed and would be carried out before the close of the fiscal window. On why there are provisions for local travels and training costing over N200 million, and nothing for international travel and training, Mrs Odunuga said what appeared on the document was what the budget office approved in the envelope for the agency. Asked how the N32 billion for personnel would cater for additional staff being recruited since it was the same amount proposed last year, the DPR said it would augment the shortfall from its other budget. The committee chairman, Hon Nwokolo said that “Having listened to the presentation, notes have been taken and the committee would process all information so presented.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/dpr-budgets-n32bn-for-1100-staff-in-2018.html

A member of a Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Akure, the Ondo State capital has been found dead inside a well at the Church’s premises.

The deceased, identified as Mrs. Funke Ojo was said to have left her mother’s house for the church programme on Saturday night.


But members of the Church said she did not attend the said program, adding that no one knew she had jumped inside the well.

Residents of Ayedun area in Akure described the incident as a mystery, as they wondered what could have led the woman to take her own life.

According to a source in the area, the deceased did not have any trace of mental illness.

The source said, “On Saturday night, she complained to her mother that she was having a slight malaria fever. So she later told her mother that she wanted to go to the church. The mother was even asking her to rest since she had malaria but she insisted going to the church.


“Nobody knew how she got into the well, it was someone who wanted to fetch water in the well this morning (Sunday) that saw her lifeless body inside the well and raised the alarm to call the attention of the residents of the area.”

It was gathered that some youths in the area evacuated the corpse from the well and took away her for burial.

Following the incident, the pastor of the church, Segun Oriade was said to have been arrested by police for interrogation.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Femi Joseph confirmed the incident but said the command was yet to know why and how the incident happened.


He confirmed the arrest of the pastor of the church, saying “he will be helping us in our investigation.”

He said, “It happened early this morning (Sunday), the deceased was sick and her mother of took her to the church for prayer and later she (the deceased) went home and came back to the church late in the evening on Saturday. ‎

“But they found her lifeless body inside the well on Sunday morning. Nobody can say anything about it for now but we have commenced investigation into the matter.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/woman-found-dead-in-ondo-church-premises.html

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has expressed readiness to contribute towards the economic emancipation of Nigeria by building viable entrepreneurs.

The organisation is in the first phase of its planned training of 50 young entrepreneurs in each of six states in the country, namely Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Benue, Delta and Edo.


Speaking at the graduation of 50 young men and women taken through a weeklong training in entrepreneurship skills in Damaturu yesterday, the Head of the UNDP Sub-Office in Maiduguri, Mizuho Yokoi said in her home country Japan it was difficult for entrepreneurs to survive the first five years of business.

She said she hopes that the business environment in Nigeria is more receptive to new entrepreneurs. She said UNDP was concerned about the economic well-being of Nigeria and as such took out time to give out the needed skill for the survival of entrepreneurship.

Yokoi said knowledge is key to survival of entrepreneurship and that was what UNDP has given in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa and intended giving to 150 others in Adamawa, Edo and Benue states. She said: “Knowledge is key to successful entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur needs to constantly learn and apply the knowledge learnt to the business.”

She added that “another thing an entrepreneur needs is resilience; an entrepreneur continues to put efforts until he/she succeeds. A failure can be addressed by applying more efforts which will yield growth and success. An entrepreneur has to pursue how to make the people happy and it is only by this that people will patronise the business.”

She revealed that “UNDP is in this to fight poverty and build the economy of Nigeria, because entrepreneurs provide jobs and improve lives of many, and by giving lives of entrepreneurs you have assisted many to live above poverty.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/we-re-ready-for-nigerias-economic.html

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state has insisted that nothing can stop President Muhammadu Buhari from seeking a second term in office.

Akeredolu made the statement on Saturday, February 24, at a unification rally held in Akure as part of his one year anniversary in office, Vanguard reports.

Akeredolu, who endorsed the president for second term, said Ondo state was satisfied with the numerous achievement of the Buhari administration and therefore will support his second term ambition.”Ondo state is satisfied with the achievement of our President and we want this to continue and nothing can stop this,” he said.

The governor said that the Buhari/ Osibanjo presidential campaign office will be opened in the state capital very soon. He told the people of Ondo state that they had not seen anything yet in terms of achievement.

Also president at the occasion was the national chairman of the party John Oyegun, Edo state governor Godwin Obaseki and the his Ogun state counterpart Ibikunle Amosun and former Ekiti state governor Kayode Fayemi.The governor made the disclosure in a chat with newsmen at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, on Thursday, February 23. Akelicious gathers that Bello stated that the president disclosed the information to All Progressives Congress (APC) governors.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/governor-akeredolu-endorses-president.html

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he was still waiting to hear from more Nigerians before he takes any decision to re-contest for the presidency next year.

The President’s position is coming in spite of continued pressures from All Progressives Congress (APC) governors asking him to seek re-election in 2019.

The APC governors also on Thursday passed a vote of confidence on the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun in the wake of the recent comment by the national leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that Odigie-Oyegun was frustrating the party’s reconciliation efforts.


Specifically, the APC governors had held a closed-door meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where they told the President to contest for second term in 2019, saying: “He has done excellently well, and deserves ‎re-election.

Speaking to State House correspondents after the late night meeting, which was also attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello said the governors urged the President to stand for the 2019 election because of his achievements.

He, however, said President Buhari was still consulting and would make up his mind after he has gauged the opinion of Nigerians on the matter.

On his interpretation of the President’s body language on their request, Bello said: “The President is still consulting and he wants more Nigerians to ‎speak before he can make up his mind. But I am very comfortable that Nigerians will speak loud.”

Commenting on Tinubu’s allegation that Odigie-Oyegun was allegedly frustrating his reconciliation efforts, Bello said the APC governors had passed a vote of confidence in his leadership of the party.

“We the governors and majority of APC members have confidence ‎in Odigie-Oyegun. We also believe in the President for appointing Tinubu to reconcile some aggrieved members of our party.

“However, one size fits all will not work in all the states where some erring members need to be disciplined,” he added.

Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha, who spoke with the newsmen, said he and his colleagues met to persuade the President to contest next year’s polls.

Other governors present at the meeting include, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and Solomon Lalong of Plateau State, among others.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/im-waiting-on-nigerians-to-decide-2019.html

The federal government has been advised to periodically carry out tax reforms so as to increase tax’s contribution towards financing the country’s budget.

The Partner and Head of Tax, Regulatory and People services KPMG, Mr. Wole Obayomi said this yesterday while speaking at the KPMG Tax Breakfast Seminar where various stakeholders discussed the theme: “2018 Budget: The Unfinished Business,” at an event that took place in Lagos.


Obayomi said: “Governments all over the world use the budget to actually know the finance base. But in Nigeria, we focus more on the appropriation budget which is the spending part of the budget without really emphasising on the finance aspect with respect to revenue generation.

“In the last couple of years, the government became challenged with the non-revenue generation and the time has come for us to return to the approach in the military era where soon after the budget is announced, a decree would be issued to launch a tax reforms each year, with a view to increase tax revenue for the government. There is really urgency at this time when oil prices are stable and the revenue coming from oil is unpredictable.”

“So, the reality which ought to have dawn on everyone in government is that it is not a stable source of revenue but with tax you can project much better with that. However, you now find the government squirting out existing taxpayers and that would not come about the tax revenue we need in order to enhance non-oil revenue to us an assurance of revenue inflow in each financial year.”

He further added: “The time really has come for government to wake up to reality that the change that needs to come in the tax system is about reforming tax annually and even in the course of the year they are developments in view of tax reforms which is done all over the world where emphasis on tax as a stable and sustainable source of revenue to the government.

“Government can and they should penetrate the informal sector they can double the existing projection amount. Also, the N18 billion the government projects to recover from VAIDS process is not ambitious at all. Anywhere in the world where you don’t have tax compliance and where there are no sanctions and government is budgeting so little it means they are not ready to enforce tax compliance post VAIDS period.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/fg-urged-to-embark-on-tax-reforms.html

The Abia government and MTN Foundation have struck a partnership to tackle the menace of infant and maternal mortality in the state.Announcing the partnership recently during the MTNF Yellow Heart Health Forum in Umuahia, the telecommunications giant reiterated its commitment to the crusade by increasing the level of awareness and perception in the country that align with global efforts to meet the health targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On the decision to support the state government through the MTNF Yellow Heart initiative, the foundation’s Director, Mr. Dennis Okoro, in a statement, noted: “We are very sensitive to challenges within our society, which is why we go the extra mile to make the lives of the people brighter. It is against this backdrop that the foundation created a mandate to spend towards improving the state of healthcare, education and economic empowerment.”

He continued: “Abia is part of the six states selected for the MTNF Yellow Heart initiative after it launched in Abuja. We discovered that most deaths of mothers and children in our communities can be prevented using existing knowledge and proven cost-effective interventions. This is why we hope to use the initiative to address predominant issues such as attitude and cultural practice that hinder women and children from accessing healthcare services in the society.”
Commending the facilitators, the wife of the governor, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu, who described the initiative as noble, said it aligns with the healthcare objective of the state.

To the Commissioner for Health, Dr. John Ahukannah, the project would immensely improve the health and survival rate of women and children in the state.He said: “it is noteworthy that we have put emphasis on the development and improvement of primary health care, especially with the vulnerable groups in the state. Abia is focusing on enhancing health promotion and education, disease prevention as well as curative and rehabilitative services. This is very much in line with the Yellow Heart initiative and we call on Abians to take full advantage of this timely intervention.”

The other five states captured in the programme, where various projects are either built or renovated to cater for the health needs of mothers and children, are Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, Niger and Cross River.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/abia-govt-and-mtn-move-against-infant.html

The Akwa Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Mike Igini, has described elections conducted by State Independent Electoral Commissions as ‘rape of democracy’.

Igini, who expressed his dismay in a Television Continental programme monitored on Thursday, said council elections, which ought to be the foundation of all elections in the country, had been rubbished by SIECs.

“All the local government elections conducted so far are mere rape of democracy. You cannot refer to the conduct of local government elections in states as elections because we have degenerated to the level where SIECs no long print ballot papers, what they print are result sheets.

“On election day, you will hear the announcement that the ruling party in the state has won the LG election 100 per cent. It is only in the INEC-conducted election that you see a reflection of the multi-party system that we operate in the country. This is a huge indictment on SIECs.

“I have interacted with some of the SIECs, the problem is that the body is not independent, it is the state governors that determine what happens. One of them even told me that his governor cancelled the conduct of local government election because he was out of the country. It cannot happen under INEC,” he said.

He flayed SIECs for failing to make use of Smart Card Readers despite getting voter registers from the Independent National Electoral Commission for the conduct of elections.

Igini noted that INEC’s obligation to SIECs during the conduct of council elections is to provide voter registers, adding that SIECs were not interested in the use of smart card readers because of manipulation.

“Our obligation to SIECs is to provide the voter registers and the electorate are allowed to use the Permanent Voter Cards. But we felt that one thing that should be of interest to Nigerians is that SIECs should have been using the smart card readers to bring sanity.

“Do you know that as we speak, no SIEC wants to get close to the card reader. This is because the idea behind the card reader is to ensure one person, one vote and no proxy user. The credibility of any election starts with the voter register,” he said.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/inec-chief-faults-siecs-council.html

Oil prices crash further yesterday weighed down as the US dollar moved further away from three-year lows hit last week.US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.37 a barrel down 42 cents, or 0.7 per cent, from their last settlement, while Brent crude futures had dropped 36 cents, or 0.6 per cent, from their last close to $64.89 per barrel. Wang Tao, Reuter’s technical commodity analyst, said Brent could fall into a range of $63.92-$64.41 per barrel, as suggested by its wave pattern and a projection analysis. Traders said the declines were driven by a recovery in the dollar, which potentially hits fuel demand as it makes greenback-denominated oil imports more expensive for countries using other currencies at home. The dollar steadied against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, having pulled up from three-year lows set last week as traders shaved off some of the bearish bets against the US currency. “The US dollar continues to find firmer footing,” said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore. Overall, however, oil markets remain well supported due to healthy demand-growth and supply restraint by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which started last year to draw down excess global inventories.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/dollar-recovery-crashes-oil-price-to.html

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday passed a no confidence vote on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) even as it asked the commission’s chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to immediately resign.

The party’s position was based on what it called gross disregard of the constitution and the law by allowing under aged persons to be accommodated in the voters’ register.

It said: “Nigerians have completely lost confidence in INEC under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and we urge him to take the path of honour and do the needful by vacating his office before it becomes too late.”


The party also called for immediate review of the register to remove the names of all under-aged persons before the 2019 elections.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, noted that although the Prof. Yakubu-led commission reluctantly accepted responsibility for the illegality of registering and issuing Permanent Voters’ Card to the underaged, it has refused to take decisive steps to restore the sanctity of its register, particularly in Kano and Katsina states, but has rather made a puerile explanation of plans to investigate the allegation.

According to the PDP: “The credibility of our electoral process under the current INEC is hugely in doubt. The nation was last Wednesday terrified by the commission’s Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, who announced that INEC registered minors because its agents were threatened by members of the communities in those states.’’

“By this alarming and unpatriotic statement, INEC has completely discredited and disqualified itself and cannot be trusted to conduct a credible, free and fair general elections in 2019.”

The opposition party further said that in order to achieve voter register revalidation, it should be carried out under the supervision of all political parties, credible associations, reputable NGOs as well as the international community.

The opposition party also condemned the plan by INEC to ask EFCC to help in monitoring campaign funds pointing out that it “is clearly an illegal and Machiavellian way of suppressing opposition’s financial contribution and spending.

“It is a plot to detain, defame, intimidate and illegally block bank accounts of opposition members under the pretext that they have been mandated by INEC to monitor campaign funds.’’

The party also accused the Federal Government of plan to manipulate economic indices to create the impression that the economy is doing well.

The PDP also said that it was privy to “clandestine meetings and the engagement of certain unscrupulous Nigerians and foreign profiling firms, who have been heavily paid to fabricate, dish out and saturate our polity with fake performance indices and contrived polls in favour of the failed and incompetent Buhari-led Federal Government.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/pdp-asks-yakubu-to-resign-for.html

Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State, on Tuesday warned that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, won’t be allowed to manipulate the 2019 election.

Reacting to report of underage voters in Kano, Wike insisted that INEC lacked the capacity to conduct credible elections in Nigeria.


He spoke when German Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Bernhard Shlagheck, visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Calling on the International Community to closely monitor the nation’s electoral process, Wike explained that it was imperative for the International Community to monitor the 2019 elections in order to stop INEC from manipulating the process.
“INEC does not have the capacity to hold free and fair elections. See what happened in Kano State. INEC says it wants to investigate the under-age voting that took place last week.
“Who gave the children the voter cards? We will not allow anyone to manipulate the electoral system of the country,” Wike said.

The governor said due to the failure of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the party was planning to use INEC and security agencies to create crisis and manipulate the electoral system.
The governor said that the cry over the order of elections by the ruling APC revealed their intention to manipulate the process.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/2019-we-wont-allow-inec-apc-manipulate.html

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bitrus Kaze said if President Muhammadu Buhari can return Nigeria to what it were before he took over in 2015, the citizenry will be glad.

He added that removing him from office come 2019, will at least stop the country from going down the drain.

“Go to the streets and find out, in fact if only Buhari can return Nigeria to what it was, as at the time he took over in May 29th, 2015, we will be so glad.
“If he can return the naira to N190 to a dollar, the fuel to N87 per litre, if he can return our foreign reserves to what they were before he took over; reduce interest rate to what it was, reduce inflation to a single digit like it was before he took over; infact that would be a huge achievement.
“Because ever since he took over, we are not sure we have seen any value addition, or seen any clear policy direction of the government”, he lamented.
“For instance, if you hear anything about the railway, agriculture, power; some of these policies have been in place since the days of Obasanjo.
“They were simply carried out by former Presidents Yar’adua and Goodluck, for which dividends are beginning to manifest only when he (Buhari) came in, not because of him.
“Take the railway for example, I’m not sure he has invested a dime in it, and even if he did, that sector is a time consuming sector. So also the power is a time consuming sector.
“So any little gain you are able to see is not because of any policy direction of the Buhari administration its simply because of the gains of the policies that existed.
“But if the Buhari administration believes it has done any good to Nigerians, we should see it on ground.
Kaze who represented Jos South/Jos East constituency between 2007 to 2015, further stated that,
“No matter how you fight corruption, no matter all the monies you claim you have recovered, if it does not put food on the table of a poor man, provide roads, electricity, water, quality education, improve healthcare of the citizenry; you have done nothing.
“Is it not the same government that claimed it is fighting corruption, that the court actually said, exposed those from whom you collected these monies and the process from which you collected these monies.
“We suspect those who are affected are in the APC government, that’s why they have not been able to expose them.
“Recently a former Director General of the NIA, exposed a fact that a committee headed by a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation in this country whom the President setup, wanted to swindle millions of dollars recovered in Lagos.
“We’ve reach a point in this country, merely because you belong to PDP or APC does not mean you should be ascribe integrity status, let everybody answer his father’s name as far as corruption is concern.
“Corruption is not a matter of the PDP alone, corruption is prevalent even in this present administration.
The only difference is that; whereas the PDP was able to convict its own Inspector General of Police, the present government cannot convict the smallest of its officials captured in corruption.
“They bring them back with the aim to promote them further, by rewarding them with political positions.
On whether President Buhari should seek a second term, the PDP Chieftain said, “Buhari should take a cue from Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, of South Africa who resigned.
“But if these two are not enough examples for him, he should take cue from his elder brother, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
“In as much as health is not something anybody can guaranteed about anybody, surely we wish him well. But it is obvious that no matter how healthy he feels, that truth is that, he is no longer as strong as he use to be in his younger days as Military Head of State.
“Why can’t he identify the key role of a leader? It is the responsibility of a Moses to be able to identify a Joshua, to take the people to the promise land.
“There are many young politicians even from his home state Katsina, that he can look up to and allow them to carry on.
“The problem I think the president has is that, he doesn’t believe anybody; and education teaches us that, you do not know until you know that you do not know. That’s the truth.
“The moment you realize that somebody knows better or that someone can offer better ideas than yours, that is when you realize you know something.
“But the President hardly have confidence in anyone, he believes that once he is no longer there, Nigeria will collapse; Nigeria has been there before him, Nigeria will continue to be after him. Infact Nigeria will achieve a lot the day Buhari leaves government.
“Bishop Kukah said removing Buhari will not solve Nigeria’s problems, he may be right. However, if removing him can at least stop Nigeria from going down the drain, at least when he is out, we can have our country back,” he stressed.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/2019-hon-kaze-gives-buhari-condition.html

A major crack has appeared in the ranks of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife branch, at the weekend, decided to pull out of the national body to form a new union.

The decision to pull out of ASUU national by OAU branch was taken at a congress held on February 12, when it rejected the resolutions of ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on the face-off between it and the parent body over an internal crisis.

Other reasons given by OAU branch to form a new union are the unilateral removal of the elected treasurer by ASUU national president and the alleged transfer of N11 million from OAU branch account to ASUU national account.

The congress noted that the removal of the duly elected treasurer and transfer of N11 million prompted majority of members to request that their check off dues usually remitted to ASUU national be stopped.

The OAU branch also cited the decision of ASUU NEC to accept the suspended result of the vice chancellor election and the rejection of the caretaker committee to run the affairs of the union after the presiding officers abandoned the congress midstream on Thursday, October 20, 2016, as reasons for pulling out.

At the start of the face-off with ASUU national, 732 OAU academic staff, out of 1,371 in 2017, wrote the university’s management to stop payment of their check off dues to the national body in protest against the way it was handling the crisis in the branch.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/oau-pulls-out-of-ASUU-forms-new-union.html

The striking unions made up of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) announced the meeting a day after the Joint Admission & Matriculation Board (JAMB) issued a statement that the two months old strike would affect the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) especially the mock examination scheduled for February 26.

Joint Action Committee, the body overseeing the ongoing strike by non-academic unions in Federal universities across Nigeria has scheduled an important meeting to review their decision to down tools.

The striking unions made up of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) announced the meeting a day after the Joint Admission & Matriculation Board (JAMB) issued a statement that the two months old strike would affect the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) especially the mock examination scheduled for February 26.



SaharaReporters learnt that JAC would be holding a congress to do an evaluation of the strike action which has been on since December 2017.Speaking with our correspondent, the Secretary of University of Lagos chapter of NASU, Comrade Aderibigbe said the scheduled meeting would also x-ray the case of some members who were arrested a couple of days back.

“The congress would be holding because of the strike and probably update members on the arrest of our members. We need to officially inform our members that those arrested have been released, that will be part of what we would be discussing,” Aderibigbe said.

JAMB had in statement noted that the unions are part of the key stakeholders for the conduct of the UTME examinations while expressing the hope that the federal government would accede to the requests of the striking workers for successful conduct of the examination.

“The unions are our critical stakeholders and their absence would be felt if the issue is not resolved before Monday, February 26. We are still hopeful that an amicable resolution of the crisis would be reached before the date of the examination.”

“We had prayed and worked tirelessly to ensure that the strike was called off hence our continued shifting of the dates for the examination,” JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin said in a statement

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/utme-2018-non-academic-staff-unions-to.html

The International Association of Lions Clubs, District 404B2 has vowed a heightened impact on the society in order to meet and surpass the objectives of the group.
The District Governor, Lion Asiwaju Ayobola Samuel made the promise at a gathering where he was presenting his six months’ leadership report to group members.
According to him, the clubs under the district had not fallen short of expectations between the period under review, a feat he attributed to God’s faithfulness, members’ zeal to serve humanity and cooperation from the society.
Highlighting the association’s achievement so far, Samuel stated that the club had succeeded in touching over 6000 lives, almost meeting the targets and expectations for the service year.
“We have successfully carried out projects that have impacted positively on the lives of the people. The most remarkable of them was the free medical mission held in conjunction with Mercy International Medical Mission, an NGO based in Maryland, USA. In all, 3000 people enjoyed free blood pressure, eyes and diabetes screening and testing.
“About 1600 free eye glasses were distributed, while drugs were given out free to those who have eyes problem and those who are diabetic. More so, the clubs succeeded in sponsoring 20 cataract surgeries and as part of the package, dental screening was equally carried out on 300 people while we also attended to those in need of treatment.
“We have also been able to successfully observe special days like World Diabetes and Sight Days with relevant activities that would benefit those affected. During the World Sight Day, 40 glucoma surgeries were sponsored and not less than 100 White Canes were distributed. By and large, we have given priority to the implementation of the global five key challenging areas of Lions Clubs International (LCI). In addition, we have successfully marked the HIV / AIDS Day in December 2017, with enlightenment rallies, distribution of advocacy materials such as handbills and fliers and organised sensitisation lecture.
“Furthermore, we broke a new ground by organising the first sickle cell programme in the history of the Multiple District. It is also necessary to put on the record, the unprecedented success recorded during the ‘Peace Poster Contest.’ We came 2nd and 3rd in the competition involving other four Districts in the Multiple District,” he said.
The DG who noted limited membership and funding as some of the challenges constraining the district stated that such would not stop the good works of the club in serving the people .
“Notwithstanding, we hope to achieve more in the next six months. Our plans for the remaining part of our tenure is to review our strategies and focus more on where we have not done well enough. “We will address the remaining two of the key challenging areas, which are environmental protection and paediatric cancer. We also plan to organise a joint districts convention that will remain unbeaten in the history of similar events in Nigeria. The remaining six months will be used to rededicate ourselves to the service of our District and the less privileged,” he concluded.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/lions-club-supports-over-6000-in-six.html

Nigerian protesters continue to call for the release of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.
more photos at http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/photosfree-zakzaky-procession-held-in.html

The Police Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos State has expressed worry over the unrelenting attitude of Nigerians to patronize visa vendors, which end up packaging them with fake travelling documents.

This was even as SFU disclosed that it has received over 1,185 applicants with fake documents from Italian Embassy, with many of them charged to courts.

Speaking on this, the SFU Public Relations Officer, Lawal Audu, said many of the embassies, which partner with SFU, have zero tolerance for forgery. Audu noted that these embassies are mainly interested in issuing visas to credible Nigerians.


Audu, who said that SFU has a good working relationship with American, Italian and the UK embassies, noted that each of this embassy, has its peculiarities.

He noted: “The American consulate general for instance; every day we receive complaints of fake visa applicants. But the most disturbing is the fake visas, fake stamps, both arrival and departure stamps. Most of these applicants appear at the consulate with passports covered with fake travel history.”

According to Audu, the major issue is that Nigerians, seeking to travel out, prefer to go to a visa vendor, who might end up defrauding them. He said: “These visa vendors are everywhere. They will tell prospective customers or clients that they had assisted over hundred people to get the American visa. They will promise to help. And because these visa seekers are vulnerable or don’t care to know how they can apply for visa, they fall prey.

“If you want to know how to apply for visas, just go to the internet. You don’t need to pay anyone or give money to anyone. But rather, many Nigerians prefer to give money to touts, visa agents and visa vendors. Nobody is appointed to be a visa vendor by any embassy or high commission.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/italian-embassy-detects-1185-nigerian.html

The Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce will be leading businessmen and women, investors, government representatives across all sectors of the economy on a trade mission to Washington DC, United States.

The 6-day trade and investment expo will see delegates participating in the Africa Trade and Investment Global Summit (ATIGS) which will feature over 2,000 participants, 70 Countries, 16 Economic Sectors, 150 Speakers and 350 Global Investors.

The trade mission which is an annual commitment of the Chamber in promoting the development of trade, commerce, investment and industrial technological relationships between the public and private sectors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria) and the United States of America (United States) further driving socio-economic growth and development for all will hold from 20th -27th June, 2018.


The six days period will see participants involved in engagement with Chambers of Commerce, Sector Presentation and Round-table B2B meetings and engagement with the Nigerian Diaspora Business Community. “This is a time when participants leverage on the Chamber’s initiative to meet new International buyers and distributors, expand into new markets, exchange market knowledge, network, gain insight from industry experts and promote their business across border further generating millions of naira in new business for their company’s.”

The NACC had been organising trade missions to the United States. Last year, the Chamber led delegates to Miami Florida, USA, where it recorded success in new deals and investments. This year, the Chamber in its gamut of linking businesses in Nigeria to global enterprises will not only create business opportunities for participating delegates but is prepared to lead a movement of many more success stories.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/nacc-to-lead-delegates-on-trade-mission.html

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s official data agency, has said January’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, again dropped to 15.13 per cent, up from the December 2017 level of 15.37 per cent.

Breaking down the January CPI report released yesterday, the NBS said the new figure is 0.24 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in December, making it the 12th consecutive disinflation in headline year on year inflation since January 2017.

The report said increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) divisions of all consumption items that yield the Headline Index.


“ On a month-on-month basis, the Headline Index increased by 0.80 per cent in January 2018, 0.21 per cent points higher from the rate of 0.59 per cent recorded in December 2017. The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending January 2018 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 16.22 per cent, showing 0.28 per cent point lower from 16.50 per cent recorded in December 2017.”

It further added that the urban inflation rate rose by 15.56 per cent (year-on-year) in January 2018 from 16.78 per cent recorded in December 2017, while the rural inflation rate also eased by 14.76 per cent in January 2018 from 15.02 per cent in December 2017, while On month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.83 per cent in January 2018, up by 0.17 from 0.66 per cent recorded in December 2017, while the rural index also rose by 0.77 per cent in January 2018, up by 0.23 per cent when compared with 0.54 per cent in December 2017.

It explained that the corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 16.55 per cent in January 2018, which is less than 16.92 per cent reported in December 2017, with the corresponding rural inflation rate in January 2018 now being 15.89 per cent compared to 16.10 per cent recorded in December 2017.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday revealed that it has in the past two years of the implementation of its Anchor Borrowers Programme disbursed N55 billion to over 250, 000 farmers.

The Acting-Director, Corporate Communications Department, of the apex bank, Mr. Isaac Okorafor revealed the figure yesterday in Abuja during a media briefing.

The ABP launched in Kebbi State on November 17, 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari was designed to create economic linkages between farmers and processors, not only to ensure increased agricultural output of rice and wheat, but to also close the gap between production and consumption, with the ultimate goal of checking against food inflation brought about by import cost.

He said out of the N55 billion provided by the apex bank, 80 per cent, representing N44 billion was given to rice farmers alone.

He said the need to provide rice farmers adequate funding was to ensure self-sufficiency in rice production and to also ensure that Nigeria becomes a net exporter of the product.

The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) President, Aminu Gorongo, said that unlike in the past where the anchor borrowers programme partnership was between the CBN and state governments, a private sector-driven initiative has been launched to drive the programme.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/january-inflation-drops-to-1513-says-nbs.html

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State says it now captures about 2, 500 registrants daily in its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) with the deployment of new Direct Data Capturing (DDC) Machines.



The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission on Sunday took delivery of 30 new DDC machines and deployed them strategically to some CVR centres to ease pressure.

Mr Sam Olumekun, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos, said at a news conference on Wednesday that the new machines would reduce complaints of delay in the registration exercise.


According to him, the new machines work faster and capture registrants in few minutes.

“The new machines that we have can handle many registrants on daily basis. It takes just less than two minutes to register one person.

“These new DDC machines have been strategically located at places where the pressure is highest,” he said.

Olumekun pleaded with the people of Lagos to bear with the commission and appreciate its efforts to ensure success of the CVR.

“We must be honest enough to admit that we have had challenges with our DDC machines, however, after we explained the challenges to the commission, new machines have been provided for us in Lagos.

“To this end, 30 new machines have been deployed in Lagos State and within the last two days when these new machines arrived, we have been capturing averagely about 2,500 every day.

“This is a great improvement from the entire number of registrants that we have had in the last couple of months.

“I want to assure the people of Lagos State that we are not resting on our oars to ensure everybody is captured. We implore eligible voters to come up and register.

“Let me assure Lagosians that INEC will not compromise or fail in its duties to conduct a free, credible and acceptable election in 2019. We ask for stakeholders’ cooperation,” the INEC boss said.

He said that the commission, as at Tuesday, had registered 231, 435 eligible voters in the state since the inception of the exercise on April 27, 2017.

Olumekun urged more residents to use the ongoing window to get registered.

He said that the commission had also been embarking on the rotation of the CVR centres around wards in each of the 20 local government areas of the state to bring the exercise closer to the people.

On the challenges facing the ongoing CVR exercise, Olumekun said that the commission had been confronting them in order to achieve success.

According to him, some of the challenges include extortion, Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines and multiple registration, among others.


“We have reports of people asking for gratification before they are registered. We will not condone this, and anybody who demands money should be reported to INEC.

“People should please kindly report to us any bad egg that demands gratification and we will deal with such accordingly. Nobody is supposed to pay any dime for this exercise,” he said.

On multiple registration, the REC urged people to desist from the act, advising them to always check their status before going for fresh registration.

According to him, registrants in 2011 and 2015 can check their status through phone SMS by just typing and sending their state, surname and the last five digits of their VIN to 20120.

He said that the process was also applicable to those captured in the first and second quarter of the ongoing CVR in 2017.

Olumekun urged others to exercise patience for their data to be uploaded on INEC database.

The INEC boss said the commission had close to 100 DDC machines deployed to the 55 CVR centres

Olumekun said the commission would deepen its awareness and engagement with stakeholders to increase people’s participation in elections.

“Voters education is not only an exercise for INEC. It is an exercise that everyone must collaborate to achieve. Voters’ apathy nowadays is a huge concern,” he said.

On the poor attitude of some INEC staff in the ongoing CVR, Olumekun said: “This is a source of worry to us, but in a couple of weeks, we will get a brand new attitude to work”.

He also spoke on underage registration, noting that each registrant had a duty to declare his age at the point of registration.

Olumekun said where the commission has reason to doubt the age of any registrant, it reserves the right not to register such a person.

NAN reports that INEC started the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration on April 27, 2017, to capture those who had attained 18 years of age after the last exercise, and others who did not register then.

It is also for those seeking replacement of their cards or transfer, among others.

The exercise in Lagos State was limited to INEC offices in the 20 local governments before the commission increased the centres to 55 in response to the request of stakeholders for decentralisation.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/cvr-inec-now-captures-2500-registrants.html

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, (Warri Zonal Office) says it has sealed 70 petrol stations for alleged sharp practice in the past six months in parts of Delta State.

Mr. Antai Asuquo, Operations Controller, who spoke to reporters yesterday, said that the stations were sanctioned for hoarding, under-dispensing, over pricing, abandonment and diversion of products.

He said the stations were sealed in Warri, Ughelli, Sapele ,Ozoro ,Oleh ,Kwale, Agbor ,Ubiaruku , and Asaba.

According to him, the 70 stations are part of the 446 petrol stations visited by the department’s surveillance team.


Asuquo said fuel was dispensed to motorists in two of the 70 filling stations at no cost because the stations were hoarding the products.



His words, “The exercise is a continuous one until the petroleum marketers complied with government’s approved pump price of N145 per litre. It is not our intention to seal a petrol station that has products but the products should be sold to the public at the regulated pump price”.

Asuquo urged marketers who indulge in sharp practices to desist from it because the regulatory agency would continue to go after them until full compliance was attained.

The controller cautioned depot owners against selling products above ex-depot price as well as selling to third parties.

He appealed to the public to assist the DPR with useful information on any station selling above the regulated price.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/dpr-seals-70-stations-in-six-months-in.html

Fans of the UEFA Champions League are in for an amazing time as Heineken, the world’s premium beer brand and Official Sponsor of the competition is set to host them to exclusive viewing of live European matches.
These premium viewing venues will be in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

Followed by more than a billion people worldwide, the UEFA Champions League is one of the most watched sporting competitions in the world.
With the first round of matches of the 2017/2018 season already played last year, action resumes this week with the Round of 16 and knockout phase.

Heineken will activate exciting fixtures such as Real Madrid vs PSG and Chelsea vs Barcelona across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
The viewing centers include IMAX Lekki, Silverbird Cinema Abuja and FilmHouse Cinema Port Harcourt are to be activated today.


Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Franco Maria Maggi, said: “We understand the passion and love that Nigerians have for this beautiful game. So this year, Heineken encourages fans to share the drama of the UEFA Champions League with all their friends.

“We are excited to bring to fans these premium viewing centres where they can enjoy some of the most dramatic football moments in a relaxing atmosphere”.

TODAY
Real Madrid Vs PSG
FC Porto Vs Liverpool

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/heineken-to-screen-ucl-matches-at.html

Despite losing about 10 million customers in 2017, the last quarter of the year, however, showed that telecommunications operators’ growth performance actually leaped by 3.69 per cent.

The Guardian checks showed that the operators, the quartet of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9Mobile, which had their growth contracted in the first three quarters of the year by negative 8.15 per cent; 6.15 per cent, and 2.22 per cent respectively, moved positively to 3.69 per cent in Q4.

According to statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), MTN, whose growth went down by 5.25 per cent in Q3, resurrected with 5.25 per cent growth in the last quarter of 2017. For Globacom, from 0.16 per cent loss in Q3, it bounced back to growth with 2.19 per cent in Q4.


India-owned Airtel happened to be the only operator that maintained a fairly stable growth, moving from 1.49 per cent in Q3 to 7.53 per cent in Q4. Apparently due to the challenge of losing majority shareholder over a protracted $1.2billion loan, 9Mobile, formerly Etisalat, has been on a steep fall from 4.54 percentage growth losses to 1.14 percentage losses in the last quarter of the year under review.

Further analysis of the statistics showed that Internet penetration increased marginally to 98.3 million in December 2017 against 94.8 million recorded in November, showing an increase of 3.57 million.Airtel, MTN, Globacom earned more Internet subscribers during the month in review, while 9Mobile Internet users dipped.

The Data breakdown revealed that MTN gained the most with 2, 642.666 new Internet users, raising its subscription in December to 36,069,697, from 33, 426, 931 in November. Airtel added 911,040 new Internet users in December amounting to 23,985,203 users against 23,074, 163 subscribers in November. Globacom also gained 87,538 new users in December as the figure recorded was 26,997,917 against 26,910,279 in November.In the period under review, 9Mobile however, unlike others, fell by 68,341 Internet users in December, slashing its subscription to 11,407,180.



Meanwhile, speaking from Singapore, the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who hailed the new licensing of Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos), assured of them improving Nigeria’s broadband landscape.

Danbatta described the move as a key step to ensuring the deployment of infrastructure for the telecommunications sector.Speaking at a panel session of the International Institute of Communications (IIC), and Regional, Telecommunications and Media Forum in Singapore, Danbatta noted that the Commission had to develop innovative solutions to fast-track infrastructure deployment with a view to deepening the nation’s broadband penetration.

The board of the NCC had recently issued two additional Infraco licences to Zinox Technology Limited for South East, and Brinks Integrated Solutions Limited for North East, bringing the total number of Infracos licenced so far to four.

The NCC boss, therefore, called for the development of human capital that is in tune with the dynamism of the industry to achieve the desired balanced regulatory intervention.

“Regulators must consider the idea of having in-house Research & Development units that reach out, and collaborate with researchers, academia in order to align and be abreast of technological innovations and trends,” he explained.

Also, in a paper titled: Building Institutional Capacity and Human Capital: How A Regulator Builds Capacity That Fits For Purpose In A Rapidly Moving Environment, Danbatta told the gathering that the NCC would continue to ensure that its institutional structure remained pliable enough to tackle emerging technologies and exigencies of the telecommunications sector.

He said the Commission’s performance had attracted the recognition of numerous reputable institutions both locally and internationally, especially in the last two years.

“In 2017, the Bureau for Public Service Reforms, Nigeria reviewed the Commission’s structure, processes, and work culture, scored it a platinum category and recommended it a model for other public institutions in the country to emulate,” he added.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/operators-record-369-per-cent-quarterly.html

The Nigerian Stock Exchange ( NSE ) on Tuesday sustained seven-day falling streak with the market capitalisation shedding N370 billion in one day.

The market capitalisation lost N370 billion or 2.41 per cent to close at N14.967 trillion against N15.337 trillion achieved on Monday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index which opened at 42,737.89 lost 1,029.74 points or 2.41 per cent to close at 41,708.15 following huge losses by some highly capitalised stocks.

Some financial experts in an interview with our reporter attributed the persistent loss to decline in global stock markets, especially in the U.S. and Europe, contributed to the bearish trend in the market.


Dr Uche Uwaleke, the Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University Keffi, said investors reactions to the global stock market trend led to sell pressure on the exchange.

Uwaleke said drop in crude oil price following increased supply and profit taking by investors in respect of over-priced stocks, particularly those of tier 11 banks contributed to the development.

He said relative uptick in returns from money market securities led to movement of funds from capital market to the money market securities.

Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, Professor of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Ogun said the bearish trend was expected because the stock market usually reacted to economic conditions.

“This is New Year and the budget is yet to be passed, so money is not yet being released and people need to buy lots of things.

“Fortunately, the market was bullish recently such that the values of shares went up making it possible for profit taking,” he said.


Tella said the bearish trend would bring new opportunities for new investors as well as old ones who would want to adjust their financial portfolio.

He said that these investors would go the market shortly to take advantage of the lower prices of shares.

“We will start seeing bullish activities in the market again.

“It is the nature of the market to facilitate between bullish and bearish swings as dictated by market forces,” he said.

An analysis of the price movement showed that Nestle recorded the highest loss depreciating by N40 to close at N1, 320 per share.

Dangote Cement trailed with a loss of N13.30 to close at N258.70, while Nigerian Breweries dipped N5.20 to close at N127.80 per share.

Guinness was down by N5 to close at N105, while International Breweries depreciated by N2.50 to close at N57.50 per share.

On the other hand, Lafarge Afeica led the gainers’ table growing by N1 to close at N51 per share.

Zenith International Bank followed with a gain of 60k to close at N30, while Berger Paint gained 45k to close at N9.45 per share.

Access Bank increased by 45k to close at N12, while Dangote Sugar Refinery advanced by 30k to close at N21 per share.

The banking sub-sector was the toast of investors with Diamond Bank emerging the most traded, trading 67.69 million shares worth N181.14 million.

FCMB Group followed with an account of 49.22 million shares valued at N126.18 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 42.78 million shares worth N129.55 million.

United Bank for Africa traded 39.16 million shares valued at N437.59 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 32.59 million shares worth N358.64 million.

In all, the volume of shares traded closed lower with an exchange of 470.52 million shares valued at N3.68 billion transacted in 6,309 deals.

This was against the 517.44 million shares worth N5.19 billion traded in 5,852 deals on Monday.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/nse-loses-n370bn-on-tuesday.html

The Osun state government on Tuesday described as untrue the reported case of Lassa fever in the state, adding that only isolated death case of a patient from a neighbouring state was recorded.

This was contained in a press statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Adelani Baderinwa, and made available to newsmen in Osogbo.


Baderinwa explained that the patient was admitted at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Ile-Ife, and later died.

According to him, the government of Osun, in its proactive measure and prompt response quarantined individuals around the hospital who must have had contact with the late patient to prevent spread of the disease.

The statement, however, advised residents of the state to maintain high level of hygiene and keep their foodstuffs away from rodents.

” Osun State government wishes to inform the general public that there is no outbreak of Lassa fever in any part of the state. There has not been any report on the spread of the disease by our medical personnel who are observing patients in hospitals.
“There is no reason for anybody to panic on the report of a suspected Lassa fever case in the state. What was reported is an isolated death case of a young man who came from a neighbouring state. The young man who was suspected of carrying Lassa fever disease from the neighbouring state died at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife.


“As a proactive measure, the medical personnel had to quarantine those who had contact with the strayed deceased for observation. This is a normal medical procedure, and does not mean the quarantined people are possibly carrying lassa fever disease. As at today, there has not been any other confirmed Lassa fever case except that of the young man from a neighbouring state that died at the OAUTHC

“All necessary steps to prevent the outbreak of this disease or any other one in Osun had been pro actively taken. Filth and dirt’s are been regularly taken care of, while medical personnel had been on red alert to ensure any unexpected disease outbreak is contained.

“As far as prevention is concerned, Osun government has been proactive while all curative efforts are already set in place.
We urge people to make sure that their environment is clean and keep their foodstuffs away from rodents.
Once again, the government urges the people not to panic, as there is no spread of lassa fever in the state”, the statement said.

full details at http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/no-case-of-lassa-fever-in-osun.html

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the federal government to compensate victims of Benue killings.CAN said the victims have been abandoned by the government - The association also said Nigeria is gradually walking into a state of anarchy following various crisis in many state The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on the federal government to compensate victims of January killings in Benue state. The association said victims of the clash between herdsmen and farmers in the state have been abandoned by the federal government. Speaking at a meeting organised by the National Council Committee on the herdsmen/ Farmers crisis in Makurdi, the Benue state chairmen of CAN, Rev. Akpen Leva, said the situation is saddening.

Leva said: “Considering the losses suffered by the people of Benue state, the federal government has not found it expedient to avail the victims any form of compensation, it is indeed saddening. “What we demand for is adequate compensation for those killed, we need compensation for those in the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camp where over 100,000 persons are currently taking refuge. “We also demand the arrest and prosecution of the leadership of Maiyetti Allah kautal Horre because they had issued threats before the killings, that is the more reason why they should be made to answer to the law because nobody should be seen to be above the law.” “Our fear is that the incursion in our communities is another grand plan to Islamize the country because the sequence of the attacks clearly shows that they are carried out in Christian communities," Leva added.Also, a former military governor of Benue state, Atom Kpera (retired) warned that if the herdsmen are not tackled there could be anarchy in Nigeria. “We are gradually walking into anarchy in this country. People may be forced to take up arms to defend themselves if something urgent is not done to stop the killings. “The federal government must know that we all belong to this country and we must all be protected from the menace of herdsmen and those perpetrating the killings arrested and made to face the law," Kpera said. In his reaction, the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse faulted the timing of the deployment of military personnel in the state. He said: "Why did government announce the deployment of the force way ahead of time allowing grace period to allow the killers of our people to run away. I have a concern over the entire arrangement."

Akelicious earlier reported that Benue and Taraba state governors have replied to a statement made by Emir of Kano blaming the anti-open grazing law on herdsmen crisis in the two states. The governors also debunked the belief that they are sponsoring militia to counter-attack herdsmen in the state. They urged the Emir of Kano to rather use his position as a traditional leader to help douse the heated situation between herders and farmer.

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/we-are-gradually-walking-into-anarchy.html

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Monday revealed the identity of the person that would succeed him in 2019.

The governor said at a meeting with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Owerri Municipal Council Area, who visited him in the Government House in Owerri that he would support the governorship ambition of his Chief of Staff Chief, Uche Nwosu.

He said his decision to support Nwosu fondly called Ugwumba stemmed from the fact that the chief of staff has “the qualities of ideal leader.”

The governor, however, said Nwosu is yet to inform him of any governorship ambition.


Okorocha said: “The monumental achievements of his administration will not be left in the hand of any how person.

“The Chief of Staff has not told me that he wants to run for the governorship of the state. But if he comes out I will support him.

“I have known him (Nwosu) over the years but does not know his parents and described him as an honest man who, whatever he tells you in the morning is what he will tell you in the evening.

“Uche Nwosu is hardworking and never gets tired. He is a very humble young man. Not proud or arrogant. So, power won’t enter his head. Despite the position he occupies you can’t see him quarreling with anybody or maltreating anybody. He does not segregate against anybody whether from Orlu or Owerri or Okigwe zone. He relates with people enviously. I have checked him in and out, I have not found him wanting.

“What the state wants is Imo governor and not Owerri Zone or Orlu Zone or Okigwe Zone governor. Zoning does not put food on the table of anybody. The young man is a team player, who does not use his office to molest anybody. He has the qualities of a good leader. If he says he will run for governor, I will support him.

“Obviously it might be as a result of these qualities that most people are talking about Uche Nwosu for governor everywhere even when he has not declared for the governorship. It might also be the reason for the endorsements he is getting from all quarters. You see, you don’t hide a good product. And the joy of every leader is to have a worthy successor. You don’t mind political opportunists. We have done very well as a government and we should be concerned about what happens to the achievements after.


“I am not from Owerri zone, but my administration has done more projects in Owerri zone and Owerri Municipal in particular more that the administrations before me had done put together. We need Imo governor and not a zonal governor. I have done in Okigwe zone what the man from the zone could not do for them. The records are there.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2018/02/okorocha-picks-chief-of-staff-as-likely.html