₦airaland Forum

Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron signed two agreements on Thursday in Paris, France, that will ensure a partnership on the development of critical infrastructure and the long-term sustenance of agriculture and food security.

Earlier, President Tinubu and President Macron witnessed the signing of the agreement by the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group Chairman Tony Elumelu and Antoine Armand, the French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry for the bank to commence operations in Paris.

Zenith Bank also inaugurated its services in the country during the visit.

The partnership agreements were signed at an economic forum attended by businessmen, captains of industry, governors, and some top government officials of both countries at the Palais des Elysée in Paris, France, during President Tinubu’s state visit.

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and Mr Armand signed the Letter of Intent.

According to the document: ”The two countries affirmed their commitment to work together on investment and development of critical infrastructure, healthcare transportation, agricultural value chain, renewable energy, and human capital development, through diverse financial and technical assistance programmes, of over Euros 300m spread across all geopolitical zones in the country.

“The two countries committed to forge a strategic relationship in project implementation and enhance mutual trade and cross border services by removing fiscal barriers while protecting labour rights.”

The Minister of Finance, Mr Edun, and Chief Executive Officer of the French Development Agency (AFD), Remi Rioux, signed another Letter of Intent to support the Renewed Hope Agenda reforms designed to stimulate and strengthen the economy.

“The Declaration”, the document states, “set out the enduring relationship between the AFD and the FRN, and the AFD’s continuing commitment to support the socio-economic growth of Nigeria through financing sustainable projects in urban infrastructure development, transportation network, housing infrastructure, human capital development through improved education specifically in STEM, agriculture, food security and healthcare.

“The AFD reaffirmed its commitment to long-term support of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President on energy access and transition, sustainable agriculture and food security by financing the improvement of agro-logistic hubs. Importantly, the AFD committed to supporting the real sector by providing capital from MSME in high-impact sectors.

“The Federal Republic of Nigeria also affirmed its support for the projects financed by the AFD and committed to ensure that the implementation of the projects are expedited efficiently.”

Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information & Strategy)
November 29, 2024

The United Bank of Nigeria (UBA) says it has signed a business cooperation deal with the French government to commence full banking operations in France.

The bank, in a statement, said Tony Elumelu, chairman of UBA Group, signed the deal with Antoine Armand, the French finance minister.

According to the statement, as part of President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to France, Elumelu signed the agreement in the presence of the Nigerian president and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The statement noted that “the agreement is a significant indication of support by the French Government for the development of UBA’s full banking operations in France”.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Elumelu said the partnership reinforces UBA’s commitment to providing seamless international banking services for its customers – “not just across the 11 Francophone African countries it serves, but throughout Africa; and French and European customers transacting with Africa”.

“Expanding into France is a natural progression, with Paris serving as our European Union hub, as we continue to bring Africa and the world together, through innovative financial solutions. Paris will join London, New York and Dubai, as a critical component of our unique global network,” he said.

UBA operates in 20 African countries and the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), France, and the United Arab Emirates, providing retail, commercial and institutional banking services.

thorpido:
The screens will shield anyone who has to do something discreet.

striking:
I believe it is illegal, yes.

tundegan:
This one no concern me.

Oduduwa or no Oduduwa, we are proud Yoruba people.

It is not known precisely why and when the Yorubas began to associate the history of their origin with the East. Many ethnic groups in Nigeria also believed that they originated from the East. For example, the Miship people of Jibam, comprising over 10 000 people in north-central Nigeria believed that the ancestor, Mwankan, originated from the ‘East’. In popular belief amongst the Miship people, east meant Egypt.2 There could be many speculative reasons that might have prompted the Yoruba people to associate the history of their origin with the East, quite like the Miship people. Major religions like Islam, Christianity and Judaism all originated from the ancient Near East and the West African people could have been attracted to the word ‘East’ because it is linked to these religions. Even Egypt itself is located in North-East Africa still linked to the word ‘East’ (O’Connor & Reid 2003:11).

The Hamitic myth might also be another reason why some Africans preferred to associate their origin with the East (cf. Agai 2016:201). Moreover, some Christians are of the view that the Messiah came from the East: ‘there is a generalization that the message of the Messiah came from the east proclaimed by Jewish individuals into Egypt and Africa’ (Sundkler & Steed 2000:7–9). They likely use the concept of the East where the sun rises, as a metaphor to describe their origin (Agai 2016:198).

In addition, there is the view according to which human civilisation started in the Middle East or the Near East (Oates 1979:11; Pate & Hays 2003:21–22), which could be said to be synonymous with the Arabian Peninsula, or the region occupied by the Arabs and their descendants also called the ‘Middle East’ (United Church of God 2007:4–5). It was generally felt that the Yorubas took pride in linking their history to the East. The controversial aspect of this subject pertained to the specific meaning of ‘East’. Initially, in the Yoruba oral tradition, the East was regarded as Mecca or Arabia, and even the Kingdom of Meroe in Sudan. In the process of investigating the Arabs’ influence on Yorubaland, scholars began to question the exact location of the East. Johnson, Folorunso and others thought that the East meant Egypt, but Belo and the Arabs who came to Yorubaland might have opined that the East meant Mecca or Arabia or Iraq.

Moreover, there are two major points that need to be noted regarding the role of Oduduwa in the development of the Arab theory of Yoruba origins: firstly, his identity or personality and secondly, his origin or the location from which he came. Though Samuel Johnson described Oduduwa as a human being who lived in Ile Ife, died and was buried there (Johnson 1921:143), he appears to have downplayed the role of Oduduwa as a literal human being. He might have referred to Oduduwa as a human being because of the narrative style, or else he mistook the name as one referring to multiple people. He refers to Oduduwa as a ‘mythical personage’ (Johnson 1921:143), suggesting that Oduduwa might not have been a real person, and even if he was, it would probably have been in a commonplace myth. Also, Johnson underplayed the Yoruba myth that referred to Oduduwa as a creator, and instead he promoted the biblical view that refers to God as the creator. His emphasis on the Coptic origin of the Yoruba is another reason why it can be argued that he downplayed the role of Oduduwa as a person from whom the Yoruba people descended: Johnson failed to connect Oduduwa with the Coptic Christians (Johnson 1921:6–7). Johnson’s Christian background and the need for him to promote his Christian faith overshadowed his interpretation of the Yoruba origin, which led him to underplay Oduduwa as a single ancestor of the Yoruba people (Agai 2016:137–143).

Wesley Muhammad argued that Oduduwa met the Igbos and other ethnic groups that lived in Yorubaland when he came, and that it was impossible for Oduduwa to subdue the people he found in Yorubaland. This led to a compromise that resulted in the formation of the ‘Yoruba’ people. He further mentioned that the name ‘Oduduwa’ is not of Arabic origin, but a Sudanese name. He believed that Oduduwa might not have been the ancestor of the Oyo-Yoruba people. Muhammad believed in the possible migration of the apostates (those that rebelled against Islam in Arabia in the 7th century) from Arabia to Yorubaland, but he argued that Oduduwa was not amongst them: ‘[i]t is also the case, however, that “Oduduwa” was not actually the name of the leader of the seventh century migration into Yorubaland’ (Muhammad 2013:28). Ayandele also noted that the Oduduwa legend should not be used to define the direct origin of the Yoruba people. Instead, the legend aims to emphasise that a prosperous kingdom reigned supreme in Yorubaland during the time of Oduduwa (Ayandele 2004:123).

LivingSage:
Is that what we're discussing here?

Don't derail this thread, get another thread for that.

Isi-agu Is Upholstery Material For Chairs and it doesn't Originates From The Igbos, that's what we're discussing

Raf4:
There was no known Igbo business/businesnessman until amalgamation of Nigeria.
At the time Ajayi was captured, numerous igbos were also being captured and sold by Efiks & Ijaws in droves.

LivingSage:
Thesame Fulani slave authored your first ever Igbo dictionary.

Who's the real slave

LivingSage:
The first dictionary Igbo ever had was authored by Yoruba.
Bishop Ajayi Crowder. Disprove it

Beremx:
was your mother part of the sex spree? I won't be surprised. Son of a bitch

Phoenix873:
Bro, do you still have these individual screenshots in your phone please? I need them to make a post against toxic feminists on Facebook.
I tried to visit the individual handles of Twitter users in the screenshot but they have all locked their profile, probably after serious backlash.

Beremx:
you're absolutely senseless. You sat down to analyze over 400 sex videos as werey wey you be. You no get work abi?

Oloriburuku