₦airaland Forum

BUA Group has announced plans to construct a N7.5billion Naira ultra-modern specialist hospital in Kano through its foundation, BUA Foundation.

This was disclosed by the Executive Chairman/CEO of the company, Abdulsamad Rabiu, during a courtesy visit by the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje to BUA Group’s headquarters in Lagos, on Tuesday.

Mr. Rabiu thanked the governor for approving land for BUA Foundation in the heart of Kano City for the hospital.

According to Mr. Rabiu, the proposed N7.5 billion, 220-bed specialist hospital, will cover a built up area of 15,000sqm and will have the most modern imaging and diagnostic equipment that will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of Nigerians who need medical attention and reduce our dependence on foreign medical tourism.

This, according to the BUA Chairman, will further complement the state government’s stride in healthcare delivery for the people of Kano such as the recently commissioned Muhammadu Buhari specialist hospital in Giginyu.

Mr. Rabiu thanked the governor for the visit and commended him on his strides towards making Kano State a viable destination for businesses.

He also praised the private-public partnership initiatives of the Kano State Government and assured the governor that BUA Group was willing to collaborate with the state on various projects that are in line with BUA’s sustainable impact investment philosophy.
On his part, Mr. Ganduje, who was in company of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Yusuf Ata, and members of the state’s cabinet expressed delight over BUA’s multi-million dollar BUA Rice Mill in the state which is the largest in Nigeria and Zero-Interest Rice Outgrowers Scheme which has achieved very positive results so far.

He also said the people of Kano State are proud of BUA’s contribution to the Nigerian economy and commended BUA Group for promoting the local production to reduce the over dependence on foreign made goods.


Mr Ganduje went on to describe BUA Group as one of the companies that have made Kano state a true land of commerce with its investments across key sectors of the economy.

Source : https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nwest/257846-bua-group-construct-n7-5-billion-220-bed-hospital-kano.html

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Thankfully the victim was released.

BY Damilola Oyedele in Abuja and Obinna Chima in Lagos

President Muhammadu Buhari has tapped Mr. Edward Lametek Adamu, a Christian from Gombe State, as the new deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to replace Mr. Suleiman Barau who retired last month.

Adamu, who was once the Director in charge of the Strategy Management Department of the CBN, is currently the Director of Human Resources with the Bank, a position he has held since 2016.

THISDAY gathered that the deputy governor nominee has more than 25 years experience working with the central bank, which has seen him serving in almost every aspect of its operations.

However, his nomination would be subject to the approval by the Senate.

Adamu, who is 57 years, hails from Kaltungo Local Government Area in Gombe State.

He holds a Quantity Surveying degree from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors.

He also holds postgraduate professional certifications in corporate strategy development and execution, performance management, programme & project management and knowledge management.

Adamu is a fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration of Nigeria and has acquired skill-sets in strategic leadership, central banking, finance, human resources, organisational transformation, risk management, budgeting and cost management, construction management, records management, communications and relationship management, coaching and mentoring and procurement through a variety of Wharton School USA, INSEAD France, Chicago Booth & IMD Switzerland courses and practical experience.

He is also a frequent presenter at professional conferences, seminars and symposia, especially in the areas of leadership, human capital management, project management, construction, strategy and risk management.

Adamu is in addition an active member of other professional bodies such as the the Project Management Institute, USA; International Knowledge Management Institute, USA; International Society for Performance Improvement, USA; and the Association of Project Managers, UK.

In 2012, he was appointed Director of the Strategy Management Department of the CBN in recognition of his depth of operational knowledge of the Bank’s mandate and core responsibilities as well as the breadth of CBN’s strategy implementation experience.

In that role, he was said to have demonstrated an ability to quickly identify and proffer realistic and workable solutions to complex and competing demands of the various sections of the Bank.

In addition, the deputy governor nominee was responsible for working with the CBN board in ensuring that the Bank had a clearly articulated strategy that would ensure the delivery of its mandate, organisational alignment and focus on strategy – from development to execution – by integrating strategy-focused concepts, principles, and best practices into the fabric, cadence, and processes of the organisation.

To effectively undertake the responsibility, he worked with Messrs Palladium Consultants in developing the first Strategy Execution Framework in the Bank in 2012.

Also, he was responsible for the organisational transformation programme of the Bank.

As the Director of Strategy, he was also a member of the Monetary Policy Implementation Committee and the Financial Services Regulatory Coordination Committee, as well as an observer at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings.

In 2016, Adamu was appointed Director, Human Resources Department of the Bank to give effect to the human resources transformation programme initiated during his role as Director, Strategy Management.

Until his nomination as deputy governor, he was tasked with developing the human capital assets of the central bank to be more innovative in dealing with current challenges, and becoming quickly adaptive to future changing needs.

Still No Confirmation Process

Despite his nomination as deputy governor-designate, Adamu would most likely face the same fate as other nominees of the president, as hopes that the Senate may soon consider the nominations of four members of the CBN’s MPC were dashed yesterday, when the legislative body doubled down on its position not to consider any nominations from the president not specified in the Constitution.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, speaking at plenary session, said the Senate remains bound by its resolution taken in March 2017.

The MPC was unable to hold its first meeting of this year last Monday, following its inability to form a quorum with eight positions on the 12-member committee vacant.

The meeting is crucial and enables the CBN to carry out one of its primary roles of setting interest rates and formulating monetary policies to ensure price stability and engender growth.

Owing to the inability of the MPC to hold its meeting, the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, announced on Monday that the monetary policy rate, among other key ratios, decided by the committee at its November meeting, will be retained.

The confirmation process for Buhari’s nominations of Prof. Adeola Festus Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh A. Maidugu as members of the MPC has been stalled by the executive-senate impasse over the confirmation of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

Other nominations into top positions at the central bank that were also affected by the Senate’s resolution included the deputy governor-designate of the CBN, Ms. Aisha Ahmad, and five non-executive directors for the Bank.

Magu has been retained in an acting capacity despite his rejection twice by the Senate, which declined to confirm him as the substantive head of the anti-graft agency.

The impasse was made worse by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s comment that the position of the EFCC chairman does not require the confirmation of the Senate, as it was not specified in the constitution, compelling the Senate to state that it will seek legal interpretation of his remark.

Given its stance, the Senate resolved to suspend the confirmation process for all nominees of the president, arguing that the executive cannot choose what laws to obey and what laws not to obey.

Saraki’s statement wednesday confirmed recent reports by THISDAY that the upper legislative chamber was not willing to budge on its resolution on the matter.

The Senate President did not specifically refer to the MPC, but his comment was made in reaction to a point of order raised by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa regarding nominations into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Ohuabunwa had observed that while the board of the commission had been inaugurated and was functional, about three states out of the nine oil-producing states were not represented on the board.

Their nominations were affected by the Senate’s resolution.

The senator, however, appealed that the outstanding NDDC nominees be exempted from the resolution, as the process for their confirmation was already ongoing before the resolution was passed to suspend the confirmation process.

“I am bringing this before you to consider and allow the committee to complete the screening, as these two or three states are left unattended to. Things are moving on, the commission is working and that is why I have come to you this morning to exempt NNDC from that resolution,” Ohuabunwa said.

Saraki, however, ruled that the appeal could only be considered if the process had already begun before the resolution was taken.

“I am happy that you made reference to the fact that we all here at the Senate passed a resolution on this matter. The issue you just raised, we will look at it to see if the exercise started before the resolution.

“I know this resolution we took it in March, I remember at the end of March last year. So the secretariat should check the records.

“If it (confirmation process) had started before (the resolution), we will look into it, but if it had started after, except that resolution is rescinded we are all bound by that resolution,” Saraki said.

Source : https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/01/25/president-taps-edward-adamu-new-cbn-deputy-gov

part 5

This Coalition for Nigeria will be a Movement that will drive Nigeria up and forward. It must have a pride of place for all Nigerians, particularly for our youth and our women. It is a coalition of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress. It is a coalition to banish poverty, insecurity and despair. Our country must not be oblivious to concomitant danger around, outside and ahead. Coalition for Nigeria must be a Movement to break new ground in building a united country, a socially-cohesive and moderately prosperous society with equity, equality of opportunity, justice and a dynamic and progressive economy that is self-reliant and takes active part in global division of labour and international decision-making.
The Movement must work out the path of development and the trajectory of development in speed, quality and equality in the short- medium- and long-term for Nigeria on the basis of sustainability, stability, predictability, credibility, security, cooperation and prosperity with diminishing inequality. What is called for is love, commitment and interest in our country, not in self, friends and kinship alone but particularly love, compassion and interest in the poor, underprivileged and downtrodden. It is our human duty and responsibility so to do. Failure to do this will amount to a sin against God and a crime against humanity.
Some may ask, what does Obasanjo want again? Obasanjo has wanted nothing other than the best for Nigeria and Nigerians and he will continue to want nothing less. And if we have the best, we will be contented whether where we live is described as palaces or huts by others and we will always give thanks to God.
I, therefore, will gladly join such a Movement when one is established as Coalition for Nigeria, CN, taking Nigeria to the height God has created it to be. From now on, the Nigeria eagle must continue to soar and fly high. CN, as a Movement, will be new, green, transparent and must remain clean and always active, selflessly so. Members must be ready to make sacrifice for the nation and pay the price of being pioneers and good Nigerians for our country to play the God-assigned role for itself, for its neighbours, for its sub-region of West Africa, for its continent and for humanity in general. For me, the strength and sustainable success of CN will derive largely from the strong commitment of a population that is constantly mobilized to the rallying platform of the fact that going forward together is our best option for building a nation that will occupy its deserved place in the global community. May God continue to lead, guide and protect us. Amen.

part 4

They have given as best as they have and as best as they can give. Nigeria deserves and urgently needs better than what they have given or what we know they are capable of giving. To ask them to give more will be unrealistic and will only sentence Nigeria to a prison term of four years if not destroy it beyond the possibility of an early recovery and substantial growth. Einstein made it clear to us that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the height of folly. Already, Nigerians are committing suicide for the unbearable socio-economic situation they find themselves in. And yet Nigerians love life. We must not continue to reinforce failure and hope that all will be well. It is self-deceit and self-defeat and another aspect of folly.
What has emerged from the opposition has shown no better promise from their antecedents. As the leader of that Party for eight years as President of Nigeria, I can categorically say there is nothing to write home about in their new team. We have only one choice left to take us out of Egypt to the promised land. And that is the coalition of the concerned and the willing – ready for positive and drastic change, progress and involvement. Change that will give hope and future to all our youth and dignity and full participation to all our women. Our youth should be empowered to deploy their ability to learn, innovate and work energetically at ideas and concepts in which they can make their own original inputs. Youth must be part of the action today and not relegated to leadership of tomorrow which may never come. Change that will mean enhancement of living standard and progress for all. A situation where the elected will accountably govern and every Nigerian will have equal opportunity not based on kinship and friendship but based on free citizenship.
Democracy is sustained and measured not by leaders doing extra-ordinary things, (invariably, leaders fail to do ordinary things very well), but by citizens rising up to do ordinary things extra-ordinarily well. Our democracy, development and progress at this juncture require ordinary citizens of Nigeria to do the extra-ordinary things of changing the course and direction of our lackluster performance and development. If leadership fails, citizens must not fail and there lies the beauty and importance of democracy. We are challenged by the current situation; we must neither adopt spirit of cowardice nor timidity let alone impotence but must be sustained by courage, determination and commitment to say and do and to persist until we achieve upliftment for Nigeria. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and we believe that our venturing will not be in vain. God of Nigeria has endowed this country adequately and our non-performance cannot be blamed on God but on leadership. God, who has given us what we need and which is potentially there, will give us leadership enablement to actualize our potentiality.
The development and modernization of our country and society must be anchored and sustained on dynamic Nigerian culture, enduring values and an enchanting Nigerian dream. We must have abiding faith in our country and its role and place within the comity of nations. Today, Nigeria needs all hands on deck. All hands of men and women of goodwill must be on deck. We need all hands to move our country forward.
We need a Coalition for Nigeria, CN. Such a Movement at this juncture needs not be a political party but one to which all well-meaning Nigerians can belong. That Movement must be a coalition for democracy, good governance, social and economic well-being and progress. Coalition to salvage and redeem our country. You can count me with such a Movement. Last time, we asked, prayed and worked for change and God granted our request. This time, we must ask, pray and work for change with unity, security and progress. And God will again grant us. Of course, nothing should stop such a Movement from satisfying conditions for fielding candidates for elections. But if at any stage the Movement wishes to metamorphose into candidate-sponsoring Movement for elections, I will bow out of the Movement because I will continue to maintain my non-partisan position. Coalition for Nigeria must have its headquarters in Abuja.

part 3

The situation that made Nigerians to vote massively to get my brother Jonathan off the horse is playing itself out again. First, I thought I knew the point where President Buhari is weak and I spoke and wrote about it even before Nigerians voted for him and I also did vote for him because at that time it was a matter of “any option but Jonathan” (aobj). But my letter to President Jonathan titled: “Before It Is Too Late” was meant for him to act before it was too late. He ignored it and it was too late for him and those who goaded him into ignoring the voice of caution. I know that praise-singers and hired attackers may be raised up against me for verbal or even physical attack but if I can withstand undeserved imprisonment and was ready to shed my blood by standing for Nigeria, I will consider no sacrifice too great to make for the good of Nigeria at any time. No human leader is expected to be personally strong or self-sufficient in all aspects of governance.
I knew President Buhari before he became President and said that he is weak in the knowledge and understanding of the economy but I thought that he could make use of good Nigerians in that area that could help. Although, I know that you cannot give what you don’t have and that economy does not obey military order. You have to give it what it takes in the short-, medium- and long-term. Then, it would move. I know his weakness in understanding and playing in the foreign affairs sector and again, there are many Nigerians that could be used in that area as well. They have knowledge and experience that could be deployed for the good of Nigeria. There were serious allegations of round-tripping against some inner caucus of the Presidency which would seem to have been condoned. I wonder if such actions do not amount to corruption and financial crime, then what is it? Culture of condonation and turning blind eye will cover up rather than clean up. And going to justice must be with clean hands.
I thought President Buhari would fight corruption and insurgency and he must be given some credit for his achievement so far in these two areas although it is not yet uhuru!
The herdsmen/crop farmers issue is being wittingly or unwittingly allowed to turn sour and messy. It is no credit to the Federal Government that the herdsmen rampage continues with careless abandon and without finding an effective solution to it. And it is a sad symptom of insensitivity and callousness that some Governors, a day after 73 victims were being buried in a mass grave in Benue State without condolence, were jubilantly endorsing President Buhari for a second term! The timing was most unfortunate. The issue of herdsmen/crop farmers dichotomy should not be left on the political platform of blame game; the Federal Government must take the lead in bringing about solution that protects life and properties of herdsmen and crop farmers alike and for them to live amicably in the same community.
But there are three other areas where President Buhari has come out more glaringly than most of us thought we knew about him. One is nepotic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of his nepotic court. This has grave consequences on performance of his government to the detriment of the nation. It would appear that national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic interest. What does one make of a case like that of Maina: collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action? How many similar cases are buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and the public? The second is his poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics. This has led to wittingly or unwittingly making the nation more divided and inequality has widened and become more pronounced. It also has effect on general national security. The third is passing the buck. For instance, blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past governments for it, is to say the least, not accepting one’s own responsibility. Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds on politics and because our politics is depressing, our economy is even more depressing today. If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come in. He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the blame game. Our Constitution is very clear, one of the cardinal responsibilities of the President is the management of the economy of which the value of the naira forms an integral part. Kinship and friendship that place responsibility for governance in the hands of the unelected can only be deleterious to good government and to the nation.

Part 2

The situation that made Nigerians to vote massively to get my brother Jonathan off the horse is playing itself out again. First, I thought I knew the point where President Buhari is weak and I spoke and wrote about it even before Nigerians voted for him and I also did vote for him because at that time it was a matter of “any option but Jonathan” (aobj). But my letter to President Jonathan titled: “Before It Is Too Late” was meant for him to act before it was too late. He ignored it and it was too late for him and those who goaded him into ignoring the voice of caution. I know that praise-singers and hired attackers may be raised up against me for verbal or even physical attack but if I can withstand undeserved imprisonment and was ready to shed my blood by standing for Nigeria, I will consider no sacrifice too great to make for the good of Nigeria at any time. No human leader is expected to be personally strong or self-sufficient in all aspects of governance.
I knew President Buhari before he became President and said that he is weak in the knowledge and understanding of the economy but I thought that he could make use of good Nigerians in that area that could help. Although, I know that you cannot give what you don’t have and that economy does not obey military order. You have to give it what it takes in the short-, medium- and long-term. Then, it would move. I know his weakness in understanding and playing in the foreign affairs sector and again, there are many Nigerians that could be used in that area as well. They have knowledge and experience that could be deployed for the good of Nigeria. There were serious allegations of round-tripping against some inner caucus of the Presidency which would seem to have been condoned. I wonder if such actions do not amount to corruption and financial crime, then what is it? Culture of condonation and turning blind eye will cover up rather than clean up. And going to justice must be with clean hands.
I thought President Buhari would fight corruption and insurgency and he must be given some credit for his achievement so far in these two areas although it is not yet uhuru!
The herdsmen/crop farmers issue is being wittingly or unwittingly allowed to turn sour and messy. It is no credit to the Federal Government that the herdsmen rampage continues with careless abandon and without finding an effective solution to it. And it is a sad symptom of insensitivity and callousness that some Governors, a day after 73 victims were being buried in a mass grave in Benue State without condolence, were jubilantly endorsing President Buhari for a second term! The timing was most unfortunate. The issue of herdsmen/crop farmers dichotomy should not be left on the political platform of blame game; the Federal Government must take the lead in bringing about solution that protects life and properties of herdsmen and crop farmers alike and for them to live amicably in the same community.
But there are three other areas where President Buhari has come out more glaringly than most of us thought we knew about him. One is nepotic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of his nepotic court. This has grave consequences on performance of his government to the detriment of the nation. It would appear that national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic interest. What does one make of a case like that of Maina: collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action? How many similar cases are buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and the public? The second is his poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics. This has led to wittingly or unwittingly making the nation more divided and inequality has widened and become more pronounced. It also has effect on general national security. The third is passing the buck. For instance, blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past governments for it, is to say the least, not accepting one’s own responsibility. Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds on politics and because our politics is depressing, our economy is even more depressing today. If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come in. He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the blame game. Our Constitution is very clear, one of the cardinal responsibilities of the President is the management of the economy of which the value of the naira forms an integral part. Kinship and friendship that place responsibility for governance in the hands of the unelected can only be deleterious to good government and to the nation.

THE WAY OUT: A CLARION CALL FOR COALITION FOR NIGERIA MOVEMENT
Special Press Statement
By
President Olusegun Obasanjo
———————————————————————————————-
Since we are still in the month of January, it is appropriate to wish all Nigerians Happy 2018. I am constrained to issue this special statement at this time considering the situation of the country. Some of you may be asking, “What has brought about this special occasion of Obasanjo issuing a Special Statement?” You will be right to ask such a question. But there is a Yoruba saying that ‘when lice abound in your clothes, your fingernails will never be dried of blood’. When I was in the village, to make sure that lice die, you put them between two fingernails and press hard to ensure they die and they always leave blood stains on the fingernails. To ensure you do not have blood on your fingernails, you have to ensure that lice are not harboured anywhere within your vicinity.
The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today. With such lice of general and specific poor performance and crying poverty with us, our fingers will not be dry of ‘blood’.
Four years ago when my PDP card was torn, I made it abundantly clear that I quit partisan politics for aye but my concern and interest in Nigeria, Africa and indeed in humanity would not wane. Ever since, I have adhered strictly to that position. Since that time, I have devoted quality time to the issue of zero hunger as contained in Goal No. 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. We have set the target that Nigeria with the participating States in the Zero Hunger Forum should reach Zero Hunger goal by 2025 – five years earlier than the UN target date. I am involved in the issue of education in some States and generally in the issue of youth empowerment and employment. I am involved in all these domestically and altruistically to give hope and future to the seemingly hopeless and those in despair. I believe strongly that God has endowed Nigeria so adequately that no Nigerian should be either in want or in despair.
I believe in team work and collaborative efforts. At the international level, we have worked with other world leaders to domicile the apparatus for monitoring and encouraging socio-economic progress in Africa in our Presidential Library. The purpose of Africa Progress Group, which is the new name assumed by Africa Progress Panel (APP), is to point out where, when and what works need to be done for the progress of Africa separately and collectively by African leaders and their development partners. I have also gladly accepted the invitation of the UN Secretary-General to be a member of his eighteen-member High-Level Board of Advisers on Mediation. There are other assignments I take up in other fora for Africa and for the international community. For Africa to move forward, Nigeria must be one of the anchor countries, if not the leading anchor country. It means that Nigeria must be good at home to be good outside. No doubt, our situation in the last decade or so had shown that we are not good enough at home; hence we are invariably absent at the table that we should be abroad.
All these led me to take the unusual step of going against my own political Party, PDP, in the last general election to support the opposite side. I saw that action as the best option for Nigeria. As it has been revealed in the last three years or so, that decision and the subsequent collective decision of Nigerians to vote for a change was the right decision for the nation. For me, there was nothing personal, it was all in the best interest of Nigeria and, indeed, in the best interest of Africa and humanity at large. Even the horse rider then, with whom I maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage and forthrightness in this regard. He has a role to play on the side line for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again.

By Nicholas Ibekwe

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday, in a blistering and excoriating 13-page statement, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019.

Mr. Obasanjo, in a special press statement entitled, “The Wat Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement” said Mr Buhari has performed far below expectation and should honourably “dismount from the horse” to join the league of the country’s former leaders whose “experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the good of the country.”

Mr Obasanjo, a two-term president on the platform of People Democratic Party (PDP), said he felt disappointed by Mr Buhari, whom he supported during the 2015 election over then incumbent and candidate of his former party, Goodluck Jonathan.

Mr Obasanjo had written a condemnatory open letter in December 2013 titled “Before it is Too Late” where he highlighted the numerous failings of the Jonathan administration.

Mr Obasanjo argued that his decision to go against Mr Jonathan at the time was the right one, as events in the last three years have since proved, was for the good of the nation and nothing personal.

“Even the horse rider then, with whom I maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage and forthrightness in this regard,” Mr. Obasanjo said.

“He has a role to play on the side line for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again.”

Likening the state of the nation to lice-invested clothes, he said the country’s fingernails is stained with blood as it tries to kill the lice by pressing them in-between two fingernails. According to him, in other to make sure that our fingernails remains blood-free we must do what it takes rid our clothes of lice.

“The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today,” he wrote.



“With such lice of general and specific poor performance and crying poverty with us, our fingers will not be dry of ‘blood,” he added.

While thanking Mr Buhari for the effort of his administration in rolling back the Boko Haram insurgency and his fight against corruption, Mr Obasanjo said Mr Buhari has ultimately failed in other areas where he had thought he would be efficient.

The octogenarian, who bagged a PhD over the weekend, admitted he knew Mr Buhari was weak in handling the economy. He said he however went ahead and voted for him because at the time “it was a matter of ‘any option but Jonathan’” and because he thought Mr Buhari would appoint qualified Nigerians to help out in that area.

He slammed Mr Buhari for turning a blind eye to corruption within his government saying it amounted to condonation and cover-up saying whoever is “going to justice must be with clean hands.”

He also berated Mr Buhari for allowing the clashes between herdsmen and farmers to go “sour” and messy saying the endorsement of the President by some governors to seek re-election barely 24 hours after 73 people who were killed by herdsmen in Benue State were given mass burial was “a sad symptom of insensitivity and callousness.”

But Mr Obasanjo reserved his harshest words for what he described as Mr Buhari’s clannishness, lack of understanding of the dynamics of politics, and his tendencies to pass the buck of his government’s inadequacies to the immediate past administration.

“But there are three other areas where President Buhari has come out more glaringly than most of us thought we knew about him. One is nepotic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of his nepotic court. This has grave consequences on performance of his government to the detriment of the nation. It would appear that national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic interest. What does one make of a case like that of Maina: collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action? How many similar cases are buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and the public?

“The second is his poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics. This has led to wittingly or unwittingly making the nation more divided and inequality has widened and become more pronounced. It also has effect on general national security.

“The third is passing the buck. For instance, blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past governments for it, is to say the least, not accepting one’s own responsibility. Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds on politics and because our politics is depressing, our economy is even more depressing today. If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come in. He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the blame game.”

Buhari and the APC do not have the answer



Mr Obasanjo thus argued that neither Mr Buhari nor his party, the All Progressives Congress, hold the solution to the country’s problems.

He suggested that Mr Buhari was not healthy enough to withstand the rigour associated with running a country like Nigeria neither does his party capable of providing the answer needed to sail the country through its difficulties.

Mr Obasanjo said Buhari should step down at the end of his first term with honour and dignity and attend to his health and should not listen to his “self-serving so-called adviserswho would claim that they love him more than God loves him and that without him, there would be no Nigeria say.”

“President Buhari needs a dignified and honourable dismount from the horse. He needs to have time to reflect, refurbish physically and recoup and after appropriate rest, once again, join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the good of the country. His place in history is already assured. Without impaired health and strain of age, running the affairs of Nigeria is a 25/7 affair, not 24/7.

“I only appeal to brother Buhari to consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at this age. I continue to wish him robust health to enjoy his retirement from active public service. President Buhari does not necessarily need to heed my advice. But whether or not he heeds it, Nigeria needs to move on and move forward,” he said.

“I have had occasion in the past to say that the two main political parties – APC and PDP – were wobbling. I must reiterate that nothing has happened to convince me otherwise. If anything, I am reinforced in my conviction. The recent show of PDP must give grave and great concern to lovers of Nigeria.

“To claim, as has been credited to the chief kingmaker of PDP, that for procuring the Supreme Court judgement for his faction of the Party, he must dictate the tune all the way and this is indeed fraught with danger.

“If neither APC nor PDP is a worthy horse to ride to lead Nigeria at this crucial and critical time, what then do we do? Remember Farooq Kperogi, an Associate Professor at the Kennesaw State University, Georgia, United States, calls it “a cruel Hobson’s choice; it’s like a choice between six and half a dozen, between evil and evil. Any selection or deflection would be a distinction without a difference.” We cannot just sit down lamenting and wringing our hands desperately and hopelessly.

Coalition of Nigerians

Having ruled out the PDP and the ruling APC of possessing the panacea to the malaise that ails the country, Mr Obasanjo therefore called for a movement he termed Coalition of Nigeria, which he offered to be a part of, to wrest power from the present ruling class and lead the country into the path of rebirth.

“We can collectively save ourselves from the position we find ourselves. It will not come through self-pity, fruitless complaint or protest but through constructive and positive engagement and collective action for the good of our nation and ourselves and our children and their children. We need moral re-armament and engaging togetherness of people of like-mind and goodwill to come solidly together to lift Nigeria up. This is no time for trading blames or embarking on futile argument and neither should we accept untenable excuses for non-performance.

“Let us accept that the present administration has done what it can do to the limit of its ability, aptitude and understanding. Let the administration and its political party platform agree with the rest of us that what they have done and what they are capable of doing is not good enough for us. They have given as best as they have and as best as they can give. Nigeria deserves and urgently needs better than what they have given or what we know they are capable of giving. To ask them to give more will be unrealistic and will only sentence Nigeria to a prison term of four years if not destroy it beyond the possibility of an early recovery and substantial growth.

“The development and modernization of our country and society must be anchored and sustained on dynamic Nigerian culture, enduring values and an enchanting Nigerian dream. We must have abiding faith in our country and its role and place within the comity of nations. Today, Nigeria needs all hands on deck. All hands of men and women of goodwill must be on deck. We need all hands to move our country forward.



“We need a Coalition for Nigeria, CN. Such a Movement at this juncture needs not be a political party but one to which all well-meaning Nigerians can belong. That Movement must be a coalition for democracy, good governance, social and economic well-being and progress. Coalition to salvage and redeem our country. You can count me with such a Movement. Last time, we asked, prayed and worked for change and God granted our request. This time, we must ask, pray and work for change with unity, security and progress. And God will again grant us. Of course, nothing should stop such a Movement from satisfying conditions for fielding candidates for elections. But if at any stage the Movement wishes to metamorphose into candidate-sponsoring Movement for elections, I will bow out of the Movement because I will continue to maintain my non-partisan position. Coalition for Nigeria must have its headquarters in Abuja.

“This Coalition for Nigeria will be a Movement that will drive Nigeria up and forward. It must have a pride of place for all Nigerians, particularly for our youth and our women. It is a coalition of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress. It is a coalition to banish poverty, insecurity and despair. Our country must not be oblivious to concomitant danger around, outside and ahead. Coalition for Nigeria must be a Movement to break new ground in building a united country, a socially-cohesive and moderately prosperous society with equity, equality of opportunity, justice and a dynamic and progressive economy that is self-reliant and takes active part in global division of labour and international decision-making.

“The Movement must work out the path of development and the trajectory of development in speed, quality and equality in the short- medium- and long-term for Nigeria on the basis of sustainability, stability, predictability, credibility, security, cooperation and prosperity with diminishing inequality. What is called for is love, commitment and interest in our country, not in self, friends and kinship alone but particularly love, compassion and interest in the poor, underprivileged and downtrodden. It is our human duty and responsibility so to do. Failure to do this will amount to a sin against God and a crime against humanity.”

BELOW IS THE FULL STATEMENT

Source : https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/256426-obasanjo-attacks-buhari-asks-president-not-to-run-in-2019.html

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA
PRESIDENT Adama Barrow of Gambia, Tuesday, showered praises on President Muhammadu Buhari over his efforts in stopping brewing political crisis as a result power change over in Gambia. Adama Barrow of Gambia meets with President Buhari President Barrow who paid visit to Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the comment made by the Nigerian President during a closed-door meeting in Mali during the time political climate in Gambia was tensed changed the situation. Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, President Barrow said his visit was important to him and his country because of the role Nigeria had played in the political stability of Gambia. He said, “My visit is very important to us. We have always wanted to say thank you when Nigeria gave us all the support during and after the impasse. Nigeria has been supporting The Gambia for a long time in different areas like technical assistance in the area of education, judiciary. We are really happy to come. “When we met in Mali, he (Buhari) took a decision as a leader in a closed door meeting, he made one statement that changed everything, that if the Gambian President (then Yayah Jameh) wants to challenge the subregion, he is welcome. “This was his words and that make a big difference as a leader. And that leadership role was very important not just for The Gambia but for Africa because the problem was an Africa problem with an Africa solution. “So we are very grateful and that was why we wanted to come and say thank you. There is a saying in my country that if you want to thank a farmer for a good job, you have to visit him at his farm and that is why we are here.” Also fielding question on the role expected of Nigeria continue to play to help The Gambia overcome some of the reforms it was undertaking especially on security, President Buhari said, “well, your president has virtually answered the question. “We did our best in the most critical time, hopefully now the president will raise his team and we will raise a corresponding team and we will seat together and see how we can draw a political programme that will complements each other’s effort on development. So this is the next time we are going.” On the deal he struck with the former president that led to the smooth transition in the country, Buhari said, “Basically, the deal was ECOWAS was involved, UNDP and the international community was involved to mediate and this mediation, Nigeria was involved and Liberia as the chair was involved. “The Guinean President and the Mauritanian President were also involved. the Guinean President and the Mauritanian President were physically on the ground, for him to accept the will of the people, exit to allow us assume office. This was the deal, he accepted to go on exile which we couldn’t guarantee his security. This was the deal.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/01/buhari-saved-gambia-political-crisis-barrow/

A technician, Ozoemena Osigwe, who allegedly assaulted an unemployed man by stabbing him with a knife in the buttocks over his refusal to buy him a drink, was Thursday arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos. Knife stab Osigwe 37, who resides at Marwa Ghetto is facing a one-count charge of unlawful assault and occasioning harm. The prosecutor Inspector Ingobo Emby told the Court that the complainant, Samuel Emmanuel, was drinking at a bar when Osigwe approached and taunted him that he was drunk. He said that the incident occurred at about 2pm on New Year’s day in a bar at Marwa Ghetto, Lekki. ‎Emby said that Osigwe allegedly asked Emmanuel to buy him a bottle of beer, but the complainant refused. He also said that fight broke out following an exchange of insults. “The complainant broke a bottle and threatened the defendant with it. Osigwe fled to his house nearby and allegedly returned with a kitchen knife with which he stabbed the complainant in the buttocks.” According to Emby, the offence committed is punishable under Section 173 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. However Osigwe pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him by the police. The Magistrate W. B. Balogun granted him bail in the sum of N200,000, with two sureties in like sum. The case was adjourned to February 13, for mention

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/01/technician-stabs-mans-buttocks-for-refusing-to-buy-him-beer/

By Farooq Kperogi (PhD)

As faithful readers of this column know, I have a scholarly fascination with the origin, form, development, and domestication of personal names – an area of inquiry linguists call onomastics. It was this fascination that inspired my viral July 13, 2014 column titled, “Top 10 Yoruba Names You Never Guessed Were Arabic Names,” which explored what I called “Yoruba people’s creative morphological domestication of Arabic names.”
I pointed out that several Arabic names “have taken on the structural features of the Yoruba language.” I said this wasn’t unique to Yoruba Muslims. “As scholars of onomastics or onomatology know only too well,” I wrote, “When proper names leave their primordial shores to other climes they, in time, are often liable to local adaptation… That’s why, for instance, there are many Arabic-derived personal names in Hausa, the most Arabized ethnic group in Nigeria, that would be unrecognizable to Arabs. Names like Mamman (Muhammad), Lawan (Auwal), Shehu (Sheikh), etc would hardly make much sense to an Arab.”



The personal names of Hausa-speaking northern Nigerian Christians also have an onomastic uniqueness that is worth exploring. I use “Hausa-speaking northern Nigerian Christians” here rather loosely to refer to a miscellany of ethnic groups primarily in Nigeria’s northwest and northeast who are nonetheless united by Christianity and the Hausa language. This geo-cultural group, for the most part, excludes northern states like Benue, Kogi, Kwara, and maybe Niger, where most Christians historically bear conventional Western Christian names, but might include Plateau and Nasarawa states.
My preliminary thoughts on Hausa-speaking Northern Christian names are that their names can be divided into four broad categories.
The first category consists of names that appear to be Muslim names on the surface but are actually Arabic renderings (by way of the Hausa language) of Christian names. For instance, Jacob is written as Yakubu (Ya’qub in Arabic) in the Hausa Bible, as I show below. So Hausa-speaking Christians, especially from older generations, are baptised as Yakubu instead of Jacob.
When House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara first emerged on the national scene, to give just one example, many people, including journalists, mistook him for a Muslim because the name Yakubu is typically associated with (northern) Muslims. But he is a Christian who sees himself as bearing a name from the Hausa Bible, although he is not ethnically Hausa.
Other names in this category are Musa (Moses), Ishaku (Isaac), Ibrahim (Abraham), Yusuf (Joseph), Adamu (Adam), Ayuba (Job), Dauda (David), Haruna (Aaron) etc. Many Hausa-speaking northern Christians told me they bear these forms of Christian names because it’s how they are written in the Hausa Bible. Obviously, the names are Hausaized from Arabic where Ishaku is Ishaq, Adamu is Adam, Ayuba is Ayyub, Dauda is Da’ud, Huruna is Harun, etc.
The second category is the one that piques my curiosity the most, and it encompasses musical but infrequent names like Istifanus, Yunana, Yohanna, Bitrus, Bulus, etc. When I first encountered these names in the 1990s as an undergraduate at Bayero University Kano, I was curious about what they meant and where they came from. I made the acquaintance of a genial, mild-mannered Kano Christian by the name of Bulus Karaye who gave me some cultural education on the names.
He made me realise that these “unusual” northern Christian names are actually more faithful to the original Hebrew names than the Westernized versions of the names we’re familiar with in Nigeria, as I will show shortly.
The third category of Hausa Christian names falls in the mold of what I like to call protective onomastic mimicry, by which I mean bearing (Muslim) names to blend in the dominant Muslim environment. While this is sometimes deliberate, it is at other times situational, such as when a Muslim neighbour chooses a name for the child of a Christian neighbour. This was common when relations between Muslims and Christians weren’t as conflictual as they are now. That is why you find northern Christians bearing exclusively Muslim names like Mohammed, Kabiru, Umaru, Usman, etc, that have no equivalents in the Bible.
The final category consists of conventional Western Christian names, which need no elucidation. It seems to me that in their bid to blend with their southern and north-central co-religionists, Hausa-speaking northern Christians are increasingly embracing this category of names. I maybe be entirely wrong.
In what follows, I explicate common Christian names that are exclusive to Hausa-speaking northern Nigerians:
1. Istifanus: This is the Hausa Christian name for Stephen (or Steven). It’s known as Stiven in Hebrew, as “Stefanos” in Greek, and as Istifanus among Arab Christians. Since Hausa and Arabic are members of the same Afro-Asiatic language family, it makes sense that Hausa speakers who want to indigenise a Western name would prefer its Arabic rendering. This seems to be the principle throughout.
2. Ishaya; Perhaps the most popular Ishayas in Nigeria are the late Professor Ishaya Audu and former Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi. This name is the Hausa Christian domestication of Isiah.
Because Isiah isn’t specifically mentioned in the Qur’an, there is no Muslim equivalent for the name, but Arab Christians know the name as Asa’ya, and that is what Hausa Christians try to approximate in Ishaya.
3. Bulus: This is the Hausa Christian name for Paul, which is derived from the Arab Christian Bulus. Arabic doesn’t have the “p” consonant and often replaces it with the “b” sound when it borrows words with a “p” sound from other languages. There are countless English jokes about Arabs calling a padlock “bad luck.”
4. Bitrus: Like Bulus, Bitrus emerged as a consequence of the absence of the “p” consonant in Arabic, from where Hausa Christians derived it. It is the Hausa Christian name for Peter. The name is given as Petros in Hebrew. Arabs domesticated it as Boutros, and Hausa Christians further domesticated it to Bitrus. Most people who came of age in the 1990s would be familiar with the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Egyptian (Coptic) Christian who became UN Secretary General from January 1992 to December 1996.
5. Filibus: This name is derived from the Arabic Felib, the name Arab Christians use in place of Philip. As pointed out earlier, the appearance of the terminal “b” in the name is the result of the absence of the “p” sound in Arabic.
6. Irmiya: This is the Hausa Christian name for the Anglicised Jeremiah, which is rendered as Yirmeyahu in Hebrew and Irmiya in Arabic.
7. Habila: Derived from the Arabic Habil, this is the Hausa Christian version of Abel.
8. Yohanna: Most Nigerians who have an active interest in (military) politics are familiar with the late Colonel Yohanna Madaki. Yohanna is the Hausa Christian name for John. The name’s original form in Hebrew is Yohanan. It then changed form in Greek to Iohannes. In French, it became Johan and came to English in that form. Over time, however, the “a” deteriorated and John emerged. So the Hausa Christian Yohanna is actually closer to the original than the English John.
Interestingly, although John (or Yohanan) is mentioned in the Qur’an as Yahya, Arab Christians render it as Yuḥanna in their Bible, which is close to the Hausa Christian Yohanna.
9. Yunana: I had a colleague at the Daily Trust by the name of Yunana who was from Taraba State. He died a few years ago. I used to think that his name was a Kuteb name. (The Kuteb are a major ethnic group in Taraba who share close linguistic and historical kinship with the Jukun). It was from him I first learned that Yunana is the Hausa Christian equivalent of Jonah.
The name is known as Yunus (Yunusa in many African Muslim communities) in the Qur’an, but Arab Christians render it as Yunan in their Bible. Hausa-speaking Christians formed Yunana from the Arabic Yunan by adding a terminal vowel to it – like most African languages do to what borrowed words that end with consonants.
10. Yakubu: This name is synonymous with both James and Jacob, which are essentially the same name. James emerged as the Latin corruption of the Hebrew “Ya’aqob.” Spoken Latin, known as Vulgar Latin, first corrupted it to Iacomus from where it evolved to James.
Other names:
11. Luka: Luke
12. Markus: Mark
13. Timatawus: Timothy
14. Rahila: Rachel
15. Dinatu: Dinah
16. Lai’ atu: Leah
17. Rifkatu: ?
Concluding Thoughts
Not being a Christian, I recognise that this is a risky column to write. But my motivations are purely scholarly. In writing this, I consulted northern Christian scholars and religious leaders to verify my findings and to seek clarity on other issues. Of course, I expect that there will still be a few omissions or misrepresentations. My hope is that people who have intimate knowledge of Hausa Christian names will write to expound, clarify, or even dispute what I’ve written.
But this column isn’t simply linguistic. It’s also intended to contribute to more cordial inter-religious and inter-ethnic understanding in the Nigerian polity. I have discovered, for instance, that many southern Christians have no idea that the quintessentially Hausa Christian names I’ve identified above are actually Christian names that are, in fact, closer to the original than the Anglicized versions of the names they bear.
Similarly, many Muslims (both in the North and in the South) have no awareness of the etymological affinities between these distinctive Hausa Christian names and Arabic names. What is more, many Muslims think when northern Christians bear names like Yakubu, Musa, etc. they are merely mimicking Muslim names when, in fact, they are bearing names from their Hausa Bible, which is heavily influenced by Arabic, as I’ve shown.
If this column causes the reader to develop a heightened awareness of the importance of names, it would have achieved its purpose

Source :https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/hausa-speaking-northern-christian-names-an-onomastic-analysis.html

BY Muhammad Ahmad

President Muhammadu Buhari says his government has found corruption more difficult to fight than insecurity.
Mr. Buhari spoke at a town hall meeting in Kano on the final day of his two-day visit to the state.
“The power of the corrupt Nigerians is so enormous but we are determined to deal with the situation headlong. This is as been adjudged by what is happening today on ground,” he said.
Responding to comments made at the town hall meeting, he said the democratic environment has made the fight against corruption even more difficult because of the power of corrupt Nigerians.
“As Head of State I arrested some corrupt politicians. But shortly after I was arrested after my government been truncated, all the houses that I confiscated were returned back to the owners,”
He said that was why in the current fight against corruption, “after confiscating properties from the corrupt Nigerians, we ordered that they should be sold and the money be deposited at the treasury.
“To show our seriousness in this fight today, among those being investigated was a high court judge whose house was searched and several foreign currencies were found and some international passports.”
President Buhari said the fight against corruption requires zeal, courage and full determination to succeed, saying his government has all these attributes to achieve the success.
On the war against insurgency, he said the success so far recorded is a victory for the entire nation, adding that already, the fight was tilting towards final victory.

“Let me say, while linking the war against insurgency vis a vis the issue of smuggling as being raised, we have a duty to keep sound relationship with our neighbours, a reason why I went to Chad and Cameroon immediately after assuming office.”
But in spite of continued smuggling, he said the ban on the importation of rice had been achieved by 90 per cent and that Nigerian farmers are the greatest beneficiaries of the ban

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/251719-corruption-difficult-fight-insurgency-buhari.html

[quote author=astana1 post=62984060][/quote]

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DSU Stock broking limited are a consulting firm looking for a graduate in Economics/Business studies/ Management who is computer literate and is available to work in Abuja. starting January 2018.

Requirements: must be doing NYSC

send your cv to Salweenmaitama@gmail.com

At the end of your service, depending on your performance you will be retained.

Thanks

please send in your applications as spaces are limited. The job offer closes on 27nd dec 2017.

DSU Stock broking limited are a consulting firm looking for a graduate in Economics/Business studies/ Management who is computer literate and is available to work in Abuja. starting January 2018.

Requirements: must be doing NYSC

send your cv to Salweenmaitama@gmail.com

At the end of your service, depending on your performance you will be retained.

Thanks

please send in your applications as spaces are limited. The job offer closes on 27nd dec 2017.

DSU Stock broking limited are a consulting firm looking for a graduate in Economics/Business studies/ Management who is computer literate and is available to work in Abuja. starting January 2018.

Requirements: must be doing NYSC

send your cv to Salweenmaitama@gmail.com

At the end of your service, depending on your performance you will be retained.

Thanks

please send in your applications as spaces are limited. The job offer closes on 27nd dec 2017.

DSU Stock broking limited are a consulting firm looking for a graduate in Economics/Business studies/ Management who is computer literate and is available to work in Abuja. starting January 2018.

Requirements: must be doing NYSC

send your cv to Salweenmaitama@gmail.com

At the end of your service, depending on your performance you will be retained.

Thanks

please send in your applications as spaces are limited. The job offer closes on 27nd dec 2017.

DSU Stock broking limited are a consulting firm looking for a graduate in Economics/Business studies/ Management who is computer literate and is available to work in Abuja. starting January 2018.

Requirements: must be doing NYSC

send your cv to Salweenmaitama@gmail.com

At the end of your service, depending on your performance you will be retained.

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please send in your applications as spaces are limited. The job offer closes on 27nd dec 2017.

DSU Stock brokerage limited are a consulting firm looking for a graduate in Economics/Business studies/ Management who is computer literate and is available to work in Abuja. starting January 2018.

Requirements: must be doing NYSC

send your cv to Salweenmaitama@gmail.com

At the end of your service, depending on your performance you will be retained.

Thanks

please send in your applications as spaces are limited. The job offer closes on 27nd dec 2017.

DSU Stock brokerage limited are a consulting firm looking for a graduate in Economics/Business studies/ Managment who is computer literate and is available to work in Abuja. starting January 2018.

Requirements: must be doing NYSC

send your cv to Salweenmaitama@gmail.com

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please send in your applications as spaces are limited. The job offer closes on 27nd dec 2017.

Abuja – Former Minister of Budget and Planning, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, said about 2,900 billion dollars was required for Nigeria’s infrastructure development from 2014 to 2044. Shamsuddeen Usman Usman made this known at a workshop on Review of 2018 Budget Estimates and Analysis organized by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) on Wednesday in Abuja. He decried the infrastructure deficit in the country, and said that the estimates for infrastructure development were arrived at when Nigeria’s 30 years Integrated Master Plan was developed a few years ago. He explained that out of the development projection, 127 billion dollars was earmarked to be spent 2014 and 2018. The former minister added that from the 127 billion dollars estimate, an average of 25 billion dollars was estimated for infrastructure development annually during the period. However, he disclosed that in spite of the estimation, only between nine billion dollars and 10 billion dollars was currently being spent on infrastructure development. “We are not doing well against our competitors like Brazil, China and South Africa. “We need an integrated infrastructure development like other countries to put the country on the same pedestal with these countries. “Unfortunately, the kind of coordination and integration we need to develop our infrastructure is not there because the various agencies of government do not collaborate to make this happen,’’ he said. Usman pointed out that different factors were responsible for the country’s infrastructure deficit, which had adverse effect on economic development. According to him, there is a need to address not only the amount of money earmarked for infrastructure but the quality of infrastructure that will stand the test of time. He called for a focus on national infrastructure development that was aligned to regional and local infrastructure for optimum result. The former minister also called for Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) in the country’s development plan, adding that many private investors were interested in partnering government to develop the country’s infrastructure. “Public investment in infrastructure can be increased through selling of assets, which is privatization. “Also given the fiscal and other political and social constraints, private finance can make a significant contribution. “Institutional investors and banks have about 120 trillion dollars in assets that could support infrastructure investment. “In the same vein, there is a growing appetite for investing in infrastructure by different classes of private investors. “Unfortunately, there are several factors inhibiting the PPP and they include confusing and conflicting signals from governments, their agencies and regulators. “There is also lack of proper identification and allocation of risks and lack of consistency in deal flow,’’ he said. He also stressed the need for consistency in policies and programmes, continuous reforms to bring down cost of projects, more focused anti-corruption crusade and improvement in due process. Usman, however, commended the present administration for improvement in Ease-of-Doing-Business and other efforts aimed at improving the country’s infrastructure development. The Director-General of NILS, Prof. Ladi Hamalai, said borrowing had been a major means of financing infrastructure, making the country’s debt profile high. Hamalai said that there was need for stakeholders to come up with debt management strategies to make debt-servicing easier. “The stakeholders here should come up with suggestions that we will send to policy makers and the lawmakers who are waiting for the outcome of this workshop. “This will enable them make their own contributions in coming up with required framework on issues that have been weighing the country down,’’ she said. She called for proper planning, saying that it was important in infrastructure development. The director-general said that a Bill was being drafted in that regard to ensure a development plan that would last for at least two years without interruption. According to her, once the bill becomes law, it will be mandatory to complete ongoing projects before proceeding with new ones. (NAN)

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/2900-bn-required-nigerias-infrastructure-development-shamsuddeen-usman/

The question should be why southern Nigerians ashamed of being the only ones doing it.

The President and founder of Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote, has set aside N200 billion to establish a world-class university in Abuja.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the proposal has since been delivered to the National Universities Commission, NUC.
A former Executive Secretary of the NUC, Julius Okojie, who is the chairman of the technical team for the establishment of the university, said the foundation intends to drive technology and research in stimulating economic growth.
Mr Okojie, who led his team to the current Executive Secretary of the commission, Abubakar Rasheed, said the proposed university is meant to be technology-driven and asked for the cooperation and support of the NUC towards the realisation of the goal.
According to a National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, publication, the team, accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of the foundation, Zouera Yousouffou, disclosed that Mr. Dangote’s desire was to float a unique university of technology with all the necessary infrastructure and best faculty members from across the globe.
Mr. Rasheed, who applauded the bold step, promised to offer all the needed assistance for the success of the project.
He, however, advised the team to reconsider its plan of establishing a university of technology to ‘a conventional university running all programmes but with specialty in the area of technology.’
The executive secretary, who underscored the advantages of the conventional university over the special one, said with the countless impacts on society by the business mogul, the project would be a success.


He asked the team to consult widely and look at the universities in Nigeria and abroad with a view to creating a unique university that would be different in terms of quality in all its operations.
In her remarks, Mrs. Yousouffou said the foundation was ready to make the dream a reality with the sum of N200 billion already earmarked for the project.
She said the land was purchased and preliminary measures were in place for the headquarters of the university at the nation’s capital city of Abuja.
Mr. Dangote is a Nigerian mega-entrepreneur cum billionaire, who owns the Dangote Group, which has interests in diverse commodities.
The company with massive business tentacles operates principally in Nigeria but has corporate interests in other African countries

Source : http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/241301-dangote-establish-university-abuja-earmarks-n200-billion.html