₦airaland Forum

http://www.punchng.com/news/bomb-blast-pieces-of-human-flesh-litter-abuja-suburb/

Pieces of human flesh were seen on Saturday morning littering the roadside in a suburb of Abuja, Nyanya, where an explosive went off late on Friday.

The explosive was said to have been detonated at the Jikwoyi Park, Nyanya, on the popular Abuja-Keffi Expressway, claiming yet-to-be ascertained number of lives.

The late Friday incident was the third to be recorded in that vicinity.

Two previous incidents with heavy casualties were witnessed there last year.

Our correspondent, who visited the scene as early as 6.30am on Saturday, reported that the scene of the blast had been cordoned off by security operatives.

A combined team of soldiers, policemen, officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as the Federal Road Safety Corps were seen controlling the crowd of onlookers which kept increasing every minute.

Some policemen wearing black T-shirts marked “EOD” were seen picking pieces of human flesh that still littered the road side.

The pieces of flesh were being packed inside cartons by the security operatives as wailing residents looked on.

Buses and cars that had their windscreens shattered as a result of the impact of the blasts were still at the scene.

An eyewitness, who identified himself simply as Aminu, told our correspondent that rescue workers recovered many corpses from the scene of the blast late Friday.

“What you see them packing now are pieces of flesh because many of the victims were torn into pieces. Corpses with several missing parts were taken away last night,” he said.

The incident has caused a serious traffic gridlock on the expressway inwards Abuja as many motorists made attempt to get a glimpse of the scene.

Security operatives were still having difficulties in controlling the surging crowd at the time of filing this report at 7.15am.

Stupid CBN. BVN is a continous process. What about people opening new bank accounts? Sometimes they talk as if all Nigerians have a low IQ.
the present CBN leadership is one of the most inept ever seen.

How can BVN Registration have a Deadline, Losers!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/india-pakistan-1-100-killed-saudi-hajj-disaster-145418935.html

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Saudi Arabia has given foreign diplomats some 1,100 photographs of the dead from last week's hajj crush and stampede, Indian and Pakistani authorities said, an indication of a significantly higher death toll than previously offered by the kingdom.

Saudi officials could not be immediately reached for comment Monday night about the discrepancy in the toll of the disaster in Mina. The Saudi Health Ministry's latest figures, released Saturday, put the toll at 769 people killed and 934 injured.

Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, a lawmaker in Pakistan's governing PML-N political party who is leading his country's response to the disaster, said Saudi officials gave diplomats "1,100 photos" of the dead. Chaudhry told journalists during a news conference broadcast nationwide on Monday night that the photos could be viewed at Saudi embassies and missions abroad.

"This is the official figure of martyrs from Saudi officials, given for the identification process," Chaudhry said.

His comments echoed those of Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj from Sunday.

"Saudi authorities have released photos of 1,090 pilgrims who have died in (the hajj) stampede," Swaraj wrote on Twitter.

We need an economic team in place ASAP

NAHCON needs to take a proper census of Nigerians to enable loved ones be at rest over the safety of their relations

Buhari needs ministers ASAP

Pray for Nigeria please

Chinese Company to sack 100000 workers

The global commodity collapse is finally starting to take its toll on what China truly cares about: the employment of the tens of millions of currently employed and soon to be unemployed workers.

On Friday, in a move that would make even Hewlett-Packard's Meg Whitman blush, Harbin-based Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group, or Longmay Group, the biggest met coal miner in northeast China which has been struggling to reduce massive losses in recent months as a result of the commodity collapse, just confirmed China's "hard-landing" has arrived when it announced on its website it would cut 100,000 jobs or 40% of its entire 240,000-strong labor force.

Impacted by the slump in coal prices, the group saw its loss over January-August surged more than 1.1 billion yuan ($17.2 million) from the year before. In the first half of 2015, the group closed eight coking coal mines most of which had approached the end of their mining lives, due to poor production margins amid bleak sales.

Chaiman of the group Wang Zhikui said the job losses were a way of helping the company "stop bleeding." The heavily-indebted company also plans to sell its non-coal related businesses to help pay off its debts, said Wang. The State-owned mining group has subsidiaries in Jixi, Hegang, Shuangyashan and Qitaihe in Heilongjiang province, which account for about half the region's coal production.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-27/chinas-hard-landing-has-arrived-chinese-coal-company-fires-100000

The Sokoto State Pilgrims Welfare Agency has said that Sheikh Liman Dan-Ata, the Chief Imam of the Sultan Abubakar III Jumaa’at Mosque, Sokoto, is among those killed in the stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia.

The Media Assistant to the agency, Alhaji Farouk Umar, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

NAN recalls that the state government had in a statement issued on Saturday by Imam Imam, spokesman to Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, confirmed the killing of nine other pilgrims from the state in the Mina stampede.

The agency has also confirmed the killing of the immediate Caretaker Chairman of Illela Local Government Area of the state, Alhaji Bello Gidan-Hamma, his mother, step-mother and two wives in the stampede.

At the time of writing this report, several pilgrims from the state had been declared missing.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/chief-imam-killed-in-mina-stampede/


RIP!!

There are indications that the new zero-budgeting policy of the present administration may render several ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs) idle in 2016 as they could be denied of capital votes for project implementation.

It followed government’s decision to dump the hitherto envelope or incremental budgeting system, whereby capital votes were indiscriminately allocated to agencies and parastatals annually for projects, with minimal results often achieved.

But faced with serious fiscal challenges occasioned by the drastic drop in oil prices, which had more than halved government revenues, the present administration of President Muhammmadu Buhari has resolved to cut costs and prioritise spendings to projects that would have immediate impact on Nigerians.

THISDAY gathered that as a result, government has decided that only MDAs which fall within its prioritised programmes would be allocated capital votes in 2016.

By implication, other MDAs would be left without funding to undertake capital projects next year and this has already caused anxiety for most of them.

The fears stemmed from the fact that such agencies could fall victim of the proposed move to rationalise public institutions, it was further gathered.

Speaking in an interview with THISDAY on the new zero budgeting policy of government, Secretary to the National Planning Commission (NPC), Mr. Bassey Akpanyung, said it would not be business as usual for project implementation in the country.

He said: “We are not going to use incremental where you have to add on the budget you had from the previous year and go on; what it really means is that we are just starting as if there was no programme at all and then we look at specific sectors that are priority to government and decide which project we want to implement, look at the pros and cons, the multiplier effects of that project and linkages to the economy and then decide that it is worth implementing and then we set money on it with the feasibility study that has been done and then the proper costing and then we put money on it and implement it to the end.”

He said rather than give small amount of capital allocations to all the MDAs “which ends up not getting any project completed” government would now select specific core MDAs and core sectors and consider projects that’ll actualise the policy of government.”

According to him: “If the MDAs are those that are priority-and that’s where the thrust of the government is-surely, they’ll get their capital budget but if it’s those ones that are not on the priority, then maybe not in 2016, may be in 2017 because there’s no MDAs that’s not essential to the economy.

“But then we are going to be facing the implementation of the capital project to just ensure that it is those essential projects and programmes that speak directly to the policy of government that are implemented.”

Continuing, he said: “We pick a particular policy like the social protection policy; what specific programmes are we going to be doing there-we do the costing-how many people are going to be covered and once we decide that these are the numbers we are going to cover, this is the amount of money and then government budgets directly on it irrespective of what had happened in the past.”

The Federal Government is planning to use a zero-based budgeting format for its 2016 budget planning, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

The Vice President said the zero-based budgeting would be carefully coordinated to ensure that it is policy-driven, especially regarding the proposed social intervention policy of the Buhari administration.

Zero-based budgeting is planning according to needs and costs, different from the existing Envelope Budgeting or traditionally incremental budgeting whereby the planning is based on existing income and expenditure as the deciding factor in national financial planning levels, which often incurs waste and assumes previous costs as constant.

According to spokesperson Laolu Akande, Mr. Osinbajo, a professor, spoke Monday in his office during a courtesy visit by the National Economic Summit Group (NESG).
Earlier Tuesday, the Vice President also met with a delegation from the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON).

The Vice President, according to a statement by Akande, also told the NESG that the introduction of the new Treasury Single Account [TSA] policy and its implementation by ministries, departments and agencies was a creative way of blocking leakages in the system to make way for a workable budget.

He said with the zero-based budgeting, the Federal Government would also focus on a bottom-up approach to development.
He disclosed further that the Federal Government was planning to set up an infrastructure fund in order to facilitate easy funding for critical areas of the economy.

The infrastructure fund, according to the Vice President, would be planned outside of the budget, to handle major segments of the economy such as road and power.

“Government is working out a document that would guide the administration within the four years of its life-span”, he disclosed.
During the meeting with the NESG, the delegation praised the Federal Government for the introduction of the new TSA policy and offered to be part of the advocacy as a sound financial policy.

This wailing wailer tag is just lame and shows your inability to rise above sentiments and think where our economy is headed.

Blacks have been cursed by the inability to reason, even when the CBN SAYS OUR ECONOMY IS CONTRACTING AND WE RISK A RECESSION BY EARLY 2016 you will still be shouting Wailing Wailers.

It is just a testimony of how in shambles our educational system has become raising half baked graduates who spend their time chanting Wailing Wailers from their unemployed lives in their parents houses.

BY: JOSEPH EDGAR SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

The honeymoon is definitely over. The euphoria of victory has glided away and the stark reality that is the myriad of problems facing us as Nigerians stares us in the face. Left with a new seemingly inexperienced Government hobbled by intrigues, power play and forces entrenched in the pits of self interest, Nigerians are in for a major roller coaster ride which if care is not taken could be a one way ticket to golgotha.

The Buhari administration is waging too many battles on different fronts. The anti corruption battle is limping. What with the stories of selected persecution, the political face of some of these charges, the slow grind of the wheel of Justice, Nigerians are beginning to ask if this war in itself is really that necessary. They are yearning for economic direction, for a way forward while at best still prosecuting the war and not making it the full center of this administrations policy. To me, this corruption war is getting no where. No major victories have been won, no major monies refunded and the economy stunted as a result of the almost maniacal concentration on the anti corruption war. The battle has pitted APC against itself ala the Saraki matter which if not careful could lead to the decimation of its ranks. I am even hearing from the grapevine that Saraki and his group have left the APC and have formed another party platform. The following weeks would give us more clarity on these and other issues.

The economy is the worse for it in all this. Are we removing or keeping subsidy. This dilly dally is killing the sector. Banks are being owed, marketers are being owed and the subsidy payment I hear are not being paid. The Jonathan Administration was a little better in payments, report shows that payments have not been made by this administration in a long while. All these would lead to stagnation of the economy, inflation and job losses.

The issue of the TSA is another matter on to itself. It was in my opinion ill-advised and the late exemption of some parastatals may be medicine too late for some Banks. I hear Banks like Unity and First Bank are currently experiencing malaria fever. Economic indices are flagging, inflation is on the rise, unemployment galloping, made worse by the continuous drop in oil revenues occasioned by the low prices in the international spot market all these have led to a drop in our ratings by international rating agencies and our exemption from the Bond Index as a result of CBN’s kalokalo attempt at managing forex in the face of pressure. Last week even the CBN finally sent out a warning signal that we may be heading for a recession. These are indeed dark days and panic is not far away.

On the political front we witness no respite. No clarity as the confusion continuous unabated. The Selfish intent of the owners of the ruling party to me has delayed the announcement of the cabinet hence throwing a cloud of confusion on the direction of the Government. The infighting amongst stalwarts continue to send a signal of unseriousness to the nation. Everybody is fighting everybody, Oshiomole’s is fighting Sylvia, Saraki is fighting Tinubu and the party is divided into all kinds of demarcation that we just may begin to yearn for the PDP days at least there was cohesion in their thievery.

The excuses are pouring in, we can’t expect Buhari to clear the rubbish in less than 100days, Buhari’s body language has given us power, he is trying to reset the economy, the corruption war is a necessity amongst all other excuses. To me, as my father will say, the morning tells us what the day will be like. The seeming slow and almost confusing decision taking process, the lack of clarity in policy direction, the lack of solutions to jump start the economy especially in the much needed area of diversification all tells me that we may not find Uhuru with this government.

What does that now leave us as a country. The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.

http://www.stockmarketnigeria.com/forums/off-topic/2443-state-nation-2693.html#post261854

The article above is strictly the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of Nairametrics. The views of the writer are solely his.

Hillary Clinton — believing leaks by President Barack Obama staff's triggered the federal probe of her private email account — ripped into the commander in chief, telling him, during a tense meeting, "What I want for you to do is call off your f–king dogs, Barack!"

The profane attack came during a tense meeting in the Oval Office that was called by Hillary, against the advice of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, according to bestselling author Ed Klein's new book, "Unlikeable: The Problem with Hillary."

The explosive tone, published by Regnery, hits bookstores next week and was excerpted Wednesday in The New York Post.

During the private meeting, Clinton called the meeting because she felt she was "being persecuted for minor, meaningless violations," Klein writes.

But Hillary lost her temper and swore when Obama at first claimed he didn't know what she was talking about.

"He was almost being deliberately dense. It really angered her," a Clinton source told Klein.

After Clinton's tirade, Klein writes that Obama responded, "There is nothing I can do for you one way or another. Things have been set in motion, and I can't and won't interfere. Your problems are, frankly, of your own making. If you had been honest ..."

According to Klein, Clinton then interrupted, "There are always haters out there to get the Clintons."

Klein writes that Clinton was later thought she had been too weak in her response to the president.

Hillary Screams at Obama: 'Call Off Your F-ing Dogs'


http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/hillary-clinton-barack-obama-tense-meeting/2015/09/23/id/692921/#ixzz3madzRFZk

We need an economic team, ASAP!!!

http://businessdayonline.com/2015/09/slow-growth-worries-analysts-as-mpc-eases-crr-with-n780bn/

“Further, banks with more naira than FX deposits should be proportionately bigger beneficiaries from today’s CRR ease – within our universe, Fidelity, Diamond, FBNH and Skye rank tops, but FCMB, Zenith and GTBank are not that far behind.

“N570bn is the latest figure we have for federal FX deposits in the banking system pre TSA. The net naira TSA debit was NGN238bn. Twenty-five percent CRR should release about NGN780bn to the banking system, which we read to mean federal FX TSA withdrawals last week was NGN542bn.‎

A core reason attributed to the CRR ease was the MPC’s desire to see the banks invest more in critical sectors such as agriculture and mining, to help drive growth and reduce unemployment. We do not see this happening near term, and think today’s decision is likely to put downward pressure on treasury yields, as banks aggressively invest the released CRR in T-Bills and bonds.”

They further argue that lowering the CRR should improve liquidity and also help to lower funding costs near term. “While we concede treasury yields reduce near term, we do not expect the banks to re-price l‎oans that quickly, so some short term margin improvement should come through but more reflective in 4Q15,” they added.

Razia Khan, analyst with standard Chatered Bank, London said, “The key concern remains growth. With no change to current FX policy announced, it looks as though the CBN’s restrictions on FX for certain imports will remain in place, as will the absence of a properly functioning interbank FX market that allows for more price determination.

“The strategy seems to be to keep controls in place until demand adjusts to meet available FX supply. This is a contractionary growth stance. Demand for FX will only fall to the extent that the economy slows sufficiently.”

Speaking further, Khan said, “The CBN hopes that restrictions on imports will create the impetus for more domestic production. Nigeria has had substantial experience with similar import-substitution policies in the past. Rarely have they succeeded in creating a vibrant, competitive industrial sector with the capability of creating the level of employment growth that Nigerian demographics otherwise demand.

“For investors, there will be some disappointment that no FX market liberalisation has been announced. Many still see an FX adjustment as inevitable, given the absence of fiscal buffers and Nigeria’s constrained economic fundamentals.”

Arising from these developments, there were indications that some of the banking sector performance indicators could be stressed if conditions worsen further. Specifically, the Committee noted that liquidity withdrawals following the implementation of the TSA, elongation of the tenure of state government loans as well as loans to the oil and gas sectors could aggravate liquidity conditions in banks and impair their financial intermediation role, thus affecting economic growth, unless some actions were immediately taken to ease liquidity conditions in the markets.

Having seen two consecutive quarters of slow growth, the Committee recognized that the economy could slip into recession in 2016 if proactive steps were not taken to revive growth in key sectors of the economy.

In the face of prevailing circumstances, the Committee acknowledged that synergy between monetary and fiscal policies remained the most potent option to sustainable growth.

The
Committee further observed that the impact of the persistent
decline in global crude oil prices on the fiscal position of
Government continues to reflect in rising credit to governmen[/b]t. The
Committee also noted that the initial market reaction to the decision
by [b]JP Morgan to exclude the country from its Government Bond
Index for Emerging Economies (GBI-EM) had largely dissipated as
yields soon adjusted to their pre-announcement levels’ adding that
there may be second round effects over the next two months as the
economy adjusts to that decision. The Committee reiterated its
unwavering commitment to naira exchange rate stability despite the
pressures

http://www.cenbank.org/Out/2015/CCD/September%20Communique%2021092015.pdf


In consideration of the underlying fundamentals of the economy,
particularly the declining output growth, rising unemployment,
evolving international economic environment as well as the need to
properly position the economy on a sustainable growth path, the
MPC decided by a vote of 7 to reduce the Cash Reserve
Requirement (CRR) from 31 per cent to 25 per cent while 3 voted to
hold. By a unanimous vote, the MPC voted to retain the MPR at 13
per cent.

In summary, the MPC voted to:
(i) Reduce the CRR from 31 to 25 per cent;
(ii) Retain the MPR at 13 per cent;
(iii) Retain the symmetric corridor of 200 basis points around the
MPR; and
(iv) Retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.

Thank you.

Godwin I. Emefiele

Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria
22nd September 2015


Consequently, the Committee advised on the urgent imperative of
banks to aggressively support the efforts of government at job
creation by channeling available liquidity into target growth
enhancing sectors of the economy such as agriculture and
manufacturing.

This is with a view to promoting employment creation
through conscious efforts aimed at directing lending to the growth
enhancing sectors of the economy. The Committee considered that
the Bank and deposit money banks, must strive to reverse the
slowing GDP trajectory by actively stepping up their efforts in
catalyzing the economy with substantial new loans to the target
sectors earlier highlighted.

Can Nigerians be objective and stop calling a fellow human being a foolish goat. It shows you do not practise any true religion and you are a dangerous fanatic!!!

Against the backdrop of the recent almost violent rejection by the ‘body of Christ’ of the call for taxes in our churches, we now hear of Pastors launching luxury liners and huge real estate collections you begin to ask yourself some very pertinent questions with answers you are afraid of exploring.

At the last count, Pastors Adeboye, Joshua and Oyedepo, Oritsejafor etc have all acquired the very latest in luxury jets amongst a vast array of holdings making them some of the very wealthiest human beings on earth. Me I am afraid of personally attacking Pastor Joshua for fear that he may not be as forgiving as the other two, but my searchlight and arrow will be directed at Adeboye and Oyedepo because if they get angry with me, I can beg and as fathers they will forgive and pray for me. That other one, no go gree.

I have attended both the Redeemed and Winners and the scale of their vision always stupefies me, humbling and humiliating me at the same time. The vastness of their holdings and immense wealth which they control if not checked can begin to compete with the federal Government in revenues generated. They rely on the fear and near literate disposition of their followers. Yes, near literate because the most educated of us, when it comes to spiritual things we are all illiterate and gullible or how else can you explain this continued perfidy where we assemble every Sunday and listen to the same story retold for over 2,000 years and still give out 10% of our hard-earned income to a few to live like Roman Emperors and yet refuse to be taxed.

These pastors are the new overlords, slave masters with whips garnished with the sweet tongues of Babylon aimed at impoverishing us, putting us under spells of hypnosis and keeping us in a permanent state of slowpoke servitude. They bestride the firmament in holier than thou gowns collecting from a deprived and depraved flock, fleecing, throwing prosperity messages that seem to deliver the wealth to them alone and their cronies, while the rest of us, defiled cups in hands, adorned with rags and defiled by leprosy , kneel at their feet, hoping and waiting for the deliverance but alas we are told to wait till heaven while they live in opulence here on earth.

Two of these churches have birthed luxury airliners with the tithes of a pitiable gullible crowd. This airliner I hear has two of the state of the art jetliners sequestered for only those who can afford it and reserved for the exclusive use of the GO in many of his travels.

Who are the shareholders of this firm? Who are the Directors of the firm, registered in America thereby keeping it out of reach of the millions who have contributed their kobo to this initiative. Where is the corruption war? Why is it not beaming its search light towards this area of continuous and stylish thievery?

The airliner is not just the only one, the huge Real Estate holdings, the University where the brethren cannot afford to take their children to despite the fact that it’s their tithes that built the school. The hotels, the various businesses. This is nothing but organized fleecing under the guise of religion. Now, I am angry and will unsheath my sword.

This ‘religious’organizations are nothing but multi national firms who have gotten their seed capital from their members who unlike normal shareholders have been deprived of the benefits of their investments. Where is the democracy in all these? Why are dividends not declared and shared amongst all tithe payers? Why is the GO position held almost in perpetuity?

These church owners are wicked. The Roman Catholic Church is a very rich organization who have impacted on the lives of not just Italians but the rest of the world. It is not controlled by a family or a patriarch but controlled by structures and institutions that have for centuries continued to ensure the perpetuity of its vision.

The selection of the Pope who is the titular head is carried out along very set lines of succession, lines that have over the centuries withstood the vagaries of time, encrypting it into the concrete of structure. This has ensured the continuous democratization of dividends that accrue from their various activities.

They pay their taxes, run a government in the Vatican and support governments and society wherever they find themselves. I am not a fan of the Catholic Church but in terms of transparency, institutionalized decision taking, clear and transparent succession planning and decision taking procedures they are miles ahead of this family owned businesses we call churches in this country.

I hereby call for the democratization of the Redeemed Christian church and the Winners chapel.


http://nairametrics.com/scathing-why-pastors-should-have-term-limits-and-practice-democracy/

http://www.newsdirectonline.com/newstory.php?ID=12957

Deposit Money Banks (DBMs) in the country have begun retrenchment of 11,600 employees following the Federal government’s implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA), Nigerian NewsDirect can authoritatively report.

President Muhammadu Buhari had set a deadline of Tuesday, September 15 for full compliance with his directive that all revenues due to the government or any of its agencies must be paid into the TSA or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved.

A lady in one of the leading commercial banks told our correspondent that operations of some key staff at their branches were no longer needed and since jobs had been centralized to the head office with the use of technology, some core employees have been pencilled down for retrenchment. However, she added that evaluation sheet would be used to select those that would be sacked.

A source who is a top management staff member of one of the first generation banks on condition of anonymity said, his bank was planning to sack core staff that failed to meet the new demand required by the management as a result of the new development-the TSA.

The source hinted Nigerian NewsDirect that, closure of government accounts with commercial banks had left the banks with no other option than to reduce their overhead costs in order to become more profitable.

The source expressed concerns that TSA policy, although designed to ensure accountability and transparency will hurt the economy as more people would be thrown into labour market soon by commercial banks.

According to him “As I speak with you now, about 1,000 of our workers are already on their way out, because we can no longer accommodate them, but what we have done is to lay off more of the desk officers”.

Asked why the attention is on desk officers, the source said, “If you lay off those who go out to look for deposits you will worsen the situation, so we have to look at the survival of the bank first, the consequence of allowing desk officers to stay and sacking those who bring deposits will be higher, therefore we took the safer option of letting desk officers go”.

Another source told our correspondent that about 1,700 employees that comprise 1,000 contract and 700 permanent staff of a leading bank have been pegged for sack.

Three leading banks with former President Goodluck Jonathan’s links that enjoyed easy access to government funds in the past are also affected most with a total 7,700 employees expected to be sacked from this week.

The rumour of staff retrenchment by Zenith Bank spread in Lagos last week as some online media organisations and a television station reported that the bank had sacked over 1,200 staff workers. The bank quickly debunked the rumour through text messages to some journalists and customers that there was nothing like that.

“Good day our media friends. Pls disregard any report of mass disengagement of staff by Zenith Bank. There is no iota of truth in such report. Thanks for your support”, the bank said in its text message.

Zenith Bank reported good profit and asset base in its half year report, a development that forced many finance analysts to doubt the possibility of staff retrenchment this year but market operators said the liquidity squeeze in the market as government moved its accounts to the CBN could expose many banks to serious distress.

Also the Media Relations Manager of United Bank for Africa Plc Mr. Nasir Ramon in response to an enquiry by our correspondent suggested that NewsDirect should look for another story to write that it was not true that UBA was planning to sack staff because of TSA. In some of the branches of UBA, information gathered that revenue target for marketers was being used to sack staff which did not begin as a result of TSA but started since the engagement of Executive Director South West poached from Zenith Bank Plc last year.

Also despite reports that Ecobank Plc gave sack letters to some of the staff workers last week, the Corporate Affairs officials of the bank denied knowledge of sack.

Back in 2008, when Nigeria was faced with a similar collapse in oil prices as it is witnessing today the country’s political leadership at the time mouthed off sweet platitudes about the urgency of economic diversification.

“The changing international oil market poses grave concerns for our fiscal outlook. The recent volatility of the oil price is apparent in the unprecedented decline of prices from record highs of about US$147/barrel in July this year to current prices of about US$50/barrel,” Nigeria’s then President Umaru Musa Yar`Adua, said in a December 2008 address to the National Assembly.

Indeed, the current oil price situation underscores the overdependence of the Federal Budget on oil related receipts. Consequently this administration will continue to lay emphasis on diversifying our sources of revenue from oil to non-oil sources.”

Seven years later the country is 80 percent dependent on oil revenues to fund Government spending as the economy reels from falling crude and policy inaction from the current President.

Nigeria’s GDP growth fell to 2.35 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015 down from 3.96 percent in the first quarter.

The NSE – all share index a broad benchmark of Nigerian stocks has returned -14.33 percent this year.

Meanwhile JPMorgan last week removed Nigeria from its influential emerging markets bonds index amid concerns about the country’s economic management.

The country has not undertaken any major reforms to unlock its growth potential since the foreign debt payback and write-offs of 2004 and banking sector consolidation and Pension reforms the following year.

A scandalously inept and corrupt petrol subsidy regime that costs up to $5 billion a year remains in place despite the sound economic arguments to remove it.

Daily blackouts are still the norm because a privatisation effort undertaken in 2013, failed to give free market pricing to gas suppliers meaning generated output has never risen above 5,000 megawatts, which is about a third of peak demand.

Nigeria’s gas reserves were equivalent to 182 trillion cubic feet (tcf), representing the eighth largest in the world and foremost in Africa.

Despite this ranking, domestic demand for gas far outweighs supply due to inadequate infrastructure as a lack of a market based pricing template.

“The insufficient power supply emerged as the leading constraint in the most recent Business Expectancy Survey by the CBN (Q1
2015). Other constraints included inaccessibility to credit, an unfavourable economic climate and unclear economic laws,” FBN Capital analysts led by Gregory Kronsten, said in a September 10 note.

A power poll recently released by NOI Polls revealed that between April 2015 and June 2015, Nigerians typically spent a maximum of N3, 726 ($19) on actual electricity supply and as much as N12, 351 ($62) on running alternative sources of power supply.

The average power supply was 4.9 hours in the second quarter of 2015.

Meanwhile the petroleum industry bill (PIB) which could potentially help reform the oil industry has been delayed in parliament since 2007.

Nigeria’s political elite’s (some of the highest paid in the world) acquiescence to the decay of the oil sector is inexplicable, considering that it provides most of the money used to fund their high flying lifestyles.

The oil sector consistently posts negative growth and has shrunk to only 10 percent of Nigeria’s GDP, from as high as 30 percent a decade ago.

Amid the gloom Goldman Sachs forecasts that oil prices may fall as low as $20 a barrel, with a persistent surplus requiring prices to remain lower for longer to rebalance the market.

Brent for October delivery was trading around $48.73 a barrel on Friday.

The lack of reforms means Nigeria has only been able to accumulate $1 billion in its Sovereign Wealth Fund and $31 billion in dollar reserves, compared to other oil producers such as Qatar with $43 billion, Malaysia ($94 billion), and Russia ($366 bn) in dollar reserves and significantly higher savings in their respective Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Back in 2008, when Nigeria was faced with a similar collapse in oil prices as it is witnessing today the country’s political leadership at the time mouthed off sweet platitudes about the urgency of economic diversification.

“The changing international oil market poses grave concerns for our fiscal outlook. The recent volatility of the oil price is apparent in the unprecedented decline of prices from record highs of about US$147/barrel in July this year to current prices of about US$50/barrel,” Nigeria’s then President Umaru Musa Yar`Adua, said in a December 2008 address to the National Assembly.

Indeed, the current oil price situation underscores the overdependence of the Federal Budget on oil related receipts. Consequently this administration will continue to lay emphasis on diversifying our sources of revenue from oil to non-oil sources.”

Seven years later the country is 80 percent dependent on oil revenues to fund Government spending as the economy reels from falling crude and policy inaction from the current President.

Nigeria’s GDP growth fell to 2.35 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015 down from 3.96 percent in the first quarter.

The NSE – all share index a broad benchmark of Nigerian stocks has returned -14.33 percent this year.

Meanwhile JPMorgan last week removed Nigeria from its influential emerging markets bonds index amid concerns about the country’s economic management.

The country has not undertaken any major reforms to unlock its growth potential since the foreign debt payback and write-offs of 2004 and banking sector consolidation and Pension reforms the following year.

A scandalously inept and corrupt petrol subsidy regime that costs up to $5 billion a year remains in place despite the sound economic arguments to remove it.

Daily blackouts are still the norm because a privatisation effort undertaken in 2013, failed to give free market pricing to gas suppliers meaning generated output has never risen above 5,000 megawatts, which is about a third of peak demand.

Nigeria’s gas reserves were equivalent to 182 trillion cubic feet (tcf), representing the eighth largest in the world and foremost in Africa.

Despite this ranking, domestic demand for gas far outweighs supply due to inadequate infrastructure as a lack of a market based pricing template.

“The insufficient power supply emerged as the leading constraint in the most recent Business Expectancy Survey by the CBN (Q1
2015). Other constraints included inaccessibility to credit, an unfavourable economic climate and unclear economic laws,” FBN Capital analysts led by Gregory Kronsten, said in a September 10 note.

A power poll recently released by NOI Polls revealed that between April 2015 and June 2015, Nigerians typically spent a maximum of N3, 726 ($19) on actual electricity supply and as much as N12, 351 ($62) on running alternative sources of power supply.

The average power supply was 4.9 hours in the second quarter of 2015.

Meanwhile the petroleum industry bill (PIB) which could potentially help reform the oil industry has been delayed in parliament since 2007.

Nigeria’s political elite’s (some of the highest paid in the world) acquiescence to the decay of the oil sector is inexplicable, considering that it provides most of the money used to fund their high flying lifestyles.

The oil sector consistently posts negative growth and has shrunk to only 10 percent of Nigeria’s GDP, from as high as 30 percent a decade ago.

Amid the gloom Goldman Sachs forecasts that oil prices may fall as low as $20 a barrel, with a persistent surplus requiring prices to remain lower for longer to rebalance the market.

Brent for October delivery was trading around $48.73 a barrel on Friday.

The lack of reforms means Nigeria has only been able to accumulate $1 billion in its Sovereign Wealth Fund and $31 billion in dollar reserves, compared to other oil producers such as Qatar with $43 billion, Malaysia ($94 billion), and Russia ($366 bn) in dollar reserves and significantly higher savings in their respective Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Barring any unforeseen circumstance, Buhari's Ministerial list will be announced tomorrow and Senate screening will commence ASAP.

Femi Falana is already in Abuja for his confirmation hearing along with the lucky few who made the list.

GMB IS WORKING!!

A new dawn has risen in this country!!

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-15/why-americans-will-pay-more-gasoline-if-us-export-ban-lifted


Now, if 1) the United States doesn't produce more oil than it needs, but rather remains the world's largest importer next to China and 2) the export ban didn't prevent domestic production from doubling, then what is the push to end the export ban all about? In a word, money.

There is not enough U.S. refining capacity for all the so-called light tight oil produced from U.S. deep shale formations which have been the mainstay for domestic oil production growth. That means that refineries that can use this type of oil are paying less (because of the excess supply) than they would if foreign refineries could also bid on the oil--which, of course, they can't because of the export ban.

Lifting the export ban would allow domestic oil producers of light tight oil to sell their output to foreign refineries at a higher price than they currently get from domestic refineries. But given the now ongoing decline in U.S. oil production, selling that oil to foreign refineries would mean that the United States would have to import more of other heavier oils (for which we have adequate refinery capacity) to make up for the light oil that is exiting the country. Thus, the United States would become MORE dependent on foreign oil if we lift the export ban.

The oil companies make the case that their product is discriminated against. Agricultural products, manufactured goods and even coal face no export restrictions. Why should oil be singled out?

http://af.reuters.com/article/nigeriaNews/idAFL5N11L23W20150915?feedType=RSS&feedName=nigeriaNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FAfricaNigeriaNews+%28News+%2F+Africa+%2F+Nigeria+News%29


LAGOS, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Nigerian banks made no bids on the interbank money market on Tuesday as they awaited instructions on how to comply with a directive to transfer government revenues into a single account with the central bank, dealers said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that all revenues be paid into the "Treasury Single Account" from Tuesday, part of a drive to fight graft.

"No trading is currently going on because no bank was willing to put out quotes until there is a clearer direction with the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA)," one dealer said.

"The market is right now frozen, as no trading going on," another trader said.

http://nairametrics.com/tsa-has-just-frozen-the-interbank-market/

Nigerian banks made no bids on the interbank money market on Tuesday as they awaited instructions on how to comply with a directive to transfer government revenues into a single account with the central bank, dealers said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that all revenues be paid into the “Treasury Single Account” from Tuesday, part of a drive to fight graft.

“No trading is currently going on because no bank was willing to put out quotes until there is a clearer direction with the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA),” one dealer said.

“The market is right now frozen, as no trading going on,” another trader said.

https://www.naij.com/548016-boko-haram-threat-see-whats-presently-happening-walter-carrington-way-photos.html

Men of the Nigerian Army have besieged Walter Carrington Crescent in Lagos.

The area which is popular because it houses the American, British, Indian, France, German, Spain, Lebanon and other embassies in Nigeria, is said to be on standstill as soldiers are presently manning the location.


Presently, Ozumba Mbadiwe which is the road leading to the location is experiencing massive traffic. This is because no vehicle is allowed into the street. The Army have not disclosed why they are there, but Nigerians around the area have been speculating in low tone that it’s due to a boko haram threat. Officially, the reason for their action is still unknown.