₦airaland Forum

Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday revealed that state governors resolved to approve money for national security after a national security summit organised by the National Economic Council.

The Vice President who presided over NEC gave the explanation at the opening of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation/Secretaries to State Governments’ retreat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He explained, “It was after a national security summit of the National Economic Council that Governors at their forum decided to approve some money for national security.”

The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, Abdulaziz Yari, had at a NEC meeting last Wednesday announced that the governors had asked the Federal Government to withdraw $1bn from the Excess Crude Account to fight the insurgency.

The decision had, however, attracted controversies from groups and individuals, including the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose; and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/breakinggovernors-have-approved-1bn.html

Victor Moses’ hope of winning his first African Footballer of the Year award was shattered yesterday when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ignored the Chelsea wingback in its final three contenders for the title.
Nigerians were expecting Moses to win his first continental title and the country’s first since Nwankwo Kanu took it in 1999.CAF yesterday chose Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane as final three contenders for the title, which will be announced at gala night in Accra on January 4 2018.

Moses was one of the outstanding performers in the 2016/2017 season, with his forays from the right wingback position helping Chelsea to clinch the EPL title last season. The irony is that during the period in question, Salah was playing for Roma and was not as significant as he is now in Liverpool. However, his outstanding displays for Liverpool seems to have swayed the voters to his side.

All the nominees are strikers, which lend credence to the belief that the award is tilted towards goal scorers. Salah, who was recently named BBC African Player of the year, is the favourite to win this award.
This is Aubameyang’s fourth inclusion in the final three of the title he won in 2015.Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr is a finalist for the Coach of the Year, which he is contesting with Egypt’s Hector Cuper and L’Hussein Amoutta of Wydad Athletic Club.

The Super Eagles and the national U-20 women’s team (Falconets) are also in contention for the National Team of the Year and Women’s National Team of the Year awards respectively.

Former Arsenal and Liverpool striker, Asisat Oshoala is in the running for the Women’s Player of the Year alongside Chrestina Kgatlana (South Africa & UWC Ladies) and Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroun & CSKA Moscow).

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/moses-fails-to-make-final-cut-as-caf.html

The Architectural Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), has warned the leadership of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to stop sending its graduands to teach in secondary or primary schools during their one year mandatory service as such practice has negatively affected their skills and quality at the end of the scheme..

It said instead, Architectural graduates should be sent to serve in firms where their skills would not only be tested and enhanced but that such opportunities will go a long way to preparing them for final qualifications and induction as full members of the profession..

ARCON is a professional body that sets standard and regulates all Architecture related courses in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The body does not only approve courses leading to the study of architecture in the country, it is also saddled with the responsibility of mentoring young ones to be professionally qualified before preparing them for induction as qualified members due for professional practice in Nigeria.

ARCON President, Aliyu Umar, said the warning has become necessary to enable qualified architects to be exposed practically in their noble profession for the well being of the construction industry in the country.

Umar stated this in his message to ARCON 5th Induction Ceremony where about 130 new members were received in its fold. in Abuja.

The President stated that it was gratifying to know that till date, the body has registered 8 firms and inducted very qualified Nigerians capable of competing with their counterparts all over the world.


“As you can see today, we are inducting 130 new members into our folds, this has brought the total of qualified architects and members of ARCON to about 4,600, we are indeed very glad.’’

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/stop-sending-our-graduates-to-teach-in.html

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has declared that all communities that promote peace will continue to enjoy strategic projects from his administration.
Flagging off the reconstruction of the Government Secondary School, Abua yesterday, Wike noted that projects implementation in Abua/Odual became easy after the people embraced the peace initiatives of the Rivers State Government.

He said: “Abua/Odual is close to my heart. When there is peace, government finds it easy to execute projects. We are here executing projects because peace has returned to Abua/Odual.”
Wike said as part of the empowerment scheme of his administration, more than 90 per cent of the contractors for the reconstruction of the school are from Abua/Odual.

He, however, warned that any contractor that collects government money and defaults will face the full weight of the law.
The governor said that his administration remains committed to the rapid development of the state.
“God has blessed us. While other states are struggling to pay salaries, we are not only paying salaries and pensions, we are executing key projects,” he said.


He urged the youths of the area to protect the contractors for speedy completion of the project.
Describing the project, the Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dr Tamunosisi Jaja said the school will be re-modelled, reconstructed and upgraded.

He added that boarding education would be introduced in Government Secondary School, Abua as part of the remodelling process.
Member of the House of Representatives representing Abua/Odual/Ahoada East Federal Constituency , Mrs Betty Apiafi praised Governor Wike for always giving Abua/Odual priority attention.

Oda Abua, King Kalay Obugeh lauded Governor Wike for the return of peace to the area. He said through the implementation of projects, peace has been sustained by the Wike administration in the area.

Caretaker Committee Chairman of Abua/Odual Local Government Area, Oladipo said Wike is the only governor that has initiated and commissioned projects in the area since the creation of the council.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/peaceful-communities-will-enjoy-more.html

Nigeria’s oil and gas logistics company, INTELS Nigeria Limited, has been conferred with the award of the “Most Outstanding Terminal Operator in Corporate Social Responsibility” by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), which is a federal government agency under the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

The award, which was conferred on Intels during the NSC’s stakeholders’ appreciation night held in Lagos recently, was in appreciation of the company’s efforts at uplifting individuals, families and the host communities through its CSR.

Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello, also commended INTELS for its huge investment and commitment to ports development in the country.

He said Intels as a core investor in the concession of major oil and gas terminals in Nigeria and has consistently raised the living standards of its host communities in Onne, in Rivers State, Warri in Delta State and Calabar in Cross River States.

In recognition of the company’s support, the paramount ruler of Onne clan in Rivers State, King John Dennis Osaronu, recently commended the company, describing it as “a company Nigerians must be proud of.”

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/intels-wins-shippers-council-csr-award.html

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, yesterday called on the people of the Niger Delta to take advantage of the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) for small scale farmers in Nigeria or lose out on its many benefits.

The youths regretted that the objectives of the programme were little known in the region, noting that most eligible people of Ijaw descent had not been able to benefit from the N43.92 billion so far released for the scheme.


Daniel Dasimaka, the IYC’s national Spokesman, in a statement in Yenagoa, said the region was being left behind in terms of keying into the programme inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 for small holders in the agricultural sector in the country.

President Buhari had while reeling out his scorecard in October described the programme as a huge success, mentioning some states that were benefitting hugely from it.

“N43.92 billion (has been) released through the CBN and 13 participating institutions, 200,000 small holder farmers from 29 states of the federation benefitting, 233,000 hectares of farmland cultivating eight commodities, namely rice, wheat, maize, cotton, soya-beans, poultry, cassava and groundnuts, in addition to fish farming” he had said.

The IYC urged all Ijaw people interested in the programme to intimate themselves with the CBN’s ‘Anchor Borrowers’ Programme Guideline’ which is intended to create a linkage between anchor companies involved in the processing and small holder farmers (SHFs) of the required key agricultural commodities.

“The programme thrust of the ABP is the provision of farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labour) to small holder farmers to boost production of these commodities, stabilise inputs supply to agro processors and address the country’s negative balance of payments on food.

“At harvest, the SHF supplies his/her produce to the Agro-processor (Anchor) who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account,” the youth body explained.

IYC added: “Recently, as part of our consultation to improve the wellbeing of Ijaw people, especially the youths, we visited the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and he also mentioned the benefits of this programme.

“But are Ijaw youths aware of the existence of this programme? How many youths of Ijaw descent are aware? How many Ijaw youths have benefitted from the N43.92 billion released through the CBN? If we have not, why?”

The group argued that the key to the region’s development “lies in our taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to us”, adding that while we struggle for Resource Control and self-determination to manage our God -given resources, we should also take full advantage of the many opportunities in the non-oil sectors of the economy.

“While we are here talking about crude oil which has the full attention of Nigerians, some people are making cool tax-free billions on the back of government incentives,” Dasimaka noted.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/ijaw-youths-urge-ndelta-to-key-into-fgs.html

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was yesterday pronounced worthy in character and learning for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Christian Theology. The pronouncement was made after he spent 163 minutes to defend his voluminous dissertation before a six-man academic panel.



He got the degree from the Department of Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Abeokuta Study Centre, Ogun State.Obasanjo’s PhD thesis is titled: Resolving The Unfinished Agenda in Liberation Theology: Leadership, Poverty And Underdevelopment In North Eastern Nigeria.

The former president, with matriculation number: NOU 146058901 submitted the thesis as part of the requirements for the award of a Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Theology.


Members of the defence panel were Prof. Deji Ayegboyin (Major Supervisor), Dr. Mustapha Raheem Adejoro (Head of Department, Religious Studies), Prof. Nebath Tanglang (School of Postgraduate Studies), Dr. Samaila Mande (Dean, Postgraduate School), Prof. Godwin Akper (Internal Supervisor and Dean, Faculty of Arts) and Prof. Cletus Gotan (External Supervisor).

Asked by Mande, who chaired the panel, to justify in a nutshell why he should be awarded a PhD degree of the institution, Obasanjo said he had put in enough study and intellectual rigour to produce his work based on diligent guide and supervision from his teachers and supervisors.

At the end of the defense, Mande declared Obasanjo worthy of the degree, stressing that he had satisfied the requirements and thus qualified for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Theology of NOUN.

Mande said it was a thing of joy to him as the former President was one of the pioneer students to receive a PhD in Christian Theology under his management and expressed the confidence that the feat would be celebrated during the NOUN convocation.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/obasanjo-bags-phd-in-christian-theology.html

General Overseer of The Word Bible Church, worldwide, Prophet Juluis Babatinde Kumoluyi, has described the Biblical significance of President Donald Trump’s desire to make Jerusalem the capital of Isreal, as a signal of end time, saying: “For me, I can tell you categorically that it is God that brought Donald Trump in as U.S President in order to fulfil His promises. Trump is just like Jesus Christ, the Messiah who came to redeem us from our iniquities. What is happening about Trump and Jerusalem is even Biblical and it is in fulfilment of God’s promises. It is an indication that anytime from now, the trumpet may sound and that we must be ready and be at alert. The end is very near. ”

The cleric, who is a Prophet with track records of many of his predictions coming to pass, one of which was his predictions about President Muhammadu Buhari’s illness before the President fell ill and was flown to London, gave the remarks during the 25th anniversary of his church at the headquarters in Ajelogo area of Ketu, in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos.



Oba Fasiku Adewunmi Ajibade, Elekole of Ikole-Ekiti, and paramount ruler of Egbe Oba kingdom, in Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, who graced the ocassion with many other dignitaries, said: “I feel happy and great because it is a thing of joy for me. We were together and living close to each other in Lagos when he started this ministry 25 years ago. ”

“I appreciate the mercy of God for his life and also appreciate how God has used him for me in certain major achievements in my life through his prayers. I also appreciate his wife, Prophetess Kumoluyi for supporting her husband and ensuring that she fill the gap whenever Prophet Kumoluyi is away doing God’s work. He has receive the grace and mercy of God and he must remain in God truly and continue to preach true words of God.”

Bamidele Ayanlowo, a medical doctor and General Overseer of Divine Life Ministries, (aka Holy Ghost Assembly) Shagamu, Ogun State, preached a sermon entitled: “Recipe for long life and work of God” at the event, said he was drawn to Pastor Kumoluyi because he watched him preached God’s undiluted words in a television broadcast.

Speaking about the topic of his sermon, he said, “There is this widely held view and fear about death. That nobody knows the day of his death and that anyone could die anytime. But that is an uncertainty that we children of God should not accept. From the word of God, we don’t see that happening with those who walked with God. God has a covenant with His people which He wants to respect and keep, He doesn’t just want them to die suddenly. He wants to communicate with us and you would. Find out that for those who have been walking with God, He gives them premonition and even instructions, and opportunity for them to prepare before he time comes.”



Ayanlowo listed the recipe for long life as, walking closely with God, repentance from dead works, especially sexual sins, reading and applying God’s words to everyday life, using our tongues rightly, choosing what to eat right, rejoicing in the Lord no matter the situation, not allowing the difficulties of life to weigh you down and relating well with all people, loving everyone and respecting men of God and obeying rules of practical healthy living among other.

Oba Olagbade Ojo, Elemuje of Emuje kingdom in Ifedore local government area of Ondo State, who said he could pass for a kinsman of Prophet Kumoluyi said: “My place is just three kilometres from Pastor Kumoluyi’s place and that makes us kinsmen. He is a true prophet and he stunned me with all his prophecies for me which came to pass. I urge all members of the church to always listen to the man of God.”

Congratulating her husband on the 25th anniversary, Mrs. Funmi Kumoluyi, said: “I feel happy and grateful to God on a day like this. It is God’s doing. God is faithful in promises. It is not easy but God has been seeing us through so we give him all the glory.

” We have witnessed many challenges but because we have Jesus Christ. We know that in this world, we will face many challenges but all these that we encounter in this. Journey are making us stronger.I rejoice with my husband, he should continue to be prayerful, thankful and faithful obedient to God. In spite of the challenges, he should look up to Jesus Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith, ” she said.



Commenting on the journey of 25 years as a man of God, Kumoluyi said:

“It gladdens my heart to witness this milestone. 25 years in the ministry is not a joke. It is not very easy but God in His infinite mercy has made it easy for me. I have seen so many storms and challenges here and there but I was able to triumph, may be it was because of my commitment, I don’t know but this is what we call mercy of God, favour of God because there are many people who are holier than me and can work assiduously in God’s vineyard more than me. But we thank God that I am alive today to witness this glorious occasion. So, to me it is mercy and grace of God.

” There was a time people were leaving the church, and they were people I never thought could think of leaving. I almost got discouraged but when I asked God, he said He was the one sanitizing the church. Those who left then were very close to me and they were people I relied on to take over the ministry should I be called home any time. But glory be to God, in no time he replaced everyone who left with even more people.

“There are people in the church today who would decide to leave the church if you do not give them a strategic post they want. I allow those to go and continue to pray for them so that God’s wrath won’t be on them. There are agents of darkness in church but you may not know after a long while unless the Lord shows you, he said.

Recalling the challenges he had faced, he said: “I had many horrible experiences that almost made me to quit but what has kept me going are two, that this was a true call from God and also that since I heed His call, I have never consulted lesser God for any power. I often stand on these two facts to relate with God in difficult times.

“So, I enjoy challenges when they come, particularly criticism, to me when a man of God is criticised, you become better as you would know areas where you are failing and quickly make amends.”

On his achievement as leader of the church, he said: “God has given us great achievements, an example if the magnificent building you are seeing. God has also given us. Branches across the country and in some parts of the world. Recently I was in London to minister at a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) branch in Coventry city, when God used some brethren over there decided to start a another branch of this church in Manchester , they were about 20 in number and I tell you till now, they are expanding and marching forward. We have over twelve branches across the world and our membership is well over 10, 000.”

About the fight against corruption in Nigeria, Kumoluyi gave a shocker: “Corruption is in every Nigeria’s blood. Only way to stop corruption in a drastic way is to enact a draconian Law. Once you are found guilt of any corruption, you get killed!.

“This has happened in China and has made many to desist from committing corruption. Also, in, if you steal government money or are found guilty of corruption, in Indonesia, they simply kill the person. That way, we can get rid of corruption. The damaging thing is that those who are parading themselves as honourable citizens are among the most corrupt and that is why they can’t fight corruption. I laud the efforts of President Buhari because he has been able to tackle the menace far more frontally than his predecessors, ” he said.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/trump-is-god-sent-prophet-kumoluyi.html

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Nigeria’s trade balance peaked at N1.23 trillion in the third quarter of 2017, indicating the highest figure posted since 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.


In its foreign trade statistics report for the third quarter of 2017, the NBS also disclosed that total imports value of N2.234 trillion posted in the third quarter of 2017 represented a 10.51 per cent decline over the second quarter, and 4.68 per cent lower than the third quarter of 2016.

According to the NBS, the positive trade balance was attributable to an increase in exports and a decline in imports.

Providing further data, the statistical agency said that the N1.23 trillion trade balance exceeded the N506.5 billion recorded in the previous quarter.

The NBS said in the report that the country’s exports in the third quarter of 2017 stood at N3.57 trillion, marking a 13.19 per cent increase over the figure recorded in the second quarter.

It added that the N3.57 trillion also represented a 35 per cent increase over the amount posted in the corresponding period in 2016.

Raw materials export value, the report added, increased by 16.88 per cent in the third quarter of 2017 compared to raw materials exports in the second quarter of 2017 and 70.42 per cent higher than the third quarter of 2016.

In addition, the NBS report stated that the value of solid minerals exports increased by 85.3 per cent in the period under review compared to the second quarter of 2017 and was 78.72 per cent higher than the third quarter of 2016.

It also showed that the value of Nigeria’s total imports in goods decreased by 10.51 per cent in the third quarter of 2017 from the N2.6 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2017 to N2.3 trillion.

Total imports (goods) were 4.68 per cent lower than the N2.4 trillion recorded in the third quarter of 2016.

Aggregate trade for the third quarter stood at N5.93 trillion, showing a 3.94 per cent and 23.86 per cent rise over the value posted in the second quarter of 2017 and the third quarter of 2016, respectively.

Also, the value of imported agricultural goods stood at N232.2 billion, a 0.05 per cent increase over the N232.1 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2017 and 16.91 per cent higher than the value recorded in Q3 2016.

The value of exported agricultural goods stood at N21.47 billion, indicating a 38.43 per decrease over the N29.71 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2017.

It was however 25.29 per cent higher than agriculture exports in the third quarter of 2016.

Manufactured goods exports, valued at N50.13 billion, were 62.68 per cent lower than the N1.24 trillion recorded in Q2, 2017, but 22.98 per cent higher than the value recorded in Q3 2016.

Manufactured goods imports in the third quarter of 2017, valued at N1.2 trillion, were 4.08 per cent higher than the N1.1 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2017 and 2.79 per cent lower than the value documented for the third quarter of 2016.

Other oil products exports valued at N474.9 billion in the third quarter were 13.53 per cent lower than the N539 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2017 and 37.22 per cent higher than the value recorded in the third quarter of 2016.

Crude Oil exports in Q3 2017 stood at N2.9 trillion, representing an 18.40 per cent increase and 34.13 per cent hike over the N2.43 trillion recorded in Q2 2017 and the value posted in Q3 2016, respectively.

“Exports in the third quarter were still dominated by crude oil, with the commodity accounting for 83.17 per cent of total exports,” the report stated.

NBS in another report on banking sector data also revealed yesterday that the deposit money banks in the country extended a total of N15.83 trillion in credit to the private sector in the third quarter of 2017.

The NBS said in a report on select banking sector data for Q3 2017 that 213,693,964 transactions valued at N19.33 trillion were recorded in Q3 2017 on electronic payment channels in the Nigerian banking sector.

NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) transactions dominated the volume of transactions recorded.

The report showed that 97,530,856 NIP transactions valued at N13.96 billion were recorded in the quarter under review.

In terms of credit to the private sector, of the N15.83 trillion extended by the banks, the oil and gas and manufacturing sectors got N3.54 trillion and N2.27 trillion, respectively during the third quarter, the report stated, while the total number of bank staff increased by 9.16 per cent from 75,607 in the second quarter of 2017 to 82,531 in the third quarter of 2017.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/nigerias-trade-balance-hits-n12tn-as.html

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Lagos State alone contributed 73 per cent to the 2018 World Bank’s rating of Nigeria on the ease of doing business, a global competitive index for measuring business regulations, the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has said.


Also, the governor said the state, currently with an estimated population of over 22 million people, has received more foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the last two and half years than it received in the previous 15 years.

He made the disclosure at a strategic meeting he held with the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Denys Gauer, alongside some delegates of the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF) at the State House, Alausa yesterday.

Established in 1998, MEDEF is the largest employer federation in France. However, MEDEF replaced the National Council of the French Employers (CNPF) founded in 1946. Now it has more than 750,000 member firms, 90 per cent of them being small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 50 employees.

At the meeting which the Lagos State Officer of Overseas Affairs and Investment coordinated, the governor said the resolve of the state government to enhance the ease of doing business in the state had started yielding dividends.

He noted that Nigeria moved 24 steps in the recently announced World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, noting that it was most gladdening “to remember that Lagos State alone contributed 73 per cent to the World Bank’s ranking of Nigeria on this front.”

He, therefore, said the state government would continue “to inspire confidence among investors worldwide and it is a fact that Lagos has received more FDIs in the last two and half years than it received in the previous 15 years.”

By implication, the governor added that the state’s modest achievement “has been made possible by our resolve to improve security of lives and property in the State, by embarking on security and justice sector reforms, by lightening up Lagos streets and by easing the passage of traffic across the state.”

“In the nearest future, Lagos State will put in place an intermodal transportation system, taking full advantage of our waterways, rail networks to mention but a few. As a country, we have had a great relationship with France even if this slowed down some time back,” Ambode explained.

With what it has to offer, the governor said Lagos State could spearhead the revival of this relationship and the ushering in of a stimulating cooperation between Lagos and France, noting that Lagos is open to business.

Consequently, he urged the French business community not “to miss out on the real and great opportunities that exist in Lagos State in such sectors as health, agriculture, transportation, energy, tourism and entertainment among others.”

He noted that Lagos might be the smallest state in Nigeria by size, but it was the most populous State in the country with 22 million people and with a GDP of $136 billion, which he said, earned it a prime place of Africa’s fifth largest economy, much bigger than several African states’ economies combined.

The governor, thus, said now that the French business giants have witnessed the progress our government has made in the last two years especially in the area of infrastructure development and creating an enabling environment for business in the state, it is my hope that you will be encouraged to invest in Lagos.”

In its 2018 report, the World Bank had ranked Nigeria 145th, precisely 24 positions better than the 169th position the country was ranked in the 2017 report. The report showed that Nigeria was among the 10 top countries that improved on reforms.

Although the report ranked New Zealand first on the ease of doing business index for the second consecutive year, it listed the areas that Nigeria improved with reforms to include starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering a property, getting credit and paying taxes.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/lagos-contributed-73-to-nigerias-ease.html

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There are billions of Android phones and tablets out there, but only a vanishingly small number of them are running Google’s latest Android release, known as Oreo.

Google has released updated platform distribution numbers, which show that a mere 0.5 percent of Android devices are on Oreo, and the latest 8.1 build hasn’t even hit the necessary 0.1 percent cutoff to be included. This sounds bad, but the news is actually better than it was last year.
As things currently stand, Android 7.0 and 7.1 (Nougat) have a combined share of 23.3 percent, but Marshmallow is still the biggest chunk of all Android devices with 29.7 percent market share. That version of Android was launched over two years ago, so many of these devices are no longer getting security updates. Lollipop, which came out the year before that, is also larger than Nougat with 26.3 percent of active devices.
The remainder of Android phones and tablets are running older versions of the OS like KitKat, and Gingerbread. Yes, there are still 0.4 percent of devices (less than Oreo!) running Gingerbread. That version of Android launched just over seven years ago on the Nexus S. This OS is so clunky and slow by today’s standards, I can only assume it’s running on modded tablets or smartphones in some far-flung corner of the world.
Android’s sluggish update timeline is thanks to the way it’s deployed on devices. Googlemakes the operating system and releases the open source code. Device makers take than, optimize for their hardware with the help of vendors like Qualcomm and MediaTek, and sell phones. It’s the smartphone maker that’s responsible for pushing updates, and sometimes there’s not a compelling business reason for them to do so quickly or at all. If you purchase a cheap phone, there’s little incentive for the maker to spend resources pushing more than a few small updates.
It’s not all bad news, though. Nougat’s rise last year was actually slower than Oreo this year. So, we should see better results as the big 2018 flagship phones start dropping in a few months. Going forward, all phones that launch with Oreo will have support for Project Treble. This is a modular version of the Android platform that separates the low-level vendor code like hardware drivers from the user-facing stuff. This change should make updates faster because OEMs don’t need to wait for updated drivers from Qualcomm and others.
For the time being, Oreo users are in the extreme minority. Hopefully, that won’t be the case for future updates.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/05-percent-of-android-devices-run.html

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Residents of Ipaja, Abesan Estate and Baruwa communities of Lagos State have petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, and the Lagos Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, over alleged harassment and extortion by operatives of the Ipaja Division of the force.
In a letter signed by Gbenga Adeboye and made available to The Guardian, the petitioners alleged that the officers have turned the station into a bank, where innocent citizens are being exploited.

“A case in question was the illegal arrest of artisans in retail market in their shops while doing their lawful duties. It took the intervention of the Iyaloja, who gathered around N20,000 before the artisans could regain their freedom.”


They also alleged that a nursing mother was arrested and detained over night late last month because she quarrelled with a relation of one of the police officers.

“Also, a young boy was sent to Kirikiri Prisons by a police officer. The young boy, Ahmed Akinlusi, had an argument with a hotel director. He was reported to aan officer who demanded N15,000 from the boy’s family. The family couldn’t afford the money.

“ We want you to please investigate all the claims. We are ready to cooperate with you. These are just a few of the injustice committed by someone, who heads a Divisional Police Headquarters. We don’t want to take the law into our hands as law abiding citizens, but please help us to put an end to this shameful display by policemen at Alagolo,” the residents pleaded.
http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/lagos-communities-petition-igp-over.html

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The Future Africa Awards 2017(TFAA2017), tagged the #Nigeria’sNewTribe was concluded some minutes ago.

The awards which was held at the Federal Palace Hotel, was hosted by Mimi Onalaja and Adekunle ‘Gold’ Kosoko.

Here is the list of the categories and the winners.

Prize for Professional Service


Olamide Bada

Prize for Comedy

Otolorin Kehinde Peter (Kenny Blaq)

Prize for Advocacy

Ayodeji Osowobi

Prize for On Air Personality (Visual)


Nancy Isime

Prize for On Air Personality (Radio)

Tisan Jeremiah Bako

Prize for Music

David Adeleke ( Davido)

Prize for Business

Bisola Borha (Trendy Bee)

Prize for Acting

Sambasa Nzeribe

Prize for Public Service

Dada Olabisi Mary

Prize for Technology

Chris Kwekowe

Prize for Agriculture

Adetola Adeleke

Prize for New Media

Femi Bakare

Prize for Beauty

Adetola Adetoye (Anita Brows)

Prize for Art and Culture

Ayobami Adebayo

Prize for Education

Samson Abioye, Akanbi Gideon and Oluwaseun Imole

Prize for Photography

Yagazie Madu

Prize for Journalism

Eromo Egbejule

Prize for Fashion

Bisola Adeniyi (LadyBiba)

Prize for Media Enterprise

Timilehin Bello

Prize for Sports

Anthony Joshua

Young Person of the Year

Ayo Balogun (Wizkid)

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/tfaa2017-here-is-list-of-winners.html

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Nollywood actress, Adediwura Adesegha, also known as ‘Blarkgold’ has revealed why many actors and actresses attend white-garment churches.

She said most of the actors like churches where they would be told what becomes of them tomorrow.

The dark-skinned actress said many Yoruba actors, especially the females, prefer attending Celestial churches to get visions.

She told Vanguard, “You know people love it when they tell them visions about themselves. I think that may be the reason they attend Celestial churches.
“I might be wrong though. You know the Yorubas believe in the power of the spiritual. Some actresses were born into the Celestial church while some joined.”
She added, “Spirituality has nothing to do with your mode of dressing. It has to do with your heart.
“When you talk about being spiritual, let me just score myself fifty percent. My morning devotion is on zero level. I will rather sing.
“I find it difficult to pray and keep saying ‘Lord do this or that for me.’
“Singing is the way I pour my heart to God. Everybody doesn’t have to kneel down and pray.
“I might sit down and just look on a spot for a while and keep my thoughts connected to God. It depends on one’s way of connecting and your relationship with God.”
http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/why-many-actors-actresses-attend-white.html

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Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode has stated that for Nigeria to meet its growth ambitions and achieve full economic potential, concerted efforts must be made to create at least four million jobs annually and as well jettison policies that stifle development.
Speaking yesterday at the opening session of the 9th Annual Bankers’ Committee Retreat of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held at Renaissance Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, Ambode said it was time for the government to review such policies that inhibit growth and rather come up with a well-functioning low cost financial system that will work for all Nigerians.

He described the theme of the retreat — “Improving Financial Access, Enabling Job Creation and Driving Inclusive Growth in Nigeria,” as apt, noting that it was at the heart of the nation’s economy.

He said: “To meet our growth ambitions we need jobs. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in employment terms, from a labour force population of about 81 million people, we currently have 11.5million people unemployed in Nigeria and 17 million people under-employed, with the total employment around 52.6 million, while the working age population grows by 3.7 per cent every year. So, to make a meaningful dent on un-employment and underemployment, and to reduce poverty (which is at over 60 per cent), we need to be creating at least four million jobs per year.

“Where do banks fit into all of this? Well, the reality is if we do not have a well-functioning banking sector, all of this is not possible. Both investment and day-to-day commerce requires the intermediation of banks. And while someone outside of the formal financial sector can in some cases make a living, the reality is that incomes of the bottom of the pyramid are increased when we have better financial inclusion but we are not there yet.”
The Governor, who particularly alluded to the strategy adopted in Kenya to deepen financial inclusion, said efforts must be made to ensure low cost access to banking services especially through mobile money.
Ambode challenged the CBN, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC), commercial banks and other players in the financial system to decide the type of financial system that would really impact on employment and bring more people into the formal financial system.
He added: “This is where we should focus as a nation not the type of directives or decisions that actually try to stifle growth and commerce. One clear example is this; as a State Government, I want to take a commercial loan from the bank and they tell me I should go and get a letter from Debt Management Office (DMO); I should get approval from the Federal Ministry of Finance; I should go to CBN and so on. Who does that?
“You want to accelerate growth and everything that I am doing even when I take loan from the bank; when I do bond and so on, I am only trying to reflate the economy. Each construction site that you see in Lagos, I am trying to create employment at the lower level so that the artisans, the bricklayers and so on can go home with N5,000. I need to do something in Badagry to make the people stay there and not come to the central Lagos and when you take the extra money outside the IGR, you are actually trying to help the economy to reflate itself and that is why you are able to excite yourself with the growth that you have seen in the third quarter that we say is 1.5 but that is not the number that we want.



“So sometimes, government seems to shoot itself in the leg. Why should Lagos State go and be meeting DMO to say I want to take a commercial loan when 80 per cent of my IGR can pay the loan itself back? So, you see that there is some sense of homogeneity in the policies that we make but sometimes they are not really flexible and you end up coming back to say we want to create jobs but the things that create jobs are the things that we are actually working against and you create unnecessary competition in the system.”

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/nigeria-must-create-4-million-jobs.html

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The ECOWAS Parliament has ended its Second Ordinary Session with the decision to discuss the free movement of persons and goods at its next meeting in Dakar, Senegal.
The session, which held from November 21 through December 9, 2017, saw the parliament exercise its recently enhanced powers to review the 2018 Draft Community Budget of the region. It also witnessed the parliament’s approval of the draft budget with an equal revenue and expenditure totaling N122bn.
Speaker of the Parliament, Moustapha Cissè Lo, said the first meeting of the parliament in the New Year would hold from February 12 to 14, in Dakar, Senegal. The meeting, an International Forum on the Free Movement of Persons and Goods, and Migration issues in the region, will focus in particular, on the Libyan situation.
In an earlier resolution during the session, Parliament decided to send a fact-finding delegation to Libya. According to Cissè Lo, the grand event will see the participation of some presidents of the region closest to Senegal, including President of Senegal, Mackay Sall who will open the session. Also to attend is the President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou. As a migrant route country to Europe, President Issoufou will speak on on-going efforts and challenges of illegal migration via Niger’s border community, Agadez.
The First Extraordinary Session of the Parliament would kick off immediately after the forum and run from February 16 to 22, 2018 in Senegal.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/ecowas-to-discuss-free-movement.html

@ Akelicious.com
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has solicited the support of the Thailand government in the country’s quest to boost its agricultural sector.

Obasanjo hinted that as part of moves to attain food sufficiency, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration was planning to introduce 2,000 tractors to boost mechanised farming in the country.

He made this request at the Thailand Tractors and Agric-Machinery Show (THAITAM 2017), organised by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) of the Ministry of Commerce, which began at Kasetsart University, Thailand, on Thursday.


He also urged other countries to partner President Buhari’s initiative to ensure increased local production of food crops in the country.

Obasanjo who spoke through one of his aides, Abraham Idowu Akanle, said, “Nigeria’s agricultural sector requires international support in its programmes and initiatives such as cattle breeding improvement, climate change, standardisation and certification of food products, seed development and improvement and capacity building, among others.

“As I am made to understand, the Buhari administration is working vigorously to commercialise and mechanise Nigeria’s agriculture by introducing about 2,000 units of tractors and various kinds of harvesting and processing equipment to mechanize our farming annually.”

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/obasanjo-seeks-thailands-support-for.html

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Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has stated that there is nothing like micro-zoning in relation to today’s (Saturday), National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Wike noted that the former acting National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, is the best candidate to drive the party to the next level in view of his (Secondus) experience and track record.

The governor added that PDP would come out from the National Convention stronger and re-positioned to provide credible opposition. He spoke yesterday from the Abuja Studio of Channels Television, when he featured on the station’s Sunrise Daily programme.

He said: “The issue of micro-zoning and gentleman’s agreement does not arise. There is nothing like that. The so-called micro-zoning is being floated by a presidential aspirant from the North supported by campaign officials of Tunde Adeniran”.

He reiterated that the presidential position was zoned to the North and the National Chairmanship zoned to the South. Governor Wike regretted that some PDP National Chairmanship aspirants have resorted to blackmail, simply because they have lost the contention for the delegates.

“Anybody, who believes in PDP will work for the party after the National Convention, whether or not you emerge. You will do otherwise when you are controlled by external forces. No right thinking party member will resort to issuance of threats”, he said.

He explained that contrary to the planting of stories against Prince Secondus by his opponents, the National Chairmanship aspirant has no existing issue with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), having gone to court against the agency and won. He said damages were awarded in favour of Secondus.

“After tomorrow’s convention, PDP will come out stronger. It will come out refreshed and re-positioned for the good of the country. Somebody who believes that he will win, will not resort to writing petitions before the convention. All reports in the media against Secondus are planted and false. Secondus has never said anything negative against any other candidate. He has remained focused on his campaign,” he said.

Wike insisted that the South-South remained the bedrock of the PDP, saying that no zone should be taken for granted. “National chairmanship in the South-West will not change the fortunes of the PDP. Even when the President hails from the South-West, the fortunes of the party did not improve in terms of votes in that zone.

“The zone is prone to incessant crises as can be seen. Any candidate who emerges from the South-West will lead to further crisis from other factions from that zone. Only a candidate from outside the South-West such as Prince Uche Secondus can unite the zone. He has the reach and capacity to unite all factions in the South-West. He is the person suited for the party at this time “, he said.

He noted that of all the National chairmanship aspirants, only Secondus is from a State with PDP as the party in government. The governor further said the other candidates have no political presence in their respective states to drive the revival of the party.


“I have analysed the scenario. I have analysed the delegates spread of each state. There is no way that Prince Uche Secondus will not coast to victory by over 90 percent of delegates votes. I am talking because I am in the campaign team of Prince Uche Secondus and I am a delegate”, he said.

The governor added that he resigned his membership of the National Convention Planning Committee because he wants to focus on the campaign for the emergence of Secondus as National Chairman.

http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/no-micro-zoning-for-pdps-convention.html

@Akelicious.com

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday night declared that the massive crowd that turned out to welcome him on his arrival in Kano for a two-day working visit was a message to the opposition that his support in the region remains unshaken and his popularity undiminished.

President Buhari, who made this comment at a state dinner held in his honour, said he was grateful to the government and people of Kano for the very warm and peaceful reception.

‘‘I am overwhelmed with the massive reception I have received, and definitely, since this is partisan politics, I think it has sent a clear message to the opposition.

‘‘Even going by the details of the election results in 2003, 2007 and 2011, it was very clear that nobody could even dare to rig my scores from the elections in Kano.
‘‘It has been so consistent and I don’t think I have the vocabulary to express my thanks to the people of Kano. I am very grateful to God and the people of Kano for the complete trust you have in me,’’ he said.
The president, in a statement by his senior special assistant on media, Garba Shehu, noted that during his drive around the city on Wednesday to commission several projects, he observed that many of those who thronged the road to welcome him were very young people.
He pledged that, as a person in a position of authority, his priority was to provide a meaningful future for the teeming youth in the country through education and the prudent management of the economic resources of the country.
The president congratulated Governor Abdullahi Ganduje on his development strides in the state and urged other political office holders to emulate and support the state governor.
‘‘He is a great politician and I am afraid I am still learning,’’ the president remarked.
President Buhari restated that his message at his inaugural address, “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody,’’ will continue to guide his stewardship to the Nigerian people.
‘‘My problem is Nigeria and I have been involved in almost all the instability Nigeria experienced: the civil war, the coups, and counter-coups. That was why I said during my swearing-in that ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.
‘‘Nigeria is my target and I will continue to maintain focus,’’ he said.

Kano APC Endorses president, Ganduje For Second Term
… as president expresses worry over financial inducement, violence in recent polls
Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State yesterday adopted President Muhammadu Buhari as their candidate for the 2019 general election.
According to a statement by the president’s senior special assistant on media, Garba Shehu, the party leaders also expressed their support to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as their sole candidate for 2019.
Akelicious Friday reports that President Buhari did not accept or decline the endorsement in his speech even after the party leaders promised to procure the nomination forms for him.
The party leaders even threatened to sue if he declined the said endorsement.
But President Buhari merely beamed with smiles and went on to underscore the need for unity in the party and among the diverse peoples of Nigeria.
The APC stakeholders meeting, held on the sidelines of the president’s state visit to Kano, was attended by Governor Ganduje, his deputy, Professor Hafizu Abubakar, the state chairman and members of the state executive committee and members of the national executive committee of the party from Kano State.
Also in attendance were two of the state’s senators; members of the House of Representatives from the state; the Speaker and 34 of the 40 members of the Kano State House of Assembly and the 44 party chairmen, their deputies and the local government area secretaries of the APC.
Others are Governor Muhammed Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa and other leaders of the party in the state.
The state chairman of the APC, Alhaji Inuwa Abbas, hinged their endorsement of the president on his achievements in the last two years, especially in the fields of security, the war against corruption and the revival of the economy.
“Security is important for everyone, not just for Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states; it’s even more so for us as a commercial and industrial state. We are convinced that you are best for these times when the country has begun to muster energy and resources to develop agriculture, infrastructure and empower the younger citizens,” Abbas said.
Speaking on a jocular note, governor Ganduje said the party was prepared to drag the president to court to force him to accept the second term ticket.
In his response, President Buhari said he understood the clamour by the ordinary people on the streets who raised four fingers on each arm, ‘’meaning four plus four,’’ that is, second tenure as president.
He, however, stressed the need to sanitise party politics by ridding it of vote buying and violence.
“What I saw in the elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers – the use of money and those headless bodies – really upset me. I don’t wish to see that anywhere. I would not have won if money and killing was the modus of operation. That is my view of politics,” the president said.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/2019massive-reception-in-kano-clear.html

The Gombe State Government has launched its action plan on United Nation Security Council Resolution 1325, tagged ‘HeforShe Campaign and Peace Architecture,’ aimed at minimising the hardship, difficulties and atrocities women go through during conflicts and disasters.

Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, represented at the event by his Special Adviser, Mrs. Dudu Manuga, who is Director General, Gombe State Enterprise Development and Promotion Agency, on Thursday, said that the action plan would create the much-needed opportunity for women protection and participation not only in governance but also in all facets of our human endeavour.

Governor Dankwambo said the policy thrust of his administration would be in alignment with world best practice by ensuring that women are not only protected against insecurity but also have access to effective participation in peace negotiation, peace building and governance among others.

Deputy Programme Manager Women Peace Security UN-Women, Peter Mancha, said that globally over 1.1 million men have joined the HeForShe movement, stressing that the HeForShe campaign began online with a simple affirmation that gender equality is not only a women’s issues, but also a human right issue that requires everyone’s participation and commitment to achieve.

Mancha lamented the enormity of the challenges facing women across the country, stressing that women comprises under 6 percent of the membership of the legislature, with women also constituting over 65 percent of the 70 percent of the estimated people living below the poverty line.

“HeForShe is a solidarity movement which aims to engage at least 1 billion men and boys on the topic of gender equality. HeForShe is also a critical part of our efforts to promote gender equality in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, which include a commitment to end discrimination and inequality, access to justice, and participation in political and economic life based on gender by 2030,” she said.

Mancha described as commendable and worthy of emulation, UN-Women’s initiative with support from European Union in promoting women’s engagement in peace and security processes in Adamawa, Plateau and Gombe States, where government and traditional leaders have taken bold step to increase the representation of women in decision-making.

He added that in Adamawa State for instance, 49 women have been appointed as advisors to the paramount Ruler of Bachama Kingdom in Numan local government Area, and District Head of Doho in Gombe State appointed 57 women as members of his Traditional Council and Advisors,

Mancha noted also that the Mai of Kaltungo, Engr Sale Mohammad engaged over 40 women as advisers in his Traditional Council. Plateau State has also seen the appointment of 95 women as advisers to Traditional Councils and Community Leaders in some local government areas.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/gombe-launches-un-resolution-1325-to.html

Ife Klub 1 is to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a public lecture with the theme : Yorubas Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, in Ile Ife,Osun State on Saturday, December 9, 2017
The President , Chief Adebisi Ogundipe, in a statement, said two eminent Yoruba personalities – Prof. Banjo Akintoye and Chief Leman Alabi – will speak on the theme of the lecture holding at Oba Okunade Sijuwade Memorial Hall in Enuwa, Ile Ife at noon.

The occasion will also witness launch of Phase Two of the Klub House Fund and investiture of new patrons and matrons. They include Oba Adebisi Fatunmise and Oba Hezekiah Owolola.

Ahmed Ipoola Omisore, Chief Kayode Odunyemi and Moses Olaobaju will also be admitted into the Klub’s Hall of Fame.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/ife-klub-marks-40th-anniversary-with.html

President of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote has emerged the only African to make the Bloomberg list of 50 most influential people in the world this year.

Bloomberg on Monday announced The Bloomberg 50, a new annual, multi-platform initiative that honours 50 icons and innovators who have changed the global business landscape in measurable ways over the past year.

The first Bloomberg 50 honorees were selected by the Bloomberg Businessweek team after months of input from many of Bloomberg’s 2,700 journalists and analysts around the globe, leveraging the resources of the Bloomberg Terminal, and representing the most influential thought leaders in business, finance, technology and science, politics, and entertainment.
The executives, entrepreneurs, experts, and entertainers on the Bloomberg 50 all have a quantifiable metric underpinning their inclusion.


“What sets The Bloomberg 50 apart from other lists is that each person chosen has demonstrated measurable change over the past year,” said Megan Murphy, editor of Bloomberg Businessweek.

“Readers will find many names they recognise, but will also discover new visionaries—people who are impacting the world in significant ways, and are rapidly gaining the attention they deserve.”

Other prominent honorees on the Bloomberg 50 include – Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, a primary proponent of an initiative that would allow women to drive, a decision that is forecast to add $90 billion to the economy by 2030; Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies with a market capitalisation of over $50 billion. Elon Musk nurses the ambition to establish a human colony on planet Mars by 2022; Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon, the biggest global retailer, with a major interest in sending tourists into space in Blue Origin rockets; Masayoshi Son, Founder, Softbank Groups Corp., who engineered $93 billion, the largest ever technology investment fund, to fund ride-hailing, artificial intelligence, connected devices, satellites, and the integration of computers to humans; Diane Greene, CEO, Google Cloud and the brain behind integrating advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing to market; and Ken Frazier, CEO, Merck & Co., a leader in drug makers market with an innovative drug for advanced lung cancer treatment.

Dangote who only last week inaugurated his $300 million 1.5 mtpa capacity cement plant in Congo Brazzaville, has remained top-notch in various global rankings.
Dangote said: “I am very delighted with this selection and I see the recognition as a call to do more towards youth empowerment, job creation, better health for the people and economic emancipation of the African continent.”

As of February 2017, Dangote, according to Forbes magazine, had an estimated net worth of US$12.5 billion. He is ranked by Forbes magazine as the 67th richest person in the world and the richest in Africa and peaked on the list as the 23rd richest person in the world in 2014.
Bloomberg is a global information and technology company that connects decision makers to a dynamic network of data, people and ideas – accurately delivering business and financial information, news and insights to customers around the world.

Bloomberg, in the preface written by Paul Wallace, synopsized Dangote’s person and business in the following words: “The quiet billionaire for his relatively frugal lifestyle, Dangote fast-tracked plans to help his country of 180 million people import less of what it eats.
“Dangote, who made his fortune in the cement industry, is turning his attention to dairy and sugar farming; he’s earmarked $800 million to buy 50,000 cattle in the hope of producing 500 million litres of milk annually by 2019.

“He’s also racing to finish a 650,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery in Lagos, set to be one of the world’s biggest, and says he intends to spend as much as $50 billion in the next decade on renewable energy and petrochemical refineries, including investments in the U.S. and Europe.
“Which is all fine, but not quite his grand ambition: buying Arsenal, his favourite soccer team.”

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/dangote-emerges-only-african-on.html

The Compliance Team of the Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS ) said it has seized contraband with Duty Paid Value ( DPV ) of N93.7 million in the course of its operations.

The Coordinator of the Compliance Team, Ahmed Azarema, made this known while displaying the seized contraband to news men in Owerri on Tuesday at the Imo/Abia Command of the service.

Azarema said the compliance team, attached to the office of the Comptroller-General of Customs, confiscated 1,028bags of 20 kg foreign rice with a DPV of N8.22 million concealed with motor spare parts.

He said 1,258 bags of 50kg of foreign rice with a DPV of N74.8 million and 111 bales of second hand clothing with a DPV of N10.65 million was also seized by the team.

He said all the items were seized along Aba/Umuahia/Port Harcourt axis adding that two suspects were arrested in connection with the seized goods.

Azarema observed that because of the Yuletide season, smugglers are more desperate and always want to skim their way through but would always fail because of the dedication and ingenuity of the customs personnel.

He, therefore, charged Nigerians against ferrying contraband in and across the country, but to engage in legitimate businesses to avoid their goods being confiscated.

According to the compliance team coordinator, locally produced rice is more nutritious, better and cheaper than foreign rice which are preserved with chemicals.

He said that patronising locally made goods would help boost the country’s foreign exchange and provide jobs to the teeming unemployed youths in the country.

Azarema also urged Nigerians to desist from buying foreign rice to encourage the local producers.


more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/nigeria-customs-seizes-contraband-worth.html

Leading chairmanship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has pledged to run an all-inclusive leadership even as he assured other aspirants that they have nothing to fear about his chairmanship.

In a statement issued after his visit to Jalingo, Taraba State, and signed by Bisi Ezekiel, Secondus assured party members and stakeholders that his leadership would give everyone a sense of belonging, while also guaranteeing good governance within the party.

The aspirant, who affirmed that there was no reason for anybody to fear his chairmanship assured that “all interests will be accommodated. We will ensure a level playing for all contending forces within the party.

“We will not engage in winners take all. All stakeholders will have a sense of belonging as we will enforce the party constitution .Please ignore those spreading fears and alarms about my candidature .

“Those spreading rumours about what the party will look like under my leadership are mere blackmailers .I have occupied that chair before and our records of glowing performance speaks for us.We performed creditably in all capacities we have been opportuned to serve”,the aspirant said .

He noted further that his leadership will be a team playing one where party interests from all the six geo-political zones will be harmonised to lead the party to victory in 2019.

“I am a team player right from the beginning of my political career. Winning as a political party demands a team playing attitudes . I not only know this but I have practised it all along as a political leader.

“Those spreading falsehood are scared of their shadows. I am running on my records as a leader with achievements to showcase .There is no doubt I am the best man for the PDP leadership”, the statement noted .

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/pdp-chair-ill-run-all-inclusive.html

Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is the most valued African player aged 21 or under, and the 11th most expensive U21 player in the world.

According to a study by CIES Football Observatory, the Leicester City star is worth more than highly-rated AC Milan and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donarumma, and Real Madrid’s top talent Marco Asensio, who are ranked 12th and 15th respectively.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/nigerias-ndidi-is-most-expensive.html

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has reported that Nigeria purportedly has the second largest HIV epidemic in the world and has one of the highest new infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa.

This is just as it said 720,000 Nigerians are on United States PEPFAR-supported HIV treatment with approximately four million Nigerians having received HIV counseling and testing services in 2017 alone.
The acting Public Affairs Officer of the United States Consulate, Kevin Krapf, made this disclosure during the commemoration of the 2017 World AIDS day held in Lagos.

The commemoration was organised by the consulate in collaboration with the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) led by the Provost, Professor Babatunde Solagberu.
With the programmed theme: ‘Increasing Impact through Transparency, Accountability and Partnerships’, Krapf said it reflects the US government longstanding leadership in addressing global HIV/AIDS, increasing our impact to move epidemics from crisis toward control.


He said: “It also highlights the historic opportunity to accelerate progress toward controlling, and ultimately ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health threat in countries around the world.
“Finally, it emphasises the critical role of transparency, accountability, and partnerships in reaching these goals.

“According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Nigeria has the second largest HIV epidemic in the world and has one of the highest new infection rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Many people living with HIV in Nigeria are unaware of their status due to insufficient recommended number of HIV testing and counselling centres.

“Low access of antiretroviral treatment remains an issue for people living with HIV in Nigeria, and I welcome the new commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria to use domestic funds to provide antiretroviral drugs to an additional 50,000 people living with HIV each year.
“The US government, through PEPFAR, has helped not only to save and improve millions of lives, but also transformed the global HIV/AIDS response.

“Currently, more than 720,000 Nigerians are on PEPFAR-supported HIV treatment and approximately four million Nigerians have received HIV counselling and testing services in 2017.
“Also, approximately 50,000 pregnant women have received antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.” Krapf added: “We are at an unprecedented moment in the global HIV/AIDS response. For the first time in modern history, we have the opportunity to change the very course of a pandemic by controlling it without a vaccine or a cure.

“Controlling the pandemic will lay the groundwork for eliminating or eradicating HIV which we hope will be possible through the future scientific breakthroughs which will lead to an effective HIV vaccine and cure.
“The US government continues to lead the way in the global HIV/AIDS response. But no one country or entity alone can end the AIDS pandemic.
“We are proud to partner governments, the private sector, philanthropic organisations, multilateral institutions, academic institutions, civil society and faith-based organisations, people living with HIV and many others in this project.

“Through this collective effort, we also expect to reduce the future costs required to sustain the HIV/AIDS response.”
It further said: “To accelerate progress toward HIV/AIDS epidemic control, PEPFAR continues to leverage the capabilities, assets, and technological know-how of the private sector, creating innovative solutions to complex problems.”

While thanking the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency for conducting a state-wide aggressive campaign, counselling and HIV/AIDS testing through its mobile clinic initiative, Krapf said their​determination to ensure a zero prevalence of HIV in the state aligns with the strategic plan of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
He also commended the Society for Family Health for providing quality health services to Nigerians, particularly the poor and vulnerable.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/nigeria-has-second-largest-hiv-epidemic.html

@ www.Akelicious.com



The Senate Deputy President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said a united Nigeria where every citizen could actualise his or her potential in any part of the country irrespective of his or her ethnic or religious background is possible.

Ekweremadu spoke in Enugu when he was conferred with the Rotary International’s 2017 Outstanding Citizen of the World Award at the weekend.

Explaining his usual reflective postures, the senator noted that there were abundant possibilities for Nigeria and Africa.


He said: “I believe we can live happily together in Nigeria and everybody will have the blessings of democracy and all the economic gifts, which God has bestowed on this country.

“I reflect about how somebody from Kano can live peacefully in and possibly become the Governor of Enugu State. I also reflect on how somebody from Imo State can one day become the Governor of Sokoto State.

“I reflect on the about 350 million population of West African and how we can bring meaning to the protocol on enterprise, free movement, and residency to make the sub-region unique and prosperous.

“I also believe that Africa can become a better continent where we can take advantage of all the blessings of raw materials and solid minerals that God has given to us in abundance. We can add value to these things and create a value chain that will make us the envy of the world.”

While commending Rotary International for its commitment to reducing human suffering, he urged the international community to show more sincerity and commitment to building a prosperous and peaceful world.

He expressed concern that global leaders spend time and resources on summits and seminars in search of global peace, but have not properly addressed the major issue of the manufacture of weapons of warfare and violence.
“Can’t we turn these arms factories into schools, hospitals or where we can produce agricultural products and be able to add value to the rest of the world instead of producing arms to kill ourselves?
“These things are possible if we truly want to build a better world,” he added.

Speaking earlier, the President of the Rotary International, District 9142, Hon. Okezie Nwanjoku, said Senator Ekweremadu earned the award through his enormous philanthropy and efforts to better the lots of humanity.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/nigerians-can-live-happily-together.html

The All Progressives Congress has finally resolved to hold an elective national convention middle of next year, preferably on or before June 13.
The decision of the APC to move its convention to next year came just as the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), proceeded with plans to hold its national convention next Saturday by approving an 87-member planning committee headed by Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.


After many false starts in its effort to hold a mid-term non-elective convention in this year, the ruling party has settled for a new schedule that will coincide with the terminal date of the present National Working Committee. The NWC led by the national chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun was elected to office on June 13, 2014 and is expected to complete its four -year tenure in June 2018.

The party has been under pressure in the past one year to organise a mid-term non-elective convention in line with the provisions of its constitution but the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari who was abroad on sick leave for about a quarter of 2017 made it practically impossible.
Akelicious gathered that the APC took many things into consideration in arriving at the decision, including the resources required to convoke a national covention, the period of notice it would give the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the convention, the timing for outstanding state congresses as well as the yet-to -be resolved intra party squabbles in some of the state chapters.

It was learnt that the agreement to extend the convention date till next year was struck during the meeting of the national leadership caucus held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The National Executive Committee meeting of the party held penultimate week mandated the National Working Committee to set up a committee that would draw a new programme of activities for the party.

While speaking to journalists on what the party is doing about its mini convention, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said though no date had been fixed for the non elective convention, the party had asked the committee to go ahead and fix dates for all outstanding activities of the party before the main elective convention.
“Like I said after the NEC meeting because we were unable to hold the convention at the scheduled time and you are all aware that we earlier scheduled to hold our mini convention in July but we were not able to do that for one reason or the other .

“That means that all the programmes that the party has would have to dovetail into one another. We have the party’s state congresses coming up, we have the mini convention and the elective convention coming up that must happen by the first half of next year.

“So it is important we synchronise all the activities and that is why a committee has been set up by the NEC, just a couple of people being asked to sit together and harmonise all the various activities of the party starting with the mini convention and the various congresses across the states and local government areas which will now culminate in the national convention.”

The spokesman said he did not know yet when the timetable would be out, “but that from the outcome of the committee’s assignment, we will now have a timetable that will align with the INEC’s calendar showing the activities of the party, beginning with state congresses and terminating with the national convention next year.”

Sources within the party said its leaders were not oblivious of the implication of holding an elective national convention close to general elections and were only hoping that all would go well so as not to put the party in crisis before an important election.

Going by INEC’s schedule for the conduct of general elections in 2019, Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 16, 2019
The dates for the election is taken with consideration for a space of 100 days before the expiration of the tenure. To that effect the commission has decided that governorship elections will take place on a Saturday closest to the 100 days before the expiration of tenure.
By implication, campaigns by aspirants and political parties would have been at fever pitch from the second half of next year when party primaries would be approaching.

Meanwhile, the PDP has set up an 87-man member convention committee headed by Governor Okowa to help it organise the Saturday’s make or mar elective convention. A release signed by the National Organising Secretary, Senator Abdul Ningi, said the Committees would be inaugurated on Monday.
Apart from the main convention planning committee, the party also constituted 12 sub committees to help in the organisation of the convention.

Sources at the party headquarters revealed that there were certain intrigues that caused the delay in setting up the convention committee long before now.
The sources said that initially the party leadership considered appointing another governor from one of the states in the South-South zone but when some of the aspirants raised concern about neutrality, it back-paddled.

Those who kicked against the choice of a South-South governor argued that since the tussle for national chairmanship race appears to be between aspirants from South-south and South-west, it would be wise to assign a governor from the North to chair the convention committee. They suggested the appointment of Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo.

However, the National Caretaker Committee’s decision to finally settle for the Delta State governor was said to be driven by the belief that such a position would need someone that has the financial muscle and who can come to the aid of the party in footing the bill if the need arise.

Another reason for choosing Governor Okowa was because of the short timeframe within which the committee is expected to put up a good show at the convention.
As a member of the caretaker committee explained, the Delta governor had exhibited grasp of what it takes to organise such an event having performed creditably well during the last non elective convention of the party.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/apc-to-hold-elective-national.html

The State Chief judge Justice Peter Umeadi, has been elected the President of World Association of Judges.

He was elected during the Twenty-fifth Biennial Congress of the World Jurist Association, held at the Carribbean Island of Aruba.

By this election, Justice Umeadi, becomes a member of the Governing Board of World Jurist Association.
The Association which was formed in 1963, as a non-governmental organization with special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council, is a forum that provides support to the international community on issues of global peace, by strengthening institutions that guarantees the rule of law.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/anambra-chief-judge-umeadi-elected.html

Former President Goodluck Jonathan friday debunked Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima’s allegations of poor governance during his tenure, stressing that his achievements during his five years in power remained unrivaled.

Shettima, during a book launch on Thursday in Abuja, had stated that Jonathan wasted the goodwill he commanded, because of his bad governance and poor choices he made while in office.


The Borno State governor also accused Jonathan of thinking that he was behind the kidnap of the Chibok girls.

But Jonathan, in a statement signed by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, debunked the allegations and also described the criticism of his handling of the Chibok girls saga by Shettima as “parochial and jaundiced.”

Eze, in the statement, further challenged the governor to come clean on the role he allegedly played in the kidnap of the Chibok school girls, emphasising that “it goes beyond the dismissive claim that Jonathan thought I kidnapped Chibok girls.”

The statement reads: “He (Shettima) should be able to tell us if it was Jonathan’s poor choices that led the governor to expose students of Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok to avoidable danger, in total disregard of a federal government directive to the governors in the three states most affected by Boko Haram to relocate their students writing the West African School Certificate Examinations to safe zones.”

Jonathan also expressed strong reservations about the recently launched book, “On a Platter of Gold- How Jonathan won and lost Nigeria,” authored by former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in which the former President was likewise severely criticised.

The statement disclaimed the book, describing it “as sore grapes, full of lies and gossip.”

Eze’s statement reads: “As a man who had never seen anything good in the administration of former President Jonathan on account of party and other differences, it has remained our considered view that in a democracy, Governor Kashim Shettima and others like him are entitled to their opinion, no matter how jaundiced.

“However, it is a sad commentary on the character of some of our politicians that they go to any length to make spurious statements, in pursuit of the sad narrative to remain politically correct. We cannot be deceived by his crocodile tears and patronising claim that ‘Jonathan is essentially a decent man,” which is a ploy he deployed to justify his false allegation of a lost glory.

“The man who today speaks of squandered goodwill should be able to tell Nigerians what percentage of the votes Jonathan got in 2011 from Borno State at the height of that his envisaged glory according to Shettima, and what it became in subsequent elections. What was obvious yesterday, and has remained so today, is that Governor Shettima and those who think like him never liked Jonathan based on some parochial and paternalistic sentiments.

“We didn’t expect anything less from Governor Shettima, knowing the ignoble roles he played in frustrating the war waged by the past administration against Boko Haram, even in his own Borno State.

“He should be able to tell us if it was Jonathan’s poor choices that led the Governor to expose students of Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok to avoidable danger, in total disregard of a Federal Government directive to the Governors in the three states most affected by Boko Haram to relocate their students writing the West African School Certificate Examinations to safe zones.

“The Governor is now denying that he had no hand in the kidnap of the Chibok girls even before anybody accused him of culpability. However, we share the view of those who insist that the Governor had other things up his sleeve when he promised the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) that he would secure the girls, and ended up doing the very opposite, by deliberately abandoning them to their fate, without any security presence in their school.

“It is instructive that while other governors in the zone heeded the security advice, Shettima remained the only one that flagrantly flouted it. Should we also fail to point out that his decision to reward the principal of Chibok Secondary School, who was uncharacteristically absent on the night terrorists stormed the school, with the post of a commissioner, did throw up more questions than answers?

“Talking about accountability, perhaps, Shettima should also do well to explain to the good people of Borno State and Nigerians what he did with the over N60 billion Local Governments fund, left by his predecessor, Ali Mode Sheriff.

“We understand Shettima and those who spoke like him accused Jonathan of bad governance and poor choices, and we would like to know if it was bad governance that led Jonathan to assemble a-yet-to be matched crop of dynamic cabinet and economic management team made up of tested technocrats like Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Finance Ministry, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman in Planning, Mr. Olusegun Aganga in Trade and Investments, as well as Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, leading the charge in Agriculture.

“The efforts of the Jonathan administration in repositioning Nigeria’s economy remain self-evident and it must have in deed been poor choices at their best for Jonathan and his team to have recorded the following key achievements: Nigeria’s Gross domestic Product rose to $503bn in 2013 and became Africa’s largest economy and 26th in the world; from 3rd and 46th respectively.

“Nigeria became the number one destination for Foreign Direct Investment in Africa under former President Jonathan, with the numbers rising from US$24.9 million as at 2007 to over US$ 35 billion in 2014. Jonathan Government delivered over 25,000 kilometres of motorable federal roads from just a quarter of that number in 2011.

“The Jonathan Administration resuscitated the railways in the country after about 30 years of hiatus. Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda ended fertilizer racketeering, encouraged more young Nigerians to take to farming, boosted local food production and took the country closer to self-sufficiency in food production by recording more than 50% reduction in food imports. It was as a result of this that the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, for the first time, voted Nigeria the largest producer of Cassava in the world.

“Power generation under Jonathan was boosted to about 5,000 megawatts in 2014 up from 2,000 megawatts in 2011. Prices of food and other household items remained stable and inflationary pressure was down to a single digit.

“Under Jonathan, Nigeria controlled, clinically, Ebola outbreak to the admiration of the whole world, became Guinea-worm-free and also eradicated polio, with United States billionaire and renowned philanthropist Bill Gates, praising Nigeria’s successes against polio as one of the great world achievements of 2014. Sadly, polio has returned to the country with the likes of Shettima in charge of the endemic states.

“Under Jonathan, life expectancy in Nigeria rose from 47 years in 2010 to 54 years in 2015. Just before Jonathan left office, CNN Money projected that Nigeria’s economy in 2015 would become the third fastest growing economy in the world at 7% behind China at 7.3% and Qatar at 7.1%.

“Was it bad governance and poor choices that reformed the political and electoral processes to the extent that the United Nations is now pleading with the government of the day to strive to maintain the standards established by Jonathan?

“Fortunately, Nigerians know where they stand with all of their leaders. All those who are calling Jonathan names today, and accusing him of having become quite unpopular, should simply take a walk on the streets of any Nigerian city as real leaders do. That way, they will accurately gauge their own approval and test their popularity with the Nigerian people.

“On the book entitled ‘On a Platter of Gold- How Jonathan won and lost Nigeria’ written by Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, we have watched for some time as some outrageous fabrications are extracted from its pages day after day by the media. When the publication of the book, with an ominous title was first mooted, we knew it will be full of bile and sore grapes. We didn’t expect truth, sincerity and accuracy of narration, given that the author, who was sacked from his ministerial position by the subject of the book, is now the spokesman for the ruling APC.

“We will therefore like to dissociate former President Jonathan from the book’s salacious contents, with all the obvious distortions, lies and exaggerations. Its pages are populated with gossip, politically influenced newspaper articles, uncoordinated raw data and unproven claims. Sadly, the author did not help matters, as there was no rigor or in-depth investigations towards establishing the veracity of the allegations the book contains.

More details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/my-achievements-in-government-unrivaled.html?m=1

Ntel, Nigeria’s most advanced 4G/LTE broadband operator has announced a national roaming field trial with 9mobile.

The operators have received regulatory approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to commence a national roaming trial over a two-month period.

According to ntel, the agreement will enable ntel’s customers to make calls on 9mobile’s network using any 2G or 3G handset within the specified trial zone.

Commenting on the commencement of the national roaming trial, Ernest Akinlola, ntel’s CEO said “This agreement is a significant step in the right direction for us as a company and the telecommunications eco system as a whole.” A full national roaming agreement with 9Mobile would provide our growing customer base with a seamless service over 4G/LTE superfast data and voice clarity as well as ubiquitous 3G and 2G coverage nationwide. Both operators are pioneers in innovation and we are pleased to be charting a new path for the industry.”

The national roaming test is expected to commence on both networks from December 1, 2017.

ntel is Nigeria’s most advanced mobile 4G/LTE network providing superfast Internet Access that enables high-definition voice, data and video services. ntel’s network is built on the 900/1800 Mhz frequency bands which are the best propagation frequencies for the deployment of 4G/LTE technology.

ntel’s range of services include: National Bandwidth; International Voice Termination, International Bandwidth; Mobile and Fixed Communications services.

The company made its first on-net test data call in Lagos on January 18, 2016, and followed this up with the first on-net Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) call in Lagos on February 25, 2016, while full commercial operations commenced on April 8, 2016.

more details at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/ntel-9mobile-get-nccs-approval-to.html

A three storey building under construction at Amansea, in Awka North local government area, has collapsed.

Correspondent Chibuzor Okoye who visited the scene reports that the building was completely reduced to rubbles.

Speaking to the Akelicious on the condition of anonymity, an eye witness revealed that the building collapsed due to the incompetence of the contractor handling the project, and the constant changing of construction engineers by the owner of the building who was said to be residing in Malaysia.
Akelicious also observed that the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority had on tenth of October this year gave a stop work order which was blatantly ignored.
All efforts to reach the wife of the owner of the building that was said to be living in Nnewi or any of the contractors proved abortive.

more photos at http://www.akelicious.com/2017/12/photo3-storey-building-collapses-in.html