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 Politics › Re: Power Supply Crisis Persists, Generation Drops Further To 3,697MW by erunz(op): 8:42am On Feb 26, 2016 |
spotlessduke:Amen ooo, let's keep hoping. am waiting for APC to blame GEJ 3 Likes |
| Politics › Power Supply Crisis Persists, Generation Drops Further To 3,697MW by erunz(op): 8:26am On Feb 26, 2016 |
Despite the recent 45 per cent electricity tariff hike, consumers continued yesterday to groan under pangs of outages, with power generation sliding to 3,697 Mega Watts (MW). The current power generation profile was against the peak of 5,074MW achieved earlier this month. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had earlier assured that the supply situation would improve with the assessed cost-reflective tariff regime. Even the Distribution Companies (Discos) affirmed that the new billing system would further ensure improved performance within the system. Data obtained from the Presidential Task Force on Power yesterday put the power generation at 3,697 MW, while only 3,625MW was sent out. The daily operations report of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), also obtained by The Guardian yesterday, showed that several challenges were trailing the process of generation and evacuation of power in the country. The report, which gave the positions of the generation plants and transmission lines across the country as at Tuesday, showed that unutilised generation capability was 1922MW. While about 1773.5MW was lost to gas constraints, about 149.6MW was lost to transmission line constraints. Sources in the distribution companies said the many faulty transmission lines were major obstacle to their performance, decrying the poor response to fault clearing by the TCN. The Guardian gathered that many of the businesses have found solace in diesel generator, even as they groan under the new tariff structure. Concerned consumer and community leader in Surulere area of Lagos, Akin Osayemi, said the situation has been going from bad to worse, especially in the past two months. “We hardly get five hours light in a day, businesses are suffering and when you get home you are forced to sleep in a heated black out. This is highly unfortunate. I think the Federal Government should do something about supply and not tariff increase at the moment,” he said. Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Sunday Olurotimi Oduntan, said the shortfall in power generation was huge, and therefore necessitated the power rationing. According to him, Nigeria currently has less than one quarter of what it needs for regular supply. He estimated that the nation should have about 160,000MW, for a population of 160 million. Oduntan however identified the key challenges as inadequate generation; poor transmission capacity; poor distribution network; inadequate gas infrastructure and massive power theft and vandalism. The Chief Executive Officer, Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), said what his company is getting from the nation grid is too low. The power generated is shared among the 11 Discos, with Eko getting 11 per cent; Ikeja, 15 per cent; Ibadan, 13 per cent, Kano, 8 per cent; Abuja 11.5 per cent; Port Harcourt, 6.5 per cent; Enugu nine per cent; Benin nine per cent; Kaduna, eight per cent; Jos, 5.5 per cent and Yola 3.5 per cent. The TCN, at the last stakeholders’ meeting, identified 51 issues to be resolved in respect of supplies in areas like Alaoji, Sokoto, Ahoada, Damaturu, Gbarain, Calabar, Afikpo, Nsukka, Okigwe, Ihiala, Ayede, Ikeja, Ajah, Lekki, Kebbi, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Makurdi, Kainji, Kafanchan, Otukpo, Hadejia, Wudil, Kumbotso, Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina, Daura, Abuja and Maiduguri. http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2016/02/power-supply-crisis-persists-generation-drops-further-to-3697mw/ |
| Politics › Fresh Fuel Crisis Looms Over Dollar Shortage by erunz(op): 8:15am On Feb 26, 2016 |
Rasheed Bisiriyu and ’Femi Asu Nigerians may witness another round of fuel crisis soon following complaints by importers of petrol about scarcity of dollars to bring in the product. They also claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had not promptly signed agreements to exchange crude oil for fuel. Similarly, the fuel marketers said that the inability to access adequate foreign exchange from the banks was hampering fuel importation. Already, fuel queues by motorists and other people have surfaced in some parts of Lagos and other cities. The NNPC had recently increased its direct petrol imports to more than 70 per cent of the country’s needs, leaving the private importers with less than 30 per cent. The Executive Secretary, MOMAN, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, said, “Foreign exchange is the issue everybody is facing. We are unable to access enough forex at the same time. We accumulate over a period of time. Now, the commercial banks are giving us in trickles.” As explained by the NNPC, the reason why they took a higher percentage (of fuel importation) was that its access to forex was flexible, he said. Olawore said, “I believe that government should encourage the private sector to import more because we have more of the facilities and other logistics to bring in and distribute. We control most of the storage and distributing channels and we are not bringing in enough. “The NNPC alone, even if it can bring in everything, doesn’t have where to discharge it. So, even if the supply is enough, distribution will pose as a challenge.” When contacted for comment on the issue of forex scarcity, The Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Ibrahim Mu’azu, who noted that forex inflow had reduced, said, “The position of the CBN is to give them (marketers) priority on access and that has been made over time. “They all buy from the interbank, and not directly from the CBN. The CBN is only intervening at the interbank when the need arises. They apply for forex from their banks.” The NNPC signed deals last year with refiners, Total, Varo Energy, Cepsa and ENI, to exchange oil directly for petrol and other products beginning in February. Companies including Litasco, Noble and Total had secured “spot” swap contracts with the NNPC via local joint ventures in February and March. Sahara, an old hand in the swap deals, also won spot swap deals in March. The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said the NNPC had adequate stock of products, adding that there was no cause for worry. “There are no issues. Before now, it was about 50 per cent that was allocated to the NNPC, but somehow the government came and said the NNPC should bring 65 to 70 per cent so that we do not get embarrassed the way we were around December.” Alegbe said the corporation was working to expand its retail and storage capacity. “By March, we are opening some storage facilities in Mosimi. We have started fixing them and others across the country.” http://www.punchng.com/fresh-fuel-crisis-looms-over-forex-shortage/ |
| Politics › Reps Threaten To Issue Warrant Of Arrest Against Customs Boss by erunz(op): 4:51pm On Feb 25, 2016 |
The House of Representatives yesterday expressed displeasure at the non-appearance of the Comptroller – General of Customs, CG, Hameed Ali, before it and respond to issues bordering on the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS). Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Uzoma Nkem–Abonta, while ruling on a case in which the Ohaneze Youth Vanguard petitioned the House against the NCS, said that he hoped the CG is not trying to go head on with the legislature. Advertisement He said, “I hope the CG is not trying to go head on with the parliament, these are Nigerians who have complained. We have invited him severally and he keeps giving excuses. We may have to take a resolution as House not to give the Customs attention. This is not a military era. He has now been summoned to appear before the House on March 9, if he doesn’t show up a warrant will be issue Then president of the Ohaneze Youth Vanguard, Igweka Okonkwo said they petitioned the House against the NCS due to promotion and posting that was carried out in 2015 that unfairly sidelined the South East.” He maintained that the South East in the cadre of senior officers had the lowest number adding that “it is a systematic way of cleansing an ethnic group”. Giving an instance with the rank of DCG, he said the North East had 21, North Central 15, South East three, North West 26, South South, eight and South West 10. https://www.today.ng/news/national/84711/reps-threaten-to-issue-warrant-of-arrest-against-customs-boss |
| Politics › Re: A Year On From Nigerian Election Victory, Buhari's Reforms Flounder - Reuters by erunz(op): 3:15pm On Feb 25, 2016 |
Standing5:DOLLAR WASN'T THE ONLY ISSUE RAISED BY THE WRITER, THESE ARE OTHER ISSUE RAISED BY THE WRITER Power is concentrated in Buhari's office, where files pile up on the desk of his chief of staff. Ministers appointed only in November - more than six months after Buhari's victory - are reluctant to make decisions, diplomats say. But the ascetic general has not yet delivered on a promise to create jobs by ending reliance on oil. One billion naira - more than $5 million at the official exchange rate - had been budgeted for office furniture alone. But a senior civil servant who asked not to be named said ministers struggled to get the attention of Buhari's office. Buhari asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to coordinate economic policy, but diplomats say he is being sidelined as the president personally handles all key issues, including a freeze of the naira exchange rate that is crippling investment. |
| Politics › Re: A Year On From Nigerian Election Victory, Buhari's Reforms Flounder - Reuters by erunz(op): 2:15pm On Feb 25, 2016 |
With no regular meetings, ministers are still trying to figure out what they can achieve, officials say. Buhari merged several ministries but since a cabinet retreat in November, he has left them to drift. THEY ARE NOISEMAKERS NOT MINISTERS 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Politics › A Year On From Nigerian Election Victory, Buhari's Reforms Flounder - Reuters by erunz(op): 1:55pm On Feb 25, 2016 |
By Julia Payne and Ulf Laessing ABUJA (Reuters) - Almost a year after winning an election on promises to fix Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari's grand vision of reform is fading, with power centralised in his increasingly remote presidency and the bureaucracy in disarray. After axing almost 50 top civil servants and 40 ambassadors and shaking up ministries in a bid to exorcise endemic graft, the 73-year-old former military ruler has even started cancelling some weekly cabinet meetings. His aides said this was because under his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, the meeting had become a forum for ministers to hand out over-priced contracts to friends. Critics say the effect has been to leave government rudderless while Africa's biggest economy flatlines. Power is concentrated in Buhari's office, where files pile up on the desk of his chief of staff. Ministers appointed only in November - more than six months after Buhari's victory - are reluctant to make decisions, diplomats say. Government insiders admit things may be getting worse before they get better, but say that is to be expected given the scale of the task in hand. "Of course it's chaos. We're rebuilding a whole system. There is no depth in the bureaucracy," said a senior government source who asked not to be named. Buhari is too often absent to provide enough personal guidance, according to his critics. Since taking office in May, he has been on 26 overseas trips, visiting Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week, where officials say he hopes to drum up interest from investors. His opponents complain that his external focus comes at the expense of the two pillars of the domestic economy - the oil-producing Niger Delta and Lagos, the sprawling megacity that serves as Nigeria's commercial capital. He has visited neither as president. NO BUDGET Buhari has won plaudits from ordinary Nigerians for fighting graft as part of a crackdown on an elite whose wealth has grown for decades while most of the country's 170 million people remained in poverty. The army under his command has also reconquered territory from the Boko Haram group in the north, though the jihadists still regularly stage suicide attacks. But the ascetic general has not yet delivered on a promise to create jobs by ending reliance on oil. His civil service cull has cut avenues for graft but also created knowledge gaps, to the point that the government has so far been unable to produce a viable budget. Buhari last week fired a senior budget official who had been appointed in August, after he helped to produce a draft which labelled car or computer purchases as capital expenditures, according to Nigerian research group Budgit. One billion naira - more than $5 million at the official exchange rate - had been budgeted for office furniture alone. "This was really depressing when we expected that this should be a total shift from the wasteful culture that we had had in the past," said Oluseun Onigbinde, founder of the group. Buhari fired most of the top management at state oil firm NNPC but his replacements have struggled to get a grip on the massive and opaque entity, officials say. Some projects have been delayed as the newcomers struggle to locate the relevant files in the four NNPC towers. With no regular meetings, ministers are still trying to figure out what they can achieve, officials say. Buhari merged several ministries but since a cabinet retreat in November, he has left them to drift. Buhari's aides counter that the cabinet meets whenever there is something to decide, and that the government needs time to work out detailed plans - including funding - for such daunting tasks as road-building or the improvement of Nigeria's notoriously erratic power supply. But a senior civil servant who asked not to be named said ministers struggled to get the attention of Buhari's office. "There is a proposal, a consultancy does a study but then the report gets ignored," he said. Buhari asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to coordinate economic policy, but diplomats say he is being sidelined as the president personally handles all key issues, including a freeze of the naira exchange rate that is crippling investment. That leaves businessmen wondering how the West African oil producer can survive its worst economic crisis for decades. "Policy statements hang but there's no trickle down," said Prince Ike Ubaka, head of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN0VY1KJ?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true |
| Politics › Assembly Leadership Sponsoring New National Party Ahead 2019 Polls by erunz(op): 6:13pm On Feb 24, 2016 |
Strong claims as to the possible emergence of a new party formed by some aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, including Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, against the 2019 polls has been made. A source with access to the secret meeting held on the proposed new national party explained that there would be a merger between emerging camps within the All Progressive Congress, APC and it’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, latest next year to focus squarely on the 2019 elections. “We have started a real Nigerian party, which will drive the dream of our nation’s founding fathers. At the moment, APC and PDP may not sell to the electorate in 2019 based on indices on ground. “The economy is number one; we thought APC has solutions to Nigeria’s myriad of problems after PDP destroyed the system but it is clear to us that, APC has none. “We are thinking of an ideological based party that will shape this country for the future. Political alliances are ongoing for a new brand political party. I can tell you between now and next year, 2017, we will give Nigerians their own party. The nation was helpless and even more helpless now. The source added that; “Many PDP and APC chieftains will join us, activists will join us, professionals will join us. Market women, in fact all will join us. You will be shocked of what will happen. APC may end up being a one term party at the national level. “What happened during Speaker Aminu Tambuwal will still happen ahead of 2019 polls. APC is fighting Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara for going against their wish. They will be left with no option than to join the proposed new party. We are in touch with them and persuading them on the need to forget APC.” Read more at http://www.theheraldng.com/national-assembly-leadership-sponsoring-new-national-party-ahead-2019-polls/#T7TUzUmxC0upXRRM.99 |
| Politics › Ecobank Fires ‘at Least 50′ Top Management Staff by erunz(op): 5:03pm On Feb 24, 2016 |
The management of Ecobank Nigeria Plc has relieved a minimum of 50 management staff of their duties over the prevailing economic crisis in the country. A top management staff of the bank told TheCable that the development came as a shock to those affected. He explained that although the issue had been discussed in the past, they did not expect it to take effect so soon. The source said each of dismissed staff was earning nothing less than N25 million per annum, revealing that they were handed their dismissal letters on Tuesday. “The sack affected those occupying the position of assistant general manager and above. They were asked to go because the top is heavy and the bank needs to be making good profit,” he said. “They have been sacking junior staff and promoting themselves. Some of them have spent up to nine years on a particular position, restricting the growth of lower-cadre staff. “This time around, the bank decided to look into this. The bank authorities sat over this issue and did not even look at the duration spent in office, because one of the four persons affected in my department was promoted just last year. “The group said since the bank is struggling, it is not supposed to be spending much on salaries.” The source added that the decision to lay off the senior staff yielded fruit because of the change in the leadership of the bank. In December, Charles Kie, an Ivorian national, was named the new managing director of Ecobank. “The issue of downsizing had been in the pipeline because the economy did not nosedive all of a sudden,” he continued. “I can tell you that one of the reasons why the bank picked a head from another affiliate is to be able to implement this decision. If they had picked someone from here, it wouldn’t have been possible for the bank to achieve this. They would have politicised the whole issue.” The current economic situation has led to job loss, with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) dismissing 150 staff earlier in the year. Only on Monday did Babatunde Odunayo, pioneer CEO of Honeywell Flour Mills, predict that a massive job loss would happen within four weeks. Follow us on twitter @thecableng Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/ecobank-fires-at-least-50-top-management-staff Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/ecobank-fires-at-least-50-top-management-staff |
| Culture › Re: 9 Marriage Taboo Ishan People Have That Will Amaze You by erunz(op): 3:13pm On Feb 24, 2016 |
Flourish89:my brother you are sighted |
| Culture › Re: 9 Marriage Taboo Ishan People Have That Will Amaze You by erunz(op): 3:10pm On Feb 24, 2016 |
charlesucheh:thats why you are not Esan am proud of my tribe. esan oyeee 2 Likes |
| Culture › Re: 9 Marriage Taboo Ishan People Have That Will Amaze You by erunz(op): 2:13pm On Feb 24, 2016 |
KINGinVAHALA:na for my thread una wan do introduction? lolzz |
| Culture › Re: 9 Marriage Taboo Ishan People Have That Will Amaze You by erunz(op): 2:10pm On Feb 24, 2016 |
Omeny:same bro 2 Likes 2 Shares |
| Politics › Senate Terminates REMITA Contract And Orders Prosecution Of Culprits by erunz(op): 12:45pm On Feb 24, 2016 |
https://authorityngr.com/app/views/images/uploads/2016_02_24_89995.jpghttp://authorityngr.com/2016/02/Senate-terminates-REMITA-contract-and-orders-prosecution-of-culprits-involved 1 Like |
| Culture › Re: 9 Marriage Taboo Ishan People Have That Will Amaze You by erunz(op): 10:34am On Feb 24, 2016 |
TonyeBarcanista:BY BROTHER NO BE SUPERSTITION OOOO, IT STILL HAPPENS. JUST THAT I THINK THE PUNISHMENT HAS BEEN MODERNIZED. AND IF THE WOMAN DOES NOT CONFESS OR GOES FOR CLEANSING SHE STARTS LOSING HER CHILDREN AT THAT POINT THE HUSBAND IS NOT SAFE ANYMORE. ESAN OYEEEE 8 Likes 4 Shares |
| Culture › 9 Marriage Taboo Ishan People Have That Will Amaze You by erunz(op): 10:16am On Feb 24, 2016 |
The Esan people are an ethnic group in Edo state, Nigeria who speak the Esan language. The modern Esan nation is believed to have been organized during the 15th century, when citizens, mostly nobles and princes, left the neighbouring Benin Empire for the northeast; there they formed communities and kingdoms called eguares among the aboriginal peoples whom they met there. There are on the whole 35 established kingdoms in Esanland, including Ewohimi, Ekpoma, Ubiaja, Uromi, Igueben, and Ewu. The institution of marriage is a sacred one to these people and as such have laid down rules to guide it.http://www..com/talk/topic,283699.0.html 19 Likes 3 Shares |
| Politics › Rickey Tarfa Denies Credited Account Belongs To A Judge by erunz(op): 9:10am On Feb 24, 2016 |
Lagos lawyer, Mr Rickey Tarfa, SAN, who initiated a N2.5billion fundamental rights suit against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in which he is challenging his arrest and detention, as well the seizure of his phone and car, has told a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, that the N225,000 allegedly paid into Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court, Lagos, was a lie, as the said money was paid into the account of a former staff of the chambers, Mohammed Awwal Yunusa. Ricky Tarfa In an affidavit of urgency deposed to by Head of Chambers, Rickey Tarfa SAN and Co., Mr. Segun Odubela, he averred that a former staff of the chambers, Mohammed Awwal Yunusa, an indigene of Kogi State was the owner of the Access bank account the EFCC had earlier averred belonged to Justice Yunusa, where its alleged a sum of N225,000 was paid in by Rickey Tarfa as bribe. Mr. Odubela averred that Mohammed Yunusa was following the case of his former employer through media outlets where he immediately noticed that the account No. 0060351694 referred to in the counter affidavit as filed by EFCC in response to the substantive suit was his account number. Mohammed Awwal Yunusa in his own deposition, averred that he recalled that a Rickey Tarfa’s Access bank counter cheque No. 00002065 dated January 7, 2014 for N225,000 was issued to him and he was paid as he collected the value in his Access bank account No 0060351694 held in his name, Mohammed Awwal Yunusa. He further averred that at the Abuja office at No 2, Librevile Street Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II, Abuja on February 22, 2016, he was contacted by the office accountant, Mr. Samaila Malgwi, who had checked the office records and informed him that the cheque issued to him for N225,000 was the only cheque issued by Tarfa and Co. on January 7, 2014. Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/rickey-tarfa-denies-credited-account-belongs-to-a-judge/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter |
| Politics › Re: Dele Momodu: Enough Of The Blame Game And Paranoia Of Buhari’s Cabinet by erunz(op): 8:21am On Feb 23, 2016 |
SeverusSnape:Dele is beginning to see the light. 81 Likes 2 Shares |
| Politics › Re: Dele Momodu: Enough Of The Blame Game And Paranoia Of Buhari’s Cabinet by erunz(op): 7:59am On Feb 23, 2016 |
eyes Don dey clear 43 Likes 1 Share |
| Politics › Dele Momodu: Enough Of The Blame Game And Paranoia Of Buhari’s Cabinet by erunz(op): 7:54am On Feb 23, 2016 |
Fellow Nigerians, let us start today’s epistle with a real life story. Some years ago, a woman named Dr Kema Chikwe was appointed Minister of Aviation. Her mandate was to bring sanity to our insane airports across the country. It was as if we were a jinxed nation and nothing good could ever come out of our rudderless system.https://static.pulse.ng/img/incoming/origs3916311/3495568228-w644-h429/Dele-momodu-and-Buhari.jpg http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/time-to-end-the-blame-game/232445/ 38 Likes 11 Shares |
| Business › Dollar Now Exchange For N400 by erunz(op): 6:13pm On Feb 18, 2016 |
380 ZIMBABWEAN DOLLAR = 1 US DOLLAR 400 NIGERIAN NAIRA =1 US DOLLAR GOD HELP US 1 Like
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| Politics › Why I Supported Modu Sheriff’s Emergence As PDP Chair – Fayose by erunz(op): 5:24pm On Feb 18, 2016 |
*Begs aggrieved members to sheath their swords Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, has hailed the emergence of former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), calling on all members and supporters of the party to support the new chairman. Alimodu-Sheriff Governor Fayose, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said the choice of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was in the best interest of the party. He said; “I have always defended the party even at the risk of my position, personal security and comfort. I have always stood for the truth, and I cannot now be part of any decision that won’t represent the party well. “I supported the processes that led to the emergence of Ali Modu Sheriff because I believe in him and for those who may be aggrieved for one reason or the other; I plead that they should sheath their swords in the overall interest of our party. “Most importantly, the reality that we must all face is that we are in a peculiar situation and such a situation deserves a peculiar approach. “What the party leaders have done therefore is to tackle the present situation in our party with the most appropriate solution and we must all stand by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, who is our present solution to our present situation.” Speaking further, Governor Fayose said, “the All Progressives Congress (APC) knows Senator Ali Modu Sheriff’s capacity in terms of political network, being a three term senator and two term governor, and must be afraid that with such a person as the PDP Chairman, their regime of lies will be over soon.” Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/fayose-hails-ali-modu-sheriffs-emergence-as-pdp-chairman-urges-support-for-him/ 1 Like 1 Share |
| Politics › Re: Is This The Change You Promised Nigerians? NANS Pres. Arrested Over.. by erunz(m): 5:23pm On Feb 18, 2016 |
1984 LOADING..... 1 Like |
| Politics › Re: Wike Sacks Ndubuisi Nwankwo For Defecting To APC by erunz(m): 4:08pm On Feb 18, 2016 |
OKAY |
| Politics › Re: Setting The Record Straight On PDP Chairman Ali Modu Sheriff by erunz(m): 5:00pm On Feb 17, 2016 |
nice one and welcome back Home. |
| Politics › Re: Nigeria Struggles As Buhari Wrangles With Budget, Naira by erunz(op): 4:36pm On Feb 17, 2016 |
1984 loading |
| Politics › Nigeria Struggles As Buhari Wrangles With Budget, Naira by erunz(op): 3:44pm On Feb 17, 2016 |
Lagos (AFP) - When Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari finally swore in his cabinet in November, nearly six months after taking office, he hoped to shake off his nickname "Baba Go Slow". Facebook App Download Facebook Sponsor But troubling errors in the budget of Africa's largest economy and the continuing free fall of the naira on the black market have both Nigerians and investors worried that Buhari still isn't moving fast enough to address a deepening economic crisis. Since its peak in 2014, the global price of oil -- which accounted for two-thirds of the Nigerian government's revenue -- has plunged by 70 percent, decimating economic growth and the naira. In response, Buhari announced a record 6 trillion-naira ($30-billion, 27 billion-euro) budget promising to triple investment to stimulate growth. Yet his budget proposal was pockmarked with mistakes, repetitions and, given the circumstances, extravagant demands. The errors include the same purchases for vehicles, computers and furniture that are duplicated 24 times, totalling 46.5 billion naira. This opens the door for graft, according to Oluseun Onigbinde, co-founder of BudgIT, a Nigerian transparency group. "It clearly showed there was foul play," said Onigbinde said. "Nigerians are in a crisis period with the price of oil dipping below 30 dollars, so there should be a budget in line with the mood of the time," he added. Buhari on Monday sacked the director-general of the budget office and appointed former banker Tijjani Abdullahi to take the helm. Now there are serious revisions to be made before Buhari can sign off on the budget and inject Nigeria's sputtering economy with much-needed cash. It's a process likely to take months. "We need more speed on this thing," Onigbinde said, "he (Buhari) should have moved faster when he got into power." - Policy paralysis - The budget confusion is yet another deterrent for investors already reluctant to invest in the country as a result of Buhari's monetary policies, which have caused a severe dollar shortage and the naira to hit unprecedented lows of 340 against the dollar on the black market. Nigeria has frozen the naira at 197-199 to the dollar for almost a year in a bid to protect the poor, while the government has banned a wide range of imports -- including toothpicks and shovels -- to conserve foreign exchange reserves. The policy has been criticised by international investors, who say pegging the currency and restricting imports is futile and only serves to suffocate growth. Recent pressure from the International Monetary Fund to devalue the currency appears to have been rebuffed by Buhari, who declared last month "I won't kill the naira" and promised the country's economy will "stabilise soon". "Investors aren't confident because there isn't a clear path forward," Rand Merchant Bank Africa analyst Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana told AFP. "As long as those budget delays are happening it means that the central bank is going to have to do the heavy lifting for the economy," she said, speaking from Johannesburg. "The worst case scenario is policy paralysis, particularly what we've been seeing with the central bank and foreign exchange policy." Recent pressure from the International Monetary … - Stoking inflation - Instead of protecting the poor, the policy vacuum is stoking inflation on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, where people bemoan the price of previously affordable staples. "A plate of rice that was sold for 200 naira in December is now 350 naira. Customers are complaining because they don't get the same ration like before," street food vendor Mary Idowu told AFP. A 50 kilogram (110 pound) bag of rice that used to cost 9,000 naira now costs 13,000, while a bag of beans has gone up from 12,000 naira to 15,000, she said. "Whenever I try to explain why prices are high, they flare up," Idowu said about her customers. Rising food costs pushed the inflation rate to 9.6 in January -- above the bank's target range -- with no sign the pressure will ease anytime soon. "Prices are rising, despite attempts to keep the official Nigerian naira exchange rate unchanged," said Standard Chartered Bank economist Razia Khan. "It is unfortunate that our policy makers are very slow at responding to critical issues," said Lagos Business School political economy professor Pat Utomi. "The government should realise it cannot continue to defend the naira because it does not have enough reserves to do so," he said. "Ultimately, the naira will find its true value whether we devalue or not." http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-struggles-buhari-wrangles-budget-naira-044450342.html |
| Culture › Re: Benin Kingdom Vs Yoruba Race: Why Oba Of Benin Is Number One, By Odia Ofeimun by erunz(op): 10:37am On Feb 17, 2016 |
lanwrex:you can as Buhari that question 10 Likes 1 Share |
| Culture › Benin Kingdom Vs Yoruba Race: Why Oba Of Benin Is Number One, By Odia Ofeimun by erunz(op): 10:24am On Feb 17, 2016 |
The truth of the matter is that even if anyone rejects the fact “that Ife Monarchy is derived from Igodo monarchy”, it changes nothing about the reality that the Monarchy in Benin City is still Number One among Oduduwa’s children. I mean: let it be assumed that Oduduwa came from Egypt, Mecca, Sudan, Ethiopia (where the Oromo Region has a nationality fraction called Oromiyas) or from Orun, as heaven or a place we do not know, with a chain made of iron if not some other metal, it does not change the fact that the dumb one who learnt to talk by naming himself Owomika, ‘my hand has stuck it’, the first Benin monarch after the Ogisos, was the first child of Oramiyan whose children built the empires that our part of the world remembers. I am a Republican, not a Royalist. But, in a country in which we have all conceded the coexistence of Republican and Royalist values, it should be considered quite unseemly to watch one set of the interacting values being rough-handled, muddied or treated with improper decorum without feeling a need to intervene on behalf of rectitude. I have been so challenged since the eruption of the controversy ignited by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, who allowed himself to do a ranking of Yoruba Obas that placed the Oba of Benin as third in the hierarchy. In one sense, as Chief David Edebiri, the Esogban of Benin, immediately retorted, it is wrong to rank the Oba of Benin among Yoruba Obas because the Oba of Benin is not a Yoruba and therefore cannot be placed on a list of Yoruba Obas. I call it ‘in a sense’ because the Esogban’s position may be disputed on the grounds, as will soon be clear, that there is too much siblinghood between Yoruba and Benin traditional rulers for the ethnic difference between them to be rendered in cast-iron terms. The special relationship between Yoruba and Benin obas, not unlike the relationship between Benin and Onitsha kings, or between Lagos and Edo kings, makes it all the more impolitic to do a ranking of the Benin monarchy in Yoruba royal affairs without abiding by certain inter-subjective and shared norms. And let me note, very quickly, that it is the presence of such norms that makes it quite normal for Chief Edebiri to put the Oba of Benin as Number One without appearing to contradict himself. In his response to the Alake, Chief Edebiri has argued, quite simply, that the term oba was not used to describe Yoruba kings until the Oba of Benin got there. This may well be disputed. Except that it has the merit of being close to verisimilitude when he argues that the king of Ibadan was called Olu, the king of Abeokuta was called Alake, the king of Oyo was called Alaafin; only the Benin monarch was Oba. With the backing of glotto-cultural studies, however, we should be able to impute that the term, Oba, is a root word shared by both the Yoruba and the Edo languages and that among the sixteen kings that reigned in Ile-Ife before the arrival of Oduduwa’s party, many had Oba as prefix to their names. To say this amounts to jumping ahead of the argument a little. But let me add, for those who are not familiar with this piece of anthropology, that Oduduwa, the acknowledged founder-ancestor, the progenitor of the Yoruba nationality, was a stranger who met a historical line of obas in Ile Ife, the last of whom was Obatala, the leader of the Igbo, the autochthons, later deified as god of creativity or creation, sometimes synced with Orunmila, for wisdom. Make your pick. Let me also add that from the studies of the Ifa divination system made by several scholars, as imbibed from traditional Ifa devotees, it is those sixteen elders whom Oduduwa met in Ife that provided the sub-structure of Ifa as a formal system of wisdom into which people could be initiated in the way that we all go to tertiary institutions to learn philosophy, jurisprudence and mathematics. Or mathemagics, if you like. It is of very grave significance in this narrative that we should acknowledge that the Ifa Divination system, before the intervention of Islam, Christianity, and Lord Frederick Lugard’s balkanisation and regionalisation of traditional gnosis, was based on the existential patterns or prowess of the sixteen elders, or kings, who formed the planks upon which the wisdom of the people, by ritual accretions, was organised. Every good student of Ifa should know that in the Edo Divination system of Igwega, two of the sixteen elders have been displaced by Edo personages who are not to be found in the Ife version as designed by Agbonmiregun, the Master, who went from Ekiti to Ile Ife and established the rounded system of Ifa Divination as passed by other masters between the Edo, Nupe, Igala and Yoruba devotees. It can be imagined that, as a matter of ritual, they gathered at Ife, which was quite the centre of their world, for a divination that transcended ethnicities but was based on a common worship of the earth mother, Efa. All the forest peoples, from Dahomey to the Cameroon mountains, across the Nri of Igboland and past Ogoja, were devotees of one form or other of Ifa Divination. The historian, Ade Obayemi, has imputed that so many concepts in Yoruba Ifa, which some devotees may regard as mumbo jumbo, are actually Nupe terms that proper glotto-cultural analysis and translation could redeem. This partly explains why Benin Kings could induct or abduct and adopt Igbo medicine men who became part of the common national culture, as Egharevba, the Benin historian vouchsafes. What a linguistic, glotto-cultural analysis tells us is that in Ile-ife, before the dispersal occasioned by Oduduwa’s emergence, the Yoruba language, as one among many in the Kwa language complex, was once the same language with others including the Igbo and that they still share common root words beyond the simple ones like Omi and miri. So if Chief Edebiri’s resort to linguistic analysis wont help a resolution of the ranking of the Yoruba obas, what will? I suppose it is the discomfort of trying to answer such a question, and the fear of being wrong-footed in a bid to dabble into what appears to be quite esoteric, that has warded off many of the dignitaries who have been asked by journalists to respond to the controversy. Some of them think it a needless controversy that could detract from more worthwhile issues of the moment. True, there are crying problems that our society needs to face and resolve. Some political entrepreneurs who require a united front in order not to disperse collective energies have been quick to advise against worsening of the already existing inter-ethnic divisions in our midst. Somehow, they do not consider that to ignore the controversy or down play its driven logic, could harden the ranking that has been attempted and, to that extent, make it quite affirmable with the accretion of time. Of course, those who are already convinced of its veracity and have lived in the shadow of its ritualised affirmation, all their lives, would want the ranking to remain as they know it. Hence, they act bored by the controversy and would therefore wish that we move on quickly to other matters. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how you see it) the controversy won’t go away. It happens to be the case that the ranking of the Obas takes on a life of its own within every effort to build a sense of common nationality among Yoruba people. Every bid by the Yoruba to unite under a common leader or in conformity with a presumption of common ancestry, has always yielded one form of such ranking or the other. It has become part of a modernist or modernising project which nation-builders escape only when they are able to put the knowledge industry at the centre of their quest. At any rate, this is not the first time it has visited or reared its head. The ranking, as it happens, is so deeply rooted in the ethnic unconscious of some people that there is good reason for the palace in Benin City to wish, with each eruption of the controversy, to put the records, or lack of records, straight. It happens to be the case that the ranking of the Obas takes on a life of its own within every effort to build a sense of common nationality among Yoruba people. Every bid by the Yoruba to unite under a common leader or in conformity with a presumption of common ancestry, has always yielded one form of such ranking or the other. It has become part of a modernist or modernising project which nation-builders escape only when they are able to put the knowledge industry at the centre of their quest. Especially, with the establishment of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa on home ground in 1948, the business of building up such a knowledge industry, creating a formal historiography to get it right, has been part of every bid at nation-building. With bounding successes in research and publications, everything seemed to be going fine before the regression that came with political crisis in the sixties and the virtual abandonment of the enlightenment project that Obafemi Awolowo is still rightly praised for. http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/benin-kingdom-vs-yoruba-race-why-oba-of-benin-is-number-one-by-odia-ofeimun/ 10 Likes 4 Shares |
| Politics › Fresh Crisis Rocks Kogi Assembly, Speaker Impeached By 5 Out Of 20 Members by erunz(op): 8:01am On Feb 17, 2016 |
The Kogi state House of Assembly was again thrown into confusion on Tuesday as five out of the of the 20 members sat to remove Rt Hon Momoh Lawal, as the Speaker of the house and replaced him with Umar Imam. Apart from the Speaker, the people also said they had removed Hon Kolawole Matthew as the majority leader, while the post of deputy speaker is yet to be filled as they were still consulting over who should occupy the post. But Lawal, who was flanked by the remaining 15 members of the house, said he remained the speaker as it was laughable for only five people to carry out the purported impeachment. Tension and apprehension have enveloped the assembly complex located oppsite of the state high court as men of the Department of State Security (DSS), mobile and regular police were drafted to the complex to maintain security following the hint that some members were about to carry out the impeachment. However, at about 12 noon, five members including Friday Sani, Umar Imam, Abdulahi Bello, Lawi Ahmed and Sunday Abbah went into the assembly and locked themselves inside without allowing newsmen and the public to witness the proceedings. After over one hour, the people emerged from the chambers and Sani told newsmen that Lawal has been impeached and himself elected as the majority leader. He said Lawal was removed because the assembly no longer work as he (Lawal) has bee running the legislature like a "sole proprietor" with its attendant effects on the performance of the house. According to him, 15 members of the house had earlier agreed and signed that the speaker should voluntarily resign after the emergence of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as the governor of the state. He said, "The resolution we reached at our sitting today include the removal of the speaker of Kogi state House of Assembly, the new speaker is Hon Umar Imam, only one principal office was stepped down today and that is the position of the deputy speaker and the reason being that we need further consultation of members to arrive at a decision because there are two good contenders. " We have come to a point where we cannot operate in this state without an assembly, we all know the role an assembly like that of Kogi state should play in the governancd of the people of the state, but by the time the speaker cannot reconvene the house may be because of the threat of impeachment, so we cannot continue. "The reason for the removal is not far from the fact that the assembly cannot sit, we need a situation where the assembly can sit, we need a leadership that can be accepted by the members of the Kogi state house of assembly and that is why the change is imminent and we have done it". However, addressing newsmen at the Speaker's lodge, Lokoja, Lawal said it was wrong for the members to meet at the office of the Chief Whip and carried out an impeachment without a formal sitting in the chambers. The embattled speaker also said 15 members met on Tuesday and passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the house, wondering why the pro-impeachment group got the number they were parading. He said, "By the powers vested on speaker after consultations with members, I issued the proclamation that the hiuse will resume on Thursday, any sitting outside Thursday is illegal. The assembly is an institution, it is not a place where somebody will sit in his office and say the speaker has been impeached. On the allegation that Lawal agreed to resign after the meeting with Bello, he said, "The governor is not the one that elected me as the speaker, the house is an institution, the members are the one to decide if I should resign and not the governor, the governor heads the executive and we are a different arm of government, how can governor interfere in the affairs of the assembly, the governor has no right to call for my resignation. "No 15 members signed the purported impeachment notice, this morning (Tuesday) 15 members came to my house to pass a vote of confidence on the leadership of the Kogi state house of assembly. We are 20 in the assembly, how can 15 members again sign my impeachment paper, that is illegal, it is fake and a forgery". http://tribuneonlineng.com/fresh-crisis-rocks-kogi-assembly-speaker-impeached-by-5-out-of-20-members-0 |
| Politics › Rickey Tarfa, Arraigned; Floods Court With 90 Sans by erunz(op): 6:39pm On Feb 16, 2016 |
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday arraigned a senior lawyer, Rickey Tarfa, before Justice Aishat Opesanwo of Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, on 2-count charge of obstruction of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Mr. Tarfa pleaded not guilty to both counts. Based on his plea, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo prayed the court for a trial date and to remand the defendant in custody. However, Adeniyi Akintola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who led a team of over 90 Senior Advocates and other lawyers to represent Mr. Tarfa, said they had filed an application for bail which he said was served on the prosecution on the 10th of February, 2016. In his application for bail, the defence counsel told the court that the defendant went to court voluntarily and that he was granted administrative bail by EFCC on self-recognition. He said the defendant was a very senior member of the bar with no criminal record. He said there was nothing to show that the defendant would jump bail. However, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, urged the court to dismiss the application as the offence was grave. He urged the court to dismiss the application and order for an accelerated hearing. Justice Opesanwo, in her ruling, granted bail to Mr. Tarfa on self-recognition but ordered that he must not travel out of the country without the permission of the court. The trial judge bemoaned the number of counsel who were in court for the defendant. She noted that there was no need for such magnitude of support as it amounts to harassment and intimidation of the court. Soon after the ruling, Mr. Akintola told the court that he had filed an application to quash the charge. Mr. Rotimi responded that he had not been served. He was subsequently served by the defence counsel in open court. Justice Opesanwo adjourned the matter to March 14, for hearing of the application to quash the charge while the substantive case was fixed for April 20, 2016 for trial. Mr. Ricky Tarfa, SAN, is accused of willfully obstructing two officers of the EFCC, Moses Awolusi and Sanusi Mohammed from arresting Gnanhooue Sourou and Nazaire Odeste, who were suspected to have committed economic and financial crimes in contravention of Section 38(2) (a) of the EFCC Establishment Act of 2004. Also, he is alleged to have engaged in improper communication with Justice M. Yunusa of the Federal High Court Lagos between May 11 and June 25, 2015 while the case between the EFCC and two others was pending before the judge. Count 1: “That You Rickey Tarfa (SAN) on or about the 5th day of February, 2016 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, wilfully obstructed Moses Awolusi and Sanusi Mohammed, authorized officer of Economic and Financial Crime Commission from arresting GNANHOUE SOUROU and NAZAIRE ODESTE who were reasonably suspected to have committed economic and financial crimes by keeping the said suspects in your car between 11.00 hours to 16: 30 hours” Count 2: “RICKEY TARFA (SAN) between 11th of May and 25th of June, 2015 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court attempted to pervert the course of justice by communicating with Hon. Justice M.N. Yunusa of the Federal High Court through your mobile Telephone No. 08034600000 whilst suit No: FHC/L/CS/715/2015 between Rana Prestige Industries Nigeria and EFCC and Suit No: FHC/L/CS/716 between Hair Prestige Manufacturing Nigeria and EFCC filed by you on behalf of the applicants in the two suits seeking to retrain the commission from performing its statutory duties were pending before the said judge”. http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/198546-senior-nigerian-lawyer-rickey-tarfa-arraigned-floods-court-90-sans-lawyers.html 1 Like 2 Shares |
| Politics › Re: PDP Makes Ali Sheriff Chairman by erunz(m): 3:16pm On Feb 16, 2016 |
WELL GOOD TO KNOW, HE WILL BE CHAIRMAN TILL MARCH, AFTER WHICH THE NATIONAL CONVENTION WILL HOLD. SO KINI BIG DEAL 30 Likes 5 Shares |
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