₦airaland Forum

sarrki:
https://www.farooqkperogi.com/2020/02/true-ethnic-origins-of-nigerias-past.html?m=1

Why he no talk about Sani Abacha, Zik and Shonekan na?

OEPHIUS:
Breaking!

Meeting of the South East Governors' Forum commences at the Government House, Enugu.

Host Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and Chairman of the Forum, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Nkem Okeke, in attendance.

Details later...

Enugu State is in the hands of God!##

Where is Obiano? Why always sending his deputy?

AlhajiImam:
If only she can embrace Islam and be a Muslim dressed in full hijab, we will do her more good unlike their people who are heartless and careless.

We are accommodating and peaceful people

Do your hungry almajiris good first.

Ezewuzie01:
T.A. Orji who even sacked teachers who were Igbo because they were not Abia indigenes. This kind of gesture will be impossible in Igboland. We Igbos hate ourselves deeply talk more of loving others.

You hate yourself. Not us

Sijo01:
That's what you get when you refused to be committed to your family (wife) who prays endlessly for your success and safety every day.

Illiteracy is a disease. Read the post

NLC Anambra Chapter Gives Gov, Obiano 14-day ultimatum to implement new minimum wage

By wise -February 3, 2020

The Anambra State workers on Monday rejected the state government minimum wage implementation and gave 14 days ultimatum to implement the agreed template of 30,000 or face industrial action.
In a communique issued​ at the end of the state executive council meeting of the organised Labour on the implementation of the new minimum wage and it’s consequential adjustment by the Anambra State chapter held at labour house Awka, the workers expressed​ dissatisfaction over the​ non-implementation of the agreement reached between the labour​ and state government.
The communique was jointly signed by the​ Joint​ Negotiations Council (JNC) chairman, comrade Benson Jibike; chairman of Anambra State chapter of Nigerian union labour NLC, comrade Jerry​ Nnubia; the state chairman of Trade Union Congress TUC, comrade Ifeanyi​ Okechukwu; Acting Secretary of​ JNC/secretary of Anambra State Civil service of Nigeria ASCSN Barr. Alex Ebi, and secretary of Nigerian Union Local Government Employees (NULGE), comrade Netufo Segun.
They said that organised labour was not happy with the government implementations of the minimum wage, especially the non-issuance of circular on the agreed new salary chart before payment of the January 2020 as agreed between the government and organised labour.
The organised labour disturbed by the government action, gave the state government 14 days ultimatum with effect from Tuesday 4th of February to implement the agreement reached or risk industrial action.
The communique further said that they may not guarantee industrial peace existing in the state.
The chairman of JNC said that they noticed some pitfall in the agreement they had with the government.
While the chairman of state NLC, stated that they did not believe that the government had paid them, rather what they did was just like bonuses to workers.
“Before any salary adjustment, there must be circular and we did not see any. They just added two and five thousand naira on the salary, without telling us how they came about it,” he stated.

https://www.powerofnaija.com/2020/02/03/nlc-anambra-chapter-gives-gov-obiano-14-day-ultimatum-to-implement-new-minimum-wage/

Criminal. Audio inspection.

DONSMITH123:
https://punchng.com/breaking-tinubu-breaks-silence-says-amotekun-not-threat-to-national-unity/

He said nothing. Just beat around the bush like a typical afoonjaa

Yet the Obanikoro nigga is walking free...

Sai Atiku.

Fake News from Obiano haters.

Why is it just one gallon? They sprayed the name themselves.

She is an idiot. Why did she allow the guy spend and prepare for wedding? Why didn't she refuse to say YES?

Abagworo:
Chino you are a born hypocrite and green snake. It would have made sense if you stood by your words than to twist suddenly and become a fan of hotel business and even suggesting it employs thousands. If that is true Owerri that has more than 300 Hotels above this standard that are always fully booked weekends has achieved what your State is yet to start by providing 360000 jobs. Golden Tulip already built a 7 storey Hotel in Owerri. Not lease but foreign direct investment and yet you condemned it. God help cunny men like you.

Shut up there!!!

Afonja...

Obi is modest. EFCC should jump and pass jare.

unclezuma:
A 57-yr old Nigerian grandmother, Mrs. Odeyemi Omolara Morayo caught with 1.595kg of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed Int'l Airport in Lagos

https://i.imgur.com/uYUVXWT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iWigy2z.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6pwW5zQ.jpg


https://mobile.twitter.com/SaharaReporters/status/840595909696208896

Brown Roof republic represented.

NCAN over to you.

Mass murderer and war criminal. Murtala Mohammed was a killer.

nonsobaba:
Mr man, are you smoking dried cow dung or what?? Which 200 industries?! Where? Peter Obi is the biggest fraudster ever to govern this state. The rate of industrial development across Anambra state today has never been seen before in the history of the state. All thanks to the foresight of our well-educated and focused governor Obiano. In the meantime, i passed this company on my way to Ihiala 2 days ago and i saw alot of wawa and Imo ppl tropping down there to submit their CVs and enquire about vacancies. 2moro, those same ungrateful lots will turn around to ask what Obiano is doing in Anambra while their fulani-fathered governors in enugu and owerri continue making elaborate fools of themselves and their ppl.

You had better shut up if you have nothing reasonable to say.

Where is Omenka? Come and see them killing your people o, while u masturbate over Biafra.

AWKA - The Chairman, National Task Force to drive the production of rice and wheat in Nigeria and the Executive Governor of Kebbi State, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu was on Thursday received by the Executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano in Anambra on an assessment tour.

The visit was part of the diversification drive by President Buharis administration. Others present at the tour were the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe; the Governor Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; officials of Anambra State, farmers amongst others.

During the assessment tour, the team visited farmland being cultivated for Anambra Rice. They were also presented with bags of Anambra-made stone free rice ready for the market.

It can be recalled that Governor Bagudu was sworn-in in June 2016 as National Chairman of the task force committee that is mandated to fix production targets for rice and wheat among the states taking part in the programme in Nigeria. It will also determine the scope, markets and government’s commitments necessary for success.

Also listed among the terms of reference for the task force is the removal of deficiencies in the value chain and facilitating farmers’ access to support facilities such as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s [CBN] Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. The assessment team expressed their delight on the progress in Anambra.

20th October, 2016

(More Photos in the link)

Source: http://www.ndibe.org/2016/10/kebbi-governor-emefiele-audu-ogbeh.html

PRESS CONFERENCE OF CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, MUHAMMADU BUHARI

In Berlin

(The logging of the foreign-language part took place by simultaneous translation)

Chancellor Merkel: Dear Mr. Muhammadu Buhari! I am pleased to welcome you to Berlin today, after we met at the G7 summit in Elmau and I was in Nigeria a few years ago.

Just a few days ago, the German-Nigerian bi-national commission in Abuja, to which our Federal Foreign Minister had travelled, had also met as an expression of our close cooperation. We will continue the cooperation in the context of the G20 Summit, which will take place in Germany next year, and will return to what we have already emphasized in the context of G7, namely cooperation in the field of health and, of course, cooperation in the fight Against terrorism.

This is where the Chad basin region, which also includes Nigeria, faces great challenges, including fighting Boko Haram. We have set the framework for our development cooperation with 47.5 million Euros (Eur 47.5m) and humanitarian aid for the Chad basin region with 18 million Euros (Eur 18m). The humanitarian situation in the Chad region is alarming. There are over eleven million people who are displaced, who are partly hungry and face a Chad Lake, which currently still has ten per cent of the water surface of what it has always had, which, of course, seriously challenges the nutritional bases.

It is all the more remarkable that the multinational military mission against Boko Haram has already achieved considerable success. In the delegation of the President is also represented the governor of the region, in which Boko Haram rages. We were able to convince ourselves today that there are considerable successes. But the economic situation in Nigeria is complicated by the low oil price. As a result, there is a high degree of unemployment in the Niger Delta combined with crime. Economic cooperation is therefore of great importance.

We will continue to do so - the President is also talking about today - that economic cooperation with German companies can be strengthened. There are big investment projects. On the same day, the first inauguration of a BASF production facility in Nigeria is taking place, where we can join a training course where we can give young people a chance, because the demographic development of Nigeria is very dynamic.

We have also discussed the issues of the migration partnership. The European Commission wants to negotiate a migration partnership with Nigeria. I have made it clear that we have to put illegal trafficking on the trades, not to put people at risk, but in return we have to make it clear that we have to create future perspectives for young people in Nigeria - whether through the Development cooperation, but also through jobs, through training and training opportunities.

(Read the rest of the transcript in the link below)

SOURCE: http://www.ndibe.org/2016/10/full-transcript-of-press-conference.html

TheEastActivist:
Why minus medicine ?

Haven't you seen the Igbos stride in medicine industry?

Orange drugs, juhel pharmaceuticals are there biko.

Even EMZOR is Igbo. And the afonja must have taken EMZOR Paracetamol many times.

I consider it an honour to stand before this great gathering today and talk about the future of Nigeria. Fellow compatriots; Agriculture is the future of our country. If we look back a little, we may recall that the earliest foundation of Nigeria’s economy was laid in Agriculture. And I dare say that with the fast approaching irrelevance of oil, Agriculture will resume its pride of place in our national economy. This is not a prophecy. No! This is the fact before us!

Now, before go further, I must of necessity, thank Adegboyega Awomolo & Associates Annual Colloquium for finding me worthy of delivering this year’s lecture. I have always said that what makes any democracy strong is not only the presence of institutions but the quality of conversations and dialogues that happen among its citizens. Adegboyega Awomolo & Associates are lending a big depth to our democracy with this initiative. I think they deserve a round of applause. Thank you.


Why Agriculture?
Now, it may be important to note that no meaningful conversation on agriculture can take place in Nigeria without remembering that this great country has 91 million hectares of land out of which 84 million hectares are arable. And that only 40% of this 84 million arable land has been cultivated so far. That Nigeria is blessed with 230 billion cubic meters of water. That Nigeria is blessed with the presence of two of Africa’s largest rivers and has abundant rainfall in over two thirds of her territory. I suppose this makes Nigeria a natural habitat for agriculture. No wonder therefore that before we finally allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep by the flow of crude oil, Nigeria was a global agricultural power, noted as the world’s largest producer of palm oil and groundnuts and the second largest exporter of coca in the 1960s.

My further research efforts into our agricultural environment revealed that Nigeria is currently ranked as the second largest producer of tomatoes in Africa and the 13th in the world with a production output of 1.701 million tonnes of tomatoes per annum. I also found out that Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of Shea Nuts with 57% contribution to the global output that is valued at $3.8bn dollars. Shea Nuts which are the primary source of Shea Butter are grown in Kogi, Kwara, Oyo, Ondo and Ogun States at the moment. It can be grown in other states of the federation. I also found out that Nigeria consumes 6 million tonnes of chicken in a year but we produce only 1.5 million tonnes. So, any smart investor can see the goldmine that is waiting in poultry and Shea Butter farming. But that is by the way!

Let me quickly observe that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has done a good job in articulating a brilliant Agricultural Vision for the country. According to them, the vision is to “achieve a hunger-free Nigeria through an agricultural sector that drives income growth, accelerates achievement of food and nutritional security, generates employment and transforms Nigeria into a leading player in global food markets to grow wealth for millions of farmers”.

Fellow compatriots, it is not hard to see that perhaps driven by this Vision, Nigeria experienced a surge in national food production between 2011 and 2014. Facts from the official website of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture indicate a growth of 21 million metric tonnes which had a significant impact on food imports. Expectedly, during that period, our food import bill dropped from N3.19 trillion in 2011 to N635 billion in 2013, indicating a reduction rate of 403%. It is impressive to note that we recorded this feat in only two years.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am taking us through all these facts so that we can all see what we left behind in the choice we made in the past and what we can gain from redirecting our gaze to Agriculture as one of the most attractive alternatives to our mono-economic status. Indeed, Nigeria has everything it takes to change her economic narrative and change her history! Interestingly, that is exactly what we are trying to do in Anambra State today –

Anambra State
We have a very interesting story in Anambra State. With only 4,844 square kilometres of land, Anambra is Nigeria’s second smallest state. It is just slightly bigger than Lagos. And with over 950 deep gully erosion sites, we are obviously smaller than Lagos in land mass. Thankfully, that is where the bad side ends. The good side to the Anambra story is that the state has 100% arable land. The second point also is that we do not only have the knowledge of what to do with our land we also have the needed human capital who have the resources and the know-how to do something with what we have.

As some of you may be aware, Anambra is home to some of black Africa’s most illustrious men and women. We are pioneers and achievers in so many fields. God has blessed us with a large repository of gifted men and women who any focused leader can call upon to lend a hand in the effort to build a better state. And that was exactly what we did when I was sworn in as the governor of the state on March 17, 2014.

Our Story
It is important to note that every purposeful journey ought to begin with a plan. A plan serves as a compass that guides us like the solitary star that guided the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem to see Jesus. In appreciation of this, my team and I started with clear Vision and Mission Statements. I declared that my Vision is to make Anambra State the First Choice investment destination and a hub for industrialization and commercial activities while my Mission is to make Anambra State a socially stable, business-friendly environment that would attract both indigenes and foreigners to seek wealth creating opportunities. I also crafted an Economic Blueprint known as the Four Pillars of Development which seeks to develop Anambra through Agriculture, Trade & Commerce, Industrialization and Oil & Gas.

Ladies and gentlemen, you can see that from the very beginning, I had clear Vision and Mission Statements. You can also see that I have an Economic Blueprint. And perhaps more importantly, you can see that Agriculture is the number one pillar of my Blueprint. So, we did not get to where we are by chance. That is why when people doubt some of the modest achievements we have recorded and seek ways to put them down, we do not pay them any mind at all because there is nothing that is happing in the agricultural sector in Anambra State today that we did not plan for. There is nothing we did not prefigure. And that, to my mind, is the way it should be.

Agriculture should not be a subject of speculative or haphazard engagement. It should not be something we stumble onto by chance. It should be a deliberate and pragmatic choice. That is the only way we can extract value from it. That was the way our founding fathers made something of value out of it. For instance, a trip through the old Eastern Region would easily show all the farm settlements across the region set up by the former Premier, Dr. Michael Okpara that covers diverse crops from rice, cassava, plantain and pineapple to palm oil and cocoa. I am happy to say that we are travelling on the same trajectory in Anambra State today as we continue to follow a special blueprint put together by the 14-Man Committee on Agriculture that I set up shortly after my inauguration that was headed by the renowned Professor Chukwuemeka Omaliko, a well-known agronomist.

First Steps
When we set out, my team and I were quick to realise that with only 4,844 square kilometres of land, we certainly do not have enough elbowroom for agriculture in Anambra State. Out of this lot, about 309,120 hectares of land, which is about 55% of the arable land, is already under cultivation. So, we figured that we had to be strategic in our management of land. As a result, the 14-Man Special Committee on Agriculture headed by Prof. Omaliko was mandated to carry out extensive tests on soil types and advise us on what crop should grow where. We figured that it was important to know where rice would grow best, where cassava would grow best and where maize would grow best based on soil type. We went a little further than that, actually. We also set up a Land Acquisition Committee, headed by Dr. Tim Menakaya; a former Minister. The Land Acquisition Committee was vested with the mandate of negotiating with the different communities across the state to acquire land for large scale farming and other purposes.
Today, as more and more Agro-investors come to make inquiries about the possibilities of mechanized farming in Anambra State, we welcome them with open arms and strong assurances that come from having done our homework well. I would advocate a similar strategic approach for Nigeria. We must conduct a thorough assessment of what we have in terms of land and crop suitability to specific soils as a precursor to intense agricultural production in the 21st Century. The era of guesswork and gut-feeling should be behind us!

How we are structured
One of the things that have given us a huge advantage in our quest to position Anambra State as a leader in Agriculture in Nigeria and beyond is what I choose to call Precision Agriculture. What this means is that we have effectively adapted technology to serve specific purposes in our agricultural programme in the state. And this is what we did – we set up a Situation Monitoring Room in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization, Processing and Exports where we carry out a smooth monitoring and evaluation of activities in all farms in Anambra State. We have a data bank of our farmers, their farms, the location of their farms and the crops they produce and we can effectively monitor progress on these farms from the Situation Room in Awka.
By this also, our investors are more informed about the level of bankable investment that they require .We also put a call and SMS through to these farmers when necessary. At the moment from our database, we have 93,000 validated farmers and 1850 validated cooperatives spread across 21 local government areas in our data bank. A breakdown of this figure shows that 11,425 farmers are involved in rice production, 36,245 farmers produce cassava while 4000 farmers are into maize production. We also have 649 cooperatives involved in cassava production, 621 cooperatives in rice production and 155 in maize production. While more farmers are being captured to update the data bank, a look at the farmers distribution chart shows the following –

SEE TABLE 1 AND 2 ATTACHED
Similarly, the production targets that Anambra has achieved on account of our intervention on our three staple crops are as follows –
Farm Type

SEE TABLE 3 ATTACHED
All these were achieved because of the training and other assistance that my administration provides to Anambra farmers.


Lighting the Flame
When we ignited the fire of the Agro-Revolution in Anambra State on May 15, 2014, many people did not think we were serious about our action. It just didn’t make sense that anyone would be talking about farming in Anambra State. People wondered what had happened to the markets in Onitsha and Nnewi and all the markets across the world where our people are driving commerce. They believed the stereotype that portrays Ndigbo as nothing more than traders looking for the smallest human settlement to set up their shops. But we know that from pre-historical times, our ancestors had great farmers whose wealth was measured in the number and size of the barns where they stored their yams. It was a thing of pride among our ancestors to go beyond feeding one’s family to organizing lavish feasts for the entire community. This often manifested when they took highly revered titles or when they gave out their children in marriage. Our thinking then was, if our ancestors could feed an entire village in pre-history, Anambra State should be able to produce enough food to feed Ndi Anambra and still have enough remnants to export to the rest of the world. So, when I lit the fire of our Agro-Revolution in Nteje, Oyi Local Government Area, I knew that I was not only starting a new and dignifying chapter for my people but I was also challenging ancient stereotypes. Nevertheless, I went ahead to ignite the Revolution with the flag off of the Farming Season. It turned out a battle cry of sorts. We rolled out 100 tractors and handed out tonnes of improved varieties of seedlings.
We organised our famers into cooperatives for ease of management and effective distribution of agricultural support.


Our Approach
In order to keep a sharp focus on our drive for excellence, we had to come up with a concise objective in Agriculture. We declared that our Objective is to ensure that Anambra State joins the Top-3 states in agricultural production in Nigeria. We needed an objective that would galvanize all our efforts in one direction. With our objective intact, we began the quest for credible partnerships. It is important to note at this juncture that there can be no serious transformational effort in agriculture without a strategic partnership with the private sector. In our case in Anambra State, we have the advantage of having many entrepreneurs who have the resources and the knowledge to play a role in our programme. What was needed from us was to demonstrate a bold resolve to push through our initiatives and show commitment to our own plans. In other words, the investors were simply waiting for our body language.

A major part of our body language is the setting up of the Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA) which was conceived as a one-stop investment supermarket that offers almost instantaneous solutions to the challenges a prospective investor encounters in the process of putting down his money for profit within an economic system. ANSIPPA made the entire process of investing in Anambra State seem like a walk in the park; eliminating all the bureaucracy and making our response rate to investment inquiries work like magic. I must not fail to note at this juncture that before ANSIPPA, we had also demonstrated a more convincing body language with the intense crackdown on criminals in the state which turned Anambra into the safest state in the federation. All these form a major part of making the operating climate friendly and receptive to investors.

Our Investment Story
A direct result of creating a favourable investment climate is that it creates a ripple in the investment community. Investors are often highly aware of the existence of a new investment haven. Being risk takers, they have a nose for unlikely information and are more likely to hear local news than the residents of a particular community. The same principle applies to our narrative of excellence in Anambra State. On hearing the modest achievements we had recorded in fighting insecurity and in setting up a proper institution like ANSIPPA, many investors came knocking on the door. Among these risk-takers are 9 Agro-investors who together have collectively changed the agricultural landscape of Anambra State.
These investors include Coscharis Farms which invested $110m dollars in rice production, Joseph Agro Limited with $150 million dollars in rice production, Delfarms Ltd with $200 million dollars in integrated farm project, Novtech Farms with $50m dollars in rice production, Eckcel Farms with $100 million dollars in tomato production, Lynden Farms with $61 million dollars in integrated farm project, MIP Farms with $10 million dollars in tomatoes and Greenhouse production, Tricity Integrated Farms with $11.4 million dollars and Silos & Grains with $23.5 million dollars in a malting plant.


Success Stories
While most of our partnerships with Agro-investors in Anambra State have taken off, companies like Coscharis Farms, Joseph Agro Ltd, Delfarms, Lynden Farms, MIP Farms and others appear clearly in the lead at the moment. In fact, Coscharis Farms has demonstrated extraordinary passion and commitment to change our agricultural narrative. The company played a key role in pushing our local rice production from 80 metric tonnes to 210,000 metric tonnes. Anambra consumes 320,000 metric tonnes of rice per year. At this rate, Coscharis Farms alone can easily help us to meet and surpass our rice consumption in Anambra State in two or less harvest seasons. Coscharis is practising big industrial farming with ultra-modern machines. The company sits on about 2800 Hectares out of which only 2000 hectares have been cultivated so far. At optimum capacity, Coscharis will be producing about 120,000 metric tonnes of rice per annum. There is also Joseph Agro which farms on 500 hectares and Novtech Farms with 1000 hectares and 200 hectares.

The Special Story of Stine Industries Ltd
Stine Industries has earned a mention in this lecture because of the prominent role it played in the emergence of the famous Anambra Rice. Stine is the leading rice mill in Anambra State with a capacity to produce 440 metric tonnes of rice, approximately 10 trailer loads of rice in a day. Stine is one of the success stories of my administration as it is a beneficiary of the first round of disbursements of N2 billion we made to start-ups in Anambra State under the auspices of the Anambra Small Business Agency (ASBA).

Indeed, what we know today as Anambra Rice is a product of the collaboration between the rice farmers and Stine Industries. The good news is that Anambra Rice was adjudged the Best Rice Brand in Africa at the last African Produce Exhibition in Lagos in February this year. It defeated contending brands from South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Cameroun, Zambia and Ghana to emerge Africa’s Best. Ladies and gentlemen, you may recall that we set out to become one of the Top-3 states in Agriculture in Nigeria. But we now have an international recognition in less than two years. That is the power of vision and focus!

Our Export Success Story
Another success story that I must not fail to mention is our Agricultural Export Programme. In anticipation of the outcome of our Agro-Revolution, we established the Desk and mandated it to do the following –

- Develop Agro allied export market potentials for the State.
- Identify exportable products and align them with the various famers cooperatives
- Develop market linkages internally and across the value chain.
- To Ascertain and identify IGR opportunities that exist in each process.
- To develop opportunities with industrialists and manufacturers who require Agro products as raw materials.


(Open link for the rest of the article)

Source: http://www.ndibe.org/2016/10/understanding-agricultural-revolution.html

Lalasticlala

AWKA - Work is to commence very soon on the Isiagu site where a 1000 Housing Units is to be constructed for Civil Servants in the State.

Governor Willie Obiano disclosed this during the 2016 African Public Service Day Celebration held in the State.

The African Public Service Day is an annual event set aside by the African Union to draw attention to the Central and Unique role the public service play in the governance process of member Nations. The Celebration in the State which took place at the Jerome Udorji Secretariat, Awka and was well attended by Civil Servants and top state government functionaries, featured paper presentations on various topics as well as presentation of Certificates to some civil servants in recognition of their outstanding performance.

Governor Obiano who noted that workers' welfare remained a frontline charge for his administration, revealed that his government has offset all outstanding payments hindering the commencement of the Workers' Housing Project. According to him, the contractor handling the project has given his assurances that at least 200 Housing Units will be completed within one year of the commencement of the project.

Governor Obiano who harped on the need for the civil servants to be acquainted with the development agenda of the government they serve, further said what his administration require from them is maximum support and dedication towards building a prosperous Anambra State.

Describing the workers as partners in progress with the government, the governor reassured them of his administration's commitment towards meeting its statutory responsibilities and sustaining its seasonal largesse to them.

The Chairman on the occasion and Provost, Federal College of Education, Technical, Umunze, Prof Josephat Ogbuagu observed that workers in the state has every reason to celebrate due to the governor's impressive welfare package which has been commended all over the country.

In his address, the Head of Service, Barrister Harry Udu who noted that the State Civil Service has proved to be indispensable in the execution of government's policies, said because Governor has been friendly and compassionate in his relationship with the State Workforce, the workers owe him the duty to serve with dedication and continue to publicize his administration's programmes and policies designed to improve their welfare but also that of the entire Ndi Anambra.

Some of those honoured at the event including a traffic warden at Aroma Junction Awka, Mr Darlington Ifedioranma renowned Youth leader, Nwabufo Nwankwo and 33 others. Miss Emetarom Ogoazi of the Deputy Governor's Office on behalf of the awardees expressed their happiness at being recognised by the state and said the honour will spur them towards greater service to the state. The presentation of certificates and gifts to the deserving civil servants formed the highpoint of the event.

In a vote of thanks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications and Strategy, Mr B. C Umerah acknowledged that the state workers have not had it so good and thanked Governor Obiano for remaining true to his promise to the state workforce.

SOURCE: http://www.ndibe.org/2016/09/african-public-service-day-celebration.html


Watch his video and see his photos in action in earlier thread here https://www.nairaland.com/3271259/ifedioramma-d.c-best-traffic-warden#up

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Obong Umana Okon Umana, the 2015 Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State as the Managing Director of the Oil & Gas Free Trade Zone Authority.

Details later.

Mynd44, Lalasticlala

www.nairaland.com/3366461/alleged-15mfraud-channels-tv-yanks
Thanks.

There was a mild drama on Friday as an interview feauturing Mr Charles Ogboli, a lawyer with the human rights watch was abruptly teminated by Channels Television over inconsistencies and misrepresentations.

Ogboli, was asked by presenter Maupe Ogun from the Channels TV Abuja studios to give his view on the circumstances surrounding the freezing of the account of former first lady Patience Faka Jonathan by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) having been introduced as a human rights lawyer. He began by disagreeing with EFCC for placing a no-debit status of Jonathan’s account describing it as high handedness explaining that the companies which are linked to the accounts in question did not belong to the ex-first lady. He however contradicted himself by saying that she was the owner of the money even though fictitious names were allegedly used to open the accounts.

This prompted the presenter and two others from the Lagos studio to grill him further on how he was privy to such sensitive information. He then revealed that he was very close to Patience Jonathan and went ahead to reel out further contradictons. This caused the programme editors to intermittently interrupt him in order to get some straight facts from him. Then in a bizarre twist, he attempted to justify the source of the Dollars in the account, saying that ex-president Jonathan had been a Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President and then President, and as such ‘’he can even give his wife $20million to put in her business,’’ he said.

Ndibe.org gathered that the straw that broke the camel’s back was when the visibly embarrassed Channels TV presenters asked him if he was actually Patient Jonathan’s Representative and not a Human Rights lawyer as he claimed, to which he replied in the affirmative. After some more brief interruptions, he was taken off the air.

Reacting to the interview, Nigerians on social media slammed Mr Charles Ogboli calling him a barefaced liar.
A Facebook user, Uche Ezechukwu wrote, ‘’Who brought this man, Mr Charles Ogboli to a live television programme to make a fool of himself trying to plead Dame Patience's case in her matter with EFCC over seized money? If Mr Ogboli does not trust his own intelligence, he should not take other Nigerians as fools. The former First Lady should find more intelligent ways of explaining her case. This one on Sunrise na wash as Nigerians would say. Her image handlers should have informed her that a cardinal concept in image management is that "perception is the reality"

Recall that four companies, Pluto Properties and Investment Company, Seagate Property Development Company, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Ltd, and Avalon Global Property Ltd, all of which allegedly have links with former First Lady, Dame Patient Jonathan, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to alleged $15 million fraud charge brought against them before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. Warpamo Dudafa, former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to the ex-president Jonathan and two others, Amajuoyi Briggs, a lawyer and Adedamola Bolodeoku, a banker, were also arraigned alongside the companies.

They were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a 15 count charge of conspiracy and fraud.

Mrs. Jonathan in her reaction faulted the authenticity of the representatives of the four companies who pleaded guilty to the charges. The former First Lady, through her media aide, Chima Osuji, alleged that EFCC presented four unknown people as representatives of the companies, all of who did not show letters authorising them by their respective boards to represent them in the case.
Osuji stated: “This is a clear evidence of the desperation of the prosecution to pull down the former First Lady and confiscate her hard-earned money. “It is an irony as it was the former first lady who went to court for the repatriation of her confiscated money, when she realised that the EFCC and its co-travellers were playing politics with this issue, after she had come out publicly to say that the said money belongs to her and that she has all evidence to prove the sources of her money. ”Up till this very moment, EFCC has refused to interrogate or invite her for questioning.”

©Copyright 2016. Permission to use all or part of publication granted subject to acknowledging ndibe.org as source


SOURCE: http://www.ndibe.org/2016/09/alleged-jonathan-15m-fraud-channels-tv.html

Hon. Onyebuchi Offor, representing the highly respected Offor family in Ekwusigo LGA and by the grace of God, Minority Leader, Anambra State House of Assembly, bring you salutations from the Offor family.

Our attention has been drawn to recent publications by Sahara Reporters which are evidently designed to defame Sir Emeka Offor, a most illustrious son of Igboland.

Given the patent falsehood running the gamut of the said publications, we consider that Sahara Reporters has constituted itself the orchestrator and purveyor of a targeted smear campaign against Sir Emeka Offor, possibly for economic gain and at the behest of certain unscrupulous elements.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Sir Emeka Offor is one of the most industrious and accomplished Nigerians of his generation. He has attracted and enjoyed God’s entrepreneurial and pecuniary blessings for over three decades. He has in turn consistently channeled those blessings toward the betterment of his fellow man (and woman and child) by remarkable acts of philanthropy. Notable among the plethora of honours and recognitions that he has received in that regard is the award by the Rotary Club International for his immense contributions towards humanity and the global war against polio.

We wish to make clear that contrary to Sahara Reporters’ libelous assertions, the following is the true and unimpeachable position with regard to Sir Emeka Offor:

• Sir Emeka Offor is hale and hearty.

• Sir Emeka Offor is a happily married man with beautiful children whom he loves abundantly and who love him very much in return.

• Sir Emeka Offor’s multinational businesses continue to thrive and prosper by the grace of God.

Similarly, his personal wealth continues to endure for the benefit of the multitudes who have benefited from his legendary largesse, munificence and altruism.

• Planning by the family for the burial of our late father, Pa Offor, continues apace. We find it disgusting that Sahara Reporters chose to disrespect the memory of Pa Offor by bringing him into their odious publications.

• Sir Emeka Offor’s contributions to the local community are innumerable; permit us to enlighten Sahara Reporters on a few:

Sir Emeka Offor contributed over 50% to the building of Oraifite Civic Centre which stands as one of the best civic centres in the South-East of Nigeria.
 Sir Emeka Offor has run a remarkable university scholarship scheme for over twenty years with the provision of a car and automatic employment for beneficiaries graduating with first-class degrees. Thousands of Nigerians have been proud beneficiaries of this scheme to date.

 Sir Emeka Offor runs a widows’ cooperative society with over 3,000 members as of today. Under the auspices of this cooperative society, he sent a significant number of the widows to India for training on managing a cooperative society. They have subsequently been able to establish a microfinance bank and other thriving microenterprises.

 Sir Emeka Offor built and fully equipped one of the best Anglican churches in the South East of Nigeria, located in Oraifite.

 Sir Emeka Offor singlehandedly constructed a major community road (off Onitsha/Owerri road to Oraifite /Nnewi border). This project was executed by renowned civil engineering and contracting firm, MCC.

Sir Emeka Offor built Ekwusigo LGA Central Police Station.

Sir Emeka Offor provided a free water scheme for the four quarters of Oraifite (Unodu, Ezumeri, Irefi and Ifite).

Do we talk about the various skill acquisition programs undertaken by youths of Ekwusigo LGA under Sir Emeka Offor’s Youth Empowerment Scheme? Just last year, Sir Emeka Offor not only trained over one hundred youths in various skill acquisition programs but also empowered them financially to start their own businesses on completion of their training .

Sir Emeka Offor is a serial job creator with over 3,000 Nigerians under his payroll, indirectly creating over 10,000 jobs in addition.

Apart from within his conglomerate, Sir Emeka has helped innumerable people secure jobs in Nigeria and abroad. The breadwinners of many families are gainfully employed today through the efforts of this great member of the Offor family.

Sir Emeka Offor’s star of charity shines far beyond his immediate community. Again, we wish to mention but a few of his national and international works of benevolence:

Partnering with a U.S. based NGO, Sir Emeka Offor has through his eponymous Foundation donated books, reading materials and computers worth over $22 million to schools and communities in more than 18 countries in Africa including Nigeria.

Sir Emeka Offor has established a glaucoma research centre at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Mainz, Germany and in conjunction, established a Nigerian fellowship for cataract surgery and glaucoma management at the university.

 Sir Emeka Offor donated $2 million, which was matched with a grant of an additional $4 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative launched by the Rotary International, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Center for Disease Control.

Sir Emeka Offor, through his Foundation, entered into a long-term agreement with The Carter Centre to eliminate river blindness (‘onchocerciasis’) in Nigeria. Pursuant thereto, Sir Emeka Offor provided a $10 million grant to the Carter Center, the largest grant ever received by the Center, to facilitate the Center’s efforts in eliminating river blindness in Nigeria.

In light of the above, we wish to ask Sahara Reporters some pertinent questions:

• What do you intend to achieve by the malicious publications? To increase the traffic to your website or to advertise your skills as character-assassination experts available for hire?

• Why have you never reached out to Sir Emeka Offor, in keeping with the ethics of journalism, directly or through his conglomerate’s media relations’ representatives, to get his own side of any of the stories you wished to peddle?

• How much have you been paid to deliberately and recklessly foment a campaign of calumny against Sir Emeka Offor, including but not limited to bringing emotional and psychological distress to his family and loved ones by exposing them to ridicule and odium?

Sahara Reporters has published over seven sensationally libelous articles on Sir Emeka in the last thirty days. The lack of objectivity in your intentions is self-evident in your relentless and ungrounded focus on one individual. We continue to wonder who might be the sponsors to whom you have lent your connivance and instrumentality. We are aware that like any successful businessman, Sir Emeka Offor has competitors who would benefit from his being brought to disrepute.

We want to assure Sahara Reporters however that we will not sit back and watch you continue your attempts at discrediting our brother. We intend, as a family, to take advantage of all legal and equitable remedies available to us in domestic and international law against Sahara Reporters IF WITHIN SEVEN (7) DAYS, you fail to tender an unreserved apology to Sir Emeka Offor and his family for your defamatory publications and character assassination. We also demand that Sahara Reporters cease and desist henceforth from making any other or further defamatory publications against Sir Emeka Offor or any member of the Offor family.

Thank you.

Hon. Onyebuchi Offor
(Minority Leader, Anambra State House of Assembly)
For the Offor family of Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State

SOURCE: http://www.ndibe.org/2016/09/defamation-apologize-or-face-legal.html

Following the recession in which Nigeria currently finds itself, the Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has announced a series of economic stimulus packages aimed at easing the pains of the citizens of the state.

Below is a Special Broadcast on the Economic Stimulus Package by the Government of Anambra State on Tuesday, September 20, 2016.

SPECIAL BROADCAST

Ndi Anambra, ekenem unu!

Following the formal announcement by the Federal Government that the nation’s economy has gone into a RECESSION, I consider it my duty as your Governor to distil the message of the economic situation of the country down to the grassroots. However, following this development too, I am happy to announce to you that I have come up with a Stimulus Package that will ease the pain of the recession and help our dear state bounce back to prosperity.

Ndi Anambra, before I unfold my Stimulus Package to you, I want to assure you that the government of Anambra State is fully aware of the difficulties you are going through in your families, in your businesses and in your various communities. I wish to assure you that you are not alone!

My brothers and sisters, I feel your pain! Biko, unu ebezina maka na agu nwelu nchekwube anaghi egbu. Anyi nwelu olile anya! Oga adikwanu nma!

Brothers and sisters, our country’s painful journey into the current recession is fairly known to us. The events that triggered this decline are very well documented in the public domain. So, I will not go through the details of how we arrived where we are. Ndi Anambra, I wish to assure you that after a careful study of the situation, I am more convinced now than ever before that with our fundamentals, our infinite capacity to come back from deficits and our implicit faith in God, our story should be different in Anambra State.

Consequently, our intervention comes in Four Key Areas-
1) Tax Relief Programme,
2) Special Intervention Programmes for Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs and Large Enterprises,
3) Social Intervention Programme for Low Income Households and finally;
4) Intervention in Infrastructure-for-Jobs

The objective of our Tax Relief Programme is to evaluate existing taxes, levies and fees in the state and introduce some waivers and in some cases scrap the collection of some illegal levies imposed on our people. I believe that these will go a long way to cushioning the impact of the recession on households in the state. Our immediate response in this regard is as follows:

1. I hereby suspend the sale of consolidated emblems in Anambra State
2. I suspend the collection of Hawkers Permit on all streets in the state
3. I suspend the collection of Wheelbarrow Tax in all markets in the state
4. Lastly, I abolish the imposition of unapproved levies on students in public primary and secondary schools in the state.

All these pronouncements shall take immediate effect.

Next is the Special Intervention Programme for Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs and Large Enterprises. Ndi Anambra, this sector of the economy accounts for over 800,000 jobs in Anambra State today. These businesses are suffering from the acute drop in the supply of Foreign Exchange at the moment and are left with two options; scale down their operations or shut down completely.
Ndi b’anyi, my role as your Governor is to envisage challenges and provide solutions that will ensure a speedy comeback from difficult situations that require the power and might of a state government.

This is what my administration has done in the past two years through ASBA, Anambra Small Business Agency. This Agency is a very important institution that I created to serve as a catalyst to our domestic economy. So far, ASBA has effectively distributed the sum of N1.5bn as start-up capital to many SMEs and MSMEs in Anambra State. These funds are part of the N2bn that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made available to states about two years ago to help stimulate local
entrepreneurship across the country.

Anambra Small Business Agency, ASBA was set up with credible manpower and a strategic focus on the productive sectors. I must thank the CBN for demonstrating a great foresight with that credit scheme and I hope that when we knock on their door again soon, it shall be opened onto us since Anambra has managed the last drawdown well through ASBA.

Ndi Anambra, although it may not be known to many people, the truth is that the famous Anambra Rice owes its growth to our intervention through ASBA. So many other manufacturers have also benefitted from this initiative. Therefore, arising from the highly visible success recorded by ASBA, we shall carry out the following policies to provide relief to the productive sectors and stimulate the domestic economy –

1. We shall provide ASBA with a minimum of N3 billion to lend to SMEs and MSMEs at 9% interest rate across key sectors.
2. We shall re-channel earlier accessed Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme funds totalling to about N1.5 billion to support this sector. ASBA will handle it as usual and rigorously follow the standard modalities.
3. We shall fast-track the roll-out of the CBN Anchor Borrowers Program in our state to support SME/MSMEs in the agricultural sector.

At the same time, we have since commenced consultations with the business community in the state and will soon hold an interactive session with the Awka, Nnewi and Onitsha Chambers of Commerce as well as the state chapter of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). This will enable us understand their most pressing needs in order to make a strong case on their behalf to the Presidency and other relevant authorities.

The next stimulus initiative is the Social Intervention Programme for Low Income Households and the most vulnerable populations of the state. Our intervention in this area is broken down into two components. The first component shows what we have already done to ease the pain of the recession while the second segment outlines what we shall quickly do to consolidate on our recent efforts so far.

Now, here are the things we have done to mitigate the impact of the Recession in Anambra State in Low income Households and the most vulnerable groups –

We have employed 500 persons into various positions in primary health centres across the state
We have engaged 300 road sweepers to keep our cities clean and 250 youths to rid our roads of potholes in our zero pothole programme.
We also employed 300 youths into Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra ,OCHA brigade to support our enforcement drive
We made tuition fees in 11 vocational colleges free in the state to ensure that more youths acquire the necessary skills for survival

Similarly, we have also lowered Okada and Keke levies to N50 and N200 daily respectively to cushion the effect of recession and subject to the completion of the registration exercise with the Ministry of Road, Rail and Water Transportation we are seriously considering a waiver for this segment of the low income group.

Now that I have shared what we have done so far to minimize the impact of the recession on our people, I shall go ahead to unfold what we plan to do to deepen our intervention in this segment of the population –

1. We shall provide sum of N3.6 billion to fund our on-going N20 million choose-your-project community program in all the 179 communities in the State. Each community has been allocated N20 million to spend on their most pressing concern. The projects will also be executed by the community and strictly supervised by the State’s Tenders Board and the community members in line with best practice.
2. We shall provide automatic employment to all graduates from universities in Anambra State that are living with disabilities into the State Civil Service. The aim of this initiative is to encourage all our brothers and sisters living with disabilities to embrace education as the key to a better life.
3. We shall work closely with the United Nations Development Programme to provide Training and empowerment programmes for the uneducated physically disabled members of our society.
4. We shall intensify efforts to tap into the numerous social programs at the World Bank, such as Community Social and Development Programmes, Youth Employment and Social Support Operation and the Rural Access Mobility Programme.
5. Lastly, we have aggressively keyed into all the social investment programmes available at the Federal Government, mainly the Home Grown School Feeding and the Conditional Cash Transfe Programmes. Working closely with the FG, we hope to commence these programmes in the next two months.

The last of our Economic Stimulus initiative is to sustain our On-going Intervention in Infrastructure (for-Jobs). Ndi Anambra, experience has shown that investing in infrastructure is one of the most effective ways of breathing life into an economy in recession. It has a direct multiplier effect on job creation and reduces the level of hopelessness and desperation in many households. My strategy in this regard will be guided by prioritizing and identifying projects with huge economic impact.

Here are some of the initiatives I have mapped out under this heading:
1) We shall fund the development of 500 hectares of land in all agrarian communities across the three Senatorial Zones in the state to support out-grower schemes and link them up to big industries in the state. For example, next year, Delfarm Songhai Ltd will commence the supply of sorghum that is produced in Igbariam to Intafact Breweries Ltd in Onitsha.
2) Having trained 250 youths at our School of Agriculture in Mbakwu, we shall fund three Youth Empowerment Schemes in fish farming, garri and ice processing clusters in the State. We have earmarked the sum of N225m for that.
3) We have also earmarked the sum of N300m to be distributed to stimulate Vegetable Production in the state and enhance our highly popular Vegetables-Export Programme to the UK and other parts of the world.
4) We shall fund the construction of strategic roads and infrastructure projects with high economic and social impact across the State once the rains stop.
5) We shall leverage development partnerships and Federal Government funding for intervention in education and healthcare infrastructure.
6) And last but not the least we plan to attract reputable and serious investors to partner with the State on viable infrastructure projects that will boost economic activities in the state.

Ndi Anambra, we have carefully thought through these projects and set aside funds for these initiatives. I believe that these initiatives will stimulate economic activity across all nooks and crannies of the state.

In conclusion, Umunnem, it is important for us to realise that Nigeria’s economy is on the crossroads. We must move quickly and come together to pull ourselves back from the brinks before it is too late. I have never been surer of the capacity of Anambra State to shrug off the current recession and use the opportunity it has provided to leapfrog into Nigeria’s frontline state.

Ndi Anambra we have the manpower, the material resources and the willpower to turn the looming despair and desperation to hope and prosperity.

Umunnem, Ndigbo si na onye kwe chi ya ekwelu. Anyi ekwelugo na Anambra ga adi nma!

Dalunu!

Chief Willie Obiano
20th September, 2016


SOURCE: http://www.ndibe.org/2016/09/recession-obiano-announces-stimulus.html