₦airaland Forum

There are series of meetings going on in Asaba as we speak and the governors (who by the way have always been and are still scared stiff of the militants) are now saying they are considering pulling out of the amnesty deal of the FG,citing percieved insincerity on the part of the FG as demonstrated by this PTI upgrade reversal

The governors just needed an excuse to capitulate again and resume the monthly payments of hundreds of millions of naira to the militants and the FG just handed them a darn good reason.

So let's all brace hard for more acts of economic sabotage that could grind the national economy to a halt

Personnels

@ Debosky

Keep trying to do the PR job for this administration,PTI was never meant to be the be all and end all,yes,that was the reason for the upgrade
In any case,whatever the intention of the FG for this action,the timing is critically wrong and speaks volume of how insensitive this administration is

It's actions like this that gave rise to all these militancy in the first place

It's actions like this that gave rise to all these militancy in the first place

debosky:
@ rasputinn

Mahmadou is the other Diarra at Real - after his stint at Lyon and at Madrid, I would very much fancy him given that Madrid will have something close to a fire sale in August to reduce the wages on their books.

Oops my bad,I meant the younger Diarra,Lassana who had claimed he did not learn anything under Arsene while he was with us

Congratulations to Kano pillars for holding Zesco to 1-1 draw away,hope they'll finish the job at the Sani Abacha stadium in grand style
Go pillars

N161m bank debt: My story - Okiro

Oh shut the hell up,bloody criminal

ow11:
Uduaghan Politics has sent Warri Wolves to Africa! loads of BS if you ask me!!!

I think not,I think they deserved it

ow11:
Wolves berra not eff up in Africa

I hope so too

Talk of flip-flopping

Is the FG opening a private university?

v3nom4eva:
a single match can't determine how well a player plays. . .he's gotta be consistent and NOT average, and THAT's wenger's going for experience (i just hope say d guy no go fall our hand dis time around). .

My ideal buys would be

Gokhan Inler
Lorik Cana
Mahmadou Diarra
Xabi Alonso. . . I smell a rat wif this guy, Wenger might pull a fast one on liverpool wif this deal (if it comes up)

umm. . .there's more, just gotta upd8 my list, thats all

Arsene WILL NEVER re-sign Diarra even if he were to be the last DM in the whole wide world.
Not after he had bad-mouthed AW in an interview

[size=14pt]First Bank Plans Historic N500bn Bond Issue[/size]


The primary segment of the nation’s capital market is set to be ignited as First Bank of Nigeria Plc is poised for a jumbo record issue of N500 billion, THISDAY has gathered.
This move, according to capital market analysts, will attract significant local and foreign investments inflow.
Instead of raising such funds through equity, the newspaper gathered that First Bank opted for corporate bond issuance, which is a debt instrument with a fixed return.
Competent capital market sources told THISDAY yesterday that the leading banking conglomerate had already informed the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) about the planned bond issue, pending a formal application.
A member of staff of First Bank, who could not confirm the news on an official capacity, said: “I am aware the bank is planning something like that. But I cannot give you the details at the moment.”
It was learnt that the bank will raise the money to fund its operations as part of efforts to remain the leading financial institution in Nigeria.
While the Federal Govern-ment and some states have been raising funds from the market, corporate bodies have not taken advantage of the bonds market.
Some stockbrokers, who were excited by the information, said First Bank’s proposed bond would assist in attracting investors to the market and make the primary market active once more.
Although the amount is regarded by some analysts as ambitious, other analysts said given the pedigree of First Bank and the relative safer nature of bonds, the bank would successfully source the funds.
First Bank was the first listed company in Nigeria to make a jumbo offer of N100 billion in 2007. The hybrid offer was subscribed to the tune of 147 per cent. The bank was only allowed to absorb N250 billion out of the N472 billion realised from the offer.
Since then, no other institution has successfully raised such an amount from the stock market. Union Bank of Nigeria Plc had last year planned to raise about N302 billion through a hybrid offer of public offer and right issue.
However, the offer was cancelled due to the global financial crisis that affected stock markets, including Nigeria.
Analysts said that given the competition in the financial industry, First Bank needs not to only expand its operations but also has to further upgrade its information technology and human capital among others.
First Bank recorded gross earnings of N218.3 billion for its year ended March 31, 2009, indicating an increase of 40 per cent over the N155.7 billion in 2008.
Total assets of the bank stood at N2 trillion, an increase of 32 per cent above the N1.5 trillion in 2008.
Deposit liabilities grew by 71 per cent from N700 billion to N1.2 trillion, while loans and advances rose by 59 per cent from N466 billion to N740.4 billion.
However, profit before tax fell by 42 per cent from N47.9 billion to N27.7 billion, while net profit stood at N12.6 billion, depicting a decrease of 66 per cent from N36.7 billion in 2008.
The dip resulted from the N26.1 billion provision made for the decrease in value of the bank’s investments in its asset management and trusteeship business.
Despite the fall in profit, board of the bank has recommended dividend of N34 billion, which translates to N1.35 per share. Besides the dividend, which is 13 per cent above the N1.20 per share paid last year, is being accompanied with a bonus issue of one new share for every six shares already held.
The Group Managing Director of First Bank, Mr. Olabisi Onasanya, said that despite the challenging market conditions, the bank continued to capitalise on its well established value chain in Nigeria’s financial services sector and had achieved another year of strong organic revenue growth.
He said: “Recognition of the bank as one of the strongest and most dependable banks in Nigeria, especially in a time of global downturn has driven considerable growth in our deposit base, with the total group’s deposit liabilities increasing by 71 per cent to N1.2 trillion.
Furthermore, strong year-on-year growth was recorded across all business lines. This is a fantastic achievement and First Bank is well positioned to continue to grow its asset base supported by a sustained robust capital position with a strong capital adequacy ratio of 24.69 per cent and stable funding.”
He added: “Going forward, our growth aspirations will be driven by our commitment to attain the full benefits of scale and scope by accelerating growth and diversification of assets, revenue and profit. At the strategic level, we have identified three pillars that we believe are integral to our objective: they are acceleration of growth by diversification of assets, revenue and profit; service and operational excellence via a single-minded commitment to operational excellence; the design of appropriate institutional processes, systems and capabilities necessary to deliver world class service levels; performance management and people to deliver unmatched results by creating a performance culture with clear individual accountability at all levels as the foundation of all that we shall be doing over the medium-term.
“There is no doubt that the trajectory going forward would encounter pockets of turbulence. Within this prognosis, our challenge at First Bank is to build positive momentum around these three pillars and to build on our progress to date.”

chrisaro7:
September family, Am so happy to be among them, My date is 7th of 9th, And i will be celebrating my birthday on that day and i hope to see all of my family there. So please lets get together so when that day comes i will be sure to call and notify all of yah.

my contact is chrisaro7@yahoo.com and my direct line is 08038249796.

peace out.

Hey Chisaro,for some reason,it's Septem
ber babies born on the 2nd,4th,7th and 30th that have just one person repping those days.So for the 7th,u're the 2nd,ur other bday mate is Waruno

This is the reason why they hounded Ribadu out of office coz had he been around,he would definitely have arrested okiro the minute he retired from the police

There goes the attempt to reposition VN

Just let the FG stick to it's guns and follow due process(not the way they're currently practising it on radio,tv & on d pages of newspapers) but issue more import licences for cement,sugar,flour and ensure a level playing field,stop all patronage to corrupt & ruthless businessmen like Alhaji;patronages which are to the detriment of the national economy,then let the NSE & SEC be alive to their responsibilities & put a stop to the manipulation of prices of quoted stocks,then we'll see who & who will remain on the Forbes list.

It keeps getting better now doesn't it ,we wont buy players even as we are always plagued by injuries.Now Nasri,the only player with a creative flair in our midfield has broken his fibula and will be out till October.Personally,it matters not whether we buy a replacement for Ade or not as we've capable strikers in the squad already,we should rather use the money realised from his sale to get one DMF & one creative MF.Except at least this is done,we will REALLY struggle this season

Anybody wishing away the enormity of the financial crisis looming in the face of Dangote has another think coming.This has nothing to do with whether he is going broke or not.From the posts of so many people here.it's obvious most people don't know the mindset and ambition of Alhaji,this man is obsessed with the desire to be or be seen to be the richest man in Africa and among the top 100 richest men in the world so anything that will alter that equation will seriously hurt his ego.

Secondly,is there anybody who wants to wave aside the effect of the mass exodus of his key staff and more importantly the reason for their leaving,boy that action is a massive indictment of the Dangote establishment?has it ever occured to you guys that Alhaji may not actually be as rich as he has made believe??With the Yar Adua government,Federal patronage is drying up fast (even the FG is broke,plus Alhaji has more enemies who are hawks in Aso rock than he has friends)

Finally,negative publicity is not good for anyone,don't ever underestimate the power of people's goodwill.With Aliko's fight with Femi came so many revelations about how Aliko had actually killed so many businesses in order to enjoy market monopoly,even to the extent of stabbing his hitherto friends in the back(some of us knew some of these things even when Femi and Aliko were eating from the same OBJ pot of porridge) like the case of the Tate sugar lady,Ibeto etc etc

Adema:
I have a Mack Truck, double axle, with a 20feet flat body attched to it for now. Ready to lift 20ft containers to anywhere in Nigeria. Let me know if it will be of use , we can do business 2gether. reach me on 08067115015.

I need 12 tyres for quarry haulage ASAP

Very interesting indeed,I know most Nigerian bizmen whose businesses have been killed by the scheming "chemical" Ali will be saying,the chicken has come home to roost and about time too and will offer him no shoulders to cry on

Like it matters,pleassssssse

Was she trying to escape or what.
What was she thinking,jumping from the upper floor of the bank,which obviously will not be more than two floors and that is really no big deal,but for a woman, a Nigerian,banker-woman (no pun intended),I guess she saw too many Van Damme movies

Now that she's dead,we won't get to know if she acted alone or she had partners in crime in the bank.

On another note,did anybody confirm that she was alone on that upper floor,a co-conspirator woul've pushed her through the AC hole,whatever the case,it's a shame her partners in crime (within or without the bank) will almost certainly not be caught

Adeyeancah:
14th

Creamychic,Senator JD,Manickal,Mykali,Gabe logan,Atiba wealth and Touchmeder

Martins is shyte.He's just the shorter version of Ade.Both are old men,both are a bit heady,both tend to talk before thinking,Ade talks shyte about not performing well because fans didn't sing his praises to high heavens,Martins talks shyte(actually lies) about being shot at in Nigeria hence he declined a national invitation

We need a good DM,a solid right full back and a VERY FIT world class goal poacher,not old players that have passed their prime like Martins

Stoneval:
Wow, 9th here n need a female to hookup wit.holla me @ 07062369936.hope i'd find a mate on here, i echo a.u, n 2 GP

Hi Stoney,you indeed belong to a very special set of September babies,I mean those born on the 9th,your birthday mates on this thread are:Rasputinn,Igbonla,adebiyi221,s4d,MR DEE,niyisky,Music0286 and huss4me

Welcome

tkb417:
Arsenal will be in crisis if Kolo leaves even if they bring a replacement.
you cant lose 2 big players just like tht moreso when the team was in need of reinforcements prior to thier leaving

i hope u guys wont talk about tevez and CR7 ooo

So you still remembered Tevez and CR9,CR10  
Well I can only truly worry about what happens at the Arsenal,the issue is not if some of our players leave,but which of the players are leaving.Left to me,I don't want anybody in the backline to leave,same goes for the midfielders,infact,rather than have them leave,I'd rather we signed more players to beef up those departments

It's coz all the chicks,I mean January-December chicks are all in the poultry,we only have September sistas here and you've not told us if you're one of us

Okereke-Onyiuke: No Investor Lost Money


Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, has stated that investors in the Nigerian capital market did not lose money in the face of the crash experienced in the last one year.
She also claimed that the relentless bearish trend of the period was because of the exposure of investors to foreign media of communication through which they followed the unfolding disasters in the United States economy such as bankruptcies and removal of bank executives, thus leading to panic dumping of Nigerian stocks.
Otherwise, she said, the fundamentals of the stock market remained solid and resilient.
Okereke-Onyiuke spoke at the weekend during the capital market stakeholders’ luncheon of the 2009 convention of Association of Nigerian Physicians in America (ANPA) held in Abuja.
She said investors did not lose money on the grounds that most had sold some of the shares when the rates were much higher than their original prices which they used in building houses, cars and other investments, “including marrying more wives”, while they had benefited by way of dividend and bonus shares they had received over the years prior to the burst.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, many of our investors that suffered losses only lost in terms of value,” she told the delegates. “Their holdings are still intact. It must be stated that even those who lost had earlier made huge profits in form of capital appreciation, dividend and bonuses.”
She also remarked that the market had embarked on the steady path to recovery and the Nigerian Diaspora was supposed to take advantage of this rebound.
According to her, at the peak of the global meltdown, the Nigerian market lost only 40 per cent of its value as the total market capitalisation declined from N12 trillion in 2008 to N7.14 trillion in March 2009, but as investor confidence was beginning to rise; the country’s total market capitalisation was equally rising.
“Today, it is hovering above N8 trillion as many of our investors are taking profit regularly following market dynamism,” she said. “Our market is resilient. We did not apply any stimulus.”
The chief executive officer of the NSE said the Nigerian stock market was now second in terms of returns on investment and among the best five in the world as confirmed by Standard and Poor’s as well as International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank.
She contended that even at that, the rating institutions “cheated” Nigeria because they used dollar terms in calculating the rating of other countries, while that of Nigeria was done using black market rates.
“Until the market meltdown, we have always outperformed many developed markets in the area of return on investment (RoI) in dollar terms as adjudged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Standard and Poor’s, an international rating agency,” she said. “Our market will soon sustain this high performance.”
The DG stated that the Nigerian market shares were now trading below their intrinsic value, making them attractive to local and foreign investors, adding that the NSE had enlarged its Investor Protection Mechanism through enlarged disclosure requirements for the quoted companies and an enhanced risk management strategy.
Aware of the need for investment, Okereke-Onyiuke said, the Federal Government had taken a number of measures, including the amnesty to militants, to restore peace in the Niger Delta, thus sustain Nigeria as an investment destination.
She assured the audience that the Exchange would continue to operate corporate governance in line with global best practices just as she announced that some applications for new issues had been approved this year while many were at the final stages of approval.
“Our market is back to life,” she affirmed. “We shall leverage on our investment in information and Communication Technology (ICT) to remain competitive. Our market is safe and our operating environment is stable as adjudged recently by Fitch Rating Agency.”
However, the CEO of Afri-Invest, who put the event together, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, did not share Okereke-Onyiuke’s optimism, saying the market might take much longer to recover.
“I am not as optimistic as the DG,” he said, although he agreed there were improvements in the economy, like the firming up of the Naira, and asked investors not to panic.
He advised them to always use professional stock brokers and fund managers in investing in the stock market.

lannre:
mAYBE SOMEONE WILL HELP (TURAI) TO TELL YAR DUA THAT HE HAS FAILED

Talking about that Turai,I happened upon the TV coverage of the launch of her cancer initiative when OBJ was talking and unconsciously I went,now that was a better suited person for the office of the president.Yar adua lacks the political stature to occupy that seat,it's so bad that if you were doing your utmost best to believe that there's still hope for this country,all you needed for that belief to varnish into thin air was just to see the picture of Yardua in either the print and electronic media

tayo_ast:
This much for militants?

If the Govt. votes this amt for all tertiary insts. in d country, we wouldn't be where we are today.

N65k/month for criminals.

Again, National Youth Service Corps Members r paid N9,775/month which represents some 17% of wt d criminals will enjoy. This is ridiculous!

Yar Adua is just clueless

10,000 Militants to Get Amnesty, N65,000 monthly
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 07.18.2009

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Up to10, 000 militants in the troubled Niger Delta could benefit from the amnesty offered by the federal government aimed at ending the crisis in the region, which has almost crippled the oil industry.
The chief coordinator of the Amnesty Implemen-tation Committee, Air Vice Marshal Lucky Ararile, announced this yesterday in Abuja at a special media dialogue on the status of the amnesty deal.
Ararile also announced that the federal government has budgeted N200 million to feed the targeted 10,000 militants that will turn up to lay down their arms at the 50 to 60 camps spread across the six Niger Delta states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Rivers.
"We are working on about 10,000 militants. Each militant will receive an allowance of N20, 000 per month in addition to N1, 500 per day for food while at a reintegration centre, translating to N65,000 a month.
“Disarmament and demobilisation part of the programme will last 60 days. Thereafter, the reintegration programme is indeterminate," Ararile said.
He said a few militants have already surrendered their arms but declined to give a specific figure.
Ararile continued: “If you compute 20,000 per month by 10,000 ex-militants, we will be talking of billions of naira. This is for the disarmament and demobilization part of the programme, which is for 60 days.
“Their duration at the camps will depend on the things they want to do. Some of skills will be acquired at home while others will be sent to relevant institutions to learn a trade, or back to school for those who want an education.
“For the re-integration centres, we are thinking of either building new ones or renovating structures that are available. But because of time constraint, we may be forced to renovate.
“So in certain cases, we are renovating and in others we will build. The degree of renovation varies from facility to facility but there is no fixed figure on that.”
He called on more militants to take advantage of the amnesty offer and commended the level of enthusiasm so far expressed by those who have already surrendered their weapons.
“I think is in the interest of everybody to end this right now. Most Niger Deltans are tired.
“They are now the victims of this whole struggle. It is virtually impossible for development to take place in the Niger Delta today with the level of violence that we have.
“It is not just development that is affected, even our individual social lives have been completely affected.”
The Media Coordinator of the committee, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, added that the consequences of this crisis “as we have seen in Gbaramatu Kingdom, is that it is the women and children that have been displaced.
“This is the reason we think the militants should accept this amnesty and save their parents, their mothers, even their grandparents the pain they are going through.
“If you should visit this camp, you will see a very sorry sight. The activity that led to this displacement shouldn’t have happened.”
Asked if the committee is in touch with Government Tompolo, a key militant, Ararile said there has been no direct contact with him.
It would be recalled that President Umaru Yar'Adua had announced the offer of amnesty from August 6 to October 4, 2009 for all those directly and indirectly engaged in militant activities in the Niger Delta.
Henry Okah, the leader for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta had all charges against him dropped as part of the amnesty deal. He was released from jail last Monday.
In response, MEND declared a 60-day ceasefire on its "oil war" which has seen oil production cut by 50 percent