₦airaland Forum

Reports profit before tax of ₦109.7billion 

 

Guaranty Trust Bank plc has released its audited financial results for the half-year ended June 30, 2020, to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.

The half-year result reflects GTBank’s leading position as one of the best managed financial institutions in Africa. The Bank’s loan book grew by 8.1% from ₦1.502trillion recorded as at December 2019 to ₦1.624trillion in June 2020 and customer deposits increased by 18.5% to ₦3.001trillion from ₦2.533trillion in December 2019. Profit before Tax closed at ₦109.7billion, representing a decrease of 5.2% over ₦115.8billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019.

The Bank closed the half-year ended June 2020 with Total Assets of ₦4.511trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦720.9Billion. In terms of Asset quality, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk closed at 6.8% and 0.4% in June 2020 from 6.5% and 0.3% in December 2019 respectively.

Overall, asset quality remains stable with adequate coverage of 118.1%, while Capital remains strong with CAR of 22.9%. On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) stood at 26.8% and 4.6% respectively. The Bank is proposing an interim dividend of 30kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo each for the period ended June 30, 2020.

Commenting on the financial results, the Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, Segun Agbaje, said: “These are undoubtedly tough and trying times for people, businesses and economies the world over. Our financial performance in the first half of the year reflects the quality of our past decisions which have broadened our earnings and strategically positioned us to thrive, thus far, through the current global health and economic crises.

Underpinning this financial performance is our commitment to being there for our customers and the communities we serve, and over the past six months we have lent the full weight of our franchise to safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of our staff and customers by leading from the front in the fight to curtail the Covid-19 outbreak and offering grace periods on loans to our small business customers.”

He further stated that: “Going forward, our focus is not just to survive this pandemic, but to thrive beyond it. That is why we are going ahead with our plans to reimagine how we create value for all our stakeholders. We know that making financial services work for customers goes beyond banking, and in line with our long-term strategy, we will seek to create and drive innovative financial solutions that go beyond banking.”

GTBank has continued to report the best financial ratios for a Financial Institution in the industry with a Return on Equity (ROE) of 26.8% and cost to income ratio of 43.2%.

Renowned for its forward-thinking approach to financial services and customer engagement, GTBank was recently ranked Africa’s Most Admired Finance Brand in the 10th-anniversary rankings of Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands, the pre-eminent survey and ranking of the Top 100 admired brands in Africa.

The Bank was also awarded the Best Bank in Nigeria by Euromoney Magazine for a record-extending tenth time and the Euromoney Excellence in Leadership Africa Award for its swift reaction in responding to the Covid-19 crisis and for addressing the impact of the pandemic on its customers and communities.

Guinness Nigeria Plc is struggling to refinance a foreign-currency loan and trim costs following a shortage of dollars in Africa’s largest economy.

Diageo Plc’s Nigeria unit is weighing options to manage a $23 million debt as a lack of liquidity in the local foreign-exchange market has made it difficult to refinance, Stanley Njoroge, finance and strategy director, said on an investor call in Lagos on Friday as reported by Naija247.
“We will want to refinance it but there is no foreign currency in the market at the moment,” he said.

The brewer of Guinness Stout is looking to roll over the loan which matures in May next year, but is yet to decide whether to keep it as a dollar debt or convert to a local-currency loan.

Nigeria’s second largest brewer’s outstanding debt rose 16% to 23.2 billion naira ($60 million) as of June compared with a year ago, while finance costs rose 74% to 4.5 billion naira.

Nigerian companies are struggling to access the greenback after a slump in oil prices cut export earnings, putting pressure on the central bank’s capacity to meet dollar obligations to investors and businesses. “Foreign exchange is a big concern for us,” Njoroge said.

Guinness Nigeria made a net loss of 12.6 billion naira for the full year through June compared with a profit of 5.5 billion naira a year ago, according to its filing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday. Revenue dropped by 21% to 104.4 billion naira.

The company will prioritize stout, spirit and malt brands in 2020 and focus less on lager as it aims to grow the business and cushion the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on operations, Njoroge said. “We don’t have the right price in lager,” he said.

Affordable pay-TV operator, StarTimes will broadcast the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League, starting with the group stage from Thursday, September 3.

StarTimes will broadcast the matches on its sports channels, as well as on StarTimes ON streaming application, live and in HD.

The 2020/21 group stage matches will be played between September and November. Matchday 1 and 2 will be played daily this September, starting this Thursday to Tuesday next week. Fans will see great games such as Germany vs. Spain, Ukraine vs. Switzerland, Sweden against France and titleholder Portugal vs. Croatia, among others.

Germany will face Spain on Thursday at 7:45 pm.

StarTimes secured UEFA Nations League broadcasting rights as part of its National Team Football agreement with UEFA over the period 2019-2022.

UEFA Nations League is UEFA’s newest national-team competition and is entering its second edition.

This national-team competition replaces friendlies with competitive matches, allowing nations to play against equally ranked teams.

The 55 European national teams are divided into four leagues based on the 2018–19 Nations League overall ranking. Leagues A, B and C feature 16 teams each while there are seven teams in League D.

The four group winners of the top-ranked League A qualify for the UEFA Nations League Finals in June 2021. The knockout tournament will be hosted by one of the quartets. For the remaining sides, there is promotion and relegation to play for.

Portugal beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the inaugural 2018/19 UEFA Nations League final in Porto on 9 June 2019.

“We are very excited to air UEFA Nations League. As Euro 2020 has been postponed, it will be the only national team event this year. All European football stars will be there and we can expect a great football show,” said Kristen Miao, StarTimes Sports Director.

The Chairman of First Bank, Dr. Ibukun Awosika, is set to appear on the soon to be released movie, Citation, by Nigerian actor and movie director, Kunle Afolayan.

The movie tackles the ordeals faced by female students in Nigerian Universities and it aims at propelling women to become great leaders.

Dr Awosika plays the role of the university faculty dean, heading the senate hearing panel of a female postgraduate student (Moremi), played by Temi Otedola, who has been a victim of sexual harassment.

Citation also features the likes of Jimmy Jean Louis, Sadiq Daba, and Gabriel Afolayan and was shot in Obafemi Awolowo University and in three countries.

Relishing the experience in the casting of her debut in the acting world, Awosika, on her official Instagram account said: “It is not in all situations, that we get a chance to do more than talk, about an issue that we are passionate about. The challenges that the female gender faces in her pursuit to be her best is multidimensional. When great institutions all come together, with an award-winning producer to take on a global issue, it seemed like a good risk worth taking as well as a great adventure into a field I had never experienced.

“Real respect for the players of the field. Don’t judge a man’s job until you have walked in his shoes. Nigeria is truly blessed to have so many great professionals. The potential for the sector to create jobs and add to economic growth is without question.

“I enjoyed the experience and I thank all those who made it fun for me! Wakanda forever! CITATION is a definite must-see!!”

Ifeanyi Akunna, vicar of Anglican Church of the Epiphany, Abuja has urged everyone watching the Big Brother Nigeria (BBNaija) reality show to “desist from it and ask God for forgiveness.”

NAN reports that Akunna gave the admonishment on Thursday in his message titled: ‘A House Built on Faulty Foundation’.

The cleric also called on the federal government to ban the BBNaija and other similar programmes in the country.

He said that such programmes promote immorality and erode the moral foundations upon which Nigerian youths should build on.

According to him, the addiction of Nigerians to reality shows like BBNaija does not add to their moral value.

Akunna said the plan of Satan was to constantly pollute the hearts of viewers of the programme with nudity and porn concept to divert them from the ways of God.

“All who watch the reality programme should desist from it and ask God for forgiveness as it does not promote a healthy relationship with God, neither does it promote healthy marital values,” he said.

“These things contribute to the faulty foundations upon which people build their lives and future.

“Any foundation that is not built on Jesus Christ must surely collapse — as only Jesus is the sure anchor of our lives and souls.”

He also urged the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to scrap the show and censor programmes that do not teach moral values.

Akunna regretted that the media and the entertainment industry in Nigeria had paid no attention to the damaging effects of their contents.

His comment comes days after Elebena Chukwu, a self-acclaimed Nigerian prophet, threatened to use his spiritual power to shut down the reality TV show if the federal government fails to do so.

The 2020 edition of the show started on July 19 with the winner expected to win N85 million grand prize.

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu has called for a concerted effort towards diversifying the country’s export base through the promotion of non-oil exports. He made the call during a Webinar themed “Prospects of Non-Oil Export During and Post COVID-19” organised by the bank on Wednesday, August 26, 2020.

According to him, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which has impacted the demand for oil and, by extension, the price of crude oil in the international commodities market has further exposed Nigeria’s over-dependency on crude oil earnings and its susceptibility to oil-related shocks. He added that the events of the last couple of months have also highlighted the limited range of the country’s value-added products exported to foreign markets.

He noted further that boosting non-oil export is imperative in view of the opportunities that exist in the broader contexts of ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which seeks to create a continent-wide market of 1.2 billion people with combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion and about $4 trillion in consumer and business spending.

Whilst commending the efforts of the government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deepen the non-oil export business in the country, Onyeagwu urged players in the non-oil export value-chain including exporters and financial institutions to play their part in the drive towards expanding the nation’s non-oil export base.

Delivering the keynote address, the Director of Trade & Exchange, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. (Mrs) Ozoemena Nnaji, who commended Zenith Bank for organising the webinar at a time like this, observed that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for the country, as it has once again exposed the over-dependence of the Nigerian economy on one product. She therefore called for a deeper policy look at the non-oil sector to find ways of genuinely improving the quality and quantity of our non-oil export goods.

Also speaking at the Webinar, the Chief Executive/Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Olusegun Awolowo commended the efforts of Zenith bank in promoting non-oil export business in Nigeria, describing the bank as ‘the Export Trade Bank of Nigeria’.

Speaking on the topic “Repositioning Non-oil export as a Leading Revenue Earner: Government Plans and Programmes”, Awolowo noted that the crash in oil prices following the COVID-19 pandemic and OPEC’s price war with Russia reinforced what everyone already knows – the mono-product economy of the country is not sustainable, calling for a buy-in into the Zero oil policy of NEPC.

Zenith Bank remains committed to the promotion of the non-oil export sector in Nigeria by identifying emerging opportunities which help in stimulating non-oil exports and developing robust financial products and incentives for operators in the sector. The bank launched the Non-Oil Export Seminar in 2017 as an initiative to deepen the discourse on promoting non-oil export business in Nigeria.

Position to succeed Sanwo-Olu in 2023 -Insider alleged 

 

Leaders and members of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the antics of the national leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in foisting his personal choices for public offices on the chapter.

This has become highly embarrassing especially for members of the apex body of the chapter, the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), who are now at loss on how to explain their relevance to party and non party members.

The latest drafting of Tokunbo Abiru the erstwhile Managing Director of Polaris Bank to contest the vacant Lagos East Senatorial ticket on the platform of the party, was done in such a way that left members of the GAC, stupified and dumb founded.

Having being detailed to shop for qualified party members to fly the flag of the party in the November bye election occasioned by the death of Bayo Oshinowo. GAC members went to work, while at it, information got to them that Abiru has being picked by Tinubu and that their labour was a mere academic exercise.

These politicians became down cast as it has been a tradition for Tinubu to send the GAC on a wild goose chase only to unleash his position on them and use them as the horsemen to hold the leash against the anger of his minions.

The pain of Party members on the other hand stems from the glaring fact that Tinubu recruits technocrats for public offices, leaving them in the cold after years of staying with the party through thick and thin.

“It has become a sin for one to be a party member in Lagos. You are seen as foolish and unusable ” said Funmi Falola from Ikorodu federal constituency.

“In the last general elections 201 of us bought forms for the state House of Assembly ticket, only for Tinubu to unilaterally picked all the forty candidates of the party, without making all aspirants test their popularity in a primary, the best we got was a refund of the money we expended on purchasing APC’s nomination, and expression of interest forms from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and other promissory notes that are yet to materialise.

Tunji Ojo a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) taunted Lagos APC members, saying “they will forever remain subservient in their party, because not only have they been enslaved by the lie that, “Power is not served a la carte”, the disdain of their self-styled leader for politicians will never make him consider them for any good, no matter how close they might be to the thing.

“He would always take it over them to someone else. He just doesn’t want them to grow and be self-reliant politically, because they know the game as much as he does. The “Baba Sope” culture is too lucrative and working magic for him to mull embracing collegiate leadership.

“Interestingly and sadly for Lagos APC members, he always serves power a la carte, even to those, who never dreamt or planned to be in politics. I pity those who are quick to stand behind their party’s silly decisions even at their collective expense. They have conceded their rights to every aspiration to the leader. Lagos APC politics is stupid. They’re all slaves!”

A party member said “We are indeed in slavery in Lagos APC. If you know how angry party members are but no one can talk even the GAC leaders are fed up.

“As regards filling the vacant Lagos East slot Tinubu gave the GAC the assignment to shortlist aspirants, but they couldn’t do it because midway they got feelers that he has annointed Abiru.

“Everybody is waiting for external aggression to free Lagos APC from Tinubu vicious grip, because those who should do it internally are suspicious of each other and profit heavily from Tinubu for betraying each other.

“We will wait for the emergence of a National Working Committee of the party that is not beholden to Tinubu, before there can be internal democracy in Lagos APC.

“One man compiled the list of the forty man Tunde Balogun led state executive of the party, he sanctioned the 57 man council chairman list, he chose all the 22 man House of Representatives members from Lagos, the three Senators were his choice.

“The state cabinet members were all his choice except two slots he apportioned for Governor Sanwo-Olu. You can get to director level in Lagos civil service without Tinubu’s blessing.

Pundits said Tinubu drafted Abiru into the senatorial race preparatory to his presidential ambition in 2023. Abiru is said to be instrumental to the 2023 funding agenda and he just facilitated and sealed a N200m loan for each of the 57 councils in Lagos State. The N12bn Polaris bank loan is apparently the first in the line of three other loans that are are supposed to be used to purchase equipment for the local governments. Insiders have warned that these loans will not be used for any purchases but will be deployed towards the 2023 ambition of Tinubu.
Stakeholders in the banking industry have questioned the propriety of the loan transactions and have petitioned the EFCC and other security agencies to investigate the Bank, Abiru and the Lagos local Governments as the transaction is clearly illegal and designed to pull cash from the system in violation of financial regulations .
Analysts have observed that it is these type of transactions that denied Abiru a renewal of his term by the CBN and his tenure at Polaris Bank must be thoroughly investigated.

Abiru a former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance is reputedly an age long bagman for Tinubu and is likely being groomed to take over from Babajide Sanwoolu in 2023.

The National interim leadership of the party is unhappy with these developments as they see it as a pointer to more crisis in a Lagos APC that is already nursing simmering internal discord and anger and a major inhibitor to the overall growth of the Party.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited on Tuesday, announced its lead sponsorship of the TV reality musical talent show, The Voice Nigeria, Season 3.

The talent show which is organised by UN1TY Nigeria is created to discover, nurture and bring to the fore musical talents amongst the next generation of Nigerian youth.

The Voice Nigeria will be produced for the first time in Nigeria and will be aired on DSTV channel (Africa Magic) Startimes and terrestrial TV channel (AIT), amongst other leading television stations in the outside the country. Nigerians can expect to see the very best talents on stage in the course of the competition.

The musical talent hunt show would start with blind auditions to be submitted upon being shortlisted after a successful registration, then battle auditions which then move out of the rooms and straight into the arenas, with hopefuls having to perform in front of an arena audience from the start in the hope of making it through to the next stage.

The Voice Nigeria will be hosted by Denola Adepetun (aka Denola Grey), Nancy Isime, Toke Makinwa and the coaches are Dare Art Alade, Folarin Falana (aka Falz), Yemi Alade and Aituaje Iruobe (aka Waje).

Interested participants are to register via the link www.thevoicenigeria.com with their FirstBank account number as a requirement. Should one not have an account with the Bank, then dial the Bank’s USSD code, *894*0# to be a FirstBank account holder. The audition is open to individuals within the age of 18 -50 years who are have been residing in Nigeria for 12 consecutive months. The registration for audition is open from 25 August – 19 September 2020.

There are numerous awesome prizes up for grabs. The winner of the show will be go home with whooping ten million naira cash; a brand new car and an exciting one-year recording contract reward with Universal Music.

Speaking on the talent hunt show, Folake Ani-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, said: “We are delighted to be the lead sponsor of The Voice Nigeria, this partnership is hinged on our Brand’s passion to empower and invest in our youths. FirstBank has given voice to the young and indeed all Nigerians for the past 126 years, and will continue to give voice to Nigerians by creating employment, economic empowerment in the country through our products, services and initiatives. We remain committed to strengthening the creative industry which is fast growing into a multibillion-dollar business, with potential to be a leading contributor to Nigeria’s GDP in the near future.”

We commend UN1TY Nigeria for The Voice Nigeria as our sponsorship is in recognition of the vast talents Nigeria is blessed with which we are delighted to promote, thereby having a positive impact the Nigerian entertainment industry. We enjoin everyone to follow our social media channels for more details on the programme, whilst also staying locked on their TV screen. More details would be provided in the course of the weeks through our social media channels.

“The show promises to be engaging, full of surprises and with fun-filled excitement to our viewers,” he concluded.

According to research disclosed in PWC’s recent Entertainment & Media Outlook report, Nigeria’s entertainment is expected to rise from $4.46 billion in 2018 to a $10.5 billion market by the end of 2023. In addition, with this initiative and other sponsored events targeted at the youth, the premier Bank in Nigeria, FirstBank, is committed to strengthening its contribution to the development of the entertainment industry in the country.

Governor of the State of Osun, Adegboyega Oyetola, has reaffirmed the administration’s resolve to reclaim missed opportunities and set Osun on the path of sustainable prosperity and development.

He said the administration would spare no effort to unbundle the potential of the State across all sectors, particularly agriculture, tourism and mining.

Oyetola noted that the state government under his watch had developed workable and achievable roadmap that would help drive its people-oriented policies to enhance growth and development of the State.

Governor Oyetola stated this on Tuesday while addressing participants at the maiden Virtual Public Lecture organised by the State’s Ministry of Regional Integration and Special Duties, to herald the 29th Anniversary of the creation of the State.

Oyetola who reeled out some of the achievements of his administration in the last one and half years, said the government had successfully consolidated on the past strides and recorded huge success in its efforts to stimulate the economy of the state and utilise the state’s socio-economic potential.

Speaking on the theme of the lecture, “Unbundling Osun Potential towards prosperity in Agriculture, Tourism and Mining”, Oyetola noted that “As a responsible government which inherited a fragile economy and faced with Covid-19 dilemma but is not given to excuses, we have gone back to the drawing board to creatively design an unusual method to respond to the challenges in order to deliver the better life to the people.

“This Virtual Lecture is therefore a creative and proactive response to achieving the objective of the Economic and Investment Summit, which we floated in November last year as our solution to lifting the State out of economic woes and making it an economic hub of the South West.

“The theme of this Virtual Lecture is apt and timely at this period when petro dollar is declining, monthly allocation is progressively tumbling and economic activities are diminishing.

“It is also apposite that the Lecture is coming at a time when diversification of the economy remains the obvious road to economic recovery and prosperity.

“As an Administration, we believe that our State has all it takes to prosper and that the greatest potential of the State of Osun is its people and the resources that lie under its soil. At a perilous time like this, there is a need to look inward to tap on our strength and potential in Agriculture, Tourism and Mining, which, without doubt, are our areas of comparative advantage.

“From the experience of the nation with oil, unbundling Osun potential towards prosperity in its areas of comparative advantage goes beyond resource abundance.

“We shall need to approach our potential as business and adopt an amalgam of appropriate strategy, efficient and competent personnel and employment of due process in the management of our resources to avoid resource curse”, he said.

Oyetola who reassured of the government’s commitment to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic and revive the economy of the state, said “the administration is resolved to wriggle the State out of lack and put it on the lane of prosperity”

He added: “Hardship occasioned by national economic downturn and Covid-19 challenges notwithstanding, our administration is resolved to wriggle the State out of lack and put it on the lane of prosperity.

“We have the political will and the competent personnel. Our ability to prudently manage our resources since we assumed power and to keep our economy afloat in the face of depressed economy is proof that we have the capacity to translate our resources to sustainable wealth.

“In order to harness all of these for effective and efficient management of our resources, we shall regularly build capacity by organising seminars and workshops to build capacity”.

The Governor went on to congratulate the citizens and residents of the state on the occasion of the 29th anniversary just as he called on them particularly the youths to key into some of the life-changing policies and programmes of the government designed to uplift their lives and banish hunger, poverty and the scourge of unemployment.

The three Guest Speakers at the event including the Director General of IITA, Ibadan, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, a tourism expert, Mrs Chiamaka Ifediora and Former Special Assistant to the former Minister of Petroleum, Barrister Najim Animashaun, spoke extensively on the need for the state to properly harness her potential in the areas of agriculture, tourism and mining.

Earlier, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Prince Abdullahi Binuyo, unveiled some of the substantial achievements the government had recorded in the mining sector as the sector had witnessed tremendous transformation in the last eighteen months of the present administration.

He said the state has been prudently managing its abundant mineral resources particularly in the mining sector to rejuvenate the economy of the state as the Governor had demonstrated capacity to make solid mineral the mainstay of the economy of the state.

In their separate remarks, the Commissioner for Tourism and Culture, Dr. Adebisi Obawale and the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Adedayo Adewole, reeled out some of the achievements recorded in their respective ministries to unleash the potential of the state for socioeconomic growth, development and prosperity.

Obawale stated that the government was committed to making Osun tourist destination and bring out the best out of its rich cultural heritage to create wealth for the citizens, just as Adewole noted that, no effort would be spared to turn Osun to food basket of the Southwest.

Senate has uncovered an alleged multi-billion Naira fraud in the joint venture operations between, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and StarTimes, a Chinese Satellite Pay TV.

The allegation came up when the Senate Joint Committee on Finance and National Planning scrutinized the spending and expenditure of the Nigerian Television Authority for 2021 with the details of the 2021-2023 MTEF & FSP documents,
The Senate panel said it was stunned to discover that the multi-billion naira deal with StarTimes was not captured anywhere in the documents submitted to it as presented by Mallam Mohammed Yakubu, director-general.

Trouble started for NTA after Solomon Olamilekan, chairman of the Senate Panel, asked why NTA was blocking StarTime from being registered with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

In response, Yakubu denied the allegation, stressing that NTA could not have blocked StarTimes as it was currently in a Joint Venture Agreement with the company.
The DG’s statement prompted further questions from the Senate Panel on how much NTA had earned from the Joint Venture with StarTimes over the years.

But even more, surprising to the Senate Panel was that the Joint Venture was not stated anywhere in the documents NTA submitted for the committee’s perusal.
The suspicious Senate panel demanded to see records of what NTA generates from production, adverts and documentaries.

It also asked that NTA should return on Monday with its debt profile that contains the names of its debtors, the date, amount incurred as well as the name of the officials that authorized it for publication.

The NTA entered the Joint Venture with StarTimes in 2010 with a sharing ratio of 70-30 in favour of the Beijing based company.

Irked by NTA’s outing, the Senate panel ordered that henceforth all revenue generating agencies of government should remit all their earnings into the Consolidated Revenue Funds out of which their cost of collection will be given to them. This, the panel said will shore up revenue for government as well as block wastages in the system.

The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan has reiterated the need for young Nigerian graduates to be digitally savvy, imbibe uncommon integrity, deep insights, accountability and excellence to be able to compete in the new world order.

Akinwuntan who gave this charge while delivering a commencement speech at the historic first virtual graduation ceremony for 2019/2020 Lynx set of Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State noted that in this fast-paced and covid-19 impacted world, only those who are responsive to change and able to learn, unlearn and relearn that will survive.

According to him: “Our world faces many opportunities and challenges ranging from spiritual, economic, political, social to technological. Concepts, identities, institutions and their definitions are being challenged daily. You must therefore bring into our unfolding world, uncommon integrity, deep insights, accountability, excellence, servant leadership, creativity and a never-give-up spirit that truly creates a new, better world. Also you must be digitally savvy to compete effectively notwithstanding what you studied here.”

Further, Mr Akinwuntan tasked the graduands that would be establishing business in today’s environment to be digitally savvy and focus on industries that offer services and products that have massive day-to-day use such as agriculture, telecoms, food and beverages, technology, banking and finance, urging them to also pay attention to businesses that will enable them to scale or grow without much additional capital such as Uber, Netflix, Tiktok. “The basic values of punctuality, respect, humility, diligence, integrity have become rare in the business environment. Do not take these for granted. Keep them and you will be better for it.”

He also gave a word of advice to those of them who would be seeking employment, urging them to have the DNA of an employer.

“It may come across as a paradox, but an employer DNA seeks to add value while an employee DNA seeks to collect salaries. Note the huge difference.”

While congratulating the graduands, he told them to ready imbibe integrity and play by the right rules always, to make positive difference in any sphere, adding that: “God has granted you a moral compass and a conscience that speaks loudly when you are doing the wrong thing. In other words, remember the child of whom you are. You must therefore always act with integrity if you are to be the positive difference.

“You must draw from your formation, inner-self and live by your values, vision and passion. Your attitude and perspective to changing realities is critical to achieving excellence, success and enduring impact.”

Aggrieved members engage Lagos-based human right Lawyer Mr. Joe Nwokedi

The Lagos- based Human Rights Lawyer, Mr. Joe Nwokedi, has been engaged and briefed by aggrieved ex-workers of NAHCo Ltd. to press home the demand for the payment of their terminal/severance benefits.

The Group numbering over 750 (Seven Hundred and Fifty) persons led by Mr. Funso Ojibanire- National Coordinator and Mr. Sanmi Alademomi-General Secretary respectively, were former workers/employees in the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Ltd (NAHCo) until the company was privatized in 2005, which occasioned the disengagement of their services from the company and untimely retirement from their work.

Majority of the ex-workers have put in fifteen to twenty years of diligent and uninterrupted services in the company prior to the privatization and therefore entitled to huge remuneration as the payment for their Terminal benefits. Their hope however suffered severe setback when Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) allegedly shortchanged and eventually underpaid them after fifteen years of long wait in anticipation of the payment of their terminal benefits which is legally and lawfully due to them as ex-workers of NAHCo Ltd.

The group equally alleged that there were several issues and questions to be cleared by PTAD with respect to their Terminal Benefits, such as information pertaining to the effective date of privatization of NAHCo Ltd, the method/mode used in computing the amount paid to each ex-worker of NAHCo Ltd, a clarification on how the number of ex-workers number dropped from 986 persons to 783 after verification, an unverified letter to BUREAU OF PUBIC ENTERPRISES (B.P.E) and the purpose of such letter, illegal deductions from our client’s terminal benefits funds amongst numerous others. The Ex- workers also maintained that it was the date of their conversion as against date of employment that was submitted to PTAD by NAHCo Ltd for computation.

The group is however very convinced that there was foul play in the payment of their terminal benefits, as the process adopted by the PTAD in arriving at the amount paid to them is anything but transparent and fair.

In furtherance of the desire to fight this gross injustice and brazen attempt to impoverish the downtrodden citizens of Nigeria; the group has therefore engaged and briefed the Fiery Lagos-Based Human Rights Lawyer, Mr. Joe Nwokedi to assist them in aggressively championing this cause by invoking the law and assessing the legal implications of what transpired between members of the group, NAHCo PLC, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BP.E) and Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD). Mr. Joe Nwokedi after accepting the brief, vowed that justice must be done in this matter, as he is of the firm belief and conviction that his clients (Ex- workers of NAHCo Ltd) were not fairly and equitably treated in payment of their terminal benefits.

Consequently, Mr. Joe Nwokedi has promised to explore every avenue within the confines of the Law to ensure that his clients’ due entitlements were paid to them. He sternly frowned at a situation where people will put many years of hard work and dedication to a job only to be maltreated, humiliated, frustrated and made to languish in pains and penury afterwards.

He therefore called on PTAD, BPE and other relevant bodies involved in this issue to ensure that the monies belonging to and accruing to his clients are duly paid to them without any further delay.

The fiery Lagos Lawyer threatened a serious showdown with all the relevant bodies/groups involved in what he regarded as a highly suspicious transaction, as he made it absolutely clear that heads will roll, inclusive of involvement of criminal prosecution if any individual/group involved in the alleged fraud tries to play smart in any way or manner, as he vowed that the arm of law will certainly catch up with such a person or group of persons.

He therefore urged all the bodies/groups involved in this matter to do the needful, so as not to allow this matter degenerate to a dangerous and ugly dimension.

To ensure a reasonable time for an opportunity to be heard, Mr. Joe Nwokedi has given a timeline of 14 days for any person or group of persons involved in this matter to do what is right, justifiable and fair, as he will not hesitate to deploy every necessary legal apparatus relevant to this issue, to ensure that justice prevails in this matter and which according to him may not be in the best interest of any party involved in this matter. He also hinted that window of soft landing, mediation or amicable resolution of this matter will cease after the termination of the said period.

Finally, Mr. Joe Nwokedi talked tough over this issue and emotionally lamented over the torturous and increasing plight of Nigerian citizens in the hands of groups and organizations that ought to ensure their welfare and wellbeing.

A Kaduna-based onion trader, Dahiru Umar, yesterday, emerged winner of the grand-prize of the Access Bank, Transact and Win a Car promotion.

A brief Ceremony at the Bank’s Abuja/North West Regional Office, in the nation’s capital, saw Mr. Umar going home with a brand new Hyundai Accent.

Speaking shortly after receiving the keys of the brand new car at the Access bank regional office in Abuja, Dahiru while expressing excitement at winning told newsmen that he has been a customer of the bank for more than 14 years adding that Nigerians should seize this opportunity to patronize the bank and enjoy the benefits that comes from it.

Regional Sales Director, Abuja/North-West, of the bank, Mr. Aminu Inuwa, said, in his remarks, that the grand prize was a demonstration of the bank’s commitment to fulfilling its promises to its customers.

According to him, “We also have about 720 customers that can transact and win from N1000 up to N1 million.

“This is our first grand prize of a vehicle won by Dahiru Umar, one of the bank’s customers who is doing business at Nnewi and resides in Kaduna State.

“So today we have gathered here to inform everybody and our teeming customers- even if you have an account in Diamond Bank initially now Access Bank and even if your account is dormant, you can activate your account and have the chance to win these prizes.”

Inuwa added that the bank had witnessed a surge in its customer base since the flag-off of the promotion. “We have witnessed tremendous progress as customers are trooping in to open many accounts. Some who had allowed their accounts to be dormant are also re-opening them because the campaign is targeted at the unbanked populace as well as existing customers.

“We want to bring financial inclusion closer to everybody’s home and that’s why we are into this campaign,” he explained.

On the duration of the promotion, he said that it was in its phase three and winners announced regularly.

He added: “We are targeting about 10,000 customers in the directorate and for the bank, we are targeting about 50,000 new customers and we will continue to engage more customers to open accounts with the bank.”

Ahead of Lagos east senatorial bye-elections, Tokunbo Abiru, Man­aging Director/ Chief Executive Of­ficer (CEO), Polaris Bank, is set to resign his ap­pointment this week.

Abiru, a former Commis­sioner for Finance in the state during Governor Baba­tunde Fashola’s second term, is also expected to announce his entrance into the race for Lagos East Senatorial Dis­trict bye-election which the Independent National Elec­toral Commission (INEC) has fixed for Saturday October 31, 2020.

A member of the Gover­nors Advisory Council (GAC) in Lagos said Abiru, who has been nominated by the Lagos State chapter of the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) as a replacement for the late Senator Bayo Osinowo, who represented Lagos East Sena­torial District until his death in June, will pick up the expression of interest and nomination forms during the week.

He also said the party has already set up the campaign committee of Abiru which will be formally announced to the public after he has picked and submitted his forms.

The campaign committee is headed by a former mem­ber of the Lagos State House of Assembly from Epe divi­sion.

Although a credible source in the bank said Abiru, had already made his intention to resign known to the board pending an approval from Godwin Emefiele, the Cen­tral Bank governor, another source in the bank who asked not to be named said it is not true that Abiru has resigned. He, however, remained silent on his senatorial ambition.

Efforts made to confirm the report from Rasheed Bolarinwa, the bank’s Head, Corporate Communications, proved abortive as he could not be reached.

Daily Independent had in its July 29 edition titled ‘La­gos East Bye-Election: APC Picks Abiru, Polaris Bank MD, As Osinowo’s Replace­ment’ reported that the bank chief is the choice of APC leaders, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s na­tional leader for the vacant post.

However, Abiru in a state­ment denied the report, saying that while he holds the public service in high esteem, his time and energy at this time was primarily devoted towards building a world-class financial brand that will serve the interest of all stakeholders of the bank.

He further restated that he is working assiduously with his team to consolidate the bank’s stellar performance which resulted in a profit be­fore tax (PBT) of N27.8 billion in the 2019 financial year, be­ing its first year of operation.

Abiru acknowledged that having served as a former commissioner under the then leadership of Baba­tunde Fashola (SAN), it is not unexpected that such ru­mours and sentiments could sometimes spring up in some quarters.

He also advised the staff and customers of Polaris Bank as well as regulators, local and international stake­holders to disregard such sto­ries expressing his commit­ment to his current mandate in Polaris Bank.

In a related development, senatorial aspirants jostling for tickets of the APC in the forthcoming legislative bye-elections are to pick ex­pression of interest and nom­ination forms for N7 million each.

House of Assembly aspi­rants are to procure same forms for N850, 000 each while female and physically challenged aspirants are to pay 50 percent of the pre­scribed fees for each position.

These details were con­tained in APC’s time-table and schedule of activities for conduct of the 2020 con­current legislative bye-elec­tions across eight states at the weekend by the Director of Organisation, Professor Med­aner Ussiju Al-Mustapha in Abuja.

Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’Foundation (HURIDE), has demanded the immediate removal of the Comptroller of Correctional Centres, Ja’afaru Ahmed, over allegedly corruption and incompetence.

According to statement made available to the moment, the group Chairman, Chief Dede Uzor Uzor, Ahmed should as a matter of urgency resign or be sacked if he failed to resign on his volition.

He asked President Muhammdu Buhari to immediately overhaul the leadership of Correctional Centres to curb the monumental corruption in the centres.

He further said that the resolution of the group after their meeting in Awka, is to sack the CG over dangerous development in the Correctional Centres especially in Enugu State, where inmates gain access to handsets, which they use to blackmail, intimidate and defraud people.

According to him, the development is rampant in Enugu Correctional Centres.

The group chairman also called for overhaul of the Controllers and Deputy Controllers of Correctional Centres through massive transfers because this monumental corruption and crime could not have occurred without express consent of warders.

“Unfortunately, instead of investigating the matter, the Comptroller-General typical of Nigerrian officials has been trying to suppress the matter by instigating security agencies to arrest and detain HURIDE chairman.

He added that since 14-days ultimatum they gave for the overhaul has since expired, the group are mobilising all their members and human rights coommunity to join them in the massive protest for the removal of Comptroller-General, some controllers and Deputy Controllers of Correctional Centres, especially that of Enugu Correctional Centre.

“Our investigation still showed that those inmates still defraud the people with impunity and they were being backed by the Warders and Controllers,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the group has eulogised the director of Department of State Security (DSS) Mr Alex Agada, his Deputy, Mr Tunji Ola for their professionalism and pragmatism in steering the security apparatus in the State and their contribution in reduction of crime in the State.

Uzor said that the group urged the Director of DSS and his men to beam their searchlight on Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi to stem the tide of hand set snatching syndicates who most times use mini buses and other public transport system.

“Their Local Government Unit Commanders, should do the same in semi- urban centres in the State, they should also focus at Upper Iweka in Onitsha, where snatching of bags, handsets and other valuables has remained the order of the day.

“The Security outfit to prevail on the State Government to checkmate the gradual return of motorbikes in different parts of the State and put measures to checkmate its influence especially in Onitsha and other regulated areas,” he appealed.

Ernest Omo-Ojo, a former employee of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has accused the company of terminating his appointment without following the rules set by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

In section 4 of the guidelines for release of staff in the Nigerian oil and gas industry as amended in November, any employer who wishes to release a worker shall apply in writing to the DPR’s director for the minister of petroleum’s approval, stating the manner of the staff release, the reasons and the compensation due to the worker.

It adds that where the worker’s release is by involuntary retirement, dismissal or termination, the DPR shall conduct an inquiry into the circumstances of the proposed staff release and make a decision on whether to convey the minister’s approval or otherwise.

Omo-Ojo said none of this was followed when his employment was terminated on June 24, 2019.

He said prior to his sack, he received a suspension letter from MPNU on April 12, 2019, and on April 16, 2019, he submitted a petition to the DPR. Subsequently, he had follow-up meetings with the DPR representatives and was told that a formal letter would be dispatched to ExxonMobil referencing his petition.

Again in May 2019, he was invited by DPR and was told that the a letter had been written to ExxonMobil intimating the company of his petition and that ExxonMobil provided feedback, stating that his “suspension was with pay and that there was an ongoing investigation.”

Omo-Ojo said he was consequently assured by the DPR that everything was under control and that no further action would be taken by MPNU.

What, however, followed in June, was the termination of his appointment, without recourse to the DPR with any findings or why the action was taken.

He said for over 15 months, there has been a back and forth engagement with MPNU and it appears the company has not been forthcoming to resolving the matter.

In October 2019, the DPR had issued a 14-day deadline for the company to comply with the laid down guidelines, but this was ignored.

On July 2, 2020, Omo-Ojo lodged a formal appeal to the office of the minister of state for petroleum resources, in assisting with closure on the matter.

He, however, received a letter from the DPR on July 16, this time echoing the same frustration. In the said letter, he was advised to seek legal redress.

‘STOPPAGE OF MY SALARY AFFECTING MY FAMILY’S WELL BEING’

In a letter dated July 20 and addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari who also occupies the office of the minister of petroleum, Omo-Ojo said his welfare is being badly affected.

“The continuous flouting of the directives of DPR by ExxonMobil is, by extension, a defiance of the powers of your office both as President and as Honourable Minister of Petroleum; the supervisory body for DPR. It is beyond peradventure that ExxonMobil is in breach of the DPR guidelines,” he wrote.

“Ludicrously, it is now over 200 days that ExxonMobil has been in disobedience of DPR’s directive and DPR seems frustrated as manifest in the tenure of two letters it has sent to me advising that my case is considered closed.

“Painfully, your Excellency, I have gone through this avoidable pain for the past fifteen (15) months. The unethical stoppage of my salary and allowances is taking a serious toll on the welfare and well-being of my family; the children’s university education cannot be paid for as planned. This has a severe psychological impact on me and my family.”

When contacted, Oge Udeagha, MPNU’s communications manager, said it was a confidential matter and the company does not comment on such.

“As a matter of practice, we do not comment on confidential personnel matters,” she wrote in an email to TheCable.

Paul Osu, DPR’s spokesperson, was not available for comment.

In 2018, the Lagos headquarters of ExxonMobil was shut down by the company’s workers’ unions over the alleged dismissal of 860 security personnel without entitlement.

The protesters then accused MPNU of sacking the workers most of whom had worked with the company for over 22 years without regard for the rule of law.

Ecobank Nigeria has launched an Application for Businesses. Known as Omni Lite App, it is targeted at enhancing the banking experience of its large pool of Commercial Banking customers.

The Ecobank Omni Lite App is a highly secure, world-class and integrated electronic banking platform designed to help Clients manage their Business accounts online in a secure, flexible, efficient and convenient manner. It is a fully integrated multi-geography, multi-lingual and multi-currency online, web-based cash management platform. The App is being launched by the Ecobank Group across 33 countries in Africa where the Bank operates.

Speaking in Lagos,  Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, Carol Oyedeji, said the new App is in line with Ecobank’s policy direction to meet and surpass customers’ expectations, noting that it will bring flexibility, safer and convenient banking to the users. She disclosed that it is available to existing Omni Lite users, urging them to download it from the Apple Store (IOS) or the Play Store (Android).

“With the new Omni Lite App, users can view their accounts and transactions in one place, make payments and pay bills with ease, set up multiple users with different access launch, make and manage loan payment, book time deposits and view exchange rates. This electronic portal also allows customers manage all their online business, banking transactions and information 24/7.  With easier navigation and experience that is perfectly suited to smartphones, clients can enjoy features similar to the desktop version,” she stated.

The Ecobank Omni Lite App enables faster processing of instructions with loading option or file import for mass payments. It also features a customizable environment with choice of language, time zone and comprehensive user-friendly navigation menu.

It’s state-of-the-art architecture meets international safety standards and it is designed to enhance productivity and manage cash flow. These largely enhance the cash management capabilities of Businesses which include account services, payments, collections, liquidity management, detailed and customisable reports, amongst others.

The Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos colleagues of Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, the Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly, have promised to support him in his political journey as well as constantly set the records straight where necessary.

The lawyers made the promise when they paid the Speaker a solidarity visit on Tuesday at his Lagos Assembly office.

The lawyers lamented the damage fake and unverified news have done to Nigeria and the psyche of the people of the country.

They said the solidarity visit, apart from standing with him, was an opportunity to confirm that Obasa, who is the chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria, graduated from the Law School against claims by an online medium, Sahara Reporters.

They also presented copies of journals with the photograph of the Speaker and others in the set at the period in Law School.

The lawyers were led by Barrister Benjamin Waive, who had earlier denounced the story by Sahara Reporters that the Speaker did not attend law school.

The former school mates told the Speaker that they were appalled by the story.

They assured the Speaker that are willing to go to any length to prove to the world that he was their colleague at the school.

One of the lawyers, Barrister Lawrence Kelechi Nweke, told the Speaker he was willing to offer his service free-of-charge to defend him at any law court.

Another member of the team, Chief K. E. F. Ntong, gave the Speaker a photocopy of Nigerian Law School Year Book – 2008-2009 which shows the names and pictures of members of that year set including that of the Speaker which was on page 214.

Obasa thanked the lawyers for the visit and told them he was not perturbed by the fake story and others churned out about him.

According to him, those behind the fake stories are people he has stepped on their toes in the course of his oversight functions as a lawmaker and some politicians who are threatened by his rising profile.

Lawyers on the entourage also included Michael Orere, Sonney Olis Uzuh, Victor Ariavie, Eloebhose Anita, Augustine Okeh and Titilayo Oluwafemi.

Leading retail bank in Nigeria, Access bank Plc, has rewarded over 9,000 lucky customers in the DiamondXtra campaign tagged XtraWins; a seasonal offer leveraging the ongoing DiamondXtra campaign to reward customers for saving and transacting on our digital channels.

The XtraWins initiative, was borne out of the need to encourage customers to remain safe as they carry out their transactions in these times. The initiative is also aimed at rewarding loyal customers for choosing digital channels, giving them the opportunity to win cash prizes for performing transactions daily using the Access Bank USSD code *901# or the AccessMore App.

Adaeze Umeh, Head, Consumer Banking, Access Bank Plc, explained that the Xtrawins initiative was born out of the need to transform the lives of the Bank’s customers who have been transacting with the Bank’s digital platforms especially with nationwide restricted movement in response to the Covid pandemic. “In our own little way of showing appreciation to our customers for their patronage and better returns on their savings, we launched the XtraWins campaign to ensure our loyal customers are rewarded. We have rewarded more than 100 customers every day and over 1,000 every week with various cash prizes since the beginning of the campaign which started about 10 weeks ago.

Lucky customers can win from N500 – N1million when they maintain a minimum of N1,000 in their accounts and conduct at least 5 transactions daily using our USSD code *901# or the Access More app to purchase airtime, pay bills, make transfers and so on.

The beauty about the Xtrawins campaign is that customers can win repeatedly as long as they keep transacting with our digital channels and carry out the number of transactions required to qualify for the daily draws. Adaeze concluded.”

Some of the XtraWins lucky winners took to their social media platforms to express their excitement and gratitude towards the Bank.

Ube James, @UbeJames N100,000 XtraWin winner tweeted: @accessbank_more can’t thank your guys enough for the opportunity of being one of the winners. Had to invest the money so as to always remember such feat. I’m so greatful. #Xtrawins.

Another winner Hamstylez , @Hamstylez1 also tweeted : #Xtrwins ..I got rewarded and it seems lika a dream…

To join the winning train, simply conduct at least 5 transactions daily using the Access bank USSD code *901#, or the Access More app or to purchase airtime, pay bills and carry out NIP transfers etc.

Please click  HERE to learn  more.

A June 12 report by the BBC informs us that – “About 1.3m children in England will be able to claim free school meal vouchers in the summer holidays, after a campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford. The Manchester United forward, 22, welcomed the six-week voucher for eligible children, saying: “Look at what we can do when we come together.”…Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Mr Rashford’s “contribution to the debate around poverty”.

During the Coronavirus lockdown the government was providing food vouchers to families whose children qualify for free meals. But the UK government had insisted that free meals would not continue outside of term time.

Rashford’s campaign led to a policy U-turn with the UK prime minister directing that vouchers be provided to indigent families outside school term and during the summer.

In the UK, this special Covid-19 intervention is called the “Covid Summer Food Fund” while in Nigeria a similar initiative has been dubbed the modified Home Grown School Feeding Programme and was launched in Abuja on May 14, 2020 following a presidential directive asking the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to come up with strategies to keep school children fed during the lockdown.

Following the presidential directive the minister held wide ranging consultations with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum following which it was resolved that Take Home Rations remained the most viable option for feeding children during the lock down.

That collective decision based on a presidential directive to feed school children while at home during the pandemic seems to have become an albatross around the neck of the Honorable Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq with many traducers asking why and how school children were fed while others have bandied around figures with some alleging that N697m is being spent daily to feed “invisible’ school children.

Before we go further and because money is always at the root of many contentions let us make a quick comparison. In the UK, school children on the “Covid Summer Food Fund” get weekly food vouchers worth £15. That comes to £60 per month or N30,402. In Nigeria, the primary school pupil enrolled on the school feeding programme gets free meal worth N70 daily. Multiply that by 20 school days per month and you have N1,400.

Sadiya Umar Farouq addressed what she described as “rumours and innuendos and speculations around one of our key interventions; the Home Grown School Feeding Programme” during her briefing at the Covid-19 Presidential Task Force on August 3, 2020.

Reeling out figures and proof to show how the programme was prosecuted she noted that “it was a joint resolution of the ministry and the state governments to give out Take Home Rations and the stakeholders also resolved that we would start with the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states as pilot cases. Each Take Home Ration is valued at N4,200 and that figure was not arrived at without proper consultation. It was not invented.”

At this juncture it is pertinent to consider two core issues attackers of the minister have with the modified school feeding programme.

The first is why feed children during the lockdown? The answer is a simple one. The president made a directive and because ministers serve at the pleasure of the president they are bound to obey directives. While that may well be the case it is important to note that Nigeria is not the only country offering Take Home Rations during the lockdown. Liberia was and the UK too.

The second issue is that of cost and a lack of comprehension amongst so called critics and commentators. The ministry had noted in a press release that it was targeting a total of 3,131,971 households under the modified Home Grown School Feeding. Using that number and the cost of N4,200 per Take Home Ration a figure of N13,154,278,200 was arrived at but what the so called critics failed to realise is that it was a target but the programme has only run in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun States and impacted only 124,589 broken down as follows: FCT 29,609, Lagos 37,589, Ogun 60,391.

If 124,589 households were impacted in 3 states at a cost of N4,200 per Take Home Ration we would be looking at a total figure of N523,273,800 far below the figures being bandied around without any iota of proof.

The case of the UK is particularly interesting because it is not a poor African country neither is it a 3rd world country. So, why is it giving out food vouchers? Because governments around the world have recognized the need for school children, especially the vulnerable, to get adequate nutrients for physical and mental development. Giving them food has also been identified as key to keeping them in school and reducing absenteeism caused by hunger.

Finally, isn’t the figure of half a billion naira too much? Well, the first thing to consider is that if there was no Covid-19 and children were still in school, they would be getting free meals but as things stand only a fraction of the budgeted sum has been spent.

But ultimately the question we may have to ask ourselves is why is it that a British child gets N30,000 per month in free meals while his Nigerian peer gets a mere N1,400. Shouldn’t we be up in arms?

Onyema Dike, a public analyst wrote in from Lagos

The Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly and Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria, Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, has lauded Hon Taofeek Adaranijo, the immediate past member of House of Representatives representing Agege Federal Constituency for undertaking massive implementation of projects.

Obasa gave the commendation while commissioning two blocks of six classrooms that was built in his honour by the Hon Adaranijo at the Ore-Ofe Primary School, Dopemu, Agege, on Monday, August 10, 2020.

The Speaker, in his address before the commissioning, thanked Hon Adaranijo for honouring him with such a laudable project.

He said the massive projects going on in Agege as a whole is a sign that the people are enjoying the dividends of democracy from their representatives in government.
He enjoined the people to make judicious use of the facilities so that their representatives in government would be encouraged to do more.

Speaker Obasa also commissioned a block of three classrooms at the Oyewole Primary School, Mulero, Agege, which was built in honour of Late Chief Sulaimon Adaranijo. He also commissioned one of the 20 boreholes built by the former lawmaker.

As cloud computing continues to gain traction in Nigeria, CWG Plc has said that organizations in the country will perform far better with the buy-in of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), as it will deliver fundamental compute, network and storage resources to consumers’ on-demand, over the internet, and on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The largest system integrator company in Nigeria, CWG, believe Infrastructure-as-a-Service can provide dynamic, flexible servers, storage, and hardware for companies that seek to create, modify, and run their software platforms and applications.

“IaaS enables end-users to scale and shrink resources on an as-needed basis, reducing the need for high, up-front capital expenditures or unnecessary “owned” infrastructure, especially in the case of ‘spiky’ workloads,” said Adekunle Ajayi.

According to him, the IaaS technology helps the users to avoid the cost and complexity of purchasing and managing their physical servers, as every resource of IaaS is offered as an individual service component and the users only have to use the particular one, they need.

He added that CWG, which is a certified provider of Information and Communication Technology solutions services across West, Central, and Eastern Africa, has leveraged its strong partnership with best of breeds enterprise cloud-ready OEMs like VMware, Dell EMC, Hitachi, Veritas and Huawei to provide its customers with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions on demand and dynamically scaled based on-demands to meet the ever-changing business needs.

“CWG Plc as a Cloud Service Provider manages the IaaS infrastructure while the users can concentrate on installing, configuring and managing their software. As the cloud buyers rent a space in our virtual data center, they get access to the virtual data center through the internet. The IaaS provides the raw materials and basic infrastructure for IT and ensures affordability as the users only have to pay for the resources they use (pay-as-you-use). We enable the users to rent the virtual servers and storage while forming networks to tie them all together. While renting from us, users are essentially renting hardware along with the provisioning software that automates it,” he explained further.

By Olatunbosun Oladimeji

 

The die is cast as the people of Ondo brace up for the October 10, 2020 governorship election. And the electorate have a clear choice in spite of the number of candidates jostling for the governorship seat. The man they would overwhelmingly cast their votes for is none other than the incumbent Governor of the state, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who has been piloting the affairs of the state with tremendous success since February 24, 2017, having won the shadow election of APC on September 2, 2016 and the gubernatorial election on November 26, 2016 respectively. Just like the keenly contested elections in 2016, he is the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress for the election on October 10.
He fought a battle that saw him clinch the governorship ticket of his party, defeating his opponents by a wide margin in the primary election of July 20 which was widely adjudged free and fair. The majority of delegates from the 18 local government areas of the state pitched their tents with Akeredolu, alias ‘Talk and Do’, the trusted and capable choice, thus giving him victory.

Before the party primary, there were all sorts of distractions designed to undermine the re-election bid of Governor Akeredolu. The major distractions were the defection of his deputy, Agboola Ajayi from the ruling APC to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the resignation and blackmail of the former Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde. Ajayi’s desire was ostensibly to actualise his vaulting ambition of becoming the governor of the state. But the ambition crashed like a pack of cards when he ran for the PDP ticket and was defeated by Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.

Despite his defeat, Ajayi is still running from pillar to post seeking where to actualise his inordinate ambition. At the beginning, the rumor was thick that he was going to the SDP. He is said to be desperately shopping for any party by whatever name he could pick the governorship ticket to run as the standard bearer. As of the time of this report, there was speculation that he had concluded plans to join the Zenith Labour Party, having visited the arrow head of the party and the former governor of the state, Dr Rahman Olusegun Mimiko in his home town, Ondo and as well met with Alhaji Alli Olanusi, the erstwhile Mimiko estranged Deputy Governor and leader of the dying Unity Forum. Ajayi believes and hopes to pick the party’s ticket with the daring and deadly moves to bring cats and mouses together to win the October 10 guber election. What a nightmare!
But after such a grand unfulfilled planning and betrayal, Ajayi has no place to hide.
However, Arakunrin Akeredolu has brushed aside the distractions of traitors, his Deputy and Secretary, by appointing another formidable Akure born Mr Temitayo Oluwatuyi as the new SSG and settled for a home grown popular, reserved politician, Mr Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa as his running mate for the October 10 governorship election. Ayedatiwa was commissioner and representative of the state on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission.

There is another chess game that Ajayi is set to unveil soon in nailing and killing the PDP in the next few days as he is about to deplete the strength of the party after the outcome of the party congress held last week Tuesday, August 4 during which Hon. Fatai Adams emerged as chairman of the party. As usual, Ajayi is plotting to pull out a huge number of the party members to ZLP, with allegations that Jegede engaged in winner takes all by not allowing supporters of others who contested against him to be elected into the yet to be constituted party Exco. In the few weeks that Ajayi has paraded himself as a member of the PDP, he has already become an albatross for the Uche Secondus-led party. What a regret to Ondo State PDP family! With all respect to Akure-based political analyst, Mr Yinka Akinola, Agboola Ajayi is the latest political ‘human virus’ that kills more than COVID-19. After the October 10 election, PDP and ZLP may never be the same again!

A pointer to how the October 10 election will look like are the deft moves by Arakunrin Akeredolu for reconciliation with aggrieved co-aspirants, party leaders and members immediately after the July 20 APC primary election. Aketi, as the governor is popularly called, has been extending the olive branch to everyone in the APC. He is visiting, receiving and meeting all the party stakeholders in his genuine desire to work together and win together to continue to develop the state. Without mincing words, Akeredolu is determined for real and truthful reconciliation!

As the governorship election campaign gathers steam, candidates of the 17 political parties participating in the election have been talking tough even though most of them know they are no match for the incumbent governor who had defeated all the candidates that contested against him in 2016. Among them is Eyitayo Jegede who is contesting again as the standard bearer of the PDP. No wonder, Akeredolu sent a clear message to Jegede in particular while at the National Secretariat of APC recently. Akeredolu vowed to defeat him in what he said would be a replay of what happened in 2016. Just as they proved to be no match for him in 2016, because most of them are just pretenders masquerading as contenders, history would certainly repeat itself on October 10 when they shall taste the bitterness of defeat once again.

In deed what the electorate in Ondo need to do is adhere to the principle of not changing a winning team. They have to re-elect Governor Akeredolu, the head of the team, for sustainable development and continuity in 2021. The Governor’s impeccable records of governance speak for him ahead of the October election. The 4+4 programme with AKETI as an acronym anchored on Agriculture, Knowledge, Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Infrastructure, is a road map for the sustained existing developmental stride in Ondo State. By the time Ondo Deep Seaport in Ilaje is commissioned, a new vista of economic prosperity will be unleashed in the state. With the largest coastline, the port will facilitate the quick evacuation of goods to the eastern corridor of Onitsha in Anambra State since it is less than two hours drive from Ilaje to one of the largest commercial hubs in the South-East. The presence of the port will lead to massive industrialisation and agricultural revolution with the attendant value chain.

Ondo has one of the largest bitumen deposits in the world and the largest in Africa, and its full exploitation and production will bring about an unprecedented internally generated revenue to the state. The arrival of the equipment at the instance of the Federal Government for the production of bitumen has put to shame all the detractors who hoped and prayed that the project should not come into fruition during the tenure of Governor Akeredolu. An indigenous company, the South West Bitumen Exploration Limited is to commence the modular exploitation of the bitumen deposits and is targeting an output of 50,000 tonnes monthly at its facility at Lamidifa in Irele LGA of the state. Though some think bitumen exploration in Ondo State is a political gimmick because of election, the time line for the execution of the project shows the seriousness attached to the project and a practical demonstration that the project has come to stay.

The timeline is: February 2017: Expression of Interest from SWB to work with Ondo State on Bitumen Exploration; March 23, 2017: Presidency engages states and requests to provide focus industries for diversification; April 2017: Ondo State writes to Federal Government emphasizing 4 areas namely Gas, Bitumen, Agric and FTZ development; May 2017: State Government engages Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel with SWB on accelerating the bitumen project development.

The timeline also include: July 19, 2017 – FG announces it will be issuing Exploration license at Presidential Economic Diversification Initiative conference (PEDI) in Akure; October 23rd 2017 – Exploration license awarded. This license is different from the ones owned by state owned firm, BEECON; November 7, 2017: President Buhari shows full commitment to bitumen exploration project in Budget speech; May 18, 2018: First ever mining lease granted to mine bitumen in Nigeria granted to SWB; September 2018, South West Bitumen engages state to facilitate MOU with host community Petu, in Irele. SWB pays millions in compensation to host communities.

Also included is September 2018: South West Bitumen commences development of Centre for Bitumen Research & development at the Federal University of Technology Akure; January 24, 2019: State govt facilitates the issuance of C of O to South West Bitumen for designated mining areas; June 14, 2019: South West Bitumen presents project update to the governor on activities to date; November 2019: SWB begins the preparation of company yard for equipment and production; and August 2020: SWB invites state to inspect facility and equipment to commence production.

Olatunbosun Oladimeji, a Senior Special Assistant on Publications to the Governor,Ondo State writes from Akure

A former senator, businessman and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Buruji Kashamu is dead.

The health of billionaire businessman-cum-politician, Senator Buruji Kashamu, who has been receiving treatment for COVID-19, has turned for the worse.

According to Ben Murray-Bruce who twitted few minutes ago: “I have just lost my good friend of forever to #COVID19. Until his death, Sen. Buruji Kashamu and I were inseparable. He died today at First Cardiology Consultants, in Lagos. May his gentle soul rest in peace. I pray his family and loved ones the fortitude to bear this heavy loss.”

The senator, who represented Ogun East senatorial district between 2015 and 2019 will be missed

Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman of the senate committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has dismissed a letter by the agency asking him to refund N2.5 billion.

The commission alleged Nwaoboshi was awarded a N2.5 billion contract to supply plastic desks and chairs to primary and secondary schools in the region.

It alleged that the items were bought but diverted to a warehouse along the Benin expressway.

Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta affairs, named Nwaoboshi as one of the legislators that got contracts from the commission — an allegation he denied.

In a statement on Friday, Nwaoboshi said the interim management committee (IMC) of the commission is confused because he was initially accused of obtaining a N3.7 billion contract that has now been reduced to N2.5 billion.

The Delta senator said the “charade” by the NDDC could be seen even through the eyes of Stevie Wonder.

Wonder is an American singer and songwriter who is blind from birth. He is known to have made hits in the 1970s.

“The purported letter addressed to the Distinguished Senator Peter Nwaoboshi was written on the 5th of July 2020 and as at today, 7th of August 2020, said letter has not reached Senator Peter Nwaoboshi – either in person or Office or by substitution,” the lawmaker said.

“Nowhere in the purported letter was it stated that the warehouse, where the plastic chairs were domiciled at belongs to distinguished Senator Peter Nwaoboshi.

“We have always maintained that the IMC of NDDC are a bunch of confused men without vision or direction. Initially, the alleged figure was pegged at N3.7 billion only for the confused IMC team to now come up with a totally different figure of N2.5 billion.

“Nigerians and the entire world could see the charades clearly. Even through the eyes of Steve Wonder!

“However, if the IMC of NDDC feel they truly have a genuine case against senator Peter Nwaoboshi as contained in the purported letter, we are challenging them to go to the law court or make use of every legal procedure available to them.”

The senate panel that probed the NDDC asked its interim management to refund N4.9 billion.

In business and philanthropy, Nigerian business mogul, Abdulsamad Rabiu continues to set the pace. He wears his entrepreneurial strength and savvy like a badge of honour.

For this Chairman of BUA Group, he stands tall as he wades through odds with the confidence of a champion. He isn’t afraid to put everything on the line and boldly step into the unknown. That’s why he makes history every hour as the head honcho of a business conglomerate with wide influence in Nigeria’s economic and business sector. In fact, his flagship company, BUA Cement is now the third most capitalised company on the Nigeria Stock Exchange listings.

But unlike other less achievers who live to sing the songs of their derring-dos, Rabiu, also rated the third most wealthy Nigerian, remains impressively humble. For this trait, he has not stopped attracting honour in torrents from home and abroad. That’s also what he received on Tuesday, August 4, when the Forbes-rated billionaire clocked 60.

On this auspicious day, the President, state governors, top government functionaries, monarchs, religious leaders, fellow moguls, friends and relatives poured torrents of heartfelt messages to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Kano-born amiable industrialist. He however didn’t roll out the drums to signpost this milestone.

Interestingly, while he is not known to be in the habit of throwing parties in the manner of a conventional socialite, the harsh reality of the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed the lives of many prominent Nigerians since its outbreak, precludes such merry-making.

Rabiu, who has become the case study in how to run a model mega investment, rather celebrated the day working on how to achieve his biggest dream —and keeping the society safe with personal and corporate contributions to the fight against COVID-19. Rabiu’s citizenship of humanity, according to those close to him, depicts his love of life and undying compassion for the needy and less privileged.

Beyond his love for business and the good life, he is reputed as one of Africa’s biggest philanthropists. It is worthy of note that Rabiu and his company are rated very high in donations – cash and kind – in the fight against the pandemic and other societal health challenges.

In recent years, he has, through his BUA Foundation, so far committed over N7 billion in cash, foodstuffs and medical supplies amongst other things to the federal and state governments and various humanitarian agencies.

To him, he is not just about making money but making it available as resources for advancing the lot of humanity. But he is not your conventional billionaire. As he raises hopes and plants joy in the bosoms of Nigerians, he has not shied away from showing that he loves the good life that wealth brings. He lives luxuriously well.

The business mogul owns beautiful and expensive properties in the popular Eaton Square, Gloucester Square; another one on Avenue Road known as Millionaires’ Row and in Hyde Park, all in London.

He also owns a beautiful mansion in Johannesburg as well as a permanent penthouse suite at the most expensive hotel in Cape Town, both in South Africa; while also owning a Penthouse mansion in Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia, in the USA. For the ease and comfort of globetrotting, the billionaire also owns a GulfStream G550 private jet.

It was even gathered that the business tycoon recently gifted himself a €25million super luxury 45metre Benetti yacht anchoring in the South of France. It was gathered that anytime he wanted to let off some steam, he sails across the blue seas of Monaco with family, select friends and associates while savouring the finest hospitality befitting his status. Of course, as he joins the sexagenarian club, Rabiu has so much to thank God for.

Armstrong Idachaba, the director-general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), says IrokoTV, one of Africa’s first mainstream online movie streaming websites, is not investing in Nigeria but taking revenue from the country abroad.

Defending the recently-amended broadcasting code, Idachaba said the money the online streaming service is “spending to fight this code, ordinarily, they wouldn’t have spent even on one local artist”.

Since the new code was introduced, Jason Njoku, the founder of IrokoTV, said the new regulatory document will destroy payTV in Nigeria.

“Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC), in making exclusivity illegal, compelling sub-licensing of content and regulating price is effectively turning private enterprise into state property,” he tweeted.

“Interference distorts markets. If implemented, this 100% destroys Pay TV in Nigeria”

Speaking in with Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show, Idachaba alleged that those against the code were buying editors to write stories against the code.

“Iroko tv you mentioned, where is the base of iroko tv? Do you know, where did they start? London. And all the money they do through Netflix and other things that they sell, where does the revenue go?” Idachaba asked.

“How much of it is invested into the country? The involvement they do is like a creative investment that allows them to take artistic, cultural materials, original to the Nigerian people and export, maximize the profit, suck it out Nigeria, and still take abroad.

“Is that not injustice to the Nigerian society?”

Idachaba suggested that IrokoTV and other players against the NBC code were trying to blackmail the people into believing that the new code was not good for the country.

He hinted that the money they would ordinarily not spend on local artistes are now being spent on buying editors to fight the code.

“I saw one of their titles, Son of Caliphate, typical Northern Nigeria Sokoto story, original to the Zamfara people, then you harness it, you put in beautiful costumes and lights, you put in all the attractive aesthetics, it becomes highly valuable and then you send it across the world,” Idachaba added.

“The local Zamfara boy whose grandfathers were the original creators and owners of the story, don’t ever get to see the story in their lifetime. Does it make sense to you? How do you build a cultural environment that way, how do you build your own history?

“So we need to have a conscious policy that would lead us to develop our culture and our own creative community, don’t be blackmailed by all the stories.

“The money they are spending to fight this code, ordinarily, they wouldn’t have spent even on one local artist. They would say it is not available. But now they have so much to buy editors, to write newspaper stories on account of a policy that we are convinced is good for our own country.”

IrokoTV, Multichoice, NetFlix, EbonylifeTV are likely to be hurt by the new NBC code, which mandates sub-licensing of hitherto exclusive content.

According to Njoku, “IrokoTV started out on YouTube, a mere experiment to digitalise Nigerian content,” but that journey has led to the “foremost content production, acquisition, distribution and subscription business for” Nollywood.

The chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, has condemned the recent siege on the Edo State House of Assembly by men suspected to be loyal to governor of the State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.

In a statement he personally signed on behalf of the Conference of Speakers, Obasa said the removal of the roofs of the hallowed Assembly is an injury to Nigeria’s democracy and must be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

According to the statement, the Speaker and his colleagues in the country described the brazen manner the suspected political thugs took over the Assembly, removed the roof and broke the symbolic mace, which were all captured in a recorded video, as sheer recklessness.

The Conference accused the state government headed by Obaseki as autocratic and dictatorial in this regard adding that whatever defence the latter has for the action does not ‘hold any water’.

“It is sheer recklessness and a proof of dictatorship for a governor who is supposed to be the head of the executive arm of government to decide to take charge of another arm through questionable means like it happened in Edo.

“There were reports linking the removal of the roof and the offloading of gravel at the complex to purported plans by the government to renovate the Assembly but we think this is an afterthought,” the Speakers declared.

The Conference wondered how the idea of renovating the Assembly suddenly came up just weeks to the governorship election in the state and in such manner creating a mockery of the electioneering process and democracy.

“Why is the government just realising the need renovate the complex at the twilight of the administration?

“What happens to the building if the governor does not return? What happens if the next administration does not take that direction?

Obasa’s statement on behalf of his colleagues further questioned the role played the Commissioner of Police in the state in the entire drama.

The statement accused the police commissioner of allowing himself to be used as a tool to perpetrate an attack on democracy in the way the drama panned out at the Assembly complex in the state.

While strongly warning the governor and those participating in the electoral process in the state to desist from doing anything that would affect the smooth running of the Edo House of Assembly, the Speakers reminded Obaseki that the removal of the Assembly roof does not stop the lawmakers from sitting as the constitution of the country does not limit plenaries to the hallowed chamber alone.

The Next Robotics Legend is an initiative designed by Edu360, Union Bank’s education platform, in collaboration with Awarri, a pan-African technology company, to infuse Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the education of the Nigerian child.

This stems from the realisation that the solutions to some of our most complicated problems as a nation lie in the education of our children today.

This first-of-its-kind robotics training and competition for students aged 11 to 16 will focus on identifying and nurturing young potential inventors and creators who will receive necessary training to solve some of the challenges facing the Nigerian society with the aid of robotics and AI.

To enter, take a 30 second video of your child telling us what they like about robots. Upload on www.edu360.ng and fill the accompanying consent form. 25 of the most creative and passionate entries will be selected to participate in the robotics training.

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At the end of the free training programme, participants will be required to identify a need in their community, and apply the skills learnt to proffer a solution. The student with the best solution will be admitted for a mentorship program with Awarri, the advanced AI and robotics company owned by Silas Adekunle – top international robotics engineer renowned for creating the world’s first intelligent gaming robot.

Schools are not left out! To ensure the sustenance of the initiative, Edu360 will partner with four secondary schools by providing robotics toolkits and training for their teachers to enable them include robotics in their curriculum.

Entries will be received from August 7th to 21st, 2020. Visit www.edu360.ng for more information.

#NextRoboticsLegend

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