₦airaland Forum

If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos over the past couple of months – don’t worry we’re not judging! By now you’ve watched everything under the sun and you’re longing for some more entertainment. Perhaps something light with a little bit of spice?

Well, friends, there’s no need to look further! Get on board, as Fidelity Bank is about to make big waves on YouTube with our new show, Fidelity Weekly!

It’s fresh, it’s new and it’s content just for you!

Do you love fashion? Does music keep you going? Want some juicy insights into relationships? Fidelity Weekly’s got you covered with all things contemporary and all things lifestyle sprinkled with our special brand of Fidelity spice!

The first episode drops this Friday and will focus on something we know you all love to hate to love – ‘Relationships’.

Stay tuned, it’s a weekly fix, every Friday.

And while your there, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a single episode!

Ecobank has stated that cash withdrawals can be made at all its ATMs, without a card. The Ecobank cardless withdrawal concept, Xpress Cash, enables users to withdraw cash from ATMs using only a mobile phone, no ATM card is required.

The solution is seamless, secure and is driven by the generation of a code (e-token) by an account holder via the bank’s USSD code *326# or mobile app, Ecobank Mobile. The e-token can be sent to customers, non-customers and even people without bank accounts for cash withdrawal at all Ecobank ATMs nationwide.

Speaking in Lagos, Head, Consumer Banking, Olukorede Demola-Adeniyi said: “Digital payments are fast evolving. Customers want seamless experience across channels. We are committed to providing suitable options for our customers. Forgetting your card at home should not be a showstopper when you need cash.”

She went on to explain that the concept recognises the needs of the unbanked. In her words: “With Xpress Cash, our customers can send money to their loved ones who are not even banked. You can send money to your domestic servants or unbanked staff just by generating a code and sharing the code.

“As a bank, we are not only keen to make our services accessible, but also affordable. Xpress Cash attracts only a flat charge of N50. Our USSD code, *326# offers zero session charges; and transfers of N5000 or less using our digital channels are absolutely free of charge. Also, people abroad who need to send money to their loved ones can do so without paying transfer charges using the Rapidtransfer app,” she said.

A journalist, Mrs. Folake Sokoya, has called on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, to check the alleged illegal activities of a police inspector, identified as Ija ‘Koko, attached to the Ipakado Police Station, Ikorodu.

Sokoya said the policeman, under the guise of enforcing the 10p.m. curfew, labelled her son a ‘Yahoo boy,’ threatened to shoot him and then later demanded that a certain amount of money be transferred to a First Bank account before the boy was eventually released.

Sokoya, who said that the incident occurred on June 27, disclosed that she had earlier tried to draw the attention of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, in charge of Operations (DCP Ops),

Mr. Mohammed Ari, to the activities of the policeman, but it did not achieve result. The woman added that Inspector Ija ‘Koko extorted N10,000 from her son and another N10,000 from her. Sokoya explained that the incident occurred after the car, which her son took out, developed a fault.

She said: “I didn’t know that the Lexus Jeep’s tyre had a problem. My sons and their friend were in the car. But it was my eldest son who was driving. When the tyre burst, they would have called me, but because I was sick, they tried to fix it themselves.

The challenge with the tyre made them to be caught up in the 10p.m. curfew. If they had called me, I would have mobilised someone to go and assist them. “Immediately they got to Ipakado Police Station area, the policemen were already on the road.

They tagged them Yahoo boys and tried to force one of the boys to surrender his IPhone 6, so they could browse through it. My son called me, I told him to tell them his mother was a journalist and that they should check my car’s documents. “Although I was sick, I got up and started looking for who would take me to the place. I kept calling and I overhead a policeman screaming at them, ‘I will shoot your leg now.’”

Sokoya added that at a point, she became scared for her sons and their friend. She called again and urged the boys to surrender all their phones. By the time she got there, Ija ‘Koko had allegedly compelled her son to transfer N10,000 to account number 0221619525, First Bank, Ajeigbe- Uwaifo Esther Chioma.

When Sokoya got to the station, she didn’t see her sons and their friend, but she saw her car and discovered that the person in charge of the case was Ija ‘Koko. He asked for N20,000 for the bail of the boys, which the woman insisted she didn’t have. He then asked her to bring N10,000. Sokoya, unaware that her son had already made a transfer, made another N10,000 transfer to the same account holder.

She said: “The policeman is someone I had been investigating since December for corruption. He is notorious in Ikorodu. If cyclists close for the day and park their motorcycles in their compound, Ija ‘Koko would enter the compound with some policemen, fiddle with the engines and the motorcycles would start working, they’ll take the motorcycles away. That’s not policing, that’s stealing!”

Affordable pay-TV platform StarTimes and NBCUniversal International Networks (NBCUIN) have announced the launch of DreamWorks, a 24-hour channel dedicated to kids and family entertainment exclusive to StarTimes.

DreamWorks joins other kids’ favourites like Toonami, Cbeebies, Nickelodeon, ST Kids and Jimjam, among others showing at the most affordable and flexible subscription rates in pay-TV market, and making StarTimes the heart of entertainment for children.

The DreamWorks channel, available from 3 August, brings the best in animated TV series to viewers.

DreamWorks offers quality animation and storytelling, taking viewers on fantastical adventures as they come face to face with more dragons than anyone has ever imagined in Dragons: Race To The Edge; whilst over in Madagascar, the party continues with the world famous dancing lemur, in All Hail King Julien.

To celebrate DreamWorks channel’s launch in Africa, StarTimes is offering customer the opportunity to test their knowledge of DreamWorks TV shows. Between August 11 and August 15, StarTimes will post three questions on its Facebook page every day. Two lucky winners will be selected on a daily basis and will be rewarded with one week of StarTimes ON VIP access.

DreamWorks is available on SUPER bouquet Channel 301 and CLASSIC bouquet, channel 354.

Viewers can join adrenaline-fueled snail, Turbo, and his snail crew in Turbo FAST; and follow the world’s favorite feline hero, Puss, as he protects the hidden city of San Lorenzo in The Adventures Of Puss In Boots.

In Dawn of the Croods, the world’s first family navigate their way through modern-day life. And entertaining families across the country, The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show will see the world’s smartest dog and his boy, Sherman, host their zany late-night comedy program, jam-packed with great musical acts and very special historical guests.

Younger viewers can look forward to a world of giant creatures that are ‘half dinosaur, half construction vehicle in Dinotrux and follow Noddy and his friends as they solve cases in in Toy Land, in Noddy Toyland Detective! Meanwhile, young viewers can get ready to roar with Raa Raa The Noisy Lion, cub and his friends in the Jingly Jangly Jungle.

Speaking about the upcoming launch, Lee Raftery, Managing Director, NBCUniversal International Networks, EMEA commented: “Collaborating with StarTimes on bringing DreamWorks channel’s award-winning shows and beloved characters to Sub-Saharan Africa is a key milestone for our business. We look forward to bringing young viewers the DreamWorks experience, with its compelling slate of adventurous and imaginative animated series, all in one family destination.”

Lily Meng, head of StarTimes Media Division, said: “We are excited to bring DreamWorks to Africa. This launch demonstrates our continuous commitment to providing premium content to African families. And it comes at a very timely moment, while most kids and parents are staying home.”

…Home Grown School feeding was not a sole decision of the ministry
…124,589 households impacted between May 14 and July 6, 2020
…At N4, 200 per take Home Ration the total figure for impacting 124,589 households is N523,273,800 …FG provided funding while states implemented

 

The Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has given a comprehensive response to speculations and fake news circulating around sums purportedly spent daily on the provision of take home rations under the modified Home Grown School Feeding programme.

The Honourable Minister made the clarifications while speaking on Monday August 3, 2020 at the press briefing of the Presidential Task Force. “In recent days, there have been rumours and innuendos and speculations around one of our key interventions; the Home Grown School Feeding Programme which was modified and implemented in two states and the FCT following a March 29th Presidential directive… It is critical at this juncture to provide details that will help puncture the tissue of lies being peddled in the public space.”

The minister then went ahead to explain the rationale behind the modified home grown school feeding programme, the process of engagement and how it was funded.

“The provision of Take Home rations under the modified Home Grown School Feeding Programme was not a SOLE initiative of the federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. The ministry in obeying the Presidential directive went into consultations with state governments through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum following which it was resolved that Take Home Rations remained the most viable option for feeding children during the lock down. So, 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. According to statistics from the NBS and CBN, a typical household in Nigeria has 5.6 to 6 members in its household, with 3 to 4 regarded as dependent and so each household is assumed to have 3 children. Now based on the original design of the Home Grown School Feeding Programme long before it was domiciled in the ministry, every child on the programme receives a meal a day. The meal costs N70 per child. When you take 20 school days per month it means a child eats food worth N1,400 per month. 3 children would then eat food worth N4,200 per month. That was how we arrived at the cost of the Take Home Ration.”

Speaking further, Sadiya Umar Farouq, noted that the programme has launched in only two states; Lagos and Ogun plus the FCT.

“In the FCT 29,609 households were impacted; Lagos recorded 37,589 households while Ogun state was 60,391 households making a total of 124,589 households impacted between May 14, 2020 and July 6, 2020. If 124,589 households received Take Home Rations valued at N4,200 the total figure will be N523,273,800. And note this was not spent daily. The FCT commenced first, followed by Lagos before Ogun state. It was not DAILY.”

The Honourable Minister also clarified that she never said ‘every Nigerian has received palliatives.’ “What I said is that every state government in Nigeria has received palliatives for onward distribution to the poorest of the poor in their states.”

While noting that her ministry will not be deterred from fulfilling its mandate, the honourable minister also pointed out that very few government programmes have received “such high level of self-imposed scrutiny” with the EFCC, CCB, ICPC, DSS and a host of NGOs invited to monitor the home grown school feeding programme.

Lucy has handed over the head of house title and executive room to Ozo as the new head of house for the third week in the Big Brother ‘Lockdown’  house.

As the new head of house, Ozo gets to enjoy immunity from next week’s eviction and the fully furnished head of house (HOH) room for the rest of the week.

The former head of house, Lucu was not allowed to contest or be nominated as deputy as she won last week’s challenge.

Ozo, 27 years old and Consultant and entrepreneur from Imo State. One of his greatest achievements is to work with UEFA Federation for Europe.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider, has announced that the 2020 edition of its annual FinTech Summit is scheduled to hold on Thursday, 6 August 2020 by 12.00 noon. The event will be virtually held via Zoom Meetings.

The 2020 edition of the summit, which is the fourth in its series is themed; “How Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence will Disrupt FinTech in Nigeria” and will be discussed by experts, key and leading players, policy influencers and regulatory officials in the Nigerian financial, banking and technological climate. To participate in the event, click the link https://www.firstbanknigeria.com/business-banking/smeconnect/fintech-summit/registration/ to register.

Chinedu Echeruo, founder of HopStop which was sold to Apple for $1bn will be leading the discussion as the Keynote speaker alongside other panelists; Musa Itopa Jimoh, Director, Payments System Management Department and Aminu Maida, Executive Director, Technology & Operations, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).

Representing FirstBank in the panel of discussants are Callistus Obetta, Group Executive, Technology & Services and Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive, e-Business & Retail Products.

Speaking on the event, Mr. Gbenga Shobo, Deputy Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria Limited said: “At FirstBank, we have been at the forefront of employing technology in the delivery of financial services in the country exemplified by our various products and services such as FirstMobile, USSD Banking services, FirstMonie Wallet, FirstMonie Agent Banking, FirstAdvance loans provisions

The 2020 edition of our FINTECH summit will build on the successes achieved in the last three editions. We welcome the panelists as we look forward to the shared knowledge which will be integral to deepening the continued growth of banking technology, especially its impact on the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria and the continent at large.

Technology continues to play a fundamental role in driving financial inclusion and strengthening the growth of SMEs that contribute significantly to the development of the country.

“We encourage members of the public, players in the fintech and financial climate to register, as there is knowledge for everyone,” he concluded.

On Sunday, August 2, 2020, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu announced Ka3na and Lilo as the first housemates to exit from BBNaija season 5

Their exit comes after spending a total of fourteen days in the house.

Praise and four other housemates of the BBNaija 2019 namely Ka3na, Lilo, Eric were up for eviction.

Lilo and Ka3na got the least amount of vote to become the first set of evicted housemates.

This is the first eviction in the Big Brother Naija Lockdown edition which kicked off on July 19, 2020.

20 youths made it to the Big Brother House to become the housemates of the BBNaija season 5 tagged Lockdown.

The eviction continues for the next 10 weeks when the show comes to an end.

Organisers of the show have introduced a new twist to the ‘Lockdown’ edition of the reality show.

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, the official host of BBNaija made the announcement during live eviction show.

According to Ebuka, this season every Monday after the head of house games, all housemates will be put up for eviction aside the head of house and deputy.

He said: “The twist on this season by Big brother says that every Monday after the head of house games all housemates will be put up for eviction aside the head of house and deputy.”

Lilo
Boluwatife “Lilo” Aderogba is a 23 years old dietician who says she is a goal-getter and goal-driven. Even though she doesn’t like people being in her business, she likes to be in charge. She hates people who don’t know how to mind their business (Looks like we already have trouble in the house)

Ka3na
Kate “Ka3na” Jones is an entrepreneur. The 26-year old Rivers state indigene say she is the boss lady. She loves money and hates poverty. She is bringing a lot of surprises to the house.

A Nigerian lawyer, Benjamin Waive, has discredited a report by Sahara Reporters that the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, did not graduate from law school.

In separate reports, Sahara Reporters first implied that the Speaker lied about his law certificate because his name was not in the list of registered lawyers at the Supreme Court.

A second report claimed that the Speaker faked his call-to-bar by borrowing a gown just to take photographs.

In a new development that pooh-poohs the claim by Sahara Reporters, however, Waive said at the weekend that Obasa finished from the Nigerian Law School (NLS).

Waive, who said he was a close course mate with Obasa during the one year Bar Part II Course at the Lagos Campus of the NLS, added that they were both called to bar same day.

He added that the claim that Obasa’s name was not on the rolls of legal practitioners kept with the Supreme Court could just have been an administrative oversight.
The Nation quotes Waive as saying: “The recent claim that the speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mr. Mudashiru A. Obasa is a fake lawyer almost got on my nerves because here was an outright falsehood gaining momentum before my very eyes.

“The gentleman Obasa attended the Lagos Campus of the Nigerian Law School with me, wrote the bar finals with me and was called together with me.

“I would have been carried by the strong waves of falsehood sweeping through the internet about the honorable gentleman if it wasn’t that I am in a position to know and be a close witness.

“Having read this confirmation, you may want to quickly dispel the whole false story about the honourable gentleman as being activities of traducers, but it is beyond that.
“The real problem is the traditional lackadaisical, lazy and corrupt attitude of the average Nigerian public office worker.”

While noting that cases like that of Obasa were common in the legal system, he added:  “As lawyers, many times we are confronted with missing files et alia in the court, registries, CAC et alia.

“You will better understand what is playing out if you have had any cause to recourse to your alma mater. There are countless cases of persons pursuing postgraduate education overseas denied admission because their alma mater could not transmit their transcript for same lack of records or plain refusal to work by administrative officers for lack of bribe. What a disgrace of a system!

“The bad thing with the system is that we seem not to be willing to improve from experiences and events don’t trigger the necessary positive changes. We are all too comfortable with our old ways.”

Zenith Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading financial institution, has commenced its “Zenith Beta Life” Promo to reward customers of the Bank with gifts every week starting from 31st July 2020 to 30th July 2021.

During this period, fifty (50) customers will be selected via raffle draw each week and rewarded with gifts worth NGN30,000.

The Promo is open to existing and new Zenith Bank customers with the following raffle qualifying criteria:

– maintain a minimum deposit of NGN5,000 for the period;

– request and collect a Zenith Bank Card; and

– download and register on the Zenith Mobile App or register for *966# EazyBanking.

Zenith Bank Plc is recognised as one of the most customer-focused financial institutions in the country and was voted the most customer-focused bank in Nigeria for the retail and SME segments in the 2018 KPMG Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS).

A clear leader in the digital space with several firsts in the deployment of innovative products, solutions and an assortment of alternative channels that ensure convenience, speed and safety of transactions, Zenith Bank has clearly distinguished itself in the Nigerian financial services industry through superior service quality, unique customer experience and sound financial indices.

In recognition of its track record of excellent performance, Zenith Bank was voted as the Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria 2019 by the World Finance and the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria 2019 by Agusto and Co. The Bank was also recognised as Bank of the Year and Best in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards.

More recently, the Bank emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria, for the third consecutive year, in the Banker Magazine “Top 500 Banking Brands 2020”, number one Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the “2020 Top 1000 World Banks” Ranking published by The Banker Magazine, Best Bank in Nigeria 2020 in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards 2020, and Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020.

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) is set to partner with the Executive Producer of the TV programme, National Real Estate Today and Principal Consultant of M.I. Okoro & Associates, Dr Meckson Okoro in a bid to promote real estate development which will also lead to job creation in the sector.
Upon paying a courtesy call on the new President of NIESV, Emma Okas Wike in Lagos, recently, Okoro expressed readiness of his company to make the partnership a rewarding one. The meeting was predicated on four major policy thrusts for real estate development in the country.

Intimating journalists on the development, Okoro said the partnership will “create a very strong bridge between the Federal Government of Nigeria, all state governments and Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, with a view to assisting the government at all levels on the best way to generate all the necessary funds to finance government activities and public-oriented projects in Nigeria without having to resort to borrowing or dependency on oil, revenue partcularly at this crucial period in the world that the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic has created serious dislocation in the world economy.”

Both parties agreed that the on-going National Advocacy and Publicity drive established by the immediate past regime of NIESV, in which Okoro functions as the Chairman, must continue to create positive impact within the Nigerian public. They noted that, within a very short time, the advocacy and publicity drive would stamp in the heart of the Nigerian public the identify of professional estate surveyors and valuers without the confusion of who estate surveyors and valuers are, as presently the case in Nigeria.

The meeting further x-rayed the viability of using the National Real Estate Today and NIESV Half-hour, two TV programmes sponsored by Okoro and NIESV respectively, to generate jobs for members of the professional body through active penetration in government, corporate organisations and multinational companies.

Both parties, however, agreed to collaborate effectively in using the advocacy and publicity machineries and platforms at their disposal to maximise and polish the image of NIESV and promote their membership.

The President of NIESV commended Dr Chief M l Okoro whom he said “has sacrificed a lot of his resources for the image of NIESV”, and promised to discuss with the Council of the institution in order to fashion out a way to support National Real Estate Today which is the brain child of Okoro.

In his response, Okoro noted that the incumbent President of NIESV was his assistant when he (Okoro) was the National Publicity Secretary of institution. The popular real estate professional recalled the peaceful working relationship with Wike, hinged on serving their institution better than they met it. He commended Wike for rising to become the President of NIESV, while promising to deploy his contacts and resources towards making him succeed in office.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday raised alarm over lethal clauses in Article 8(1) of the commercial loan agreement signed between Nigeria and Export-Import Bank of China which allegedly “wills the sovereignty of Nigeria” in the $400 million loan for the Nigeria National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure Backbone Phase II Project, signed in 2018.

Chairman, House Committee on Treaties and Agreements, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai observed this during an investigative hearing into some of the agreements signed between Nigeria and China, where the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi responded to various questions on the ongoing modernisation of railway projects being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Transport.

This is just as the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi warned that the Chinese authorities may not sign the $5.3 billion Ibadan-Kano rail line loan if the Parliament continues to investigate the agreement.

According to the agreement sighted by Nigerian Tribune which was signed by Federal Ministry of Finance (Borrower) on behalf of Nigeria and the Export-Import Bank of China (Lender) on 5th September, 2018, Article 8(1) of the agreement, provides that: “The Borrower hereby irrevocably waives any immunity on the grounds of sovereign or otherwise for itself or its property in connection with any arbitration proceeding pursuant to Article 8(5), thereof with the enforcement of any arbitral award pursuant thereto, except for the military assets and diplomatic assets.”

Ossai said: “I have also seen from the Ministry of Communications where Nigeria signed off some certain level of its sovereignty if part of the clauses is breached? So, when the National Assembly reacts in this manner, to question some level of agreements being entered into by any ministry of this country with any other nation, we have every right to question that because anything that is going to happen will happen to our generations unborn. Whether we get it from China or not is immaterial.

“The most important thing is that we must save and protect our people as regard agreements, because most of the agreements that have been signed, the National Assembly has no knowledge (of them). Even the details embedded in those agreements are not forwarded to you when demanding counterpart funding.

“You don’t have the details, clause by clause, in line with the Act that established DMO. We need to know those details even before going to sign such agreements. But those details are not provided to the parliament. So, we have the right to question them.”

Worried by the development, Ossai summoned the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Usman; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Ali Isa Pantami and Director-General of Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha, to appear before the Committee on August 17, 2020 with all relevant documents on the controversial agreements.

In a related development, Ossai during the investigation into various railway contract agreements signed between Nigeria and CCECC on the modernisation of railway projects demanded details of the agreements signed on the construction of various railway lines including Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan and Lagos-Kano rail projects.

According to Debt Management Office (DMO), as at March 31, 2020, a total of $96.15 million had been paid on the loan, leaving a balance of $403.85 million as outstanding, while the interest has been paid based on semi-annually on reducing balance basis, with 30 years maturity date (leaving 10 years pay-off window).

The chairman, who expressed concern over the conflicting positions between the Director (Legal) in the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Mr Gabriel Christopher, warned the minister against blackmailing the Parliament.

He said: “You are trying to blackmail this committee. You are trying to pit this committee against Nigerians,” adding that there was the need to investigate the “variations on interest rates,” which he described as “an aberration.”

“We are not saying because the money is not paid directly to people in this country. We have seen the agreement. We have also seen a clause where sovereignty is waived if we default. We have seen it in the document. It is here in the document where the sovereignty of our country is waived and we believe that the particular clause is not part of what they brought to the National Assembly to approve.

“No National Assembly member will look at that clause and approve such. In your own way, you might be right with what you are doing to defend this country when reaching and signing these agreements. Others might not be so. So, we must take a critical look at them one by one. This committee had not been functioning in the National Assembly before but now, the committee has started functioning, and we must use this committee to defend Nigerians,” he emphasised.

In his response, the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi disclosed that the sum of $500 million was the loan component borrowed from China while the balance of $349 million is the counterpart funding from Nigeria.

While urging the Committee to defer the investigative hearing till December to enable Nigeria conclude the process of the loan, he said: “I have said here to the House, and it is a pity that I’m saying it in public, this government, outside Nigeria, they are sensitive to what you say. Nobody is stopping you from your investigation and no government from outside Nigeria can stop you from doing it.

“We are saying that Nigeria has applied for three loans already. For Port Harcourt-Maiduguri (Eastern Rail Line), the Minister of Finance told me that she was stopped and told that the next borrowing plan would not be approved unless you get Port Harcourt-Maiduguri. Port Harcourt-Maiduguri goes through the South-East and the North-East. The only South-South town is Port Harcourt.

“We are about to apply for a loan. They will not grant that loan.

“Then you summoned us back to the House to ask why we are constructing Lagos-Kano and we are not constructing Port Harcourt-Maiduguri.

“Can we be allowed to get this loan? Then you can summon us, not to start what you are doing and the whole process will then be stopped,” he observed.

While reiterating his position on the need to step-down the investigation pending the conclusion of the processes, the minister said: “My fear is that at the end of the day, some sections of this country will suffer if they stop giving us loans; two projects that will suffer: the first one is Lagos-Ibadan (rail line), we have not finished disbursement. We are asking for a loan to commence work from Ibadan to Kano. The day they (China) say ‘the government is not supporting the loans you people are taking, we are no longer giving you,’ that is the end of the project.

“I completely concede to you, chairman, and to the House of your powers to investigate, to oversight the Executive but in over-sighting the Executive, there is what is called national interest. You don’t underhand the pressure I suffer when I travel down the East and I’m being told that we are not doing any railway in the East.

“Again, the economy of this country can only be propelled by transportation. We don’t mind this investigation but can we please shift it to December or January when we would have possibly taken these loans. Once we get these loans, Chairman, turn me upside down, I will answer you.

“There are rumblings up there in China and there are loans we have asked for. If your government is not in agreement with this – don’t forget that there are all sorts of allegations against China here and there – we can stop. And the moment it is stopped, the following things will happen: Lagos-Ibadan is not completed. And I want to put it on record, so that when it happens, they would know that I said it; Ibadan to Kano too,” the minister noted.

Speaking earlier on the details of the parameters of the loan, Director (Legal) of Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Gabriel Christopher explained that the concession interest rate was 2.5 per cent.

One of the lawmakers who frowned at the development, said: “This committee is not and will not put an end to the projects ongoing. It should be on record. It is not the intention of this committee to stop any project that is ongoing. This committee represents the Nigerian people and the Nigerian people have questions, and we will ask those questions to get answers for them.

“This committee is not in any way antagonising what the Nigerian Government is doing. As far as we are concerned, Nigeria is lacking key infrastructure. And if we can get good loans anywhere in the world to finance this infrastructure, this committee will even recommend more. The only thing we want to know is more facts about loans. For instance, Ministry of Finance told us they secured a loan of $500 million. The project in question, from your Director of Finance, is $849 million.

“Is it that Nigeria came in with counterpart funding? We also need to know. Nigerians are asking questions and your ministry is very key and critical to the survival of our economy, particularly with the railway sector which is something we have been trying to take off for a very long time. We got $849 million from the Ministry of Transport and we got $500 million (from Ministry of Finance). There is a discrepancy,” he noted.

While ruling, Ossai who observed that Section 21 of the Debt Management Office Establishment Act, which partly states that ‘no external loan shall be approved or obtained by the minister unless the terms and conditions shall be laid before the National Assembly and approved by its resolutions’, directed the Ministers and other stakeholders to appear before the Committee on the 17th August 2020 unfailingly.

As part of its promise to continuously provide financial and business skills to female entrepreneurs, leading retail bank in Nigeria, Access Bank Plc has unveiled the second edition of its Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton programme.

The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa 2020 Campaign is designed to provide female owned businesses across Africa an opportunity to access to finance and world-class business trainings as well as mentoring opportunities. This programme has been designed to create an enabling environment for female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

Speaking at the launch of the second edition of this initiative, Ayona Trimnell, Group Head W Initiative, said: “Access Bank has been a leading advocate for women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria and this is the key motivation for the ‘W’ Initiative which caters to the women economy particularly in the areas of capacity building and creating networking opportunities for women”.

She further stated that the Pitch-a-ton is an expansion of the Womenpreneur Business Workshop, under the Bank’s women proposition, the W Initiative. “We launched the Pitch-a-ton initiative last year in line with our value proposition as the No. 1 Bank of Choice for women in Nigeria, and we got a tremendous amount of applications with innovative business ideas. This year we want to do more and we want to reach out to more female entrepreneurs not just in Nigeria but across Africa.

“As a responsible financial institution with huge presence in other African countries, we want to give the same opportunity to other female entrepreneurs in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia as well as Sierra Leone, Gambia, & Congo to apply and participate in this year’s edition of the programme.”

The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa 2020 will provide up to N9 million financial grant and a unique capacity building program aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs. The programme is designed as a 3-month period incorporating pitching sessions and 8 weeks of mini-MBA training in collaboration with the IFC. Interested persons from Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and Rwanda as well as with extension to Sierra Leone, Gambia, & Congo who meet the criteria are required to fill an online application. The five hundred candidates selected from this pool will then send in a sixty seconds video pitch which will be screened by a credible panel of business experts to select fifty finalists.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDJKEAdg5wR/?igshid=1xg15k9rd2jia

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCvgHv6AjzJ/?igshid=16lscva2zx1vu

As part of the graduation requirements, the fifty finalists will pitch their businesses, infusing learnings from the mini-MBA and will stand an opportunity to win financial grants up to N5 million.

As a leading commercial bank in Nigeria, Access Bank has made significant investments aimed at enhancing growth in the Small and Medium-size Enterprise sector. The Bank is also a major advocate for women in business through innovative offerings like the W Power Loan, a discounted financing at 15% interest per annum, for women to grow their business as well as other Business Support Services.

The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton is the first women-in-business support initiative of its kind in the industry. Please click HERE to know more.

By Chinyere Nwokeoma, NAN



First Bank of Nigeria Limited has offered to give financial support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Education Sector to cushion the effects of the COVID -19 pandemic. Mr. Bankole Adediran, Head, Transaction Banking Products, FirstBank, made this known at the Bank’s SMEConnect webinar with theme: “Managing Your School through the Pandemic: Engagement and Retention Strategies”.

Adediran said that the Bank was ready to partner with SMEs in the education sector through the period of the novel coronavirus pandemic to sustain their businesses.

“FirstBank, as an institution, is very passionate about education, and will continue to support the sector,” he said.

He said that the Bank would continue to reinforce its leading role at enabling the growth of the educational sector in the country.

Adediran said that the Bank had an array of financial products that could be accessed by SMEs in the educational sector in the period of COVID -19.

He said SMEs in the sector could key into FirstEdu Loan targeted at private nursery, primary and secondary schools to assist the schools in achieving their desired growth in medium and long terms.

According to him, the product provides funding advancement of up to N20 million for schools with a minimum of 100 students with school fees collection domiciled at FirstBank.

Adediran said that, with the product, school owners/proprietors could stay ahead to make learning easy and conducive for students.

He said the Bank had launched various interventions and initiatives to support the sector to navigate through challenges occasioned by COVID -19.

He noted that FirstBank recently launched an e-learning initiative aimed at reaching out to one million students across the country to ensure they would be academically engaged while at home.

Adediran also said that the Bank supported 10 universities and three secondary schools across the country with major infrastructure projects.

He added that the Bank donated 20,000 e-learning devices to the Lagos State Government to promote online learning for students in the public schools.

Adediran urged schools must learn from the COVID -19 pandemic by embracing automation to plug leakages in the sector.

Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, Commissioner for Education, Lagos State, who was a panelist at the webinar, commended the Bank for donating 20,000 devices with six months data, to the state for e-learning.

Adefisayo said the state reached out to many companies for support at the wake of the pandemic and that FirstBank came to its aid.

She disclosed that all the schools were not prepared for the situation, noting that most children in public schools did not have device and data for online learning.

“This pandemic has been a terrible thing, and one lesson from it is that we have not invested enough in solutions we can deplore at a time like this,” Adefisayo said.

She said that the pandemic had forced Nigerians to be more creative and innovative, adding that schooling would no longer be the same again.

Adefisayo called on teachers to change their teaching and learning strategies, saying that COVID -19 had changed learning.

Also, Dr. Yomi Otubela, President, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), said the association had responded greatly by interfacing between government and its agencies since the beginning of the pandemic.

Otubela said the Central Bank of Nigeria was working out modalities for palliatives for schools and teachers who had not been receiving salaries since the pandemic started.

He noted that there had been an increase in rape, kidnapping and robbery as a result of COVID -19.

Mr. Wale Abioye, Team Lead, Customer Practice in Management Consulting (KPMG), said the pandemic had impacted negatively on many sectors of the economy, especially education.

Abioye highlighted some of the negative impacts of the pandemic to include financial/economic, structural, social and policy challenges.

He said many SMEs in the educational sector could be out of business due to the pandemic, thereby increasing unemployment rate.

Mr. Babatunde Vaughan, Education Lead, Modern Classroom, Microsoft Nigeria, said the company had introduced a lot of products to make online learning easy and interesting.

“COVID -19 is a very unique period for everyone, change has come and we will continue to experience change.

“We must be more proactive than reactive,” Vaughan urged.

Embattled suspended Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu suppressed investigation into alleged financial fraud by Delta State governor, Sen Ifeanyi Okowa, his family members and some of his aides.

Magu, it was gathered refused to approve the commencement of investigation following a 48-page petition written by the elders of the All Progressive Party (APC) against Okowa and others in the state.

The petition which was accompanied by supporting documents and bank details of some of the mentioned persons was filed since April 2020 but was not acted upon by the EFCC.

He was alleged to have sat on the petition from getting investigated, despite the weighty allegations in it, an EFCC source said.

But it was learned that the legal department of the Commission has opened an investigation into the matter following a directive by the new Acting Chairman.

The EFCC has beamed it searchlight on the Delta State governor, Sen Ifeanyi Okowa, his family members, and some of his aides over alleged massive financial fraud in the state.

Besides Okowa, the EFCC is looking into alleged illicit transactions done by Victor Ebegboni, Lawrence Oshiegbu, Lulu Enaboifo, Ross Uredi, and twenty-three others being official of the state government.

“We gathered that the EFCC is curious to know how a whooping sum of N150 million was used to buy a Lexus 570 armored car 2016 model in the same year for Gov. Okowa when the car is actually valued for N98 million in the year it was sold.”

According to the petitioners, the governor had earlier wasted state funds on the 10th September 2015 to the tune of N254.1 million to buy himself two official cars, when the same cars were sold for N173 million in the same year, while his crony, Ross Uredi supplied at inflated rates vehicles worth N741million for lawmakers in 2015 and N452. 7million also paid to same Ross to buy cars for Commissioners in the same year.

Also listed in the petition is the sprawling seven storey state secretariat under construction by the state government, which the governor’s elder and junior sisters are the sole contractors, determining who gets things done in the place.

The project which was initially valued for N13.6 billion has been jacked up to over N16 billion with all due process not followed.

In a document seen as submitted, the contractor of the job won the award based on nepotism as the state job is the biggest they have ever embarked on since they were formed.

One of the investigators who confided in us disclosed that all those mentioned in the petition will soon be invited to the headquarters as soon as they are done with their fact findings.

The management of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), made up of senior directors, has continued to defy an attempt by Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to shut down the facility hosting the Big Brother Naija reality show and bring it to an abrupt end.

Sources at the commission disclosed that minister’s desire to bring the show to an end was announced to the management on Wednesday by the commission’s acting Director-General, Dr Armstrong Idachaba, who told the meeting that Mohammed had directed him to shut down the Big Brother House under the pretext that the show is being held in violation of COVID-19 protocols.

NBC insiders further disclosed that Idachaba told the meeting that the minister wanted the letter ordering the closure of the facility to originate from the commission because it is the industry regulator. But Idachaba’s explanation was said to have been greeted by vehement opposition from members of the senior management, who offered various reasons why they thought it was not in the commissions best interest to interfere with the show.

One of the directors was said to have reminded the meeting that the NBC, on 1 July, wrote a letter to MultiChoice, producers of BBN, asking it to explain how and why the show will not violate Presidential Task Force (PTF) directives on COVID-19. He similarly reminded the meeting that MultiChoice replied, providing detailed explanations on measures taken in collaboration with the Lagos State government, whose agency, Lagos State Safety Commission, greenlighted the show. He stated that MultiChoice indicated in the letter that housemates had been screened prior to the show and that the BBN House had been disinfected as well as adapted to ensure sufficient physical distancing in addition to eliminating the use of live audience.

Another attendee pointed out that from observation since the show launched on Sunday, the safety protocols, notably generous use of hand sanitiser, have been followed.

Most of those at the meeting were said to have told Idachaba that he should ask the minister for a written directive to shut down the facility if he so badly wants to. According to the directors, BBN has not violated any provision of the Broadcast Code or breached programming standards.

Despite the overwhelming opposition, Idachaba was said to have told the directors that he would have to carry out the minister’s instruction, something that provoked murmurs of disapproval from the meeting, with some directors complaining of Mohammed’s continued interference in the running of the commission. The D-G, however, told the irate directors that he will confer with the minister to see if he is able to persuade him to withdraw the instruction for closure.

It has not been a good time for both the family of Dr. Anu of Med-Contour and that of the deceased queen Nneka Onwuzuligbo.

This has led to series of media and social media rage, with various questions, wagging in the tongues of the people, however, Lanre Opanuga has this to say about the whole story.

He wrote: While Medicine was in the past described as an ancient, noble and learned profession and rated highly only behind the clergy, it does appear that the physicians of the latter days especially in Nigeria have lost the huge social responsibility associated with entrusting the lives of the citizens in their hands.

Also, while not all deaths emanating from the care of a patient cannot of a necessity be attributed directly to a physician’s negligence to which the Medical Council has a prerogative to adjudicate upon; same cannot be said of a death which emanated from care resulting from a physician unlicensed to provide care without the supervision of a senior doctor.

Such is the case of Dr. Anu Adepoju the owner of Med-Contour Hospital and Laser Center who carried out a specialist surgical procedure of Liposuction and fat transfer on beauty queen Nneka while undergoing her internship as a Pre-registration House Officer at the General Hospital, Lagos in Dec 2018.

The patient subsequently developed complications which finally led to her death at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in 2019 after spending some weeks in the Intensive Care of the Hospital.

Her death sparked off a number of social media protests demanding for justice while a number of other clients who had been living with complications of procedures carried out by Dr Anu Adepoju have surfaced in the social media. Amidst all these complaints, the victims of Dr. Anu’s practice had approached a number of government regulatory agencies- The Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) and the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC).

While the HEFAMAA in 2019 was forced to seal of the facility in 2019, Dr. Anu in defiance of the agency opened in another location in the same vicinity under the name Med-Contour Aesthetics and continued her illegal operations.

The final step taken however was the closure of the new facility by the FCCPC following Dr. Anu’s failure to honour an invitation to appear before the FCCPC following public complaints.

In a swift response, Dr. Anu approached the leadership of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Lagos branch to complain about FCCPC’s illegality for sealing her practice, the NMA leaders in response and without appropriate due diligence vilified the FCCPC for venturing into a territory in the preserve of the MDCN.

This however did not go down well with prominent members of the State Executive Council of the NMA who argued that the Association also has a responsibility towards the citizens in ensuring patients’ safety and social justice.

Following detailed iunvestigations into how Dr. Anu who at the time of registration of the Med-Contour Hospital was a Pre-Registration House Officer and thus unqualified to register a hospital became a practicing cosmetic surgeon; a document which emanated from the HEFAMAA showed that a senior doctor whose name was given as Dr. Adenekan Adetunji Olusesan, a doctor of 14 years standing in 2018 and a Lecturer at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos and Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi –Araba did registered the facility as the Chief Operating Officer but never performed the role he claimed in the registration document.

it is also instructive to know that Dr Adenekan was a lecturer to Dr. Anu who graduated from UNILAG barely one year before then having spent an extra 2 years in the medical school (her classmates had graduated in 2014/2015 session) who would be required to go for the mandatory youth service after the completion of the internship and in addition will require at least 5 years post graduation to be eligible to open a private medical facility as a doctor.

The same Dr. Adenekan was the First Vice-Chairman of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Medical Association at the time he committed this act against the people of Lagos state, he remained the Vice Chairman when Dr. Anu reported FCCPC to the NMA and shamelessly kept the details of Anu’s practice away from the association leading to a misrepresentation of the Association.

Today the body of a young promising Nigerian lady lay cold in the grave as a result of the grave act of indiscretion exhibited by a Nigerian doctor, lecturer and consultant surgeon who unleashed into the society an unqualified personnel, a former student of his, variously known to many lecturers as a ‘less than average’ student in skills and academic knowledge to practice as a specialist cosmetic surgeon while she was yet qualified to practice as a general practitioner.

What is however more worrisome is that the establishments with whom Dr. Adenekan work –LUTH which was also disparaged by Dr. Anu as lacking in the personnel with experience in the management of patients who developed complications from cosmetic surgeries and the College of Medicine have not deemed it necessary to query Dr. Adenekan to explain his role in this whole saga yet has filed a petition to the MDCN.

In fact top officials of LUTH Management are currently advising Dr. Adenekan on steps to take in order to make HEFAMAA expunge his name from the registration documents of Dr. Anu’s hospital in other to escape scrutiny.

Finally, the medical community in NMA Lagos is polarized into groups as the NMA Lagos Chairman –Dr. Saliu Oseni who signed the letter of introduction of Dr. Anu to HEFAMAA during the registration process is doing all he could albeit illegally to cover up their actions and selling all manners of lies to members in other to ensure that Dr. Adenekan is allowed to contest as the next Chairman of the state NMA and continue the cover-up. The last of this has however not been heard.

President Muhammadu Buhari has emerged the most followed Sub-Saharan African leader on Twitter during the Covid-19 pandemic, reveals leading global communications agency Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) on Tuesday, July 21.

The newly released BCW Twiplomacy study 2020, which focuses on how world leaders have tweeted during the coronavirus pandemic and how Twitter has tried to keep the chatter clean from disinformation reveals that President Buhari recorded 3.1 million followers ahead of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda’s 1.9 million followers. PMB’s Twitter follower growth within the period when Coronavirus emerged in Mid-March until June was 51 per cent.

Commenting on the outcome of the research, Chief Innovation Officer, BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), Chad Latz said “It is therefore vital for world leaders to use channels like Twitter to reach out to their followers to spread critical health warnings and keep their followers abreast of the latest COVID-19-related information. As the pandemic abates in some countries, world leaders will find themselves with an expanded audience for future engagement.”

Group Managing Director CMC Connect BCW (the affiliate company of BCW in Nigeria); Yomi Badejo-Okusanya commended the BCW global network for the professionalism that culminated in the timely release of the study. “This report will encourage leaders who have been lagging behind to tap into opportunities provided by social media to communicate rightly by increasing their activities on the platforms to educate and inform their people. COVID 19 has changed many around the globe, and in Africa the need to communicate what the government is doing and saying shows some level of transparency”, he added.

The 2020 Twiplomacy edition reveals that governments and leaders of 189 countries had an official presence on the social network, representing 98 percent of the 193 UN member states. The leaders use Twitter to share critical coronavirus information and encourage their citizens to “stay home” and “stay safe.” Many leaders have been leading by example and updating their Twitter profiles, wearing a face mask and participating in the #SafeHands challenge. World leaders and diplomats also had to adapt to working from home and have been thrust into video conferences, making diplomacy truly digital.

Globally, US President Donald Trump is still the most followed world leader with more than 81 million followers and counting, while the governments of four countries namely Laos, North Korea, Sao Tome and Principe and Turkmenistan do not have a Twitter presence.

The buzz was palpable as Africa’s highly anticipated online series, The Men’s Club (TMC), hit the screens for its third season on Wednesday.

The 13-episode smash series is powered by the United Bank for Africa’s Lifestyle and Entertainment channel, REDTV, producers of hit shows such as Our Best Friend’s Wedding, Inspector K, Assistant Madams, Red Hot Topics, Hotel Boutique and many more.

The blockbuster series, TMC, which has enjoyed a huge following since its first release in 2018, has taken viewers on a roller-coaster ride with Africa’s most eligible young men – Ayoola Ayoola, Efa Iwara, Daniel Etim and Baaj Adegbule, on their adventure filled with love, friendship, fear, betrayal and Romance. The show also stars top female acts: Sharon Ooja, Mimi Chaka, Folu Storms and features some of Nollywood’s finest legends like Sola Sobowale and Shaffy Bello.

The new season which was premiered on REDTV’s Youtube channel on Wednesday was an instant hit as thousands of people from all over the world watched the 90-minute premiere event.

The Executive Producer of REDTV, Bola Atta, who spoke shortly before TMC3 came on screen, noted that although there had been a slight delay in production of the hit series thirds season due to the lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 Pandemic, there were efforts taken to ensure that this delay was not prolonged.

“TMC is one of our major hit series brought from the REDTV stables and powered by the United Bank for Africa(UBA). We worked really hard to ensure we were bringing the best this season despite all the delays. The TMC fans have been so loyal and we needed to give them what they wanted. The Covid -19 lockdown meant that we had to halt production right in the middle and this caused quite a bit of stress for us. However, the minute the lock down eased up, we put the very best measures in place for safety and security for cast and crew, limited the numbers and went back into production.

Atta emphasised UBA’s continued support for the creative industry to ensure that more youth are gainfully employed and presented with opportunities that showcase their talent, boosting economies across Africa.

She said “REDTV was birthed by the United Bank for Africa, to support the creative industry in Nigeria and across the African continent and for over four years now, we have been creating employment and honing creative talent through entertainment. The potential revenue that can be generated in this industry is often under-estimated and it is only in recent times that more people have had the courage to leave traditional professions and embrace the creatives.”

Also speaking about TMC3, CEO Urban Vision and Director of The Men’s Club, Tola Odunsi, expressed delight at the reception which the series has received over the years. He also praised UBA and REDTV for the continuous support towards ensuring that viewers are always provided with the best quality entertainment.

“We are extremely pleased to partner with UBA and REDTV to create top quality content and jobs. Working with UBA and REDTV has been amazing and with their support, more jobs continue to be created in the entertainment sector. On TMC 3 production we were able to hire a lot of people in different capacities and that ultimately equates to impacting many families, many lives. All thanks to UBA’s support,” Odunsi said.

REDTV is a fast-paced lifestyle channel that puts Africa on the global stage. Proudly powered by UBA, the network is here to entertain and inform with rich content that feature the very best of African entertainment, fashion, news, design, music, sport, movies and travel and so much more.

REDTV collaborates with the most talented visionaries and creative minds daring to believe in a New Africa.

Watch the new season of The Men’s Club on you tube @itsredtv.

Real estate expert, Meckson Okoro, is on the verge of making history, as his television show is set to kick off on the international scene.

The leading national real estate TV programme, National Real Estate Today, is, however, set to launch on NTA International.

Okoro, made the disclosure in a press statment made available to TheMomentNG, stating the rationale behind the decision to televise the programme on a new channel as NTA International.

“You will recall that our first episode hit the air on NTA2 Channel 5 just two months ago and within eight weeks, it expanded to TVC News, under the platform of NIESV Half Hour and also Silverbird Television.

“Our major reason of commencing airing on NTA International platform is to spread our good news on real estate to all Nigerians, both at home and overseas. It will enable all Nigerians living all over the world to get first hand information on real estate investments and purchasing guides in Nigeria from a celebrated real estate professional whose experience spans 30years of stainless exposure in the practice of real estate consulting in Nigeria and overseas.

“To be specific, National Real Estate Today will hit the airwaves on Thursday, August 6, at exactly 1.30pm West African Time Zone.

“It is pertinent to note that the promoter of the show, Dr Meckson Innocent Okoro, was an erudite and celebrated National Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV). He later became Publicity Secretary and image maker of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigerian ( APBN) — two national positions he held with utmost passion and dexterity. Okoro is a success by every definition of and he is indeed a real estate guru and a professional per excellence. Dr M. I. Okoro has been destined to climb to global prominence through a well programmed and structured development in his chosen career which is Estate Management and Consulting.

“He has also invested heavily in the development of his profession and career too. He is a Fellow of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers ( FNIEVS ); Fellow, Institute of Directors, Nigeria (FIoD); Fellow, Society of Construction Industry Arbitrators (FSCIArb) and bagged a PhD (Hon.) from Bradley University, USA.
“Okoro is a graduate of Estate Management from the University of Lagos, and presently the Vice Captain of Golf Section of the prestigious Ikoyi Club, 1938. He is very amiable and unassuming and happily married with four children,” the statement read.

The ace entrepreneur also said that, in order for a global reach to be properly coordinated and efficiently served Nigerians abroad, his company is set to open new offices in Houston, USA, South Africa and the UK where he already has an office in partnership with Bencord Real Estate Consulting. He is optimistic that the launching of National Real Estate Today on NTA International will definitely benefit the Federal Government of Nigeria, corporate organisations, the general public and Nigerians all over the world.

Why bankers can’t take over the people’s theatre -Jadeas



The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Friday ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, to appear before it to explain the alleged handover of the National Theatre to some developers while a suit over the matter is pending in court.

Others to appear before the court are Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC); Minister, Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture & National Orientation, and Central Bank of Nigeria as second, third and fifth defendants. The defendants also include the National Theatre & The National Troupe of Nigeria Board, Access Bank of Nigeria Plc and its Managing Director, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, as first, sixth and seventh defendants respectively.

Justice Ayokunle Faji made the order after hearing Mr. Chijioke Okoli SAN, lead counsel for the plaintiff who appeared with Perpetual Onwuama, Collins Akinade and Ify Nnabuenyi, argue a motion ex-parte seeking an injunction to overturn the alleged handover.

The court later adjourned the matter to Friday, August 24, 2020 for hearing.

The order is made sequel to an ex-parte application by the plaintiff seeking “an order suspending/staying the purported handover on or about July 12, 2020 by the 1st and 3rd defendant/respondents to the 5th-7th defendant/Respondents of the National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, Lagos and the adjoining lands thereto, pending the hearing and determination of the Applicant’s motion for interlocutory injunction (by Notice filed on December 31, 2019).”

The plaintiff also sought “An order of mandatory injunction for a return of all the parties to the present suit, especially the Defendants/Respondents, their agents/privies or contractors, to the status quo ante lite concerning the subject-matter of the present suit, pending the hearing and determination of the Applicant’s motion for interlocutory injunction (by Notice filed on December 31, 2019).

Also being sort by the plaintiff is “An order of mandatory injunction reversing all the practical effects of the purported handover on or about July 12, 2020 by the 1st & 3rd defendant/respondents to the 5th-7th defendant/Respondents of the National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, Lagos and the adjoining lands thereto, including the removal from the premises of any/all architects, and other construction professionals and/or contractors and their plants/equipment and binding all the Defendants/Respondents and their contractors/agents/privies from doing anything/continuing with any act whatsoever in furtherance of the purported handover, pending the hearing and determination of the Applicant’s motion for interlocutory injunction (by Notice filed on December 31, 2019).”

The application is supported by an 8-paragraph affidavit of urgency and 13-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion for mandatory injunction, both deposed to by one Collins Ibukunola Akinade, a legal practitioner in the law firm of Delphi Law Advisory LP, counsel to the plaintiff.

The defendants are being summoned to show cause why the alleged handover should not be reversed by the court given the fact that the court had at the last adjourned date set down all pending applications in the matter to October 29 for hearing. Barrister C. Opara represented the 4th Defendant at that hearing while Mr. Adeniyi Adegbonmire SAN appeared for the 6th and 7th defendants.

The N1.26 trillion suit was brought by Topwideapeas Limited praying for an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from interfering with the plaintiff’s rights as concessionaire of the fallow land adjoining the National Theatre. The case is listed as FHC/L/CS/2392/2019, Topwideapeas Ltd V National Theatre & National Troupe of Nigeria Board & 6 Ors.

The alleged handover prompted the plaintiff to bring an ex-parte motion to stop the defendants from dissipating the subject matter of the case even while the court is yet to determine the substantive suit.

The plaintiff is also seeking a declaration that the plaintiff has a valid and binding contract for the concession of the fallow land surrounding the National Theatre Complex in terms of the updated draft concession agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria (represented by the first and third defendants) and the plaintiff, the approval of the Federal Executive Council being a mere formality in the circumstances.

Topwideapeas also seeks a declaration that it is unlawful for the fifth to seventh defendants to purport to truncate and nullify the plaintiff’s right as the concessionaire of the fallow land in and about the National Theatre Complex Iganmu, Lagos, by inducing the breach of the plaintiff’s contract with the first to third defendants or by any other means.

The plaintiff prays the court to declare that it is contrary to public policy and constitutes a misappropriation of scarce public funds for the fifth defendant (CBN) to divert public funds towards any project concerning the National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, Lagos, when the plaintiff and its partners and privies have mobilised local and foreign private investment into developing the complex and surrounding land into a grand mini-city on a scale entirely beyond the legitimate capacity of the fifth defendant.

The National Arts Theatre complex, sitting on an expansive space and an adjoining 134-hectare fallow land in Iganmu area of Lagos, has been abandoned over the years due to mismanagement and non-maintenance.

Moved by the need to restore the glory of the epicentre of cultural activities in Lagos and turn around its capacity to develop the creative industry, Buhari recently approved the regeneration of the theatre complex through a public private partnership.

The presidential approval culminated into the official handover ceremony of the edifice at the theatre complex’s Banquet Hall to private investors led by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bankers’ Committee (a team of private investors) under the chairmanship of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had earlier said the proposed transformation of the theatre complex give Nigeria the opportunity to harness her creative industry, describing the revitalisation of the cultural edifice as a goldmine for revenue generation.

The N25 billion project, tagged the Lagos Creative and Entertainment Centre, which is expected to be completed in 18 months, would be executed in two phases.

Phase 1 involves the restoration and upgrade of the National Theatre to its glorious days at a cost of N7 billion, while Phase II would involve the development of the adjoining fallow land at a cost of N18 billion.

At the time, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who officially transferred the monument to the team of private investors for regeneration, said the project is expected to be delivered in the next 18 months.

The minister said the planned restoration and upgrade of the iconic National Theatre would generate about 10,000 jobs during and after the restoration.

He said: “Please permit me to start off by making a clarification: this iconic National Theatre remains a national heritage and will not be ceded to any person or group, as some have chosen to frame what we are doing here today. What we are here to do is to hand over the National Theatre for restoration and upgrade and the fallow land within the premises to the Central Bank and the Bankers’ Committee for development.

“The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture holds the keys to the National Theatre on behalf of all Nigerians.

“The good news is that this project will not lead to a single job loss. Instead, it will create more. Some 6,000 jobs will be created during the construction phase, while the completed project could generate up to an additional 600 permanent and 2,000 to 3,000 call-on/call-off jobs. This is as good as it gets!”

The minister described the handover of the facility as a “historic day in the annals of the Creative Industry in Nigeria,” describing the project as a win-win for all those involved.

“For over 40 years, no major renovation work has been done on the National Theatre, while the adjoining land has been lying fallow. Many attempts to restore the National Theatre have failed. And the government has no money to restore the complex.

“As you know, this is the hub of the Creative Industry in Nigeria. The National Theatre was established to encourage the advancement of the performing arts throughout the country; to create opportunities for performing artists of the country as well as to aid the promotion of social development and the improvement of the quality of life. In its present state, it is not living to its billing,” the minister added.

Flashback:

Jadeas Trust Limited emerged the reserved bidder in the event of the 2006 concessioning round for the National Theatre. It became the preferred bidder after the winner left.

It contested the validity of the 2013 bid process in court because it did not take cognizance of the 2013 process.

After a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo from which Jadeas interpreted as a signal it could work with Topwide Apeas Limited (TopWide), the winner of the 2013 process, it sought common ground and penned a Memorandum of Understanding with TopWide

Jadeas Trust is disturbed by what it sees as the Bankers’ railroading the process.

“The National Theatre cannot and should not be hijacked and “owned” by the bankers Committee”, the company says. “It belongs to the city, the good people of Nigeria and the Global African Community”.

What Jadeas offers:

Our vision is that this will become a leading tourism gateway into Africa.

In the overall planning, the creative industries now become the anchor for the sustainability of the entire scheme. Tourism is essentially about visitor experiences and it is increasingly recognized that the creative and cultural industries of any location are the essential pillars on which the tourism experience is based.

In the preparation of our bid, and in recognition of the validity of our approach, Jadeas Trust received a grant from the World Bank to carry out capacity building activity for the Creative Industry MSMES in the Artist Village.

The advent of the Blue Light Rail Station within the National Arts Theater landmass provides the much needed urban link to the planned “new city” and underpins a TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT “TOD” in the overall planning.

This takes advantage of the anticipated density and the footfall around the light rail station to develop a vibrant, integrated mixed use development. The use of an arts facility as a catalyst to regenerate a derelict region and the use of a mass transit station to underpin a transit oriented development are both globally recognized, proven and tested urban planning tenets, it is the particular context of National Arts Theater, that gives the scheme its unique edge.

The masterplan development guideline pays homage to the “African Village” in its celebration of public realm, pedestrianized activities and social interaction throughout the various land uses and the city as a whole. In effect the Black Heritage City becomes a coherent “city of villages” with specific characters. We believe this will set a new benchmark in city planning in the interplay between people, community and urban character.

While the architecture of the buildings will defer to and reference regional precedents, it is the way the buildings respond to the public realm that confers value.

It is the generous sidewalk expansion to the existing roads, the esplanades, the squares, parks, sculpture gardens, amphitheater, sit outs, open public spaces, student hubs, fountains and canals that form the arteries of the city for people and services to flow and to encourage social interaction to flourish that will enrich the quality of life and the success of the project. The design intent is to encourage and promote the interconnectivity and relationships that were a feature of the traditional African Village settings such as the marketplace, the village square, the age grade meeting places will give this project its unique edge. While we have reached back to the African Village for inspiration, encouraging pedestrianized activities in planning also remains the basic framework for a sustainable ecosystem.

Among the master planning principles to foster sustainability within the BHC is “zero” tolerance for dark spots, “no” no man’s land, access by air, land, train and water, the use of compost, recycling, renewable energy, electric shuttle buses and a construction charter that ensures community stewardship.

Transforms into a 21st Century Performing Arts Complex

The National Arts Theater building exterior which has assumed an iconic status for the country as a whole is retained as a “national heritage structure” while its interior is gutted to “let in light” and programed with spaces and content that appeal and resonate with a Global African audience and across diverse socio cultural constituencies. It becomes the global televisual and performance stage to showcase the output of the entire LM & EC; from the Creative Industries Academy, CIA, Creative Industries Business Park, CIBP, Film and Music Studio etc.

The programing includes the following;

3,000 seater capacity televisual main bowl.

Black Hall of Fame with Virtual Reality / Interactive Hologram

Museum of Black & African Art, MOBAA

Afrocentric Cinemaplex with Comedy Theater

Convention Center, Events and Meeting places

Food and Beverage, Souvenir shops

The annoying network glitch that had almost crippled the online channels of FCMB for days now has been resolved.

Announcing the good news to customers earlier on Tuesday, the bank in a text message thanked customers for their patience and apologised for every inconvenience suffered during the glitch.

The message reads: “Dear Customer, we are pleased to inform you that service is back on our channels. We sincerely apologise for every inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”

A staff of the bank who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that, “Our network is back online, it was resolved around midday or so and we have sent messages to our customers to apologise for the inconvenience.”

The staff who lamented the bad press the glitch generated pointed out that the issue was beyond control as network was unpredicted: “I don’t understand what journalism has become in Nigeria, there are so many positive stories about banks; what they are doing to empower people especially during this coronavirus pandemic but nobody is publicising this instead they are focused on issues that can happen to anyone.

“While we sincerely apologise for this and are taking all the steps, within our power, to ensure this doesn’t repeat itself, it would be good if we all show some patriotism by supporting what is ours.”

Recalls that some customers of the bank had taken to the microblogging site, twitter to vent their displeasure over the network concerns which began last weekend.

Dominic Akaraka, an Access Bank customer and trader in Ogbaru market, Onitsha, Anambra State and over 1,000 customers across Nigeria emerged winners at the second quarterly draw of the DiamondXtra Season 12 reward scheme held in Lagos recently.

Speaking shortly after receiving the Salary-4-Life cheque at his branch in Onitsha, 59-year-old Dominic expressed his excitement and told newsmen that he has been a customer of Access Bank for more than 10years, adding that Nigerians should partake in the initiative as it is real.

He said: “I have been banking with Access Bank for more than 10 years now. The first time I got a call from the Bank that I won the star prize, I warned the person not to call me again and I hung up the phone thinking it was a fraudster but when they called again, I decided to give them a listening ear only to discover when I visited my branch that I have won the star prize of Salary-4-Life which means I would be paid N100,000 every month for 20 years. I am too excited and short of words. I am 59 years old with a wife and six children. Before I got this call from Access Bank, I and my family have been going through financial challenges and business has been very slow and unprofitable due to the lockdown and restriction of business activities within the state.

All my fellow traders are aware already and are opening the DiamondXtra account. I will encourage my friends and family members to bank with Access Bank so that they can partake in this initiative because it has salvaged my financial situation. I feel like am still dreaming. Thank you Access Bank.”

Also speaking at the prize presentation ceremony, Head, Retail Product insight and Capabilities, Access Bank Plc, Rob Giles, noted that the bank has kept its promise of keeping the initiative going and growing. Giles revealed that over N5.4 billion in prize money has been doled out while adding that the Bank recently launched a variant of DiamondXtra tagged “Xtrawins” where customers are rewarded with daily, weekly and monthly cash rewards.

He said: “We are trying to make the prizes more accessible so that more Nigerians can win every year, and the introduction of the XtraWins daily draws allows us reward more customers frequently. The special thing about DiamondXtra Season 12 is the difference we are making in the lives of our customers. Today, we have 5 winners who have emerged winners in the following categories: Salary-4-Life, Rent Allowance for a year, N1million Business Grant as well as, the latest reward category, Family Health Insurance cover for a year which we introduced to assist families secure access to quality health as a way of providing more relevant support to our customers in the current pandemic situation. Other prize categories won include, N500,000, N100,000 and much more. This savings scheme has been a success since its launch in 2008 and we intend to keep on impacting our customers positively.”

Corroborating his words, Head, Consumer Banking, Access Bank Plc, Adaeze Ume, explained that the motivation behind the XtraWins initiative was born out of the need to transform the lives of customers during these covid-19 times.

“In our own little way of showing appreciation to our customers for their patronage and loyalty, the bank launched the XtraWins rewards – a campaign that rewards customers with daily, weekly and monthly cash prizes ranging from N500 – N1million when they maintain a minimum of N1,000 in their accounts and conduct at least 3 transactions daily using our USSD service *901# or any of our mobile apps to purchase airtime, pay bills, transfer funds, etc. The beauty about the Xtrawins campaign is that winners emerge everyday and we have rewarded over 8,000 customers in 9 weeks,” Adaeze concluded.

DiamondXtra is an interest yielding hybrid account which allows deposit of both cash and third party cheques. Hybrid means a combination of both savings and current account features. The reward scheme has given away over N5 billion in cash and household items to over 15,000 loyal customers over the last 10 years.

To open a DiamondXtra account simply dial *901*5# from your mobile phone and follow the prompts and fund the account with a minimum of N5,000. Click HERE to know more.

WINNERS TESTIMONIAL LINKS BELOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hsvUFQVPqA – Mr Oladipupo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI01u4KRsqM – Mr Sunday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxzDOaUbJ0E – Ms Urbanus

Despite the disruptions and prolonged lockdown occasioned by the global coronavirus pandemic, ‘The Men’s Club’ season 3 (TMC3) series is set premiere on July 22, 2020 with a firm promise to do much more than excite its teeming and sophisticated audience with the adventures of four Nigerian men and how they navigate their mainly drama-filled tumultuous love lives.

Commenting on the TMC season 3, Bola Atta, Executive Director, REDTV and Group Director, Corporate Communication at UBA Plc, expressed delight in being able to “wear several hats” in her role at UBA, one of them being an Executive Producer for REDTV; emphasising TV production as her passion.

Shedding light on the latest season, the corporate Amazon said: “The Men’s Club is a series about 4 young men; Aminu, Tayo, Lanre and Louis, who are navigating life, winding through several relationships, breaking hearts and getting hearts broken. Now in its third season, completing filming which began pre -pandemic, was a learning process itself. Cast and crew were tested for Covid-19 and when thankfully they all tested negative, were placed in residence (of maximum 20 persons).

“Disinfecting every day; following strict protocols for sanitisation and distancing on set. It wasn’t easy, but we got it done! Here is a trailer of TMC3 which will be out on REDTV on July 22, 2020,” she said.

Nengi has emerged the winner of the first-ever Head of House challenge in the Big Brother Naija Lockdown edition!

Today’s Head of House challenge was different from what you would usually expect. Biggie brought out a game that was like a BBNaija twist to the popular Snakes and Ladders game. The housemates were given the rules and told to take turns to play across a mat with numbered squares until they reached the end of the game or to score as high as they could under one minute.

Sounds like a piece of cake? The game is not as easy as it sounds though. The housemates could only start the game by throwing a die that landed on a six, and even then, their progress could be hampered or encouraged by the instructions found on the square they landed upon. Some squares would ask the housemates to start afresh (talk about starting from square one!), some others would ask the housemates to hastily drink water or hurriedly peel and eat an egg.

Although none of the housemates initially got to the end of the game, Nengi and Neo both scored 18. In a bid to break the tie, Big Brother asked them to roll the die again. Amazingly, Nengi and Neo tied with the same score two more times!

At this point, we feel like Big Brother may have become exasperated with the frequent ties, so he asked them to both throw the die and the first person to score a two would win the game. It was purely a game of chance, but obviously, Lady Luck was on Nengi’s side because she emerged as the first-ever Head of House in the Big Brother Naija Lockdown edition!

For the next one week, Nengi will enjoy all of the privileges of the Head of House and will also enjoy the HOH lounge, which includes a bedroom, sitting area, and a private bathroom. She will also get to sit on the special Head of House chair.

In an interesting turn of events, Nengi selected Wathoni as her deputy Head of House. As deputy, Wathoni will also get to live in the plush HOH lounge with Nengi.

As part of the ground rules, Big Brother mentioned that the housemates would play this same game every Monday as they vie for the title of Head of House. He also hinted that there would be a quiz on Thursday to test how much the housemates had discovered about each other.

The Head of House challenge was super exciting and we look forward to seeing Nengi rock her new status as head of house. Talk about girl power!

The drama and non-stop action of Big Brother Naija is just getting started and you don’t want to miss any part of it! Stay tuned to DStv Channel 198 and on GOtv Channel 29 to watch the BBNaija show.

Nigeria’s largest system integration company, CWG Plc, has adduced reasons it is targeting the Small and Medium Enterprise segment of the country’s economy with its cloud-based ERP solution tagged SMERP.

The company believes the successful development and sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises is key as SMEs play a major role in most economies, particularly in developing countries like Nigeria, where they contribute to new jobs creation by 70 percent.

According to CWG, most formal jobs are generated by SMEs, which create 7 out of 10 jobs but are lacking the basic tools to function effectively and efficiently.

“We have seen that SMEs in Nigeria face enormous challenges such as innovating, supporting their business growth and keeping the lights on. This is why we have developed the SMERP solution to strategically address their challenges,” said Omodolapo Orogbemi, SMERP’s Product Manager.

He disclosed that the CWG’s SMERP is a reliable, scalable and flexible solution which can be used to strategically achieve a competitive leading position in the SME sector for Nigeria. SMERP is capitalizing on this opportunity to achieve success in enabling SMEs to improve the GDP of the Nigerian Economy.

Specifically, he said the SMERP solution will provide business outcomes such as smooth functioning of daily processes, enhancement of work efficiency, a substantial reduction in recurring cost and improved operational efficiency for SMEs.

Other value proposition of the solution are remote business monitoring, business intelligence & data analytics and improving the overall competitiveness in the world market through modern technologies.

SMERP supports the survival and standardization of the SME sector through different modules such as Invoicing, Accounting, Inventory, CRM, Point of Sale, Rewards and Loyalty Programs. These benefits to business owners ensure business expansion and transforming one-time customers to regulars.

SMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide and are important contributors to job creation and global economic development. They represent about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. The World Bank Group estimated that formal SMEs contribute up to 40% of national income (GDP) in emerging economies.

CWG Academy, the training and capacity arm of CWG Plc will on August 10, 2020, start a new online session; Mr. Taiwo Lapite, Head of Brand and Marketing Communications, announced in a statement.

The statement urged all Nigerians who are willing to pursue a career or learn a skill in Information and Communications Technology to apply and be part of the session, which is expected to last for six weeks.

“The new online session of the CWG Academy will take off by August 10, 2020. We urge all Nigerians willing to pursue a career in ICT to apply,” Taiwo emphasized in the statement.

CWG Academy had last week graduated its first set of online students in a ceremony conducted online owing to the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world that has forced many people and organizations to stay at home.

The CWG Academy is a brainchild of CWG Plc, Nigeria’s largest system integration company to bridge the skill gap in the country’s Information and Communications Technology sector. Since its inception, the Academy has trained and developed over 1,500 Professionals, some of whom are working with Blue-Chip companies in Nigeria today. Some have also gone ahead to establish their own companies as entrepreneurs and are doing very well.

The Academy is one of the many ways CWG contributes her quota to Nation building by ways of helping to tackle the Nigerian unemployment quagmire.

The Academy deals with four core areas of the Information and Communications Technology ecosystem. They are Advance Service management, Data Centre Infrastructure Services, IT Infrastructure & Cloud Platform and Software Training.

FirstBank Rewards its Verve Card Holders with Free Fuel

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider is set to reward customers for Verve Card usage in its Free Fuel Promotion.

The Free Fuel promo which is activated by FirstBank in collaboration with Verve International and Oando Plc. kicked off on Monday, 6 July 2020 to Friday, 24 July 2020 between 6 am and 6 pm.

In the promo, for a minimum of N3,000 fuel purchase, FirstBank Verve Cardholders will receive 5 extra litres of fuel for FREE instantly at selected Oando Fuel Stations across Lagos every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The Oando fuel stations where the promo will run are Abijo (Lekki Stillwaters), Fola-Agoro, Maryland, Agege-Bypass, Lakowe, Lawanson, Ojodu- Berger, Alapere, Shiro Road (Fadeyi Ikorodu Rd.), Awolowo Rd (by Fire Service), Marina, and Tradefair stations.

Verve card is a secure debit card that allows the cardholder to conveniently meet day to day financial needs such as payment for goods and services, airtime recharge, bill payments, funds transfer, etc. It is accepted across all ATMs, POS, Web and Mobile Platforms in Nigeria.

Pick up your FirstBank Verve card today at any of our branches and start getting rewarded!

But do you know

Osun has commenced teaching women martial arts as  defense skill to curtail the increase in gender based violence?

258 out of 332 focal primary health care centers across the State has been completely revitalized and renovated?

Over 20 roads have been constructed in 18 months and counting?

Seventeen medical facilities have been constructed remodeled, renovated and upgraded in Osun?

The completed PHCs have been stocked with drugs and equipments for their smooth operations?

Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and Consolidated Health workers’  Salary Structure (CONHESS) has been fully implemented in order to attract medical doctors and other health workers to the State?

The School of Nursing and Midwifery in Asubiaro Osogbo that previously had an indexing capacity of 30 students, has now earned an accreditation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to accommodate 75 students? This portends that more nurses and midwives can be trained by the State and safely dispatched to aid the health sector.

Many government workers, self employed and even unemployed poor persons are benefitting from the state health insurance scheme (OHIS) with over fifty surgical operations ranging from hydroelectomy to ceasarian and even bilateral below elbow amputation have been done under OHIS?

The environmental and health technological program, Health Information Management Course as well as Dental Therapy Programme has been accredited at the college of health technology Ilesha?

The revamp of the Ejigbo Hospital was a major factor in the control of the spread of COVID-19 in the State?

The implementation of maternal neonatal child care facilitated and sponsored through Saving One Million Lives programme, and an equity grant now provide health services for the poor and vulnerable?

If you have been following the news lately, on and off social media, you must have been apprised of the N-power programme, which has been described as a critical component of President Muhammadu Buhari’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

The ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development under which the N-Power programme was domiciled after it moved from the office of the Vice President announced the transitioning and exiting of Batch A & B beneficiaries beginning June 30 and culminating on July 31st 2020.

The announcement was greeted by vitriol and anger on and off social media by the youthful, extremely vocal and so, not surprisingly social media savvy beneficiaries who did not wish to exit the programme even though Batch A beneficiaries had, somehow, managed to stay for over 40 months, 16 months longer than the programmes advertised 24 months.

When the Buhari administration took office in 2016, it shared the very ambitious vision of taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

The vision was clearly an ambitious one when viewed through the prism of available insights. Statistics indicate that our institutions of learning push out 4.5 million young people annually into the bulging job market. In 10 years that figure would be 45 million. Where were the jobs going to come from?

The president’s vision, it turned out, was not just a good-to-have election promise. It was a well-thought out policy of engagement and manpower development.

In a technologically advancing world the president and his advisers had hit upon the idea of using the N-power programme to upskill graduates and non-graduates aged between 18 and 35 with skills and attributes that would make them employable for jobs of today and the future while also preparing them to take up the mantle of entrepreneurship.

The N-power programme was the administration’s silver bullet and it proceeded apace. In 2016, 200,000 beneficiaries were enrolled in the programme while another set of 300,000 were enrolled in 2018.

Four years down the line, as the Batch A and B beneficiaries begin their transition, it is imperative to undertake a cursory of audit of how the programme has performed vis a vis that presidential vision while also taking a hard look at whether it is really needed.

The application portal for Batch C enrolment opened on Thursday June 26th 2020 to an enthusiastic response. Figures from the ministry indicate that the portal was receiving as much as 100 applications per minute and in 48 hours over 1 million young and eligible Nigerians had registered. That number would climb to 3.9million in seven days.

If anyone needed proof regarding the imperative of such a manpower building programme that was proof positive.
But could the stampede to register have been a function of that long queue of young people out of jobs or was there something else?

A few weeks before the application portal opened, the ministry had begun a sensitization campaign and part of that included the sharing of testimonial videos on social media. The videos called “N-Power Success Stories” featured N-Power beneficiaries who had exited the programme voluntarily and had applied skills gained and funds saved during their time on the programme in setting up small and medium scale businesses.

It was a delighted honourable minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, who announced a few days after the Batch C applications began that 109, 829 beneficiaries from Batch A and B had become entrepreneurs running small but thriving businesses in their communities. These were aside from those who had become gainfully employed after passing entrance exams and psychometric tests set by companies.

The announcement was significant because it underlined and highlighted the imperative of the N-Power programme by showing that it was not only bridging the unemployment gap by upskilling young Nigerians for employability, it was enabling and empowering them to become entrepreneurs and employers of labour.

Some of the beneficiaries, the ministry announced, had even been engaged as aggregators for the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, another component of the NSIP.

Development experts tell us that SMEs are the engine room of most developing and even developed economies. Statistics from Nigeria indicate that this is also true here.

According to the CBN, SME’s not only contribute 48% of national GDP in Nigeria they make up 98% of businesses in the country while providing employment to 84% of gainfully employed Nigerians.

A careful consideration of these statistics and insights will show that the coming of N-Power Batch C with a new set of young Nigerians who will gain skills for employability and entrepreneurship, Nigeria is gearing up proactively for post-Covid-19 when battered economies all over the world will be needing a shot-in-the-arm.
This speaks eloquently to the imperative and impact of N-power.

Onyema Dike a public analyst writes from Lagos