₦airaland Forum

The incoming Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kyari, has hailed the leadership of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), for the nine-month extension in oil production cut under the ‘’Declaration of Cooperation’’ which seeks to improve global oil market stability among OPEC members.

Oil industry under the cooperation, OPEC member and non-member nations accelerated the stabilisation of global oil market through voluntary production adjustments which amounted to 1.8 million barrels per day.

In a chat with newsmen in Vienna, venue of the 176th Meeting of OPEC, Mr. Bala Wunti, Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy representing Kyari, noted that pricing and volume of products remained key factors in ensuring sustainable revenue generation for the country.

“Through the Declaration of Cooperation, greater stability is restored globally,  Nigeria believes that having the right price and volume can support our aspiration and ensure  a sustainable revenue generation’’

“We believe that continuation of the declaration is the way to go.  A Six-month extension is too short a time and will not have the required impact in curbing uncertainty and volatility which existed before the cooperation’’

“So a nine-month extension is the way to go considering the objective of the declaration, that is why Nigeria supports the initiative and is also  grateful that big nations are committed to it’’

Wunti further expressed the commitment of the NNPC in revamping refineries, noting that in-country refining of crude through multiple channels and collaboration would ensure the nation becomes a major petroleum product exporter by 2020.

According to him, that is the vision of the incoming NNPC boss, and that is the vision of Nigeria.

Other delegates representing Nigeria at the on-going 176th Meeting of OPEC include; Meeting in Vienna include the permanent secretary, ministry of Petroleum, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, Nigeria’s OPEC Governor, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Austria, Victoria Okeke and the General Manager, OPEC, NNPC, Umar Gbobe Aminu.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the new Joint Tax Board Tax Board Tax Identification Number (TIN) registration system and national taxpayer database will trigger sustainable economic development in line with various strategic initiatives and programmes of the Federal Government.

The Vice President said this while flagging of the new national TIN registration system in Abuja on Monday, stating that the initiative is deserving of commendation as it is in line with international best practices.
According to him, tax administration must evolve alongside contemporary economic developments.

“The new TIN Registration System leverages on existing data from a variety of authorized identity management agencies, and the data from both individuals and corporate bodies are reliable and verifiable. Taking advantage of the current trends in information communications technology, it will indeed ensure convenience for the taxpayer, while achieving operational efficiency for the tax administrator, all dovetailing into enhanced revenues for governments at all tiers to fund their respective social-economic drives,” said Osinbajo.

The Vice President, who commended JTB over the initiative, added that all agencies critical to the optimal success of the new TIN system such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have been directed to fully cooperate with the JTB, especially in providing relevant individual records.

Speaking earlier, JTB Chairman, Mr. Tunde Fowler, said the new the new system will add immense value to tax-revenue administration in the country in terms of processes and procedures, as well as efficiency. According to Fowler, the new system will ensure a coordinated and systematic approach towards managing revenue generation as well as tax information sharing between and among tax authorities within and outside the country.

He added that the new system offers a range of immense benefits to the taxpayer.

“The consolidated database, apart from providing a unique identity to the taxpayer, also facilitates ease of compliance. It limits the incidence of double taxation and is a prerequisite for a number of transactions such as sale and purchase of immoveable property, registration of vehicles, land application, import and export licence, registration as a contractor and entry visas among others.

“Ultimately, the system promotes the ease of doing business for both individuals and corporate bodies.

“We believe that with the new TIN Registration System, we will be reinforcing the laudable efforts of this administration towards building a robust tax-revenue system, promoting a tax-friendly environment and ensuring a sustainable and inclusive economy for all Nigerians,” the JTB Chairman said.

Sir Oseni Elamah, Executive Secretary, JTB explained that the new system is a web-based solution offering access to authorized users to initiate TIN request from the comfort of their homes/offices real-time online, verify their tax status and print their TIN certificate.

“It is a transparent system that assures timely and accurate collection and recording of basic identification data. It also permits the tax administrator to understand its taxpayer base for effective revenue projections and other planning activities,” he said.

Having weighed the divergent views of both #TeamBusola and #TeamPB, from an analytical point of view, here are my analysis and inferences:

1. The story has been greeted with a litany of sensational sentiments laced with incoherent assertions and baseless innuendos, for and against both actors in the story.

2. Again, there are too many unanswered big questions hovering around this superstory. However, the ability to be able to reason is what differentiates man from animals.

3. No sane person should open his mouth in support of rape in any form. Nothing justifies creeping into a lady’s pant under duress, even when she’s your wife. For a fact, every time your wife says no and you still go ahead to penetrate, you have raped her. But, she’s my wife! And so what?
For a definition, “rape” is simply sex without consent. Let her remove her pants by herself. She always will.

4. If not timely reported, a rape victim can hardly win in a law court, except there is a forensic evidence from, say pictures or videos. This is the more reason any rape victim should open up immediately. The shame of speaking up is not as worse as the agony of keeping quiet. Truth can be lost in transit. And then, I still don’t understand the clause – “she finally found her voice”. Anyone can do me a favour of a clearer explanation.

5. In the case of Ese Walter, she confessed it wasn’t rape. A comment like – “before I knew it, we were under the sheets” convinces anybody, even a kindergarten. Ese said she was only moved to expose PB out of feeling guilty from her own conscience, not that she raised a rape alarm.

6. Here is one of the half-truths in the whole lingering brouhaha – Wait o, PB allegedly raped Busola in Ilorin when she was a teenager. Issokay! When she grew into adulthood, she still joined COZA’s choir in Abuja, where she finally met Timi and blablabla… Are you kidding me? Sorry, I can’t allow anybody to finger my brain over a half truth. Never!

7. Glaringly, Aunt Busola is being economical with the truth. We can’t all be dunce to believe all of her disjointed and incohesive explanations in the story, and it takes only commonsense to decipher all the contradictions and presuppositions. I can’t start analysing them one after the other cos we won’t leave here. Mind you, that doesn’t vindicate PB either.

8. See ehn, there is something the Dakolos are not telling us. I mean something tied up their sleeves. All Busola gave us is half truth. We need the second half of the truth, please. All we got is that Pastor B was “Krestingly COZAing” Busola. Okay then, just remove the full stop and continue the sentence. Busola and Timi should tell us what we dunno yet.

9. In fact, the interview appears engineered, doctored and tailored towards achieving a goal. You ask what goal? Well, I don’t know yet. The coming days may reveal that. But only a literary Grosjean will get carried away by such apparent charade of pity-party throwing from the Dakolos. Not ruling out a possibility of any rape incident, I sense something fishy; something tied up the sleeves of the Dakolos.

10. For Uncle Biodun, we can’t ever be forced to believe he is innocent of the allegation. He should be probed with a view to finding out what actually transpired between him and his erstwhile spiritual daughter, especially when similar cases of sexual assault have been established against him in recent history.

11. Aside insisting that PB should be made to face the wrath of the earthly law, if found guilty of rape, he still has God to contend with. You remember? No man is infallible, including pastors who we all see as deputy holy ghosts. No one is a perfectionist. Little wonder why, in school, you don’t have to score 100% to get an A grade. You get the same A grade when you score 70 or 75%.
Ponder on that!

12. And, yes, you cannot dictate to people when or what to protest against but people have to protest only for the right course and against the right channel. This time, Pastor Biodun’s house would have been the ideal venue, not COZA.

13. I daresay that that #OccupyCOZA balderdash was one of the stupidest actions in human history. It is nothing but an assault on Christianity and a slap on the face of God. Yes, you heard me right!
It must be widely condemned by every right-thinking homosapien. It is not only shameful but also devilish, seeing that the alleged rapist is Pastor Biodun, not COZA, not the Church. Let’s always stand by the truth, however bitter or dicey it is.

14. All of you that participated or supported #OccupyCOZA, “ori gbogbo yin ti daru!”
Sorry, I just spoke in tongues.

Ayo Alonge is a journalist and social commentator and writes from Lagos.

An Ikeja Special Offences Court, Lagos recently remanded a Malaysian national, Tan Ah Chai Richard, in prison custody for allegedly attempting to defraud Polaris Bank of the sum of €250 million.

Richard was arraigned alongside his company, Costal Asia Investments Limited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The Malaysian, who pleaded not guilty, was docked on a five count charge bothering on forgery, intent to defraud and use of false document.

The EFCC lawyer, Mohammed Bashir, told the court that the defendant and one Dr. Sawang Jana (still at large) committed the alleged offence on September 27, 2018 in Lagos.

According to Bashir, the offences committed contravened Sections 363 (2), 364 (1) and 409, 5(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State No. 11 of 2011.

The anti-graft agency alleged that Richard and Dr. Jana, with an intent to defraud, attempted to obtain the sum of €250, 000, 000 by false pretence from Polaris Bank Plc (former Skye Bank Plc).

The commission further alleged that Richard forged a Swift Telex Advice dated September 27, 2018 indicating transfer of the sum of €250 million to a Costal Asia Investment Account No: 1771828771 with Polaris Bank while purporting same to be from HSBC Bank Plc, London, United Kingdom.

Richard allegedly presented the forged documents and Swift Telex Advice to the bank as the Chief Executive officer, CEO, of Costal Asia Investment Limited.

However, the Defence Counsel, O.A Onifade, while urging the court to grant bail to his client, said that the defendant has boils all over his body and needed medical attention.

Onifade said: “the defendant was granted administrative bail by the commission to a serving Director and a Deputy Director with a landed property. And since then, the defendant has been consistently reporting to the EFCC’s office at Abuja.

“The defendant was brought to Lagos from Abuja while I was just shown the charges right here in court at about 9am this morning. The defendant’s intentional passport is still with the EFCC. And he (the defendant) has boils all over his body which requires medical attention.

“My humble application is that the defendant be kept in the custody of the EFFC pending the determination of his bail application by the court,” he said.

Justice Mojisola Dada, however, refused the application by the Defence Counsel and remanded Richard at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons.

Justice Dada said that the defendant, for not residing in Lagos, shall be remanded in prison custody pending the determination of his bail application.

The matter was further adjourned till June 15 and July 2 for trial.

By Comr. Solomon Adodo

On the 24th June 2019, an unusual political activity took place in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. A public demonstration staged by an obscure political group that gave its name as APC Concerned Nation Stakeholders led by an even more obscure figure called Dr. Symeon Chilagorom proclaimed that they were protesting against internal forces pulling down the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

In his public speech, the Convener of the group, Symeon Chilagorom specifically identified ALH Mamman Daura, Samaila Isa Funtua and Mall Abba Kyari as members of the group that is pulling down the administration. In his words, “the people of this country elected Muhammadu Buhari as their President, not Mamman Daura, Samaila Isa Funtua and Mall Abba Kyari.”

Of the three people mentioned in that speech, only Abba Kyari holds an office in the Buhari government. He is Chief of Staff in the Presidency. The other two accused persons hold no office in the government whatsoever. The agitators protesting their role in government have a responsibility to prove to Nigerians how the President has abdicated his executive responsibilities to them or how they have hijacked those duties and responsibilities.

The office of Chief of Staff is not of Cabinet rank, the holder of the office wields no executive powers, controls no ministry and or department of government. He is an extension of the office of the president, playing managerial and advisory roles such as selection and coordination of key staff, control of people who come to see the President and protecting the interest of the President or any other responsibilities that are entrusted to him by his principal. To demonstrate that he is subordinate to the president, the Constitution does not require that he is screened and confirmed by the Senate.

To accuse him of usurping the powers of the President is to accuse the President of gross incompetence and dereliction of duty. Even as Symeon Chaligorom and his group make great pretense of “love for the President” and vouching for his “personal integrity and capabilities”, the implication of their public pronouncement and outburst on Monday is that the President is incompetent and has lost control of his office.

It is indeed sad that people who profess love for their President and trust in his competence will in the same breath accuse him of abdicating his office to a subordinate he employed and has the powers to fire. This accusation is even more grave and an open insult on the President when a few individuals who have no office in government are accused of rendering the president impotent in exercising the powers invested in him by the constitution he swore to uphold and defend. The target for destruction by Symeon and his confederates in the APC Concerned Nation Stakeholders is not Mamman Daura, not Ismaila Funtua and certainly not Abba Kyari. The target is the President himself.

With ‘friends’ like Symeon Chulagorom and his group, President Buhari does not need to worry about who is his enemies.

Since his appointment as Chief of Staff to President Buhari in 2015, Abba Kyari has been faced with a cocktail of spurious allegations against his person. None of these allegations have been proven and remain in the realm of speculation and fiction by those who are envious of his enhanced status. The public is yet to be presented with any evidence that the man is corrupt and or incompetent for the job.  The demonstration on Monday carried the unsubstantiated allegations a notch higher. If anything, a glance at the resume of Abba Kyari gives one conclusive prove that President Buhari couldn’t have made a better choice for the office of Chief of Staff.

Trained at University of Warwick in England where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology, he also possesses a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Law from the University of Cambridge. He was called to the Nigerian Bar after attending the Nigerian Law School in 1983. In 1984, he obtained a master’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge. He later attended the International Institute for Management at Lausanne, Switzerland and participated in the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, in 1992 and 1994. These are the best universities one could attend anywhere in the world.

After such a brilliant academic career, Abba Kyari worked in a couple of blue chip firms where he acquired management skills and gained a lot of corporate experience. He worked for the law firm, Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo for some time after his return to Nigeria. From 1988 to 1990, he was Editor with the New Africa Holdings Limited Kaduna. In 1990 he served as Commissioner for Forestry and Animal Resources in BornoState. From 1990 to 1995, Kyari was Secretary to the Board of African International Bank Limited.

At the United Bank for Africa, he was Executive Director, Management Services and was later appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Bank. He was appointed a Director of Unilever Nigeria Plc. in 2002 and is a Director of Exxon Mobil Nigeria. He is a recipient of the Nigerian Honor Award of Officer of the Order of the Niger (O.O.N).

There is no doubt that Kyari must have made enemies among some prominent people in the country who see him as an obstacle to their inordinate political ambition and rapacious desire for material resources. All the noise against Kyari must be coming from this group of people who see the country as a cow to be milked.

The other two gentlemen who are being maligned with spurious and unsubstantiated allegations are private citizens who have made their marks in their chosen careers but have no office in government. Why Symeon Chulagorom and group should embark on a campaign of gratuitous calumny against these two patriots is difficult for all sane Nigerians to understand.

The constitution under which President Buhari was elected into office does not bar him from having blood relations nor does it require of him to cut communication with his blood relations or friends. There is nothing in the laws of the land or morality that bars him from having blood and or personal relations with other Nigerians.

Since President Buhari’s election in 2015, the two gentlemen have been subjected to spurious allegations from some aggrieved politicians and their collaborators in the media. The public demonstrations last Monday is perhaps the most bizarre demonstration of hatred and political illiteracy since the 4thRepublic began. This one too shall come to pass.

–Comr. Solomon Adodo is the National Convener, Guardians of Democracy and Development. He wrote from Abuja, Nigeria.

The Super Eagles on Wednesday became the first team to qualify for the round of 16 in the ongoing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Nigerian boys beat the Syli Nationale of Guinea 1-0 with a 73rd minute header by defender Kenneth Omeruo.

Details Shortly…

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The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) on Tuesday took over several multi-billion naira property in Victory Park Estate, Lekki, Lagos, following a N12,966,510,191 judgement debt it won at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division.

The property included assets of Knight Rook Ltd., situated within Victory Park Estate, among other assets.

The appellate court also awarded a cumulative sum of N12,966,510,191 in favour of AMCON against Knight Rook Ltd., Grant Properties Ltd., Rev. Olajide Awosedo, Olawunmi Olajide-Awosedo, Abimbola Olajide-Awosedo and Fibigboye Estates Ltd.

AMCON’s move followed the dismissal of an appeal filed by Rev. Awosedo against an October 3, 2017 judgement of the Federal High Court in Lagos in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/744/17 – Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria v. Knight Rook Limited & Ors.
AMCON officials and Sheriffs of the Federal High Court in Lagos, were protected by a detachment of Police officers as they enforced the 3rd June, 2019 judgement.

The Sheriffs told residents of the estate that they were on lawful duty to execute the Federal High Court judgement against the assets of certain individuals who were allegedly indebted to a consortium of banks, but which debt was taken over by AMCON.
Some residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the development.
They noted that they were aware of a series of court actions regarding the alleged debt, the land used as collateral as well as the judgement, adding that many of them who had earlier acquired titles from the alleged debtors were affected by the judgement.
Others stated that they were in receipt of an official statement by AMCON to residents, notifying them of the appellate court’s judgement, upholding the lower court’s judgement.
The statement seen, reads in part: “AMCON hereby notifies all occupiers, residents and all persons laying claim to any portion of land comprised within the Victory Park Estate, Lekki, Lagos that on 3rd June 2019, the Court of Appeal (Lagos Division) in the Appeal No: CA/L/146/18 dismissed the Appeal filed by Rev. Olajide Awosedo against the judgement of the Federal High Court delivered on 3rd October 2017 in the Suit No: FHC/L/CS/744/17 – Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria v. Knight Rook Ltd. & Ors, by which a judgement sum of N12,966,510,191 was cumulatively awarded in favour of AMCON against Knight Rook Ltd., Grant Properties Limited, Rev. Olajide Awosedo, Olawunmi Olajide-Awosedo, Abimbola Olajide-Awosedo and Fibigboye Estates Ltd.”

The statement further directed all persons affected by the judgement and enforcement to contact AMCON through its solicitors or its Receiver/Manager.
It was gathered that some of the affected residents have since resolved with AMCON by ratification, while others were about taking steps to do same.
The residents have also engaged the services of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and gave him their mandate to approach AMCON for negotiation in a bid to secure their interests and find an amicable solution.

Junior Chamber International, Nigeria, has unveiled top 30 nominees for the 2019 Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) for innovations and leadership skills in different fields of endeavour.

The unveiling which was made known by the President of JCI, Sen. Adetola Juyitan, revealed that the nominations went through three stages of scrutiny before it arrives at the top 30.

He said: “This top 30 went through assessment by the 2019 TOYP Organizing Committee. The first judging process was done by JCI Nigeria and the Organizing Committee and the second judging process was conducted by selected independent panel of judges while the results of the judges were verified by the official audit partner for the award.”

The JCI president stated that the award seeks to recognise outstanding achievement of young Nigerians who are under 40 for their hard work and exemplary leadership in different areas of human endeavours ranging from science, human right, entrepreneurship and health.

On his part, the 2019 JCI TOYP Chairperson, Oluwatosin Ligali, revealed that the 2019 edition of the award received 1704 nominations, which is the second highest in the history of the awards.

Ligali disclosed that the final top 10 would be determined by public voting, adding that the voting process is now open to members of the public via the organisation website: www.toyp.jci.ng. Voting is expected to run from June 25th to July 10th, 2019.

Since 1983, Junior Chamber International has recognized numerous young persons who have excelled in their chosen field of endeavours and created positive impact in their communities through the annual TOYP Award.

Notable personalities that have won the awards include Rt. (Hon.) Rotimi Amaechi, Richard Mofe Damijo, Ibukun Awosika, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, Gbenga Sesan, Kanu Nwankwo, Kafayat Shafau, Linda Ikeji, Japheth Omojuwa to mention a few.

Onyekachi John, a businessman and nine others emerged winners over the weekend at the May monthly draw of the DiamondXtra season 11 reward scheme powered by Access Bank Plc.

Speaking shortly after receiving the N1 million prize cheque, John told newsmen that he had been a customer of Access Bank for years, adding that he never knew he would emerge winner someday.

According to him, “I feel so happy and so excited and did not even believe I would become a winner in the first place. All I had to do was to top my DiamondXtra Savings account which I started with N5000 before I constantly topped it with bigger amounts which as a result made me N1 million richer today.

“I want to say a big thank you to Access Bank as they are stronger and bigger now, I will also encourage other Nigerians to partake in this initiative because whatever they say they will do, they end up making their customers happy”.

According to the Head, Consumer Liability Products, Access Bank, Osita Ede, “The DiamondXtra reward scheme is open to new and existing customers and all you need to do is visit the nearest Access bank branch, open a DiamondXtra account and fund it with N5,000. The more multiples of N5,000 you save, the higher your chance of winning. The draws scheduled to hold across the six geopolitical zones this season reaffirms Access Bank’s commitment to financially empower more Nigerians,” concluded Osita.

Also speaking, Product Manager, DiamondXtra, Access Bank, Chukwuma Agu, noted that the inspiration behind this initiative is to encourage customers and Nigerians to save and also get rewarded for saving.

He said, “This is the 11th year of the DiamondXtra reward scheme and we have rewarded over 4,950 customers with N5.5 billion. DiamondXtra is bigger and better now which is why this edition is tagged “Bigger and Better” so we hope to have bigger wins and better the lives of our customers”.

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 DiamondXtra reward scheme was launched in 2008 and has been running till date.

Nigerian Senator, Abdullahi Adamu, and 240 other individuals have been named as delinquent debtors of First Bank Plc.

An advertorial published by the bank in the Monday, June 24, 2019 edition of Punch newspaper, listed 133 companies as problematic debtors alongside their directors.

According to the advertorial, the senator’s companies are owing about N2.5 billion.

Mr Abdullahi, who represents Nasarawa West Senatorial District in Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber, is one of the directors of two debtor companies — Nagari Integrated Dairy Farms and Keffi Flours Mills Limited.

The breakdown shows that Nagari Integrated Dairy Farm took a term loan on July 21, 2011. It reportedly promised to pay up on July 20, 2016. But as at now, the outstanding payment stands at over N2.1billion.

Also, Keffi Flour Mills Limited obtained a loan from the bank on October 8, 2013, with a promise to pay up on October 7, 2014. The bank, however, said over N345million remains outstanding.

All efforts to get the senator to respond to the claim by his bank were unsuccessful for most of Monday. He and one of his aides did not respond to multiple calls and text messages.

Mr Abdullahi was a two-term governor of Nassarawa, a state in Nigeria’s North-Central geopolitical zone, near Abuja.

He became senator after his governorship terms ended and is now into his third terms in the Senate.

During his first term as senator, beginning April 2011, he served as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals. In his second term, he served as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture.

Nagari Integrated Dairy Farm and Keffi Floor Mills Limited are subsidiaries of the NAGARI Group, largely owned by Mr Adamu.

The Nagari Group is an agricultural firm providing services in dairy, farm products, and flour milling.
In the advertorial, First Bank advised the 133 companies, including those owned by Mr Adamu, “to engage the Bank for possible resolution of their unpaid obligations”.

A federal high court in Lagos has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Innocent Chukwuma, chief executive officer of Innoson Nigeria Ltd.

Ayokunle Faji, the presiding judge, issued the bench warrant on Monday, citing Chukwuma’s failure to appear before him over an alleged N2.4 billion fraud case.

According to NAN, the court also ordered the arrest of two of Chukwuma’s employees.

The Innoson CEO is being prosecuted alongside Charles Chukwuma, Maximian Chukwura, Mitsui Osk Lines (MOL), a shipping company and Anajekwu Sunny.

The defendants had been charged to court for their alleged role in conspiring to unlawfully falsify shipping clearance documents.

They were accused of presenting the falsified shipping documents as collateral to Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to obtain a loan of N2.4 billion.

The federal government claimed that the defendants committed the offence at Apapa Wharf, Lagos, on October 10, 2013.

Abubakar Malami, who was attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice at the time, had taken over the case.

Julius Ajakaiye, the prosecutor, had said the charge was served on the defendants by an order for substituted service on February 8, 2016 following the AGF’s take-over of the case.

Ajakaiye said since then, the third and fourth defendants had been coming to court, while the first, second and fifth defendants had refused, failed and neglected to appear in court till date.

He had argued that the defendants were yet to take their pleas and so, should be compelled to appear.

Ajakaiye had also urged the court to grant his application by ordering their arrest.

The team of defence counsel had on their part, urged the court to dismiss the application as the defendants were not properly arraigned before the court, adding that the court lacked jurisdiction to do same.

After arguments, the court had then adjourned the case for ruling.

Delivering his ruling, Faji first highlighted the various arguments and submissions as canvassed by respective parties.

He held that it is clear that the first, second and fifth defendant have not appeared in the criminal charge and consequently held that the application by the prosecution has merit.

“I hereby order as follows: warrant of arrest is hereby issued against Innocent Chukwuma, Charles Chukwuma and Sunny Anajekwe,” he held.

He then adjourned the case till June 28.

In the charge, the prosecution accused the defendants of conspiring to unlawfully falsify shipping clearance documents.

They were accused of “uttering” (presenting) the alleged falsified shipping documents as collateral to Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to allegedly obtain a loan of N2.4billion.

The prosecution claimed that the defendants committed the offence at Apapa wharf on October 10, 2013.

The alleged offence is contrary to sections 1(2) (c) and 3(6) of the miscellaneous offences act, cap M17, laws of the federation 2004.

The Nigeria Football Federation has flatly denied owing players and officials of the senior women national team, Super Falcons any money, in the wake of reports earlier on Sunday that the Falcons were refusing to leave their hotel at the World Cup in France over pay dispute with the Federation.

“We have paid the players and officials the entitlements due them for the tournament and other outstanding bonuses and allowances were settled before the team arrived at the World Cup finals,” Shehu Dikko, NFF 2nd Vice President, told thenff.com.

The Federation went further to clarify in detail as follows:

The monies for the Super Falcons’ preparation and participation at the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in France (and indeed the Super Eagles’ preparation and participation in the AFCON 2019in Egypt) were recently approved by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR). But the release of the funds is still being processing by the Federal Ministry of Finance and will be concluded soonest.

Inspite of the delay in release of funds, the NFF made huge sacrifices including borrowing to ensure it gave the Falcons the very best of preparation for the World Cup in France with about 15 test games, with camps/games held in China, Cyprus, Spain, CIV, and Austria (a fact that even the team duly appreciated and agreed it was the best-ever for any Nigerian team going to the Women’s World Cup and even wrote to thank the NFF). The NFF is indeed encouraged by results achieved by the Super Falcons in France, being the first time the team qualified to the knockout rounds in the last 20 years with credible performance against some of the world’s best teams.

The NFF duly ensured it addressed all the issues raised by the team captain Desire Oparanozie via an email prior to the team resuming in camp in Austria and used it best efforts, to settle all the players’ claims and bonuses to so as to provide an enabling platform for the players to perform without any distractions in France for the World Cup.

To this end, payments made to the players at the pre-World Cup camp in Austria and France (World Cup proper) are set out below:

a) 2016 Women Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier: Nigeria Vs Senegal (Home Match) played in Abuja – Win bonus of N500,000 paid to each player.
b) 2018 Women Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier: Nigeria Vs Gambia (Home Match) played in Lagos – Win bonus of N500,000 paid to each player.
c) Camp and Friendly matches played in Spain – 7 days’ daily allowance of $700 paid to each player.
c) WAFU Cup Tournament (staged in Cote d’Ivoire): Allowance of $500 paid to each player.
d) Pre-World Cup camp in Austria: 14 days’ daily allowance $1,400 paid to each player.
e) Refund made to players on visa procurement, train, bus and airport taxi from their different bases in Europe to the camp in Austria.
f) $4,400 paid to each player, being win bonus for the World Cup match against Korea Republic ($3,000) and 14 days’ daily allowance for the World Cup ($1,400). This was paid direct to each of the players’ domiciliary accounts by NFF fund managers, Financial Derivatives Company and by Friday most of the players had started receiving alerts depending on their banks.
Therefore, based on the foregoing facts, as at the time the Super Falcons set out to play Germany on Saturday 22nd June, the NFF had in spite of the challenges, ensured it met all its obligations to the players. After the team’s exit from the tournament due to defeat by Germany, the only money the NFF has to pay the players is the extra 5 days’ daily allowance of $500 to each player for the days spent from the end of group stage to the day they played Germany in Grenoble. Daily allowance is usually paid only when the days are known, as we could have defeated Germany and thus stayed more days in the tournament. Accordingly, these payments will be resolved within the next business days upon return of the team to Nigeria.

After the loss to Germany, the players raised the issue of their share of the prize money expected from FIFA. For qualifying to the Round of 16, the NFF is entitled to receive $1million from FIFA (being $750k qualification bonus and $250k for exiting at Round of 16.) The NFF duly reconfirmed to the team that they would be entitled to get 30% share of the fund from FIFA just like the men’s teams get (Super Eagles for World Cup/AFCON and Eagles B for CHAN) and were informed that these funds would only be available to NFF post-World Cup. The issue of sharing formula with the team was as clarified and the matter was closed.

Amazingly, the players later came to inform the NFF officials with the team that they heard that Cameroon and England teams have already been paid their share of participation fees by their Federations, and thus demand NFF paid them. They were informed that, if indeed Cameroon and England paid their players it was certainly not from FIFA money but other sources and there are 22 other countries that have not paid as well. The NFF further reminded the players that, during the AWCON 2018 in Ghana the NFF decided to double their match bonuses as a motivation for them to win the trophy and other countries didn’t use that as benchmark to demand the same from their Federations.

The entire issue was conclusively resolved throughout the night and the team duly left their hotel by morning enroute to Nigeria or to different holiday destinations.

In truth, the NFF is very much bewildered as to why the Super Falcons chose to embark on this route. His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari took time out of his busy schedule on Saturday to call the team prior to the match against Germany to wish them luck and assure them of Government support at all times. It is our view that whatever issues they had, they should have respected the President as a person and Nigeria as an entity and resolve to have their issues, if any, settled back home.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s champion of entrepreneurship, has announced the line-up of speakers and activities for the 5th Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum — the largest annual gathering of African entrepreneurs and the African entrepreneurship ecosystem.

For the Forum’s Presidential Dialogue, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), H.E Félix Tshisekedi will join previously announced President of Rwanda, H.E Paul Kagame and President of Senegal, H.E Macky Sall, in an interactive, charged plenary session that opens Day 2 of the Forum. The Presidential Dialogue will be moderated by TEF Founder, Tony O. Elumelu, CON, and will feature all three presidents engaging directly with an audience of 5,000, comprising of entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors and business leaders, with thousands of people interacting live online, through TEFConnect.

The Forum presents the largest single annual opportunity for entrepreneurs and policy makers to interact directly and all sessions at the Forum have private sector and public sector leaders anchor panel discussions, masterclasses, and a dynamic pitching competition that will engage an audience of start-up entrepreneurs, development institutions, and policymakers.

The speakers expected for this year’s Forum include Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of African Export-Import (AFREXIMBANK); Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of African Development Bank (AFDB); Dr. Awele Elumelu, Trustee, Tony Elumelu Foundation and Founder, Avon Medical; Kennedy Uzoka, Group CEO, UBA Group Plc; Mrs. Djene Kaba Conde, First Lady, Guinea; amongst other notable global business leaders.

Every year, the Tony Elumelu Foundation hosts the largest gathering of African entrepreneurs, policymakers and business leaders in one location. This year’s Forum, themed “Empowering African Entrepreneurs”, will take place at the iconic Transcorp Hilton Hotel, in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja. The Forum will also include the UBA Marketplace, where UBA, Africa’s global bank, brings together businesses from across the continent.

At the 2018 forum, TEFConnect, the largest digital platform for African entrepreneurs was launched to connect entrepreneurs to the opportunities they need for business success. TEFConnect will take centre stage at this year’s Forum as global debates move to technology as a key driver of economic development in Africa.

For more information: https://www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/forum2019

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has congratulated Mele Kyari on his appointment as the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Kyari on Thursday.

Kyari, who is the current group general manager, crude marketing division, will assume office as NNPC GMD on July 7.

In a statement on Thursday, Waziri Adio, executive secretary of NEITI, described the appointment as an intimation of more openness and reforms in the national oil company.

Adio said as a member of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative working group on commodity trading transparency, Kyari’s appointment has placed him in a vantage position to push the frontiers of openness and to work more closely with NEITI and the global EITI to implement remedial issues in NEITI’s reports.

He added that the implementation of the findings of NEITI’s reports will not just be effective for operations of NNPC but also for optimisation of benefits of the oil and gas sector to Nigeria and Nigerians.

“Mr Kyari is a well-known transparency champion and one who enthusiastically shares the principles which underline the work of NEITI and the global EITI on good governance of the oil and gas industry,” the statement said.

“Just yesterday, Mr. Kyari participated at a session on ‘the business case for state-owned enterprise and commodity trading transparency’ at the EITI global conference in Paris, France.

“His commitments to the values of EITI are not in doubt. On behalf of the Board, Management and Staff of NEITI, I congratulate Mr. Kyari on this well-deserved appointment.

“We look forward to close collaboration between our two organisations in the interest of our country and we do hope that transparency and accountability will be taking notches higher and indeed mainstreamed in the operations of NNPC under his watch.”

Governors must change
The change mantra of the new order under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari sounded sweet until the people began to swallow the bitter pills accompanying the promised revolution. Nigerians are as confused as the whole world following the doom accruing from the dwindling resources available to the government.
However, in the midst of recession as often preached by those in power, governments at all levels in the country fritter away hard earned resources while they expect compatriots to tighten their belts. It indeed appears lame that while the people are forced to live with hardship induced by maladministration, our leaders are living big and doing virtually nothing to salvage the situation.
This idea of blaming the immediate past government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan cannot sell anymore. We believe that after spending over 14 months in power, the Buhari administration should provide solutions, not excuses. And the way to get rid of the mess is still far away.
Nigeria may be copying the American democratic ideals but we are not and cannot claim to be the United States. In other words, the Federal Government cannot because President Barack Obama flies around the world on Air Force One maintain a bogus Presidential Fleet of aircraft.
If what the country needs at this time is an austere system of governance, it should start from the top. Government spends millions of scarce dollars and pounds to maintain the Presidential Fleet. In the years of petro dollar, it could. We cannot afford to continue to live like kings when our economy has been pauperized.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Europe’s strongest economy can afford the luxury of a presidential jet, she does not. Neither Queen Elizabeth of England nor British Prime Minister Theresa May flies a presidential jet. Both powerful leaders enjoy the comfort of their local airlines Lufthansa in the case of Merkel and British Airways for May.
It is a national shame that tiny countries like Rwanda and Cameroun have more presence in the air. It is also more than a national disgrace that when Nigerians want to travel, they embark on permutations on how to fly Air Maroc, South Africa Airways, Ethiopian Airlines or Egypt Air.
The biggest shame was recorded at the August 2016 Rio Olympics when the Nigerian contingent arrived in batches like orphans from one of Mother Theresa’s orphanages. In what would go down in Olympic records as the 'Miracle of Brazil,' the Nigerian male soccer team, stranded in Atlanta Georgia, managed to arrive their match venue just five hours to kick–off. And they beat their opponents, Japan 5-4.
Many of our state governors are burning tax payers money hiring and flying jets. There is the case of a particular governor who has a jet handy and spends quite some time in the air while workers in the state air their frustrations frequently through work to rule. These flights cost millions of naira. It does not make sense that a state Chief Executive who says there is no money to pay workers doles out cash to junket in the skies.
On the road, the governors waste more money. A governor’s convoy could include as many as 25 vehicles. These automobiles and the legion that adorn the backyards of Government Houses are fuelled and serviced regularly even if they are not moving.
A governor does not need more than seven vehicles on his convoy. The pilot car, his official car, a back up and maybe, a bus for all the retinue of commissioners and aides, another for the media team, then two others for security especially now that there are threats arising from the under performance of the so called leaders.
Government must do away with the lazy bunch who come in as Assistants and Advisers. A governor has a Commissioner for Health, Special Adviser Health and Special Assistant on Health Matters. There is the Permanent Secretary, Chairman Health Management Board, Chairman State University Teaching Hospital Board and Chairman Task Force on Hospitals.
Some governors have Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Principal Secretary, Chief Of Protocol, Private Secretary and all kinds of personal staff. Most of the time some of these aides only look after the numerous Guest Houses allocated to the governors. It is unbelievable that some states keep as many as 15 Guest Houses for the governors’ use.
Things are not better in the legislature. From the office of the Senate President down to principal officers, so much money is spent on aides. Some of these so called aides may never be seen or known. And many of them may just be aides in name and on paper. They may not receive what the treasury releases.
Government must take a look inwards and begin the change from within. So much money is wasted by the same administration that wants Nigerians to accept the worst. Government is a continuum. If the previous government led us into recession, the new regime must lead us to Paradise as promised. No more excuses.

Nigeria we hail!!

If you remember that famous line from the award-winning television commercial released last year by Union Bank, then you’ll be excited to learn that spin-offs have been released as part of a follow-up campaign. This should come as no surprise, after the short film emerged the most watched Nigerian ad on YouTube in 2018!

This time, the TV and radio ads follow the lives of the main characters from the original commercial – the photographer, ‘keke’ driver, and the mother – who represent relatable characters in our daily lives. Union Bank salutes their focus, tenacity and drive as they hustle and grind to make ends meet in Nigeria of today.

The ‘grind’ is something we all identify with. Every day, it’s a struggle to rise above the challenges of erratic power supply, insecurity, bad roads, corruption and poor governance.

To make things even worse, the average Nigerian is unable to access loans or credit facilities that could help them break out of the vicious cycle. Loans seem to be reserved for the already well-to-do who can provide collateral to back their applications, and for salaried workers who can show pay slips as proof of income.

However, a recent Future of Work report, states that only 25% of Nigeria’s 85 million workforce are in paid employment. How do the other 75% support their hustle?

At Union Bank, we believe lack of credit facilities should not be on the list of frustrations Nigerians face. We believe that everyone – yes, everyone – deserves to have a credit ‘lifeline’.

And that’s why our loans are not limited to salary earners alone; because we truly want to support the grind of every day Nigerians struggling to keep their heads above water in these tough times.

So, whether you’re that guy trying to grow his transportation business to the point where he can propose to his boo and support a family; or that young mother giving her all to take care of her children, or even that upcoming photographer hustling to make ends meet, with Union Bank, that business no go spoil for your hand.

We have a loan for everyone. Talk to us about the best option for you.

For more details, visit www.unionbankng.com/loans/ or call 01 271 6816.

With the start of the Total 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) only a few days away, DStv and GOtv subscribers can look forward to experiencing every moment of the tournament live and in HD on SuperSport, with superior analyses and commentary both in English and Pidgin!

All the matches of the tournament will be available to DStv subscribers on Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, and Family packages, while selected matches will be available to DStv Access subscribers. On GOtv, the matches will be available to subscribers on GOtv Max and GOtv Plus packages.

Martin Mabutho, Chief Customer Officer, MultiChoice Nigeria, said: “We know pidgin is one of the most popular languages for interaction in the country and we received good reviews when we introduced pidgin commentary during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Now, we are excited to announce that we will bring it back as part of the commentary for the 2019 African Cup of Nations as we believe it will help Nigerians have more connection to the competition’s broadcast.”

The AFCON broadcast will also feature magazine programmes, providing analyses on how select teams qualified for the tournament, information on culture and lifestyle of the participating countries and iconic places of interest in the host country.

Journey to Egypt is a show that will detail how Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola and South Africa qualified for the tournament, while Hello Africa is a light-hearted Saturday morning programme showcasing the best of Egyptian flavour, tourist attractions and hospitality to football fans visiting the country for AFCON.

DStv subscribers can catch all the games SuperSport 7 with selected matches on SuperSport 10 and SuperSport 8, while GOtv subscribers can watch the action on SuperSport Select 4 with selected games scheduled on SuperSport Select 2 and SuperSport Select 5.

In addition, all DStv subscribers and subscribers on GOtv Max, Plus and Value packages will, ahead of the tournament, enjoy access to archive content, previous finals, best qualifiers, documentaries and profile pieces of the participating teams from 7-20 June on SuperSport Select 7 and SuperSport Select 1 respectively.

For more information on the unmatched football on DStv and GOtv and the upcoming fixtures, visit www.supersport.com

UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, on Monday, joined the rest of the world to celebrate the International Day of the African Child.

The day which has been set aside by the United Nations to celebrate children in Africa, recognises the courage of students who marched for their right to better education in Soweto South Africa, and is marked annually on June 16th.

UBA Foundation brought together students from various secondary schools in Lagos to the Tony Elumelu Amphitheatre in the UBA Head Office, where they were educated on various issues, ranging from financial literacy, importance of reading culture and nation building.

Some schools which were represented at the event included Akande Dahunsi Memorial High School, Lagos; Government Senior College, Maroko, Aunty Ayo International School Ikoyi and Wahab Folawiyo Senior High School, Ikoyi.

UBA’s Group Head, Human Resources, Mrs Patricia Aderibigbe who welcomed the students, said that UBA Foundation centres on three key pillars: Education, Empowerment and Environment.

Throwing more light on this, she explained that the bank, through its foundation, recognises the huge role that education and indeed a good reading culture has to play in the lives of the youth.

She said, “The UBA Foundation is committed to impacting the lives of the African youth across the continent. As a pan-African institution, we believe that the future of Africa lies in her youth. For this reason, UBA Foundation is actively involved in facilitating educational projects and bridging the literacy-wide gap on a pan-African scale.

“The UBA Foundation is helping rekindle the dwindling reading and literacy culture amongst African youths as they pursue their education. Over time we have worked with various schools and educational institutions across the continent to ensure that the UBA Foundation continues to traverse the continent, contributing positively to the development of African youth, especially in the area of education,” she added.

She explained that the bank through its foundation, aims to make sustainable improvements in the lives of the needy and under-privileged by supporting entrepreneurship programmes, such as social entrepreneurship schemes which benefit the community at large.

On his part, the Chief Credit Officer, UBA Africa, Mr. Franklin Erebor, who spoke briefly on financial literacy and the need to plan for the future, told the pupils that it is important for them to manage their funds and finances.

He said, “You are not too young to start to plan for the future, as what you do now when you are young will impact greatly on you later in live. So it is essential that you have an account which should be well monitored to ensure that it fulfils the purpose.

“You need to be financially literate, as this will help to open your eyes to the opportunities inherent and help you make wise decisions to benefit from the investments,” Erebor said.

The UBA top officials had a brief reading session where they read to the students and engaged them in reading a number of passages from select reading materials.

As a Pan African Institution, UBA is in the forefront of promoting Africa and African values, especially in the areas of economic development for the continent.

Recently, the bank also held its UBA Conversations, an annual event commemorating the Africa Day, where African icons contributed to discussions around changing the African narrative and growing the continent.

An Election Petition Tribunal sitting at Ikeja, Lagos on Monday, dismissed a petition filed by the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the Labour Party (LP) challenging the victory of the Executive Governor of Lagos, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the March 9 polls.

Justice T. T Asua, the Chairman of the Tribunal in a ruling dismissed the petitions due to the inability of the petitioners to file applications for pre-hearing conference after the close of pleadings within seven days as prescribed by law.

The three-man panel noted that timely application for pre-hearing conference was a condition to the hearing of the petitions and without the application for pre-hearing conferences, the petition cannot commence or get to the stage of judgment.

The panel noted that Section 285(4) of the Fourth Alteration to the 1999 Constitution was inapplicable because the timely application for pre-hearing conferences was a precondition in election petition matters.

Dismissing the petitions, Justice Asua said that inability to serve any of the respondents was not an excuse and that the consequence of failure to apply timely for pre-hearing conference is dismissal of such a petition.

Following the pronouncement, Mr Bola Aidi, the counsel to AD and LP thanked the Tribunal for a well considered ruling

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Sanwo-Olu, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the INEC Residential Electoral Commissioner were listed as respondents to the petitions.

Other respondents are -The Returning Officer for The Lagos State Governorship Election, the Commissioner of Police and the Nigerian Army.

Mr Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) the counsel to Sanwo-Olu had via a Motion filed on May 22 raised an objection based on Paragraph 18(1)(4) of the Electoral Act.

Owonikoko noted that the AD and LP had not filed applications hearings for pre-trial conference within seven-days after the close of pleadings.

Aidi, however in his response dated May 26 had said Section 285( of the Fourth Alteration of the 1999 Constitution does not permit any electoral petition to be terminated at the interlocutory stages.

AD, their gubernatorial candidate Chief Owolabi Salis and LP alongside Prof. Ifagbemi Awamaridi their gubernatorial candidate had in their petitions challenged Sanwo-Olu’s victory on the grounds that he is not competent to run as a gubernatorial candidate in the election.

The petitioners claimed that the March 9 polls was marred by violence, voting irregularities and that Sanwo-Olu cannot vote or be voted for as he has no valid voters card.

Barring any last-minute changes, one of the five new banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Titan Trust Bank Limited is set for entry into the Nigerian banking industry in grand style, in a matter of weeks, The Witness can authoritatively reveal.

This newspaper had reported that the CBN recently approved licenses for five new banks to operate in the country.

While others are still recruiting and putting things in place, inside sources say Titan Trust, a national financial institution, has completed its processes and is set for take-off soon.

Led by seasoned banker and former deputy governor of the CBN, Mr. Tunde Lemo as chairman, the new commercial bank, sources informed The Witness is starting operation with a solid post capitalization financial base in real cash.

Some of those already on board the new bank are experienced financial gurus, giving the signal that the bank is ready the compete with the long-standing and well-rooted Nigerian banks.

According to the lender, the bank was formed to take advantage of the identified gaps in the banking sector and address the unmet needs of the retail mass market, SMEs and corporates.

The new bank headquartered at Plot 1680, Sanusi Fafunwa Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria has the following facilities: Commercial Banking, SME Banking, Digital Banking amongst others. On its commercial banking services, the lender said on its website: “As a national commercial bank, we are committed to supporting businesses, giving them the power to build a better future. Each day, companies are working together to create sustainable economic value.

“We are committed to that vision by ensuring we provide business capital and resources, primed to support these visions, as we continue to tell Africa’s story.”

Titan Trust Bank believes there is nothing like a small business. “All businesses are exactly that; businesses! Our team is made of professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset, working to help you and your business take advantage of the many benefits of banking with Titan, and give your competition a run for their money,” it said.

Titan Trust further posited that it will leverage on digital platforms to empower the emerging pan-African economy, whilst showcasing the industry pioneering solutions, expertise and professionalism.

Established on the 12th of December 2018, the bank obtained its national banking license on the 26th of April 2019, to operate as a commercial bank with national authorization.



OTHERS IN THE TITAN TEAM

Mr. Andrew Ojei

Mr. Andy Ojei is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria as well as a Fellow and Council Member of The Institute of Credit Administration of Nigeria.

He was the pioneer managing director of Zenith Bank, Ghana. He left Zenith Bank Plc in June 2013 as an executive director after 21 years of service. He is a seasoned businessman with interests in real estate and information technology.

Ojei, an alumnus of the University of Lagos, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, INSEAD (France), Stanford (Singapore) and Wharton (Philadelphia) currently serves as a member of the Governing Council of Ritman University, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.

Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed

Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 30 years’ experience managing and leading businesses across the country.

He is the managing director of Syndicated Investment Limited, a construction firm. He has held this post for over 33 years.

He has also been the chairman/CEO of Impex Limited, a security, contracting and trading company since 1993.

Alhaji Aminu Bashari

Alhaji Bashari Aminu (Iyan Zazzau), is the chairman of the Board of Directors of Vital Products Limited.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants (UK) and a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria. He is a senior title holder in the Emirate of Zazzau and was a Senior District Head of Sabon-Gari, Zaria in Kaduna State from 1979 to 2018.

He is currently on the board of several companies.

Mudassir Amray – MD/CEO

Mudassir Amray is a banker with over 25 years of global exposure across six geographies (US, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Pakistan).

He has held senior positions in global banks such as: Citi New York – Managing Director & Head of Global Capital Management (LATAM), Citi Nigeria – Managing Director & Head of Corporate & Investment Banking, Nigeria and Ghana, Al Rajhi Malaysia – Country Business Head, Citi HK – Head of Capital Management, Asia Pacific, Citi Singapore – Head of Islamic Banking, Asia Pacific, Citi Pakistan, Country Business Head.

Adaeze Udensi – Executive Director

Adaeze has over 23 years’ banking experience, and was until recently, an Executive Director in Heritage Bank.

In her four years as executive director, she supervised the South businesses; oversaw Retail, Private Wealth, Collections, E-Business, Customer Experience and IT functions; and served as Executive Compliance Officer.

Adaeze also acted as managing director of Heritage Bank in 2017. Prior to this, she spent 16 years in Zenith Bank growing its Oil & Gas, Public Sector, Commercial and Retail businesses into the 2nd largest portfolio in the Bank, leaving as a general manager.

Adaeze has a first degree in banking, and MBA’s from Rivers State University of Science & Technology, and the University of Bangor, Wales.

She has also attended several Executive Management Programmes in Wharton Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Business School, and INSEAD.

Stella Nwihim – Head of HR

Stella is a seasoned professional with over 21 years’ experience spanning Human Resources, Sales and Banking Operations.

She has held key HR positions in Zenith Bank Plc and UBA Plc including Head Workforce Planning, Head Shared Services and Head Business Partnering, where she made significant contributions in organizational development, performance and change management and business strategy.

She holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. (Biology) and an MBA (Management) and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Mark Oguh – CFO

Mark has 22 years’ experience in the banking industry covering Operations, Audit and Financial Control.

He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in accountancy and business administration and an MBA in banking and finance. He was the financial controller at Diamond Bank from 2015 to March 31, 2019.

Ademola Ajayi – Chief Compliance Officer

Ademola Ajayi is the chief compliance officer of Titan Trust Bank Limited. He holds Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting (First Class Honours) from Babcock University, Ilishan Ogun State. He also holds Higher National Diploma in accounting with Upper credits class from the Polytechnic, Ibadan. He is a fellow (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN). He is also an Associate of Compliance Institute of Nigeria (CIN). He is a Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) registered Compliance Officer and a registered professional of Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN). Internationally, he is a Certified Compliance Officer (CCO) and Certified Fraud and Crime; Investigation and Prevention by GAFM USA. He is also a fellow of GAFM USA.

He has been in the Nigerian Banking Sector since 1996, well over 2 decades, with experience cutting across financial control, credit review and monitoring, business development, banking operations, internal controls, internal audit, inspection and compliance functions. His career in banking started in NAL Merchant Bank, where he did the mandatory one year national youth service. Immediately after his service year, he was recruited by Zenith Bank, where he performed creditably well in banking operations generally, controls and risk management related functions, and later with specific focus on compliance risk management role. He played a key role in setting up compliance department in Zenith Bank and took same to an enviable height. Ademola AJAYI is a team player, and will positively impact any team he finds himself. He has attended compliance trainings, locally and internationally. He is also a competent trainer on compliance matters.

George Aiyudu – Head of IT

George is a certified COBIT implementer with over 21 years banking experience covering Banking Operations, International Operations and Information Technology.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and also holds a Masters Degree in Business Information Systems. He was the Group Head, IT Change and Transformation at Diamond Bank.

A customer relationship manager with First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Kehinde Adewuyi, was on Tuesday arraigned before the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court for allegedly converting the sum of N52,628,000 from his employer’s account to his personal use.

The 36-year-old suspect was arraigned on three counts bordering on stealing.

We learnt that the suspect was arrested by policemen from the Lion Building Police Division following a complaint by the bank’s forensic auditors, Solomon Akhanolu and Owei Chris.
According to the police, the alleged fraud was discovered when the account was audited, which revealed that the accused had defrauded the lender to the tune of N52,628,000.

The police prosecutor, Reuben Solomon, told the court that Adewuyi committed the crime with two others at large between February and March 2019 at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos.

Solomon also alleged that Adewuyi forged the signatures of the Relationship Manager, Mobolaji Sunmoni, and the Group Head, Ademola Adegbusi, to fraudulently withdraw the money from the bank’s account.

The acting managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nelson Braimbraifa, has been quizzed by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), we learnt.

Mr Braimbraifa, alongside the NDDC executive director of finance, Chris Amadi, was said to have been a guest of the EFCC’s investigators in Abuja for about two days now.

We could not immediately get details of why the top officials of the NDDC are being interrogated, but a source told this newspaper the matter has to do with “financial impropriety” at the commission.

A top official of the EFCC confirmed on Monday evening, that Mr Braimbraifa and Mr Amadi are in Abuja to answer questions from the anti-corruption agency.

The EFCC spokesperson, Tony Orilade, however, said he was unaware of the matter when we contacted him, Monday evening.

In a related development, the corruption trial of Touyo Omatsuli, a former executive director of projects in the NDDC, resumed on Monday at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Mr Omatsuli, alongside other accused persons, is being prosecuted for conspiracy and alleged laundering of N3.645 billion by the EFCC.

The money, the court heard, was part of the statutory contributions from oil companies to the NDDC.

The defendants were first arraigned on November 10, 2018, on a 45-count charge.

A prosecution witness, Ibinabo West, told the court he transferred in tranches N3.6 billion to the fourth defendant company, Building Associate Limited, owned by the second defendant, Francis Momoh, on the instruction of the first defendant, Touyo Omasuli, the EFCC said in a statement.

Mr West, a Port Harcourt businessman, is the fourth prosecution witness.

Mr West told the court he was awarded a contract by the NDDC to recover the debt owed the commission by oil companies in the Niger Delta region, the EFCC statement said.
“The oil companies were to remit three per cent of their annual budget to the NDDC which they were not remitting in full. Rather, they were doing it at will.

“My company, Starline Consultancy Services, was awarded the contract to recover the debt owed the commission by the oil companies and I was given a four years mandate. I was also going to be paid 10 per cent of the recovered money,” the statement quoted the witness to have said in the court.

“I recovered over N100 billion, and I was paid about N12 billion.

“While I was receiving payments, I was approached by the then executive director finance, directing my attention to the harassment by the Niger Delta youth, that they sometimes lock up their gates and made several demands. So, he said in order to cushion the effects on them, each time I am paid, I should appreciate them, so they can reach out to the youths.

“A Diamond Bank account was sent to me belonging to Building Associate Limited and I transferred a total amount of N3.6 Billion to that account in tranches,” the witness said.
Mr West told the court that the then executive director of finance mentioned to him that the EFCC was investigating the works of NDDC and Starline Services.

“The first defendant called me, that he would send the third defendant and I should give a sub-consultancy makeup letter to Building Associate Limited, which was to explain the money I gave to them, to reach out to the youth, and I obliged,” he said.

The sub-consultancy letter, the offer of contract letter and acceptance letter were tendered by the prosecution counsel, Ekene Iheanacho, and admitted in evidence by the court.

Mr West was cross-examined by the counsel to the defendants.

The judge, Saliu Seidu, adjourned the case to June 11, 25 and 26, 2019 for the continuation of trial.

Two independent non-executive directors of Oando Plc have resigned from the company’s board, we can report.

Sena Anthony and Oghogho Akpata have both informed the Nigerian Stick Exchange (NSE) about their decisions.

In their separate resignation letters dated June 3, 2019 and addressed to the company secretary/chief compliance officers of Oando, they did not give any reasons for their decision.

We understands, however, that they are “unhappy” with the outcome of the forensic investigation by the Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC), the stock market regulator, which indicted a number of the company’s executives and directors.

Anthony and Akpata were not indicted.

Wale Tinubu, the group managing director, and Mofe Boyo, his deputy, were asked by SEC to resign and barred from being directors of any public company for five years.

They were accused of several infractions but they have secured a court order restraining the regulator from removing them.

Anthony was appointed as a non-executive director of the company in January 2010.
She had worked with the ministry of justice before joining the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 1978, where she was appointed group general manager, corporate secretariat and legal division, and secretary in July 1999.

IN 2007, she was promoted to the group executive director — the first female to reach that height at the national oil company.

Akpata is the managing partner and head of the energy and projects group at Templars Barristers & Solicitors.

He is a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), Chartered Institute of Taxation, Nigeria, and the energy and natural resources section of the International Bar Association.

Managing a global financial institution requires much more than being book-smarts. Ingenuity, creativity and discernment are indispensable. As such, the emergence of Ebenezer Onyeagwu as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) of Zenith Bank Plc, a global brand, didn’t come to many as a surprise.

The Bank had announced the appointment of Onyeagwu as its GMD/CEO with effective June 1, 2019. The appointment is consistent with the bank’s tradition and succession strategy of grooming leaders from within. He replaced Mr. Peter Amangbo, whose tenure expired on May 31, 2019.

Besides a proven intellectual capacity, Onyeagwu, over the years, has displayed robust managerial and problem-solving skill sets in the banking industry, making him a natural fit to oversee a behemoth financial institution of international repute.

He is an experienced chartered accountant and astute financial expert trained in reputable institutions in Nigeria, United Kingdom and United States of America.

A graduate of Accounting from Auchi Polytechnic, widely recognized as an institution that has produced some of Nigeria’s most renowned Chartered Accountants, he obtained the Higher National Diploma in Accounting in 1987, finishing as the 2nd best graduating student in Accounting with a “Good” grade (Upper Credit) which is equivalent of a 2nd Class Upper.

He qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1988/89, a feat he achieved almost immediately after graduation during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year. He was the first among his graduating class to qualify as a chartered accountant.

He subsequently became a Fellow (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), in 2003. He has over 29 years of experience in the banking industry in Nigeria, out of which he spent 17 in Zenith Bank Plc.
Before joining Zenith Bank Plc, he worked at Citizens International Bank Limited between 1991 and 2002. He was one of the most outstanding branch managers in the bank, winning multiple awards and recognitions for his brilliant, excellent and highly professional performance on the job.

He joined Zenith Bank Plc in 2002 as a Senior Manager, in the Internal Control and Audit Group of the bank. His professionalism, competence, integrity and commitment to the objectives of the bank saw him rise swiftly between 2003 and 2005, first, as Assistant General Manager, then Deputy General Manager, and eventually, General Manager of the bank.

In these capacities, he handled strategies for new business and branch development, management of risk assets portfolios, treasury functions, strategic top level corporate, multinationals and public institutional relationships, among others.

He was appointed Executive Director of the bank in 2013, and put in charge of Lagos and South-South Zones as well as strategic groups/business units of the bank, including Financial Control & Strategic Planning, Treasury and Correspondent Groups, Human Resources Group, Oil and Gas Group, and Credit Risk Management Group, etc.

Onyeagwu emerged Deputy Managing Director of the bank in 2016. In that capacity, he deputized for the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank. He also had direct oversight of the bank’s Financial Control and Strategic Planning, Risk Management, Retail Banking, Institutional and Corporate banking business portfolios, IT Group, Credit Administration, Treasury and Foreign Exchange Trading.

Onyeagwu is an alumnus of the prestigious University of Oxford, England, from where he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Strategy, and a certificate in Macroeconomics. He also undertook extensive executive level education in Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School of Columbia University, the Harvard Business School of Harvard University, in the United States.

At Wharton Business School, he undertook the CEO academy and leadership training programmes. His strategic skills were further nurtured and honed at Columbia Business School strategy training programme. At the Harvard Business School, he acquired capabilities in negotiations and critical decision-making.

In the last six years, Onyeagwu has been on the board of Zenith Bank Ghana, Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, Zenith Nominees Limited and African Finance Corporation (AFC). In AFC, he serves on the Board Risk & Investment Committee (BRIC), and Board Audit & Compliance Committee (BAAC). At Zenith Bank Ghana, he chairs the Board Credit and Governance Committees.

Within the market, he is highly respected for his consistent and impeccable character, brilliance, deep knowledge and insight of the market, as well as for his strong professional and ethical principles, which have continued to endear him to all stakeholders.

Specifically, Onyeagwu proved his re-engineering expertise by driving the astronomical growth of the profitability of Ikeja Corporate Group of Zenith Bank, with very high-risk assets quality.

At Citizens Bank, he turned around the fortunes of the Warri Delta Branch which was on the verge of being closed due to strings of losses and frauds, making it one of the most profitable and multiple award-winning branches in the bank at that time.

He started his working career as a Management Accountant in 1989 at HFP Engineering Limited, a top developer of residential, commercial and industrial property in Lagos and a major player in the national construction sub-sector.

He was in the team that conceived the business plan for the actualization of the landmark, highbrow and trend-setting Victoria Garden City Residential Estate.

Still, while his ascension to top of Zenith Bank attests to his tenacity, the task that lies before him will put in focus his ingenuity and broad understanding of the financial system.

Managing a global brand from within Nigeria’s rewarding but convoluting business climate isn’t a task for the faint-hearted. Onyeagwu’s leadership of one of Nigeria’s apex banks clearly puts him in the spotlight of a banking sector that grapples with critical challenges.

First, he must deal with the issue of weak capital base in the banking sector. A few years ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria gave a directive to all Nigerian banks to raise their capital base from 1 billion naira to at least 25 billion naira by December 31, 2005.

At the time, most banks did not have enough money to meet the requirement, leading to a foreclosure of over 70 percent of banks. Out of 89 banks only 25 emerged after meeting the 25 billion naira benchmark.

With the evolving financial climate, prospective spike international loans and the desire of the bank to engage new frontiers, the drive to constantly shore up the capital base, will be crucial.

The new Zenith Bank boss also has the task of entrenching ethical standards and broadening professionalism not just within his immediate financial sphere but in the larger financial community.

In recent times, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been intervening to investigate fraud, greed, insider abuse, etc. These were the succeeding results of unethical behavior from both bank staff and management.

What’s more, issues of poor corporate governance practices, over expansion, corruption of bank officials and improper risk management, implementation of the full abolition of commission on turn over policy, inaccessibility of banks in rural areas are issues that he must deal with within the banking community.

On another level, factors like slow Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, recession, regulatory pressure low oil prices and dwindling availability of foreign currency, have remained topical in the banking sector which he will be confronted with.

To underscore the magnitude of the challenge, slower economic growth and lower risk appetite from banks will continue to translate into subdued credit growth and weak core earnings generation soon.

From the benefit of hindsight, Nigeria had a dwindling economic growth since the end of 2015, the rate dropped to an estimated 3.0% which adversely affected the Nigerian banking industry.

Nonetheless, for many watchers of the banking sector, Onyeagwu, having grown through the ranks and have become refined through the rigours of the banking system has the depth, creativity and discernment to not just navigate and dominate the thorny landscapes of the Nigerian banking sector but emboss the Zenith brand on the global financial community in the evolving dispensation.

A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a former Acting Director-General of NIMASA, Calistus Obi, to seven years imprisonment for N136 million fraud.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Obi in April 12, 2016 on eight counts of converting N378,810,000 from NIMASA.

He was charged along with Dismass Alu Adoon, Grand Pact Limited and Global Sea Investment Limited.

Calliistus Obi, a former NIMASA Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Service, took over from Patrick Akpobolokemi, who is also facing five separate fraud and theft charges.

Count one reads: “That you, Calistus Nwabueze Obi and Dismass Alu Adoon on or about the 5th day of August 2014, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did conspire amongst yourselves to commit an offence, to wit: Conversion of the sums of N111,000,000, property of NIMASA, knowing that the said sums were proceeds of stealing, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”

Obi, Global Seal and Grand Pact were said to have converted N42,755,000.00 on December 24, 2013.

EFCC said Obi, on May 2, 2013, converted N25,000,000, as well as N46.3million being “proceeds of stealing” between April 1 and December 11, 2014.

Details later.

Former Super Eagles captain, Austin Okocha, is embroiled in another round of legal battle.

A report in the Scottish Sun indicates that the former Nigerian international last Friday appeared in a court in Aberdeen over alleged money laundering charges.

According to the report in the Scottish tabloid, Okocha appeared in private at the Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

Witness’ account disclosed that Okocha wore a white trainer with smart black trousers, a white shirt and suit jacket on top of a puffer jacket to court.

The soccer legend, who represented Nigeria at three FIFA World Cup among other top competitions, is said to be facing a charge related to the alleged acquisition, use, and possession of criminal property, and another relating to allegedly concealing, disguising, converting and transferring criminal property.

Okocha’s appearance on Friday reports suggest is in connection to incidents alleged to have happened in the North-East in 2015 and the Police have been on the trail of the former Nigeria captain and six others since then.

Okocha is also facing a torrid time back in Nigeria where he is been accused of tax evasion and a bench warrant was recently issued for his arrest having failed to appear in the court despite numerous summons.

According to the government, Okocha has failed to appear in court since October 5, 2017, when the case first came up.

The government filed a three-count charge against Okocha on June 6, 2017, accusing him of: “Failure to furnish return of income for tax purposes with the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service contrary to Section 94 (1) of the Personal Income Tax Act Cap P8 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004 (As Amended).

“Failure to pay income tax contrary to Section 56(a) and (b) of the Lagos State Revenue Administration Law No. 8 of 2006.

“Failure to furnish return of Income for tax purposes with the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service contrary to Section 94(1) of the Personal Income Tax Act Cap P8 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004 (As Amended).”

Okocha enjoyed an illustrious football career playing for different clubs in England, France, Germany, Turkey, and oil-rich Qatar.
Upon his retirement, Okocha has been into football punditry and he is an ambassador to several ranges of brands.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, signed the Lagos State 2019 Appropriation Bill into law.

More details shortly…

Liverpool are the champions of Europe for the sixth time after beating Tottenham in a lacklustre all-English Champions League final in Madrid.

Mohamed Salah scored the opening goal after only two minutes, slamming home a penalty after Moussa Sissoko handled Sadio Mane’s cross.

It was almost all downhill from there in terms of quality and action – until semi-final hero Divock Origi blasted home a second late on to send Reds fans into delirium.

The quality of the game in the Spanish heat will not bother Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who bounced back from losing last year’s final to Real Madrid.

Tottenham’s gamble to start Harry Kane, who had been out for almost two months with ligament damage, did not pay off and he was subdued, along with most of his team-mates.

Spurs – who did not have a shot on target until the 73rd minute – had their two best chances with 10 minutes to go with Son Heung-min and substitute Lucas Moura having good shots saved by Alisson in quick succession, reports the BBC.

It is the Reds’ first trophy under boss Klopp, who had lost his previous six finals including two Champions Leagues.

John Oyegun, former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the kind of leader Nigeria needs, saying his words are “infinitely weighty and cannot be ignored”.

In an interview with New Telegraph, Oyegun said Obasanjo’s comment on “Islamisation and Fulanisation” might have been dramatised.

While delivering a lecture on May 18 in Delta state, Obasanjo had said the Boko Haram crisis had become an agenda for “West African Fulanization, African Islamisation”.

The comment sparked reactions among Nigerians with many describing the statement as inciting.

But Oyegun said Obasanjo “is addressing an issue that is with us”.

He said while he may not tag the crisis as “Islamisation”, “there is no question at all that it calls for worry because these people exist virtually in every state of the federation and, very soon, it would lead to unpleasantness in all over the country”.

“Well, I respect him. Every nation needs a man like that just like the people’s SAN, Chief Gani Fawhemi and a lot of activists. What is happening is that because of his status, his experience, his background, what he says becomes infinitely weighty and cannot be ignored,” Oyegun said.

“I just told you that this issue of so-called Fulani herdsmen and the copy cats that have followed it has to be addressed. So, the issue has to be addressed. I wouldn’t give it the kind of Islamization tag that is given to it, but there is no question at all that it calls for worry because these people exist virtually in every state of the federation and, very soon, it would lead to unpleasantness in all over the country.

“So, the issue has to be addressed and, as I told you that as far as I am concerned, it would be one of the first priority of the next level administration.”

He also asked the ruling party to get rid of godfathers, saying godfatherism is one of the major challenges the APC is facing.

He called on the ruling party to embrace internal democracy.

“I think the basic problem we have all over is the godfather thing. Internal democracy simply means that if 10 people want to vie for an office, so be it. Let the electorate decide. But when party leaders are the ones deciding who is fit or who is not fit, that becomes a problem,” he said.

“That is the decision of the electorate. And when they start displacing persons with their friends and other undesirable inducements, that is totally unacceptable. The damage it does is that you are destroying the belief of the electorate in due process. So, it becomes more difficult to accept the result of an election.

“So, the damage is intense and I pray that our politicians will see the need for a proper internal democracy and allow due process and allow the people to thoroughly decide.”

Every age has its chronicles, every era its historians. Sometimes, what they capture is history told in a hurry, with events and defining moments captured in the gush.

Sometimes it is introspection, with the passage of time, providing both perspective and clarity.

No medium has the capacity to capture epochal moments and preserve them for posterity as much as photography does. It is both witness and participant, and this is exactly what artist and portraitist Iké Udé achieves with his body of work; an idealized portrayal of Nollywood icons—from established actors like Genevieve Nnaji and Stephanie Okereke to newbies like Kehinde Bankole and Linda Ejiofor and from Kunle Afolayan to Dame Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett; this is Nollywood history told powerfully in pictures with a generation defined by pretty faces, crow’s feet, varicose veins, pouts and piercing gazes.

In capturing these stars and star-makers who oil the engines of the second largest movie industry in the world, Iké Udé is establishing for posterity the pioneers and icons of Nollywood at a moment of transition but by the very act of documentation, Iké Udé is inserting himself into the frame as participant in this filmic universe called Nollywood.

In his portraits, you will find Nollywood in all its glory from crown princes to princelings, debutantes to doyennes, power brokers to power players—many of them captured at the dawn of their careers and some at the very apogee and twilight of theirs.

These are iconic portraits drawn at moments of superb clarity when these stars of Nollywood are making the transition from legend into immortality.

What is Nollywood? The history of Nollywood is as fantastic and hydra headed as the stories that propel its plots. Did it begin with Living in Bondage or is its provenance in another epoch?

The story that many love to tell is of a businessman who finding himself stuck with a stack of slow moving VHS video cassettes decided to record something in them and sell them as home videos.

That man is Ken Nnebue and his era and genre defining movie, Living in Bondage, opened a new vista in Nigerian entertainment, created an industry now ranked as second largest in the world and introduced Nigeria to celebrity culture as movie stars began to inhabit a rarefied firmament hitherto unknown in these climes.

Lagos, city of dreams and phantasmagoria, is the home of Nollywood. But Lagos is not really a city. Lagos is, in many ways, a garden, a fabulous tableau where we go to harvest dreams, sometimes plentiful, oftentimes lean.

This is the Lagos into which smart young men and women streamed in the early 1990s seeking fame and fortune and Nollywood provided answers to their quests turning nascent actors and actresses like Richard Mofe Damijo, Ramsey Noah, Segun Arinze, Omotola Jolade Ekeinde, Genevieve Nnaji and Rita Dominic into household names. Where the National Television Authority (NTA) had provided some measure of fame for actresses like Barbara Soky and Mildred Iweka, who both found success as soap opera stars, Nollywood expanded the scope and reach taking the emergent stars from regimented time-belts to video players in private homes stretching from Lagos to Lusaka.

It is therefore fitting that Iké Udé would choose Lagos as the locale for his Nollywood portraits; a project that saw the artist, universally acknowledged as a master of the self-portrait, producing over 60 studies of Nollywood actors, actresses and power brokers who sat for the artist over two visits to the city.

What do photographic portraits do? They capture a moment in time and in capturing moments, they assume a cryogenic effect by freezing time for posterity. Iké’s genius lies in achieving that freezing of time.

There is a sharp shift in portraits by Iké Udé that are, as earlier mentioned, usually full length and defined by a quirky dandification, an almost coloring in of the subject into his background—something Iké Udé has explained as coming from his past as a painter. “I was formerly a painter, hence, my photographs employ a painterly language and longer-time process in the making of the pictures.” The “making-ness” of the picture is the definitive word because the portraits that emerge are no longer just pictures showing a moment of time captured by exposed film; they become works of art realized over periods of time.

Iké’s subjects and the portraits that emerge are unique. Even though shot in Lagos, the environment is all his, a seemingly otherworldly tableau that evokes the phantasmagoria that is Lagos.

There is in Iké Udé’s portraits a unique synergy, an alchemy almost, in which image and background become one with the subject subsumed in the tableau while the tableau becomes a part of the subject. There is only one word for that—magic.

But then there is more; something quaint and quirky, expressed in his dandification of his subjects and the almost dreamlike background that accompanies his portraits.

The portraits produced by Iké Udé are studies in form and color compelling your gaze to linger and forcing you always to experience them as conversation pieces.

Nollywood has captured the African imagination not just on account of the vast DVD sales—often pirated—but largely on account of the dedicated Africa Magic channels on the panAfrican cable network, DSTV.

The term Africa Magic has come to embody the unique narratives that drive the movies and the directors’ constant resort to the deus ex machina of the fetish and fantastic in their resolution of the plots.

That term is uniquely suited to Iké Udé’s portraits with their exuberant colors, their other-worldly essence, the quirky poses and frequent insertion of a bottle or cat or dog into the tableau. All these add to the otherworldly-Africa-Magic feel of the portraits.

While Iké Udé’s wide-ranging and comprehensive work must be singled out for the singularity of its purpose, breath of vision and comprehensive girth, one must point out that he is not the first to document eras and epoch using the cyclopic eye of the lens.

The ultimate reference would be to a sixteenth century Renaissance artist, Raphael, whose famous large composition, The School of Athens, painted between 1509 and 1511, is the template for Iké Udé’s Nollywood masterpiece. Udé’s masterly 26 x 16 feet mural, The School of Nollywood— executed between 2014 and 2016—is the culmination of his Nollywood portraits.

Udé’s masterpiece is a historical document, a definitive snapshot of an era, a larger-than-life representation of an industry, a portrait that will provide bragging rights for those captured within its frame.

Nollywood sweetheart, Genevieve Nnaji is the centrepiece of the large composition, reclining on a royal-blue chaise longue and looking regal as befits the queen of Nollywood. She has taken the place of Plato and Aristotle, the main figures of the Athenian school of philosophy in Raphael’s fresco.

But it is Iké Udé’s cameo that will excite the keen observer because in keeping with the earlier observed role as observer and participant. Udé, like many artists of antiquity such as Raphael as well as Rembrandt and many contemporary cinema auteurs such as Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Spike Lee—has managed to insinuate his visage into The School of Nollywood frame in a beguiling case of peek-a-boo.

As part of its efforts to support Nigeria’s aspiration and roadmap to become a leading Information Communication Technology (ICT) Hub in Africa, Heritage Bank Plc, Nigeria’s most innovative banking service provider has doled out $40, 000 grants to winners of the maiden edition of HB Innovative Lab.

The maiden edition of Heritage Bank Innovation Lab Accelerator programme (HB-LAB) tagged, ‘Demo Day,’ is a 12-week programme, expected to provide technology start-ups seeking additional investments to progress and accelerate market introduction/adoption of their solutions with co-working and internet resources, guidance and mentorship with finch start-ups founder and seed funding. However, the bank’s commitment is to create enabling environment, resources and support required to innovate and accelerate impactful solutions with the potential to radically improve financial Inclusion/Intermediation, health, automobile, agriculture, and other related problems affecting critical sectors of the economy.

At the grand finale of the programme, of the seven groups, Trep Labs-Real Drip emerged the winner with the most compelling solution won the N10million, whilst Ladipomarket.com.ng won the N5million prize, as the 1st runner-up, which is equivalent of $40, 000.

Speaking at the event, the MD/CEO of the bank, Ifie Sekibo, said the bank knew it was in the best interest of the country to pay attention to the development to the technology and industrial sector. According to him, “the future of the country lies in the hands of its youth. Our youths are talented, and Heritage Bank is committed to harnessing this talent to grow the economy.”

He noted that although in Nigeria, technology startups still account for a relatively small share of all businesses, but they have an outsized impact on economic growth, because they provide better-paying, longer-lasting jobs than other start-ups, and they contribute more to innovation, productivity, and competitiveness.

Sekibo explained further, “Newly starting up a business is part of the most difficult stage of the business, you would need to source for capital and manpower. Considering the fact that you are a new business those items are not so easy and cheap for you to acquire.

“However, the presentations we have seen today shows how gifted Nigeria is with human resources, our youths have demonstrated that the country still has a beautiful future.

“I am impressed with the start-ups, after six weeks of drilling and grooming they have been able to develop up to this point; everyone is a winner tonight as far as I am concerned.

“Based on the success of this maiden edition we are going to continue this initiative, we would go back to our laboratory and create something bigger for the upcoming editions.”

When asked what he felt about Artificial Intelligence being used in banks, he explained: “Technology has been playing a key role towards enhancing the banking sector. Thus, we saw the need to create an Artificial Intelligence product called Octopus, which has been piloted and its second edition is almost ready for launching.

On his part, the Co-founder TREP Labs, Alayande Abiola, said, “Emerging as first place and winning the ten million naira is going to help the growth of our clinical solutions.

“Now we would be able to complete our clinical trials, optimise our products development and also provide enough healthcare solutions that are battling with the country.”

Earlier, the bank’s Divisional Head Innovation and Partnership, Ikenna Imo, explained: “Twelve weeks ago we welcomed seven talented and diverse start-ups, at that time our intentions were clear that we were ready to create distinctive propositions that solves issues facing the country currently.

“Today, I have no doubts that the start-ups we have assembled after a selective and competitive process have what it takes to accomplish that.

Over the last 12 weeks, the HB Lab has hosted a number of business leaders and founders within in the tech ecosystem who shared the experiences and evolutions of their respective businesses with the aim to inspire and impart business knowledge in the young minds looking to start out their own tech-enabled businesses.

Some of the mentors at the program include; Gbenga Awe (Heritage Bank Plc), Tosin Eniolorunda (TeamApt), Abolore Salami (Riby), Deji Oduntan (Gokada), Muyiwa Faulkner (Mines.io), Shile Owoka (Smile Identity), Moses Sule (Oradian) to mention a few.

Heritage Bank Plc remains committed to championing sustainable value creation, leveraging technology to ensure a culture of innovation and mutually beneficial partnerships.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen appointed the head of the country’s constitutional court as Austria’s first female chancellor Thursday to lead an interim government until elections in the autumn.

Brigitte Bierlein will now be tasked with forming a cabinet after the previous government collapsed spectacularly over the so-called “Ibiza-gate” corruption scandal.

“I will seek to win Austrians’ trust,” Bierlein said alongside Van der Bellen in a televised statement Thursday, saying she would hold talks with political parties and civil society organisations in the coming days.



She said that Clemens Jablons, a previous president of the Supreme Administrative Court, was “ready to take up the posts of vice-chancellor and justice minister”.

READ ALSO: South African president forms cabinet days after inauguration

She added that she would put forward diplomat Alexander Schallenberg for the post of foreign minister.

The appointment comes after Sebastian Kurz became the first chancellor in Austrian history to be thrown out of office by a no-confidence vote of MPs on Monday.

Opposition MPs had brought the motion as they said Kurz had to take responsibility for the scandal which brought down his government.

The crisis began with the publication of hidden-camera footage in which former Freedom Party (FPOe) leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christan Strache appeared to offer public contracts to a woman posing as a Russian investor in exchange for help in the 2017 parliamentary election campaign.

The video led Strache to resign and prompted Kurz to end his coalition with the FPOe and call snap elections.

(AFP)