₦airaland Forum

Justice Adedayo Akintoye of a Lagos High court sitting in Igbosere, has again issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a former Super Eagles Captain, Augustine popularly known as Jay- Jay Okocha over alleged tax evasion.

Justice Akintoye made the order following Okocha’s alleged failure to settle a 2017 income tax evasion case brought against him by the Lagos State Government.

The judge first made the order on January 29, following an application by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.

The ministry told the court that Okocha had also failed to appear in court since 2017 when the case was filed against him.

Details later:

As part of his mandate for a repositioning, the leading aspirant in the forthcoming Ekiti State chapter’s Chairmanship election of the Ekiti State University (EKSU) Alumni, Comrade Adedeji Oso, has reiterated his readiness to revive the home branch with robust policy implementation and inclusive government.

He has also made a commitment to rejuvenate and reposition the state’s alumni, if elected into power in the June 6, 2019 election.

In a press release signed by the Head, Media and Publicity, Deji Oso Campaign Organisation (DOCO), Comrade Ayo Alonge, it was opined that the guiding principles and philosophy of Dejavu, as he is fondly called, have been unambiguously embedded in his mission statement.

Addressing some pressmen in Ado Ekiti, recently, Alonge said that Oso would serve as a true bridge–builder in uniting all Ekiti indigenous graduates of OSUA/UNAD/EKSU, for the progress of the Ekiti State chapter of EKSU Alumni Association, regardless of age, class and political affiliations.

“With Oso Adedeji taking the centre stage of governance in the alumni, everyone can now heave a sigh of relief, rest assured that a truly tested and trusted person is set to take the alumni to the greater heights we have all longed for. With Dejavu, we may now go to bed and sleep with our two eyes closed, knowing full well that we are in safe hands.”

“The new face (Oso Adedeji) will solve the problem of lack of identity bedeviling the chapter, and make it one of the best chapters in the country. The chapter will serve as a strong and dependable pillar behind the national body, both politically and socio-economically,” said Alonge.

Speaking further, he added that the manifestoes conclude but not limited to
data generation for members through the establishment of LG Alumni structure in Ekiti for membership drive, linkage with other state chapters for diverse opportunities and innovations that can benefit Ekiti students, both at home and in the diaspora.

He said: “Our policy will be channeled through our national body, scholarship, social welfare support scheme for poor students through PPP, resuscitation of certain structures in the university through PPP to be channeled through the national body and the reinvention of culture of academic competition among EKSU students across faculties, through the institution’s chapter.”

Encouraging the teeming graduates of EKSU to keep hope alive, the spokesman said that for Oso to achieve his robust visionary objectives within a specified period, as contained in his strategic plan for bi-annual evaluation and assessment, all hands must be on deck to project the interest of the association.

“The Oso Adedeji’s administration will be proactive to the aspirations of both graduates and undergraduates students,” he said.

He concluded that, if elected, the chapter will play a major role in members’ mobilisation, unification of members across board and proffering viable ideas that will put smiles on the faces of students of Ekiti State in general.

A septuagenarian, Mr Afolabi Banjoko, has accused the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Oluwatoyin Suarau, of illegally and forcefully hijacking his land on Plot 8 Akinyele Street, off Jonathan Coker Road, Iju Station, in the Oko Oba area of the state, and building on it.

He said he acquired the land from his aunt, Mrs Omolola Alabi, the daughter of the late Jonathan Coker.

According to Banjoko, a retired engineer with the National Oil Company, the commissioner used his position and influence to start building on the land though a case on it was yet to be determined by the court.

The 71-year-old had petitioned Governor Akinwunmi Ambode; the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Commissioner of Police; and the Lagos State House of Assembly to intervene in the matter to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Banjoko explained in the petition to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice dated March 21, 2019, that he was the owner of the land on Plot 8 Akinyele Street with Certificate of Occupancy No. 93/93/2014N issued on March 5, 2014; statutory Right of Occupancy number 93/93/2014N issued on July 5, 2014, and survey plan dated December 21, 1981, issued to him by the Lagos State Government.

He accused Suarau and other land grabbers of repeatedly encroaching on the land, which resulted in a case filed at the High Court of Lagos, Ikeja Judicial Division in suit no. ID/163/13 on March 5, 2013.

Another petition written to the governor on April 2, 2019, by Owolabi Dawodu of Owolabi Dawodu & Co, counsel for Banjoko’s aunt, Mrs Omolola Alabi, stated, “We are solicitors to Mrs Omolola Alabi, an 86-year-old Lagosian, who is a direct daughter of the late Jonathan Coker.

“Our client inherited a large parcel of land along with her siblings from her late father on Jonathan Coker Road, Fagba, Lagos, and has been in undisturbed possession since then until recently when Mr Suarau, acting through a notorious gang of land grabbers, invaded the land viet-amis and forcefully took it over.

“We wrote the then governor, who directed the task force to look into it. The land grabbers and thugs were warded off. We also went to court and the case is still pending before the High Court.

“However, instead of Mr Suarau, who we learnt is a member of your cabinet, to await the decision of the court, he has forcefully, with the aid of armed soldiers and policemen, broken into the land, forced open the gate and started construction works. He has threatened to pull down the shops our client built on the land and chase the tenants away.”

Banjoko told PUNCH Metro that his grandfather, the late Jonathan Coker, bought a large expanse of land from the late Josiah Savage, which was covered by a conveyance dated April 19, 1915.
The expanse of land, he noted, was a coffee plantation, with the produce packaged for export.

Upon Coker’s death, his estate was transferred to his children from four wives in accordance with his will.

To ward off encroachers, who were already entering the large expanse of land, the family decided to divide the land into smaller units, which were sold to individuals for housing and industrial development.

Banjoko recalled, “When I came back from abroad to work for National Oil, I discovered that encroachers had entered the land and the family decided to engage a surveyor to prepare a survey and partitioned the land, after which we invited friends and others to buy plots in the Iju ‘B’ Farm Estate.

“I left my own plot undeveloped because I wanted to transfer it to my children as an inheritance, only for me to discover that some land grabbers had sold it. They first sold that of my aunt, which is on Plot 5 Akinyele Street and facing the Jonathan Coker Road directly to Suarau, but when we resisted his attempt to develop it, the land grabbers took him to my own land on Plot 8.

“My aunt approached the court in respect of both plots and the court ordered that the status quo should be maintained pending the determination of the case.

“Just before the general elections, Suarau mobilised to the site to build lock up shops on my land, which backs Seyinsola Coker Street. His attention was drawn to the fact that there was pending litigation on the land, but he got police cover to begin construction on the land.”

When contacted, Suarau denied the allegations levelled against him and insisted that he was the rightful owner of three plots of land in the area, which he wanted to use for an events centre and another two at the back to be used as car park.

He explained that when he attempted to develop Plot 5, operatives of the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbing prevented him from doing so, arrested his surveyor and the workers, and seized their equipment at the instance of Alabi.

Suarau stated, “When I realised that the claimant was an old woman, I stopped work for over two years and kept the equipment for the events centre in a warehouse, where I was paying weekly for over two years. I was in the House of Representatives then.

“I don’t know this man, Banjoko, and the plot on which I am currently building is not covered in the suit no. ID/162/2013, which is pending before the High Court of Lagos State, which is between Omolola Alabi and Gafar Arowolo, Kehinde Adeosun, Adisa Agbaosi and the Inspector-General of Police.”

Suarau’s lawyer, Joseph Adewumi of De’ Jadeville Solicitors, told PUNCH Metro that the commissioner bought the land in 2012 from the Olarokun family, which executed a Deed of Assignment in his favour on July 3, 2013.

He said the Ikeja High Court, in a judgment on suit no. ID/292/81, and the Appeal Court, in a ruling on suit no. CA/LA/64/88, had conferred ownership of the vast area of land in Abule Egba, New Oko Oba, Old Oko Oba, part of Orile Agege and part of Iju on the Olarokun family.

Adewumi added that Suarau bought the land after his search revealed that the Olarokun family had registered the judgment in suit no. ID/1313/98 as 62/62/2233 at the Lagos State Lands Registry as the title to the land in dispute and subsequently obtained the Governor’s Consent to develop it.

“We have an application for Suarau to be joined in suit no. ID/162/2013 between Omolola Alabi and Gafar Arowolo, Kehinde Adeosun, Adisa Agbaosi and the Inspector-General of Police, and the next adjourned date is May 7, 2019; whoever has a claim to the land should wait till then,” he said.

Nigeria’s Tier 1 banks – Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, Access, UBA and Guaranty Trust Bank – now have N24.6 trillion in total assets, findings show.

According to Full Year 2018 results released by the big five lenders, their total balance sheet size rose to N24.6 trillion by the end of 2018 from N22.4 trillion in the previous year, an increase of about 10.2 per cent.

Zenith Bank remained the largest lender in the country in terms of assets with total balance sheet size of N5.96 trillion at the end of last year, which was a 6.44 per cent increase over the N5.6 trillion the bank reported for 2017.

FBN Holdings followed with total assets of N5.6 trillion in 2018, which was 6.3 per cent higher than the N5.2 trillion the lender posted in the previous year.

Access Bank remained the third largest bank in terms of assets last year as its total assets jumped 20.77 per cent to N4.95 trillion from N4.10 trillion in 2017.

It was closely followed by the United Bank for Africa (UBA) which grew its total assets by 19.67 per cent to N4.87 trillion in 2018, compared with N4.07 trillion in the previous year.

Guaranty Trust Bank’s (GTBank) total assets, however, marginally declined by 1.90 per cent to N3.29 trillion last year as against the N3.35 trillion which the lender reported for 2017.

In its Financial Stability Report as at the end of June 2017, released last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had disclosed that six of the largest banks in the country accounted for 60.11 per cent of total industry assets, as against the 53.68 per cent recorded at end- December 2016.

This, according to the report, highlighted the oligopolistic market structure of the banking industry, with few banks controlling more than 50 per cent of the industry deposits and assets. However, the report stated that the low concentration ratios in the industry showed a trend towards more competition across the banks.

“The market share of the largest bank with respect to deposits and assets stood at 12.93 and 14.79 per cent, respectively, while that of the second largest bank stood at 12.88 and 11.72 per cent. “Twenty-three other banks had market shares ranging from 0.02 to 9.01 per cent in deposits and 0.08 to 9.96 per cent in assets,” the report stated.
Similarly, in its 2017 Nigerian Banking Sector Report, independent investment banking firm, Afrinvest West Africa, highlighted the widening gap between the Tier-1 and the Tier-2 banks, a development it attributed then to naira devaluation and foreign exchange (forex) crisis.

According to the firm, the Tier 1 banks are dominating the Nigerian banking space, controlling as much as 70 per cent of its market share.

Commenting on the firm’s report in a chat with journalists, at the time, Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa, Mr. Ike Chioke, had stated that: “Once upon a time, Tier-1 banks accounted for about 60 to 65 per cent of the market share of the banking sector. In the universe of 14 banks we covered in this report, we have seen that percentage rise to over 70 per cent. Tier-1 banks have continued to grow, often at the expense of the Tier-2 banks.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Lona Global Resources Limited, an indigenous outdoor advertising company, Mr. Idoko Ilonah, has sent a Save Our Soul message to President Muhammadu Buhari and well meaning Nigerians to help save his business by prevailing on authorities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to approve site for the construction of the biggest billboard in the world.

Mr. Ilonah who holds the record of constructing the biggest billboard in Africa in 2016 at the Nnamdi International Airport Road by Lugbe Interchange, said he had expended about N800 million naira on the stopped construction of the world’s largest billboard along Airport Expressway/ Wawa (Centenary District) in Abuja.

He said he was shocked when the FCT Minister ordered the stoppage of the construction of the world’s biggest outdoor based on a petition written by the Centenary City PLC.

Mr. Ilonah said his company had expended about N800m on design and fabrication of steel and other items before the project was halted adding that “I am still paying interest on the N300m loan facility procured to kickstart the project which the Guiness Book of Records was already tracking”.

He also claimed to be defaulting an agreement with a telecommunications company which pre-paid N300m as first advertiser on the historic billboard.

Beleaguered Mr. Idoko Ilonah is seeking help to assist him to revive the project to realise his desire of putting Nigeria on the world map through the construction of the largest LED Board in the globe.

Observers are wondering what harm a project designed to enhance the beauty of the Federal Capital Territory by placing it on the world tourism map could cause to warrant such discouragement meted out to an enterprising Nigerian investor.

UBA Plc has filed a winding up petition against Sahara Energy Resource Limited (Sahara Energy) at a federal high court in Lagos.

The petition was based on a N15 billion loan owed by KEPCO Energy Resources Limited (KEPCO).

Sahara Energy had stood as a guarantor to KEPCO.

A winding up petition is a legal action taken by a creditor or creditors against an insolvent company that owes them money.

It can also be filed against a company or companies who have served as guarantors of the defaulter, and if approved by the court, will lead to a closure of or compulsory liquidation of all the debtors assets to repay the loan.

The petition was filed before Mohammed Liman, a judge of the high court, by Temilolu Adamolekun, UBA’s legal counsel.

The bank said KEPCO had through a loan, raised capital to fund the acquisition of Egbin Power Plant, operated by Sahara Power Group, a privately-owned power company under the Sahara conglomerate.

How the ‘N15 billion debt’ came about

In 2013, the federal government granted KEPCO, a Korean company 70% stake of Egbin power plant at a sale value of $407.3 million, which was equivalent to N64.35 billion at the existing exchange rate.

In order to fund that acquisition, the petitioner said KEPCO had applied for a credit facility from several banks, including UBA, with Sahara Energy standing in as a “corporate guarantor” to secure the loan.

FBN Capital Limited and First Nigeria Limited were appointed as the facility agent and security trustee respectively.

UBA had therefore granted KEPCO a loan to the tune of $35 million in August 2013.

The petitioner said KEPCO failed to meet its obligations even after restructuring the loan on two different occasions.

The interest on the rescheduled debt is said to have increased the facility to $42,282,430.49 or NN15,221,674,976.40 as of December 31, 2018.

The petitioner said Sahara Energy had been notified several times to fulfill its obligation as a guarantor but had not done so, hence the the need to file a winding up order.

“The company herein is insolvent and unable to pay its debt. In the circumstances, it is just and equitable that the company should be wound up,” the petition read.

The petitioner also sought “an order that the company, Sahara Energy Resources Ltd, be wound up by the court under the provisions of Companies and Allied Matters Act.”

Following an ex-parte motion filed by Adamolekun, the bank’s lawyer, Liman ordered that the winding up petition be advertised in the federal government’s official gazzette and a national daily newspaper.

SAHARA ENERGY RESPONDS

But Sahara Group has denied being indebted to UBA, saying it neither has outstanding facilities with the bank nor did it borrow any money from UBA.

The firm added that it did not grant a direct guarantee to UBA on any loan transaction that UBA
could unilaterally enforce or sue on.

“Our lawyers have been duly instructed and have taken all necessary steps to ensure that the order is discharged or set aside as soon as practicable,” Sahara Group said in a statement.

“Sahara Energy Limited (SERL) and the entire Sahara Group will vigorously pursue and defend UBA’s petition to its logical conclusion with a view to dismissing the petition.
“SERL will provide periodic updates to its esteemed clients, suppliers and bankers as may be necessary, of steps being taken in connection with the suits and the results of effort to set aside the order and strike out the suit.”

The hearing of UBA’s petition has been adjourned till April 30.

Indications have emerged that Heritage Bank Plc yesterday on an order of Federal High Court Ikoyi Division seized the property of Smooth Promotions Limited, owner of Hip TV, owned by Ayo Animashaun, situated at No. 4 Ogundana Street, Off Allen Avenue, Ikeja; Lagos following inability to pay back the bank loan worth Hundreds of Millions.

The asset was seized in execution of an order of the court authorising Mr. Gani-Gidado Abubakar, who is a Solicitor and Insolvency Practitioner, as the Receiver/Manager of Smooth Promotions Limited pending the determination of the orders of Court in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/362/19.

Meanwhile, Animashaun on his social media platform hinted that he is suing Heritage bank through his attorney, Kemi Pinheiro LP, but refused to go into details.

However, a visit to the premises of the aforementioned property showed that the bank has taken possession of the property under the court order.

Also, a source who is familiar with the case disclosed that as the obligor, Animashaun who is indebted to Heritage bank, to the tune of N185 million, and all effort to have him pay up his debt has proved abortive over a long period of time, which prompted the bank to secure a court injunction from a Federal High Court in Ikoyi.

The court injunction published on Thisday Newspapers, empowers Heritage bank to take over all properties, assets including production materials belonging to Ayo Animashaun’s Smooth Promotions.

“NOTICE is hereby given that all the properties comprising of but not limited to plants and machineries belonging to SMOOTH PROMOTIONS LIMITED and falling within the ambit of the receivership have been taken over and are now in firm possession of the Receiver/Manager,” the publication stated.

Whilst, the Publication further noted that banks, financial institutions, companies, general interested members of the public, debtors and creditors have been directed that all deposits, cash and other Assets currently held should be held until the issuance of further instructions and pay directly to the Receiver/Manager respectively.

Meanwhile, Ayo Animashaun had earlier declined further reactions on the above report; he claims the case is ongoing in court, but promised to do so when he is permitted to do so.

MultiChoice, Africa’s leading entertainment provider, today announced a new pop- up channel called Naija Stand-Up Comedy coming on Monday, April 15 for their DStv and GOtv subscribers.

Subscribers can expect to enjoy 100% Nigerian comedy shows – ticketed stand shows, skits, and produced shows on the Naija Stand-Up Comedy pop-up channel. The pop-up channel promises viewers tickets to some of the biggest comedy shows they may have missed in the past and offers entertainment during the Easter period.

Last month, two pop-up channels were launched on DStv; M-Net Movies Epic Battle Pop-Up Channel which focused on epic battles from the M-Net movies stable like Troy, Pearl harbour, Saving Private Ryan etc and SuperheroHQ which included animation series, animation movies, as well as live-action superhero-themed movies like Batman, Superman, Justice League, Green Lantern and Teen Titans.

“This channel will guarantee rib-cracking jokes from some of Nigeria’s finest comedians. Viewers can look to being a part to some of the biggest ticketed shows in the country” says Martin Mabutho, Chief Customer Officer, MultiChoice Nigeria.

The Naija Stand-Up Comedy pop up channel which will run from April 15 – May 1 2019, will provide fresh content daily. It is available to DStv Premium, Compact Plus, Compact and Family subscribers and to GOtv Max subscribers and will be on numbers: DStv channel 197 and GOtv 28.

Viewers can look forward to top comedy shows such as Alibaba’s January 1st Concert, also known as the official celebration event of the new year; Lord of the Ribs, AY Live, Funny Bone Untamed, Comedy Nites with IK, and Mama Tobi Untamed “The Homecoming”.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has urged Nigerians to disregard rumours of an impending scarcity of petrol in the country.

In a statement issued by Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC spokesman on Thursday, the corporation said such rumours were “tales fabricated by mischief makers with intent to create undue panic in the prevailing sanity in the fuel supply and distribution matrix across the country”.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has once again appealed to Nigerians to disregard trending social media report of an impending fuel scarcity due to purported refusal by some oil marketers to lift products from depots,” the statement read.

The state oil firm reassured Nigerians that it already has an ample stock of over one billion litres of petrol, with over two billion litres secured for April through imports of 48 vessels with each having a capacity of 50 million litres of petrol.

It said there was “no need for panic buying or hoarding of petroleum products in anticipation of a phantom scarcity.”

David Malpass, the newly elected president of the World Bank, says nine in every 10 extremely poor people across the world will be Africans come 2030.

Speaking on Thursday at the World Bank press conference at the ongoing spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, Malpass said this development will jeopardise the World Bank’s goal to end extreme poverty by that time.

The World Bank is currently in the consultation phase of a new strategy for fragility, conflict, and violence, which officials hope will help the institution enter conflict-affected areas earlier and with a better understanding of how security and development intersect.

The development of the new strategy could represent another step for the institution into protracted crises where early investments must contend with issues of politics, risk, and instability that the bank was not historically created to deal with, according to those working on the effort.

“This is not a matter of … designing a financing instrument. It’s the way we understand the development philosophy for those situations, our delivery model, the staffing we need, the way we engage with the government sometimes, or not with government — nonstate actors, working with local bodies,” said Saroj Kumar Jha, the bank’s regional director for the Mashreq Department, which includes Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Iran.

“This is a different world, and I think our upcoming FCV strategy that the World Bank is putting together, that perhaps will take us to the next level,” Jha said.

When the World Bank was established after the World War II, its mandate was specifically to avoid politics and conflict as it pursued development, said Alexandre Marc, the bank’s chief technical specialist for fragility conflict and violence.

“The idea that you can resolve the problem of development through technical solutions, and that the [United Nations] can resolve them through political solutions was very much at the center of things. We are starting to realize that we have to be much more holistic in the way we approach things,” Marc said.

Part of that realization is driven by numbers.

One of the bank’s twin goals is to eliminate extreme poverty. Roughly 2 billion people live in countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence, and extreme poverty is increasingly concentrated in these places. Former president Jim Kim is credited with ushering the bank into a larger role in protracted crises, including through the establishment of a financing facility for countries hosting large numbers of refugees.

“If the World Bank is true to its vision — and I think they will [be], including the new president — it’s about extreme poverty,” said Yves Daccord, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“Extreme poverty doesn’t happen only in conflict, but all the projections, all the figures show that if there is nothing done, 50 percent of extreme poverty in 2030 will be in conflict areas,” he said.

The World Bank’s shareholders have also told the institution they want a larger share of its portfolio dedicated to fragile states. During the 2016 replenishment of the International Development Association, the bank’s fund for least developed countries, the institution committed to double IDA’s resources for fragile and conflict-affected states.

As a condition of the World Bank’s $13 billion capital increase last year, the International Finance Corp., the bank’s private sector arm, is required to channel 40 percent of its investments to least developed countries and fragile states.

“We actually need to work much more on this nexus between security, development, peace, and humanitarian … And that is very complicated for us. We have a mandate issue. We have all sorts of internal organization [issues]. We also have a culture issue, because our staff are not always used to know[ing] what is the famous peacebuilding toolkit,” Marc said.

“It does not mean that the World Bank has to do all that. It means that the World Bank has to be very cognizant about how others work, and about how we can work in tandem with them,” he said.

In recent years, humanitarian organizations that work in conflict areas have struggled with conflicting messages from the world’s biggest donors.

On one hand, the international community wants to see more early engagement in conflict-affected states. On the other hand, these same donor countries are so consumed by national security concerns and the risk that assistance might inadvertently support terrorist groups, that they make it extremely difficult to implement programs in unstable environments.

“When you start to zoom in, there is such an obsession about security and terrorism that the environment in which you will be able to operate is much more difficult than even a year ago,” Daccord said.

Some hope that the World Bank could provide a more impartial option for delivering development projects in the midst of highly politicized situations, if it can figure out a model that works.

That will require coming up with a strategy and implementation plans that “give insurance that in a conflict you can spend money, and it’s well spent, and we can report about it, and there’s a high level of compliance,” Daccord said.

According to bank officials, the institution is increasingly looking at ways to engage with security forces.

“They provide you the access and support, but they also are the ones who engage early on with the humanitarian, and most importantly, the stabilization phase. If you’re able to connect the two better, it provides a seamless kind of transition from humanitarian to stabilization to development agenda,” Jha said.

“That’s something which will definitely be as part of our new thinking … In Iraq, for example, we work with stabilization people, we work with security actors. We’re learning quite a few things in terms of how we can do a better job — in many other countries of Africa as well,” he said.

·Highlights the relevance and urgency to support entrepreneurial led economic growth in Africa



At a time when Europe’s relationship with Africa is high on foreign policy and developmental agendas and with the European Union beginning to deliver on its 2017 External Investment Plan, targeted at attracting investment and job creation in Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation brought together leading stakeholders in the development finance sector, at a case study session in the EU capital, Belgium. The convening demonstrated that Africa also had solutions to bring to the table and platformed the Foundation’s unique approach to catalysing entrepreneurship in scale across the continent.

Themed: “A Convening on Africa’s Economic Transformation: A Case Study of the Tony Elumelu Foundation”, the event presented the results of the first five years of the Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme a unique programme, which has trained, mentored and seeded 4,470 African entrepreneurs with 3,050 newly announced to receive seed funding, and drawn over 200,000 applications to its 2019 cycle. Tony Elumelu’s $100m investment in entrepreneurial philanthropy was held up as an example of how vital capital could be targeted efficiently and effectively, at African businesses best able to create significant economic and developmental impact.

Opening the event, Mr. Koen Doens, Deputy Director General, DEVCO, EU, said: “Africa needs to create jobs by the millions to match the needs of its exponentially growing population. It will achieve this only if it unleashes a generation of empowered entrepreneurs. The Tony Elumelu Foundation contributes to this massively. The European Union wants to play its part and contribute to this endeavour.”

During an indepth question and answer session with EU-Africa relations expert, Annie Mutamba, Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu CON, highlighted the growing interest in the Tony Elumelu Foundation and its unique approach, while welcoming a new type of intervention in Africa. “We very much believe in collaboration, mutual respect and a shared commitment to transform Africa. Africa is ready but we need to do this through the right sustainable manner, that enables our people to become self-reliant, and independent, instead of perpetuating dependency. We need to implement practical solutions on ground through entrepreneurship, which empower people economically and addresses issues of extremism, migration, and insecurity.”

Minister Phillippe De Backer, Minister for Digital Agenda, Telecommunications and Post, Belgium, also commented: “There is an increasing desire in Europe to engage Africa, including its grassroots in a structure and targeted approach with the right processes. The Tony Elumelu Foundation offers this platform.”

The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which last month in March announced 3,050 selected entrepreneurs for its 2019 cycle, continues to grow in scale, ambition and impact, and now actively leverages technology to support entrepreneurs through TEF Connect – a digital hub designed to link entrepreneurs across Africa, and which already has 500,000 users.

On the Foundation’s future plans, he stated: “We want to make sure that we impact more, reach more, touch more lives and get more women involved. We want to see more Northern Africa participation. We would like to reach 10,000 a year, with support from partners to empower additional entrepreneurs. We want to eradicate poverty and create wealth in a sustainable way. Ultimately, \we want a larger and broader entrepreneurship ecosystem, that supports young Africans, and we want to deepen our engagement with government to create the enabling environment to support these Africans to succeed – the right investment climate, training, education, access to capital and most importantly creating the right investment culture.”

Other dignitaries at the event included: Carl Michiels, Director, European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM); Bruno Wenn, Former CEO/Chairman at DEG-German Investment and Development Company, and Advisory Board Member, Tony Elumelu Foundation; Mr Viwanou Gnanssougou, Assistant Secretary General, African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) at the European Council of the European Union, and Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, April 11 released the ex-vice president of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani.

Ubani was arrested and detained on Tuesday, March 19, along with Senator Christopher Enai for failing to produce the former Managing Director of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, Mrs Ngozi Olejeme who they both stood for as sureties.

Olojeme is facing a N6.4billion fraud charge preferred against her by the anti-graft commission.

Ubani had maintained his innocence over Olejeme’s disappearance insisting that she absconded after the EFCC raided her home

He also stated that his decision to stand surety for Olejeme was because he compelled her to return to Nigeria to face the charges against her and all effort to secure her bail was frustrated by the EFCC.

Since Ubani’s arrest, there has been massive public outcry for his release especially after a Federal High Court order that EFCC should either release him or charge him to court.

An FCT High Court in Abuja, had on Tuesday, April 9 granted leave for substituted service on the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

Justice Silvanus Oriji gave the order substituted service, after listening to the submissions of Chief Mike Ozekhome ,SAN, counsel to Ubani and Senator Enai.

Oriji had on Tuesday, March 26, granted leave to an exparte motion filed by Ozekhome to charge Ubani and Enai to court or release them on bail on or before March, 28.

The outgoing Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha, Monday gave what he described as two reasons the Igbo people failed woefully in Nigeria politics.

According to Okorocha, while briefing newsmen at the government House in Owerri, said that one of the reasons was that the Igbo people failed to accept the light coming to them.

He also said that the Igbo also did not appreciate the person who came to assist them.

Okorocha went on to say that he was confident that his certificate of return as Senator-elect for Imo West, would be given to him attributing what has been delaying his certificate of return, to game of politics.

The governor also said he gave banks in Nigeria, seven days ultimatum to tell the world whether he has borrowed any money from them. He also challenged civil servants in the state, to open up whether his government was owing them.

On the Imo West senatorial election, he said: “Elections have come and gone and we are dealing with the outcome. For the Imo West senatorial election, somebody said that he declared the result under duress. The truth is that the gentleman was employed to do a hatchet job and he could not do that.

“The drama is that he had another option he wanted to declare it in Owerri, at first he said there was no result and at a point he entered the toilet and suddenly he saw the results sheets and shouted who dropped this result here. What it means is that there is a game.

“I think that the INEC, should do the needful. We are in court and I think that we don’t need much procedure to do the right thing.”

On the allegation that he was engaging in illegal withdrawal of funds and selling government property, Okorocha said: “After that declaration, Imo PDP, went to town with the allegation that I have withdrew N17 billion. It is not possible.

“I have said this time without number, and I gave banks in Nigeria, seven days ultimatum to come and tell the world If I have borrowed from the banks any money not only that, I am not owing any worker in Imo state, I also challenged them in seven days to come out and say the truth.

“I am happy to bow out of government but I want to appeal that there should be peace in the land. There should be tolerance in the land. I here that they are counting my property, they should also go to Abuja, and count the ones in Abuja.”

Adding that, “Igbo have failed politically for two reason, not to accept the light that has come to them and also not to appreciate the leaders that have come to help them.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/igbo-have-failed-politically-okorocha/%3famp

Help has finally come for Christian Chukwu, a former Super Eagles’ coach who is suffering from prostate cancer as Nigerian business tycoon, Femi Otedola, on Monday, April 7, offered to take care of the medical bills of Christian Chukwu, a former Super Eagles’ coach.

Chukwu, who is said to be suffering from prostate cancer that has affected his leg, needs not less than $50,000 for the recommended surgery.

The Enugu Rangers’ media officer, Norbert Okonkwo, had revealed that the state government donated N1.5 million for the leg surgery.

In his conversation with newsmen on his promise, Otedola said that he will take care of the bill, adding that it is a “token of support to a great Nigerian who served his country to the best of his ability.”

Otedola previously settled the medical bills of the veteran actor, Victor Olaotan, who was at risk of double amputation following a ghastly car accident in 2016.

Meanwhile, there were report today, Chukwu had successful undergone surgery in a hospital in Enugu state.

A patron of Chukwu’s former club, Enugu Rangers FC, Benson Ezeomeogo Ejindu, broke the news of the ailment at the weekend.

Chukwu also captained the Enugu Rangers FC team that won the Africa Cup Winners’ Cup in 1977.

He was nicknamed ‘Chairman’ for his authority on the field as a central defender.

Chukwu also served as assistant coach of the first team to win a FIFA World Cup trophy for Nigeria – the Golden Eaglets that triumphed at the FIFA U16 World Cup in China in 1985.

He was also assistant coach of the team tagged the Golden Generation – the 1994 Class of Super Eagles that qualified Nigeria for her first FIFA World Cup finals.

As assistant coach, he helped Nigeria win the Africa Cup of Nations title and reached the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in America .

Between 2002 and 2005, Chukwu was head coach of the Super Eagles, leading the team to bronze medal at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.

The management of Zenith Bank Plc has announced that Ebenezer Onyeagwu will be its new managing director and chief executive officer.

In a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Monday, the bank said the appointment is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The tenure of Peter Amangbo, who is currently the bank’s CEO, will expire on Friday, May 31 while Onyeagwu will take over from June 1, 2019.

Before his appointment, Onyeagwu had been the bank’s deputy managing director since October 2016 and spent 17 years working with Zenith Bank.

“The appointment is consistent with the bank’s tradition and succession strategy of grooming leaders from within,” the bank said.

Onyeagwu, who is a graduate of accounting from Auchi Polytechnic, began his career at the defunct Financial Merchant Bank in 1991 and later held several management positions in the erstwhile Citizens International Bank Limited until 2002 when he joined Zenith Bank.

He obtained a postgraduate diploma in Financial Strategy a certificate in Macroeconomics from the University of Oxford.

He started out as a senior manager in the Internal Control and Audit Group of the bank and by 2005 had become an assistant general manager in the bank.

Intense disagreement seems to be tearing apart a section of Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC), as Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola Yayi has vowed to ensure that the Managing Director of Lagos State Signage and Advertising Authority (LASAA), Mobolaji Sanusi is fired.

Apparently irked by the formal response of Sanusi to Yayi’s request to convert his political billboards to business use, the Senator representing Lagos West is said to have sworn that the LASAA boss must be removed for the open embarrassment on his person.

Yayi and the Alimoso-Agege caucus of APC we learnt felt scandalized by the tone of the letter and refusal of Sanusi or his benefactor, Tunji Bello, who is the Secretary to State Governmdnt to apologise. Yayi and former governor of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola are said to be in shock over why an unelected person with no political traction like Sanusi will be allowed to get away with rubbishing a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The offensive letter read in part: “Most shocking to us is your request, despite being a senator of the federation, seeking for our approval ‘to retain’ these illegal outdoor structure ‘for business purposes’ on your official personal letterhead and endorsed by your esteemed self.”

Yayi who TheMomentNG learnt has the backing of the former governor Aregbesola and Senator Oluremi Tinubu to neutralise the power of the SSG, who is believed to be Sanusi’s godfather and is known to be shielding him from sanctions.

The senator was reported to have threatened to go into battle with the agency saying such things do not have to wait before the new government of Babajide Sanwoolu is sworn-in.

Interestingly, LASAA had noted in its letter that the governor-elect through its campaign office complied with all the rules as stipulated, wondering why Yayi chose not to.
Our findings revealed that Yayi considered such caustic tone as an affront and consequently Sanusi’s fate may have been sealed late last week when his matter was reportedly tabled to Aregbesola and Adiwaju’s wife separately while SSG was out of town.

Not only is the distinguished senator fuming to have Sanusi dropped from the list being compiled by Aregbesola for cabinet positions and key parastatal heads but also to be sacked this month so that he won’t stand a chance if being reabsorbed in the new dispensation. The excuse to be used for his sack, it was gatgered, will be his numerous sins as the helmsman of LASAA and the several face-off with his staff bordering on incompetence and alleged fraud.

Our sources further told us that Sanusi’s matter was not helped by a former Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Tunde Adejare who is a close ally of Yayi and Aregbesola and who has released sleazy details on Sanusi on why he is unfit to continue in the position.

Below is a copy of the letter LASAA sent to the senator.

Now, rumour mongers and naysayers can slow their roll and hop on to the next gist as wealthy businessman cum politician, Hon. Ned Nwoko, has officially wedded his love interest, the teenage actress, Regina Daniels. Nwoko, a former member of the House of Representatives, is 59 while his new bride was born in the year 2000.

Sources disclosed that an introduction ceremony held last weekend in the bride’s family home in Asaba, the Delta State capital. It was a hush-hush affair as the few family members invited were instructed not to take photographs. There wasn’t much glitz as many would have wanted and everybody complied with the wish of the couple to have a discreet ceremony. More so, there was not much to make noise about given that it is Nwoko’s sixth marriage among numerous dalliances with older actresses.

Regina came into limelight as a seven-year-old, featuring in a slew of Nollywood movies. Her mother, Rita Daniels, is also an actress. Currently, a Mass Communication student of the Igbinedion University, Benin, she became a social media sensation recently when she started flaunting luxury on her Instagram page. From flying private jets to different parts of the world to flaunting luxury cars, she became the kind of newsmaker acting never afforded her.

The blogosphere went into overdrive when she claimed to have bought her mum a mansion followed by the acquisition of a new Rolex wristwatch with the receipt bearing N3million. All these acquisitions were within one month. Of course, there were questions about who was financing her but nobody could emphatically say. It was until recently that Nwoko’s name began to fly in the air as Regina’s paymaster. Now, he has put a ring on it and ended speculations.

A London trained lawyer reputed to be running the biggest law chamber owned by an African in the United Kingdom, Prince Chinedu Nwoko’s London-based law firm, Ned Nwoko Solicitors, engages in management and verification of foreign debts of third world countries, including their component states. He served as a legislator between 1999 and 2003 and will be returning to the Senate as a Federal High Court Abuja, yesterday, April 3rd, sacked Senator Peter Nwaoboshi as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the Delta North senatorial election and affirmed Nwoko as the authentic winner of the PDP primary election of October 2nd, 2018.

In spite of being away from politics, he was never away from the news. Some years back, perhaps in giving vent to his architectural streak, he designed and built a wondrous home on a large expanse of land in his native Idumuje-Ugboko, Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. The eye-popping edifice, nicknamed ‘Castle in the Air,’ is a combination of Arabian and western designs complemented with a royal traditional touch which experts have described as a tourist destination.

It has a zoo with many species of wild and weird animals including Crocodiles, Ostriches, Horses, Sea Eagles, Porcupines, monkeys, rabbits, and others. Another section of the land has fish ponds that have about 50 thousand catfish and other species of fishes in them. Apart from these, the land also has poultry section with about 5000 chickens while another part of the land is filled with thousands of palm trees.

Just behind the main castle is an Olympic size swimming pool and a lawn tennis court, with a standard table tennis adjacent it. Estimated at about N10 billion, the castle is situated 1000 feet above sea level which makes it the highest point in Delta State. The multi-billionaire lost his first son, Tarik, in 2014 at the age of 22.

The Nigerian media stratosphere is agog once again as the grandmasters of data, Globacom, releases the follow up to the Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua television commercial, where the world heavyweight boxing champion boisterously demonstrated the intrinsic values of having a reliable ally in one’s corner. It was a slice of life that jogs memories about the significance of effective partnerships.

In the debut commercial which was launched on February 1, AJ as the boxer is fondly called, did not only endorse the telecommunications giant, but also drew global attention to the fact he was proud of his Nigerian roots.

“There is always been a big piece of my heart as a Nigerian and I do believe that it is that piece that sets me apart. It always says to me, ‘never give up, dream big! We come from a nation of warriors and that is why I believe in Glo. We have that same tenacity, that Nigerian fighting spirit that makes us game changers! We are relentless. We don’t just face our challenges, we step into the ring to win again and again and again. If you believe in yourself, there is no limit to what you can achieve. Yeah, I used to be a bricklayer in England but now I am heavyweight champion of the world!” declared the boxer.

While the dust of the Joshua commercial, generally acclaimed as a coup in the advertising industry, is yet to settle, Globacom raised the decibels higher on Wednesday with the unveiling of a follow-up to the endorsement campaign.

In the sequel, we see Nigerians from different spheres of life reacting to the quintessence of the message underlying the campaign.

The well produced advert opens with a female student of the University of Lagos watching the first Anthony Joshua commercial. A teenage boy is seen also watching the TVC in his father’s sitting room. The TVC then zooms on fishermen throwing their net into the Lagos lagoon hoping for a bumper harvest and then to a tailor in Aba, Abia State, drawing strength from Anthony Joshua’s inspirational message.

Also shown connecting to the rallying cry by the boxing legend are a group of female basketballers watching the advert on an ipad on the court and students in a classroom setting in Sokoto watching the same message on a laptop.

The TVC also shows a young boxer who, after taking tutorials from the world champion, later won his bout, while a lady executive in Abuja is also shown watching the message on her phone.
From Lagos to Aba, Sokoto to Abuja, the message by the telecom operator is the same. These cities are used to emphasise the nationwide coverage of the Glo 4G which and the resilience of the Glo brand which AJ epitomizes.

Indeed, the boxing icon outlined the characteristics he shares with Globacom. These include “the never-say-die, unlimited, can-do spirit”. He queried: “You need strength?” And then retorted, “Yeah, that comes from the hard knocks that life throws at us. And we are Nigerians, we know all about that”. This symbolizes the philosophy that has set Globacom apart in the telecommunications market.

AJ then goes on to deliver more inspirational lines to show how he rose from being a bricklayer to becoming a World Heavyweight Boxing Champion and also to encourage people to fight to conquer life’s challenges. “You don’t stay down, you’ve got to fight. You have to dig deep to be a world champion”.

He also uses the “Always in your corner” pay-off line to show the support reliable partners can give to achieve one’s goals. The line is a boxing metaphor that symbolizes the succor boxers get from their corners where their trainers will dry their sweat with towels and offer them tips to defeat their opponents.

The AJ commercials are indeed masterstrokes, and underscore Globacom’s tradition of churning out ingenious television adverts.

The clincher in the TVC was when AJ, referring to Globacom, said there was nothing better for a boxer than having a reliable partner in his corner.

Last December, the company won six gold, two silver, and four bronze medals at the 2018 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) for its creative television commercials and radio jingles produced during the year.

With the TVCs, the company, on the one hand, succeeded in attracting further attention by getting a global icon to endorse its brand, and, on the other hand, played up the unique proposition which its nationwide Glo 4G coverage represents.

The recent report of five Nigerians arrested for armed robbery in Dubai and the response by the Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora to the President has brought upon me the above caption.

Indeed robbery and drug trafficking are despicable acts that deserve unequivocal condemnation. Time and time again we often wonder why people would persevere with perpetrating crimes abroad knowing the ultimate price of jail terms and even death in some cases. However making haste to offer banal official statements ridden with diplomatic clichés and moral sentiments do not offer much by way of solutions. We know this does not help because the problem persists. Condemnation tempered with critical thinking that raises key questions for a productive national conversation might be the way to go. Between the presidential statement and the ethnic debate that polarised Nigerians on social media, where are the deeper questions we should be asking?

How many countries disparage their citizens the way we do here? Let us flip the coin for a second. If five foreign nationals were caught in a robbery scandal in Nigeria, it is the laxity of our security agencies and Judiciary that will frame the debate. The errant foreign citizens will be condemned by their governments in a roundabout, convoluted language that still preserves the dignity of what it means to be an American or British citizen. The denials and all out condemnations are of course reserved for dual-nationals quickly rejected.

Mrs. Abike Dabiri- Erewa the President’s aide, should have known that her primary responsibility is to defend and support Nigeria and Nigerians in foreign countries come what may. Rebuke with diplomacy. That is the art of her office. Therefore, initiate a Consular visit to these Nigerians to ensure their rights are protected. Investigate the broader context. Did the Dubai five enter the UAE with weapons from Nigeria? If no, how were the arms procured? How easy is it to buy weapons there? Were these Nigerians contracted by locals to carry out this raid? Could it another attempt to humiliate Nigerians? On the other hand, could there be an emerging ring of Nigerian gangs resident in the UAE making it easy for those coming to travel light? This could open up deeper issues that might lead us to understanding what is actually going on beyond “all Nigerians should be good Ambassadors abroad”. Where do such clichés leave us? Does it tell us how fair and equitable the UAE justice system is? How many Nigerians have been murdered in the past in the UAE? Was justice serve? We must never forget this Nigerians are innocent , until the court of law says so. Mrs Dabiri-Erewa herself has in the past admitted to the shoddy treatment and possible innocence of some Nigerians caught up in alleged heinous crimes abroad.

It is the responsibility of our Government to stand by any Nigerian anywhere as it is done in other climes.

Recently a British National was accused of spying abroad. His Government fought tooth and nail to get him home while also carrying out their own investigations and vigorous diplomatic engagements on his behalf. The point is, ride or die, when one too many nationals start falling through the loop, the value of what it means to be a British citizen will be diminished abroad both for the innocent and guilty. After all, if their government does not value them, why should any other?

I am not justifying crimes. I am simply making the point that the Nigerian Government should stand for its people abroad and conduct a critical analysis of the situation. They should act in accordance with laid down processes and rule of law. When you name, shame and humiliate the so-called guilty, you make it harder for others, even the innocent to be respected and treated with dignity abroad.

The sad part is that as with everything Nigeria the D5 saga has been buried under ethnic debates in the media, particularly social media platforms. There is a bigger picture here we should be looking at and that is how it affect us all. What can be done to mitigate such incidents and equally ensure no Nigerian is maltreated anywhere in World? How do we also stop those with criminal intents from this perennial crises of national image defamation regardless of their tribe and creed?

I am neither Igbo nor Yoruba. I am Nigerian and I care what happens to us all and this is why I have decided to cry rather than laugh at the fallout from this saga.

Comrade Peter Esele is former President of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.

A lot of people want to identify with the glory but not many know the grass to grace story of Nigeria-born World Heavyweight Champion, Anthony Joshua. But, the February 1st , 2019 release of the Anthony Joshua’s TVC ignited a fire of patriotism in Nigerians all over the world. Coming on the eve of the 2019 general elections which heightened tension across the country, the TVC was a timely welcome relief.

The sequel to the TVC captures the reactions of Nigerians to the inspirational message contained in the commercial.

The TVC begins with a University of Lagos female student watching the Anthony Joshua commercial. A teenage boy is seen also watching the TVC in his father’s sitting room. The TVC morphs to fishermen throwing their net for a haul in Lagos.

The commercial morphs to a not-too prosperous tailor in Aba tapping inspiration from Anthony Joshua’s message. Next is a group of female basketballers tapping inspiration from Joshua’s message in Port Harcourt where some lady basketballers were jointly watching Joshua’s message on an ipad on the court and this is closely followed by a classroom setting in Sokoto where students gathered to watch Joshua’s message on a laptop. A young boxer also took tutorials from the world champion and he later won his bout while a lady executive in Abuja was also shown watching the message on her phone.

These cities underscore the nationwide coverage of the Glo 4G which is Number 1 in the country in view of its spread and coverage like the Heavyweight Champion, Anthony Joshua.

THE TVC

The World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua gave a ringing announcement of his status as a Nigerian with the Globacom TVC.

The bricklayer turned World Heavyweight Champion in the TVC revealed the parallels between him and Glo. Some of these include (a) the never-say-die, unlimited, can-do spirit of Globacom which undergirds and constitutes the philosophy of the telecommunications giant is shared by the Champ who says in the TVC “You need strength?” and then answers, “Yeah, that comes from the hard knocks that life throws at us. And we are Nigerians, we know all about that”.

He went on to compare life challenges with boxing, saying “You don’t stay down, you’ve got to fight. You have to dig deep to be a world champion”.

Trumping his Nigerianess Joshua announces “there is always been a big piece of my heart as a Nigerian and I do believe that it is that piece that sets me apart. It always says to me, ‘never give up, dream big! We come from a nation of warriors and that is why I believe in Glo. We have that same tenacity, that Nigerian fighting spirit that makes us game changers! We are relentless. We don’t just face our challenges, we step into the ring to win again and again and again. If you believe in yourself, there is no limit to what you can achieve. Yeah, I used to be a bricklayer in England but now I am heavyweight champion of the world!.

Always in your corner pay-off line is a boxing metaphor which symbolizes the succor boxers get from their corners where their trainers will dry their sweat with towels and offer them tips to defeat their opponents. Glo 4G also solves all data related communication challenges by allowing subscribers to breathe easy with data widely regarded as oxygen.

Bankole Wellington, Nigerian music star better known as Banky W, has written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on the death of Kayode Johnson.

Men of the anti-cultism unit of the Lagos state police command had shot Johnson dead in the Mangoro/Onipetesi area of Lagos on Sunday evening.

He was killed after leaving a football viewing center where he watched English Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham.

In an open letter on Monday, Banky W said the deceased was the only son of his mother, who is a widow. The musician called on the government to act and make sure that those behind the incident do not go unpunished.

Below is the letter: Dear Sirs, Kolade Johnson, an innocent young citizen of Nigeria is dead. He was the only son of a widow, a husband and father,” he wrote.

His only crime was being in the right place at the wrong time… watching a football match when SARS operatives who allegedly came to arrest someone, started shooting sporadically.

Kolade is not the first innocent victim of reckless behaviour by SARS operatives, and he will almost certainly not be the last.

It is sickening, frustrating, and unfair. We are tired of hearing about victims of police brutality, but never hearing about the criminal, reckless police officers being brought to justice.

We are tired of screaming and tweeting #ENDSARS while our innocent young people are being extorted, bullied, maimed and killed by the very same officers who are meant to protect them. And we are tired of our leaders remaining silent, incident after incident.

We’re going to track down Kolade’s family, pray with them and raise money to assist them through this terrible tragedy.

We hope that our leaders will use this opportunity to ACTUALLY show that they care about our lives and wellbeing, by tracking down the reckless officers responsible for this murder and bringing them to justice for their vicious crime.

We will not let this go. Kolade was innocent and did not deserve to die. Kolade could have been anyone of us. Please show us that you care about us. Please.

The killing had sparked outrage in the area as angry youth lit bonfires on both lanes of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, leaving many road users stranded for hours.

Social media users are still tweeting about the incident, calling on the authorities to act.

After successfully merging with Diamond Bank, Access Bank Plc, has unveiled its new logo, signalling the commencement of a new enlarged banking entity.

The bank launched its new brand on 1st April, 2019 with 400 branches proudly showcasing the new logo. At an elaborate ceremony at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, on the evening of March 31st, 2019, dignitaries gathered to witness the birth of the new banking entity.

The GMD of the new entity, Herbert Wigwe, thanked all present, especially Pascal Dozie, founded of the now rested Diamond Bank. In a remark, a former governor of CBN, Lamido Sanusi Lamido, praised the merger, saying it’s a good omen for the country.

That merger created a Nigerian banking powerhouse and a Pan-African financial services champion. Access Bank today is the largest retail Bank in Africa by customer base. The bank boost of 27,000 staff across 592 branches, spanning three continents, 12 countries and with 29 million customers base.

The visual identity: Fusion (an occasion when two or more things join or are combined; the technique of joining atoms in a reaction that produces energy).

The new visual identity fuses together the best of Access Bank and Diamond Bank. It builds on the layers of meaning that were built into two iconic brands. Diamond Bank’s was youthful, vibrant and human. Access Banks’s was trusted, global and fast.

Bringing them together to capture the strength created through the merger meant drawing from the essence of each logo but refreshing them to create a sense of energy and forward momentum. The diamond shape is fused into the three chevrons, which radiate in all directions to create layers around a core.

The retention of the access typeface, colour and font is complemented by the orange logo, which draws from the colour palettes of both banks.

The use of the diamond colour palette is further emphasised with the dominance of green in its retail application, ensuring continuity for retail customers, whilst the dominant orange in the corporate application provides the same sense of familiarity to Access Bank’s customers.

Access…more than banking

To accompany the new logo, there is a new brand promise: access. more than banking. This is more than a tag line. It is a philosophy. Almost twenty years ago Access Bank set out to change the face of banking in Nigeria. Its goal was to lift the continent of Africa through what it called sustainable banking, showing individuals and businesses across the country that ethical business was good business.

Providing African businesses with access to intra Africa trade and global markets.

Giving budding entrepreneurs the tools to build a business.

Offering families the opportunity to realise their dreams.

Across the country, another entrepreneur was also building a Bank, with a dream that went beyond banking. He wanted to respond to changing lifestyles by using innovation and technology to support societal shifts.

With a focus on personalised service that understood people’s desires and ambitions and made them possible.

These two banks, one a corporate titan, the other a digital retail powerhouse, have come together to create Africa’s largest Bank. For both, the philosophy remains unchanged.

However, they want their 29 million customers to be able to access more than banking. They want them to access their dreams and, in doing so, putting Africa in its rightful place on the world stage.

An interesting scenario is  unfolding between Senator Olalekan Solomon popularly known as YAYI and the Managing Director of Lagos Signage and Advertising Agency, LASAA, Bolaji Sanusi.

Sources close to the Senator disclosed to this platform how Sanusi has grown wings and become power drunk to ridicule the distinguished senator over a polite official request.

It was gathered that Yayi had approached the agency for an approval to keep its political billboards accross the state for further use which incurred the anger of Sanusi thereby wrote a stinkeras a reply to the request.

In the view of our source, LASAA boss replied the Senator in a manner that suggests he has a matter to grind with him.

The letter, it was gathered lambasted Yayi of being ignorant of Lagos state law on Advertising while his request could be termed as an abuse of privilege.

Our source particularly pointed out a paragraph from the letter that was considered very insulting to the popular senator which reads ‘most shocking to us is your request,  despite being a senator of the federation,   seeking for our approval ‘to retain’ these illegal outdoor structure ‘for business purposes’ on your  official personal letter head and endorsed by your esteemed self.”

Apparently shocked by the letter,  the senator was quoted to have threatened to go into battle with the agency saying things will sort out itself when the governor elect resumes.

Interestingly,  the agency noted that the governor elect through its campaign office complied with all the rules as stipulated, wondering why the Senator shouldn’t.

However, LASAA advised Senator Yayi to immediately begin removal of the illegal billboards within 7 days to save the state of expending further resources to clean up the mess created by such illegal structures.

“These structures remain what they are -illegal deployment and a request for them to remain standing smacks of impunity” Sanusi noted.

Our source however disagreed with the position of LASAA, saying the senator is a critical stakeholder in the state and he should be accorded with some courtesies.

All efforts to reach the LASAA boss proved abortive as his number was switched off.

The managing director of Keystone bank, Obeahon Ohiwerei, has resigned his appointment.

The Bank announced the resignation of Mr. Obeahon Ohiwerei from office as Managing Director/CEO of the Bank, and the appointment of Mr. Abubakar Danlami Sule as Acting Managing Director/CEO. Mr. Sule’s appointment is subject to approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

A statement from the bank disclosed that Mr. Ohiwerei is leaving to pursue other personal interests. The statement further added that the Board recognized and appreciated Mr. Obeahon’s immense contributions to the growth of Keystone Bank and the visibility the Bank had attained as a brand in the past eighteen months.

Mr Sule is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with degree in Accounting. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria; an Honourary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria; a Governing Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria; and an Alumni of both the INSEAD (France) and Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania, USA. He was until his appointment as Acting MD/CEO, the Deputy Managing Director of Keystone Bank Limited.

Mr. Sule has over 29 years of cutting-edge banking experience with competences in Corporate Banking, Operations, Treasury Management, Credit Structuring, Corporate Planning, as well as possession of very strong relationship management skills.

Mr. Sule had also served briefly as the Managing Director of Sterling Capital Limited, the Investment Banking Subsidiary of Sterling Bank Plc in 2009. While at Sterling Capital Limited, he was appointed by the CBN as part of the Executive Management team to turnaround the fortunes of erstwhile Intercontinental Bank Plc. He eventually returned to Sterling Bank Plc as Executive Director in charge of the North and Corporate Banking. He also worked briefly in Standard Chartered Bank Limited before he joined Keystone Bank.

The Board of Keystone Bank has enjoined Management and Staff of Keystone Bank to join hands with the Acting MD/CEO to build Keystone Bank into a brand that all its stakeholders will be proud of.

The bank is currently owned by Sigma Golf River Bank Consortium after being acquired from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in March 2017.

Sen. Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, said that party discipline would be upheld in addressing the leadership tussle of the 9th National Assembly.

Tinubu said this while speaking with newsmen in Lagos on Friday after a Prayer Programme organised by Islamic and Christian clerics to mark his 67th birthday.

“Party discipline is key, we must be discipline in the party. We were a little careless in 2015. We created the opportunity for serpent to get into our party and that did not allow Nigeria to make the desired progress.

“You have seen the result of it and we are not going to allow that to happen again. We are going to respect our party and we are going to apply the whip.

“It is either you stay with us or you follow us or you leave. You have the freedom to choose but the freedom does not give you as a minority to go and collaborate and protrude our mandate given to you to another party who was our opposition and who is still our opposition.

“We would not take that this time, no matter who you think you are. That is how it is built. Why do you want to deviate from what has been structured?

“We look at our reward system equally, zone by zone,” he said.

Tinubu said that his life as a politician at 67 had been a fulfilling journey.

“When I joined politics, there were a lot of uncertainties because it was during the military regime. There were lots of struggles but my concern is about people and the future of my country.

“My mother stood by me when I told her then that I was joining politics. She told me to be ready to take all sorts of insults whenever they cross my way. May her soul rest in peace.

“The struggle was tough. It created a justice on June 12 election of MKO and some people deserted the camp, the struggle, the spirit.

“We have stayed with this struggle. We know democracy is not easy but it is the only system of government that we chose.

“Ever since, it has been a very fulfilling journey. There is always the twist and turns in politics.

“Today, we endure, we persevere, we think, adjust, collaborate, merged and became single party just like yesterday,” he said.

Tinubu said that the APC party was in government for the common man.

“You will think that APC had been on for twenty years but is not up to six years. We went through compromises because we know that if we form a good alliance of progressive thinkers and believers in the ideology of common man, we will be able to serve the people.

“It is not by criticism alone. You have to have the opportunity to even change the life of the people and quality of their standard of living.

“So, we stood by it, we persevered persistently, uttered our voice, offered our recommendations, and then we are here. And today I am extremely happy that we are in government for the common man.

“The only way to change Nigeria from penury is to fashion out our own organic economic strategy and plan that will continue to cater for all,” he said.

A new public survey released by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has adjudged the police as the most corrupt institution in Nigeria.

The SERAP report entitled “Nigeria: Corruption Perception Survey”, listed high levels of corruption in public institutions in the country since 2015.

Of the five major public institutions surveyed, the police emerged as the most corrupt, with officials of the power sector identified as the second most corrupt in the country.

Other public institutions identified as corrupt were the judiciary, education and health ministries. According to the survey, the level of corruption has not changed in the last five years.

“A bribe is paid in 54 percent of interactions with the police. In fact, there is a 63% probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each time he or she interacted with the police. That is almost two out of three,” read a statement Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP deputy director, issued on the report.

Akin Oyebode, chairman of the panel, which released the report, said the development of a people is almost “inversely proportional to the level of corruption”.

“Nigeria is looked upon as a giant of Africa. Yet Nigeria could not conduct free, fair and credible elections,” he said.

“It is a smear on the image of Nigeria. If we do away with selective enforcement and condonation of corruption, we will build and live in a better society. Corruption is a refined form of stealing. The politicians are stealing our common patrimony.

The survey carried out between September and December, covered the police, judiciary, power, education and health sectors to assess the state of corruption in law enforcement and public service provision.

“From the analysis of the anti-corruption legal and institutional framework in Nigeria, the following cross-cutting issues emerged: there is lack of political goodwill to consistently enforce the different anti-corruption laws; inadequate funding for the various anti-corruption agencies; weak public support and/or ownership of anti-corruption initiatives; poor clarity of roles between various anti-corruption agencies; and public perceptions of politicisation of corruption arrests and prosecutions,” the report read.

“Bribery experiences were interrogated and recorded in the key sectors of education, health, the police, judiciary and power. Data analysis was conducted under five different and interrelated variables. There was a 63% probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each time he/she interacted with the police. The likelihood of bribery in the power sector stood at 49%. With the chances of encountering bribery at the judiciary, education and health services standing at 27%, 25% and 20% respectively.”

The police were the most adversely ranked on this indicator. For every 100 police interactions reported by the respondents, there was a bribe paid in 54 interactions. The prevalence levels stood at 37% in the power sector and 18% in education,17.7% in the judiciary and 14% in the health sector.

Fifty-one percent of the individuals who paid bribes to the police and 35 percent to the power sector believed this was the only way to access the services sought from the institutions. The ranking of the education sector and the judiciary was less adverse with 16 percent perceiving bribery as the main avenue of accessing services in the institutions, and health services recording 13 percent

The police and judiciary had the largest proportion of total bribes paid at 33 percent and 31 percent respectively. Bribes paid for education, power and health services accounted for 19 percent, 10.9 and 5 percent respectively of all bribes reported.

The average amount of bribe paid by the respondents was highest among those who paid to the judiciary at about Naira 108,000 (US$ 298). All the other institutions ranked lower on this variable with Naira 12,253 and 11,566 reportedly paid to the police and education sectors, and Naira 6,462 and 5,143 paid for health and power services respectively.

In 2017, the World Internal and Police Security Index rated Nigeria Police force as the worst in the world.

Stephanie Idolor, the lady who videotaped Success, an angry school pupil sent home from school over non-payment of fees, is to receive N500,000.

Popular comedian, Mc Jollof, recently took to his Instagram stories to reveal that the Delta State Deputy Speaker, Mr. Friday Osanebi, had requested for Idolor’s account number and sent the sum of N500, 000 to her. Mc Jollof shared screenshot of the transaction in his stories.

Similarly, the principal secretary to the governor of Delta state, Hilary Obi Ibegbulem, has promised to give a car to Idolor.
Ibegbulem said that she was the real hero and not the little school girl.
Her public outcry in a The PUNCH video has also attracted the attention of Daddy Showkey who stated that she is the real hero and transferred the sum of N100,000 to her bank account.

Daddy Showkey also shared a video on his verified Instagram handle and wrote, “Without you, this Success story will not be, so my dear @stephanie_idolor pls don’t regret anything, the truth is that you are an angel and for me, you are the true hero, pls send me your account.”

In a video interview with The PUNCH, Idolor demanded compensation from the Success’ family after several Nigerians reacted positively to her video and lent a helping hand to the family.
According to her, if she had not recorded and posted the video on social media, the family would not be enjoying all the financial assistance and gifts they were getting.

A three-storey building has reportedly collapsed in Kakawa street, Lagos Island on Monday.

According to a resident of the street, no one was trapped because the building was marked for demolition and occupants had vacated.

The collapsed structure, however, affected a bungalow with three occupants.

Details shortly

Wife of the Vice-President, Dolapo Osinbajo, on Sunday, shared her experience when she received the news of her husband’s helicopter crash in February.

She recalled that on the day the incident happened she was in Ikenne, Ogun State, for a programme.

The VP’s wife stated this on Sunday in her remarks during an interdenominational service of praise and thanksgiving to appreciate God for sparing Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s life in the helicopter crash that happened on February 2 in Kabba, Kogi State.
The thanksgiving service, which held at the Obafemi Awolowo Square, Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State, was attended by Governors of Lagos and Oyo states, Akinwunmi Ambode and Abiola Ajimobi, respectively.

Also in attendance were the immediate past governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, Ogun State governor-elect, Dapo Abiodun, Senator Godswill Akpabio and some traditional rulers, among other dignitaries.

Speaking on the helicopter crash, Mrs Osinbajo said she was on her way to Lagos from Ogun State when she received a call on the incident, adding that she was shocked by the news.

She said, “I am thankful to God for saving the life of my husband and those of his co-passengers.”

Mrs Osinbajo told the congregation that the mercy of God had been the pillar of her family.

In his remarks, the Vice-President described himself as a product of God’s special mercy.

The VP explained that the thanksgiving in his home town, Ikenne, became imperative to thank God for sparing his life in the helicopter crash.

He ascribed his survival in the crash to the special mercy of God, who, according to him, has been seeing him through the ups and downs of life.
He prayed for peace, progress and stability in the country.

Also speaking, the Ogun State governor-elect, Dapo Abiodun, described Osinbajo as an embodiment of diligence and sincerity.

He said Osinbajo had some attributes worthy of emulation.

In his sermon, the Archbishop of Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos, the Most Reverend Olusina Fape, said the victory of the All Progressives Congress in this year’s presidential election was because of God’s mercy.

Fape, who added that it was God’s mercy that averted the untimely death from the VP, prayed that God would see the country to the next level of greatness,

The cleric urged Osinbajo to continue to serve God.

“The election has come and gone. But it was won through the mercy of God. It is mercy that makes the difference in the lives of individuals.

“Election is not according to your power, your ability and your wisdom; election is a matter of mercy.

“Mercy does five things, it brings victory, it brings exaltation, it brings wisdom, it brings deliverance and success. Your Excellency, whatever you might have achieved is not by your power or wisdom, but by the sheer mercy of God.

“As you celebrate today, God’s mercy will catapult you to the next level according to the slogan of your party,” Fape stated.

More than one week after a woman was exposed for jumping bail after being charged with alleged cocaine possession by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the anti-narcotics agency has kept mum on the scandal.

Olufunke Phillips, who worked as a digital manager for the Lagos State governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, absconded from justice having been granted bail after she was arraigned for illegal possession of 3.14 kilogrammes of cocaine before a federal court in Lagos in 2007.

The suspect (real name: Philip Esther Olufunke) was arraigned by the NDLEA before Justice P.I Ajoku of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court before she, alongside 25 others, absconded after being granted bail by the judge.

The digital strategist’s sordid past was exposed on March 15 by journalist Ruona Meyer, after a business relationship between the duo went sour.

We spent the last week trying to reach the NDLEA for their comment on the scandal but phone calls and text messages did not get any response.

Finally reached on Sunday, nine days after the scandal broke, Jonah Achema, the NDLEA spokesperson, said the agency does not have a position yet on the issue.
However, a staff of the agency who did not want to be named told PREMIUM TIMES that the NDLEA’s silence is due to their belief that since the suspect had been charged to court, she’s no longer under the agency’s purview.

Ms Meyer, who holds dual Nigerian-German citizenship, had accused Ms Phillips of intellectual property theft.

The two former business associates had teamed up years ago to establish ‘The Beverage Space,’ a website that focused on mostly alcoholic drinks.

But Ms Meyer, a former BBC journalist, said she was forced to pull the plug on the project after she became aware of Ms Phillips’ dark past.

She said her background checks on the woman who had been made the face of the brand showed that she was a fugitive.
Years later, Ms Phillips began her own website which she named ‘The Beverage Room,’ and Ms Meyer said it was based on the same ideas as ‘The Beverage Space.’

In a series of posts on social media, she explained that she was making a public disclaimer to fully dissociate herself from any business dealings she had with Ms Phillips in the past.

Since the scandal broke, repeated efforts to speak with Ms Phillips have been unsuccessful as she has neither picked her calls nor replied text messages.

She has also been rarely seen on social media where she, hitherto, participated actively before she was exposed as a fugitive.

Her only action on social media ever since was to remove all traces, on both her Facebook and Twitter accounts, of a working relationship with Mr Sanwo-Olu, whom she had actively campaigned for in the run-up to the election.