₦airaland Forum

A man believed to be mentally unstable has accused Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, of poor leadership, saying the governor must go to prison.

In a video trending online, the man described Okorocha as a hypocrite. He lamented over the state of some roads in Imo and alleged that the governor did nothing in eight years.

“I am not against Rochas, now we under hold-up, Weldral road, the suncity construction company that is handling Weldra, the road has been under construction for six to seven months now, no headway, the hold-up, the erratic bottle-neck traffic gridlock that is causing in this Weldra road is something that Nigeria as a whole should be concerned about,” he said.

“Rochas is a hypocrite, eight years in office he did nothing, now he’s trying to bring in some kind of modalities so that we’ll not send him to prison. Rochas is going to prison, he wanted to bring in Ogunba to cover up his atrocities, and will still be manipulating Ogunba against us, it cannot be, it cannot be. Solidarity continues, Rochas is going to prison, the second governor that will go to prison.”

Unlike the Juniper tree that grows across neighbourhood lawns and feeds the residents poisonous berries, Coca Cola Nigeria has offered its sturdy branches, fruits and all, to feed the governorship ambition of Babajide Sanwoolu.

Forget its apolitical posturing, Nigeria’s biggest manufacturer of carbonated soft drink , Coke, may have tacitly thrown its weight behind Sanwoolu, the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Lagos State. Believed to already enjoy strong political backing as the anointed of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which translated to his smooth victory in the primary elections, Babajide now enjoys institutional support. And rightly so too.

Ever since Coke started the much talked about “Share a Coke” campaign, thirsty fans across Nigeria have been clamoring to find their names on bottles of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke or Coke Zero. Some have struck gold, while others have left the store empty-handed. But Today, unlike other names, Coca Cola ‘shares’ his full campaign name, Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu. It has been celebration galore in the camp of Sanwoolu.

However, few days ago, precisely, November 18, the gloves went off for the 2019 presidential campaigns with the leading candidates of political parties unveiling their grandiose manifestoes. While the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, unveiled his controversial ‘Next Level’ roadmap, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, standard bearer, released a policy document that contains what he describes as his vision for a prosperous Nigeria under his campaign slogan, Get Nigeria Working Again. The presidential election holds February 16, 2019.

Conversely, campaigns for governorship and state houses of assembly are expected to commence December 1st in accordance with Section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) which states, “the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day.”

However, the APC candidate in Lagos, Babajide Sanwoolu, has loomed large in the state’s political horizon. All over the state, his in-your-face publicity materials loom large. He has also been making a lot of public appearances and meeting different stakeholders across the state all of which are elaborately reported in the media.

The story is not the same with his main opponent, Jimi Agbaje, of the PDP. Except for dour, uninspiring posters across negligible areas around the state, periodic posts on his social media pages and media interviews, a random sampling conducted by this newspaper indicates that Agbaje, a perennial aspirant, has carried on like he is not even interested in the campaigns.

Across social media platforms, questions continue to be raised about the preparedness or otherwise of Agbaje with not a few positing that he is allowing his main challenger too much grounds with his laidback and listless approach to a seat that has eluded him since he first came out in 2007, a time when many agree that he ran a beautiful and far-reaching campaign. At the time, he was just 50years old. Now at 61, is age fast catching up with Jay Kay as he is also known? Or, has he inwardly conceded defeat in a race where he is supposed to be the candidate to beat? The posers abound.

Another inside source said for now, Jay Kay is reaching out to friends and associates to raise funds for his campaign considering the mammoth war-chest of the APC. Though a successful businessman in his own right; add to that the fact that his immediate younger brother, Segun, is the Group MD of banking behemoth, Guaranty Trust Bank; the Agbaje campaign organisation needs billions of naira if it is serious about wresting Lagos State from the viselike grip of the APC, and, indeed, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Unfortunately, the source disclosed further that not much is being expected from the PDP which is concentrating efforts and resources on the presidential election. So, those who expressed fears about Agbaje’s ability to raise enough money to successfully prosecute his dreams are not wide of the mark. Despite the tottering, lethargic start, whether Agbaje would rev up his campaign machinery in the days ahead – billions or no – remains to be seen.

There has recently been a lot of dust raised on account of the call by Ms. Priti Patel, a former UK Secretary of State for International Development to investors to be wary of investing in Nigeria on account of the country’s woeful records of respect for contracts.
The Nigerian presidency has taken very serious exception to Ms. Patel’s “attack”, and understandably gone to town with stories that shows it’s wholly committed to the rule of law and demonstration of MEGA respect for contracts. The Government may probably not have taken things so seriously if national elections were not just a few weeks away and would not allow any “foreigner” paint it in bad light before those who are looking for any and every reason not to return the Government of the day to power.
Nigerian presidential spokesperson, Garba Sheu was quick to fire back to defend “Nigeria’s honour” by saying Ms. Patel’s proposition was wicked and lacking in substance.
To give strength to his defense, the spokesperson gave examples of the often touted successes of the PMB Government which include the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Payroll & Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and Bank Verification Number (BVN). It is however instructive to note that none of these initiatives was initiated by the PMB Government. The BVN initiative, by the way was an entirely-private sector conceived and funded initiative by Nigerian Banks when the Government-led National Identity project was taking forever. That is however a story for another day.
Garba Sheu’s response may however have further played the country into the hands of Ms. Patel and her ilks on account of the now stale hoarse repeat of the success PMB has made of TSA, IPPIS and BVN actually reflect the real issues Ms. Patel was trying to draw attention to.
It may therefore be interesting to draw attention to some not-so-interesting things about the abput some of the successes the PMB Government continues to pull out of the magic hat every time it wants to state its achievements in the anti-corruption realm.
1. PMB’S GOVERNMENT DENIED THE EXISTENCE OF TSA CONTRACT
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in November 2015 publicly on TV denied the existence of a contract for the provision of Technology services to for the FGN’s TSA scheme. It was with consternation Nigerian’s watched his red face when he was subsequently confronted by the Nigerian Senate with a 2011 and 2013 updated contract signed by the CBN for the provision of TSA Payment Gateway Technology.
The CBN’s governor lame excuse after the public show of shame was that the contracts were not brought to his attention when he resumed duties as the CBN Governor! Is this not sufficient grounds for Ms. Patel and her cohorts to gloat?
Do you think PMB knows about this?
2. PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON TSA CONTINUES TO BE IGNORED/SUBVERTED
Despite the continued claims of successful TSA implementation and its curbing of corruption by PMB’s Government, the presidential mandate for the full implementation of TSA continues to be flouted as different MDAs led by the ever creative and evil ingenious civil servants and their political backers have found back doors to escape the grip of the TSA.
This came to light at the recent house of Reps sitting on TSA where it was discovered that some MDAs were surreptitiously keeping government funds with commercial banks while some went into other arrangements under different guises to bypass TSA guidelines on disbursement and collection of government revenue. Some of these MDAs include Customs, Police, Immigration, FRSC, INEC, Some Federal Universities, etc.
More importantly, the House of Reps probe revealed that some powerful forces have continued to hold back the implementation of the forex component of the TSA and that the old order of high wired corruption still continues despite the 100% TSA success claims by the likes of the Information Minister and presidential spokesperson.
PMB is obviously unaware of this or do you think he knows and just turning a blind eye?
3. GOVERNMENT IS OWING OVER N16 BILLION OF TSA IMPLEMENTATION FEES
Nothing seems to validate Ms. Patel’s position more than the unraveling by the House of Reps Committee set up to investigate TSA operations that whereas PMB’s Government was celebrating TSA success from the rooftops, it had flagrantly refused to pay the Banks and contracted technology contractors who were providing services for a period of over two (2) years. As at the last check, according to a release by the Accountant General of the Federation, this was in excess of Sixteen (16) Billion Naira!
Who does that? You deny a contract. You later agree it exists. Then you go ahead to ignore its terms while enjoying services and then do not hesitate to tell anyone who cares to know that you’re a respecter of contracts and faithful in keeping your obligations. Who does public naming ceremony with the father of the bride in attendance without first paying dowry?
More worrisome is the unveiling at the House of Reps sitting of the fact that the president actually gave an order of the fees to be charged and instructed that all outstanding payments should be made but that some “powers that be” within the system (like the princes of Persia) have made this impossible until now.
This is surely a sad testimony of how Government should not be doing business. We simply do not need Ms. Patel to tell us this.
Definitely, PMB does not know there are civil servants and their backers who can and continue to defy his direct instructions. Who will tell the president that he does not know this?
4. GOVERNMENT HAS PUSHED THE COST OF TSA OPERATIONS TO CITIZENS
Most brazen of all which beats all imaginations is the fact that PMB may simply be unaware that the cost of TSA operations has now been pushed to citizens. Whereas the Government does not push the cost of software or its maintenance to citizens, the cost of maintaining the TSA system has now been pushed to already impoverished citizens.
Who does that?
Whereas on one hand, petrol subsidy which has nothing to do with Government operations continues to be borne by Government, it is unexplainable how citizens are now being forced to pay additional money anytime they want to pay into Government’s coffers. Is it that there was no budget for TSA implementation or that some people in Government have cornered the multi-billions allocated to it in the 2017 and 2018 budgets?
It would be nice to know how this indiscretion was presented to Mr, president (if at all) and under what influence he approved its implementation.
So should we assume PMB is unaware of the pains of the citizens and that is why he agreed that they be slammed this additional hardship?
5. NIGERIA IS NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT HAS IMPLEMENTED TSA IN AFRICA
The way this Government touts TSA, BVN and IPPIS at every turn you would think all these terms were first conceived and implemented in Nigeria of any other place in the world.
TSA is a prescription of the World Bank as an efficient cash asset management and many other countries have implemented it successfully without making any fuss.
One just hopes PMB is aware that countries like Rwanda, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia and even Ghana have implemented TSA and are benefitting from it without any noise.
Please who will tell PMB that Nigeria did not invent and does not hold a patent to TSA?

Ahead of the forthcoming general elections, indications have emerged that some governors and chieftains of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are working for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari. The governors, it was learnt at the weekend, have been meeting secretly with key government officials and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to plot strategies on how to deliver huge votes to the president in the 2019 general elections.

A competent source, who is privy to the arrangement, said that most of the PDP governors and leaders involved are those from the Southern part of the country and a few from the North, especially North-East where the PDP presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, hails from. According to the source, who prefers anonymity, PDP governors from the South-East and South- South are particularly unhappy with the choice of Mr. Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State, as running mate to Atiku for the 2019 presidential election.
The South-East governors had earlier fiercely opposed the Atiku/Obi ticket because they claimed it was against the promise, which the former vice president made to them prior to the national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The source confirmed to our correspondents that PDP has been unable to persuade most of their aggrieved governors to accept the Atiku/Obi ticket.

“I can authoritatively confirm to you that some of PDP governors are working for President Buhari. The concerns raised earlier by the governors that the zonal leaders were not consulted before the nomination of Obi is still much there.
“Some of these governors have also realised that it will be difficult to sustain the level of intervention, which the current government has made in the region, if another administration takes over power,” he said.

Similarly, some governors in the South-South, especially those seeking second terms in office, were said to be hobnobbing with the ruling party for selfsurvival. New Telegraph gathered that the plot is to concede the presidential election to the ruling party in exchange for a second term mandate in their states.

The main opposition party may also be in for more shockers except it is able to rein in some of its chieftains who participated in the last presidential primary but lost the ticket. Our source said that PDP should be concerned that some of these former presidential aspirants have retired to the background and have been too cold towards the activities of PDP since the convention ended in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Another source said that with the corruption allegations hanging around the presidential candidate of PDP, it is increasingly becoming difficult to market him to the electorate in the North where President Buhari is largely perceived as a man of integrity.

The source explained that in the South-West, there is the consideration that the Yoruba will be shooting themselves in the foot if they work against President Buhari who has their son, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as vice and running mate. New Telegraph sought the confirmation of the report from a top member of APC who said that in politics, nothing is impossible.

The party chieftain, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said it was PDP governors and party chieftains that were making overtures to the ruling party. “Overtures have been made. We are not the ones making the overtures. The PDP leaders are the ones making the overtures. The truth of the matter is that PDP is a divided house and there are many people there who do not like their presidential candidate; unlike in APC where there is no single governor or party leader that does not support the candidature of President Buhari.

“They may have their local problems, local politics, but there is no single person that does not support President Buhari. There is a unity of purpose and unanimity of determination to work for the candidate of our party. “But in their own case, they have a divided house, especially from the region where their vice presidential candidate comes from. They have made it very obvious by their body language.
Imagine on the eve of a major election year, you pack yourselves and go to meet the president to say ‘thank you for what you have been doing for us.’ “This is because for them, their personal survival and second term mandate is more important than their party producing the next president. They are in total disarray and it is for us to capitalise on it. “As for the president, so many factors are just conspiring to work in his favour because we don’t need to work too hard in the South-West to get them to support the president’s reelection.
They know that if they miss the opportunity of supporting him and getting the Presidency in 2023, it will take them another 24 years before it comes to them again,” he said.

However, National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, has described the insinuations by APC that some opposition governors were working for Buhari as an exercise in self-delusion. “APC and President Buhari are in self-delusion. Even all Nigerians are sick and tired of President Buhari and APC. Not a single PDP governor is campaigning for Buhari. It is just a rumour and it will remain as that,” Ologbondiyan said.

Meanwhile, the two major political parties, APC and PDP, have identified the Middle Belt as a possible decider for the presidential election and have launched clandestine moves to capture the votes of the region. As part of the broad strategies to swing the votes in their favour, both parties are said to have invested in many smaller political parties right at the point of the registration of these parties to ensure that they exercised control over them.

The major political parties also worked hard in pulling the right strings that produced their favoured candidates in these other parties. Although the forthcoming presidential contest is presumed a two-horse race and a straight fight between President Buhari and Atiku, there are at least 78 other presidential candidates flying the flags of other political parties. An insider in one of the political parties who has been following the developments confided in us that a good number of the presidential candidates across the fringe parties were moles of either PDP or APC, planted to play the spoiler game.

“Why do you think there are so many political parties and many presidential candidates? It is not for nothing; many of them are moles of the two dominant parties. They are in the race not just because of the plural nature of our politics, but hold ground and lock down some votes for their sponsors.

“Many of them you find in the Middle Belt are strategically positioned to galvanise local sentiments that could whittle down the influence of the major political parties,” he said. Ahead of the crucial elections, general permutation has been that Buhari and Atiku would mobilise massive votes from the North-West and North- East respectively, but would need to fight over the North- Central, which has always been a fallow ground for politicians of northern extraction.

We gathered that with the rather poor handling of the herdsmen/ farmers clashes by the Federal Government, the APC had been apprehensive that the electorate in the Middle Belt region which extends beyond the North Central geo-political zone and consists of minority ethnic nationalities across the North had been sufficiently provoked to cast protest votes against the ruling party.

“They know that with what happened in Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa and Kaduna states, the APC was losing ground to the advantage of its main rival, the PDP, hence, using smaller political parties with local figures as candidates could effectively divide the available and prevent the main opposition party from sweeping the polls in the Middle Belt,” the source said.
Source: New Telegraph

*Energy magnate receives honour across the seas

The cosmos never forget the daring and thrusts of the valiant. Through every epoch and every hour, his exploits persist, like a true vine ascending the sky on the bark of a sturdy pine. Thus for being a true man of valour and peerless feats, the universe celebrates billionaire businessman, Louis Ekere, Chief Executive Officer, Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Limited, an indigenous oil and gas company. For Ekere, this year, as all others, is a good year.

Here is another good news: At a colourful ceremony last Tuesday, November 20th, preeminent Nigerian businessman, Dr Louis Ekere, was conferred with the much-talked-about Doctorate Degree by Trinity International University of Ambassadors, Atlanta Georgia. The award is conferred on individuals deemed worthy, and who have great experience, knowledge and impact, doing great work at home and abroad.

Incidentally, the conferment of the award is coming on the heels of his recent graduation from the prestigious Harvard Business School. Driven by a passion for humanity, Dr Ekere is not new to awards and honours from all over the globe. An alumnus of the prestigious IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain and the Lagos Business School, he was recently awarded the Certificate of Merit by the US Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, United States of America (USA).

In his resolve to ensure Nigerians across every spectrum enjoys quality healthcare services, Dr Ekere recently opened the multibillion naira WellMed Healthcare Ltd, an indigenous healthcare company in Lagos that offers one-stop diagnostic solution services with state-of-the-art medical equipment including 1.5 Tesla MRI, 64-slice CT Scan, 4D Ultrasonography, fully digital X-ray, 3D Echocardiography, Resting and Exercise ECG and fully automated pathology laboratory with a menu of over 3,000 tests.

Apart from this, Dr Ekere is also involved in several philanthropic activities, the recent being the free medical testing on world Hepatitis Day, free medical outreach at Ajah, Lagos, and environs where residents were screened for chronic lifestyle diseases including diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

He has offered free high-end radiologic and pathology investigations including MRI and CT scan, hitherto unaffordable, to indigent patients of public hospitals including Massey Street Children’s Hospital, General Hospital, Lagos and Epe General Hospital. He has employed and sponsored indigenes of host communities where Homeland IOS Ltd operates amongst several other activities.

Culled: thecapital.ng

Taking the true measure of Forte Oil boss
The sting that exposed Farouk Lawan and cohorts


True words are not defined by the volume of a man’s voice, but by the consequence of his choices. Ask Femi Otedola. The billionaire magnate would never use gilded words to masque deceit neither does he brandish fickle principles and statistics to conclude with a false truth. Unlike many a rabble-rouser, who flashes documents to lock down evidence but never real facts to back their proof, Otedola has revealed the depth of decadence and negligence that aided and abetted corruption in the oil sector during ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan’s regime.

But he to achieve his aim, he did not spin tales out of thin air, neither did he attempt to cut through decency like a butcher’s knife; amid the clamour for better management of the nation’s oil sector, Otedola recently testified before an Abuja High Court Judge, laying the facts bare, about the massive corruption that afflicted the oil sector in the immediate past administration.

He revealed, among other things, how he painstakingly rebuffed overtures by the elements that be to bully and extort him. The Forte Oil boss alleged that he was the one that alerted former president Goodluck Jonathan to the fuel subsidy scam in 2010, even though he was later blackmailed by the house of reps committee that probed the fraud, he was saying the gospel truth, according to esteemed sources privy to the incident.

Otedola, while testifying at the Abuja High Court on Wednesday, as a prosecution witness in the criminal case against Farouk Lawan, who chaired the house probe committee, by the federal government stated that: “In 2010, being the chairman of African Petroleum Ltd and also the CEO of Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd, I realised that companies in Nigeria were claiming money for subsidy on petroleum products they never imported. When I saw how much was being stolen, I went to the then President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. I told him my observations. He told me later that he had consulted with the Minister of Petroleum and that there was nothing of such.

“I then reached out to Senator Bukola Saraki who raised the issue on the floor of the senate and thereafter, the house of reps set up the panel to investigate the allegation. The defendant reached out to me and I gave him the background information as to how the monies were being stolen. I gave relevant information to the ad hoc committee. I have two companies which are in the oil and gas industry which are AP and Zenon oil.”

Otedola, who owns Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd and Forte Oil (formerly called AP), told the court that when he informed Jonathan that many companies were collecting subsidy payments without importing any product, the president did not believe him.

The billionaire magnate alleged that the two companies had something to do with the defendant’s panel. “AP submitted to the committee documents regarding all the importations of the company. Mr Otaru, general manager AP, had direct contact with the defendant’s committee…On 18th of April, 2012, the defendant came to see me at my house in Abuja after the report of the committee had been laid before the house of reps in plenary.

“He told me that pursuant to what we discussed on phone while I was in the UK, he told me that he was going to indict Zenon Oil and Gas Ltd. He demanded for the sum of $3m USD to exonerate Zenon Oil. I said to him that why will he indict a company that does not import petrol but diesel. He said most of the companies indicted have paid bribe. I told him this is extortion.

“I was in Nigeria when the report was laid before the house of reps. I saw it on the television, NTA on the 18th of April 2012 and I saw that my company was listed as one of the companies involved in subsidy scam. I wrote a petition to the DG DSS to complain. When the report was laid, I was shocked and I had several calls from my international partners and my bankers.”

Otedola disclosed, that, it was after his petition to the DSS that a sting operation was set up against Lawan.

“After my petition to the DG DSS, I received a call from the DSS official, one Mr Caleb, who told me that they were going to carry out a sting operation. He told me that I would be provided with serialised USD to give to the defendant and they were going to install video recording gadgets in my living and dining rooms. About six operatives of the DSS did the installation.

“I was given 620,000 USD serialised dollars. After the report was laid on the floor of the House of Reps, the defendant called me that if I made $3million USD available, he would exonerate my company. I said to him that this is unfair to a country that has lost about the sum of N1trn to subsidy scam. I took the instruction of the DSS and I agreed to play along,” he said.

…As customer battles financial institution



For Sterling bank, it has become a case of one trouble to many as the financial institution continues to swim in the sea of controversies amidst financial fraud.

Sterling Bank led by Abubakar Suleiman is fast becoming safe haven for fraud as depositors have continued to lose huge sums of money to the new generation bank.

This time, the management of the bank we learnt is currently in a fix on how to deal with cases of alleged fraud levelled against its branch on Iju Road, Iju, in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Documents in our possession revealed that twice within a period of five months, millions of naira have been withdrawn from saving accounts with numbers 0000886683 and 0068955741 belonging to Providence Heights Secondary School Staff Welfare Association.

According to investigation conducted by our correspondent, on Thursday, 6 July 2018, a sum of N1,200, 000 was stolen from the saving account number 0000886683 by fraudsters probably working in tandem with some staff of the bank. The leadership of the association reported the theft to the bank management.

This newspaper further learnt that after the official complaint on the theft by the association’s leadership, the bank refunded N500,000 to the association. When the association sought for the balance of N700,000, the bank management refused saying the N500,000 it refunded was the one intercepted from the N1, 200, 000 initially stolen.

While the association was struggling to recover the N700,000 balance, there was an election to usher in new executive members for the association.

In order to prevent another theft saga, the new executive members opened a new saving account, 0068955741 with the same branch of Sterling Bank with new signatories.

But to the utter surprise of members of the association, we learnt that on Thursday, 1stNovember 2018, another N1, 700, 000 was stolen in several illegal withdrawals from the account.

We further gathered that the leadership of the association is not taking it easy with the bank; hence official complaint has been forwarded to the management of the bank while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has also been informed for necessary action.

It would be recalled that another customer, OHHA Microfinance Bank Limited recently accused Sterling Bank of defrauding it to the tune of N219 million.

The money was said to have been deposited with the bank by the microfinance bank with account number 0023325543 located in Enugu State.

All efforts to reach Mr. Dapo Martins, the chief marketing officer of Sterling Bank for the lender’s angle proved futile as calls and text messages placed across to his mobile line were not responded to as at press time.

The police say Michael Adikwu, principal suspect in the Offa robbery incident, slumped and died in detention.

Months after the report on the matter, Kamaldeen Ajibade, Kwara commissioner of justice, on Wednesday confirmed Adikwu’s death.

Following the confirmation, Senate President Bukola Saraki called for an inquiry into the development.

In a statement on Thursday, Jimoh Moshood, police spokesman, shed light on the circumstances surrounding Adikwu’s demise.

He said the senate president, who was indicted over the robbery, is not yet off the hook.

“Michael Adikwu was not murdered but slumped and died in detention while investigation into the Offa Bank Robbery was ongoing,” Moshood said.

“It is also important for the public to know that the deceased Michael Adikwu ‘M’ 30Yrs was not among the Five (5) gang leaders that indicted and implicated the senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, therefore, his death cannot in anyway vindicate Senator Bukola Saraki. There is a post-mortem examination result in respect of the death of Michael Adikwu ‘M’ 30Yrs.

“The indictment of the senate president, senator Bukola Saraki from the confessions of the five gang leaders namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery was not politically motivated as alleged by Mr. Yusuf Olaniyonu, special adviser (Media and Publicity) to the senate president, senator Bukola Saraki to the media, but purely criminal case.

“It should be of serious concern to all, that human life is sacrosanct and where investigation has been concluded and suspects arraigned in court.

“Judicial process must be exhausted and not hindered for the law to take its course in ensuring justice for the families of more than 33 innocent persons including pregnant women that were gruesomely murdered in cold blood by Michael Adikwu and the five gang leaders Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran arrested, investigated and currently standing trial for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery, than for any individual(s) or any group to attempt futile efforts and desperate distractions to pervert the end of justice is most unfair to the families of the deceased, the state and the society at large.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigerians are no longer interested in fake promises and false performance claims, now that elections are around the corner.

The PDP says the attempt by the Buhari Presidency to lure the South-East geo-political zones into supporting his second term fell like a pack of cards as the people have resolved not to follow any leader who can not deliver on his promises.

The party said President Buhari and the APC have been jittery since the Southeast and other geo-political zones across board expressed an overwhelming acceptance of the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, due to his proven competence, respect for equity and all-inclusiveness in governance.

Instead of accepting his failure, which is manifest to all, President Buhari, who is reputed for not fulfilling campaign promises, is busy making a fresh list of fake promises to Nigerians.

In this desperation, Mr. President fails to understand that the people of the South East, just like other Nigerians, are too sophisticated to fall for gimmicks, false promises and ethnic politics, and as such cannot be swayed from their resolve to rally with Atiku Abubakar to rescue our nation from the shackles of misrule.

Nigerians have since seen through President Buhari’s bouquet of failures and fake promises, which in any case, cannot heal the wounds of marginalization, nepotism, inequity, disregard for federal character principle and harsh economic policies, including obnoxious foreign exchange regulations and heavy taxations of his administration, which are killing businesses and plunging families into extreme poverty.

Nigerians, including those in the South East, know that President Buhari does not keep promises. They know that he has not fulfilled any of the promises he made during the 2015 campaign. As such, they cannot fall to the same old trick ahead of the 2019 general election.

Moreover, President Buhari is yet to apologize to the Southeast and other geo-political zones over his administration’s indictment for human rights violations, extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, arbitrary detention, torture and reported disappearances, as detailed in the reports by the United States Department of State, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI).

Instead of clutching on straws and seeking to beguile Nigerians with fake promises, blame game and false performance indices, President Buhari should come to terms with the fact that there is no way Nigerians can change their minds about voting in Atiku Abubakar as his inevitable replacement come February, 2019.

The PDP therefore commends Nigerians across board for their boldness in confronting President Buhari with his failures and their resolve not to be beguiled again in the 2019 elections.

A report published by Kemi Ashefon has revealed the alleged reason why popular fuji musician, Ayinde Marshall also known as KWAM1, doesn’t live with any of his wives in his multi-million naira mansion.

The singer who is known as the King of fuji lives alone with staff in his multi-million naira mansion which is located in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state.

It was gathered that the house which was intentioned to be a country home sits on a 1,800 square metres of land. It is said to be very close to the Ijebu-Ode Stadium.

According to the post by Kemi Ashefon, no woman lives in the house with the Fuji King. It was reported that he calls on his children and wives when he wants to see them. It was also stated that KWAM1 loves his privacy.

Kemi Ashefon’s source said: “KWAM 1 just loves his space to himself and would not want any woman to disturb or disrupt his activities. He loves his kids and care for them but he would rather have them stay with their mothers than living with him. Remember, he is a polygamist and having all his women and children in a place could be uncomfortable for him. He deals with his wives and kids the way he feels comfortable with and everyone is happy.”

The king of fuji must really love his privacy if he doesn’t stay with anyone except the staff in a mansion that is said to have four buildings in one. The main house is said to have about seven bedrooms, with five located upstairs and two downstairs.

It also has a dinning section coupled with three living rooms and a state of art gym with a recording studio. The main house is designed with about six Graeco Roman pillars.

The mansion also comes with a number of high grade bulletproof Swisstrade doors imported from Switzerland. The king of fuji has been a host to many dignitaries in his mansion that his designed to fit royals.

In March 2018, KWAM1 had tied the knot with on of his wives, Titilope Marsha, on his 61st birthday at a private ceremony in his mansion. According to the source, Titilope lives with her parents in Lagos and visits her husband from time to time.

“She lives with her parents in Lagos and visits Ijebu whenever her husband sends for her. There was a time he wanted to get an apartment for her on the Mainland but Titi refused. She would rather stay with her parents on the Island than live anywhere else. Alhaji (KWAM1) hardly allows Titi and her three kids in Ijebu but would rather send money for their upkeep. Though there are times she forces her way to be in Ijebu, K1 knows how to discharge her promptly.

He is a very meticulous man, who is also a very good cook. Pay him a visit in Ijebu and he would be the one to cook delicious meals for you. He cannot stand his house to be in disarray especially with little kids around.”

“The life of an entertainer cannot be check-mated by a woman. He could travel for many weeks and not be home. He could even leave home and not return until the next day.

How many women would allow that? There was a time he lived with one of his wives but Alhaji was not comfortable with the idea and started living in hotels instead. These woman eventually packed out of the house. He is an entertainer, he needs to be free of the encumbrances of marriage.”

Four years ago, when the mansion was newly built, it was reported that estate valuers estimated the cost of the mansion to be about N100 million.

The Union Bank has said that it’s new television commercial (TVC) tagged, ‘Enabling Success’ is aimed at rekindling the flame of hope in driving societal change.

The bank in a statement said that the commercial, a short film, beams spotlight on the Nigerian society highlighted the role various sector of the economy play in fighting corruption, decay and building a productive Nigeria.

It stated that the commercial challenges Nigerians not to lose hope or become a pessimist’ for instance, a doubting Thomas, instead, but to continue to believe in a better future and work towards it. It stated further that its decision to produce a wholly Nigerian TV commercial stems from the belief in Nigeria and Nigerians, and its support for Nigerian businesses.

According to Vincent Ajomiwe, Director Vinc Ventures, Lagos, who has watched the commercial said: “I do not bank with them, but the ad is simply a great commercial. It does not only focus on a single product attribute – songs sound better-the ad wraps the message up in an insightful manner.”

Stop using youths as thugs, Obasanjo tells politicians

“This is beautiful, it captures everything wrong with our nation while giving assurance of a better tomorrow, stated Eniola Adejumo.

A federal high court judge, Justice Babatunde Olaide Quadri is alleged to be at the centre of a property deal gone-sour in London.

The matter is now a pending fraud case at the Ibadan zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission where one Olaide Sanni was arrested and granted bail over the property transaction mess.

According to Sanni, Justice Quadri is a bosom friend of his who is frequent to his abode in London anytime he visits, adding that in 2012, the judge approached him of his intention to buy a property in London.

“Since I don’t deal in property business, I introduced him to an agent called Remi Akande who is known to be a property broker to help him with the transaction” Sanni said.

He narrated that Justice Quadri paid Akande the sum of one hundred and fifteen thousand (£115,000) through Divine Global Money transfer as deposit, promising to send the balance when he returned to Nigeria.

While the agent was waiting for the balance Sanni said, he didn’t get back to the agents only after several months when the judge decided that he would like to have a refund rather to go ahead with the purchase.

He said ‘It was in the midst of this entire crisis Justice Quadri flew to London to meet with the agent to get his money and I was told he got some while the agent promised to be paying him back installmentally’

“I was surprised when on August 30th EFCC arrested me and freeze my UBA account, I told them what happened and I was eventually released with a clause to report every Wednesday while my passports were seized. Now I can’t go back to work and suffering from what I genuinely don’t know anything about” he explained.

Reacting to the matter, the estate agent writes “I write to inform you that I did not owe Mrs Yemi Ariyo any money and we didn’t have any business transaction together .

Mrs Yemi was mentioned to me on phone conversation with my client (Justice Quadri) for the first time during the time of our dealings, as the senior sister to his wife from Ireland and just relocated to London, she visited my office once on behalf of my client and I explained the stage of the house he wanted to buy and as we are still waiting for the half of the fund since the last six months.

Also to inform you that Mr Olaide Lukman Sanni was not involved with any money or debt outstanding in this house purchase nor having anything to do with Mrs Ariyo through me, Mr Olaide Sanni is my friend and a friend also to my client, he just introduced him to me with a trust.

The fact here was that my client delayed the balance for the house he was trying to buy for seven months while his initial deposit was still with me, we lost the property after six months waiting by the vendor and her Estates Agent advised her to sell to a serious buyer. My client came back and we got another house in the area of his choice again where he met the vendor on one to one, he told us he was fully ready then and he will send the rest of the balance as soon as possible.

For us not to lose the second property after one month he left and for the pressure from vendor’s Estate Agent, I transferred the initial payment with me to the account of the our conveyance Solicitor Mr Jude Ogabi of Venus Solicitors, Old Kent Road London to forward it to the Vendor/ agent solicitor pending the time my client will send the balance, thus the solicitor advised that we need the full payment as the instruction from the vendor’s end, here we waited for another 8 months from July 2013 to March 2015.

It was this time my client requested that we should send the money back to him to use for another business as he still going to buy the house later. I called the conveyance solicitor then and he claimed as he was trying to take the money out of their account but there was a problem of money laundering with their firm and we should be patient as the deposit has been there for too long. When the pressure was too much from my client and Mrs Yemi Ariyo as his representative here , I paid £5,000 my own personal money to Mrs Ariyo’s account while still waiting for refund from the solicitor. I got the solicitor later and he told me that their firm got problem with some other things and they have closed down, he promised to refund the money back but up till today, I am still waiting, I have travelled to Port-Harcourt Nigeria twice to find him but all efforts were abortive.

My conclusion here is what I have told my client that as soon as I found Mr Jude their money will be refunded, or anything I can get I will pay them bit by bit pending the time solicitor refund the money as he has the major fault in this case”

All efforts to reach the judge proved abortive as calls to his phone were not answered non returned at the time of filling this report.

The 2018 edition of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) will be broadcast live on DStv and GOtv from Wednesday, 21 November to Saturday, 24 November. This was disclosed in a press release issued by MultiChoice. The festival, which is in its 5th year, will be held in multiple locations in Accra, its new host city till 2020. This year’s main event will be hosted by a trio led by Ghana’s polyglot MC Anita Erskine, Pearl Thusi from South Africa and US-based Ghanaian Actor/Comedian Michael Blackson.

The Awards will be screened live on DStv channel 196 to all DStv customers and on channel 29 on GOtv MAX and GOtv Plus. DStv customers across the continent can also stream the events live on the DStv Now app on their mobile devices as well. AFRIMA is the biggest music awards show in Africa with participation of over 700 artists across the continent.

“MultiChoice is proud to use the power of entertainment to connect our customers across the continent. We believe by sharing the magic of this award ceremony and its allied events with the world, we will not only be celebrating the rich musical diversity of our continent but supporting Africa’s creative industries into becoming a more vibrant, economic powerhouse,” said Martin Mabutho, Chief Customer Officer, MultiChoice Nigeria.

Other activities scheduled include the Africa Music Business Summit – a combination of musical conferences and trade expos which will bring stakeholders in the creative and arts industry together to discuss the business of music in Africa. There is also the AFRIMA Music Village, a music concert and cultural festival which will be aired live to millions of African music lovers across the globe via a network of over 80 broadcasters. The AFRIMA Music Village will witness live performances from African artists like P Square, Shatta Wale, Wiyala, Falz, Diamond Platinum and over 40 more African musical greats.

Nominees in the regional and continental categories are battling it out for the coveted AFRIMA 23.9 karat gold-plated trophy. The Regional Category, which consists of Best Female artistes and Best Male artists in the five regions of Africa features 79 nominees, while the Continental Category which honours exceptional work in different African music genres, boasts 260 nominees with both categories making up a total number of 339 music professionals and songs nominated for the 2018 edition of the continental awards.

Lawal Iyanda Farms Limited has demanded a refund of the contract sum of N40, 370,000.00 and N675, 000 per day said to be the daily loss production from Facco West Africa Limited.

Facco West Africa Limited had promised that all the components of 252 units of New Battery Cages (3-tiers) would be supplied to the farm within 10 days, but has failed to supply and install the items five weeks after they were fully paid for.

Its sister company, Agrited Nigeria Limited, had earlier reneged necessitating the renegotiation of the contract with the company.

Sola Adebayo, who made the demand on behalf of Lawal Iyanda Farms Limited, said he was compelled by the failure of the company to meet the deadline for the supply of the items.

He said: “Kindly recall that I indicated my interest in purchasing 252 units of New Battery Cages (3-tiers) from your company following the failure of a sister company, Agrited Nigeria Limited, to meet the deadline for the supply of the item.

“Following my telephone discussion with you that you can readily supply the cages because of the age of my birds, which were due for caging and the assurance emanating from your PROFORMA INVOICE that you can supply the 252 Units within 10 days, I requested for your company’s Account details which you duly forwarded to my Mobile Phone on September 26.

“I immediately repaired and adjusted the Four Poultry Pens, where the cages are to be installed in line with size and dimension of your product, having used that of Agrited Nigeria Ltd, initially to design the pens. This exercise gulped about N2.5 million.

“Simultaneously, payment of N40, 370,000 for the aforesaid 252 units of cages, into your company’s account, as given by you, POULTRY EQUIPMENT FACCO WEST AFRICA LTD- ZENITH BANK, 1010315274, in tranches, was completed on October 5.

“Your company made supply of few components of the cages into my farm, LAWAL IYANDA FARMS, Orerokpe, the headquarters of Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State, twice, on October 12, and 15, and subsequently disappeared. The supplies fell short of what was required to put the 252 units of cages together and that marks the beginning of nightmare.”

Adebayo said the entire 26,000 birds raised to be caged are dying in scores. “I have lost over 5,000 birds already and more are still dying, aside from loss of egg production. At 26 weeks, I should be doing about 75 per cent of their daily production, which is about 700 Crates.

“At prevailing price of N850 per crate, our daily loss in production is about N637, 000. I should earn this amount from the birds daily, for a period of 18 months. They are not producing eggs because they can’t in such environment. And this is understandable,” he added.

Emmanuel O. Uti and company, lawyers to Lawal Iyanda Farms Ltd, also petitioned the MD of Facco West Africa Limited on November 15, on the issue.

The petition which was signed by its principal partner, Emmanuel O. Uti, gave seven days ultimatum from the date of receipt of the letter for Facco West Africa Ltd to comply with its client’s demand.

The petition read in part: “Premised on the foregoing, we have our client’s mandate to inform your company to come retrieve the few components of cages already supplied (as they are yet to be installed).

“Take notice that, your company has on or within 7 (seven) days of its receipt of this letter, to comply with our client’s modest demand, lest we shall not hesitate to institute an action in court, against your company, claim for damages”

However, when contacted the company through Mrs. Abimbola Adelayo Ogunyale, said the cage parts to complete the installations got to Warri on Thursday but could not be delivered to the farm because the driver was not allowed to.

“He will deliver to the farm first thing in the morning (Friday). So, all battery cages have been delivered to the Farm, the company didn’t defraud Mr. Sola Adebayo as he claims,” she said.

Segun Sowunmi, the spokesman of Atiku Campaign Organisation, says Atiku Abubakar will only be in office for four years, after which he will hand power over to a young person, like Nelson Mandela did.

Earlier, Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had said if elected, he would serve for just one term.

Speaking with Osasu Igbinedion on The Osasu Show, Sowunmi said Atiku is willing and ready to sign a legal document that he will be president for just one term.

“On the one-term thing, I am being extremely honest with you. His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar was the one who said it himself, nobody forced him to say, nobody asked him to say, nobody pushed him to say it,” Sowunmi said.

“I think he said, if the foundations are laid well, one term is more than enough to get the country ready. And he is also probably reacting to the fact that he is hearing that young people are also eager to take charge of their own country.

“He is asking them, ‘okay guys, I hear you, you want to take charge of your country, you have the right to take charge of your country, but it is too divided now, and its a mess.

“Let me stabilise it for you, let me bring about 40 percent of you, men and women, so you can learn exactly the nuances; what it looks like from outside and what it looks like from inside are two different things.

“Come and learn, and after four years, I can do a Mandela. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, came out, he did four years, he did one term, and left power to a younger person, Thambo Mbeki, and the country is making progress.

“We have to get out of this idea that a nation is only going to be run on the integrity of one incompetent fellow.

“What he is saying is: ‘give me a legal document and I would sign it’. If you are too cynical to believe, if you bring that document, he would sign it.”

SOWUNMI: HOW NOT TO BE A PRESIDENT
Sowunmi said Nigerians no longer see four years as a long time due to the actions and inactions of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

“The reason why it has become almost difficult for anyone to believe that four years is a long time is because of the ineptitude of the present government. Six months no cabinet.

“One year, two years, they are still not facing the issues, if its not Jonathan today, its Obasanjo tomorrow. That is not how to be a president.

“You take the issues that you have to contend with, the ones you have serious issues with you put them towards the court process to go and deal with that but you face the new work that you are supposed to be doing.

“After four years, what are you going to tell the people? Are you going to tell them that you were voted in to give excuses?”.

The spokesman said Atiku’s policy document will be released in a few days.

Disney Africa announced the African launch of the Mickey the True Original campaign, joining the global festivities honouring 9 decades of Mickey Mouse, his heritage, personality and status as a pop-culture icon.

As 18 November 2018 marks 90 years since his first appearance in Steamboat Willie in November 1928, a series of world-wide celebrations will be taking place this year and Africa is no different.

The campaign will come to life with engaging content and events that embrace Mickey’s impact on the past, present and future. The local festivities kick off in earnest this month, leading up to Mickey’s 90th anniversary on 18 November 2018 and beyond. Mickey’s 90th Spectacular, a two-hour prime-time special, will be screened on M-Net 101 later this year. The elegant affair will feature star-studded musical performances, moving tributes and never-before-seen short films. Superstars from music, film and television will join the birthday fun for the internationally beloved character.

In addition, there will be special programming on Mickey’s birthday across Disney Channel (DStv, Channel 303), Disney XD (DStv, Channel 304) and Disney Junior (DStv, Channel 309, GOtv, 60).

“Binding generations together more than any other animated character, Mickey Mouse is the ‘True Original’, who reminds people of all ages of the benefits of laughter, optimism and hope. With his universal appeal and ability to emotionally connect with generations all over the world, no other character quite occupies a similar space in the hearts and minds of a global fan base and we are thrilled to be sharing these festivities,” ” said Christine Service, Senior Vice President and Country Manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa.

Mickey’s birthday is celebrated in honour of the release of his first theatrical film, Steamboat Willie, on 18 November 1928, at the Colony Theatre in New York City. Since then, he has starred in more than 100 cartoons and can currently be seen on Disney Channel (DStv, Channel 303) in the Mickey Mouse cartoon series and on Disney Junior (DStv, Channel 309 and GOtv, 60) in Mickey and the Roadster Racers.

An array of content to keep the family together during the festive season has been unveiled for GOtv MAX subscribers through a campaign tagged #FestiveTogether.

From Saturday, 17 November to Tuesday, 20 November, all active GOtv MAX customers will enjoy comprehensive coverage of African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers to be played across the continent on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the Super Eagles encounter with the Bafana Bafana of South Africa will be live at 2pm on SuperSport Select 1. On Sunday, the clash between Mozambique and Zambia will be aired live at 2:30 pm, while Liberia vs Zimbabwe will be on at 5pm on SuperSport Select 1. The clash between Ethiopia and Black Stars of Ghana airs at 2pm on SuperSport Select 2.

In addition to live sporting action, the Festive Season will also see subscribers enjoying cracking local movies and TV series. The family series, The Johnsons airs on 19 November at 8:30pm on Africa Magic, Flatmates airs on the same day at 7:30pm on Africa Magic Urban as does Sheroes at 7:10 on FoxLife. My Siblings and I airs weekdays at 7pm on Africa Magic Urban.

Movie fans are equally in for a bumper season with crackers such as Men in Black 1 and 2, which airs on 17 November and Sunday, 18 November at 7pm on BET respectively. London Has Fallen will air on 18 November at 7pm on M-Net Movies Zone.

Other exciting content for customers to look forward to this festive season include: popular international series such as The E! People’s Choice Awards, airing 19 November at 3am on E!, Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, Monday To Thursdays at 9pm on MTV Base, Dog and Beth: On The Hunt Starts airs 19 November at 07:40am, 12:15pm and 6:30pm on CBS Reality, Fast N Loud: Demolition Theatre will air on 20 November at 6:20pm on Discovery. International telenovelas on Telemundo and Star Life as well as other general entertainment programmes.

Kids are definitely not left out as Henry Danger airs weekdays at 5:55pm on Nickelodeon, Knight Squad, airs new episodes on 15 November at 3:10pm on Nickelodeon, Minnie’s Bow tunes airs weekdays at 05:55 on Disney Junior and I am Frankie airs weekdays at 7:10pm on Nickelodeon.

“The festive season is a great time for family and friends to come together, and we are making those moments extra special with world-class content on our platforms”. Said Martin Mabutho, Chief Customer Officer, MultiChoice.

Forget its apolitical posturing, Nigeria’s biggest financial services institution, the First Bank of Nigeria Plc, may have tacitly thrown its weight behind Adebayo Adelabu, the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Oyo State. Believed to already enjoy strong political backing as the anointed of Governor Abiola Ajimobi, which translated to his smooth victory in the primary elections, Adelabu now enjoys institutional support. And rightly so too.

A First Class accounting graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Adelabu was 39 when he became an Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of First Bank. It was from there, in 2014, that he was appointed Deputy Governor, Operations, at the Central Bank of Nigeria by former President Goodluck Jonathan. He resigned from the CBN to contest for the party’s governorship ticket.

While we could not independently verify the quantum of business the bank currently does with the state, what is irrefutable is that First Bank and Oyo State’s fates seem intertwined. At a point, one of the bank’s biggest customers was the late Ibadan-based billionaire businessman, Alao Arisekola. Conversely, the bank is fighting tooth and nail to recover Ariskeola’s reported indebtedness to the bank valued at over N8billion. That case is currently in court. Arisekola died in June 2014. There are more positives from Oyo State however.

Perhaps only First Bank of Nigeria can lay claim to having had two past chairmen of its board of directors being Oyo State indigenes. The Ibadan-born industrialist, Oba Otudeko, was chairman of the bank’s board of directors until 2010 when he retired. He currently serves as Group Chairman of the bank’s parent company, FBN Holdings Plc, a position he has held since 2012.

While Otudeko is royalty from Ibadan, Adelabu’s grandfather was a strong Ibadan politician and served as Nigeria’s Minister of Natural Resources and Social Services from January 1955 to January 1956. The older Adelabu is remembered for his profound understanding of the English Language which made his illiterate listeners misinterpret his ‘peculiar mess’ statement to ‘penkelemes’. So, between the governorship aspirant and Otudeko, there is the Ibadan root and the professional affinity.

Not forgetting also, Prince Ajibola Afonja, the Oyo Town-born former Minister of Labour under the Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan, who retired as Chairman of the FBN board in 2013. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Ariskeola was Adelabu’s godfather. And the younger man was very close to the illustrious family.

Inside sources are now claiming that FBN’s support for Adelabu may be hinged on two reasons – to help the Arisekola family in its repayment of its multi-billion naira loan; and perhaps, for solely running the state’s accounts. Either way, Adelabu winning the governorship election proper would be a win-win for the bank and the family.

Folarin Falana, Nigerian entertainer better known as Falz, says Nigerians are frustrated with the problems faced by the country and are getting to their breaking point.

In an interview with Africa’s Finest, a magazine by Guaranty Trust Bank, the ‘This is Nigeria’ singer said social consciousness is part of his brand.

“Socio-political consciousness has always been in my music. Initially, that consciousness wasn’t very pronounced because it was laced with a lot of humour because before the time of ‘This Is Nigeria’, there were tracks like ‘Senator’, ‘My People’ and ‘Wehdone Sir’. So, yes, consciousness has always been a part of my brand,” he said.

“Everyone has a breaking point and I think Nigerians are getting to that point – we’re quite frustrated with the millions of problems we’ve been facing.
So, now we want to see something different, we want to see a change which means that the perfect time to talk about it is now.”

Describing an apathy towards political issues among the youth, Falz said Nigerians can’t afford that mindset if they want the country’s development.

“There is a serious need to eradicate apathy, especially with the youth. When you talk about politics, a lot of young folks could care less
but I feel that if we all want to see that Nigeria that we dream of, the one with a bright future, then we can’t afford to have that sort of mindset,” the University of Reading trained lawyer said.

“People usually steer clear of these topics because they’re quite sensitive issues and they want to be careful. However, I feel it is important to talk about them because if we don’t, we’re just going to keep sweeping the dirt under the carpet.

“We need to talk about these things in order to let the culprits know that they’re actions are unacceptable and that there are consequences.”

By Bolaji Falola



About a decade ago, the prospect of Nigerians enjoying world class digital terrestrial television remained an elusive dream as the country trailed behind other developing and developed nations in this area. Memories and experiences of television, outside premium pay TV offerings, were limited to the provision of outdated programming by public and private terrestrial broadcasters which was in turn hindered by sub-par audio-visual quality and production values.

In 2011, however, all of that changed in Ibadan, the birthplace of African television, as the nation was put on the right track with the launch of GOtv which also premiered the advanced DVB-T2 digital broadcasting standard. This guaranteed premium grade audio-visual quality and at the same time, showed readiness to lead the country’s march towards digitization.

A whole new vista was opened as the ease of GOtv hardware installation made it an instant hit among subscribers, with the service currently available in over 50 cities in 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory. While people like me, who rarely operate anything more complex than the zipper on my trousers, had to call in installers, those with most basic familiarity with technical stuff had no problem installing the hardware, as it required no satellite dish.

A greater part of GOtv’s appeal to customers, however, lies in its impressive channel line-up, programming and of course, affordability. Available to GOtv subscribers are the best of the Spanish and Italian football leagues, La Liga and Serie A, what industry pundits would refer to as big ticket content! In addition, the platform boasts of top-tier local and international channels and programmes available on its sister platform, DStv. Also available are local terrestrial television stations popularly referred to as Free-to-Air (FTA) channels. In line with its desire to be innovative, the platform was also the first DTT service provider to carry audio channels, when it added Wazobia FM and Naija FM to its video channels.

GOtv’s operations in Nigeria over the years have been incredibly impactful, with an array of channels broadcasting news, movies (local and foreign), hit television series, children’s entertainment, documentaries, sports and other programming genres; these channels have continued to grow in number as the packages on the GOtv platform have also grown to accommodate new and existing viewers. From a single package in 2011, GOtv now offers four packages namely GOtv MAX, GOtv Plus, GOtv Value and GOtv Lite, with the last offering customers flexible payment plans of N400 monthly, N1, 050 quarterly and N3, 100 yearly. GOtv MAX, the platform’s fattest package with over 65 world class channels, now costs N3, 200 monthly.

But beyond affordability, ease of access and use for viewers, what does the seventh year of GOtv’s operations mean for the Nigerian broadcast industry, especially with fast changing TV consumption habits and the race for a global digital switchover? From a policy standpoint, GOtv’s operations contribute to Nigeria’s digital switchover which in turn substantially buoys the country’s GDP.

With a population over 180 million people and a TV penetration of just about 2.5 million digital TV homes, the potential is endless and GOtv continues to serve as template for the effective implementation and deployment of quality, feasible and scalable advancements in DTT provision that meets global broadcast standards whilst spurring local creative, technical and entrepreneurial sectors, industries and economies.

The impact of GOtv can also be seen in the celebration and promotion of our local content industry. With three channels devoted to broadcast in the country’s three major languages have come bigger investments in acquisition of local creative content, the result of which has been a spike in the patronage of producers. Along with this has come the exposure to other cultures in the country via the hugely popular Africa Magic channels. This, I have to say, would have been much slower without a platform aggregating diverse indigenous language content and giving producers an outlet for their craft.

The increased demand for local television content certainly has economic implications, which manifest in the ability of content creators to retain personnel, hire more and are encouraged to raise production standards. Content creators are by no means the only category to have been empowered in the seven years GOtv has been with us.

Through a variety of skill impartation and entrepreneurship schemes, GOtv has created thousands of employment opportunities for Nigerians. This, notably, has seen young men and women trained and hired sales canvassers, installers, retailers and maintenance personnel, called GOtv Sabimen, who move from door-to-door to resolve technical issues and customers’ complaints. According to a Deloitte report on MultiChoice’s Economic Impact in Nigeria (2017), there are 2,937 Sabimen while there are also thousands of installers, retailers and tens of dealers.

Another major impact of GOtv can be gleaned from its efforts to develop Nigerian boxing through GOtv Boxing Night. The event, which started in 2014, was conceived to rescue the sport from the pit of near-irrelevance it slipped into for about two decades.

Now in its third year, GOtv Boxing Night has remade the sport locally and won admirers around the continent, where it is beamed live to audiences in 47 countries. The event has made previously unknown Nigerian boxers local and continental superstars and rekindled domestic interest in the sport. Nigerian boxers currently earn about ten times what they earned pre-2014, with the sweetener of between N1million and N2.5million given to the best boxer at the event.

Their rankings by regional, continental and global boxing organizations have similarly taking a leap because they get regular opportunities to fight and build their fight records unlike before when they endured a two to four-year hiatus between fights. The future, from all indications, is pregnant with positive developments, which Nigerians and indeed Africans are on the lookout for.

Diamond Bank Plc has denies any talk of Access bank to acquire it assets

In a statement made available to TheMomentNG, the lender said they are not in discussions with any financial institution at the moment on any form of merger or acquisition.

THE STATEMENT FULL:

PUBLICATION ON NEWS MEDIA: PURPORTED TALKS FOR ACCESS BANK PLC TO ACQUIRE DIAMOND BANK PLC

“The attention of Diamond Bank Plc (“the Bank”) has been drawn to the rumour in the media stating that the Bank is purportedly in discussions with Access Bank Plc to acquire the Bank.

“We wish to state categorically that the Bank is not in discussions with any financial institution at the moment on any form of merger or acquisition.

“We trust that the above clarifies the position of the Bank with regards to the rumor on the various media platforms.”

The canard that the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, was arrested, detained and granted administrative bail by the Department of State Services (DSS), after a nine hours interrogation was on Saturday, dismissed by the former governor of Edo state.

Oshiomhole who spoke with editors in Lagos averred that he saw DSS once and had conversation with them. “It was not an arrest or detention,” he said.

His words, “The conversation centered around APC primaries. The question now is whether or not it is the DSS job to interfere in a political party’s issues. And if there’s an allegation of corruption, it is the responsibility of EFCC and ICPC.”

Speaking further, Oshiomhole dismissed the rumor that DSS rescheduled another meeting with him, as reported by some media.

Similarly, the APC chairman said he was not released on administrative bail, adding that Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, did not come to pick him up from the DSS office. “I was the one who called Yahaya Bello and he came but I drove home in my own car.”

Reacting on the Peoples Democratic Party’s call to arrest him, Oshiomhole said, “What would they have said if it was the PDP chairman that was invited by DSS, for instance over the dollar bazaar at their Port Harcourt primary?

“They would have said democracy is under threat and would have fired a letter to the UN as they often ridicule themselves.”

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says there is a need to reform Nigerian banks for them to meet up with the inevitability of the Fintech revolution.

Speaking at the ongoing first ever Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg on Thursday, the Osinbajo said there are no plans to take the banks’ lunch, but the banks have to reform to survive.

He said the “Fintech companies, as you know, are challenging some of the old laws on banking and all of that”.

“The major issue is that technology is clearly going to disrupt the financial space, and is doing so already, so banks have to reform,” Osinbajo said.

“They have to invest in some of the Fintech companies themselves, and they have to see this revolution as inevitable.

“I think that what we are seeing today is the reform around that space, and many of the banks are looking up and understanding that this is going to happen, and it’s already happening”.

He, however, allayed the fears of the banks by saying the government is, and will, work with them, the regulators, and the Fintech companies to ensure development in the sector.

“I think the first thing is to allay the fears of the bank that lunch isn’t being taken away. Banks, of course, are jittery about some of what is happening in the Fintech space,” Osinbajo added.

“They need to be assured that this isn’t about taking their lunch but that we cannot avoid what is coming to us now.

“What we are saying is that payment system, lending, all sort of financial systems, even insurance are happening much faster.

“So we have to change regulation and we must ensure that we give space to these tech companies because what is happening is that there is a quick convergence between technology and financial products.

“So much faster than many of the banks are able to cope with, so what we are trying to do is work with the banking system, the Central Bank of Nigeria for example, we are sitting with the Fintech companies, banks, and the telcos.

“The telcos are in this space now and many of them are challenging some of what used to be traditional banking businesses.”

Osinbajo, who spoke alongside the presidents of Ghana, Guinea, and South Africa, on the presidential panel in Johannesburg, acknowledged that there is a regulatory challenge in the financial space.

The organised labour has reiterated its resolve to go ahead with its proposed nationwide indefinite strike and other industrial actions on Tuesday, November 6, 2018; saying it will be a total shutdown of the country.

The labour unions said at the end of their meeting in Lagos on Friday night that the only thing that can prevent the strike is an immediate commencement of implementation of the N30, 000 national minimum wage agreed upon by the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiating Committee.

The labour unions in a communique issued by the Joint Central Working Committee (CWC) of all registered trade unions in Nigeria, further advised Nigerians to start stocking food and other necessities of life “as workers will ensure a total shutdown of the country.”

The communique was signed by the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, mni; President of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Bala Bobboi Kaigama and President of United Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajero.

It reads in part: “The Joint CWC advises Nigerians to start stocking food and other necessities of life as workers will ensure a total shutdown of the country.

“In lieu of this, the Joint CWC has directed all affiliate unions, state councils, civil society allies, the informal sector and other friends of workers and lovers of democracy to commence immediate mobilization of their members for a total shut down of the country from November 6, 2018.”

The unions similarly condemned government for its design/plan to clamp down on Labour via selective and erroneous invocation of the ‘no work, no pay” clause in the Trade Disputes Act, noting that the right to strike is both a human and trade union right and cannot be abridged as it is what distinguishes a worker from a slave; “there is nothing new about this clause as it has been in our statutes for over forty years.

“Finally, the Joint CWC urges every worker in Nigeria and our allies in the civil society to remain steadfast and unwavering in our collective quest for justice for ourselves and for the masses of our people. Organised Labour will not be cowed or deterred from fighting for our rights by any frivolous and mischievous court action and processes.

“In line with our resolve to ensure total compliance with the nationwide strike action, the Joint CWC also directs that the strike action of November 6, 2018 should be complemented by daily picketing by workers all over the country.

“Furthermore, we call on the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to resist mounting pressure to recant their stand on the N30, 000 agreed new minimum wage. We believe that the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), a reputable body that represents organised employers, will always stand by the truth,” the communiqué concludes.

Meanwhile a civil society organsation, Network for Accountability and Transparency Crusade, has called on the organised labour to respect the court order restraining it from going ahead with the strike.

The group in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Dr. Roland Giwa noted that they there were allegations that the intended strike was politically motivated.

While urging labour leaders to rise above such personal interest and return to the negotiation table, they maintained that government has indeed put forward tangible explanation why the N30,000 minimum wage demanded by the labour unions was not feasible due to the precarious state of the nation’s finances.

According to the statement, going by its antecedents as a pan Nigerian organisation, organised labour should be the last group ever to disobey a valid court order in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world, and should therefore jettison the intended plan to defy a valid court order.

“The organised labour in Nigeria has been known to stand for truth. They have been known to protect the interest of workers in general and not a select few. At the risk of portraying the organised labour in Nigeria as a dictatorial organisation, and one with contempt for the rule of law, the labour leaders at the negotiating table should not allow the smell of filthy enticement make them lose their sense of dignity and that of the millions of workers that they represent.

“The Nigerian workers have been subjected to untold hardship over the years, and to think that the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has introduced measures towards alleviating their hardship should be commended and encouraged instead,” the group said.

A journalist with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria on Friday jumped into the lagoon from the third mainland bridge in Lagos.

The yet to be identified reporter was said to have alighted from a commercial bus conveying him and some of his colleagues to work and dived into the lagoon immediately.

Witnesses said he had pretended that he wanted to ease himself.

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos state police command rushed to the scene immediately but could not rescue the reporter.

The corpse of the deceased was later retrieved through the support of local divers.

His body has reportedly been taken to Ebute Ero police division.

Kehinde Adebayo, spokesman of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), told TheCable that efforts were being made to transfer his corpse to the mortuary.

He said the agency would soon issue a statement on the development.

Last year, Allwell Oji, a medical doctor, ended his life by diving into the lagoon from the bridge. There have been different cases of suicide on the bridge which connects the mainland part of the state to the island.

Testifying before the Kano state House of Assembly, Ganduje said the allegation labeled against him are false and injurious.

Ganduje said the video clips released by the publisher of Daily Nigerian, Mr. Jafar Jafar was aimed at tarnishing his image politically.

Speaking on behalf of the Governor, the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Muhammad Garba, said he was at the assembly Complex to represent the governor due to the options provided by the committee in its letter.

The Governor, in a document presented before the committee, denied collecting bribe from contractors as alleged in the video clips by the publisher of the online Newspaper.

According to the document, the Governor stated that such had never happened with him and will never happen even in the future time.

The Governor, in the letter, called on the public to discard such allegations saying it never happened. He also called on such publishers as Jafar to “avoid such publications that can tarnish the image of leaders.”

“Such untruth publications was done to the Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammad Sanusi the II and also to the former Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau”, Ganduje said in the document.

Also commenting on the issue, the Commissioner of Justice, Barrister Ibrahim Mukhtar and also the State’s Attorney General, commended the way and manner the committee is handling the issue by given fair hearing to the both parties.

According to him, the Governor has options as stated in the letter presented to him on the invitation, as the committee gave an option that he could send a representative or send a written document as provided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Baffa Danagundi commended the representative of the Governor for honouring the committee’s request.

Danagundi said the committee will thoroughly watch the video on Tuesday in the presence of the representatives of both parties but not publicly.

It could be recalled that the state House of Assembly, under the leadership of Alhaji Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, constituted the committee on October 15 to establish the authenticity of the videos. A

n online newspaper, DAILY NIGERIAN, had, on October 14 and 15, exclusively published two videos showing Governor Ganduje allegedly receiving bribes in dollars.

Consequently, the publisher/editor-in-chief of DAILY NIGERIAN, Jaafar Jaafar, testified before the committee on October 15, where he insisted that the videos were genuine and expressed readiness to swore by the Quran to that effect.

The three paragraphs letter sent to the governor titled “invitation to respond to an allegation of bribery against H.E Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had requested the governor to appear today, Friday.

Nigeria’s oldest financial institution, First Bank of Nigeria Limited is currently in a financial mess.

We can authoritatively reveal that N11.4b has been recently wired away from depositors account by what seems like an internal conspiracy among branch manager of Murtala Mohammed Way, Benin City Mr. Solomon Obode, some ICT heads in the Bank’s Head quarters in Lagos.

Others who lost their jobs as a result of the massive fraud are Mrs Okao who was the former branch manager of MM branch and now branch manager of Mission Road Branch of First Bank in Benin City, Emmanuel Akpaka, a marketer with MM way branch.

Information exclusively obtained revealed that the relationship officer in charge of the fraud account has absconded with his family members with a total of $2m no sooner the fraud was perpetrated.

Others who were dismissed are Business Development Management, Benin 2 who functioned as the Area Manager.

Information at our disposal reveals that the fraud may have been agreed on and executed with the collaboration of those at the helm of ICT department in their Headquarters. It followed what looked like a hack on the bank’s payment channel.

“It was well planned and executed. The MM way branch was the platform that was used to execute it. It is possible that it was well planned and executed as the payment channel was erased immediately after the money was wired, indicating a conscious collaboration”.

Meanwhile, the bank echelons are making frantic efforts at covering the fraud since it might spell doom on them and further erode customers and shareholders confidence. The source claimed that there have been in the recent past silent diversions and fraud which comes like writing off loans running into billions of naira, especially from those who have a relationship with the top management of the bank and silent shareholders who use proxies.

“This is just one of the frauds silently rocking the bank. Each time it happens, there seems what could be termed a conspiracy of silence and that could have what stirs the new fraud”.

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he cannot mortgage his conscience to keep his job.

The national chairman said this while briefing state house correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.

While answering questions on the crisis rocking the party from the recently concluded primaries, he said only three APC governors were not happy with the way he was running the party while others are rest assured that he is doing his best.

The national chairman said he would rather listen to his conscience than give in to pressures and do what is wrong.

Oshiomhole said it is only in Nigeria that 10 aspirants will compete for one seat, one person wins and the other nine will wonder why they did not win.

“Let me say that if there is a choice between my conscience – what I believe is right and mortgaging that conscience in order to keep the job, I will have no difficulty resolving it in favour of my conscience,” Oshiomhole said.

“And those who know me know that at my age, I cannot learn new tricks. I am absolutely committed to justice, fairness, I am a stickler to enforcement of rules; because the source of relevance is derived from rules. I have lived my life fighting for justice and fairness.

“Three governors are not particularly pleased with the outcome of the primaries in their states.

“These are internal family issues; they are my friends, and that is important, even in moment of distress, that friendship is I want to believe is enough to help us to build a reconciliation.

“There is no running away from the fact that we are the governing party who has a higher stake; we are the one in the news; if we were in the stock market, our shares would have increased considerably.

“So, it is not surprising that there is some disquiet but I remain a friend to this governors, I respect them; I appreciate them for the fact that but for their support, I will not be chairman and you don’t go stepping on toes of those who helped you to get into position.”

Dangote Oil Refinery Company (DORC) says the 650,000 barrels per day refinery has been designed to process a variety of light and medium grades of crude and produce extremely clean fuels that meet Euro V specification.

Sulphur in petroleum fuels results in vehicle exhaust emissions that have negative impact on health and environment. Nigeria has continued to remain a home for fuels with very high sulphur contents (dirty fuels), and the presumed ban on such products happens not to be having any effect.

Speaking on Promoting Efficiency & Clean Fuels in African Refining and Petrochemicals Market at the Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) conference in Lagos on Tuesday, Dangote’s Group Executive Director, Devakumar Edwin, said
Dangote Refinery is investing in most advanced units to produce Euro V fuel due to help Nigeria meet the European Standard of gasoline.

Edwin, who was represented by Director Business Strategy & Optimization, Dangote Refinery, Mr. Srinivas Rachakonda said that the construction of the Refinery will provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add value to the Nigeria’s economic development.

He noted that the Refinery will lead to significant skills transfer and technology acquisition opportunities in the country.

He said the Group has embarked on a landmark integrated Refinery and Petrochemical project, regarded as the largest industrial complex in the history of Africa, which is expected to take Nigeria to new heights through transformation of the economy.

According to him, the Refinery will ensure that the security of local supply of petroleum products is guaranteed as well as the availability of petrochemical feedstock (Poly-propylene & Polyethylene), which will be enough for the Nigerian market as well as the neighboring countries. In addition to Polypropylene Polyethylene, the Refinery will also produce Carbon Black feedstock and Sulphur.

With a fast-growing population and poor infrastructure, he said the refinery will also reposition Nigeria as an attractive investment destination and a major industrial hub in Africa.

He disclosed that the company has also invested in the East West Offshore Gas Gathering System (EWOGGS) project, which is expected to unlock significant gas supply and help to reduce gas flaring in Nigeria. The first phase is expected to deliver gas for the use of Dangote Industries, including the proposed fertiliser plant in the refinery complex, and other identified industrial and power plant users.

Speaking during the session, former Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Reginald Stanly, said Dangote Refinery is going to be a game changer for the entire African downstream industry.

He condemned the continuous importation of dirty fuel into the country. “Emission is the highest killer today in Nigeria. I commend Dangote Refinery for its decision to produce Euro V specification of gasoline. Dumping of toxic fuel in the country is not acceptable, the earlier they stop it, the better for us,” he added.

He urged Major Oil Marketers to retool their strategies to remain in business when Dangote refinery finally comes on stream.

Giving his welcome address, Chairman, OTL Africa Downstream, Mr. Emeka Akabogu, said recent market tendencies have shown appetite for some categories of investment in the downstream value chain.

Akabogu noted that there have been considerable investments in retail outlet development, marine logistics platforms and storage facilities across the country, while several refinery projects that aim to balance the discrepancy caused by inadequate refining capacity on the continent are currently underway.

He said other emerging developments, issues bordering on regulation of the industry and independence of the regulators themselves have also received the attention of stakeholders.

However, he added that policy development and implementation have not kept pace with the urgency of industry needs and the appetite of market operators.

Speaking on the impact of the conference, Akabogu stated: “This year’s event will further empower African oil and gas companies to harness the economic potential of the downstream sector in areas ranging from crude oil value addition to refining, to development of critical supply infrastructure across African States. Issues to be discussed include prospects for refining in Africa, finance for downstream trading and infrastructure projects, regional cooperation, mergers, takeovers and lots more. We will also see discussions on the sector’s disruptive influences, the rising profile and application of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) across the continent, as well as renewable energy”.

The Nigeria Para-powerlifting Federation (NPPF), has disclosed that all is now set for the unveiling of Logo and Mascot for the 2019 World Para Powerlifting Championship.
The president of the Federation, Queen Uboh, told newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday that the federation is prepared and ready for the unveiling which is billed to take place on Thursday, 2 November, 2018 at Oriental hotel and suite.
“This is in preparation towards the 2019 World Para Powerlifting Championship which we won the right to host come January 2019, we are ready for the unveiling of the logo and mascot”.
“We employ lovers of the game to come and support this and together we can put smile on the faces of this disabled athletes who have found ability in disability,” Queen Uboh said
The president commended the efforts of Peak Milk for providing a world class facility in Lagos for the para-power athletes to train, and appealed to other corporate organisations and state governments to support NPPF.
She called on the sport ministry, state government and corporate organisation to contribute and uplift the game of powerlifting and also think of a better welfare package for the athletes after retirement.
She revealed that her priority was to make sure when these athletes are no longer active, they have something to fall back to and call their own.
It would be recalled that the six athletes that represented the country in the powerlifting events of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, each clinched a medal, returning with a total of six medals.
Also, Esther Oyema set a new world record after securing a lift of 131kg.
Uboh added: “Most stakeholders in the country do not really care and think about this disable athletes who even with their condition continue to make this nation proud anytime then have the opportunity to represent their father land.
“In the last Olympic games in Australia they make sure the nation anthem was heard, even where the able bodied athletes couldn’t succeed.
“We went with only six athletes to Gold Coast and each of them came back with a medal. If we had presented more than six athletes we would have won more medals.
“So, the athletes are ready for the tournament come January 2019,” she added.

Five thousand African entrepreneurs, private and public sector leaders and the broader entrepreneurship ecosystem convened in Lagos on Thursday, October 25, 2018 for the annual Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) Entrepreneurship Forum. The event which is the largest gathering of African entrepreneurs in the world, is a unique opportunity for bringing together young business talent, creating dynamic networks and transmitting the message to policymakers that a vibrant and responsible private sector will deliver economic transformation.

Now in its fourth year, the Forum marked the graduation of the 2018 cohort of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, following a rigorous nine-month period of training, mentorship and funding, which brought the total number of beneficiaries of the Programme to 4,470, with over 300,000 applications received to date.

One of the highlights was the unveiling of TEFConnect, a revolutionary digital community that brings together the complete entrepreneurshipecosystem across Africa and beyond, including entrepreneurs, investors and the broader business community on one platform, connecting them digitally with three vital elements for success – capital, market and business tools. Africa is riding a wave of rapid technological driven change in payment systems, education, agriculture and infrastructure and TEFConnect fulfills a critical role in linking entrepreneurs across the continent.

Commencing with a series of goodwill messages from key stakeholders in the investment, governmental and development communities, the event featured a pitching competition, panel discussions, as well as a vibrant interactive session between His Excellency, President Nana Akufo-Addo and the entrepreneurs, moderated by TEF Founder, Tony O. Elumelu. It also featured a session on the role of the private sector in the economic development of Africa with Dr. Awele Elumelu, TEF Trustee, Founder, Avon Medical and Gavi Champion for Immunisation in Africa; moderated by CNNMoney Africa Correspondent, Eleni Giokos. Parminder Vir, CEO, Tony Elumelu Foundation also unveiled the TEF Impact Documentary, featuring success stories of the Tony Elumeluu Entrepreneurs.

Tony Elumelu reiterated his commitment to championing Africa’s economic development by supporting and training a new generation of entrepreneurs, whose successes can transform the continent, delivering opportunity, job creation and social impact. ‘Africa’s future is in African hands’ he stated.

“Our Foundation and its unique approach of training, mentoring and funding has proven that entrepreneurship is the key to unlocking economic transformation of our continent. I believe so strongly that success can be democratized and if we can match ambition to opportunities, this extraordinary generation can achieve anything,” said Tony Elumelu. “With TEFConnect, we have created a tool, that provides a digital platform to host ideas, champion success and demonstrate Africans ability to use the most advanced technologies to take charge of their economic destinies.”

His Excellency, President Nana Akudo-Addo of Ghana underlined the importance of galvanizing the broad entrepreneurship eco-system, calling on public sector representatives to encourage, support and replicate the work of the Tony Elumelu Foundation in their respective regions.

Speaking on the importance of putting the right policies in place, President Nana Akufo-Addo said: “Nothing is changed or developed on its own. People must get up, speak, have discussions and change the dialogue”.

Since its inception, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has empowered African entrepreneurs across the continent with a $5,000 non-refundable seed grant, a bespoke training programme designed specifically for the African environment and access to a dedicated group of mentors, significantly contributing to economic growth, job creation and revenue generation

The Forum was attended by key players in the private and public sector including Governor, Kebbi State, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu; Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Mohammed Abdulahi Abubakar; President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nike Akande; Former Governor, Cross River State, HE Donald Duke and Former Governor of Anambra State, HE Peter Obi, among others.