Olubunmi Odumusi Dies After Swearing-in As Ogun Permanent Secretary

A permanent secretary in the Ogun State civil service has died barely 48 hours after being sworn into office.

Mrs. Olubunmi Odumusi died in her sleep on Friday night, her family said. She was 57.

Relatives said she died after a prolonged battle with cancer, after being at treated local and foreign hospitals at a huge financial cost.

Mrs. Odumusi, a journalist, joined the civil service and rose the position of director in the state Ministry of Information and Strategy.

She was in the United States of America for medical treatment when she received the news of her promotion as Permanent Secretary. She flew back to attend the inauguration and attended the event on wheelchair on Thursday.

As news of her passing spread Saturday, sympathisers thronged the family home at Sam Ewang Estate in Abeokuta.

Her heartbroken husband wept, clasping the body of his departed wife. The body was later taken to the Neuro Psychiatric Hospital.

A family source said Mrs. Odumusi went to bed on Friday, but failed to wake up in the morning.

Reacting to the death, former Governor Gbenga Daniel praised Mrs. Odumusi as a “gem” and said she was very hardworking in his administration.

”I join others in commiserating with the families of Mrs Olubunmi Odumusi. I have a vivid recollection of her as one of the very hardworking Directors who bought into the vision of our administration quite early,” Mr. Daniel said.

“She was very active in the Regional Master Plan of the state which we did and was one of the topmost advocate of the Master Plan. Ogun State service has indeed lost a gem and my prayer is that God in his mercies will grant the family the grace to bear this painful loss at a time when they should be celebrating her promotion. Adieu,” the former governor wrote.

A former Information Commissioner, Doyin Ogunbiyi, who worked closely with the deceased, lamented the loss and expressed shock over the incident.

“She replied my congratulatory message oo yesterday …so sad. She was one of my trusted and hardworking staff as Commissioner in the Ministry of Information Youth Sports and Culture then, also Mrs Yetunde Kujore and Barr Demola Badejo..These trio were most efficient and reliable…,” she said.

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Pastor William Kumuyi Visits Wike in River state.

Governor Wike With Pastor William Kumuyi and members of his delegates after a courtesy visit in Government House.

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Scholarship For Faizah Abubakar Who Had 9 As In WAEC To Phd Level

Kano State governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has offered scholarship to miss Faizah Abubakar, the student who scored A1s in all nine subjects in the results of her 2016 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Owing to the kind gesture by Kano State government, Faizah who hails from Bakin Zuwo, Kano State, is entitled to free education to her doctorate degree level.

Speaking on the development, governor Gaduje narrated:
"This gesture is to acknowledge merit and to especially encourage girl-child education in our state”, the governor maintained, pointing out that the state government is making arrangements to ensure that gifted children are given opportunity to fully exploit their potentials.

"We are happy that this child has performed very well and I want to assure that we will continue to encourage our people to achieve in their chosen endeavors and bring honor to their families , the state and the nation at large."

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PHOTONEWS: Pastor Kumuyi, wife visit Bayelsa gov, Dickson.

PHOTONEWS: Pastor Kumuyi, wife visit Bayelsa gov, Dickson.

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Kenyan Man Unable To Have Sex Because His Manhood Has Grown Too Big

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Sorence Owiti Opiyo attempted to have an operation to reduce its size – but now it's around 10 times the scale of an average man's member

A rare disease has left this man unable to have sex – because his joystick is the size of a BABY.

In what is believed to be the only case in Kenya, the man's mystery condition has left unable to make love and have babies of own due to the eye-watering size of his manhood.

Hanging well below his knees, the enormous member has left 20-year-old Sorence Owiti Opiyo miserable and he's even had to drop out of school due to relentless bullying.

Now Sorence, from Kisumu County, is
struggling to work out how his incredible joystick won't stop him from living a normal life.

Sorence developed the illness ten years ago and was raised by his grandma when he was orphaned at the age of just five years old.

The illness manifested itself through a swelling similar to a boil which made his reproductive organ keep growing dramatically in size.

He has had treatment for the condition, including an operation which has slightly reduced its size – but the member kept on growing and ballooned to almost 10 times the size of an average joystick.

Sorence said the condition is painful and stops him from wearing shorts or trousers because the size can't fit in any clothing.

One of his family members told a local news website that he is scheduled for another operation at Jaramogi Oginga hospital in Kisumu.

The family is now appealing to well-wishers for financial help for the surgery.

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Trump promises African Americans jobs, prosperity.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promised African Americans prosperity and jobs Saturday in a gently delivered speech to a black congregation in a US city famous as a symbol of economic and urban decline.

Setting aside his usual stridency, Trump adopted a humble tone, telling his audience at the Good Faith Ministries International church that he came to listen, expressing sympathy for the out-of-work young men he had seen on boarded-up Detroit streets.

“Nothing is more sad than when we sideline young black men with unfulfilled potential, tremendous potential,” Trump said, speaking from notes.

“Our whole country loses out without the energy of these folks. We’re one nation. And when anyone hurts, we all hurt together,” he said.

Trump was received courteously and rewarded with occasional bursts of applause as he set about trying to allay the deep skepticism of African Americans who have swung overwhelmingly behind his rival, Hillary Clinton.

Blacks account for 12 percent of the US electorate, and Trump, who trails in the polls, recently has sought gingerly to widen his base.

– ‘Devil’s in the pulpit’ –

Before the speech, protesters chanting “Dump Trump” and “We’re going to church” tried to push through police barriers to gain entrance.

“The devil’s in the pulpit,” shouted Wyoman Mitchell, one of about 150 protesters who were pushed back by police on foot and on horseback in the tense encounter.

Church pastor Bishop Wayne Jackson had invited the New York billionaire to attend the fellowship service, and make some remarks.

Trump also sat for an interview with Jackson that will be aired at a later date. The New York Times reported that Jackson submitted questions in advance, but it was not known whether the two men went off script.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting myself in to. I didn’t know. Was this going to be nice? Was this going to be wild?” Trump said of the interview, in remarks to the congregation.

“He’s a great gentleman and a very smart guy. I just hope you don’t lose him to Hollywood.”

– ‘Nation too divided’ –

The church appearance contrasted sharply with Trump’s previous crude appeals for black support.

“What do you have to lose?” he said nearly two weeks ago, rhetorically addressing African Americans in a speech before a white audience in Ohio.

“They don’t care about you. They just like you once every four years — get your vote and then they say: ‘Bye, bye!'” he said of the Democrats.

Trump has been faulted for largely ignoring the black community during his campaign, and bypassing appearances before black churches and organizations in favor of rowdy, largely white rallies.

But in Detroit, he extolled African Americans’ contributions to America and the moralizing force of the country’s black churches.

“I am here today to listen to your message and I hope my presence here will also help your voice to reach new audiences in our country,” he said.

“Our nation is too divided. We talk past each other, not to each other and those who seek office do not do enough to step into the community and learn what is going on,” he said.

“I’m here today to learn so we can together remedy injustice in any form and so that we can also remedy economics so that the African-American community can benefit economically through jobs and income and so many other different ways.

“Our political system has failed the people and works only to enrich itself. I want to reform that system so that it works for you, everybody in this room,” he said.

– Detroit –

The African-American electorate traditionally leans heavily Democratic.

In 2012, about 93 percent of black voters backed Obama — an overwhelming enthusiasm that Clinton appears to have kept alive, taking 90 percent of the black vote in her primary contest against Bernie Sanders.

Detroit has the highest percentage of black residents — more than 80 percent — of any large American city.

Many neighborhoods have been hollowed out by decades of “white flight,” in which Caucasian families left downtown and midtown for more affluent suburbs.

“I fully understand that the African-American community has suffered from discrimination and that there are many wrongs that must still be made right. They will be made right. I want to make this city the economic envy of the world,” Trump said.



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Blogger faces jail for playing Pokemon Go in church

A young Russian blogger has been charged with inciting hatred and offending religious sensibilities after filming himself playing Pokemon Go in a Yekaterinberg cathedral.

Ruslan Sokolovski is in detention for two months, a statement by the investigative committee said Saturday, and could face a five-year jail term if convicted.

On August 11, Sokolovski published a video on his YouTube channel showing him entering the Church of All Saints in Yekaterinburg and playing Pokemon Go on his iPhone throughout the cathedral.

“How can one offend by entering a church with a smartphone?” he said.

But investigators said searches on his home had shown evidence of incitement to hatred and attacks on the liberty of faith.

Authorities worldwide have issued a slew of warnings since the hugely popular smartphone app was launched in July.

It has already been blamed for a wave of crimes, traffic violations and complaints in cities around the globe.

The free app uses satellite locations, graphics and camera capabilities to overlay cartoon monsters on real-world settings, challenging players to capture and train the creatures for battles.

Pokemon has been popular in Japan since first being launched as software in 1996 for Nintendo’s iconic Game Boy console.

AFP


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I was dead, I resurrected, says Mugabe.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe joked Saturday that he had been resurrected as he returned from a foreign trip, mocking rumours that he had died or is critically ill.

“Yes, I was dead. It’s true I was dead. I resurrected as I always do once I get back to my country. I am real again,” the 92-year-old ruler told reporters at Harare international airport after arriving from Dubai.

His comments came after an online news site reported he had died mid-air on his trip to Dubai.

Mugabe’s health has been increasingly under the spotlight in recent years, particularly after he fell down a staircase after addressing supporters last year.

He has denied ill-health reports and vowed to stand for reelection in 2018, but recent weeks have seen a surge of demonstrations against his rule, which stretches back to Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980.

Zimbabwe police announced on Thursday a two-week ban on protests in the capital Harare, after a string of violent demonstrations in recent weeks calling on Mugabe to step down.

In a speech later Saturday Mugabe said his government would not allow violent demonstrations by opposition political parties against his rule.

“We can’t allow them to continue on these violent demonstrations unimpeded. No, enough is enough,” Mugabe said in an hour-long speech to the youth league of his ruling ZANU-PF party.

“You realise the opposition parties are in a destabilisation mode, aiming to make our country ungovernable. They are pursuing their selfish agenda that targets the undemocratic removal of an elected government from office,” he added.

Mugabe also accused the West of helping to finance the opposition.

“Our enemies use money and opposition parties to provoke internal instability and conflicts,” he said.

Zimbabwe has suffered an economic crisis since the start of the century, with 90 percent of the population not in formal employment.

The cash-strapped government has been slow to pay the salaries of public sector workers while banks are running out of cash.



Punch

Satan used children against me – Pastor found with 13 girls in sex harem

Kunle Falayi.

On a normal day, 36-year-old Chukwuemeka Nwocha, the General Overseer of Tongue of Fire Restoration Ministry located in Igbosere, Lagos, is a ‘man of God’ that his congregation, both young and old, called “Daddy”.

But on Friday, as he was being paraded before journalists at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja, he was no longer a “spiritual daddy”  but a suspect who harboured 13 under-aged girls as sex slaves in a three-bedroom harem.

Fair complexioned and soft-spoken,  Nwocha did not come across as someone capable of such crime. When he started to talk about what he did before journalists, he started by saying “By His Grace,” a statement that elicited a laugh of derision from all present.

According to Nwocha, it all started when the children in his church, who called him, “Daddy, daddy” told him they would like to visit him.

He said, “I only tried to help the girls.When the first girl came, she said she  did not have anywhere to go. I did not know her parents. I am a pastor and I felt pity for her. After spending three days, I told her she needed to go out and bring some of her relations so that they would know where she was. But she did not.

“Later, some parents in my church also said they would like to send their children to live with  me. Some of them came to spend holidays after their exam.”

He insisted the parents knew they were  in his house. But after telling stories that  diverted attention from allegations that he raped the girls and had also forced some of them to do abortions, he paused and shook his head.

“I am a pastor, the devil only used the children against me. I did not rape them. I only slept with Sola (real name withheld). She is my girlfriend and we actually planned to marry.

When asked how old the girl he mentioned was, he said she was about to clock 17.

Asked again if the parents of the girls he claimed knew their whereabouts also knew he was sexually abusing them, he said yes.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, had said that the pastor haboured the girls with the promise of paying their school fees, feeding them and buying gifts for them.

“While they were in his house, three of them became pregnant and he took them for abortions. He first denied all the allegations but like all criminals, he later confessed to raping them without using protection,” the CP said.

Our correspondent, spoke with one of the girls, who were also brought to the Lagos State Police Command.

The 13-year-old girl, who sobbed as she talked, explained that her parents indeed gave her permission to spend the holiday in the pastor’s house.

The girl said all the 13 of them in the pastor’s house lived in one room in his three-bedroom flat.

“There is only one bed in the room. We  all sleep anyhow we could. One of us, who is older is the one who cooked in the house. I got there two weeks ago. My parents are his church members. I just felt it will be good if I spent part of the holiday in pastor’s house. My parents gave their permission before I went there.

“It was when I got to the house that I saw other girls. Few days after I got there, he called me and took me to his room and slept with me. He told me not to speak to anybody about what he did and that he would buy me clothes. I knew that he was sleeping with the other girls. I don’t know whether anyone of the other girls have had abortion.”

The girl confirmed that the pastor is married and that his wife is schooling and was never around, contrary to the claim of the pastor that he was single.

This was corroborated by another girl who said they all called the pastor’s wife   Mary and that she  came around to the house once in a while.

The CP has said Nwocha would be prosecuted along with whoever conspired with him to commit the crimes.





Punch

Recession, Personal Income And Planning .

All economic indicators have shown that economic conditions are going to be a lot tougher in the months to come. The level of economic uncertainties would gain momentum, as recession shock waves spread across the nation. The economic buffers from FG are yet to be rolled out against the impending economic problems. This means, you are all alone to fight this for now, even with less money to spend due to high inflation and growing cost of core basic needs like Transport, Drinking Water, Feeding, Rent, Clothing, Electricity, Waste-Disposal, Children School Fees and Healthcare. You will agree with me that there is need for a detailed PLAN to survive the approaching storm.

On this, I would like to relate and share my personal approach and strategies that i have taken already and the ones I would be taking towards tackling the looming recession. For me, I would be personally experiencing double recession because I have consciously put myself into recession mode long before now- just for two reasons (1) the issue of fixed salary for a very and too long period (2) my nature.

Also, it is important to let you understand my mindset, which dictates my financial planning & spending habit. I am a highly conservative, prudent person; I focus only on NEEDS (mostly basic needs) not FRIVOLOUSNESS. I love and enjoy taking my responsibilities serious. I believe so much in quality education, quality living environment, quality feeding and quality healthcare simply because i want to consciously raise my child(ren) better than how i was raised. I don’t party and i am extremely ‘old-school’ towards clothing/outfits and personal effects. I hope you now understand my idea of ‘double recession’ more clearly. 75% of salary is on quality basic needs month-in-mouth-out. Don’t focus on my boring life, pay attention to how you can tackle the impending recession. In the table below, you will figure- out how i financed all my responsibilities with flat, steady and regular salary.

The Need for Personal Economic Master Plan is Urgent 
Let me first warn you that as an employee or salary earner, don’t underestimate the need for detailed financial plan. You will seriously need your Personal Economic and Financial Plan in place to quickly reorganise, readjust and reposition yourself before the impending economic woes fully gain momentum. If you don’t have one, please you need to have it NOW. Also, it is important you know ahead that the tide is already against, as you are treading against many odds and you will have less 'Real Money' and less Purchasing Power to fight this battle alone because of the impact of growing inflation rate, devaluation of naira and other regular deductions from your fixed salary. You are not earning N200,000 per month, your actual income is N137. 226 monthly. Table 1 below puts this in proper perspective.



What do you plan for?

The need to plan for emergency fund is extremely necessary during recession: Setting aside certain percentage of your income is very important Not only during recession, but it makes more sense during economic adversity. No matter how small, it is more necessary than important to have an emergency fund- even if you are still going to borrow, you are already half-way.

Let me relate how i manage my emergency funds for example. My emergency fund is diversified. It is always in T-bills and Dividend paying stocks only. I do as low as N10,000 monthly into T-bills and N10,000 into Stocks as well but occasionally, i do lump-sum. The beautiful thing about my emergence fund is that it retains value against inflation. The reality was dawn on me when my mother was on a sick-bed, the emergency funds and support of well-wishers helped me a lot in handling the initial deposit at the hospital, paying for CT-SCAN, MRI-Scan and series of lab-test. Then, I realised the usefulness and importance of emergency funds. Those with strong emergency funds have greater chance to survive a recession. See table 2 below for personal income planning



You need to plan your feeding with Daily-Food-Roaster: This allows you to eat healthy and have an helicopter view of your feeding cost at a glance, in which you can always adjust to suit your current financial status. It does a magic when you need to cut-down on cost or substitute. See table 3 below



Other Things you need to do along with planning
Need for passive income: Another source of income would help you greatly, any passive business that can give you at least 25% of your monthly income would be a great idea to explore this time of recession. Affiliate and network marketing are very good example. If you like to write or read, you may consider blogging to share your passion or knowledge. All these would not cost you more than your past time. For me, i put money in my wife's paper business occasionally. As she is selling, my money grows as well. The beautiful thing about this business is that dollar determines the price, as dollar appreciates against Naira, she adjusts price once her supplier adjusts price. In a way i still retain value of fund.

Readjust Spending Habit and leave within your means: The best way to avoid growing debt is to leave within your income and means. The main reason for this is simply because the prices of basic needs are not always stable during recession, they tend to go up often and this may lead to borrowing in if you have not disciplined yourself to leave within your means.

Reduce Expenses & Cut-down on debt 
First, focus on your needs NOT want. I strongly suggest you reduce your debt, particularly the high interest debt. It is not advisable to go into recession with such debt, do everything possible to pay down your debt because rates/interest would swing northward during recession and that would result in a counter-productive situation as your monthly expenses would surge. I make use of no-interest loan a lot, you can make use of it to settle high interest loans. Islamic cooperatives/finance is remarkably and fantastically great in this area of no interest loan.

Learn how to negotiate, re-negotiate & use leverage
It is important you try to acquire negotiation skills, it will help you greatly during recession. Recently, I aggressively renegotiated my Daughter school fees from 300k to 236k in a New High School- I first renegotiated school-bus from 45k to 30k(to and fro), then later argued 15k for one-way since my house is just N100 away to school. I also asked for 2 instalment payment – cash-payment of N200k and 2weeks post-dated cheque for 36k. All this is just to re-align my cash-flow to meet my obligations. Throughout her primary school, i negotiated for monthly payment of her school fees with school. It is important you always negotiate to suit your cash-flow.

As you’ve read about my personal experience, I would also like to encourage you to share your experience with me on how you have been surviving in these times, the options you have taken and what more would like to know.



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Restructure Now, Experts, Afenifere, Others Tell Buhari.

Analysts and socio-political groups on Friday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to heed the call for the restructuring of the country.

They told Saturday PUNCH in separate interviews that with the current economic crisis facing the country, restructuring was inevitable.

The National Bureau of Statistics had, on Wednesday, released the Gross Domestic Product figures for the second quarter of 2016 with the GDP growth rate sliding from -0.36 per cent in the first quarter to -2.06 per cent year on year.

It also released the capital importation report for the second quarter, the unemployment statistics report, the inflation report for the month of July and the labour productivity report for the month of July.
The reports, according to analysis, painted a negative picture of the Nigerian economy with inflation rising as high as 17.1 per cent from 16.5 per cent; unemployment rate increasing to 13.3 per cent from 12.1 per cent and investment inflows dropping to its lowest levels at $647.1m from $710m.

The National Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said except the country was restructured, the recession could not be addressed.

He said, “Nigeria has entered a terminal crisis as it is now on irreversible journey to Venezuela. The Naira is on a free fall; inflation has torn the roof and suicide is now the option left for the hapless which we are already harvesting.

“There is no way out of this crisis except we restructure and release the creative energy in the federating units to retool. If we continue on this beaten path, our spring looms.”

A Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Ebunoluwa Adegboruwa, said the problems in Nigeria were beyond the economy.

According to him, they are fundamental and can be traced to the root of the country’s existence.

He said, “I believe that we should restructure peacefully and upon terms agreeable to all the constituent units of the lopsided federation called Nigeria.

“The 1999 Constitution, which was enacted against the will of the people, should be dismantled and power and resources should be given back to the regions where they belong and are located.

“This style of dolling out bailouts to states and local governments from Abuja cannot continue.”

Also, the Head, Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Uche Uwaleke; a former Managing Director of Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Rislanudeen Muhammed; and a former Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Mr. Ganiyu Ogunleye, said restructuring would help address the socio-economic challenges facing the country.

Uwaleke said that once the federating units were given the powers to control their resources, it would help promote economic competition.

According to him, with competition, the federating units will come up with innovative ways of stimulating their respective economies.

Uwaleke said, “Restructuring is the panacea for many of the socio-economic challenges facing the country. This much came to the fore in the last constitution conference put together by the previous administration.

“The seemingly endless crises in the Niger Delta region will substantially abate if the country is restructured in a way that allows greater control of resources by the federating units.”

Muhammed agreed with Uwaleke. He said restructuring would make all the states compete for economic development and as such uplift the lives of their people.

He said, “Nigeria has huge economic potential outside the oil sector which is largely untapped due to the so called Dutch Disease that has for years made us lazy and always relying on mono product commodity called oil as the source of income, notwithstanding the fact that oil constitutes only 10 per cent of our Gross Domestic product.

“Economic restructuring will make all the states compete for development and uplifting the lives of their people. There is potential for growth in non oil export in most states and virtually all the states have one form of economic competitive advantage or the other.

“The states do not have to grow at same pace but hard work will make all the difference. For example, virtually the whole of Zamfara State is sitting on gold and diamond, largely untapped with little going to illegal miners.”

Ogunleye described the restructuring of the country as a necessity, adding that it held the key to the economic development of the people.

He said, “Restructuring is a necessity and it is what the people have been advocating over the years, but the challenge is that it is either there is no serious commitment to it or the political will to implement it is lacking.

“Otherwise, when you talk about diversification, it is almost the same thing as restructuring the economy. Over the years, we relied on oil revenue and now we can appreciate the risks of relying on one source of revenue.

“We are not a manufacturing country and so most of the things we use are imported. So, there is the need to restructure the country in such a way that we can develop manufacturing capacity.”

According to Ogunleye, while a lot of emphases have been placed on agriculture, the country is just focusing on the primary aspect of the sector.

He said, “There is no linkage in our agriculture. When we produce our raw cocoa, we export it only to import chocolate. Imported products are expensive to the economy and they affect our foreign exchange.

“So with proper linkages in our agriculture sector, the pressure we are having now on foreign exchange will be reduced.”

The President, Campaign for Democracy, Abdul Usman, said with restructuring, no region would be dependent on others.

He said, “Restructuring can, as a matter of fact, make most of our clueless leadership in our various regions to sit up. The fact remains that our leaders are lacking in economic potential and are not willing to learn from some of their colleagues.”




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Fresh Fuel Crisis Looms As PENGASSAN Threatens Strike.

Nigeria may be plunged into another round of fuel scarcity as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), has threatened to resume its suspended strike if the federal government refuses to enforce the implementation of an agreement reached among the tripartite partners in the industry.

In a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Productivity dated August 22, 2016 and signed by the acting General Secretary, PENGASSAN, Comrade Lumumba IghotemuOkugbawa, stated that since the agreement was signed over a month ago, there was not much progress or commitment towards implementing the tenets of the agreement.

Copies of the letter were sent to the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) and the General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).

The union urged the minister to intervene by calling on the defaulting managements who have refused to implement the agreement, to order so as to avert another round of nationwide strike.

According to PENGASSAN, the agreement was reached at the end of the conciliation meetings held at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment with PENGASSAN, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and other stakeholders on July 12, 14 and 21, 2016 in Abuja.

The letter read in part, “It is over a month now since the last communiqué was reached and we can say in summation that no much progress has been achieved. This of course is making our members restive and we are under tremendous pressure to bring about a total resolution on all the contending issues.

“We are constrained therefore to note with great dismay that most of the companies are foot-dragging and have resorted to time-wasting tactics in order to deliberately frustrate the process,” the letter noted.

The union listed the companies that have refused to honour their own parts of the agreement reached during the various engagements among the tripartite. They are the managements of the oil and gas companies are Mobil Producing Nigeria Contract Staff Forum, Fugro Nigeria Limited, Petrostuff Nigeria, Tecon, Frontier Oil Limited, Universal Energy Resources Limited, Pan Ocean, Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria Limited, CISCON, and Baker Hughes among others.

SOURCE

Tinubu ’ll be shocked by Ondo APC primary result –Akeredolu.

Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State tells PETER DADA about his grouse with the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

The All Progressives Congress party’s governorship primary in Ondo was shifted twice in one week and some people say the reasons go beyond the ones given by the party. Do you also suspect foul play by the party’s leadership?

No, I don’t suspect any foul play. My take is that the party at the state level has not shown enough cooperation with the national body of the party. You will notice that at a meeting with the executive members of the party, the chairman was said to have stated repeatedly that they were not prepared. So let’s be fair to ourselves. The party in the state was not prepared, had not made bookings, had not contacted the Independent National Electoral Commission and not done anything as they said. Those coming to conduct the election had expected those basic things to have been done, thinking that they would only be required to have a look at what had been done and approve or change a few things. So I’m sure that the primary committee needed time. I want to believe that the party was ill prepared and this led to the shifting of the dates, though there have been rumours here and there, but I don’t want to believe them. I believe the reason for the last postponement had to do with the Presidency’s wish to see all the aspirants and the earliest time the Presidency could engage with us was on the Monday preceding the date for the primary. And if we had to be in Abuja on that Monday, we would not be able to return to Akure to prepare for the primary slated for Wednesday. So I think those are the things that informed the postponement.

Some people believe that you have no political weight. How do you think you stand ahead of the election?

I have a very bright chance, not just bright, I can assure you, by the grace of God Almighty, I am winning the primary. I never had any doubt in my mind; I know that I will win.

Some people have said that you don’t look prepared for serious governance and that you are an ‘on and off’ politician, who only remembers people when you need their votes. What do you say to that?

It is better for those who have that notion to ask from the people of the state to tell them if any other person is more familiar with the politics of the state more than me. I am somebody who ran for an election in 2012 as a candidate. How is it possible for that person to be unfamiliar with the politics of the state? I ran for an election, I toured round the 18 local government areas of the state more than once. The places I know now in this state, even the governor cannot claim to know them. So I want to tell you that I am very familiar with the politics of the state.

Even if you eventually get the party’s ticket, what chances do you have to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, who is from the Central Senatorial District, which has the largest chunk of voters?

(Cuts in) Forget about that, that is a fallacy; Central is not made up of Akure people alone. We have a large population of Owo people in Akure. We also have Akoko people, Ondo people, Idanre people and so on. So Akure is cosmopolitan and every other person has come there to stay. Akure people are minority in Akure; I can tell you that I shall win that election if given the ticket. There is nothing for me to worry about; the votes I will gather from all over the state will be mammoth. So whether they bring their candidate from Akure or Ilaje, that would not stop the votes I will get.

Before now, you hobnobbed with your party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, with the hope that he would endorse you as he did in the last election. Is that the reason for your recent outburst against the man who put you ahead of other candidates at the time?

I don’t know those who are saying so; I don’t know what they mean by endorsement this time around. There was never a time that I was endorsed by anybody. I keep explaining it to anybody that cares to listen that there was no time I was endorsed by anybody. We had a process that every candidate submitted to in 2012. That process is called caucus team. The caucus of the party interviewed and interacted with all those who had interests in being governor and by unanimous decision, the caucus team picked me. There was no issue of endorsement. I have never sought anybody’s endorsement. I have never asked anybody to endorse me. But I have informed the leaders of the party that I am running. I informed Asiwaju, I informed Baba Bisi Akande and I informed the President of the country. I informed virtually all the leaders of the party including all the governors. I did not ask them to endorse me. I only went to inform them. That was what happened. If I had sought for endorsement, I would have been disappointed. But since nobody endorsed me, there is nothing like disappointment.

You said you were not endorsed by Tinubu in 2012 but how come that was not the way Ondo people and other persons interested in the position saw it?

Let me start from 2012. We operated under the Action Congress of Nigeria and the party in 2012 did not say it was going to conduct primary. In the ACN in 2012, nobody paid money for expression of interest but here, all aspirants have paid N2m each, except the lady among us who paid N1m. In the ACN, nobody obtained any form but here, we have all paid N5.5m each to obtain form to run this election except for the lady, who got it for free. When I say that I was not imposed or endorsed by anybody in 2012, I stand by it. I remember the operation and all of us who contested know it too. We attended meetings, not once, twice, three times or four times with the leadership of the party then; that was the style in the ACN. The leadership of the party formed a committee headed by Chief Akande and included all past governors like Tinubu, Niyi Adebayo, Segun Osoba, and probably Lam Adesina and governors of the ACN then. So the committee needed to get a consensus candidate, so it was not one person that imposed the candidate. Tinubu couldn’t have imposed me; he couldn’t have endorsed me because like I said, there was a process and it was one that all of us submitted ourselves to. In an interview, I said there is a law that says that you cannot complain of an injury when you have voluntarily submitted yourself to the process. In that process all along, if not all the time, the committee usually asked us if we were all prepared to abide by its decision and accept whoever was chosen among us and everybody said yes. So, I know for a fact that in the meetings, because it was not just one meeting, people argued in support of different aspirants. If by consensus in that meeting, I was endorsed or chosen to be the candidate, then it was not one person choosing me as the candidate. So it was not one person that imposed Akeredolu on others. I am sure if you ask Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, he will tell you that he did not impose Akeredolu on others. What I’m trying to get at is that after I emerged as the consensus candidate, as a predominant leader of the party then, Asiwaju Tinubu engaged other aspirants and told them why the committee picked Akeredolu. And as the leader of the party then, he spent a fortune to assist us in the election in the state and nobody can take that away from him. So when anybody comes around and says that Akeredolu was imposed on others, I always take pains to explain that I was not imposed on others. All of us who contested agreed to abide by the decision of the committee and not that Asiwaju said this is the candidate. In this particular case, Asiwaju had told all of us to go and run for the primary, and then, he came out to say he was endorsing a particular person, when all of us had spent money to obtain forms. There’s difference in the two cases. People must try to understand and many of us should be able to say the truth.

People know you as a close associate of Tinubu and he supported you as the ACN’s candidate in 2012, at what point did the two of you have issues?

I will not say Asiwaju (Tinubu) supported me, many people will think he did. I knew in 2012 that he mentioned to me that he was the one that asked Olusegun Abraham to contest, so if in 2012, he brought Abraham, his friend, because they are close, then I don’t think I have to say more than that. The possibility is there for anyone to think that since he (Tinubu) asked somebody to contest, maybe he was persuaded then and had to be part of the collective decision. I want to believe that Asiwaju must have been persuaded by our leaders. So I went into the 2012 election with the belief that Abraham was his candidate but like I said, it was possible for him to have been persuaded at the meetings when the committee took the decision. If the opinion of the committee favoured me, then there was nothing anybody could have done. We have leaders who can testify to this that Tinubu did not impose a candidate in 2012, it was the decision of the committee.

Then is it true that you are the leader of the group of aspirants ganging up against Tinubu’s candidate?

What do you mean by gang up? I am not ganging up against anybody and I don’t know whether some people are ganging up against anybody. What I know is that I am running for governorship and I am running to win the primary and I will win the primary. Gang up for what? Gang up against somebody who has no vote, somebody who is not known, somebody who cannot win, somebody who has no structure? Wherever it is he comes from, he cannot win. We don’t need to gang up against him; he would come in this election a distant fifth with all the support he gets. Even with every support they give him, he would come a distant fifth. All I know is that I am working to win and I would win the primary.

What then happens if the candidate allegedly supported by Tinubu wins the primary?

I can assure you that whoever wins will have my support. I am a member of the party and a loyal party person and I cannot go to any other party and I’m only in this race for service. If I feel too strongly about any candidate they pick, I will withdraw back into my practice; I have lost nothing. But I know that there will be some difficulties, not from me alone, but from many of the aspirants who will feel that they have been dumped if the endorsed candidate emerges winner. So we must be prepared to manage this. But I know if any other candidate emerges other than the endorsed candidate, everybody will come out to support him. So the party can still manage it. A meeting has been called now and if that meeting gives directives and asks people to stop this monumental monetisation of the process, all we need is to assuage the feelings of the aspirants and drop the issue of endorsement. Then, whoever emerges among the aspirants, we will all support.

There is already an internal crisis in the Ondo State APC and it will be tough for anyone who wins the primary to get the support of others. How would you deal with the problem and placate aggrieved members of the party should you be successful?

When there is a contest of this nature, there would be a lot of dust but the dust would be settled after the primary. We belong to the same party; we will talk to one other. Immediately I emerge, I will set up a committee to liaise with other aspirants to work together and unite as a party. There will be no problem; my romance especially, is with the people of Ondo State whose interests I want to serve and I am giving them the assurance that they will get good government as soon as I get to power.

The party’s chairman in the state, Isaac Kekemeke, has purportedly been impeached and you aspirants are also in support of the impeachment. How has the party been dealing with that?

Kekemeke was not purportedly impeached; he has been impeached. In law, he has ceased to be the chairman of the party. What the national body said is that it is more concerned about the primary now. According to law, a motion was passed by two-thirds majority of the state executive and it has been sent to the national body. What is expected of him (Kekemeke), if he is a man of honour, is to step aside and let the national body set up a committee, according to the provisions of the party. The man has been impeached. But I am not one of those who impeached him. What I know is that majority of aspirants have said it over and over and we have told the national body and also discussed it at every forum that we don’t have confidence in him again. If a vote of no confidence has been passed on him by all and sundry in the party, I don’t know why he wants to stay on by force. As for the impeachment, I am not part of the executive that impeached him but I have no confidence in him.

But it appears that President Buhari and the party’s national secretariat support Kekemeke because they have not said anything about the matter.

I don’t think they kept mute and that is why I said to you that the national headquarters said its immediate concern in Ondo State is the primary and after that, it will set up a committee. It cannot put so many sticks in the fire but the major thing now is the primary and thereafter, it will make a resolution. If he (Kekemeke) has honour, he should step aside now.

But won’t that affect the primary negatively?

There is no way it will affect the primary because he has no role to play in the primary. We have even said that he should not be allowed to play any role in the primary. That is why we said he should step aside. For instance, if he has said that he is endorsing an aspirant and has gone ahead to work for the candidate, nobody would frown at him but as a chairman, he wants to deploy the apparatus of the party to serve the interest of a particular aspirant. You cannot force all the party leaders in the state to work for any aspirant; no responsible chairman would do that.

Some people have said that you are not independently minded and can be pushed around by the APC national leaders. What do you say to that?

Anybody that says that does not know me. That is not possible when everybody is even afraid of me. Do you know the position I occupied before? The President of NBA! In fact, one of the problems I have with some people is that they are saying maybe this man will be too rigid and I am assuring them that they don’t need to fear. I would run the state in the best interest of Ondo State people and not in the interest of any individual, so there is no way anybody can push me around. If the problem is that I am going to run the state in the interest of Ondo State people, I have no apology for that. I repeat, if the fear that the people have is that I am the person that cannot be pushed around, I have no apology for that because I am going to run the affairs of the state in the best interest of Ondo State people, not in the best interest of any individual.




Source

Trader kills business partner, begs victim’s ghost for forgiveness.

Kunle Falayi.

A Warri, Delta State-based businessman, Kingsley Agbaire, who allegedly killed his business partner, broke down as the deceased’s body was being exhumed on Wednesday and asked the victim’s ghost for forgiveness.

A video posted online on Thursday showed Agbaire in handcuffs, crying out to his victim, identified as 51-year-old Lawrence Okoh, a Port Harcourt, Rivers State-based auto parts dealer, as security agents worked to extract the corpse of Okoh in a shallow grave where it was dumped in Warri.

Agbaire said “Lawrence, forgive me o. It was the devil that pushed me into killing you.”


He also begged the police to loosen his handcuffs so that he could beg his victim, but this request was rejected for fear that he might escape.

Agbaire said in the video that his business relationship with Okoh started few years ago when he was working in Lagos and dealing in auto parts.

“He used to bring parts to me which I supplied to companies. We have done business together before that amounted to N4m,” he said.

The relationship continued normally, until August 2, when Okoh reportedly took some auto parts to Lawrence in Warri, Saturday PUNCH learnt.

On the night of August 3, after making the delivery which was worth about N1.6m, Agbaire and an accomplice allegedly  paid a visit to the house the deceased stayed in anytime he was in Warri.

While in the house, Agbaire said they smashed a bottle on his victim’s head and he died without putting up much of a fight.

According to him, Okoh could not raise the alarm because he was already weak.

After the murder, Agbaire and his accomplice reportedly dragged the body of the deceased to an uncompleted building beside the house and buried him in a shallow grave.

Asked if nobody saw them when they went into the house, Agbaire said he was not sure but that some children playing in the compound might have seen them.

“The children know me. I usually bought them biscuits anytime I came here,” he said.

In the video, security agents did not take long to unearth the body after Agbaire pointed out where they buried the body. The remains were then packed in a white casket as Agbaire shook his head and appeared to sob.

He said Okoh did him no harm and that “it was the devil that pushed me into killing you.”

Trouble first started when Okoh’s wife, Nneka, reported him missing after making many attempts to reach her husband on the phone.

She reportedly called her husband’s line but was said to be switched off. When she and other members of the family contacted Agbaire too, he disconnected the calls.

Agbaire would later confess that he broke the deceased’s SIM cards at a point.

The police said they were contacted because of suspicion that something might have happened to the deceased.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that when Agbaire was finally tracked down and arrested by the police, he first said that the last time he saw Okoh was when he left his house in annoyance due to disagreement over the quality of the parts he supplied.

The police said after more than two weeks of investigation and failure of Agbaire to tell them the whereabouts of the deceased, he finally confessed to the police how they killed him.

He also claimed that his accomplice identified as Kennedy was the one who did the actual killing and had fled to Ghana.

The spokesperson for the Delta State Police Command, Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the story, said the police are still on the trail of the fleeing accomplice and that investigation was still ongoing on the case.

She said Agbaire would be charged to court soon.



Punch

Buhari’s Economic Team, Square Pegs In Round Holes – Abdulahi.

Now, talking about the exchange rate, the former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi recently warned President Buhari to be careful lest he becomes worse than former President Jonathan.

You mean His Royal Highness, the Emir of Kano? Yes. I read his comment in the newspapers and he is absolutely correct. The fact is that all these so-called rich people particularly those who are working in banks are not productive. They are only trading in dollars vis-a-vis the naira. They sit down because of their connections with the banks and get foreign exchange allocated to them and they come to the bureau de change and sell. And if you get $10,000 and come to the bureau de change to sell $10,000, you are getting almost 200 per cent profit. And you get another $10,000 and the same thing happens. I think so many things are wrong in the system and except the government is willing and puts its foot down and insists that only very essential things can be used with foreign exchange, then , we will never get out of this problem. Does that mean that the problem of naira versus the dollar is caused by Nigerians who buy at a cheap rate and sell at a very high price? Yes and that is the problem. Why should we devalue our currency? I disagree completely with the devaluation of the naira. There is no reason for it. You devalue your currency only when you are competing to sell certain things. Nigeria is not selling anything outside the country. So, why should you devalue your currency if you are not competing to sell any goods? Why not produce your goods for sale? We are not competitive with other countries, in terms of goods and services. Let me give you one example that would frighten you. A labourer in London today earns 10 Pounds per hour as his wage. If he works for five hours, he gets 50 Pounds. Within hours, he earns N250,000 . You can imagine a labourer in UK earning fifty Pounds for five hours. But in Nigeria, it is going to take a labourer so many months to get N250,000. So, we are actually slaving for countries that are developed and countries that are dumping their goods and policies on us. And if this is the way we are going to continue, our economy is very unlikely to survive, or to recover.

But if those who made the hajj got the dollar for N197, it means the galloping price of the dollar is being manipulated?

It wasn’t just those who made the hajj. Christians got a similar treatment when they made the pilgrimage. But I don’t understand why a government will fix an exchange rate and then derail from it . Whether Christian pilgrimage or hajj, if government has fixed the price of the dollar, it should stay with the fixed price and not give concession to anybody or groups especially on a matter like this. President Buhari recently asked for emergency powers in tackling the economy and so far… Don’t waste your time on the question. I do not support it. What emergency powers is he looking for? Some of the decisions taken by his so-called economic team are taking us backwards. The economic team of Mr president is taking us back to a situation where some people in high places are awarded contracts in a hurry without following due process. Secondly, which I disagree with completely is the fact that it is government money that would be given to these contractors to execute the contract for which they are going to get profit. A real contractor should go to the bank, take a loan and execute his contract. If the government insists on deregulation of banks, or of the economy, meaning, market forces and so on, the contractor who should get the contract should go to the bank and borrow money and pay the current interest rate of 20-23 per cent. Why should a contractor who gets a contract of N1bn be given N500 million, that is fifty per cent advance? It’s practically free. He should go to the bank and borrow the N500 million. Why should our public funds be given for free? While we are saying that this is a free-market economy, and anybody who is going to run a business must run from the basis of free market economy, then he should go to the bank and borrow money and pay the interest rates which are applicable. If you look at the situation we are now, companies are folding up and graduates who are leaving schools are not getting jobs… This is the more reason we should sit down and look at ourselves. Are we realistic about our economic policies? Are we realistic about our status in the world economy and be able to adjust because until we are able to adjust, there is no way we are going to get out of this? How can you insist in a country where you cannot pay a minimum wage of N18,000 to a worker when someone can earn N30 million plus other allowances?

The public reward system is so inequitable that it does not encourage productivity. A person who earns N30 million a year is not more productive then a person that you cannot pay N18,000 a month. So, there is inequality in our public reward system and this has to be reviewed immediately if we want our economy to recover. People who earn millions monthly should get out of the system and create their own jobs and employ others. We are facing militancy problems all Nigeria. There are issues with Boko Haram, Biafra, herdsmen attacks and now the most dangerous is Niger-Delta Avengers which are worse than Boko Haram. We are not serious in this country. The last president that made a difference was Gowon and after him things changed. Obasanjo did well with the economy but it was after Gowon that things began to go bad because those who said Gowon didn’t know how to spend Nigeria’s money now squandered it.

You have not concluded on emergency powers…

There is the reality that Mr. President and the National Assembly should be looking at. You saw the list of Nigerian states that are owing money. Why should an oil-producing state that is getting 13 per cent derivation annually be the highest debtor? A lot has been wasted on the economy and this wasting is caused by the political class. Therefore, I cannot see how the political class can maintain their life style and coupled with the kind of expenditure that you see in government houses throughout the country, a lot of Nigerians will continue to suffer because this is what is happening. What we have today are two economies in Nigeria. There is the economy for the rich and there is the economy for the poor. The leaders must accept that for this country to move in the right direction in a very peaceful way, they have to come and sit down and take a fresh look at the things that have gone wrong, and find out why this country is spending outside its means and find out how to adjust. We can do this sector by sector, for example. What we were told during the budget presentation is that we are going to move away from mono-product of oil to agriculture. Look at the budget of 2016. See the paltry sum allocated to agriculture. This is the sector that contributes 35-40 per cent of the GDP and when I saw the Minister of Agriculture together with the Minister of Interior talking about their great ideas for Nigerian farms, I just laughed. These people are not even serious at all. Mr President does not need emergency powers and should not be given any. The picture you have painted of the way we are says there is no way out? No, there must be a way out. The way out is for the leadership to acknowledge that things are wrong and sit down and talk about what they are not doing right and correct them. They cannot just sit down there and think that things would work. Things don’t just work. You make them work. Things cannot work with the kind of resources that we have and the level of mismanagement that is going on. I’m 78 years old. I know what happened in the first republic and I know what also happened in the second republic and I know what is happening now. There is no doubt in my mind, that things began to go wrong after the Gowon regime because Gowon continued with a lot of the policies of the first republic leaders. Then, the country was moving in the right direction. But after Gowon, the slight began because we were getting money from oil. I remember in 1974 people saying that Nigeria was so rich but Gowon’s problem was how to spend the money that accrued from oil. So after Gowon, we applied our resources in a non-productive way. We had a lot of white elephant projects that have not really resulted in the economic growth in the country and now that the resources are not coming, we are crashing and people are already used to spending money and they have to get out of this habit of spending money. We have to get serious with Nigeria’s problems and get serious with dealing with militancy because these are the things that are dividing Nigeria. Militancy is a threat to national unity. What advice would you give this regime to avoid towing the line of past administrations? This administration did not come into office with all the problems we are having today but now that they arrived and really have a critical look at the situation they found on ground, they should sit down seriously and look at all the options that are available and afterwards, they would have realised that this country is facing serious economic crisis to the point that we really have to go back to ground zero and start planning all over again. This country has been running without economic plan for years and this is time for us to go back to serious economic planning based on the resources that are incoming to the country otherwise, they would continue to touch and go, and grope in the dark.

How would you assess the current economic team of Mr. President?

This is what we are talking about. We are in a bad economic situation and our political class is responsible. Now, it is obvious that we have square pegs in round holes, otherwise, they cannot be sitting and be looking at our economy as if it is normal because it is not a normal economy at all and the kind of emergency measures they are trying to put in place will only split the economy between the rich and the poor and by the time we succeed in doing that, we are going to create a mess. Because by the time they succeed in doing what they are trying to do, hand over the economy to the elite and leave the rest of 80-90 per cent out there in the cold, then, we cannot expect a peaceful resolution of our social and economic crises.



Vanguard

Recession: City dwellers relocate to villages in droves

As the current economic crisis bites harder, Saturday PUNCH has learnt that many city dwellers have been relocating from big cities to their villages or rural agrarian communities to survive the harsh time.

Findings show that the high cost of accommodation and feeding have been responsible for the recent increase in the migration of people from cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja to less expensive communities.

It was also learnt that some of the reasons for the relocation where because of the need to get cheap land for farming.

For instance, a retired federal civil servant in Abuja, Mr. Dairo Olorunfemi, said he had to relocate recently with his family to his village, Aramoko-Ekiti, as the Federal Capital Territory was becoming too expensive for them.

He said, “Abuja has always been an expensive place to live in but we had been coping till this recent administration came into power. Things are now too expensive and if I continue to live there, I will spend all my life savings trying to keep up.

“I had to relocate my whole family back to my hometown in Ekiti where I bought a vast portion of land at an affordable price and I am trying to start a farm. At first, it was not easy to adjust, especially with the children but now, we are doing fine.”

Also, a furniture maker, Ebuka Ejiofor, who formerly resided in Lagos, relocated to Umuagwo in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State because he could no longer cope with city life.

He said, “My family left Lagos and relocated to Imo State some weeks ago because things were becoming unbearable for us.

“It was getting to difficult to provide three square meals for my family so I had to move.”

Mr. Ayo Falodun, who spoke with one of our correspondents, explained that he used to sell electricity accessories in Ibadan, Oyo State, before his recent relocation to Ogbese in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Falodun said he relocated last November when living became more difficult for him and his family.

He said, “I decided to leave Ibadan and come to my village in Ogbese when I discovered that life was getting difficult with my four children and my wife.

“I have started farming. I also operate a small shop, where I sell electrical accessories, but I engage in farming to supplement my income.

“I have harvested some food crops already and my family is living better now than before.”

A resident of Oba-Ile, a suburb of Akure, who identified himself as Chikezie Uche, said his brother brought him to the South-West community from Owerri in January, when the high cost of living in the city was making life difficult for him.

The 29-year-old man said he had been doing laundry works since he relocated to the suburban community.

He said, “Since I came to ObaIle, I have been washing clothes for money. Although the income is not much for now, I still thank God because the cost of living here is not as much as that of Owerri.

Also, as a result of the harsh economic situation in the country, Femi Adedeji, a business centre operator, had to relocate his family from Ketu in Lagos to Imota area of Ogun State, where accommodation is much cheaper.

According to the 40-year-old native of Osun State, taking care of his four children and wife and paying rent for his two-bedroom flat in the face of poor business has put pressure on his resources.

He said he had to quickly relocate to Imota where accommodation is cheaper even though it is a long way from town where his business centre still operates.

Adedeji said, “The decision to relocate to Imota was a very diffifcult one considering the distance from where I still have my business but my income has dropped significantly and I can no longer afford to keep up with the high rent at Ketu.

“A lot of my friends also relocated to other interior parts of Ikorodu and Ogun State because they too could no longer meet up with the high cost of rent in the city.

“Finding food to eat these days has become even difficult; it is only God that can save us from this problem.”

One of our correspondents in Enugu confirmed that many tenants are now finding it difficult to pay their house rents as a result of the economic downturn in the country.

A landlord in the Independence Layout area of the state, who identified himself as Nkorie, said he had to issue two of his tenants with quit notices after they reneged on the payments of their rents.

Nkorie, who described the tenants as businessmen, said he had to ask them to leave because “there was no sign that they could raise the money in the foreseeable future”.

Another landlord in Abakpa area of the state, Mr. Ekeh, said his tenants had also not paid rents for several months.

Ekeh said, “I don’t even collect the rent annually, I collect it monthly but still, they are not able to pay me.”

He, however, admitted that “things were not always like this” as the tenants paid when due before now.

“My tenants have been with me for a long time and we have been like one family. I don’t think I can ask them to leave just like that,” he added.



Punch

Church of England welcomes first openly gay bishop.

A British bishop has become the first in the Church of England — the mother church of the worldwide Anglican faith — to announce he is homosexual, in an interview published Saturday.

Nicholas Chamberlain, the Bishop of Grantham in central England, told the Guardian newspaper he was in a long-term relationship with his male partner, after a Sunday paper reportedly said it was about to publish a story on his private life.

“It was not my decision to make a big thing about coming out,” he said, adding that he adhered to church guidelines which stipulate that gay clergy must be celibate.

“People know I’m gay, but it’s not the first thing I’d say to anyone. Sexuality is part of who I am, but it’s my ministry that I want to focus on.”

The church knew he was gay when he became a bishop last year, he revealed.

“I was myself. Those making the appointment knew about my sexual identity.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the world’s Anglican faith, said Chamberlain’s sexuality was “completely irrelevant”.

“His appointment as Bishop of Grantham was made on the basis of his skills and calling to serve the church in the diocese of Lincoln,” he said.

“He lives within the bishops’ guidelines and his sexuality is completely irrelevant to his office.”

Chamberlain said of his relationship: “It is faithful, loving, we are like-minded, we enjoy each other’s company and we share each other’s life.”

A Church of England spokesman said it would have been “unjust” not to appoint him based due to his sexuality.

The Church of England dropped its opposition to gay clergymen in civil partnerships becoming bishops in 2013, although many of the Anglican faith worldwide — who number 80 million — were opposed.

The Anglican Church of Uganda in 2014 said it may consider breaking away from their mother church in England if it put Uganda under pressure over its tough anti-homosexuality law.

Punch

Sultan announces Sept.12 as Eid el-Kabir Day.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has announced Monday, Sept. 12 as the Eid-El-Kabir Day, 1437 AH.

This followed the declaration of Saturday, Sept.3 as the 1st of Zulhijja, 1437 AH.

This is contained in a statement signed by Prof. Sambo Junaidu, Chairman, Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, Sultanate Council of Sokoto.

The statement said, “The committee in conjunction with the National Moon Sighting Committee had received reports from various Moon sighting committees across the country.

”The reports confirmed the sighting of the New Moon of Zulhijja,1437 AH, on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, which was the 29th day of Zulka’ada, 1437 AH.

”The Sultan and President, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), accepted the reports and accordingly declared Saturday, Sept. 3, as the first day of Zulhijja, 1437 AH.

”Therefore, Monday, Sept.12, which will be equivalent to 10th Zulhijja, and will be marked as this year’s Eid el-Kabir.”

The statement further quoted the Sultan as felicitating with the Nigerian Muslim Ummah and wished them Allah’s guidance, as well as blessings.

The Sultan also urged the Muslim Ummah to continue to pray for peace, progress and development of the country.

He also wished all Muslims happy Eid el-Kabir, and prayed Allah to accept our religious deeds.


Punch

Economy: Blame Jonathan, not Buhari for Nigeria’s woes –Presidency.

Olalekan Adetayo

The Presidency on Friday said Nigerians must learn to bear the pains of an economy in recession because that was the way to go if the country must be fixed.

It also insisted that the nation’s woes were caused by the mismanagement that characterised the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said these in an opinion article titled “What is President Buhari doing with the economy?”

Shehu faulted those who hold the view that the President should forget the past and concentrate on how to reposition the country.

He said the present administration must keep a fiery memory of the past so that it does not repeat past mistakes, adding that the future must be built on the foundations of the past.

He said, “To avoid repeating the past mistakes, Nigerians must come to terms with what went wrong with the past, how bad things were, what was done wrongly, what the past government should have done, before we come to what needs to be done to right those wrongs.

“Believe me; episodes from the Jonathan era can fill books, and other possibilities, such as courtroom drama thriller.”

He attributed the current pain, which he said was inevitable to the mismanagement of the past.

He added, “The current pain is due to the mismanagement of the past. What Nigeria is currently experiencing was inevitable. This government is simply being honest with the people instead of piling up debts and concealing the truth by pretending all was rosy. This government believes that Nigerians deserve to know the truth.

“People stole unbelievable amounts of money. The kind of money some of these ex-officials hold is itself a threat to the security of the state. Since it is not money earned, they feel no pain deploying just anyhow to thwart genuine and well-intentioned government efforts.

“Sadly, even that which was not stolen was wasted. Government coffers were left empty, with huge debts unpaid and unrecorded (this government is working to quantify the amount owed). Even the current high food prices can be traced to past deceit.

“For example, the previous government purchased fertilisers in 2014, worth N65bn and left the bill unpaid. In 2015, the suppliers could not supply fertilisers which resulted in a low harvest, shortages and high food prices.

“This government had to pay off the debt so that the suppliers could begin to supply fertilisers again.  Across Nigeria, a green revolution is occurring as Nigerians are going back to the farms, from rice in Kebbi and Ebonyi to Soya and Sesame in Jigawa and Kano. At the same time, Nigerians are looking inwards to identify commercial opportunities from agri-businesses.

“Most of our road contractors had not been paid since 2012; many of them had sent their workers away, adding to the unemployment problem. This government has released capital allocations in the last three months that is more than the whole of 2015. In 2015, Nigeria spent a paltry N19bn on roads, in three months we have spent N74bn and we are already releasing more.

“In the transport sector in 2015, government spent just N4.2bn; we have spent N26bn, with more to follow. We are starting a concession that will revive our old rail system for freight, whilst we build a new high speed rail system. Moving heavy goods by rail will reduce our transport costs which will reduce food prices and will save our roads from damage from heavy loads. Government will embrace the private sector through PPP, concessions and other collaborations to deliver services and infrastructure efficiently.”




Punch

2016 budget may not achieve target – Fashola.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has warned that the Federal Government’s aim of achieving inclusion and employment, through the N6.6tn 2016 budget  may be elusive; and that the people targeted  may not benefit,  if government’s spending or contracts are mainly handled by foreign companies.

He also said the gains might not be realised if professionals were either not participating or, where they did, preferred imported goods to local ones.

He urged indigenous companies, professionals, artisans and all Nigerians to take advantage of the FG’s budget of N1.8tn for capital expenditure, in particular; and N6.06trn total budget size, to increase their patronage, professional efficiency, job and wealth-creation potential.

He spoke during the fifth meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Friday.

The summit was themed, ‘Building adequate capacity of professionals, artisans and tradesman in the built environment.’

The minister said the plan of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to increase the capital spending in 2016 budget to 30 per cent of the total budget size of N6.06trn was enough evidence of change.’

He stated that the aim of FG’s N6.06tn budget was to reflate the economy, stimulate it and increase national productivity.

Fashola said, “The decisions taken by the Buhari administration is to increase the capital spending in 2016 budget to 30 per cent of the total budget size of N6.06tn.  This is change for those who still ask what has changed. It is change because it is a welcome departure from almost a decade of spending only 10 per cent of our annual budget on capital expenditure.  “It means that unlike in the past, when only about N400bn was planned  for capital spending,  and indeed much less was ultimately released and spent, this year about N1.8tn is planned for capital spending with the commitment to fund it.

“But this is not the end of the purpose of spending. It is only the means to get to the end.

“The end really is to reflate this economy,  to stimulate it back to growth and back to productivity. To provide the opportunity for people to feel included in the economy in a way that growth then translates into employment for them. Employment for ordinary hardworking people who can then get up in the morning and say with the dignity that comes with it that I am going to work.”

He added, “But I must advise that inclusion and employment will not happen by happenstance. They will not happen simply because government plans to spend money and actually does so.

“Yes, the budget will work, money will be spent, but inclusion may not happen and the people targeted for the benefit may not benefit, if the benefit is transferred to foreign countries, to foreign factories because professionals either do not participate or where they do, they prefer foreign made or imported goods to local ones.”

The Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, urged the participants to avail themselves of the opportunity of the conference to review existing policies on lands, housing and urban development. He advised them to put in place new policies that would adequately address existing challenges and bequeath an efficient land and housing sector to future generations.



Punch

Tuoyo Etoromi Oduah: "My Father Busy Seeking Attention".

One of the son’s of Senator Stella Oduah, Tuoyo Etoromi Oduah, has taken a swipe at his father and husband to the ex-minister, Satchie Etoromi, saying he will rather be a bastard than be called his father’s son.

The young man released a statement on Friday, where he labelled his father as “attention seeker” while also denouncing him.

Tuoyo accused his father of resorting to seeking attention in the course of his brother’s death.

While reacting to the claims by his father, he said he was not told of the death of late Maxwell Etoromi by his family members. He said he called his father on the day of the incident to inform him.

Maxwell Chinedu Etoromi died a week ago after he took a wrong medication prescribed for him following a tooth surgery.

The 28-year-old, died at a Turkish private hospital in Abuja.

Tuoyo further noted that there would be no connection between him and his father after issuing the statement.

The statement reads, “I feel so heartbroken and distraught that during our time of mourning for my beloved brother, I have been reduced to issue a press statement against my biological father, Mr Satchie Etoromi.

“Life is serious. It is not a Nollywood movie. This is madness. This is evil. This is defamation. This is attention seeking. This is opportunism. This is shamelessness. This is jealousy. This is abnormal. This is bitterness. This is shocking!

“Buwa and I were the product of a short and abusive marriage that ended almost 30 years ago. To a man with many other wives and children. Stella Oduah is the only father, mother, carer and provider that my brother has ever known. The Oduah family is the only Family that he has ever been part of and Akili Ozizo in Anambra state is the only hometown he has ever had.

“I called Mr Satchie and the Etoromi family to inform them immediately my brother passed. I offered flights, accommodation and special care for him or the representatives of the family throughout the funeral. I offered to build a relationship and have a new start.

“I was happy and optimistic. But i was wrong. Instead of asking about his dead son, he proceeded to use my brothers passing as an excuse to shamelessly insult my mother just like he is doing now, issue death threats and even ask for dowry from almost 30 years ago.

“This is madness. Mr Satchie Etoromi’s motivation is not love, not grief, not reconciliation, not to reach out but to seek attention, bitterness, revenge, jealousy, abusive tendencies, possessiveness and maybe even genuine madness.

“Mr Satchi Etoromi, I beg you with God to please leave us alone forever and let Buwa rest in peace. May God have mercy on your soul on for what you have just done. I wanted to forgive and reconcile but your recent actions and character have revealed that it is better to be a bastard than be your son.

“This will be the first and last time that I will acknowledge and respond. Any further public words and actions from Mr Satchie Etoromi will be addressed through legal means.”



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