Late Rashidi Yekini’s Mother Alhaja Sidikat Sells Bread For Survival In Kwara

<p dir="ltr"> Alhaja Sidikat Yekini aged mother of late Super Eagles striker, Rashidi Yekini now sells bread to survive in Ira Town in Kwara State of Nigeria, four years after the death of his son.</p> <p dir="ltr">We gathered from a source in Kwara State who revealed that life has been pretty difficult for the Yekini’s family since the passing of the former African football king. It was also gathered that Alhaja Sidikat cried out for help few months ago, after revealing that ‘life has been difficult for her’ since the passing of her son.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My son has served this country, and I want the government and other people to come to our aid because It would not be good for me to die in this situation,” she pleaded.</p> <p dir="ltr">Yekini scored 37 goals in 58 appearances for the Super Eagles and died in May 2012 at the age of 48. He remains the highest goal scorer for the Super Eagles with 37 goals and represented Nigeria in five major tournaments, including two FIFA World Cup competitions in USA ‘94 and France ‘98 respectively.<br> Credit: saharareporters </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5MoJY1_vYSUV1uusxTolk1k12KoO_bWrx-VWWQPRVOEEMRqj4Lt-juuoQZowhTHpgECp79aDY-JzrZyV9vZY7zqJ-35Wd7j5F0jNGtHqCn1FCq8GjEa6YBj8VQBwBeKS9ReYK7l6md6V/s1600/Alhaj-Yekini.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5MoJY1_vYSUV1uusxTolk1k12KoO_bWrx-VWWQPRVOEEMRqj4Lt-juuoQZowhTHpgECp79aDY-JzrZyV9vZY7zqJ-35Wd7j5F0jNGtHqCn1FCq8GjEa6YBj8VQBwBeKS9ReYK7l6md6V/s640/Alhaj-Yekini.png"> </a> </div>

Late Rashidi Yekini’s Mother Alhaja Sidikat Sells Bread For Survival In Kwara

BASAM 0 11:10:00

 Alhaja Sidikat Yekini aged mother of late Super Eagles striker, Rashidi Yekini now sells bread to survive in Ira Town in Kwara State of Nigeria, four years after the death of his son. We gathered from a source in Kwara State who revealed that life h… link to this post

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Cameroon Footballer Patrick Ekeng Collapses On Field During Game, Dies

<p dir="ltr">Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng has died aged 26 of a suspected heart attack after collapsing on the pitch.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ekeng fell to the floor in the 70th minute of a televised Romanian league match between Dinamo and Viitorul.</p> <p dir="ltr">He was pronounced dead in hospital two hours later.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Cameroonian FA confirmed the news on Twitter, while Ekeng’s former club Cordoba tweeted: “We have no words to express our sadness at the loss.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Cameroon international midfielder and captain Stephane Mbia tweeted his shock.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our cameroon football family has lost a brother. I cannot believe this. Condolences to his family. RIP Patrick Ekeng.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Spanish club Cordoba also tweeted: “There are no words to express our sorrow over the death of Patrick Ekeng. We mourn your loss. We will never forget you friend. RIP.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The Spanish La Liga also took to Twitter to express their condolences alongside a photo of the player in his Cordoba shirt, who last season played in the first division.</p> <p dir="ltr">“La Liga expresses its regret at the death of Patrick Ekeng and sends its condolences to his loved ones.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ekeng had also previously played for Le Mans and Lausanne.<br> </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMC0e4Wo8-MCNJP9c-6ZO1YDgfRmmwm7wC4tA8o_nsLyVDeHy1-er9kpM4ocK_rgGN4u6XoRepRaOnDe06JazDWZ9TDOI_QyjkX6XoGY_faLmWypLv9JfH88-14O9Bjzu6zh-XK1P_wcjt/s1600/A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMC0e4Wo8-MCNJP9c-6ZO1YDgfRmmwm7wC4tA8o_nsLyVDeHy1-er9kpM4ocK_rgGN4u6XoRepRaOnDe06JazDWZ9TDOI_QyjkX6XoGY_faLmWypLv9JfH88-14O9Bjzu6zh-XK1P_wcjt/s640/A.jpg"> </a> </div>

Cameroon Footballer Patrick Ekeng Collapses On Field During Game, Dies

BASAM 0 03:19:00

Dinamo Bucharest and Cameroon midfielder Patrick Ekeng has died aged 26 of a suspected heart attack after collapsing on the pitch. Ekeng fell to the floor in the 70th minute of a televised Romanian league match between Dinamo and Viitorul. He was pro… link to this post

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Transfers: Barcelona, Chelsea battle to sign Ben Arfa

<p dir="ltr">Formal Newcastle forward Hatem Ben Arfa, 29, is wanted by Barcelona. (Talksport)</p> <p dir="ltr">Chelsea are also keen on Ben Arfa, who has rebuilt his career with French side Nice. (Sun)</p> <p dir="ltr">Manchester United have sent scouts to watch defender Reece Oxford in West Ham United’s under-21 side. Manchester City and Arsenal are also keen on the 17-year-old. (Sun)</p> <p dir="ltr">Tottenham Hotspur have been warned off midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, 26, with West Ham asking for 22-year-old England striker Harry Kane in exchange. (Daily Mirror)</p> <p dir="ltr">Bournemouth are set to offer £6m for Tottenham midfielder Ryan Mason, 24.<b> </b>(Evening Standard)</p> <p dir="ltr">Alexis Sanchez is frustrated with life at Arsenal and even stormed out of the stadium after being substituted in last weekend’s win against Norwich. The 27-year-old forward has two years left on his contract.(Daily Telegraph)</p> <p dir="ltr">Everton are set to make a second bid for Bolton defender Rob Holding after a £10m offer for the 20-year-old was rejected.(Talksport)</p> <p dir="ltr">Arsenal are interested in 21-year-old AZ Alkmaar striker Vincent Janssen, who scored in the Netherlands’ 2-1 win against England in March. (Daily Mail)</p> <p dir="ltr">The agent of Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has played down the chances of the 23-year-old following former Juve manager Antonio Conte to Chelsea.<b> </b>(Evening Standard)</p> <p dir="ltr">Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is set to return to Swansea – the team he managed from 2010-12 – in the summer in a deal worth £90,000 a week. (Daily Star)</p> <p dir="ltr">Greek side Panathinaikos are lining up a summer move for Arsenal’s 32-year-old midfielder Mathieu Flamini.<b> </b>(Daily Express)</p> <p dir="ltr">New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants Mikel Arteta to join his backroom staff, with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitting it is “possible” the midfielder will move. (Manchester Evening News)</p> <p dir="ltr">Liverpool midfielder Jordan Rossiter, 19, will join Rangers this summer when his contract at Anfield expires. (Liverpool Echo)</p> <p dir="ltr">Watford are lining up a move for West Brom striker Saido Berahino, 22, to replace 26-year-old Odion Ighalo, who will leave Vicarage Road in the summer. (Daily Mail)</p> <p dir="ltr">Uefa is considering revolutionary changes to the Champions League that would result in some matches of its elite club tournament being played at weekends.<b> </b>(Times – subscription required)</p> <p dir="ltr">Marcus Rashford, 18, has moved a step closer to signing a £1.3m-a-year contract at Manchester United after appointing his older brother to handle his business affairs. (Daily Mail)</p> <p dir="ltr">Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has backed winger Andros Townsend, 24, to earn an England recall ahead of the Euros this summer. (Daily Express)</p> <p dir="ltr">Leicester City will return to Thailand this summer, but vice-chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has warned the squad to behave following the sacking of three young players last year. (Guardian)</p> <p dir="ltr">Relegated Aston Villa players will not perform a lap of appreciation following their final game of the season at Villa Park, with a club statement saying it was “not appropriate”.(Birmingham Mail)</p> <p dir="ltr">Source: BBC Sports</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLYHVovUhMzNARiPb3_wysvNbukJrW9tPNkYNBdoZSPLzPrLVwfHmjWHKtfaznDivfLDBEVuTaJgoyxKlVbgzuy6OQTFWbVskhvaVJuAJDxvdE1AXkTcJVnAHu0-xrBza5iWz2eABvsqw/s1600/IMG_20160507_105110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLYHVovUhMzNARiPb3_wysvNbukJrW9tPNkYNBdoZSPLzPrLVwfHmjWHKtfaznDivfLDBEVuTaJgoyxKlVbgzuy6OQTFWbVskhvaVJuAJDxvdE1AXkTcJVnAHu0-xrBza5iWz2eABvsqw/s640/IMG_20160507_105110.jpg"> </a> </div>

Transfers: Barcelona, Chelsea battle to sign Ben Arfa

BASAM 0 02:59:00

Formal Newcastle forward Hatem Ben Arfa, 29, is wanted by Barcelona. (Talksport) Chelsea are also keen on Ben Arfa, who has rebuilt his career with French side Nice. (Sun) Manchester United have sent scouts to watch defender Reece Oxford in West Ham … link to this post

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OVATION INTERNATIONAL: 20 YEARS OF MAKING A SUPER BRAND

<p dir="ltr">By Dele Momodu</p> <p dir="ltr">Great things often start like a joke. There is no better way to depict the birth of Ovation International in London. As illustrated last week in the first part of these anniversary notes, I was on the run from the dreaded military regime headed by maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha. My involvement in the struggle for the revalidation of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election mandate which the people of Nigeria freely gave to Chief Moshood Abiola, landed me in big trouble. Unlike former President Ibrahim Babangida, it was impossible for anyone to express his innocence to Abacha. There was no negotiation. I just developed wings and took off pronto.</p> <p dir="ltr">Specifically, I was accused of being one of the brains behind Radio Freedom (which later metamorphosed into Radio Kudirat) after the cold-blooded murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola. But truth is I was not a member of the Radio Freedom crew considered a huge menace to the dictatorial government. At least not at the stage I was initially accused.  The story of how I later joined the gang of highly dedicated and committed operatives of that ubiquitous pirate radio would be told subsequently.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thus, having fled to England without any plans other than for immediate personal safety, I was in grave peril of expiring from human scourge, hunger, as I was jobless.  It was this fear of joblessness and its consequences on my family that drove me and my team to take the leap of faith that manifested in the production of what would become one of Africa’s most ambitious media projects. We were under no illusion that the journey would be easy. We knew the road would be rough. We expected funding to be the biggest threat to our existence for a long time to come. We needed £150,000 to start small scale but could barely raise about £20,000. With a shortfall of around £130,000, we would have to crawl slowly but steadily. A man who’s down should fear no fall was our attitude. Our options were few and limited. But we were determined to make the impossible possible. Thanks to my co-travellers Adedamola Aderemi, Olusegun Fatoye, Adeyemi Aderemi, Damilola Abiodun and Bayo Williams (of blessed memories) we were set for an epic journey.</p> <p dir="ltr">The first and very crucial task was how to assemble a crack Editorial team. We decided to scout for and assemble a star-studded assemblage of writers. We succeeded in attracting the legendary writers and polemicists, Sonala Olumhense and Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, who were both working for the United Nations. We got the highly cerebral Ike Okonta. We found the flowery Alaba Yusuf. A Nigerian lady, Uzoma Umesi, wrote some great pieces. We got the experienced media gurus Richie Dayo Johnson and George Noah, our neighbours in highbrow Docklands where we domiciled our effervescent office. We secured the gist merchant Kunle Bakare to control Nigerian operations. We got my former boss and the Queen of celebrity reporting May Ellen Ezekiel Mofe-Damijo and the king of African movies Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD).</p> <p dir="ltr">Everything appeared to be going well until suddenly, my former boss May Ellen had a fatal surgery and died in Lagos. I had spoken to her in the US and tried to straighten our ruptured relationship activated by my controversial removal as Editor of Classique magazine. I was happy we made up. She wasted no time in agreeing to be our Contributing Editor which I considered a great honour. Same with RMD who instantly agreed to support our dream. Little did I know it was going to be my last conversation with May Ellen.</p> <p dir="ltr">We decided our magazine was going to be a masterpiece crafted like a work of art, and sold as a timeless and ageless piece. Every issue was going to be a collector’s item. We were going to locate the best printers in England and cover as many African stories as possible. The production of the maiden issue was meticulously executed. We wanted to report the lives and lifestyles of rich and famous Africans. We decided that we would expose and promote authentic African stars who would not be given prominence on the covers of Hello, Ok, GQ, Esquire, etc. We chose a plush cover story and placed Mohammed Al-Fayed, the Egyptian luxury store king at Harrods, graciously on the front. We got Ike Okonta, a brilliant poet, to get lost inside Harrods, one of the most expensive departmental stores in the world and pen his dreamlike experience for our readers. His piece was titled JUST DREAM. The man could not buy a pin in Harrods.</p> <p dir="ltr">The beautiful magazine started with GOOD DAY AFRICA by Sonala Olumhense. Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo sent a comprehensive report from war-torn Somalia and highlighted efforts of the United Nations at bringing peace to the nation. We had a panel of the best gossip poachers including Deun Solarin and Funmi Ayandokun. They compiled our juiciest snippets on the 100 Stormy Women in Nigeria. It was a compendium of who’s who. It was meant to cover a broad spectrum of society ladies and ignite an instant debate in high society. We succeeded.</p> <p dir="ltr">The magazine was an instant hit. Our friends, Gbenga Olunloyo , Kayode Akinyele, Dayo Olomu and others, were marvellous in spreading the magazine to different parts of London. We lived like communists and worked and ate together. Funmi Akinyele cooked lunch for us regularly. My energetic wife was heavily pregnant and still had to keep company of our fist son. Exile was hellish but we were undaunted. Holding the first copy of Ovation was worth all the diamonds in the world. We were in Cloud 10.</p> <p dir="ltr">We sent copies to the of Chairman of Harrods and we were surprised to receive a very powerful response from Mr Al-Fayed, titled AN OVATION FOR OVATION, and a basket of goodies including vintage wines and chocolates. The historic letter praised Ovation as a welcome positive development as opposed to the purveyors of negativity. The second issue of the magazine was even more dramatic. We got an exclusive access to the family of famous singer SEAL in Lagos. The foreign media had always seen him as a Brazilian. We got phone calls from the world media as soon as our special report put together by super reporter, Azu Arinze, who was then at Encomium magazine, hit the streets.</p> <p dir="ltr">It was incredible receiving calls from the National Enquirer, the largest circulating tabloid in America (4 million copies weekly). The publication requested our permission to cull our SEAL story and even offered to pay us. We approved but rejected the offer of payment and settled for the bold acknowledgement of Ovation in their widely circulated paper. We secured the same deal with The Mirror in London and it gave us massive exposure. For a new magazine named Ovation, it was a loud ovation for us from the beginning.</p> <p dir="ltr">We experienced the miracle of God everywhere we turned because we were able to capture stories that money cannot easily buy. For example, I was having a drink in 1996 with Nduka Obaigbena at The Dorchester, the posh hotel on Park Lane, when the celebrated boxer, Chris Eubank, walked in. Chris was such a flamboyant celebrity and I approached him for an interview request. He told me I needed to approach his media agents which I knew I couldn’t afford. But Nduka came to my rescue. In his usual never-say-die spirit, he lectured Chris on why he should support the laudable business of a Black brother. Chris fell for Nduka’s charms and agreed to a major photo-shoot and interview the following morning at The Dorchester. That was it. We got another scoop.</p> <p dir="ltr">We soon shifted our focus to the extraordinary Ghanaian fashion designer on Saville Row, Ozwald Boateng, who made no fuzz in agreeing to an Ovation coverage. We moved from Ozwaild to the glamorous football star John Fashanu who was staying in St. John’s Wood and gave us exclusive access. We did so much with so little cash and we soon reached a cul de sac. We simply ran out of gas, perhaps to put it mildly. Several times we thought the end had come but God created ways where there were none. I will never forget three of such. Top on the list as always was Dr Mike Adenuga, my God sent benefactor in the days of tribulations. He never forgot to send his contribution for the three years I spent in exile and I’m eternally grateful.</p> <p dir="ltr">There is no money-guzzler like the media. I was totally frustrated one terrible evening when Jimi Akinniyi, one of our most committed reporters, walked in and told me what could have been a powerful message from God. He said he had earlier met a friend of his, Gbenga Adesanya, who offered to help us with some money without being close to me. I was delirious. The other and major miracle came when my friend, Dele Balogun, a businessman and educationist in London, invited me to a home in Surrey to interview a prominent Nigerian politician, Dr Bode Olajumoke. I met a very simple and unassuming gentleman who picked his words slowly but assuredly. In the course of our divine interaction, he told me his wife loves Ovation to bits but they could see we were just struggling with it. I told him the whole truth and departed.</p> <p dir="ltr">A few weeks later, I got a call from Dr Olajumoke and he said his mind has been with me since we met and he has been thinking of my challenges. He then asked what he could do to help and I responded that he should act as God directed him. He said he likes my personality and was ready to grant me an interest free loan. He asked for my account details which I faxed urgently. He redeemed his pledge and I was elated.</p> <p dir="ltr">The loan improved our status but as usual with the media business, it was like the abiku child, it comes and goes. No matter how much you pumped in, it was bound to evaporate in little time. Not many people understood how this business works, but I like to describe it as the ultimate casino. You have to be a gambler of sorts to make appreciable impact and success in the media industry. There are just too many variables, especially if your operations are as humongous and international like ours. The loan soon evaporated and it became a ding dong affair as we barely scratched the surface. To my greatest surprise, Dr Olajumoke did not only write off the loan, he later gave me more to keep us going. He believed so much in our ability to compete with the best of the world.</p> <p dir="ltr">Between 1996 and 1998, we worked assiduously to stay afloat. We were hit on the solar plexus several times by blows that would have felled a giant but we had become resilient to the vagaries of the industry and knew how to absorb the rude shocks. The fact that I could not visit Nigeria made matters worse. I had to depend on others for most things.  I was lucky that most of the people I turned to were willing to help but another man’s eyes can never be the same as one’s own eyes!</p> <p dir="ltr">However, in between working on Ovation, I never slowed down on my political activities. I worked feverishly to attack the dictatorial and repressive regime of General Sani Abacha. I joined the Radio Kudirat team and ran the Yoruba segment. I went by the pseudonym Saliu Elenugboro, Eni Olorun o pa! I worked closely with the NADECO chieftains and spent any free moment I had with Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Tokunbo Afikuyomi. We were in the vanguard of the battle for the actualisation of the June 12 which was definitely won by Chief Moshood Abiola.</p> <p dir="ltr">On June 8, 1998, General Sani Abacha was pronounced dead. It first started like a false rumour, the kind of which social media is now replete with, and I instantly dismissed the story.  However, I got a call from Chief Segun Osoba who confirmed the shocking news. I was soon invited over to the CNN studio around Tottenham Court Road for my comments on the late military ruler. I felt a tinge of somnambulism and was in an emotional state, totally confounded by the development. There were rumours that Chief Moshood Abiola would soon be released. And we were naturally expectant.</p> <p dir="ltr">Then the big bang came on July 7, 1998 and I crashed to earth with a thud, filled with indescribable sadness, nay devastation, as reports that Chief Abiola had died suddenly and mysteriously ruled the airwaves. Ovation had to do a special cover as the authority on Abiola. It was titled GOOD BYE TO A GOOD MAN. The Magazine disappeared from the streets as it sold out as soon as it went out.</p> <p dir="ltr">I knew it was time to end my life in exile…</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqxU4rueWILe_JMTY42aP4c2Jkvo0rVIWMsr3OkgcsKM50wnCEan98Pa77LdiDHDMVpLxSZ9aDVHP73AVUjdb4AM4CDUBGswLWzXVdHKA-uVSP-TQNWuCjupsItOTLeZYH1RgdpoSwkEx/s1600/0101dele-momodu-backpagex.jpg-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqxU4rueWILe_JMTY42aP4c2Jkvo0rVIWMsr3OkgcsKM50wnCEan98Pa77LdiDHDMVpLxSZ9aDVHP73AVUjdb4AM4CDUBGswLWzXVdHKA-uVSP-TQNWuCjupsItOTLeZYH1RgdpoSwkEx/s640/0101dele-momodu-backpagex.jpg-.jpg"> </a> </div>

OVATION INTERNATIONAL: 20 YEARS OF MAKING A SUPER BRAND

BASAM 0 00:49:00

By Dele Momodu Great things often start like a joke. There is no better way to depict the birth of Ovation International in London. As illustrated last week in the first part of these anniversary notes, I was on the run from the dreaded military regi… link to this post

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Fashola Unveils Roadmap for Boosting Electricity Generation

<p dir="ltr">The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola yesterday unveiled federal government’s roadmap for boosting electricity generation through incremental power, saying that the government is looking at what the country could generate out of the existing power assets.</p> <p dir="ltr">Delivering a public lecture in Lagos yesterday, the minister stated that the country has 26 power plants, with three powered by water in Jebba, Kainji and Shiroro, while the rest of the plants are powered by gas.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to him, the country has 140 turbines with installed capacity of 12,341 megawatts, adding however that at  the best of times, only about 78 turbines  generate power, which had resulted in February 2, 2016 peak of 5,074 MW.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The problems have been identified as either damaged, unmaintained or unserviced turbines in the hydro power plants, and in the cases of gas plants, it is largely non-availability of gas, coupled with lack of maintenance.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Fashola said the Jebba Hydro power plant, which was commissioned in 1985 by President Muhammadu Buhari with six turbines to provide 540MW of power, were to be overhauled once every 5-6 years but this was never done for 28 years, until it was handed over in 2013, in the aftermath of the privatisation.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to him, the first overhaul has now been completed and more will be undertaken and described this effort as incremental power.</p> <p dir="ltr">Fashola, whose lecture was on ‘Nigeria’s Electricity Challenge: A Roadmap for Change,’ also noted that in a report recently submitted to his office by the concessionaire of Jebba and Kainji, the total available capacity of the two plants is 482 MW and 340 MW respectively totaling 822 MW.</p> <p dir="ltr">He described the plan by the investors to boost the generation to 1338 MW as incremental power.</p> <p dir="ltr">The minister further stated that when the Egbin Power plant in Ikorodu, which was delivered in 1985 during the tenure of President Babangida had six turbines with total capacity of 1,320 MW but when it was handed over in 2013, it had only two functional turbines of 400MW generating capacity.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I was at the plant in December 2015, to switch on Turbine 6, which means all the six turbines have been restored. This is incremental power. But these are just examples of the maintenance and technical challenges we grapple with daily in the government from the President, to the Vice-President, and the Ministry which seek to manage the men and women. Let me share with you some of the human and administrative challenges, relating to incremental power,” he explained.</p> <p dir="ltr">Fashola recalled what he called the announcement of an alleged “commissioning” of a power plant in Edo State by the last administration during the election campaign.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This was the Azura power project meant to deliver 450 Megawatts. In reality, what took place was only the turning of the sod. The main activity, which were government securities and guarantees to enable the financing of the project were never issued. This was delayed for about a year. It was the Buhari administration that prioritised this, resolved it, and work has now started with 422 workers on site and estimated completion date of December 2018. This is the road to incremental power,” he added.</p> <p dir="ltr">He also recalled the Aba Power plant initiated by Prof. Barth Nnaji to generate140 MW and ring fence Aba for dedicated power, long before he was ever appointed minister.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to Fashola, the former minister had an agreement given to him by the federal government, which assured him that the plant would never be sold in the event of privatisation.</p> <p dir="ltr">He revealed that the same government later made another agreement, ignoring the original one, and sold Enugu Disco to a new owner, which included Aba Power.</p> <p dir="ltr">The minister noted that none of the two parties should be blamed as both of them had legitimate contracts, which were conflicting and issued by the same government.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Instead of spending their energy and resources completing the power plants and delivering electricity, they were forced to spend their resources and energy seeking to untie themselves from the problems created by government since 2013. This government has waded into the matter, and, through the Vice President, directed our ministry to facilitate reconciliation, and with the cooperation of the parties, their sense of patriotism, we got the parties out-of-court in a settlement three years after.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are now formalising their papers so that they can operate independently and collaborate to supply power to Aba and Enugu Distribution that covers most of the East instead of fighting in court. Solving the problems of yesterday is the road to incremental power,” Fashola explained.</p> <p dir="ltr">He also disclosed that the Zungeru Power Plant, meant to deliver 700 MW in Niger state, was held up in court for several years.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to him, “although the project is now three years behind, the dispute has been resolved, parties are out of court, over 800 workers are back on site and this should deliver incremental power”.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi76qXV5XOp1MYzrcMw0wX9PedG9knZzatXdj4XVDmzUTEM2FtthaQh1eIdPuk1CPTkuBNNgm-IY5HawjDmXa5t4Jig29GxkySfdqsDZtFUh3Y4r0Xe4LN07xk28ETRyjR-cLgtZUgXbVU/s1600/Babatunde-Fashola-696x506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi76qXV5XOp1MYzrcMw0wX9PedG9knZzatXdj4XVDmzUTEM2FtthaQh1eIdPuk1CPTkuBNNgm-IY5HawjDmXa5t4Jig29GxkySfdqsDZtFUh3Y4r0Xe4LN07xk28ETRyjR-cLgtZUgXbVU/s640/Babatunde-Fashola-696x506.jpg"> </a> </div>

Fashola Unveils Roadmap for Boosting Electricity Generation

BASAM 0 22:47:00

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola yesterday unveiled federal government’s roadmap for boosting electricity generation through incremental power, saying that the government is looking at what the country could generate ou… link to this post

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Kenyan Businessman Shot Dead, Opposition Sees Political Motive

<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Kenyan businessman and government critic, Jacob </b></i><i><b>Juma</b></i><i><b>, was shot dead in his car late on Thursday in Nairobi, the police said on Friday, a killing the opposition said appeared to be politically motivated.</b></i><br> There was no immediate comment from the government, but officials have repeatedly accused the opposition of seeking to stoke tensions with what they say are trumped up accusations against the government ahead of next year’s elections.</p> <p dir="ltr">Police spokesman, Charles Owino, said the reason for the shooting late on Thursday was not clear. “We cannot get a motive unless we manage to get the killers,” he said, adding that the case was being investigated.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nairobi has a reputation for violent crime, often associated with robbery. But when it involves politicians or business executives, the public often lay the blame on the settling of political scores or commercial rivalries. Many crimes go unsolved.</p> <p dir="ltr">Kenyan media reported that several shots were fired at Juma’s car. They published images online showing the vehicle with shattered glass.</p> <p dir="ltr">Juma often wrote on Twitter about corruption and accused the government of mishandling public funds. He also voiced support for opposition leader Raila Odinga. His Tweets included suggestions that some officials wanted him dead.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He was a critic of the government on issues of corruption and mismanagement of public funds,” Odinga’s spokesman, Dennis Onyango, said. He believes there was a political motive. “It is an attempt to silence (such) voices.”</p> <p dir="ltr">President Uhuru Kenyatta has repeatedly said one of his government’s priorities is clamping down on corruption.</p> <p dir="ltr">Juma was involved in businesses related to mining, real estate and government supply contracts. In 2013, he was embroiled in a row with the mining ministry after it revoked a license held by Cortec Mining Kenya, in which Juma was a director.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The assassination of Jacob Juma … was that – an assassination!” John Githongo, a former government anti-corruption officer, wrote on Twitter.</p> <p dir="ltr">In February 2015, a Kenyan lawmaker was shot dead at night in the center of Nairobi. Investigations never fully explained that killing to the public.<br> Credit: channelstv </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1-ev95oc0pQNZNYIe1UWWrrYd8hq44rblk2Jn50yUVBuBfA_mMXCxrvV4Zwqq51HQu_qPluRmA2M5NokxhNOmsr9HrrNyEpo9Xr2VTVY1M5-wjmq2GwUyipc9_XxtmVA1jRxgY325DI-/s1600/Kenya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1-ev95oc0pQNZNYIe1UWWrrYd8hq44rblk2Jn50yUVBuBfA_mMXCxrvV4Zwqq51HQu_qPluRmA2M5NokxhNOmsr9HrrNyEpo9Xr2VTVY1M5-wjmq2GwUyipc9_XxtmVA1jRxgY325DI-/s640/Kenya.jpg"> </a> </div>

Kenyan Businessman Shot Dead, Opposition Sees Political Motive

BASAM 0 22:25:00

Kenyan businessman and government critic, Jacob Juma, was shot dead in his car late on Thursday in Nairobi, the police said on Friday, a killing the opposition said appeared to be politically motivated. There was no immediate comment from the govern… link to this post

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Obama Urges Media, Americans To Scrutinise Trump’s Record

<p dir="ltr"><b>U</b><i><b>S President Barack Obama has stressed the need for the media and Americans to scrutinise Donald Trump.</b></i></p> <p dir="ltr">He told a press conference on Friday that Mr Trump had a long record that needed to be examined.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think it is important for us to take seriously the statements he has made in the past.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Most importantly, I speak to you as reporters as well as the American public. I just want to emphasise that we are in serious time and this is really a serious.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is not entertainment. It is not a reality show,” he emphasised.</p> <p dir="ltr">President Obama further pointed out that the contest for the presidency of the United States required that “every candidate, every nominee needs to be subject to exacting standards and general scrutiny”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It means that we have to make sure that their budgets add up”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said: “It means that if they say that they have an answer to a problem that it is actually possible and that they have details as to how it will work”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The republican candidate, Mr Trump, is the leading candidate of the party in opposition to the Democrats’ candidate, Mrs Hillary Clinton.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Obama made the demand few days after Mr Trump asserted that China had waged “economic war” against the United States, taking American jobs.</p> <p dir="ltr">After Mr Trump made the statement, the official Xinhua news agency said Trump “gets them wrong, from trade balance to basic economics”, citing western media and academics dismissing his criticisms of trade with China.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Trump attacks China to woo voters,” it said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Credit: channelstv </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnc9hytOGRUNjQ2RyucD_L__fc1rwCwLEZTOJdA9UxWH6A399SzsmkI9dw14sJjisk6Z5LXh5hEEergv_SZeFBYHdW9MFW-jrNl9R-X5odAIOKQUW9Evnv3R0Bw6a23qpth4dRMQpVlCOY/s1600/Barack-Obama-Donald-Trump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnc9hytOGRUNjQ2RyucD_L__fc1rwCwLEZTOJdA9UxWH6A399SzsmkI9dw14sJjisk6Z5LXh5hEEergv_SZeFBYHdW9MFW-jrNl9R-X5odAIOKQUW9Evnv3R0Bw6a23qpth4dRMQpVlCOY/s640/Barack-Obama-Donald-Trump.jpg"> </a> </div>

Obama Urges Media, Americans To Scrutinise Trump’s Record

BASAM 0 22:21:00

US President Barack Obama has stressed the need for the media and Americans to scrutinise Donald Trump. He told a press conference on Friday that Mr Trump had a long record that needed to be examined. “I think it is important for us to take seriously… link to this post

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MTN Introduces Cheaper Data Bundles (10GB, 22GB, 50GB, 85GB)

<p dir="ltr">MTN has launch another special data package, i said it Last week that MTN is up to something. However, this data package is included among the list of MTN monthly data plan. This sounds cool and funny anyway.</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">MTN just revised there data bundle and the bundle is a bomb,guys check these out,</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Plan     Price Validity (SMS to131) USSD</p> <p dir="ltr">30MB   100      24HRS   104    *131*104#<br> 100MB 200      24HRS   113    *131*113#<br> 750MB 500      7Days    103    *131*103#<br> 1.5GB   1000    30Days  106    *131*106#<br> 3.5GB   2000    30 Days 110    *131*110#<br> 10GB   5,000    30 Days 116    *131*116#<br> 22GB   10,000  30 Days 117    *131*117#<br> 50GB   20,000  90 Days 118    *131*118#<br> 85GB   50,000  90 Days 133    *131*133#</p> <p dir="ltr"> <br> <b>⇒ </b>30MB 100 24HRS 104 *131*104#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>100MB 200 24HRS 113 *131*113#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>750MB 500 7 Days 103 *131*103#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>1.5GB 1000 30 Days 106 *131*106#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>3.5GB 2000 30 Days 110 *131*110#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>10GB 5,000 30 Days 116 *131*116#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>22GB 10,000 30 Days 117 *131*117#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>50GB 20,000 90 Days 118 *131*118#</p> <p dir="ltr"><b>⇒ </b>85GB 50,000 90 Days 133 *131*133#</p> <p dir="ltr"> <br> What do You think about MTN New Data Upgrade? Cool right?</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUR1uFoTc87m02Z2CBf6AG7p0GAMRfptHKResP5tdRIqZnwt7uYRYyA5ZewdgyzKPekABdq7LC9FruRaYFcL1mKdUNG3LsIkXDNFe9Bj1NuSC8MyOtySpxTWgB6SBb7uXztGkDVhUJ6Yz/s1600/MTN-logo.jpg-_gltrends.com_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUR1uFoTc87m02Z2CBf6AG7p0GAMRfptHKResP5tdRIqZnwt7uYRYyA5ZewdgyzKPekABdq7LC9FruRaYFcL1mKdUNG3LsIkXDNFe9Bj1NuSC8MyOtySpxTWgB6SBb7uXztGkDVhUJ6Yz/s640/MTN-logo.jpg-_gltrends.com_.jpg"> </a> </div>

MTN Introduces Cheaper Data Bundles (10GB, 22GB, 50GB, 85GB)

BASAM 0 21:50:00

MTN has launch another special data package, i said it Last week that MTN is up to something. However, this data package is included among the list of MTN monthly data plan. This sounds cool and funny anyway.   MTN just revised there data bundle and … link to this post

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Full Text Of President Buhari’s Speech At Signing Of 2016 Budget

<p dir="ltr">1. It gives me great pleasure today to sign the first full-year budget of this administration into law. I thank the leadership of the National Assembly, in particular, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and indeed all members of the National Assembly for their cooperation in making this a reality.</p> <p dir="ltr">2. The budget is intended to signpost a renewal of our commitment to restoring the budget as a serious article of faith with the Nigerian people. This Administration is committed to ensuring that henceforth the annual appropriation bill is presented to the National Assembly in time for the passage of the Act before the beginning of the fiscal year.</p> <p dir="ltr">3. Through the 2016 budget, aptly titled “Budget of Change’’, the government seeks to fulfill its own side of the social contract. The Budget I have signed into law provides for aggregate expenditures of N6.06trn. Further details of the approved budget, as well as our Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 budget, will be provided by the Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning.</p> <p dir="ltr">4. I shall be speaking in more details about the Budget, its implementation and the over-all national economic and social policies of the Government in my address on May 29th, God willing.</p> <p dir="ltr">5. In designing the 2016 budget, we made a deliberate choice to pursue an expansionary fiscal policy despite the huge decline in government revenues from crude oil exports. This is why we decided to enlarge the budget deficit at this time, to be financed principally through foreign and domestic borrowings. All borrowings will however be applied towards growth-enhancing capital expenditures.</p> <p dir="ltr">6. The signing of the budget today will trigger concerted efforts to reflate the Nigerian economy, a key element of which is an immediate injection of N350bn into the economy by way of capital projects. To illustrate our renewed commitment to infrastructural development, the 2016 budget allocates over N200bn to road construction as against a paltry N18bn allocated for same purpose in the 2015 budget.</p> <p dir="ltr">7. Despite the current difficulties we will work extra-hard to achieve our revenue projections. Our revenue generating agencies are coming under better management and are being re-oriented. The implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) is expected to contribute significantly to improving transparency over government revenues.</p> <p dir="ltr">8. Our determined fight against corruption is resulting in improvements in the quality of public expenditure. The work of the Efficiency Unit, as well as other public financial management initiatives, are also contributing in this regard. The continuing efforts to reduce recurrent expenditures should hopefully free up more funds for capital expenditure in 2017 and beyond.</p> <p dir="ltr">9. As I said in my New Year message, living in State House does not in any way alienate me from your daily struggles. I read the newspapers and listen to the TV and radio news. I hear your cries. I share your pains.</p> <p dir="ltr">10. We are experiencing probably the toughest economic times in the history of our Nation. I want to commend the sacrifice, resilience and toughness of all Nigerians young and old who have despite the hardships continued to have hope and confidence of a great future for Nigerians. But permit me to say that this government is also like none other. We are absolutely committed to changing the structure of the Nigerian economy once and for all.</p> <p dir="ltr">11.We are working night and day to diversify the economy so that we never again have to rely on one commodity to survive as a country. So that we can produce the food we eat, make our own textiles, produce most of the things we use. We intend to create the environment for our young peoples to be able to innovate and create jobs through technology.</p> <p dir="ltr">12. I cannot promise you that this will be an easy journey, but in the interest of so much and so many we must tread this difficult path. I can assure you that this government you have freely elected will work with honesty and dedication, day and night to ensure that our country prospers and that the prosperity benefits all Nigerians. God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEaWL_soseDOc0GpZTA4WMXBswAg1YPww8mjVhFaTSd96HXBjF0wfY6cyi9lN5rDlie1HgsrWfqGZHA_jW_hDBBMSyOg2S1BB42LcsuX3BXZwK9-6XHEZ_oG_DZs9xgYi3iwmP9BroDXI0/s1600/IMG_20160506_182524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEaWL_soseDOc0GpZTA4WMXBswAg1YPww8mjVhFaTSd96HXBjF0wfY6cyi9lN5rDlie1HgsrWfqGZHA_jW_hDBBMSyOg2S1BB42LcsuX3BXZwK9-6XHEZ_oG_DZs9xgYi3iwmP9BroDXI0/s640/IMG_20160506_182524.jpg"> </a> </div>

Full Text Of President Buhari’s Speech At Signing Of 2016 Budget

BASAM 0 12:16:00

1. It gives me great pleasure today to sign the first full-year budget of this administration into law. I thank the leadership of the National Assembly, in particular, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and indeed a… link to this post

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EFCC lays siege to Fani-Kayode’s residence

<p dir="ltr"><b>Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have surrounded the Abuja residence of Femi Fani-Kayode, director of publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign organisation.</b></p> <p dir="ltr">Making this disclosure via his Facebook account, Fani-Kayode said he had been earlier invited by the EFCC and had replied that he will honour the invitation.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Today the EFCC invited me to come their office on Monday. I have their letter. I agreed to be there. Now they have surrounded my house,” he wrote on Facebook.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The letter of invitation was served this morning and it was dated May 6. They said I should report on the 9th. Can someone please tell me why they are at my gate?</p> <p dir="ltr">“They can’t even wait because they want to detain me so badly and keep me away for the weekend. I never refused their invitation. Why all this? I leave them to God.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://www.thecable.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Efcc-letter-to-FFK-683x1024.jpg"><a href="https://www.thecable.ng/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Efcc-letter-to-FFK.jpg"></a></p> <p dir="ltr">In the letter inviting Fani-Kayode, the EFCC said it was “investigating a case of criminal conspiracy, fraud and money laundering involving Joint Trust Dimensions Limited” which he “featured prominently”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“In view of the above, you are requested to kindly report for an interview with the undersigned,” the letter read in part.</p> <p dir="ltr">The letter was signed by Mohammed Abba on behalf of Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the commission.</p> <p dir="ltr">Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacMFy35fKfVHRmiZinojlZqg-nRdScDrKhMNd6FnPt2aZJDau8Xctg0eoZ3rZE9plCgsERpFre2MSDWRnX0wxW1zHbDDKoyz3n8y9iswk5lCQFbSycntFaNGE0BR84uzKqd5qHzvfiOrf/s1600/IMG_20160506_200529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacMFy35fKfVHRmiZinojlZqg-nRdScDrKhMNd6FnPt2aZJDau8Xctg0eoZ3rZE9plCgsERpFre2MSDWRnX0wxW1zHbDDKoyz3n8y9iswk5lCQFbSycntFaNGE0BR84uzKqd5qHzvfiOrf/s640/IMG_20160506_200529.jpg"> </a> </div>

EFCC lays siege to Fani-Kayode’s residence

BASAM 0 12:07:00

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have surrounded the Abuja residence of Femi Fani-Kayode, director of publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign organisation. Making this disclosure via his … link to this post

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Saraki appoints Tinubu as Senate Chief Whip

<p dir="ltr">The Nigerian Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Thursday appointed Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the wife of Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Whip of the Senate in acting capacity.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Senator representing Lagos central from the ruling The All Progressives Congress (APC) acted as chief whip of the senate in the absence of both Olusola Adeyeye, substantive chief whip of the upper legislative chamber, and his deputy.</p> <p dir="ltr">Tinubu was Chief Whip in acting capacity for only 25 minutes because the Senate adjourned its sitting to May 12, shortly after it sat due to the congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which some of its members were attending.</p> <p dir="ltr">This is shortest duration for which the eighth Senate has sat, since its inauguration on June 9, 2015.</p> <p dir="ltr">Also, Tinubu has become the only acting chief whip to hold the position for only 25 minutes.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuylPyR7E1DzmlZ9NtBzoAIJX7aJYqCI2UBQDwqdAF1JyoTMnzMkzQSqmWHiCmMoxEQ-YDjnjuvXmFLzXThTPZBEwCzQzpK4tUi_Bi2CSPipTWCc76p-1UMt4cqweFbZnjycxLVUruZAJ/s1600/Senator_Bukola_Saraki.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDuylPyR7E1DzmlZ9NtBzoAIJX7aJYqCI2UBQDwqdAF1JyoTMnzMkzQSqmWHiCmMoxEQ-YDjnjuvXmFLzXThTPZBEwCzQzpK4tUi_Bi2CSPipTWCc76p-1UMt4cqweFbZnjycxLVUruZAJ/s640/Senator_Bukola_Saraki.png"> </a> </div>

Saraki appoints Tinubu as Senate Chief Whip

BASAM 0 01:50:00

The Nigerian Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Thursday appointed Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the wife of Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Whip of the Senate in acting capacity. The Senator representing Lagos c… link to this post

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Reuben Abati: The cost of national depression

<p dir="ltr">“I hear the World Bank says Nigeria is now the worst place to do business in the entire world.”<br> “I don’t believe it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I also hear that of the 15 fastest growing economies in Africa, Nigeria is no longer on the list.”<br> “I say I don’t believe that. And stop hearing bad things.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are not even in the top 10 of the World Top 10 oil producers anymore. Yet, we used to be No. 6.”<br> “I still don’t believe that.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Inflation is now 13.2%, or well may be 12.8%.”<br> “Story.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“If you go to the market with N400 to buy pepper, that amount can’t get you enough pepper to fry two eggs.”<br> “Stop eating eggs. Too much cholesterol is bad for your health.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Moody’s has also just downgraded Nigeria in its ratings for end of March 2016.”<br> “Moody’s?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Yes. It is a credit and investment ratings corporation.”<br> “It is called Moody? What do you expect, then, other than a moody report?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our rating by Standard and Poor’s is also negative.”<br> “I see. Standard and Poor’s giving a poor rating. So?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are talking serious economics, not word play.”<br> “I hear you.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Even Fitch says our economy is in the negative.”<br> “Let them all keep fishing for negative information, I say I don’t believe it”</p> <p dir="ltr">“And as it is, it looks like Nigerians have adjusted themselves to the reality of paying as much as N200 per litre for fuel?”<br> “In your village? In our own town, fuel is just N140 per litre.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“And you think that is okay? At a time the spot price of crude oil is dropping internationally?”<br> “Stop reading those foreign reports. Stop feeding into the Afro-pessimism narrative.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“You don’t believe this. You don’t believe that. Everybody is saying a hell-hole has appeared, and you are insisting you don’t believe it.”<br> “Sorry.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics has also reported that foreign investments inflow into Nigeria is down by73.79%, the least in nine years, and total capital importation has fallen by 89.13%. GDP growth is the lowest in nine years.”<br> “Hold on, one second… Now listen to me in Minister Kemi Adeosun’s voice: we are implementing a planned economy here, dum-b-hea-d”</p> <p dir="ltr">“The kind of phone calls I receive these days. All artisans that I know have been calling me to ask if I have a job for them. The electrician called yesterday to ask if my air conditioners were not giving problems. I said No. He said what of the television sets? I said they were all working. He even asked whether Madam has not complained about any appliance in the kitchen.”<br> “That is a potential burglar, staking out territory.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Shortly after he dropped the phone, the mechanic also called to ask if the car was alright. I said yes. He asked if I was not hearing any unusual sound. I said No.”<br> “Your mechanic is stalking your car. What is that? Call the police.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“But don’t you understand? There are no jobs in town.”<br> “Who is saying so?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I am, based on the evidence of my eyes and what I have been hearing.”<br> “And you have not heard that the Federal Government has launched a plan to create 1,000 jobs per week by getting people to become masquerade dressers?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Masquerades?”<br> “Yes. Those masquerades that need 100 people to dress them; and another 100 to undress them. If every Nigerian community organises a masquerade festival every week, all this nonsense about people not having jobs will end. It is the most profound official contribution to this unemployment narrative so far.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“You just like to trivialize things.”<br> “How, it is simple economics. Imagine the number of tailors that will also be engaged.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“You can’t be serious.”<br> “I am. Your electrician and mechanic will be better off joining the masquerade gang of Nigeria.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Who is proposing this?”<br> “I don’t mention names, please.  It is the idea that matters.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“But come to think of it, I see some sense. We are actually a nation of masquerades.  Masquerades in high and low places; masquerades behaving like ancestors when they are actually mere mortals.”<br> “It is the day motor jam masquerade that you will know he is a human being. Even the whole economy has become a masquerade.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“But this thing about festivals.”<br> “It happened in ancient Rome. The Romans had over 170 festivals in a year. They were a source of unity for the Empire.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I don’t think Nigerians are asking for festivals, and an opportunity to dance, they want jobs and money in their pockets.”<br> “But you know the truth and why I don’t believe all these tales? Foreign investors will never give up on Nigeria. We have the biggest market in the whole of Africa. It is the source of our strength. If you like, let a thousand kidnappers strike per day, all the airplanes on the Nigerian route will still be fully booked all year round. At the height of the Boko Haram and the Niger Delta crises, investors still rushed into Nigeria to look for opportunities. What they may be doing now is a kind of siddon look. It will pass.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“If we sort out the economy.”<br> “What I know is that we are better than Venezuela.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“So, Venezuela is now the standard?”<br> “They have oil, we have oil.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“But Venezuela is now a failed state, for failing to manage its oil wealth very well.  You need like a bag load of money to buy any essential commodity in that country. Is that what you want in Nigeria?”<br> “God forbid bad thing!”</p> <p dir="ltr">“God?”<br> “I say God forbid bad thing!”</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is about God?”<br> “Everything in this country is about God. That is why I agree with people who are now saying that the way forward is to approach God for help. Even the masquerades will offer prayers and speak to God through the ancestors.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Well, some people are not going to God. One man in Lekki yesterday decided to climb an electric pole. He threatened to hug the electric wires and die. He said he would only change his mind if he was given N5 million.”<br> “Only N5 million, not N45 million?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“The people called the Fire Service. Fire Service said they should call PHCN. They called PHCN; those ones said call the police. The police came, the Fire Service too, after about six hours. They begged the man but when he didn’t listen, they just went away.”<br> “The officials left the scene?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Yes. Everybody tried to talk to the man. He insisted on N5 million or nothing.”<br> “Don’t worry, it is the Tee Billz spirit in every Nigerian. So what happened in the end?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I don’t know.”<br> “The man was not ready to die. He should have jumped straight into the Lagoon instead of climbing an electric pole.  And did he tweet and instagram his drama like Tee Billz?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Well, I think government should just make it clear that anybody who wants to die should not disturb public peace, they should just go ahead.”<br> “That’s cruel. I expected the Lagos State government to be pro-active and offer that man some money. May be N1 million, and then rehabilitate him.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“One ginni? If anybody gave that man money, you’d be surprised by tomorrow morning you will find half of Lagos on top of electric poles, asking for money. Even me sef, I fit climb pole or hug transformer, but my own no be to die oh, na to collect money.”<br> “That is it… the strongest sign of the state of the nation. People are just going crazy. That was how one guy went to a fuel station in Lagos, stark naked, saying he would not dress up unless he was allowed to buy fuel. Nobody listened to him.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Don’t worry, they will all get used to it. It is a matter of time. Or it may just be that Nigerians love drama. Everybody has become a Nollywood artist; there is more drama outside Nollywood today.”<br> “What I don’t even understand is why people use the social media these days to kill people. You’d just wake up one morning and read a fabulous story about someone dying when they are actually alive.  It must be only in Nigeria that death is used as an instrument of blackmail.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“They did it to Chief Tony Anenih. He has had to announce that his traducers will be the ones to die before him.”<br> “They also did it to King Sunny Ade, IBB, Desmond Elliot”<br> “I blame the media. It is called irresponsible journalism.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“No, blame the bloggers. Using the social media to announce a death that has not happened should be taken as a crime: a clear case of attempted homicide.”<br> “Ha, wait oh”<br> “What?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I just remembered something.”<br> “What?”<br> “I hear Baba OBJ has just donated a chimpanzee to an animal centre. Do you want to know what the Chimpanzee is called, named by the Baba himself?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Just shut up that your mouth!”<br> “Hear me first now. Try and exercise some Patience.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I say keep the name to yourself.”<br> “This is your problem. You don’t believe things you should believe and yet you don’t have the Patience to learn about things you don’t know.”<br> “Thank you. So, what are you, yourself donating to the animal centre? How about you donating a cow?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Cow ke? I don’t want any problems, please. I may donate one of my dogs.”<br> “Hen, don’t try that! I’ll send you one article I have just read. It says dog meat is medicinal and that it can cure malaria. It is also fortifies the human spirit and when you eat the testes, it is like taking Viagra. Current research findings!”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Nonsense, I can’t eat dog meat. A dog is a man’s best friend.”<br> “The article says it contains energy, fat, protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, iron, thiamine, niacin.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“You are salivating! If any of my dogs should disappear, I’ll bring the police to your doorstep.”<br> “Which ones? The same police who cannot rescue a man who wants to commit suicide. They will rescue a dog?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Just don’t go about telling civilised people that here, in Nigeria, we eat dog meat to cure malaria and impotence. Argggh!”<br> “You think Oyinbo people don’t know? Sit down there.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I hear…”<br> “You and the things you hear.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I hear the Senate is recommending death sentence for kidnappers.”<br> “Kidnappers. How about rapists? Look, what we need, to save Nigeria, most urgently, is a National Depression Initiative. People are depressed. It is why they say and do stupid things.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I also hear….”<br> “Ok. Enough of these things you hear. I have heard enough today.”</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuKgaxNWYhLsZzp_ZzM2Y8NERUBJyuR6FmQHiV3He6RV0I_LNOmknT7BU6a5gym0_HqOt8vM-5DMQSGrXj1ztBqcmX0QoAiTkJCBW9RP9WRZk0n9YvAOIgIO04BWy7nrrs9N6syEx3ROP/s1600/reuben-abati.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuKgaxNWYhLsZzp_ZzM2Y8NERUBJyuR6FmQHiV3He6RV0I_LNOmknT7BU6a5gym0_HqOt8vM-5DMQSGrXj1ztBqcmX0QoAiTkJCBW9RP9WRZk0n9YvAOIgIO04BWy7nrrs9N6syEx3ROP/s640/reuben-abati.jpg"> </a> </div>

Reuben Abati: The cost of national depression

BASAM 0 01:33:00

“I hear the World Bank says Nigeria is now the worst place to do business in the entire world.” “I don’t believe it.” “I also hear that of the 15 fastest growing economies in Africa, Nigeria is no longer on the list.” “I say I don’t believe that. And… link to this post

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Jonathan shouldn’t have contested, says Fayose

<p dir="ltr">Ayo Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, says former president Goodluck Jonathan should not have participated in the 2015 presidential election.<br> Though Fayose was one of the main supporters of the ex-president in the build up to the election, the governor said those who sang to Jonathan to run did not allow him get back home, after the defeat, before saying they had retired from politics.<br> He said the elders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must take the back seat for condemning the party to a presidential loss in 2015.<br> He was speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels TV.<br> “I am an ardent supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan, I love him, I would continue to defend his cause, I would continue to stand up for him, because he did well,” he said.<br> “In my opinion, the only thing Jonathan did that I keep saying, that I hardly want to say, is that if I were him I wouldn’t have contested.<br> “The people that went to tell Jonathan, that convinced him to run, making him to understand that at 58, when he would be done, how would a young man be 58 and say I’m done with presidency, they were the first set of people who said we have retired from politics.<br> “They didn’t even allow him to get home, before they said that. All leaders are coming out today to say they want to rebuild. Rebuild what? What you destroyed? You don’t have capacity to do it.”<br> OKUPE, GEORGE WANT TO BE PDP CHAIR<br> “Chief Bode George is interested in the chairmanship of the party. I have a lot of respect for Chief Bode George, he’s our leader. But when we come to the nitty gritty, we must find out the motive.<br> “Chief Bode George told me personally that he wanted to be chairman of the party. I told him no, ‘I won’t support you’. With all due respect to the elderly people in this party; they must take the back stage. People are tired of seeing the same old faces.<br> “I have been hearing Ahmadu Ali since 1976, when we sang Ali must go. Chief Bode George was governor of Ondo state almost 40 years ago. They are our leaders, we love them, but they should take the back stage.”<br> For Doyin Okupe, who served Jonathan as senior special assistant on public affairs, Fayose said he has nothing to tell Nigerians about “rebranding or rebuilding” since he lost with the former president.<br> He said he wanted Bode Olajumoke to contest for the chairmanship of the opposition party, but he declined.<br> SHERIFF FOR PRESIDENT? WILL HE STEAL IT?<br> When asked if he would support Sheriff for president, Fayose said: “I take exception to that. How would he come out and say he wants to be president? Where? Don’t ask me questions based on packaging of opposition saying Fayose wants to be vice president.<br> “If I want to be vice president of Nigeria, I would show interest legitimately. I’m a young man, it’s quite deserving, even people mentioning my name gladdens my heart.<br> “But let me tell you if Ali Modu Sheriff comes out to do anything on the contrary, in boldness, I will come out and talk against him. I’m a very blunt person. Sheriff should follow our rules.<br> “Then you’re talking of presidency, would he go and steal it? You want to be the referee; you want to change goal post? No, it’s not going to work. Expressly, I would not be part of anything. How would it do it?<br> “Mentioning my name that I want to be vice president is cheap blackmail.”<br> When asked further if he is serious about not being vice-president, he replied: “If an opportunity comes, I won’t run away o.<br> “You don’t contest for the office of the vice president, you’re chosen. You don’t show interest for it, my deputy didn’t show me interest, I picked him. Atiku didn’t contest, Obasanjo picked him.<br> PDP WILL WIN IN 2019 BECAUSE OF ‘APC’S FAILURE’<br> “Let me explain something to you; it is not what the opposition did before 2015, that made them win, it is what the party in power failed to do.<br> “When the party in government fails to provide fuel; queues are back, trimming their promises. The exchange, average men can no longer do things, businesses are dead. You can’t import anymore.<br> “You can’t pay fees of your children, light is becoming unbearable, herdsmen are killing people on a daily basis. Things are not working for Nigerians now. We are at the lowest ebb of our lives.<br> “I was a young man of 24 when Buhari was head of state, the same attitude between 1984 and 1985 is what is happening today. The reason why they took government from him at that time is still playing out today.”<br> He lauded Buhari for his fight against insurgency, but said the insurgents are now being replaced by herdsmen.<br> He also advised governors not to borrow a debt that they would not offset before leaving office.<br> He said he is owing four month salaries because of loans which Kayode Fayemi, his predecessor, took.<br> “At the economic summit that we went to do, it would amaze you that some governors who ran their state aground are principal lecturers there,” he said.<br> “What do you want people like us to say? I’m owing four-month salaries. The last month allocation I got, I got N817 million. In the last six months, I have gotten allocation between 1.3, 1.2, 1.1, N1 billion, and this one I got N817 million.<br> “My wage bill is N2.6 billion. I would have been able to pay, and this is without indicting anybody, they are deducting about N1.5 billion from my allocation every month as a result of debts owed by my predecessor.<br> “It would remain there until year 2036. I left Ekiti as governor with N10.4 billion, I joined to recapitalise Wema (Bank), as Ekiti had shares in Wema. All those were sold out, nothing left and I came back to meet debts.<br> “One of the steps forward is that governors should not borrow beyond their tenure, otherwise most of their successors will have issues.”<br> Source: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6V5o7_IdOrfRJKOHxFa1mAENtGKuBjTPSA5ErraxpuYlVB4-BWw5R0-fJ9_mf1omnC_4jTpL_P-tpzUz15oIdJJShyFQyBuT9kZeIj929cIFIxL8rg3dazmw7qjtYHflOAcFO8DWiuGpz/s1600/PDP-Ayodele-Fayose-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6V5o7_IdOrfRJKOHxFa1mAENtGKuBjTPSA5ErraxpuYlVB4-BWw5R0-fJ9_mf1omnC_4jTpL_P-tpzUz15oIdJJShyFQyBuT9kZeIj929cIFIxL8rg3dazmw7qjtYHflOAcFO8DWiuGpz/s640/PDP-Ayodele-Fayose-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

Jonathan shouldn’t have contested, says Fayose

BASAM 0 23:37:00

Ayo Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, says former president Goodluck Jonathan should not have participated in the 2015 presidential election. Though Fayose was one of the main supporters of the ex-president in the build up to the election, the governo… link to this post

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UNILORIN Teaching Hospital performs 3 open heart surgeries

<p dir="ltr">The University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) carried out successful open heart surgeries (OHS) on three children on Thursday.<br> The feat was recorded barely seven months after the hospital performed its first OHS on two female children.<br> Speaking at a press briefing Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, the chief medical director (CMD) of the hospital, explained that a team of cardiologists and anesthesia from Apollo Hospital, Chennai, assisted in the operation.<br> He added that the three patients, David Adeyemi (5), Thani Sambo (4) and Ibrahim Mohammed (3) were off the ventilator and would be discharged from the hospital in a few days time.<br> He also laid the foundation of an ultra-modern cardiac catheterization (cathlab), saying the centre when completed, would assist in diagnosing and treating heart related vascular diseases.<br> Bemoaning high rate of congenital heart conditions among Nigerian children, Olatinwo said the UITH cardiac centre will provide succor.<br> He said the hospital would continue to send team of doctors, nurses and other health workers to upgrade their trainings ahead of the readiness of the Cardiac Catheterization programme.<br> “It is our vision to make it the best cardiac centre in the Africa. We want to use it to reverse medical tourism being embarked upon by many Nigerians,” he said.<br> On reason for the zero mortality recorded on all the five patients who underwent OHS in the hospital, Olatinwo said UITH was careful in its choice of patients, intra operative and post operative care and the partner (Apollo Hospital), with over 20 years experiences on the procedure.<br> Neville Solomon, head of the delegation from Apollo Hospital, praised the management and staff of UITH for their dedication.<br> He said the hospital had potentials that would make it go places.<br> “With the calibre and integrity of the cardiac team we have worked with here, the UITH would perform the surgeries without our own team,” Neville said.<br> Adeyemi Sanjo and Sambo Yakubu, two parents of the patients, thanked the hospital management.<br> “We initially wanted to opt out of the surgeries but when the UITH management showed us the facilities on ground we concurred. Today we are grateful to God,” Yakubu said.<br> Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0JlXrsUDktw/Vyw6hqJcWII/AAAAAAAABrA/s1600/UITH-653x365.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0JlXrsUDktw/Vyw6hqJcWII/AAAAAAAABrA/s640/UITH-653x365.png"> </a> </div>

UNILORIN Teaching Hospital performs 3 open heart surgeries

BASAM 0 23:32:00

The University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) carried out successful open heart surgeries (OHS) on three children on Thursday. The feat was recorded barely seven months after the hospital performed its first OHS on two female children. Speaking a… link to this post

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It’s official: Lagos is now an oil-producing state

<p dir="ltr">It is official: Lagos state has finally become an oil-producing state, and will join states who get 13 percent derivation from the federation account.<br> PUNCH reports that Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited (YFP), a wholly-owned indigenous firm and operator of the OML 113 offshore Lagos, on Tuesday announced the commencement of production of crude oil from the field.<br> This is coming 25 years after the company was awarded an oil prospecting licence.<br> Tunde Folawiyo, YFP chairman, was quoted to have said: “The attainment of this milestone is indeed a laudable achievement not just for the YFP, but for the Nigerian oil and gas industry as a whole and indeed Lagos State, which can now be addressed as an oil-producing state.<br> “We are very proud of and appreciate the efforts, determination and commitment of the entire Aje project team, past and present; the constant support from our regulators, the DPR and Ministry of Petroleum; and our financiers. We believe this crucial support will spur us on to even greater achievements.”<br> YFP partnered New Age Exploration Nigeria Limited, EER (Colobus) Nigeria Limited, Pan Petroleum (Panoro Energy) Aje Limited and PR Oil & Gas Nigeria Limited in the exploration.<br> Panoro had in an update posted on its website on April 20 said the final hook-up procedures were in progress with a view to bringing the wells into production shortly.<br> Oil produced from the Aje field will be stored on the Front Puffin, which has production capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day and storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, according to the YFP.<br> YFP was awarded the oil prospecting license (OPL 309) in June 1991 as a sole risk contract under the Nigerian government’s indigenous allocation programme, which was put in place to encourage the development of a locally owned and operated Nigerian upstream oil industry.<br> The total area covered by the concession block is 1699 sq km, YFP said on its website.<br> Following the acquisition of 2D seismic data in 1994/95, and the drilling of the Aje-1 well in 1996, the Aje field was discovered.<br> A second well, Aje-2, was drilled the following year in 1997. After the successful drilling and testing of both wells, OPL 309 was converted to oil mining license (OML) 113 in 1998 with an initial term of 20 years.<br> Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAltO30wm9kAj7EecOX21T7pvXub_9a7VOuOS1X86zrntjepykr8UAwudRrBvQJY673HqFJeWQwYc6tgn-UVwXojYQthHI5BTYpx4LMfVFhP6HAthcKOjRKWccmhTD5tMxC8LgheJSDe6X/s1600/folawiyo-petroleum-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAltO30wm9kAj7EecOX21T7pvXub_9a7VOuOS1X86zrntjepykr8UAwudRrBvQJY673HqFJeWQwYc6tgn-UVwXojYQthHI5BTYpx4LMfVFhP6HAthcKOjRKWccmhTD5tMxC8LgheJSDe6X/s640/folawiyo-petroleum-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

It’s official: Lagos is now an oil-producing state

BASAM 0 23:24:00

It is official: Lagos state has finally become an oil-producing state, and will join states who get 13 percent derivation from the federation account. PUNCH reports that Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited (YFP), a wholly-owned indigenous firm a… link to this post

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Otedola loses $400m in 9 weeks after shares sell-off

<p dir="ltr">Stock price of Forte Oil, owned by Femi Otedola, Nigerian billionaire, shed off 43.5% in value in the last nine weeks, costing the business magnate more than $400 million of his personal fortune, according to Forbes.<br> In late February, the share price of Forte Oil hit an all-time high of N342 per share after the Lagos-based utilities and petroleum marketing company released its impressive 2015 financial year results and declared an attractive dividend of N3.45 per share.<br> However, as at close of trading on Tuesday, its share price had dropped to N193.46 after recording consistent daily losses over the past few weeks.<br> Otedola, who is the company’s controlling shareholder, has seen his paper net worth drop from $1.6 billion when Forbes published its annual ranking of the World’s Billionaires in March, to $1.2 billion as at Tuesday, according to the Forbes’ real-time billionaire scorecard.<br> The magazine quoted a source at Forte Oil as linking the drop in the company’s share price with massive sell-offs of bonus shares from some of the company’s retail investors.<br> Last year, Forte Oil offered investors a bonus of one new share for every five ordinary shares they held.<br> In total, Forte Oil declared roughly 216 million bonus shares for the 2014 business year.<br> The bonus shares were only issued to investors a couple of weeks ago and they have been scrabbling to sell off their bonus shares on the market to cash in.<br> This mass sell-off has precipitated the drop in the share price.<br> “This is only temporary. As you’ll see, even though investors are selling off their bonus shares, there are institutional investors who are buying up all the shares on offer as evidenced by the volume of the transactions in the last few days,” the source said.<br> “When all those bonus shares are cleared up by institutional investors, you’ll see the share price rising again.”<br> Of the 216 million bonus shares, which have been issued, Otedola received approximately 170 million.<br> Forte Oil Plc is primarily engaged in the distribution of petroleum products such as diesel, aviation fuel and premium motor spirit (PMS).<br> The company has over 500 company-owned, dealer-assisted and dealer-developed gas stations spread across the country, oil storage depots in Lagos and Rivers states, a Power plant and a Joint User Hydrant Installation facility in Lagos.<br> The company also sells its own range of automobile lubricants. In 2014, it was included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Frontier Market 100 Index.<br> Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegKhshUyKjdsry-CMXQCx9y-JpI4qKlRP6BNus2vJmBxsS8GfO-LQ2NbG6SFm3vpq-4_Fpq0kfOaPINEv6plhTqXWXAdcAJLU2WNNhtfPaUtPBKYXMLNkAxzULeLiTyWDbuAKlBJGlsWY/s1600/Femi-Otedola-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegKhshUyKjdsry-CMXQCx9y-JpI4qKlRP6BNus2vJmBxsS8GfO-LQ2NbG6SFm3vpq-4_Fpq0kfOaPINEv6plhTqXWXAdcAJLU2WNNhtfPaUtPBKYXMLNkAxzULeLiTyWDbuAKlBJGlsWY/s640/Femi-Otedola-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

Otedola loses $400m in 9 weeks after shares sell-off

BASAM 0 23:19:00

Stock price of Forte Oil, owned by Femi Otedola, Nigerian billionaire, shed off 43.5% in value in the last nine weeks, costing the business magnate more than $400 million of his personal fortune, according to Forbes. In late February, the share price… link to this post

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Kogi governor will soon be removed, says Fayose

<p dir="ltr">Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, says Yahaya Bello, his Kogi state counterpart, will soon be removed from office.<br> Delivering a lecture entitled ‘Journalism and Politics : Two Sides of A Coin’ at an event organised by the Oyo state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day, Fayose described himself as a prophet who has never lost any battle.<br> “Whatever I say is divine… The next to happen is the removal of Kogi state governor… I have not lost a battle in my life,” he said.<br> Fayose said many people are afraid to speak the truth, but he would rather die than shy away from the truth.<br> He said it was incorrect to accuse him of abusing President Muhammadu Buhari whom he described as his grandfather, but that he was only keeping the president on his toes.<br> He also lamented the economic situation of the country, and advised the federal government to stop blaming the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the situation of things.<br> “People say that I abuse Buhari. I am not abusing him because he is like my grandfather, but I know the history,” he said.<br> “Eighty per cent of people that voted for Buhari in the West did not know him. They are between 18 and 40. They voted because they wanted change desperately and I agree with them. He left government 32 years ago so they did not experience his rule.<br> “Today, the Peoples Democratic Party is no longer in government so they should stop blaming the PDP. They told us that dollars would become one to one but where is that today? The regime of fuel subsidy is gone and we now have food subsidy. Queue is back at filling stations.<br> “We have never had it so bad like in the last 12 months; electricity has gone to zero and we no longer have light in our houses. Most generators have been exhausted. I want to tell Nigerians that we are in the wrong direction because you cannot give what you don’t have. There is time to retire because of the diminishing return on the functionality of the brain. At 75, my mother can do little.”<br> Source: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyPfJZzwuMkVl-wJKwA-eoDHFr-MRZwSm7my_nBJN-z2K18Tm5QB_llYYmnp3vHRQhaMZIEqiau82Ah4NXwoRJIF0CL8fSkSXnEfRCYQNmhNZcNvMtM7lWFbP-Ah9oxJ1wFjdTxChVeWqT/s1600/PIC.-10.-INAUGURATION-OF-GOV.YAHAYA-BELLO-IN-LOKOJA-Copy-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyPfJZzwuMkVl-wJKwA-eoDHFr-MRZwSm7my_nBJN-z2K18Tm5QB_llYYmnp3vHRQhaMZIEqiau82Ah4NXwoRJIF0CL8fSkSXnEfRCYQNmhNZcNvMtM7lWFbP-Ah9oxJ1wFjdTxChVeWqT/s640/PIC.-10.-INAUGURATION-OF-GOV.YAHAYA-BELLO-IN-LOKOJA-Copy-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

Kogi governor will soon be removed, says Fayose

BASAM 0 23:11:00

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, says Yahaya Bello, his Kogi state counterpart, will soon be removed from office. Delivering a lecture entitled ‘Journalism and Politics : Two Sides of A Coin’ at an event organised by the Oyo state chapter of … link to this post

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Sanusi: Ben Bruce told me Jonathan would jail me over the ‘missing $20bn’ letter

<p dir="ltr">Sanusi Muhammad II, former central bank governor and now emir of Kano, says Ben Murray Bruce told him he would be jailed over the letter he wrote to former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013 on the missing oil money.<br> The emir also revealed that Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state and now minister of transportation, was the one who leaked the letter.<br> Sanusi made these revelations to Forbes Africa in an interview monitored by TheCable on Wednesday.<br> As central bank governor, Sanusi had written to former president Goodluck Jonathan in 2013 to raise the alarm over billions of dollars from oil sale not remitted to the federation account.<br> Sanusi was later suspended as CBN governor but he became emir of Kano while he was in court seeking that his suspension be declared illegal.<br> Amaechi on Wednesday night confirmed to TheCable that he was the one that leaked the letter “because the corruption was simply too much”.<br> BEN BRUCE TOLD ME THEY’D JAIL ME<br> “I remember Ben Murray Bruce, who is now a senator, coming to me to say that he had it on good authority that if I went to the senate with my documents, I would be removed, investigated and imprisoned.<br> “Then I said, why would I be imprisoned, and he said, you know, you’ve worked in government. I have worked in government, if people really want to find something on you, in the central bank, five years, they would come and look, they would find something.<br> “I was like they would find it if I have done it. I mean they can plant something, but if haven’t done it, maybe somebody under me had done something that I wasn’t aware of.<br> “But in all my years at the central bank, to the best of my knowledge, I had done nothing that should put me in prison. However, I said to him, tell the president, from me, that if the punishment for going to the senate is prison, he doesn’t need to go through all of that, just ask him to tell me what prison he wants me to go to and for how many years, I’d drive myself there.”<br> AMEACHI LEAKED THE LETTER<br> Sanusi said when he wrote the letter to Jonathan in August 2013, “he did nothing, I heard nothing. Until December 2013 or January 2014, General Obasanjo wrote this famous open letter to Jonathan, in that letter, he now referred to the letter by the central bank governor.<br> “Somebody had laid their hands on that letter, and this is Nigeria, it’s (bureaucracy) is long enough for somebody to have leaked the letter to someone, either from the presidency or from finance or petroleum or the central bank – I don’t know but the letter gone on.<br> “Later, I think a few weeks ago, governor Rotimi Amaechi announced to the world that he was the one who obtained a copy of the letter and leaked it. I don’t know where he got it, he didn’t say where he got it.”<br> JONATHAN SAID I LEAVE OR HE LEAVES<br> Narrating the $20 billion saga to Forbes Africa, Sanusi said that in 2012 and 2013, government revenue collapsed by $10 billion, without a collapse in oil prices or production capacity, adding that the CBN found a $49 billion revenue gap.<br> Shocked at the revelation, Sanusi said he wrote Jonathan, saying: “If this continues, we are going to have a big problem if the price of oil came down. We can’t protect interest rates, we can’t protect exchange rates, we can’t protect reserves.<br> “We may have to tighten money to prevent inflation, there will be unemployment, government will suffer – all of the things we are seeing today.<br> “In the middle of all these, the president called me and said I should see him at 3pm. I turned up at 3pm and the entire place had been swept. There was no one apart from security services. I got to his office, it was just me and him. It was as if everybody had been asked to go.<br> “And so he says to me, he’s calling me because he is surprised that letter I wrote to him got to Obasanjo, I said I’m surprised too.<br> “He said he’s convinced that the letter went from the central bank to Obasanjo, and I had 24 hours to find who leaked the letter or sack somebody; the director who prepared the letter or my secretary and if I did not sack them, that was proof that I leaked the letter and therefore, I should resign.<br> “I said to him that I’m surprised that I’m being asked to resign for raising an alarm over missing funds and the minister in charge of the portfolio is not being asked to resign.<br> “From then I knew I had signed my equivalent for death warrant. But I said I was not resigning. He got very angry and said whether you like it or not, you’re going to leave that office, I cannot continue to work with you, either you or I will leave government.”<br> JONATHAN IS NOT A LEADER THAT CAN KILL<br> “I was amused that leaking the letter is far more crime than leaking money. I went straight to the office of the principal secretary to the president, and I met him with a gentleman from Kano, who was foreign minister Ambassador Aminu Ali.<br> “I said to them, gentlemen, I’m coming to you because I just had a meeting with the president, and there were no witnesses, and the president had threatened me.<br> “I repeated what happened and told them I am going to tell people close to me, if anything happens to me, it is the president.<br> “I don’t think I was really in fear of my life. Even if you don’t like someone – Jonathan was not the kind of person that would have someone killed. He wasn’t that kind of leader.”<br> NOBODY TOUCHES DIEZANI AND SURVIVES<br> “I knew that taking on NNPC was taking on the most powerful minister in Jonathan’s government, and nobody who had touched Diezani had survived. It was not a question of what would happen, I just didn’t care at that time. I did not want to go down in history as having seen this and kept quiet.<br> “After the first round of reconciliation, there was $29 billion that was explained. And how was that explained? Crude that was shipped by NNPC did not entirely belong to NNPC.”<br> He said some oil companies paid taxes and royalties in oil, and the NNPC sold this oil on behalf of FIRS, meaning FIRS got the money and not necessarily the federal government.<br> “No reasonable explanation for $20 billion, $6 billion was with NPDC that had not gotten to the federation account till date.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEh_0jD3cOS1p9z7HEOQ-aheq9MkVxBZl5tCr8u1cUJjh5V5hYryOBS91MyQdSbh1UYweYDRdqnFoE3Hs5BUX7SmnP00KmjCLuM9ib38sIgIVplys5ju4Ygm5vmv1p-_yqsjMI7T9b9VGb/s1600/Jonathan-Sanusi-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEh_0jD3cOS1p9z7HEOQ-aheq9MkVxBZl5tCr8u1cUJjh5V5hYryOBS91MyQdSbh1UYweYDRdqnFoE3Hs5BUX7SmnP00KmjCLuM9ib38sIgIVplys5ju4Ygm5vmv1p-_yqsjMI7T9b9VGb/s640/Jonathan-Sanusi-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

Sanusi: Ben Bruce told me Jonathan would jail me over the ‘missing $20bn’ letter

BASAM 0 23:05:00

Sanusi Muhammad II, former central bank governor and now emir of Kano, says Ben Murray Bruce told him he would be jailed over the letter he wrote to former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013 on the missing oil money. The emir also revealed that Roti… link to this post

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Jonathan remembers ‘servant leader’ Yar’Adua, says he will never be forgotten

<p dir="ltr">Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday recounted his fond memories of his former boss, late former president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who passed away exactly six years ago.<br> Both men were elected in 2007, but Yar’Adua’s illness paved the way for Jonathan’s elevation to the status of acting president two years later, and he succeeded Yar’Adua, who eventually died in the third year of their government.<br> In a tribute on Facebook, Jonathan wrote: “Six years ago, I lost a dear friend and partner in democracy, peace and progress. President Umaru Musa Yar’adua was a servant leader and a stickler for the rule of law.<br> “He may be gone but he is never to be forgotten. I pray for his soul and for him to rest in al Jannah firdaus.”<br> Yar’Adua, who served as the 13th president of Nigeria, was governor of Katsina state between 1999 and 2007, when Jonathan served as deputy governor and governor of Bayelsa state.<br> Both men had a smooth relationship until the president fell ill-health and travelled abroad without properly handing over to his deputy.<br> Source: <u>thecableng</u></p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5riFMosZaN8_3XPGtPPCTs-LpEgO1IvEYpBA7f-0YPLmXaq3SoxlpKhaCEiS0BUhnr0WPyXpAOulvCpYZReRjGr542vQI54R21Grl-XYQhDskv7au2XdLvriS9THgRTtLjSEPi7Qsw61w/s1600/Jonathan-YarAdua-653x365.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5riFMosZaN8_3XPGtPPCTs-LpEgO1IvEYpBA7f-0YPLmXaq3SoxlpKhaCEiS0BUhnr0WPyXpAOulvCpYZReRjGr542vQI54R21Grl-XYQhDskv7au2XdLvriS9THgRTtLjSEPi7Qsw61w/s640/Jonathan-YarAdua-653x365.png"> </a> </div>

Jonathan remembers ‘servant leader’ Yar’Adua, says he will never be forgotten

BASAM 0 22:59:00

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday recounted his fond memories of his former boss, late former president, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who passed away exactly six years ago. Both men were elected in 2007, but Yar’Adua’s illness paved the way for … link to this post

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Aero Contractors fires 100 workers

<p dir="ltr">At least 100 workers outsourced to Aero Contractors by Skyborne Ltd have been sacked following the airline’s decision to review its relationship with the company.<br> The airline confirmed the development in a statement issued on Friday by Simon Tumba, its media consultant.<br> The statement said: “In the course of reorganising and repositioning its business, Aero Contractors has reviewed its relationship with Skyborne by cutting down some of the services required from the company.<br> “This will help the company to invest more resources to enhance customer service. For the records, Aero has not sacked any of its staff.”<br> A letter to one of the affected workers which was obtained by NAN claimed that the sack was as a result of the ongoing restructuring in the airline.<br> The letter reads: “Dear colleague, in the light of the ongoing restructuring at Aero, we regret to inform you that your services are no longer required and employment with SBL terminated with immediate effect.<br> “Please, return all company property to your manager/supervisor by 8am on April 28. We regret any inconvenience caused.”<br> Aero Contractors had been in the news in recent times as allegations of corruption and diversion of funds were levelled against the past management.<br> The Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), which owns 60 per cent of the airline’s shares, had dissolved the previous management and appointed Fola Akinkuotu, former director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), as its Managing Director.<br> Akinkuotu has been given the task of rebuilding the airline and helping it to regain its position as a key player in the industry.<br> Only on Thursday did First Bank reveal its intention to lay off 1,000 workers.<br> Credit: thecableng </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kLHyAAFvxlzj0azfwuSnf1XAJKpAhwPtaw99jLhCgMKhEayBQMfg03mW5dAZPJpTOzL6J4IQJAEdyvYRkmcFd-VRlV-1UdDj_ZmNtnnX-5w1iJ3bn9-cXXaWJU7MrsXI72AZmwHi6gki/s1600/AERO-air-653x365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kLHyAAFvxlzj0azfwuSnf1XAJKpAhwPtaw99jLhCgMKhEayBQMfg03mW5dAZPJpTOzL6J4IQJAEdyvYRkmcFd-VRlV-1UdDj_ZmNtnnX-5w1iJ3bn9-cXXaWJU7MrsXI72AZmwHi6gki/s640/AERO-air-653x365.jpg"> </a> </div>

Aero Contractors fires 100 workers

BASAM 0 01:40:00

At least 100 workers outsourced to Aero Contractors by Skyborne Ltd have been sacked following the airline’s decision to review its relationship with the company. The airline confirmed the development in a statement issued on Friday by Simon Tumba, i… link to this post

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