Blog

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Reactions

By Ali Inuwa

Maiduguri, Nov.9, 2016 (NAN) Some residents of Maiduguri on Wednesday said that with the election of Donald Trump as the new U.S. President , the days of the Boko Haram insurgents were numbered.

The respondents disclosed this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri.

Malam Muhammad Ibrahim, a civil servant, said that the emergence of Trump as the American President did not come as a surprise.

He said that the Trump agenda of fighting terrorism would be benefit Nigeria, especially regarding the fight against Boko Haram.

” I think Nigeria is going to gain a lot from the new president, especially in the fight against terrorism.

“Going by his words, it will be safe to say that the days of Boko Haram are numbered because he is going to kick out their main sponsors, the Islamic State Militants,” he said.

Malam Abba Kali, a journalist, also said that the emergence of Trump presidency would also help in ending the country’s economic recession.

“I think Nigeria is going to be better for it, the new president will help a great deal in ending our current recession.

” I believe his policies will help revive the world crude oil prices as well as end the current global recession, ” he said.

Mr Patrick James, another journalist, said that the election of Trump will give Africa the chance to use its human and material resources for development.

“Mr Trump has made it clear that he was going to send home Africans staying in America illegally.

” This is good news to us, let them come back and develop their continent instead of developing America, ” he said. (NAN)
ABI/JPE/AMY

Edited by Joseph Edeh and Abdullahi Yusuf
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NGO screens 500 people on Hepatitis, HIV in Bauchi

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Hepatitis

Tafawa Balewa (Bauchi State), Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) The Sun of Hope Foundation, an NGO, says more than 500 people have benefited from its free screening exercise on Hepatitis, HIV/AIS, Diabates and Malaria in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area in Bauchi state.

The Coordinator of the foundation, Mrs Serah Kefas, disclosed this on Wednesday in an interview with the News agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Tafawa Balewa.

She said the exercise was to contribute towards safe guarding public health, adding that more than 50 various types of drugs are also given to people diagnose with various types of other ailments.

She said that the exercise was conducted by a team of medical doctors and pharmacists.

“We intend to screen a minimum of 500 people on Hepatitis, Sugar level, Malaria and Skin diseases, among others.

“The foundation is here with more than 50 different drugs and with the team of medical doctors and pharmacists to conduct the exercise.

“Those diagnose with ailments such as HIV and Hepatitis will be followed to their homes to council them on their ailment,” the coordinator said.

Kefas said that the organisation would also conduct mobile clinic exercise to dwell more on community health care services.

NAN reports that the foundation is working towards maternal health in some communities across the state. (NAN)

AE/MST/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Russia welcomes Trump presidency with “great sense of relief”

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Relief

Moscow, Nov. 9, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Russia on Wednesday welcomed Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election with a “great sense of relief,” a prominent Western investor in Moscow said.

“There was a real sense that with Hillary Clinton the Cold War would have returned,” Chris Weafer, a senior partner at Russian-focused investment consultancy Macro Advisory said.

“Clinton’s “reset” of U.S.-Russian relations during her time as the top U.S. diplomat tragically unravelled and she had harsh words for Russia during her presidential campaign.

“Clinton instilled a “fear that her team would have been very tough with Russia and raise the risk of a real confrontation,” Weafer said.

Russia’s benchmark MICEX stock index rose steadily on the news of a Trump victory, while other financial indicators around the world fell and investors sought haven in bets on gold.

Weafer, however, cautioned against speculation of a Russian economic resurgence despite the news, as prices for the country’s main export, oil, remain relatively low and Western sanctions stay in place.

A Trump presidency will not solve Russia’s economic problems, “but at least it should not make them worse,” Weafer said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first to congratulate Trump, saying he hoped to “bring US-Russian relations out of their state of crisis”. (dpa/NAN)
OYE/AMY

Edited by Damilola Oyewole and Abdullahi Yusuf

NAN-H-10

RATTAWU

By Uche Eletuo

Lagos, Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) The Lagos State Council of the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU) on Wednesday inaugurated the Advertisers Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) chapter.

Mr Adewale Akande, Vice President, RATTAWU, South West, who inaugurated the chapter in company of other state executives, said that the welfare of the members should be paramount.

Akande called for a harmonious relationship between the members and their management, urging the union not to see itself as an opposition to management.

“We are not a union of thugs and will like the chapter to tread in the same spirit in their conduct to management positions.

“Trade unionism is different from student unionism, therefore, caution should be the guiding principle,’’ Akande said.

The state council chairman, Mr Dare Durosimi, said that the union executive was known for maintaining close ties with its members.

He urged the newly inaugurated steering executive to live above board and conduct the activities of the chapter well.

According to him, it will be a disservice for executives to indulge in truancy because of union activities.

He urged the members and executives to always obtain permission from the management before embarking on anything that would keep them away from duty.

Speaking after the RATTAWU chapter executives were presented to him, the APCON Registrar and Chief Executive Mr Garba Bello-Kankarofi, pledged his support to the chapter.

The registrar said that, before now, he had been labelled anti- union, but with the coming on-stream of the chapter, he had disproved his critics.

He called on the chapter to work hard to elevate the standard of the union in APCON.

NAN reports that Mrs Emme Akande was appointed the Chair person, Mr Austin Neboh, Secretary, and Mr Hadiza Bello as Treasurer, to steer the chapter for six months before an election.(NAN)

EUC/SOA

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Edited by Oluwole Sogunle

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Trump: Experts advise FG to look inward
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Economy
By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma
Lagos, Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) Some financial experts have advised the Federal Government to look inward and adopt policies that would grow the economy organically as Donald Trump emerged as U.S. President Elect.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday that Nigeria needed to wake up to new challenges with the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, a former President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said that government should adopt policies that would grow “our economy rather than depend on foreign aids and grants”.
Unegbu said that the influence of America on Nigeria had affected the economy negatively and Nigeria needed to be on its own.
Unegbu said that Nigerians “should have faith in ourselves and our economy and must not depend on other countries to succeed”.
He said that Nigerians should think at ways of developing their businesses and grow the economy instead of corporate entities, especially banks, depending on international ratings agencies.
“Nigerians should be patient with our government and work towards correction of wrong doings to grow the economy,” Unegbu said.
On the effect of the U.S. presidential election on the nation’s stock market, he said that the impact would not be felt because the market had been down for some time now.
Unegbu advised that market regulators should pursue policies that would grow the market instead of copying unfriendly foreign policies that had affected investor confidence in the market.
According to him, regulators should look at ways of increasing retail investors’ participation in the market to reduce dominance by foreign investors.
“We should start looking inwards in our own market; we must adopt policies that can work for us,” Unegbu said.
He said that the global market would correct itself when Trump would take over in January 2017.
Dr Uche Uwaleke, the Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, told NAN that in the near-term policies of Trump might affect the market with likely massive domestic borrowings.
Uwaleke said that foreign investors might withdraw further from the market if the new government reviewed interest rate to encourage investment.
He said that foreign investment flow into Nigeria might reduce as foreign investors might prefer to invest in their own economy.
He, however, expressed optimism that emergence of Trump would not affect relationship between Nigeria and USA.
“It a good thing that Nigerian government did not come out openly to support any of the candidates,” Uwaleke said.
He said that he was optimistic that the global market would pick up on the long-run because of the peaceful conduct of the election.
Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella of Department of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, said that there was uncertainty in the world right now due to the outcome of the election.
Tella said that the uncertainties in the world markets had already forced the value of dollars to fall.
He said stock markets around the world were also reacting negatively to the election.
“Uncertainty in the U.S. could make Nigerians there to send money home for safety which can boost volume and value of naira, but this will be short lived,” Tella said..
Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., said that investors might move out of Africa again due to the outcome of the election.
He said that investors in the global stock markets should move to defensive stocks for safety as wind of change blew in the largest economy of the world.
“So, for our market that is already in recession, let investors here go for safety and dividend paying stocks with high prospect of strong earnings to avoid dividend disaster in 2017,” Omordion said. (NAN)
JNC/TA
Edited by Tajudeen Atitebi

Jerusalem’s Mayor reminds Trump of promise to relocate U.S. Embassy

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Embassy

Tel Aviv, Nov. 9, 2016 (dpa/NAN) The Mayor of Jerusalem has reminded U.S. President-elect Donald Trump of his controversial campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy to his city.

“I am confident that you will continue to empower our city by reaffirming its sovereignty and moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem,” Mayor Nir Barkat said in a congratulatory letter sent on Wednesday.

Trump had made several pro-Israel statements during his election campaign in a September meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This includes recognising a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocating the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Netanyahu congratulated Trump and said he looked forward to working together to “advance security, stability and peace in our region.

“The Palestinian people are very worried by the results of the American elections, especially after they heard Trump’s statements during his campaign,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said

Right-wing Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett was blunter: “the era of a Palestinian state is over.

“Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state in the center of the country,” he said in his congratulatory letter to Trump.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Trump to pick up from where his predecessors left off on Middle East policy and work towards implementing a two-state solution.

He said that the Palestinian government would “deal with any president elected by the American people” as long as it leads to achieving a permanent peace.

Past U.S. presidential candidates, including former President George W. Bush, have made similar promises about Jerusalem as Trump, but they never followed through upon them.

While the Israeli government sits in Jerusalem and insists that the city is its “eternal, undivided capital,” the rest of the world does not accept that position, and foreign embassies are located in or near Tel Aviv.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and effectively annexed shortly afterward, to be the capital of their future state.

Sami Zuhri, spokesman for the extremist Hamas movement in Gaza, said in a statement that U.S. policy was biased towards Israel and that “the Palestinian people don’t really count on any changes”. (dpa/NAN)

OYE/MST/MST

Edited by Damilola Oyewole/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Audio attached

NAN-H-72
Approval
Abuja, Nov. 9, 2016(NAN) The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the direct procurement of 38 patrol jeeps manufactured locally, to enhance the operations of the inspectorate division of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.

This was the high point of the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari during which the council also ratified the Lake Chad Water Charter.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and his Water Resources Counterpart, Mr Suleiman Adamu, spoke to State House Correspondents on the outcome of the meeting.

According to Fayemi, the session marked one year in office of the ministers, who used the occasion to review progress made by the administration as well as its challenges.

Cue in audio 1

“We are one year in office in two days’ time; so this is the anniversary cabinet meeting.

“And it gave us the opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made as a government, the challenges that we still have to tackle.

We also used the occasion to reiterate our commitment to Mr President for giving all of us the opportunity to serve the nation and to do so in a manner that advances our democracy and the development of our country.

“Aside from that, we took on two other memoranda, one from the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and another from the Ministry of Water Resources.

“On the Mines and steel Development it was the approval of the direct procurement of Nissan Patrol vehicles for the Mines Inspectorate (division)  in our 36 states.”

Cue out audio 1

According to the minister, for a decade, the division which oversees artisanal mining, has not purchased any vehicle.

He said that the vehicles would be used for surveillance of illegal mining activities and tackle various field challenges faced by the ministry’s workers.

The minister recalled the recent killing of some miners by bandits in Zamfara and the death of two miners in Paiko, Niger State, adding that through proper surveillance, such incidents could be avoided.

Fayemi said that as part of the ministry’s road map, a surveillance task force had been established with the ministries of Interior and Defence as well as the Police and Civil defence.

He said that the approval for the  purchase of the vehicles was a demonstration of the government’s commitment to supporting Made in Nigeria products.

“Over the last three months, all the approvals we had for the purchase of vehicles for Mines and Steel, Interior, Immigration and EFCC were procurements authorised to buy vehicles from local assembly plants.

“This is so that we can begin to strengthen our automotive industry and the government remains committed to that and this approval is further confirmation of the government’s commitment in that direction.

“It speaks directly also to our determination to really begin to focus a lot more seriously on the activities of informal or illegal miners,’’ he said.

The minister added that the ministry was eager to define the role the ministry could play in supporting artisanal and small-scale miners in fulfillment of the administration’s job creation and revenue generation agenda.

He said the vehicles worth N326.78 million would be bought from local automobile companies and given to each of the states and Abuja with Lagos State  being allocated two.

Also speaking, Adamu, added that the second memo considered by FEC was the ratification of the Lake Chad Water Charter.

He said that a treaty was signed by all the Lake Chad Basin Commission countries in 2012 which required the ratification of 95 per cent of the countries before it could come into effect.

“It was ratified today and the next stage is for it to go to the National Assembly for an enactment of the law to back it.

“The charter seeks to strengthen cooperation between all the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and to forge some kind of consensus on issues relating to environment, security and the future of the lake itself.

“The lake has been threatened by climate change over the years; it has shrank to less than 10 per cent of its storage capacity 40 years to 50 years ago.

“And all efforts are being put in place to ensure that the lake is safe from extinction and to improve the security situation in the region,’’ he added.

Adamu ascribed the restlessness and insurgency in the North-East partly to the shrinking of the lake and expressed the hope that with other countries ratifying the charter, the security in the region could be guaranteed.(NAN)
DCU/NKO/NKO
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Edited by Nkechi Okoronkwo

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NAN-H-16
Driver
By Oluwatope Lawanson
Lagos, Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) A 32-year-old truck driver, Akeem Oladipupo, who allegedly knocked down and killed a teenager, was on Wednesday released on a N100, 000 bail.

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court ordered the accused to produce two sureties, one of who must be a property owner, as part of his bail conditions.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs M.O. Osinbajo, however, adjourned the case to Nov. 30, for mention

Oladipupo, of no fixed address, however, pleaded not guilty to a three-count charge bordering on dangerous driving and manslaughter.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Yemi Egunjobi, told the court that the accused drove a commercial truck, a Caster pick up, dangerously and caused the death of a 16-year-old boy, Chigozie.

“The accused, drove against traffic, and he took a one way road leading inward Ogunusi road, Ojodu, and knocked down the victim at the bus stop.

“The victim died on the spot,’’ he said.

According to the prosecutor, a team of traffic officials rushed to the scene and took the lifeless body of the victim to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

“The body was deposited at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), mortuary, Ikeja,’’ he said.

Egunjobi said that the driver committed the offences on Oct. 7 at about 10.05 p.m., along Ogunusi road, Akiode bus stop, Ojodu, Lagos.

The prosecutor added that the offences contravened Sections 7, 19 and 20 of the Road Traffic Law of Lagos State, 2011. (NAN)
LAW/DEB/PIO
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Edited by Debo Oshundun/Idonije Obakhedo

ITF trains 7,000 youth nationwide on industrial skills – DG
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Training
Katsina, Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has trained no fewer than 7,000 youths across the country under its National Industrial Skills Development Programme.

Mr Joseph Ari, the Director-General, ITF, disclosed this on Wednesday during a stakeholder’s interactive forum in Katsina

The theme of the interactive forum was: “The role of public/private partnership in job creation and skill developments for Nigerian youth”.

He said the organisation had focussed on the youth because of their immense potentials to drive the nation.

Ari said that the prospect and future of the country lies in the collective efforts of all and sundry to contribute to national development.

The director general said that current diversification efforts of government would help to ease Nigeria out of recession.

He said it was important for all Nigerians to be effectively engaged in useful ventures to drive the economy.(NAN)
ZI/MZA

Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

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Committees
By Abdulfatai Beki
Ilorin, Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) The Kwara House of Assembly on Wednesday gave approval to Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed to constitute Caretaker Committees for the 16 local government councils dissolved on Nov. 4

The assembly gave the approval in Ilorin after accepting the explanation of the state’s Attorney General, Alhaji Kamaldeen Ajibade, on the rationale behind the constitution of the committees.

Ajibade, in his submission, had told the assembly that the governor had the legal right to constitute the caretaker committees after dissolving the elected council executives before the expiration of their tenure.

“Since the governor had earlier dissolved the councils on Nov. 4^th before their expiration date of Nov. 10, emergence of caretaker committees is constitutional,’’ he said.

The attorney general, who cited a 2008 law to buttress his point, said the intention of the governor was to bridge the vacuum that would be created after the dissolution.

“By the power conferred on the governor by this house, the governor has the power to dissolve councils for three months to run the councils,” Ajibade said.

The Speaker of the A ssembly, Dr Ali Ahmad, after entertaining contributions from some members, granted the governor’s request to constitute the caretaker committee for the 16 councils.

The speaker urged the governor to ensure that the incoming committees paid all the outstanding salaries owed council workers. (NAN)
BEKI/MNA/OJO
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(Edited by Maureen Atuonwu/Mufutau Ojo)