Blog

NAN-HE-20

Transactions

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Lagos, Oct. 24, 2016 (NAN) The FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange has recorded transactions worth N10.85 trillion in September in fixed income and currency markets, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports.

NAN reports that the turnover representes a growth of N1.10 trillion or 11.28 per cent when compared with N9.75 trillion recorded in August.

A breakdown of the report from the company, obtained by NAN, indicated that foreign exchange transactions accounted for 25.74 per cent of the turnover against 23.29 per cent achieved in August.

According to the report, the figure represents a year-on-year decline of 5.45 per cent or ₦0.63 trillion.

The Federal Government bonds and unsecured placements/takings account for 7.16 per cent, against 2.92 per cent achieved in August.

It stated that Treasury Bills transactions accounted for 36.85 per cent of the total turnover, in contrast with 33.02 per cent posted in August.

NAN reports that secured money market accounts for 28.24 per cent as against 31 per cent achieved in the corresponding month.

It added that transactions in the foreign exchange market settled at 7.19 billion dollars in September, an increase
of 33.10 per cent or (1.79 billion dollars) compared with the value recorded in August.

The report stated that the third Naira-settled OTC FX Futures contract, NGUS SEP 28 2016, with a total outstanding amount of 179.93 million dollars, priced at ₦296 per dollar, matured and was settled within the month.

It explained that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revised all the rates on all outstanding OTC FX Futures contracts, whilst a new 12-month contract – NGUS SEP 20 2017, was introduced at ₦243.50 per dollar.

The report indicates that member-to-member trades stands at 1.05 billion dollars in the September, representing an increase of 97.15 per cent, compared with trades recorded in August.

It stated that the Naira, during the period under review, appreciated by 1.46 per cent to close at ₦311.62 per dollar in the inter-bank market, while it depreciated by 13.10 per cent to close at ₦475 per dollar in the parallel market. (NAN)
JNC/JEO/IA

Edited by Jane-Frances Oraka/Idris Abdulrahman

NAN-H-54
Reading
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, Oct. 24, 2016 (NAN) Mr Abayomi Akinjide, Co-Founder of Christianah Foundation, on Monday in Ibadan urged students to imbibe reading culture to resuscitate the falling standard of education.

Akinjide stated this during the inauguration of the renovated school library at Elekuro High School and donation of cash prizes to indigent pupils by the foundation in memory of Late Chief Elizabeth Akinjide.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the late Elizabeth was the wife of a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN).

The younger Akinjide said that efforts were being put in place by the foundation to revive reading culture among Nigerian students.

“What the Christianah Foundation is doing now is to encourage book reading and writing and you cannot be writing without having people to read them.

” A lot of efforts are being made to encourage people to read. Government too must also be able to invest more in education.

“We are doing this as a foundation to sustain the legacy of our late grandmother, Mrs Elizabeth Akinjide, who has so much passion for education,” he said.

He urged parents to ‎encourage their students to read from childhood, adding that the best gift parents could give their children was qualitative education.

The family, he said, would ensure the foundation was sustained to build future leaders and improve the standard of education in the state.

In his remarks, Mr Kunle Lawal, the ‎Principal of Elekuro High School, commended the foundation for the gesture, saying absence of reading habit was a major problem facing secondary school education.

“This has made most youths of today academically backward, socially deficient, morally unbalanced and politically uninformed and misinformed.

“The importance of reading culture cannot be over emphasised in educational institutions,” he said.

Lawal said the renovation of the school library would help develop reading culture among the students in the school. (NAN)
TAA/CEO/OJO
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)

NAN-HE-19

Shares

By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Lagos, Oct. 24, 2016 (NAN) Trading resumed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday on a low note, with market indicators dropping marginally by 0.08 per cent amid cautious trading by investors.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the All-Share Index shed 21.97 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 27,574.85 points compared with 27,596.82 points achieved on Friday.

Also, market capitalisation lost N7 billion to close at N9.47 trillion against N9.48 trillion posted on Friday.

Mobil Oil recorded the highest price loss of N4.46 to lead the losers’ chart, closing at N185.54 per share.

It was followed by Cadbury with a loss of N1.25 to close at N11.88 and PZ dipped 83k to close at N16.65 per share.

Union Bank of Nigeria lost 25k to close at N4.50, while Ecobank Transnational went down by 17k to close at N9.96 per share.

On the other hand, Guinness topped the gainers’ table, growing by 50k to close at N80.50 per share.

Nigerian Breweries also appreciated by 50k to close at N145.50 and Lafarge Africa grew by 49k to close at N43.50 per share.

Zenith Bank improved by 25k to close at N15, while Vitafoam advanced by 6k to close at N2.64 per share.

NAN also reports that investors bought and sold a total of 101.18 million shares valued at N1.06 billion transacted in 2,256 deals.

This was in contrast with 70.94 million shares worth N656.02 million exchanged in 1,973 deals on Friday.

Zenith Bank was investors delight, accounting for 20.79 million shares worth N311.92 million.

Guaranty Trust Bank came second with a turnover of 9.52 million shares valued at N230.55 million and Access Bank traded 7.85 million shares worth N44.35 million.

NAN reports that United Bank for Africa traded 7.69 million shares valued at N32.53 million, while FCMB Group exchanged 7.39 million shares worth N8.31 million. (NAN)

JNC/JEO/OPI

Edited by Jane-Frances Oraka and Olisa Ifeajika

NAN-H-53

Repair

By Kate Obande

Abuja, Oct. 24, 2016 (NAN) Some residents of Nyanya, FCT, and Mararaba, Nasarawa State,  have criticised the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) for carrying out the ongoing road rehabilitation work along the Abuja-Keffi at day time.

The respondents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that FERMA’s approach to the work was causing a lot of traffic and further inconveniencing residents of that axis.

Mr Ekoja Odeh, a Civil Servant, suggested that doing the work at night when road users were few would be ideal and ensure a more effective and efficient job.

“ In those days when we were growing up, road construction and repair were done at night and people just wake up to a good road in the morning.

“They should time their repair to the night hours like 11p.m. to 2 a.m. when the road is less busy.

“FERMA knows very well that this Abuja-Keffi road is very busy and they still came and block the road, creating only one lane for people to pass.

“We are already suffering too much on this road; so, FERMA should not add to our plight.”

Odeh further advised the agency to always create the necessary awareness whenever they wanted to engage in road repairs, to enable people to plan their movement in order to avoid traffic.

Also, Mrs Funmi Adewale, another resident, also FERMA to be proactive in attending to bad portions on roads.

Adewale said that roads should be repaired when little cracks were noticed, to avoid traffic chaos.

“This Keffi-Abuja road is terrible a journey of 45 minutes takes three hours and FERMA came and blocked road again due to repair.

“The roads should be regularly monitored and maintained frequently, to prevent a deplorable state of the roads.”

Adewale appealed to the Federal government to adequately fund the agency, to enable it to effectively perform its function.

She also called on the government to speed up the construction of another road to link the suburbs to the city centre, to ease traffic on the Abuja-Keffi road.

She observed that travelling during to forthcoming festive period would be compromised, if the deplorable roads across the federation were not speedily repaired.

Meanwhile, Mrs Caroline Opara, while commending FERMA for its efforts in alleviating the sufferings of the people, appealed to the FCT authorities to complement the agency.

Opara also advised that road repair should be done at a time when users were less, particularly at night, instead of causing unnecessary traffic that could lead to the loss of productive time during the day.

She noted that the effect of  gridlock was enormous as it impacts negatively on human health as well as car engines. (NAN)

KTE/GOM/NNKO

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Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Nkechi Okoronkwo

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NAN-H-52
Certificates
By Bosede Olunfunmi
Rimin Zakara (Kano State), Oct. 24,2016 (NAN) The Kano State Ministry of Land and Physical Planning will distribute 590 Certificates of Occupancy and Building Permits to deserving land title owners in Rimin Zakara layout.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Rimin Zakara layout is a district of Ungogo Local Government Area of the state.

The Commissioner in charge of the Ministry, Alhaji Farouk Bibi, announced this in the district on Monday while inspecting government layouts in preparation for erecting structures in the area.

Bibi said that the Certificates of Occupancy and Building Permits would be given to deserving land owners after following the due process of acquiring the documents.

He, however, promised to simplify the process.

He said government intended to compensate farm owners whose lands were used to create layouts in the area.

He urged title owners in the area to register their properties and settle their land charges.

The commissioner also advised beneficiaries to make good use of their plots.

“We will create additional layouts in this district as well as construct access roads and houses,” he said.

The spokesperson of the beneficiaries, Malam Umar Haruna, commended the state government for its efforts at bringing development to the area.

He assured the state government of their support and cooperation to ensure successful implementation of government policies and programmes. (NAN)

BO/JEO/AMY

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Edited by Jane-Frances Oraka and Abdullahi Yusuf

NAN-HG-6
Polio
Bauchi, Oct 24, 2016 (NAN)  Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency on Monday pleaded with residents of Zango community to ensure that their children were immunised against wild polio virus.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zango is one of the communities in Bauchi state that had resisted the administration of polio vaccine on their children.
Speaking during a meeting with leaders of the community,Chairman of the agency, Mr. Adamu Gamawa, urged them to safeguard the future of their children by accepting precautionary steps against the dreaded virus.
He said that rejecting the vaccine amounted to exposing their children to a tragic incident that once it occurred, could not be reversed.

“Parent should ensure that they take advantage of the free routine immunization taking place in various health facilities across the state.

“The children are also being vaccinated against other killer diseases; you should take advantage of the exercise ,’’ he pleaded.

In his comment, the Chairman, Polio Survivors in Bauchi Local Government, Mr Abdullahi Lushi, said the wild polio virus was dangerous .

“Polio virus lives a victim with a life-time deficiency and it affects one right from childhood.

“I became a polio victim when I was five years and I will live with the deficiency for the rest of my life,’’ he said.

In his remark, the Community leader of Zango, Alhaji Suleiman Ahmed, warned that henceforth, any member of the community that rejected the vaccine would be handed over to the police.(NAN)

AE/ASH/ASH

NAN- H-47
Crime
By Constance Athekame
Abuja, Oct 24, 2016 (NAN) Nigeria is currently losing about N78 billion annually to the activities of cyber criminals who target financial institutions, and government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as their affiliates. Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu,

The minister added that recently, an agency under his ministry, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) informed the public that Nigeria lost about N159 billion to cyber crime.

Mr Victor Oluwadamilare, Special  Assistant Media to the  minister made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

He expressed the readiness of his Ministry to partner with other agencies to develop world-class human and institutional capacity in Cyber security.

Shittu said this in an address delivered at the National Computer Science Conference on Cyber Security and the Emerging African Economies at the Igbinedion University, Okada in Edo.

The minister stressed the  need for other frameworks across all strata of public and private sectors to arrest the spread of Cyber crime.

Shittu said that the ministry started sensitising, raising awareness and impacting skills on cyber protection by creating the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), to handle computer security incidents.

He said that the team was to also examine the implementation framework of the Cyber security Act with amendments where necessary in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

The minister emphasised the need for the enactment and enforcement of policies to ensure cyber security within the ICT and financial institutions.

He said such policies should address the framework of cyber risk management, enforcing security through a “defence in-depth” strategy as well as enforcing vigilance through early detection and signaling system.

“Cooperative arrangements between law enforcement and communication service provider across the nation and a criminal justice system that facilitate the efficient prosecution of cases of cyber crime are very germane,” he said.

On the indispensability of the cyberspace to global development, Shittu said the internet and digital technologies remain the biggest transformation forces in the world.

He said that over five billion internet-connected devices globally generated over 10 billion dollar to the global economy in 2015.

In comparison to physical space, he noted that “cyberspace is virtually co-ubiquitous, operationally more efficient, socio-politically more vibrant, and economically as resourceful and information-wise more integrated and has become a fundamental feature.

‘’The changing nature of economic and territorial threats has become a major concern. The growing role of cyberspace has opened up new threats as well as new opportunities as a country.

“We have to find ways to confront and overcome these threats if we are to remain functional as a sovereign entity in an increasingly competitive and globalised world, ” he said.

He said the ministry was leveraging on the active support of the ICT stakeholders by building all requisite ICT and cyberspace capacities in the country.

According to him, this is in line with the repeated assertion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration that ICT is the envisaged bedrock of Nigeria’s Change Agenda.

He therefore, appealed to African countries to urgently scale up efforts to combat cyber crimes through a multi-stakeholders approach.

He said  this approach should involve government, industry and civil society organisations within the context of the AU Convention on Cyberspace Security and Protection of Personal data to stem the threats posed by cyber criminals to their national economic security.

Shittu, who was optimistic that effective strategies to curb the menace of cyber crime would evolve from the conference, said such strategies should include; cyber resilience by preparing for the known, unknown, predictable and unpredictable risks.

He urged organisers of the conference not to hesitate in furnishing him with blueprint emanating from the conference for his dispassionate consideration and immediate implementation. (NAN)

(Edited by Morayo Omolade/Julius Enehikhuere)

NAN-AE-5
Disbursement
By Benson Ezugwu
Calabar, Oct. 24, 2016 (NAN) Cross River Government says it is disbursing N500 million to women and youths, under the State’s Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (CADP), to boost agricultural production in the state.

Prof. Anthony Eneji, State’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources disclosed this on Monday in Calabar at a workshop for the first batch of 100 trained Cross River’s CADP.

Eneji urged youths and women in the state to embrace agriculture to improve their lives.
He said that N500 million was available for disbursement to beneficiaries, under the CADP, adding that this was part of the state government effort toward positioning agriculture as the mainstay of its economy.
According to him, the beneficiaries should to take advantage of the opportunity of the programme to become entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
“You need to free yourselves from poverty, bondage, and labour and remember also to pay up the loans on time to give opportunity to others who are waiting to also be empowered,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr Duckham Amah, state’s CADP Project Coordinator, explained the history of the project and its activities.
Amah said that each of the 100 beneficiaries would be expected to get N2.5 million each.
According to him, the programme had supported farmers along the value chains of cocoa, oil palm and rice production.
Amah said an additional 600 beneficiaries would be trained at a future date.
He advised the beneficiaries not to see the loan as a gift but as an instrument of empowerment meant to position them to render assistance to other farmers.

Amah also urged them to pay up the loans on time to enable others benefit from the programme.
In separate reactions, the beneficiaries expressed joy and thanked the state government for the opportunity given to them and promised to make proper use of the loan.
One of the beneficiaries, Miss Esege Elemi said, she was happy and thanked the government for this opportunity.
Also speaking, Mr Godwin Nja said he would work hard in order to become a big time farmer. (NAN)
BEN/ORO/AFA
Edited by Razak Owolabi/Felix Ajide
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NAN-H-46
Allegation
By Suleiman Shehu
Ibadan, Oct. 24, 2016 (NAN) Mr Musbaudeen Adeyemi, the Chairman  of the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) in Oyo State on Monday alleged that the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) was victimising members.

Adeyemi, who addressed newsmen in Ibadan, said his members were being attacked following their refusal to pay for NURTW tickets.

He insisted that his members would not pay for the tickets as they were not members of the NURTW, adding that TOAN was an independent body duly registered by government.

“ NURTW members are disturbing TOAN members from plying the roads and insisting that TOAN members should be under the supervision of NURTW.

“ I was tortured on Sunday by NURTW members and taken to the union’s chairman house, Alhaji Taofeek Oyerinde.

“But I was rescued through  the prompt intervention of the police,’’ he said.

Adeyemi appealed to the state government to urgently call NURTW member in the state to order so as to sustain the existing peace in the state.

He also called on the Oyo Police Command to do the needful in order to avert a future occurrence.

Alhaji Taofeek  Oyerinde, the Chairman of NURTW in Oyo State, however, denied the allegation, saying his members would not torture anybody.

Oyerinde, however, said that the misunderstanding between NURTW and TOAN started two weeks ago when TOAN brought a certificate from the Corporate Affairs Commission and attempted to create their own garage.

He said that the matter had been reported to the police station at Ojoo, Bodija and Moniya.

The NURTW chairman said tricycle owners were desirous of taking over motor parks without permission from NURTW.

He also said that TOAN was yet to get approval from local government authorities to work in motor parks.

The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu, said that the force was aware of the situation, adding that efforts were on to prevent breakdown of  law and order. (NAN)
SYS/OJO
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)