Blog

NAN-HE-2
Policies
By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma
Lagos, Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) Some financial experts on Monday called for harmonisation of monetary and fiscal policies to effectively tackle the current recession in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) manages monetary policies, while the Federal Ministry of Finance manages fiscal policies.
The experts told the NAN in Lagos that the current monetary policy of inflation targeting was not working and that the inflation rate might be rising rather than dropping.
The September inflation rate was 17.85 per cent up from the 17.61 per cent in August.
Dr Uche Uwaleke, Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said that monetary policy was not working chiefly because the economy was facing bigger challenges of recession.
Uwaleke said that there was the need to ease the monetary policy at this time for economic growth.
“I am not surprised that the Consumer Purchasing Index (CPI) has continued to rise in spite of the central bank’s tight monetary policy,” Uwaleke said.
He said that the headline inflation, which was only 9.6 per cent in January, had accelerated to 17.9 per cent in just few months.
“So, there is the need to ease monetary policy at this time to restart economic growth.
“One cannot continue to do something same way and expect a different outcome,” he said.
Uwaleke said that the key drivers of the inflationary pressure such as high cost of electricity, fuel, housing, clothing, books and foods were outside the control of the apex bank.
Uwaleke said that the high interest rate regime encouraged by high monetary policy rate at 14 per cent, in a bid to tame inflation, had neither succeeded in subduing inflation nor led to significant capital inflows.
He said that the high inflation rate would continue to rub off negatively on the stock market because rational investors needed positive returns on their investments.
“With real returns in a continuous negative territory following increasing headline inflation, investors’ appetite for stocks will be dampened.
“My prediction is that the stock market will be largely bearish in the weeks ahead,” he said.
Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., Lagos, said that government and its agencies should re-assess their policies.
Omordion said that government should introduce new economic policies and incentives in form of stimulus packages or bailouts for some critical sectors to revive the economy.
He said many companies were closing down due to the current economic challenges thereby leading to high unemployment rate.
NAN reports that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), last week, recorded a turnover of 1.16 billion shares worth N9.25 billion in 14,992 deals.
This was in contrast to the 934.91 million shares valued at N6.36 billion transacted in 12,352 deals in the preceding week.
The financial services industry led the week’s activity chart in volume terms by 1.02 billion shares worth N5.89 billion traded in 8,812 deals.
The conglomerates sector followed with 61.57 million shares valued at N141.31 million transacted in 633 deals.
The third place was occupied by the consumer goods industry with a turnover of 33.09 million shares worth N2.02 billion exchanged in 2,642 deals.
Also, the market capitalisation, which opened at N9.561 trillion, rose by N8 billion or 0.08 per cent to close at N9.569 trillion.
The NSE All Share Index appreciated by 25.81 basis points to 27861.03 points from 27835.22 points recorded in the previous week.
Caverton led the week’s gainers’ table in percentage terms by 13.43 per cent or 9k to close at 76k per share.
Seplat came second by 10.25 per cent or N35.88 to close at N385.88 per share, while Transnationwide Express grew by 9.80 per cent or 10k to close at N1.12 per cent.
Conversely, UACN Property topped the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 13.67 per cent or 54k to close at N3.41 per share.
Lafarge Africa trailed with a loss of 9.96 per cent or N4.70 to close at N42.50, while E-tranzact dropped 9.67 per cent or 55k to close at N5.14 per share.
Forte Oil depreciated by 9.24 per cent or N14.78 to close at N145.12, while Pharma Deko lost 9.09 per cent or 17k to close at N1.70 per share. (NAN)
JNC/JI/TA
(Editing by Joseph Idika/Tajudeen Atitebi)

Kenya: Kipchoge for Delhi Half Marathon

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Kipchoge
Nairobi, Oct. 17, 2016 (PANA/NAN) Kenya’s Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge will have his first race since his memorable triumph in Rio at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, on Nov. 20.

Kipchoge, who turns 32 on Nov. 5, has put together a winning streak of seven successive marathons and is unbeaten over the classic distance in the past three years.

Kipchoge has been gracing local marathon races in Kenya since striking the Olympic gold in Rio as a way of motivating young and upcoming long distance runners.

However, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon will be his first outing over a shorter distance since he finished sixth at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in February 2015.

“It’s six years down the line since the Commonwealth Games were held in Delhi, where I got the silver medal in the 5000m,’’ Kipchoge said.

“I have great memories of my last visit to India and now I am ready to come back in a different capacity as a road racer.

“India is one of the world’s biggest hubs of technology and business but I am looking forward to visiting the country and once again experiencing competitive sport in India,’’ he added.

Kipchoge has a half marathon personal best of 59:25, which dates from 2012.

Although he has not broken 60 minutes for the half marathon since then, he will still have in his sights the course record of 59:06 set by Ethiopia’s Guye Adola in 2014, which makes the race one of the fastest half marathons in the world.

Kipchoge and the rest of the elite runners will be chasing men’s and women’s first prizes of 27,000 dollars with a total prize fund of 270,000 dollars. (PANA/NAN)
TON
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Curfew: Patients desert hospital in Kafanchan

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Patients

by Moses Kolo

Kafanchan (Kaduna State), Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) Following the imposition of a 24-hour curfew in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, patients on admission at the Kafanchan General hospital have deserted the hospital.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that most patients said they were leaving the hospital for safety reasons.

A mother, Mrs Sarah Musa, said her daughter had just undergone surgery, but she had to take her home due to uncertainty over the security situation in the area.

“It is better to stay alive at home than die in the hospital where no one would attend to you,” she said.

Also, Ibrahim Addo, a petty trader told NAN that he was at the hospital to take his wife who was in labour back to his house.

“I may have to consult traditional midwives in my neighborhood,” he said.

A staff of the hospital, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, said relatives of patients had moved their sick ones elsewhere.

“Those of them who could walk on their own didn’t wait for any assistance, he said.

The hospital worker described the development as unfortunate and unhealthy, as most of patients would abandon their medications, thereby, compound their situations.

NAN reports that the state government had declared a 24-hour curfew in the area following clashes between locals and suspected herdsmen in which several people had died.(NAN)

MGK/MZA
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Edited by Maharazu Ahmed

South Africa: Football legend suffers major heart attack

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Legend
Cape Town, Oct. 17, 2016 (PANA/NAN) Football legend Neil Tovey is fighting for his life after suffering a massive heart attack on Sunday.

PANA reports that the 53-year-old midfielder who led South Africa to its only Africa Cup of Nations title in 1996, was training near his Durban home when he collapsed.

He was rushed to a hospital in Hillcrest where his condition is listed as critical. His brother Mark Tovey said doctors are battling to stabilise him.

In February 2015, Tover suffered his first heart attack while playing squash. SA Football Association President Danny Jordaan expressed his shock and wished him a full recovery.

During his career, he played club football for AmaZulu and Kaizer Chiefs. He won 52 caps for South Africa and captained the team 29 times.

His finest moment was when President Nelson Mandela handed him the Africa Cup of Nations trophy at Ellis Park in Johannesburg which served notice that South Africa was firmly back in the international arena following decades of sporting isolation because of Apartheid. (PANA/NAN)
TON
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Economic growth: experts want govt to give priority to agro-allied industries
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Industries
By Ajibola Olaniyi
Osogbo, Oct. 17, 2016(NAN) Dr Adefowokan Ajila, an Agric- Economist from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has advised the government to invest more in agro-allied industries for enhanced economic growth.
Ajila gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo on Monday.
He attributed the slow pace of Nigeria’s economic growth to the mono-product nature of the economy.
Ajia said that the economic policy direction of the developing nations like Nigeria should be agriculture inclined going by the comparative advantage of the country in cash crops.
“Cash crops like cocoa, coffee, groundnut and a host of others are important industrial raw materials that will save foreign reserve and generate more earnings with huge employment potential.
‘’The comatose situation of the real-sector of our economy can be ascribed to little attention paid to the agro-allied industries in the country from where most of our cash crops would be transformed to raw materials.
‘’The agro-allied industries are key to the development of an agricultural environment like ours where the main stay of our economy before now was agriculture with good arable land.
‘’By economic theory of specialiation, nations should produce more of products where they have comparative cost advantage and by implication, agriculture remains our comparative cost advantage.
‘’We can develop our economy as a nation by investing more in the agriculture sector and creating more employment and wealth through the agro-allied industries,’’ he said.
Mrs Subomi Diekola, an expert in Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, also stressed the need to diversify the economy through the development of the agro-allied industries.
Diekola said the importation of some raw materials which ought to be produced in Nigeria from the plethora of agricultural produce is worrisome and inimical to the development and growth of the nation.
‘’Point-blank, there is no way we can grow as a nation if we continue to import raw materials for the production of products like cocoa tea, butter, coffee and groundnut oil when we have it in abundance here.
‘’You could imagine the number of employment the sector can generate for the country and revenue it will bring considering the size of the market for the products; it will indeed be awesome,’’ she said. (NAN)
DOO/TA
Edited by Tajudeen Atitebi

Commonwealth Games to run entrepreneur course in UNIPORT
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Course
Lagos, Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Nigeria Commonwealth Games Association has concluded plans to organise a two-day entrepreneurship training scheme for students of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

A statement released by the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Tony Ubani, said the training would run from Oct. 20 to Oct. 22, at the Ebitimi Bango Auditorium.

It quotes the Secretary-General of the NOC, Tunde Popoola as saying the training would be under the auspices of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

“It will enable students to explore entrepreneurial skills that will enable them to become employers of labour, instead of roaming the streets in search of non-existing jobs after graduation from colleges’’.

Popoola, who doubles as Secretary-General of the Nigeria Commonwealth Games Association, explained that UNIPORT was chosen because of the mutual relations between NOC and University of Port Harcourt.

“UNIPORT is our Olympic Africa Centre in Nigeria. It is one of those universities in Africa for the Equip programme.

“Ken Anugweje, a professor from the university, is in charge of the Equip programme, while Labi Francis, is the intern selected to coordinate the activities of Commonwealth Games Secretariat in Lagos”.

He noted that a number of activities had been executed since the Equip programme started, “the first was a borehole in Ahoda and the second is this program you are witnessing today.

“Government has been trying to re-orientate the youths on how to effectively acquire and utilise entrepreneurial skills to run business irrespective of the environmental challenges’’.

While stressing that “the major challenges undermining national development in Nigeria were poverty and unemployment”, organisers of the training said they hope to address them by equipping youths with entrepreneurial skills.

The CGA Intern, Francis noted that students would be trained on web and graphics design, social media, digital and cinematography, business development strategy, debt analysis and management, bead making, professional decoration, make-up and catering.

He added that four resource persons had been invited to speak on various topics. (NAN)
PR/TON
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NAN-H-7
Commendation
Yauri (Kebbi State), Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) The emir of Yauri in Kebbi State, Dr Zaiyyanu Abdullahi, on Monday commended the state government for its consistent efforts at eradicating polio.
Abdullahi made the commendation at the flag-off of the Immunization Plus days in Yauri.
He said the giant strides of government and stakeholders made the state a polio-free zone in 2012.
“We, as traditional rulers, will not relent in the fight against the disease,’’the emir said
He described polio as a dangerous disease that could ruin the future of children.
The traditional ruler said that the disease could equally affect the productive capacity and ability of an economy.
He called on health personnel and vaccinators to ensure maximum utilisation of polio vaccines and warned that any act of rejection of the drugs or diversion would be sanctioned.
Abdullahi advised parents to make their children available for vaccination as “we are determined to maintain our polio-free position.’’
He said that the traditional institution would do everything possible to ensure children in their thousands were vaccinated against the disease.
Alhaji Shehu Birnin Kebbi, the Executive Secretary, Kebbi Primary Health Care Development Agency (KPHCDA), said the exercise was sequel to the recent outbreak of the disease in Borno.
He expressed the state government’s commitment to total eradication of poliomyelitis in the state and commended the emir for his doggedness.
NAN reports that Kebbi State was in 2012 declared polio-free zone by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. (NAN)
BKD/AOM/TA
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(Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Tajudeen Atitebi)

2 men docked over alleged theft of MTN property in Benin

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MTN

By Monday Ajogun

Benin, Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) Two men, Emmanuel Destiny, 18, and Desmond Emmanuel, 22, were on Monday arraigned before an Oredo Magistrates’ Court in Benin, over alleged theft of MTN properties.

The accused are facing two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing.

The Prosecutor, Insp. Thomas Ojo, told the court that the accused committed the offence on Oct. 10, at New Benin, Off New Lagos Road in Benin.

Ojo said that the accused unlawfully burgled an MTN store and made away with properties worth N65, 900.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened Section 516 and 411 of the criminal code.

The duo, however, pleaded not guilty.

The Magistrate, Mrs J.O. Ejale, granted both accused bail in the sum of N20, 000 each and a surety each in like sum.

Ejale ordered that the sureties must the gainfully employed.

He adjourned the case till Dec. 15, for hearing. (NAN)

AJOM/DEB/MZA

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Edited by Debo Oshundun and Controlled by Maharazu Ahmed

NAN ELS-2
Nollywood
By Vezi Isike
Lagos, Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) A movie producer, Ezeruom Ugwu, on Monday called on his colleagues in Nollywood films production to improve their skills to enhance the growth and sustainability of the industry.

Ugwu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the growth of the sector depended on the ability of the producers to drive the rich African content.

According to him, Nollywood in recent time has not done well enough in the use of stories to help imbibe the norms of Nigerian culture as well as correct societal ills.

“The founding fathers of Nollywood interpreted the state of the society with movies and proffered solutions to correct such ills.

“Africans around the globe have developed the habit of learning new ways of life from whatever they see, particularly in the media.

“Since we have known this, we can become agents of change by using our movies to deal with issues like corruption, drug addiction, fraud and kidnapping,’’ he said.

The movie producer noted that the new generation of producers were more concerned about profit making than production of movies that would bring about societal reforms.

He said that “producers who pay more attention to qualitative research always have an edge in winning global awards.

“This also brings about an encapsulating and rich story line that shows depth from scene to scene.

“If your movie does not show some form of suspense, then you really need to go back to the drawing board’’.

NAN reports that Ezeruom is a seasoned Nollywood movie producer with a number of movies and music videos to his credit.

He is the creator of Nollywood mentorship workshop, a platform that tutors young producers on best practice in the industry. (NAN)
VOI/ENN/PDE
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(Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Peter Ejiofor)

NAN-H-23
Diploma
By Mohammed Lawal
Zaria (Kaduna State), Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) A Zaria-based private school, Madalla College of Advance Studies is set to commence diploma programme in six disciplines in affiliation with Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), an official has said.

Malam Yusuf Abubakar-Banki, Director of the school made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Zaria, Kaduna State on Monday.

He said: “Actually, we have an affiliation with Institute of Education ABU, to run diploma programme in six courses and each course is expected to last two years.

“The courses include diploma in Islamic/Education, Hausa/Education, English/Education, Adult/Education and Community Development, Integrated Science/Education and Physics/Education.

“We have paid the affiliation fee to the Institute of Education ABU, through its Treasury Single Account (TSA) account and we have received clearance from the university that the money actually dropped,” he said.

Abubakar-Banki said ABU has granted permission to the college to run the two-year diploma without JAMB.

“However, a candidate must have at least eight credits including English and Mathematics to qualify for admission into the college.

“We have long started selling the form at the rate of N2,000. All the courses must comply with the university regulations,” he said.

The director said the college had all it takes in terms of both personnel and facilities to inculcate standard knowledge on the students.

“The calibre of lecturers we have are ABU oriented and most of them are masters degree holders in different educational fields.”

He said the ultimate goal of the college was to produce very good citizens for national growth and development.

Also commenting, the proprietor, Malam Garba Nyas said he was presently sponsoring no fewer than 114 students on scholarship as part of corporate social responsibilities toward community and national development.

Nyas said the college, which is one of the JAMB centres in Zaria was equipped with 350 and 250 e-computer seater capacity examination halls.

“In the nearest future, we want to be one of the best colleges not only in Zaria and Kaduna state but Nigeria at large; we will soon become centre of excellence,” Nyas said.

He called on students of the school to be committed to their studies to achieve the aim of being in the college. (NAN)
KLM/EAL/MZA

Edited by Ekemini Ladejobi and Controlled by Maharazu Ahmed
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