Blog

Vote
By Victor Adeoti
Ikire(Osun), Sept. 11, 2018 (NAN) Ahead of the Sept. 22 governorship election in Osun, Gov. Rauf Aregbesola has urged residents of the state to vote for Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the All Progressives (APC) candidate in the interest of continuity.

Aregbesola made the plea on Tuesday at the APC rally in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.

The governor said that his administration had laid a good foundation that required a competent and intelligent person to build on.

He urged the electorate to disregard the antics of opposition parties which he said might undermine electoral principles and democratic processes during the election.

The governor, however, urged party members not to be worried by the gale of defections in the party.

Aregbesola said he was sure that those who left the party would beg to come back, adding that since the constitution did not forbid such move, the party would welcome them back.

In his remarks, Oyetola promised to continue with Argbesola’s initiatives if elected.

He also said that he would create jobs  for the youths as well as ensure affordable and quality health care.

Oyetola appealed to the electorate to vote massively for him to continue with the developmental initiatives in the state.

Earlier in his remarks, Gboyega Famodun, the APC  chairman in Osun, had appealed to the electorate to vote for continuity. (NAN)
VE/OJO
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)

Weather
By Sumaila Ogbaje
ABUJA, Sept. 11, 2018 (NAN) The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted possibilities of thunderstorms and rainfall activities over most parts of the country on Wednesday.

NiMet’s Weather Outlook by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Tuesday, predicted that central states would experience cloudy morning with moderate rains over
Ilorin and Mambilla Plateau.

It added that thunderstorms were likely over most places in the afternoon and evening period with day and night temperatures of 26 to 31 and 16 to 23 degrees Celsius respectively.

The agency predicted that Northern state would experience cloudy morning over most parts with localised thunderstorms over Sokoto, Gusau, Yelwa, Katsina, Souther Borno and Kaduna in the afternoon and evening hours.

It also predicted day and night temperatures of in the range of 27 to 31 and 19 to 21 degrees Celsius respectively over the region during the forecast period.

According to NiMet, Southern cities will experience moderate rains over Shaki, Abeokuta, Ikeja, Ondo, Ibadan, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri, Yenegoa and Eket axis in the morning hours.

“In the afternoon and evening period, there are chances of moderate rain over most places with day and night temperatures of 28 to 30 and 20 to 23 degrees Celsius respectively,” NiMet predicted. (NAN)
OYS/JTJ/AFA
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Edited by Julius T. Jegede/Felix Ajide

Serena

Melbourne (Australia), Sept. 11, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) An Australian newspaper defended its cartoonist on Tuesday after publishing a caricature of Serena Williams having a temper tantrum at the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

The cartoon has been condemned as racist by civil rights leaders, celebrities and fans.

Cartoonist Mark Knight’s image, published in Melbourne’s Herald Sun, showed an angry Williams with exaggerated lips and tongue.

She was also depicted as having a wild plume of curly hair rising from the top of her head as she stomped on her tennis racket.

“This despicable cartoon tried and failed to diminish the greatness & grace of @serenawilliams. Racism in any form is unacceptable,” civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson tweeted on Monday.

The cartoon was intended as a lampoon of the tennis star’s angry exchanges with chair umpire Carlos Ramos at the U.S. Women’s Singles final in New York on Saturday.

Williams clashed with Ramos over penalties she thought she did not deserve and ultimately lost to Naomi Osaka, a 20-year-old player born in Japan.

Knight’s portrayal of Osaka as blond and light-skinned also drew criticism for being racist.

The Herald Sun reported on Tuesday that Knight had been mentioned on Twitter nearly 74,000 times following the cartoon’s publication.

“This isn’t satire – it is disgusting racist caricature,” Twitter user Rose Weber wrote on Tuesday.

The Herald Sun, owned by a News Corp subsidiary, published a defence of its cartoonist on the home page of its website, quoting Knight as saying:

“The cartoon about Serena is about her poor behaviour on the day, not about race.”

Williams was fined $17,000 for three code violations during the controversial match, including breaking a racket and verbally abusing the umpire.

She did not stomp on her racket during the match as the cartoon portrayed.

The National Association of Black Journalists said the cartoon was “repugnant on many levels.”

“The Sept 10 cartoon not only exudes racist, sexist caricatures of both women, but Williams’ depiction is unnecessarily sambo-like,” the association said in a statement.

“Sambo,” a derogatory term for a black person, is the name of a folkloric figure usually depicted with an exaggerated mouth and an ape-like stance.

Some Twitter users, however, contested that the image was not racist.

Lynne Adams tweeted on Tuesday, “Serena Williams is a large black woman who had a complete meltdown, what is racist about this cartoon.”

After the match, Twitter users and tennis commentators alike said the penalties assessed to Williams were excessively harsh, and some said they may have reflected sexism and racism in tennis officiating.

Williams said that male players were held to a lower standard for court conduct.

“I’m here fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality,” Williams said at a news conference after the match. (Reuters/NAN)

KIA/AFA

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Edited by Felix Ajide

Operatives

By Chukwuemeka Opara
Abakaliki, Sept. 11, 2018 (NAN) Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi on Tuesday in Abakaliki said that the people of Ebonyi were ready to resist security outfits which undo them and would not cooperate with them.

Umahi made the assertion while receiving the new Commissioner of Police to the state, CP Musa Kimo and the Board Member representing the South-East Zone at the National Boundary Commission, Mrs Ugonna Uzor-Kalu.

The governor noted that the government and the people were not soliciting favours from security outfits but only professionalism, forthrightness and fear of God.

“Security operatives must be upright, professional and impartial in their approach as the state is raising a society to resist security operatives which does wrong.

“I must confess that when you were to be posted the state, we fought that you should not come because I was at peace with your predecessor, CP Titus Lamorde.

“We fought, especially when the opposition boasted that they were the ones bringing you to fight us but we were ready to fight back and insist that you should not come.

“We had to make some moves to stop you until someone that is highly placed told us to find out your pedigree and we discovered your forthrightness, professionalism and fear of God,” he said.

“We then had to relax, wait and watch because in this part of the world people even oppose righteousness as somebody told me that people are paid to oppose, no matter how good you are.

“It is an act of satanism for anyone to use security agencies to oppress other people and we would only work with those that are professional in their approach.”

The governor informed the commissioner that Ebonyi is peaceful, has very good political atmosphere, low crime rate and enjoyed relative peace with neighbours, especially at its boundary areas.

“You have a lot to fight against: maintaining and improving on the existing security in the state, maintaining peace with our neighbours, especially with the elections approaching.

“You may not even have time to fight political opponents as my spirit has borne witness that you are upright and a professional,” he said.

Umahi while receiving Uzor-Kalu, the South-East representative at the NBC, said she came at a critical period in the state’s affairs.

“We are having a lot of crisis with Cross River, Benue and within the region with Enugu and Abia as the state spends a lot of money on the police, State Security Service (SSS) and army who enforce peace in these areas.

“You should solve the boundary issues we have with Enugu and Abia and liaise with the authorities in the South-South and North Central Zones on the disputes with Cross River and Benue,” he said.

He noted that he had fruitful deliberations with the Cross River governor on ways of permanently solving the problem, adding that the human and material losses recorded in conflicts were regrettable.

“I was the deputy governor who oversaw affairs concerning the conflict and report that it was all noise and no motion with nothing much achieved,” he said.

Kimo, the new Commissioner of Police, thanked the governor for receiving him, noting that his predecessor intimated him that the governor was security and police friendly.

“I was posted to Ebonyi by the Inspector General of Police (I-G), Ibrahim Idris, and saw it expedient to pay a courtesy call as the chief security officer of the state,” he said.

Mrs Uzor-Kalu, the NBC South-East Board Member, commended the governor for his efforts in ensuring that lasting peace pervaded in warring communities of the state and those of neigbouring states.

“I intend to hold meetings with relevant stakeholders in the state to have insight on the intra/inter-boundary disputes in Ebonyi and its neighbours, charting a problem-solving strategy in the process.

“Knowing that the main causes of conflicts in these areas are forest reserves and farmlands, we will explore the traditional options in permanently solving the conflicts,” he said. (NAN)
RCO/PDE
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(Editing by Peter Ejiofor)

Osinbajo urges African nations to strengthen institutions to curb illicit financial flows

Finance
By KingsleyOkoye
Abuja, Sept 11,2018(NAN) Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged African nations to strengthen their financial institutions such as Custom formations, transfer pricing units, anti-corruption agencies to tackle menace of illicit financial flow in the continent.

Osinbajo made the call in Abuja on Tuesday at the 2nd International Conference on Combating Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) and Enhancing Asset Recovery for Sustainable Development.

The conference was designed to evolve measures to realise implementation of the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development by assisting vulnerable countries to enhance mobilisation of domestic resources by blocking IFF.

The conference was also convoked to ensure recovered illicit assets become part of resources for financing development.

Osinbajo, represented by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Economic Matters, Mr Adeyemi Dipeolu, said IFF was a concern to African countries.

He said that the IFF was impacting negatively on the development of African governments.

Osinbajo said that the processes through which IFF takes place undermines government’s efforts to carry out its obligations on its citizens, noting that huge resources was been held outside the continent.

He said: “our effort to stem financial flow will depend on our domestic capacity to prevent and repatriate illicit financial flow as well as for African countries to establish the relevant architecture.

“This includes establishment and strengthening of the revenue authorities, such as customs, financial institutions, transfer pricing units, anti-corruption agencies.

According to him, the task of combating IFF will also require provision of accurate data, update information, effective regulatory, and legislative institutional frameworks.

He also said there was the need to acquire and engage in training of highly skilled personnel, who understands the complexity of IFF.

“Above all we must be committed in using the recovered resources in promoting development and the interest of the people,“ he said.

The vice president said that Nigerian government remained committed to combating IFF in the continent.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geofrey Onyema said that the negative impacts of IFF on the implementation of 2030 agenda for sustainable development for developing countries cannot over emphasised.

According to him, evidence shows that enormous resources siphoned from Africa was scuffling provision of basic infrastructure, quality education and health services in the continent.

He said that in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari was making assiduous effort to tackle the menace of IFF, adding that Nigerian’s unwavering commitment has been acknowledge by the international community.

“In this regards, Nigeria must continue to work to honor our obligation under the open government partnership, we must continue to promote fiscal transparency in the conduct of government business.

“Nigeria must continue to promote the laudable objective of tax initiative as measure to address IFF.

“ We must ensure efficiency in our tax systems and the ease of doing business in Nigeria; we must continue with our anti-corruption measures.

He said Nigeria must continue to strengthen its relevant legislation on asset recovery.

He, however, said Nigeria was also faced with challenges in getting foreign countries to repatriate funds and assets taken away from the country.

“Of course another challenge, we see and I see it on daily basis in ministry of foreign affairs is asset recovery.

“It is mind boggling, the difficulty of restitution and recovering asset from foreign countries, not minding UN resolutions on issues of illicit financial flows and demands for countries to facilitate asset recovery.

“ But we know, it is still real challenge for developing countries.

“For developing countries, such as Nigeria, it is much more difficult, the hurdles we have to overcome is much,“ he said.

He, however, said that President Muhammadu Buhari was engaging with a number of head of states around the globe to repatriate the funds.

According to him, these are sovereign countries, they have practices and procedures, but Mr President is very determined to get everything back and we are working towards that.

A Member of the Presidential Committee against Corruption in Nigeria, Prof Femi Odekunle in his remarks said African nations cannot fully achieve their development goals if they continue to lose fund via IFF.

According to him, monies are lost through tax evasion, by companies and multinationals.

He said for developing countries to address its development goals, it must work towards curbing the issue of IFF.

He explained that African countries must strengthen their anti money laundry laws, policies and strengthen financial institutions to ensure transparency in their system to curb IFF. (NAN)
KC/NNO/AFA
Edited by Nick Nicholas/Felix Ajide

Nigerian Foreign Service Academy gets facelift

Academy
By Victor Asije
Lagos, Sept.11, 2018 (NAN) The Director of the Nigerian Foreign Service Academy, Dr Cyprian Heen, said on Tuesday that the academy being repositioned and given a facelift to meet international standard.

Heen told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the management was addressing the challenges facing the academy.

The director said the academy would soon rank among other foreign service academies like the Foreign Service Academy of India.

“When I came here this year, I found facilities at the academy really
below my expectation. I decided to hit the ground running because
what I met was not befitting of our country’s foreign service academy
at all.

“My number one objective immediately became how to see that these
facilities were upgraded to a standard that would be recognised even
by other countries.

“In the last few months, we have been able to significantly
achieve those things that would make us proud to invite people even
from other countries to the academy.

“Today, the outlook of this academy has been transformed; the hostels, fence and offices have been renovated and a new generator has been acquired,” Heen told NAN.

He identified the challenges as poor and inadequate facilities,
poor funding,  unstable power supply and poor sanitation.

According to Heen, the academy is currently in consultation with foreign academies to take a cue from them in repositioning the institution for regional and international recognition. (NAN)
AVU/DA
(Editing by Dele Akinsola)

Advice

By Egbogota Clara

Lagos, Sept. 11, 2018 (NAN) The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Adewale Martins has urged Nigeria’s political leaders to stop heating up the country.

Martins gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

Cue in audio 1 (Martins on elections)

“Our political leaders are heating up the environment too much; we need them to cool down the temperature; all the defections and the rest of it are not helping and the kind of stories that they tell about one another.

“One needs to ask the political elite to please ensure that they prepare for the elections (in 2019) in such a way that it will not create the kind of tension that everybody is feeling now.

“We want elections that are peaceful, fair, and just.

“Our political elite have the duty to make this happen; they must makes the sacrifices they need to make for the sake of this country.’’

Cue out audio 1

The cleric said that the executive and the legislative should ensure that they have a good working relationship so as to move the country forward.

Cue in audio 2 (Martins on lawmakers)

“We need to get the executive and the legislature right in other that the whole country can move well.

“A situation in which the executive is trying to impose itself upon the legislature as we saw recently with the DSS literary shutting down the assembly, obviously that is an imposition that can create a lot of trouble for democracy.

“And of course if the national assembly is also not cooperating in terms of passing the laws without going through any stress recently we saw the difficulty with passing the budget of the INEC.

“That naturally is a big issue that ought not to have gone there if there was true understanding of what is good for the nation.

“So the executive and the legislature really need to work more because basically the judiciary just executes law, but this one that makes the law, they need to work harder.’’

Cue out audio 2 (NAN)

ECO/YEE

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Edited by Emmanuel Yashim

Trees
By Akeem Abas
Ogbomoso (Oyo State), Sept. 12, 2018 (NAN) The Rural Environmental Empowerment Initiative (T.R.E.E Initiative) and the Growing Green Initiative (GGI) in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, has collaborated to plant a million trees in the institution.

Mr Sola Kolawole, a Co-founder of T.R.E.E Initiative, made the disclosure on Tuesday during the symbolic tree planting event held at LAUTECH in Ogbomoso.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tree planting project was tagged: “#OneStudentOneTreeProject’’.

NAN reports that over a thousand seedlings were planted by students volunteers and the university management staffs to kick-start the project.

Kolawole said that the essence of massive planting of trees for carbon sequestration was to mitigate the effect of climate change in Nigeria.

“This project is aimed at planting one million trees in the institution over the next five years toward mitigating the climate change effect in Nigeria in line with the SDGs 2030 Agenda.

“We are particularly interested in maximising the positive effect that the project will have on communities surrounding the university through advocacy.

“We are also interested in the sourcing of quality tree seedlings raised by GGI to propagate the concept of agroforestry,” he said.

Kolawole appreciated the LAUTECH management for adopting the project beyond the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.

The environmentalist admonished the institution to explore the wealth creation component of the project through GGI.

He said that the project, if properly implemented and monitored as a carbon sequestration initiative, would in many ways address some perennial funding challenges of the university.

Also, Prof. Adeniyi Gbadegesin, the Vice-Chancellor, commended the T.R.E.E Initiative for collaborating with GGI, pledging his unflinching support to the project.

“Apart from a personal donation to support GGI, I will ensure that the access road and bridge linking the tree planting site will be fixed by the end of October,’’ Gbadegesin said.

He announced the management’s decision to increase the allotted land area to 50 acres (10 Hectares) from the initial approved 25 acres of land for the take-off phase.

In his remarks, Prof. Olajide Ajao, the Dean, Faculty Agricultural Sciences, thanked the T.R.E.E Initiative for considering GGI as its first partner in the national campaign for the project.

Ajao assured them that the project would be sustained as the faculty’s policy, promising that students of the faculty would plant and nurture at least a tree until they graduate from the institution.

The President of the Faculty Students’ Association, Hammed Olasupo, thanked the T.R.E.E Initiative and GGI for engaging the students in the planning of the event from the onset.

Olasupo said that the gesture had given the students volunteers the opportunity to gain more knowledge about the SDGs (Agenda). (NAN)
TAA/GOK
Edited by Olagoke Olatoye

MSMEs
By Lucy Nwachukwu
Abuja, Sept. 11, 2018 (NAN)Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has urged the financial institutions in the country to fund operators of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), so as to achieve financial inclusiveness.

Emefiele made the call at the ongoing 11th Annual Banking and Finance Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) on Tuesday in Abuja, with the theme“MSMEs:The Game Changer for Economic Growth and Development.”

The CBN governor further urged the participants to consider the constructive ways to support MSMEs in the country to enable them to perform the essential roles of enhancing economic growth and inclusive development.

“Our task at this conference is to debate and deliberate constructively on the ways to further support MSMEs in Nigeria to be able to perform their essential role of enhancing economic growth and inclusive development.

“ The CBN has done so much in the area of de-risking the MSME sub-sector by providing funds for lending to the sector.

“ It is now up to us the financial intermediaries in the economy to support and complement this effort and turn around the fortunes of MSMEs and the economy at large.

“I am confident that with the calibre of participants here present we shall come to a win-win conclusion. I wish to encourage us all to participate actively in this debate.”

According to the governor, CBN has developed many programmes to reduce the risk of lending to MSMEs, stressing the need to channel more funds to the sub-sector to enable it to create jobs for unemployed youths.

He listed some of the intervention programmes by the apex bank to include MSME Development Fund; Small and Medium Enterprise Creative Guarantee Scheme, National Collateral Registry, and Entrepreneurship Development Centre.

Emefiele described the National Collateral Registry as a financial infrastructure introduced to support the crippling market by enabling micro-enterprises to use their movable assets as collateral for bank loans.

“Since the commencement of active cooperation in May 2016, 552 financial institutions have registered 32,645 financing statements valid at over N688.35 billion, 33.4 million dollars and 6 billion euros on the platform.

“I am very optimistic that the collateral registry will have tremendous impacts on MSME lending in Nigeria and in the foreseeable future.

“This is especially considering the recent launching of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan which intends to leverage on the power of the private sector in its economic recovery and transformative growth by prioritising all MSMEs in all critical sectors as a significant source of long-term growth.”

In his remarks, the President and Chairman, CIBN, Dr Uche Olowu, emphasised the need to address the constraints militating against the contributions of MSMEs to the economy.

“Truly, MSMEs should be the game changer given their potential and expected contribution in an emerging or developing economy.

“However, they are constrained by varied factors. Eighty per cent maintain that access to finance remain their major challenge. They pay high tax rates of almost 30 per cent.

“In addition to lack of finance and high tax regime, they are further burdened by conflicting and duplicated regulatory and other supervisory and government agencies.

“For instance, to run a restaurant, you must comply with the demands and rules of over 10 agencies from federal, state and local government.

“Even though we have made little progress in the global ranking in Ease of Doing Business, Nigerian business environment still remains very challenging,” he said.

Olowu commended the efforts of the Federal Government and its agencies towards creating an enabling environment for MSMEs in the country to thrive.

He, however, stressed the need for innovative approaches to mitigate MSME challenges in the country.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that stakeholders and representatives of government agencies and various financial institutions attended the conference and pledged support to MSME development in the country. (NAN)
LCN/OSA/NKO
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Edited by Shittu Obassa/Nkechi Okoronkwo

Voting

By Emmanuel Mogbede

Abuja, Sept. 11, 2018 (NAN) All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Imo, Mr Chuks Ololo, has advised the electorate in the state to shun zoning-based voting and other sentiments in the party’s primary election.

He gave the advice while speaking with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, after obtaining the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest in the primary in the state ahead of 2019 general elections.

Ololo urged the electorate to vote for right and capable persons that would liberate the people from their challenges.

He, however, said that he was offering himself for the state’s governorship position because of his desire to transform the state, if given the opportunity.

Ololo, an in-law to Gov. Rochas Okorocha, said he was not bothered by the endorsement of another in-law, Mr Uche Nwosu, by the governor.

“I believe we are in a democracy, that an aspirant is anointed by someone does not change the fact that the race is open to all.

“Nigeria has matured to full democracy, so it is left for the people to determine who would be their leader,” he said.

The aspirant added that he was also not bothered about the zoning arrangement in the state, adding that he had what it took to be elected as next governor of Imo.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the zoning arrangement in the state currently favours Owerri zone, where the aspirant hails from.

Ololo, however, said he was in the race because he had the capacity to put the state on the wheel of progress again, and not because he was from Owerri zone.

“I am not running my campaign based on the zone I come from. I am an Imolite and we have always believed in the best.

“I am not saying that I must be Imo governor because I am from Owerri zone; what I am saying is that if the people see that I am not competent, they must not vote for me because I am from Owerri zone.

“Do not make me governor because I am from Owerri zone; let the best candidate emerge to lead Imo,” he said.

He added that if elected, he would bring change in the state that would affect Nigerians generally as Imo was a very big component of Nigeria.

“We can no longer depend on money from Abuja to build the state; it is a shame that any time government does not bring money, the State is shut down.

“One thing I must do first if elected, is to go back to the foundation that was laid by those who created Imo. There is a vision behind the state and my government will actualise that.

“We use to be the academic hub of the zone, but today, Imo has lost that status; we must go back to look at how things went wrong and what would be the remedy,” Ololo said.

He added that his priority would be to revamp education in the state, adding that he would also give priority to agriculture, which had been the bedrock of the state.

“We must work to export technology to the outside world; we must begin to define what we would do with our natural resources in Imo State and produce to stabilise our economy,” he said. (NAN)

EEM/KTO/OPI

Edited by Kamal Oropo and Olisa Ifeajika