A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday nominated his African-American former campaign rival Dr Ben Carson to become the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Trump made the announcement in a statement by his transition office.
Carson was among the 16 candidates who challenged Trump for the Republican nomination.
However, Carson quickly endorsed Trump after he dropped out of the contest in March, and was loyal but regularly critical of Trump.
"I am thrilled to nominate Dr Ben Carson as our next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities.
"We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities.
"Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a Presidency representing all Americans.
"He is a tough competitor and never gives up," Trump said in the statement.
The statement quoted Carson as accepting his nomination to serve in the Trmp's presidency.
"I am honoured to accept the opportunity to serve our country in the Trump administration.
"I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need.
"We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nation's housing needs are met," Carson said.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33 and became famous for his groundbreaking work separating conjoined twins.
President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, Prof. Segun Ajibola, has said the institute needs an amendment to its enabling Act in order to sanitise the nation's banking sector. Ajibola said yesterday in Lagos that the Institute would soon propose to the National Assembly an amendment to the CIBN Act of 2007.
According to the CIBN president, the proposed amendment to the Act will bring every practitioner and operator in the banking sector under the Institute's direct regulation.
"We want to propose amendment to aspects of CIBN Act No 5 of 2007 that deals with our membership. We want the membership to cover anybody that has something to do with banking and finance in Nigeria, including consultants and members of boards of directors of banks, who could be subject of ethics and professionalism, to come under our umbrella," Ajibola said.
He said that the proposed amendment would also help in enforcing rules and regulation and ensure that ethical codes of conduct and professionalism in banking were maintained.
"One area we want to strengthen is the area of professionalism and ethics; our enabling Act empowers us to play advocacy roles for stakeholders and to also enforce standards and code of conducts for operators in the banking environment.
As at today, most bank staff have signed our code of conduct, surrendering themselves to disciplinary process and procedures of the Institute.
"We also have disciplinary tribunal that has the power to discipline any erring member," he said.
Ajibola said that the CIBN was charged with the responsibility of conducting the Chartered Institute of Bankers' examination in the Gambia, adding that Liberia and Serra-Leone would follow soon. He said the CIBN had created an Ideas Portal (i-portal) where its members and stakeholders could access and make suggestions on any issue relating to the Institute.
Ajibola became the 19th President of CIBN on May 14 this year.
Ghana is a resource-rich west African country where worries about the economy are set to dominate a December 7 presidential election.
– Major producer of cocoa, gold –
Ghana is the world’s second biggest producer of cocoa after Ivory Coast and Africa’s second biggest gold producer after South Africa. Those commodities are its biggest exports, followed by diamonds, bauxite and manganese.
In December 2010, Ghana also started pumping crude oil from an offshore field discovered in 2007.
Ghana was once hailed as a regional growth model but was forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2015 for a bailout as global commodity prices tanked.
According to the World Bank, one quarter of Ghana’s 27.4 million people live in poverty. Per capita income in 2015 came to $1,480 (1,400 euros) as the economy grew by 3.4 percent.
A 2016 UNICEF report found that 3.5 million Ghanaian children live in poverty, including 1.2 million in households unable to provide adequate food.
The country lacks infrastructure, especially sanitation, and Ghanaians endure power blackouts and rising inflation.
– Independence pioneer –
Ghana was known as the Gold Coast in colonial times, when it was under British rule. In 1957 it became the first sub-Saharan African state to win independence, under nationalist leader Kwame Nkrumah.
After Nkrumah, the most influential of the country’s leaders has been Jerry Rawlings, who came to power as an air force captain in 1979. He organised elections and installed a civilian regime, and although he mounted a second coup in 1981, Rawlings brought in a constitution that has proved a stable basis for democratic rule.
Current President John Dramani Mahama is standing for re-election.
– Ashanti kingdom still powerful –
Modern-day Ghana is home to the Ashanti people, a nation and ethnic group native to the Ashanti Region which has wielded power in the region for over 300 years.
Built on the wealth of gold reserves, the Ashanti empire was the richest in Ghana. At its peak it extended into neighbouring countries and fiercely resisted British colonial rule.
Ashanti monarchs preside over an area that is 10 percent of Ghana’s total area of 238,537 square kilometres (92,000 square miles) and the kingdom is home to around five million people.
Most Ghanaians are proud of their royal past and the country was plunged into grief when Ashanti queen Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II died on November 17, 2016 at the age of 111.
– Diplomacy and mediation –
Ghana has played an important mediation role in recent wars and crises that have affected its neighbours, and it participates in UN peacekeeping activities.
Ghana’s Kofi Annan served two terms as UN secretary general from 1997 to 2007, and has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
US President Barack Obama chose Ghana for his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa in 2009.
– Cape Coast: slave trade bastion –
Cape Coast, the former European colonial capital, was once the largest slave-trading centre in West Africa from where slaves were shipped to Europe and America.
Now a fishing village, it has become a major tourist attraction since Obama visited with his family.
The US Senate on Monday published the so-called Plum Book, the official list of some 9,000 federal appointments to be made by President-elect Donald Trump.
The list ranges from the very highest presidential appointments — cabinet secretaries and the like — to such mid-level senior postings as under secretaries, heads of government agencies and a number of diplomatic and military posts.
The book lists the grade level and salary for each position.
In Paris, for example, the new president will have at his disposal the positions of US ambassador to France and Monaco, US representatives to UNESCO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as the head of the European office of the National Science Foundation (annual salary: $135,783).TRUMP
Unlike career bureaucrats, who enjoy job security, the political appointees serve at the pleasure of the president and must pack their bags when a new administration comes in.
Trump must recruit thousands of people to fill those posts as he takes over the reins of government upon his inauguration on January 20.
The president-elect’s transition team website, greatagain.gov, includes a link to a page for submitting applications.
At least 65,000 people have applied, The Washington Post reported.
However, it estimates Trump may not fill more than 4,100 of the posts by January.
For one thing, the hiring process takes time.
The Senate must first vote to confirm each nomination.
Each candidate’s resume and background must be reviewed, particularly those applying for jobs with access to state secrets.
Applicants must each provide some 2,800 pieces of information in response to 295 individual questions, according to the White House Transition Project.
Trump could also leave some posts vacant in a bid to shrink the federal government’s size.
Others are already filled by career officials or those with set terms of office, such as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
By: Kingsley Omonobi Abuja – The federal government Monday said the importation of vehicles into Nigeria through the land borders have been banned.
According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of Customs, Wale Adeniyi, “The prohibition order covers all new and used vehicles.
Adeniyi said, “The ban is sequel to a Presidential Directive restricting all vehicle imports to Nigeria Sea Ports only.
“The order takes effect from 1st January 2017.
Explaining further, he said, “The restriction on importation of vehicles follows that of Rice, whose imports have been banned through the land borders since April 2016.
“Importers of vehicles through the land borders are requested to utilise the grace up till 31st December 2016 to clear their vehicle imports landed in neighbouring ports.”
Kano – Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday renewed Federal Government's resolve to support farmers and operators of small scale businesses for the development of Nigeria's economy.
Osinbajo gave the assurance during an interactive session with traders, food vendors and small business owners at the Grassroots Town Hall Meeting held in Kano.
He also assured that the federal government would continue to encourage farmers by ensuring that all processing plants were operational in the country.
"We must protect farmers by ensuring that we stop importation of food and other products into the country,'' he said.
The vice president, who blamed part of the current economic recession to importation, said the federal government had taken proactive measures to support farmers and owners of small scale businesses in the country.Osinbajo
"There are two or three reasons why we are in a recession; the vandalism of oil pipelines, fall in price of oil as well as importation of everything, that is why we are in trouble,'' he said.
He, however, said that the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari was doing its best to get the country out of the present economic predicament.
"We are lucky we have an honest President because the country needs honest leadership,'' Osinbajo said.
He called on Nigerians to continue to cooperate and support the government in its effort to end the recession and ensure better living conditions for the citizenry.
Earlier in his remarks, Gov of Abdullahi Ganduje Kano State said the state government had concluded arrangements to build a modern market in Kano to decongest the existing markets in the state capital.
Ganduje said the market, which would cost about N500 billion, would be constructed under a Public Private Partnership arrangement between the state government and a private firm in Dubai.
According to him, the state government has already paid compensation to the owners of the land acquired for the project.
"As soon as the agreement is signed next week, work will commence in January 2017,'' the governor said. (NAN)
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday announced an increment to the death insurance benefit for police officers who die in active service to the State to N10 million, saying that his administration would stop at nothing to ensure the safety of all citizens in the State.
Governor Ambode, who spoke at Lagos House in Ikeja, after he was presented with two awards recently won in South Africa by the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the State Police Command, said security and safety of the people remains one of the focal objectives of his administration, and that Government would continually embrace measures to motivate and encourage officers of the Command to perform their duties diligently.
The RRS, at the awards presented by Security Watch Africa (SWA), had emerged as the best anti-crime police squad in West Africa, while the RRS Commander, Olatunji Disu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, won the award of most outstanding police operational officer in Africa.Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; Commander, RRS, ACP Tunji Disu and Permanent Secretary, Office of Chief of Staff, Mr. Abiodun Bamgboye during the handing over of 3 Patrol Vehicles and 45 Power Bikes to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Monday, December 5, 2016.
The State Government also bagged award as the best security and most safety conscious state in Africa.
Speaking after receiving the awards, Governor Ambode congratulated the Commander and men of the RRS for the feat, saying that the people of the State were appreciative of the gallant efforts of the unit at bringing down crime rate in the State, especially in the last one year.
The Governor also commended the State's Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni for his purposeful leadership of the Command, saying that it was evident that the Police in Lagos was performing creditably well.
While alluding to the need for increment in the death insurance benefit of officers, Governor Ambode recalled the recent lost of some officers in active service, adding that while government was not praying for the re-occurrence of such, it was appropriate to reasonably reward the family of any officer in the event of eventual death.
The Governor therefore said his administration was raising the stake of death insurance policy from N1million to rank and file and N2million to senior officers to N10 million.
He said: "Recently, we lost some police officer due to no fault of theirs and then some form of accidental incidences across the State.
"I have directed the State's Pension Office and the Office of the Chief of Staff that we are going to increase the payment that we make to officers that die in active service and then we are increasing that irrespective of whether you are a junior or senior office, if you die in active service, the payment that will be made by the State Government is being increased to N10million from this moment onward," he said.
As one of the ways of appreciating and motivating the Command, Governor Ambode also presented additional three patrol vehicles and 45 power bikes to the RRS.
The Governor, while reiterating the commitment of the State Government to the security and wellbeing of residents, also directed the police to ensure hitch-free yuletide celebration across the State.
He said the government, by the donation, was also sending a strong signal to those who are always willing to disturb the peace that there is no room for them in the State.
Responding to the gesture, the RRS Commander, Mr. Olatunji Disu said the equipment given to them by the State Government would further spur them to give their best towards protecting the lives and property of residents.
By Ben Agande Abuja – The Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission has revealed that it has recovered the sum of N9billion from Ministries, Departments and Agencies following the conduct of a System Study and Review on the utilization of the 2012 Personnel Vote of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
A statement personally signed by the chairman of the commission Ekpo Nta said the commission observed lapses which were highlighted in the report.
He directed MDAs to return all unspent balances to the Sub-Treasury of the Federation by 31stDecember, 2016.
The statement reads in part.
“Observable lapses were highlighted and recoveries of about N9 Billion effected from the various MDAs. The Commission will be carrying out another System Study and Review of the 2016 Personnel Vote to ensure total compliance with Section 16 of the Finance (Control and Management) Act, LFN, 1990 and the Financial Regulations regarding unspent balances in line with the extant rules and regulations.
“All Ministries, Departments and Agencies not presently captured on the IPPIS platform are requested to submit the Receipt and Expenditure Profiles of their Personnel Cost to reach the Commission not later than 20th December, 2016. For avoidance of doubt, the Personnel Vote is strictly for the payment of salaries and allowances for Government employees only, as specified in the 2016 Appropriation Act. It does not cover Sallah/Christmas bonuses, "13th month" salaries, arrears of promotions, etc.
“All unspent balances should be returned to the Sub-Treasury of the Federation by 31stDecember, 2016. “The Commission will commence verification of the returns made to the Sub-Treasury by January 2016. Letters have been sent to the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies for strict compliance and to note that any infractions will be prosecuted” he said
The National Leader of the All Progressive Congress APC, and former governor of Lagos State Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu aka Jagaban has said that he and others will not abandon the APC, the party he helped to build.Oyegun, Tinubu and Buhari
Tinubu made this known in a series of tweets on his twitter handle @AsiwajuTinubu
Tinubu also saod that the APC is for the betterment of the people and for is bigger and important than any individual.
‘This government, APC, is for the betterment of the people & the national purpose is bigger and more important than any individual’s desires’
A British Muslim convert who knocked out a 16-year-old boy for hugging a girl on the street was sentenced to 28 months in jail in London on Monday, Press Association reports.
Michael Coe, 35, approached the pair in Newham, East London, and demanded to know if they were Muslims, Southwark Crown Court heard.
He then called the girl a whore before grabbing the boy by the throat, throwing him to the ground and kicking him in the head.
An associate of convicted British Islamic fundamentalist hate preacher Anjem Choudary, Coe had converted to radical Islam during a previous prison stint, the court heard.
At the sentencing, Judge Michael Gledhill told Coe: "You stopped to reprimand them, and you were acting as a self-appointed enforcer of your interpretation at the time of how Muslims should behave."
Gledhill added that the teenagers had denied being Muslim when challenged by Coe. "Denying their religion shows just how threatening you were," he added.
Coe claimed he was acting in self-defence, but was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery in August.
He had previously been convicted of religiously aggravated assault after telling a Muslim woman it was against Islam for her to talk to a group of men.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has called on INEC to demonstrate its independence by ensuring that the forthcoming re-run election in Rivers State is free, fair and credible.
The party made the call in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye on Monday in Abuja.
Adeyeye also called on security agencies to continue to maintain their constitutional roles and duties of protecting lives and property in the country as well as maintaining law and order during elections.
PDP, according to Adeyeye, however demanded an unreserved apology from the Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, for the people of Rivers State and the South-South Region in general for a statement credited to him.
Adeyeye said that Ganduje, who is also the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Rivers State Re-Run Election Campaign Committee, was quoted as saying "having a free and fair election in Rivers State is abnormal".
Adeyeye said that the governor also boasted that the APC-led Federal Government would deploy massive securities for the Rivers re-run.
"This statement coming from the governor is not only unfortunate; it is ridiculous and absurd to say the least.
"It is highly unbecoming of a governor to make such an unguided statement that denigrates the people of the whole state and the South-South region in general,'' he said.
General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis, the famous ex-Marine and the hero of countless conflicts and wars, has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump as his Secretary of Defence.
And what an extraordinary man and colorful figure Mattis is. Here are some of the things that he has said over the years.
1.”I'm going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years."
2.”Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet. (Time Magazine).
3.”You are part of the world's most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon." (In a letter Mattis wrote to his Marines the night before the March 2003 Iraq invasion).
4.”I don't lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word." (San Diego Union Tribune).
5."You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. I like brawling." (CNN)
6.”Demonstrate to the world there is 'No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy' than a U.S. Marine." (Letter to First Marine Division)
7.”I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all." (San Diego Union Tribune).
Mattis sounds like my type of man: a real warrior with the heart of a Viking. With him as Secretary of Defence I have no doubt that America, and indeed the world, will be a better and safer place.
Trump has done well by cultivating the courage to nominate him. The President-elect has done equally well by appointing Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his National Security Advisor.
This is another interesting and colourful character who appears to understand the monuemental challenge that the world is facing today very well.
A well-experienced and extreemly tough military intelligence officer who served courageously and meritoriously in Iraq and Afghaniatan he is undoubtedly the quintessential “braveheart”.
In his 2016 book titled “The Field Of Fight” he characterised U.S. counter-intelligence as “a world war against a messianic mass movement of evil people”.
In a speech earlier this year, he called Islam "a cancer" and "a political ideology” that “hides behind this notion of being a religion."
He went on to say that given what is happening in todays world “the fear of Muslims is rational”.
Permit me to share his exact words:
“We are facing another ‘ism,’ just like we faced nazism, fascism, imperialism and communism,” Flynn said. “This is Islamism: it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised.”
For the record let me be clear. I do not believe that Islam itself is a cancer but I do believe that radical islam most certainly is.
I also disagree with his assertion that Islam is not a religion and I reject the notion that all of the 1.7 billion Muslims in the world today are violent extreemists, jihadists and fundamentalists.
I believe that Islam is not only a religion but also a respectable and noble one and that most Muslims are decent, hard-working, God-fearing, law-abiding people. I most certainly do not share the view that ALL Muslims are terrorists.
However this cannot be said of the Islamic fundamentalists, the jihadists, the Islamists and the practitioners of radical Islam. I believe that they are indeed ALL terrorists and that Islamic fundamentalism itself is a dangerous, self-serving, cruel, primitive and vicious cult which is fuelled and sustained by wahabbi and salifist hate and premised on an unrelenting and barbaric political ideology.
As a matter of fact it is worst than that. It is not just a political ideology but also a deadly and violent tool of and vehicle for genocide, mass murder, tyranny, subjugation, political conquest and oppression.
It is the greatest evil that humanity has been confronted with since the slave trade, colonialism, fascism, communism, imperialism and neo-colonialism and it must be defeated and utterly crushed lest it consummes us all.
The truth is that it is worse than cancer. It is a cultural and political nuclear bomb that is preparing to explode and destroy the entire world.
In spite of his sweeping generalisations and his inability to make a clear distinction between radical Islam and Islam itself, I believe that Flynn will still make an excellent NSA because he understands the nature and mindset of the enemy very well.
He is also deeply courageous, utterly fearless and thoroughly forthright. By all standards he is a man of immense discipline and unimpeachable integrity: a profoundly good man and a loyal and patriotic American.
When one couples this with Trump’s appointment of the rugged and highly combatative Mike Pompeio as the new Director of the Central Intelligence Agency there can be little doubt that Trump is assembling a great team of people that will make American foreign policy far more decisive, dramatic and virile, that will change the face of the world as we know it and that will crush Islamist terrorism and radical Islam in an utterly profound and meaningful way.
That is what the world needs today and that is why I supported him and believed in him right from the outset.
At least now the American people can say “merry xmas” again instead of having to say “happy holiday”.
At least American soldiers will be allowed to sleep with the Holy Bible under their pillows again.
At least Christmas trees will be proudly displayed in shopping malls all over America again.
At least the name of the Lord will be glorified again and the good old fashioned Christian values upon which the United States of America was originally founded will be recognised, acknowledged and established again.
It is indeed “goodbye” to Barack and “hello” to Donald. It is the advent of a new and glorious era for America and indeed the rest of the world.
It is a golden era in which the misguided and discredited concept of political correctness and the wholesale acceptance of liberal values, humanist philosophies and strange pagan practices, all in an attempt to establish a new world order, is rejected.
That is the hope that this new dispensation brings: to lift up America and once again make her the shining light on a hill that will provide the direction and decisive leadership that the world so badly needs.
I am also excited by Trump’s appointment of the African American Dr. Ben Carson, a man who, like the biblical Daniel, is blessed with an excellent spirit, as his Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Development.
Finally it gives me great pleasure to note the fact that my old friend Adebayo Ogunlesi has been appointed as a member of Trump’s economic advisory team.
Where are those that said Trump hates people of color and that he loathes Nigerians? Congratulations Bayo and keep the flag flying! By Femi Fani-Kayode
A former Special Adviser on Media to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Ima Niboro, has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Niboro was ushered into the APC on Monday at his residence in Udu Local Government Area of Delta.
He told newsmen that, "My membership of the APC is true.''
Ima Niboro
Niboro, said his joining the APC was meant to align Delta with the government at the national level and to galvanise development.
'"It is not a sudden switch. I have had 18 months to study the situation as it concerned my ward, local government, community and even my state.”
"I have to conclude that there is time for everything. This is the time for us in Delta to link up with the Federal Government in order to bring development to our land.
'`We cannot at this critical point of our history be left out of Federal Government's development agenda.”
`There is no synergy between Delta and the Federal Government and we cannot achieve that synergy when we are working at cross-purposes.”
"We must work together to achieve that synergy,'' he said.
Niboro, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, decried the level of infrastructure decay in Delta.
He was formally received by APC stalwarts in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta, where he hailed from.
Libyan forces on Monday took control of the final cluster of buildings where Islamic State militants were holding out in their former North African stronghold of Sirte.
The forces are also securing the area, its spokesman, Rida Issa, has said.
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took over Sirte in early 2015, setting up its most important base outside the Middle East and extending its control along about 250 km of Mediterranean coastline.
The Libyan forces, led by brigades from the western city of Misrata, launched counter-attack against the jihadist group in May.
Since Aug. 1 the U.S. have carried out not less than 470 air strikes against the Jihadist to support the Libyan forces.
Issa told newsmen that forces led by brigades from Misrata and backed by U.S. air strikes "now control Sirte's entire Ghiza Bahriya neighbourhood and are still securing the area."
His statement could not immediately be verified and there was no official announcement that Sirte had been taken.
"Earlier on Monday, over a dozen Islamic State fighters clinging on in a few dozen buildings in the Ghiza Bahriya district had surrendered to Libyan forces.
"No fewer than three women had left militant-held ground,'' officials said.
In recent days, Libyan forces said dozens of women and children have left the last group of buildings controlled by the militants.
The presence of the families has been one of the factors complicating attempts to push forward into the final sliver of land held by Islamic State.
Several women carried out suicide attacks as they were being granted safe passage.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Monday urged the public to ignore reports going round that the corps had started distributing and mandating its personnel to carry arms.
Mr Bisi Kazeem, FRSC Head of Media Relations and Strategy, told newsmen that the rumour was being circulated by mischievous elements seeking to provoke disorder in the society.
FRSC Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi,
Kazeem said that some "irresponsible" people took a recent statement by the Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, out of context to suit their agenda.
He said the Corps Marshal was only lamenting the recent findings that 70 marshals lost their lives this year alone to some reckless motorists and was misquoted.
"The Corps Marshal only stipulated that such a high number of loses could have been avoided if FRSC personnel were carrying arms as allowed by the law.
"But, he quickly added that there is no immediate plan to implement the law that permits the officials to carry arms.
"It is unfortunate that some wicked people now took that to mean that he said officials are now being armed; it is a figment of their imagination ." he said.
Kazeem said the FRSC boss was misquoted based on the rumour making round on the social media.
He said people even circulated a picture that depicted some road safety officials being drilled by the Nigerian Army on how to handle firearms.
He said the picture was dug out from trainings that took place years ago to make it seem as if it was part of a purportedly new arrangement to arm the officials.
Kazeem said the corps had been undergoing such training on regular intervals since 1992 during the administration of former President Ibrahim Babangida.
"We have never put the exercise as part of the general practice of our operation and we have no plans of implementing it in the nearest future."
The spokesperson said an amendment to the FRSC Act in 2007 granted the road traffic managers the power to bear arms like the police and other security agencies.
He, however, said that previous corps marshals of the FRSC did not prioritise its implementation.
President, General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises, Miriem Bensalah Chaqroun, has said that African is the least integrated economical continent in the world.
Chaqroun disclosed this in an interview with journalists on the sideline of Nigeria-Morocco business meeting organised by Nigeria Economic Submit Group (NESG) in Lagos.
According to her, "Our bilateral trading investment is too low. Our continent is the least integrated economically continent.
"We are in Nigeria to make sure that the South –South partnership is not just a wish but a reality that we will seize the opportunities between Morocco and Nigeria private sector."
She maintained that, the continent has great potential, adding that, "We also have this fabulous energy that is our youths waiting for job creation. So, this partnership has the will to look for local job creation.
"Any business has a potential of creating added value and also creating a new jobs from it. We do have already in agro businesses and fishery and some our Moroccans entrepreneur that have invested in Nigeria, but we are looking for renewable energy, tourism, agriculture, and also ICT.
"Nigeria is known for its ideas, that is a good way to partner and we are waiting for Nigeria to come and invest in Morocco, in the sectors, such as, aeronautic, agric business and ICT.
"The whole industry of tourism is good potential for our continent. Each of our country has good potential for tourism, and Nigeria being by the coast in the center of diversified eco systems and Morocco also. I think we can bench mark in these areas such as tourism.
"We have also common historical and cultural background in multi cultural countries with many ethnics, and also we have different religion like Nigeria." On his part,
Chief Executive Officer, CEO, NESG, Laoye Jaiyeola, maintained that the essence of the group is to ensure a better environment for doing business in the country.
He said that the kind of business we are doing amongst ourselves, which again defeats the need for countries of Africa to do businesses amongst themselves.
"They are lot of businesses we can do among ourselves, you can navigate from Morocco to Lagos, also for instance if we look at the renewable energy, they are doing very well they build their own solar plant, and they are targeting making renewable energy about 45 percent of the total energy needed.
"We are still grappling with our energy supply and if you look at the government policy, they want to make renewable energy to be about 30 percent of our total energy needs in a year 2030.
"Rather than go outside the continent, if we can leverage on what exists in the continent, it could go a long way in helping our people."
Liverpool were beaten for only the second time in the Premier League this season as a Bournemouth comeback inflicted a 4-3 defeat at Vitality Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
First-half strikes from Sadio Mane and Divock Origi gave Jürgen Klopp's side control of the contest at the break, but the hosts fought back after the interval.
Liverpool’s Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum vies with Bournemouth’s English defender Steve Cook (R) during the English Premier League football match between Bournemouth and Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, southern England on December 4, 2016. / AFP PHOTO
A Callum Wilson penalty early in the second period first gave hope of a comeback for the Cherries, only for Emre Can's delightful finish to restore a two-goal cushion.
But substitute Ryan Fraser scored one and then set up Steve Cook to slam a leveller beyond Loris Karius, before Nathan Ake forced home a fourth in stoppage-time.
Thousands of angry protesters on Monday stormed the premises of the Federal High Court, Abuja to protest the judgement of the court which ordered the unconditional release of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky from custody, saying the Judiciary has dealt a fresh blow to the future of Nigerians.
Protesters
The protesters under the banner, The Coalition on Good Governance and Change Initiative (CGGCI) and other Civil Society groups expressed concern over the judgement by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, saying it was done “without recourse to the consequences that this dangerous precedence would have on law enforcement, security, anti-terror fight, terrorism, extremism and secessionist movements in Nigeria.”
National President of the group, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi said the “judiciary has dealt a fresh blow to the future of Nigeria by legalizing terrorism while leaving the rest of us at risk of losing our lives.”
He described the judgement as ridiculous, wondering how the judge could order the release of "someone who poses grave security risk to the society through his extreme brand of foreign backed radicalization program in the name of religion."
He said, Nigerians are ever ready to do the needful in safeguarding the future of our dear nation and hence would demand that Justice Kolawole be investigated by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
Protesters
He said, “In the space of one week, the judiciary has ordered dangerous fanatics and demagogues to be returned to the streets to resume brainwashing, radicalizing and militarizing vulnerable youths in the population. This could have only been in keeping with fulfilling obligations entered into for less than honourable considerations even as we cannot rule out a judiciary that is taking its pound of flesh from an executive arm that has exposed the sleaze on its soiled bench."
“If the entire judiciary has activated its vendetta against the security agencies that they see as the executive arm, the precedence set by Justice Gabriel Kolawole took things to the ridiculous by awarding N50 million of tax payers’ money to finance IMN’s radicalisation programme while also asking that the police further deploy its personnel to protect a man whose sect members would invariably kill like they had killed soldiers and policemen in recent past."
“This judge also failed to realize the weight of his utterance that has basically ordered the government to build a new headquarters for a proscribed group – we do hope he will keep himself on the bench for when other terror groups approach to demand for the government to build them headquarters."
“The house demolished in Gyellesu, on which the directive to build a new one for this demagogue, originally belonged to Alhaji Ismail Gwarzo, the DG NSO under late General Sani Abacha. El-Zakzaky was given the seized house by Gen Abdulsalam because people of Babban Dodo had at time also rebelled against IMN occupation which made them to burn his initial hub after he was released from another arrest for insurrection.”
Speaking further, Ogenyi said, “justice Kolawole has murdered sleep. He did this confidently because security agencies under obligation use taxpayers’ money to protect him and other judges, who therefore do not know the magnitude of the threat that terrorism poses to citizens."
By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA – The fence-mending parley between the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the leadership and members of the National Assembly caucus of the party has now been shifted to Wednesday, Vanguard has learned.
The meeting was originally scheduled to hold today (Monday).
Although, no official reason was given for the postponement, top-level party insiders told Vanguard that the meeting had to be shifted because the chairman had had a “very busy weekend”.
One of the sources said, “the chairman only returned to Abuja this (Monday) afternoon having had a very busy weekend schedule in Lagos. So, both sides felt it was better to allow the chairman and his team some rest before engaging him in another round of marathon meetings with the leadership and caucuses in the two chambers”.
Vanguard recalls that since the June 5, 2015 inauguration of the National Assembly and the emergency of its leadership in controversial circumstances, this is the first time that the party’s national chairman would be engaging the party’s lawmakers at such level.
Lagos – The Tin-Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted a 20ft container of "READY TO EAT FOODS'' like Egusi Soup, Jollof Rice, Ogbono, Yam Porridge imported from India.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Bashar Yusuf, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Lagos by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mr Uche Ejesieme.
Yusuf spoke with stakeholders at the SDV/SCOA Terminal while handing over the container of imported prepared foods to officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The controller described the scenario as an "aberration", considering the fact that government granted zero duty for the importation of machinery for the packaging of agricultural products.
"Why should indigenous menu be imported into the country at a time when investors are much sought after to boost local industries,'' the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Yusuf as saying.
The controller said the command generated 25.7 billion in November, up from N25.3 billion recorded in October.
Yusuf said that the higher revenue was recorded in spite of the recession and low imports.
He said that the command would continue to explore all avenues for maximum revenue collection.
According to him, this is in view of the exigencies of the moment, which placed more responsibilities on the service.
Yusuf urged potential investors to take advantage of the numerous export potential in the country for their socio-economic benefits.
In a related development, while briefing a group of senior officers undergoing training in the command, the controller admonished them to make professionalism, integrity and transparency as their watchword.
He also urged the officers to ensure effective leadership and supervision in carrying out their duties.
Yusuf said the various trade facilitation tools as provided in the automation of Customs procedures would guide the officers in the discharge of their functions.
The controller told the officers to see training and re-training as a veritable tools that would sharpen their knowledge toward achieving desired results.
He appreciated the Comptroller-General of Customs, Retired Col. Hameed Ali, for effectively re-positioning the service in spite of global recession.
"NCS is still working tirelessly to remain on top of its statutory mandate,'' the controller said.
Yusuf said that this could not have been possible if not for the pragmatic leadership of the comptroller-general and his management.
"In this era and dispensation, officers are expected to be above board with deep sense of commitment and responsibility in the discharge of their functions.
"The Change ideology of the comptroller -general must be given priority attention,'' the controller said.
He, however, warned that anybody that fails to key into the new order would be seriously sanctioned.
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