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
By Prince Osuagwu The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Wednesday warned telecom operators to desist from flouting the order banning sale of pre registered SIM cards or face stiff sanctions.
The Commission accused the operators and their agents of selling pre registered sims, despite the ban. According to the Director, Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, "despite regulations and directives against the sale and use of pre-registered SIM cards, Operators through their Dealers/Agents are still selling pre-registered SIM cards in several parts of the country".
Ojobo drew attention of the operators to the section 19 and 20 of the Nigerian Communications Commission (Registration of Telephone Subscribers) Regulations, 2011 saying the commission under the provisions of these sections of the Act, would not hesitate to mete out appropriate sanctions if this continued Sections 19 and 20 of the Act states that: 19.
(1) Any licensee who fails to capture, register, deregister or transmit the details of any individual or corporate subscribers to the Central Database as specified in these Regulations or as may be stipulated from time to time by the Commission is liable to a penalty of N200,000.00 for each subscription medium.
(2) A licensee who activates any Subscription Medium without capturing, registering and transmitting the personal information to the Central Database commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine of N200, 000.00 for each unregistered activated Subscription Medium. 20. (1) Any licensee who activates or fails to deactivate a subscription medium in violation of any provision of these Regulations is liable to pay a penalty of N200,000.00 for each unregistered but activated subscription medium.
(2) Where the Commission is satisfied that a body corporate is culpable, the Director, Chief Executive Officer, Manager or Secretary shall also be liable to pay a fine of N200, 000.00 unless, having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the surrounding circumstances, he proves that-
(i) the offence was committed without his knowledge, consent or connivance; and
(ii) he took all reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to prevent the Commission of the breach.
LAGOS-Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday, said it had licensed 11 additional international money transfer operators. The CBN named the operators as TRANS-Fast Remittance, Worldremit limited, UAE Exchange Center LLC, Wari limited, and Home Send S.C.R.L. Others are Small World Financial Services Group, Weblink International limited Cashpot limited, DT&T Corporation Limited and Corporation limited and Fiem Group LLC, and DBA Ping Express, CP Express limited.
The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, had earlier granted licenses to three certified operators -Western Union, MoneyGram and Ria. The granting of licenses to the three sparked off protest from money transfer operators which made the CBN open the door for more applications from prospective IMTOs jostling for the Nigeria market, and targeting huge dollar inflows from Nigerians in the Diaspora, who remit over $21 billion annually to national coffers. The annual Diaspora remittance to Nigeria is expected to hit $35 billion this year following the devaluation of the naira, which remains an incentive for Nigerians in Diaspora to send more dollars home.
The need to license new operators followed the exit of hundreds of international money transfer firms, after the CBN rolled out new guidelines stopping operations.
CBN in a statement signed by its acting Director Corporate Communication, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said "In furtherance of efforts to liberalise the Foreign Exchange Market, ensure liquidity and make foreign exchange more readily available to low end users, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has licensed more International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to operate in Nigeria. In line with the existing Guidelines on International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria (2014), the following IMTOs are now licensed to operate in Nigeria"
Before the new licenses were granted the CBN, had refuted claims that it has stopped the licensing of interested International Money Transfer Operators, IMTOs, in the country, stressing that it has not foreclosed the licensing of interested players in the IMTO space in Nigeria. The apex bank had observed that this claim is being made by some individuals in spite of its transparency in the licensing of the operators in Nigeria.
The statement had said: "interested applicants are required to forward their requests for licensing to the Director, Trade and Exchange Department of the CBN, in line with the CBN Guidelines on International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria (2014), which among other things, specifies the minimum technical and business requirements for various participants in the international money transfer services industry in Nigeria.
"The Central Bank of Nigeria remains committed to providing an enabling environment for international money transfer services in Nigeria. It is, however, important to emphasize that a prospective player shall first obtain the requisite licence to operate in Nigeria as an IMTO."
By Prince Osuagwu The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Wednesday approved the release of the commission's data from the ongoing Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards registration exercise to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
The commission said the approval was to complement Federal Government's effort at harmonizing biometric data captured by different agencies in the country, particularly as there had been earlier instruction to transfer validated data from SIM registration to NIMC.
Danbatta made the approval while receiving the Director General of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu Aziz, who paid him a courtesy visit yesterday in Abuja.
"I would like to pledge our commitment to this cooperation between the NIMC and the NCC to ensure that we have a secure, reliable database containing biometric information for all Nigerians, which will definitely augur well for the security of the country among other benefits," he noted.
"So we are committed to this. We recognize the importance of this cooperation and I would like to stress the need to give it all the seriousness it deserves. I am happy that there's an MoU and there's also a Federal Government's directive, which would help in facilitating the data transfer," he added.
The EVC, however, called for the reinvigorating of the existing inter-agency committee handling the exercise in order to fast-track the peace-meal data transfer to NIMC. He promised that the data to be transferred to NIMC would be fully backed up to avoid any hitches in future.
Responding Aziz expressed a delight at the cooperation between the two agencies, said that the data transfer from NCC would also improve the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) exercise of the commission.
He said NIMC would use the NCC's data to assign NIM to Nigerians who were captured in the validated data received.
KADUNA-The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, known as Nigeria Shiite, Wednesday, warned of dire consequences should its leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been in detention, dies or goes blind in custody.
El-zakzaky
The IMN also dismissed two lawyers, Sadau Garba and Bello Ibrahim, as impostors, saying they were having high dealings with the Department of State Services, DSS, on behalf of Zakzaky's family and IMN.
In a statement by its spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, in Kaduna today, IMN also challenged the Federal Government to arraign its leader in court, if it had any case against him.
The statement read in part: "We demand that our leader and his wife be released unconditionally without delay. It will be a tragedy of monumental proportions should our leader go blind in detention or suffer further physical disability due to him being denied access to adequate medical attention.
"We understand those that sanctioned his detention and those detaining him want to humiliate him and make sure that he goes completely blind before he is eventually released, thereby rendering him powerless the moment he is released from unconstitutional and illegal detention.
"The health of our leader and the wife continues to deteriorate on a daily basis and those holding him in custody are playing politics with his detention and that of his wife.
"We urge the Nigerian people and the international community to intervene in this crude violation of the fundamental rights of our leader."
… disowns lawyers, as DSS stooges
"The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, wants to make it clear that the said Sadau Garba and Bello Ibrahim can only be solicitors to the Department of State Services, DSS, with who they are in constant contact, and not that of the Movement or our revered leader.
"It is DSS that briefed the two, giving them access to their facilities, encouraging them to pose as solicitors to our revered leader and urging them to write letters begging DSS to release our leader on compassionate grounds.
"The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, therefore, makes it abundantly clear that Femi Falana (SAN) is the leader of the legal team and assisted by Festus Okoye (Esq.) and Maxwell Kyon (Esq.)."
Chelsea have completed the signing of Brazil international David Luiz from Paris Saint-Germain for £38m (?45m).
The 29-year-old returns to Stamford Bridge just two years after leaving Chelsea, who opened talks with their ex-player on Tuesday.
Luiz has signed a contract after completing a medical in London.
Chelsea have also officially announced the signing of Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina while they also have the option of signing Aymen Abdennour on loan from Valencia.
Passengers of Aero Contractors Airline who have already booked and paid for their flight tickets were Wednesday, seen making frantic efforts to reclaim their money and luggage that have been checked in before the announcement that the airline is suspending its flight operation.
At the airline's counters at domestic terminal, there was no airline staff at the check -in and ticket counters and passengers were confused as there was nobody to speak to. Passengers who had come to board flights to Port Harcourt and Abuja were disappointed as there was no one to contact to get their refunds, as officials of the airline were no where to be seen.
Angry passengers whose flights were canceled and who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that they only got to know of the cancellation after they checked -in their luggage and collected boarding passes.
Passengers were seen moving from the ticket sales counters to the check-in counters and from there to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) at the first floor of the terminal, where they were later directed upstairs without solutions to their problem.
An elderly woman, who was affected by the impromptu cancellation, also said that she had already checked -in her luggage and the flight was to depart at 12noon and that she had been at the terminal since 10 am.
She also said that she only got to know about the cancellation after she had check-in and collected boarding pass.
She added that she has been at the terminal waiting for the flight to fly her and other passengers to their destinations at 12noon, when it was announced that the flight would take off at 1.30pm and subsequently cancelled the flight.
"How do I get my luggage and go back home now. I don't know anywhere and it was my people who dropped me in the morning and they left immediately .Now my luggage has been checked -in, how do I collect my luggage," she complained.
Some of the passengers numbering about 100, who had also checked-in their luggage for the Abuja and Port Harcourt flights were seen moving towards the arrival to proceed to the baggage reclaim area to collect their luggage.
At the baggage reclaim area, passengers were very angry and raining curses on Aero Contractors for allegedly knowingly selling tickets to passengers when the airline knew that it will not fly. The passengers were further angered by the disappearance of the officials of the airline from the counters to assist them in getting their refund.
By Prince Osuagwu (Hi-Tech Editor) & Emeka Aginam Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg who arrived Nigeria Tuesday unannounced, Wednesday, had a town hall meeting with Nigerian technology application developers in Lagos, charging them to look inwards for applications that can bolster the ailing economy.Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckeberg said that the best way to predict the future was to be creative, adding that there was no problem in the world that does not have application to solve it.
He confirmed that currently Nigeria hosts about 18 million Facebook users making it the largest country of Facebook users in Africa, saying that it was majorly instrumental to why he made Nigeria his first port of call in sub Saharan Africa.
The Town hall meeting which held at LandMark event centre Oniru, Victoria Island was not open to the media as Vanguard gathered that Zuckerberg insisted that the meeting was strictly between him and Nigerian tech application developers and engineers.
However, a viewing centre was opened in Eko Hotel and Suites where the town hall meeting was streamed live to the media. At the meeting, Zuckerberg reminded the local developers that there were a lot of things happening in the country they could use their applications to solve. "There are a lot of things happening around you that if you think deep, you’ll use apps to solve. All I can say is that you keep open minds and keep an eye on apps.
"The Eco system must keep developing. There are a few apps that are going to be built in years to come that are going to make things cheaper. That is my wish for Nigerian developers because the power to change things is in your hands.
Definitely the economy of Nigeria is not going to be built by companies like facebook. The reason I am here with you today is that you are already doing it with your initiatives and businesses. Facebook can always do our bit by providing the enablement and interactions like this that can spur you to do more. I believe that the ecosystem will erupt when you continue to learn new things and consistent in building new applications.
Expressing the respect he has for Nigeria as one of the countries in Africa with largest facebook users, Zuckerberg said: "There are about 18 million Facebook users in Nigeria. That is huge an enormous. It is for countries like Nigeria that we have been able to allow translation of our products in different languages and dialects. There are a lot of technicalities involved in making this translation and letting services go in different areas. But the most important thing is that we have been able to show the passion and concern we feel for our different customers around the world. We are also planning to allow more translation of facebook contents and applications in more dialects both in Nigeria and around the world"
The Nigerian event is his first developer question and answer,Q&A session in Africa and more than 100 of Nigeria’s top developers attended. The Q&A was part of a developer workshop being hosted in Lagos, to help Nigerian engineers build applications to reach local and international audiences. The workshop was one of a series to be held across Africa this past week, with others already having taken place in Johannesberg and Nairobi. During the Q&A Zuckerberg spoke to Nigerian developers about how excited he was to visit Nigeria and witness first- hand the creativity and innovation which is happening in places like Yaba.
Facebook’s Director of Global Product Partnerships, Ime Archibong, who hosted the developer conference, said: “When I came to Lagos back in May this year I was really struck by the energy of the tech scene here and by how many people were building. As someone with strong links to Nigeria, I’ve been trying to expose Mark to this ecosystem for a while so I am very excited for him to be able to come here and meet some of Nigeria’s top entrepreneurs and developers today.” Top Nigerian tech talented developers Zuckerberg met included:
Jobberman Jobberman was started from a dorm room at the Obafemi Awolowo University in August 2009 when owners,Opeyemi Awoyemi, Ayodeji Adewunmi and Lekan Olude, decided to do something about the high unemployment rate and started the largest catalogue of jobs in Nigeria.
Fast forward to 2016, it has become Africa’s largest jobs website and one of the most recognisable start up success stories on the continent. As Nigeria’s No.1 Recruitment website, it keeps people informed about the latest jobs in Nigeria, vacancies and recruitment opportunities. . In February 2012, Jobberman was named No. 8 in Forbes Magazine Top 20 Tech Start ups in Africa .
Balogunmarket.ng Balogunmarket.ng enables people to order things directly from one of West Africa’s biggest markets, Balogun Market in Lagos, using WhatsApp. The market traders, supply the goods and the ecornmerce team handle the logistics from their fulfilment hub located in the middle of the market where they provide free photography, tagging and last mile delivery services.
Truppr.com Truppr is a social tool that provides sports lovers and fitness enthusiasts alike with an easy way to find local fitness partners while on business trips, holidays or in a new city. If you are visiting a city and fancy joining people for a run or a game of football you can log on, see what is happening and join people already doing sports. The app was designed by Bosun Tijani, who also runs Co Creation Hub,(CCHub, after he realised it was hard for him to find people to play football with when he visited a new city.
Port Harcourt – Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers on Wednesday suspended four commissioners, Head of Service and Special Adviser on Lands for three months.
Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronic Media Simeon Nwakaudu, announced this in a statement in Port Harcourt.
The governor did not, however, state the reason for the suspension in the statement.
According to Nwakaudu, the affected commissioners are Dr John Bazia, Chieftaincy Affairs, Mrs Tonye Briggs-Oniyide; Culture and Tourism, Fred Kpakol; Finance and Mr Boma Iyaye; Sports.
He said the Head of Service, Mr Rufus Godwin and Mr Anugbun Onuoha, Special Adviser on Lands were also affected by the suspension.(NAN)
By Henry Umoru ABUJA – MINISTER of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Mallam Mohammad Musa Bello has been forced to approve a review of the 2016/2017 academic calendar for all primary and post primary schools in the FCT following the forthcoming Eid el Kabir celebrations.
According to the Minister, the review affects all public and private schools in the FCT.
In a statement by Assistant Director, Head of information Education Secretariat for Ag. Secretary for Education, FCTAAnthony Ogunleye, the reviewed calendar shows that first Term begins on Sunday, 18th September 2016 (for boarding schools) andMonday, 19th September 2016 (for day schools) and ends on Friday, 17th December 2016. Second Term begins on Sunday, 9th January 2017 and ends on Friday, 31st March 2017.
Third Term begins on Sunday, 23rd April 2017 and ends on Friday, 21st July 2017 All schools are enjoined to take note and comply.
According to him, FCT schools were hitherto scheduled to resume on Sunday, 4th of September 2016 for boarding schools and Monday 5th of September for day schools. However, the Eid el Kabir celebrations which are expected to take place in the second week of September orchestrated the review of the 1st term resumption date.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Wednesday to step up efforts to send migrants with no right to asylum in Europe back to their homelands.
“All of us in Europe must work for the repatriation of those who do not have rights (to stay),” Renzi said after a meeting with Merkel in the home of the Ferrari sports car empire. “It is unthinkable that we can accommodate everyone.”
In comments pointing to a hardening of attitudes about how to resolve the migrant crisis reshaping politics across Europe, Merkel added: “Not everyone can stay, and Italy has the same problem, so we have a common agenda.
“Those who do not have the right to stay have to be repatriated,” she said.
The German leader was speaking a year to the day after she won praise and criticism in equal measure for signalling an open door policy on refugees by declaring “we can do this” in relation to people fleeing the conflict in Syria.
She said Wednesday that she stood by the expression.
“I’m convinced it was the right phrase,” she said, striking a less contrite tone than she had adopted in an interview with German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that was published on Wednesday.
“There are political issues that one can see coming but don’t really register with people at that certain moment,” Merkel was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
“And in Germany, we ignored both the problem for too long and blocked out the need to find a pan-European solution.”
From: Kingsley Omonobi Abuja – The Nigerian Army said Wednesday that its troops of 222 Battalion, 4 Brigade Nigerian Army involved in the field training exercise of Operation Crocodile Smile continued conducting patrols and raids in Delta State on Wednesday and arrested five suspected militants.
The Army in a statement said “Today (Wednesday), the troops carried out patrols through Edje-Ewu-Opere waterside and Araya communities in Ughelli South and Isoko South Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Delta State.
“As part of the training programme, the exercising unit would continue to dominate the general area with patrols and raids of reported or suspected hideouts of criminals.
” Reconnaissance is also ongoing to detect the site of economic sabotage on NPDC/shoreline pipeline along Ogor-Oteri swamps in Ughelli South and Ughelli North LGAs by some criminals. “Similarly, following intelligence report, a robust patrol team was dispatched to raid suspected criminal hideouts at Ehweru community in Ughelli North LGA this morning.
“The team was able to track down and arrested hoodlums known for terrorizing commuters plying the East-West road between Ughelli to Patani. SUSPECTS
“The patrol team arrested 5 suspects who include Messrs Oruno Egbede, Atiyoyo Rewemuesere, Peter Kehinde, Wilson Godbless and Friday Odede.
“They also recovered Locally made gun, 1 dagger and a cutlass from the suspects.
Continuing the statement said “At about 3.45am earlier on Wednesday, another patrol team of the unit raided house number 4, Temile Street off Egor road in Ughelli, which served as the residence of Mr. Gabriel Ogbudje (a supposedly ex-militant leader) and now leader of the Otugas Fire Force (a new militant group in the Niger Delta).
“Although still at large, he is suspected to be responsible for the recent acts of economic sabotage perpetrated at NPDC/shoreline major delivery trunk line within Ogor-oteri communities on 29th August 2016.
“However, Messrs Vincent Ekeke and Henry Koko alongside Mrs. Rachael Abbah and Mrs. Amaratefa Odada found at the residence were invited for questioning, while efforts are ongoing to track down the wanted suspect.
“The troops will continue to maintain vigilance, carry out raids and patrols as part of the training exercise in the general area as part of their routine activities to improve proficiency and professionalism.”
Chelsea have agreed terms to re-sign Brazil defender David Luiz from Paris Saint-Germain, the two clubs announced on Wednesday.
Luiz was sold by Premier League Chelsea to French side PSG for a world record fee for a defender when he joined the French club for £50 million ($65 million, 58 million euros) in 2014.
But the 29-year-old was in danger of losing his place to compatriot Marquinhos this season and, with new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte desperate for defensive reinforcements, the Blues have agreed to bring him back to Stamford Bridge for a reported £32 million.
“Chelsea Football Club and Paris Saint-Germain have agreed terms for the transfer of David Luiz back to London,” a statement on Chelsea’s website read, similar to PSG’s own statement.
“The move is now subject to him agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.”
World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the third round of the US Open without swinging his racquet on Wednesday when scheduled opponent Jiri Vesely pulled out injured.
Serbia’s Djokovic won by walkover when left forearm inflammation prompted Czech Vesely — who inflicted a rare defeat on Djokovic on the claycourts at Monte Carlo in April — to withdraw prior to the afternoon second round clash scheduled for the Arthur Ashe stadium court.
Djokovic will face either Guido Pella of Argentina or Mikhail Youzhny of Russia for a place in the fourth round.
Buhari presides over FEC meeting in State houseBuhari presides over FEC meeting in State house.L-R: Minister of Information Lai Mohammed, Minister of Science & Technology Barr. Adebayo Shittu and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami at the Statehouse, 31st Aug 2016.PRESIDENT BUHARI PRESIDES OVER AUG 31 FEC 3. R-L; President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SGF Engr Babachir David Lawal and NSA Major General Babagana Mongonu as President presides over August 31 2016 Federal Executive Couincil (FEC) Meeting held at the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja.L-R- Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun, Minister of State Budget & National Planning Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Women Affairs Aisha Alhassan, Minister of Information Lai Mohammed and Minister of Environment Amina Usman Mohammed. 31st Aug 2016
By Omeiza Ajayi ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of a substantive Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and two Executive Directors for the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC).
Joseph Chiedu Ugbowho was in an acting capacity is now the substantive Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Others are Mallam Babayo Shehu, Executive Director (Finance and Administration) and Engr. Ife Oyedele, Executive Director (Engineering and Technical Services).
A statement signed by Bolaji Adebiyi, Director (Press),Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said Mr. Ugbo is a legal practitioner and infrastructure regulations specialist with extensive experience in electricity industry reform and privatization.
“He has Bachelor and Master of Law Degrees from the University of Lagos and was admitted to practice Law in Nigeria in 1991. For over 15 years, he provided legal advisory services to public sector power entities including legal support to erstwhile National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and to the Bureau of Public Enterprises during the privatization of the twenty successor companies of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
“Mallam Babayo Shehu has a First Class Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria. Mallam Babayo Shehu began his working career with Bauchi State Development Board in 1981. He was in banking from 1987 to 2003 and thereafter joined the federal public service in 2003 and was in the service from 2003 to 2014.
“Engineer Oyedele graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree, Electrical Engineering from the University of Lagos in 1982. He is a member, Nigerian Society of Engineers and Institute of Directors. Between 1982 and 1992, Engineer Oyedele worked in both the public and private sectors. He established his own company, Messrs Matcom Limited in 1992. He is the Managing Director of the company until his new appointment”
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor As emphasis on capital expenditure by the Federal Government begins to yield positive results with investment/GDP ratio increasing, the GDP growth rate of the Nigerian economy is likely to beat the IMF prediction of -1.8% for the full year 2016, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning has indicated.
Although the recent data released from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the GDP declined by -2.06% in second quarter, the Budget and Planning Ministry noted that the picture that emerges points to the fact that agriculture and solid minerals sector, the areas given priority by the Federal Government are beginning to respond to policy initiatives.
The Ministry, in a release, stated that though the inflation rate remains high, the good news is that the month-on-month rate of increase has fallen continuously over the past three months.
For the rate of unemployment which still remains high, it explained that the unemployment issue is of a structural nature and is usually the case during growth slowdowns. It is expected that the social safety net initiative will slow down the unemployment rate before the end of the year.
According to the Ministry, past vulnerabilities of the economy combined with the short term effect of the structural changes complicates the trajectory of growth and inflation, pointing out that this formed the basis for negative growth in Q1 and Q2.
However, the rest of the Q2 data is beginning to tell a different story. There was growth in the agricultural and solid minerals sectors which are the areas in which the Federal Government has placed priority. Agriculture grew by 4.53% in the second quarter of 2016 as compared with 3.09% in the first quarter. The metal ores sector showed similar performance with coal mining, quarrying and other minerals also showing positive growth of over 2.5%. Notably also, the share of investment in GDP increased to its highest level since 2010, growing to about 17% of Gross Domestic Product.
It indicated that the manufacturing sector, though not yet truly out of the woods, is beginning to show signs of recovery while the service sector similarly bears watching; as it disclosed that available data already shows a reduction in imports and an increase in locally produced goods and services.
The Ministry is optimistic that the trend will be maintained, although it will start off slowly in the initial stages before picking up later. Explaining the GDP decline in the second quarter, the Ministry said a close look at the data reveals that the outcome was mostly due to a sharp contraction in the oil sector due to huge losses of crude oil production as a result of vandalism and sabotage; but it quickly added that there is room for optimism that the recent commitments to stop attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta will help to resolve this situation, while also improving government revenues.
This, It added, would however be a temporary solution in the sense that it still promotes the weak economic structure of the past which it said manifested in two ways – the over-reliance on crude oil and the country's economy being mainly consumption driven with a high import propensity. With crude oil contributing 8-12% of GDP and up to 50-53% of the non-oil sector dependent on the oil sector, it is clear that the fortunes of up to 60% of the Nigerian economy rested on a volatile sector. This shaky foundation was masked in the past by high oil prices and reasonably high foreign reserves.
Again with the availability of foreign exchange it was possible to drive growth in national income through consumption without feeling the fallout of such structural weaknesses.
These vulnerabilities were exposed when oil prices collapsed at a time the country did not have adequate revenues and reserves to cushion the effect, a situation further complicated by loss of production.
It drew attention to the fact that the situation which pointed to the need for difficult but necessary structural reforms necessitated Federal Government's move to improve public financial management and change the structure of the economy through diversification and an investment driven model.
The Federal Government therefore took policy actions to promote sectors like agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing and services and to boost public and private investment in infrastructure and housing. It also acted to remove supply constraints with regard to foreign exchange and the supply of premium motor spirit while encouraging the private sector to add value to crude oil through refineries, petrochemical plants, fertilizer plants and gas infrastructure.
In an attempt to maintain consumption demand in the short term, the Federal Government also assisted States to pay salaries and to encourage a private sector supply response by bringing about improvements in the ease of doing business.
LOKOJA- The 22nd edition of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) sport competition, kicked-off on Wednesday, in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital following the unveiling of the tournament trophy.
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed
The CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who unveiled the trophy at the Kogi state High Court, assured the organisers of the support of the judiciary.
Mahmoud who was represented by Justice Suleiman Galadima of the Supreme court said the bench was happy to host the tournament in the state because it has one of the best judiciary in the country.
He noted that the judiciary in the state was scandal free, saying he was convinced that the tournament would be hitch free.
Mahmoud also noted that the preparation put into the competition by the state government would make it to be one of the best organised in the history of the competition.
The Kogi state Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah, said the tournament would further strengthen the oneness of the judiciary in the country.
Ajana, who spoke through Justice Henry Olusuyi, said stars would emerge from the competition.
He said the tournament which formed part of recreational opportunities for the bench would also foster unity among the judiciary.
The Kogi state commissioner for sports and youth development, Arome Adoji, said the state was ready for the competition, adding that adequate security measures had been made for the participants.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has agreed to release the commission's data from the ongoing Subscriber Identification Mode (SIM) cards registration exercise to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, stated this when he received the Director-General of NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
He said that the release of the data to NIMC was to give a boost to efforts of the Federal Government toward harmonising biometric data capturing by different agencies in the country.
Danbatta said the decision to release the data was in line with government directive to transfer validated data to sister agencies.
“I will like to pledge our commitment to this cooperation between the NIMC and the NCC to ensure that we have a secure and reliable database containing biometric information for all Nigerians.
“The data will definitely augur well for the security of the country among other benefits. So, we are committed to do this.
“We recognise the importance of this cooperation and I will like to stress the need to give it all the seriousness it deserves.
“I am happy that there's a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and also there is Federal Government's directive which would help in facilitating the data transfer,''he said.
Danbatta , however, called for the reinvigorating of the existing inter-agency committee handling the exercise in order to fast track the peace-meal data transfer to NIMC.
He further said that NCC would ensure that the data transferred to NIMC would be fully backed up to avoid any hitches in the future.
Responding, the NIMC boss expressed delight at the cooperation between the two agencies, adding that the data transfer would also improve the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) exercise of the commission.
He said NIMC would use the data to assign NIM to Nigerians who were captured in the validated data received.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that inter-agency and other stakeholders' collaboration is a key component of the 8-Point Agenda unveiled in February by NCC.
adidas will present a unique experience for its Lagos based fans by hosting its inaugural Fan day. This will be an opportunity for football fans of the world's leading clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea FC and Real Madrid to purchase authentic home and away jerseys for the 2016/2017 season.
Following the launch of the new kit in July 2016, there has been widespread anticipation on the arrival of the authentic products to Nigeria, where these international football giants enjoy massive support from fans in their millions.
Focusing on the need to ensure that Nigerian supporters of these clubs, and fans of the brand enjoy the latest season's kit, adidas recently shipped in its latest stock to meet the growing demand for the product in Nigeria.
In addition to the football jerseys, some of the latest adidas products available in Nigeria include PureBOOST X running shoes for women, UltraBOOST in new color ways for women, Superstar Originals footwear and adidas Stan Smith footwear, name a few.
The limited 2016/17 season football jerseys are available in various sizes only at adidas franchise stores at Lekki12E Admiralty way, Lekki Phase 1, and Ikeja City Mall in Lagos.
Commenting on this development, CEO, Mopheth Sports and adidas retail partner in Nigeria, Kunle Oyegade said
"Fan day is a great opportunity for Nigerian superfans of the game to secure their authentic football jerseys, at the beginning of the season. We are excited to offer the fan what they want, be it football or the latest style product"
Fans of Manchester United, Chelsea FC and Real Madrid will get exclusive invites for a one-time opportunity to shop limited home and away kits of their favorite at designated adidas stores from Saturday, September 3, 2016. Fans will also go home with special gifts on purchase made. To get invite, interested fans are to register at http://goo.gl/UhJ5OF
Aero Contractors Airlines on Wednesday said that it would suspend all its scheduled services indefinitely from Thursday Sept. 1.
The airline's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Fola Akinkuotu, said in a statement in Lagos that the management decision was part of the strategic business realignment to reposition the airline and return it to the path of profitability.
He said that all staff directly and indirectly involved in providing the services, would also proceed on indefinite leave of absence.
“This business decision is as a result of the current economic situation in the country, which has forced some other airlines to suspend operation or outrightly pull out of Nigeria.
“In the case of Aero, the airline has faced grave challenges in the past six months, which impacted its business and by extension the scheduled services operations,'' he said.
Akinkuotu said the impact of the external environment had been very harsh on the airline's operational performance, hence the management's decision to suspend scheduled services operations indefinitely effective Sept.1, 2016.
“This suspension is pending when the external opportunities and a robust sustainable and viable plan is in place for Aero Contractors to recommence its scheduled services.
“The implication of the suspension of scheduled services operations extends to all staff directly and indirectly involved in providing services, as they are effectively to proceed on indefinite leave of absence during the period of non-services.
“We are aware of the impact this will have on our staff and our highly esteemed customers, hence we have initiated moves to ensure that we are able to return back to operations within the shortest possible time, offering reliable, safe and secure operations,'' he said.
Akinkuotu said that both internal and external environmental factors had made it difficult for the airline to continue its scheduled services, leading to the management's decision.
He recalled that, as part of its resolve to ensure the airline survived, unlike most other carriers that experienced short life span in the country, Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) had appointed Mr Adeniyi Adegbomire as Receiver Manager in Feb. 6, 2016.
Akinkuotu also noted that since AMCON's intervention in Aero Contractors in 2011, it had provided support for the airline to meet working capital requirements and fleet expansion.
When NAN correspondent visited the airline's counter on Wednesday, the ticket counters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal (MMA2) were empty.
