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
* Oil to continue trading near $45/barrel – Goldman Sachs (Updates with settlement prices, adds quote)
NEW YORK – Oil futures ended slightly higher on Thursday, extending crude’s rally to a sixth straight session after a decline in weekly U.S. crude production temporarily eased concerns about deepening oversupply.An oil rig
U.S. crude futures settled up 19 cents at $44.93 a barrel after hitting a two-week high of $45.45 in late-morning trading. The market retreated from highs after Societe Generale became the third investment bank to cut its outlook for oil prices in the last week.
Crude prices hit a 10-month low last week but have rebounded more than 5 percent, stretching their bull run to the longest since April. Brent crude futures ended up 11 cents at $47.42 a barrel, after touching a two-week high of $48.03 earlier in the session.
“After the steep drop in oil prices of recent weeks, I believe that especially hedge funds saw nice buying momentum and lower U.S. crude production was the trigger to act,” said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist at ABN Amro.
Analysts were not sure whether bearish sentiment had abated in the oil market, given larger-than-usual inventories in the United States for both crude oil and key products like gasoline.
“It does feel as if a wave of selling has ebbed for now,” wrote analysts at Credit Suisse. They added, however, that the rebound in prices reflected technical buying rather than a change in fundamentals.
In recent weeks, funds have been unloading long speculative positions, reducing bets on higher prices while brokerages including Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale have cut their 2017 forecasts for crude prices.
SocGen on Thursday estimated U.S. crude futures would average $47.50 a barrel in the third quarter, down from previous expectations for $55.
U.S. crude production dropped 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.3 million bpd last week, the steepest weekly fall since July 2016. But analysts said the decline was related to temporary factors, including production shut as a precaution in the Gulf of Mexico due to Tropical Storm Cindy, along with maintenance in Alaska.
Global oil supplies remain ample despite output cuts of 1.8 million bpd by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers since January.
OPEC and its allies, trying to reduce a crude glut, agreed in May to extend the supply cut through March 2018. OPEC has exempted Nigeria and Libya from the curbs, leaving them free to ramp up output that had been sapped by local unrest.
“That’s going to increase pressure on OPEC cuts,” said Tony Scott, managing director of analytics at BTU Analytics in Denver. “As long as Libya and Nigeria can remain stable – Libya has ramped up several times over last couple of years and then the violence has come back.”
Libyan oil production is nearing 1 million bpd, a Libyan source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday lifted force majeure on Nigerian Bonny Light crude exports after pipeline repairs. (Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in London and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Edmund Blair and Richard Chang)
The prospect of a young English goalkeeper Craig King has been thwarted by the silent killer called depression.
Craig King
The 20-year-old before the announcement plied his trade with English football league two side Luton Town and had managed just four senior games for the Hatters after coming through the club’s ranks.
He thanked the whole club for support, singling out physio Simon Parsell and club doctor Paul Deeley, and hopes to play football at a lower level.
Luton said they “fully respect and understand his decision” and said they would continue to offer support.
The club statement continued: “All at the club would like to wish Craig every success in both his football career and life away from the professional game, and look forward to seeing him back at Kenilworth Road where he’ll always be a welcome guest.”
King’s statement in full
“After a memorable nine seasons I have decided to leave Luton Town.
“This has been the hardest decision I have ever had to make, but after many sleepless nights I have come to this conclusion.
“For the last couple of years I have been suffering from quite severe depression.
“The season just gone has been particularly hard for me and now I feel it’s time for me to concentrate on being happy once again.
“Growing up and slowly starting to despise the game I loved and adored as a boy is heartbreaking, and something I want and need to change.
“The only way I see this becoming a possibility is taking myself away from the professional game and starting to enjoy football at a lower level.
“The club have been aware of my situation and have been amazing at trying everything in their power to try to resolve the issue.
“Club physio Simon Parsell and club doctor Paul Deeley have been unreal support for me and helped me through the season. Now I am at the stage where I know I can’t improve my current mental state whilst being at the club.
“I would like to thank every single member of Luton Town for everything they have done for me over the years.
“The fans who when I’ve played have supported me, and every single person who associates themselves with the football club.
“Although my career as a player at the club has come to an end, I will always love and support the Hatters and will be forever grateful for the opportunity and memories they have given me over the past nine years.
“I’m excited to see the boys win promotion next season and continue the climb up the leagues!”
LAGOS – Nigerian stocks rallied for a second day on Thursday to a one- week high as shares in the relatively liquid banking sector gained ahead of half-year earnings, traders said.
The index rose 1.4 percent by mid-day trades to cross 33,000 points, a level last seen last week, helped by gains in lenders, cement and food stocks.
Shares in chocolate maker Cadbury rose five percent. First Bank Holdings climbed 4.57 percent, energy firm Oando increased by 4.74 percent while Diamond Bank rose 4.17 percent.
Dangote Cement DANGCEM.LG, which accounts for a third of the market’s capitalisation, rose 2.5 percent.
…N603 m traced to top FG official's wife Soni Daniel
Abuja: The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said yesterday, it had arrested the Director General of the National Biotechnology Development Agency, NABDA, Professor (Mrs) Lucy Jumeyi Ogbadu, for her alleged involvement in criminal conspiracy and diversion of public funds to the tune of N23 million.
According to the commission, its operatives arrested Prof Ogbadu since Wednesday, June 28 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, following her alleged linkage with the Bayelsa State Director of Bioresources Development Centre, Mr. Josiah Habu who is being investigated by the agency in a case of fraudulent diversion of the sum of N75 million belonging to the body.
A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren and made available to Vanguard last night, said that Prof Ogbadu received the sum of N23 million through a bank account belonging to the wife of Habu, Esther, a development she allegedly admitted in a voluntary statement made to the EFCC.
The statement said, "Further investigations have also shown that, Mrs. Habu is one of the contractors with Bioresources Development Centre, Odi, Bayelsa State and a total sum of N603 million has been traced to her in different deals involving over 20 directors of Bioresources Development Centres across the country. "Ogbadu’s linkage with all these scams is being investigated. She has been duly served with bail conditions while investigations continue.
By Chimaobi Nwaiwu Nnewi – The directive by the leader of Indigenous the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB to shun the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State by Biafrans is now a source of worry for Stakeholders of Willie Obiano second Tenure organization.
This was disclosed by the National Coordinator of the group Chief Ekene Enefe who warned against the dangers of shunning the election and urged IPOB to retract its statement.
Chief Enefe, who spoke at Akwu Ukwu town in Idemili South Local Government Area, of the state during a town hall meeting of the support group in the area day, said that such directive is not good for development in Igbo land.
About 1,500 members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and people from other political parties gathered to give their support for Governor Willie Obiano’s second term bid during the town hall meeting.
According to Chief Enefe, IPOB members plan to stop the governorship election in Anambra State because, because of no conduct a referendum, first to determine the emergence of Biafra nation should know that their action would amount to a disservice to Anambra State and disruption of peace.
They should allow the conduct of peaceful, free and fair election election in the State and not to draw the State backwards, politically, the issue of referendum would be handled according to the law and should not be used as a mechanism to cause crisis in a peaceful State like Anambra.
“Disruption of the election would be confronting government of the day under Governor Obiano who had been doing everything humanly possible to ensure that democracy dividends got to every nook and cranny of the State.
“Security, agricultural revolution, prompt payment of workers’ salaries including pensioners are among the major achievements of the Obiano administration, they should consider that they should consider and allow the election to be conducted for the Governor return for second tenure to complete all he started.”
Sponsor of the event, Chief Chuma Obiekwe thanked Governor Obiano for what he had done for the community so far, especially in the area of road reconstruction but requested that his community should be considered for government appointments which he said had eluded them over the years.
He also called for completion of all abandoned government projects in the area.
A member of the All Progressives Congress,APC, Mr Cosmas Eze gave a pass mark for Obiano but lamented that his Umuikuku village in Akwu Ukwu was about to be washed away by a devastating gully erosion and called upon the Governor to come to their rescue.
It would be recalled that the leadership of the IPOB issued a threats that it willhence forth not allow any election to take place in the entire South East starting with the November 18, 2017 governorship election in Anambra State until a referendum is conducted for the restoration of Biafra.
Mr. David Musa, the Team Leader, USAID Bee Keeping Pollination Project, says Nigeria can generate over 10 billion dollars from local and international trade in honey and other hive products.
Musa disclosed this during an interview on the sideline of a Capacity Building Workshop for bee-farmers in Goshen, Nasarawa State on Thursday.
"Honey trade can generate up to 10 billion dollars if you look at cumulative values from honey and other hive products and the value of pollination," he said.
The team leader is also the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Apiculture Platform.
He disclosed that the domestic consumption rate of honey in the country was currently 380,000 tonnes, with a global price of about 4.5 billion dollars.
He stressed the need for the country to get honey export certification from the European Union, adding that it would give credibility to the forthcoming largest Africa Apiculture Trade to be hosted by Nigeria in 2018.
*Honey
"Nigeria is going to host the largest bee keeping trade in Africa; it is the largest platform that will bring together many bee keeping enterprises.
"It will put Nigeria on the global bee keeping map.
"The EU certificate is one of the highest levels of certification and it is necessary to get that.
"Nigeria consumes about 380,000 tonnes of honey, a current global price of about 4.5 billion dollars and that is just domestic consumption of honey; we have not gone into industrial production, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals," he said.
Also speaking, Alhaji Mohammed Mahmud, a bee-farmer and participant at the workshop, commended the Federal Government and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for the workshop.
Mahmud, who is also the House Committee Chairman on Population and National Identity Card, assured that necessary legislation that would drive the bee farming industry would be looked into by the National Assembly.
He said that the Federal Government had made necessary provision in the 2017 budget to establish standard laboratory to test hive products before exportation.
"This programme is coming at the appropriate time because many people do not know about bee farming.
"The workshop has come to educate bee keepers like I, on the techniques, problems and prospects to move the industry and country forward.
"The workshop has come out with the position of looking at all the existing laws that governs the bee industry.
"We want to look at it together and see what changes can be made to make the industry move forward.
"I want to assure you that we will do our best to make sure that necessary legislation for the bee industry will be taken care of.
"Part of the problems that the industry has is trying to set up a laboratory where you can test the product that you want to export and this has been taken care of in the 2017 budget," he said.
Other bee farmers and participants at the workshop expressed regret over the constant neglect of bee farming.
They called for more support from the federal and state governments to make the trade attractive to many farmers.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the workshop is a three-day programme tagged: 'EU Third Country Listing;' An Eligibility Criteria to Export Honey to the EU Market.
President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Co Founder/Chairman, Coronation Capital Mauritius Ltd, Aigboje Aig- Imoukhuede; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, are among other high profile speakers confirmed to speak at the maiden edition of Aspire Coronation Trust (ACT) Foundation's breakfast dialogue billed to hold on Friday, July 7, 2017.
The breakfast dialogue with the theme "Connecting the Dots: Partnerships that work" seeks to foster a mutually beneficial relationship amongst the private, public and social sectors in other to create a collaborative platform to achieve unified success for the greater good of our country.
Regional Director, West Africa; Ford Foundation, Innocent Chukwuma; Country Director, ONE Campaign, Serah Makka-Ugbabe; Country Director, International Finance Corporation Nigeria; Eme Essien; Executive Director, The Initiative for Equal Rights, Olumide Makanjuola and CEO/Founder, ThistlePraxis Consulting, Ini Abimbola are also confirmed to speak at this interactive forum.
Aig-Imoukhuede & Oduwole
The event will also gather top government officials, captains of industries in the private sector as well as Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Non Profit Organisations (NPOs), Community Based Organisations (CBOs), social justice actors and reputable media organizations.
ACT Foundation breakfast dialogue is a bi-annual event organized to engage experts in the third sector on pertinent issues affecting the growth and sustainability of the non profits in Nigeria. This event aims to develop a networking platform for non profits in Nigeria as well as a collaborative platform for the three sectors to engage so as to achieve their individual goals.
Speaking about the event, CEO, ACT Foundation, Osayi Alile noted that it has become imperative to harness the activities of non profits with that of the public and private sectors in order to accelerate growth and development in Nigeria.
She said "A popular adage goes, if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together. As Non Profits we want the impact of what we do to go far and so we believe that for this to happen it is important that we go work in hand with the private and public sectors". "The breakfast dialogue will enable us connect and build relationships with the public and private sectors who are instrumental in helping us achieve our goals", she said.
"The breakfast dialogue is creating a platform for discussions that are necessary to develop transformative strategies and perspectives on maximizing the development potentials of NGOs and CBOs". Alile added.
The event which is expected to galvanize conversations between key stakeholders within the various sectors on pertinent issues will also touch on topics such as bridging the need-gap between the public, private and social sector; as well as harnessing the potential for growth through the alignment of private and social sectors.
Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation is a grant making non-profit established to support local, national and regional non-profits working to address challenges and associated vulnerabilities in the African continent.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty summit in Hamburg next week, but no separate meeting is planned, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
“They will meet in any case there, on the sidelines of this summit, but no (separate) meeting is planned at the moment,” Peskov said.
Cristiano Ronaldo took to Instagram on Thursday to celebrate the arrival of his babies.
The Real Madrid forward exited the FIFA Confederations Cup after losing to Chile on Wednesday to be with his bundle of joy.
Unconfirmed reports from a Portuguese TV channel said the boy and girl who are said to be a product of surrogacy had been named Eva and Mateo, having been born on June 8 – well before the start of the Confederations Cup.
Ronaldo captioned the photo “So happy to be able to hold the two new loves of my life”
The twins now join Cristiano Ronaldo Jnr, 7, who was born during a previous relationship.
The federal and state governments have agreed to partner the private sector in the construction and rehabilitation of prisons across the country, Ebonyi governor Dave Umahi, has said.
Umahi made the statement on Thursday in Abuja while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC).
Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe state and Dr Sani Aliyu, Director-General, National Agency for the Control of Aids, accompanied Umahi in the briefing.
The meeting was presided over by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
Umahi said the agreement was arrived at after the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Danbazau (rtd) and the Controller-General of Prison, briefed the council on the state of the nation's prisons.
He said that in their separate briefing, the two men presented the state of prisons in Nigeria and painted "an appalling'' picture of structures and logistics in the prison system.
"The Minister of Interior and the Controller-General of Prison came to brief us about the status of our prisons and inmates throughout the country.
"The situation painted by the minister and the CG of Prison was quite pathetic.
"It was also agreed that states that have the capacity to build prisons should go ahead including private sector participation.
"The Minister made it very clear that over 70 per cent of inmates are awaiting trial, '' he said.
Umahi said that governors who attended the meeting were unanimous on the need to rehabilitate prisons in the country.
He said: "It was indicated that states that have the capacity should as soon as practicable lend helping hand to provide facilities that will help decongest the prisons and improve the state of the inmates.''
The Ebonyi governor told newsmen that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) briefed the NEC on the implementation of the SDGs in the country.
In his contribution, Gov. Dankwambo said that Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, announced a balance of $2.3 billion dollars in the Excess Crude Account.
He said that the Accountant-General of the Federation gave update on the Stabilisation Fund, Natural Resources Development Fund and Ecological Fund:
Dankwambo quoted the AGF as saying that the balance in the stabilisation fund as at June 28 was N28.5 billion; Natural Resources Development Fund was N87.6 billion while Ecological Fund was N28.9 billion.
On the Budget Support Loan Facility, Dankwambo said the Acting President had directed that "the facility continues until claims of other states are paid. " The Budget Support Loan Facility is an initiative of the Buhari administration to help states boost their finances in the light of dwindling funds from the Federation Account.
Dankwambo said he briefed the meeting on the progress made by the Ad Hoc Committee on Excess Crude Account constituted by the NEC.
He said that 10 out of 18 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had been audited; adding that a comprehensive report should be expected by next meeting of NEC.
In his remark, NACA Director-General stressed the need to set aside between 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent of monthly federal allocation to states for financing HIV/AIDS programme.
Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Mudashiru Obasa has called on Nigerians to cooperate with government at all levels in order to fight crime.
Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa
Obasa disclosed this in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Razak, while urging Nigerians to be vigilant and continue to work for the unity and peaceful co-existence among themselves.
According to him, since Ramadan teaches love and unity, the lessons of the month must not be neglected.
"The issue of security is a collective task involving the governed and the government. So we must be vigilant at all times. We must be able to provide information on any questionable individual or group in our communities to security agents. This will assist government in nipping crime in the bud," he advised.
If you think ethnic or tribal differences is the cog in the wheel of Nigeria as a nation, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Nigeria has a different view of this. In its Eid-el-Fitr message to Muslims in Nigeria made available to Vanguard, the leader of the Jama'at, Dr Mas'hud Fashola said the real enemy is injustice, corruption, fraud, ethnic rivalry exploited by evil and influential people to dominate, cheat, exploit, and undermine other groups.
According to him: "Ethnic or tribal differences do not really constitute the problem of Nigeria though some people have turned our tribal differences into serious problems. The real enemy is injustice, corruption, fraud, ethnic rivalry exploited by evil and influential people to dominate, cheat, exploit, and undermine other groups, holding secret meetings. At the end of the day, they bring about poverty, disease, disunity, and disaster on the people. God's wrath descends not because of our religious or ethnic differences but for widespread corruption and evil."
Dr Fashola stated that the way out is for pious representatives of all ethnic and religious groups to come together to defend justice and equality, promote charity and good life for all citizens without any discrimination whatsoever and to oppose corruption and all evil conduct as admonished by Holy Qur'an 3:105,111.
"And let there be among you a body of men who should invite to goodness and enjoin equity and forbid evil. And it is they who shall prosper. (Q.3:104/105)
"You are the best people raised for the good of mankind; you enjoin what is good and forbid evil and believe in Allah…" (Q.3:110/111)
Amir Fashola added: "Religion should unite us across all regions and ethnicity, because believers are united by the same principle of piety and righteousness as declared by Allah.
"And the believers, men and women, are friends of each other. They enjoin good and forbid evil and observe prayer and give charity and obey Allah and His Messenger. It is these on whom Allah will have mercy.(Q9:70/71)
"If we do not stop ethnic rivalry, nepotism, killings, injustice, corruption and oppression, the Wrath of God will surely descend on all the groups and individuals responsible. Restructuring of Nigeria will achieve nothing if we do not uphold the principle of justice, equality, and eradicate poverty and misery."
Inspite of the ongoing recession in Nigeria, the collective capital base of the Lagos State Cooperative Societies had increased to N100 billion with a membership base increasing to two million. Meantime, to protect the cooperatives assets, the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has appointed a consortium of seven insurance companies to mitigate liabilities or losses that the cooperative societies in the state might incur. The Special Adviser on Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mr. Benjamin Olabinjo and President of Lagos State Cooperative Federation, LASCOFED, Mr. Oriyomi Ayeola, disclosed the appointments and cooperatives assets in Alausa, Ikeja yesterday, during a chat on the highlights of the 2017 International Day of Cooperative Societies. Olabinjo listed members of the consortium to include: STACO Insurance Plc, Industrial and General Insurance Company Plc, UBA Metropolitan Life Insurance Ltd and Capital Express Assurance Limited. Other members of the consortium listed by the special adviser were: AIICO Insurance Plc, Arm Life Plc and Cornerstone Insurance Plc, the special adviser noted that STACO Insurance Plc was the lead underwriter. Olabinjo stressed that it had become a state policy to introduce the insurance programme that would be handled by a consortium of insurance companies. He noted that the Ambode administration had initiated a state policy to mitigate losses that might occur from the operations of the stats' cooperative societies, sudden death and accidents among others. Olabinjo explained that the insurance programme became imperative to drive awareness among cooperative societies on the need to mitigate losses that might arise from their operations, death and accidents. In an interview with newsmen, Ayeola disclosed that the cooperative societies were the only sector immune to the recession that affected the country. According to him, "Our financial bases increase yearly and presently, we have in excess N100 billion assets, which has helped to boost Lagos State Gross Domestic Product (GDP). "The cooperative sector is very unique because it has the strength to absorb unnecessary recession. And that is why I can inform you that this is the only sector that has not been affected by the recession.
"Our target is to get every adult in Lagos State into the cooperatives net because presently we have two million members in the state," Ayeola added.
Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) Mr Babatunde Fowler has urged players in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) to continuously improve on their skills to attain the best possible height in their career.
Fowler spoke through the Assistant Director of FIRS in Ogun State, Mr Kolawole Olalekan at the presentation of the Matchday 22 VAT Wonder Goal award to Remo Stars Salefu Ochowechi in Sagamu on Wednesday.
“On behalf of the Chairman of FIRS, Babatunde Fowler, I congratulate and present this award to you. It is our expectation that this award will be a strong motivation for players to improve their skills, especially at goalscoring to reach the best career height possible in football,” Olalekan said to Salefu.
He added that FIRS would be delighted to, in the near future, see some of the recipients of the awards playing for the Super Eagles.
“To play for the national team is a very important achievement and we know that is the dream of every player. It is therefore our expectation that some of you who have won this award will someday appear in the national colours,” continued the FIRS official.
Salefu had fended off challenges from Wikki Tourists defender Festus Umanah and Mohammed Mohammed of ABS to clinch the VAT Wonder Goal number 3 and was on Wednesday presented the prize money for N150,000 half of which he will donate to a charity in Sagamu.
The VAT Wonder Goal is supported by the FIRS as a club and community engagement scheme and also for the promotion of awareness for fulfillment of tax obligations by citizens. It is a social investment of the League Management Company (LMC) through the players and their clubs.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) on Thursday condemned what it termed, Collapsing Christian Religious Knowledge, CRK, into a comprehensive subject called, Religion and National Values in the Secondary School’s education curriculum, by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), saying such affiliation is unacceptable.
It also said by denying the subject its age-long position as a single subject standing on its own has foreclosed the opportunity of the subject being studied at the tertiary institutions. Rev. Felix Omobude, the National President, PFN, stated this at the end of its 2nd quarter, National Executive Council meeting held in Lagos at the Bishops Court, its National Headquarters. The PFN leader also urged the government to ensure that Christian Religious Studies stands on its own as a separate subject as it has always been.
According to the Religious body, "The PFN is concerned at the controversy that has attended the revised Basic Education Curriculum, especially the collapse of Christian Religious Studies as part of an omnibus subject known as Religion and National Values.
"We noted the explanation by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) on some of the issues raised.
Bible
"There is really no justification for the uncertainty the NERDC has created which has opened up the implementation of the curriculum to the whims and caprices.
"Collapsing CRK as only a part of Religion and National Values forecloses the opportunity of the subject being studied at the tertiary level by students and is unacceptable,'' he said.
Speaking on the compulsory study of foreign languages, the PFN appealed that windows be opened up to more languages beyond French and Arabic, to accommodate other languages.
"Windows of other languages should be open so our children can enjoy greater flexibility in foreign language study and not be compelled to study a language they have no interest in,'' he said.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) on Thursday urged the Federal Government to ensure there are no sacred cows in its fight against corruption in the country.
Rev. Felix Omobude, the National President, PFN, spoke at the end of its 2nd quarter, National Executive Council meeting held in Lagos at the Bishops Court, its National Headquarters.
The body, while commending the government for fighting corruption, urged it to be fair to all and to pursue the cause within the ambit of the laws of the land.
Omobude said there should be no "sacred cows or sacrificial lambs'' in the fight.
He said the PFN was glad that some economic measures to revive the economy had been put in place.
"However, the PFN is still concerned about the hardship the ordinary Nigerian is facing.
"We are aware of the Social Intervention programmes, but we call for a more concerted efforts on the part of Federal Government to mitigate the pains and generate more employment opportunities, especially for the youth.
"We commend the efforts put into shoring up the naira in recent times, but we push for more concerted efforts in this regard.
"The government's drive to promote patronage of locally produced goods is a commendable one.
"We urge Nigerians to fully embrace this initiative and consume what we produce locally,'' Omobude said.
He commended the government's effort in tackling the insurgency in the country, urging it not to relent in its efforts at ensuring the release of the remaining Chibok girls.
"PFN calls for more attention to be paid to the plight of the victims of the Southern Kaduna crisis.
"PFN is worried at developments in Southern Kaduna, especially the lack of prompt response to guarantee the security of lives and property there, leading to a loss of lives of many indigenes of that area.
"A delegation from the PFN recently paid a visitation to Southern Kaduna and made a presentation of N15 million worth of relief materials to the different groups, irrespective of ethnicity or religion.
"From this visit, we can see that there is much more that urgently needs to be done for the people of Southern Kaduna and urgently too.
"We call on the Federal government and Kaduna State Government to immediately improve on their rehabilitation efforts,'' he said.
Recall that the Christian Religious Knowledge, CRK, and the Islamic Religious Knowledge, IRK, were merged into Religion and National Values under the secondary schools' curriculum.
Such merger sparked off a tumultuous controversy in the country, especially from those who thought that CRK was entirely struck out of the curriculum as a subject of study.
Although the merger of these subjects occurred in 2013 when the proposal was approved by the National Council of Education and was implemented by schools in September, 2014, the outcry of well meaning Nigerians over the alleged removal of CRK from the curriculum, maintaining that its removal left students with the options of either studying French or IRK also raised speculations that the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Education, was trying to islamise Nigeria.
However, debunking the claims that the move wasn't to sideline CRK, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC, Professor Ismail Junaidu, had said: "The Basic Education Curriculum which includes the CRK and IRK Curricula was approved in 2013 by the National Council on Education.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the last review of the curriculum was approved in 2013 and implementation commenced in September, 2014 and neither CRK nor IRK was removed from the curriculum.
"In fact, at the commencement of the present administration, the Minister of Education sought and obtained the approval of the National Council on Education to make Christian Religious Knowledge compulsory for all Christians students and Islamic Studies compulsory for their Muslim counterparts.
Characteristics and distinctiveness
Rejecting government's explanation, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) challenged government to publish full details of the new curriculum for Nigerians to see.
CAN President, Dr. Ayokunle Supo, had equally said: "In the new curriculum, IRK and CRK would no longer be studied as subjects on their own, but as themes in civic education. This undermines sound moral values that these two subjects had imparted on children which had made enhanced religious and ethnic co-existence without any tension.
"IRK was equally made available as a subject in another section without any corresponding availability of CRK. Is this not a divisive curriculum that could set the nation on fire? Is this fair to millions of Christians in this nation?"
Views on the merger from some individuals in the country were equally sought for: For instance, while a parent, Mrs. Chioma Chibuzor-Anakor, said such merger is the handiwork of satan to ensure good moral values are not taught to Christian children in schools, a Senior Lecturer in Adeniran College of Education and a pastor, Mrs. Dele Giwa said the merger was an act of God to use knowledge in Islam to spread the gospel of peace, unity and the coming of Christ. "The truth of the matter is that this issue is more spiritual than physical as Satan is trying to ensure that Jesus is not taught to the children in the schools. If we fold our hands, we would have a generation that wouldn't have the opportunity to encounter Christ Jesus as school children," said Mrs. Chioma Chibuzor-Anakor.
But Mrs. Dele Giwa said, "I see the present situation as an act of God especially as the Church, which ought to win souls for God has failed God. The Church ought to live communally, but today, pastors are very rich and the average citizen can't send his or her wards to mission schools because of the high cost. Also, the Koran will convert the Muslims because everything they claim to fight for is not in the Koran but in the Hadith (like Acts of the Apostle in the Bible)."
Award-wining Nigerian, Afro-Soul Queen, Aramide has teamed up with Ghanaian-South African, Afro-pop star, Adina, to release a new song today, titled 'Truth'.
Recorded during her recently completed media tour in Ghana, 'Truth' is Aramide's first duet and collaboration since the release of her debut album 'Suitcase'.
Produced by Richie Mensah, the song showcases Aramide’s riveting voice and unique flavour, with a mix of her native Yoruba, paired with Adina's equally distinctive vocals.
Both artists elevate the song into a cathartic plea about the importance of telling the truth no matter how difficult, because 'the truth hits you hard'.
Barely 23 days to the conduct of the Local Government polls in Lagos State, 15 out of the 16 All Progressives Congress, APC, chairmanship aspirants in Amuwo Odofin Local Government area, yesterday, organized a protest rally across the council area over what they called "unacceptable imposition" of consensus chairmanship candidate on residents of the council for the poll.
Leading protesters were some of the aggrieved aspirants, Hon Risikat Adegeye, (Wife of King Sunny Ade), Otunba Adebanjo Ayeni and Captain Adebayo Dosunmu, among others.
The 15 APC chairmanship aspirants during the rally rejected the decision to pick comrade Valentine Braimoh who the party said emerged as the consensus candidate in the area.
It will be recalled that earlier reconciliatory efforts by APC leaders of the Lagos State Chapter to resolve the lingering crisis as a result of the controversial primaries election for the forthcoming council polls hit the rock as aggrieved parties insisted on justice to be done.
APC leadership, had earlier set up a committee to look into various agitations and claims by some aggrieved members across the troubled councils with a view to reaching amicable resolution.
The protest started from the 11 Road, party meeting point to First Avenue, 41 road, Festac Town, the party Secretariat and later terminated at council Secretariat, Third Avenue to meet with the Sole Administrator, Mr. Bamidele Oki, in company of policemen from the Area "E' Command, who provided security as well as ensure that the rally was not hijacked by miscreants.
Ayeni who spoke to Vanguard at the end of the rally, said the demonstration became necessary in order to avoid APC losing the slots again to opposition parties in the election.
According to Ayeni, "From the all indications, we had a successful peaceful rally today. We have been able to gain the support of the electorate, leaders and the majority of the residents., the choice of Valentine as our consensus candidate in Amuwo Odofin, is unacceptable, undemocratic and injustice.
"We have all resolved that this will not stand until justice is done by the party leadership.
"If this matter is not addressed promptly, before the election on July 22, 2017, it portends grave danger for APC if they do not want to lose to opposition parties like that of the 2015 General elections.
"We are confident because the favourable response to our yearnings, as demonstrated in today's protest will guarantee the victory of APC in our LGA, provided the right and qualified candidates, both chairmanship and councilors who were democratically and truly elected during the primaries were given their mandate, otherwise the party will fail to secure victory in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government.
"Valentine has even failed to engage us (aggrieved aspirants) in a meeting on the way to resolve the crisis but rather prefer to approach the party leaders at the state level because he is not popular in Amuwo-odofin."
Also Dosumu contended: "We are ready to step down for one of us, among the 15 aspirants to be chosen rather than allow Valentine who has contributed nothing to the development of the party to represent us at Amuwo Odofin.
"We have written several petitions to the party leadership, particularly, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, our well respected leader but we are still awaiting positive response from him.
Meanwhile, effort to reach the controversial consensus candidate, Valentine was unsuccessful at press time as it was learned he had gone to attend a crucial meeting in Ikeja.
Makurdi – Police in Benue said they had arrested a male primary school teacher suspected to be sexually abusing some pupils.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Bashir Makama, told newsmen in Makurdi on Thursday that the teacher was in the habit of molesting pupils in school.
Makama said that three boys, all in primary five, were brought to the command's headquarters in Makurdi, from Okpokwu Local Government Area, to substantiate the allegation against the teacher.
According to him, it was established that the teacher has been molesting the boys for some months after school hours and warned them never to tell anybody.
Makama also said that two females from Onitsha, Anambra, had also been apprehended for allegedly kidnapping a nine-month-old baby in Gboko.
He said that all the suspects would remain in the command's custody pending the conclusion of investigation.
The mother of the kidnapped baby, Mrs Kwaghbe Ajia, who was at the police headquarters, thanked the command for rescuing her child.
She said that her seven-year-old girl was with her in the market, looking after the little baby when the abductors lured her to a corner.
Ajia said the abductors deceived the little girl to help them buy something while they held the baby for her, adding that as the child went on the errand for them, they ran away with the baby.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday called on the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to agree on common currency to boost the regional trade.
Obasanjo made call at the ongoing 24th Annual General Meeting of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Kigali.
He spoke on: Can Regional Economic Communities Work for Africa: Lessons from a Founding Father.
He said that the issue of common currency was getting delayed because the regional leaders had put forward "ECO" as a name for the currency but wondered why it had not been adopted.
According to him, the currency is required to move the current level of the regional trade from 25 per cent to more than 50 per cent.
He said the various currency zones like the Naira zone, the Cedi zone, among others should not be allowed to mitigate the flow of trade within the region.
He blamed too many internal conflicts and changes in policies, among others, as some of the challenges facing the region.
Obasanjo, however, lauded ECOWAS countries for their ability to resolve their issues on their own, adding that ECOWAS on its own had resolved conflicts in Liberia, Sierria Loene and The Gambia.
He said that in the case of The Gambia, ECOWAS leaders agreed that a military option should be adopted but it should be without firing a bullet.
"I was sure the ousted president Yahya Jammeh will leave but when he started delaying ECOWAS leaders met, it was agreed a military option should be adopted.
"The tactics worked and when the countries leaders were saying the ousted president Yahya Jammeh had left the country with huge sums of money. I told them to allow him go with the money so far he allows the country to remain in peace," he said.
He said the region had been most democratic region going by free and fair elections done in the countries.
He told the audience that in the region, elections had been held without violence and wherever there were crisis the region had resolved such crisis peacefully.
Delta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has expressed deep shock and grief following the demise of former Governor of Taraba State, Mr Danbaba Suntai, who passed on Wednesday, 27th June 2017.
The Governor expressed sadness at the news of the death of the distinguished politician and former Governor of Taraba State who died from complications from air mishap in 2012.
Governor Okowa in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Aniagwu in Asaba on Wednesday said “the death of Suntai is a big blow to the family and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Taraba State, noting that the late former Governor was a staunch PDP Chieftain whose contributions to the growth of the party in Taraba State will remain memorable for a long time.
Mr Charles Aniagwu,
"Danbaba Suntai, a distinguished administrator and statesman, will be remembered for redefining the place of service and patriotism in Nigeria's development”.
"He will be sorely missed by all and sundry whose lives he affected in many ways. I therefore urge all who mourn the demise of the late former Governor Danbaba Suntai to take solace in the fact that his was a life of integrity and great accomplishments”.
"On behalf of my family, the Government and people of Delta State, I mourn with the family of the late Mr. Danbaba Suntai, the government and people of Taraba State, and the PDP nationwide on the demise of the former governor".
Okowa prayed God to grant Suntai's immediate family, his political associates, the strength to bear the irreparable loss, pointing out that his achievements in different areas of national life will always be remembered.
