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Tag: MAN

  • Buhari promises to address forex supply for manufacturers

    Buhari promises to address forex supply for manufacturers

    President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to take appropriate measures to improve access to foreign exchange for importation of raw materials and machines that are not available locally.

    Buhari stated this during an advocacy visit of the leadership of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), led by Mansur Ahmed, to the Presidential Villa Abuja, on Wednesday.

    The president, who was reacting to requests on making the manufacturing sector contribute more to the Nigerian economy, said the relevant Ministry would revisit their concerns about the increase in excise duties on the identified products and other tariff-related matters

    On the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the president said Nigeria would fast track the process of setting up the Designated Competent Authority that will superintend the administration of Rules of Origin and Commission as well as the automation for issuance of electronic Certificate of Origin.

    According to him, the federal government will also ensure that relevant structured platforms are established for monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the Ease of Doing Business and improved Government patronage of made in Nigeria products.

    ‘‘Our strategic plan to boost manufacturing activities in the country is on course.

    ‘‘We will continue to improve the patronage of locally made goods, bridge the gap between skills required by industry and those provided by our tertiary institutions and ensure seamless access to long term finance for our Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

    ‘‘We recognize that MAN remains a key stakeholder in this journey and we will continue our engagement with you,’’ he said.

    According to the president, a private sector led economy is the way to create jobs in the country.

    He, therefore, urged the leadership of MAN to continue to encourage manufacturers that government recognized the resilience of their members and other private sector organisations in promoting a virile manufacturing sector in Nigeria.

    ‘‘I beseech you to continue to support the Government in our quest to provide the appropriate environment that will attract the necessary investment both domestic and foreign for the upliftment of the nation’s economy,’’ he said.

    On the impact of COVID-19 on world economies, the president noted that while the pandemic had an adverse impact on the Nigerian economy with the attendant fluctuations in the price of oil, his administration had effectively contained the spread of the pandemic and other diseases.

    He added that the federal government would continue to consistently deploy prudent means of judiciously utilising the limited revenue to sustain the economy and stimulate growth.

    President Buhari also reemphasised that in spite of limited resources, his government had made appreciable progress in road and rail infrastructure development.

    He said the government had also provided stimulus packages for the manufacturing sector; improvement in energy management and support for exporters with a view to improving the operating environment for businesses in Nigeria.

    ‘‘These projects are there for all to see.

    ‘‘Furthermore, we are vigorously pursuing reforms on ease of doing business and currently putting in place other necessary policy measures and incentives that will guarantee full recovery from the consequences of COVID-19, sustain economic development and further shield the economy from the potential impact of fluctuations in the price of crude oil in the global market.

    ‘‘I have listened carefully to all the challenges enumerated by the president of MAN and would like to assure you that, like we have done in the recent past, we will give consideration to some of the constraints that are yet to be fully addressed, especially those that align with our policies and programmes for economic recovery and sustainable development.

    ‘‘Let me assure you that this Administration is fully aware that the survival of Nigeria lies in Agriculture and having a viable domestic Manufacturing sector.

    ‘‘I must emphasise here that when I say Agriculture, I also refer to Agro-Allied business which is the value-added component in the value chain.

    ‘‘A strong manufacturing sector creates more jobs and wealth for our people.

    ‘‘It will usher in sustainable economic prosperity because we will produce what we consume as a nation and generate foreign exchange by exporting surpluses and by import substitution,’’ he said.

    In her remarks, the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Katagum pledged that the Ministry would continue to work with MAN in the areas of policy, trade and creating an environment to facilitate the growth of businesses in Nigeria.

    ‘‘MAN is in business to create a climate of opinion in this country so that manufacturers can operate efficiently and profitably for the benefit of all,’’ she said.

    On his part, the MAN president said the advocacy visit was largely motivated by two things: namely, to thank the President for all the support extended to the manufacturing sector since his assumption of office in 2015, and seek the urgent support of the federal government for the manufacturing sector to overcome the binding constraints to competitive manufacturing in Nigeria.

    On the challenges facing the sector, Ahmed said the association had articulated remedial measures for these challenges in the Blueprint for Accelerated Development of Manufacturing in Nigeria, which would be formally presented to the president within the first quarter of 2022.

    He, however, highlighted a few challenges that could be addressed in the immediate term in order to improve the manufacturing environment.

    They include: inadequate supply of foreign exchange, inadequate electricity supply, poor access to long term fund, patronage of Made-in-Nigeria Goods and local content development, looming increases in tax rate, among others.

    Ahmed also used the occasion to formally present the new logo and annual report of the association to President Buhari.

  • I stopped sleeping with my wife because she says I stink – Man tells court

    I stopped sleeping with my wife because she says I stink – Man tells court

    A divorce-seeking man, Olanrewaju Adeniran, on Friday told a Grade A Customary Court sitting in Mapo in Ibadan, that he stopped sleeping with his wife, Fatima, because she says he smells.

    Testifying, Adeniran, a retired civil servant also sought for divorce on grounds that his wife was rude and was becoming a threat to his life.

    “After our wedding in May 1995, Fatima started misbehaving. She is rude to my mother and relatives.

    ”She beats me and grabs my private parts. Fatima calls me bastard, lazy man and so many other unprintable names,” he said.

    The petitioner further said that Fatima has been arrested by the police at the Iyana-Church Police Station for causing breach of peace in the neighbourhood in 2004,” he said.

    In her defence, Fatima alleged that her husband starves starved her sexually for three years without any reason.

    She also accused Adeniran of neglecting his responsibilities to his four children.

    The President of the Court, Mrs M.A. Akintayo, cautioned the couple.

    Akintayo noted with sadness that Adeniran and Fatima have not shown good example to their children who were in court.

    She urged the couple to produce their witnesses and adjourned the suit until Jan. 27, for continuation of hearing.

  • My man of the Year, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    My man of the Year, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Like most of his contemporaries, he would have remained in his confortable cocoon massaging his ego or basking in the ego of what he had achieved in life. Amid the moral and political crises of our times, he would have sought alibi in sentimental falsifications or taken refuge in caricature religiosity. Like many cowardly high-profile men and women of our times, he would have become a hypocritical praise-singer of the powers that be in order to be in their good books. But he refrained from doing any of the aforesaid. Instead he decided to confront evil with his bare hands in order to bear witness to the truth and justice. He was not afraid of death. He said he was ready to lay down his life to save Nigeria. Citizenship, for him, was not something to toy with: it was to speak truth to power no matter whose ox is gored.

    The shrouded circumstances surrounding his demise four months ago at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Gwagwalada, Abuja might suggest that he is a political martyr, or, as some would like us to believe, a victim of State murder. Prior to his death, he had complained that he was being hunted for elimination. “I have received serious warnings that my revelations have angered some members of the political class to the extent that they want me physically eliminated. I have been warned to beware of polonium poisoning and sharp objects concealed in chairs. I know that killer squads have been paid undisclosed sums to hunt me down and to have me dispatched to Elysium. I have been told that some dark forces want me in their net so that I would be poisoned by gas administered through an air conditioner. When I am getting weak and delirious, a fake doctor would be brought in to administer an injection. That injection would be my death sentence” he writes. Some allege that truly to his prediction he was murdered through food poisoning.

    His first name means “man of peace”. His surname means “servant of the most powerful God”. He was eloquent as much as he was unabashedly vociferous. He was a consummate advocate of social justice. He feared no man. He feared only God. Like the Biblical Moses, his commitment to the deliverance of his people from the slavery and oppression of a tyrannical government was phenomenal. In the fashion of prophet Obadiah, one of prophets of the Old Testament, his voice rang out like a lone voice in the wilderness in denouncement of the sponsored genocide against the Southern Kaduna Christians. He exhorted the people to trust in the power of God and justice of God, and not in the fleeting and precarious power of tyrannical rulers. Southern Kaduna is the kingdom of God not the kingdom of the devil. Justice is coming, nemesis is coming, he unruflingly announced. Unlike the cowardly men and women of our generation, our man of the year fearlessly spoke truth to power. Hear him, “…they told us that one of the Northern governors was the commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Boko Haram and the bandits are one and the same. They have a sophisticated network. During this lockdown their planes were moving up and down as if there was no lockdown. They were moving ammunition, moving money, and distributing them across different parts of the country. They are already in the South, in the rain forests of the South. They are everywhere. They told us that when they finish these rural killings, they will move to phase two. Phase two is that they will go into urban cities, going from house to house killing prominent people.”

    No man, no woman of good conscience could have kept quiet in the face of genocide which overtook Southern Kaduna. No Street, no Broadway could have remained silent amid the stillness of death lying everywhere in Southern Kaduna and other parts of Nigeria. What do the living gain by keeping quiet in times of religious persecution and religious genocide? Nothing ! Absolutely nothing !!. If at all they do gain anything it is the hottest places in hell as Dante would make us believe in his Inferno. Our man of the year 2021 never kept quiet until he was allegedly murdered. But what do murderers gain by spilling the blood of the innocent? Nothing!. Absolutely nothing!!. Since civilization is not an attribute of religious fanaticism or religious killing or curl of hair or curve of the lip or human accent we should re-scrutinize our heritage with shaper eyes than before in order to win our civilization. The killing of our fellow human beings ought to stir in us the revulsion to hate our existence. Our generation has gone down in history as the generation in which wielders of power who know what to do to stop the killing of our fellow human beings, our brothers and sisters and members of the same human family, but, who, out of their wickedness, decide to sit back and refrain from doing anything at all. In his last literary work entitled, There Was a Country, Chinua Achebe regretted this wicked attitude in the following words. “My feeling towards Nigeria was of profound disappointment. Not because mobs were hunting down and killing in the most savage manner innocent civilians in many parts of Nigeria, but because the Federal Government sat back and let it happen…”

    Like Chinua Achebe, it pained our man of the year that the government which ought to protect the citizens from religious massacres had been sitting back and allowing the massacres to take place. Consequently, he spoke out loudly, “I am not making this up”. I have a PhD from Oxford. I am not a sensationalist, I am an economist and a central banker; by nature we are not given to sensation. Let me make it clear: I am a humanist; I am a man of peace. From the bottom of my heart, I love our country dearly and I abhor all the killings and violence which the innocent people of this country have been subjected to. I pray that Nigeria will never experience another civil war. The most elementary duty of the government is to protect its citizens. When a government fails to protect its citizens, to protect little children that is a serious matter. Any innocent boy or girl that is killed is my own child. I love Nigeria. Like Mandela, let me say if need be, I am prepared to give my life for Nigeria.”

    In his classic blueprint entitled: The Law Frederic Bastiat writes that the purpose of government is precisely to secure individual rights to life, liberty and property. This, for him, is the only way peace can reign and men and women can go about working to improve their well-being. But unfortunately the State which ought to protect the citizens has constituted itself into a legal plunder to be plundering the citizens. Our man of the year was very sad about the killings in Nigeria especially the sponsored genocide against the Southern Kaduna Christians. Day by day religious-fanatic-murderers forcefully gain entrance into your peoples’ houses, seizing parents, sibling, uncles, and family relatives including babies under three and hacking all of them to death with little or no response from our State security machinery. Who will not weep in the face of these atrocities? Who will not worry seeing these injustices crying to high heavens for remedy? Our man of the year did. That is why this column has chosen him among many competitors as the man of the year 2021. For defending the rights of man, he will be remembered by succeeding generations.

    In case the reader is still aghast wondering who is being applauded, he is no other person other than Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, former Deputy-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, writer, columnist, humanist, public intellectual and social justice crusader. He left this world four months ago aged 64. This posthumous award is a testament to his witness to social justice. We will miss his voice of reason in the public square. We will miss his courage. Our only consolation however is that he has left an enduring legacy that will stand the test of time.

  • 78-year-old man hacks 94-year-old blind brother to death over land dispute in Ogun

    78-year-old man hacks 94-year-old blind brother to death over land dispute in Ogun

    The police have arrested a 78-year-old man, Moshood Habibu, for killing his elder brother over a land dispute in Ogun State.

    Habibu reportedly hacked his 94-year-old brother, Salisu Surakatu, to death with a cutlass, the Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said in a statement on Saturday.

    Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed that the suspect committed the crime on Wednesday in Mowe in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state.

    “The suspect was arrested following a report lodged at Mowe Divisional Headquarters by one Aminu Tajudeen, who reported that the deceased, Salisu Surakatu, was his biological father and that the suspect came to the deceased’s house at Kara Ewumi village (in) Mowe, where he macheted him to death over a disagreement on land matter,” he said.

    “Upon the report, the DPO Mowe Division, CSP Saminu Akintunde, quickly mobilised his detectives to the scene where the suspect was promptly arrested.

    “On interrogation, the suspect claimed that the deceased sold a plot from their family land and didn’t give him his own share of the proceeds and that he went there that morning to demand his own share, which led to a hot argument between them.”

    Preliminary investigation, according to the police spokesman in the state, revealed that the suspect went to the deceased house armed with a cutlass.

    When he (Habibu) got there, he narrated, the deceased who was visually impaired did not know his brother came with a cutlass.

    While Surakatu was asking his brother to leave his house, Habibu reportedly descended heavily on him and hacked him to death.

    “The Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Bankole, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and diligent prosecution,” Oyeyemi stated.

  • Man bags life sentence for defiling 10-year-old

    Man bags life sentence for defiling 10-year-old

    An Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court sitting in Lagos on Wednesday sentenced Friday Imoh, a 43-year-old auto-mechanic to life imprisonment for defiling his 10-year-old neighbour.

    Justice Abiola Soladoye sentenced Imoh after finding him guilty.

    He was found guilty of two counts of defilement of a child and threatening violence contrary to Sections 137 and 56 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2015.

    “The prosecution has established beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the defendant. The conduct of this defendant is most cruel, callous, despicable and condemnable in all ramifications.

    “Having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 10-year-old clearly shows that the defendant is morally corrupt and indeed pure evil.

    “He should be made to pay for his conduct with the hope that this sanction will serve as a deterrent to other prospective paedophiles to keep off from sexually molesting children in this state of excellence.

    “The survivor, in this case, has been physically abused and psychologically traumatised.

    “Consequently, the defendant having been found guilty as charged is sentenced to life imprisonment in respect to count one: defilement.

    “In respect to count two: threatening violence, he is also sentenced to the maximum under the law which is a year imprisonment. Both sentences are to run concurrently,” Soladoye said.

    The judge did not hear the allocutus (plea for mercy) of the defence counsel, Mrs Jenifer Ekweokporo.

    According to the lead state counsel, Mr Olusola Soneye, the defendant committed the offence on January 31, 2019, at Ajegunle, Lagos.

    “Imoh sent the underage child of his neighbour to buy some sachet water and apples. When she went to his apartment to deliver the items, he forcefully had unlawful sexual intercourse with her.

    “After committing the offence, he threatened to kill her if she told anybody about what transpired however, the child informed her mother,” Soneye said.

    Four witnesses, the minor, her father, a medical doctor and the Investigating Police Officer, testified for the prosecution.

    In the same vein, two witnesses, the defendant and his mother, Mrs Matilda Imoh, testified for the defence.

    Matilda, in her testament, claimed that the minor’s father had approached her son for a N100,000 loan which was refused.

    She alleged that upset over the refusal of the loan, the father of the minor falsely reported her son to the police that he defiled his daughter.

    Matilda also claimed that her son was at her home when the alleged crime occurred.

    The defendant in his testimony corroborated his mother’s claim and denied the allegations.

    He told the court that he was not at home when the alleged offences took place but was at his mother’s apartment.

    Soladoye in her judgment, however, faulted the claims as well as the alibi of the duo.

    “The defence of alibi of the defendant cannot fly as it was an afterthought.

    “If truly he was at his mother’s place on the date of the incident, he would have stated that at the police station not just raising it at the trial stage.

    “There is no documentary evidence to prove that the victim’s father loaned the defendant N100,000.”

     

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Protect your self confidence

    By Onyinye Chinye

    “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

    It is almost impossible to live a satisfying or fulfilling life by default; so much gets thrown at us daily. You need to intentionally protect your self-confidence if you desire to live a happier and more fulfilling life. Begin by observing and auditing your focus: Ask yourself regularly: “what am I focusing on and how is this affecting how I feel?” Then change your focus if you need to. By default, the human brain prefers to focus on what could go wrong. It would rather focus on what you have lost, why it happened and whose fault it was than on what you can gain and how you can do better next time. Your goal should be to spend more time on the things that build your confidence and less time on the things that erode it.

    Eliminate outside forces or influence: What is that thing in the outside world that robs you of your self-confidence when you see it? Social media handles of certain people? Other people’s views, advice or presence? Take a diet of whatever it is. Focus on your strengths – figure out what you are good at and become amazing at it. Don’t keep working on your weaknesses as this will slow down your progress or even stop you. Pay others to do what you are not good at.

    Lastly, take charge of your life; get out of the goal post and play. Action breeds confidence, inaction breeds fear. Choose to be a thermostat which controls things rather than a thermometer that fluctuates based on the happenings around it. Control your own outcomes.

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder, Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM)
    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com
    or call +2348155525555
    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org

  • 24-year-old man stabs wife to death with scissors in Ogun

    24-year-old man stabs wife to death with scissors in Ogun

    A 24-year-old man, Majiyagbe Olamilekan, has been arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly stabbing his wife to death with a pair of scissors.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement on Wednesday said that the suspect was arrested following a distress call received by the police in Ode Remo divisional headquarters at about 3:00 pm.

    “It was reported that the suspect locked himself and his wife one Seun Mojiyagbe up in their room and started beating the wife. It was the wailing of the wife that attracted the neighbors, who made all efforts to persuade the suspect to open the door but he refused,” Oyeyemi said.

    He added that upon the distress call, the Divisional Police Officer, Ode Remo division, CSP Olayemi Fagbohun, quickly mobilised his men and moved to the scene where the door to the couple’s apartment was forced open. The victim was then found lying down unconscious in the pool of her own blood.

    “She was quickly rushed to the state hospital in Isara Remo where she was pronounced dead by the doctor on duty.

    “The husband was promptly arrested and taken to custody, while the corpse of the victim has been deposited at the mortuary for autopsy,” the statement read in part.

    The state Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Bankole was said to have ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the homicide section of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation with the view to charge him to court as soon as possible.

  • Man docked for stealing N350,000 from Solcorp Farms

    Man docked for stealing N350,000 from Solcorp Farms

    A 26-year-old man, John Emmanuel, was on Friday docked in an Ikorodu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos State for allegedly stealing N350,000 from Solcorp Farms.

    The police charged Emmanuel, whose address was not provided, with theft.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    The Prosecution Counsel, Insp Adegeshin Famuyiwa, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence at Idi-Iroko bus stop in Ikorodu.

    Famuyiwa alleged that the defendant stole N350,000 belonging to Solcorp Farms Limited.

    The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 411 and 287 of Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    Magistrate B.A. Sonuga admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum, one of who must be a relation.

    Sonuga ordered that the sureties must be gainfully employed with evidence of two years tax payment to Lagos State.

    The magistrate adjourned the case until Nov. 11, for mention.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: It can’t be me

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: MATTHEW 7:3–5

    Meditation verse:
    “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3).

    Most of us are masters at seeing what is wrong with others; we can explicitly describe the details. But when it comes to seeing our faults, we become rookies. We are so blind to our faults. When issues arise, we focus on looking for the cause outside of us. We have perfected the blame game. Have you not noticed that when you point your forefinger at the other person, your thumb is pointing right back at you?

    Televangelist and best-selling author, Joyce Meyer, told a hilarious story of a conversation she had with God. She said she had reported her husband, Dave, to God, but God said that Dave was not the problem. So, she asked, “if Dave isn’t the problem, then who is? There’s just two of us in this home”. As far as she was concerned, it couldn’t be her.

    How often do you blame the other person for everything going wrong, whilst failing to look inwards; that annoying spouse, sibling, friend, child, co-worker, or boss? Is there a remote chance that the problem lies with you? Does it even cross your mind to look inwards? If you are prone to saying, “it can’t be me”, here’s God’s word for you today:

    Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. – Matthew 7:1–5

    Let the change begin with you!

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder, The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM)
    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com
    or call +2348155525555
    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org

  • Man, 35, charged with stealing from 3 women

    Man, 35, charged with stealing from 3 women

    A 35-year-old man, Anthony Odili, who allegedly stole N421,300 from three women, on Thursday appeared before an Ejigbo Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State.

    Odili, whose residential address was not provided, is standing trial on a count charge of stealing.

    He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him by the police.

    Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp N. A. Simon, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence from January to March, at Egbeda, Lagos State.

    He said that the defendant stole N421,300 entrusted in his care by Mrs Bola Omowonula, Mrs Edith Akande and Mrs Chinyere Nwogu.

    According to him, the defendant converted the money to his own personal use.

    The prosecutor noted that stealing contravened Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    The Magistrate, Mrs A. S. Okubule, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N50, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

    She ordered that the sureties must be gainfully employed and show evidence of tax payment to Lagos State Government.

    She adjourned the case until Nov. 22 for mention. (