TheNewsGuru

Tag: Nigeria

  • MMM Nigeria initiator, wife flee abroad as new guidelines emerge

    Chuddy Ugorji, the initiator of the Nigerian version of the Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox ponzi scheme, popularly known as MMM, has fled the country with his wife, Amaka.

    Unconfirmed reports said the MMM Number one Guider has absconded and relocated to the Philippines.

    Ugorji allegedly fled the country while many investors were awaiting anxiously to be paid back their money with the agreed interest.

    His relocation came barely 24 hours after he released condition for the payment of some three million Nigerian investors.

    He had given the impression that the Ponzi scheme had started paying outstanding mavro (money) to Mavrodians (participants of the scheme).

    Meanwhile the scheme on Wednesday issued new guidelines on its blog.
    Here are the new MMM guidelines:
    1. As a necessary measure, we decided to set limit to withdrawal this week thus the N31,000 maximum withdrawal on your PO.
    2. We are still committed to prioritise paying smaller amounts first and gradually increase the amount to higher ones.
    3. The system does the calculations and knows how to calculate everyone’s mavros.
    4. Between Friday that we opened and today, hundreds of thousands of GH orders have been matched.
    5. More and more GH orders will be matched as time goes on. If you see error notification when trying to GH, just keep trying.
    6. PH to GH is still a suggestion to be tabled before Sergey Mavrodi for consideration. Disregard any info suggesting that you must PH to GH till further announcement in your PO.
    7. Freezing of bonuses for now is another suggestion to be tabled before Sergey Mavrodi for his consideration. Which means if approved, you will only be able to GH your personal contributions for now until the system recovers and stabilizes.
    8. Another suggestion for consideration is whether Mavro growth should stop on the 30th day or continue till you GH your confirmed PH.
    9. How early the system recovers depend on our positivity. If we work to make it recover, it will recover in a very short time. Don’t spread panic.
    10. Let’s do more promo tasks to create further awareness that MMM Nigeria is open, working and paying.
    11. We will keep you informed of any updates as soon as possible.

  • ‘Own a sword, defend yourselves’, bishop tells Christians

    ‘Own a sword, defend yourselves’, bishop tells Christians

    Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Ughelli, Delta State, Bishop Diamond Emuobor, said Christians in the country should endeavor to own a sword and defend themselves against rampaging Fulani herdsmen.

    Emuobor gave the charge on Wednesday in Ughelli while reacting to recent killings in Southern Kaduna which had claimed lives and property.

    The General Overseer of Trinity Gospel Mission with its headquarters in Delta State said it was not unbiblical for a Christian to defend himself against external aggressors.

    He added, “Christians should defend themselves and he who has no sword, should sell his coat and buy one to defend himself. We are all human beings, nobody should catch you like a snail and slaughter because you believe in Jesus Christ.

    “We all would not die and those of us, who are alive, have the right to defend ourselves. Jesus says in the Book of Luke that those who have no sword should sell their coats and buy one for the defence of their lives.”

    Emuobor however called on President Muhammadu Buhari to double his efforts to end the alleged killing of Christians, especially in the northern part of the country.

  • FG set to evacuate another set of Nigerians from Libya

    The Federal Government is to evacuate another set of Nigerian from Libya in February, Deputy Director, Search and Rescue, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr Bandele Onimode, has said.

    Onimode said this on Tuesday in Abuja when he led a delegation to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora (SSAPFAD), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

    The delegation had come to shed light on the efforts of the agency in the rescue operations in Libya and other countries and what the Federal Government had been doing to secure the lives of Nigerians trapped in transit

    According to him, the Federal Government has been doing a lot to help Nigerian citizens wherever they are having challenges.

    “It is a well known fact that Nigerians do cross the desert to Europe through Niger Republic, Mali, and Sudan and in the process some are tired, stranded and trapped.

    “Our Nigerian missions abroad never leave them alone, they always come to their rescue. As I am talking to you there are still some of them that are stranded in Niger and we are working on that.

    “But the one that caught the attention of recent is the issue of Nigerians trying to get to Europe through Libya. There is need to set the record straight on what the government has been doing,” Onimode said.

    He said the Federal Government had already evacuated no fewer than 1,000 voluntary returnees from Libya between 2015 and 2016.

    Onimode said that 325 returnees were evacuated in May 2015 while 669 were evacuated four times in 2016.

    He explained that 175, 160, 172, 162 returnees were evacuated from Libya, in August, October, and December 2016 respectively.

    According to Onimode, most of the returnees were from Delta and Edo and aged between 16 and 22, adding that there were cases of infants being accompanied by their mothers.

    He said that there were also cases of injured persons that were evacuated and returned to the country, stressing that such people were properly profiled by the Nigerian Immigration Service.

    Onimode said that the agency was working with other sister agencies such as DSS, Police, FAAN, and NAPTIP to sort out the cases of victim of trafficking.

    He explained that the International Office on Migration (IOM ) in conjunction with Libya had always helped in sorting out of the returnees.

    “They are different from deportees; they are organised and willing returnees that are kept by IOM before being returned in collaboration with the Federal Government to the country,” Onimode said.

    He said that the agency was going to set up an assessment team in collaboration with the office of SSAPFAD to ensure that Nigerians that were set to be arrested in those countries were identified and brought back to home

    In her speech, Dabiri-Erewa called on Nigerians, especially parents, to warn their children and wards against embarking on illegal migration through Libya and the desert to the UK

    “The issue of migration through Libya and Morocco is very dangerous for now and we advise Nigerians to desist from such dangerous adventure because a lot of times, a lot of these black migrants are dumped into the sea.

    “It is gaining attention now because Europe is involved, but I will advise that it is not worth it a lot of times, it is not as green as we thought it is over there

    “We cannot stop migration , whether legal or illegal, but what we can do is to reduce illegal migration,” she said.

  • Financial inclusion : First Bank takes banking to campuses, markets

    First Bank Nigeria Ltd., is organising “Campus Storms” to provide students and ivory tower communities the opportunity to experience accessible banking offerings at their doorsteps, to strengthen the financial inclusion initiative.

    A statement by the bank on Tuesday in Lagos said that it would be at the University of Benin (UniBen) and the New Benin Market on Jan. 24 to Jan. 27 ; Abia State Polytechnic and Ariaria Market on Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 ; and Usman Danfodio University & Sokoto Main Market on Feb. 7 to Feb. 10 to educate, engage, and introduce bespoke products.

    It added that the bank’s products and services to be introduced to the students include the XploreFirst accounts designed for youths between the ages 18 to 24, to promote savings culture and banking convenience for the youth and mass market customers.

    “The other products that will be on display at the storm are the FirstInstant Savings and FirstInstant Savings Plus accounts, both of which enable customers open fully functional bank accounts, with minimal requirements from anywhere, at any time, via any of the Bank’s online platforms,” the statement said.

    It stated that the Bank would also use the opportunity of the storm to re-introduce its mobile banking service, Firstmonie which enables the banked, the unbanked and the under-banked Nigerians to have the opportunity to make mobile transfers, as well as mobile payments anywhere from the comfort of their mobile phones.

    According to the statement, students and the university communities will also be taken through the dynamics of the recently-unveiled enhanced features on the bank’s mobile banking app “Firstmobile”, which enables customers to now carry out transactions such as domestic funds transfer from self-owned accounts to FirstBank accounts and other third party bank accounts.

    It also allows customers to make quick airtime purchase for self and others on all mobile networks; bills payments; such as DSTV and GOTV subscriptions, cheque services, including confirm of cheques and stop cheques, flight bookings, and quick account services, among others.

    The statement said that the campus and market storms would include activities and games such as The Entrepreneur Challenge, Business Talker Competition, XploreFirst Skaters competition and The Best Business Idea Competition, with lots of prizes to be won.

  • Before Nigerian aviation becomes the world’s laughing stock

    Before Nigerian aviation becomes the world’s laughing stock

    By Prince Ned Nwoko

    Democracy is said to be, amongst other things, a system of political administration that allows for clear choices, for reasoned arguments, for the oiling of the wheels of development. Yet, when one considers some of the things people get up to in Nigeria it becomes imperative to wonder whether, for us, democracy does not mean wrongheadedness. Just one example will suffice to elucidate this problem.

    It was announced not long ago that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, one of the busiest airports on the African continent, would be shut down for three months. This announced plan to shut the airport is not because seismologists have suddenly found that the grounds of the airport are faced with imminent devastation due to a natural disaster of the sort of earthquake or landslide or volcanic eruption.

    No. Those in charge of matters of aviation plan to shut the Abuja Airport because repairs must be effected on its runway! For the simple reason of repairs, the airport would close for business for upwards of three months while the hundreds of flights that touch down at Abuja would be diverted to Kaduna, some 240 kilometres away! While this curious development leaves the international community wondering about our sense of judgment and sense of priorities, what becomes of the thousands of workers that earn their living at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport? Would they be sent packing? Or would they be sent on paid vacation? Or would they be simply forgotten as non-existent commodities?

    Outside the obvious economic adversity sure to come from an outright closure of the Abuja Airport, there are other equally gruesome considerations. There are risks associated with shuttling from Abuja and other distant centres of population concentration to Kaduna to board flights. The Abuja-Kaduna highway is particularly prone to vehicular accidents. The contingency of increased usage of that road by travellers to foreign lands usually perceived to be privileged can only excite adventurism and daredevilry in armed robbers and other violent criminals. More than anything else, the incessant killings by herdsmen in southern Kaduna raise the threat to would-be users of the Kaduna Airport by countless notches.

    These are dangers that are clearly avoidable. In Biafra during the civil war, the Uli Airport was not closed for a single day despite the fact that it was bombarded almost every night by fighter-bombers of the Nigerian Air Force. Air raids happen this moment and, next moment, trained workers move in and repair all damages, filling craters and leveling up the runway with a solid slate of macadam. That was five decades ago. But in the year 2017, Nigerian authorities are on the verge of closing the country’s Number One connection to the outside world for three months because a runway is to be repaired.

    It beggars belief. It calls to serious question the sense of judgment of those who purport to direct Nigeria’s affairs. For those who love this country, the shame is overpowering. Yet, there is an urgent necessity to save face, to point to an alternative that is reasonable, viable and bereft of the pointless complications inherent in an entire closure.

    The volume of air traffic at Abuja is increasing exponentially. This means that, whether or not our aviation “experts” appreciate it, the construction of a second runway is inevitable sooner rather than later. May we suggest that, instead of embarking on the foolhardy enterprise of shutting down the Abuja Airport, those touting the harebrained venture should spare a thought for the wisdom of the emergency construction of a second runway that could be completed in the three months that has been slated for mere repairs of the existing runway. The main advantage of this option is that, while the new runway is being constructed, the old one would remain operational. Thus, the embarrassing contingency of shutting down an international airport on flimsy grounds would be averted.

    The construction of a runway is not exactly a faculty of rocket science. There is nothing in it that is not thoroughly understood by construction companies operating currently in Nigeria. We have been told that a whopping N5 billion is required for repairs on the old runway. People who should know are insisting that a new runway may cost just as much.

    Nonetheless, it must be pointed out that the cost of repairing the existing runway and building a new one is not an issue here. I urge the National Assembly to intervene and approve emergency funding, even to the tune of N10 billion at least for the projects. Once this is done, the runways could be ready for use in no more than six weeks. If necessary two construction giants – Julius Berger and CCECC, say, could be awarded the contracts, working from opposite ends.

    To recap, this is the argument: Do not shut down the Abuja Airport. Construct a second runway. Once it goes into operation, the old one could be repaired. It is the only sensible choice open to us. The Nigerian Airways since went into oblivion, to the eternal embarrassment of the thinking segments of this country. We cannot allow the total closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport because a runway is to be patched up. That would make us the world’s laughing stock.

    Prince Nwoko, a former Member of the Federal House of Representatives, was the chairman of the House Sub-Committee of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

     

  • Nigeria’s economy won’t improve in 2017 – Peter Obi

    Nigeria’s economy won’t improve in 2017 – Peter Obi

    The immediate past governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi has said the nation’s economy may not improve in 2017 because of the attitude of the incumbent administration to the crisis.

    Obi disclosed this in an interview with CNBC Africa on Monday. He said Nigeria is like a faulty vehicle which does not necessarily needs another driver but a quick fixing of the engine to get it working again.

    In his words: “For me, I don’t think the economy will be better in 2017 because I have not seen the attention that is required for the situation we find ourselves.

    “Where we are now is like having a car with which has an engine knock, and we are still busy talking about changing the driver. There is no engine in place; even if you bring in the best driver in the world, he is not going to move the car.

    “We need to talk about how do we fix the engine of this vehicle, and that engine is the economy. Until we fix it, then we can talk about the driver, whether there is a good driver or bad driver.”

    The former governor called on the political class to bury their different ideologies and come together with the aim of charting the way forward for the Nigerian economy.

    “Considering where we are, we need to have in all these sectors, crisis manager to deal with the situation, We need to pull everybody together, it’s no longer a party matter, it is no longer a political matter, it is a survival matter.

    “It’s not time to trade blames; it’s not time to dwell in yesterday. If you look at our headlines in our newspapers, the quality of discourse is low, we are still chasing shadows,” Obi said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Obi was governor of Anambra State in Nigeria from 17 March 2006 to 2 November 2006, when he was impeached and from 9 February 2007 to 29 May 2007 after his impeachment was overturned.

    Although a fresh election was held on 29 April 2007, he was reappointed governor on 14 June 2007 after a court ruling that he should be allowed to complete a four-year term.

    He won a 6 February 2010 election for a second term as governor.

  • Big Brother Nigeria: Nigerians angry over show holding in South Africa

    The first episode of Big Brother Nigeria aired yesterday on MNet’s Africa Magic and the show was a trending issue on social media yesterday. One would expect that a show of this magnitude will be hosted and shot in Nigeria, amazingly it is being shot in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    The only thing Nigerian about the show appears to be the housemates and the host, Ebuka Obi Uchendu. Just like The Voice Nigeria, the Big Brother Nigeria housemates were selected in Nigeria and then shipped away to South Africa for a reality TV show expected to last for close to 10 weeks. It looks like the housemates are merely being given an all expense paid trip to South Africa. A show of this caliber ought to be ‘Nigeriacentric’ from the beginning to the end.

    However, the organizers have stated that Nigeria’s dire economic situation is one of the reasons the show is being staged in South Africa. In addition to that, they also revealed that the structure used for The Voice Naija is on ground. It will be a waste to host the show somewhere else when the facility is still available in South Africa.

    Nigerians are angry over the fact that the show is being held in South Africa saying its not a truly Nigerian show. Can a Nigerian show be filmed in another country?

    Read the social media reactions below

  • 73% of Nigeria’s prison population in 2015 were un-sentenced – NBS

    73% of Nigeria’s prison population in 2015 were un-sentenced – NBS

    The National Bureau of Statistics has said that about 73 percent of Nigeria’s prison population were un-sentenced detainees in 2015.

    According to its recent report, “Overall, 72.53 percent of the prison population during the period under reference were un-sentenced.”

    Lagos State has the highest number of un-sentenced detainees. The state recorded 5,603 un-sentenced detainees out of a prison population of 6,522, followed by Rivers and Edo states with 3,625 and 2,434 un-sentenced detainees respectively.

    Yobe and Borno states had the least numbers of un-sentenced detainees of 163 and 216 of a prison population of 562 and 603 respectively.

  • Nigeria, 107 other countries ratify WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement

    Nigeria on Friday in Davos, Switzerland, ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), making it the 107th WTO member to do so.

    The country’s instrument of acceptance was submitted to the WTO by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, a statement from the ministry said.

    Enelamah handed over the instrument at a meeting with the WTO Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

    Only three more ratifications from member countries are needed to achieve the two-third threshold required to bring the treaty into force.

    Concluded at the WTO’s 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, the TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit, says the African Press Organisation (APO).

    The agreement sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.

    It also contains provisions for technical assistance and capacity building in this area, and has the potential to increase global merchandise exports by up to one trillion dollars.

    A 2015 study by WTO economists cited by APO states that full implementation of the TFA would reduce members’ trade costs by an average of 14.3 per cent, with developing countries having the most to gain.

    It would also reduce the time to import goods by over a day and a half, while also reducing time to export by almost two days, representing a reduction of 47 per cent and 91 per cent respectively over the current average.

    Nigeria submitted its Category A notification to the WTO on Nov. 10, 2014, outlining which substantive provisions of the TFA it intends to implement when it takes effect.

    Enelamah said that Nigeria’s ratification of the treaty was a reflection of its commitment to the WTO and a rules-based economy.

    “It is evidence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to rapidly implement his presidential initiative on the creation of an enabling environment for business.

    “Nigeria would like to see a strengthened WTO that reflects the development principles of developing countries like Nigeria and we commend the effectiveness of director general Azevêdo in this regard,” he added.

    Other African countries that have ratified the TFA are Botswana, Niger, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Mali, Senegal, Swaziland, Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique.

    “The TFA broke new ground for developing and least-developed countries in the way it will be implemented.

    “For the first time in WTO history, the requirement to implement the agreement was directly linked to the capacity of the country to do so.

    “In addition, the agreement states that assistance and support should be provided to help them achieve that capacity,’’ APO said.

    It added that TFA was also created at the request of developing and least-developed country members to help ensure that they receive the assistance needed to reap its full benefits.

    The Federal Government is expected to take the advantage of Nigeria’s membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to impact positively on nation’s economies through increase in the volume of trade and Foreign Direct Investment inflow.

    It is also expected to the advantage of increased technical assistance and support from the multinational trading system and donor countries in the areas of capacity-building, infrastructure development, enhanced foreign exchange earnings, and market access for the countries’ exportable commodities through removal of technical and non-technical barriers to trade.

     

    NAN

  • It is imperative for Nigeria to borrow, if it must survive

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday said that the inability of the Federal Government to generate enough revenue to meet its obligations had left it with no other choice than to turn to international financial institutions for loans to finance critical infrastructure projects.

    The minister stated these in Abuja at the 14th Daily Trust Dialogue, tagged ‘Beyond recession: Towards a resilient economy’.

    The budget has a huge deficit of N2.36tn (or 2.18 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product), a figure the President said would be financed through borrowing.

    While a lot of people have faulted the borrowing plan, which seeks to borrow the sum of $29.9bn from foreign sources, the Finance minister said the realities on ground had made it imperative for Nigeria to get the loan if it must survive the economic crisis.

    She said, “Where are we today and what’s the problem? This is my requirement every month: salaries, statutory transfers every month, I need N210bn every month. Debt, not the debt that we are planning to take, but the inherited debt; I need N120bn just to service it. So, every month, I need N330bn

    “Just to give you an idea of where we are today, last month’s FAAC allocation was N310bn. So, the Federal Government got about N140bn; but I must cover N330bn a month before we can do a single capital project.

    “So, when we start the argument, should we borrow, should we not? The truth is that we have no choice. If you are waiting for the oil price to recover, the prognosis is that it’s not going to go back to $110 per barrel any time soon.”

    Adeosun added, “So, to get the economy growing, we have no choice but to look for low-cost funds and put that infrastructure in place, because it is the infrastructure that will unlock the economy.

    “It is the infrastructure that will allow us to, rather than importing powdered milk, have the cows in Taraba State with huge potential.”

    The minister lamented that if the country had adopted the steps being taken now to reduce expenditure through efficiency in spending when oil price was $110 per barrel, Nigeria would not have slipped into recession.

    She said apart from borrowing, part of the survival strategies of the government was to make sure that revenue generating agencies remitted their operating surpluses to the coffers of the government.