TheNewsGuru

Tag: Nigerians

  • Don’t invest in Bitcoin, Onecoin, others, SEC warns Nigerians

     

    The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC on Thursday warned Nigerians who maybe considering responding to radio advertisements and other modes of solicitations for investments in crypto currencies such as Swisscoin, OneCoin, Bitcoin and such other virtual or digital currencies, to rescind their decisions as potential investors stand the chance of losing their monies.

    This warning was in consonance with similar warnings issued by capital market regulators and central banks across the world over the past few years, the regulator said in a post on its website.

    Warning the public, the commission, thus, stressed that none of the persons, companies or entities promoting crypto currencies had been recognised or authorised by it or by other regulatory agencies in Nigeria to receive deposits from the public or to provide any investment or other financial services in or from Nigeria.

    “The public should also be aware that any investment opportunities promoted by these persons, companies or entities are likely to be of a risky nature with a high risk of loss of money, while others may be outright fraudulent pyramid schemes,” the regulator noted.

    It stated further: “Given that these instruments and the persons, companies or entities that promote them have neither been authorised, nor any guidelines/regulations developed for them by any of the regulatory authorities in Nigeria, there is no protection available to users or investors in these virtual currencies from financial losses if the virtual currencies fail or the companies promoting them go out of business.

    “The public and consumers of financial services are further advised that before making any investment or entering into any financial services transaction they should ascertain that the entity with whom the investment or transaction is being made is authorised by the commission or other financial services regulatory authority as applicable to provide such services.”

    Recall that SEC had in August last year, raised the alarm over the activities of some online fraudsters, who operated an online investment scheme tagged ‘MMM Federal Republic of Nigeria.’

    The fraudsters, SEC said then, carried out their illegitimate business via Nigeria.mmm.net portal/platform, and were promising investors a monthly investment return of 30 per cent.

    It warned that the venture had no tangible business model, describing it as a Ponzi scheme, where returns would be paid from other people’s invested funds.

    SEC however categorically warned that: “Please note that anyone that subscribes to this illegal activity does so at their own risk.”

  • 2019 elections will be a battle between Nigerians and those in authority – PDP

     

    The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has said the 2019 general elections will be a battle between Nigerians and those in authority that are unnecessarily making life difficult for them (Nigerians).

    The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Dayo Adeyeye, therefore, called on Nigerians not to see the 2019 election as a PDP problem, but a Nigerian problem.

    Adeyeye, who is a member of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led PDP Caretaker Committee, spoke during a post-national convention press briefing in Port Harcourt.
    In his words: “The 2019 (election) is a battle between those in power and those that want to wrest it from them. It is a battle between Nigerians and those who are making life difficult for them; it is a battle to save the country.”

    Adeyeye stated that Nigerians were aware of those behind the crisis rocking the PDP, pointing out that those seen on the stage were mere puppets.

    “Some members allowed themselves to be used by some people that are in authority.

    “Some of the people you see are mere puppets, but those pulling the strings are behind. Nigerians know those who are causing the crisis in the PDP,” he added.

  • Nigerians share their expectations from Govt in 2017

  • Gambia Crisis: FG on standby to evacuate Nigerians – Dabiri-Erewa

    Gambia Crisis: FG on standby to evacuate Nigerians – Dabiri-Erewa

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government is ‘on standby’ to evacuate Nigerians in the Gambia if the need arises.

    This is following the refusal of President Yahaya Jammeh to step down after losing the country’s last Presidential election.

    Against this backdrop, Dabiri-Erewa, while responding to a Twitter user’s question stated that Nigeria was prepared to relocate its citizens should the need arise.

    See Dabiri’s tweet to a curious Nigerian’s request below:

  • Nigerians condemn Lagos socialite for using dog chains on girls

    Lagos club owner, Pretty Mike got the social media buzzing when pictures of himself and girls surfaced online.

    In the pictures, Pretty Mike puts a leash on these girls and walks with them around like a dog. He takes them to weddings and other public events.

    He is currently trending on Twitter. Nigerians condemn this act.

    Read the comments below.

    I don’t blame PrettyMike, it’s the women I blame for not having self respect.

    — Issa Queen ? (@kristinerxd) January 8, 2017

    — Say Nne’ Wryly (@KemNomu) January 8, 201

    — Bishop Etekamba Duke (@FacialDisorder) December 19, 2016

     

     

  • Mother re-appears after Nigerians pay hospital bill of abandoned twins

    A woman, Sarah Ademola, who abandoned her twin babies at a hospital in Lagos over her inability to pay her medical bills after delivery, has reappeared.

    Ms Ademola gave birth to a set of twins at the Felken Maternity Centre in the Somolu area of the state, but she absconded, leaving behind the two newborn girls at the facility due to the inability of her husband, Adeyemi Ademola, to pay the sun of N150, 000 owed the hospital.

    According to a report by Daily Post, the children were in good condition and that they had given them (the parents) till weekend.

    “If they don’t come to claim the children, we will hand them (the twins) over to the government.”

    However, the hospital took into action its ‘threat’ after the matter was reported to Somolu Police Station.

    However, the report went viral and well-meaning Nigerians indicated interest in settling the bills, as well as helping the family.

    Among those who showed interest were the wife of the Lagos State Governor, Bolanle Ambode; non-governmental organisations, a retired military officer, Gen. Oviemo Ovadje, a member of the Senate representing Lagos East, Senator Gbenga Asafa, among others.

    The matron of the hospital, Mrs. Gloria Akinbobola, confirmed the willingness of some persons to aid the family.

    She told newsmen, “Immediately the report came out this morning, an NGO came and transferred the balance into our account. They also promised to give the family N50,000 to take care of the babies.

    “They don’t want to be identified. We have received calls from many other people. A lot of them have been making promises.

    “Another NGO that visited earlier on Thursday eventually paid the bills.

    “A representative of Senator Asafa, Kanmi Adebowale, said the N100,000 gift was for the upkeep of the girls, adding that the senator decided to support the family because they lived within his senatorial district.”

    The woman’s husband, who said he was frustrated by the development and that he was making efforts to settle the bills, said, “Those who owe me debts have refused to pay.

    “We are grateful to Nigerians.

    “We have found the mother of the twins, but the problem is that she is terribly sick and has been taken to her hometown in Agbowa,” he told newsmen at the medical facility in Lagos.

    The mother of the child, when asked how she felt ‘abandoning’ her own children, said, “I didn’t abandon my twins. I had to flee the maternity centre because I was not well taken care of. All they were interested in was their money.

    “They said they would not attend to me until their N300,000 was complete. I was abandoned in the place. I had to run away to find solution to my health but I am in a place where they are treating me now.

    “Please pray for me to survive. I am dying. I don’t want to die. I want to live to take care of my babies. I want to reap the fruit of my labour,” Ms Ademola sobbed.

  • Specialist urges Nigerians to embrace family planning

    The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), a German organization, has urged Nigerians to embrace family planning as a way of enhancing the quality of life in their families.

    It’s Country Representative, Mrs. Hildegard Behrendt-Kigozi, gave the advice in an interview in Abuja on Thursday.

    Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, defines family planning as the practice of controlling the number of children in a family and the intervals between their births.

    Contemporary notions of family planning, however, tend to place a woman and her childbearing decisions at the center of the discussion, as notions of women’s empowerment and reproductive autonomy have gained traction in many parts of the world.

    It also defines the quality of life as the general well-being of individuals and societies, outlining negative and positive features of life.

    It observes life satisfaction, including everything from physical health, family, education, employment, wealth, religious beliefs, finance and the environment.

    The country representative further urged parents to give birth to a number of children they would be able to cater for in terms of providing them with quality education and other basic needs.

    “Families should have only the number of children that they can take care of, but if you are well off and can send them to school you can have as many as you want.

    “Otherwise, only have the number you can adequately afford to take care of, so that your children can go to school.

    “Don’t have children without a means of feeding or educating them, particularly, for those in the rural areas.

    “It is necessary that every child that is born, the parents should provide for it if they cannot they should not have children because these children have the right to be brought up well,’’ she said.

    According to her, because the population of the country is rising very fast, it will be difficult for the government to provide adequate schools or jobs for the people.

    Behrendt-Kigozi observed that the number of available basic schools and qualified teachers was not enough to cater for the educational needs of Nigerians.

    She said that teachers should be trained on how to build self-confidence in their students to enable them to develop ideas that could make them self- sufficient.

    The country representative called on the government to build many more technical schools , saying training many craftsmen and women would further create wealth for the country.

    “Technical aspects are not taught well enough in schools.

    “There is need for the government to provide more technical schools so that you get very good and well-trained plumbers, electricians and so on, because their work is very good for the development of the nation, not only a professor.

    “It is worthwhile to have professors, but craftsmen are also worthwhile, because we need them.

    “These should be put into the minds of all Nigerians such that they will feel happy knowing that a job that is not academic-oriented can still earn them a decent living,’’ she stated.

    KAS is a German foundation that promotes democracy, rule of law, and social market to foster peace, freedom, and justice in the world.

     

  • Why many Nigerians die of preventable diseases — Expert

    Why many Nigerians die of preventable diseases — Expert

    Dr. Acho Orabuchi, a former adjunct professor of Early Childhood Education, says many Nigerians die of preventable diseases because they do not go for regular wellness check-up.

    He also identified poverty as the reason a lot of Nigerians die of preventable diseases.

    Orabuchi, who teaches at the Paul Queen College, Texas, U.S, said this on Tuesday while handing over a 500 KVA transformer to the Umuduru, Ezimba-Ogberuru Autonomous Community in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo.

    The transformer was acquired with the assistance of the Deputy Senate President, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, following Orabuchi’s request for improved power supply to the community.

    The medical expert, therefore, called for increased awareness on the importance of regular wellness check-up for the early detection of the onset of diseases.

    “Data has shown that a lot of diseases can be detected early from regular routine checks.

    “Many Nigerians do not go for medical checkups and as a result, a lot of diseases are diagnosed late and often times, the people die.

    “A lot of Nigerians die also because of the fact that enough attention is not given to family history, diseases with risk factors that include hereditary, lifestyle and environment.

    “Meanwhile, these diseases could have been prevented or managed if they had been detected early; people should not wait till they are ill to see a doctor.

    “Sometimes, the diagnoses are also inaccurate and some of the medications taken are not up to standard.’’

    Orabuchi urged the Federal Government to focus on improving the living standard of the people in the country.

    “A healthy people make a healthy workforce; a healthy workforce ensures a strong economy.

    “People are hungry and so, going for checkups will be the least of their priority.

    “The Federal Government should create an enabling environment for people to have good sources of livelihood.

    “Our hospitals should be well equipped to be a par with international standards.

    “Every local government area should also have a well-functioning health facility so that people do not travel far to access health care.

    “If these are put in place, it will go a long way to reduce some preventable deaths,’’ Orabuchi said.

     

  • FG begins cash transfer of N5,000 to 1 million indigent Nigerians

    FG begins cash transfer of N5,000 to 1 million indigent Nigerians

     

    The Federal Government has commenced the payment of N5,000 under its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme to one million indigent Nigerians.

    The programme is under the government’s s Social Investment Programmes (SIP), which earlier saw the payment of N30,000 monthly stipends to 200,000 youth under the N-Powere programme which began in December 2016 and the School Feeding programme.

    The commencement of the payment under the CCT was announced on Monday in a statement from the Office of the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.

    The statement, signed by the Vice President’s spokesman Laolu Akande, on Monday said the first batch of payment would cover nine states.

    He said some of the beneficiaries had started receiving their payments as from Dec. 30, 2016.

    He said funds for the payments to beneficiaries in Borno, Kwara and Bauchi were released last week to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the platform that hosts and validates payments for all government’s SIP.

    He added that the funds for another set, which include Cross Rivers, Niger, Kogi, Oyo, Ogun and Ekiti, would follow soon to complete the first batch of beneficiaries.

    Akande said the nine pilot states were chosen because they had an existing Social Register that successfully identified the most vulnerable and poorest Nigerians.

    He said the registers emerged through a tried and tested community based targeting (CBT) method working with the World Bank while other states were developing their Social Registers and would be included in subsequent phases.

    Akande said the Federal Government would actually commence community mobilization for the creation of the Register in more States to expand the scope and reach of the CCT across the country.

    He said that Plateau, Jigawa, Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Enugu, Katsina & Taraba had so far complied with the stipulated framework provided and were set for the community based targeting method for the development of their Social Registers.

    According to him, those states would be followed by Delta, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Imo and Ogun.

    “All the funds approved for the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes, SIP, are domiciled with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

    “In addition, the payment information and processes for all beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s SIP are hosted at NIBSS, as the Consolidated Beneficiary Register.

    “It is to ensure and fortify efforts at authentication and verification, as well as for effective and efficient programme management.

    “With the commencement of the CCT, the Buhari administration is now implementing four of the Federal Government’s SIP,’’ the release added.

    The release added that the Buhari administration had commenced the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, (GEEP) where soft loans ranging from N10,000 to 100,000 have been designed for artisans, traders, market women among others.

    “Already, thousands of cooperatives, market women associations, farmers and enterprising youths, have been identified and registered for the purpose, on an ongoing basis.

    “The disbursement of the soft loans through the Bank of Industry started since Nov. 25.

    “At the last count, for the first phase, beneficiaries have been drawn from the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Delta, Imo, Kwara, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Kogi,’’ he added.

    Akande said that the expectation and plan were that by month-end disbursements would have been made to 33,000 beneficiaries.

    Regarding the 200,000 beneficiaries of the N-Power programme he explained that about 50 per cent of the graduates had been physically verified and had started receiving their monthly stipends of N30,000.

    Akande announced that a second batch of 300,000 unemployed graduates would be selected early this year to make up the half a million target set by the Buhari administration.

     

  • Its good to see Nigerians eating rice despite recession – Oyegun

    Its good to see Nigerians eating rice despite recession – Oyegun

     

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has stated that there is fun everywhere in Nigeria despite the nationwide outcry about recession.

    According to the party leader, Nigerians were no bothered by the hardship caused by the ongoing economic crisis.

    Speaking with newsmnen in Benin, the Edo State capital, Oyegun noted that Nigerians had leanrt to save because of the situation of things in the country.

    He said, “I hope it was low key, but what is important is that you could see signs of fun everywhere. Which means that inspite of everything, people are happy. That is not say that there is not some degree of belt tightening. I can feel it but what is also good is that people are still able to eat rice.

    “We have become a bit of wasteful society; now we are being forced to adjust, measure the way we spend money. People hardly fly business class these days.

    “These are signs of growing realism, growing change, an acceptance that it can no longer be business-as-usual. But, personally, what made me glad this Christmas is the existence of local rice; we now have Ebonyi Rice and the Lake Rice. Nigerians are beginning to domesticate their taste in the local rice they prefer, which is very good.

    “The fact that there was so much in terms of quantity of local rice all over the place is something that makes me glad. It means that there was good harvest, and that, next year, for the fact that the market has now been established, it means we can even export rice. So, thank God, out of every seeming adversity, the good Lord opens windows of prosperity.

    “I think we are at the start of a prosperous period, when this country will be depending not just on oil but on a broader base of production. Are you not scared that the recession may degenerate to depression? We are working hard. We are not even thinking of depression, we are thinking of getting out of the recession that we are in. And all government policies and projects are geared towards getting this nation out of the recession as soon as possible.

    “Perish the thought of depression, we will never get there. What is happening with rice now, the same thing is going to be replicated in the agricultural sector and, as soon as the power sector stabilizes, we will get industries like the textile kicking back into production. We can only look upward and not backward.”

    The party chieftain once again affirmed that the leadership of the APC was not threatened by the alleged plans by some persons to form mega party in the year 2017.

    He said, “Mega party, I don’t know where the name mega party suddenly came from in the lexicon of politics in this country. When two people gather to have a meeting, it is a mega meeting.

    “We don’t feel threatened; we will in fact encourage a mega party, because with the gradual collapse of the PDP, we want a party that can make us sit upright and be on our toes in terms of delivery of service to our people; a party that will make us feel challenged, that will make democracy real, offer the people a real choice.”