Jimoh Ibrahim, on live TV, sacks company’s MD, DMD

The Chairman of Energy Group, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, has announced the sacking of the Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director one of his companies, Newswatch Daily, Moses Jolayemi and Makinde Bankole.

However, both Jolayemi and Makinde had resigned before the bizarre manner of the termination of their employments on a live television programme on Monday morning by Ibrahim.
While Jolayemi, popularly known as Black Moses, had resigned from the company since last year, Bankole resigned last week.

Bankole’s resignation, without any notice, was said to have angered Ibrahim, hence the resort to the purported termination of their appointments on live television.

Bankole, the Deputy Managing Director of the controversial publication, has been acting as the MD since the exit of Jolayemi as the MD/Editor-in-Chief before he also resigned last week.

Ibrahim, at a training conference of his companies, aired live on the Nigeria Television Authority and African Independent Television, pointed at one of the trainees, asking him to go and take over the leadership of Newswatch Daily.

He said anyone who knew Jolayemi and Bankole should tell them that they had been relieved of their duties.

He said Newswatch was his only company that has been unable to meet its salary obligations.
This is however far from the truth.

While Newswatch Daily is owing its workers 11 months salary, another of his publications, National Mirror, is also owing staff eight months salary. Staff of NICON Insurance are also being owed salaries.

They stormed the venue of the conference on Monday to protest the non-payment of their salary.
Ibrahim, however, said he would be willing to assist the new helmsman of Newswatch Daily for the first first months in the saddle, adding that after this, he has to contend solely with running the company.

Staff are quick to point to the undue interference of Ibrahim as one of the reasons why the media outfits are failing.

Jolayemi and Bankole are not the first set of leaders of Ibrahim’s companies to resign over his managerial style. The first MD/Editor-in-Chief of the rejuvenated National Mirror, Abiodun Rauf, resigned in controversial circumstances also. So also did Steve Ayorinde, who is now the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State, resign from National Mirror.
Popular politician, Kafilat Ogbara, equally resigned from National Mirror over the same issue.



Source: www.theeagleonline.com.ng 

Nnamdi Kanu not ill, bubbling in detention – Lawyer

Lawyer to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Vincent Obetta, has revealed that the embattled leader is not ill and has not been tortured while in custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.

This is contrary to reports in the media, claiming that his health status was deteriorating.

Obetta, in a statement said Kanu who also doubles as the Director of Radio Biafra is in high spirit not minding the fact that he is in custody.

He said, “I would like to say that as a solicitor and advocate of the federal republic of Nigeria, I have sworn to an oath, to defend the defenceless and above all, to say the truth and be fair to all, at all material times,”

“Having said that, I must add that I have been inundated with calls and I also read in several mediums, all manner of ruse about my client; that he has been tortured by the DSS, transferred to a more deadly cell, and also that he has been critically ill.

“I am still wondering where such information came from. I can authoritatively say that apart from the British government‘s team that visited him (Nnamdi kanu) last year, I am, and have been the only one who has been privileged to have access (though limited) to him and all through my visits, there has not been any overt or covert situation pointing to a case of torture on him by the authority of the DSS. He is neither sick nor have fallen sick since his incarceration on the 14th October, 2015.

“During my last visit, 14th January, 2016, we had robust and cheerful discussions even with his captors. He was also in good health, full of life and in high spirits contrary to the media reportage that he is being tortured, has been sick and broken.

“The media should do more in the area of investigative journalism before going to the tabloid.”

The lawyer to leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Vincent Obetta has said contrary to reports the embattled leader is not ill and has not been tortured while in custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.

According to Obetta, Kanu letter is in high spirits in the custody of the), Vincent Obetta, his lawyer, has said.

Obetta, in a statement said Kanu who is also the Director of Radio Biafra is in high spirit.
He said, “I would like to say that as a solicitor and advocate of the federal republic of Nigeria, I have sworn to an oath, to defend the defenceless and above all, to say the truth and be fair to all, at all material times,”

“Having said that, I must add that I have been inundated with calls and I also read in several mediums, all manner of ruse about my client; that he has been tortured by the DSS, transferred to a more deadly cell, and also that he has been critically ill.

“I am still wondering where such information came from. I can authoritatively say that apart from the British government‘s team that visited him (Nnamdi kanu) last year, I am, and have been the only one who has been privileged to have access (though limited) to him and all through my visits, there has not been any overt or covert situation pointing to a case of torture on him by the authority of the DSS. He is neither sick nor have fallen sick since his incarceration on the 14th October, 2015.

“During my last visit, 14th January, 2016, we had robust and cheerful discussions even with his captors. He was also in good health, full of life and in high spirits contrary to the media reportage that he is being tortured, has been sick and broken.

“The media should do more in the area of investigative journalism before going to the tabloid.”

Buhari to shower Naira rain on China ‘85 Eaglets

President Muhammadu Buhari will reward each of the players who won the inaugural FIFA U17 World Cup 31 years ago with a cash gift of a two million Naira, according to presidency sources.

In 1985, Buhari was then a military head of state when Nigeria led by Nduka Ugbade made history by becoming the winners of the first U16 World championship in China.

The Baby Eagles, who will later be nicknamed Golden Eaglets, beat Germany 2-0 in the final to become the first African team to win a FIFA tournament.

Buhari then promised the players scholarships, shares in major companies, among other things.

But several of these promises were never fulfilled before he was toppled in a military coup de tat.

Buhari, now a democratically elected president, has agreed to make up for these unfilled promises when he receives the history-making team again at the Aso Rock Villa on Thursday, January 21.

Other sporting heroes including the Eaglets Class of 2015 who won a fifth U17 World Cup in November as well as the country’s Olympic team will be honoured on the day.

Source: Today.Ng

"Missing budget": PDP wants NASS commence impeachment of Buhari ..Wants Finance, Budget Ministers and CBN a Governor to Quit

Missing budget: PDP wants NASS commence impeachment of Buhari….Wants Finance, Budget Ministers and CBN a Governor to Quit

The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party Pdp rose from a meeting Thursday charging the National Assembly to commence impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari for the various constitutional breaches especially the submission of two version of the 2016 budget.

The party said the National Assembly should thoroughly investigate the shameful act, including the distortion and banding of figures to accommodate their personal interest and ensure that appropriate sanctions is meted to whoever has a hand in the dubious action that has brought embarrassment to the legislative body.

The party also asked the Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning to resign having failed to provide the much needed capacity in the management of the nation’s economy resulting in the embarrassing crashing of the nation’s currency to as low as N305 to a dollar.

Also the party asked the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria CBN to resign for plunging the country’s currency policy into chaos an action that thrown investors into total confusion.

The party admonished the government to stop pretending that it knows what to do when feelers from the seat of power shows clearly that Nigerians by voting for APC have just discovered they boarded a once chance bus.

“We sympathizes with Nigerians who are seriously undergoing terrible hardship because of the now obvious inept leadership of APC despite the promise of one Naira to a dollar.

“What hope can a government that allows its currency to break a 43 year old record crashing to over N300 to one dollar offer and yet does not show it has clear focus of what to do.

The party said that APC government rather than address very grievous national issues created by its lack of capacity to govern has instead resorted to violation of peoples rights in the name of fighting corruption.

They noted in particular the continued detention of its Spokesperson Chief Olisa Metuh for nearly 10 days in clear breach of his fundamental Human rights and reiterates its earlier call on the anti graft body to release him unconditionally with immediate effect

Finally, the party called on all lovers of democracy especially the international community to note the fact that rule of law and respect for citizens rights, essential ingredients of civil liberty have taken flight in Nigeria under President Buhari’s watch.

Signed

Prince Uche Secondus
Acting National a Chairman

LAGOS UNVEILS LOWEST EMPOWERMENT RATE IN WEST AFRICA

Lagos State government has made goood its promise to create N25 billion  Empowerment Trust Fund aimed at granting soft loans to young entrepreurs in the state within the next four years with the interest rate of about one percent administrative charges on the loan is unrivalled all across the country and the whole of West Africa.

The State Government also promise to make the loan accessible to every qualified Lagosian who has convincing business ideas and innovations regardless of status, loc-ations, beliefs or political affiliations, saying that the newly constituted board members in charge of the Trust Fund were compositions of impeccable individuals mainly from the private sector with just two government officials.

Speaking in Lagos on Monday in an interview session with the Job show Africa, the State Commissioner for Wea-lth Creation and Employment, Hon. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti expressed the belief that rate of unemployment across the State would have been reduced drastically before the expiration of the four year term of the Employment Trust Fund.

The Commissioner said that it is not loan that basically prosper the business of an entrepreneur but the enabling environment provided by government would assist in making other job areas attractive through provision of good environment for business activities to thrive rather than allowing the populace concentrate on the few available job areas like the multinationals, oil companies, banking sectors and the civil service.

Explaining how the issue of unemployment gained prominence in the country, Hon. Durosinmi-Etti traced the history of the skyrocketed rate of unemployment to non inclusive school curriculums in area of skills acquisition which according to him forms part of cognitive value that had gone into extinction.

“When examining the issues of unemployment, it is pertinent to study it from the indices perspective. There is disaggregated unemployment, underemployment and structural unemployment. This implies that there are graduates seeking for employment where their expertise is not needed but are bent on having such jobs because of the monetary turnovers” the Commissioner explained, advocating renewed value reorientation among job seekers and young entrepreneurs.

He said that with the determination of the present administration in the State to address the skill gap deficiency in the State through investment in skills acquisition centres to meet up with present day’s needs and demands, the influx of foreign artisans into the country would become a history.

He described the situation where the jobs that could be undertaken by Nigerian artisans are given to artisans from neighbouring countries as worrisome, stressing that the trend could be reversed if the home-based artisans are equipped with qualitative skills that would be more attractive to the private sector.

“Presently, about sixty to seventy per cent of skilled jobs in our country is being handled by foreign artisans, the Lekki Free Trade Zone as of today, has the deficit skill gap of almost 2,000 technicians that they couldn’t get among our artisans, contractors handling construction works in the country comes into Nigeria with their workers because they don’t have confidence in our artisans so I kept wondering that can’t we have Nigerians who have those vocational skills who could also bridge the gap of the over fifty percent unemployment rate in the State?” said the Commissioner.

The Wealth Creation boss, however pleaded with Lagosians to give the change mantra in the State a chance, trust the present administration in the State and be progressive partners towards the attainment of a Lagos that will be the cynosure of all eyes in eradication of unemployment.

Source: The Nation

N60b soft loans coming for one million traders

No fewer than one million traders and artisans are billed to get a soft loan of N60,000 each this year as part of the safety nets for the poor in Budget 2016, it was learnt at the weekend.

An insight into the budget estimates, which the Senate is still dilly dallying over, revealed that this plan will cost an estimated N60 billion.

Yesterday, Senior Special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly matters Senator Ita Enang confirmed that the president had written a letter to the National Assembly on the budget which is expected to be read by the presiding officers during plenary tomorrow.

A senior federal government official at the weekend described the controversy in the Senate regarding two versions of the proposed budget as a “distraction and a storm in a tea-cup.”

The official added that the budget estimates are a bunch of proposals which would only become sacrosanct relatively after becoming an appropriation. “To now have all this hue and cry on alleged versions; and switched copies is not just a distraction, but a storm in a tea-cup.”

Ready for the implementation of the proposal among others in the budget, the official confirmed the appointment of Mrs Maryam Uwais as a Special Adviser to the President working the Office of the Vice President, who will be in charge the programme.

There are five other social investment plans of the Buhari administration already provided for in the budget with about N500 billion to be spent, which is nine per cent of the total budget.

These schemes are:

• The teach Nigeria scheme where the Federal Government plans to directly hire 500,000 graduates as teachers. Under the scheme government will hire, train and deploy the graduates to help beef up the quality of teachers in public schools across the nation. The teachers will be picked on state by state basis.
• The youth employment agency where between 300,000 to 500,000 non graduate youths will be taken through in skill acquisition programmes and vocational training, for which they will be paid stipends during the training, with the plan that they would then become self-productive members of their communities. The selection of the youths for this scheme will also be on state by state basis.
• The conditional cash transfer where government will pay directly N5,000 per month to one million extremely poor Nigerians on the condition that they have children enrolled in school and are immunised.
• The homegrown school feeding in which the federal government will serve one meal a day to primary school pupils and in many cases expected to be done in collaboration with state governments.

This programme has international support from the Imperial College of the United Kingdom among other international agencies.

• The free education for science, technology and mathematics students where tuition will be paid for about 100,000 STEM students in tertiary institutions in the country. The scheme is expected to cost government about N5 billion.

Source: The Nation

If Awolowo reincarnates today, he’ll join APC – Alaafin

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has affirmed his support for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, urging those yet to embrace the broom revolution in his kingdom, particularly citizens of Oyo West, to have a rethink and team up with the Ajimobi-led administration.

Alaafin said, “I’m saying this with every sense of responsibility and I want to be quoted, we are fully supportive of Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s drive to give Oyo State a new lease of life. He is doing well and I want my people to continue to support him.

“I want to, once again, call on the people of Oyo West to embrace the APC. We can’t gain anything from the opposition. If Ajimobi is not doing well, I won’t support or ask you to queue behind him. Some people sometimes accused me of taking sides with the governor. But the man is doing very well.

“What are we even talking about? If (Chief Obafemi) Awolowo reincarnates today, he will join the APC, because he was a progressive and APC is a progressive and people-oriented party. So I have no apologies for supporting them.”

The Alaafin warned the gangsters disturbing the peace of his kingdom to turn a new leaf or face the full wrath of the law.

Meanwhile, Governor Ajimobi has attributed his close to six-year cordial relationship with the Alaafin to the monarch’s altruism, understanding and sense of balancing in all matters since he became governor.

The governor made the revelation during a celebratory session between the Alaafin and Oyo Metro community as part of activities marking the monarch’s 45th coronation anniversary, in Oyo, on Saturday.

Describing the monarch in glowing terms, the governor said that their intimacy had continued to surprise many people; especially those he said had predicted that the monarchs support for him would not last beyond one year.

He urged Yoruba sons and daughters to accord more respect to the stool of Alaafin, whom he described as a repertoire of Yoruba history and culture, savvy and intellectually deep.

“I make bold to say that the Alaafin stands out among traditional rulers in this country. He is deep intellectually. He is bold and courageous. He does not suffer fools gladly. Baba has a sense of balancing and appropriateness.

“He is a very considerate man that has been so supportive of our administration and I’m yet to see his equal. Many have insinuated that our cordial relationship will not last beyond one year. But it’s now almost six years and counting. This has been possible because Baba is savvy and very considerate.

“Alaafin is a monarch we have to continue to revere because of his panache, finesse, boldness, courage and accommodation. I have no doubt that you will reign for long and we will always be here to celebrate you.”

The governor said that Yoruba were unarguably the most learned and exposed today, having contributed hugely to the body of knowledge in all spheres of human endeavour at home and in the Diaspora.

Ajimobi advised the Yoruba to love one another and abstain from the pull-him-down syndrome, which, he said, was responsible for the deluge of petitions before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission authored by Yoruba against their kinsfolk.

He was equally worried that the race was now lagging behind in development indices because of lack of cooperation and political leadership tussle.

The governor said, “Go to EFCC today. Yoruba have more petitions written against Yoruba, which are mostly frivolous. I don’t know why we should hate ourselves. We are lagging behind today because of conspiracies. Let us have a rethink and move our region forward.”

Reacting to the worries of representatives of the Oyo community, Ajimobi assured them that his administration would complete all the ongoing projects in the area, insisting that he would not bequeath any unfinished project to his successor.

Source: Today.NG