Britain’s financial watchdog has fined the UK subsidiary of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank 7.6 million pounds ($9.3m) for what it says are further failures in its anti-money-laundering systems and controls.
“These weaknesses were repeatedly highlighted to GT Bank by internal and external sources, including the FCA, but despite this, GT Bank failed to take appropriate action to fix them,” the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.
The watchdog said GT Bank has not disputed the findings and agreed to settle, making it eligible for a 30 percent discount on the fine, down from the original 10.96 million pounds ($13.3m).
“GT Bank’s conduct is particularly egregious as this is not the first time that the bank has faced enforcement action in relation to its AML controls,” the statement said.
Gbenga Alade, managing director of GT Bank UK, said the bank takes its anti-money laundering obligations extremely seriously and noted the FCA’s findings with sincere regret, adding that the FCA found no instances of suspected money laundering.
“We would like to assure all our stakeholders and the general public that necessary steps have been taken to address and resolve the identified gaps,” Alade said in a statement.
In August 2013, the FCA fined it 525,000 pounds ($627,323) for running afoul of the regulations.
“Banks are at the front line in ensuring the proceeds of crime do not enter the UK financial system,” Tracey McDermott, the FCA’s director of enforcement, said at the time. “GT Bank’s failures were serious and systemic and resulted in an unacceptable risk of handling the proceeds of crime.”
The bank said then that it had complied with the fine and addressed the issues.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
GT Bank of Nigeria fines in UK over money-laundering failures
32 people kidnapped from train station in Nigeria
Gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles have abducted more than 30 people from a train station in Nigeria's southern Edo state, the governor's office said on Sunday.
The attack is the latest example of the growing insecurity that has spread to nearly every corner of Africa's most populous country, posing a challenge to the government in advance of a February presidential election.
Police said in a statement that armed herdsmen had attacked Tom Ikimi station at 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) as passengers awaited a train to Warri, an oil hub in nearby Delta state. The station is some 111 km northeast of state capital Benin City and close to the border with Anambra state.
Some people at the station were shot in the attack, police said.
Edo state information commissioner Chris Osa Nehikhare said the kidnappers had taken 32 people, though one had already escaped.
"At the moment, security personnel made up of the military and the police as well as men of the vigilante network and hunters are intensifying search and rescue operations in a reasonable radius to rescue the kidnap victims," he said. "We are confident that the other victims will be rescued in the coming hours."
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had closed the station until further notice and the federal transportation ministry called the kidnappings "utterly barbaric".
The NRC last month reopened a rail service linking the capital Abuja with northern Kaduna state, months after gunmen blew up the tracks, kidnapped dozens of passengers and killed six people.
The last hostage taken in that March attack was not freed until October.
Insecurity is rampant across Nigeria, with Islamist insurgencies in the northeast, banditry in the northwest, separatists in the southeast and farmer-herdsmen clashes in the central states.
By Tife Owolabi, Reuters
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Love for Anime grows in Nigeria with second Eko Anima Festival
Almost 1,000 fans of anime converged to Lagos, Nigeria for the second edition of the Eko Anime Festival. Some anime fans performed on stage, and many were cosplaying their favourite characters.
Anime is animation originating from Japan. Its films and characters are part of a culture present in many more mediums like video games.
"We realised that there really wasn't any convention or festival like an anime fest in the whole of Nigeria," says Laura Ajayi, co-organiser of the second edition of the Eko anime festival.
"So, we thought why don't we start this because we have a whole community of otakus, weebs, even people that just want to dip their feet into the anime pool and so we thought why don't we just do this, everybody comes together and you know have fun and it works."
Anime has a big following in Nigeria, where most grew up with Voltron, Naruto, and Samurai X in the 1980s all the way to the early 2000s.
"I think Nigerians are interested in the anime culture because Nigerians generally love to try new things so the anime, which is an entirely different culture on its own is a new and unique thing to Nigeria so they will keep loving it because they keep bringing out different things each year which continue to hold our attention, which is very good for us," adds Ajayi.
Nigerian anime lovers say their aim is to socialise and promote the culture. The popularity of anime culture is said to have grown online in Nigeria, with many Japanese comics (manga) available on websites and apps, and fans talking about them through social media. Antonio, who is attending the festival, likes anime because of its inclusivity.
"Anime imitates life, there's an anime for everybody and everything. If you like sport, there's an anime for sports, if you like horror movies, action movies, romance, fairy tales, there's an anime for you and you just have to look at it. Anime is huge and it's for everybody."
Anime lovers are optimistic that more Nigerians will come to love and embrace the culture, and also hope to organise bigger subsequent festivals.
Monday, January 9, 2023
Video - Olubenga Olubanjo Powering Nigeria One Electric Capsule at a Time
Olubenga Olubanjo, founder of Reeddi, says he’s found a way to provide affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity to all Nigerians.
Friday, January 6, 2023
Video - Braille trained pushing for education for the blind in Nigeria
In Nigeria, an estimated 50 million people have some form of visual disability. Several problems, including lack of access to qualified eye doctors, have impacted effective treatment and job prospects for the blind. But as Tesem Akende reports, one institution is helping to change that.
Cash Withdrawals from Government Accounts to be banned in Nigeria
Nigeria will ban cash withdrawals from government accounts from March 1.
Modibbo Tukur, the chief executive of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) said the move was part of efforts to tackle money laundering, according to a Thursday (Jan. 5) Bloomberg report.
“On March 1, if there is a cash withdrawal from a government account, even if it is one naira, we are going to trigger off money laundering and corruption investigations,” he told reporters in Abuja.
In recent months, Nigeria has been taking a hard line on cash transactions as it attempts to digitize its economy.
The government has imposed strict limits on cash withdrawals at ATMs, which will come into effect on Monday (Jan. 9). From then, individuals will be limited to withdrawing 20,000 naira ($44.49) daily, down from the current limit of 150,000 naira ($333.68).
The country is also in the process of removing old banknotes from circulation by the end of the month.
Championed by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, the Naira redesign has been proposed as a way to prevent people from hoarding cash for illicit purposes and as a means of controlling inflation. However, the policy has divided opinion.
Two days after the CBN announced the redesign in October, the naira suffered a historic crash, following what has already been a turbulent year for the currency. Shortly after that, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged caution as the central bank implements the policy.
With nearly every political party taking a stance on the issue and Nigeria about to kick off its election season, the role of cash in the economy has become a hot political topic.
Proponents of the central bank’s efforts to reduce the weight of the cash economy say it is necessary to tackle corruption and stabilize the naira’s value on foreign exchange markets.
Critics, on the other hand, argue that the current approach is too aggressive and disproportionately affects small businesses and society’s poorest, who are most reliant on a functioning cash system and don’t necessarily have access to alternative means of payment.
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Thursday, January 5, 2023
Video - Oil production to rise to 1.6 mln barrels per day according to Nigerian authorities
Authorities in Nigeria are forecasting oil production will rise to 1.6 million barrels per day by the first quarter of this year. Crude output fell to less than 1 million in mid-2022, the lowest in years due to increased crude oil theft and vandalism of pipelines, forcing some companies to reduce or stop production.
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WURA - First Telenovela from Nigeria to premiere in January
With an early new year gift unveiling, the African streaming platform Showmax, which has given a lot of originals since the beginning of 2022, announced that Nigerians are in for a new ride in 2023.
The streaming platform is set to launch a new original telenovela titled ‘Wura’ in January 2023.
According to them, the new series is a Nigerian adaptation of the hit South African 1Magic telenovela, ‘The River’.
With over 200 episodes, Wura is billed to be the platform’s first and longest-running Nigerian telenovela.
The series will debut on Showmax on the 26th of January, with four episodes, weekly adding to Showmax’s library of local content and investment in Nigeria’s film industry, Nollywood.
In a constructed spotlight, the story, which is set against the backdrop of the gold mining industry in the Iperindo community of Osun state, tells the story of Wura-Amoo Adeleke, a perfect wife, a loving mother of two and, in a twist, the ruthless Chief Executive Officer of the fictional Frontline Gold Mine.
In the eyes of her family, Wura is faultless and a saint, but when it comes to running her business empire, she is the ultimate iron lady who doesn’t care whose ox is gored in her path to get what she wants.
This series stars Nollywood veterans and fast-rising new stars, including Scarlett Gomez, who is cast as the lead Wura Amoo-Adeleke.
Famous Nollywood Yoruba actor Yomi Fash-Lanso plays Anthony Amoo-Adeleke, and Nollywood veteran Carol King stars as Grace Adeleke in the series.
Other cast members are Ray Adeka as Jejeloye “Jeje” Amoo, Iremide Adeoye as Lolu Adeleke, Ego Iheanacho as Iyabo Kuti, Martha Ehinome as Tumininu “Tumi” Kuti, and Lanre Adediwura as Olumide Kuti.
Storyline
In Iperindo, where the show is set, although the story is fictional, the place is a natural, small community in Osun state in the South-Western part of Nigeria. It is one of the clusters of seven gold deposits around Ilesha town.
But, despite the promise that the presence of the precious metal holds for Iperindo and surrounding communities, residents are still plagued by poverty and exposed to environmental disasters due to mining activities. Wura, though fictional, will throw some light on this.
Speaking ahead of the show’s launch, Executive Head: content and West Africa Channels, MultiChoice Nigeria, Busola Tejumola, said: ‘Wura: explores the untold story of gold mining in Nigeria. Each scene is carefully crafted thoroughly,
Also, multiple award-winning makers of Wura, Rogers Ofime, said, “Wura gives all the emotions that a well-rounded series should; it will pull you into its world of intricacies, whodunit, deceit, triumph, and suspense from the very first frame to the last”.
By Solution Emmanuel, Premium Times
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$7.5 bln to be spent on petrol subsidy by Nigeria
Nigeria will keep its costly but popular petrol subsidy until mid-2023 and has set aside 3.36 trillion naira ($7.5 bln) to spend on it, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said on Wednesday.
Africa's biggest economy spent 2.91 trillion naira ($7 billion) towards a petrol subsidy between January and September 2022, state-owned firm NNPC said, a cost the government has blamed for dwindling public finances.
President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2023 budget of 21.83 trillion naira ($49 billion) into law on Tuesday after lawmakers increased the size by 6.4% and raised the oil price assumption.
"Petrol subsidy will remain up to mid-2023 based on the 18-month extension announced early 2022," Ahmed said.
Buhari said in October that the country would stop the petrol subsidy in 2023, when he steps down after Nigerians vote for a new leader in February.
Successive governments in Nigeria have tried and failed to remove or cut the subsidy, a politically sensitive issue in the country of 200 million people.
Inefficient use of resources is constraining Nigeria's development goals, the World Bank has said, urging the country to remove subsidies on petrol, electricity and foreign exchange that mostly benefit wealthy households.
By Chijioke Ohuocha, Reuters
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Nigeria seeks to extend fuel subsidy program
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Video - Unprecedented levels of oil theft in Nigeria cost millions
Nigeria is facing unprecedented levels of theft of its main export. The theft of oil is costing the country an estimated $700m a month. And the losses are forcing the government to borrow more to fund a growing budget deficit. Al Jazeera's @AhmedIdris reports from the Niger Delta, Nigeria.
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Video - Dangote Refinery in Nigeria nears completion
Nigeria, Africa's second largest oil exporter, plans to end the importation of refined petroleum products this year. It also looks to end a long standing, highly costly fuel subsidy. To reach that goal, the country is banking mainly on the 650,000 barrels per day output of the Dangote Refinery. The facility is being built in the commercial city of Lagos, and it is expected to begin operations by the second quarter of 2023.
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Dangote Refinery to employ over 250,000 Nigerians
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Monday, January 2, 2023
Video - Nigeria floods: Hundreds remain without shelter
People in Nigeria are still struggling to find shelter and food, weeks after devastating floods. Thousands of homes were destroyed along river banks, and more than 6,000 people killed. Al Jazeera's @AhmedIdris reports from Obogoro in southern Nigeria.
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Video - Nigeria's durum prices rise as demand increases, imports drop
Durum wheat prices are on the rise in Nigeria as import volumes fall and local demand continues rising. Experts say it is time the country strives to become self sufficient in wheat production.
Former president Obasanjo endorses Peter Obi for president
The former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has endorsed Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, as his preferred choice for president in next month’s election.
Mr Obasanjo gave his endorsement in an open letter to young Nigerians on Sunday.
“None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares their character, antecedent, their understanding, knowledge, discipline and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge. Others like all of us have what they can contribute to the new dispensation to liberation, restoration and salvaging of Nigeria collectively.
“One other important point to make about Peter is that he is a needle with thread attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost,” he wrote.
Mr Obi is one of the presidential candidates who had sought the support of the former president.
Others who have sought Mr Obasanjo’s support include Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Obasanjo’s former party.
Is Obasanjo’s support relevant
Mr Obasanjo’s support does not guarantee any candidate victory in a presidential election but he is considered one of the most influential Nigerians alive.
In 2019, he supported his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, against incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Buhari won that election.
However, before then, the candidates Mr Obasanjo (president from 1999 to 2007) supported in the presidential elections in 2007, 2011 and 2015 all emerged victorious.
Read Mr Obasanjo’s full statement below.
Dear Compatriots and Friends,
MY APPEAL TO ALL NIGERIANS PARTICULARLY
YOUNG NIGERIANS
Happy New Year! May all our national calamities disappear this year.
I am constrained to write this letter to all Nigerians especially young Nigerians, friends of Nigeria globally as well as our development partners because of the gravity, responsibility and implications of the collective decision Nigerians, both young and old, will be making within the next two months.
The last seven and a half years have no doubt been eventful and stressful years for many Nigerians. We have moved from frying pan to fire and from mountain top to the valley. Our leaders have done their best, but their best had turned out to be not the best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it was hell on earth.
Those of us who are alive should thank God for His mercies, brace ourselves for the remaining few months of this administration and pray and work very hard for an immediate better future – future of liberation, restoration and great hope and expectation.
We have had campaigners going up and down the country feeding us with what they mean and what they do not mean, what they understand and what they do not fully understand, what is possible and what is not possible, what is realistic and what is unrealistic, what is true and what is untrue. I believe that we need not be confused nor be gullible. Let us be cautious, not to be fooled again.
I have interacted with the major contestants and I find it interesting that, in one form or the other, each of them claims to want to do what I did during my Presidency and to take Nigeria back to where it was at the height of my Presidency and immediately after. I was pained that most of them do not realise that the Nigeria of today had been dragged down well below Nigeria of the beginning of my Presidency in June 1999. Although at that time, Nigeria was in very bad shape and was tottering on the verge of collapse and break-up. Even then, Nigeria was not faced with the level of pervasive and mind-numbing insecurity, rudderless leadership, buoyed by mismanagement of diversity and pervasive corruption, bad economic policies resulting in extremes of poverty and massive unemployment and galloping inflation.
For these reasons, I kept pointing out to them that the instruments used in 1999 to 2007 and methodology used will grossly be inadequate for the perilous situation we now find ourselves.
Without prejudice but with greatest respect to each individual with utmost regard for the best for Nigeria and all Nigerians and from my personal experience, all the major contestants claim to be my mentees. I will not deny such positions since I have worked with all of them directly and indirectly in government.
I have come to realise a number of factors in character, attributes and attitude that are necessary in the job of directing the affairs of Nigeria successfully and at a time like this. These characteristics or attributes are many but let us be mindful of some key ones together.
From interaction and experience, and as mentees as most of them claim, I will, without prejudice, fear or ill-will, make bold to say that there are four major factors to watch out for in a leader you will consider to hoist on yourself and on the rest of Nigerians in the coming election and they are what I call TVCP: Track record of ability and performance; Vision that is authentic, honest and realistic; Character and attributes of a lady and a gentleman who are children of God and obedient to God; and Physical and mental capability with soundness of mind as it is a very taxing and tasking assignment at the best of times and more so it is at the most difficult time that we are.
Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now. They cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria. Such a government must have representation from all sectors of our national life – public, private, civil society, professional, labour, employers, and the diaspora. The solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’.
Mind you, I reiterate that no human being is an angel let alone a Messiah, but there are elements of these attributes and on comparative basis and by measure of what we know of, and what some of us have experienced from the front-runners, we must assess judiciously and choose wisely. If anybody claims he or she has anything to the contrary, it will be up to him or her to prove to us.
I pray not to be proved right again in the bad sense but rather to be proved right in the positive and glorious sense of Nigeria becoming what God had created it to be – a land of plenty and prosperity united for common purpose of inclusive society, common security, shared prosperity, equity, egalitarianism, justice, and equal stake in the Project Nigeria with leadership role of Nigeria for the black race and fair share of global division of labour.
One ridiculous point that has been touted to justify unjustifiable appointments and selections is ‘competence’. In truth and in reality, genuine competence can be found in any region or section of Nigeria through track record and performance if only people will honestly and sincerely look hard for people with such attainment and attribute. Most of us in good conscience can testify to competence when we see any anywhere. What is masqueraded as ‘competence’ is self-interest and nepotism.
We have a unique opportunity to correct ourselves by ourselves for the good of ourselves. Those who are preaching division, segregation, separation, and want to use diversity for their own self and selfish interest are enemies of the nation, no matter what else they may disguisedly profess or proclaim.
The Challenge Is For Nigerian Youth:
If we fall prey again, we will have ourselves to blame and no one can say how many more knocks Nigeria can take before it tips over. To be forewarned is to be fore-armed. Future is not emotion. I challenge the youth to arise. Let nobody pull wool over your eyes to divide you and/or segregate you to make you underlings. Nigerian youth, wherever they come from, North or South, East or West need education which is now denied to over 20 million children; Nigerian youth also need skills, empowerment, employment, reasonably good living conditions, welfare and well-being.
My dear young men and women, you must come together and bring about a truly meaningful change in your lives. If you fail, you have no one else to blame. Your present and future are in your hands to make or to mar. The future of Nigeria is in the same manner in your hands and literally so. If for any reason you fail to redeem yourself and your country, you will have lost the opportunity for good and you will have no one to blame but yourselves and posterity will not forgive you. Get up, get together, get going and get us to where we should be. And you, the youth, it is your time and your turn. ‘Eyin Lokan’ (Your turn).
The power to change is in your hands. Your future, my future, the future of grandchildren and great grandchildren is in your hands. Politics and elections are numbers game. You have the numbers, get up, stand up and make your numbers count.
Let me say it again, loud and clear, Nigeria has no business with insecurity, poverty, insurgency, banditry, unemployment, hunger, debt, division and disunity. We are in these situations because advertently or inadvertently, our leaders have made the choices. They have done the best they could do. Let them take their rest deservedly or not and let them enjoy their retirement as Septuagenarians or older.
I became Head of State at 39 and at 42, I had retired into the farm. When it was considered necessary, I was drafted back into active political life after twenty years of interregnum. I came back at 62 and by 70, I was on my way out. Others like General Gowon and Enahoro became national leaders at 33 and 27 respectively and General Gowon at the helms of leadership of Nigeria at the highest level. The vigour, energy, agility, dynamism and outreach that the job of leadership of Nigeria requires at the very top may not be provided as a septuagenarian or older. I know that from personal experience. And it is glaring out of our current experiences. Otherwise, we will be fed with, “The President says” and we will neither see nor hear him directly as we should. Yes, for some, age and physical and mental disposition are not in tandem. But where and when they are with obvious evidence, they must be taken into account for purpose of reality. And yet it is a job in our present situation where the team leader or captain of the team should be up and doing, outgoing inside and outside and speaking to the nation on almost daily basis visibly and as much as possible interactively and meeting his colleagues all over the world on behalf of Nigeria. Youth of Nigeria, your time has come, and it is now and please grasp it. If not now, it will be never. I appeal to you to turn the tide on its head and march forward chanting ‘Awa Lokan’ (Our turn) not with a sense of entitlement, but with a demonstrable ideological commitment to unity and transformation of Nigeria.
Leave The Past, Face The Future:
Can we let the past go? I appeal to the young Nigerians to stop inheriting other people’s prejudices and enemies. Make your own friends and stop inheriting your father’s enemies.
Let’s stop criminalizing and demonizing one another on the basis of the civil war on which we are all wrong. And let’s praise and thank God for preserving the oneness of Nigeria. The Scripture says that if God would take account of all our wrongdoings, nobody would be able to stand before Him. While not suffering from amnesia, let us stop still fighting and reacting to the civil war in our hearts, minds, heads and our attitude acrimoniously. Let’s stop living on our different wrongs or mistakes of the past: treasonable felony, Tiv riot and its handling, first military coup and its aftermath, second military coup, araba, pogrom and the civil war, all in the 1960s. And more recently OPC, Egbesu, MASSOB, IPOB, Boko Haram and banditry. No region can claim to be innocent or to be saintly. And no justification will suffice. In our respective individual or regional positions, we have done right and we have done wrong. It is therefore not right for any of us to be sanctimonious to see ourselves as saints and the rest as devils incarnate.
Just let us agree to move forward together in mutual forgiveness, one accord, inclusive society, equality and equity. Together and without bias and discrimination, fear or favour, we can have Nigeria of one nation in diversity, in truth and in practice. Let us honour, cherish, respect and even celebrate our diversity which is the basis of our potential greatness and strength. If we will only continue to harp on wrongs done by each of us individually or collectively, we will never be able to stand together. If we will continue with wide brush to paint a national or sub-national group as bad and never to be trusted with leadership because of past error or mistakes that some of them were responsible for and treat their offspring as inheritors, it will amount to great injustice that will surely lead to no peace, no security and no stability for development and progress.
First, no group is faultless; second, for the greatness of the whole, we need one another as constituents of the whole; third, we cannot be talking and working for Africa’s integration and for Nigeria’s disintegration at the same time. Why for instance should I be stigmatized or despised because of my place of origin, place of birth or where I come from? Where I was born, by whom I was born and when I was born were not choices made by me. They were choices and prerogatives of God. Any antagonism against me on that basis is unfair and is tantamount to fighting against God, the Creator. Such derogatory attitude and mindset do not build any human institution let alone a nation. While not forgetting the past, let us put the past behind us for it not to continue to mar our present and our future and that of the coming generation. We must rise above primordial animalistic instincts and behaviour. Yes, we are human and higher than animals in the wild. Let us develop national ethos and national characteristics that can take us collectively to the promised.
My dear young men and women, let me assure you that there are only two tribes of people in Nigeria a tribe of good people and a tribe of bad people. You are either a good Nigerian of Igbo extraction, Kanuri extraction, etc, or a bad Nigerian of Yoruba extraction, Ijaw extraction etc.
I will at this juncture want to commend the politicians as they have generally been reasonably civil in their campaigns without making politics as a call to war against opponents. Genuine and fair competition conveys greater legitimacy in any political rivalry or competition. A situation where people in authority and power assume such positions through foul and despicable means and continue to espouse and act in ways that only engender conflict or war by subverting legitimacy of power and authority does not augur well for the polity and as such, the moral foundation of the government and the society will be terribly weakened.
May God help, save, protect and sustain Nigeria for all Nigerians, for Africa and for the human race. We can only continue to play politics of ethnicity, religion, region and money bags at the peril of our country and to self-destruction. We need selfless, courageous, honest, patriotic, in short, outstanding leadership with character and fear of God beyond what we have had in recent past.
None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares their character, antecedent, their understanding, knowledge, discipline and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge. Others like all of us have what they can contribute to the new dispensation to liberation, restoration and salvaging of Nigeria collectively. One other important point to make about Peter is that he is a needle with thread attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost. In other words, he has people who can pull his ears, if and when necessary. Needless to say that he has a young and able running mate with clean track record of achievement both in public and private life.
In conclusion, I want to bring to our remembrance part of the great speech that Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa made on October 7, 1960, on the occasion of Nigeria being admitted as the 99th member of the United Nations:
“Cooperation is for each man to be true to his religious belief and to reaffirm the basic principles of his particular creed. It may be that, when we hear the world crying out for peace, we may receive the inspiration to deal with these intractable problems and be able to really devote all our resources to the advancement of mankind by applying those eternal truths which will inevitably persist long after we ourselves are utterly forgotten”.
The Tafawa Balewas are gone. But the eternal truths inevitably remain and persist that cooperation, friendship, justice, equity, love and fear of God which are hallmarks of the three religions practised in this country are the basis of our full and fulfilled lives and living as Nigerians. In faith as Nigerians, we must pray and relate with God as it depends on Him and at the same time, in faith also we must work as it depends on us. Then we will win.
May God continue to help us individually and collectively.
Yours ever,
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO
January 1, 2023
By Olasunkanmi Akinlotan, Premium Times
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Nigeria regrets travel restrictions to curb Omicron variant, says it disrupted business
The Nigerian government said the travel restrictions enforced to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 had no health benefit.
The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Ifedayo Adetifa stated that the restrictions impacted negatively on individuals and businesses.
“Recent experience in Nigeria with the arrival of omicron showed travel restrictions did not have any public health benefits but were disruptive for persons and businesses. COVID-19 has and continues to follow a different course (epidemiology in Nigeria and most of Africa),” Adetifa tweeted.
Following a meeting of the NCDC COVID-19 National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) held on Saturday, Adetifa said the EOC would continue to review the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the coming week.
He expressed confidence that the Nigerian population is significantly protected from a combination of natural infection and vaccination but hinted that there will be changes in government approach if the need arises.
“At the next review and if deemed necessary, a range of actions, not limited to enhanced surveillance of travellers at airports, may be implemented,” Adetifa said.
He advised Nigerians to make use of every opportunity the government has provided via to get vaccinated and urged citizens to receive their primary vaccination which can be two or a single vaccine dose.
“If you have received two vaccine doses already, go get your booster,” Adetifa said.
“If you have received one booster dose already, please go get your second booster dose. If you belong in any of the high-risk categories (old age, etc), kindly ensure you adhere to recommended public health safety measures – mask use, hand hygiene and avoiding crowded spaces.”
By Dennis Erezi, The Guardian
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Friday, December 30, 2022
Former Miss Nigeria dies at 75
Former Miss Nigeria, Foluke Abosede Ntukdem, has passed on peacefully in her sleep at her Lagos residence.
She died on Monday, 19th of December, 2022, as confirmed by the family
She was 75.
The deceased represented Western State at the beauty pageant and won the competition to become Miss Nigeria in 1968.
She also represented Nigeria at the 18th edition of Miss World held in the British capital in November 1968, which Miss Australia Penny Plummer won.
The son of the late beauty queen, Mfon, when contacted on Thursday, confirmed to our correspondent that his mother died in her sleep.
“My mum, Mrs Foluke Abosede Ntukidem (neeOgundipe), died last Monday, 19th December, at age 75. She had been Miss Nigeria in 1968. We are concluding arrangements and selecting pictures which we will share once concluded,” he said.
ByDimeji Kayode-Adedeji, Premium Times
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Video - New currency in Nigeria to affect small businesses according to World Bank
The World Bank has said Nigeria's new currency regime will affect small businesses negatively.The Washington lender expressed this concern in its Nigeria Development Update report.
Naira hits record low
Nigeria's naira extended losses on the official market on Wednesday to a record low of 461 to the dollar, as trading resumed after the Christmas holiday and the currency weakened to cope with high foreign exchange demand.
The currency hit a low of 460.20 naira by 11:04 GMT, down from its opening position of 454.98 naira, Refinitiv data showed.
"It's a shift from previous levels. Supply is limited," a currency trader at a local bank said.
The currency has fallen to successive lows across both the official and black markets due to dollar scarcity since last year after the central bank intervened to ease pressure on the spot market, where the naira has been trading within a range.
"The scarcity is still there yet clients are doing trades with guides from the regulator," the trader said.
The naira dropped to a two-month low on the official market last week and weakened across the board on
the forwards market.
By Chijioke Ohuocha, Reuters
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Car crash into street party in Nigeria leaves 7 dead
An out-of-control car crashed into a crowd at a large street party in southern Nigeria on Tuesday, leaving seven people dead and many others injured, authorities told The Associated Press.
The driver lost control of the car on a packed street in Calabar, Cross River State capital, just as people were gathering to watch a bikers parade at the Calabar carnival, Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps said.
Tuesday’s bikers show is one of the main highlights of the carnival event known as one of Africa's biggest street parties. The annual carnival has regularly drawn people from across Nigeria and beyond since it began nearly two decades ago.
Thousands had gathered to watch the bikers’ stunts when the car smashed into people, scattering bodies and leaving the injured along the road, witnesses said.
Hassan Abdullahi Maikano, head of the road safety corps in Cross River, told AP that the car was traveling at high speed when it ran through security controls.
“The motorist lost control and ran into the crowd. The total number involved were 36; seven died and 29 got injured,” said Maikano, adding five of the injured were children. The driver survived but was injured, he added.
Cross River Gov. Ben Ayade ordered the parade canceled and the driver placed under arrest, according to Christian Ita, his spokesman.
Ita said the governor has extended his sympathies to the victims and their families and ordered an immediately investigation into how the crash occurred.
By Chinedu Asadu, AP
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
How a grandmother in Nigeria became an internet start
Hamsatu Izang sings out as she hammers rocks into small gravel pieces for the construction industry. Singing brings her joy and peace, she says, amid this hard manual labour. But when a local music producer hears her song, her life takes a surprising turn and a whole new world opens up. This film follows Mama Hamsatu as she navigates two very different realities, her work as a lifelong stone crusher and a new role as a singing star, in the hope that her new success might bring lasting change. Dorcas Sheffy Bello is a multimedia journalist and filmmaker from Jos, Nigeria. She is the founder of Unzipped Stories Africa, and has won awards for scriptwriting and reporting. Her documentary on polio, Not All Darkness, has won many regional plaudits.
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