Nigeria's Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi turns 50

 

Head Coach of Nigeria's senior football team, Stephen Keshi marked his Golden jubilee with the team on Thursday night.

He actually hit his 50th birthday in late January but the former international said he felt duty bound to celebrate it with the team because of the joy they have brought him.

The mini-party took place at the Eagles' camp, Bolton White Apartment in Wuse Zone 7 of the nation's capital.

"My wife and children had expected that we will mark my golden jubilee together but national duty calls and here I am. I could not also mark it on the day it fell on because the team was not in camp and I was also away from the country. So this is an opportunity to say a big thank you to God and to the Super Eagles for attaining the golden age", he said.

Demands victory

Keshi demands victories against Liberia and Rwanda as a birthday gift from the National team.

"This is the national team of Nigeria and I'm honoured to be the Head Coach, the best birthday gift I demand from you is to always win the matches we have ahead of us and I can assure you money will surely come."

He added that; " There are millionaires and billionaires out there expecting victory from you, so that they can bless you with their money. Lets make Nigerians happy again by winning all our games and get blessed".

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The cost of electricity in Nigeria goes up 88 percent

The federal government has completed plans to almost double the cost of electricity from April 1, 2012.

A kilowatt hour of electricity, which costs consumers N10 currently, will soon cost about N19, an increase of 88 per cent.

According to a report by the Financial Times yesterday, the new rates would be announced before the privatisation of the 18 power generation, distribution and transmission companies this year.

The newspaper quoted the federal government as saying that higher "cost-reflective tariffs" for residential and commercial electricity customers were necessary to ensure that investors could make profits.

Under the new pricing regime, tariffs will rise 25 to 88 per cent, though most customer classes will see a 50 per cent increase in their bills. The government hopes that cushioning the blow on the poorest consumers - a policy absent during the fuel subsidy removal - will ensure that there is no repeat of the public outcry.

"We are making sure that the urban poor and rural dwellers be provided a subsidy so that they don't see a significant increase in tariff," Bart Nnaji, the minister of power, told the Financial Times in an interview in Abuja. "The rest should be able to pay for it."

The chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, confirmed the report in an interview with LEADERSHIP yesterday.

Amadi said, however, that not all customers would have their tariff increased by 88 per cent.

According to the NERC chairman, customers are classified based on energy consumption, the type of metering and cost of service.

He said: "When people upgrade and consume more power, their consumption level will spike and the distribution company will automatically migrate the customer to a higher customer class, and they will pay more."

Despite having large reserves of natural gas that can fire thermal plants, the country's electricity supply and service is among the world's worst, with half of the 160m population lacking access to the grid. Peak output is little over 4,000MW, with per capita consumption just 3 per cent of that of South Africa, Nigeria's rival for the continent's biggest economy.

Frequent blackouts mean that most of Nigeria's power comes from privately owned petrol and diesel generators, greatly increasing business costs and deterring potential investors. It is hoped that privatisation will greatly improve service and output, with the government targeting 18,000MW output by 2016.

The new tariff was calculated to reflect the real cost of supplying electricity, with a return of investment factored in, according to the NERC. This comes to about N23 per kWh, which Nnaji said was near the average price in Africa and less than half the cost of self-generated power in Nigeria.

The biggest consumers of electricity, wealthy individuals and businesses, will pay the highest rates, cross-subsidising the less well-off. The government will also provide a N60 billion subsidy this year, allowing the tariff for the poorest customers to be fixed at N3.3.

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Nigerians seek refuge in Cameroon due to Boko Haram violence

Nigerians have fled in droves to neighbouring Cameroon to escape violence claimed by the Islamist Boko Haram group and revenge attacks by Christians.

“Everybody is insecure in Nigeria. The fear is all-pervading,” said a Christian priest, speaking on condition of anonymity, in Fotokol, a Cameroonian border town where dozens have taken shelter in the last few weeks.

It is located about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the bastion of the shadowy Boko Haram sect which has been blamed for a slew of terror attacks that have sowed panic in Africa’s most populous nation.

Boko Haram has claimed to be fighting for an Islamic state in the north, but its demands have varied.

“Many Nigerians like myself have fled their villages in the south. We feel secure in Cameroon,” the priest said in Fotokol.

“That is why I am sheltered here,” he added.

He has rented a house which is about 10 minutes by motorcycle to the nearest town in Nigeria, Gamboru Ngala, where he heads the local Catholic church.

It is difficult to gauge the exact number of Nigerians who have fled to Cameroon as they cross the border illegally, but there are easily dozens sheltered here since the attacks and tit-for-tat ripostes by Christians.

Mahamat Tujani, a Muslim trader from Maiduguri, fled to Kousseri near Fotokol.

“I abandoned my business and my family to seek refuge at the home of my cousin,” a Cameroonian, he said. “I escaped out of fear.”

He hoped to return home soon, he said, “but if the killings continue, I will bring over my family members here.”

Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of bomb attacks in Nigeria’s Muslim-dominated north. It claimed responsibility for January 20 coordinated bombings and shootings in Nigeria’s second-largest city of Kano that left at least 185 people dead — Boko Haram’s deadliest attack yet.

The August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja which killed at least 25 people was also attributed to the group.

“When you scent danger, you must escape,” the priest said.

“Even in the Gospel, the Lord says the moment you sense danger, you must escape. If you don’t it’s suicide,” he said.

The priest said two Christians from the mainly Christian Igbo ethnic group were killed in Mobi in Adamawa state about three weeks ago.

“When the other Igbos went to reclaim their bodies the Boko Haram struck and killed 29 others,” he said.

Sectarian violence has been rising since elections in July last year. He urged both Christians and Muslims to “return to God.”

The priest said Muslims were also targeted by Boko Haram. Between January 28 and 30, three people — including a Muslim — were killed in Gamboru Ngala, Nigerian and Cameroonian police and medical sources said.

The priest was following an Africa Cup of Nations match on television at a bar, along with six other compatriots. In another room, eight other Nigerians sat, drinking.

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Four Nigerian banks make it in top 500 banks of the world ranking

Four Nigerian banks - First Bank of Nigeria Plc, GTBank Plc, Zenith Bank and the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), had been ranked among the top 500 'World Bank Brands' in the February edition of The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group, London, United Kingdom.

A statement made available to THISDAY, said First Bank was ranked as the number one bank brand in Nigeria and followed by other commercial banks mentioned earlier in that order.

According to the statement, apart from the four, no other Nigerian bank made the ranking.

The ranking was done by Brand Finance Plc - a brand valuation consultancy with support for business needs in different areas including technical valuations for accounting, tax and legal purposes.

According to the report, First Bank had the highest brand value in the country, at $170 million and was closely followed by GTBank with $169 million.

It also said that Zenith Bank had a brand value of $147 million while the UBA had brand value of $121 million.

It explained: "The banks' brands also do Nigeria proud as the country is among the World's Top 50 by Total Brand Value by Country. Nigeria leads the continent outside of Southern Africa. South Africa has a total brand value of $8,207 million followed by Nigeria's $607 million with Morocco completing the Africa representation with $463 million. In the top 500 World Bank Brands 2012, South Africa has ten banks, Nigeria has four banks and Morocco has two banks.

"Total global bank brand value is $746,752 million dollars with Africa contributing $16,283 million representing 2.18 per cent of the world's total brand value."

Chief Executive Officer, Brand Finance, Mr. David Haigh, said the financial crisis "has thrown up the issue of the brands' origin" and that "the ones that have maintained their reputation can be characterized by country."

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Nuhu Ribadu appointed Head of Petroleum Task Force

Former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has been nominated to chair the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force to determine and verify all petroleum upstream and downstream revenues due and payable to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Other members of the task force are: Mr. Steve Oronsaye (Dep. Chairman), Mallam Abba Kyari, Ms. Benedicta Molokwu, Mr. Supo Sasore (SAN), Mr. Tony Idigbe (SAN), Mr. Anthony George-Ikoli (SAN), Dr. (Mrs.) Omolara Akanji, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) Mr. Ituah Ighodalo, and Mr. Bon Otti.

The rest are: Prof. Olusegun Okunnu, Mallam Samaila Zubairu, Mr. Ignatius Adegunle, Mr. Gerald Ilukwe, and representatives of the Federal Inland Revenue Service and Federal Ministry of Finance.

The committee, according to a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum, is "To work with consultants and experts to determine and verify all petroleum upstream and downstream revenues (taxes, royalties, etc.) due and payable to the Federal Government of Nigeria;

"To take all necessary steps to collect all debts due and owing; to obtain agreements and enforce payment terms by all oil industry operators;

"To design a cross debt matrix between all Agencies and Parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources;

"To develop an automated platform to enable effective tracking, monitoring, and online validation of income and debt drivers of all Parastatals and Agencies in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources;

"To work with world-class consultants to integrate systems and technology across the production chain to determine and monitor crude oil production and exports, ensuring at all times, the integrity of payments to the Federal Government of Nigeria; and,

"To submit monthly reports for ministerial review and further action."

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