SABINEWS MORNING NEWS UPDATE, THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018
Buhari to inaugurate AfDB’s complex today (Nation)
President Muhammadu Buhari will today inaugurate the new office complex of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abuja. This development is believed to be a consolidation in the country’s position as the bank’s largest shareholder, with a portfolio of $6 billion and country operations accounting for 13 percent of the bank’s total portfolio. Read more
Grazing Reserves, doomsday foretold (Vanguard)
Inequality everywhere is man-made. Many things we do are like the chickens – they come home to roost. Today, Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai of Kaduna State is on the war-path with his teachers, a bulk of who are said to have flunked the test intended for their Primary IV pupils. To El-Rufai, these deadwoods, so-called, must give way to other younger and brighter teachers – not imported from outer-space but from among the indigenes of the same Kaduna State. Read more
Doctors protest with coffin as JUTH sacks 68 (Punch)
The crisis in the Jos University Teaching Hospital deepened on Wednesday when about 400 resident doctors took to the streets with a mock coffin to express their grievances against the management. As early as 8.30 am, the aggrieved doctors had laid siege to the complex of the hospital, protesting against the alleged dictatorial tendencies of its Chief Medical Director, Prof. Edmund Banwat. Read more
How Anyim got N575m for Special Service, by EFCC (Nation)
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim is fighting to keep his integrity after being accused of collecting N575m for special service. The cash, according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), came from the Office of the National Security Adviser(ONSA). Detectives are still battling to unravel the “special service” executed by Anyim when he was not a Minister of Special Duties. Read more
Bus conductor shot dead by customs men in Lagos (Vanguard)
A bus conductor, identified as Toheeb Olayiwola, was shot dead in Abule-Egba area of Lagos yesterday, by Customs men chasing a bus loaded with smuggled bags of rice. An eyewitness, Ahmed Ogundairo, disclosed that the victim was in the bus with number plates LND685XJ, coming from Sango in Ogun State. Ogundairo said that Customs men accosted the bus at Abule-Egba and started shooting sporadically. Read more
Herdsmen destroy ex-naval chief’s farms, Taraba rejects cattle colony (Punch)
A former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Samuel Afolayan, said on Wednesday that herdsmen had destroyed about 45 hectares of his 500-hectare farm. Afolayan’s cry is coming on the heels of fresh attacks by herdsmen in Benue State during which five people reportedly died. The former naval boss explained that the cattle rearers burnt about 20 hectares of orange farm, 20 hectares of cassava farm and five hectares of palm farm. Read more
‘Why marketers insist on selling petrol above N145/litre’ (Nation)
The Nation learnt that the reason marketers are reluctant to sell at N145 per litre is because of artificial scarcity; most private depots are empty. The few that have are warehousing the product for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which pay a commission for the service to the depot owners. Under this arrangement, the NNPC authorises the truck to load at such depots. However, due to the large number of trucks waiting to load, this causes scarcity. Such depots take advantage of the high demand to hike the price. Read more
N’Delta militants demand restructuring, threaten fresh attacks (Vanguard)
The Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, Wednesday, called for restructuring of the country, declaring anybody opposed to it, including the Federal Government as enemy. The group in a statement by the spokesperson, self-styled “Major General” Murdoch Agbinibo, also vowed to resume another round of attacks, in the next few days” on oil installations in the Niger Delta region if government refused to listen to the new demands, including control of ownership ofresources and release of detained Niger Delta activists. Read more
Ambode gets kudos for Agege Bridge (Nation)
The Leader of Agege Local Government Legislative Arm Anigbajumo Akolawole, has praised the Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode, on the construction of the Agege Pen Cinema Flyover Bridge. He also thanked Ambode for his contribution towards infrastructural development in Agege Local Government Area. Akolawole urged the road users to bear the traffic challenges within and outside Agege due to the bridge construction, noting that such is part of the sacrifice to pay for our community to be developed. Read more
Herdsmen: Don’t turn Ekiti into war zone, Fayose warns (Vanguard)
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has warned against the killing of anyone, either herdsman or farmer in the name of any clash relating to grazing in the state. The governor, who met with Fulani herdsmen of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, farmers, local hunters, security agencies and representatives of the Tiv community in the state, warned Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers against turning Ekiti to a war zone. Read more
Why we froze Omokore’s firms accounts, by bank (Nation)
A bank official yesterday told a Federal High Court in Abuja why businessman Jide Omokore could no longer access the accounts of his companies in the bank. The bank said it stopped transactions on the accounts in view of “a worldwide freezing order” placed on the accounts into which $1.6bn proceeds of sales of Federal Government’s crude oil were allegedly diverted. Read more
Ugwuanyi’s 2019 posters flood Enugu (Vanguard)
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s 2019 election posters have flooded most parts of Enugu metropolis. The posters sponsored by a solidarity group, Mbakwe Gburugburu for Continuity 2019, indicated that there was no vacancy for any other candidate for the Enugu top job. The streets where the campaign posters appeared included: Bisalla Road leading to Government House, Ogui Road, Presidential Road and most parts of Independence Layout. Read more
Security tightened as killings, kidnappings spread (Nation)
Through its Kaduna State Command, the Police yesterday spoke of efforts to track the abductors of the Americans and Canadians and bring them to book. The Command’s anti-kidnap unit has been sent after the gunmen, its spokesman, Mukhtar Aliyu, said last night. Aliyu urged Nigerians to be vigilant and to report suspected persons or group of persons to the appropriate authorities. Read more
Group donates $2.1m licences to Nile varsity for petroleum studies (Vanguard)
An indigenous software company, CypherCrescent Nigeria Limited based in Port-Harcourt, has donated licences worth $2.1 million to the Petroleum and Gas Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Nile University Abuja. Presenting the licences to the university, the head of Representation, CypherCrescent Nigeria Limited, Mr. Emeka Duruzor said the donation was part of the company’s commitment to build and develop capacity for petroleum engineering students in Nigeria. Read more
Fed Govt tackles reduction of mercury use (Nation)
The Federal Government is set to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) to reduce mercury use, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development Permanent Secretary, Dr Abdukadir Muazu, has said. He made this known at a workshop on National Comprehensive Analysis of Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining Sector in Abuja. The event was aimed at supporting the National Action Plan for Reduction of Mercury Use/Emission in Nigeria. Read more
Cowed in India: 5 killed, 70 injured at bull-tamings (Sun)
Five men have been killed and more than 70 injured during bull-taming events in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, news reports said Wednesday. A spectator was gored by a bull at a jallikattu (“taming the bull” in Tamil) event in the Pudukottai district on Wednesday, the Hindu newspaper reported. Three spectators died at similar events on Tuesday, taking to five the total number of deaths in jallikattu events that began on Sunday, the report said. Read more
FEC okays policy to boost power transmission (Nation)
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved a memo for a framework to boost transmission of power to Nigerians. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, accompanied by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu and the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said the policy will facilitate investments into the sector and make it possible for power being generated to be added to the National grid for the benefit of Nigerians. Read more
Gas explosion: Plant operation predates residences – DPR (Sun)
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said that the gas plant involved in a fire incident on Monday, Second Coming Nigeria Limited, located in Magodo, Lagos, got its operational licence in 1996 prior to when the area opened up. DPR Director, Mr. Mordecai Ladan, stated this during an inspection visit to the premises of the gas plant in Lagos, yesterday. Read more
NDE trains 76,300 youths (Nation)
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) said 76,300 unemployed youths were currently benefitting from a special vocational skills training across the country. Its Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Coordinator, Mrs Edna Ofordile, made this known yesterday in Abuja at the Orientation of 2000 basic Open National Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS). Mrs Ofordile said 2,000 are currently being trained in Abuja. Read more
Trump denies U.S. embassy to be moved to Jerusalem within a year (Reuters)
President Donald Trump denied on Wednesday that the planned relocation of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would take place within a year, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected the controversial move to happen by then. Reversing decades of U.S. policy, Trump in early December recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and set in motion the process of moving the embassy from Tel Aviv, imperiling Middle East peace efforts and upsetting the Arab world and Western allies alike. Read more
Trump administration bars Haitians from U.S. visas for low-skilled work (Reuters)
Haitians will no longer be eligible for U.S. visas given to low-skilled workers, the Trump administration said on Wednesday, bringing an end to a small-scale effort to employ Haitians in the United States after a catastrophic 2010 earthquake. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the change less than a week after President Donald Trump reportedly questioned in an Oval Office meeting why the United States would want to take in immigrants from Haiti and African nations, referring to them as “shithole” countries. Trump has denied using that word. Read more
