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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Ben Agande Kaduna State government has signed agreement with a Chinese company to build a refinery in the state, which will use crude oil from Niger Republic via a 400-kilometre pipeline from Niger to Kaduna. Governor Nasir el-Rufai disclosed this when he returned from the Asian country, where he led a business delegation to. A statement by the governor’s spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, said the proposed refinery is a 50,000 barrels per day capacity one and that representatives of the Kaduna Refinery Consortium and the China Machinery Engineering Corporation, CMEC, signed the agreement on the project this week in China. While the governor signed for the Kaduna consortium, Li Mingqiang signed for CMEC. Aruwan noted that during the trip, the Kaduna State team also signed a tripartite memorandum with the government of Hebei province and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC. Signed on May 22, the agreement commits the three parties to facilit...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Group Managing Director of SO&U Limited, Mr. UdemeUfot, has said marketing communicators can play a leading role in reshaping Africa’s historical and cultural values. He made this assertion in a paper entitled, “Brands and Cultural Diversity: The Reality of the Threat,” delivered at the just ended African Cristal Festival Awards in Marrakech, Morocco, where he was appointed a Creative Juror and Speaker. Ufot posited that advertising and marketing creativity can play a strong role in shaping and redefining Africa’s cultural evolution along its unique patterns. He, however, highlighted the need for “African creativity to find its voice, an identity and a creative flavour of its own that will be recognized and respected by the international creative community as our creativity does not have to be overtly western to be world class.” Recalling the reassuring examples from the creative industries across Africa, he noted that “Nigerian music has taken the world b...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Tare Youdeowei INSURANCE software Solutions Company, 3i-Infotech Ltd, has said it is committed to service delivery in the insurance industry through the provision of core insurance applications with cutting edge technology. Mr. Saurav Verma, Assistant Vice President and Regional Business Leader, West Africa, 3i-Infotech, made this known at a stakeholders’ forum tagged PREMIA Conclave, which was on PREMIA range of software solutions tailored made for the insurance industry. “We at 3i-Infotech have more than 120 plus customers globally using our PREMIA application; we have over 50 customers in the African region. PREMIA Conclave is part of our commitment to the growth and development of insurance practice in the country. It is a platform to bring all our customers under one roof. We listen to issues they are facing and take corrective measures. It is also a medium to announce new developments around PREMIA and what we offer in terms of after sales support,” sa...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Abdulwahab Abdulah lagos—A law firm has  threatened a legal action against the management of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), accusing it of not complying  with due diligence in awarding of contracts in line with the provisions of Public Procurement Act. Specifically, the firm, V.E,Bharalu & Co. stated that the NPA failed to comply with the laws in cargo bidding process, saying it reduced the submission of bids to 16 days as against the time frame allowed by the law. The legal firm, which said it feels concerned over the  alleged breach in procurement process as contained in Section 25(2)(ii) of the Procurement Act, which stipulates that submission of bids by bidders should cover a period of six weeks,  has given till June 30, 2017, with which the authority must comply with the provisions. It therefore demanded that it will seek redress in court if it (NPA) failed to comply with “ the  wordings of the Section 25(2)(ii) of the P...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J …As NAF probes alleged invasion of varsity By Gbenga Olarinoye  Kingsley Omonobi Osogbo—Students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH yesterday took to major streets of Osogbo, the Osun State Capital, to protest what they described as the neglect of the institution jointly owned by Osun and Oyo State Governments. The protest which began around 11am disrupted the free flow of traffic as the angry students blocked the major Orita-Olaiya Junction leaving motorists coming from different axes of the town to wait for about 40 minutes while the protest lasted. The protesters carrying placards with various inscriptions such as: Aregbe is a failure; Save LAUTECH now, and others marched from the state House of Assembly to Olaiya Junction where they demanded the quick intervention of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in their plight. According to the leader of the protesters, the Osun State Government has failed to address their demands in providing its own p...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Onozure Dania Lagos State Physical Planning and Permit Authority has turned down a request to demolish a N28 million building on Adeniyi- Adele Road, on Lagos Island. The Ministry said that the property is structurally sound and in no danger of collapsing and  does not contravene any provision of the Lagos Physical Planning and Environmental Law. It was also noted that the property in question is subject of litigation in suit No. LD/13/17, Anthony Mbachi vs Chidi Nwanya, Chibueze Nwanya and Lagos State Physical Planning and Permit Authority before the state High Court. Claimant in the suit, Anthony Nkemjika, averred that on June 18, 2012,  he paid N28 million  to the defendants as full and final payment for the property at No. 18A, Adeniji–Adele Road Lagos and the money was duly receipted. The claimant further averred that afterwards, the defendants informed him that they had changed their minds and now intend to demolish the property and reb...

http://ift.tt/2qfvczw By Perez Brisibe & Paul Olayemi SAPELE—Delta State Police Command, yesterday, disclosed that the remains of four policemen declared missing, following an attack on Police Marine Base, Sapele, have been recovered. The attack further heightened tension in Sapele and environs as security sources disclosed that the base was attacked by a gang of suspected militants operating in the area, who also made away with an undisclosed number of arms and ammunition. The source hinted that the remains of the operatives were discovered in the river between Abigborodo and Arouwun communities in Warri North and Sapele Local Government areas. The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, said: “Investigation into the incident is on. We had to go in search of the bodies because at first, they were declared missing and it was later that we found their remains. “I am not in the position to say if they are pirates or not. We are still searching for the arms...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Vincent Ujumadu AWKA—A Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship aspirant for the November 18, 2017 election in Anambra State and former secretary to the state government, SSG, Mr. Oseloka Obaze has described Nigeria as a nation experiencing governance crisis, arguing that the country was not working optimally at the federal, state and local government levels. Obaze, a retired diplomat, who spoke at a forum of the Anambra State Correspondents chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Awka, yesterday, added that Nigeria was in what he called ‘arrested development,’ a situation he described as worrisome. According to him, Nigeria was not just in recession, but also in deep trouble, noting that even as Nigerians were hungry, the economy was under performing in almost all sectors. While acknowledging the efforts of the government through the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP), he regretted that the political leadership had continued to str...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Daud Olatunji A BEOKUTA— The unending clash between men of Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operation Unit, FOU, Ikeja, and smugglers in Ogun State manifested again, yesterday, at Sango Tollgate end of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Ado-Odo-Ota Local Government Area, leaving one of the smugglers dead. Vanguard gathered that the clash occurred when smugglers ambushed a convoy of Customs vehicles, which was carrying seized 45 bags of rice and 258 cartons of turkey, said to have been smuggled in through the Republic of Benin, to the Customs warehouse in Lagos. An eyewitness told Vanguard that there was confusion at the tollgate as traders and passers-by scampered for safety when the Customs men and smugglers engaged themselves in a gun battle. After the dust was settled, it was discovered that one person, a suspected smuggler, was dead. Vanguard further gathered that the hoodlums, who were said to have been irked by the death of their own, whose identify cou...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Ugochukwu Alaribe ABA— The youth wing of the pan-Igbo socio political group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has warned the Federal Government against using the whistle-blowing policy as a tool to victimize political opponents. The group said it was worried over an alleged plot by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to frame up the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, and raid his residence during which some cash and arms would be recovered. In a statement signed by the group’s national secretary, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike and national publicity secretary, Mazi Obinna Adibe, Ohanaeze youths, who described the alleged plot as a desperate and orchestrated attempt to stifle the voices of the opposition, cautioned the Federal Government against taking steps that will undermine the democratic process and unity of Nigeria. The statement read: “We are greatly perturbed by the recent alarm by the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, that the Federal G...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Ochuko Akuopha O LEH —ISOKO Development Union, IDU, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Isoko nation, has described as saddening, the House of Representatives’ rejection of the motion seeking the relocation of oil companies’ operational headquarters to the Niger Delta, urging the lawmakers to reverse the decision so as not to trigger another round of crisis in the oil-rich region. Reacting to the development, President General of IDU, Chief Iduh Amadhe, said: “It is unbelievable that the lawmakers could do this. With this, they are not helping to improve security in oil producing communities and states in the Niger Delta. “It is a sad development. When the Vice President went round the oil producing states and spoke to the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, he gave the directive that the oil companies should relocate their headquarters to their operational areas. So, if they say this directive should be killed, they are saying that there is no hope for o...