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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By John Mayaki N O country can grow and prosper economically without a sustainably favourable environment that enables business to thrive. Indeed, no state can flourish economically and progressively improve the socio-economic condition of its people if it lacks workable economic policies and business-friendly atmosphere. To engender economic prosperity, those who drive the machinery of government must manifestly see to it that they constantly initiate and implement policies that make for the thriving of business and competitiveness, and continually address challenges that may hamper the boom of business even as they beat every path of available opportunities therein. To do otherwise is to stagnate, nurture poverty, and worsen the human condition. The foregoing position is a fitting summary of the strongly considered conclusions of a notable organisation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, based on a report of its findings in a recently conducted study in the area o...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Olawale Gabriel L AGOS— Fake and substandard products worth over N450 million were, yesterday, destroyed by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, at its dumpsite in Epe, Lagos State. The Director General, SON, Mr. Osita Aboloma, during the destruction, said substandard goods are dangerous to lives, properties and the nation’s economic health, calling on all stakeholders, including the media, to join in the campaign to get rid of such products wherever they exist in the country. He said: “We are destroying these substandard products worth over N450 million. These products have been labelled substandard after we carried out due diligence and conformity assessment to requisite standards on them.” According to him, the products all failed the conformity and integrity tests, maintaining that the decision to destroy them was to save lives and properties of Nigerians, who may fall victims and prey to these killer-products if allowed to circulate. He said: “...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Davies Iheamnachor P ORT HARCOURT— A cultist, Chukwuemeka Emenike, was yesterday behea-ded in a cult clash that claimed six others in two communities, Rumuekini, Obio/Akpor council, and Omerelu community in Ikwerre council of Rivers State. It was gathered that suspected cultists had on Sunday night beheaded him, abandoned his body in a drainage around Rumuekini community and displayed the decapitated head on the East-West Road area of Rumuosi. In Omerelu community,  five persons lost their lives in a cult war. The victims are  Okechukwu Enyindah; Bobo, popularly called   Banigo ; Amadi alias Too much Money ; Timothy and one other, simply identified as Scatter . Contacted, Police Public Relations Officer, DPS Nnamdi Omoni, who said they were aware of the Rumuekini incident, added, “it is cult related. “The victim is a notorious cultist in the state by name Chukwuemeka Emenike. “He is one of the leaders of Deygbam in the state. His ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Bashir Bello K ATSINA— A 30-year-old woman, Bola Anifowose, in possession of eight-year-old twins, was arrested alongside seven others by operatives of Katsina State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service, while attempting to cross the border to Agadez in Niger Republic, where they intended to move over to Libya and, finally, to Europe. The Comptroller of the Command, Alhaji Mohammed Rabiu, disclosed this in Katsina yesterday. He said they were arrested following intelligence information received by his men. According to him, ”luck ran out on them when they were trying to cross the Nigerian border through irregular route to Niger Republic and were intercepted by our operatives. “One of them is in possession of forged ECOWAS Travel Certificate. The remaining seven have no travel documents at all. “The suspected victims will be handed over to NAPTIP zonal office, Kano, for further action.” The twins were arrested along with a 30-year-old woman, who cla...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By AbdulSalam Muhammad KANO-Kano was thrown into mourning last night following the reported death of Malama Shatu Aminu, one of the surviving spouse of late Malam Aminu Kano. Family source in Kano told Vanguard that the matriarchal of Aminu Kano political dynasty died Sunday night at the age of 89. Shatu’s death came barely 34 years after her husband, Aminu Kano, a radical politician and founder of Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) joined his ancestors, April, 1983. Vanguard learned that late Shatu disappeared from public view two years ago following a strange ailment that struck her and had remained incommunicado till her last breadth. A public announcement by the family on selected private station in the commercial city fixed the burial ceremony at 2.00pm Monday. The post Breaking: Shatu, late Aminu Kano’s wife dies at 89 appeared first on Vanguard News . Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2qLyo6M

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Minna – The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it is monitoring the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), through its central Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in Abuja. Its Niger Coordinator, Mr Muhammed Ibrahim, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Minna that all the examination centres were linked to the CCTV. “Our staff, candidates and supervisors in all examination centres are being watched and recorded; it is part of our efforts to reduce or eliminate malpractices in the conduct of the test,” he said. The Coordinator said that 32, 000 candidates registered for the examination in Niger and were writing the test in 14 centres. He said that the exercise was smooth in many centres except at Jumai Aliyu Babangida Development Centre, Minna where a system failure was recorded. “The issue lingered a bit, so we immediately moved the candidates to the zonal office to write the examination,” he said. H...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Despite a brave performance and a 2-1 second leg victory, Atletico Madrid’s attempt to overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit from their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid fell short. It is the fourth straight season Atletico have been knocked out of the competition by their local rivals. Here, AFP sports looks at five key issues facing Atletico if they are to compete once more for their first ever Champions League next season. Smooth stadium transition Wednesday’s win was inspired by a phenomenal atmosphere for Atletico’s last ever European game at the Vicente Calderon. After 50 years Atletico will swap their home by Madrid’s Manzanares river just south of the city centre for the new 67,000 capacity out of town stadium to the city’s north. Doubts remain over whether the Wanda Metropolitano will be ready in time for the start of next season. However, even when the bricks and mortar are in place, replacing the emotional tide with which the Calderon ha...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The All Progressives Congress (APC) has elected Mansur Ali as its candidate for the June 20, 2017 by-election for Mashi/Dutsi Federal Constituency in Katsina State. Ali scored 288 votes to defeat two other contestants during the party’s primary held in Mashi on Thursday. His closest rival Auwalu Amasco had 224 votes while the other contestant Tasiu Doguru secured 39 votes. A total of 551 delegates participated in the primary with no invalid vote recorded. Newsmen report that the primary was supervised by Mr Jack Kalumba, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC]. Alhaji Arma Bala, the APC Chairman, Mashi Local Government called for unity among party members to ensure success during the election. He urged eligible voters in the area yet to obtain their voter cards, to take advantage of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration exercise to get registered. In a remark, the APC candidate solicited the support of those who lost in the p...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives gained seats in Friday’s early results from local elections in Britain, while Labour, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the Liberal Democrats all lost seats. After declarations from around 1,000 of the nearly 5,000 seats in Thursday’s elections, the Conservatives had gained more than 100, Labour had lost about 60 and UKIP had lost all of the 30 seats it held at the previous elections. Turnout dipped below 30 per cent in some of the polls, which followed last year’s Brexit referendum and a general election in 2015, and will be followed by another general election on June 8. Polls were held for 88 of the 418 local councils in Britain as analysts watched for clues on how the country could vote in the general election. Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, a former business secretary in a coalition government with the Conservatives, told the BBC the Conservatives were profiting from “taking on board the agenda as well as the f...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J South Sudan’s government has released a UN aid worker after detaining him for nearly a month, a top UN official has said. The aid worker, Peter Alex, was South Sudanese and a Nairobi-based spokeswoman for the World Food Programme. Other aid workers have been detained since civil war broke out in 2013 in South Sudan, which is increasingly split along ethnic lines, and at least 82 have been killed, including six in a single ambush in April. In February, the UN declared parts of the country were suffering from famine, the world’s first in six years. On Wednesday the government announced it was hiking annual registration fees for international charities from $600 to 3,500 dollars. “We are relieved to learn that Alex, a World Food Programme aid worker detained by the Government of South Sudan since April 10, has finally been released and reunited with his family,” Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN said. “Unfortunately, this is not a unique incident in Sout...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Unknown assailants attacked a UN operating base in northern South Sudan overnight, showing “callous disregard” for civilians and aid workers, the head of the UN mission said. The assault in the town of Leer, which lies in an oil-producing region, was repelled by Ghanaian peacekeepers. There were no reported injuries. The assailants’ identity was not clear. David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said the attack overnight from Wednesday into Thursday was launched from the direction of a nearby government-held town. “We call on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of UN premises. “We are here to protect and support the people of South Sudan. “It is clear the attackers have no consideration for their plight, given those who most desperately need help will suffer more because of a likely resulting delay of humanitarian aid,” Shearer said. Government officials were not immediately available for a comment. South Sudan’s main...