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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Sebastine Obasi STAKEHOLDERS in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry appear to have welcomed “project 100”, a concept initiated by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to financially assist competent Nigerian companies in the execution of projects, hitherto handled by foreign companies. Speaking at Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, Kachikwu explained, “On project 100, conceptually, we need to develop the concept, develop the parameters around it and put in place the team to work on it. I will say in the next 90 days, we will come out with a position on the project and hopefully, get Nigerians that will be on the project out for training.” Expressing support for the project, Managing Director, Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, OGFZA, Umana Okon Umana, said it will go a long way in supporting Nigerian entrepreneurs in the oil and gas industry, who show potentials. “I think it is a welcome development and it fits into...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The 3rd Lagos State Secondary Schools Handball Competition tagged Opeifa Cup continued Tuesday at the Rowe Park Yaba with Zumratul Islammiyyah suffering double defeats in the boys’ and girls’ junior categories to miss out of the knockout stage. The girls team of the Yaba-based Zumratul succumbed 2-0 to St. Francis and the boy’s team also fell 2-0 to Eletu Edibo. To compound their woes, the boy’s team were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. However, it was a different story for Phoenix Secondary School as they outplayed Oriwu Junior Girls to enhance their chances of scooping a title at the week-long tournament. The second day of action also saw Phoenix Secondary School shine over Oriwu Junior Girls with a 1-0 win while Mobalaji Bank-Anthony Junior Girls ran riot with a 10-0 win over Euba School. Herbert Macaulay also matched the scoring prowess of their neighbours as they defeated Akoka Secondary School 10-0 to send shivers down the spines of other ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Ugochukwu Alaribe ABA — Some indigenes of Ebonyi State resident in Aba, Abia State have decried the dilapidated state of the government lodge located in the city. South East Voice  observed that a section of the Ebonyi Government Lodge is being used by some traders, artisans and horticulturists who display their wares in the area. It was gathered that Ebonyi Government Lodge, Aba, was inherited by the state government during the creation of the State in 1996. The indigenes who spoke to South East Voice during Governor Dave Umahi’s state visit to Abia State, on May 5, lamented that the Lodge located on  8 Aba-Owerri road with the Government Reserved Area, GRA, in the city, has been dilapidated with worn out entrance gates and perimeter fence. An indigene of Ebonyi State, resident in Aba, Solomon Alike, who hails from Izzi local government area, said the dilapidated state of the Lodge has been a cause of concern to them and appealed to the Ebonyi Sta...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J … Directors of banks, oil companies earn N13.4bn …As shareholders kick By Peter Egwuatu As recession pummeled corporate financials, about 54 leading companies quoted across the sectors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, took a 12.9 per cent cut on their emoluments and other remuneration packages in 2016 financial year, FY’16. But though the FY’16 of the affected companies indicated that total amounts accrued to them went down to N17.6 billion, almost 13 per cent from N20. 22 billion in 2015, some banks and oil companies still smiled home with fat pay packages, causing some shareholders’ groups to raise concerns. However, the cuts effected by some of the companies was contrary to the regular yearly upward adjustments which the Boards of Directors usually recommended at backdrop of inflation uptick. Consequently, for those companies they  accounted for the overall drop, their directors’ remuneration was negative to inflation which rose by average 18 per c...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J China’s main stock indexes extended gains on Friday morning, as the central bank’s move to inject funds amid liquidity worries offered some solace. The CSI300 index rose 0.5 percent, to 3,373.49 points at the end of the morning session, and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4 percent, to 3,073.48 points. Both indexes remained on track for a fifth straight week of losses amid persisting regulatory worries. China’s central bank injected fresh funds through a medium-term lending facility on Friday while keeping a tight rein on short-term funding. This appeared to be a further effort to dampen speculative investment while the economy remains adequately funded. The central bank also issued a notice to banks to inquire about interest rates on inter-bank borrowings, loans and bill markets, the official Shanghai Securities News reported a day earlier. Tight liquidity conditions have been a major concern for investors amid a crackdown on banks’ risky financial acti...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The immediate past president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Engineer Emeka Onyeama has described the completion of the first phase of the 2 Cricket ovals in Abuja as a dream come true. The world class facilities which is first of its kind in Nigeria and the West African sub region which started under the Onyeama-led NCF is located at the Package B of the National Stadium, Abuja. Speaking on the significance of the first turf wicket in West Africa, Onyeama said the construction of the world class facility is one of the key achievements of his board between 2013 and 2017. “When we came on board, our focus was how to institutionalize cricket in Nigeria and popularize the game at the grassroots which has never been before. “These cricket ovals are Nigeria’s ticket to the global cricket community. There are so many gains in this noble venture by the NCF. “Upon completion of these facilities, the country can now bid for international competitions which will in ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Francis Ewherido Growing up, one of the many sayings I heard was, Odada r’igho be karo . Literally, it means that it is very difficult to carve the arrow of money. But the real meaning is that it is difficult to be a rich man. A rich man in this case is one who has accumulated, sustained and protected his wealth over a reasonable period of time. As we say in Warri: “I get am before no be property.” To be a rich man is a marathon, not a sprint. You cannot be awash with cash today and be flat broke tomorrow and you say you are a rich man in the real sense. Of course, we have those who are cash rich and asset poor and vice versa. Having been married for 18 years, having been teaching couples preparing for marriage in the past 14 years and having been writing this column since 2013, I have taken more than a passing interest in the marital institution. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on which is more difficult to carve, the arrow of money or the arrow of ma...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Ugoji Egbuji Reno Omokri is a Pentecostal pastor. He is the founder of a certain Mind of Christ Christian Centre. Keep that name in mind. He flaunts his knowledge of the Bible. He dispenses nuggets. He has written a book on Godly wisdom. And another, interestingly, on “short cut to God.” He has taught Jesus on television. He was once a spokesman for a country’s president. Yet, he is, obviously, a flippant man. He is, evidently, a political attack dog. He is, seemingly, incapable of sobriety. And apparently, he has no use for self-restraint. But this is not about a 43 year-old Papa Reno Omokri. It is about the watery Pentecostalism that has birthed many of his kind. It is about a pattern of dissonance, a habitual lack of harmony between what is preached in words and what is preached in deed. It’s about naked hypocrisy that is rampant in our politics, that has seized the church by the scruff of the neck. It is about the lust for titles, and for oversized names ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Sufuyan Ojeifo When President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) entered the presidential race in 2015, he might not have appreciated, as a fact, that he was taking his luck too far, given his age and, more importantly, his health status.   Recall that he had unsuccessfully run for the position of president in 2003, 2007 and 2011.   Following his defeat in 2011, he  had, amid lachrymal emotion, announced that he would not contest the presidency again. But the opposition forces, which had done their political calculations, realised that the only person who could passionately galvanise popular support in the north was Buhari.   Little wonder they made available all the resources needed for his presidential enterprise while he only made himself available. Those opposed to his presidency panicked because of the cult-like following that he enjoyed in the north.   Added to the south-west votes that would be mobilised under the formi...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Theodore Opara THE Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kunle Ade Ojo, has lamented the poor vehicle sales recorded in the country in the first quarter of the year which fell to an all time low of 2,000 vehicles within the period. Briefing newsmen at their Lekki, Lagos office during their quarterly meeting, the managing director disclosed that the total sales figure of vehicles across the country including all brands stood at 2,000 units when compared to 5,500 vehicles sold within the same period in 2016. He, therefore, forecast that given the way the industry was going, it would be difficult for all the car companies to sell 9,000 vehicle before the end of the year Economic shortfall He attributed the poor sales and import figure of vehicles to scarcity of foreign exchange, devaluation of the naira, high interest rate and high duty being paid by automobile companies in the country. Ade-Ojo said, “The scarcity of foreign exchange, devaluation ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Theodore Opara AT the first quarter review of the 2017 Management/Commanding Officers Strategy Session of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) held at the Corps’ Academy in Udi, Enugu State, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has charged unit commanders from across the commands of the federation to provide purposeful leadership in their commands for the stability of the corps. He stated this while declaring open the strategy session to review the corps’ operational activities in the first quarter of the year in the determination to ensure that the FRSC remains on top in its service delivery programmes. A press statement by FRSC’s Head, Media Relations and Strategy, Bisi Kazeem, said Oyeyemi commended staff of the corps for sustaining high level of commitment to service delivery as evidenced by the excellent performances displayed during the last Christmas and new year special end of year patrol. The statement said Oyeyemi noted that despite ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J ASUU strike also unhelpful By Dayo Adesulu NIGERIAN public administration scholar and professor of management, Ladipo Adamolekun, has frowned at the explosion in the number of first class and second class upper degrees being awarded by many universities, adding that universities should rather give its students qualitative education that will revamp the shambolic sector. “The explosion in the number of first class and second class upper degrees in many universities since the mid-2000s is no more than a result of grade inflation in both the public and private universities, with the latter as the greater culprits. Any suggestion that there is an iota of doubt about decline in the quality of university education in Nigeria for close to three decades is disingenuous,” he said while while delivering a convocation lecture on ‘Salvaging Nigeria Universities’ at the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti. Drawing his assertion from various indices, the 1968 First Class schola...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Kelechukwu Iruoma & Oluwatobi Alabi IN a bid to put an end to the increasing incidences of violence against women and young ladies, Rotary International district 9110 Nigeria has urged Nigerian students to shun Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in public and private schools in the country. In a public lecture tagged: “Youth Protection, Security for the Future,” Mr. Gbenga Ganzallo the coordinator, research and programmes, Women Arise for Change speaker, who delivered his lecture on behalf of human rights activist, Dr. Joe Okei Odumakin, reflects and reinforces inequalities between men and women. He said according to the 2012 Gender in Nigeria report, “one out of five Nigerian women and girls aged 15-24 years has been a victim of one form of violence or the other.” He said GBV knows no boundaries as it affects all categories of women/young girls, rich/poor, old/young; Christian/Muslim; and people from various ethnic backgrounds. He said establishment of sc...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Oluwatobi Alabi OLECULAR Biology and Biotechnology Department of Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) will be holding its seventh Annual Molecular Biology Hands-on-Training workshop. The 2017 Molecular Biology Hand-on-training workshop with the theme: “Protein Expression” is schedule to hold from August 7-11, 2017 at NIMR conference room, Yaba, Lagos. Areas which the conference will focus on during the five-day Hands-on-Training workshop include: Current Methods in Molecular Biology,Ethical issues of challenges in Genetic Research, Molecular Evolution of viruses of Public Health Importance: from Genomics to Proteomics, Introduction and Principles of SDS-PAGE and Basic Protein Interaction Techniques. Also, there will be practical sessions on PCR, SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting. The Molecular Biology hands-on-Training workshop started in 2009 with the theme ‘Molecular Biology and Biotechnology: Roadmap to Specific Diagnosis.’ The themes for the previou...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Benjamin Njoku Front-line movie producer in Nigeria, Zeb Ejiro, OON, is currently warming up to delve into politics, ahead of 2019 general elections. Sources close to the creator of the popular Sitcom, “Ripples” which ran for five years uninterrupted on NTA before it was rested in 1993, said Zeb as a card carrying member of PDP is planning to contest for the House of Representatives, Isoko Federal Constituency, in Delta State. The seat is presently occupied by Hon. Leo Ogor who, according to our source, is considering vying for the seat for the fifth time in a row. Zeb, who our source said, he’s going into politics because he wants to make a positive impact on the lives of the Isoko nation has already started  making underground moves prior to flagging off  his political campaigns soon. “ Zeb is going into politics in 2019. He will be contesting for the House of Representatives, Isoko Federal Constituency under the platform of PDP.  His campaig...