Curator

http://ift.tt/2p65JIq Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) has rejected in totality the PIGB, describing it as insensitive. However, the Host Community Bill and Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill are at different stages of scrutiny at the National Assembly. As the Senate last week passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector have criticised the non-passage of the Host Community Bill. They emphasised the need for the Federal Government to urgently pass the bill that addresses host community issues to allow for peace and security in the Niger Delta, even as the Bill is yet to scale through the lower house of the National Assembly. Already, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) has rejected in totality the PIGB, describing it as insensitive. However, the Host Community Bill and Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill are at different stages of scrutiny at the National Assembly. Other cluster bills still expected include: the Upstream Petroleum License and...

http://ift.tt/2pfmUoR Current economic downturn in Nigeria, particularly the disparity between the naira and other major currencies has pushed Accion Microfinance Bank Limited (AMfB’s) Profit before tax to N700 million from N838 million in 2015 • Prioritises technology to drive financial inclusion, performance Current economic downturn in Nigeria, particularly the disparity between the naira and other major currencies has pushed Accion Microfinance Bank Limited (AMfB’s) Profit before tax to N700 million from N838 million in 2015, a decline, which indicates 17 per cent down from 2015. The Chairman, Board of Directors, AMfB, Patrick Akinwuntan, said the implementation of its digital agenda would increase organisational productivity, reduce processing time and cost to carrying out transactions, and provide customers with better services in order to improve performance in the face of the challenges. He noted that the bank grew its loan portfolio from N5.45 billion in 2015 to N6.12 b...

http://ift.tt/2q9FvG5 Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, at a two-day retreat, tagged: “Reforming Local Government Administration in Edo,” organised for Local Government administrators in Benin City, has pledged his administration’s commitment to work with the councils to boost their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). ‎He said the drop in crude oil prices had made it impossible for Federal allocation to sustain LGAs, as such, his administration has decided to put in place measures to assist them enhance their revenues. ‎The Governor said: “Let us be frank with ourselves, we need to strategise on how we can boost revenue and reduce costs; those are the solutions I can see. We have introduced the use of technology to collect revenue for LGAs in the state. In the pilot phase of the scheme, we were able to raise IGR from N42, 000 to N500, 000 at nine different collection points in Oredo LGA on a daily basis.” ‎ He promised that the state ...

http://ift.tt/2spPWCS The Head, UNIDO ITPO Nigeria, Mrs. Adebisi Olumodimu, gave the assurance at the closing ceremony of a four-day intensive training programme organised by UNIDO-ITPO Nigeria for three Federal Government agencies. The Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), has assured stakeholders that it will work with Africa, and indeed Nigeria, to realise the projected growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). It noted that the increase in global demand for Nigerian products is a pointer to Nigeria’s potential to contribute significantly to global economic development. The Head, UNIDO ITPO Nigeria, Mrs. Adebisi Olumodimu, gave the assurance at the closing ceremony of a four-day intensive training programme organised by UNIDO-ITPO Nigeria for three Federal Government agencies. She said a strong team had been developed to strengthen the training potential of the agencies toward impro...

http://ift.tt/2q3M5LI Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode PHOTO: LASG A democracy fiesta which began nationwide some days ago climaxed last Monday. Lagos strove to outdo other states with its Lagos My Success Story through which it celebrated those it considered as the exemplars of its exceptionalism. But the nebulous character of the concept became a source of excoriation for the state government in so far as it neglected some people whose successes constituted the excellence of the state. But this is not what has imbued the memory of the past few days with an unforgettable quality. Rather, it is the fact that the period unveiled a Lady Macbeth in the Lagos State house and that while the state government was valourising democracy which privileges the will of the people, it was at the same time serving one of its residents a robust measure of authoritarianism. If the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, is really concerned with the wellbeing of the people through building bridges...

http://ift.tt/2re4jNi It is noteworthy that we are beginning to realise that the Biafran issue will not go away until the fundamentals underpinning the agitation are resolved. As I was saying… Two days ago marked 50 years of the declaration of the Republic of Biafra by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Predictably, there was muscle-flexing between the police and the groups pushing for the revalidation of the Biafran dream, a dream that cost the country more than two million lives and untold horrors. There are three main groups agitating for the dusting up of that declaration and actualising it. The combined efforts of security agencies were on the red alert days before last Tuesday in the East Central states. They crime-mapped everywhere and demonstrated their strength and readiness in the air and on land. In the words of DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, “The aerial and land surveillance being experienced is part of the Command’s arrangements structured to upgrade her security network.” The day ev...

http://ift.tt/2r00QiP Peter Obi While writing the piece entitled “Peter Obi and One Wrist Watch” (The Guardian, May 10, 2017, page 17), I couldn’t have imagined that it would prompt anyone to question my credibility. That is what Echezona Okechi (a “former chairman, Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Public Petitions”) does in his piece entitled “Peter Obi and the Rest of Us” (The Guardian, May 19, 2017, page 18). He does this by alleging that mine was “organised” as a “defence” of Peter Obi for making “the claim that he has been wearing only one wristwatch for the past 17 years to prove that he leads a spartan lifestyle.” Perhaps I wouldn’t need to write this rejoinder but for the need to respond to Okechi’s allegation that my piece was “organised”, with obvious implications. Interestingly, the statement Okechi ascribes to Obi is different from what Obi said. This can be confirmed from the video of Obi’s appearance at the public event where he made the claim. But Okec...