President Muhammadu Buhari has advised the African Export and Import Bank (AFREXIM) to do more in building infrastructure and development of the real sector of the economy.
According to the President, who received in audience at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, today, Thursday, members of the Board of African Export and Import Bank, AFREXIM, led by Dr Benedict Okey, such concentration on real sector will reduce the nation’s infrastructure deficit.
“The Federal Government will keep knocking on the doors of the bank to participate more in building infrastructure and developing the real sector.
“We realize that we do need money to fix the appalling state of infrastructure we met; to do roads, railways, power and communications – a sector now mostly in private hands which is doing very well.
“Don’t be tired of us. We will be coming to you again and again. Please accommodate us,’’ the President told the Board of AFREXIM.”
President Buhari said the nation is facing a challenge of fixing and putting in place long delayed infrastructure and will need strong partnerships for quick and better results.
Buhari, who pledged that his government will remain committed to full implementation of all agreements, said: “we are grateful for the much you are doing for us, but we will continue to knock on your doors for more and more as we strive to overcome our infrastructure deficit.”
The President considered it an honour for Nigeria to host AFREXIM’s Annual General Meeting and 25th Anniversary in Abuja.
The President and Chairman of AFREXIM Board of Directors, Dr. Oramah expressed satisfaction with the support of the Nigerian government in the operations of the bank, noting that the bank’s confidence in Nigeria justifies the huge loans it had granted to the country.
He said that the 20,000 participants attending the Annual General Meeting had already expressed their satisfaction with the quality of arrangements for the event, which includes security.
A former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana has declared his intention to run for the 2019 Presidency on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), even as he warned against re-electing President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
Professor Gana, who spoke today, Thursday in Abuja while officially declaring his interest to run for the Presidency, said the level of crippling uncertainty everywhere in the country is saddening.
“Being a patriotic and committed democrat, who has carried a burden for the rapid development of our far nation for decades, I am deeply concerned at the very real prospect of Nigeria imploding unless our great party comes to the rescue with a God fearing, dynamic, untainted and credible leadership,
“Nigeria is facing an existential threat, the seriousness and proportion of which have never been witnessed since the end of the war.
“There is crippling uncertainty everywhere. People are suffering unprecedented and untold hardships as a result of arrested development. Insecurity that has rendered human life brutish, short and nasty is rampart across the zones, states, communities and villages.
“Asymmetrical war on corruption is fueling further ethnic decadence, while anxiety, unpatriotism and poverty have coalesced into a creepy epidemic of self-doubt. In all of this, the current leadership of the nation, at the highest level of government seems unconcerned, incompetent or incapable of turning around the drift.
“Since I joined politics in 1978 at the younger age in my early 30s, about 40 years ago, under the mentorship of the Greta Owelle Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the inspiration of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the tutelage of the emancipator chief Solomon Lar, the charismatic Alhaji Abubakar Rimi among many others right from my days in the Nigerian Senate, I have maintained a track record of performances.
“I have maintained integrity, competence, character, capacity and respect to public office. These opportunities and exposure added to the fact that I have widely traveled across the length and breadth of the nation, many times by toad, I have a front row understanding of our country, as well as the wealth of experience have definitely placed me in a most very vantage position, for above several others, to remark Nigeria and deeply renew the hope of the people in the federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Having consulted and affirmed by my family, local community, friends and a cross-section of eminent citizens and stakeholders across the core national divides of ethnicity, religion and regions, I am convinced that this is the fit time for me to offer for this national assignment on the platform of our great party.
“By my track record, my desire to seek to contest the election into the highest political office is not motivated by a quest for self-glorification nor aggrandizement, rather it is borne out of my patriotic zeal and conviction that with my pedigree, experience, skills and academic endowment, I can provide the requisite leadership to transform the fortunes of our people and change the trajectory of our country towards the attainment of our fullest potentials.
“It is my hope and prayer that the party will positively note my interest as under your able leadership, it offers opportunities for service to our dear country, Nigeria.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a sympathy message to the Government and people of Japan over the loss of lives and property following a heavy downpour that resulted in flooding and landslides.
In Letter to the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, President Buhari described the tragedy as an “unprecedented weather disaster.”
He conveyed the prayers of the people of Nigeria for the Japanese as they surmount the fall out of the sad incident, saying he was shocked at such a large number of death as a result of the disasters.
“On behalf of the government and the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I write to commiserate with the Government and people of Japan, following last week’s torrential rain that caused floods and subsequent landslides in Western Japan, killing over one hundred and seventy six persons and forcing millions to evacuate their homes while dozens remain missing.
“It is indeed sad that the unprecedented weather disaster, the worst since 1982, has caused massive destruction to livelihood in the flood stricken areas. Our thoughts and sympathy are with the distressed population and indeed the entire people of your country during this period of national grief.
“I am confident that the Government and people of Japan will quickly recover from this tragedy and show resilience while embarking on the rebuilding process.”
Meanwhile, President Buhari has described education as a veritable doorway through which the boundless potentials of youths can be positively harnessed for the benefit of society, and the country at large.
Receiving the outgoing Ambassador of Belarus, Mr. Vyacheslav Beskosty, who has spent over six years in Nigeria as the pioneer Ambassador of his country, Buhari said: “I am impressed by your successful tour of duty, particularly in the area of educational ties between our countries: over 600 young Nigerians are in your country, trying to guarantee a better future for themselves through education.”
President Buhari said that the relationship between Nigeria and Belarus is sure to grow stronger in the years ahead.
This was even as Ambassador Beskosty said that Nigeria had big potential for economic cooperation with his country, adding that military and technical ties are equally proceeding satisfactorily.
He said that agricultural development is on the priority list of the Buhari administration, adding that Belarus, as the world’s biggest producer of fertilizers, and a giant in production of tractors has a great role to play in the bid to achieve food self-sufficiency in Nigeria.
The outgoing Ambassador commended the Buhari administration for its service to the nation, and that people are already seeing significant changes in the country.
“We had a wonderful exchange and we both got a sense that we are opening a new page in the relationship between South Africa and Nigeria and this new page gives us opportunity to go beyond where we have been before in a number of areas.”
These were the words of the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa when he spoke to news men at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Nigeria, shortly after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ramaphosa said that the two of them agreed that Nigeria and South Africa should pursue what he called ‘Africa focused foreign policy.’
Since I took over office this is the first visit that I am undertaking beyond the borders of Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries in our region, in the southern part of our continent. It is an important visit for us.
He added that in pursuing such African focused foreign policy, they would deepen the relationship between them, “seeing that Nigeria is the most populous country on the whole continent whose economy is the largest on our continent.
“It is important that South Africa and Nigeria should develop and deepen the relationships between them: deepen them at a people to people level and also at an economy level and of course, underpinned by good political relations between the two countries.
“At an economy level, our various companies from South Africa are already business here and in a number of ways are diplomats of our country.
“At the political level, we took time during our discussions to thank the people of Nigeria and the leadership of Nigeria over the many years for the support they gave to our struggle.
“Today, we are a free and independent country and this is largely due to the support that we got from a number of countries around the world but more especially on the African continent.
“Nigeria which is six hours away from South Africa was proudly regarded as a front line state because it was really at the frontline of our titanic struggle against apartheid. Nigeria and indeed Nigerians never flinched for a minute in support of our struggle. In fact Nigerians even took it a little further; President Buhari related that Nigerians through their households contributed money into the Organization of African Union Fund to support the struggle against apartheid.
“So, I took time to thank President Buhari and Nigerians for the support that we received during our struggle.
“We also had time of course to reconfirm that we do want to deepen the relations between the two countries. To this end, we are going to focus on the Bi-National Commission that was set up between our two countries and make sure that the place where it is elevated to at the president level, is where the action should happen.
“We will expect our officials to do the technical part of a number of things and our ministers to work on the various areas where we need to deepen our cooperation through agreements. And that when President Buhari and I meet, we will then be able to either sign off or to ensure that implementation happens.
“In this regard, we will like to have our next Bi-National Commission in South Africa. I have invited President Buhari to come for a state visit later this year when our Bi-National Commission will then take place.
“We also exchange views on a number of important economic matters, particularly with regards to the oil industry and how South Africa can be part of this whole process. We will also exchange views on how to deepen trade between our two countries and a number of other areas.
“So, all in all we had a wonderful exchange and we both got a sense that we are now opening a new page in the relationship between South Africa and Nigeria and this new page gives us the opportunity to go beyond where we have been before and find a number of areas we can reached agreements and on this regard make sure that the benefits that should accrue to our people is actually bountiful, particularly in the area of opening up of the African continent through the Free Trade Agreement and we will be able to ensure that our economies grow by leaps and bound.
“So, a new page has been opened and we are delighted as presidents, ministers and our officials that we are at the right place at the right time to extend the relationship between nigeria and South Africa to a higher level.” [myad]
National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has vowed that some elements of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who have constituted themselves as clog in the wheel of development of the country will soon be flushed out.
Oshiomhole, who spoke to news men today, Wednesday at the APC National Secretariat, stressed: “we are aware that even as at today, we still have a lot of PDP people occupying very important positions in federal agencies. We will do everything possible to purge these elements out of the system because we are a party of change.
“When Nigerians complain that they have not seen the change we promised in certain areas, it is because those agencies are still being managed by PDP elements.
“They are the conservative right-wing party. We cannot entrust to conservative forces an agenda for change. Government is not in the Villa. Villa is the head of government. Government is in the agencies – what they do, how they do it, the quality of service delivery and the style of that service delivery.
“That is how the ordinary man interfaces with power and if these agencies are in the hands of those who do not believe in our change agenda, then we cannot expect miracles from them.
“And for those who are aggrieved as to how certain things are done, those who question that they do not seem to see the difference because substantially, PDP is still managing these agencies.
“So, we have a duty to convince the federal executive that we have no business, this government has no business with any PDP in sensitive federal agencies and using their old tactics in service delivery. That, I believe is a task that all of us must pursue.
“I believe that we now must work consciously to ensure that in replacing, we replace sinners with believers.
“Believers are those who are card-carrying members of our party and before we go outside the party family, we must convince ourselves that the persons we are taking, we are taking him because we do not have that particular expertise within the family, but even so, he must first take the card and demonstrate loyalty because if you do not believe in a process, you cannot be entrusted with the management of that process.
“It is not because we are hungry to let our people have jobs, but because I have no confidence that PDP appointees can drive the changes that APC promised. APC promises must be kept by APC activists at managerial level, at board level and at political level.
“That, we must all work to achieve but while we are working on that, I will ask you to have patience because some people give up too much early in life. If you work with conviction that you didn’t get exactly what you expected is not a reason to look the other way. I think the most fundamental purpose that brought the APC into being was to save Nigerians from the misrule of the PDP. That has been achieved but the second challenge is now to take advantage of our being in office to work hard to deliver to Nigerians, first, before ourselves.
“We will show mercenaries the exit. We will do everything possible to assuage those who have genuine grievances who simply want fairness and justice.
“I believe on your behalf, I can give them all the assurance that there will be justice, there will be fairness. However, for the mercenaries, who mistakenly joined the party because of what they can gain personally, not for the good of the country, not for the good of the party; they came in purely for greener pastures and they have found that they have had to work hard to plant the grass, to wet it, nourish it for it to become green and they cannot wait, they want to run, not because we have wronged them but because we just cannot satisfy a mercenary, for those ones, we will not only open the door, we are ready to open even the windows.
“But I am ready to go to any length to persuade and appeal to genuine people who are aggrieved, but like I have said, I am not intimidated; I am not frightened, I am not impaired and I want to urge everyone of you individually and collectively that we cannot be intimidated.
“And if any of us had doubts, from what we saw the other day, a collection of old coaches searching frantically for new ideas.
“The more they search, the more they get old players, not even the best of them, but the worst of old players and I do not think Nigerians can be fooled by a coalition of that. If you harness the energy of one million snails and transform it into one snail to run, it cannot catch up with an Antelope.
“So, when we were told 50 political parties had merged to confront us towards 2019, I was excited because first, that is a clear admission that as things stand today, neither the one we defeated before, the PDP, nor the new one that claim they have formed a new party but populated by the same old tired legs, or the mushroom parties that were formed for the purpose of getting handouts from INEC but that they agreed that none of them has what it takes and they are now saying to Nigerians that ‘we want to capture power even though we are different, but for the purpose of capturing power, we will unite’, and I do not think Nigerians need any further explanation that enough of this opportunistic politicking.
“Like any battle, there must be the other side of the battle. If you want to fight corruption, corruption will fight back and because you cannot use corrupt means to fight corruption, those who have assets who are fighting back have huge war-chest to confront a government that does not have the kind of money that they have.
“So, you are the foot soldiers who have the quiet challenging responsibility of having to explain to Nigerians. APC to demonetize politics
“We have a lot of options in our constitution. We have the option of direct primaries. By direct primaries, you remove the power away from delegates to the party members and so if you think that you can compromise the delegates and undermine the wishes of majority of our members, we will call our members to do the voting. So, all those options are open. If we ask you to do consensus, you refuse to do consensus and you want to do a one man show, we know that one man cannot do election, we will neutralize those abuse of privileges by allowing direct membership participation. This leadership cannot be compromised.
“We will not be intimidated and we will not misuse our privileges to deny any one of our members appropriate opportunities to contests and have the opportunity to serve the country”. To win Ekiti, we must be one step ahead of Fayose
“You saw our outing yesterday (Tuesday) in spite of all the crude misuse of limited state power which Governor Fayose chose to do but our superior commitment to progress and to overcome challenges explains the huge crowd that you saw.
“I was happy today that he was talking about crowd that was hired. If we can hire crowd, right, that is nice because he had demobilize the movement facility by paying off all the taxi drivers, bus drivers and Okada riders to make sure that there was no local transportation but like I said, you can demobilize all of those but what you cannot demobilize is the will of the people to do what they believe in.
“And we saw a stadium that was packed full as if Fayose was not in town. I was excited and I feel proud that our members in Ekiti know that for us to overcome and to win the forthcoming election against a man who has had to rely on instrument of violence not only to win but to retain power that they need to be one inch ahead of him. That point was made yesterday and I am sure it will be proven by the special grace of God on Saturday.”
WhatsApp has announced the launch of a new feature globally that will highlight when a message has been forwarded and not composed by the sender.
The messaging application made the move public on Tuesday through its official blog following calls from various parts of the world, including India, to tackle the spread of fake news.
In the statement, the platform, owned by Facebook, said, “Starting today, WhatsApp will indicate which messages you receive, have been forwarded to you.
“This extra context will help make one-on-one and group chats easier to follow,” WhatsApp said in a blog.
“It also helps you determine if your friend or relative wrote the message they sent or if it originally came from someone else.
“To see this new forwarded label, you need to have the latest supported version of WhatsApp on your phone,” WhatsApp added.
Recently, while replying a notice by the Indian government to take immediate measures to prevent misuse of its platform, WhatsApp had said that it was testing a new label that highlights when a message has been forwarded.
“This could serve as an important signal for recipients to think twice before forwarding messages.
“Because it lets a user know if content they received was written by the person they know or a potential rumour from someone else,” it had said.
In its blog, the instant messaging application added, “WhatsApp cares deeply about your safety.
“We encourage you to think before sharing messages that were forwarded. As a reminder, you can report spam or block a contact in one tap and can always reach out to WhatsApp directly for help.”
The company had last month also announced “unrestricted monetary awards” for research on spread of misinformation on its platform to address the problem.
Gov Flags Off Sales Of 15,000 Metric Tons OF Fertiliser | Photo credit: Insidearewa
The sokoto state Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has flagged off the sales of 15,000 metric tons fertilizer, loaded in 500 trucks, for the 2018 wet season farming. The fertilizer will be sold to farmers at the heavily subsidized rate of 4,000 Naira per bag.
The sales, which began today, Wednesday in Tureta local Government area of the state, attracted hundreds of farmers.
Speaking at the occasion, governor Tambuwal advised the farmers to use the fertilizer judiciously.
He warned against diversion of the product to middle men, even as he reminded the farmers that they were one of the most vital links in the cocktail of measures designed by the state to boost food security.
The governor also advised the farmers to imbibe the culture of using improved seedlings on their farms for improved Agricultural yields.
He then distributed support packages to target beneficiaries of IFAD support programme in the state.
Fertilizers, goats, fishery equipment and improved seeds were among the items given in support of the efforts of farmers in Sokoto State.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Operations, Habila Joshak, has announced that the security details of Governor Ayodele Fayose, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi and other important personalities in Ekiti will be withdrawn during the governorship election in the State on Saturday.
The Police boss who addressed news men today, Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti, capital of the Sate, said that no party will be allowed to hold any political rally that is not approved by the Police until the election is held.
Habila Joshak said that he will work with one Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr. H.H. Karma and three other Commissioners of Police: Ali Janga, J.B. Kokumo and G.B. Umar, who would man each of the senatorial districts in the state.
He said that they have contacted security details of Governor Fayose and that of the candidate of Dr. Fayemi as well as other top government officials to report at 6am at the Police headquarters in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday.
“We won’t allow anybody to go to the polling booth with armed men, because it will be a breach of the Electoral Act. We have contacted them and they have to be here before election commences. This election must not be compromised.
“They will be documented and whoever defies this will be sanctioned, because they have been contacted.”
President Muhammadu Buhari in a chat with the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa when he visited Nigeria’s Aso Rock Presidential Villa today Wednesday, 11 July. Photo by Sunday, Aghaeze. [myad]
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed that he will bring to justice, some miscreants who have been responsible for the killing of foreigners, including Nigerians in his country.
Answering reporters’ questions today, shortly after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Ramaphosa emphasized that the frequent attacks and killing of Nigerians living in South Africa, have been “as a result of criminal activity among our own people, which we are focusing on.
“I want to state here and now that South Africans do not have any form of negative disposition or hatred towards Nigerians and in the main, Nigerians in South Africa and a number of places of our country live side by side. They cooperate very well and some of them are in the corporate structures of our various companies and some are traders and some are into a number of things.
“So, I want to dispel this notion that when a Nigerian loses his or her life in South Africa, it is as a result of an intentional action by South Africans against Nigerians. That is simply not true.
“You will know that South Africa has a number of challenges, one of which is criminality and which is all pervasive. We have over a number of years been bringing down a number of crimes in our country and we are working on a concerted basis to ensure that crime does come down. “And the criminality that we have is borne out of a number of factors, one of those is unemployment among people: 27 percent of South Africans are unemployed which amount to about nine million and most of these are young people. Poverty is still all pervasive in South Africa and this emanate front our very sad history of apartheid misrule.
“There is still inequality in South Africa; a few people are extremely rich and majority of our people are very poor and all these factors and other social factors have contributed to the high levels of crime. And criminality is something like I said that we are focusing on, doing everything to bring it down.
“And on top of everything else, people in various parts of the country who get engulfed in acts of criminality, majority of them are South Africans and some of them will be foreign nationals and will either be Nigerians and other people from other countries.
“These are acts of criminality and I want to end by saying that, when we were involved in our struggle, we said that the South Africa that we are fighting for is the South Africa which will regard everyone who lives in South Africa on the basis of equality, respect for human right. And we said that South Africa belongs to all the people who live in it.
“So, the Nigerians who are in South Africa are also part of our community. They can never be targeted on an intentional basis as people who must either be attacked or killed, and when that happens l will like all of us to see that as an act of criminality which in the main, affect many South Africans in the various parts of our country.
“Our government is determined to bring the levels of criminality down and also to go after those who perpetrate these acts of criminality. So that anyone who attacks anyone in South Africa will be pursued with the might of the law to make sure they are brought to justice.”
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WhatsApp has announced the launch of a new feature globally that will highlight when a message has been forwarded and not composed by the sender.
