Ajaokuta Steel Risks Collapse Unless $400 Million Is Committed To It – Company Boss

June 4, 2017

The Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, built at a cost $4.6 billion is at the risk of collapse unless the federal government quickly commits only $400 million to get it off the ground and similarly confronts foreign and local interests working against its completion.

The Sole Administrator of the company, Joseph Onobere said that the $400 million will be enough to complete the project which the country has already spent $4.6bn.

Onobere, who spoke to newsmen who visited the company’s complex, said that should the project collapse finally, Nigeria might never be in a position to build another one.

“Successive governments have been paying lip service to the project and, painfully, leave it the way they met it.”

The Sole Administrator said that the project had remained at the stage where it was abandoned by the Russians in 1994.

“The project is 98 per cent completed and the problem is not within Ajaokuta itself but external infrastructure. Since 1994 when the plant was abandoned, nothing has been done.”

Onobere explained that 40 units out of the 43 units of the integrated steel plant were 100 per cent completed.

“The main reason why the plant could not be inaugurated in 1994 was just the logistics that would be involved in the supply of imported raw materials, especially, the coking coal.

“The rail bridge for the company was completed in 1983 by the Shehu Shagari-led administration, this ought to have been the costliest aspect of the plant.

“Between 1983 and today, not one metre has been added. After getting to that percentage of completion, the plant could not be inaugurated then because there was no way to bring the coking coal.

“That has been the main factor for 24 years and nothing has been done in that respect,” he said.

However, he said that the present administration had been taken steps to do something about the steel plant.

According to him, the gang up against the project has been so enormous but the luck Nigeria has is the type of dedicated and patriotic staff working in the company.

“Otherwise, there would have been no place like Ajaokuta Steel Company anymore. All the steel plants are built on top of water because their water requirements are very much,” he said.

He also described the equipment and other facilities at the plant as very durable but can deteriorate over time.

“So, in essence, for us to inaugurate this plant to produce liquid steel, the rail line must be inaugurated to service the plant.

“This has been the situation and up till now, the way forward has not been finalized,” he explained.

The Sole Administrator commended the journalists for seizing the initiative to visit the company, describing the action as patriotic.

He, however, appealed to them to be part of efforts to resuscitate the company, saying that journalists should be vigilant and guide against being used to kill the company.

The visiting Journalists were led to the Steel Company by the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Alhaji Waheed Odusile and the President of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Mrs. Funke Egbemode

They were on tour of the steel complex as part of activities marking 2017 Democracy Day lecture organized by the Kogi State’s Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists.

The President of the NUJ, Mr. Waheed Odusile, who responded on behalf of the team, described the state of things at the company as an embarrassment and an indictment of previous administrations.

He urged the present administration to write its name in gold by revamping the company which he said was critical to Nigeria’s quest for economic growth and self-reliance.

Also on the tour are the Director -General, Kogi State Bureau of Information and Grassroots Development, the Chairman of the state council of the NUJ, Alhaji Adeiza Momoh Jimoh among others.

NAN. [myad]

My Husband Will Soon Return To Nigeria, Aisha Buhari Assures

Greenbarge Reporters

June 4, 2017

President Muhammadu Buhari and His Wife, Ayisha Buhari

“My husband is recovering very fast. And very soon, he will return to the country to resume his official duties.”

Aisha, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, who gave this assurance in a message to the 23rd Annual Ramadan Lecture of Ansar-ud-deen Society of Nigeria (ADS) held in Abuja, thanked Nigerians for their prayers for the President.

The President’s wife, who is currently in London with the President, was represented at the occasion by her Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration, Dr. Hajo Sani.

“I thank Nigerians for their prayers for my husband. Please, do not relent in your prayers. The President will be back very soon.”

The message attracted the shouts of Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!! Allahu Akbar!!!(God is great) by the Muslim faithful.

Aisha hoped that before the Eid-el-Fitri, she would be back in the country, to observing th festival at the ADS Mosque in Maitama where she had been observing such event long before she got into office.

In a sermon, the Chairman of ADS Northern States Council of Missioners, Sheikh Muhydeen Ajani Bello called on those who have been wishing death for President Buhar to desist.

“There is a governor going about wishing Buhari dead. Let us ask him: If Buhari dies, is he going to replace him?

“We need not wish our leaders dead. If we keep talking like this, it is not good. By the grace of God, the President will return very soon.” [myad]

Central Bank Vows Not To Succumb To Call For Reduction In Interest Rate

Greenbarge Reporters

June 4, 2017

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has vowed that it will not succumb to pressure from some quarters in Nigeria to reduce interest rate as such move would worsen inflation.

A top official at the Apex Bank who spoke on condition of anonymity at the weekend, insisted that reducing the interest rate would further erode the incomes of the poor people.

Nigeria’s inflation rate, according to the last report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), is 17.26 percent.

The official explained that bringing down interest rate will encourage massive borrowing by the privileged few who may turn to the foreign exchange market and put further pressure on the Naira.

“We decided that we will be people-focused Central Bank. We voted in favour of controlling inflation than bringing down interest rate because inflation is the worst enemy of the poor masses.

“In order to ameliorate the impact of high interest rate we have created different programmes like the Micro, small and medium enterprises development fund (MSMEDF) and the anchor borrowers programme which offer loans at only 9 per cent to low income earners.

“Interest rates will come down but not until we have improved our business space and provided infrastructure, especially power.”

The source said that the battle to stabilize the Naira is far from being over as forex speculators are still pushing hard.

“The battle is not yet over because the speculators are still pushing, but by the grace of God and the efforts of CBN we are winning.

“And, we are happy with the results so far, all indices are very positive and the masses of Nigerians are better for it.” [myad]

Buhari’s Government Will Not Tolerate Disloyal Soldiers – Defence Minister Warns

Greenbarge Reporters

June 3, 2017

The Minister of Defence, retired Brigadier Genenral Mansur Dan-Ali has warned that the government of Muhammadu Buhari will not tolerate disloyal, disobedience and insubordination from any soldier.

The minister, who spoke today, Saturday, at the passing out parade of officers’ cadet of Direct Short Service course at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji, Kaduna, warned that any person caught with disloyalty and similar offences would be decisively dealt with.

“I wish to make it clear that the armed forces of Nigeria are also undergoing a period of self appraisal; there is zero tolerance for indiscipline and unprofessional conduct.”

Dan-Ali said that the passing out of another set of officers of the Nigerian Army came at a period the country is consolidating on the gains of counter -insurgency operation.

“The Nigerian Armed Forces, as you are aware, have been involved in an extensive combat against insurgency and terrorist groups. It is the responsibility of every one to play in the consolidation of on-going success and post -conflict situation.”

The minister appreciated the success of the armed forces in various operations, especially in the North Eastern part of the country, where the Boko Haram insurgency had largely been decimated.

He commended President Buhari for his political will and strong support for the war against Boko Haram insurgency.

No fewer than 200 officers graduated from the six-month training. [myad]

Nuhu Ribadu Challenges Journalists To Purge Themselves Of Corruption First

Greenbarge Reporters

June 3, 2017

Former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Malam Nuhu Ribadu has challenged Nigerian journalists to first purge themselves of corruption before joining in the national great war against the malady.

According to him, for the media to effectively fight corruption, there must be self-purgation.

“Media should purge itself of corruption and stand up firm on the path of integrity to discharge its function effectively.

“As I always say; corruption cannot fight corruption. He who is morally challenged has no moral right to sermonize on morality. And when the morally deformed person attempts to rise against immorality, hardly would he ever succeed and often he ends up ridiculing such moral responsibility.”

Ribadu spoke today at Ramadan lecture organized by the Muslim Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria at the National Mosque, Abuja.

He said that the cardinal objectives of journalism, which include upholding honesty, probity, fight against injustice and patriotism are in tandem with the teachings of Islam.

His speech goes thus:

I am happy to be in the midst of a gathering of journalists and media practitioners, today. I am especially glad that you chose to have us reflect on a very important and ever-relevant topic of the fight against the malice of corruption in Nigeria, and the roles a powerful tool like the media can play in combating corruption in our country.

Having this discussion in the month of Ramadan, a time of spiritual odyssey, underscores the fact that we should not only pray but compliment the needed supplications with practical solutions to our challenges of nationhood.

There is a consensus about the position of corruption as our major impediment to greatness. It is a malady that has unfortunately gone deep into our national fabric. Corruption is the major reason why we are where we are today as a country.

It is also the reason why we are unable to address a lot of our problems and challenges. Years of mindless stealing and waste of public resources has brought bad name to Nigeria and reversed the hope and aspirations we had as a country at the time of Independence.

The haemorrhage of corruption has dragged this country to a brink in spite of efforts at different times, including what we are witnessing presently, to get the country away from the monster. Fighting corruption, therefore, is key to the survival and progress of our country.

In this fight to emancipate Nigeria from corruption and the corrupt, you as journalists have a great role to play. Your role in this crusade is conferred by the potent of the weapon that is in your hands as pressmen and women.

Journalism, you would agree with me, is a frontline profession when it comes to nation building and search for development. Throughout history, media has played momentous roles in different societies to tackle a number of malfeasances, including corruption.

Such turning point interventions by the media have also occurred at different points in Nigeria. In the case of fight against corruption, the Nigerian media should continuously rise up and resist continuous desecration of our country.

Corruption desecrates our national ethos and values, and inhibits our well-being as a people. As the acclaimed voice of the voiceless, the media should be up against corruption in all forms. However, for the media to effectively fight corruption, there must be self-purgation.

Media should purge itself of corruption and stand up firm on the path of integrity to discharge its function effectively. As I always say; corruption cannot fight corruption. He who is morally challenged has no moral right to sermonize on morality. And when the morally deformed person attempts to rise against immorality, hardly would he ever succeed and often he ends up ridiculing such moral responsibility.

Cardinal objectives of journalism; that of upholding honesty, probity, fight against injustice and patriotism, sit very well with the teachings of Islam. In fact, fighting for the oppressed and telling the truth are some of Islamic injunctions that are repeated a number of times in the Qur’an and for which Allah promises abundant rewards. Therefore, as Muslim media practitioners, you should first see your positive role in the fight against corruption as an act of worship.

Allah enjoins Muslims against injustice, and there is no injustice greater than cornering what is unto people into one’s own. The media is therefore needed to champion the anti corruption message and always stand for what is right.

As journalists, you should make it a point of principle to never join forces with people you ought to help the public to fight. Above all, fear of God should be the guiding principle always. At points of temptation always prick your conscience; ask yourself what is in the public interest.

Ask yourself; what or who is on the side of the truth before making news judgments or lending yourself to any cause.

Distinguished audience, what I try to do is to scratch the surfaces before we immerse into the lecture proper. I believe the paper presenter, eminent professor Is-haq Oloyode and the discussants lined up will take us through the full course of the theme of this lecture and expectations on you are media practitioners in helping the fight against corruption and, ultimately, the development of this country.

Professor Oloyode has had a long term engagements with activism around this issues. I know his commitment to anti corruption crusade having helped us at the EFCC for a number of initiatives, including developing a faith-based training manual on the war against corruption, in his capacity as the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

We thank you Prof. The three discussants on the agenda are all eminently qualified to address us on the topic and I believe if we listen carefully we will have a lot of take-away points that will benefit us, especially in your work as journalists. [myad]

Senate Of Federal Varsity Katsina Shuts Down The Institution As Suspended VC Appears

Greenbarge Reporters

June 3, 2017

The Senate of the Federal University, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina state has directed that the institution should be shut down after an emergency meeting by its members.

This followed the sudden appearance of the Institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Haruna Abdu Kaita, who was on suspension, on the campus on Friday with a high court ruling quashing the suspension.

His appearance reportedly led to a mild protest by some groups of allegedly Christian students.

The development took another dimension when the Vice-chancellor went to perform the Muslems Friday Jum’at prayers after which some Muslim students and workers of the institution urged him on to go and resume in his office.

Sensing breakdown of law and order, the institution’s Senate hurriedly held the emergency meeting where the decision to close down the institution was taken.

A circular signed by Bichi, who is also the institution’s acting Vice Chancellor, however, attributed the closure to security reasons.

The circular read: “the Senate of Federal University of Dutsin-Ma at its 10th emergency meeting held on Friday 2nd June 2017 reviewed the security situation in the university and decided to close down the school indefinitely.”

The circular also directed that students of the institution vacate the school immediately.

The situation was tensed on the campus as at Saturday with many workers seen around anticipating another round of crisis on Monday when the Vice-chancellor allegedly vowed to resume fully. [myad]

This Mirage Called Biafra, By Musa Simon Reef

Greenbarge Reporters

June 3, 2017

Over 50 years after the tragic Nigeria’s civil war that wasted millions of lives, the troubling issues behind the ill-fated war are still threatening to foist yet another frightening uncertainty on the continued existence of our nation.

More than anything else, the Igbos have over the years, demonstrated the prowess of intellectual coercion to restate their claim of being marginalized despite the lofty achievements recorded in assuaging pains of the unfortunate war.

On a personal note, my knowledge of what transpired during those dark years is largely from books and people’s narration. I was told by relatives that my aunt lost a husband in the war. At the commencement of the civil insurrection, according to one of my uncle, who was old enough at that time, the young Igbo man was persuaded not to embark on the tragic journey. After passionate pleadings to remain in my village and exercise patience until the perilous wind of war passed, he dared the dangerous journey to the South-east. He never returned after the war to claim his wife as he promised.

Baba Chukwu, another Igbo man, who lived for many years in our village, according to narrators, agreed to be relocated to a farther village away from the prying eyes of soldiers at the train station. He would later return to Kamuru Station in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area to continue with his shop business after the storm. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he would declare without hesitation that he was an Igbo Ankulu.

In my nearly two scores and half years of earthly existence, I have never seen a people so committed in actualising their potentials in all spheres of human endeavours like the Igbos. More than any ethnic group in Nigeria; the Igbos have demonstrated an enduring knack to survive the harshest of condition. That explains their dominance in commerce and ubiquitous presence in all parts of the world. Like the Jews of Israel, they had survived all forms of persecution and conspiracies from their traducers even when their wealth was reduced to 20 pounds per head when the war ended in January 1970.

Emerging from the sunset of Biafra that reduced them into vanquished skeletons of human deprivations and still remains a raking stain in the moral conscience of humanity, they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to begin an upward climb on the economic ladder.

Less than 20 years after the war, an Igbo man, Dr Alex Ekwueme, was elected Nigeria’s Vice President. Less than 50 years after the Biafran guns were silenced, the Igbos have been elected and appointed as Senate Presidents, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief of Staff, Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), Chief of Defence Staff, Chief Of Army Staff, Chief of Air Force, Chief of Naval Staff, ministers, among several other positions. However, despite these grandeur of accomplishments attained by this once vanquished ethnic group, the South-east people have remained anguished by their inability to ascend the nation’s presidency.

Despite their influence in commerce, education and other spheres of human endeavours, the people who claim ancestral kinship with the Jews are goaded by the pains of not occupying the presidency. Presently, the soul of the Nigerian nation is troubled by implacable drums of secession led by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. He now has the fire in his bosom to walk through the fiery tunnel of secession that once turned the South-east into a horrifying global cynosure of human catastrophe.

After one and half years as guest of Kuje Prison, Kanu’s vision in leading his supposed oppressed people out of this hole of injustice called Nigeria has not been incinerated. The greatest threat to Kanu’s struggle lies in its ability to encourage and convince other groups to either demand for restructuring or balkanizing the “Mistake of 1914.”

Kanu’s dream of leading his people out of Nigeria has not been devoid of opposition from within and without the South-east. The political and religious leaders are quick to dismiss the new Moses of the Igbos, insisting that justice can still be obtained in a restructured Nigeria. The yawning disconnection among stakeholders of the resurrected Biafran struggle remains the biggest challenge. After surmounting the mountain and hills of impossibilities to reach the economic peak, wealthy sons and daughters of the Igbo extraction will rather support a restructured Nigeria.

My good friends, Obong and Priye, are hell bent in opposing the return of old Biafra where their parents were subjected to humiliation and made to suffer shame and all forms of indignities in the presence of their family members. As far as they are concerned, Biafra has become a fruitless mental project that cannot be achieved within the context of emasculating the southern states of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, among others.

Obong and Priye are symbols of growing opposition of Southern minorities against Biafra. Much as doubts over the possibility of a Biafra is growing in leaps and bounds, the new Biafra’s Moses is not helping matter, as he is reported to have declared Judaism as the religion of the yet to be freed nation of Biafra.

Igbos outside the South-east are treating the clamour for Biafra as a cruel joke that will continue to remain in the realm of imagination. With their flourishing business in real estate in many states, they are reported to own not less than 70 per cent of landed property in Abuja. It remains undecipherable how these wealthy individuals will abandon their sweat to join Kanu whom many consider as petty trouble maker with no viable means of livelihood.

More worrisome, the demand for Biafra is not hinged on any ideological thrust capable of delivering a different narrative from Nigeria’s nightmare of oppression. Despotic policies like the federal character syndrome may have marred the potentials of many; there are no signals that Kanu and his co-travelers may not turn out worst oppressors.

The naked truth is: We have continued to remain too divisive to warrant any meaningful development. There is need to restructure the system to provide a platform for justice and equity. We must avoid a situation where we simplify our woes on a faulty structure of a federation in order to intimidate other groups for submission.

Beyond doubt, there is no ethnic group in this country that has surpassed the Igbos in realising their full potentials. They remain the bond that holds the unity of this country. What they should be engaged in doing is building consensus with other groups to evolve a just country where the doors of opportunities will be available and open to all.

Musa Simon Reef, a media practitioner, wrote from Abuja and can be reached via simonreef927@gmail.com [myad]

Trump Insists On Pursuing Travel Ban On 6 Muslim Nations, Goes To Supreme Court

Greenbarge Reporters

June 2, 2017

President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, is still on his stand with regard to the travel ban on six Muslim countries, asking the Supreme Court to overturn a freeze on the revised travel ban, after it was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

The Trump administration, today, Friday, asked the Supreme Court to revive the president’s plan to temporarily ban citizens from six mostly Muslim countries.

They are Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

Justice Department lawyers asked the court to overturn a decision of the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that kept in place a freeze on President Trump’s revised ban.

The government court filing late asks the justices to set aside the 4th Circuit ruling and accept the case for oral arguments.

It also asks the high court to lift an even broader nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in a separate Hawaii case.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which covers Hawaii, heard the government’s arguments in that case last month, but has not yet ruled.

In its application, Justice Department lawyers said the 4th Circuit should have considered only the language of the executive order and not second-guessed the president’s motivations.

The Supreme Court “has never invalidated religion-neutral government action based on speculation about officials’ subjective motivations drawn from campaign-trail statements by a political candidate,” Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall wrote in the government’s lawyers wrote in their filing.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores had on Thursday said that the administration is “confident that President Trump’s executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism.” [myad]

Traditional Ruler Laments The Prolifiration Of Alcohol Consumption Joints In Anambra

Greenbarge Reporters

June 2, 2017

The traditional ruler of Ogilisi in Idemili South Local Government ofAnambra, Chief Alex Onyido, has lamented the proliferation of alcohol consumption centres in the state even as he called on relevant government agencies to evolve stringent measures to curtail them.

Chief Alex Onyido who made spoke today, Friday in Awka, at the the 2017 edition of Lady Victoria Onyido quiz competition, organized by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, for secondary schools, said: “the trend is worrisome and not in the best interest of public health.

“Such facilities breed crime and criminality; the rate at which such businesses are springing up in all corners calls for concern.”

The Monarch, who is the sponsor of the quiz competition, said that it is meant to draw government’s attention to the use of illicit drugs among secondary school students.

He commended officers of the the NDLEA for their commitment to the fight against drug abuse and peddling, saying that drug addiction and abuse could lead to other vices like kidnapping, armed robbery and prostitution. [myad]

I Won’t Respond To Dino Melaye Because He Is Not A Human Being – Kogi Gov

Greenbarge Reporters

June 2, 2017

“Honestly speaking when a human being is talking then I will respond. surely I don’t see anything coming out of that and I don’t think I have to waste my time in responding to whatever side distraction. Honestly speaking, I am too focused to be distracted.”

These were the words of the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello when he spoke to news men shortly after he observed Jum’at (Friday) prayer along with other Muslims at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja. He was asked to react to attacks on him by the Senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye.

Yahaya Bello stressed: “Kogi State has suffered for over 25 years before I came on board and the good people of Kogi State are really appreciative of the efforts we are putting forward to make sure that Kogi State is well developed. So any side distraction is not something I should give attention.”

The governor dismissed the allegation linking him to double registration in the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) voters’ portal, describing it as frivolous.

“I traveled to Dubai for a brief break on May 19 and I saw the press release. I was taken aback when I heard the report that I did double registration on May 23.

“Probably it was my ghost that did the double registration. I think INEC has earned itself a very high reputation and I am very confident that the leadership of INEC will not allow some elements in INEC to drag the name of the Commission into the mud. Surely that’s a falsehood, I did not do double registration of permanent voters’ card.”

It would be recalled that INEC’s National Commissioner, Solomon Soyebi, had accused the governor of registering twice as a voter, saying that the governor first registered in Abuja in January, 2011 and later registered for the second time on May 23, 2017 at the Government House in Lokoja. [myad]

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