The controversial Senator, representing Kogi West Senatorila District, Dino Melaye, who was just emerging from hullabaloo about his academic qualification, played a clown today, Tuesday, by wearing a full academic gown to the senate plenary session.
Melaye, who shocked lawmakers and appeared while others were already seated, did not retire to his seat immediately.
Instead, he took a long walk around, exchanging pleasantries with his colleagues, who were thrown into laughter. It took the intervention of the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye to restore sanity to the floor.
Melaye’s action is unconnected to his recent travails, wherein he is being accused of forging his university degree certificate.
The controversy was finally laid to rest yesterday, when the Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Professor Ibrahim Garba, told the Senate Ethics committee that Melaye graduated from the institution. [myad]
Former two-term Lagos Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as two excellent men that exemplified teamwork and the true meaning of unity of purpose.
These are “two men of different backgrounds, faiths and professional experiences (who) forged themselves into a team, managing complex matters of governance in a seamless, smooth manner.”
Asiwaju Tinubu, who spoke in Lagos at the 9th Colloquium in his honour as he clocked 65 years today, Tuesday, applaud President Buhari who he said, meticulously followed the constitution in temporarily transferring the helm of affairs of the nation to the Vice President.
“A selfless leader, President Buhari set the stage by giving strategic policy direction. Showing himself equally selfless, our VP, as acting president, worked as the faithful arm of the President, diligently putting in action what President Buhari had directed him to do.
“Try as critics might, they could not create any space between the President and his deputy. This is how things are when people are united in vision and purpose. As President Buhari and his VP have been, we all must become.”
Tinubu saw it as gratifying to mark his birthday in this good way, saying that he was honored.
According to him the event is about that which a people united in purpose must do to improve their beloved country.
“We build the nation we seek by forcing ourselves to become that nation, day by day, step by difficult step. “We do so by casting aside the prejudices of yesterday to forge a more just society where no Nigerian is held down because of his place of origin, his faith or social station.
“But we all have the chance to rise by dint of honest labor and constructive enterprise. This is as God intended us to be. We have no choice but to achieve this destiny.”
Asiwaju Tinubu praised Vice President Osinbajo who he said, led a group of fellow commissioners who worked together during his time as governor of Lagos.
He acknowledged that Osinbajo and this creative group had turned this event into an annual reality.
“Each year, they assemble creative minds to address the issues that stand in the way of our national greatness. As result, the colloquium gets better by the year.
“In this and so much else, the VP has proven himself a true servant of the Nigerian people.” [myad]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo seems to be confessing to the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in whose honour a 9th Colloquium was held today, Tuesday 28, to mark his 65th birthday, that governing Nigeria, as complex and diverse as it is, is not an easy task. Osinbajo was in charge as acting President of the country for the 50 days President Muhammadu Buhari was away in London for medical attention. [myad]
Senators Mao Ohuabunwa representing Abia North Senatorial District, has clashed with Senator Godswill Akpabio over the release of both the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and former National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki
While senator Ohuabunwa is leading some of his colleagues in the campaign for the release of the duo, senator Akpabio opposed Ohuabunwa’s motion to free Kanu and Dasuki, on the ground that it was out of order for Ohuabunwa to introduce the motion.
Akpbio insisted that the release of the duo had nothing to do with the debate on the appearance of Comptroller General of Customs, retired Colonel Hameed Ali in uniform.
Ohuabunwa had asked the Senate to prevail on the Attorney General of the Federation to advice President Muhammadu Buhari to free both Kanu and Dasuki the same way he (Malami) advised the Customs boss to ignore Senate invitation.
Senator Ohuabunwa argued that the continued detention of the IPOB leader and the former NSA despite court orders asking the Federal Government to free them was a gross violation of the fundamental human rights of the duo .
He said that some concerned senators who he is privileged to lead, have decided to join other Nigerian leaders in asking for the release of Kanu and Dasuki.
“I still stand by my prayers last week on the floor of the Senate that the Attorney General of the Federation should advice the president to release Kanu and Dasuki the same way he advised the Customs boss to ignore Senate invitation on the ground that the matter was in court.”
He said that the continued detention of Kanu and Dasuki amounted to disobedience of court orders, adding that he is already discussing the matter with some senators to formally draw the attention of the Senate to the long detention of the duo.
“We should have respect for rule of law and I support the call for the immediate release of Kanu and Dasuki.” [myad]
“My Lord, I wish I did not marry Tolade; may be things would have been better for me today. Tolade is frustrating and troubling me. Arrogance is her watchword as I mean nothing to her. Not only does she disrespect me, Tolade is also rude to everybody around me.
“Worst still, she is highly disobedient to me because she does not take instructions from me. She also accused me of preventing her from having access to the children.
“My Lord, Tolade recently brought three policemen to arrest me, accusing me of forcefully entering into my own house and moving out my property. She has since September 2016 parked out from my house and there is no more love between us.”
These were the narrations of Opeyemi Aremu who resides at Orita-Aperin when he sought for divorce from his wife, Tolade, after 16 years in marriage with four children to show for it.
Opeyemi told Ademola Odunade, the President of a Customary Court sitting in Mapo, Ibadan, who later went on to dissolve the marriage, that his wife was arrogant and insolent
The court, which granted the custody of the four children of the marriage to Opeyemi, said: “he has demonstrated that he has capacity to take care of them.”
Odunade said he decided to dissolve the union as a result of lack of love between them.
But, Tolade, a trader, objected to the divorce, saying: “I still love Opeyemi.
“My lord, there is no dispute between Opeyemi and I. My observation is that some women in the church we attend have been bringing food for him and he has since stopped eating my food.
“The senior pastor of our church is the major problem between Opeyemi and I because he wanted him to part ways with me.
“Later on, the pastor asked us to move into an apartment within his residence where he started misleading my husband.
“In fact, that pastor dissuaded Opeyemi from performing his ‘conjugal duties’ to me.”
Many Senators appeared to have embarked on protest against President Muhammadu Buhari on his refusal to sack the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu after the Senate rejected his confirmation at two different times.
The protest took the form of the Senate suspending the confirmation hearings of the 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who were earlier nominated by President Buhari.
The Senators wondered why Magu is still at the helms of affairs at the EFCC, with Senator Nwaoboshi (PDP Delta) saying at the plenary today that Senate may step down the Confirmation since they are acting and President Buhari’s appointees are disrespecting the Senate.
Senator Uroghide said that the request for the confirmation of RECs be stand down, citing Magu’s case. He said that after their decision he is still acting Chairman of the EFCC.
“If the Senate is ridiculed our institution has been ridiculed, we will try as much as possible to promote this institution,” Senator Anyanwu
Senator Francis Alimikhena said that the Senate must insist on hear from the president on Magu’s case, saying “Magu is terrorising us because we disqualified him.”
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu said that there is a time frame to stand down the confirmation, even as he asked the senate president to convey their feelings to the President.
Senate President, Bukola Saraki sought the opinion of the fellow senators who insisted on stepping down the Confirmation of INEC REC for two weeks. [myad]
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FFC), , Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has asked all those who have plots of land in serviced areas of Karshi Satellite Town to develop them or have them revoked forthwith.
The minister spoke today, Tuesday when he paid an unscheduled visit to Karshi Satellite Town to assess some of the ongoing projects.
Muhammad Bello is sad that while the FCT Administration had spent several billions of Naira to provide engineering infrastructure to service those plots, those who were allotted the plots have left them undeveloped.
According to him, most of the allocation papers to such plots of land have ended up in briefcases, insisting that notice to them to end the speculation and free the plots for development is very necessary.
“As you can see based on our inspection, the primary infrastructure in the Karshi township layout has all been completed, but nobody has put up any building there. The whole idea of opening new areas is for development to take place.”
“So, we have extant regulations that once primary infrastructure is in a location and there is no development, plots in that location will be revoked.
“I want to use this medium to advise all those who have allocations in Karshi town centre where the primary infrastructure has since been completed to commence development or else, we are going to revoke the plots and allocate to the teeming millions of Nigerians who really want to develop them.”
The Director of Satellite Towns Development Department, Mrs. Victoria Imande led the Minister and members of his entourage round the project site. [myad]
“Today, we must ask a most fundamental question: Is our political economy structured for the benefit of man or have we reduced man to be subservient to the impersonal political economy?
“The political economy should be for the benefit of man. In reality, we do not first try to reshape the economy to realize optimal benefit for the people. Instead, we have been conditioned to demand that the people contort themselves to fit the dictates of what the economy is or what it isn’t.
“I reject this harsh path. It violates the tenets of morality and of sustainable economics itself. We must begin and end our pursuit of economic balance with the precious things this nation produces.”
These postulations were advanced today, Tuesday, by the former two-term governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a lecture he delivered at the 9th Colloquium in his honour as he clocked 65 years.
Speaking specifically on the nation’s economy, Tinubu said that more than any hour in the nation’s recent history, Nigeria has been standing at what he called “a defining juncture.”
According to him: “our challenges are manifold and profound. But so are our collective abilities and talents. The balance will then tip in favor or against us as our commitment and political will to succeed dictate.”
The celebrant noted that Nigeria is a prolific manufacturer and that it has produced 170 million of the most adaptive, industrious economic units on earth.
He insisted that it is not just enough for the citizenry to lament their great numbers but to reform the political economy in a manner that puts them to productive work.
“The old model upon which this economy has so long sputtered, has crashed right before our eyes. We must retool ourselves. A new outlook is needed.
“Even at the best of times and with the highest of oil prices, widespread poverty, gross inequality and high unemployment of man, machinery and material described our condition.
“The decline in oil prices turned our extant economic model into rubble overnight. If we do nothing to reform it, we have done nothing less than enter into an economic suicide pact with ourselves.
“Fortunately, the current government has begun the sometimes painful process of salvage and reform.”
Asiwaju Tinubu then offered a few personal insights which he hoped might be of some help in this vital economic reformation.
On diversification and industrial policy, the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) noted that no populous modern nation with a significant urban population has attained prosperity without creating an industrial base capable of employing great numbers of the urban population and of manufacturing goods for domestic consumption and export.
He wanted Nigeria to learn from England which barred the export of textile looms at dawn of the Industrial Revolution, from the high tariffs America imposed for over 150 years after its independence. He also wanted Nigeria to learn from China which implemented a most comprehensive protectionist regime to become the world’s most prolific manufacturer.
“These three nations represent the past, present and immediate future of economic achievement. Yet we depart from what has proven effective. The manuals of mainstream economics tell us not to do as these nations did. We oddly choose to believe falsehoods written in the books at the expense of the truth on the ground.
“We must press forward with a national industrial policy fostering development of strategic industries that create jobs and spur further economic growth.
“As part of this plan, government should institute a policy of tax credits, subsidies and the insulation from the negative impact of imports critical for these sectors.
On infrastructure and power, Tinubu that it is important for the government to closely complement the industrial plan, saying: “we need a national infrastructure plan. New structures need to be built and existing ones enhanced so that we enjoy a coherently planned and integrated infrastructural grid. A national economy cannot grow beyond the capacity of the infrastructure that serves it.
“Of utmost importance, we must conquer the political and bureaucratic bottlenecks preventing affordable, reliable electrical power.
“This impediment places us literally and figuratively in the dark regarding our economic condition.
“The problems are not technical in nature as reliable electricity is a staple of economic life in nations less endowed than Nigeria.
“We must persuade and convince those factors that currently impede our national quest for reliable power to move aside so that we can achieve this crucial precursor to economic vitality.”
On credit, mortgages and interest rates, the former Lagos governor said that modern economies are built on credit and that credit for business investment and consumer spending is too costly in Nigeria to be of much help.
He advised that consumer credit mechanisms should be more accessible to the average consumer.
According to him, the prevailing custom still requires a consumer to purchase in one lump sum a house, a car, a refrigerator, describing it as “oppressive. It defeats the average consumer and dampens economic activity.”
He stressed that this systemic credit malpractice fosters corruption and that hardly people can save so much that they are able to pay for a house or car all at once.
“To acquire the lump sum amounts, decent people are tempted to do what they would not even consider if consumer credit was practically at hand.
We have to revamp our government-backed home mortgage system. Mortgage loan agencies need to be better funded, they must liberalize eligibility requirements so more people qualify and they should provide longer-term mortgages with manageable interest rates.”
On agricultural reform, Tinubu stressed the need for the government to summon the heart and courage to implement ideas that have consistently proven themselves in other countries.
“If we try, these measures will ably acquit themselves here.
“In conclusion, one additional thought shall suffice. Here I add a third part to this year’s theme. Not only must we use what we make and make what we use. We must make what the world values.
“A nation does itself better by manufacturing a good and affordable appliance or car than in cultivating a sublime mango or perfect banana. We must not allow our present comparative disadvantage in manufacturing to keep us from pursuing a tomorrow where that disadvantage is abolished.
“We stand at a moment where history will be made for better or worse. Consequently, we must use our creative insight to peer into tomorrow to see what the rest of the world may want to buy, then devote ourselves to making these products.
“Neither Japan nor South Korea had significant iron ore deposits. Yet they built steel industries as the foundation for their impressive rise in car manufacturing.
“Nigeria must act in similar fashion. We must remember nothing that another nation can do is beyond our grasp even if we do not currently have the thing in hand. This is the change that we can and must achieve.” [myad]
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has again crashed the rate at which it sells forex to Bureaux De Change (BDCs) in Nigeria to N360 even as it directed the BDCs to sell to end users at not more than N362/$1.
This is coming barely 24 hours after the apex bank’s directive to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in the country to sell foreign exchange obtained from it to retail end-users at not more than N360/$1 for invisibles.
The CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the directive in Abuja on Tuesday, disclosing that the CBN, under the new policy, will sell forex to the licensed BDCs at the rate of N360/$1, while they will in turn sell to customers at a rate not more than N362/$1.
Okorafor said that the objective of the new forex sale policy was to ensure a convergence of the rates in the interbank and BDC, stressing that the CBN remained committed to ensuring transparency in the market as well as fairness to end-users, many of who hitherto experienced challenges in accessing foreign exchange.
He urged licensed BDCs to play by the rule, cautioning that the CBN would not hesitate in sanctioning any erring dealer.
The CBN spokesman also disclosed to newsmen that the sum of $100 million offered to authorized FOREX dealers in the interbank wholesale window to meet the requests of genuine wholesale customers was fully subscribed at the auction on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.
Okorafor said that his call to all stakeholders to play their respective roles in ensuring a smooth running of the foreign exchange market for the benefit of the Nigerian economy. [myad]
Liliane Bettencourt of France has emerged again as the world’s wealthiest woman, according to Forbes’ recently released list.
According to Forbes, Bettencourt has a net worth of $39.5 billion, making her the richest woman in the world. Nearly all her wealth comes from owing a third of the cosmetic company L’Oreal, which her father founded in 1907.
The French heiress is followed by Alice Walton, the only daughter of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Walton, who boasts of a whopping $33.8 billion, retains her number two spot from 2016, though her wealth has grown by $1.5 billion this year.
Jacqueline Mars, the granddaughter of the famed candy maker, Frank Mars, comes in as number three at $27 billion, the same ranking she held last year.
Others are:
Maria Franca Fissolo, Net worth: $25.2 billion
Susanne Klatten, Net worth: $20.4 billion
Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve Jobs wife), Net worth: $20 billion
Gina Rinehart, Net worth: $15 billion
Abigail Johnson, Net worth: $14.4 billion
Iris Fontbona, Net worth: $13.7 billion
Beate Hesiter, Net worth: $13.6 billion (LIB)
The release of the wealthiest women in the world was made to mark the celebration of Mother’s day yesterday. [myad]
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