The General Overseer of Tongue of Fire Restoration Ministry, located Sogunle area of Lagos State, Chukwuma Nkwocha, is alleged to have camped 30 teenage girls aged between 10 and 15.
Nkwocha who is 38 years old, was said to be sleeping with the girls one after the other, even as the police have nabbed him during church servicefor questioning.
The policemen were said to have acted on a petition that the pastor was camping and sleeping with the teenage girls. The spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest of Nkwocha, saying that the State’s Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, has ordered thorough investigation of the case. “The Command rescued about 30 young girls from the pastor’s custody and two of them acknowledged he has canal knowledge of them. Investigation is ongoing.” [myad]
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to resign over the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which shows a negative economic growth in the first two quarters of the year.
“We join all well meaning Nigerians to call on @MBuhari to resign if he is unable to reverse the disastrous economic decline he has brought on Nigerians.”
In a statement signed by its Director, New Media, Deji Adeyanju, PDP said that nothing better showcases the incompetence of the Buhari administration than the GDP, inflation and unemployment figures released by NBS.
The statement read in full:
“PRESS STATEMENT – PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI IS COMPLETELY DESTROYING NIGERIA
Nothing better showcases the absolute ineptitude & incompetence of the Muhammadu Buhari administration than the GDP, Inflation & Unemployment figures released by Nigerian Bureau of Statistics today.
These figures reveal what we have repeatedly said over the last 15 months – the Nigerian President is destroying the Nigeria economy. For the avoidance of doubt, some of these figures include: – GDP contracted by -2.06% in Q2 2016.
In contrast, the economy grew by 2.35% in Q2 2015. Q2 was worse than the -0.36% shrinking of the economy in Q1 2016. – Headline Inflation for July 2016 stands at 17.1%. It was from 16.5% in June 2016. – Food inflation was 15.58% for July 2016 from 15.3% in June 2016. – Portfolio investment declined to an estimated $245.3m in Q2 2016.
This represents a 9.5% from $271.0m in Q1 2016 & is a far cry from $2.81bn in Q2 2015. – FDI declined from $211.1m in Q2 2015 and $174.4m in Q1 2016 to an estimated $133.0m in Q2 2016. – Total value of capital imported in Q2 2016 is estimated at mere $647.1m.
This is the lowest quarterly figure since Nigeria started keeping records of capital importation. It is a decline from $710.9 m in Q1 2016 & a far cry from $2.67bn in Q2 2015. – A total of 4,580,602 people have lost their jobs since May 29, 2015 – The number of persons in full time employment decreased by 351,350 in Q2 2016 compared to Q1 2016.
The result of these indices is that Nigeria is in its worst economic state for 29 years – dating back to 1987 when the nation had to take harsh steps to recover from President Buhari’s policies of 1984-85.
As with 1984-85, companies are fleeing our shores in droves. Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) recently stated that 272 companies have shut down in the past 1 year. Furthermore, like we suffered in 1984-85, we are suffering a brain drain where our best & brightest talents are leaving the country in search of a better life elsewhere.
It is disheartening that the Buhari administration is destroying the Nigerian economy & our collective future by the implementation of his archaic & incoherent economic policies which failed in 1984-85 & are failing spectacularly now.
Our dismay is worsened by the fact that every sphere of the Nigerian socio-political space (ranging from the conduct of elections, human rights, respect for the rule of law, security, technology, health etc) is negatively affected by the Buhari administration.
We join all well meaning Nigerians to call on @MBuhari to resign if he is unable to reverse the disastrous economic decline he has brought on Nigerians.
May God bless Nigeria, especially in these very difficult times.
Residents of Kuje Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), especially the Gbagi and Gade indigenes of the area, have appealed to the FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello to save them from what they called ‘exorbitant prices’ of medical services in the Kuje General Hospital.
In a petition signed by Mrs. Asabe Dantani, Abraham Ishmail, Aisha Dogo Samaila and Dangade Abubakar, and forwarded to the office of the minister, the residents said that the high prices of medical services which have been made compulsory for any patient seeking for medical attention, have been driving them back to quacks and dangerous traditional practitioners, especially for women that are pregnant.
The petition, dated August 23, 2016, said that the Kuje hospital management has made it compulsory for pregnant women to register with N1,800 each and that each pregnant woman is made to compulsorily pay N10,500 for delivery items even as N25,000 is charged for surgery pack.
“All such charges excluding the drugs the woman would require from the point of delivery up to the time of discharge. The unbooked patient is made to pay additional N5, 000 for normal delivery and N30,000 for surgery in addition to the booked patients.
“For the booked patient, she must have spent over N50,000 on single delivery, including surgery without drugs at the end of the day, while the unbooked one would have spent close to N100,000 for the same purpose.”
“We are asking the honourable minister to save us from this unfriendly medical environment, especially in the Federal Capital Territory where ante-natal services for the pregnant women are supposed to be free. We are also aware of the federal government concern and commitment to the free maternal health care services which must not be allowed to be abused.”
Information reaching us showed that most of the women, who can barely afford their transport, usually go to the hospital from remote villages and most times ended up returning to their villages without being attended to for lack of money to settle the hospital bills, even as many of them used to run away after receiving treatments.
This is even as women in Niger State have called on the state government to call health workers to order, adding that the non availability of health workers in the existing health facilities across the state need for urgent intervention.
The women, who are largely mothers and pregnant residents, complained about the attitude of the health care staff on ground, which they said needed to be addressed.
They said most healthcare facilities needed to be equipped to be able to take care of women.
They said this on Wednesday during a town hall meeting organized by White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria in Chachanga and Wushishi local government areas of Niger State.
They called on the government to work towards recruiting more hands to meet the health needs of the people.
The participants, who lamented that they have no place to lay their health complaint, stated that they do not know about the Ward Health Development Committee set up by the government because the committee is either not active or non-existent.
One of the participants, Hajiya Asmau Usman, said: “We do not go to the hospital anymore because the nurses are hostile and not encouraging.
“The Ward Health Development Committees are not active.
“They are there merely for political use.
“We are not even aware of health centres in our local government apart from the general hospital.”
Also, a Traditional Birth Attendant, Hajiya Binta Abdullahi, said she is surprised to hear that there are committees taking care of health issues in the wards and local government, adding that most people are not aware of it as they (birth attendants) still receive pregnant women for delivery.
Abdullahi called on government to ensure that the birth attendants are carried along to enable them save more lives, especially as most women arrive to them in critical conditions.
The National Coordinator of The White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria, Tonte Ibraye, said they will work towards improving citizens engagement in policy making and service delivery in the health sector in the state.
Ibraye lamented that 28 per cent of pregnant women in the state do not consider it necessary to deliver in a health facility, adding that this had given rise to maternal mortality in the state.
Ibraye stressed the need for government to remain accountable and deliver on the commitments in ensuring that the citizens, especially pregnant women, get decent and respectable health care.
The town hall meetings in Chachanga and Wushishi local government areas had in attendance about 300 people, out of which 97 per cent indicated that they are not aware of health policies, 86 per cent stating that the Ward Development Committee for Health is not functional, while 90 per cent indicated that there is no platform for accountability in the health sector. [myad]
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pardoned eight banks it had earlier barred from taking part in Foreign Exchange Market for violating some financial regulations.
The Director, Banking Supervision of the CBN, Tokunbo Martins, who announced the re-instatement of the bank at a news briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the decision was reached after a series of meetings with the body of bank Chief Executive Officers and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. Martins said: “Well, we have had engagements with the body of CEOs and they have been interacting amongst themselves and I am happy to tell you today that the banks that were hitherto banned have been released from the ban. “And the reason is because all of the banks after discussions and engagements under the auspices of the body of CEOs and the CIBN have all submitted credible repayment plans which we the CBN found acceptable. “So as a result of that, all those banks have been re-instated in the foreign exchange market.” The CIBN President, Professor Segun Ajibola, said that the institute was very much interested in what was happening among all the industry players. Ajibola said that under the aegis of the institute, the body of bank CEOs is now a formidable platform to look at issues that are pertinent to the industry and the economy, to ensure that stakeholders’ interest is protected. “We will protect the interests of all our stakeholders and especially the bigger picture, which is Nigeria and its economy as a whole. So it is a happy development and I believe this will further help to strengthen our system and our economy.” The Managing Director of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, said that the body of bank CEOs under the under the auspices of the CIBN, aims to get banks to work together. Wigwe said that this would ensure that anytime there is a serious issue in the market, bank CEOs would meet to look for a way to resolve them. According to earlier report, the CBN had on Tuesday, banned nine Deposit Money Banks from the nation’s foreign exchange market for failing to remit $2.3 billion belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the Treasury Single Account. On Thursday last week, the CBN re-admitted the United Bank for Africa Plc, saying that it had remitted all outstanding NNPC/NLNG deposits in its possession to NNPC’s TSA at the CBN. [myad]
Aero Contractors Airline has announced the suspension of all its scheduled services indefinitely from Thursday even as it asked all its workers to proceed on indefinite leave.
The airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Fola Akinkuotu, said in a statement in Lagos that the management decision was part of the strategic business realignment to reposition the airline and return it to the path of profitability.
Akinkuotu emphasized that all staff directly and indirectly involved in providing the services would also proceed on indefinite leave of absence, adding: “this business decision is as a result of the current economic situation in the country, which has forced some other airlines to suspend operation or out rightly pull out of Nigeria.
“In the case of Aero, the airline has faced grave challenges in the past six months, which impacted its business and by extension the scheduled services operations.”
Akinkuotu said that the impact of the external environment had been very harsh on the airline’s operational performance, hence the management’s decision to suspend scheduled services operations indefinitely effective September 1, 2016.
He further stated: “This suspension is pending when the external opportunities and a robust sustainable and viable plan is in place for Aero Contractors to recommence its scheduled services.
“The implication of the suspension of scheduled services operations extends to all staff directly and indirectly involved in providing services, as they are effectively to proceed on indefinite leave of absence during the period of non-services.
“We are aware of the impact this will have on our staff and our highly esteemed customers, hence we have initiated moves to ensure that we are able to return back to operations within the shortest possible time, offering reliable, safe and secure operations.”
Akinkuotu said both internal and external environmental factors had made it difficult for the airline to continue its scheduled services, leading to the management’s decision.
He recalled that as part of its resolve to ensure the airline survived, unlike most other carriers that experienced short life span in the country, the Asset Management Company of Nigeria had appointed Adeniyi Adegbomire as Receiver Manager in February 6, 2016.
Akinkuotu also noted that since AMCON’s intervention in Aero Contractors in 2011, it had provided support for the airline to meet working capital requirements and fleet expansion.
As at press time when reporters visited the airline’s counter on Wednesday, the ticket counters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal were empty. [myad]
Brazil’s Senate has impeached President Dilma Rousseff for manipulating the budget, putting an end to 13 years in power of her left-wing Workers’ Party. Sixty-one senators voted in favour of her impeachment and 20 against, meeting the two-thirds majority needed to remove her from the presidency. The impeached Rousseff has denied the charges of tampering with the b udget. Acting President Michel Temer will serve out Rousseff’s term, which ends on January 1, 2019. Temer, from the centre-right PMDB party, was expected to be officially sworn in on Wednesday, August 31. Rousseff had been suspended in May after the Senate voted to go ahead with the impeachment process. She was accused of moving funds between government budgets, which is illegal under Brazilian law. Her critics said she was trying to plug deficit holes in popular social programmes to boost her chances of being re-elected for a second term in October 2014.
The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), has announced that it is providing a centre for residents of Abuja, the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to view the annual eclipse due to occur on September 1st.
The Agency, which asked Nigerians not to panic over the eclipse named the viewing centre as the Obasanjo Space centre, along airport road, Abuja, to enable members of the public, pupils and students from various schools to view the eclipse.
In a statement by the agency’s Head of Media and Corporate Communication, Mr. Felix Ale in Abuja, said the eclipse will be experienced between the hours of 7:15am and 10:03am with slight variations in actual timing across the country.
An annular eclipse, the agency explained, occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun, hence the sun appears as a very bright ring or annulus surrounding the dark disk of the moon.
Ale said that the agency will provide specially designed viewing instruments for Nigerians who wish to watch the eclipse between those hours.
According to him, eclipse is an astronomical event, and an occurrence of nature for man to behold but cannot be viewed with the naked eyes as this can cause permanent damage to the human eyes.
“The eclipse will be experience at varying obscurities, with the southern part of the country having the highest degree of obscurity of eighty per cent, and in the north the lowest obscurity of fort-five per cent.
“In the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, there will be a partial eclipse, with an obscurity of sixty per cent, and the first contact at about 7:17am, with maximum eclipse at 8:32am and end at 10:00am.”
According to him, Lagos will also experience its first contact with the eclipse at 7:15am, with a maximum eclipse occurring at 8:32am and ending at about 10:00am.
He advised the public not panic or attach any spiritual connotation to this appearance of the eclipse, as this is a natural occurrence which has been accurately predicted by science.
“The National Space Research and Development Agency has developed necessary capacity to accurately make these predictions.
“The viewing centre which has been set up by the agency will be open to the public on Thursday 1st September, 2016 from 6:45am for school pupils and students to observe the annular eclipse as part of its continuous programmes to expose Nigerians and students to matters concerning astronomical environment.” [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Appropriation Act, 2016 which was passed by the National Assembly some weeks ago.
The Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, disclosed this when he met with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
The total budget approved and signed into law for the FCT stands at N241 billion.
According to Enang, the legal implantation of the Budget, therefore, comes into effect, which will result in employment in the formal and informal sectors through projects implementation and employment there from arising.
On the issue of the budget of statutory agencies and parastatals still pending before the National Assembly, Enang said that it is in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act for President Buhari to forward the budget proposal of all the 38 agencies to the National Assembly.
He said that once it is passed into law, it would stimulate the economy and create massive job opportunities.
He however declined to respond or provide any details about an executive bill seeking “emergency” power for President Buhari to reposition the economy.
“Some Nigerians have asked questions as to the legal and legislative grounds for the laying of the Budget of Statutory Corporations before the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
“The Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 requires that the Budget of the underlisted Agencies among others be laid before the Assembles by Mr. President, in addition to, and independent of the annual Appropriation Act. [myad]
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has said that he will not discriminate in allocating plots earmarked for religious worship centres in the Abuja Master Plan.
The Minister, who spoke when a delegation of the Catholic Community in Abuja, led by the Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan that paid him a visit in his office, said that the Abuja Master Plan makes provision for the need of every sector in the society.
He reiterated that his Administration would make sure the ones that belong to worship centres are equitably allocated amongst all religious faiths in tune with the Change Agenda of the Federal Government.
“Despite the huge demands for land in the FCT, the Administration will try as much as possible to ensure that plots meant for religious organizations are left for that purpose so that everybody is given a sense of belonging in the Territory.
“The Planners of Abuja have made plots available for religious bodies in all of the districts in the Federal Capital City and the current FCT Administration intends to implement its land allocation policy based on this plan.
“I think this is standard practice. For every district, there are religious plots that cater for all the faiths. Ordinarily, fairness should be adopted in this kind of issues. You may find some people complaining over the years, if there has not been fairness.”
Muhammad Bello said that there is a deliberate policy by the current FCT Administration not to allocate new plots of land either now or in the near future until such areas or districts are clearly provided with the best compliments of infrastructure.
The Minister said that this policy is not aimed at stifling development, but to ensure that development go the way it should be, by providing for the best possible infrastructure before allocations are made, so that issues like land speculation or double allocation are discouraged.
He said that lands that are in compensation for wrongs done or maybe as part of amicable resolutions to disputes would be exempted from this arrangement; adding that the FCT Administration will give priority to these exceptions.
Muhammad Bello called on religious bodies and other residents of the FCT to embrace out-of-court settlement of land related disputes to reduce the time expended in seeking resolutions at the courts, which he said retards development of the FCT.
Speaking earlier, the leader of delegation, John Cardinal Onaiyekan thanked the Minister for encouraging the inter-religious seminar that afforded religious leaders in the Federal Capital Territory to rub minds. [myad]
The Nigerian Presidency has said that the priority it had given to the agriculture and mining sectors has pushed oil sector on which the nation depended for years, to the background, as the just released GDP figures for the 2016 second quarter by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) confirmed the growth in the agric sector.
The Presidency said that though the report indicated a temporary decline in the economy generally but that it indicated an hopeful expectation in the country’s economic trajectory. “Besides the growth recorded in the agriculture and solid mineral sectors, the Nigerian economy in response to the policies of the Buhari presidency is also doing better than what the IMF had estimated with clear indications that the second half of the year would be even much better. “The Buhari presidency will continue to work diligently on the economy and engage with all stakeholders to ensure that beneficial policy initiatives are actively pursued and the dividends delivered to the Nigerian people. In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu on the latest NBS report read: “The just recently released data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that Gross Domestic Product declined by -2.06% in the second quarter of 2016 on a year-on-year basis. A close look at the data shows that this outcome was mostly due to a sharp contraction in the oil sector due to huge losses of crude oil production as a result of vandalisation and sabotage. However, the rest of the Q2 data is beginning to tell a different story. There was growth in the agricultural and solid minerals sectors which are the areas in which the Federal Government has placed particular priority. Agriculture grew by 4.53% in the second quarter of 2016 as compared with 3.09% in the first quarter. The metal ores sector showed similar performance with coal mining, quarrying and other minerals also showing positive growth of over 2.5%. Notably also, the share of investments in GDP increased to its highest levels since 2010, growing to about 17% of Gross Domestic Product. The manufacturing sector though not yet truly out of the woods is beginning to show signs of recovery while the service sector similarly bears watching. Nevertheless, the data already shows a reduction in imports and an increase in local produced goods and services and this process will be maintained although it will start off slowly in these initial stages before picking up later. The inflation rate remains high but the good news is that the month-on-month rate of increase has fallen continuously over the past three months. Unemployment remains stubbornly high which is usually the case during growth slowdowns and for reasons of a structural nature. The picture that emerges, barring unforeseen shocks, is that the areas given priority by the Federal Government are beginning to respond with understandable time lags to policy initiatives. Indeed, as the emphasis on capital expenditure begins to yield results and the investment/GDP numbers increase, the growth rate of the Nigerian economy is likely to improve further. As these trends continue, the outlook for the rest of the year is that the Nigerian economy will beat the IMF prediction of -1.8% for the full year 2016. The IMF had forecasted a growth of -1.8% for 2016, however the economy is performing better than the IMF estimates so far. For the half year it stands at -1.23% compared to an average of -1.80% expected on average by the IMF. What is more, it is likely the second half will be better than the first half of 2016. This is because many of the challenges faced in the first half either no longer exist or have eased.” [myad]
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Residents of Kuje Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), especially the Gbagi and Gade indigenes of the area, have appealed to the FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello to save them from what they called ‘exorbitant prices’ of medical services in the Kuje General Hospital.
Brazil’s Senate has impeached President Dilma Rousseff for manipulating the budget, putting an end to 13 years in power of her left-wing Workers’ Party.
