AshakaCem Loses N4.5 Billion To Boko Haram Insurgency, Chairman Reveals

November 15, 2015

Chairman of Ashaka Cement Plc, Malam Suleiman Yahaya has revealed that the company has lost over N4.5 billion as a result of the Boko Haram attack on the company’s cement plant at Funakaye local government area of Gombe state.

The chairman who spoke today at the palace of the Emir of Gombe after presenting 100 bags of polished rice to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) resident in the state, lamented the loss which company, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, is frightening.
“In spite of the fact that we have lost over N4.5 billion from those two attacks, we are determined to ensure that Ashaka Cement is one of the only surviving institution in the entire North-eastern Nigeria.”

The Chairman said that specialized manpower were lost just as the security situation led to poor market and invariably dwindled income for the company.
The company is believed to have lost over 10 trips of Ammonium Sulphate and more than 18 Toyota Hilux vans, 10 brand new ambulances were either taken away or vandalized by the insurgents. [myad]

We’re Determined To Sacrifice Anything For Biafra, Agitators Tell Fr. Mbaka

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

Movement for the Actualization of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has made clear that they are determined to sacrifice anything to achieve their aim of attaining a status of Republic even as they condemned recent statement credited to Enugu Catholic priest Rev. Fr. Mbaka against the agitation for Biafra.

Describing his utterances as insensitive, un-guided and selfish, MASSOB Director of Information, Comrade Uchenna Madu expressed shock in a statement that a revered Igbo clergy “will descend so low to make such a condemnable statement few days after Buhari’s wife visited him.
“Mr. President should be aware that no amount of persuasion and friendship with Mbaka can frustrate or diminish the rising status, consciousness and global re awakening/acceptance of Biafra.
“A man who speak with both sides of the mouth at a time is a hypocrite and is not worthy to be trusted. The Igbo Christians, Catholics and even The Pope will prove Mbaka wrong. Other Igbo clergy including Catholic priests are not in support of Mbaka’s anti Biafra comment.
“This is why the Igbo youths and other citizens have lost confidence and trust on many Igbo leaders in Nigeria.
“Biafra agitators are more determined to sacrifice our shops, businesses, jobs, comfort and even the supreme price for the sake of our freedom.
“Mbaka himself benefited from the protests as his business through products like Aqua Rapha satchet/bottle water and Yogurts boomed as the demonstration lasted.
During a sermon at his weekly Adoration Ministry in Enugu yesterday, Mbaka had condemned the recent agitation and protests for Biafra describing the action as `evil.’
The cleric urged youths in the South East and South-South to go back to their business as the protest could lead to their death.
“Locking up your shops and disrupting economic activities will not add any naira to your pocket, whatever grievance you have could be resolved through dialogue.
He lambasted those leaders that were behind the agitation and protests, saying that they should use their children for the struggle. [myad]

2019 Presidency: PDP Eyes Saraki, Dogara, Kwankwaso, Others

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is said to have began talks with prominent political leaders from the northern part of the country, including the present Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and former governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwas, all belonging to All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2019 presidential election. Also on the list are former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido and Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State

PDP had recently announced that it would zone its presidential ticket to the north, resulting in the National Working Committee of the party engaging in series of meetings with prominent politicians from the north, especially those who defected from PDP to APC.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, confirmed the secret meetings the leadership of the party had been having with its former members, saying that he was partaking in such meetings, even as he confessed that it would be premature to mention those who were contacted to return to their former party.

But he said the party is only considering those he said have electoral values and had yet to constantly condemn the party and everything it stood for in the past.

“Yes, I can confirm that we have opened discussions with our former members who left us due to misunderstandings and were aggrieved. We are already having meetings with them and I can assure you that the discussions are going to yield positive results.

“But for the fact that some of these gentlemen are holding sensitive positions in the APC and in government, we won’t be able to mention their names.

“They are not happy with the Federal Government and some of its policies and they have decided to team up with us come 2019.”

Punch. [myad]

Nigeria Prisoners Face Hunger As Food Contractors Complain Of Being Broke

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

Danger seems to be looming in the Nigerian prisons across the country as the contractors supplying food items and gas to them have complained of being broke.
The contractors complained that unless President Muhammadu Buhari and the new minister of Interior personally intervene to settle a total of N6 Billion they are being owed by the federal government, they would be grounded.
The contractors, under the aegis of Nigeria Prison Service Ration and Gas Contractors (NPSRGC), stressed that if urgent measure is not taken to settle the backlog of the debt, they might not be able to supply food items and gas in the month of December as they have exhausted not only their financial resources but also the sources where they have been getting the money.
In a Save-Our-Sour (SOS) letter, addressed to President Buhari, dated Friday, November 13, the contractors said that they have not been paid for the supply of the food items and gas to the prisons since January this year, and that they have resorted to taking bank loans with all the accumulative interests, even as some of them have had to dispose of their houses and other properties just so that they would meet up.
The letter of appeal to the President, copies of which were sent to the minister of Interior, the Comptroller-General of the Prison and others, was signed by the association’s President, Chief S. K Sanni, National Secretary, Mr. Eugene Agro and the National Vice President (North West), Alhaji Ibrahim A. Asarakawa.
The contractors made it clear that if they are not paid the outstanding money before the end of November, they would have no money to continue to supply food items and gas to the prisons in December, a situation which they said, poses great danger to the fragile security of the country.
“Needless to say that if prisoners and inmates of the nation’s prisons are not fed for two days, they could go hay wire and the consequences are not good to imagine. We don’t want any national embarrassment for Mr. President and his new government.”
The contractors said that before this year, they used to be paid two weeks ahead of time, but wondered why the system changed to the extent that they were the ones using their money to buy the food items and gas for the prisons before they were reimbursed.
“We are therefore appealing to the Commander-In-Chief to mobilise funds from anywhere to settle our bill before it is too late, knowing that top on his priority is security. We have endured long enough.” [myad]

PDP Chieftain Says Re-Branding Hijacked By PoliticiansLooking For Attention

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

A chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South Southern part of Nigeria, Prince Afoke Okporua, has described the re-branding of the party as a gathering of minute political characters sourcing for media attention to gain relevance, promote verbal promiscuity and squander the resources of the Party.

Okporua, who is also one of the Niger Delta Activists, insisted that the rebranding efforts have woefully failed because of the insincerity of those in the forefront of the move, even as he quarreled with the claim by the party that the candidature of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 was responsible for the party’s failure .
in a statement today, Okporua, noted that the essence of rebranding was to overhaul the system to attain collectivism by drawing closer, all the aggrieved members, but that what the rebranding proponents of PDP has achieved was to promote the interests of those who are not part of the formation of the party.

”Political/Party re-branding entails overhauling aimed at attaining collectivism, correction for the purpose of appealing to aggrieved persons, discussing with the intention to promote inclusion and restoration and investigating so as to ascertain facts for a great leap. However, the re-branding conference ended without any of the afore-mentioned been realized. The conference could be likened to a gathering of minute political characters sourcing for media attention to gain relevance, promote verbal promiscuity and squander the resources of the Party.

”The much publicized re-branding conference of the Peoples Democratic Party which held yesterday at Thisday Dome was nothing but a failure and a reception to celebrate mediocrity and reward political naivety. The aim of the conference was to reposition and restructure the Party for effectiveness and political vibrancy ahead of 2019 but it ended without achieving the much anticipated expectation.

The PDP chieftain said that the issues that were craving for resolutions were left untackled, adding that the trampling on the Party Constitution by the Acting Chairman was ignored, even as the Ekweremadu report on why the Party performed abysmally at the 2015 polls wasn’t deliberated upon.

“The biometric registration which was initiated and handed over to Chief Raymond Dokpesi was not looked into, zoning which is the bedrock to achieve political unity in pluralistic Nigeria was not dissected and the role of the youths in the Party henceforth was not visited.

”Prince Uche Secondus must apologise to Nigerians for killing the Party via his Mugabe tendencies and Gbagbo inclinations. No where in the world do people talk about Party Re-branding without re-course to the fundamental issues: 1. The Acting Chairman’s position for this long is an affront on the Party’s Constitution and any attempt to hold a convention to elect a new Chairman in March in March, 2016 without the North-East completing their tenure is fraudulent and will adversely affect PDP.

”Saying that PDP made a mistake by fielding Dr.. Goodluck E. Jonathan is an insult on the political sensibility of the South-South.

”Issuing a communique without presenting it for a referendum to Party members in the six geo-political zones is nothing but a reflection of crass desperation. This is so because proper consultation wasn’t done before the conference was hurriedly organized.

“The BoT and NEC of the Party didn’t deliberate and approve the finance that was spent on the Conference and as such Secondus and Dokpesi must present a financial statement detailing how much was spent to organize the conference.” [myad]

Arik Air Force-Lands In Ghana With Nigeria U-23 Football Team Aboard

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

An Arik Airline aircraft today, made and emergency landing in Accra, Ghana with members of the Nigeria’s Under-23 African Champion on board.

Information had it that the aircraft, which was heading to Gambia where the nation’s Olympic team members were to undertake the final preparation ahead African U23 Championship, developed unexpected technical difficulties.

Members of the team and the aircraft crew are said to have been stranded in Accra, even as a senior official of the team thanked God for His mercy in saving the aircraft from crashing.

“Thank God for His goodness and mercies. We escaped plane crash on our way to Gambia. The pilot had to make an emergency landing in Accra. We are still in Accra. Stranded.

The team is likely to depart Accra later after the Nigeria Football Federation might have arranged new travel plans . [myad]

MTN’s CEO Negotiates With Nigeria To Save Company’s Neck

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the largest telecommunication network operator in Africa, MTN, Phuthuma Nhleko has since arrived in Nigeria to engage the authorities in negotiations to save the company from over N1 Trillion penalty which the country’s telecommunication regulator slammed on it.

The fine, due to be paid tomorrow, Monday, was imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission after the mobile giant failed to deactivate 5.2 million improperly registered SIM cards.

The company’s spokesperson, Chris Maroleng, confirmed Nhleko’s Nigeria visit but could not shed any light on when he was expected to return to South Africa.

“With regard to Mr Nhleko, he is in Nigeria and has travelled there as part of the continued engagements with our operations in that country. Our position is that we continue to be engaged with the authority in Nigeria.”

Nhleko took over the reins at MTN following the sudden resignation of Sifiso Dabengwa as chief executive on Monday, citing “the most unfortunate prevailing circumstances occurring at MTN Nigeria” as the reason for his departure.

Nhleko’s visit to Nigeria comes amid reports that a section of telecoms subscribers – part of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (Natcoms) in Nigeria – filed a lawsuit against the commission over the fine it imposed on MTN Nigeria.

According to reports, Natcoms wants the Federal High Court in Nigeria to stop the commission from imposing the fine on MTN and to “compel the commission to account for all the monies it has collected as fines from telecoms operators since 2002, and to pay such monies to subscribers as compensation for poor service quality”.

The return of Nhleko, who stepped down as MTN group CEO in March 2011 to make way for Dabengwa, saw an immediate impact on the company’s share price, which rose 1.4 percent on Monday after sagging by nearly 20 percent in the week prior to his appointment.

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), one of the biggest shareholders in MTN, this week said it expected other executives to face the axe for the Nigeria debacle.

It issued the following statement: “While the PIC acknowledges that Mr Dabengwa’s resignation is the noble thing to do in the current circumstances, the PIC is of the view that a lot more people need to take collective responsibility for the fine that was imposed on MTN Nigeria for alleged failure to comply with regulatory requirements in that country.”

The corporation, which handles pensions for government employees, questioned how MTN’s board of directors had exercised its fiduciary duties and also why the company’s risk and compliance function did not foresee that noncompliance could lead to a penalty. [myad]

Kogi Born Scholar Solves 156 Year Old Mathemathics Problem, Wins $1 Million

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

The most important problem in Mathematics, 156 years old Riemann Hypothesis, has been successfully solved by Nigeria Scholar, Dr. Opeyemi Enoch.

Dr. Enoch who teaches at the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) is the fourth genius to solve one of the seven Millennium Problems in Mathematics.

The Kogi State-born mathematician had, before now, worked on mathematical models and structures for generating electricity from sound, thunder and Oceanic bodies.

The Riemann Zeta Hypothesis is one of the seven Millennium problems set forth by the Clay Mathematics Institute with a million Dollar reward for each solved problem for the past 16 years.

A statement from the awarding institution, Dr. Enoch had first investigated and then established the claims of Riemann and went on to Consider and to correct the misconceptions that were communicated by Mathematicians in the past generations, paving way for his solutions and proofs to be established.

“He also showed how other problems of this kind can be formulated and obtained the matrix that Hilbert and Poly predicted will give these undiscovered solutions. He revealed how these solutions are applicable in cryptography, quantum information science and in quantum computers.”

Dr. Enoch had previously designed a Prototype of a silo for peasant farmers and also discovered a scientific technique for detecting and tracking someone on an evil mission. [myad]

For Now, We Can’t Produce In Nigeria, Pfizer Confesses

Greenbarge Reporters

November 15, 2015

Marketing Manager of Pfizer, Consumer Health, Sue Cartwright has said that the company would not start up the construction of a plant in Nigeria but would rather ship its finished products from Europe and other regions to the country.

“All of the manufacturing of Centrum is done within Pfizer plants which are based either in the U.S. China or Europe we don’t have the possibility of starting up new plants at this stage because the bulk and the infrastructure is not available for us at Pfizer because we are bringing in from a veritable plant within Europe which is on Italy so we won’t be setting up a new plant.”

“In terms of the investment that we are bringing into Nigeria, it is very much more from a sales and marketing operation to be able to support the pharmacists. Before the pharmacists were bringing the products in themselves in large containers and they were carrying huge risks when they were bringing it in because of if anything goes wrong with the products when they pile too much stock.”

Cartwright told newsmen that the company is partnering the pharmacists to be able to survive the most consistent supply of products so that it would not be forced to buy huge volumes at a time “because we are importing the products into the market for them.

“We have brought a range of five different variants into the Nigerian which are all NAFDAC approved. The ranges are for different ages and different lifestyle choices. Based on age it is something that is needed for pregnancy or for extra people. We have one for adults, one for over 50, one for children and then pregnancy one and one for extra adults.” [myad]

Peter Obi Lied, He Left N9 Billion, Not N75 Billion- Anambra Government

Greenbarge Reporters

November 14, 2015

Anambra state government has put a lie to the claim by the immediate past administration of Mr. Peter Obi that he left N75 billion liquid cash in the coffers of the state government while leaving office 19 months ago but that the actual amount in the coffers was N9 billion.
The former governor had claimed while taking his exit after two terms in office that he kept N75 billion in government coffers for his successor, Chief Willie Obiano.
The claim became controversial when some officials of the present Obiano administration tried to dispute it late last year in hushed voices.
But at a media briefing on Saturday inside the conference room of the government house in Awka, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu flanked by other members of the State Executive Council (SEC) said that the Obi administration as at March 2014 upon handover had approximately a cash balance of N9.0 billion left in the coffers, while local and foreign investments, refunds and bank balances stood at N75.0 billion. [myad]

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