Road Safety Officers Cause Traffic Gridlock At Zuba, Abuja

November 30, 2019

Traffic came to a standstill today, November 30 between Giri and Zuba in the Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory as a result of diversion created by officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Our correspondent who was trapped in the holdup reported that the officers had blocked the other lane of the highway for some youths that were practicing skirting, running on the coater, wearing shoes with tyres.

He said that the vehicles, including loaded trailers, luxury buses and others that were diverted to the other lane subsequently created confusion with vehicles coming in opposite direction.

According to our reporter, the officers who caused the confusion subsequently disappeared from the scene with the resultant holdup that built-up between Yangoji and Zuba, a distance of about two kilometers.

It was gathered that other FRSC officers later joined in reversing the situation by redirecting vehicles to their rightful lane, as the youths practicing skirting also abandoned the practice.

Our reporters said that vehicles, most of which were on long journey to Kano, Sokoto and other Northern states were in the traffic logjam for over four hours, beginning from past 11.00 in the morning.

When contacted, some FRSC offers trying to correct the traffic confusion preferred to remain silent, saying they were not authorized to speak to press.

What Makes Us Different From Ponzi – Famzhi Interbiz MD

November 30, 2019

The Managing Director of Famzhi Interbiz Limited, Hajiya Mariam Suleiman has debunked insinuation that the company is a ponzi.

According to her, while ponzi is a method of collecting money from some people to pay other people, Famzhi Interbiz operates on shearing the profits from production and manufacturing.

Hajiya Mariam, who spoke to over 10,000 investors at the 2019 Annual Conference at the headquarters of the company in Kubwa, Abuja today, November 30, said that the company, which has been registered with Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), is into estate business, farming and animal husbandry, microfinance business and water production and manufacturing as well as other businesses.

She said that there are 150 people on the employment of the company, adding that since it started operation four years ago with few investors, thousands of Nigerians have joined even as it operates strictly within the law of the land.

Hajiya Mariam said that the company’s board of directors are looking into new business opportunities, with more people investing in it, even as she promised to formally declare the company’s statement of account next year after consultation with the directors.

She appealed to the investors, who turned up in their thousands, to be patient with the management over the expected changes in the way the company dispense their income.

“All such changes will be corrected in November 2020, when the company goes Plc. My appeal to the investors is to imbibe the spirit of patience. Everything will be alright in the end.”

Some groups, including students of the University of Abuja and Ebira Vabe Association honoured Hajiya Mariam for her honesty, humanitarian services and devotion to the happiness of fellow human beings.

When Buhari Leaves In 2023, By Iliyasu Gadu

Greenbarge Reporters

November 30, 2019

‘’APC is a party we hurriedly put together….President Buhari gave character to the party. He brought his integrity to bear on the party and made it what it is in the northern part of the country where the masses saw him as a true leader and we all rode on that to achieve victory. But after the credibility of Buhari, there seems to be no alternative in the same manner that will drive the party to a 2023 victory. If we are not careful, APC might go with Buhari in 2023 and that will be very unfortunate. ‘’ Senator Rochas Okorocha

Of the deluge of comments that followed the victory of President Buhari in the 2015 elections, it was Adamu Adamu the current minister of Education, then a columnist with the Daily Trust who offered a more nuanced perspective. He reasoned that Buhari’s victory was the preferred alternative to the social upheaval that the country was hurtling inexorably to under the rudderless leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)

Now four years into the administration and counting, considering the promises and expectations that accompanied President Buhari’s ascendancy, it should worry us that Senator Okorocha a top figure in this administration should sound this alarm about the ruling party. For what is likely to happen to the APC and indeed the country after President Buhari must have served his second term in 2023 is without doubt the trillion naira question on the mind of not just every political figure but across the spectrum of life in the country as well.

That there is a general feeling of anti-climax slowly giving way to fatalistic resignation as a result of the unresolved and unfulfilled expectations of Nigerians of the Buhari administration is palpably unmistakeable.

Nigerians are yet to see the promised improvements in their lives as dividends for voting Buhari and the APC. And at the level of politics, president Buhari’s failure to strengthen the ‘’ hurriedly put together’’ APC has led to a feeling of uncertainty among the rank and file about what the future holds for the party once he goes. Many APC members across the country are thus convinced that owing to the several fissures within its ranks the party may likely implode once president Buhari goes.

In this regard, the most telling of all the issues raging within the APC has to do with the succession question. There is afoot, a quiet but vicious struggle going on currently on who will succeed president Buhari among the grandees in the party. One of those frequently mentioned is Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state. But a Kaduna-based veteran politician thinks differently. ‘’That one? He is not only an accidental civil servant as he himself admitted; he is also an accidental politician. Where will he be today politically were it not for Buhari’’? the man who pleaded not to be named because his house will be demolished, asked rhetorically.

Many within the APC and outside it believe that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, had remained in the APC, stood a greater chance of succeeding president Buhari both as party leader and president.

Then there is party leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. It is believed by many within APC that he stands the greatest chance to succeed president Buhari should the party decide to zone the presidency to the south. But again as zoning is one of the several issues raging within the APC currently which threatens to derail it Tinubu work is cut out for him. I am reliably informed that in anticipation of this, the Asiwaju is quietly but assiduously working on forming an alternative political platform to actualise his political ambitions.

Although the APC has made some gains in recent electoral contests, the great question still remains whether the party can find within it a leader that can hold its constituent parts together once Buhari exits in 2023. The overwhelming majority of its northern members especially in the party’s core support area of the northwest do not want to countenance a southern presidential candidate let alone support one. They are likely to set up and support a new political party or vote a northern candidate on another political platform. The party’s supporters in the south feel its time one of its own is supported to clinch the presidential ticket and be voted for in 2023 and would settle for nothing less.

All these point are flashpoints with a potential to lead to a major implosion of the APC in the near future. President Buhari despite his massive following may not be able to prevent it because the rifts within the party are spurred principally in anticipation of his departure. Whatever influence he wields in the party will come up against emerging realities in the APC and the country and these will be driven by other significant actors in the polity.

In 2015 president Buhari was the major beneficiary of a shift in political realities which favoured a change from President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP. Similarly by 2023 other issues will emerge to render his influence largely academic having spent his allotted time to make his mark in the annals of Nigerian political history.

If his departure precipitates what Adamu Adamu wrote about in 2015 and Senator Okorocha warned about so eloquently in 2019, it will be the ocassion for the emergence of another fit for purpose leader just as president Buhari in 2015.

Gadu can be reached at Ilgad2009@gmail.com

(08035355706 sms only)

Religion, Ethnicity: Nigeria Is At Crossroad, Osinbajo Observes

Greenbarge Reporters

November 29, 2019

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has observed that Nigeria is presently at the crossroad in respect of the use to which religion and ethnicity are is being played.

He said: “we are at a historic juncture in the existence of our nation. Here and there are religious and tribal tensions. Many are beating the drums of ethnic and religious superiority. Some even seek to divide the nation into ethnic zones.

“Yet, our constitution speaks in the clearest and highest terms of our national commitment to the equality of all Nigerians regardless of ethnicity, religion or status.

“It speaks of the imperative of all individuals and governments to respect the rights and dignity of every Nigerian. Our constitution speaks of freedom of worship, the liberty to belong to a faith of one’s choice and even change that faith without consequence.”

Professor Osinbajo, who spoke today, November 29 at the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), said that constitutional declarations mean nothing unless there are men and women ready to make the personal sacrifices to bridge the gap between rhetoric and constitutional ideals.

According to him, such men and women are not usually very many, but that they do not have to be many to make a difference.

The Vice president narrated a story of a leader of a large Christian congregation in a Northern State who complained to him that government did not give national honors to those who promote the unity of the country.

“He then told me how the Governor of his State had rebuilt several churches that were damaged by religious extremists who described themselves as Muslims. I was shocked first, by the fact that here was the leader of a church, asking that the Government should honour the Governor of his State for doing something that is unprecedented.
“Yet there are States where Governors refuse to grant certificates of occupancy for the building of churches or places of religious gathering in outright violation of the constitution they swore to uphold.
“Every Sunday, my family and over 100 Christians attend service in the Chapel at the Villa. The Chapel is located in the premises of the President and his family. It is located a few seconds away from the First Lady’s kitchen. Sometimes when I see the President on a Sunday morning, he asks me whether the service is over already or I am escaping from the service! That is the sort of tolerance that we need in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society and it is the duty of leaders to show that sort of example.
“It is the courage of leaders to live up to the ideals of their faith and their sworn commitments that invariably build nations. “Leaders must live up to the commitments to which they swear, especially political leaders.
“Nations are built by the sacrifices, the hard work of leaders who do not care even if they are condemned by persons of their own religion or ethnicity, so long as they are confident that they act in obedience to the oaths they swore and to the Almighty God. Such men and women are few, but the profundity of their actions invariably transform communities and nations as they bend the arc of history in the direction of unity, peace and progress.”

Buhari Lands In Daura From Equatorial Guinea, Commissions Projects Monday

Greenbarge Reporters

November 29, 2019

President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in Daura, Katsina State, from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea where he attended a one-day 5^th Summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

A statement today, November 29 by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said that Buhari arrived the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport at 4.20 pm and was received by Governor Aminu Bello Masari.

The President, who is on a five-day official visit to the state, will on Monday participate in a ground breaking ceremony for the University of Transportation, Daura and commission the Kwanar Gwante (Shargalle Road), which is off Kano-Daura Road.

The specialized university, which will be built by CCECC Nigerian Ltd, will focus on research and development of human capital for the transport sector.

The statement said that the President will depart Daura on Tuesday for Kaduna.

Meanwhile, before he left Malabo for Nigeria, President Buhari signed an agreement on behalf of Nigeria with Iran to set up a bi-national commission that will promote trade, investment, agriculture and technology transfer.

The agreement came in the wake of a meeting between President Buhari and Iranian Vice President for Economic Affairs, Mohammad Nahavandian.

Speaking at the bilateral meeting, President Buhari said that he was impressed with the speed in transformation of Iranian oil and gas industry from what it used to be when he served as Nigeria’s petroleum minister in the 1970s.

“I will work very hard towards the joint commission. We will go back and identify sectors of common interest. In particular, we are interested in how you utilized your gas, with 95 per cent of your national population wired to gas.

“The evolution of our gas industry is too slow. We are still flaring gas. I will work with you on how to harness and utilize our gas. I am very impressed.”

President Buhari asked to be given up to second quarter of 2020 on the modality of the bi-national commission.

The President said that Iran also flared gas in the 70s, expressing his delight that the fires had all been put out. He expressed optimism that Nigeria would soon attain the same feat.

He recalled his close association as Nigeria’s oil minister with Iran, adding that if the blueprint he left behind as petroleum minister had been followed, Nigeria would have had 12 Liquefied Natural Gas trains by 1983.

“Instability and partisan politics thwarted all that, leaving us with just six, and the seventh we are now working on. We would have been earning more from gas.”

President Buhari said that the future of oil and gas is in value addition, even as he extolled Iranians for attainments in oil and gas, electricity generation, agriculture and petrochemical industry.

The President commended the Iranian defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, saying the dispossession of the terrorists of their oil wells meant that they had lost access to resources used in supporting Boko Haram in Lake Chad sub-region.

The Iranian Vice President, who was emphatic that Nigeria and Iran can do a lot, said: “a lot can be done. We can do miracles. We have the vision.”

He suggested four major areas of economic cooperation: petrochemical, power, irrigation agriculture and industry.

The Iranian Vice President also offered cooperation in counter terrorism, citing the routing of ISIS in Iraq and Syria as major contribution to the global anti-terrorism efforts.

He used the meeting to brief the President on the political and security situation in the Middle East region.

Plateau Gov Advises Jerremiah Useni To Leave Political Stage For His Daughter

Greenbarge Reporters

November 29, 2019

Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has advised his political rival who contested the governorship election with him under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jerremiah Useni to leave the stage for his eldest daughter.

The governor who spoke to news men at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, November 29, said: “his (Useni’s) daughter was my classmate. I have told him several times that his first daughter was my classmate. So at this stage, I would have been expecting his daughter to contest for governor and not him.

“His daughter was my classmate, we went to school together and so why should we be fighting?

“Fighting him is like fighting a father. It’s unfortunate but for me, I say my focus is Plateau State.”

He said that Useni had boasted that as General in the army he would not fight and retire and that he would go to the Supreme Court.

“That I think is to make me lose focus but I have not lost any focus in Plateau State.

“As he is moving, I am becoming more determined because just before the judgment, I think he will say go to Plateau state.”

Governor Lalong, said that as far as he is concerned, the main election was more important.

“I did the election, I did a run off, we went to the tribunal the first time, we went again for the second time. Well I don’t know whether he is going for the third time.

“One thing I am very sure and with the confidence I have in Plateau people, I know that this victory they are very happy about it. They have prayed about it and the victory is very sweet. You know when you get things this way and people are very happy.

“I am serving people and each time I look at them, I pity them if there is any change in Plateau State with what have done so far, restoring peace in Plateau State, bringing development to the people of Plateau state and all over night, to say that something can change it. It will be very very unfortunate. But I thank God for the judgment and also the confidence we have in the judiciary.”

EFCC Boss Asks Churches To Preach More On Integrity, Hard work Than Prosperity

Greenbarge Reporters

November 29, 2019

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has asked churches in Nigeria to direct their messages more on the need for Nigerians to embrace integrity and hard work, rather than prosperity.

According to him, such messages are necessary to catalyze the citizens towards playing positive roles in national development.

Magu who spoke at St. Luke Anglican Church, Lalupon, Oyo State, where he addressed the congress of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Oyo State Chapter, yesterday, November 28, also called on Christian leaders to always preach love to their followers.

The EFCC boss, who was represented by the Head of the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Commission, Friday Ebelo, said that the country is at a critical stage of its development and that citizens need to join hands to work for its progress.

He advised Nigerians to shun corruption and imbibe virtues that would help the nation reclaim its greatness.

This was as the Oyo State chairman of CAN, Pastor Benjamin Akanmu, commended EFCC’s leadership for involving the religious community in the anti-corruption war.

He observed that EFCC’s efforts in the war against corruption are yielding fruits, promising the continued support of the state’s chapter of CAN to the Commission’s activities.

Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Construction Begins Soon, Buhari Promises

Greenbarge Reporters

November 29, 2019

President Muhammadu Buhari has promised that his Government would soon commence the construction of the 600-kilometre Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline which would move gas from the Southern part of the country to the North.

The Nigerian leader, who spoke today, November 29, at an address he delivered at the 5th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit at the Sipopo International Conference Hall, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, said that the viability of extending the gas pipeline to North Africa is also under consideration.

Buhari, who described the theme of the Summit: Natural Gas – Energy for Sustainable Development, as most appropriate, President Buhari noted that the one-day meeting was “taking place at a critical juncture as global energy supply is transitioning from hydrocarbons to renewable.

“The Paris Accord of 2015 signaled the first major global commitment to a deliberate effort on this inevitable transition. Nigeria is proud to be one of the first signatories to the historic Agreement.”

He said that the reason why Nigeria and GECF members are focusing on gas development is that “we are mindful of the energy deficit in the developing world especially, here in Africa where we have nearly 600 million people without access to modern energy.

“As responsible leaders, it is our duty to preserve the environment not only for the present but for future generations.

“We can achieve this balance between our energy deficit and environmental preservation needs by developing and deploying new technologies. Although classified as fossil fuel, natural gas is a viable solution to both our energy and environmental challenges.”

President Buhari stressed that natural gas has the added advantage of availability and affordability, adding that to fully leverage this potential, nations need to pool resources to put up trans-border and trans-regional energy infrastructure.

“We in Nigeria have led the way by the construction of the West Africa Gas Pipeline which runs through four West African countries.”

President Buhari commended the foresight of the founding fathers of the GECF in promoting natural gas in the global energy mix.

Declaring the Summit open, the host, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, called on members of the GECF to continue to work in harmony towards the realisation of the objectives of the multinational organisation.

Alleged None Payment Of Salary: Aide To Rivers Gov Resigns

Greenbarge Reporters

November 28, 2019

Senior Special Adviser to the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on Physically Challenge Matters, Tekena Zephanian-Altraide has resigned his appointment.

In a fifteen-page resignation letter to the Governor, Zephanian-Altraide regretted that as an SA to the Governor, he could not pay his father’s medical bill which led to his death in September, since he was owed from July till date.

He complained that since his appointment in 2016, his office had never had money to run its affairs, adding that he struggled to pay his staffers their allowances from his personal salary of about three hundred and twenty-eight thousand Naira.

It is not known if the Governor has accepted or rejected the resignation.

Security, Other Challenges Have Swallowed Nigeria’s Oil Earnings, Buhari Confesses

Greenbarge Reporters

November 28, 2019

Nigeria is rich in petroleum resources, but the challenges confronting the country are so enormous that they render the oil earnings insignificant, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

The President, who spoke today, November 28, as he received in audience, the outgoing Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria, Carlos Trejo Sosa, who has been here for five years, said that he was pleased with relations between Cuba and Nigeria, particularly the hand of fellowship extended in the area of health care and transfer of knowledge, among others.

“We have deficit in infrastructure, in education, health care, and many other areas, but Cuba has always been helpful. What we earn from oil does not meet our needs, and we can use any assistance we get. Cuba has always been friendly and helpful.” President Buhari said that whether in uniform or out of it, he had always been glad to collaborate with Cuba, and hoped relations between the two countries will wax stronger.

Ambassador Sosa said that his five years and nine days in Nigeria were filled with warmth, love and friendship, adding that he would never forget the country.

“I am not just being polite, I mean every word. We appreciate Nigeria a great deal.”

At another audience with the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Total Group Worldwide, Mr Patrick Pouyanne, President Buhari said that investments cannot thrive in an atmosphere of social and political instability, saying that the Federal Government would do all within its powers to safeguard the interest of investors.

“The relationship between us and Total has been long and mutually beneficial. We want it to remain so. We have to be honourable, honest, and work together, so that we can improve. At our end, we promise social and political stability, so that you can recover your investments. It’s our duty as government, and we will do it, so that we can maintain mutual confidence in each other.”

This was even as Mr. Pouyanne disclosed that apart from oil and gas, which is its core activity, Total was also willing to develop the solar power potentials of Nigeria.

“Our portfolio is large. We have many more projects to come. The prospects for Nigeria in oil and gas remain huge. More developing activities are possible, and we need to keep the momentum, and commit more investments to Nigeria.”

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