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13 Niger Delta Indigenes Win Shell One-Year Scholarship For Master’s Degree In UK

Thirteen indigenes of Niger Delta States of Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers States have won the 2019 Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture scholarship for a one-year master’s degree in three top-ranked universities in the United Kingdom.

The Shell’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, who announced the scholarship at the award ceremony in Port Harcourt, said that the latest awards brought the total number of beneficiaries to 92 since the inception of the scheme in 2010.

 “A lack of world-class research institutions and limited access to technology are key challenges in enabling Nigerians and Nigerian companies to play an even greater role in the oil and gas value chain. Therefore, the SPDC Joint Venture has, over the years, developed many scholarship programmes and other initiatives as part of our continuing efforts to develop indigenous manpower for the oil and gas industry.”

Represented by SPDC’s Social Investment Manager, Gloria Udoh, the General Manager said that the scheme was targeted at host communities, adding: “we have the national scholarship which caters for the entire country in addition to the scholarships offered by our deepwater business, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.”

According to him, the fully-funded scholarship covers “all the direct and indirect activities leading up to the award of the postgraduate degree including visa fees, Tuition, living expenses, other allowances and return flight tickets for a one-year Master’s degree in top-ranked partner universities.

The partner universities are: Imperial College London; University of Leeds; and University of Aberdeen.

SPDC’s General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Olanrewaju Olawuyi said the company was committed to country value addition not just through scholarships but also through in-country manufacturing, supplier development, asset ownership and infrastructure development.

Olawuyi said: “Our approach to developing local human capacity has evolved over the years as the challenges facing the industry and our businesses have changed. We look forward to their returning home and contributing to the development of the oil and gas industry and their communities.”

 One of the awardees, Ahante Promise, described the scholarship as “a life-time opportunity to further improve myself and compete equally with my peers all over the world. Shell is doing a great job and I am extremely grateful.” Another beneficiary, Woyinpreye Cliff-Ekubo, expressed appreciation to SPDC “for the opportunity and continuous support in ensuring human capacity development in Nigeria.”

British Prime Minister Incurs Anger Of His People Over Suspension Of Parlament

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has incurred and anger of his people over his decision to suspend the British Parliament for a time before the country’s deadline for leaving the European Union.

The PM’s decision today, August 31, was greeted by thousands of

Photo credit: Huffington Post UK

Britons in London and other cities who staged protests.  An estimated 10,000 people gathered in central London, while others protested in in Belfast, York and others cities to show determination to block a “no deal” Brexit. Protesters in London briefly blocked traffic on a downtown bridge and in Trafalgar Square.

Reports said that parts of central London were brought to a standstill, as people chanted “Boris Johnson, shame on you.”

Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who had urged his supporters to come out in large numbers, told thousands of people at a rally in Glasgow, Scotland that the message to Johnson was simple: “No way. It’s our Parliament. It’s not on and we’re not having it.”

Corbyn said that Johnson, who became Prime Minister through a vote of Conservative Party members instead of a general election, does not have a mandate for shutting down Parliament or for leaving the EU without a deal in place. Many economists and academics think a no-deal Brexit would lead Britain into a prolonged recession.

Organizers said protests were held in more than 30 locations throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In London, they chanted: “Boris Johnson, shame on you.” Some carried signs saying: “Stop the Coup” in reference to what they say is a move that threatens democracy.

The protests were organized by the anti-Brexit group Another Europe Is Possible and by Momentum, which is allied with the opposition Labour Party. The group is urging its membership to “occupy bridges and blockade roads.”

The demonstrations were called ahead of what is expected to be a pitched debate in Parliament this week as Johnson’s opponents scramble to try to pass legislation that would block him from carrying out Brexit on October 31 without an approved withdrawal agreement.

Johnson’s decision to shutter Parliament for several weeks when a debate about Brexit plans had been expected galvanized angry crowds of protesters on Saturday.

There was also a small group of counter-protesters, marching in support of Johnson, in Westminster, London.

Johnson’s plan is also being opposed by some in Parliament who plan to introduce legislation this week to try to prevent a disorderly departure from the European Union.

Their task will be made more difficult if Johnson’s plan to shut Parliament for part of the time period before the October 31 Brexit deadline is carried out.

Johnson’s supporters may well be able to delay any proposed legislation from being enacted in time. Tactics could include introducing a variety of amendments that would have to be debated, or the use of filibusters to stall the process.

The shutdown of Parliament is also being challenged in three separate court cases scheduled to be heard next week.

Former Prime Minister John Major has joined one of the lawsuits, raising the likelihood that he will argue in court that the current prime minister, a fellow member of the Conservative Party, is acting improperly by shutting Parliament.

Johnson, who helped lead the successful Brexit referendum campaign, says his government is actively pursuing a new deal with EU leaders and claims opposition to his policy will make it harder to wring concessions from Europe.

AfDB Worries Over Importation Of Food Worth $50 Billion By African Countries

Lagos Port

The African Development Bank (AfDB), has expressed worry that African countries are importing about 50 billion dollars net of food annually in spite of its 60 percent arable land.

A statement by AfDB’s Communication and External Relations Department said that the bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human, and Social Development, Jennifer Blanke said this at a panel discussion at the 7th Tokyo International Conference in Japan.

Jennifer Blanke was reported to have regretted that in spite of the fact that the continent is holding 60 per cent of the world’s arable land, it still imported food.

She said that by investing in Africa’s food markets, governments could win the fight against stunting and improve nutrition across the continent.

The conference, with theme: “Advancing Africa’s Development through People, Technology, and Innovation,” ended yesterday, August 30.
Source: NAN.

Kano Enforces Ban On Street Begging, Arrests 32 In Dawn Raid

The Kano State government has stamped its feet on the ground over its ban on street begging, as an agency set up to enforce it, Hisbah Board arrested 32 beggars in Kano metropolis.

The Public Relations Officer of the board, Malam Lawan Ibrahim, said that the arrests were carried out around 2:30 am today, August 31 on Ajasa Road, Lodge Road, Kantin Kwari Market, and Sabon Gari. Those who were arrested are 16 adults and 16 male children.

Lawan Ibrahim said that the the board will continue to arrest beggars who refuse to abide by the law which bans street begging and will make sure Kano becomes totally free from begging in the nearest future.

“Those arrested will be screened and first time offenders among them will be granted bail and handed over to their relatives while others will be charged to court.”
Source: NAN.

We’re Still Communicating With Leah Sharibu’s Captors For Her Release – Presidency

Nigeria’s Presidency has said that authorities are still engaging the captors of Leah Sharibu, a student of Government Girls Science and Technical Secondary School, Dapchi, who was kidnapped by a faction of Boko Haram terrorists in February 2018

“Lines of communications remain open with the kidnappers, ISWA, to secure the release of Leah Sharibu. Contrary to false reports, she is alive – given assurances from our security agencies-, and the government is committed to her safe return, as well as all other hostages to their families.”

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, who spoke to news men today, August 31, stressed that the Muhammadu Buhari administration will not give up on the safe return of the abducted Leah Sharibu.

Garba Shehu said: “instead of giving up, the government is carrying forward processes that should hopefully yield her release by her captors.”

The presidential spokesman, who was apparently responding to a cycle of speculations on whether Leah Sharibu is still alive, said emphatically that much of what is written about the girl in the press is false news.

Appealing for patience in dealing with the challenge this case poses, the Presidential spokesman assured that the administration is fully conscious that any misstep on a delicate issue as this can be costly.

EFCC Descends On Fake Investment Company That Had Duped People Of N2 Billion

Operatives of  the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),  Port Harcourt Zonal Office, have arrested 19  staff of a fake investment company floating an alleged Ponzi scheme that have defrauded members of the public to the tune of N2 billion.

The  company, Bluekey Investment Club, operating from Sonia Mall, 42 Woji Road, YKC Junction, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as a Software Development and General Contracting Firm, but allegedly veered into an interest-yielding  Ponzi scheme with  ten percent weekly returns on investment over six months. The scheme also promised total returns of invested capital after six months.

Nineteen staff of the company were rounded up yesterday, August 30, in Port Harcourt. Among them are five Principal Officers: Princess Tsaroigbara (Public Relations Officer); Onwusa Frances Chineze (Accountant); Naabe Gunugu (Payment Confirmation Staff);  Tambari Success (Customer Service) and Anorue Maureen (Receptionist). The Chairman of the company: Neenwi Swanu, was at large as at the time of arrest.

Princess Tsaroigbara told interrogators that her company was into “Digital Financial and other Technological Services” and was not sure if the company was fully registered with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Scores of defrauded customers thronged the premises of the company seeking the intervention of the EFCC.

EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest, saying that items recovered from the company are computer units and a sum of N459,300.

“The suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”

Source: News Express

EFCC Insists Aide To Ex President Jonathan Must Be Jailed, Goes To Appeal Court

EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed its notice of appeal insisting that Waripamo Owei-Dudafa, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan must be convicted and jailed on 22-count money laundering charges preferred against him.

The Commission challenged the judgment of Justice Mohammed Idris, sitting at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, discharging and acquitting Dudafa and one Joseph Iwejuo, a banker, of the money laundering. The lower court judge had ruled that the commission failed to diligently prove its case.

However, EFCC’s prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo said the Commission would be appeal the judgment and that notice of such appeal has actually been filed pursuant to Section 241 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution.

According to him, the appeal is premised on nine grounds of appeal thus:

Rotimi Oyedepo said that Justice Idris erred in law by discharging and acquitting the respondents on counts of conspiracy. In the particulars of the notice, Justice Idris was said to have failed to bind himself with the age-long principle of law, which provides that conspiracy is complete upon agreement.

Dudafa and Iwejuo in their defence had both stated that they did not know each other until the time of their arrest. But the EFCC said following the age-long principle, it is settled law that once a conspiracy has come into existence, other conspirators may join in at a later stage and it is not necessary for the conspirators to know themselves or the full extent of the scheme to which a conspirator has joined himself.

The commission also said that the judge also departed from the settled position of law that “confession alone is sufficient to support a conviction without corroboration, so long as the court is satisfied of the truth of the confession”.

Justice Idris was said to have failed to consider and ascribe any probative value to any of the evidence adduced by the two respondents establishing a meeting of the mind, which constitutes the conspiracy to carry out the unlawful act of concealing proceeds of crime.

The EFCC is, therefore, seeking an order of the court convicting the respondents as charged and sentencing them as prescribed by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended and the EFCC Act of 2004.

Scarcity Of Aviation Fuel Hits Airlines, Raises Prices

Scarcity of aviation fuel (Jet A1) in the domestic market has hit airlines, leading to astronomical rise in the price of the commodity wherever it is available. .

The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the scarcity of aviation fuel, which began a few days ago, also affected some Nigerian carriers involved in the Hajj operations.

Chief Executive Officer of Skypower Express Airlines, one of the airlines affected by the situation, Captain Muhammed Joji, confirmed the development to newsmen today, August 30 in Lagos.

Captain Muhammed Joji said that his airline had to purchase Jet A1 at an exorbitant price in order to convey the pilgrims back home, adding: “it is unfortunate that we don’t have fuel anywhere in Nigeria.

“We tried to get in Lagos, Kano and other airports, but we couldn’t get any. This unfortunately, affected the transportation of our pilgrims back to Nigeria from Saudi Arabia.

He stressed the urgent need for the Federal Government and aviation authorities to find a lasting solution to scarcity of aviation fuel in the country.

He said the scarcity of the product was affecting flight operations in the industry and called on the government to make the product available to airlines.

No fewer than 265 pilgrims of the carrier were delayed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, even as the captain said that the issue has been resolved “as we were able to bring in 265 pilgrims on Friday morning with a B777 aircraft.

“The aircraft has since returned to bring back the same number of pilgrims.”

Japan Bank For International Cooperation, Toyota Tsusho To Invest In Nigeria

Two Japanese companies, Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Toyota Tsusho have promised to invest in different sectors of Nigeria.

They made the promise at investment talks top officials of the two companies held with President Muhammadu Buhari today, August 30 in Yokohama, Japan, on the margins of the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7), which ended today.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said that while the bank said it was interested in investing in oil and gas as well as infrastructure, Toyota Tsusho on the other hand, said it would invest in energy, healthcare and automobiles.

Femi Adesina said that the Toyota group also promised to register its presence all over Nigeria and build an advanced medical diagnostics centre that would put paid to foreign medical trips in search of cutting edge medical diagnosis.

He said that while officials of the bank were led to the meeting by its Deputy Governor, Nobumitsu Hayashi, Toyota Tsusho, which he described as a part of the Toyota conglomerate, was led by the President/Chief Executive Officer of the group, Ichiro Kashitani.

Femi Adesina’s statement said that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, expressed its preparedness to support projects involving Japanese companies in Nigeria adding that Buhari welcomed the bank, informing the team that the country had introduced the ease of doing business platform for the purpose of removing bureaucratic bottlenecks.

The statement quoted President Buhari as calling on Toyota Tsusho to consider setting up a car assembly plant, assuring that Nigeria had the capacity to accommodate the group’s investment for positive returns.

Federal Government Moves To Halt Lingering Killing In Benue, Taraba

The federal government has made a move to put a total stop to the lingering killings going on in both Benue and Taraba States, the latest being the killing of Rev. Fr. David Tanko at Kpankufu Village on Wukari Road in Taraba.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who reacted to the killing of the cleric, in a statement today, August 30 by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said that a high level intervention from the Federal level, made up religious, community leaders and top security operatives is being put together to examine all issues underlying the conflicts in the hope of finding a permanent solution.

The President, who called on the government and people of Benue and Taraba States to exercise restraint in the face of the latest attack, said that the high level intervention is being put together by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Gida Mustapha

Buhari directed the Taraba and Benue State Governors, traditional rulers, specifically the Tor Tiv and the Aku Uka of Wukari, religious and community leaders in the two states to meet urgently to bring an end to persistent violent clashes between Jukun and Tiv people.

According to the President, “the murder of the Catholic Priest highlights the urgency of addressing this embarrassing and persistent conflict.”

Describing such frenzy of human destruction, violent attacks on people and property in the communities by the warring parties as unacceptable, the President said the Federal Government will not sit idly and watch the deep-seated antagonistic relationship between the Tiv and Jukun people fester.

The President said: ”I have watched with trepidation and disbelief how hate and bigotry have inhabited the human soul, resulting in brothers killing brothers.

”On behalf of the Federal government and the entire people of the country, I offer my condolences to the Catholic community, the government and people of Taraba over the losses arising from recent incidents involving the warring communities.

“The persistent deaths and destruction and the seeming desire by the warring sides to push each other to extinction is embarrassing, and this is against the essence of our ethnic and religious diversity in the country.

“Progress is impossible where violence and destruction are allowed to dominate our daily lives.”

Acknowledging that the Tiv/Jukun violence is one of Nigeria’s most persistent and intractable security problems, President Buhari assures the affected communities that the Federal government will not leave them to their fate or treat cases of communal violence with levity and indifference.

“The deployment of security men can only provide a temporary solution.

”The long term and lasting solution to this deep-seated antagonistic relationship between the warring factions depend on the willingness of those involved to listen to reason and give peace a chance.

“It is time for leaders of the ethnic groups to come together and draw up a roadmap for lasting peace. The impact of this persistent violence on the social and economic life of the people is incalculable.”

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