TOP NEWS IN NIGERIA TODAY(MORNING EDITION)
=> Investors Moved N2.2 Trillion Away From The Nigerian Economy In 2015 -Thecable
The confidence to invest and make profit in Nigeria has dropped
drastically over the last year, with investors withdrawing more than
N2.2 trillion from the economy in 2015. According to statistics from
Nigeria’s Data Bureau (NBS), as quoted by Quartz Africa, investor
confidence in Nigeria rose significantly between 2010 and 2013, only to
take a little dive in 2014, and a drastic drop in 2015. When Goodluck
Jonathan was announced acting president of the country in 2010,
following the illness and subsequent death of Umaru Yar’Adua, investing
interest in Nigeria rose by N1.17 trillion. In Jonathan’s second year,
and after a “successful” presidential election, investing interest rose
by N396 billion to an approximate N1.6 trillion. By 2013, investing
interest in Nigeria had risen by N2.65 trillion to N4.22 trillion. In
2014, towards the build-up of the 2015 general elections, which
predicted endless doom for Nigeria, some investors withdrew their monies
from the Nigerian economy, leading to a drop from N4.22 trillion to
N4.1 trillion. In 2015, however, there was a drastic withdrawal of
investing interest in Nigeria, and according to NBS, investing interest
declined by N2.2 trillion in 2015.
Some investors blamed it on
the uncertainties that surrounded the 2015 elections, while many others
blamed it on the lack of policy direction in the first five months of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Data from the Nigerian
Stock Exchange (NSE) show that investors were voting their monies out of
the economy prior to the election, but immediately after the relatively
free and fair poll, they brought the monies back.
READ FULL NEWS
=>President Buhari Orders Investigation Into Benue Fulani Herdsmen Killings-PremiumTimes
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into the clashes
between herdsmen and indigenes of communities in Benue State.
President
Buhari who expressed deep shock at the latest incident during the past
week, which led to hundreds of deaths in four communities in Agatu,
Benue State, ordered security agencies to get to the root causes of the
problem.
“We will conduct an investigation to know exactly what
happened; the only way to bring an end to the violence once and for all
is to look beyond one incident and ascertain exactly what factors are
behind the conflicts,” he said.
He added that all Nigerians must learn to live together as one, in peace and unity.
“We
are all one nation and one people,” he said. “There should not be any
reason why Nigerians of any group or tongue cannot now reside with one
another wherever they find themselves after decades of living together.”
The
President further expressed condolences to the government and people of
Benue State, particularly the people of the Agatu communities, assuring
them that the government would do everything possible to ensure that no
such incident ever occurred in their midst again.
“Once the investigations are concluded, we will act immediately to address the root of the problem,” he said.READ FULL NEWS
=> Punch Launches ‘free Ese’ Campaign:kano Man Steals, Forcefully Marries 14-yr-old-Punch
Simon Utebor writes about the alleged abduction of Ese Oruru, a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
On
August 12, 2015, nothing indicated to Mrs. Rose Oruru, a food vendor in
Opolo, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, that she would
soon face an ordeal over her 14-year-old daughter, Ese.
That day,
she had gone to the market and left her four children at her shop. She
returned to find out that her daughter, Ese, was allegedly abducted by
one Yinusa, aka Yellow, who is one of her long standing customers.
Narrating
the incident, the distraught mother said, “When I came back, the elder
brother of Ese, Kevin, 16, said Ese had left the shop since 11am and had
not returned. I enquired where she could have gone, but he said he did
not know.
“From there, I started looking for her, asking
neighbours if they saw her, but they said they did not. As she usually
sold food to northern artisans, I went to the place they usually
gathered to find out if they saw Ese. But by the time I got there, they
were in the mosque, so, I had to go back.
“After some minutes, I
sent my son back to the place and directed that he should tell anybody
he saw there that I wanted to see Yinusa. As the boy got there, one of
them asked my son to tell me to come. When I got there, he said Yinusa,
who is also called Yellow, told them he had sold his commercial tricycle
and had gone home to Kano with my daughter, Ese. They told me Yinusa
said he was taking Ese home to convert her to Islam to enable him to
marry her.”
READ FULL NEWS
=>Micho To Take Over As Nigeria’s Coach
Sredojevic Milutin alias Micho is in line to dump Uganda and be named
Nigeria’s next coach at the end of a two-match mandate handed the
three-man caretaker coaching team led by Samson Siasia.
The
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have already opened up discussions
with experienced Serbian coach Micho and his representatives since the
CHAN in Rwanda.
Top sources informed that technical committee
chairman Chris Green met with Micho in Rwanda over the Eagles top
coaching post and everything is now pointing to the former Rwanda and
Orlando Pirates of South Africa coach to take over the Eagles after the
two-match mandate given Siasia and his assistants.
“Green met
with Micho at CHAN and it is like it is already a done deal. The plan
was to appoint Shuaibu Amodu for the Egypt matches and after those
games, a substantive foreign coach will be named with Micho in pole
position,” a top official disclosed
“But Amodu declined the post
because he is hypertensive and so the temporary arrangement of Siasia
and co, who have been told they will revert to their previous posts
after the matches against Egypt.”
Another source added: “Micho’s representatives have told me they have established a link with the NFF for quite some time now.”
It
will also be recalled that former Nigeria international Tijjani
Babangida, who was Sunday Oliseh’s special assistant, has alleged
representatives of Herve Renard informed them NFF officials again led by
Green attempted to offer Oliseh’s job to the former Zambia and Cote
d’Ivoire coach.
Micho is 46 and he has proved his tactical
prowess and wealth of knowledge across Africa – from Sudan, Ethiopia,
Rwanda to Uganda – and it will be a track record that will come in handy
when the 2018 World Cup qualifiers get underway in October.
SOURCE
=>Buhari Declares Total Support For Palestinian State-PremiumTimes
President Muhammadu Buhari has declared his total support for a two-state solution to the Israel- Palestine conflict.
The
Nigerian President stated this during a meeting on Sunday with the Emir
of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hammad Al-Thani, his spokesperson, Femi Adesina,
said.
“I want to assure you that we will stand side by side with you,
until our brothers and sisters in Palestine achieve their desired
objectives,” he said.
“Our support for various Security Council
resolutions restoring and respecting 1967 boundaries with Jerusalem as
capital of Palestine is firm and unshaken.”
Mr. Buhari’s stance on
the Israeli-Palestine conflict is similar with that of most countries of
the world including the European Union, and Qatar is believed to be one
of the major backers of Palestine including backing Hamas which governs
Gaza. However Israel and the United States have repeatedly blocked any
United Nations resolution mandating a two-state solution. The
non-resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and lack of progress
in resolving it is considered the greatest foreign policy failure of
President Barack Obama of the U.S.
At the meeting in Qatar, the
Nigerian President also declared as “totally unacceptable,” the huge
drop in the price of crude which has seen international oil prices
plummet from over $100 a barrel last year to about $30.
Read Mr. Adesina’s full statement below:
President
Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday in Doha emphasised the need for member
states of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and
non-OPEC members to cooperate and find a common ground to stabilise
crude oil prices.
Speaking at a bilateral meeting with the Sheikh
Tamim Bin Hammad Al-Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, President
Buhari described the current market situation in the industry, which has
seen oil prices plummet by 70 per cent since mid-2014, as “totally
unacceptable.”
“As members of OPEC and Gas Exporting Countries Forum
(GECF), our relations in the areas of oil and gas, which our two nations
heavily rely on, need to be enhanced and coordinated for the benefit of
our people.
“The current market situation in the oil industry is unsustainable and totally unacceptable.
READ FULL NEWS
=> I Will Rather Die In Jail Than For Ohaneze Ndigbo To Claim Credit – Nnamdi Kanu-Vanguard
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB has warned those who are claiming
to be representing them, including members of Ohaneze Ndigbo and its
youth wing Ohaneze Youths Wing, negotiating for the release of its
leader and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu to stop such move,
that nobody speaks or represent them, unless such person or persons are
designated officers of its organisation.
The group also said that its leader Mr. Kanu has said that he will
rather die in jail that the Ohaneze Ndigbo to claim the glory of his
release, saying he has no business with the Igbo Socio cultural
Organization.“I will rather die in jail than for Ohaneze Ndigbo to claim
the glory of my release, he said IPOB in a statement by its United
kingdom spokesmen, Dr Clifford Iroanya and Emma Mmezu, a lawyer said “we
are in court and our wish is to expose the fraudulent charge of
treasonable felony before the whole world.
At the end of this case the corrupt and compromised segment of the
Nigerian judiciary will be publicly disgraced. “Our march to freedom is
unstoppable; this is something Buhari ought to know. We have come to die
for Biafra if that is what it will take to be free.
Our resolve should not be underestimated. As our leader will always
say, “Nigeria will kill us, we will kill them but in the end we will
win” IPOB reaction follows an alarm raised from Enugu yesterday by some
of their members that some people suspected to be Ohaneze Ndigbo and
their youth wing Ohaneze Ndigbo Youths Wing were impersonating their
leaders in Enugu, claiming to be representing them in meeting with some
American Officials who were in Nigeria to have a meeting with IPOB on
the release of their leader and what they want be done to them for peace
to reign, which they said needs their designated officers presence and
contribution, but they were not informed, but the people went ahead to
speak for IPOB when they do not have the powers and authorization of the
group to speak for them.
Some people alleged to be members of the Ohaneze Ndigbo and Ohaneze
Youth wing were said to had met with some Americans, at Nike Lake Resort
Hotel between 6pm and 7pm Saturday evening.