A midnight fire on Tuesday morning gutted some parts of the house of a popular Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, well known as Sunday Igboho, The PUNCH has learnt.
The fire reportedly started around 3am in the apartment located in the Soka area of Oyo State.
The source of the fire was unknown as of the time of filing this report but it was gathered that fire fighters from the Oyo State Fire Service arrived at the scene a few hours after to douse the fire.
No statement has been obtained from Sunday Igboho on the incident.
Igboho, who is the Akoni Oodua of Yoruba land, had asked herdsmen in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State to leave within seven days.
At the expiration of the ultimatum last week, he and his followers had stormed the Fulani settlement in the ancient town to eject Seriki Fulani, Salihu Abdukadir, and herdsmen accused of perpetrating crimes ranging from kidnappings, killings, rape to invasion of farmlands with their cattle.
Some houses and property in the settlement of the Fulanis were torched last week.
The nation’s refineries lost a total of N152.08bn in 15 consecutive months of being idle, the latest data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have shown.
Analysis of data collated from NNPC monthly reports revealed that all the refineries did not refine crude oil from July 2019 to September 2020.
The refineries, which are located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but have continued to operate far below the installed capacity.
The country relies largely on importation of refined petroleum products as its refineries have remained in a state of disrepair for many years despite several reported repairs.
In 2019, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company only processed crude in one month, June; Port Harcourt Refining Company in two months (February and March); and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company in four months (January, February, March and May).
The Kaduna refinery incurred an operating deficit of N57.99bn from July 2019 to September 2020, according to the NNPC data.
Port Harcourt refinery lost N48.99bn in the period under review while the Warri refinery lost N45.10bn.
The NNPC said in its latest monthly report that the declining operational performance of the refineries ‘is attributable to ongoing revamping of the refineries, which is expected to further enhance capacity utilization once completed’.
The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, has reiterated its plan to revamp the refineries and end fuel importation by 2023.
Bloomberg reported on January 15 that a year after shutting down all of its dilapidated refineries to figure out how to fix them, Nigeria still could not say how much it would cost to do the work or where the money would come from.
According to the report, the NNPC said it had finished the appraisal of its largest facility, but hadn’t completed the process at two others.
The international news agency quoted refining experts as saying that the extended halt meant the plants were at risk of rotting away and unlikely to restart on time.
It noted that the NNPC had totally shut all three plants down by January 2020 to do a comprehensive appraisal, and set the ambitious target of having them all back up and running at 90 per cent of capacity by 2023.
The NNPC spokesman, Dr Kennie Obateru, was quoted as saying that the appraisal of the 210,000-bpd Port Harcourt refinery had been completed and the NNPC had called for bids for the necessary repairs.
“It is when we close the bids, everything is analysed and presented that we will know how much we need,” he said.
He said the diagnosis was underway at the 125,000bpd Warri facility and should be complete before the end of the year, adding that after that, the study of the 110,000bpd Kaduna plant would commence.
Governors of the south-west states have banned open grazing of cattle in the region. The decision was taken at a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure, Ondo state capital, on Monday.
Governors, the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and security operatives attended the meeting.
Some of the governors in attendance were Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Mohammed Abubakar (Jigawa), and Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi).
In a statement after the meeting, Makinde said the governor agreed to continue to lend their support to the security agencies.
“Today, the SW governors held a security stakeholders’ meeting in Ondo State. The meeting was attended by our brother governors from Kebbi and Jigawa States; security chiefs, SW zone led by the AIG Zone 11 and leaders from the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria,” Makinde said.
“Collectively, we resolved to ban open grazing in all parts of the south west. In Oyo State, we already have a law against open grazing which will continue to be implemented by our security agencies.
“I restated that we will not permit criminality as a response to criminal actions. Instead, we will continue to support our security agencies to do their duties. Also, we will work with our people to face our common enemies – the criminals; kidnappers, armed robbers and bandits.”
The development comes amid tension in some parts of the south-west region.
Owing to incessant killings and kidnapping, Akeredolu had issued a seven-day ultimatum to herders operating illegally in forest reserves in the state to leave.
In Oyo, Sunday Igboho, a youth leader, issued eviction notice to herdsmen.
Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police, had ordered the arrest of Igboho for issuing the quit notice to the herdsmen.
Thomas Tuchel will replace Frank Lampard, whose sacking at Chelsea will be confirmed later on Monday.
The Daily Telegraph broke the Lampard news on Monday morning, with several other outlets following suit.
Lampard had managed to guide Chelsea back to winning ways on Sunday in the cup against Luton. But it has been their league form which has concerned Roman Abramovich and Marina Granovskaia at Stamford Bridge.
TEAMtalk understands the decision was made after Leicester game. The former Derby boss was given a chance after 3-1 defeat to Man City, but defeat to Leicester was the final straw. Lampard’s axing will become official later on Monday.
Granovskaia has been working on his replacement since then and we understand the same agents who brokered deals for Timo Werner and Kai Havertz have done a deal for Tuchel.
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno, on Saturday, presented the staff of office to the new Emir of Biu, Mai Mustapha Umar 11, with a call on him to consolidate the foundation put in place by his late father.
Presenting the staff of office to the first Class Emir, at a ceremony in Biu, Zulum also urged him to be fair, just, and to sustain support to government programmes, particularly in areas of education, health, and agriculture.
The governor also urged the traditional ruler to continue to mobilise his subjects on security consciousness and community policing.
Zulum used the occasion to also commend the Federal Government and the military for the recent successes recorded in the fight against insurgency in the state.
“May I use this medium to commend the Federal Government, and in particular the Nigerian Military, for the recent successes they recorded in the fight against insurgency, especially by taking the war to the enclaves of the insurgents.
“Let me commend the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Air Staff, directors and principals in the military high command, the theatre Commander, the GOC, sector commanders, brigade commanders, commanding officers, men and officers in the theatre of operation.
“The police and all other security operatives working in Borno for the support they rendered in securing the territorial integrity of our nation,” Zulum said.
He also expressed profound appreciation to Chief of Army Staff for establishing the Nigerian Army university Biu. According to him “the establishment of this university has indeed lighten the burden of Borno State Government in establishing another university in Borno and therefore this administration under my Distinguished leadership will provide all necessary support to the Nigerian Army University Biu with a view to quickening its mandate of its establishment”.
Dignitaries that attended the ceremony included the Shehu of Borno, Dr Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Almin El-Kanami, Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu, and Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.Tukur Buratai.
The game is set for February 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, meaning the Buccaneers will be the first team to play in a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
The Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills 38-24 in the AFC championship Sunday. It’ll be the Chiefs’ fourth trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history.
“The best thing about this team is we believe in each other,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “I trust my guys over anybody and we’re going to go out there and be who we are.”
As quarterbacks, Mahomes and the Buccaneers’ Tom Brady have each won one of the last two Super Bowls, respectively. Mahomes and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year against the San Francisco 49ers. Brady, who was throwing for the New England Patriots at the time, defeated the Los Angeles Rams in 2019.
Earlier Sunday, the Bucs beat the Green Bay Packers 31-26 in the NFC championship, earning them their second trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history. The first was in 2003 against the Oakland Raiders.
“Guys came through. Everyone stepped up to the challenge,” Tom Brady said in a post-game interview. “Football’s the ultimate team sport and everybody plays a role. I’m just so proud of this whole team.”
Brady also made history Sunday. At 43 years old, he will be the oldest player to play in the Super Bowl.
This will be Brady’s 10th trip to the big game. With the Patriots — where Brady played for 20 years before signing with the Bucs last March — Brady went to the Super Bowl nine times, leading the team to six wins, the most for any player in NFL history.
Should Brady win the big game in two weeks, he’ll join Peyton Manning as one of two quarterbacks in NFL history to win Super Bowls on two different teams, according to the Buccaneers’ website.
The Incubator Reality has created a lifeline to leapfrog and disrupt Nigerian start-ups to increase their capacity and access to funding via a novelty incubation program.
A statement by ECSCORP, the Incubator’s architect, said the reality TV show, the biggest and first of its kind in the world, seeks to change the start-up narrative by creating a start-up hub where best brains are incubated to encourage product exposure, partnership, and funding.
“Start-ups encounter many challenges especially during the formation stage. These challenges range from seed funding, partnership and investment, business resource and mentorship. Unfortunately, many brilliant individuals, teams, talents are out there hoping for a turnaround and better days to come where their thought-of innovation can become reality,” the statement said.
The Incubator Reality will admit 25 contestants who will work in five different teams for an incubation period of 12 weeks and graduate with the seed fund for the winning team and first runner-up totaling $1.7 million.
Start-ups, coined SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises) many decades ago, are confronted with challenges that cause their failure, sometimes before they even get started while some barely survive the first two years. There is a critical need to pay attention in this direction. Nigeria, a hub of raw talents, has what it takes to compete globally, however, the specific challenges that start-ups face make it near impossible.
“Our local talents are blessed with ideas and innovation that can compete with their peers in other nations of the world, but our banks have low appetites to support these talents, their ideas and innovations. Angel investors and seed funding, which are the first business drivers are almost non-existent hence, the creation of The Incubator Reality. The show will focus on revolutionizing the quondam challenges of start-ups,” the statement said.
The Incubator’s architect further disclosed that the winner and first runner-up of the program will receive $1 million and $0.7 million respectively.
“The Incubator Reality aims to address the most crucial challenges in Nigerian start-ups, which is – how to leverage on knowledge, creativity and innovation – to leapfrog ahead of or at the very least, be at par with many of the developed economies within the shortest possible time, creating mega companies, more jobs and opportunities.”
The Incubator Reality will minimize brain drain whilst fostering growth and development. Contestants will be able to showcase their brand and attract attention to their talent; their business is already a success before they graduate from the Incubator.
“The viewers will be inspired as well as the partner brand having maximum exposure with a projected 40 million views, and Nigeria benefits from growth in GDP and direct investment to business growth,” the Incubator architect explained.
To be eligible for the program, applicants must be between the ages of 25 and 40 years, and must have an entrepreneurial drive with originality, excellent communication skills (both oral and written), a good team player with sales and marketing skills, as well as good leadership and influencing skills.
Auditions will be done in different cities across the country, the UK and New York, on dates to be announced soon.
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested four (4) police Inspectors that allegedly harassed and extorted 70,000 (seventy thousand naira only) from one 16 year old student, Segun, on 18th January, 202, at NGAB Junction, Isheri Area of Lagos State, in a Toyota Corolla car.
The picture of the policemen, that were caught in the act of unprofessionalism and extortion, had gone viral on the social media which attracted the Complaint Response Unit of the Nigeria Police Force, Force Headquarters Abuja, to track the policemen for necessary police action. The matter was subsequently referred to the Lagos State Police Command for further action.
The police Inspectors arrested are:
1. 223329 Inspr Emmanuel Michael, m, 40
2. 146504 Inspr Subday Odubiyi, m, 40
3. 256496 Inspr Lawrence Amedu, m, 39, and
4. 255043 Inspr Aroye Dickson, m, 40
After due interrogation, the policemen confessed to the crime and refunded the 70,000 (seven thousand naira) to the student, on bond, which forms the key credible evidence/exhibit in the case.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, has condemned the act of the Police Inspectors which is detrimental to the image of the Police Force and counterproductive to the ongoing reform agenda of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, NPM, mni. He has however ordered for the orderly room trial of the Inspectors with immediate effect so as to serve as deterrent to other criminally-minded police personnel in the command and beyond.
CP Hakeem Odumosu also warned officers and men in Lagos State that the command will spread its tentacles in fighting against such criminal, unprofessional and disgusting act amongst police personnel in Lagos State. He also assured the general public of people-oriented and community-based policing styles in Lagos State, as justice will be done in Segun’s case.
“You may wonder that this counter insurgency operation has lingered for too long. We all know globally that counter-terrorism is very complex. There are some countries that have fought counter terrorism for close to 50years. But, we’re not going to leave it to linger that long. We will have to finish these criminals very soon.”
These were the exact words of Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai while addressing troops of Operation Lafiya Dole at the Army Special Super Camp at Ngamdu, a border town between Borno and Yobe during 2020 Easter celebration.
To achieve this, Buratai vowed to remain committed to the fight against terrorism “until final defeat” even as he admitted that the fight of counter-terrorism all over the world is complex.
The concurrence of the National Association of Online Security Reporters, NAOSRE with General Buratai on the complex nature of fight against terrorism, was the spirit behind the association’s dinner summit which held at Oriental Hotel on December 11, 2020.
At the security dinner summit, speakers unanimously sued for co operation with security personnel and made serious appeal to the government for adequate funding of military operation.
Interesting, that appeal and submission hve been re echoed by another Nigerian writer Yabo Chris Ephraim who cast a retrospective look at 2020 military commitment to the fight against Boko Haran and by extension the commitment of General Buratai at ensuring that Nigeria does not disintegrate.
Without doubt, the year 2020 will forever be a historical reference point for every country around the globe. Every country had a share of the challenges that 2020 came with or at worst felt it impact. In Nigeria, it was not just the global pandemic and its ravaging impact, it was a year the Nigerian Army had a date with history. It was tested in many fronts, but it core mandate of defending our sovereignty, unity and democracy was tested in no small measure. Like Abraham Lincoln said; “only the test of fire makes fine steel”. The Nigerian Army has earned itself a place in history for standing up to the enemies of our nation both internally and externally
In the year 2020, precisely around October, there was an uprising that culminated in the killings of scores of our security personnels by our own citizens, massive and wanton destruction/looting of public and private properties. This uprising was disguised as a peaceful protest, but it was not aimed at pursuing any genuine reforms or good governance. The stated objective was to end police brutality and bring reforms, but the organizers only used that as a smokescreen to lure unsuspecting Nigerians to join the uprising and give it more publicity. The grand design was to topple the government in power by creating and sponsoring chaos and anarchy in the fashion that was used in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Sudan.
The strategy is to sow strife and disaffection among citizenry, which will engender a fertile ground for the evil machination of Western power in collaboration with some of our brothers in Nigeria. Once this is achieved through a combination of propaganda and incitement, then the real bloodthirsty masquerades will surface in the name of democratic institutions and organizations such as Amnesty International, ICC and their propaganda apparatus CNN.
Nigerian Army through intelligence, discovered this devilish plan by unscrupulous elements and planned a counter strategy to quell the uprising peacefully and without contravening the constitution of our country which guarantees the right of the citizens to protest. On 14th October 2020, it issued a statement to the effect that it will not allow subversive elements destabilize our country. It equally reaffirmed its commitment to protect our democracy at all cost.
Those who masterminded atrocities that ousted the legitimate government of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya chose a different strategy of accusing the leaders of harboring and sponsoring terrorism which has not been proven till this day. The case of Egypt was plain animosity by the Western power against the Moslem Brotherhood and the government of Mohammed Morsi which started as a protest at Tahrir Square that eventually led to his ouster and death. The other cases were through economic sabotage and perpetually organized insecurity which brought these countries to their knees
Nigeria as the biggest player in Africa with so much potentials became the target of this unscrupulous elements from within and without. Through economic sabotage, relentless recruitments of terrorists, training, arming and funding terrorism, they have clogged the wheels of progress in Nigeria. With the prediction of the disintegration of Nigeria in the year 2020, it was hoped that this government wouldn’t last beyond their projected date for its disintegration. With the support of some international organizations, they project an image of democratic ideals and protection of human rights on the one hand, while fuelling terrorism and insecurity on the other. These Western powers have largely refused to cooperate with the Nigerian government in the fight against insecurity by outrightly delaying or refusing to sale arms to Nigeria, but have continue to supply more than enough arms to the enemies of Nigeria. Many may not quite understand the full scale of the grand design by this satanic forces. With this government surviving more than five years after the said prediction, they have in recent times intensified their effort to keep a date with their prediction of Nigeria’s disintegration, with the collaboration of some political jobbers willing to trade our peace and stability for their selfish ambition.
Despite the setbacks and towering challenges, the Nigerian Army and other security agencies have sacrificed their lives, blood and sweat to manage these internally and externally engineered insecurity, to keep Nigeria standing after their due date. The Nigerian Army has maintained utmost discipline, valour and patriotism even in the face of provocative propaganda, and has continue to ensure that Nigeria’s case did not spiral out of control as is the case with countries mentioned earlier.
We, as a people, must resist the plan to destabilize our country by refuting and disregarding all the negative propaganda against our government and the security agencies. We must be resolute and united in supporting our security agencies particularly the Nigerian Army that is at the forefront of this war and keeping our democracy. We must keep the faith knowing that darkness cannot overcome light and evil cannot triumph over good. I salute the courage and determination of the leadership and all personnel of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies for their sacrifices and doggedness.
In the recently released Forbes Africa billionaires Aliko Dangote still maintain his position as the continent richest person with a worth $12.1 billion, up by $2 billion from last year’s list thanks to a roughly 30% rise in the share price of Dangote Cement, by far his most valuable asset.
The second richest is Nassef Sawiris of Egypt, whose largest asset is a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker Adidas, while Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa occupies the number three position. Nicky who inherited a stake in diamond firm DeBeers and ran the company until 2012, when he sold his family’s 40% stake in DeBeers to mining giant AngloAmerican for $5.1 billion.
The biggest gainer this year is Nigerian cement tycoon, Abdulsamad Rabiu, whose wealth increase remarkably by an extraordinary 77%, to $5.5 billion to become the sixth richest person immediately behind Mike Adenuga of Globacom whose wealth is put at $6.3 billion.
Abdulsamad who has seen shares of his BUA Cement PLC, which was listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange in January 2020, to have doubled in value in the past year and it was this that pushed Rabiu’s fortune up. Rabiu and his son together own about 97% of the company, giving the company a tiny public float. And the laws of The Nigerian Stock Exchange requires that either 20% or more of a company’s shares to be floated to the public, or that the floated shares are worth at least 20 billion naira — about $50 million — a paltry sum, to be sure. A spokesman for the Nigerian Stock Exchange told Forbes that BUA Cement meets the second requirement. (Forbes discounts the value of stakes when the public float of a company is less than 5 %.)
While some got richer by the billions, two persons from the 2020 list of Africa’s richest dropped below the $1 billion mark. In fact, the only two women billionaires from Africa have both fallen off the list. Forbes calculates that the fortune of Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria, who owns an oil exploration company, dropped below $1 billion due to lower oil prices. And Isabel dos Santos, who since 2013 has been the richest woman in Africa, was knocked from her perch by a series of court decisions freezing her assets in both Angola and Portugal.
The 18 billionaires from Africa this year come from seven different countries. South Africa and Egypt each have five billionaires, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two. Altogether they are worth $73.8 billion, slightly more than the $73.4 billion aggregate worth of the 20 billionaires on last year’s list of Africa’s richest people.
This Forbes list only tracks the wealth of African billionaires who reside in Africa or have their primary business there, thus excluding Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim, who is a U.K. citizen and billionaire London resident Mohamed Al-Fayed, an Egyptian citizen. Strive Masiyiwa, a citizen of Zimbabwe and a London resident, appears on the list due to his telecom holdings in Africa.
Net-worth of those on the list is calculated using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of business on Friday, January 8, 2021.
