Tension in Abuja As Police Raid Dakwa Community, Shoot DSS Official, Arrest 37 Residents

 

Policemen from the Zuba Division in the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Friday, reportedly raided Dakwa community, an Abuja suburb, shooting an official of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The unidentified DSS official was said to be on transit when he was allegedly shot in the Dakwa raid.

No fewer than 37 residents and other passersby in the community were arrested during the operation which took take place around 8pm.

A resident, Aliyu Ibrahim, who introduced himself as a security guard in one of the private schools in the area, was one of the people arrested and taken to the police division where they spent the night.

He said other people arrested included traders, tea and roasted meat sellers as well as commercial motorcyclists.

“They stormed the area with three vehicles including a Hilux van, bus and a utility vehicle. “They operated alongside local vigilantes who rode the impounded motorcycles, while their owners and other arrested people were conveyed in the police vehicles.”

Another resident, who craved anonymity, alleged that the arrested residents were released the following morning on bail, after parting with N5,000 each.

Responding, the Zuba Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Osor Moses, confirmed the shooting of the DSS official but said he was responding to treatment at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada.

He, however, referred our reporter to the FCT police command for further details on the incident.

At the command, the police spokesperson, DSP Josephine Adeh, said she would get back to our reporter but did not up till the time of filing this report yesterday night.

 

Tinubu Moves to Save Presidential Ambition, Set To Meet Ganduje Over Kano Apc crisis

 

In a move to save his presidential ambition, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is set to meet Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje over the crisis rocking the party in Kano State.

Tinubu had on Sunday met with Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, whose camp has been having a running battle with Ganduje over the control of the party structures in the state.

The former Lagos State governor singled out the leaders of the warring factions in Kano for reconciliation at a time when the just concluded congresses of the party had triggered a crisis in 13 states.

The meeting between Tinubu and Shekarau had raised dust in Kano, regarded as the votes’ bank of the ruling party.

The congresses had polarised APC in the state into two with the governor’s camp being chaired by Abdullahi Abbas while Shekarau’s faction has Ahmadu Haruna Danzago as chairman.

The crisis reached its crescendo last Tuesday when an FCT high court gave a judgement upholding the parallel congress held by the Shekarau-led faction and voided the Governor Ganduje faction.

The battle between the camps assumed a violent posture on Thursday when thugs torched the campaign office of Senator Jibrin I. Barau. A petition has since been written to the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, indicting top shots in the governor’s camp including its chairman.

The camp loyal to Governor Ganduje led by Abbas had denied sponsoring the attacks.

Why Tinubu wants Kano crisis resolved

A stalwart of the party told Daily Trust that Tinubu waded into the matter as part of plans to advance his yet to be declared presidential ambition. The former Lagos State governor has been romancing with Ganduje since after the 2019 general elections.

Tinubu had last month visited an elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, in Kano, where he sought for the northern leader’s support towards the actualisation of his presidential ambition. Previously, clerics in Kano State had endorsed Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

The source said internal wrangling rocking the party in Kano State would affect Tinubu’s ambition, hence his intervention.

“Tinubu’s interest in all of these is the number of votes that can come from Kano. A good politician cannot play with the number of votes from the state. Lagos and Kano are central to any politician’s presidential ambition. Combined votes from the two states are over two million and that is why Kano was determinant of the 2015 and 2019 elections,” the source who is close to Ganduje and Shekarau said, pleading not to be named.

Another source said power brokers in the APC including a section at the centre and some governors who are allegedly averse to the Tinubu’s presidential ambition, are fuelling the feud.

“You know some powerful personalities in Abuja have reservations on Tinubu’s presidential ambition, thus they see this as an opportunity to advance their course by decimating the camp of Ganduje,” the source said.

The upcoming meeting between Asiwaju and Ganduje

Contacted, the Kano State Commissioner of Information, Muhammad Garba, said Governor Ganduje was also invited by the national leader of the party for the peace parley.

In a phone interview, he said; “Tinubu invited the two groups, both Malam Shekarau and Kano State governor to the reconciliation meeting. Asiwaju decided to hear from Malam first and subsequently hear from the governor and if there is any reason for reconciliation, then they take it from there.

“If you look at it politically and historically, there is always a contest or struggle for power after a second term. It happens during Shekarau and Kwankwaso.

“But at the end of the day, whether they are reconciled or not, the election will be conducted and Allah decides whoever emerges as governor, senator and what have you.”

Also Monday, the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Lawan Musa, told Daily Trust that a notice of appeal has been filed against last week’s judgment that recognised the ward congress of Shekarau’s faction.

He added that they have also filed a motion for stay of execution and other motions, which he said they believe will tilt the tide in their favour.

Shekarau met Asiwaju without our consent – G-7 sources

Sources in the camp told our reporters that Shekarau went to the meeting without the blessing of other members of his camp.

Operating under the G-7, the Shekarau’s camp has Senator Barau (Kano North), Rep Shaaban Sharada, Nasiru Auduwa, Tijjani Abdulkadir Jobe, Haruna Isa Dederi, among others as key members.

One of the sources said the former governor was yet to brief them on the outcome of his meeting with the APC national leader.

“As far as we are concerned, the meeting was personal and not for our group because he went there without our permission and since he returned, nobody has been briefed.

“What I can tell you is that nobody can handover Kano to anyone come 2023. The state is bigger than anybody,” one of the sources said.

He emphasized that the crisis rocking the APC in Kano was “to solely free the party and open it up to all in the state. As it is now, many people are being side-lined. They are practicing politics of exclusivity and it is not good for our democracy”.

Another source said they would meet today. “There is the possibility of asking Shekarau to tell the world that he went to Lagos on his own,” he said.

A member of the Governor Ganduje faction, Engineer Ramat Ungogo, said the meeting was a sign that the governor’s side is winning in the ongoing crisis.

Ungogo, who is the Chairman of Ungogo LGA, said if Tinubu had invited Ganduje, it would have been interpreted as though “father and son are combining to deal with Shekarau”.

Tinubu’s media aide, Mr Tunde Rahman, pledged to call our correspondent when his comment was sought on why his boss was interested in Kano.

He was yet to call up till the time of going to press last night.

The national leadership of the APC yesterday insisted that the congresses attended by its delegation were authentic. The party also said it was yet to receive and study the recent High Court judgment recognising Shekarau’s faction as legitimate in the state.

Speaking with newsmen on Monday in Abuja, Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe, said the party did not send parallel state congress committees to the state.

“We are responsible leaders of the party and we won’t like to comment on a judgment that we haven’t seen.

“All I can tell you now is that we are going to apply for a certified true copy of the judgment. We haven’t seen it. We need to study the judgement.

“We didn’t give letters to two committees! How could we have done that? We won’t put fire in our own house. We know the people we gave the official letter to go to Kano and conduct the official assignment. That is the team we will accord recognition to,” he said.

In a separate interview, Barrister Auwal Ibrahim, who led the team that conducted the congress which produced the displaced Abdullahi Abass as chairman, told newsmen that the congress attended by Governor Ganduje was the authentic congresses.

There was no comment from Shekarau’s camp as the number of his media aide, Dr Sule Ya’u Sule was not going through.

 

By Ismail Mudashir, Saawua Terzungwe (Abuja) & Clement A. Oloyede (Kano)

 

Pastor Paul Adefarasin Apologizes To Lagos Govt after Church members booed Sanwo-Olu’s official (Video)

 

Recall that Sanwo-Olu’s representative was booed on stage while giving his speech after he was introduced during ’The Experience’.

 

Senior Pastor of House on The Rock Church, Pastor Paul Adefarasin has tendered an apology to the Lagos State government.

The apology came after youths booed Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s representative at The Experience on Friday night

Sanwo-Olu’s representative was booed on stage while giving his speech after he was introduced during ’The Experience’ held at the House on the Rock Cathedral, Lekki.

Adefarasin displeased with the crowd’s behavior, apologized to the Lagos State government, describing the attitude as unscriptural.

He cautioned youths to pray for leaders in order for peace to reign in the country.

“I must honestly caution that we must pray for those who lead us that we may dwell peacefully in the land

“You must never disrespect authority because they beat the sword.

“I apologise to the leaders of Lagos state on your behalf,” Pastor Adefarasin said.

Watch video below:

https://youtu.be/stsvfbcqSYE

Drama As deceased gets bizzare burial from friends (Video)

The burial arrangements of a Ghanaian end up capturing the attention of the internet space following his friend’s special way of sending him off.

Man receives unusual burial arrangement from friends (Video)

The video making rounds on social media captures the moment friends of a deceased hung his coffin on a hydraulic vehicle.

It, however, did not stop there as two of the supposed friend of the deceased sat on the coffin while the hydraulic vehicle raise the lifeless body back and forth.

 

The carefully hung coffin swung back and forth in the air as mourners wail over the loss of the deceased.

Watch the video below …

 

Award winning American Rapper, Lil Wayne Lands in trouble For Reportedly Pulling assault riffle on His Bodyguard

 

Lil Wayne, a popular foreign rapper, is being investigated by the police for allegedly pulling a rifle on one of his own bodyguards during a dispute at his home.

According to TMZ, one of the rapper’s bodyguards reported to the cops that he and Wayne got into a fight at Wayne’s Hidden Hills, California home, resulting in physical violence with a brandished firearm.

Following the initial altercation, the guard alleges that the rapper requested him to leave the residence, but things escalated when he went to the restroom. According to a source close to Wayne, the incident did not occur, and the rapper does not even own a pistol.
The guard claimed, however, that the rapper pulled out an AR-15, which was when he went to the gated community’s guard shack and phoned the police.

Before the cops arrived to investigate the rapper’s story, he had already fled. The guard told police the fight started with Wayne accusing him of taking photos and leaking them to the media.

Other law enforcement sources familiar with the case told TMZ that the guard’s claim is doubtful, and he had no marks or injuries on his body from the purported physical confrontation.

The guard also does not want to pursue charges against Wayne, and police will investigate despite their doubts about some of the allegations.

 

2023 Election: How Former Lagos Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode Is working his way back into active politics

 

In less than 14 months to the 2023 general elections, contesting political parties within and outside the ruling APC are already devising their plot to either remain in power or unseat the ruling cabal, former Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode has been tipped as one of the key assets that will be used by a set of strong APC stakeholders in the bid to consolidate themselves in power beyond 2023.

Ambode who has been away from the media since his exit as the executive Governor of Lagos State, has been getting mentions and has been linked with the serving APC caretaker chairman and governor of Yobe, Mai Mallam Buni at the central in recent times.

The Epe-born accountant is the first democratically-elected single-term governor in the history of the state, losing his second term party nomination to the incumbent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, after falling out with Tinubu, who railroaded him into the position in the first place, in 2015.

By political calculations, especially in Lagos State, the privilege for re-election is not always based on good performance, otherwise, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode would be serving his second tenure now as the executive Governor.

A source within the APC hinted that though Ambode is still hugely popular in his native Epe, it is doubtful if he would want to sit down with the Tinubu political family again, for any form of “business” in the light of how he was treated in the build-up to 2019 poll.

Despite maintaining a low profile, Ambode is reportedly being worked into the equation as a way of compensating his governorship loss, and remaining silent in the face or persecution in Lagos. Ambode has become another emerging, quiet-spoken, demonstrably effective, and subtle political personality from the southern zone.

The fact that he has been off the radar made it easy for him to operate unnoticed. Sources confided Ambode has been going in and out of Abuja power house since the past 6 months without giving clue to the media. It is said that his close relationship with the current APC caretaker chairman, Governor Mai Mallam Buni is so cordial that they hardly spend a week without seeing each other.

Recall that the APC, had three parallel congresses with one of the factions led by Akinwunmi Ambode in the end Mala Buni, recognised Ambode’s faction and his list of executives which is part of a coup and ongoing efforts to weaken the influence of the National Leader of the party. Top sources revealed that Ambode’s faction was sponsored by Buni, who is the Chairman, Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee so as to weaken Asiwaju in his perceived stronghold.

And of course, one of the key members of this faction, the Lagos4Lagos convener Abdul Azzez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor is reported to be in close contact with Ambode. Ambode himself has not publicly said that he is running for any political post either at the state or federal level, but his footsoldiers are making deft moves behind the scene, in preparation for the right time for their principal to male a grand entry. Ambode has demonstrated that he is a personality and leader not swayed by extraneous emotionalism and parochial cant. This footing, many speculate, put him on a collision course with Tinubu. Let’s quickly juggle our memory as to what transpired that led to his fallout with the power that be in Lagos. Ambode who was reportedly to have gone out of line with Tinubu’s vision for Lagos, which is wrought in iron blasted in a furnace at his Bourdillon fortitude. As the lines are blurred between his plans for the future of Lagos and his personal interest that can bring, or that may be perceived to bring, direct or indirect benefits to him, Tinubu has reserved to himself the right to determine who is taking Lagos in the direction of the common good.

Ambode, it was also reported, refused to “bribe” Lagos legislators, and turned down the proposition to concession the Fourth Mainland Bridge to a construction company linked to Asiwaju. He divided the tax return that was solely consessioned to Alpha Beta, revoked the contract for the redevelopment of Falomo Shopping Centre and banned Vehicle Inspection Officers from Lagos roads. The straw that reportedly broke the camel’s back was ridding Lagos of the menace of ‘area boys’ operating as members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and relieving Lagos State Waste Management, LAWMA off their duty, while launching Vison Scape to do the same job.

By consequence, Akinwunmi got a bitter taste of Politics in a skewed governorship primary, in which the odds were highly stacked against him. Hemmed in on all sides by turncoats and obstacles that his teaming army of supporters could not fight. He watched his own deputy governor brandished his ballot paper and cast her vote for his opponent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Eventually, in an emotion laden broadcast in October 2018, Ambode conceded defeat. Stated: “The interest of our beloved state must always supersede that of any person or group,” Mr Ambode said. Though he criticised the primaries, alleging violence, electoral malpractices; and that he and his supporters were disenfranchised, he has remained in the APC.

As he bid the state farewell on the eve of his exit as governor, Ambode looked back at his administration. “A few of our policies might have been unpopular but these were decisions taken with the best interest of our state in mind. With the benefit of hindsight, maybe we could have done some things differently but our intention was always clear, for the good of Lagos,” he retorted.

After all said, it will be a delicate decision that can make or mar Ambode’s political future. His prominence within the party in Lagos and his newfound romance with powers that be in Aso Rock is not in doubt, but just as stated earlier, Ambode is man that cannot be predicted.

– Joseph Seun Emmanuel

SOURCE: CITY PEOPLE

 

FA Cup Third Round Draw (Full List)

 

The draw for the FA Cup third round was released on Monday as English Premier League side, Chelsea will clash with Chesterfield, while Liverpool host Shrewbury at Anfield.
The cup holder, Leicester City will play against Watford, Machester United will welcome Aston Villa to Old Trafford.

Manchester City will travel to Swindon Town, while North London side, Arsenal will be away at Nottingham Forest.

The games will be played the weekend of January 8, 2022.

 

Offa Poly Denies Lecturer’s allegation against rector, says he is a dismissed staff

 

The Federal Polytechnic Offa has described the allegation by a lecturer of the institution that the Rector, Dr Lateef Olatunji, impregnated his wife as a fraudulent fabrication.

The school, in a statement by the Director, Information, Public Relations and Protocols, Olayinka Iroye, in it’s reaction to the divorce petition filed by the lecturer, Mr Aderemi Bankole, before an Osun State High Court, Ede claimed that the lecturer had been dismissed from the school for fraudulent act and insurbodibation.

The management of the polytechnic also said the female lecturer had divorced Bankole and had since married another man who is not working in.the.school.

The polytechnic said Bankole had since his dismissal from the school resorted to blackmail to get back at the management.

The polytechnic spokesman said Bankole should be further warned “to stop further display of stupidity” as the institution would not hesitate to institute a criminal libel case against him.

The statement read, “The attention of The Federal Polytechnic Offa has been drawn to an online publication where one Aderemi Bankole was said to have urged an Osun State High Court stationed in Ede to dissolve his marriage alleging his wife of infidelity with the rector.

“We want to inform the general public that all allegations stated in the write up are fraudulently false, fabricated and of the haunting and obsess imagination of the Aderemi Bankole. The litany of accusations which are frivolous and a mere figment of his mind further exposed his psychological and emotional precariousness.

“The said Rasaq Aderemi Bankole is not a staff of the polytechnic, having been found guilty of gross misconduct, as a result of flagrant violation of the Polytechnic extant rules, and was dismissed from the Polytechnic.

“Apart from his inglorious exit from the Polytechnic, he is also wanted by TETFund for taking Oversea Grant for Post Graduate studies and failed to utilize the money for that purpose.

“Bankole should be cautioned to stop this cheap blackmail, and assassinating the character of the Rector, thus soiling the good name of the Polytechnic that fed and clothed him for over 2 decades because of his selfish and sinister motive.

“It will interest the general Public to know that Bankole’s former wife had divorced him and had since remarried to another man who is neither a staff of the Polytechnic nor anyone from Offa.”

Society gazette had reported Bankole’s petition that the rector was having an affair with his wife and that the rector impregnated her when they both travelled to London for six months without his consent.

He prayed the court to dissolve his marriage to the female lecturer.He said he got married to his estranged wife at the Marriage Registry in Festac town, saying they had three children together.

 

2023 Presidency: Tinubu’s Presidential Ambition hits the Rock As APC Governors Adopts New Presidential Candidate And Running Mate

 

A fresh crisis is brewing in the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) over the ambition of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari come 2023.

 

Tinubu who is yet to formally declare his interest in the presidential race has, however, been making consultations and visiting prominent Nigerians to seek their support.

 

Recall elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, who Tinubu recently visited in Abuja, disclosed that the APC national leader informed him of his presidential ambition and asked for his support.

 

Speaking exclusively with Daily Independent in Abuja, Senator Rufai Hanga, pioneer national chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and APC chieftain, who recently dumped the ruling party, said there is a split among the APC governors on the issue of the presidential flagbearer of the party.

 

According to him, while some governors in the party have settled for one of them as presidential candidate with a serving minister in President Buhari’s administration as run­ning mate, other governors are rooting for Tinubu, saying they should rally round him for all he has done for the party.

 

He said, “We have about three to four factions and it is next to impossibility to bring them together. There are governors in the party who have carved their own niche somewhere and are not ready to go with other governors.

 

“In fact, just three days ago, some governors sat and I heard it from very strong authority that they met and anointed one of them as presidential can­didate. They have chosen his running mate from among one of the serving ministers. They are willing to go it all hog and are determined that there is no going back.

 

“There are other governors who are not willing to hear all that. These governors are all out for Asiwaju Tinubu. These ones are saying that it is unfortunate Asiwaju badly despite all he has done for the party. They are tell­ing their colleague governors not to bite the finger that fed them. So, there is division among the APC governors right no won the issue of 2023”.

 

Hanga, who said the APC is technically non-existent, added that there is no way the party will survive an implosion espe­cially with the crises in almost 13 states owing to the fall-out of the congresses.

 

“There is a neutral group that has come out and say they have sacked Buni and they have a new national chairman. So, under this kind of confusion, how do you expect this party to survive at this material time? We are in December now.

 

“In fact, APC to me is technically non-existent for now going by the Supreme Court judgment on Ondo governorship election. Yes, they have allowed Ondo to go away with the governorship but if you go by the judgment of all the seven judges, they all concurred that it was wrong for a governor to be the party chairman.

 

“If it is wrong and unconstitutional for him to be the governor and party chairman at the same time, it means what ever action he takes or must have taken is null and void. Anything done by him is illegal. The court will nullify anything he has done.

 

“To me, APC is a goner. That is why I have decided to call it quit. They keep on shifting their national convention from now till February. By June or July, you should have all gotten your can­didates nominated but the APC wants to do national convention in February.

 

“In more than 13 states now, they have more than three leaderships all claiming to be in con­trol of the party. How can they do a convention with parallel leaderships inmost of the states? From the time they had their con­gresses in the states till now, they should have resolved it but up till now, they are not able to do so. By February, they will still have some lingering problems”, he said.

 

The cracks among the APC governors was evident at the weekend when Governor KayodeI Fayemi of Ekiti and Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State both addressed Ahmadu Haruna Zago (Danzago), who belongs to Ibrahim Shekarau faction as Kano APC state chairman.

 

Two factions of the party in the state had conducted parallel congresses on October 18 but the party endorsed the one conduct­ed by the loyalists of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State.

 

The Shekarau’s faction had elected Danzago as chairman while Ganduje’s camp elected Abdullahi Abbas.

 

The National Appeal Committee set up by the APC later recognised Abbas as the chairman of the party in the state.

 

Not satisfied with the decision of the party, the faction led by a former governor of the state, who is now a senator, Ibrahim Shekarau, headed to the court, asking for the nullification of the congresses at the ward, local government areas, and state lev­els conducted by the rival faction and uphold its own.

 

In his ruling, the judge, Hamza Muazu, granted there quests and upheld the congresses conducted by the Shekarau faction.

 

The judge also made an order restraining the Ganduje faction from appointing a new executive.

Credible sources said the recognition given to Danzago by Fayemi and Badaru was to spite Governor Ganduje, whose candidate was removed by the court.

 

Zenith Bank GMD, Onyeagwu Emerges “CEO of the Year” as Zenith Bank Wins ‘Most Responsible Organisation in Africa’ at SERAS CSR Africa Awards 2021

Zenith Bank GMD, Onyeagwu Emerges “CEO of the Year” as Zenith Bank Wins ‘Most Responsible Organisation in Africa’ at SERAS CSR Africa Awards 2021

 

Zenith Bank MD, Ebenezer Onyeagwu

Zenith Bank’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, has emerged CEO of the Year for a second consecutive year at the Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility (SERAS) CSR Africa Awards held at the weekend in Lagos. According to the judges, he was selected for a number of reasons, including engendering a culture that promotes the continued investment in social initiatives in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under his leadership, the Zenith Bank’s social investments totalled NGN3.285 billion in 2020, representing nearly 2% of the Bank’s profit after tax.

The judges found him worthy for his commitment to promoting sustainability and responsible business practices in Nigeria, by his frontal leadership of sustainability in Zenith Bank, thereby enabling best industry practices in the banking sector, and for his passion for reducing carbon emissions in the Bank’s operations.

Zenith Bank Plc also emerged winner in four other categories at the SERAS CSR Africa Awards, carting home the awards for “Best Company in Reporting and Transparency”, “Best Company in Infrastructure Development”, “Best Company in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment”, and the coveted “Most Responsible Organisation in Africa”.

Zenith Bank was adjudged the Most Responsible Organisation in Africa, winning the overall best sustainability award, for its continued commitment to the tenets of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, within its immediate community and in the society at large.

The Bank also emerged as the winner in the category for Reporting and Transparency for its consistency in disclosing and communicating its sustainability journey and progress annually vis-a-vis environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, in line with the guidelines and protocols set by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Nigeria Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP), NigerianExchange (NGX), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The Bank also ensures the assurance of its sustainability report by reputable independent third parties. In 2021, the Bank’s 2020 sustainability report was assured by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and disseminated through the Bank’s website for the public and sent to all relevant stakeholders, including the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).

In the infrastructure development category, the Bank was voted winner for its nation-building initiatives and investments, including supporting efforts towards establishing basic services and functional security, governance, and economic and infrastructure systems, especially in Nigeria. As a testament to this and in demonstration of its commitment to the development (often referred to as reform, restructuring and rebuilding) of the Nigeria Police Force for the preservation of law and order, protection of life and property, and law enforcement in Nigeria, the Bank supported the Lagos State Security Trust Fund with N500,000,000.00 for the provision of security-enhancing facilities and infrastructure. This is in addition to contributions to other state security trust funds.

Zenith Bank was adjudged winner in the category for the Best Company in Promotion of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment for its Z-Woman initiative, which offers credit facilities to women-owned businesses at a single-digit interest rate and for a gender-balanced workforce (Women make up about 50% of employees). During the reporting period, the number of women and women enterprises supported by the Bank, through the Z-Woman initiative, grew by 88.7%, from 391 in 2019 to 738 in 2020.

The Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility Awards (SERAS) is an initiative of TruCSR which celebrates and promotes investments by corporate organisations in the society through CSR and sustainability initiatives. It made its debut in 2007, and participation was opened to other countries of Africa in 2016.

The 2021 awards featured 387 projects by 97 organisations across Africa. The SERAS Jury Board consists of global thought and best-practices leaders from around the world such as Maria Sillanpaa (Finland); Nyasha Gwatidzo (Zimbabwe); Adesuwa Onyenokwe (Nigeria); Amjed Achour (Morocco); Charles Ojei (Nigeria); Ellen Gunning (Ireland); Gina Din-Kariuki (Kenya); Indira Kartallozi (England); Lampe Omoyele (Nigeria); Paul Kapelus (South Africa); and Scott Walker (England).

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