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FIRSTBANK IMPACTS ITS FIRSTMONIE AGENTS WITH A 100 BILLION NAIRA LOAN

FIRSTBANK IMPACTS ITS FIRSTMONIE AGENTS WITH A 100 BILLION NAIRA LOAN

  • The Bank has been at the forefront of promoting financial inclusion in the country, impacting Nigerians, regardless of their locations nationwide. 

  • The Bank currently has over 120,000 Firstmonie Agents spread across 772 Local Government Areas in Nigeria

  • The Agent Credit scheme was launched a year ago to empower its Firstmonie Agents to grow their businesses, whilst being at an advantage to contribute to national development.

Barely a year after the launch of its Agent Credit scheme, FirstBank of Nigeria PLC, Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider, has announced that it has economically empowered its Firstmonie Agents with the sum of N100 billion. The Bank currently has over 120,000 Firstmonie Agents, spread across 772 Local Government Areas in the country.

The Agent Credit scheme was created by the FirstBank to promote and expand the business activities of its foremost agent banking platform – Firstmonie Agents – whilst putting them at an advantage to positively impact their immediate environment.

Firstmonie Agents have been integral to bridging the financial exclusion gap, providing convenient banking services that are easily accessible, thereby saving time and travel costs for individuals in the suburbs and remote environments that have no access to financial services.

FirstBank’s financial inclusion activities are in line with the mandate of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure the availability of affordable financial products and services to all individuals and groups of people in the country, irrespective of location, literacy levels, familiarity with technology and accessibility to modern infrastructural facilities. The Firstmonie Agent channel is amongst the Bank’s many initiatives to expand financial access in the country.

Reiterating the FirstBank’s role in deepening financial inclusion in the country, Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive, e-Business & Retail Products, said “we are truly excited about the tremendous impact of the Agent Credit on the performance of our Firstmonie Agents nationwide. Since the introduction of the Agent Credit to support our ‘Human ATMs’ as we fondly call our Firstmonie Agents, they have recorded immense growth in their businesses, at levels they never envisaged in such a short period.

Our key goal is to continue to deliver financial services to the underserved and unbanked populations, employing modern technology for processing real-time transactions and in doing so, contribute to building capacities and learning new skills in information technology, cash management and relationship management for our FirstMonie agents.

We encourage our Firstmonie Agents to keep being exemplary in setting the pace to promote financial inclusion as we collectively work towards the continuous growth and development of the national economy.”

Coalition Of Northern Groups, Slams PSC, Demand Review Of Abba Kyari’s Suspension

Coalition Of Northern Groups, Slams PSC, Demand Review Of Abba Kyari’s Suspension

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) and other northern Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have demanded a review of the suspension of an embattled police officer, DCP Abba Kyari.
Naija News reports that billionaire fraudster, Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, had alleged that he bribed Kyari to arrest someone who outsmarted him in a $1.1 million scam, an allegation the police officer denied.

Kyari is currently on suspension by the Police Service Commission over an indictment by the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI).

The police had set up a panel to probe Kyari while he was replaced as head of the Intelligence Response team of the force.

Reacting to Kyari’s suspension, the coalition and other CSOs condemned the Nigeria Police Force and PSC for suspending Kyari from the force.

At its meeting on Sunday, the coalition slammed both the FBI and the Nigerian Police authority for breaching Kyari’s fundamental right to a fair hearing before suspending the officer.

A communique signed by leaders of CNG and eight other organizations, and read by the CNG spokesman, Abdulazeez Sulieman, demanded an immediate transfer of Kyari’s case to the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA).

The communique reads: “Participants at the roundtable critically reviewed the events that have unfolded since the reports of a purported indictment of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari by a United States Court for involvement in charges filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) against a suspected fraudster, Ramon Abbas Hushpuppi.

“The Roundtable specifically noted several procedural lapses bordering on breaches of international protocol in the supposed FBI attempt to wrap DCP Kyari in the Hushpuppi affair, as well as the obvious haste by the Nigeria Police authorities to strip him of his position with an immediate replacement.

“That the FBI, an acclaimed American security agency, might invariably have breached the global standard legal and diplomatic practice by neglecting to contact either the Nigerian High Commission in the US or the Nigerian authorities through the FBI liaison offices based in Nigeria before going ahead to file an indictment of a top Nigerian Security Officer.

“That the FBI might have breached another fundamental criminal justice procedure by not according Mr Kyari the benefit of being heard before going ahead with the purported indictment by an American Court in the US for an offence purportedly committed in Nigeria, triable under Nigerian laws, by Nigerian courts and on Nigerian land.

“A breach of decorum and negligence of procedure might have also occurred when the FBI hurriedly published the purported indictment online without first intimating the Nigerian authorities.

“The Roundtable also raised questions on the apparent haste with which Kyari was suspended and an immediate substantive replacement named by the Nigerian police authorities, an outright breach of Mr Kyari’s fundamental right to fair hearing by both the FBI and the Nigerian police authorities by not allowing him the benefit of being heard before the hasty actions against him.”

 

PDP Reps Caucus Mounts Pressure On Secondus, Ask Him To Resign

 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives has asked the embattled National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, to immediately resign from his position.

It was earlier reported that seven members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party resigned last week in protest against alleged poor leadership.

The seven deputy national officers accused Secondus of not carrying other NWC members along in the scheme of things, adding that they are not comfortable with Secondus sequel to the recent gale of defections of members from the party.

Reacting in a statement last week, Secondus said that those plotting his removal were doing so to hijack the party ahead of the 2023 general elections.

But in a statement issued on Sunday and jointly signed by the PDP caucus leader and deputy leader respectively, Kingsley Chinda and Chukwuka Onyema, the lawmakers asked Secondus to leave his position to allow peace reign in the party.

The PDP lawmakers said Secondus’ stay in office “will do grave injustice to the party and put us in a precarious situation as every hour should matter now”.

The lawmakers accused Secondus of a “lax and bedroom managerial attitude” which has resulted in the defection of members from the party.

The statement reads: “To many, the national chairman seems much more contented with occupying the office and therefore preoccupied with holding onto his position rather than preparing for next elections; this explains for his inexplicably missing endless opportunities that ought to have been utilized for consolidating a viable opposition; skewing party congresses to favour personal future ambition and frustrating genuine party members across states which have resulted in the mass exit of party members at the national assembly.

“There is no clear road map, blueprint or policy programme for the PDP by the Chairman, thus the party is allowed to flow with the tide, only showing up with weak press releases once in a while without commensurate sustainable action.

“The lax and bedroom managerial attitude of the Chairman who runs the party from his home and only surfaces in the party office for meetings, coupled with several promises without commensurate action has led to inept management of complaints, despondency amongst members and consequently an exodus of members of the party at all levels, including a member of the Board of Trustee of the party.

“Whilst these misfortunes befell the party and concerned party members are busy trying to stem the tide, the party chairman has carried on as if all is well and does not appear to see the caldron awaiting the party if it continues on that trajectory.

“While the PDP National Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus contributed notably to the party in the past, cogent accusations currently being levelled against his leadership far transcend personal issues as there is an established consistent and persistent pattern of inadequate consultations, even with members of the PDP House Caucus, thereby giving rise to hitherto unspoken feelings of intra-party alienation in several quarters including in his NWC.

“Such has manifested into, or encouraged or fueled the exit of many prominent and highly-experienced party members with many more at the brink of leaving if nothing is done fast”.

“We want Secondus to consider making the necessary personal sacrifice worthy of a leader in the party’s current and future interest with a firm assurance of honourable regard and appreciation by the party leadership now and in years to come, by honourably resigning his position as party chairman immediately, to allow the party an early start”.

“We also advised the board of trustees (BOT) and governors elected under the party to ensure immediate and firm resolution of current challenges to enable a re-engineering, re-focusing process that would restore party members and millions of other Nigerians’ hope and confidence in the PDP”.

 

After 6 Years In Office, Buhari approves State House clinic’s presidential wing

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the site for the construction of the Presidential Wing of the State House Clinic.

Since assuming office in 2015, the President is usually flown abroad for medical check up and treatment.

Critics wonder why he failed to push for the construction of another State House Clinic to cater for his health issues to save the country the financial burden of frequent trips.

The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs has visited the site of the new facility.

The Permanent Secretary, State House, Umar Tijjani, told the members that the new wing of the State House Clinic would serve the Nigerian populace.

But this is not totally expected as the centre would particularly cater for the medical needs of the President, Vice-President, members of their families and top government officials.

Tijjani said the project will be completed before the end of the Buhari administration.

Umar lamented the non release of budgetary allocation to State House in full, noting that some of the facilities had become obsolete.

Out of about N8.699billion budgeted for State House in the 2018, only about N5.083billion (58 per cent) was released, he said.

In 2019, out of N6.955billion budgeted, only about N2billion was released. However, in 2020, about N4.878 billion was appropriated and fully released.

“By the time this administration leaves office, we would have the Presidential wing of the State House Clinic in place”, NAN quoted him as saying.

“We have already started in earnest with activities that are required for the construction, we have received the necessary approvals.

”We have received no objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement. The contractor is going to come in form of a turnkey project, in order to mobilise and take over the site”, Tijani added.

 

Makinde To Clerics: Join politics if you want Nigeria to progress

 

The Governor of Oyo State Seyi Makinde, has called on clerics to join politics, if they want Nigeria to progress, Newspremises reports.

Makinde made this call during a thanksgiving service of the Christ Revival Miracle Church, Molete, Ibadan, shepherded by Reverend P.F Owa, On Sunday, August 8, 2021.

Makinde, while addressing the congregation noted that it is when men of God participate in politics that the desired changes can occur in the country.

He maintained that only the participation of men and women of faith can give Nigeria a perfect and complete nation.

Makinde, while speaking further, charged professionals to participate in politics.

He added that this will enhance good governance and promote sanity in the political system.

The governor, while speaking on the 2023 election, said that he has not made up his mind whether to seek reelection or not.

He added that he did not know if he would seek reelection or not.

“One of the pastors, while praying, talked about the first and second tenure.

“Well, I came out in 2019 to tell the people that I wanted to become the governor but I prayed to God that only His will should be done.

“And now, I don’t even know if it is the will of God for me to even seek or push out for a second tenure.

“The only prayer I want you to be praying is that God’s will alone should be done in my life.

“On a final note, let us participate in politics and governance as children of God.”

 

IPOB’s sit-at-home Order : Absent Yourself From Work And forfeit August salary, Obiano threatens

 

Any government worker in Anambra who abstains from office on Monday because of the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, will forfeit his or her August salary, Governor Willie Obiano has threatened.

This was contained in a circular to heads of all the Ministries and parastaltals by the Head of Service HOS, Harry Uduh.

The government asked all Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries to monitor compliance in the State and report back

It reads: “The Government of Anambra State has directed that all workers in the State must attend to their duties on Monday 9th August 2021 as failure to do so will result in severe sanctions including loss of Salary for the month of August.

“All Hon. Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries are to monitor and report compliance please.

” Kindly give this information the widest publicity in your Establishment.” HOS.

Fear of possible attack has gripped residents but Anambra Police Command said there was no cause for alarm

Speaking with The Nation, Anambra Police spokesman, Ikenga Tochukwu, said their duty was to protect lives and property of the residents

He said the Command with the other sister agencies would make sure no harm would befell any citizen as they move about their normal businesses

Before the circular on Sunday, the State government had made it clear residents should ignore the order by IPOB and go about their normal businesses.

But many residents said they would stick to the safe option of staying away.

One of the traders said even if the government offered her N1m to go to the market she would not accept.

“Those people behave like wild animals. I have my family to take care of. if I die now, who will take care of them? IPOB members are not human beings,” she stated.

A government worker in one of the ministries told The Nation he would monitor the situation first before any taking decision.

He said it would be better to lose one month salary than his life in the hands of the ‘beasts’ when he was nearing his retirement period.

“No one will like to disobey government directive but the IPOB members are heartless.

” They are the “unknown gunmen”, nobody knows their minds. It’s a difficult situation for the workers in Anambra,” the worker said.

Onyeka Onwenu Speaks On ‘Secret Marriage, Sleeping With Obasanjo, King Sunny Ade

Onyeka Onwenu Speaks On ‘Secret Marriage, Sleeping With Obasanjo, King Sunny Ade

Popular Nigerian singer, Onyeka Onwemu, has open up on clams that she had a secret marriage with former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Onwenu in an interview with Chude Jideonwo noted that the allegation that she slept with Obasanjo and had a secret marriage with the former President is false.

She also revealed she was accused while growing up of sleeping with many big men in Nigeria.

The veteran singer said: “I was accused of sleeping with Sunny Ade, Fela and Obasanjo.

“They even went to the extent of saying I got married to Obasanjo secretly. If he approached me to marry him, why would I keep it a secret? We would have made it public so that was funny.”

Onwenu further stated her marriage to her ex-husband would have almost killed her if not for her brother who saved her.

Falana Gives Malami 7 Days Ultimatum To Provide Information On Trial Of 800 Boko Haram Suspects

Falana Gives Malami 7 Days Ultimatum To Provide Information On Trial Of 800 Boko Haram Suspects

Human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has asked the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, to provide information on the charges brought against 800 Boko Haram suspects.

Recall that in April the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) arrested dozens of persons during a nationwide crackdown on the suspected Boko Haram financiers and collaborations.

In a Freedom of Information (FoI) request signed by Samuel Ogala, Falana asked Malami to provide the information of their prosecution within seven days in accordance with the act.

The letter read, “In November 2020, the Governors of the North East Region applied to prosecute Boko Haram suspects who were arrested and held in detention by the security forces. The application was made on the ground that the process of prosecuting terrorists, which was solely reserved for the Attorney General of the Federation was unnecessarily unwieldy. Nonetheless, the application was not granted.

“In April, 2021, the Governors expressed their reservations over the delay in the trial of the terror suspects, demanding a prosecutorial power from the Attorney General of the Federation to enable their respective State Governments to prosecute the detained Boko Haram suspects. The request was also rejected.

“However, by May 2021, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation was widely reported in the print and electronic media to the effect that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to prosecute about 800 suspects linked to the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, as soon as the industrial action embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) was called off.

“In the light of the above, we request that our law firm be furnished with information with respect to when these Boko Haram suspects would be arraigned in court, since the strike by JUSUN has since been called off.

“Kindly ensure that we are furnished with the requested information within 7 days of the receipt of this letter in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.

“Honorable Minister, whilst we anticipate your expeditious consideration of this application, please do accept the assurances of our esteemed regards.”

 

Lionel Messi Breaks Down In Tears As Football Legend Says Goodbye To Barcelona

 

Lionel Messi Breaks Down In Tears As Football Legend Says Goodbye To Barcelona

Argentina captain, Lionel Messi on Sunday was in tears at the start of the Barcelona press conference over his future on Sunday.
This is coming after La Liga side, Barcelona announced that they are unable to seal a deal with their long time captain, who is reportedly close to a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

He said, “These recent days I’ve been thinking, giving a lot of thought to what I can say. And the truth is that I can’t think of anything, this is difficult for me after so many years.

“I’ve been here my entire life, I’m not ready for this. And last year with all the nonsense, I was convinced of what I wanted to say, but this year it is not the same.

“This year my family and I were convinced we were going to stay here, that is what we all wanted more than anything. We were at home, and we thought we’d be staying here in Barcelona, the time we’ve hard here and with the city and [in terms of the] football has been amazing.

“But today, I have to say goodbye to all of this.”

 

Important Things You Should Know About Late Captain Hosa Okunbo

Important Things You Should Know About Late Captain Hosa Okunbo

It was earlier reported that Edo State-born politician, philanthropist and business mogul, Captain Hosa Okunbo is dead.
The billionaire, 63, died at the early hours of today Sunday after a long battle with cancer.

Okunbo, Chairman of Ocean Marine Solution Limited, died in London, United Kingdom.

Brief profile:

Idahosa (Hosa) Wells Okunbo (born 7 January 1958) was a Nigerian business magnate, investor, philanthropist and trained commercial pilot.

He served as either chairman or director on numerous company boards in Nigeria, spanning multiple business sectors such as the agro-allied, petroleum, telecommunications, power, real estate and banking industries.

Okunbo is a native of Edo State in the southern part of Nigeria.

He was born in Benin City to the family of Reverend Robert Amos Okunbo, a clergyman, teacher and community leader.

Okunbo had his primary education at Government Primary in Benin City, old Bendel State, now Edo State.

He proceeded to Federal Government College, Warri, in 1971, where he sat for West African Senior School Certificate Examination.

Okunbo was a native speaker of the Edo language, and a fluent speaker of English.

He pursued a desire to become a pilot by studying at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Training Centre, Zaria, Kaduna State, and became a professional commercial pilot at the age of 21.

He also attended ACME School of Aeronautics, Fort Worth Texas in 1983, where he obtained an Airline Transport Pilot License.

He established Hoslyn Ventures Limited, a company focused on procurement in the Oil and Gas sector and, since then, his business interests have grown in leaps and bounds.

Owing to the restiveness in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Captain Okunbo set up Ocean Marine Security Limited, a pioneer Marine Security company responsible for offshore asset protection for major oil companies in Nigeria.

He is also the Chairman of the following companies

PPP Fluid Mechanics Limited, a crude oil logistics company
OMS Tankers Ltd, owners of the first indigenous marine tankers in Nigeria;
Westminster Security Solutions Limited, a franchise of Westminster Group Plc UK.
Wells Habitat Limited, a company partnering the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency
Hoslyn Habitat Limited, a foremost design, construction and landscaping company
Wells Property Development Company Limited, involved in the development of affordable properties / offices
Gyro Air Limited, operators of charter flight operations
…and a Director of the following companies:

Joint Marine Environ Guard Ltd (JMEG),
Secure Anchorage Area Limited (SAA)
Digisteel Integrated Services Ltd
Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Limited (IEDM), core investor in Ibadan and Yola Electricity Distribution Companies

Phil Nugent Nigeria Limited
In 1997, as part of his contribution to Nigeria’s electoral process, Capt. Okunbo was the leader of a business team that nurtured the idea that led to the introduction of transparent ballot boxes for use in Nigeria’s elections.

He also participated in numerous national and international fora as a resource person and has been honoured by different organisations and institutions.

In 2007, this distinguished gentleman was honoured with the Justice of the Peace (JP) in recognition of his astounding contributions to the promotion of peace and good governance as well as development of his constituency.

An Honorary Doctorate Degree was conferred upon him by the prestigious University of Benin for his contribution and benevolence to humanity as well as his achievements as an entrepreneur.

Captain Hosa is survived by wife, Nosa Okunbo, and children.

 

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