Our Reporter

 

Oil magnate, High Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs, will now be laid to rest in March, two years after his death, the family confirmed on Friday in Port Harcourt.

He will be buried on March 13, at Abonnema in Asari Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, spokesman for the chiefs of the Oluwari Briggs House, Sir Ibim Dokubo told reporters.

Chief Lulu –Briggs died on December 27,2018 in Ghana aged 88.

But disagreement within his family had frustrated previous arrangements to bury him.

He said that the burial was delayed because the family  could not take custody of his body as a result of a series of litigations concerning his death.

He also said the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the delay.

Read Also: COVID-19: O. B. Lulu-Briggs foundation distributes 5000 bags of rice, sanitisers to Rivers communities

“The overwhelming view was that we needed to wait for the relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions because High Chief O.B. Lulu Briggs was a man of many parts who had positively touched so many lives,” Dokubo said.

“He was a public servant, a labour leaders, a politician, a businessman and a philanthropist.

“It will, therefore, be a disservice to his memory to deny his legion of friends and associates the opportunity to honour him at his funeral.

“His obsequies should be designed to enable various personalities who interacted with him in his life time to participate actively.”

Son of the deceased , Barrister Dumo Lulu-Briggs, also  said that he was  happy that his father would  be finally laid to rest in March.

He hailed Governor Nyesom Wike  for approving a state burial for his father.

Our Reporter

 

BREXIT became a reality on Thursday as Britain left Europe’s customs union and single market, ending nearly half a century of turbulent ties with its closest neighbours.

The United Kingdom’s (UK) tortuous departure from the European Union (EU) took full effect at 2300 GMT in central London, just as most of the European mainland ushers in 2021 at midnight.

Brexit has dominated British politics since the country’s narrow vote to leave the bloc in June 2016, opening deep political and social wounds which remain raw.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a key Brexit architect, said yesterday that Britain’s destiny “now resides firmly in our hands”, shortly after MPs approved his trade deal with the EU.

Legally, Britain left on January 31 but has been in a standstill transition period during fractious talks to secure a free-trade agreement with Brussels, which was finally clinched on Christmas Eve.

Once the transition ends, EU rules will no longer apply, with the immediate consequence being an end to the free movement of more than 500 million people between Britain and the 27 EU states.

Customs border checks will be back for the first time in decades, and despite the free-trade deal, queues and disruption from additional paperwork are expected. Britain is the first member state to leave the EU, which was set up to forge unity after the horrors of World War II.

The EU has lost 66 million people and an economy worth USD2.85 trillion, but Brexit, with its appeal to nationalist populism, also triggered fears other disgruntled members could follow suit.

Leaders in both London and Brussels signalled their wish to draw a line. “It’s been a long road.

It’s time now to put Brexit behind us. Our future is made in Europe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said as she signed the trade pact. Johnson said that yesterday heralded “a new beginning in our country’s history and a new relationship with the EU as their biggest ally”.

Read Also: UK PM Johnson tests negative for COVID-19

Unlike in January, when flag-waving Brexiteers cheered and pro-EU “remainers” mourned, no formal events are planned for the end of the transition.

But, Johnson’s father, Stanley, confirmed plans yesterday to seek French citizenship as the free movement of Britons in the EU comes to an end under the Brexit pact delivered by his son.

Speaking to France’s RTL radio in French, Stanley Johnson said: “It’s not a question of becoming French. If I understand correctly I am French! My mother was born in France; her mother was completely French as was her grandfather.

“For me it’s a question of obtaining what I already have and I am very happy about that,” the 80-year-old added.

The father of the politician who ended Britain’s 47-year-old membership of the EU was among the first civil servants appointed to Brussels after Britain joined the EU in 1973.

He worked for the European Commission and served as a member of the European Parliament.

He initially campaigned against leaving the EU before changing his mind a year after Britain voted to leave the union in 2016.

“I will always be European, that’s for sure,” he told RTL.

“You can’t tell the English: you’re not European. Europe is more than the single market; it’s more than the European Union.”

 

 

 Adeola Ogunlade

 

DIOCESAN Bishop of Lagos (Anglican Communion) Rt. Rev. Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye has advised the Federal Government against ordering a second lockdown over fear of an increase in the second wave of COVID-19.

Rather, the cleric urged the government to look for better ways of maintaining safety protocols till the country recover from the pandemic.

Rev. Olumakaiye, who said this in his New Year message to The Nation yesterday in Lagos, added that there is palpable anger in the land because of poverty.

According to him, many people have also lost fortune this year due to the pandemic with several other people doubting the reality of the virus.

Hs noted that to forestall avoidable protest that may be worse than the #ENDSARS protest, the government should try to manage the situation in the best ways possible to enable people to live their normal lives.

 

Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

 

BUDGET 2021 is critical to the delivery of the Buhari government legacy projects, the President said on Thursday.

Besides, the Budget is designed to stimulate domestic economic activities and create jobs, he added.

President Muhammadu Buhari spoke after signing the 2021 Appropriation Bill on the last day of 2020. He also signed the 2020 Finance Bill, which complements the budget.

It is the second consecutive year that the budget is being signed before end of the year to facilitate the January to December budget cycle.

Thursday’s brief ceremony at Aso Villa was witnessed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President Ahmad Lawan; House of Representatives Speaker  Femi Gbajabiamila; Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed.

The National Assembly on December 21 passed the 2021 Appropriation Bill with an aggregate expenditure of N13, 588, 027,886, 175 trillion.

It comprises total Capital Supplementation of N1,060,751,051,650 and total Capital Expenditure of N4,125,149,354,222, Statutory Transfer stands at N496,528,471,273; recurrent Expenditure of N5,641,970,060,680 and Gross Domestic Product, GDP growth rate of 3.00 Percent.

The National Assembly also provided N3,324,380,000 trillion for debt servicing.

The lawmakers increased the budget by N505, 607,317,942 from the estimate of N13, 082, 420, 568,233 presented to the joint sitting of the National Assembly by the President on October 8.

The President explained that in designing the 2021 Budget, government deliberately chose to pursue an expansionary fiscal policy, reiterating that it will accelerate economic recovery process, promote social inclusion and strengthen the resilience of the economy.

Read Also: BREAKING: Buhari to address Nigerians Jan 1

He said: “As you are all aware, our economy recently lapsed into its second recession in four years. I mentioned during the presentation of the 2021 Appropriation Bill that we intend to use the budget to accelerate our economic recovery process, promote social inclusion and strengthen the resilience of the economy. All Ministers are to ensure that their supervised Ministries, Departments and Agencies achieve the objectives set for their sectors.”

He spoke on the budget stimulating domestic economic activities, create jobs and help in delivering the administration’s legacy projects.

Some of these legacy projects are critical infrastructure like the Lagos –Ibadan Expressway, The Second Niger Bridge, The East-West Road, and the various rail projects all at different stages of completion.

To be able to fully fund the budget, the President charged all revenue generating agencies and all ministries, departments and agencies to meet their target revenue generation plans.

He said the administration is intensifying domestic revenue mobilisation so there would be enough to fund the budget.

He warned heads of agencies and departments that have not been meeting their assigned targets to buckle up as sanctions would henceforth attend non-performance.

He encouraged all Nigerians, especially those in the business class, to fulfill their own responsibility in the task of realising the goals of the budget by ensuring prompt payment of their taxes.

On budget implementation and monitoring, the President urged civil society organisations to play its natural role of monitoring implementation, and directed ministries and government agencies to scale up their monitoring and implementation mechanisms.

“The 2021 Budget is very critical to the delivery of the legacy projects of our Administration. To fully achieve our objectives, the effective implementation of the 2021 Budget is imperative.

“Therefore, I have directed the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning should adopt all necessary measures in this regard to achieve the objectives of the Budget, including the targeted release of capital votes.

He commended the National Assembly “for the steady support in safely steering our economy during these very challenging times.”

He added: “ I remain committed to sustaining the partnership with the Legislature to jointly deliver on our mandate from our people.”

He described the 2020 Budget performance, as being at ”an impressive rate” of 97.7 per cent, “ which he described as “commendable outcome underscores the importance of our efforts, together with the Legislature, to return to the discipline of a January-to December fiscal year.”

He explained that in spite of the adverse impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the nation’s economy and the government’s revenues, the administration had made appreciable progress in the implementation of the 2020 Budget.

“As at December 2020, we had released about One-point-Seven- Four-Eight Trillion Naira (N1.748 trillion) out of a total of the One-Point-Nine-Six- Two Trillion Naira (N1.962 trillion) voted for the implementation of critical capital projects, representing a performance of about Eighty-Nine-point-One Per cent (89.1%),” he stated.

Speaking to State House Correspondents after the ceremony, Lawan described the event, whereby budget is passed and signed to law before the New Year, two consecutive years, as a historic and memorable one.

He expressed the legislature’s desire and commitment to ensuring that the Budget works as planned.

 

 Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

 

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari this morning hinted of his plan to rejig the nation’s security apparatus to tackle worsening insecurity.

In his New Year’s speech, he expressed hope that the country would continue “to weather all stormy waters and emerge stronger and better where others have fallen and disintegrated”.

“This nation, this Nigeria, will survive and thrive,” the President said.

According to him, there will be a “re-energising and reorganising” of the security apparatus and personnel.

This is the clearest indication yet that the President might have heeded the numerous calls to tinker with the security architecture in the quest to put an end to banditry, kidnappings and other forms of insecurity the country is grappling from.

Buhari said: “The year 2021 will indeed be a year where we will work to reinforce the hopes of fellow Nigerians in the vision of a united and progressive Nigeria.

“Some of the key priority areas we would direct our attention and strengths to include: re-energising and reorganising the security apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police with a view to enhance their capacity to engage, push back and dismantle the operations of both internal and external extremist and criminal groups waging war against our communities in some parts of the country.”

The President recalled the abduction of the over 300 boys of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara inhis home state of  Katsina and praised the “professionalism” of the armed forces in rescuing them.

“We recognise that we rapidly have to move to a more proactive and preemptive posture to ensure that these sorts of traumatic incidents do not become a norm.

“Our administration is fully aware of the responsibility we have to protect the lives and property of all Nigerians, and we will not relent in learning and adapting to changing threats to our national security and civic wellbeing,” the President said.

He noted that 2020 came with a lot of challenges, ranging from security and economic issues to “understandable protests that were mainly led by our youths”.

The protests, he said, “served notice to the demand for police reforms and accountability”.

The President said: “This government heard; this government listened and this government is committed to fulfilling the five demands of our youths, fully understanding that we all wish well for Nigeria.”

President Buhari reaffirmed his commitment to Nigerians, especially the youth, who he said need “collective encouragement and support”.

“In securing this nation we need to secure the future of our youth…In this regard, we will partner with the legislature to develop an enabling environment to turn their passions into ideas that can be supported, groomed and scaled across regions.

Read Also: Reps did not apologise to Buhari, says House spokesman

“This will create vast opportunities in fintech, agriculture, business process startups and in the entertainment industry,” he said.

On the economy, the President said it is being diversified and infrastructure is being rebuilt, while his administration is putting reforms in place in the power sector to significantly expand generation and distribution.

“Our focus is on revamping the economy through the national economic diversification agenda that supports the primary goal of national food self-sufficiency.

“This has helped reduce the growing food-related inflationary figures and have in considerable measure positively impacted our food security status during the long months of the pandemic lockdown.

“As an administration, we are currently undertaking a series of special interventions designed to boost job creation and support the entrepreneurial drive of our youths.

“With the recent opening of our borders, we expect that the pent-up demand of legitimate cross-border and international trade will boost the fortunes of the many small businesses and agricultural enterprises that depend on Nigeria’s trade and commerce.

“The message to our West African neighbours is that Nigeria is once again fully open for those willing to conduct business in a fair and equitable way,” the President said.

On the anti-graft war, he said the executive would work with the legislature to enact laws that would strengthen the fight.

“On the part of the executive, we would ensure the diligent and timely prosecution of corruption cases, while appealing to the judiciary to ensure that corruption cases are dispensed with expeditiously,” President Buhari said.

He spoke of the need to keep the country safe from a resurgent cycle of COVID-19 as his administration finalises plans “to procure and efficiently and effectively distribute the COVID-19 vaccines”.

“I urge you all fellow citizens to observe strict COVID-19 prevention protocols,” the President added.