The Nation Newspaper

Tag: leads

  • Buhari leads ‘Berlin Wall must fall’ mission to Kwara

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) leaders were in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, yesterday. Their mission was to perfect plans for the fall of what they called “The Berlin Wall”.

    They urged the people to free themselves from the stranglehold of a political figure, who, according to them, has done nothing to reciprocate their support.

    It was at the presidential campaign rally led by President Muhammadu Buhari, who restated his administration commitment to bringing those who abuse trust before the law. The rally held at the Metropolitan Square in Ilorin.

    He added that funds recovered from looters would be reinvested into the infrastructural development.

    The President said. “We are going to continue to take those who abuse trust before the law; collect what they have stolen and reinvest them in infrastructure.

    “I assure you that the undertaking we made in 2015 in the three major issues All Progressives Congress (APC) believes in (security, economy and fight against corruption), we have not failed.

    “Wherever I go I repeat myself on these issues so as to remind you where this country was before we came in, where we are in now and what we are able to do with the resources that are at our disposal. The people of the Northeast, as far as security is concerned, are major witnesses of our performance.

    “On the economy, we thank God the three previous rainy seasons were good. We made fertiliser available and reduced the prices it used to be. People are now back to the farm and nobody regretted it. We have been able to ensure food security and people are living respectable lives; in fighting corruption, we are not going to give up.”

    APC stalwart and Co-Chairman of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu said that Kwarans had over the years, been held captive by one man.

    He said: “This is celebration of Kwara state’s freedom. It’s being long they have been swindling your collective patrimony… We are not here for conspiracy. We are not here to quarrel with the Saraki dynasty as Gbemisola Saraki is with us.

    “She is a scion of the Sarakis. We are here to reject overlord. We are here to say ‘no’ to Bukola’s enslavement. He is a betrayer. We are chastising Bukola Saraki. This is the celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is the celebration of the end of oligarchy; the emperor that has been existing for years.”

    Adams Oshiohmole told the crowd of supporters that the end of the Saraki dynasty had come.

    He presented the party’s flag to the APC governorship candidate AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

    The APC National Chairman said: “For Bukola, it is finished. I cannot wait till Saturday for Kwara people to celebrate their new found freedom. Also, it will be a day for Kwara people and for Nigerian politicians that the evil that their political son has done to their political father has befallen him.

    “Suffice to say that for 16 years Bukola has underdeveloped Kwara and has controlled governor more than the master controls his cook. He has reduced Kwarans to mere beggars in their own political and economic life.

    “The confession of Bukola Saraki after his defection from APC exposes him as a selfish politician. To him, politics is about juicy jobs. That is why I am happy to be here to see the actual translation of ‘enough is enough’.

    “Everything that has a beginning must have an end. It is the day the people that have been at the receiving make up their minds to confront the oppressors that the oppression is over. That is the case of Kwara and the case of Bukola. I join you the people of Kwara to celebrate your new found freedom.”

    Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed said: “During the November 17, 2018 by-election, I said our party has broken the Berlin Wall of Kwara politics. I said then that we will repeat the same thing during the 2019 elections.

    “The elections are now here. It is time to retire those who have held the state down and make our people and our state very poor. They have been deceiving the people. They have been blaming the Federal Government for their failure.

    “When they can’t pay workers’ salaries, they blame the Federal Government; when they cannot provide road they blame the Federal Government; voting them is giving them licence to continue to loot.

    “They say the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has not done anything in Kwara State. Tell them it is a big lie.”

    He reeled out the major infrastructural achievements of the government in the state.

    The state chairman of the party, Bashir Bolarinwa said the state under the Saraki oligarchy had been underdeveloped, saying “as a first generation state our infrastructure and institutions do not depict our status. We, unfortunately, are behind other states created much later.

    “It is a pity. We prayed, we hoped and made a decision that we are indeed tired of this group of reincarnate of the biblical Pharaoh. But Kwarans have decided that our own Pharaoh must let Kwara go.

    “Today’s rally is a culmination of our collective resolve of people to declare and let it resonate clearly that ‘enough is enough’ indeed.

    “After all, the tenet of democracy is that the people decide who should govern them. Since the people have oto ge, let enough be enough. They should pack and go. I appeal to you all to heed our clarion call of Oto ge (enough is enough)”.

  • Access Bank leads plan on positive image for Africa

    Access Bank Plc has restated its unalloyed commitment to positioning Africa as a continent viable for business and investment. This follows the announcement of its five-year strategic plan which, amongst other things, focuses on Africa in relation to the global community.

    This direction accentuates the bank’s current drive to enhance the perception of Africa by drawing the attention of the global community to the indigenous products of Africans; their rich culture, Arts and lifestyle as well as providing essential channels through which individuals, families, and businesses can fully participate in global commercial activities seamlessly.

    The Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, while speaking about the bank’s direction, stressed that the focus is a continuation of an existing passion of the Bank to ensure that the world sees and appreciates the true representation of Africa.  “Over time, we have remained committed to raising the standard of banking practice in Africa without compromising the importance of our customers,” said Wigwe.

    “Throughout our years of operation, we have realised how large the African continent has become, not only in terms of its viable business environment, but also the uniqueness of its people, culture, resources and lifestyle. These are the stories we are happy to share and we are committed to take on a pivotal role in leading this charge over the next five years,” he added.

    Access Bank is leveraging on technology, especially with its positive track record of innovative products such as the Access Africa; its cross-border transfer service, which is the fastest way to send and receive money across Africa, PayDay Loan and the recently launched Access WhatsApp Banking service.

  • Dangote Cement leads equities to N8b gain

    Most deals on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday were closed at lower prices but considerable gain recorded by Dangote Cement Plc rallied the overall market to a modest gain of N8 billion. With 20 gainers to 25 losers, Dangote Cement-Nigeria’s biggest quoted company, overshadowed the underlying downtrend that had seen equities trading mostly at discounts in recent trading sessions.

    Dangote Cement’s share price rose by N2 per share to close at N227, representing capital gain of 0.89 per cent. With this, the benchmark indices at the Exchange inched up by 0.1 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N8 billion. The negative average year-to-date return improved slightly to -1.5 per cent.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from its opening value of N13.630 trillion to close at N13.638 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the main index that tracks share prices at the Exchange, also inched up from 37,625.59 points to close at 37,647.93 points.

    Most sectoral indices closed negative, underlining the continuing widespread selloffs despite improving bargain-hunting for value stocks. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 8.4 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index followed with a drop of 5.0 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index declined by 1.6 per cent. On the upside, the NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 8.3 per cent while the NSE Banking Index inched up by 0.1 per cent.

    Flour Mills of Nigeria and Forte Oil recorded the second highest gain of 80 kobo each to close at N31.50 and N27.15 respectively. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria rose by 65 kobo to close at N22.90. Julius Berger Nigeria added 50 kobo to close at N30 while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated chalked up 40 kobo to close at N20.40.

    Most analysts said they expected bargain-hunting for value stocks to continue to drive the overall market position in the days ahead.

    “In subsequent sessions, we expect bargain hunting particularly in fundamentally sound stocks to drive a positive performance in the market,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

    Analysts at SCM Capital stated that they expected “continuous bargain hunting to sustain positive market performance tomorrow (Tuesday)”.

    Total turnover slowed down to 151.2 million shares valued at N2.0 billion. Access Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 21.67 million shares valued at N225.6 million. Zenith Bank followed with 13.92 million shares worth N341.22 million while FBN Holdings ranked third with 12.71 million shares valued at N133.06 million.

    On the negative side, Nascon Allied Industries led the losers with a drop of N1.15 to close at N20.65. Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Lafarge Africa followed with a drop of N1 each to close at N51 and N38 respectively. Dangote Sugar Refinery lost 70 kobo to close at N17.80 while Conoil declined by 50 kobo to close at N27 per share.

  • Buhari leads delegation to UN General Assembly

    Buhari leads delegation to UN General Assembly

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will be leading the country’s delegation to the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said yesterday.

    Briefing reporters on the conference scheduled from September 12 to 25, Onyeama said Nigeria will use the opportunity to garner international support for the release of remaining Chibok girls and also in the effort towards eradicating the residual traces of terrorism from the Northeast.

    He said: “Government’s efforts have resulted in the release of over 89 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok in 2014.

    “We will call for continued international support to ensure the safe release and return of the remaining Chibok girls.”

    He said Nigeria would also reiterate call for the repatriation of the proceeds of illicit financial assets to countries of origin.

    The minister explained that next week’s meeting provides a high level window of opportunity to advance Nigeria’s actions towards the promotion of peace and implementation of  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    He said Nigeria would pursue its agenda in line with the theme for the session, which is: “Focusing on people: Striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”.

    “We are absolutely delighted that as he did last year, Mr. President will be leading the Nigerian delegation to the UNGA in New York.

    “And, that should be an excellent message to the world that Nigeria is engaged at the very highest level with the international community and it’s present in the big and global issues of the day.”

  • PDP leads in Bayelsa poll

    PDP leads in Bayelsa poll

    Results of weekend’s governorship election were trickling in last night with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leading its closest rival  – the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The PDP was leading in four of the five local government areas declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last night. The APC won in one.

    The councils are: Yenagoa, Ekeremor, Sagbama, Brass and Kolokuma/Opokuma.

    The commission is expected to announce the rest of the results today.

    The PDP faulted INEC’s decision to continue with the conduct of the rescheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

    It also accused the APC of skewing the process against the ruling party.

    The governorship election in the local council, which has 120,000 registered voters, became a subject of dispute, after INEC cancelled the exercise following widespread violence, which reportedly claimed five lives in the area.

    But, at a news conference in Yenagoa yesterday, the PDP said INEC’s decision to continue with the poll yesterday was wrong since the issues of security of lives and electoral materials which caused the postponement had not been adequately addressed.

    At the conference were the party’s Southsouth Zonal Chairman, Chief Cairo Ojuigbo, state Chairman, Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff and the Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District, Chief Foster Ogola.

    Dokubo-Spiff alleged that the orgy of violence in Southern Ijaw was perpetrated by APC members resulted in the death of five persons.

    He said: “From information, the majority of the indigenes of Oporoma, headquarters of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and some other communities are still taking refuge in the forest and swamps as a result of the heavy gunfire.

    “The security situation has been confirmed to be even worse in the creeks and other communities in the area. The situation is still so tense with gunshots heard in parts of Oporoma and other major communities in the local government area, making it clearly impossible for any peaceful election to hold.”

    He said the position of the PDP was that adequate arrangements should be put in place in the next couple of days to ensure security for voters, INEC ad-hoc staff, including members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and materials.

    “This is because lives have already been lost. It is crucial to take steps to ensure that more lives are not lost. It is hoped that INEC, the security agencies and other stakeholders take genuine fear into consideration so that the people of Southern Ijaw can freely exercise their civic responsibilities”, he said.

    He also alleged that the  APC candidate Chief Timipre Sylva, was holding consultations with senior government officials to rig the poll.

    According to him, Sylva was mounting pressure on government officials to direct the Resident Electoral Commission to compromise the process.

    He alleged: “We the PDP, hereby, say that it is irregular, improper, it is unacceptable, we will resist it and we will not accept it. We must commit to doing the right thing in this country. We will not accept it, so the REC, who is my friend, should stick to doing the right thing and desist from doing the wrong thing.

    “How can you say accreditation and voting should go on simultaneously in a place like Southern Ijaw which has geography as far-flung as almost from here to Siberia, going by our own geography. It is not right. We fear that there is an impending plan to do ‘mago mago.’”

     

  • Dikko leads Eagles to Burkina Faso

    Dikko leads Eagles to Burkina Faso

    Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC) Shehu Dikko will lead Nigeria’s delegation to this weekend’s 2016 CHAN qualifier in Burkina Faso.

    Nigeria won the first leg in Port Harcourt 2-0 a week ago with the overall winners advancing to the CHAN final tournament in Rwanda in January.

    A chartered ARIK Air aircraft will fly out of the Port Harcourt International Airport at about 5.30pm Nigeria time, and will land in the Burkinabe capital after about two-and-half hours.

    NFF 2nd Vice President. Shehu Dikko will lead a delegation that also includes chairman of NFF technical committee, Felix Anyansi-Agwu; deputy general secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme; deputy director of competitions, Ayobola Oyeyode and assistant director of communications, Ademola Olajire.

    There will also be 22 players, 13 technical and backroom staff, a number of stakeholders, some NFF staff, a couple of media representatives and members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club.

    The Super Eagles will have the official training at the August 4 Stadium in Ouagadougou on this evening, with the match to start at 4.00pm (5pm Nigeria time) on Sunday at the same venue.

     

  • Onyedinma leads Super Falcons to Bamako

    Onyedinma leads Super Falcons to Bamako

    Chairman of the Nigeria Women League and member of the NFF Executive Committee, Mrs Dilichukwu Onyedinma will be at the head of a 29-man delegation of the Senior Women National Football Team, Super Falcons to Mali for the 11th All-Africa Games qualifying match on Saturday.

    The African champions will take on the Senior Women National Team of Mali in the first leg of the only round of qualifiers for the Women’s Football Tournament of the All-Africa Games, at the Stade Modibbo Keita in Bamako on Saturday, with kick –off set at 5pm Mali time (6pm Nigeria time).

    Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the Falcons delegation will include 18 players and nine technical/administrative officials, as well as Assistant Director (Technical), Siji Lagunju.

    The team will fly out from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight today, to arrive in Bamako Friday afternoon.

  • Wiesberger leads in Malaysia

    Wiesberger leads in Malaysia

    Bernd Wiesberger birdied six of his first seven holes en route to his best European Tour score yet, a nine-under 63 that catapulted him past defending champion Lee Westwood and into the Malaysian Open lead after three rounds.

    Westwood, who held a share of the lead at the end of each of the first two days, remained in contention three strokes back with a 69 for the day.

    But the Englishman, who is notably comfortable with the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club’s undulating fairways, has snared fewer birdies each day as others seem to be figuring the course out — including Wiesberger.

    On a day where temperatures climbed to 33 degrees centigrade, the Austrian started hot and cooled only slightly on his way to 10 birdies and sole first place at 17-under-par for the tournament.

  • Kaduna ECWA leads quest for religious tolerance

    Kaduna ECWA leads quest for religious tolerance

    Since the eruption of what was tagged ‘Sharia crisis’ in Kaduna State in the year 2000 and the closely followed ‘Miss World crisis’ in 2002, Christians and Muslims have been living with mutual suspicion.

    The development did not only create tension, it also left residents of Kaduna to indirectly adopt segregated living, along religious lines.

    The two crises have equally forced people to move their worship places away from where their fellow worshippers are in minority to where they have people of their faith in majority. Where such worship places were left behind, they had often served as the first targets during crises.

    Mosques standing around the predominant Christian settlements of Sabo, Gonin Gora, Kakuri, Barnawa and the likes had often been razed during crises while churches around Tudun Wada, Tudun Nupawa and Ungwar Dosa suffer similar fates.

    It is against this backdrop that the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Gospel Church Tudun Nupawa in Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State last week donated assorted food stuffs to Muslims within its domain in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan as part of efforts to foster peaceful religious coexistence.

    The gesture is not the first peace move by the church. It recently gathered Imams and Village/Districts Heads from its predominant Muslim host community to fellowship with them.

    The Imams were invited to the Sunday church service by the Senior Pastor of the Church, Reverend Yunusa Nmadu, not to change their faith but to worship with them and build love between Christians and Muslims.

    The Muslim religious leaders and the traditional rulers were in the church from the beginning of the Sunday service at 9am till 12:30pm. Even though, they could not join in the reading of the Bible and rendition of hymns, some of them gave offerings to the church.

    Speaking, during the special church service, Nmadu said even though the church had been burnt more than four times during crises, youths of the area once stood their ground and prevented the church from being burnt by hoodlums.

    He explained: “That is why we thought we should return what has been done to us with love. We have done something similar during the Ramadan period.

    “So, this is to cement the relationship between us and our neighbours because we believe we can live together in harmony, because we were all created in the image of God.

    “We invited you Muslim religious leaders and traditional rulers to see what we are doing here and fellowship together with us so that we can show you the love of Jesus Christ.”

    Responding, the Chief Imam of Salamat Central Mosque in Bachama area of Tudun Wada, Kaduna, Sheik Dahiru Adamu, said there was nothing as important as peace and peaceful co-existence in the world.

    He added that any Muslim or Christian that hurts another human being due to religious differences lacks understanding.

    According to him: “Prophet Muhammed taught us to love our neighbours, even if they are non-Muslims.

    “The Prophet said if we see a non-Muslim that is thirsty and about to die of thirst, we should give him water, even if the only water we have left is the one we want to perform ablution with we should save the life of the non-Muslim and perform our ablution with sand.”

    He urged Christians and Muslims to desist from spreading destructive rumour.

    “We should desist from a situation where somebody will send us message that they have killed one Muslim in Zonkwa, then we too have to kill one Christian in Tudun Wada. That is tantamount to taking laws into our own hands.”

    The Village Head of Tudun Nupawa, Dr. Yusuf Nadabo, said: “We have entered the church and worshipped with the congregation. It didn’t change anything about us and did not convert us to Christianity.”

    He said gestures like invitation to the church were lacking in the past, which led to distrust among Muslims and Christians.

    The church followed up with donation of assorted food stuffs to Muslims within its domain in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan.

    Items donated to the beneficiaries numbering 150 families drawn from the Panteka market union and Tudun Nupawa community included rice, beans, maize, noodles, sugar and eggs, among others.

    Nmadu said: “The gesture by the church to provide food items to members of the host community during Ramadan is to demonstrate the Biblical injunction that we should love our neighbours as ourselves.

    “Apart from that, we have also embarked on this to show the world that peace is possible and that we are all peace makers by demonstrating it in practical terms.”

    Nmadu commended the reformation in the community, saying “Tudun-Wada/Tudun-Nupawa which used to be in the news for the wrong reasons has since begun on a new slate.”

    Even though this community used to be a crisis-prone community, there has been a tremendous improvement over the years due to concerted efforts, guidance, counselling and proper leadership provided by the leaders and village heads.

    One of the beneficiaries, the Sarkin Dutse, Alhaji Shaibu Balarebe, commended the magnanimity of the ECWA church by assisting his people during the Ramadan fast in the past two years.

    Kadun State Governor, Mukhtar Yero, stressed the need for peaceful coexistence.

    Yero, who was represented by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Yari Everton, urged all to shun all forms of social vices.

  • Montsho leads world-class athletes to Delta

    Montsho leads world-class athletes to Delta

    Former World Champion and one of the best quarter-milers today, Botswana’s Amantle Montsho, leads other world-class athletes to Delta State on Friday for the Warri Relay/CAA Super Grand Prix.

    Montsho, who was crowned world champion at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu with a personal best time of 49.56, is a two-time African Championships gold medallist over 400m and has also won titles in the event at the 2007 All-Africa Games, the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Her Commonwealth win made her Botswana’s first ever gold medallist at the games.

    Also expected in Warri from Botswana are Boipelo Vike, Oarabile Babolai, Larona Koshimile, Isaac Makwala, Pako Seribe, Sakaria Kamberuka, Leaname Maotoanong, Lydia Mashila and other members of the country’s relay teams.  Nigeria’s neighbour, Benin Republic, is sending her four relay teams. Gambia and Ghana are also sending their relay teams.

    Long distance runners Sisay Korme and Mojo Male are coming from Ethiopia.

    Guyana sprinter Adam Harris, Mohammed Ashour Khouaja from Libya and Aziz Ouhadi from Morocco are other foreign athletes that will compete at the one-day meet.

    Host Nigeria will be represented by Dominique Duncan, Nicole Denby, Nwaneka Okwuologu, Endurance Abinuwa, Abiola Onakoya, Tameka Jameson, Ngonna Ndu, Francesca Okwara, Christy Udoh, Tosin Oke, Antwon Hicks, Asumnu Gloria, Stephen Mozia, Olu Olamigoke and the nation’s quarter-mile sensation; Regina George completes the list of athletes that will fly Nigeria’s flag at the meet.

    Apart from the Warri Relay and CAA Super Grand Prix, the finals of the AFN Golden League will also hold in Warri. The Golden Relay will take place in the morning while the Relays and the Grand Prix will be in the afternoon. Students from various schools in Delta will also compete at the one-day meet.