The Nation Newspaper

Tag: LOAN

  • Akpala joins Karabukspor

    Akpala joins Karabukspor

    Having played on loan at Karabukspor in the 2013/14 campaign, former Bendel Insurance forward Joseph Akpala (28) has left Werder Bremen on a full time basis, joining the Turkish Super Lig club on a three-year-deal.

    The 28-year-old was loaned to Karabukspor in January after falling down the pecking order at Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen.

    Known by his admirers as the Little Joe, Akpala was a popular name in Lagos State, as he banged goals for the Pepsi Football teams he played for and Bendel Insurance in the Nigeria Premier League. His first professional contract came in April 2003 with Bendel United Football Club, a Division One club in Benin City. He later joined Bendel Insurance FC, Benin City in the Premier Division of the Nigerian Premier League, in February 2005. He was to finish as joint top scorer with 13 goals in 19 games.

    Akpala started his European career at Charleroi Sporting Club in the Belgian Jupiler League in January 2006. In the 2007/2008 Belgian League he topped the scorers chart with 18 goals. On 18 July 2008, Akpala joined Club Brugge signing a contract until 2013. His wonderful and predatory exploits was spotted by the then Super Eagles gaffer Austin Cerezo Eguavoen, who was always handing him call-ups to the team so as to understudy the big boys.

    He made his official debut for Nigeria on September 6, 2008 against South Africa. Akpala scored his first goal for his homeland in a game against France in which the Super Eagles won 0–1 in Saint Etienne.

    The forward returned from summer break and was spotted training with Werder Bremen during pre-season ahead of the start of the 2014/2015 German Bundesliga season and was assigned with the jersey number 35, but his future was always uncertain. And in late July, he told a popular radio station that his future will be sorted out before the transfer window closes.

    SL10 reported that he spent the last season out on loan at Karabukspor, making eleven appearances and banging four goals.

  • Jonathan’s $1b loan ‘self-serving’

    Jonathan’s $1b loan ‘self-serving’

    A professor of Geo-Physics, Joseph Adeniyi Olowofela, has urged Nigerians to reject President Goodluck Jonathan’s $1 billion (about N165 billion) proposed loan to strengthen security in the fight against insurgency.

    Prof Olowofela described the move as self-serving, destructive and against national interest.

    The expert, who was answering questions from members of the Oyo State Correspondents’ Chapel during a visit to his Ibadan home, also urged members of the National Assembly to turn down the President’s request “…because it is in bad faith”.

    The politician, who is the Caretaker Chairman of Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, noted that the loan would not serve the interest of Nigeria but the personal interest of a few people in his government.

    Olowofela said: “The proposed loan? Certainly, this is not the appropriate time. In fact, many people feel that there must be another reason behind it.

    Some were even saying maybe it is a plot by Mr President to execute his political campaign programme. You know, because when you look at the spate of impeachment across the country, people believe a lot of money would have changed hands. So, if you are seeking such a quantum of funds this time around, some believe that it is a plot to perpetuate the present administration in power. That is the feeling of majority of Nigerians, and that is my feeling too.”

    Rather than ask for a loan to equip military, Olowofela said Jonathan should have made food security his priority to ensure that Nigerians are able to have food on their tables.

    He said: “This is because the greatest security is food security. If he has said we need to borrow a specific amount of money to make sure that the teeming youth of this nation are gainfully employed, that you want to kick start industrial revolution, may be that one may be understandable. But as it is now it appears the proposed loan is not in good fate.”

  • Shenxin snap up Utaka on loan

    Shenxin snap up Utaka on loan

    Chinese club Shanghai Shenxin has disclosed that it has reached an agreement with Beijing Guoan regarding the temporary acquisition of Nigerian attacker, Peter Utaka.

    Utaka, 30, will spend the remainder of the 2014 season on loan at the Jinshan Sports Centre, Shanghai.

    The Nigeria international has seen his first team opportunities limited this season, making only 6 starts in the championship after 16 games.

    Also,Beijing Guoan are hoping to bolster the squad with the signing of an expatriate player in this window, and must free up space on the roster to accommodate the foreigner.

    The Belgian – Nigerian’s contract with the capital outfit expires at the end of next season, that is December 2015.

  • Popoola makes Belgium loan move

    Popoola makes Belgium loan move

    Nigerian midfielder, Sodiq Popoola has left FC Metz on loan for Belgium club, RFC Seraing.

    The former 36 Lion FC midfielder, Popoola signed a two year deal with French side, FC Metz but when it looked like he wasn’t going to get enough playing time with FC Metz in the 2014/2015 season, his advisors suggested it’ll be better he moved on loan to another club where he’ll get more playing time.

    According to the vibrant chairman of 36 Lion FC, Liameed Gafaar in a chat with SL10, Sodiq Popoola attracted a couple of interest from some clubs but RFC Seraing acted fast.

    “Sodiq is one of our exports at 36 Lion FC and I must say that he is making us proud.”

    “Sodiq Popoola is now on loan with Belgium club, RFC Seraing for a season where we expect that he’ll get more playing time,” said Gafaar.

    Popoola ,whose accurate passes can split any defense, was part of the RFC Seraing team that played a 2-2 draw with FC Metz in a friendly early July.

    Liameed Gafaar also told SL10 that Standard Liege forward Ezekiel Imoh who also left 36 Lion FC on  January12, 2012 to Belgium will move to his new Qatar club, Al Arabi in a matter of days.

    “Imoh’s deal is 90% done, he has passed his medicals but the only thing left is that Standard Liege wants him to play in the Champions League qualifier next week and after that he’ll leave,” Gafaar stated.

  • Boko Haram: Outrage over Jonathan’s $1b loan request

    Boko Haram: Outrage over Jonathan’s $1b loan request

    APC, Tinubu, lawyers to lawmakers: say no

    Minister defends plan

    There is outrage over the proposal by President Goodluck Jonathan to secure the National Assembly’s nod to obtain a $1billion loan to buy arms and ammunition to strengthen the fight against Boko Haram.

    Minister of State for Defence Musiliu Obanikoro, said at the weekend during his tour of Naval formation in Delta and Bayelsa states, said major military equipment had not been procured by successive governments in 25 years – to justify the need for the loan.

    Obanikoro, accompanied by the Commanding Officer, NNS Delta, Navy Captain Musa Gemu, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Naval Engineering School, Rear Admiral Sidi H Usman and Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Peter Agba, said the war against terrorism would soon be won.

    On the state of the military, the minister said: “So far so good, but in real terms and given the goals that we have set for ourselves as a nation, there is the need for more investment. No doubt about that.

    “Funding will forever remain an issue. I schooled in the U.S. Anywhere, funding is a problem in terms of the military. It is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. I recognise the fact that if you have a responsibility to somebody, the person must be equipped to carry out such responsibility.

    “The Federal Government has resolved that within the limited resources available, the military is properly kitted to deal with the challenges confronting the country for now and the future.

    “The president is committed to that and he has taken practical steps. As I speak to you today, some of the acquisition we are doing to beef up military capacity have not been done in the last 25 years. That, to me, is what progress is all about.”

    Speaking in Yola, Obanikoro said: “It is not true that the military is not well motivated. We must recognise and appreciate the effort of President Goodluck Jonathan since he came on board.

    “I can tell you that in the last 25 years, we have not made major acquisitions in terms of platforms for the Navy,  amunition and equipment generally for the military.

    “It is Jonathan that has started doing that now and it is as a result of neglect that we are suffering today. But that we are also trying to overcome with this new acquisition.

    “There is no doubt that we have both men and women who can deliver under any situation and they are acclaimed worldwide to be among the best. If they can solve issues outside, why will they not be able to solve issues at home.”

    The pattern of Defence Budget in the last 25 years showed a sharp increase, but most of the funds reportedly went to personnel and overhead costs.

    This year’s budget has the highest allocation to Defence N968.127 billion  out of total budget of N4.962 trillion.

    The capital budget has always been spent on buildings, uniforms, some ammunition and vehicle spares parts.

    It was learnt that there was a little improvement in 2012 when the Navy bought two offshore patrol vessels and six coastal patrol boats and some spares.

    It was gathered that in the same year, the Air Force acquired 12 Augusta 109 helicopters and some uniforms, reactivated C-130 and G222 Alpha Jets.

    A military source said: “The military budgets over the years were not meant for massive equipment. They were meant for administration, logistics,training and day-to-day running of the establishment.

    “Nobody envisaged a war of this magnitude. This matter should not be unnecessarily sensationalised or politicised. These are facts Nigerians should be made to know.

    The source spoke on the telephone and pleaded not to be quoted.

    In an article in 2012, which drew the ire of the Presidency, a former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, gave an insight into the nation’s defence budget.

    He said: “Military spending the world over averages about 2.5 per cent of GDP, with the USA being the highest spender – about $700billion, which is about 5 per cent of GDP. In Africa, the leading military spender is Algeria, ranked 29th in the world, with 3.8 per cent of GDP, followed by Egypt (41st, 2.1 per cent), Angola (42nd, 4.2 per cent), and South Africa (43rd, 1.3 per cent). Nigeria is ranked 57th in the world then earmarking $1.724billion – about 0.9 per cent of our GDP on defence. Even a smaller country like Morocco, ranked 48th with 3.4 per cent of GDP out-spends us! In contrast, countries at near state-of-war like Lebanon (58th, 4.1 per cent) and Sudan (56th, 4.1 per cent) are in our neighbourhood in terms of defence outlays.

    “Our current budget for defence has climbed slightly to just over 1 per cent of GDP.”

    From N1.2 billion in 1988, the defence budget moved to N968.127 billion in this year’s budget.

    The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday urged the National Assembly not to give its go-ahead for the President to take the loan.

    It urged the government to account for the “missing” $20 billion oil money, saying “massive corruption and lack of accountability is behind the government request for loan”.

    To APC national leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, “the loan is dubious”, “Nigerians must reject it,” he said.

    Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) urged the National Assembly to reject the President’s request, saying there was no justification for the loan.

    The activist recalled that between 2010 and 2013, over N3 trillion was budgeted for defence.

    “Under the Appropriation Bill signed into law on May 23, 20 per cent of the entire federal budget i.e the sum of N968.127 billion out of N4.962 trillion, was earmarked for defence,” Falana said.

    He advised the Senate to find out what happened to the defence budget in the middle of the year to warrant a supplementary budget of N160 billion.

    Other senior lawyers urged the National Assembly to scrutinise the request.

    Joseph Nwobike and Sebastine Hon (both Senior Advocates of Nigeria) said, the legislature should monitor the application of the funds – if it gives the go-ahead.

    Nwobike said in view of the growing insecurity in the country, no amount was too much to spend on a secured environment for the people.

    Hon urged the National Assembly to extract, undertaking from the President to assure the country that the money would actually be spent for the purpose for which it was being sought.

    Nwobike said:”With the growing security challenges in the country; insurgency in the Northeast, as well as oil theft and sea piracy and other maritime crimes in the southern part of the country, I think there is a need for the government to acquire sophisticated military hardware and training for our military to be able to combat these crimes.

    “We should not ground in the argument about whether money had been spent in the past or not. What we should be concerned with is how to tackle these challenges, which are not only threatening the fabric of our nation, but also interfering with our economic life.

    “In other words, we all know how much Nigeria has lost since this insurgency, oil theft and other maritime crimes started. What we have lost in a year is more than $10billion. So if we spend $1b to equip our military so that they can stop or nip in the bud, this escalating criminality, I think is a welcome development.”

    “The only thing that I will ask the National Assembly to do in approving the loan is to improve  on their oversight function, such that they will be able to monitor in great details, where the money will be spent, what it will be spent on, and the benefit capital, which the money will be able to generate in the area of security of lives and property in the country,” Nwobike said.

    Hon said : “The question that will arise is, what has been the effect of the spending on the military so far? Is it that it has not been fully utilised or there are some extraordinary measures requiring external borrowing, in addition to what has been budgeted for to take care of the military?

    “I think as the Commander-in-Chief, he is the person wearing the shoes and he knows where they are pinching him.

    “The National Assembly should extract an undertaking from the President to the effect that if this amount is approved, he will tackle the insurgency that is ravaging our country.

    “The National Assembly should audit the military in view of the fact that there have been allegations flying here and there that substandard equipment are being supplied to soldiers fighting the insurgents and that heavy money has been misappropriated or taken away outrightly.

    “So, I advise that there should be probity and accountability to make Nigerians appreciate the imperative for looking for additional funds,” Hon said.

  • APC: massive corruption behind govt’s request for loan

    APC: massive corruption behind govt’s request for loan

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the National Assembly to scrutinise President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for $1 billion (about N165 billion) loan to fight the insurgent group, Boko Haram.

    The party said the administration has no business borrowing money, if it had accounted for $20 billion in oil funds or checked the official stealing of 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party noted that even if the missing oil fund was only between $10 billion and $12 billion, as admitted by the Federal Government, the amount represents over 10 times the fund the government is now seeking to borrow under conditions that are yet unknown.

    It described as disingenuous and sheer blackmail the argument that the money is for national security or that it would facilitate the release of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted about 100 days ago.

    APC said: “That argument is hollow. In the first instance, trillions of naira have been allocated yearly – in the past few years – for security and defence. Yet, the fight against the insurgents rages on with deadly consequences. Secondly, the only reason the schoolgirls have remained in captivity is the sheer cluelessness and incompetence on the part of the Jonathan administration, which waited for 19 days before even admitting that the girls were kidnapped in the first instance.

    “Therefore, putting more money in the hands of an incompetent and massively corrupt administration can only encourage more incompetence and corruption. That is why we are asking the National Assembly to put national interest above all other considerations by taking a dispassionate, non-partisan look at the President’s request.

    “What we are saying is that the National Assembly must summon security and military chiefs to explain how the huge funds allocated to the Security sector in the past were spent, before more funds can be pumped into the sector. They must be asked what happened to the military equipment said to have been procured in recent years.

    “They must also inquire from the administration why it should be borrowing $1 billion when it has not accounted for the missing $20 billion oil money, plug the daily stealing of 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) and unravel the massive fraud that has hallmarked the tenure of this administration (pension fraud, oil subsidy scam, Malabu fraud, among others). If after all the scrutiny, the National Assembly still feels it must approve the loan, so be it. But it (National Assembly) must know that its own integrity and credibility are on the line.”

    The party reminded Nigerians that the civil war, which lasted three years, was prosecuted by the government without resorting to any external borrowing, due to competent and transparent management of the nation’s economy.

    It added: “On the contrary, trillions of naira have been pumped into the Boko Haram war in the past five years, and Nigerians still do not have any indication of how soon the insurgency will end or what happened to the huge allocated funds. Instead, what the tax payers are being asked to do is to shell out more funds to finance the incompetence and corruption of a reckless administration, whose officials fly around the world in jets that burn billions of naira but cannot allow them to be probed by the National Assembly.”

    APC wondered why the Jonathan administration, which roundly pilloried Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, when he alerted Nigerians to the need to adequately equip and motivate our men and women in uniform, has now turned round to admit that the military needs modern hardware to fight insurgency.

    The party aligned with those who cautioned the National Assembly from giving a blank cheque to the administration, due to its inability to account for the past budgetary allocations for security and defence, as well as its sheer cluelessness and palpable incompetence.

    APC said: “This year alone, 20 per cent of the total national budget of N4.962 trillion, which is about N968.127 billion, was allocated to Defence. How much of that money has been released so far and how have the funds been spent? What about the equally huge allocations in the previous years?

    “With the Jonathan administration allegedly spending or setting aside an average of N2 billion to impeach each governor of APC states, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration using the common wealth to bribe voters in a desperate bid to win elections at all cost, approving the $1 billion loan may amount to giving more ammunition to the administration to stifle the nation’s democracy or even threaten the very existence of the country.”

  • Loan meant to buy casket for democracy, says Tinubu

    Loan meant to buy casket for democracy, says Tinubu

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has said President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for $1 billion (about N165 billion) is not for fighting terrorism, as the government wants everyone to believe.

    The frontline politician said the loan would be spent to wage war against opposition and scuttle democracy.

    He noted that the administration would not be transparent in expending the loan, adding that its records showed a deep-rooted mismanagement of the nation’s resources and abuses.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, Tinubu said: “The news that President Jonathan has requested the National Assembly to approve his request to seek a loan of one billion dollars, purportedly to battle Boko Haram terrorism, should lead any person with sober conscience to fall out of their chair.

    “If only our spendthrift President attacked terrorism with the daring by which he assaults democracy and our common sense, there would be no need for any expenditure. Boko Haram would have been vanquished many yesterdays ago.

    “Yet, Boko Haram continues stalking us because the President would rather play tricks than govern as a statesman. The bottom line is that the only thing remotely military about this massive request is that it serves to camouflage a sinister aim. The man seeks to bolster the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) electoral war chest on the backs of the victims of terror and on the heaviness of our collective fear of the terrorist’s threat. In cloaking the request as part of the battle against terror, he believes no one will have the courage to object and this will enable him to get away with what should not be gotten away.

    “He is not asking for help in tackling terror.  He is asking us to turn a blind eye and empty mind to an abject heist. This is as cynical a measure as a national leader has ever undertaken during the time of national calamity.  He demeans his office and the nation in this time of crisis. Of all things, he now subordinates the gravest national threat we have faced in four decades to his desire to hold on to office.

    “Yet, do we know precisely what the loan is for? No. What will they purchase that has already not been set to purchase? No one knows. Again, by saying this is to fight terror, we are supposed to act blind, deaf and dumb or rush to congratulate him for his new found vigour. At best, he appears as a Johnny-come-lately to the fight against Boko Haram. This man has been commander-in-chief for over three years. Where has he been? He has been ensconced in the cosy, safe confines of Aso Villa, giving less than a care about the ravaging of northern Nigeria.

    “It was only upon hiring a foreign Public Relations (PR) firm did he begin to act as if Boko Haram and the Chibok crisis exist. Before that, he was sleepwalking in the midst of the storm around us.

    “I fear hired handlers may have told him to do this thing because it will help him get elected and will make it appear to the outside world that he is doing something. Johnny-come-lately is also now on stage, dancing and performing in dual capacity, as Johnny do-the-wrong-thing and Johnny-wrong-step.

    “Hasn’t he presented the National Assembly defence bills and budgets totalling over three trillion naira in the past three years? Boko Haram has been terrorising throughout this period. Tell me, what has changed, what is so different now that he must stack another $1 billion atop the funds already given him to defend and protect the nation? The answer is nothing, except that elections are approaching.

    “Thus, we are left with two alternatives. In the past three years, he has been so bereft of conscience and derelict in duty that he presented defence budgets, which are woefully inadequate to face the challenge we all could plainly see before us. Alternatively, he has been so bereft of conscience and derelict in duty that he has squandered the money given him in the worst of ways, giving contracts to cronies and leaving our frontline soldiers without boots or bullets.

    “Now, he asks us to applaud his request for $1 billion loan. He and his claque have siphoned money from the states to deposit in the illegal Excess Crude Account/Sovereign Wealth Fund. The government said it did this unconstitutional confiscation of state and local funds to save for a ‘rainy day’. Well, terror is reigning over and down on us from all sides. The blood of the innocent rains on our national conscience.

    “If those who control this money do not think we are not now in the hands of calamity, then there will be no other earthly occurrence that may ply their hands into releasing the people’s money for the people’s security and well-being. In short, there is no need for the loan. If the funds are truly needed for our collective safety, Nigeria has the money.

    “But Jonathan seeks to borrow money because of his foreign handlers. They have told him, if he borrows from abroad and spends that same money aboard, he will win the favour of foreign lenders, arms contractors and assorted business ventures. These people will, in turn, pressure their governments to love Jonathan where they now loathe him and his incompetent handling of high matters of state. As such, he can then ramrod his way through the 2105 elections and not risk international reaction. This is the plan. This loan is not intended to defend Nigeria any more than a pig is built for aerial flight. It is intended to launder his image and buy foreign favour that he may conduct his coming electoral misdeed in international silence.

    “In reality, this loan will be used to buy the election and pay for the intimidation of the opposition and the electorate. Most of it will go into the PDP coffers. The portion which finds its way to the Armed Forces and security agencies will be to purchase their services in suppressing all who are not PDP. The loan will not be to fight terrorism. It will be to fight the legitimate dissent.

    “Thus, the President’s request should be rejected categorically, for he seeks not to use the money to construct a safe haven for the people. He seeks the money to build a casket for democracy.

    “I want to rid this nation of Boko Haram but I also am not prepared to be fooled by a trickster and his tricks on this important point. Given his track record of corrupt expenditure, the burden of proof lies with Jonathan. If more money is truly needed to tackle Boko Haram, I have no qualms with it. Before we get there, the President must give the nation a full accounting of what happened with the vast funds already allocated. If we need more funds, let it come from the illegal funds the government now controls.

    “Moreover, if money is needed, the National Assembly must institute a special fund and exercise special control and monitoring over the sum. All expenditure must be audited by impartial experts so that the funds are used solely for the battle against Boko Haram and not for partisan objectives.”

  • There are options to loan, says Gbajabiamila

    There are options to loan, says Gbajabiamila

    House of Representatives Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila has said there is no need for the Federal Government to take the proposed $1 billion (about N165 billion) loan to equip the army.

    He urged the government to explore a trade-by-barter option to equip and train the army in its fight against insurgency.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja by his Research and Media aide, Wasiu Olanrewaju-Smart, the lawmaker faulted President  Goodluck Jonathan’s penchant for loans, despite the other options, such as the Sovereign Wealth Fund, reserve and excess oil revenue.

    Gbajabiamila said: “The Federal Government, by setting an illegal benchmark, has been creaming off about $30 per barrel of our crude oil sales, which it puts in an illegal Excess Crude Account. If it insists on cash, it should reach into that illegal account.

    “Again, it also set up the Sovereign Wealth Fund, a component of which it described as a future generation account. Well, Madam (Finance) Minister, the Chibok girls represent the future generation, go into that account, if you must. (That’s) Assuming the National Assembly will allow that. But to incur a further $1 billion loan at whatever interest rate, that is one loan too many for our future generation to pay off, and the answer is a capital No!

    “The request for $1 billion loan by the President, after N3 trillion allocated to Defence in three years with nothing to show for it, is evidence that the President and his advisers regard Nigerians as imbeciles (which they are not). For the sake of clarity, an imbecile is defined as a blockhead or a dunce.”

    The lawmaker described the loan as a “perfidious request”.

    He urged his colleagues in the National Assembly to turn down the request and asked the Federal Government to exchange oil for military hardware, as other needy countries have done in the past, if indeed Nigeria has weak military equipment, after comparing the previous budgets for Defence.

    Gbajabiamila said: “I do not think any more cash should pass through government at this time. If indeed more money is needed for the training of our men and women in uniform, which I doubt, then we should resort to the time-tested trade-by-barter. This means of commodity exchange continues between countries all over. We can exchange oil for arms if need be.

    “The AL YAMAMAH arms deal between the Saudis and the United Kingdom (UK), wherein a large amount of British military hardware was sold to the Saudi Arabian government for 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day, comes to mind. So does the ‘oil for arms’ deal between China and Venezuela and the deal struck by the United States (U.S) in 2011, when over 80 F15 fighter jets were sold to the Royal Saudi Air Force. The deal included training, logistics and maintenance.”

    The lawmaker, who is also the All Progressives Congress (APC) Leader in the House, listed some posers on which National Assembly members should ruminate before acting on President Jonathan’s request.

    He said: “Firstly, a comprehensive audit of what has happened to all the money allocated by the National Assembly to Defence in the last three years must be done immediately. This must be a condition precedent before a kobo is ever approved again.

    “Secondly, we have the MTEF, which laid out government expenditure framework for the next three years. We must stack this alongside this recent request and see if there is any place for such…”

  • Nigerians reject $1bn insurgency loan

    Nigerians reject $1bn insurgency loan

    Following the recent request by the President for approval  to ask for a loan of $1billion to fight insurgency in the country, prominent Nigerians have opposed the request,  indicating that it may be an insensitive issue at this time.

    Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie  said: “How would the people trust the government on the sending of such a loan. Things are tough in the country now, and I am not sure that the people will trust the government on such a loan.”

    On his part, activist lawyer Mr. Fred Agbaje said: “It is provocative and unreasonable. Has the president accounted for the previous security votes, more so, when the previous security votes were never judiciously spent. Hence the rise in Boko Haram activities and subsequent superiority in the Boko Haram fire power.

    “The National Assembly would massively be letting Nigerians down, if they accede to the president’s request. Such money should be channelled towards addressing our ill-equipped  hospitals, universities and similar institutions.”

    The president’s request was also opposed by Barrister Festus Keyamo who issued  a  statement which reads thus:  “I am totally opposed to the grant by the National Assembly of the request by the president for the approval of a $1billion loan to upgrade equipment and ‘re-energise’ the military to fight insurgency.

    “The simple reason is that billions of naira have been made available in our budgets in the last few years for the same purpose, yet the insurgents continue to grow from strength to strength.

    “This, therefore, raises the question of the prudence that has been employed in the past in spending the funds. In this regard, it is important that a thorough audit of previous allocations to that sector is carried out before further approval like is  made.

    “Granted that the audit may not be made before the public because of security implications, but a comprehensive audit before critical institutions and stakeholders is important to instill accountability and probity in the security sector. The military is not above the law.”

    Chief Ebenezer Babatope praised the president for the request and called on Nigerians to give him a chance to fight the insurgence by yielding to his request.

    He said: “The President is the head of the country. He is the one in the vantage position to know what the country needs. So if he comes out and says that this is what the country needs, I want to believe that he must have taken time to study the situation.

    “I will want the people of this country to support the president in taking such a loan and allow him to fight the insurgents in order to put an end to the threat that Boko Haram has become.”

  • Hapoel Afula Snap Up Olanrewaju On Loan

    Israeli second – tier side Hapoel Afula and their illustrious counterparts Maccabi Tel Aviv have  reached an agreement on the temporary transfer of Nigerian starlet Kehinde Olanrewaju.

    A product of nursery team, Dominion Hotspur, the 20 – year – old was farmed out on loan to another second – tier side Hakoah Ramat Gan last season to enhance his chances of playing first team football.

    “I heard about Afula and I’m happy to get to the club. Theren is an excellent stadium here and I hope to please the fans.

    “My heart now is with Afula, I’m very excited, ” said Kehinde Olanrewaju.

    The youngster is represented by Israel’s top agent Dudu Dahan, the same intermediary that brokered the deals which took Super Eagles defenders Efe Ambrose and Juwon Oshaniwa to MS Ashdod.

    Olanrewaju still has a valid contract with the Yellows until the summer of 2016.