The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • Man robs ex-employer

    Police have arrested one Ebuka Everest for robbing his former employer Mrs Theresa Nnamdi, in the Mowe area of Ogun State.

    Ebuka allegedly forced her to transfer N40,000 into his account in a pre – dawn attack that also left the woman with a deep gash on her arm when he stabbed her.

    The suspect who invaded the victim’s residence on Association Estate, Mowe, last Saturday around 4.30am, inflicted various degrees of injury on  his ex-employer before carting away some of her belongings.

    The state police public relations officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who made this known in a release, stated that the arrest of the suspect followed a distress call that robbers had invaded the home of Mrs Theresa Nnamdi and held her and other occupants hostage.

    Abimbola, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), stated further that the Divisional Police Officer, Mowe division, Marvis Jayeola, a Superintendent of Police mobilized anti-robbery team to the scene, cordoned off the house and subsequently arrested Ebuka Everest.

    He explained that the suspect had stabbed the woman on her right hand before tying her legs with rope and covered her mouth with cloth which he tore from her bedsheet.

    Read Also: Seven held for ‘kidnapping’ in Adamawa

    “The suspect who worked in the fish farm of his victim before he was sacked due to his shady character first went to the fish farm where he stabbed the farm manager severally before coming to attack the woman in her house, and forced her to transfer the sum of N40,000 to his account.

    “He equally ransacked the woman’s room and made away with her laptop, the sum of N5,000 cash, phones and other valuable before he was arrested by the police with the help of members of the public.

    “The suspect claimed to have worked with the victim for four months and was living with the family throughout that period. He claimed his problem started when he was duped of his four months’ salary by an online scammer who promised to help him travel abroad but ended up collecting his four months salary and blocked him online.

    “In order to recoup the loss, he went to the farm, stole some items, but was caught by the manager who reported him to their boss and got sacked immediately.”

    According to the Police Spokesman, the suspect in annoyance over his sack,   first went to attack the farm manager before coming for the madam.

    Abimbola listed knife, broken bottle,  rope used to tie the victim legs, phones, laptop among others as items he stole in the house.

  • Buhari decries continued loss of public funds through illicit financial flows

    President Muhammadu Buhari has described as regrettable the continued loss of public funds through illicit financial flows, saying it remained an impediment to development and effort by developing countries to scale up resource mobilisation.

    The occasion was a high-level dialogue on “Financing for development” with the theme: “Putting resources to work for more equal, sustainable societies, including combating illicit financial flows” at the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York at the weekend.

    The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, delivered the President’s speech on the occasion. The President returned to Abuja last Saturday.

    The President said that multilateral efforts at resolving the problems of illicit financial flows should be comprehensive and holistic with the active engagement of the origin and recipient countries.

    He added: “In this connection, my administration has demonstrated the required political will to ensure the independence of all anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria and reviewed enabling anti-graft laws.”

    Read Also: We’ve enjoyed huge patronage from Buhari administration – Innoson

    The President encouraged member states to join “our efforts to strengthen the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and support the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiatives of the United Nations and the World Bank.”

    President Buhari also said that, “Nigeria recognises the importance of Diaspora Remittance, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Official Development Assistance (ODA) in providing further channels to fund development projects.

    He stressed: “As a result, we call on our development partners to live up to their commitment to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/Gross National Income (GNI) and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries.”

    President Buhari said the meeting provided for him a veritable platform to highlight some of the policies and achievements of his administration in the last couple of years.

    According to him, “We have mobilised significant domestic resources to finance critical projects aimed at addressing inequality, ensuring social inclusion and sustainable development.”

    He declared that four years after member states committed to the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “the question on how to finance such an ambitious agenda remains.”

    The President said: “We believe that achieving the objectives of the 2030 Agenda is a task for all nations; however, it should be recognised that many Developing and Least Developed Countries are in dire need of financial assistance far and above what they can mobilise within national boundaries.”

    He added: “As part of my Administration’s effort to implement the SDGs by the year 2030, we have identified and implemented several policies to diversify the revenue base.

    “The Single Treasury Account (TSA), Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), Executive Orders on the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) and Ease of Doing Business have all been introduced. The objective is to ensure efficiency in resource mobilisation and avoid over-reliance on revenue from crude oil.”

    The President said Nigeria had substantially scaled up its efforts to mobilise domestic resources for development purposes, adding that “we have broadened the formal sector of the economy and carried out major reforms in tax administration, ushering in a progressive, modernised tax policy and efficient tax collection system.

    “Our effort in this regard could be enhanced by strengthening international tax cooperation to minimise incidences of tax avoidance and tax transfer.”

    The President noted that Nigeria “is actively involved in the work of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters,” pointing out that “We, therefore, support the call for the upgrading of this committee to an intergovernmental body that will represent the interest of all members and mainstream its work into the broader development effort of the United Nations.”

    President Buhari added: “My Government is investing heavily in the social sector through the introduction of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) to achieve Sustainable and Inclusive Development.

    “Through this programme, we have empowered youths; created jobs; increased enrollment of pupils in public schools; supported the vulnerable groups; provided Nigerians living below the poverty line with means of subsistence; and extended material and financial support to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    “The funding for this flagship programme is provided annually from the treasury with requisite budgetary appropriation.”

    Explaining that debt instruments were also important tools for financing investment critical to achieving sustainable development for many countries, President Buhari said that Nigeria was, however, mindful of the principles of responsible sovereign lending and borrowing and, therefore, would continue to ensure that funds raised would be utilised for critical national development.

  • Bakare blames ‘uninformed’ for video on presidential ambition

    Latter Rain Church Senior Pastor Tunde Bakare broke his silence on a trending video of him claiming to be God-ordained successor to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The cleric said he was only expressing his aspiration to lead the country which was within his rights as provided by the Constitution.

    Clarifying the “misconceptions” surrounding the video on his aspiration to become the 16th president, the lawyer-turned cleric said that the video was about one year and seven months old and was merely an expression of his aspiration.

    He said what God showed him was his personal business and that he had a right to aspire to the highest office.

    “It is the true expression of my political ambition. Whatever God has shown me is my private ambition,” he said.

    Read Also: Nobody must disgrace Osinbajo out of office – Bakare

    Pastor Bakare, who will be holding a state of the nation broadcast on October 6, reiterated that it was necessary to clear the air, adding that an actionable roadmap to the stability, security and success of the country might be found therein.

    “Contrary to the misconceptions and misinformation, the trending video about the 16th presidency was an excerpt from a message titled: “Be Grateful for Your Blessings (Part 3),” which I preached in this auditorium on Sunday, February 18, 2018.

    “A year and seven months after the statements were made and erroneously associated with recent developments relating to the Office of the Vice President, suggests that it was done by the uninformed.

    “It might have also been a deliberately designed attempt to misinform the public by linking unrelated issues, in order to create divisions where there are none, thereby, heating up the polity unnecessarily,” he said.

    The cleric said that it was not in his character to respond to every whim and caprice of any issue in the cyberspace, but it had become necessary to set the record straight on the misconceptions.

    Responding to a question from The Nation on what political platform he would launch his presidential aspiration, Pastor Bakare said he would not count his chicken before they were hatched.

    ”When I get to the bridge, I will cross it”, he added.

    He explained that he was not desperate and was not a member of any political party.

    Bakare contested with President Buhari in 2011 as presidential running mate on the platform of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

  • Private sector gets N15tr from banks

    The banking sector allocated N15.13 trillion as total value of credit to the private sector in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    The NBS figures, contained on its “Selected Banking Sector Data: Sectorial Breakdown of Credit, ePayment Channels and Staff Strength (Q2 2019) was released on its website on Sunday in Abuja.

    It said of the amount, the oil and gas and manufacturing sectors got credit allocation of N3.33 trillion and N2.32 trillion, recording the highest credit allocation.

    The report said a total volume of 711,299,990 transactions valued at N40.48 trillion were recorded in the quarter as data on Electronic Payment Channels in the Nigeria Banking Sector revealed.

    Read Also: Govt, private sector charged on social investment

    “The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Instant Payments (NIP) transactions dominated the volume of transactions recorded,“ it said.

    The report said 271,344,549 volume of NIP transactions valued at N25.18 trillion were recorded in the second quarter.

    It further said that the total number of banks’ staff as at the second quarter of 2019, decreased by 0.62 per cent quarter-on-quarter from 105,017 in quarter one to 104,364.

    The NBS said that the data was supplied administratively by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and was verified and validated by the agency.

  • Between Boko and Political Haram- Borno Conundrum

    The situation in North-East Nigeria calls for concern from all well-meaning Nigerians. This is given the wanton of destruction that has occasioned the war against Boko Haram terrorism since 2009. In some quarters it has been speculated that there is more to the activities of Boko Haram in North-East Nigeria than meets the eye.
    The reasons might not be far-fetched. Some people are behind their nefarious activities, and there is also another grouping that benefits from the crisis to smile to the bank. These are called the political haram members, and those behind the Borno Conundrum.
    That the Boko Haram crisis continues to fester is suspicious because all that is required to be done by the relevant authorities have been done. The morale of the military has been boosted. The operational capacity of the fighting troops has been upgraded, and yet we are still somewhat battling with remnants of the terrorist group, mainly operating from the fringes of the Lake Chad Basin Region.
    It must be noted that the Boko Haram terrorists are not spirts and invincible. They live within us and gather as much information that they can get. They also have sympathizers almost everywhere that gives them financial, moral, and logistics support. These sympathizers are in government offices and religious organizations. They are holding top government positions of authorities, and they are also in the organized private sector with access to vast amounts of monies at their disposal. Interestingly, as sad as this might sound, the media is also culpable.
    They give nocturnal support to the Boko Haram fighters. And during the day, they hold press conferences to condemn their activities. So much so that they organize conferences speaking against the activities of Boko Haram. This is the unfortunate situation we have found ourselves as a country in the fight against terrorism.
    The case of Borno state provides that clear example of how the political haram members have aided the Boko Haram terrorist in their pursuit of evil against Nigeria. This is indeed a shame on how and why such is happening in the annals of our country. Most times, I wonder how we descended to the unenviable height. I also wonder how some people can sell their conscience so easily for a plate of porridge-like they are going to live forever.
    I stand to be corrected; what they have failed to remember is the fact that our decisions in life somehow come around to haunt us. For them to think that they would get away with the evil been perpetuated is a mistake because the blood of the innocent would serve justice in the appropriate time.
    Some reading this piece might be wondering what it is I am driving at. The answer is simple. There are some underlying factors responsible for the Boko Haram terrorist activities, and those behind it knows that should the war come to an end, it means the butter on their bread would cease, and as such, everything must be done to ensure that all efforts of the Nigerian government fail.
    In my opinion, this is made possible as a result of the quantum of monies at their disposal, which was ill-gotten. I think this is where the relevant authorities in Nigeria failed to address all the while; instead, they concentrated on Boko Haram members and not realizing that the bigger problem is the activities of the political haram members.
    I recall some time ago in the life of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, in 2012 precisely, the former president stated that Boko Haram members had infiltrated his government. And as usual, he was abused and mocked. Little did we know that he was referring to the political haram members in high places.
    The former president stated that he believed Boko Haram had sympathizers in government, national assembly, and even security agencies. Did we believe him? Now fast forward to 2019 and with a government in place that has demonstrated a strong political will by giving tremendous support to the Armed Forces in all areas necessary, and yet we are still confronted with the same debacle.
    This is the stark reality on the ground as it stands, and my heart goes out to all that have in one way or the other fallen victims to these political haram members. In the words of former President Goodluck Jonathan, “some continue to dip their hands and eat with you, and you won’t even know the person who will point a gun at you or plant a bomb behind your house,”
    I can’t but agree with former President Goodluck Jonathan, hence this piece. This is one reality we must come to terms with especially in Borno state. The Borno conundrum aptly fits into the political haram narrative.  It is indeed a sad tale that a state once known as the home of peace is now a shadow of itself. And to think that these individuals have no qualms with what they are doing makes it all ironic. But guess what? In the fullness of time they shall be exposed in their numbers.
    Ochonu wrote this piece from Bauchi.

  • Seven held for ‘kidnapping’ in Adamawa

    The Adamawa State police command has arrested a gang of seven men for threatening to kidnap a man and going ahead to carry out the threat.

    The Spokesman of the Command, DSP Sulaiman Ngurore, gave the details of the incident on Thursday.

    He said, “On the 19th of this month, at about 10.00 hours, one Gloria Godwin, a female resident of Ujanda village in Gombi LGA, reported at the Gombi police station that at 1 midnight, an unknown person called her and threatened to kidnap her son, and dropped a letter written in Hausa language, demanding N5 million or they would go ahead and kidnap her son.”

    Ngurore said that when Mrs Godwin failed to pay, they abducted her son, following which she reported to the police.

    “Immediately she reported this to the police in Gombi, the Gombi DPO mobilised his men who, using intelligence and in collaboration with some volunteer contacts, they moved against the kidnappers.

    Read Also: I don’t know why they keep kidnapping me, Siasia’s mum cries

    “They were able to rescue the son. They also succeeded in arresting seven suspects now reasonably determined to have been the kidnappers.”

    The seven suspects, according to the PPRO, are Abdullahi Musa, Bello Isah, Atiku Abubakar, Yahaya Isa, Mallam Tukur, Kabiru Bawa, and Alhaji Jambi.

    He said one Bello Alhaji, indicated as being a member of the gang, escaped arrest, and is currently being hunted by the police.

    He listed items recovered in the course of investigating the suspects to include one locally made pistol, three counterfeit N1,000 notes, two airtel sim cards, 14 cartridges of single-barrel guns, two bows and arrows, a copy of their treat letter, and two brand new motorcycles.

  • Gowon to military chiefs: it is time to end insurgency

    Nigeria should have put behind the insurgency in parts of the country and general insecurity by the time of its 60th Independence anniversary, former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon admonished on Sunday.

    Gen. Gowon, the civil war leader, who ruled the country from 1966 till 1975, when his regime was toppled in a bloodless coup, threw the challenge at security chiefs.

    “For the police, army and other security agencies, this is the charge; you have to make sure that by the next independence celebration, there is no disorder in this country,” he said.

    Gen Gowon, who leads a group “Nigeria Prays’, spoke at the 59th Independence Day interdenominational church service in Abuja.

    The theme of the service was “Peaceful co-existence for national growth and development”.

    Gen. Gowon congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria on the 59th Independence anniversary and prayed that God will preserve the country and help it fulfill its prophetic destiny.

    Read Also: Insurgency: Super camps borne out of operational needs, says CDS

    He added: “In the midst of the various inflicted challenges in Nigeria today, we can come together in the unity of faith to salvage the nation from its woes. I believe Nigeria is specially favoured by God and I am confident that God, who preserved it in the past will do it again if only we can continue to fervently pray and do what is right and good before Him and fellowmen and women.

    “Prayer still remains the key to salvage our personal family and national challenges, but we must appreciate those who are committed to ensure law and order, peace and stability in our nation and ask them to resolve to do more to ensure peace and stability of Nigeria.”

    He advised Nigerians to remain prayerful, no matter the situation, adding that love should be their watchword.

    The former Head of State added: “I strongly believe there is hope for our great nation through our collective prayers, hard work, selfless and transparent leadership, and patriotic citizenry. By the grace of God, Nigeria shall fulfill her destiny. We should not be discouraged, we are at the threshold of a breakthrough and the dawn of history. Under our collective watch and prayer, Nigeria shall recover and rise again.

    We must acknowledge God’s love for Nigeria and always embrace peace. We should not be discouraged. Under our payers, Nigeria will remain in peace.”

    At the service, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the country was going through its last segment of security challenges.

    He urged Nigerians to remain peaceful and  law abiding.

    He said: “God Almighty has taken away the protection of the enemies of this nation, he has taken away their powers, the noise we hear, the turbulence that we experience, are the last gasps of the defeated foes. The days of freedom is at the door. We reach for the new Nigeria which its builder and maker is God. As we wait as it is declared in Psalms 46: 11. ‘The lord of host is with us’.

    “God has promised through the mouth of his trusted prophet that he is giving us a new Nigeria, May I announce to you today that God is ready to take us to the promised land. We must remember that the Almighty God is the builder of the nation. God controls the destiny of nations and its people. Psalms 24:1.

    Osinbajo narrated how God had promised to take the children of Israel out of bondage, suffering and slavery to the promised land, flowing with milk and honey, adding that through Joshua, God brought the promise to pass.

    He noted, however, that some spies came back to declare that it was impossible to take it because of the giants there.

    Osinbajo added: “They said it was impossible to take the land, the problems were gigantic, the issues too many, however, Caleb and Joshua had a different spirit. They said that because God had promised and because He could do it, the problems were just bread – a mere bread to be eaten by the children of Israel.

    “God has also promised us a new Nigeria, a peaceful Nigeria, a prosperous Nigeria, a Nigeria where justice, equity and fairness shall prevail, a united Nigeria where the different tribes and tongues are not the reason for separation, but a joyful textures of our togetherness. God is ready to fulfill his promise.”

    Osinbajo, who said peace was achievable, stressed: “We stand outside a new city, a promised land, a new Nigeria and like the spies sent by Moses, some are saying it is impossible, Nigeria cannot change, the ethnic and religious divisions are too deep, corruption cannot end, politicians are too selfish, too mischievous. Yet, like Caleb and Joshua, if we declare that these problems are merely bread for us, a new Nigeria is here. And each and everyone of us, our families our friends, all of us, will eat the fruits of the land.”

    In his sermon, the General-Secretary of Ekkiesiyar Yon’uwa, a Nigeria, Rev. Daniel Mbaya, urged Nigerians to live in peace with one another.

    He pleaded with politicians and public office holders to always shun selfishness and ensure that funds meant for the public are properly utilised.

    Rev. Mbaya said: “Government should be fair to all Nigerians, without which there will be no peace. Youths should shun cultism and other bad social vices for the country to grow. There is no alternative to peace and justice. We should resist the world changing us; instead, we should be the ones changing the world.”

    The cleric advised the church to take a positive stand on national security.

    He also called for peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims.

    President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle, pointed out that 90 per cent of Nigeria’s problems are caused by Nigerians.

    He advised Nigerians to exhibit love so that there can be peace and development.

    Prayers were offered for God’s protection for President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof. Osinbajo and other leaders at the Federal, state and local government levels.

    The clergies also prayed for God to put an end to the insecurity issues in the country.

    At the interdenominational service were: Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss, Mustapha, Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege; Science and Technology Minister Ogbonnaya Onu; Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige; Budget and National Planning Minister Clement Agba; Service chiefs; Niger Delta Minister Godswill Akpabio and Senator Rochas Okorocha, among others.

  • Holy cow!

    Nothing demonstrates the state of our democracy at independence like the cow, and the drama in Ondo State. The episode hit everyone in the country like a jolt.

    The cows wanted to graze. The lush, green fields appetised the herds. The sky was soft and blue. Witnesses deny a cloudburst was in the offing. No one, not the herdsman, saw any omen in the heavens. They mooed and mulled to the mountain for a refuge of food and comfort.

    The gods thought otherwise. The locals warned, just as the custodian of the deity. It was forbidden ground, don’t go there. But temptation often overpowers the senses. The cow shall not live by words, but by every blade of grass that lodges in the jaw.

    Against the warning, they went. All 36 of them. It has a highland, close enough to the finger fury of the gods. Before they knew it, the sky opened with rage. Lightning flashed, thunderstorms roared, and all 36 fell. It was not like T.S Eliot’s A Journey of The Magi,  whose wayfarers knew “a cold morning they had of it/ just the worst time of the year.”

    The locals, and not a few Nigerians, believe the bovine tragedy was a case of divine revenge. The animals died. But the humans survived. Some have looked at it not from the scientific point of view. The study of geography shows that cows should be wary of grazing on mountains. One, it is close to the tempest of the sky. Two, they are often too exposed to get shelter, except trees which are actually traps of nature. You cannot avoid the storm by going under the tree. You should avoid the tree instead.

    Superstition or not, some have said, aha, this is the solution to the herdsmen crisis. Let us import the gods of Ijare Hills – sounds like Soyinka’s Idanre Hills – and send them to the farms of states of Plateau, Enugu, Nasarawa, Mambilla, Benue, et al, and dare the bandits.

    What happened was the spiritual equivalent of the abattoir. The bovine train did not need prodding. No lashes, no grumbles, no coercion. A Golgotha with a smooth trail. They mooed along of their own volition. The gods beguiled them to the pasture. A voluntary submission. They obeyed for the sacrifice. It was also different from the gas chambers of the Nazi era, where the Jews and Gypsies knew that it was death by incineration. When the gods struck, there was no mistake. The gods don’t shoot to miss. They fell all their targets. The spiritual abattoir is more to be dreaded than the familiar ones.

    Except that it is not the cows that the people loathe in the farmers-herders crisis. It is the owners, not the cows. After all, even the custodians or priests of the gods also crave the temptation of a cow meal. Yet, not a hair of the herder died. According to all reports, it is the herder who harasses. They do the reconnaissance, they wield the guns, they mow, maul and destroy. They simply lead the cows along.

    Here again, it is a story of how as a nation we always go after the wrong targets. We destroy what we should preserve. It is a metaphor of how we waste human resources, as we have done in the past 59 years. From day one, the prodigal has been our first principle. What have we preserved? Cocoa, groundnut pyramid, palm produce, rubber, crude oil, human talent?  As William Wordsworth noted in his poem, “The world is too much with us/ Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.”

    But the herdsman is the proper Nigerian, especially the elite. We do not respect rules, or the rule of law. They were warned to stay away from the hallowed ground. But greed overrides propriety. Just as we have not followed the rules in mining our resources across the 36 states, so the 36 cows symbolise the states of the federation. All of them fall to meaningless squander. It is Illegal bunkering on crude oil and gangsters of mineral resources. In agriculture, it is corruption. We import to kill the local farmer. Let us look forward in hope to see what we shall make of the border closures, which I support if we can turn it into policy to galvanise local productivity.

    It is the same lack of respect for the rule of law that makes a Sowore to remain in detention in spite of court order, or Sambo Dasuki – no hero – to still squeak in silence. The herdsman is the elite. The cows, the masses of sort. When the storm comes, the elites have a way of escape.

    He is safe, and all he needs is to tap into resources and start again, with a fresh consignment for plunder, or recruit new people for his schemes. The herdsman here represents the Nigerian state, as well, who leads the people astray.

    They have no sense of justice, or vision to see what dangers lie ahead because they know that, somehow, they will always survive. The herdsman is no hero of his flock. He does not have the fidelity or empathy of Christ, who said if he loses one sheep he would leave the others and go after the lost one and make sure there is one sheep, one shepherd. Our leaders lead the flock to doom.

    It is a lack of vision, and that has flourished darkly in our lack of grasp of systems. We have debated whether we should retain the presidential or Westminster system, as though we have not tasted both. The parliamentary system led us to civil war and bloodletting of siblings. The supporters say it is cheaper. Bunkum. It is not the system that it is cheap or expensive. It is Nigerians that are spendthrift. Unlike the presidential system with many rules, the parliamentary system anticipates the good conduct of the practitioners. Good conduct is a casualty with Nigerian politicians. Take for instance, if Nigeria faced a knotty case like BREXIT,  the republic would have collapsed. But it is the level-headedness of the political elite in Britain that has maintained a brilliant chaos in the country. Ours led to civil war. The French, even the Russians, accept a mix, so that that the strong office of the president can rein in the parliament’s tendency to anarchy.

    The presidency was tested when Yar-adua took ill, and we almost lost this republic but for the intervention of a strong system the made us appeal to the doctrine of necessity. The parliamentary system would have given us a death warrant.

    The bovine episode also reflects the failure of the ecclesiastical order in the land. It is a land of worshippers, but not a land of progress. We believe but are not redeemed. The church leaders, Islamic clerics and juju priests have always been factors in our land, but they have never come through. Rather they leave us a mess, sometimes worse.

    Now, what is left of Ijare matter but stench. There is plenty of meat, but they are all rotten. The gods will not clear them. Locals are staying away because the frowzy air threatens their peace. The state government has nothing to do with it, but the locals want the government to clear them. Will they need special auspices from the gods before government workers can dispose of the dead cows? Even the traditional ruler visits it once a year and after special permission. We don’t want any tragedy in which lightning strikes the workers. It will need an extra dip into government revenue to clear the mess the gods have made.

    Of course, the locals fear diseases. It is not enough for the carcasses to fall in the wilderness. It is whether we can survive them.

    This is how we waste our wealth. At 59, Nigerian leaders have a cow lesson.

  • ‘N1.6tr shortfall caused power crisis’

    Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) at the weekend blamed the woes in the power sector on N1.6 trillion shortfall.

    The Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributiors (ANED), Mr Sunday Oduntan, in a telephone interview, said it would be wrong to accuse a segment of the value chain of  causing the challenges in the sector.

    According to him, the shortfall accumulated over a period of time.

    “The entire sector is battling a shortfall of N1.6 trillion, which represents the revenues that are supposed to have come to the operators in the value chain namely the power generation companies (GenCos), energy distribution firms and others.

    “Of the three key stakeholders in the sector, DisCos operate as the collectors of the funds or money in the sector.I disagree with figures that are not true, but are being bandied about in the sector because they are not true,” he said.

    The Federal Government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Siemens, a German firm, to produce 25, 000 megawatts (Mw) for the country, over a period.

    This is being done that the issue would put an end to power outage in the country.

    Currently, the sector is experiencing low productivity, occasioned by problems such as funding, shortage of gas, deficiencies of equipment used in transmitting electricity to the energy distributors and accumulated bills.

  • Toyota to raise stake in Subaru to 20 per cent

    Toyota Motor Corporation said it will raise its stake in Subaru Corp to 20 per cent from 16.8 per cent to boost the companies’ joint development of advanced technology for autonomous and electric vehicles.

    The increased stake will make Toyota’s 14-year-old partner into its equity-method affiliate, meaning the Japanese auto giant will see Subaru’s earnings incorporated into its consolidated financial statements.

    Under a deal struck by the two automakers, Subaru also plans to acquire a stake in Toyota worth 80 billion yen ($741 million), equivalent to the largest Japanese automaker’s additional investment in the smaller partner.

    They will buy each other’s shares through the stock market or direct transactions between them as soon as approval is secured from competition authorities.

    Toyota has been stepping up efforts to consolidate its ties with smaller rivals and tech giants such as SoftBank Group Corp to respond to a shift in consumer demand for electric, connected and self-driving vehicles.

    Toyota agreed in late August with Suzuki Motor Corp on a capital tie-up to jointly work on autonomous vehicles.

    Toyota formed an alliance with Subaru, formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, in 2005 after purchasing shares from General Motors Co.

    Toyota and Subaru have since cooperated in vehicle development, production and sales. Toyota is already the largest shareholder in Subaru.

    As part of their cooperation, they began selling their jointly developed sports car, branded by Toyota as the 86 and Subaru the BRX, in 2012.

    In June, the carmakers said they will jointly develop an electric sports utility vehicle to be sold under each company’s name by the mid-2020s in the United States.

    Subaru is also among major Japanese automakers that have invested in a self-driving technology startup Monet Technologies Inc, jointly established by Toyota and SoftBank Corp.