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Tag: Nigerians

  • Judge us by our promises, but be fair, APC tells Nigerians

    Judge us by our promises, but be fair, APC tells Nigerians

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Nigerians to hold it accountable for every promise contained in its manifesto, but appealed for fairness in assessing the party.

    In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and made available to newsmen in Abuja, the party condemn what it described as the penchant of members of the Peoples Democratic Party to mock President Muhammadu Buhari with his health situation. 

    The APC said while it admits that the health of a president is every citizen’s business, it is un-African, if not ungodly, to continue to taunt a man and even challenge him to a fight at his moment of weakness. 

    Reacting to alleged plan by the PDP to take back power from the APC in 2019 and to hold it accountable, Abdullahi said it was obvious that If the PDP had fully implemented its manifesto in the 16 years that it was in power, Nigerians would not have been attracted to the APC promise of change in 2015, because there would have been little left to promise.

    The statement reads: “In the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgement that favoured the Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Makarfi himself announced rather exuberantly that his victory at the court meant that PDP was ready to return to power. We had dismissed Makarfi’s statement as part of the excitement that follows a favourable court ruling.  

    “However, since that Wednesday verdict, we noticed that several of his supporters and party members have expressed similar sentiment. We therefore feel the need to respond appropriately.

    “In recent past, the PDP brand of opposition politics had been characterized mainly by allegation mongering and open incitements of separatist agitations across the country. It appears however that the outcome of Wednesday ruling is beginning to set them on a different course. We are therefore delighted that the PDP is beginning to talk about holding the APC accountable for the promises in our manifesto.

    “We want Nigerians, not just the PDP, to hold us accountable for every promise contained in our manifesto. We only urge them to be fair. A manifesto is not a four-year programme. If PDP had fully implemented its manifesto in the 16 years that it was in power, Nigerians would not have been attracted to the APC promise of change in 2015, because there would have been little left to promise.”

    While makeing reference to media reports quoting an unmanned Minister who is currently facing prosecution by the anti graft agency, Abdullahi said “there are only a few people left in that party whose faces do not represent the face of corruption. 

    “These few good men and women left in the PDP would do well to listen to ex-stalwarts of the party like the former Akwa Ibom governor, Obong Victor Attah who has advised that the party needs an urgent change of name because the PDP brand is already damaged beyond repair. 

    “But Nigerians know that even with a change of name, it is not the cowl that makes the monk. Therefore, like Attah asked, “Now that they have resolved their crisis, what is left of the PDP?”  Senator Makarfi and his supporters should take a break from their victory dance to attend to this question.”

    He also said the media report quoted the un-namable minister as comparing the PDP and the APC to a tale of two wives, saying that Nigerians have tried the two and had seen who was better. 

    He said: “We find this metaphor quite interesting. We need to point out however that APC is the new wife that is busy working at the kitchen that has been looted empty by the former wife who had made away with the entire foodstuff and even the kitchen utensils. Nigerians know this. 

    “If the food is a little late in coming, they understand the circumstance. But if that other thieving wife now begins to argue that she was a better cook and should be brought back into the kitchen because the new wife is a slow cook, then that should pass for hypocrisy. 

    “No matter the temporary hardship that we may be experiencing, Nigerians know better than to bring PDP back to power so soon for fear that this time, they might disappear with the kitchen itself.

    “We also note with regret, PDP’s penchant to mock President Muhammadu Buhari with his health situation. We admit that the health of a president is every citizen’s business. However, it is un-African, if not ungodly, to continue to taunt a man and even challenge him to a fight at his moment of weakness. 

    “We have seen in the last few days, some members of the PDP who have boasted to defeat President Buhari in 2019. We urge Nigerians to Google the names of these individuals and see what comes up. It is however understandable, even if not acceptable, that when the lion is enfeebled, even a rabbit would grow the temerity to tweak its tail.

    “We urge Nigerians to remain resolute in support of the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.  We are confident that whatever difficulty we are going through at the moment is only a passing phase.”

  • U.S to crackdown on Nigerians, Brazilians, others with overstayed visas

    U.S to crackdown on Nigerians, Brazilians, others with overstayed visas

    A crackdown on visitors with visa overstays is imminent in the United States of America with Nigeria, Brazil, Venezuela, China and  Colombia listed as countries with the most total overstays that do not participate in the visa waiver programme.

    The Trump Administration says it has a problem with visa overstays in the country and is now determined to step up enforcement to try to cut down on the violations.

    Consequently, the government is introducing a face scan for all US citizens travelling abroad.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said this is aimed mainly at better tracking visa overstays and also at tightening security.

    The agency said it’s the only way to successfully expand a programme that tracks non immigrant foreigners.

    A report in May showed that more than 54 million visitors checked in last year – and nearly 630,000 of them didn’t go back home.

    John Wagner, the Customs deputy executive assistant commissioner in charge of the programme, confirmed in an interview that U.S. citizens departing on international flights will submit to face scans.

    The number of visa overstays was about 200,000 higher than the previous 12-month period.

    Libya, a country of special interest because of terrorism concerns, saw 43 percent of its students refuse to leave on time, while a staggering 75 percent of students from Eritrea broke the terms of their deal, the report said.

    Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Centre for Immigration Studies, said those kinds of rates should force a rethink at the State Department, which issues visas, and should spur immigration officials to put more effort into deterring and deporting overstays in the U.S.

    “The fact that more than 700,000 visits were overstayed last year shows just how much we need to step up interior enforcement to create more of a deterrent, not only by identifying and deporting overstays, but by weakening the job magnet by cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers,” she said.

     

  • ‘Nigerians spent N6.7trillion on imported consumables in 2015’

    Nigerians spent N6.7 trillion on importa-tion of consumables and household items in 2015, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Aisha Abubakar stated yesterday.

    She spoke in Kano at a stakeholders’ meeting on “Buy Made-in- Nigeria Products” by the Ministry in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

    Abubakar declared the staggering amount being spent on importation of goods as unacceptable, saying it is responsible for the campaign to change perception of Nigerians towards patronising locally made products.

    She said: “In 2015 alone, over N6.7 trillion was spent on the importation of goods and services for which the nation can produce locally.

    “Also, N1.09 trillion was reportedly spent on imported foods and drinks; N1.5 trillion on spare-parts; N123.01 billion on shoes and clothes and N399 billion on household items.  Imagine if this had been spent on our local industries.”

    Abubakar informed government’s determination to encourage the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products by Ministries, Departments and Agencies made Acting President Yemi Osinbajo sign the Executive Order 3, aimed at ensuring that 40 per cent goods procured by government agencies are made locally.

  • U.S to crackdown on Nigerians, Brazilians, others with overstayed visas

    A crackdown on visitors with visa overstays is imminent in the United States of America with Nigeria, Brazil, Venezuela, China and  Colombia listed as countries with the most total overstays that do not participate in the visa waiver program.

    The Trump Administration says it has a problem with visa overstays in the country and is now determined to step up enforcement to try to cut down on the violations.

    Consequently, the government is introducing a face scan for all US citizens travelling abroad.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said this is aimed mainly at better tracking visa overstays and also at tightening security.

    The agency said it’s the only way to successfully expand a programme that tracks non immigrant foreigners.

     

  • Five years of e-commerce: Nigerians count losses

    Five years of e-commerce: Nigerians count losses

    Five years after e-commerce vendors, especially foreign-owned online shopping portals, set up shops in the country, Nigerians, who have had unpleasant experiences, in this report share their pains and agonies with TONIA ‘DIYAN

    n the beginning

    t’s been five years since Nigerians started shopping online but everything seemed not to have gone on well with the business. Between 2010 and 2011, when e-commerce started on a large scale across the country, the conversation was really on educating people about how to shop online and getting them ready for e-commerce.

    Thus, most online platforms introduced the pay-on-delivery method to reassure customers that they will get the right products and right quality when they shop online. There were customers who worried then that their payment details would be compromised, if they shopped and paid online; therefore, paying cash on delivery was the preferred choice.

    Today, shopping online has become a lifestyle for most Nigerians as many are accustomed with the trend. Visits to local supermarkets have reduced in most cases and people are more comfortable paying online before their goods get to them because online stores have succeeded in winning their trust via good and reliable service delivery.

    To ensure that Nigerians get involved in the trend, aggressive marketing, constant education through various channels (particularly social networks), increased brand awareness and offline activations including offline sales gained traction as a business model.

    Text messages and emails are constantly sent to people so that they can track online activities, and be the first to know of amazing deals and bargains as soon as they come up.

    Amid these achievements, one area where the online business has failed woefully is that of employment. Findings have it that usually 90 percent of online workers can be laid off at once. When these online firms enter the country, they recruit young Nigerians and fresh graduates who are energetic and can drive the business. When these young chaps are a year or two old on the job, they are kicked out without any benefits.

    Bankole Idris is a victim. He said: “I feel used and dumped because my lay off wasn’t justifiable at all. I don’t want to mention the name of the company I worked for, but I toiled for them for two years since they opened shop. Other young Nigerians and I were used as the face of their business to gain the hearts of Nigerians, and all of a sudden, we were dumped  for  fear that we might steal the business from them.

    “Most of the people in charge of getting investors  into this line of business are Nigerians and are not always truthful. When they employ, they make people believe the business is theirs or they have the larger percentage of the investment just to keep the mind of the job seeker at peace. They later turn around to bite you hard. They inflate the number of people who will use the online platform and concentrate on how soon they will get returns on their investments. But when that time comes and they can’t get any more, it becomes an issue, funds dry up and workers get laid off at will.”

    For Ngozi Okorie, the use of Nigerians as a front for online business is to show investors how accepted the business is in this part of the world and how there are local hands to run it successfully. But, in the end, the Nigerians in charge of the investors dictate what goes on and who gets fired without reasons nor benefits. “It’s just a suffer head job,” she said.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Orekunrin Temidayo, said: “The online businesses in Nigeria are owned by foreigners. Statistics showed that Africa is a new frontier for development and since we have business-friendly policies, they come here to invest. They use Nigerians to front their online business to get the approval of their countrymen and women who intend to work with them, and also Nigerians they are trying to gain their trust. At the end of the day, we find out they do not really need us. That is why it is always easy for them to lay off at will. There are some ogas at the top that are benefitting from them instead.”

  • CBN: Nigerians lost N11.9b to Ponzi scheme

    CBN: Nigerians lost N11.9b to Ponzi scheme

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday  said Nigerians lost over N11.9 billion to the activities of Ponzi schemes in 2016.

    Speaking in Kano during the 2017 Bank-Wide Sensitisation Campaign, an initiative of the apex bank, its Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Alhaji Yusuf Wali, warned on the inherent danger associated with subscribing to Ponzi scheme.

    He said: “I will also like to reiterate the position of the CBN on the need for the citizens to desist from unwholesome financial engagements in all Ponzi schemes. The Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum made public a recent daunting report on the losses suffered by the subscribers which amounted to N11.9 billion in December, 2016.”

    He said the sensitisation programme tagged ‘CBN Fair’ is geared towards sensitising citizens on the activities of CBN as well as educating Nigerians on how best to engage in financial transactions.

    “Our objective is simple! We want you to understand what we do at the CBN. We want to sensitise you on your roles as citizens in keeping the Naira clean and other matters.

    “We want to hear your complaints about matters relating to financial sector and we want to let you into how you can access and benefit from the different initiatives of the CBN,” he said.

    He further stated that the CBN has introduced some strategic initiatives and intervention schemes to support the economy with a view to ensuring sustainable growth and development.

    He identified the sectors to include agriculture, power, energy, manufacturing, micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSME) as well as banking and industry, through credit delivery to the real sector of the economy.

    In his remarks, Kano tate Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who was represented by the state Commissioner for Finance, Prof. Kabiru Isah Dandago,  lamented that the people of Kano have failed to key into CBN programmes designed to benefit the economy of the state and their private businesses.

     

  • How Nigerians can own homes, by developer

    Nigerians waiting on the government for social housing may wait for a long time. This is because the economic reality does not leave room for the government to embark on such capital intensive venture. Nigerians should leverage the enabling environment being provided by the government to own homes.

    This was the submission of the Chief Executive  Officer of LASHONE Links Group of Companies, Dr. Lanre Shonekan, at the 7th Annual Stakeholders and Real Estate Investment Forum of the firm held in Lagos at the weekend.

    Shonekan, in a chat with The Nation, said with an efficient mortgage system, more Nigerians would be able to own homes. He, however, noted that many are not aware of the processes to getting a mortgage.

    Besides, he explained that because of the high cost of building, his firm has researched into how to build cheap and efficient houses, using different materials, and at the same time training people in real estate development and management.

    To achieve this, the firm, Shonekan said, has partnered with another  firm that specialises in a technology that allows building with containers; this technology makes it possible to own a two-bedroom apartment with about N1.5 million.

    “We are exploring ways of delivering quality houses at very affordable costs to our people; and we have partnered with a reputable mortgage bank to make this possible. The 18 estates we have is a testimony to our desire to make more Nigerians home owners at relative low cost,” Shonekan said.

    He explained that the firm is also into training and skills acquisition programme which cuts across all facets of human endeavour. This is because of its belief in equipping people for the future and also assists its trainees to get access to funds to start up their business. These include players in the real estate sector.

    Its mortgage partners, AG Mortgage Bank,  Plc, through its head of business development, Mr. Chibuzor Ifenkwe, explained that the way forward out of recession in the country is not for people to solely depend on the government alone but be meaningfully engaged in job creation through skills acquisition.

    “We know very much that government cannot  generate employment that would go round and when you see people that are ready to be supported, the bank is willing to do that,” Ifenkwe said, adding that the bank has been in the partnership for sometime, helping trainees and graduates of the school because of Lashone Links Business School’s outstanding record of training and meaningfully engaging people in skill acquisition.

  • ‘Nigerians make up 90 per cent of Beninois varsity students’

    The President of the Houdegbe North American University in the Republic of Benin, Prof. Dada Houdegbe, at the weekend  announced that about 90 per cent of its students were Nigerians.

    Houdegbe spoke at the university’s award of degrees and conferment of Honorary Awards to its graduating students, other local and international personalities.

    “Three years ago, we graduated about 3,000 students from different areas of studies.

    “Today, the Houdegbe North American University is graduating about 2,000 students, as well as the conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degrees on deserving personalities.

    “Let me say that about 90 per cent of students in our university are Nigerians, who are happy being our students,’’ he said.

    According to him, there is currently a growing interest of many young Nigerians in the courses being offered by the university, its affordability and good learning environment.

    The president said the university was meant to build bridges across political, economic, linguistic and cultural divides in Africa.

    Houdegbe hailed former president Olusegun Obasanjo for his belief in the institution’s ideals, as well as the encouragement he kept giving the university.

    Ms Samia Nkrumah, founder of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Centre, said that the time had come for West African and other African countries to embrace the policy of “Education for All’’.

    The daughter of former Ghanaian President Kwame Nkurumah said the overall development and transformation of the region and the continent would largely depend on education.

    Prof. Peng-Khuan Chong, an Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Plymouth State University, in the United States, enjoined the graduating and undergraduate students to learn to be competent, confident and have compassion.

    The university was established in 1992 in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, as a private tertiary institution, which offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

  • ‘Proudly Nigerian to celebrate Nigerians, businesses’

    A NON-governmental organisation (NGO), Proudly Nigerian Campaign, has unveiled plan to celebrate outstanding Nigerians and their businesses.

    Its General Manager, Michael Abugo, who spoke when he visited The Nation’s head office in Lagos last Thursday, said it was part of plans to project Nigerians and their businesses positively.

    Abugo said many Nigerians are celebrated as stars globally in different fields and there is need to project them better.

    “We came together and felt, look, there is need for us to use the positivism in Nigeria to project Nigeria in positive light and change the orientation of the supposed foreign investors or the international community. That’s what Proudly Nigerian Campaign is about.

    “It is to recognise, locate, celebrate, promote Nigerians and corporate Nigeria within Nigeria and in the Diaspora,” he said.

    Abugo said the group would be celebrating the citizens and their businesses based on its core values which he listed as “integrity, patriotism, excellence and value-adding” on a quarterly basis via a quarterly award ceremony.

    He said the group would organise a major award later in the year, which will be dedicated to the founder of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

    “He is touching lives in Nigeria,” said Abugo.

    “He is touching lives in Africa and he still has quite a number of creative ideas to deliver to mankind, particularly within Africa. He is somebody I think we should indeed celebrate,” he said.

    The NGO, a brainchild of Olorogun Elkanah Mowarin, was founded in 2000 and is “committed to promoting pride about Nigeria, Nigerian-ness and everything positive about the country, people and evolving nation”.

    Also on the board are Mazi Sam Ohanbuwa and Olorogun Dr. Sunny Kuku.

    Abugo said he had no fears about Nigeria breaking up despite several agitations by Igbo in the Southeast.

    He said the call for secession by Igbo demanding for Biafra resulted out of a feeling of being cheated.

    “In the course of the three Rs after the civil war – reconstruction, rehabilitation and re-integration, if that were genuinely pursued to the letter, we won’t be where we are industrially,” Abugo said.

    “In the course of fighting the civil war, the Igbo man without any external help was able to produce IED, rocket launchers. All of those things are consigned into a museum. This ingenuity is still there.

    “How are we encouraging it? Last year, somebody produced a drone. It was lauded. The press gave it visibility. The minister was there to express highfalutin. What is being done to encourage the young man?

    “Beyond him, there are other people who have tried their hands on it and are producing drones, even if it is for entertainment purposes. We talk of resource control in the Southsouth, environmental degradation impeding on their means of livelihood and stuffs like that.”

    He hailed the President Muhammad Buhari-led administration on its strides to address the separatist calls.

    “This administration is taking deliberate and strategic steps at correcting that. That’s why the Acting President has been engaging people from that region. And we see the effect. There’s been relative calm and the ripple effect is that, today, the oil production from Nigeria is 2.3 million barrels per day. Nigeria is in a strategic position to push up the price of oil in the international market by reason of that.”

  • 90 per cent of Nigerians still cook with fuel woods

    Not less than 90 per cent of Nigerians still cook with fuel woods across the country, the Executive Director, Environment Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Dr. Godwin Ojo has said.

    Ojo disclosed this during a training on energy governance and transition held yesterday in Abuja.

    He said beyond the statistics above, about 53 per cent of the urban population adopt fuel woods for cooking which has contributed largely to deforestation and reduction in national forest cover.

    According to him, it became important to discourage carbon emissions through the use of renewable energies such as solar energies and other renewable energy mix.

    He noted that the country’s continuous dependence on fossil fuels and plants as well as generators largely contradicted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce unconditional emission by 20 per cent and conditional reduction by 45 per cent.

    Ojo emphasized that renewable energy will encourage fuel efficiency, reduce air pollution, improve health conditions and prevent potential carbon emissions.

    He stressed need to discourage the World Bank and African Development (AfDB) from funding the extractive sector responsible for the promotion of fossil fuels.

    “We strongly demand a national renewable energy policy to achieve the right energy mix for Nigerians and redirect attention from dirty energy such as fossils; oil and gas, coal, nuclear and energy from biofuels because of their deleterious consequences on farmers and fragile ecosystems.

    To move towards just energy transition, the World Bank, Africa development bank and other financial institutions and national governments must eliminate incentives in loans and subsidies promoting extractive activities in oil and gas prospecting. Instead such investment should translate to investment in renewable energy research, green technology and the provision of loans, subsidies and zero tarrifs for solar equipment production,” Ojo added.

    Speaking on delayed implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report on the Ogoni oil spill, ERA executive director criticized federal government on the slow pace at commencing the real clean up.