The Nation Newspaper

Tag: soon

  • ‘Buhari to sign new companies’ law soon’

    President Muhammadu Buhari will soon sign the new companies and allied matters bill into law in a bold step aimed at addressing corporate challenges and enhancing business operating environment.

    Secretary of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, yesterday said the President will soon sign the new Companies and Allied Matters Act into law.

    The new Companies and Allied Matters Bill is regarded as the largest corporate reform in nearly 30 years and represents a comprehensive re-enactment of the current Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990. The new bill reviews several impediments in the 1990 Act and comprehensively addresses several issues affecting a company from incorporation to winding up and insolvency in line with current global standards.

    The new CAMA is expected to make doing business in Nigeria easier and it is expected to serve as impetus for foreign investments. Part of the amendments includes simplification of the process of starting and growing business and alignment of corporate structures and practices with business size, orientation and financial capability.

    Oduwole spoke at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos when the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah led the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) to the Exchange in commemoration of the successful completion of the reforms under National Action Plan (NAP) 4.0.

    She said the PEBEC has been working to make Nigeria a progressive and easier place to do business.

    “It is a journey, though we are not there yet but we are thankful for the support we received from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), particularly, on the legislative aspect of the new Companies and Allied Matters Act that will be signed into law by the President very soon,” Oduwole said.

    She emphasised the need for the private sector to partner with the Council to grow the economy, pointing out that the government, through the ease of doing business initiatives, has been working on various reforms towards making the country attractive for businesses to thrive.

    Enelamah  said the Federal Government and the NSE are committed to stronger collaboration to deepen the Nigerian capital market and boost the national economic development.

    He said the partnership between government and the Exchange will make the capital market to be better and stronger.

    “We look at this partnership as extremely important and therefore what we are doing today is not only symbolic, but significant. We hope it will lead to a better cooperation and relationship between the stock market and the government and within the private sector and the government,” Enelamah said.

    According to him, government is committed to deliver reforms aimed at improving the enabling environment for doing business in Nigeria through systemic interventions.

    “We want businesses in the country to do well and this is the role of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, which is primarily to support businesses to prosper,” Enelamah said.

    Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema commended the improvement in ease of doing business in Nigeria noting that Nigeria has moved from 169 position in ease of doing business ranking to about 126.

    Doyen of Stockbrokers and Managing Director, Trust Yield Securities, Alhaji Rasheed Yusuf, commended the call for robust collaboration between government and the capital market operators.

    He urged the government to further use the capital market in the implementation of national economic plan in order to achieve accelerated economic growth and development noting that the deficits in government’s budget could be financed through the capital market.

  • Soon, very soon

    There is politics in the air. If you doubt it, you need to go back to bed. When you wake up, smell the air and believe me, chances are that you will feel it. But as a guide, let me tell you things you can watch out for.

    At times like this, you will hear stories about aides being sacked. You will hear talks about cabinets being re-constituted to inject new blood. And soon and very soon, more of such stories will become public knowledge.

    Friendship, trust and loyalty are about to start suffering once more in the South-south. Politics will bring some together and push others apart. Almost nowhere else will the race to pick tickets to run for one elective office or the other be as fierce as it is in this oil-rich region.

    Soon and very soon, you will see opponents carry a casket and say what they have inside is the body of a man who is alive—yes, their living political adversary. Blows will be exchanged; guns will boom; and ways will be parted — soon and very soon.

    Soon and very soon, everything will become Charly Boy Show where anything can happen. Soon and very soon, you will have cause to wonder whether it is all about serving the people or serving their pockets and egos.

    Soon and very soon, some people’s prayers will be answered; others will gnash their teeth. Money will go down the drain and no ticket to show for it. Their ambitions will have to take a break.

    Some godfathers will have their prayers answered. Their prayers to grab a ticket for themselves and tickets for their sons to run for governor, Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly will be granted. They will attribute all to God, who, in His infinite mercy, shows them some love.

    Soon and very soon, tickets will make men sing discordant tunes.  Their portrayal of the godfather before and after getting the ticket will make you wonder if they are the same guys who had dressed down the godfather some months back. They will describe him as a quintessential leader after equating him to the devil. These will, indeed, be interesting times.

    Soon and very soon, men and women will run with the vision— yes divine vision they will call it. Men and women whose lifestyles do not show any allegiance to God will tell you their pastors — or are they ‘babalawos?’—prophesied that they would govern their states or they will be in the House of Representatives or some other offices. For this reason, they will risk so many things.

    If you doubt me, let me give you an example from the last general election. Godswill Akpabio was governor of Akwa Ibom State. He wanted to go to the Senate and install Udom Emmanuel as his running mate. His then Commissioner for Finance, Bassey Albert, wanted to be governor. Akpabio stood his ground, and one day sacked Albert as commissioner alongside others against the Emmanuel-must-succeed-me project.

    Albert and others vowed to frustrate the Emmanuel-must-be-governor project. Albert based his actions and insistence on being governor on a divine vision, which must not be truncated by man— Akpabio.

    Their actions angered Akpabio and he declared at the sod turning ceremony for the PDP secretariat in Akwa Ibom in July 2014: “Christ did not say that there will be no Judas. Even our God Almighty recognised that even the people he worked with, and called them angels, that one of them was going to betray him. And that was Lucifer, what did God do? He threw him out of heaven. Has he entered heaven till today? Those who have betrayed the governor will not enter Government House.

    “You empower your children so that they will be a pride to you. You don’t empower them so that they come and betray you. That is the lot of the world.

    “I go back into the Bible, the Game Changer (Adamu Mua’zu, who was PDP National Chairman at the time). I saw the story of Absalom. And I said may God take away the spirit of Absalom from our midst. Who was Absalom? The son of David, the father trained him and empowered him as the would-be King of Israel. Because of impatience, Absalom wanted to take over before the age of 30. He wanted to kill King David. And the King said, leave him to his fate.”

    He then asked the crowd at the ceremony: “Did it end well with Absalom?”

    The crowd responded: “Nooooo!”

    He went on to explain what happened to Absalom: “As a young man, he died, while his father continued. I am assuring the Game Changer (Muazu) and the President (Dr. Goodluck Jonathan) that those who want to take power through the backdoor will die. They will die! And the PDP will continue. In Akwa Ibom State, those who want to betray, who were supposed to be our political children, of course they will end like Absalom. But if they change their minds, then they will obtain favour from the sight of God.”

    Albert did not take kindly to Akpabio’s statement.  In an interview published then by this newspaper, he diplomatically ‘finished’ his political father. He said the story of Absalom was quoted out of context. His reason:  “If you read your Bible very well, then you know that despite Absalom’s behavioural deficiency, King David was still in love with him. I want to say that if the governor was referring to me as Absalom, then he should love me to the end.”

    It seemed the governor listened to Albert’s advice. He sought him out and fences were mended. The same senatorial position Albert earlier rejected is what he eventually settled for and I ask: what happened to the vision that he would be governor. May be it is postponed till after 2023, when the next governor would have served out two terms.

    Brace up guys, soon and very soon, interesting stuffs are going to come out of the Niger Delta, where electoral contests are like wars, which must be fought with cudgels, machetes, guns, bombs and so on and so forth.

    At a time like this, I cannot but remember that soon and very soon good men who dream of contributing to Niger Delta’s development through political offices will have their wishes crash like a pack of cards. I remember one such good man, Dr Ogaga Ifowodo, poet, rights activists and university teacher. He tried running for office in the last general elections but delegates did not find him good enough. Or was it that he had no enough cash to run the race?

    Soon and very soon, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and loyalists of embattled ex-First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan and ex-President Goodluck Jonathan will be at war over who gets what in the state. That is what I have seen in the crystal ball. And in Rivers, the crystal ball shows that Governor Nyesom Wike will clinch PDP’s governorship ticket for a second term—no contest.

    Will the All Progressives Congress (APC) be able to give him a good fight? My crystal ball says that can only happen if the house is not divided against itself. But, in politics, 24 hours is a long time. What seems clear now can soon and very soon take another shape.

    My final take: Soon and very soon, new friends will be made; old ones will be discarded; and new alliances will be cemented. One can only hope that candidates will have it at the back of their minds that it should be about service and that if it is about service, violence should play no role. Guns should not boom; thugs should be made redundant; and peace should be the ultimate goal of all.vice, violence should play no role. Guns should not boom; thugs should be made redundant; and peace should be the ultimate goal of all.

     

  • Abia Poly workers to get Nov pay ‘soon’

    Acting Rector of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Prof. Friday Ezionye Eboh said staff of the polytechnic would soon be paid their November 2016 salary. This is even as he has assured that the institution under his watch would not experience any industrial dispute.

    Eboh in a maiden press conference with newsmen at the conference room of the polytechnic  described industrial action as an ill wind that blows anyone in the institution any good.

    According to him, the school since his assumption as the acting rector has saved a lot of monies for the institution through plugging of so many leakages and wastages used by being individuals to siphon monies that were supposed to be remitted into the school’s coffers.

    He said that the current steps taking by his administration was to ensure that there won’t be any breach of the institution’s academic calendar as it were the case in the past.

    “We are here to institute a system that works and outlive us and others that will assume office as the head of the institution. We want to ensure that the students get effective delivery of services which they paid for. It is our resolve that the school get back to winning and glorious ways.”

    The rector said that his administration was exploring other avenues to generate more money for the school in order to compliment the monthly subvention to the school by the state government.

  • Clinton Bridge to be launched soon

    As the Abuja Airport reopens, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration has promised to ease traffic flow on that axis by completing and commissioning the Airport Road and the Bill Clinton Bridge soon.

    The trumpet overhead bridge links the Bill Clinton Drive with the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Expressway (Airport Road) and Gwagwalada-Giri.

    FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello in company of the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, who paid an unscheduled visit to the project site, said that the opening of the strategic trumpet bridge would further reduce traffic bottlenecks along that route.

    The Minister assured that efforts would be re-doubled to ensure that the trumpet bridge with its loops and tangents are completed in good time and opened to the motoring public within a very short period.

    He said, “We have seen the progress of work and we will continue to provide you all the needed support and funds. Of course the Airport is going to be opened very shortly. So, it’s very important that you work towards your timeline, particularly the mid May timeline so that at least it can ease traffic flow.”

    A statement issued by the Deputy Director / Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, the minister said: “The Bill Clinton Bridge on the Airport expressway is a very important project of the FCT Administration. It is meant to carry traffic in and out of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.  With the increased flow of traffic and movement, it’s very important for us to make sure that this very critical bridge is completed”.

    ”But overall, we are very happy with your work and I think this goes also to show that you are very important citizens of Abuja. You have basically constructed a significant part of the city and we look forward to when we will all come and just cut the tape to commission this project,” he stressed.

    Bello stated that when this administration came in, it was basically a hanging bridge but within the last few months, with proper funding and supervision, the contractors came back to site and they have done a very wonderful job.

    ”From your timeline, I understand a portion of the bridge will be operational within the next few weeks and subsequently within the next two or three months, the entire section will be completed including all the streetlights, road signage as well as all the drainage points and we will have a very beautiful bridge linking the city with the Airport,” he noted.

    He reiterated, “I’m so pleased with this and this is what we will continue to do in many sections of the city, trying to complete on-going infrastructure, so that we will truly get the benefit of being a mega city where everybody will move around without too much hindrance.”

    The Acting Director of the FCDA Engineering Services Department, Engr. Shehu Ahmad who took the Minister and his entourage round the project site revealed that the project which was awarded on May 7, 2009, and work commencement on May 13, 2009 is 95 per cent complete.

    The Director disclosed that the project comprises of the rehabilitation of the existing dual carriageways and its expansion to 10-lane carriageways inclusive of the service lanes on both sides.

  • Akpala to decide future soon

    Akpala to decide future soon

    Nigeria and Werder Bremen striker Joseph Akpala has said his future will be decided in the coming days, after returning from his loan spell in Turkey.

    The 27-year-old has been training with the Green and Whites during pre-season ahead of the start of the 2014/2015 German Bundesliga season and has been registered with jersey number 35, but it remains unclear whether his future lies with the club.

    However, the player has told Brila FM that his future will be sorted in a matter of days. “That (future) will be sorted in the next few days, and I’ll know where I will be whether it is Bremen or not.”

    Akpala spent the last season out on loan at Turkish side Karabükspor, playing 11 times and scoring four goals in the process but admits he would love to remain at Bremen.

    “If I had my way, I’d love to stay at Bremen and help the club but if they feel it’s best that I moved on, then we will know.”

    Meanwhile, Akpala and his teammates have left their training base in Zillertal and returned to Bremen, where they will conclude their pre-season training ahead of the new Bundesliga season.

    The last tune-up game they played in Zillertal was against Spanish side Athletic Bilbao which ended in a 2-2 draw.

    And after the pre-season camp, manager Robin Dutt admitted that “we know where we still have work to do.” Dutt has also announced Clemens Fritz as captain for the new season, and will be assisted by Sebastian Prodl.

  • ‘Oscar partied soon after Reeva’s death’

    ‘Oscar partied soon after Reeva’s death’

    Paralympian murder-accused Oscar Pistorius partied less than two months after he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the Sunday Times reported.

    A businessman, who asked not to be named, told the newspaper that Pistorius had arrived uninvited at a party that the businessman was hosting in Illovo, Johannesburg, on April 6 last year.

    Pistorius is currently on trial, charged with murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, whom he shot dead through a locked toilet door at his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year.

    Pistorius has claimed that he shot Steenkamp by mistake after believing there was an intruder in his house.

    On Sunday, the newspaper quoted unnamed sources, reportedly guests at the party in April, who said that, at the event, Pistorius had appeared subdued at first, but after drinking heavily, had taken to the dance floor as well as tried to flirt with a woman – who rejected him.

    Recently, reports emerged that Pistorius had been involved in an altercation with businessman Jared Mortimer at an upmarket club, the VIP Room, in Sandton, Johannesburg, last Saturday night.

    Mortimer told The Star newspaper that Pistorius had been intoxicated at the time and had insulted President Jacob Zuma.

    Subsequently, Pistorius’s uncle, Leo Pistorius, released a statement, on behalf of the family, in which he said that the athlete’s move to venture into a public space while the trial was under way had been unwise.

    He said the family had witnessed Pistorius’ “escalating sense of loneliness and alienation. This, we believe, is underlying some of his self-harming behaviour.”

    Leo Pistorius also refuted Mortimer’s version of events, saying the businessman had been the “aggressor” in the incident and was “peddling untruths”.

    Pistorius’s murder trial is set to resume on August 7, when final arguments are expected to be heard.

  • Emenalo, Mourinho to decide Omeruo’s fate soon

    • Other young players too

    SportingLife can exclusively report that Chelsea’s Technical Director, Mike Emenalo and head coach, Jose Mourinho will meet in the coming days to decide the fate of Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo.

    A source close to the Nigerian, Chika Akujobi, told SportingLife that top officials of Chelsea resumed for the new English Premier League (EPL) season a few days ago and that Emenalo and Mourinho would soon meet to review the progress of their youngsters including Omeruo.

    They are expected to decide whether Omeruo or any of the other Chelsea youngsters will be sent out on loan again to gain more experience, or be retained in the senior team.

    Akujobi said stories about clubs being linked with the former Standard Liege of Belgium and ADO Den Haag of Holland defender were mere paper talk, and that Omeruo’s Stamford Bridge future could only be sorted out after a meeting between Mourinho and Emenalo.

    “Nothing is concrete for now because I was told Mourinho and Emenalo will have to meet first before any loan move can be sanctioned concerning any of the young players in Chelsea.

    “Kenneth is calm about it and waiting to return from his break before July 28.

    “Anything that is read in newspapers about clubs that he has been linked with are, for now, rumours,” Akujobi told SportingLife.

  • ‘We ‘ll take our stand soon’

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State yesterday said it is studying the governorship election result released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, with a view to pursuing justice through the appropriate quarter.

    The party said it is compiling and collating reports across the state, adding: “We are heading for the tribunal to seek redress.”

    The party, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Wale Ozogoro, said it had noticed the misapplication of electoral guidelines in the governorship poll.

    It said: “We are convinced that justice will be obtained as we intend to seek same at the appropriate time.

    “However, the party is not taken aback by the comments of a few individuals who feel that the party should not go to the tribunal to seek redress. We want to put it on record that seeking justice at the appropriate quarter is part of the rule of law, which is the bedrock of democratic ethos.

    “We, therefore, want to avail ourselves of every available option under the law to seek justice and rekindle the hope and aspiration of the Ondo people that a democracy built on fairness, equity and justice can truly be achieved.

    “The party sympathises with Ondo people and assures them that victory will come in a short while.

    “Indeed, you have spoken and demonstrated it through your votes that you wanted a change and a rapid departure from underdevelopment. “However, your votes will count and hope will be restored in a shortest possible time.

    “All Ondo people should be resolute, determined and keep faith with the PDP and Chief Olusola Oke as we hope to get justice through the court.”