Prandelli shocks Spain with Valencia resignation

 The Italian has stepped aside amid mounting pressure, leaving the side sitting 17th in the league, with rumours of conflicts with a number of players such as Daniel Parejo

Cesare Prandelli has resigned as head coach of Valencia in a surprise move with the club sitting 17th in La Liga.

The Italian joined Los Che at the end of September but has only overseen one win in the league since then.

He leaves amid reports of growing unrest in the dressing room, with players such as Daniel Parejo being at conflict with the former Italy and Roma boss.

Prandelli presented his resignation to the board of directors on Friday with Spanish football on its winter break and Valencia are now expected to negotiate the terms of his contract termination.

The coach had already made clear his discontent at Mestalla in recent weeks and had asked chairman Peter Lim to bring in players in January to arrest the slide towards the relegation zone.

On December 9, Prandelli is believed to have irreparably damaged his relationship with some of the Valencia squad when he said anyone unwilling to give everything for the club should leave.

Prandelli's exit has yet to be confirmed by Valencia but Goal understands his decision has been made and an announcement is imminent.

The 59-year-old was the fourth coach to take the helm at Valencia in 2016 following the departures of Gary Neville, Pako Ayestaran and Salvador 'Voro' Gonzalez.

Valencia are back in action on Tuesday January 3 in the Copa del Rey when they take on Celta Vigo at home.

National Assembly’ll focus on economy in 2017, says Saraki

 The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Friday said the National Assembly would in 2017 focus on the nation’s economy which is currently in recession.

He said since the economy has remained a major issue for the country, federal lawmakers would ensure that some of the pending economic bills are passed in the New Year.

Saraki spoke with State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari and joining him to observe the Jumat prayers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Describing 2017 as very important to Nigeria, Saraki said the National Assembly would continue to support the Executive arm of government to ensure that the right things are done.

He said, “As we have started in 2016, in 2017 our attention will be on the economy because that is really a major issue for us as a country.

“We want to see some of the economic bills put forward passed, to see that there is greater improvement in the process of the budget process in 2017 and to see that the government implements the budget early.

“Also, one of our pet projects is ‘Made in Nigeria’ products. We want to see that the government continues to support Nigerians in this area so that we can begin to see the cushioning of the difficult times Nigerians are going through.

“So next year is very important to us and I think on the part of the National Assembly, we will continue to give our support to ensure that the right things are done.”

Saraki also described the recent capture of the stronghold of the Boko Haram sect, Sambisa Forest, by the nation’s troops as a great achievement.

He said the development showed what could be achieved by the country when there was commitment and purposeful leadership.

“That was a great progress from where we are before. If you look at where we were a year and half ago, the challenges we had in that area for us to recapture the place, I think is a great feat.

“It shows what we can do as a country when we have the commitment, purpose and the leadership required to do that.

“As we have done that in the North-East, I believe the other issue before us is the fight against corruption, the economy, providing jobs, peace in the Niger Delta.”

Saraki also said Nigerians would see more bills being signed into law in the New Year.

He said, “There are many more bills to come and the President is also responding to it.

“You are going to see more of that in 2017, there are a lot of bills lined up.

“For us in the Senate for example, in the last session just this last three months, we did much more than what we did in the entire year. The National Assembly is settling down and as such you will see much more bill passed for the President to sign.”

‘Crazy’ bills: No respite for Nigerian electricity consumers

Three years after the nation’s power sector was privatised, millions of Nigerian households are still groaning under the weight of ‘crazy’ bills and poor power supply from the distribution firms, ‘FEMI ASU writes

With his fury so palpable, Chief Ade-Owas Owabunmuwa, in a no-holds-barred interview on December 29 in front of his office, echoed the sense of disappointment and frustration millions of electricity customers in the country have.

“When we heard that the government wanted to privatise the power sector, we were leaping for joy – thinking that at least it will be the saving grace. But considering the past and present experiences, the privatisation is not working,” he said.

According to the 70-something-year-old, who is the president-general of Amuwo-Odofin (New Town) Landlords’/Residents Association, less than five per cent of the residents in the low-cost housing estate, which has over 4,000 flats, has prepaid meters, and majority of them are suffering from “outrageous” estimated billing.

Many electricity consumers in the country have continued to decry the non-provision of prepaid meters by the distribution companies to replace the old, analogue ones, with rising complaints about what is popularly called “crazy” bills.

“They give us outrageous bills without recourse to the meters. Whether the meters are functional or not, they don’t want to know. At the end of the month, they give us estimated bills based on the information from the field officers,” Owabunmuwa said.

He described most of the meters in the estate as “not functional’ and “moribund for over 10 years,” saying, “We had written to Ikeja Electric in the past and complained bitterly to them to change the old ones, but they are not forthcoming.

“For over three years, we have been clamouring for the release of prepaid meters to the residents of this estate because that is the only way out.”

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, while evaluating the performance of the Discos on the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Initiative recently, said the firms had performed poorly in terms of metering their customers as only 403,255 customers were metered as of March 2016.

According to NERC, data submitted by the Discos indicated that there were about 6.2 million customer accounts as of December 2015, while about 3.21 million electricity users were metered.

Based on the proposals submitted by the core investors in the Discos during the privatisation of the power firms in November 2013, 6.52 million new meters will be installed over the course of five years.

“There are a lot of complaints about crazy bills. Majority of the consumers still get estimated bills, which shouldn’t be the case by now. Some of the Discos are rolling out few meters. They are just too few when you look at the magnitude of the problem on ground,” the President, Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy, Tomi Akingbogun, said.

He added, “Especially now that power supply has gone down, one expected that bills will go down. Because if we are generating only 3,000 megawatts, instead of 5,000MW, one would have thought that the bills will be about 50 per cent of what it used to be. But that is not the case.”

For most of the year, power generation in the country has been hovering between 2,000MW and 3,000MW due largely to the recent upsurge in militant attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta, the source of fuel for about 70 per cent of the nation’s power plants.

On February 2, the nation had achieved its peak generation of 5,074.70 MW. But the attendant improvement in supply was short-lived as generation dropped below the 4,000MW mark later that month. It plunged to a low of 1,400MW on May 17, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

Generation stood at 3.735.10MW as of 6am on December 29, according to data from the System Operator.

Several protests, bitter experiences

Over the past three years, consumers across the country have protested against the over-estimated bills from the power firms.

Owabunmuwa said the residents in the estate had embarked on series of protests after a raft of complaints by individual consumers that were not addressed.

He said, “We have had some bitter experiences in the past with Ikeja Electric. We had embarked on protest outings on a number of occasions to their head office at Alausa. They had given us some rosy promises. But none of the promises have been fulfilled.”

“During one of our protest outings, they gave us the assurance that they had prepaid meters in stock in quantum and that within the next one or two months, they will start giving us in batches. Up till now, not more than 10 prepaid meters are in the estate.”

He added, “All they do now with this delay tactic is that they keep on giving us estimated bills, with some people owing as much as N300,000 to N400,000, when they are not running factories in their mini flats.”

Asked why they stopped protesting, he said, “If we embarked on protests on more than 10 occasions, it cost us money. We contributed money to do this and majority of the people here are retirees, and some are no longer entitled to any pension.

“So, when we contributed money to embark on protest on 10 different occasions, and no results. For me to now say they should come around to pay money again to go to Alausa, they will say, ‘The ones we did in the past, what came out?’ No result. That is the situation.”

In October, some residents of Alaba-Oro, Abulekere, Olaniyonu, Alafia and Mosafejo-Amukoko communities, in Ifelodun Local Council Development Area, mobilised themselves and headed to the head office of Eko Electricity Distribution Company to register their grievances over the estimated bills they were getting.

Most of the residents in the communities live in what is popularly called as face-me-and-face-you, usually a bungalow with several rooms facing one another with a household occupying one or two rooms.

The leader, Landlords/Tenants’ Association, of the communities, Mr. Sulaimon Omololu, said, “What we pay for electricity now is equivalent or even more than house rent. So, we are saying that they should stop the estimation and let there be a confirmation as to when they are going to give us prepaid meters.”

Omololu said the rent for a room in the communities is around N3,000 per month, adding that an electricity bill of N25,000 per month given to a five-roomed bungalow translates to N5,000 for each household.

Copies of bills from EKEDC made available to our correspondent showed that a five-roomed bungalow, with Account No 03/77/18/0919-01, Name: Afolayan Lasisi Agboo, Service Address: 60, Agbamu Str, Badia, Lagos,  was charged N26,304 in August, up from N14,2208 in July.

He said, “In these five communities, we have between 75 per cent and 85 per cent that are affected because very few meters are still reading. Most of these meters were supplied 35-40 years ago.”

 “Because we have uniform problem, we approached the power firm in August; there was no changes. We went in September, the bills were still high. In October when they were higher, we mobilised ourselves and returned the bills to them. So, they isolated all the transformers, about 40, in my area for 16 days.

“By November, when they brought their bills, it was even higher despite the 16 days of blackout. They later said we should go and compile the list of places that were isolated and that the bills will be adjusted. But we have not seen the adjustment.”

According to Omololu, the communities reached a tentative arrangement with the power firm because of the Christmas and New Year period.

“They said we should encourage our people to go and pay little amounts so as to enjoy light. This time they are now saying we must pay the current charge fully and pay part of the outstanding. Then after the Yuletide, we can resume negotiation. Most of us have paid part of our bills and light has been restored. But we are still crying against that excessive billing.”

Another customer of Ikeja Electric, Mr. Bayo Akinlade, a lawyer, is ready to take the company to court for “excessive estimated billing”.

He said he and residents of his estate, Millenium Housing Estate, Oke-Eletu, Ijede Ikorodu, had written to the company and NERC, but the issue had not been addressed.

“Estimated billing is exploitation”

Owabunmuwa believes that the field officers of the power firms are interested in extorting money from consumers, saying, “They know for sure that if they give us meters massively, the possibility of extorting money from innocent residents, asking them for reconnection fee, will not be there. That is one of the reasons why they don’t want to give prepaid meters.”

In a similar vein, Omololu said, “If I am disconnected this month for non-payment, the next month’s bill will come and it will not reflect that I have not been using light for a whole month. If the disconnection last for four months, the bills will still be coming.

“Then they will ask you why you didn’t write them a letter to inform them. Are their officers not supposed to report in the office that the house had been disconnected? Because power is very essential, that is why they are exploiting us.”

Omololu said they had to do the agitation collectively because the area is largely populated by semi-literate and illiterate people, adding, “Because they know illiterates abound here, they treat us anyhow. That is why we are fighting. Those of us who are enlightened say no to this exploitation.”

Akingbogun believes that the power firms are making more money from estimated billing.

He said, “As a business person you want to maximise income and government allows you to estimate the cost of what you are selling and collect money from everybody, which is not done in any sensible society. It is not a transparent system.

“NERC is supposed to put its feet down and stop this estimated billing. Once it is stopped, the power firms will be forced to supply meters to everybody when they start losing revenues.”

The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, who described estimated billing as an unfair business practice, said, “The earlier prepaid meters are provided for every consumer, the better.

He said, “To get the support of consumers in whatever we want to do in the power sector, the consumers need to be assured that there is equity in the billing system.

“I know they said they have their framework for estimated billing. But if you look at it properly, you cannot describe it as fair to the people. Apart from that, even the guys on the field that actually come up with these bills, there are all sorts of arbitrariness that they bring into it.

“To assure equity and fairness, there should be metering. So, whatever accelerated programme that can be put in place to ensure that, it should be done.”

Power firms enjoying monopoly of sort

Following the privatisation of the sector, 11 distribution companies were carved out of the now defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, with each having their coverage areas.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company covers FCT, Niger, Kogi , and Nassarawa, while Benin Electricity Distribution Company covers Edo, Delta, Ondo, and part of Ekiti. Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company services Kaduna,Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara while Kano Electricity Distribution Company covers Kano, Jigawa and Katsina.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company cover Lagos, while Enugu Electricity Distribution Company covers Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi. Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company takes care of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and part of Ekiti, while Jos Electricity Distribution Company covers Plateau, Bauchi, Benue and Gombe.

Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company takes care of Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom, while Yola Electricity Distribution Company covers Yola, Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe.

The LCCI DG noted that the power sector has a lot of monopolistic features by its very nature.

He said, “In any sector, where you have private sector players, particularly sectors that have some monopolistic features, the regulatory institutions must be up and doing. That is the way it works anywhere in the world.

“If you have investors that have the opportunity to exploit or to take advantage of some monopoly situations, where the market is not a proper competitive market, then the regulator has to be up and doing. Otherwise, the consumers will be exploited.”

Yusuf said the regulator should ensure that the right things are done, adding, “The regulator can do a lot better that it is doing now. It needs to step up its game in ensuring that there is fairness on both sides, to the investors and to the consumers.

“There is an inbuilt monopoly situation, and that is why it is very important that once you have such a situation, you need a very strong regulator to ensure the protection of the interest of consumers.”

Omololu, said, “They are abusing the monopoly. We were thinking it will be like the telecommunications sector where you have competition. But now, you have only Eko and Ikeja Discos in Lagos. No competition and so we are at their mercy.

 “If somebody is getting N7,000 monthly and suddenly it jumps to N25,000, what is the yardstick used? Because they are not reading the meter, how will they now assume that you have consumed so much?

“I know some people are even telling them to come and disconnect supply to their houses because of the crazy bills. It is too high.”

Series of sanctions over ‘crazy’ bills

Last year, NERC sanctioned Abuja Electricity Distribution Company for overbilling its customers and ordered it to refund the overbilled amount and apologise to the customers for the wrongful estimation.

In an Order Number NERC/139, the commission said, “AEDC shall with immediate effect from the date of this order commence refund through energy credit of all excess charges billed its customers as a direct consequence of the adjustments in estimated methodology in some of the company’s business units.”

The regular recently fined Benin and Port Harcourt electricity distribution companies N6.22m over their failure to comply with the decisions of Forum Office’s rulings in complaints filed by their respective customers.

The Forum Office is made up of five members of the public and handles complaints that are unresolved at the customer complaint unit of electricity distribution companies.

Two of the three customers, Messrs Ikponmwosa Ogiesoba Barry and F. E. Ubuane, according to NERC, had filed complaints before the Benin Forum Office alleging fraudulent estimation of their electricity bills to which the Forum Office ruled in their favour.

In a related development, the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company was sanctioned over its failure to comply with the Port Harcourt Forum Office decision in a complaint filed by one Toba Aremu Olugbemi.

The regulator said the complainant had on May 11, 2016 lodged a complaint to customercare@phed.com.ng and nancy.abdala@phed.com.ng over non-availability of meter to which there was no response from PHED.

Power firms blame economic, funding and forex challenges

The distribution companies have attributed the slowdown in the deployment of meters to the economic situation, foreign exchange challenges and liquidity issue in the sector.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oladele Amoda, says the power firm does not just estimate, adding they use estimation methodology to come up with the bills.

“We look at availability of supply on the feeders and the transformers, and we look at other customers with functional meters in that same vicinity and compare.

“And we have another way of looking at it. We have meters on the feeders also. So, we use all these things to arrive at the billing that we give. We cannot be accurate in all cases. But when customers come to complain, we are much ready to attend to their problems.”

Amoda, however, said they don’t want a situation where a whole community will generalise problems, adding, “We want individuals to come and complain about their own peculiar problems.

“Right now, we are not even interested in estimated billing because it doesn’t pay us. We make more money from those that have meters because they willingly pay when we give them bills based on the reading from the meters or those who have prepaid meters.

“We have done the analysis. We are even making losses from estimated billing. We have planned to meter everybody over time. We started but because of economic issues and lack of assistance from banks, we slowed down a little bit. When CAPMI came on stream, it afforded a lot of people opportunity for us to meter them. But we have stopped that now.”

Amoda said the company had recently signed a contract for the supply of 200,000 meters to accelerate its metering programme. “But we are not going to cover everywhere at the same time. We have been metering but it may not be at the speed that you might like.” he added.

Also, reacting to the complaints over lack of prepaid meters, the Head, Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Mr. Felix Ofulue, told our correspondent that it was the common problem almost all the customers across the country were complaining about.

“We have said on several occasions that the deployment of meters is ongoing,” he said, adding that the company had offices in different areas under its network where customers having issues with estimated billing could register their complaints.

The Executive Director,  Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, an umbrella body of the Discos, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, had in November, said the failure of the Federal Government to fulfil most of the commitments made to the investors had affected the performance of the sector.

He said the government had promised that there would be cost-reflective tariffs from day one as specified under the performance agreement it signed with the investors, adding that the tariffs had yet to reflect the devaluation of the naira and the rise in inflation from the assumed nine per cent to the current 17.9 per cent.

He said, “While it is fair to state that inefficiencies, corruption and limited information associated with the PHCN is still a challenge  to  privatisation, the bigger challenges are adverse macro-economic changes (devaluation of the Naira and inflation), gas pipeline vandalism, limited gas supply, regulatory uncertainty, lack of respect for contract sanctity and government policy inconsistency.”

No excuse, say customers, stakeholders

Omololu said, “We know everybody cannot get meters at the same time, but let’s know when we will get it. But we don’t have the hope of getting it and you are still giving us high bills when supply is poor.”

The NECAN president said NERC should listen more to the consumers, saying, “The law doesn’t even allow for estimated billing. It says do not connect anybody if there is no meter.

“If it is too tough for them, then they should sell and leave; there are people who will buy.”

He says, “The power firms will just look at a whole area and say we need to generate N1bn in this area and then distribute bills based on that whether some consumers use electricity or not. That is what they are doing and it has killed many businesses and is frustrating Nigerians.

“For three years now, everything has been done to please the power firms and they have failed to invest. Those who have not made the right investment should be sanctioned. They are used to government spoon-feeding them. NERC has spoon-fed them for too long.”

Prior to the privatisation of the sector, there had been a lot of outcry over crazy bills when the utility company was called National Electric Power Authority, before it was later changed to PHCN.

Yusuf said, “The fact that a problem has existed before now is not an excuse for it to continue. The reason why the system was privatised is to bring efficiency into the system. That is the whole essence of privatisation: to bring added value. And the way the whole power sector reform has gone, it is almost giving privatisation a bad name.

“If you compare what we have now and what we had before the power reform, what will you say is the difference? Nothing really to celebrate about it, apart from the fact that it has moved from the public sector to the private sector.

“So, we need to look at the entire value chain so that whatever we need to fix, let’s fix it. Let us do a proper audit of the system; let’s do an audit of the capacities of all the major stakeholders and locate where the gaps are.”

 Upon the commencement of the implementation of the tariff hike of over 45 per cent in February, NERC had mandated the Discos to complete metering of unmetered customers within one year, after which there will be no more estimated billing.

“The new tariff, besides eliminating fixed charge, has a robust mechanism to ensure that the distribution companies fully meter their consumers and eliminate ‘crazy’ billing within one year,” the Acting Head and Chief Executive Officer, NERC, Dr Anthony Akah, said.

He told our correspondent in a recent interview, “NERC has directed the Discos to meet up their metering obligations in line with the performance agreements. If they fail to meter consumers in line with those clear agreements that were duly signed, then we will have to sanction them and may have to come out with other regulatory intervention to protect the consumers from undue estimated billing.”

Sambisa: Afenifere hails Buhari, urges restructuring

 The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural association, Afenifere has commended President Muhammadu Buhari over the success recorded by the military in flushing out the Boko Haram militants from the Sambisa Forest.

The association, however, declared that there was no achievement that could be greater, for the current administration, than to embark on the restructuring of the country as recommended by the 2014 national conference.

The Secretary-General of the Afenifere, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, while speaking with one of our correspondents on Thursday, also stated that the country would have no peace until it was restructured.

He said, “Our governments from time had been run on trial and error basis and occasionally achieve success. President Buhari has won the Sambisa war, we congratulate him but he still has to win peace in the country.

“Our view is that until we have enduring structure for our country to build upon as it is laid down in the 2014 confab’s report,  we won’t be able to have peace and progress and any achievement recorded is just by the way.

“For instance, we recommended the creation of state police and adoption of geopolitical administrative structure. The state police, if allowed to exist, would have automatically taken care of what happened when our girls were being taken away.

“ Let us have an enduring structure, not just occasional breakthrough, which does not last. “

He noted that if there was state police, the Boko Haram group would not have succeeded in the Sambisa Forest, saying it was only the state police that could enable the country to tackle the problem of insecurity effectively.

Arogbofa urged the President to consider and implement the report of the national confab to restructure the country.

Afenifere in another statement on Thursday challenged the Federal Government to reveal the identities of the 11 officers who masterminded the 50,000 ghost workers scam in the federal civil service.

The scam, the organisation said, “has again raised the need to restructure Nigeria as the concentration of too many resources at the centre is one of the major incentives for corruption.”

Revealing their identities, Afenifere stressed, would remove the fear of a grand conspiracy to cover up the crime.

The organisation also expressed concern over the recent report that all the members of staff of the Federal Ministry of Finance who were involved in the 2016 budget padding scandal had been redeployed to the cash office of the ministry.

Afenifere in a statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, said, “The attention of Afenifere has been drawn to the recent revelation by the Federal Government that over 50,000 ghost workers have been “retrenched” from the public service of the federation.

“…We, however, demand immediate unveiling of the identities of the 11 officers who have been fingered in the 50,000 ghost workers’ scam. This would remove the fear that there is a grand conspiracy to cover up this crime.”

Tambuwal, Ahmed present 2017 budgets to lawmakers

 

For the second year running, education got the highest sectoral allocation in the Sokoto State 2017 budget, presented to the House of Assembly by Governor Aminu Tambuwal presented Sokoto’s 2017 on Thursday.

Laying the budget before lawmakers, Tambuwal said education was allocated N38,426,266,193, representing 27.3 per cent of the N204,288,364,741 budget.

Of the estimate, 69 per cent is dedicated to capital projects, while 31 per cent is dedicated to recurrent expenditure.

Also, the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, on Thursday, in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, presented  an appropriation bill of N135.2bn to the state House of Assembly.

Ahmed stated that this was an increase of N23.682bn or 21.2 per cent over the 2016 revised appropriation.

According to Tambuwal, the policy thrust of the budget is to ensure sustainable economic development through substantial investment in critical sectors like education, agriculture, healthcare delivery, exploration of mineral resources, investment in renewable energy and infrastructure.

“We will prioritise effective resource management and seek intervention in areas with high potential to create job opportunities, generate income and improve revenue generation,” the governor said.

He added that though the financial situation in the country posed huge challenges, the state’s 2017 budget would address key policy issues which included promotion of peaceful coexistence and protection of lives and properties.

Tambuwal added, “We will work to strengthen capacity building of scheduled ministries to ensure they perform better in their tasks.

“Of great importance to us is the promotion of partnership with the private sector in areas of strategic importance to our development objective.

“We will promote value chain through agro-processing and diversification by way of incentivising farmers and producers, and creating backward and forward linkages between and among institutions, partners and other stakeholders to accelerate economic growth.”

Allocation to other sectors show that the Ministry of Works and Transport gets N16.2bn; ministries of water resources and environment is allocated N10.7bn, the health sector gets N7.7bn while ministry of housing, lands and survey gets N8.2bn.

Others include ministry rural and community development (N5.6bn),  Ministry of Solid Minerals and Natural Resources Development (N1.7bn) while the sum of N4bn is set aside for the Ministry of Commerce, Industries and Tourism.

 “I want to emphasise the need for us to work as a team so that together we can move our dear state forward,” he added.

Ahmed said N57.479bn was proposed for recurrent expenditure, representing 42.5 per cent of the budget.

He added that N6.798bn was for the public debt service, which represents five per cent of the total budget size, while N70.986bn or 52.5 per cent was allocated for capital expenditure.

Ahmed stated that the budget contained estimated revenue of N135.264bn from all the available sources to the state from which the 2017 budget would be funded.

According to him, statutory revenue allocation, which is the state’s share of the federation account, is estimated at N23.793bn which represents 17.6 per cent of the total revenue estimate.

He added that N7.479bn was for Value Added Tax, representing 5.5 per cent of the total revenue estimate, while other sundry revenue from the federation account was budgeted at N7.54bn which is 5.5 per cent of the revenue estimate and N10bn from refund from London and Paris Club loans over deductions which represents 7.4 per cent of the total revenue estimate.

Ahmed also said N29.34bn was expected from internally generated revenue, representing 21.5 per cent of the total revenue estimate and N52.4bn as  Capital Development Fund Receipt/Aid & Grants,  which represents 38.5 per cent of the total revenue estimate.

Bird flu: Kano kills 9,000 birds

 

The Kano State Government said it had so far killed 9,000 birds since bird flu resurfaced in the state two weeks ago.

The Director in the state’s Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Shehu Bawa,  said this  in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Kano.

He said the birds were killed in two poultry farms that had been infected with the disease in the state.

Bawa added, “As I am talking to you now, only two farms were hit by the disease and the farms had since been depopulated. We killed 500 birds in the first farm, while 8,500 were killed in the second farm.”

Bawa said the ministry would intensify surveillance and disinfection of other farms to check the spread of the disease, and would continue to sensitise farmers on the need for them to ensure clean environment.

He urged the Federal Government to pay compensation to farmers who lost their birds in 2015 as the affected farmers had yet to receive anything from government.

He emphasised the need for government to compensate the affected farmers in view of the economic situation in the country.

Bawa stated, “The payment will greatly assist in checking the spread of the disease as they (poultry farmers) will promptly report outbreak of the disease to government since they know they will get compensation.

“Even if they are not fully compensated, the Federal Government should assist affected farmers to alleviate their sufferings.”

Ambode seeks improved performance from teachers

 The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi  Ambode, on Thursday asked head teachers in the state public primary schools  to be self-disciplined and strive for better academic performance of pupils.

 Ambode also urged school administrators to rededicate themselves to the job and instil discipline in their teaching staff and the pupils, promising that his administration would continue to prioritise teachers’ welfare, a statement said on Thursday.

 The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Idiat Adebule, said this at the end of the year performance review ceremony organised by the State Universal Basic Education Board in Ikeja.

He added that primary education was the fulcrum of development of the sector.

 “The governor noted that his administration knew the importance of teachers in the implementation of sustainable educational policies, which he stated was the reason why teachers are accorded recognition by his government, promising that his administration would ensure that their welfare and good condition of service are not taking for granted from time to time.

 “As a demonstration of this, he disclosed that he had considered and approved their demand for the attainment of Grade Level 17 by the head teachers just like their counterparts in the normal civil service,” the statement added.

 Ambode requested the head teachers to draw their school improvement plans for the 2017 and submit same to the office of the deputy governor for consideration, noting that the plans would help them to set and achieve their goals.

The governor’s wife, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, urged teachers to be dedicated and double their efforts in preparing the students for leadership roles.

 The Chairman of SUBEB, Dr. Ganiyu Shopeyin, who said the government had made huge investments to improve infrastructure in public primary schools, stated that such investments could be justified when teachers showed more commitment to their work.

FG’ll make key festivals attractive to tourists – Minister

 

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the Federal Government is working with the private sector to make major festivals in the country attractive to domestic and foreign tourists.

A statement by his aide, Mr. Segun Adeyemi, in Abuja on Thursday, said that the minister made the disclosure in Offa, Kwara State, at the 2016 edition of the ‘’Íjakadi Festival,’’ a traditional wrestling event that dates back to the 14th century.

The minister, who was said to have been represented by the General Manager of Nigerian Television Authority, Ilorin, Mr. Raphael Arulogun, was also quoted as saying that  the starting point was to train the managers of the nation’s key festivals.

The minister said, ‘’As you may be aware, the training of Festival Managers is contained in the Memorandum of Understanding that we signed with the British Council.

“Also included in another MoU which we signed with the Tony Elumelu Foundation is the need to ensure that festivals like Ijakadi are not just a mere jamboree but also a source of economic empowerment for the people, in terms of injecting foreign exchange into the economy and creating jobs, especially for the communities in which such festivals are situated.’’

CBN sells $1bn to clear backlog of forex demand

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria has sold about $1bn on the forward market to clear a backlog of dollar obligations in selected sectors, according to foreign exchange traders.

The traders said on Thursday that the dollar sale was made last week. They described it as the largest special auction by the CBN since the naira peg was removed in June.

Outstanding dollar demand was about $4bn before June, when the 16-month-old peg was removed. Efforts to cut dollar demand have been largely unsuccessful due to low oil prices.

Crude sales account for about 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.

Traders said the CBN told banks to prioritise airlines, manufacturing firms, petroleum products importers and agriculture sectors, the sectors worst hit by the dollar shortage, in the auction.

“The central bank sold $1bn at last week’s special forex auction and directed banks to issue fresh letters of credit to reflect the amount sold in favour of the affected sectors,” a senior currency trader told Reuters.

Traders said the CBN sold 30-day and 60-day forwards at the auction.

On December 19, the CBN instructed commercial lenders to submit their backlog of dollar demand from fuel importers, airlines, raw materials and machinery for manufacturing firms and agricultural chemicals for the special forex intervention.

I am engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis, Serena announces

 Tennis superstar Serena Williams announced Thursday she is engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, breaking the news with a poem on her verified Reddit account.

Williams, 35, and Ohanian, 33, did not reveal a wedding date in the postings, listed under the Reddit tag ‘isaidyes’.

“I came home A little late, Someone had a bag packed for me, And a carriage awaited, Destination: Rome, To escort me to my very own “charming” Back to where our stars first collided, And now it was full circle At the same table we first met by chance, This time he made it not by chance But by choice, Down on one knee He said 4 words And r/isaidyes,” Williams posted on her account.

A reply from his verified account said: “And you made me the happiest man on the planet.”

The WTA Tour, which Williams has dominated for much of her career, posted a photo of Williams and Ohanian on Twitter with a message of congratulations.

Williams won this year’s Wimbledon crown, the 71st singles title of her career, to match Steffi Graf with an Open Era-record 22 Grand Slam singles titles, two shy of Margaret Court’s all-time record.

She later completed 186 consecutive weeks as world number one, matching Graf for the longest run at the top in rankings history, but she was dethroned from the spot by Angelique Kerber in September.

Naira among four worst global currencies in 2016

 The naira is one of the world’s four worst performing currencies in 2016, according to a report by Bloomberg LP.

The naira was said to have lost 36.68 per cent of its spot returns for the year, while the Egyptian pound, Suriname dollar and Venezuela bolivar’s currency spot returns dropped by 58.84 per cent, 46.68 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively, for the period.

The Nigerian equity market fared worst in the year, according to the report, as the nation’s economy is set to contract in 2016 for the first time in more than 20 years as capital controls deter foreigners from investing and militants are blowing up pipelines.

The five best performing currencies of the world are the Russian ruble, Brazilian real, the palladium, the Iceland krona, and silver, which appreciated by 21.31 per cent, 20.96 per cent, 20.08 per cent, 14.42 per cent and 14.41 per cent, respectively, in terms of spot returns.

Two Africa currencies, the Zambian kwacha and South African rand, emerged as the sixth and seventh best performing currencies of the world. The kwacha and rand appreciated by 11.96 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

The report stated, “It was a particularly bad year for any currency called the ‘pound’. The Egyptian version was the worst performer in 2016 as the nation took the dramatic step of allowing it to trade freely in an attempt to stabilise an economy struggling with a dollar shortage and concerns over social unrest. Britain’s pound tumbled after the Brexit and never recovered.”

On the other side of the spectrum, digital currency, bitcoin, was the best performer this year, rising more than 100 per cent as capital controls in places like China and isolationist rumblings in the United Kingdom and the United States fuelled interest in alternate currencies, according to the report.

It added, “When it comes to currencies issued by governments and central banks, the Russian ruble has been the best performer of the year as the oil market rebounded.

“While the UK currency’s slide didn’t match those in some emerging markets, it did tally the worst performance among major currencies.”

Despite recent unrest, Brazil’s Ibovespa stock index remained the best performer for 2016 when looking at all indices in terms of the US dollar, the report noted, stating that this was largely due to hopes that President Michel Temer, who took office after Dilma Rousseff was impeached, would end the worst recession in a century and bring about political stability.

No plastic rice in Nigeria, says NAFDAC

 

Over 40,000 bags of rice seized by the Nigeria Customs Service have been shared to Internally Displaced  Persons’ camps, its Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali, has stated.

The NCS CG, represented by its Deputy Comptroller-General, Mr. Umar Ilya, said this on Thursday in Abuja, during a joint press briefing with the acting Director-General of National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, on the outcome of laboratory tests conducted on the confiscated plastic rice allegedly imported into the country.

At the event, Oni explained that no plastic rice was imported into the country.

She, however, said the seized rice was “contaminated with microorganisms above permissible limit.”

“Based on the above laboratory result, the product is not plastic but rice contaminated with micro-organisms above permissible limit, hence the seized rice consignment is unsatisfactory and therefore unwholesome for human consumption. The consignment upon handover by the Nigeria Customs Service shall be destroyed,” Oni emphasised.

While explaining the circumstances surrounding the alleged plastic rice, he said the NCS only responded to a security alert issued by the Office of the National Security Adviser on the importation of plastic rice into the country.

On the bags of good rice seized from traders who illegally imported the staple food to Nigeria, Ilya explained that the NCS had after subjected the rice to test had given them to IDPs.

He said, “We have seized over 40,000 bags of rice so far since the ban on importation of rice through the land borders. Those are the bags of rice that are being shared to the IDPs camps. But that is after we have tested and certified them suitable for consumption.”

He urged warehouse owners across the country not to accept smuggled products into their facilities.

“We enjoin transporters to reject moving such products, as under the law, both smuggled products and the means of conveyance are liable to seizure. We will rely on the synergy with NAFDAC, and other agencies of government to ensure that smuggled  and unhygienic products  are not allowed in Nigeria,” he said.

Cultism: ‘Rivers community lost 400 to cultists’

 EKPEYE ethnic group in Ahoada East and Ahoada West Local Governments Areas of Rivers State said on Thursday that their community lost over 400 of its indigenes within two years to cult-related killings.

 One of the leaders in the area and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Chibudom Nwuche, disclosed this when he paid a solidarity visit to Eze Ekpeye Logbo, His Royal Majesty, Eze Robinson O. Robinson, to mark the Yuletide at his hometown in Odiereke community, Ahoada West LGA.

Speaking at the monarch’s palace, Nwuche said the communities of Ekpeye were still in shock over the recent cult killings in the area.

Nwuche explained that several innocent citizens of the area were killed with some of them beheaded, even as he observed that peace had returned because of the amnesty programme of the state government.

Lagos woman killed by cleaner buried

Emotion ran high on Thursday as late Temidayo Adeleke, who was stabbed to death by her Cameroonian house help, was laid to rest at The Vaults and Gardens, Ikoyi, Lagos State.

Prior to the burial, a funeral service attended by families and friends of the deceased was held at Guiding Light Assembly on Parkview Estate, where the victim lived.

PUNCH Metro had reported that Joel Ludguo approached the 32-year-old victim around 10.30pm on Tuesday, December 20, 2016, and asked for advance payment of N15,000 out of his N27,000 salary.

Adeleke, whose marriage was slated for early 2017, was said to have pleaded with him to be patient, saying she did not have naira notes on her.

The entreaty, however, fell on deaf ears as Ludguo left the boss’ living room in anger only to return a few minutes later with a knife and stabbed her in the chest.

The police had said the 22-year-old cleaner was desperate to send the money to his girlfriend in Cameroon, adding that the suspect would be duly prosecuted.

The security guard of the Adelekes’ residence, who identified himself simply as Abbah, had told PUNCH Metro that the suspect was employed about two months ago, adding that he was on drugs.

He said, “The boy is wicked and I have always warned him. He takes drugs. When policemen checked his clothes, they found tremor there. Madam bought him a new phone last month and she usually gave him money apart from his salary. She brought him home through her church member last month and they lived in her flat.

“It was the driver who lives in the adjoining flat that heard madam scream. By the time he got there, she was gasping with blood gushing out of her chest. The driver alerted me immediately to stop Joel at the gate and he was later arrested,” he had said.

A mammoth crowd flooded  The Vaults and Gardens on Thursday during the burial of the victim as tears streamed down the faces of many sympathisers.

The family members of the deceased were distraught to speak to journalists, but friends described Adeleke as a kind-hearted and passionate woman, who lived a virtuous life.

Wizkid, other artistes made waves in 2016

 Chux Ohai

The going was not all that smooth for many Nigerian music artistes who laboured against the odds to grab a piece of the market in 2016. While some fared well in the end, others managed to keep their careers and heads barely above water.

Only the most creative and focused, such as Wizkid, Falz the Bad Guy, Yemi Alade and Yemi Alade, to mention a few, were able to shine like a thousand stars.

Wizkid

Three years after pulling out of Banky W’s EME Records, Wizkid’s career has steadily been on the rise and the year under review has been an excellent one for him.

The singer’s winning streak started with the 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards in South Africa, where he emerged winner in the Artiste of the Year, Best Male Act and Best Collaboration out of Africa categories, respectively.

Then on November 6 he was named Best African Act and Worldwide Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Interestingly on the same night, the talented singer emerged as Artiste of Year at the All Africa Music Awards held in Lagos.

In addition to winning  the Best African Act award at the 2016 MOBO awards in London, Wizkid  received his first-ever Grammy Awards nomination for featuring in American pop star, Drake’s hit song titled ‘One Dance’.

Only a few weeks ago, he was named Artist of the Year at the Headies Awards. The singer, who has been described as one of Africa’s best artists, also collaborated with the likes of Chris Brown , Trey Songz, French Montana, Justine Skye, DJ Maphorisa and few others. The year under review, no doubt, has been quite rewarding for him.

Falz the Bad Guy

Trained as lawyer, Falz the Bad Guy (real name is Folarin Falana) has also had an exciting and rewarding year as an artiste. He emerged the winner in the Viewer’s Choice Best New International Act category at the  2016 BET Awards in the United States of America. Also, the rapper won two trophies, namely the Best Afro Hiphop Video and Best Music Video, with ‘Karashika’ at the 9th Nigeria Music Video Awards, among other laurels.

Yemi Alade

Hardworking and sensational singer, Yemi Alade, proved to her critics that her achievement at last year’s edition of the MTV Africa Music Awards was not flash in the pan when she repeated the feat in 2016 in South Africa.

The singer, who came into the limelight after worming into the hearts of music fans in the continent with her 2013 single titled ‘Johnny’, was named Best Female Act for the second time running. She beat fellow Nigerian act, Tiwa Savage, Josey of Ivory Coast, Mz Vee of Ghana and Tanzanian singer, Vanessa Mdee to win the award.

Kiss Daniel

Two years after he debuted with the hit single, Woju, Kiss Daniel (real name Daniel Anidugbe) finally made it to the music hall of fame by winning three laurels at the 2016 Headies Awards.

The artiste has been described as the biggest winner of the night at the event, clinching the Best R&B/Pop Album, Hip Hop World Revelation and Album of the Year awards, with his 20-track New Era album, which had other hit songs, such as Mama, Jombo.

Police nab three okada robbers in Ogun

 The Ogun State Police Command has arrested three suspected armed robbers in Ijebu Ode, while allegedly trying to dispossess one Bello Ibrahim of his motorcycle with number plate, GBE 159 VZ.

The suspects were identified as Suleiman Waheed, Mathew Johnson and Isiaka Momoh.

They were said to have been arrested on Tuesday along the Ijebu Ode -Ibadan Road.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspects were arrested by policemen attached to the Awa Ijebu Police Division, who were on a routine patrol of the area.

He said, “They got the information and quickly raced to the scene and were able to arrest the three suspects.”

He said the suspects had made confessional statements and the motorcycle had been recovered.

He said investigations by the police revealed that the culprits have been terrorising the area for some time.

The PPRO stated that the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, had ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation.

“The CP further warned that crime would have no place in the state.” Oyeyemi said.

Drug traffickers excrete 50 wraps of cocaine

 Two drug trafficking suspects have been arrested with 1.2 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspects – David Achebe, 37, and 43-year-old Daniel Ndukwe – met their Waterloo on Saturday during an outward screening of passengers on Ethiopian and Egypt airline flights by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the MMIA.

The detectives were said to have placed the duo on a close watch, during which Achebe excreted 45 wraps of cocaine while Nduwke expelled five wraps of the drug.

Our correspondent gathered that Achebe and Ndukwe had wanted to smuggle the narcotic to Hong Kong and Greece respectively.

Achebe, who deals in electronics, reportedly told investigators that a friend contracted him to traffic in cocaine with a promise of N5m for a successful operation.

He said, “I sell electronics at Alaba market. This is my first time of dealing in drugs. My friend in Hong Kong introduced me to cocaine smuggling. He sent the drug to me. The cocaine was in a black polythene bag containing plantain and pineapples.

“I swallowed the 45 wraps in my toilet without my wife’s knowledge. I was promised the sum of N5m which I had wanted to use in importing electronics. At the airport, they told me that scanning machine indicated that I had drugs on me. That was how I was arrested.”

Ndukwe in his confessional statement said he thought he would scale through the screening due to the small quantity of the drug, adding that he was to be paid N250,000.

“I have lived in Athens (Greece) for over a decade. I lost my job last year and things have been very bad financially. I came to Nigeria to visit my wife and two children. I had no plan to smuggle drugs until a friend called me from Athens that I should bring five wraps of cocaine. Since it is only five wraps, I felt it will be an easy task. He sent someone to give me the wraps in Umuahia (Abia State). I inserted the five wraps in my anus,” he said.

The NDLEA Commander at the airport, Mr. Ahmadu Garba, said a preliminary investigation indicated that the suspects wanted to cash in on the Yuletide, thinking there would be laxity in the screening process.

“Both suspects tested positive for narcotic ingestion and while under observation, they expelled wraps of cocaine which they had wanted to smuggle out of the country. Achebe ingested cocaine weighing 935 grammes while Ndukwe ingested 215 grammes. The suspects are currently under investigation,” Ahmadu added.

The Chairman of the agency, Col. Muhammad Abdallah (retd), stated that those, who indulged in drug trafficking, would end up in prison custody.

He said, “This is a warning to drug traffickers that the agency is determined to detect all hidden drugs and prosecute offenders. There are control measures in place to detect narcotics at all exit and entry points. We shall continue to improve on our strategies in order to provide a safe society for all.”

FG to buy N45m carpet, N63m seats for National Theatre

 The Federal Government is planning to spend N45m on the laying of carpet of Cinema Halls I and II of the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, in 2017.

This is part of the whopping N736.3m total allocation to the national edifice in the 2017 Appropriation Bill currently before the National Assembly.

According to the details of the document obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday, the Federal Government has also planned to spend N63m on the installation of modern theatre seats for the Cinema Halls I and II.

The government, through the Ministry of Information and Culture, will also spend N20m on the supply and rehabilitation of the male and female toilets in the main exhibition hall.

Further details of the National Theatre’s budget showed that the rehabilitation of water and civil works of the reservoir would gulp N28m; replacement of old electrical materials with new ones would cost N32m while the supply of mahogany for stage construction and rehabilitation of motorised curtain rail would gulp N25m.

The National Theatre’s total personnel cost for the year is put at N360.55m; total overheads is N163m; total recurrent is N523.6m; while total capital is estimated at N212.7m.

The National Orientation Agency will spend about N32m on the Change-Begins-With-Me campaign of the Federal Government in 2017 the year.

This is just one out of the numerous enlightenment programmes planned by the agency for the year.

The Change-Begins-With-Me campaign is divided into two segments in the agency’s budget.

The first segment, which is campaign on conservation and protection of public assets and infrastructure, will get N16m while N15.9m is budgeted for the national action against drug addiction, political thuggery, kidnapping, radicalisation and violent extremism.

The agency also plans to spend N31.4m on what it called promoting the tenets of social justice and alternative dispute resolution; and N16m on the acquisition of office building in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

The NOA will also spend N134m on the completion of state directorate offices in Osun, Kogi and Nasarawa while it will spend N50.5m on “building a people of peace.”

Others expenses to be made by the agency during the year include N28.6m on national security awareness sensitisation campaign; N78m on purchase of office equipment; and N9.4m for grassroots public enlightenment sessions in the wards and local government areas on the meaning, application and benefits of the Freedom of Information Act 2011.

Others are ‘Do the right thing’, a campus-focussed programme in a tertiary institution in one state in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country – N23.7m and campaign against destruction of public assets – N10.5m.

Throw away idols in your palaces, Oluwo tells monarchs

The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has urged monarchs in Yoruba land  to offer their subjects various forms of assistance and  words of encouragement to give them hope especially in the present economic situation in the country.

The Oluwo, who said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Osogbo, on Tuesday, stated that the people would respect and honour monarchs who made positive impacts on their lives.

The traditional ruler urged his colleagues to throw away the various idols in their palaces, saying God hates idolatry.

Oba Akanbi believed that the palaces of monarchs must be without idols, warning traditional rulers to shun idolatry, saying God would not help any town whose monarch worshipped other gods.

The Iwo monarch explained that people should be able to come to palaces and pray to God, saying this would not be until the monarchs rid their palaces of strange gods, which he said could not help them.

The Oluwo stated, “Our palaces must be clean and devoid of any idol. There is authority in the mouth of any monarch who is clean and who shuns idol worshiping. Our palaces must be devoid of idols.

“I removed the ‘Ogun Odela’ in front of my palace and asked them to take it to Ogundigba (far from the palace) because of this. This happened about two weeks ago.

“Oba must not kneel down before anybody to pray. This is a message or a warning to all the kings and let me tell them that their palaces are the habitation of God on earth. God was dwelling with us before churches and mosques were built.”

Oba Akanbi said the era of monarchs sitting back in their palaces and expecting their subjects to bring tributes to them was long over.

According to him, service to the people is necessary for any monarch to be loved by his subject.

He said Oduduwa became the greatest king in Yoruba land because of his love and service to the people, stressing that there had not been any leader like Oduduwa because kings had not been serving their people the way Oduduwa did.

N’Assembly to re-work N7.29tn budget –Reps spokesman

 The House of Representatives said on Monday that each item in the N7.29tn budgeted for 2017 would be subjected to a thorough review by the National Assembly.

It noted that until such a review was done by various standing committees and approved by the legislature, the budget remained mere proposals by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, who spoke with The PUNCH in Abuja, explained that lawmakers would ensure that the controversies, which nearly marred the 2016 budget, would not be replicated with that of 2017.

Namdas, a member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State, stated, “We have received the budget proposals from Mr. President. We now have a duty as lawmakers to look at the items one after another.

“The first step is that every member will get copies of the budget to study and this will assist them in pointing out key areas for the attention of the House.

“As soon as we reconvene in January, work on the details of the budget will begin.”

Asked whether lawmakers would increase the budget size, Namdas replied that the size was already “huge.”

He added, “N7.29tn is a huge amount; increasing it is not likely the way to go.

“However, the budget is the document eventually passed by the National Assembly.

“Nigerians should be patient till we reconvene in January.”

The President had, on Wednesday, December 14, laid the estimates of the budget before a joint session of the Senate and the House in Abuja.

The budget of “economic recovery and growth” is 20 per cent higher than the N6.06tn budgeted for 2016.

Its total capital component of N2.24tn is also higher than that of 2016 by 30.7 per cent, a projection Buhari said was made to spend more on infrastructure, solid minerals development, agriculture and provide support for local manufacturing firms to speed up growth.

Spending on recurrent expenditure is put at N2.98tn.

Although the budget’s anticipated revenue of N4.9tn is higher than that of 2016 by 28 per cent, it has a deficit of N2.36tn, representing 2.18 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.

The President told lawmakers that the deficit would be financed through a projected borrowing of N2.32tn, broken into N1.06tn (external) and N1.25tn (domestic).

Policeman kills man five days to wedding

 The premises of a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Mega Station located at the Control Post junction in Owerri, the Imo State capital, has been deserted following the alleged killing of one Friday Nduka, by a police Inspector, Mike Edem, who was on duty at the station.

Our correspondent learnt that the victim, who returned from Malaysia for his wedding in Owerri on December 27, 2016, hailed from the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.

He was reportedly shot dead on December 22 by the trigger-happy policeman, who is now at large, in the presence of his fiancée and younger brother.

An eyewitness told our correspondent that Nduka got into in a serious argument with one of the pump attendants over his missing iPhone 7.

He said the argument degenerated into a fight and Nduka, inflicted injuries on the attendant.

The witness said the manager of the station, Mrs. Ruth Enemmuo, who is now in police detention, intervened, adding that as soon as Nduka entered into his car, the police inspector fired, killing him instantly.

It was learnt that the inspector fled the area and had not been seen.

The manager later went to the police station to report the killing, but was detained immediately.

A human rights lawyer and counsel to the detained NNPC manager, Kissinger Ikeokwu, said there was no reason for the police to detain the NNPC station manager.

“Now, the police are saying that my client should produce their own fleeing officer,” he added.

The woman, who spoke to our correspondent from her cell, said all the station’s attendants, including the one that had an altercation with the deceased, were on the run.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem, confirmed the incident and described the inspector as unruly.

Enwerem stated that the Inspector-General of Police had mandated the Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, to apprehend the fleeing inspector.

My predecessors left with 22 police vehicles –Arase

 The immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has advised his successor, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to avoid engaging in acts that could bring any past occupant of that office to public ridicule.

In a letter dated December 1, 2016, which he wrote to Idris, Arase pointed out that it was for this reason that while he was in office, he ensured that Force Order 295 was put in place to protect ex-IGs from being demeaned.

Arase, who retired as police IG in June, said it was in the spirit of this order that he desisted from ridiculing the last two IGs before him even though he knew that they each went away with 13 and nine police vehicles respectively when leaving office.

The former IGs, which Arase referred to, are Mohammed Abubakar, who retired in 2014 and Suleiman Abba, who was sacked in April last year by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Arase said this in his reply to the allegations by Idris that he (Arase) took away 24 police vehicles while leaving office in June as the IG.

The former IG had earlier dismissed his successors allegations that he left with two dozens of vehicles while leaving office, wondering what he would do with such number of vehicles.

Arase said rather than denigrate Abba, who he succeeded, he indeed initiated actions and bought a brand new bulletproof jeep for the sacked IG despite the fact that Abba’s administration left a debt of N28bn for him to contend with.

He urged Idris to put the integrity and honour of the Nigeria Police Force first in any action he might want to take so that the force would not be exposed to public ridicule.

Arase said, “I expect that former occupants of the office of the Inspector-General of Police should not be demeaned. This explains why Force Order 295 was emplaced by the force management under my leadership as acknowledged in your letter in reference.

“In spite of the emplacement of this order and despite the fact that my two immediate predecessors left office with 13 and nine vehicles of different makes and models respectively, I never pressurised either of them to return any of such vehicles neither did I engage in any act that was capable of bringing them to ridicule as being done to me of late by a force I dedicated my life to serving up to the highest level.

“Rather, it is on record that I went the extra mile to source for funds and initiated actions towards purchasing a brand new bulletproof jeep for my immediate predecessor, even after his retirement from service. This was done notwithstanding the fact that I inherited and had to manage a huge debt profile of about N28bn, which limited the financial base of the force at the time.”

Among the 13 vehicles, which Arase said Abubakar took away were a BMW (7 series) bulletproof car; and two Toyota Land Cruiser V8 bulletproof jeeps.

According to him, Abba also took away a Toyota Land Cruiser bulletproof jeep and a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado jeep along with seven other vehicles.

Arase said God had blessed him so much and he was contended to the point that he would willingly surrender “all my vehicular entitlements even as contained in the Revised Force Order 295 in the overriding interest of the force and in the sustenance of the legacy of comradeship between an incumbent IGP and his predecessor.”

He said he decided to delay in returning the vehicles, which Idris alleged he took away, as a form of protest against the “unfair, untidy and demeaning approach the matter was handled until now.”

Arase, however, said he harboured no animosity towards Idris and encouraged him to feel free to approach him for advice, just as his predecessors did to him.

Gunmen kill four grandchildren, nine others in Delta, Rivers

 Unidentified gunmen suspected to be members of a cult on Saturday killed eight people in Omoku town, in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.

This is just as the Idumuje-Ugboko town in the Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State was thrown into pandemonium on Sunday following the killing of a woman and four of her grandchildren by gunmen suspected to be hired assassins.

In the Rivers killing, it was gathered that the bandits invaded the community at about 9pm and shot repeatedly, scaring many people away.

The suspected cult members were said to have positioned themselves on three streets in Omoku before opening fire.

A source in the community, said most residents of the area, especially those who fled as a result of a similar invasion in the past, had returned before the latest attack.

The source said, “I was sitting outside with one of my friends when we heard gunshots. People started running helter-skelter. I ran into the gunmen as I fled to my house.

“They put on military uniforms and were armed. They fired from every direction.

“In the morning, I took a walk around the town and I counted seven corpses. Two Hausa men, who might have been hit by stray bullets, were among them. A member of the Joint Security Task Force was also among the dead.

“At the moment, we don’t know the actual cause of the attack. But we heard that members of a rival cult claimed that the state government settled some groups and abandoned them. They said they would not stop attacking until the government compensated them.”

A resident of the area, who claimed to have narrowly escaped death, Chief Ezegohuru Eluozo, said the attack caused panic and disrupted Christmas celebration in Omoku.

However, the Rivers State Police Command said it was not aware of the incident.

The Police Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said he would inform our reporter after being briefed by the Divisional Police Officer in the area.

Meanwhile, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Mr. Osi Olisa, had restricted the operation of commercial motorcyclists in the area.

Olisa in a statement, advised all commercial motorcycle operators to desist from  commercial activities between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

In the Delta State tragedy, a woman and four of her grandchildren were killed by gunmen suspected to assassins on Christmas day.

The incident which occurred in the agrarian community between late Saturday and early hours of Sunday created tension in the area as residents discussed what led to the gruesome killing of the five members of the same family.

Our correspondent gathered that the victims were shot before their apartment was set ablaze by the assailants. Their corpses were said to have been seriously burnt.

A source gave the name of the grandmother as Comfort Ubani, while the names of the four grandchildren, who were between the ages of six and 13, could not be immediately obtained at the time of filing this report.

A resident of the community, Benjamin Ogbechie, said the hoodlums struck when the deceased were still sleeping and could not raise the alarm.

Another source said, “The victims were shot dead by unknown persons, who thereafter gathered their corpses in the sitting room and set them ablaze.

“The burnt remains of the grandmother and three of the children were found in the sitting room, while the remains of the fourth child were found in the compound. The cause of the fire has yet to be established, but we saw pieces of clothes forced into their mouths.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim, visited the scene of the incident and described the incident as pathetic.

He assured the community that the police would apprehend those behind the killings, adding that the matter would not be swept under the carpet.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, said investigation into matter had begun.

 He added that the corpses had been deposited in a morgue in the area.

Nigeria loses N94bn to gas flaring in four months

 The country lost at least N94bn in four months as oil and gas companies flared a total of 87.03 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas in that period.

The latest monthly report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation showed that 22.60 billion scf of gas was flared in October; 21.50 billion scf in September; 21.14 billion scf in August; and 21.79 billion scf in July, this year.

It stated that out of the 215.43 billion scf of gas produced in October, a total of 121.63 billion scf was commercialised, comprising of 29.29 billion scf and 92.34 billion scf for the domestic and export markets, respectively.

The gas flare rate in the month was 10.49 per cent, compared with the average flare rate of 9.36 per cent for the period of November 2015 to October 2016.

With the price of natural gas put at $3.54 per 1,000 scf as of December 22, the 87.03 billion scf flared translates to a loss of $308m or N94bn (using the official exchange rate of N305.25/dollar).

According to the draft National Gas Policy recently released by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the flaring of natural gas that is produced in association with oil is one of the most egregious environmental and energy waste practices in the Nigerian petroleum industry.

The draft policy states, “While gas flaring levels have declined in recent years, it is still a prevailing practice in the petroleum industry. Billions of cubic metres of natural gas are flared annually at oil production locations resulting in atmospheric pollution severely affecting host communities.

“Gas flaring affects the environment and human health, produces economic loss, deprives the government of tax revenues and trade opportunities, and deprives consumers of a clean and cheaper energy source.”

The ministry said under the gas policy, the government intended to maximise utilisation of associated gas to be treated for supply to power generation or industry.

“To ensure that flared gas is put to use in markets, the government will take measures to ensure that flare capture and utilisation projects are developed and will work collaboratively with industry, development partners, providers of flare-capture technologies and third-party investors to this end,” it added.

According to the gas policy, the current gas flare penalty of N10 per 1,000 scf of associated gas flared is too low, having been eroded in value over time, and is not acting as intended, as a disincentive.

“Consequently, the low penalty has made gas flaring a much cheaper option for operators compared to the alternatives of marketing or re-injection. The intention of government is to increase the gas flaring penalty to an appropriate level sufficient to de-incentivise the practice of gas flaring, whilst introducing other measures to encourage efficient gas utilisation,” it added.

Stop Southern Kaduna killings, PDP, CD, CAN urge Buhari

 The Peoples Democratic Party, the Campaign for Democracy, the Christian Association of Nigeria and other socio-political groups have cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against declaring victory over Boko Haram.

The party and groups, which also included the Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, described the killings in the Southern Kaduna as an embarrassment to the Federal Government.

They urged the President to do more in order to stop the killings in Southern Kaduna and intensify the war against the Boko Haram insurgency.

The national caretaker committee of the PDP said it would be wrong for Buhari to claim victory recorded by the Armed Forces for the takeover of Sambisa Forest from the Boko Haram.

The main opposition party insisted that former President Goodluck Jonathan played a pivotal role while in government to defeat the sect.

Spokesperson for the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led committee, Dayo Adeyeye, stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents.

Adeyeye also said the claim by the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government on the fall of the forest had yet to be independently verified.

He nevertheless asked Nigerians to refresh their memories on the success he claimed recorded by the regime of Jonathan, which he believed made it possible for elections to hold in almost all the local government areas in the North-East in 2015.

The former minister of state for works said, “The President cannot solely claim responsibility for the success he claimed the Armed Forces recorded in reclaiming Sambisa Forest from the Boko Haram.

“This is because the regime of former President Jonathan had done a lot in the war against terror.

“This was why elections were held in almost all the local government areas in Borno State and the entire North-East in 2015.

“Though there has been no independent verification of the claim, the President ought to give kudos to the regime of Jonathan that bought the weapons being used to fight the war.”

Adeyeye added that it would be too early to claim victory over the terror group, saying the killing of a suicide bomber and the arrest of another in Borno State were testimonies that the war was not over yet.

“We are all aware that propaganda is a tool being used by this government to deceive Nigerians. We hope this is also not another one,” he added.

Adeyeye also chided the President on the activities of the herdsmen, saying the group had been named as the fourth terrorist group in the world.

He said if the President was so desirous of ridding the country of terror groups, he should pay serious attention to the menace of the cattle rearers.

The PDP spokesman wondered why the President had been allegedly looking the other way with the daily killings of innocent people in Southern Kaduna and the entire country.

“We should ask the President why he keeps quiet over the activities of the killer herdsmen. What is he doing about it?

“The herdsmen are now the number four terror group in the world. Nigerians should ask the President to act,” he added.

Also, the National Publicity Secretary of the Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, faulted the Federal Government’s claim on the capture of Sambisa Forest.

He said, “The government should know that it makes no sense to claim easy victory in the battle against terror. Any time they weave their victory story, Boko Haram bursts it with a bang. They should learn to be more circumspect. Propaganda should have a limit.

“Suicide bombing is a very difficult thing to deal with because you don’t know the camp of the bombers, but intelligence gathering is important.

“The Southern Kaduna crisis is a sore point and a glaring embarrassment to the administration as it has not been handled well.”

On his part, the President of Campaign for Democracy, Bako Usman, said the government must have the political will to stop the killings by herdsmen.

According to him, the Federal government and the Nigerian Army are eager in making pronouncements as regards the war against insurgency.

He stated, “The best the government of the day should be doing is to seek redress of such activities through intelligent gathering by all the security apparatus.

“Again, it is a fact that the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914 raised suspicion and conflicts of interest among the various ethnic nationalities due to the effect of divide and rule and indirect rule system.

“The need to revisit the debate to restructure Nigeria in order to reflect our diversity in adherence with global principles and best practices of fairness, equity and justice cannot be overemphasised.

“This is more so because over the years now, we have gone from good to worst, due to years of bad governance, ethno-religious crisis, supremacy conflicts, regional tensions and agitations for resource control. This can also create succour on the agitators and rejuvenate peace and harmony among ethic nationalities.”

Reacting to the killings in Southern Kaduna, the Director, Legal and Public Affairs, CAN, Kwamkur Samuel, said the government needed to review security management in the country.

He stated, “Managing security challenges in the country needs to be viewed holistically. As long as the Fulani militias are still killing unarmed and innocent Nigerians confirms that there is a need for a more permanent solution than the media celebrations.

On the capture of Sambisa Forest, Samuel said, “We received with shock the unabated explosion of bombs in Maiduguri despite the celebration of victory by the Armed Forces and the Federal Government. It’s obvious that the celebration of victory is coming too early because Sambisa Forest cannot be said to have been conquered without rescuing the Chibok girls who are said to be with the terrorists in the forest.

We must address the neglect of Southern Kaduna –Senator

A member of the National Assembly from Kaduna State, Senator Shehu Sani, has called for the establishment of a civilian Joint Task Force to complement the military in addressing the incessant killings in Southern Kaduna.

Sani, who represents Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the Senate, also called for the involvement of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in finding a lasting solution to the killings.

Speaking in a telephone interview with The PUNCH in Abuja on Monday, the lawmaker stated that peace efforts would only last when the issue of the economic neglect of the people of the area was addressed.

He said, “We need a civilian JTF to complement the military. We also need to involve the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, that should properly document its members for easy identification.”

The worst is over, FG insists

But the Federal Government has congratulated the troops of the Nigerian military. In a statement on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, appealed to Nigerians to continue to support the troops as they cleared the remnants of the terrorists who were on the run.

He also called for increased vigilance among Nigerians, saying Boko Haram escapees sought to integrate themselves into communities far and near, stating that they should be vigilant.

He said, ‘We urge Nigerians to keep our gallant and victorious troops in their prayers and to also imbibe the mantra of ‘if you see something, say something’ as a way of ensuring that no escaped terrorist is able to wreak havoc on their communities.

“It is also important to know that now that they have been dispossessed of their fortress, the Boko Haram escapees will intensify their cowardly attacks on vulnerable targets if only to maintain an illusion of terror, but there should be no panic because the worst is over.’’

He said overall, the leadership provided by Buhari provided the much-needed impetus for the military’s victory in the North-East and urged Nigerians to continue to give their unalloyed support to the President in his untiring efforts to restore peace and security across the country and also to revamp the economy.

Also, the President’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, in an interview with Channels Television on Monday, said Buhari never said the Boko Haram war was over, stating that the President was misinterpreted in the media.

“If you look at the President’s word for word, there is no place you will see him saying that (the victory) signposts the defeat of the Boko Haram. No, it is an interpretation of the press,” he added.

On the killings in Southern Kaduna, Adesina said the state Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, “is on the top of the matter.”

Adesina, while speaking on Channels TV, said, “You don’t have to hear from the President on that matter. You see, when it pays us, we talk about federalism and true federalism, yet you want the President and Presidency to talk about everything.” “When things like this happen in a state, there is a chief security officer; he is supposed to be on top of the matter. Governor el-Rufai was at the villa on Thursday to brief the President. So, why should the President then be talking about it?

“True federalism isthat  the governor should be in charge and he is in charge of it.”

Adesina also stated that state and local governments should be involved in dealing with herdsmen crisis.

“When these herdsmen attacks happen, you need to see what the President is doing, always on the line with the governors and talking with them and getting updates,” he said.

The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria in 2015 election, Alhaji Ganiyu Galadima, said security forces should be prepared for what he described as guerrilla attacks from the displaced terrorists.

Galadima stated, “Agreed that Boko Haram has been smashed, the government should be prepared for guerrilla attacks on soft targets by the now scattered members of the sect. The war cannot be said to be over until all remnants of Boko Haram are squarely dealt with.

“However, security challenges facing the country are yet to be fully addressed by this government. There are recurring mass killings of people in Zamfara State, recurring genocide in Southern Kaduna, rampant and unchecked killings of farmers by Fulani herdsmen across Nigeria and kidnapping and armed robbery by the Fulani across Nigeria.”

Woman kills husband over Christmas food

 

While Nigerians were celebrating Christmas in their homes, a housewife, Christiana Odo, allegedly killed her husband, Rominus, for failing to provide money for the family during the celebration.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident happened at the couple’s home on London Barber Street, Majidun, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

It was learnt that Christiana, 37, had asked the husband for money for food to celebrate Christmas, but the husband had said he didn’t have any money.

This was said to have led to a quarrel between the couple, which degenerated into a fight.

Our correspondent was told that in the ensuing scuffle, Christiana, a mother of three, picked a kitchen knife, with which she stabbed the husband to death.

A police source said the incident happened around 5.20pm, adding that it threw the community into confusion.

He said, “The woman asked the man for money for food, but the man turned her down, saying he didn’t have money. This led to an argument and the man hit her. They fought and the woman, in anger, went into the kitchen and got a knife with which she stabbed him to death.

“What attracted neighbours was the man’s scream for help as he was drenched in blood. The woman said it was not intentional.”

The landlord was said to have reported the case to policemen from the Owode Onirin division, who arrested the suspect.

The victim’s corpse was reportedly deposited in the Ikorodu General Hospital’s morgue.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident, saying the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.

She said, “It was a resident that came to report at the station that the man fought with his wife. In the process, the woman stabbed him to death. The police visited and photographed the scene. The suspect was arrested and the corpse deposited in a morgue. The case is still under investigation as we await the result of the autopsy. Meanwhile, the case has been transferred to the SCIID.”

Much ado about MMM

 I have read with deep concern, the various accounts shared by many Nigerians on their sad experiences on the Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox Ponzi scheme that has created a lot of apprehension and uncertainty in the country. Because of this unfortunate development, millions of patrons of the Ponzi scheme have been thrown into confusion having placed a one-month ban on all withdrawals starting from December 13. The MMM has claimed that it had frozen the accounts to avoid preventable challenges during the Yuletide in the purported negative media reports given to the scheme.

The MMM is not new in the business world. It is on record that the organisation began as an office equipment company in Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the 1980s, before moving into the financial sector when the scheme collapsed and many investors lost their money. The MMM was able to win the hearts of many Nigerians with its ‘30 per cent per month’s return-on-investment in addition to other acquirable bonuses. But the hard truth is that despite the mouth-watering offer, the risks associated with the scheme seem to be more. No wonder, the company was “wise” enough to have advised customers to “use your #SpareMoney only (and) don’t be unnecessarily greedy.” What this expression tells me is that the operators of the scheme have cleverly and tactically insulated themselves from any undue liability and legal encumbrances. The scheme has since been declared illegal by the Federal Government.

Before coming to Nigeria, the MMM had similarly operated in South Africa and Zimbabwe with the same business model, which claimed a 30 per cent per monthly return-on-investment through a ‘social financial network’ until the accounts of its clients were frozen. Similarly, in 2016, the Chinese government banned the scheme on the grounds that it was a Ponzi scheme, unregistered and hence, was tagged fraudulent. What the organisation does is to manage payments in such a way that quick returns to the first investors from money invested are given to later investors in a manner described as robbing Peter to pay Paul.

the controversies surrounding the modus operandi of the MMM, Nigerians seem to have forgotten so fast the lessons learnt from the failed operations of “wonder banks” in which billions of naira went down the drain under similar circumstances, despite warnings by the National Assembly, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, suggesting that the scheme was fraudulent, but then, many Nigerians still patronised it. Three major reasons could be attributed to this doggedness. First is the current economic situation in the country that has brought about untold and high incidence of unemployment, inflation and poverty. Hence, people would want to do anything humanly possible to survive at a great risk.

Second is the secretive and greedy nature of many of the participants, who kept the offer to themselves, perhaps, to prevent others from benefitting, thus making them highly vulnerable in the process of secretly dealing with the MMM. Third is the weak regulatory framework that allows such a system to exist without having to pass through the necessary due diligence, checks and screening. No wonder, the MMM had the audacity to tell the Nigerian government to look at the benefits of the scheme to the over three million Nigerians within its one year of operation in the country, claiming that the scheme was the “only source of livelihood for many people”.

The ripple effects of the MMM invasion have begun telling on the people. Not a few “investors” were reported to have either committed suicide or attempted such. For instance, one is the story of a man from Benue State, who was found to have ingested insecticide, having invested N300,000 meant for his wedding in the dicey scheme! From the survey that I recently conducted, many people seem to be affected by the loss but would rather prefer to remain silent rather than lament their ordeals while many would rather prefer to keep mute for the fear of being stigmatised. After all, they never told anyone before going into the scheme! That is usually the problem with those who fall victims to fraudsters. They hardly inform others they are deeply engrossed in such a deal until everything crumbles and danger becomes the inevitable.

Despite the ordeal happening now, it must be appreciated that people should be free to invest in whatever business interest they so desire. That is why I won’t be surprised that the MMM may not be the only active Ponzi scheme around. There is the likelihood that many of such programmes exist under various names and brands. Whenever people are committing their resources into such deals, others hardly know of such until things begin to unfold and they cry out of the untold hardship and negative consequences that may arise. It is the secret nature of the patronage of the Ponzi schemes that makes many innocent people to lose their head earned resources and savings, thereby increasing the level of poverty in the land.

As a way forward, regulatory agencies should do more by helping the citizens in beaming their searchlights on other schemes to verify what is happening to them before they become another source of national problem, source of worry and tragedy. The whole scenario bordering on how the MMM has been managed has shown that the economic problems that encourage people to look for money at all cost, is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Governments should come together to see how common problems could be discussed with a view to finding sustainable alternative to Ponzi schemes that would add value to the real sectors of the economy through spending.

It is only hoped that by January, the scheme would come alive again as it has planned to do by offering another opportunity for investors to access their funds. If this becomes a reality, they should pull out. I won’t be surprised that in order to sustain their interest in the scheme, an additional accrual of over 30 per cent could be dangled to lure participants into keeping their keeping funds in the scheme and even put in more resources after January. I really think they should not be lured again, in case the opportunity represents itself. They should look for other means of making money despite the economic recession currently facing the country.

a big lesson for all is that people should learn to be open, as much as possible, to those they could trust. I kept wondering why a very close friend of mine of many years should now be crying wolf now after the bitter experience when I was never consulted before deciding to join and invest in the scheme ab initio. Government should do more sensitisation of the citizens on the dangers that could befall them whenever they are confronted with issues that concern financial intelligence and breach of public trust. It is only hoped that the MMM would afford its depositors another opportunity to have a rethink. It’s just a matter of days for that to be or not to be!