I hope other governors will stand for their people like Fayose – Pastor E.A. Adeboye

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has admonished state governors in the country to emulate their Ekiti State counterpart, Mr Ayodele Fayose, in standing up for and protecting the interest of their people.
He stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday at the palace of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe Aladesanmi 111.
The renowned cleric, visited the monarch before attending a crusade at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, described Governor Fayose as a great defender of his people and their cause.
Adeboye also commended Fayose for taking great risks to defend and protect the interests of his people.
”Your Excellency, we thank God for your life, courage, boldness and being willing to take the risk so that your people can be protected and I know you know what I am talking about.
You can be sure that we are praying for you and you will succeed. I hope other governors will stand for their people like you and defend their people and say enough is enough,” Adeboye said.
Adeboye, who prayed for the restoration of the lost glory of Ekiti, also commended Oba Adejugbe for leading his people in the way of the Lord.
Earlier, Governor Fayose said Nigerians appreciate the efforts of Adeboye at taking the gospel round the world.
”We know that it is at this time of the year that you go round and we pray that God strengthens you.
Your visit is annually and when a man of God passes by, we want to take that advantage for him to bless us. We appreciate your efforts at taking the gospel round the world,” he said.
Oba Adejugbe also described Adeboye’s visit as a blessing to the palace, and the people of the state in general.
Pastor Adeboye later held a revival at the stadium and later visited Ilawe and Ogotun-Ekiti.

2017 Budget: Presidency plans to spend N6.5bn on cars, animals, kitchen equipment, others

The Presidency has proposed a N6.5 billion capital expenditure with which to buy cars, kitchen equipment, feed the animals in the Villa zoo, and rehabilitate office, as well as, residential buildings.
Specifically, N100.8 million has been earmarked for the purchase of canteen and kitchen equipment and N223 million for State House headquarters food and catering materials supply; N114. 967 million for food stuff /catering services for President and N53.494 million for the office of the Vice President. Office furniture and fittings were allocated N 61.949 million.
It has proposed to buy three SUVs with N100.8 million as well as, N97.2 million for three 16-seater buses. Tyres for various categories of cars and trucks will take N94.575 million.
N103.9 million will be used for the purchase of computers , while a total of N40 million has been earmarked for both wild and domestic animals in the State house.
The maintenance of infrastructure and technical facilities in the Defence House and other Safe Houses will gulp N367.980 million. Similarly, the rehabilitation and infrastructure of security quarters in the villa will also take N284. 587 million. The quarters comprise of 8 Nos, Block of 16 units of 2-bedroom flats.
A total of N4.95 billion has been budgeted for the annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installations, building/civil and environmental services within and around the Villa. These will include the offices and residences of the President and the Vice President, the Banquet Hall, the Conference Centre, the old and new complexes , the Villa Power House.
That President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to fight corruption in the 2017 fiscal year is evident by the N17 .202 billion allocated to the Economic and financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the largest single allocation among the agencies under the presidency. It consists of N7. 127 billion for personnel; N3 billion for overhead and N7.074 billion for capital.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) got N1.386 billion which comprised of 727 million for personnel; 152 overhead and N506 for capital.
The figures were gathered from the 2017 Budget Proposals.

RCCG Holy Ghost Congress is here again!

EFCC recovers over N55bn from fraudulent fuel marketers in Kano

The Kano zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered about #55 billion from petroleum marketers involved in diversion of products during the last fuel crisis in the country.
In the same vein, the agency disclosed that it has also recovered $622,200, and secured convictions of about 23 persons in the last ten months in the states under the zone.
Briefing journalists on the performance of the agency in the zone on Tuesday, Nnagbe Obon Itam, zonal head of operations stated that several landed property which includes 8 houses, 9 plots, and 3 trucks were also recovered.
According to Itam, N54 billion of the total amount recovered were made after the Agency`s concluded an investigation into complaints about diversion and fraudulent schemes brought against some fuel marketers operating under the zone.
He revealed that the money the Agency were recovered from marketers who collected fuel products, sold them, but refused to remit the monies back to the government.
“I consider it auspicious to brief you on the activities of the commission within the last 10 months particularly as it relates to the achievements and unrelenting zeal of the personnel of the zone in the fight against Economic and Financial Crimes including the albatross ‘corruption’.
“The operations of the north-west zone cover: Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states. I must from the onset appreciate the leadership drive and determination of the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, whose passion to be the difference has re-defined operations of the agency.
“I also salute the political will provided by Mr. President to fight corruption and all forms of fraudulent manifestations in the conduct of our national life. On a daily basis, hitherto ‘untouchable’ ‘sacred cows’ are being investigated and some undergoing prosecution” he noted.
Itam further disclosed that the agency has also recovered tax revenue worth several millions on behalf of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from businesses, particularly, in commercial city of Kano, within the period under review.
“I will also like to draw your attention gentlemen of the press to our proactive enlightenment campaigns within the zone to draw attention to what we all can do to reduce corruption by not joining the corruption chain.
“Our NYSC integrity club school campaign and essay competitions are on-going. Our media department is liaising with states in the Zone using NYSC outreach programmes to enlighten and foster the needed anti-corruption culture to build integrity among the citizens” Itam added.

Beware plastic bottles cause cancer, diabetes

Scientists and researchers have identified plastic bottles to be dangerous to health because they contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that can cause cancer, diabetes, ADHD and autism.
They said endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with the body’s hormonal system, affecting development and leaving the body open to a staggering range of diseases.
They are found in thousands of everyday products, ranging from plastic and metal food containers, to detergents, flame retardants, toys and cosmetics.
According to Daily Mail Online, these chemicals are responsible for scores of illnesses – costing the US an eye-watering $340 billion in health-related costs each year, the bombshell report by NYU Langone revealed.
(Read more at Daily Mail)
The most common EDC-related illness is neurological – including attention-ADHD, autism and loss of IQ.
The invisible but dangerous chemicals also boosted obesity, diabetes, some cancers, male infertility and a painful condition known as endometriosis, the abnormal growth of tissue outside the uterus.
In a country where plastic is rife, these illnesses are not as rare as we may think.
The landmark new study by NYU Langone reveals the economic impact of the chemicals leaves a huge, two per cent dent in the US’ gross domestic product (GDP) each year.
‘Our research adds to the growing evidence on the tremendous economic as well as human health costs of endocrine-disrupting chemicals,’ said lead investigator Leonardo Trasande, an associate professor at NYU Langone in New York City.
‘This has the potential to develop into a much larger health and economic issue if no policy action is taken,’ he told AFP.
Some of the chemicals highlighted in the report, including phthalates used in bottles, are banned in the European Union – and would therefore not be on sale in Britain.
MailOnline is attempting to find out whether some of the toxins may still be in UK plastic products. But a similar study last year estimated that the chemicals cost the EU health systems $271 billion.
The chemical affect the body’s endocrine tissues, which produce essential hormones that help regulate energy levels, reproduction, growth, development, as well as our response
to stress and injury.
Mimicking naturally occurring hormones such as estrogen and androgen, EDCs lock on to receptors within a human cell and block the body’s own hormones from binding with it.
Recent research has raised red flags showing that ‘environmental contaminants can disrupt the endocrine system leading to adverse-health consequences,’ according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
In the US, the biggest chemical culprit by far among the thousands of manmade molecules suspected of interfering with human hormones are so-called PBDEs, found in flame retardants.
Bisphenol A, used to line tin food cans, along with phthalates in plastic food containers and many cosmetics, were also held to be responsible for upward of $50 billion worth of health damages.
A similar study concluded last year that health-related costs of EDCs in the European Union were some $271 billion, about 1.28 percent of GPD.
Crucially, the main drivers of disease and disability were different on either side of the Atlantic, Trasande said.
‘US costs are higher mainly because of the widespread use in furniture of brominated flame retardants,’ which were banned in the EU in 2008, he explained.
The blood level of these chemicals in the average American would be in the top five percent of Europeans today.
By contrast, the health costs associated with pesticides in food were 10 times higher in the EU than in the United States, where more stringent regulations were put in place to protect pregnant women and children
To put a figure on the impact of EDCs, the researchers reviewed blood and urine samples from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which has gathered data since 2009 on major disease risk factors from 5,000 volunteers.
Computer models were then used to project how much each of 15 diseases or conditions was attributable to chemical exposure, and the estimated health costs for each one.
The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, a medical journal.
Flame retardants and pesticides in particular are known to affect the developing brain and can lead to loss of IQ.
‘Each IQ point lost corresponds to approximately two per cent in lost productivity,’ Trasande explained.
The costs and benefits of regulation should be openly debated, the authors argued, citing the decision in the 1970s to ban lead in paint, and then 20 years later in gasoline.
Commenting in the same journal, Michele La Merrill, an expert in environmental toxicology at the University of California in Davis, said the new findings ‘provide a lesson on the lasting economic effects of harmful chemicals.’
They should ‘inspire a policy shift to end the cat-and-mouse game currently employed the US government and industry.’
The EU set broad criteria in June for identifying potentially harmful EDCs, but consumer and environmental groups said they fell far short of what is needed.

Obanikoro makes shocking revealtions, says he gave Fayose N2.3bn

Former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, has said that he gave the sum of N2.3bn to the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, in the run-up to the Ekiti State governorship election in 2014.
Obanikor accompanied by his lawyer, Mr. James Onoja(SAN), at the EFCC office in Abuja said according to sources ‘ “the sum of N2.2billion was transferred to Sylva Mcnamara for onward transfer to Mr. Ayodele Fayose on the instruction of the NSA.
The sum of N1.3billion cash was brought in a bullion van by Diamond Bank on the instruction of the NSA.
“In addition, the sum of N60million was converted to dollars at the rate of N168 per dollar and altogether the sum of $5,377,000 was handed over in cash by me to Mr. Fayose while the N1.3billion was received by Mr. Fayose’s associate, Mr. Abiodun Agbele in the presence of my Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Lt. Adewale who also accompanied them to the bank along with the bank officials.
On how the cash was transferred to Fayose, Obanikoro said that “two flights were used to convey the money from Lagos.
The ex-Minister said he “took off with the first flight with part of the money while the second flight brought the remaining funds to Akure local airport and I directed that it should be handed over to the same person.”
The source said Obanikoro however maintained that part of the cash was used to ward off Boko Haram aggression in Lagos and in the South-West in general.
The source added: “He told us that he is not the owner of the company in question but introduced the owner, Mr. Kareem Taiwo to the NSA, Mr. Sambo Dasuki when the threat of Boko Haram became more visible in Lagos.
“He said the government wanted to “incorporate local input into the intelligence gathering and prevention of terrorist attack on Lagos and the South-West in general.”
The EFCC had discovered that Sylvan Mcnamara Limited, allegedly owned by Obanikoro and his sons, was used to launder the N4.745billion.
The company, which was incorporated in November 2011 had the following as its directors: a close aide of the ex-Minister, Ikenna Ezekwe(700,000 shares) of 51 Simpson Street, Ebute-Metta; Idowu Oshodi(299,000 shares) of 8, Prince Tayo Adesanya Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi; and Elizabeth Adebiyi(1,000 shares) of 3, Adedoyin Street, Ijeshatedo, Surulere.
But Ikenna Ezekwe has had his accounts de-frozen by the EFCC since the slush funds were not traced to him.
A document said: “To set the stage for the use of the company for money laundering, the board of directors on May 7, 2012 passed a resolution that the company should open an account and appointed Mr. Gbolahan Obanikoro, Ikenna Ezekwe, Ms. Theresa Matuluko (Secretary) and Mr. Babajide Obanikoro as the signatories to the account.
“The board added that the signing combination be that any of the signatories can sign alone.”
According to EFCC, when it was time to illegally draw the N4.745billion from ONSA as war chest for Ekiti Governorship poll, ex-Minister Obanikoro made the account of Sylvan Mcnamara Limited available and coordinated the disbursement.
The breakdown of the disbursement was as follows: N N759, 384, 300 changed into dollars through Bureau De Change firms; N160million used to purchase cars through Balmoral International Limited; N1, 219, 490,000 ferried by Obanikoro in two flights to a branch of Zenith Bank at Plot 13, Alagbaka Estate, Akure to evacuate the cash and received by Fayose’s associate, Abiodun; balance of about N2billion withdrawn by Obanikoro and his two children in cash.
Some of the Bureau De Change companies involved in the transactions and the amounts credited to them include A.A.G.B.S OIL AND GAS (N168,000,000.00); SYLVAN MCNAMARA LTD (N167,500,000.00); NORTHLINE LTD (N835,000.00); NORTHLINE LTD (N83,750,000.00); FIVE STAR LTD N(37,600,000.00); A.B.A TRADING ENT (N268,301,500.00); VILLAGOLF BUREAU DE (N1,425,000.00); AHMAD &OMAR (N350,000.000); NORTHLINE LTD (N1,680,000.00); NORTHLINE LIMITED A (N2,325,300); REHOBOTH HOMES (20,000,0000); NORTHLINE LTD (N5,932,500.00); NORTHLINE LTD (N842,500); NORTHLINE LTD (N842,500.00).

My love for Clinton, and why I dedicated award to her— I Go Dye

Hotshot ace comedian, Fracis Agoda, known simply as I Go Dye, has dedicated his latest award, United Nations World Habitat Ambassador award to the US Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, citing a number of reasons why the former Secretary of State has won his heart.
To the humour merchant, the woman embodies values he believes every woman should aspire to attain.
“I dedicated the award to Secretary Hillary Clinton, one, because she’s a fundamental advocate of peace and mother in thoughts and in actions. When her husband was passing through difficult times, she was standing there like a true friend. Today, she is a mentor to women all over the world, bridging the gap of gender inequality; inspiring women to self-believe and greatness.
“Her continuous advocacy for peace, is a reminder to us, to sacrifice all within our reach to achieve peace; affirming the fact that without peace, humanity will be in bondage. Indeed, women are the greatest victims of all conflicts, they become widows, lose their sons in wars and they are raped and traumatised for the most part of their lives. Peace is priceless and the world’s habitat can only be sustained when there is peace,” mused I Go Dye.
Speaking on her chances of defeating her biggest rival, the Republican candidate, Mr Donald Trump, I Go Dye minced no words in giving the race to Clinton, saying, “All the stats are there to see. Throughout the campaign the woman has shown sound traits of a true leader while her rival has only achieved the feat of being a hater who is against basic values on which America was founded.”

Benin agog as Oba-designate continues his journey to the throne

Benin Kingdom has been the center of attraction in the past two weeks after the Crown Prince, Prince (Amb) Ehenede Erediauwa, commenced his journey to the throne. The Crown Prince will become the 39th Oba of Benin Kingdom after the grand finale of the events scheduled to hold on Thursday at the traditional Urho-Okpota ground. Since the commencement of the events lined up for the coronation, the ancient city of Benin has taken a new look, with colourful pictures of the Oba-designate erected at the popular King Square, Airport Road among other parts of the city.
Meanwhile, contrary to the belief that the Crown Prince, who is well travelled and educated, may shelve some of the rituals slated for his ascension to the throne, he chose to fulfil all the rituals as they were done by his fore fathers, removing nothing. Infact, that has attracted thousands of Edo sons and daughters, from home and abroad, to witness the epoch making ceremonies. As the Crown Prince moved from one place to the other, you could see the uniqueness of the Benin Kingdom, as no fewer than 10,000 persons, including Benin chiefs, cultural groups, foreigners, youths, residents of the kingdom followed him with excitement.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the governor-elect of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, led other leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, last week, including the state Chairman of the party, Anslem Ojezua, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Patrick Obahiagbon (Igodomigodo) and Rasaq Bello Osagie to pay homage to the Oba in the making.
Journey
The Edaiken began the journey to the throne, penultimate Saturday, with a foot procession, escorted by Uselu people, after he left Eguae Edaiken (Uselu) for Oredo.
He trekked a distance of about 10 kilometers from his temporary palace at Uselu to Eko-Ohae (bachelors camp) to Oredo Local Government Area. But while on his way to Oredo where Oredo chiefs took charge of his movement, the Edaiken stopped at the sacred Eguae Palm Tree which is called Udin Amamieson-Aimiuwa and aged about 500 years. The tree was first climbed by Oba Ewuare in the 15th century and some offerings were offered before the Crown Prince proceeded on his coronation journey. Commercial activities were paralysed along the routes he trekked through, mainly Benin-Lagos Road and Lagos Street.
That same day, he arrived at Iya-akpan, the present day Five-Junction where Uselu chiefs took leave of him and Oredo chiefs took over.
It was chiefs from Benin that escorted the Crown Prince to Benin-City. That same day at about 6:30pm, the Crown Prince arrived Eko-Ohae in Oredo, where he spent three days while private ceremonies were conducted.
Various cultural troupes, like the Iten Edo Theatre Group, Benin Royal Dynasty Trust Dance moved with the crowd to entertain them. On Tuesday, the Edaiken leaves Eko-Ohae for Usama palace where the coronation rituals continue. The coronation rituals will take place at the Uzama palace which was first built and lived in by Prince Oranmiyan. It was Oba Ewedo that moved the Oba palace to its present location. A makeshift building was erected at the Uzama palace ground and workers were seen maintaining the road leading to the Uzama palace.
The ancient road, known as ‘Odeoba’ (Oba’s Road), which the Crown Prince walked through was fixed also. The Crown Prince also walked through Oba Market Road, Ebo Street and Odeoba to Usama palace. Motorists and pedestrians have been barred from driving or walking on Ebo Street. Some chiefs, in red attires, were seen on the road preventing people from passing through.
The coronation ceremonies also climax on Tuesday when the Crown Prince, who will remain in Usama palace until the Thursday coronation date, will head to Use village where he will choose a name he wants to be addressed as king. The moment he picks his name for the throne, he stops answering Ehenede Erediauwa. After picking the name, Edaiken returns to Usama to prepare for the D-Day which is Thursday. He is expected to take a good rest on Wednesday and, on Thursday, he passes through Isekherhe to Urho-Okpota, where the coronation will take place.
Urho-Okpota ground, located at Ring Road, the heart of the ancient Benin City, has been condoned off following on-going work ahead of the grand finale of the coronation. The ground is wearing a new look. Traders have vacated the area. The hall which is known for hosting great traditional and political events is located adjacent the Oba Market. The ground has been venue for the crowning of every Oba of Benin, and that is the reason most politicians in the state who are either aspiring to be governor or running for any political position scramble for space in the hall for the declaration of their political intentions.
It is generally believed in the kingdom that the gods of Benin will always grant success to any politician who declares his intention at the traditional Urho-Okpota hall. It is a ground for the making of kings. That ground, even as small as it is, will play host to President Muhammadu Buhari and other world leaders who will witness the coronation on Thursday.
Throughout the coronation period, burial rites in Benin have been prohibited. And since the commencement of the rituals, all commercial activities around the Eko-Ohae and Urho-Okpota have been banned. When you enter Benin, you don’t need to be told that a new king will soon emerge because you can feel it.
The Aiyobahan of Benin Kingdom, Chief Osamede Adun, who has been following the events so far, said he was 25 years old when the late Oba Erediauwa was crowned in 1979 and that he stood among the crowd to watch the procession and coronation.
“I was about 29 years old then when Erediauwa was crowned. I was not a palace chief at that time. It was how they did it then, that is what is taking place now. Today, I am the happiest person. Back then, I was watching from among the crowd but today I am a top palace chief. Where I can get to now, you cannot reach there. I am very happy to near my Oba,”Adun stated.
He described the Crown Prince as a man who abhors lies and derives pleasure in the truth. “Edaiken himself, as king, does not like lies. If you want to be closer or be his friend, tell him the truth. And once he finds out that you are not truthful, he will not be happy with you. I am advising my fellow chiefs, if you are talking with our king, give him the true picture of things and when he later finds out that you are telling him lies, he will never be happy with you”.
Chief Ada Igbinovia, the Edosomwan of Benin Kingdom, said those who are witnessing the coronation ceremonies should count themselves very lucky as it was a rare experience in one’s life time.
A chief, who claimed to have witnessed the coronation of Oba Akenzua, Chief Osarobo Orue, the Oba Iyekeagbon of Benin Kingdom, said the reign of the new Oba of Benin would consolidate the peace being enjoyed in the kingdom. “This is the third time I am witnessing the coronation of Oba of Benin. I witnessed the coronation of Oba Akenzua, Oba Erediauwa and that of Edaiken N’Usele.
I will join in the trekking. I am 100 years old now”, he said. Chief Egharevba Igbinehi, the Ohanwan of Benin, said his forefather was among the chiefs that came with Prince Oranmiyan from Uhe (Ife). He said his function is to pray for the Oba before he begins any ceremony.

Benefits of taking lemon water

LEMON water is of immense benefit to the human body. Over the years, research findings have confirmed that taking lemon water is a way of keeping sicknesses at bay. These are the ways that taking lemon water can rejuvenate one’s body.

Cleanses the body

Lemon water will stimulate the liver to produce more bile, which will improve body’s natural detoxification system. When the liver works better, the body is cleansed of toxins and other types of harmful agents.

Improves digestion

There are several compounds in lemons which produce more bile; this will lead to an improved digestion.
Drinking lemon water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will result in much lower levels of indigestion, bloating, belching and heartburn. Lemon water will also prevent constipation by smoothing out the overall function of the bowels. Even the American Cancer Society recommends drinking lemon water to those with cancer to help stimulate bowel movements. If one suffers constipation, digestive problems, or even chronic indigestion, drinking a glass of lemon with water in the morning will go a long way towards relieving those types of problems.

Reduces inflammation

Although lemons are acidic by nature, they turn alkaline once consumed. Drinking lemon water regularly will help to lower the acidity of the body. Cancer and other diseases start in and thrive in an acidic environment. Drinking lemon water will also help the body remove uric acid from the joints, which is one of the main causes of gout and the inflammation that causes arthritis.

It can reduce weight

If one is trying to shed weight, drinking lemon water can help! Lemons are high in pectin, a type of fiber which helps to stop those in between meal hunger pangs and food craving. Adding a bit of honey and cayenne pepper to lemon water will increase metabolism, which will aid in burning more calories without even trying.

Cleans the urinary tract

If you have ever had a urinary tract infection, then you know how painful they can be. Lemon water is a natural but mild diuretic which can help to keep the urinary tract clean. Lemons will also change the pH level of the entire urinary tract, which will discourage the growth of bacteria. If one suffers from frequent urinary tract infections, this is the perfect drink!

Makes your skin beautiful

Drinking lemon water on a regular basis will make a big difference in one’s complexion. The high Vitamin C content in lemon juice, along with other antioxidants, will kill off the free radicals in the body which lead to premature aging of the skin. Lemons help to purify the blood as well as encourage the body to grow new blood cells, skin and the connective tissue which keeps the skin looking firm.

Helps regulate blood pressure

If one suffers from hypertension, drinking lemon water can help tremendously. Lemon juice will cleanse the lymph system and help to keep the body hydrated. Lemons also have more potassium than grapes. Potassium removes salt from the body, which can lead to lower overall blood pressure levels.

Improves immune system

Vitamin C is vital to the immune system, so drinking lemon water will improve the immune system while helping the body fight off viruses and bacteria. Lemon improves the ability to absorb iron, which is also important for the immune system function. The antimicrobial compounds in lemon juice will help keep infections outside of the body to where they belong!

Stops throat infections

Lemons contain powerful antimicrobial and antibacterial compounds which make them perfect for fighting throat infections, sore throats and tonsillitis. Those who consume lemon water at least once each day are at a lower risk of developing these types of infections in the first place. If you have a sore or scratchy throat, try gargling with some warm lemon water three times a day and watch that problem just disappear.

Stops halitosis

Halitosis, or bad breath, is often caused by the overgrowth of bad bacteria in the mouth. Drinking lemon water on a regular basis can help to eliminate bad breath due to its antimicrobial and antibacterial compounds. Lemon water will also encourage the production of saliva, which dilutes bacteria in the mouth.

Increased energy

Lemons are quite nutritious, with tonnes of Vitamin C, protein, phosphorous and potassium, which make the fruit a natural energiser. With improved digestion, one will reap more of the nutritional benefits from food. Also, lemons are full of negative ions, which provide almost instant energy. Lemons help to hydrate and oxygenate, so one will feel refreshed, energised and ready to take on the day!

Naturally balances pH levels

One of the best alkalising foods ever is right at our fingertips; lemons! Lemons contain both ascorbic acid and citric acid that help the body maintain healthy pH levels. Too much of an acidic environment in the body encourages inflammation, which can lead to many chronic diseases, including cancer.
It’s important to note that lemon juice can, however, damage the enamel of the teeth, so after drinking, rinse the mouth with plain water.

Suspects hide human heads in bread

The police in Lagos State have arrested two suspected ritualists with three human heads at Ipaja area of the state.
The image maker in charge of the state police command, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest.
The suspects, Jamiu (24) and Yemi (32) (other names withheld), had reportedly carefully tucked the crushed human heads in loaves of bread when they were intercepted by the police.
The two suspects were reportedly arrested by policemen around Church Bus Stop at Ipaja, while taking the human parts to their customers.
A police source said that the suspects must have been taking the human parts to three different people based on the label found on each.
The police source, who pleaded anonymity, said “our men, who acted on a tip-off, stopped the suspects around Church Bus Stop with a bag containing about three loaves of bread at about 8.00 p.m. last Saturday.
“Initially, they protested, asking why the police should search their loaves of bread, but what we found out was astonishing.”
The PPRO, while confirming the arrest, disclosed that the suspects crushed three human heads and tied them separately with different inscriptions on them.
Badmos also said the three human heads were labelled: ‘Danjuma – 20, 000’, ‘Alhaji Yusuf – 70 000’ and ‘A Mumuni – 10 000’.

BREAKING News: OBJ meets Buhari at Aso Villa

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting held behind closed doors at the office of the president.
There was no official statement as to what was the outcome of the meeting.
Similarly, the ex-president wouldn’t say a word to journalists who asked about his mission to the Villa.

Protesters attacked and vandalised Dangote Cement factory in Ethiopia

Protesters have attacked and vandalised Nigerian and African richest man, Aliko Dangote’s cement factory in Oromiya, one of the nine ethnically based regional states of Ethiopia.
Aliko Dangote
However, Ethiopia has accused elements in Eritrea and other countries of fanning the crisis in the country that culminated in the burning of factories owned by Dangote and other foreign investors.
In a statement today, Ethiopia accused elements in Eritrea, Egypt and other states of arming, training and funding groups that it blames for a wave of protests and violence in regions around its capital Addis Ababa.
The protesters attacked and vandalised Dangote Cement factory, with vehicles and machinery at the firm’s plant in Oromiya.
Other firms attacked are:
* FV SeleQt BV – the Dutch firm’s 300-hectare vegetable farm and warehouse in Oromiya were plundered.
* AfricaJUICE BV – the Dutch firm’s factory in Oromiya was partially destroyed.
* Saygin Dima Textile – a third of the Turkish firm’s factory in Oromiya was burned down and three vehicles destroyed.
* BMET Energy Telecom Industry and Trade LLC – the Turkish cable firm’s factory was damaged in Oromiya.
* Esmeralda Farms BV of the Netherlands, Italian owned-Alfano Fiori, Indian firm Fontana Flowers PLC, and others operated and owned by investors from Israel, Belgium and the Middle East were destroyed or partially damaged in the Amhara region.
The government declared a state of emergency on Sunday after more than a year of unrest in Oromiya and Amhara regions, where protesters say the government has trampled on their rights in pursuit of industrial development. The protesters accused government of grabbing their land.
Rights groups say more than 500 people have died in clashes with police and other confrontations. The violence has damaged around a dozen factories and equipment mostly belonging to foreign firms, accused by protesters of purchasing leases for seized land.
“There are countries which are directly involved in arming, financing and training these elements,” government spokesman Getachew Reda told a news conference.
He named Eritrea, which has a long-running border dispute with Ethiopia, and Egypt, embroiled in a row with Addis Ababa over sharing Nile waters, as sources of backing for “armed gangs”, although he said it might not come from “state actors”.
“We have to be very careful not to necessarily blame one government or another. There are all kinds of elements in the Egyptian political establishment which may or may not necessarily be directly linked with the Egyptian government,” Getachew said.
Egypt has dismissed previous accusations that it was meddling in Ethiopian affairs. “Egypt firmly respects the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries,” a Foreign Ministry statement said last week.
Eritrea routinely dismisses charges that it wants to destabilise its neighbour, and instead accuses Addis Ababa of stoking unrest on its own soil.

Stakeholders disagree over invasion, arrest of judges

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the arrest of some leading judges in several sting operations carried out by the Department of State Service (DSS) across the country.
Mr Yinka Folarin, the Chairman of the Ogun chapter of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Mr Yinka Folarin, told newsmen that the incident was a clampdown on the judiciary.
Folarin said the manner in which the DSS officials invaded and broke into the residences of the affected judges violated their fundamental human rights.
“I believe there are laid down rules to effect such arrests and I think officials of the EFCC should have invited them if they have such reports of financial malpractice which might have indicted them.
“A suspect should be treated as such and not as a criminal before conviction,’’ he said.
The Secretary of Abeokuta branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Samuel Obafemi, also criticised the manner of arrest of the judges, saying, “proper procedure was not followed’’.
“The DSS has not proven that the judges were invited and refused to honour the invitation.
“This is the height of impunity and it is dangerous to our democracy,’’ he said.
An Abeokuta-based lawyer, Mr Mutiu Agboke, defended the action of the DSS, saying, “the operations of the judiciary as an arm of government is also being regulated by another arm of government’’.
Agboke said that the pertinent issues of concern were what the intentions were and whether due process was followed.
He said since the DSS had said that they had obtained necessary warrant of arrest in respect of allegations of professional misconduct and financial impropriety, the actions could be defended.
“If you look at the relevant section under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act in Nigeria, any security official is empowered to enter into any premises to discover any guise of criminality that is being perpetrated.
“It is not action against judicial officials; it is an action that is being pursued against corrupt judicial officers.
“I have not said everybody is corrupt but if there is an information available to security agencies that a judicial officer is corrupt, he should face the full wrath of the law,’’ Agboke said.
Similarly, Mr Benson Enikuemehin, a lawyer and former Commissioner, representing Ondo State on the board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said the arrest of the judges was in tandem with the rule of law.
Enikuemehin told newsmen in Akure that the only contentious issue was the manner in which the arrest was carried out.
“ Anyone that commits an offence should be arrested and since judges don’t have any immunity, the arrest is not in dispute.
“The main issue is that the time and manner in which the security agencies carried out their arrest.
“Judges involved are of high profile, ordinarily, there will not have been any issue to discuss if they are low profile judges,’’ Enikueehim said.
Also, a member of the Judicial Service Commission in Ondo State, Olanrewaju Kazeem, said the anti-corruption campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari should be supported.
“I am saying that corruption should be fought to its barest minimum and these judges are alleged to have committed infractions and are not above the law.
“However, there are better ways of dealing with them instead of arresting them in the night. There should be civility because these judges will not run away.
“The way they are treated shows that we are indeed in a third world country,’’ he said.
Mr Waheed Lawal, the National Vice Chairman of National Conscience Party (NCP), South West, described the arrest of the judges by the DSS as condemnable.
Lawal said in Osogbo that the judiciary remained an independent arm of government, adding that the NJC ought to have handled the matter.
“It is not the duty of DSS to harass or embarrass any judicial official because there are procedures in handling such matters.
“With this action, they are taking us back to the era of the military. It is uncalled for and I will not accept this,’’ Lawal said.
Mr Adigun Agbaje, a legal practitioner in Osogbo, said the main focus of democracy as a system of government was inclined toward freedom and liberty.
He argued that the extant laws of Nigeria proclaim a suspect innocent until the court of competent jurisdiction decides otherwise.
Agbaje explained that the judiciary might be on trial if such “clamp down’’ continues against people on the bench.
Also, a law lecturer at the Osun State University, Jacob Aina, said, “Law by its intrinsic essence regulates and moderates people’s behaviours to prevent anarchy.
“Going by the philosophy of law, its final focus and destination is justice.
“In that light, it is a global conception that “peace is practically elusive without justice, and in the absence of peace within a geographical location or political entity, like Nigeria, it means national security has been threatened.
“Nothing could have threatened our national security than the display of justice for sale at different courts of competent jurisdiction, including the Supreme Court.
“It is in that wise that the arrests were necessary and in line and appropriate,’’ he opined.
An Ilorin-based legal practitioner, Mr Abubakar Abdullateef, described the arrest of the judges by the DSS as good for democracy.
Abdullateef said in Ilorin that the arrest was normal as the judiciary deserves to be fortified.
Abayomi Ajayi, an activist, said the action was long overdue, adding that any reasonable Nigerian should support the action.
“If you are suspecting somebody of fraud, you can’t tell the person you are coming. This is my opinion and I don’t think it is proper for the DSS to inform them they are coming.
“If they inform them they are coming, it amounts to asking them to evacuate the money,’’ Ajayi said.
Ajayi was of the opinion also that the crusade must not be limited to judges handling election cases alone, but extended to all the arms of the judiciary.
He wondered why the judges were resisting arrest, saying they should have obliged the DSS and if not found wanting sue the DSS for damages.
On the reported threat by the NBA to boycott the courts, Ajayi said this would be wrong.
“If they boycott the courts, we will know they are the ones delaying the progress of the country,’’ Ajayi said, while advising that the fight should be extended to other sectors of the country.
Dr Bashir Omipidan, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, said there was nothing wrong with the operation of the DSS once it was established that they had bench warrant to effect the arrest.
Omipidan told newsmen in Ilorin that everybody must consider the incidence of corruption a great challenge and support efforts to check it.
“The president has said it that our law had made the fight against corruption difficult. So, we just have to act to rid the country of the mess,’’ Omipidan said.
He, however, charged the DSS to arraign the suspects in court soon having revealed that they had made useful statements.
On the threat of the NBA to boycott court proceedings, the lecturer asked the association to bring out evidence that the process was illegal.
But, NBA Chairman of the Ilorin, Malam Manzuma Issa, said that the branch aligned itself with the position of the national secretariat.
Issa told pressmen that if the national body had taken a position he had nothing against it.
He also condemned the reported invasion of the judges’ residences, describing it as a war against the judiciary
In Ado-Ekiti, a legal practitioner, Tajudeen Akingbola, commended the DSS action on point of law, saying the incident had shown in practical terms that no one was above the law.
Another lawyer, Ibrahim Olanrewju, said criminal matters, especially those that have to do with corruption, had no special preference for status.
According to him, there is no way the DSS could have given notice of a visit and consequent arrest to the affected judges as being suggested in some quarters.
Also contributing, Mr Taiwo Olatunbosun, who is the Ekiti APC spokesperson, told newsmen that the arrest of the top judges was an indication that the war against corruption had no boundary.
But, the Commissioner for Justice, Mr Owoseni Ajayi and a former NBA National Secretary General, Mr Obafemi Adewale, condemned the action.
Adewale told reporters that the manner in which the action was carried out amounted to “muzzling’’ the top echelon of the judiciary.
Similarly, the PDP Publicity Secretary in Ekiti, Jackson Adebayo, said the action of the DSS showed that it lacked respect for the judiciary.
Mr Fola Awonusi, an Ibadan-based lawyer, condemned the action of the DSS in raiding the premises of the judges, saying it was illegal and unlawful.
Awonusi said that the DSS was not constitutionally empowered to arrest on matters of corruption or misconduct but on matters relating to state security.
He said that the DSS should have forwarded the allegation against the judges to the NJC being the body constitutionally empowered to try the judges.
He said that the DSS had violated the fundamental human rights of the judges because proper procedure was not followed.
Another lawyer, Mr Ibrahim Bolomode, however, expressed support for the action of the DSS, saying if the judges were earlier invited the money recovered from them might not have been made possible.
Bolomode said that the recovered money would serve as concrete evidence for the DSS to prove the allegations against the judges.

No 25% slash in corps members’ allowance – NYSC

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on Monday refuted social media reports alleging it slashed corps members’ allowance by 25 per cent.
NYSC’s Director of Press, Mrs Bose Aderibigbe, said in Abuja the allowance of corps members remained N19,800, and not N14,800 as published by the social media.
Aderibigbe said the Director-General of NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Sule Kazaure, had not made any comments regarding allowances of corps members as claimed in the publication.
She reiterated the commitment of the scheme to the welfare of all corps members and urged corps members and the public to ignore what she called `the misleading information’.

Rahama's ban is logical, clarifies why he was not banned for same offence - Ali Nuhu

Actor, Director and Producer Ali Nuhu has said that the recent ban on actress Rahama Sadau is logical as she violated the codes and ethics of Kannywood.
Speaking to our correspondent, He said "I think that the ban is logical. She belongs to Kannywood, started her career in Kannywood and has violated the ethics and code of conduct of Kannywood by holding hands and falling on the guy’s back."
He however stated that the ban is on the extreme as a lesser punishment would have sufficed. " But I don’t think she should be banned. Maybe a suspension. There are situations where people create big things out of small ones. That is why before deciding to do something, one needs to think."
He advised the censoring body in future to take caution before reaching a decision.
" I would advise that in future when things like this happen, they deliberate amongst themselves and maybe call in a few others in the industry before making it public. People do things in an organization and are suspended or given queries. But these organizations won’t go to the media to announce it. It was blown out of proportion," Ali explained.
Responding to social media critics who feel the ban was selective Ali Nuhu said "About photographs of me in scenes with females, those are from Nollywood movies, many years old, and this code came into light recently, so people shouldn’t think MOPPAN is being selective."
Ali Nuhu and Rahama Sadau
The Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) recently expelled the actress, citing her “recent violation of code of ethics governing the Hausa film industry, Kannywood”.
A statement from MOPPAN reads "Rahama Sadau is being expelled from the Hausa indigenous film industry, popularly known as Kannywood. This is as a result of her recent immoral appearance in a certain music video where she appeared in a series of visuals hugging and cuddling the music artiste Classiq"

EFCC arrests Uche Ogah in Lagos court premises

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday morning picked up the President of Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited, Mr. Uche Ogah, on the premises of a Lagos State Magistrates’ Court in Tinubu, Lagos Island.
Ogah was arrested as soon as he stepped out of the courtroom after the forgery charges filed against him by the Police were withdrawn.
Ogah, who was declared winner of the last governorship election in Abia State by Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja on June 27 was, on June 16, arraigned by the Police for alleged forgery.
But the police on Monday morning withdrew the charges.
When the case was called, the Police prosecutor, Henry Obiazi, told the presiding magistrate, Mrs. Kikelomo Ayeye, that he had the instruction of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to withdraw the charges against Ogah and his co-defendants.
“I am instructed by the IGP to withdraw this case, as the issue is pending with the SFU,” Obiazi said.
The charges were consequently struck out by the court.
But as soon as Ogah stepped out of the court room, he was arrested by the waiting EFCC operatives who drove him away in their van.
A source at the EFCC said the commission had received a petition from the complainant in the case against Ogah.
The source said Ogah was being interrogated, adding that others would also be invited.
The other defendants in the charge which the Police withdrew against Ogah were his company, Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited; and an ex-employee of United Bank for Africa, Deji Somoye.
The defendants were accused of conspiring with some persons still at large to forge a Memorandum of Understanding between Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited and Mut-Hass Petroleum Limited sometime in March 2011.
Ogah and some other persons still at large were alleged to have forged the signature of one Mrs. Bridget Adeosun.
The charges read, “That you, Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited, Uche Ogah, and others at large sometime in March 2011 at Ikeja, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire among yourselves to wit: forgery.
“That you, Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited, Uche Ogah, and others at large, on the same date, time, place and in the aforementioned magisterial district, did forge the signature of one Mrs. Bridget Adeosun and a document known as MoU between Mut-Hass Petroleum Limited and Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited, with an intent that it may be in any way used or acted upon as genuine.
“That you, Deji Somoye, United Bank for Africa and others still at large, sometime in August 2011, at UBA regional office, Palmgrove, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did knowing that Masters Energy Oil and Gas Limited designed to commit an offence, failed to use all reasonable means to prevent the commission or the completion of the crime.”
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty; after which they were admitted to bail in the sum of N200,000 each, with one surety each in like sum.

Nigeria steps up Naira-Yuan swap deal

The lingering Naira-Yuan swap deal is set to be achieved as part of strategies to reduce the huge dollar demand and pressure on the local currency.
Nigerian officials and those from China are currently meeting to fine tune the deal, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, said.
According to the Guardian newspaper, Emefiele gave the indication at the ongoing International Monetary Fund/World Bank Group yearly meetings in Washington DC.
According to him, there is a lot of “networking meetings going on, and I can assure you that meetings are going on with some of our partners, particularly, China.”
He said there would be positive outcome and noted that some of the meetings included the Managing Director of IMF as well as the World Bank Group, in an effort to achieve some of the objectives.
“I believe in the course of time, we would achieve it. Nigeria happens to be one of the foremost countries in the world that adopted the Remimbi as a reserve currency.
“We would work together with China, to ensure that we also get our fair share of the benefit from this arrangement,” he said.
The deal was meant to assist in easing the pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange, foreign exchange reserve which has been declining rapidly.
From a peak of over $50 billion during former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s era a few years ago, when crude oil was selling at over $100 per barrel, to the present low of about $25 b as oil price hovers around $50 per barrel.
China has Yuan swap arrangements with 28 countries worldwide, including financially sound nations like the Kingdom of Great Britain and Australia.
Basically, the Naira/Yuan currency swap would allow Nigeria borrow Yuan and lend naira for purchases from China by simply short circuiting the process of converting the Nigerian currency to dollar before further conversion of the dollar to Yuan.

Edo gov poll: INEC failed a litmus test —PDP Chairman

Chairman of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dan Orbih, in this interview by BANJI ALUKO, says the governorship election recently held in the state was rigged in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC), allegedly in connivance with INEC, police and some other stakeholders.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), lost the governorship election in Edo State despite the confidence exuded before the election. What happened?

From available information, the election was won by PDP but Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) announced the result in favor of the APC candidate. I must confess that the Edo governorship election was a major test case for INEC. It was not just about Edo people, but democracy in Nigeria. It was an opportunity for INEC to show and demonstrate that it has the capacity to conduct free and fair election. It obviously failed that test woefully. One thing that has come out of the election is that the future of democracy in Nigeria is bleak. There is no doubt that democracy is under threat from people who are supposed to be unbiased umpire but have decided to play the role of willing collaborators with those who have taken the path of enemies of true democracy.
With what happened in Edo State, I make bold to call on the INEC chairman and all his commissioners to resign forthwith so as to save democracy in Nigeria. There can be no democracy when the electoral process is flawed in a manner that those who are participating in the process no longer have confidence in it. For me, if there will be 2019 as regards elections in Nigeria, politicians must come out with a common voice to call for the resignation of the present INEC chairman and his commissioners.

Specifically, what were the irregularities that allegedly characterised the election?

You will recall that before the election, the state publicity secretary of PDP, Chris Nehikhare, at a press conference, informed that reports reaching PDP showed that results of the election were already written by INEC. He named other officers of INEC who were privy to the unholy arrangement. It may interest you to know that the publicity given to that press briefing was far-reaching, but till date, there was no statement from INEC denying the fact that the result of the election were pre-determined and already written. The only person who came out with something was one lady who said she didn’t share money that was alleged to have been shared. What I am saying is that there was no official denial by the principal officers of INEC who were neck-deep in subverting the decision of Edo people.

Your party claimed that results collated by INEC were different from the one announced. Do you have facts to substantiate these claims?

We have made our statement rejecting the results of the election. We have observed that the results that were issued by the presiding officers from the various units across the state were not the same as those announced at the collation centre. Details of our findings will be made known at the electoral tribunal. You will agree with me that watching the proceeding at the state collation centre that day will convince you that there is an urgent need to effect a desired change in INEC. So many things that transpired between INEC and APC have further reinforced the call for the resignation of all the principal officers of INEC.
You will recall that in the election, which was initially fixed for 10th of September, INEC chairman, with all the principal officers, assured Edo electorate of their preparedness to conduct the election. In fact, at the stakeholders meeting, words got to us that the election had been postponed.
At a time the country is facing great economic challenges, INEC ought not to compound our problems by throwing this nation into political chaos. We cannot afford to put further burden on the socio-economic development of this country by throwing us into confusion as a result of their gross incompetence and inability to assert their independence as a body empowered to conduct election in the country.

How do you see the role played by the police and other security agencies in the election?

As I said, the future of Nigeria’s democracy appears bleak. There was general redeployment of Commissioners of Police before the election. The then Edo State Commissioner of Police was redeployed. The governor boasted that he had concluded arrangement with the police on how he wanted the election to be conducted. He (Oshiomhole) went to Abuja and came back to say that the Police Commissioner would not be transferred. Indeed, the man was asked to stay back in Edo. As we progress toward the election, it appeared that the Police Commissioner was not ready to risk his profession for a pot of porridge. He now said that the man must go. He was transferred and another Commissioner of Police was posted to Edo. In a matter of days, following the fallout of my statement that if it was true that 8,000 armed militants had invaded Edo State as Oshiomhole claimed, it was an indictment of the police command and other security operatives.

What about the performance of the police and other security operatives on the election day?

We have documented evidence, pictures and videos of police officers thumb-printing ballot papers and putting them into the ballot boxes. There are also pictures of INEC officials and corps members doing the same thing. These pictures were taken by PDP agents who were driven away from the polling units. From a distance, they were able to capture the pictures of policemen and INEC officials putting ballot papers into the boxes. Are they supposed to do these things under our law? We also have evidence of money being openly distributed to voters by the APC people in the full glare of the police. That is an electoral offence. So, what exactly are the roles of the police? Were they there to aid and facilitate the process of subverting the will of the people?

It was said that both APC and PDP were involved in the the distribution of money to voters. How correct is that?

I want to categorically state here that PDP did not have any money to give to voters. We are not in government at any level; we had no support from the federal, the state or the local governments. What we did that shocked APC and its leadership was that we were able to run one of the most effective campaigns ever embarked upon by any political party in the history of Edo State; we were able to campaign on issues. All these were further reinforced by the current economic hardship the people are passing through. The APC people are still finding it difficult to believe that we were able to mobilise so much support without the type of resources they brought to Edo to lure voters. In fact, it is a common knowledge that Oshiomhole boasted that the people were hungry and that, with money, he would buy their votes. That was why they rolled out billions of naira to lure voters. Even at that, the election still did not go in their favour.
We have documented evidence of areas where PDP won overwhelmingly but those results were cancelled. In one of such, the returning officer shamelessly announced a staggering figure of over 30,000 disallowed votes for no just cause, PDP votes. The drama at the collation centre was such that the key actors behaved as if they were at a home video location. There was this case of the Etsako East Returning Officer who came to present results without result sheets. He claimed that the screen of the computer he used to enter the results got broken; hence he had no result sheets and resorted to using figures from his head. Following the embarrassment, because it was shown live, somebody stood up and handed him a piece of paper which he read figures from. To my surprise, those figures were recorded as the actual result from that local government area. Such was the unfortunate display of inefficiency on the part of INEC.

So, you are now left with the judiciary to redress the situation. Do you have faith in the judiciary to get justice?

Under our constitution and under the law, when this type of thing happens, the place to go is the election petitions tribunal. We are going to follow that process logically until justice is done. To show you how unpopular the award of votes by INEC was, there have been demonstrations on the streets on daily basis. I want to use this opportunity to congratulate the PDP candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, for his maturity. I have no doubt that, if not for his timely broadcast appealing to people not to take the law into their hands, we might have had a serious issue on our hands. I also want to appreciate the good people of Edo State who, despite the intimidation, harassment and financial inducement, still voted for PDP because they believed there was the need to have a real change in Edo State. I want to assure them that the party will do all within its powers, through the legal process, in order to ensure that the injustice is reversed. At the end of the day, the popular will of the Edo people will prevail.

I will reclaim my mandate, Ize-Iyamu predicts

Edo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has predicted that he would follow the footsteps of the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and reclaim the mandate Edo people gave him on September 28, 2016.
Ize-Iyamu, who spoke at a thanksgiving service held at Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Trinity Sanctuary, Benin, to mark his participation in the governorship election, said it was ironical that the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Anslem Ojezua, expressed angst about the protest embarked upon by members of his party over the conduct of the election.
He remarked that Oshiomhole regularly led street protest while fighting to reclaim his mandate, adding that Ojezua and the APC were not supposed to be jittery if they actually won the election.
He said, “I read the APC chairman abusing me and the state chairman. He said how can we demonstrate. He forgot that before Adams Oshiomhole came in 2008, after INEC announced another result, we demonstrated.
“To the glory of God. We have told our people that they can protest, but not to be violent. Everywhere we protested, nobody has been attacked and no vehicle has been burnt. So, we must protest.”
Turning to the congregation which included his running mate, John Yakubu, Edo State chairman of the PDP, Dan Orbih and Senator Matthew Urhoghide, he said: “Have faith in God, don’t be discouraged. Delay is not denial. At the appropriate time, what will be will be.
“When they stole from David, he went to the Lord. God told him to pursue and recover. Let me assure you, we shall pursue and recover. We shall overtake and recover. As long as we serve a living God, the truth must prevail.
He took a swipe at Friday night and Saturday morning arrest of judges by the Departement of State Security (DSS), pointing out that the right thing was to invite the judges.
He said, “Judges, men and women in their 50s, were being arrested at 1:00 a.m . The people you arrest at 1:00 a.m. are notorious criminals.
It is shocking that judges in our country could be arrested at 1:00 a.m . These are people who could have honored invitation, but they chose to humiliate them.
“For many of us the judiciary is the last hope of a common man. Let me however, make it known to you today that the last hope for the common man is not the judiciary but God Almighty.”

80% creation potential: SMEs integral to achieving SDGs —LADOL MD

A medical doctor-cum investment banking expert, Dr Amy Jadesimi, the Managing Director of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base, was one of the discussants gathered by the World Bank Group to discuss how to galvanise the private sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to reduce extreme poverty in the world by 2030.

During your presentation, you advocated for a paradigm shift in calling for a diversion of capital from low growth to high growth investments, particularly in the SMEs. How is this important towards achieving the SDGs?
The Nigerian market is huge. Nigeria needs $14 billion infrastructure every year and the huge market can justify that. SMEs is the way to go because they can create 80 per cent of the jobs. If we don’t factor the SMEs, we may as well forget about the SDGs. The $17 billion made available for projects by multilateral bodies should be channelled towards empowering SMEs.
How do you think Nigeria which is already borrowing heavily to finance projects could make money available to the SMEs?
The Nigerian government has made it clear that it wants to create an enabling environment for the private sector. The Managing Director of the Nigerian Port Authority, the Comptroller General of Customs visited LADOL and they all said the same thing that government is committed to creating a conducive atmosphere for businesses to thrive and creating a level-playing field. When President Muhammadu Buhari spoke at the African Business Forum two weeks ago, he said the same thing and even mentioned specifically the Free Trade Zone which is where we operate. So, what our government is creating environment to attract investment.
How key a development partner is the private sector in the realisation of the ambitious SDGs?
THE private sector is the key to solving world’s problems and achieving the SDGs and that is the case we put forward here at the World Bank using LADOL as a prime example. At LADOL, we built the only privately developed port facility inside the Apapa Port in Nigeria. We invested $500 million, turning a disused swamp into the largest shipyard in West Africa. We also built a deep offshore logistics base that is going to save our offshore oil and gas industry billions of dollars over the next few years.
So, this is a prime example of how private sector investment can add value and transform the market. What we have done at LADOL is going to create 50, 000 jobs directly and indirectly and has 10 times multiplier effect. The indirect effect is very important and that come about because it is a very strategic investment. We are building investment that enables the biggest jobs in the world to be done in our country. This makes it easy to do a whole host of related services that will transform fabrication and engineering. We have already increased the local demand for fabrication by a factor of four. We are going to have fabrication across the country, from the south to the north. This is because we have cracked the biggest part of the barrier, which is being able to do business in Nigeria.
Against the background of complaint of a near-toxic business climate in Nigeria from potential investors, how easy has it been for your company?
It has been an uphill task for the team behind LADOL. The company was founded by my father, Ladi Jadesimi and others and has been run as a labour of love, a patriotic effort because he saw in his lifetime that Nigeria was moving in the wrong direction and that it was not developing new capacities and not making long-term investment. So, for him and other founders of LADOL, it is about making sure that when we go through the next 30 years of oil and gas exploration, we use it to develop our country and to diversify the economy.
Of course, being the first, we came across a lot of opposition. Many of you would have seen that we have had court cases. We have had our detractors. In the maritime sector, there is a well-known monopoly that has tried very hard to keep us and a few others down and push us out. But they have never succeeded because this is bigger than one company or monopoly. We are committed to growing the industry for everybody because Nigeria has the capacity for 10 more LADOLs. Nigeria has the capacity for thousands of fabrication yards. We want to see more millionaires and billionaires. We want to see Nigeria become the hub for West Africa and this will create thousands of jobs.

Army General in Nigeria receives N20.6m per annum, recruit, N122,848 – Report

THE annual salary of an Army General, Naval Admiral or Air-Chief Marshal in the Nigerian military is N20.69 million, or N1.72 million monthly, economic confidential investigation has revealed.
In a report on Consolidated Armed Forces Salary Structure (CONAFSS) of all the rank and file of the armed forces, starting from a recruit or trainee to the General, Admiral and Air Chief Marshal, a recruit or trainee goes home with N122,848 annually, Private, Ordinary Seaman and Aircraftsman/Woman N639,990, while lance Corporal and Seaman also go home annually with N661,732.
The take-home-pay does not include allowances on special assignments, military operations, foreign missions, duty tours and estacode.
However, from the Economic Confidential’ investigations and eventual computations, there was a great disparity between the annual salary of a recruit and a private with a difference of about N500,000.00 or half a million Naira, while the difference between a private and a lance Corporal is merely over N21,000.00!
Further analysis revealed that Corporal, Able Seaman and its equivalent in the Air-force take-home N693,426.00, annually, while a Sergeant both in the army and Air-force and Leading Seaman in the Navy goes home annually with N809,327 with a great gap of N115,000.00!
On that of Staff Sergeant and its equivalent in the navy and the air force, their take home pay per annum is N1,019,226.00, while the Warrant Officers across the board was put at N1,192,499 with a difference of N173,000.00.
The Master Warrant Officer in the three arms of the forces go home with annual salaries of N1,962,697.00, while Army warrant officer, Navy warrant officer and that of the Air-force Warrant officer take home N2,061,520.00 with a gap of about N98,000.00. Meanwhile, those in training as cadet officers go home with a paltry N534,773.00.
As for commissioned officers starting with second lieutenant in the army, Mid-shipman in the navy and Pilot Officer in the air-force, their annual salary is N2,245,909.00, while the next senior rank of Lieutenant, Sub-lieutenant and Flying Officer has an annual salary of N2,620,801 with a disparity of N374,000.00.
Meanwhile, a captain in the army, Lieutenant in the navy and Flight Lieutenant in the air-force go home with N2,789,818, while Major, Lieutenant Commander and Wing Commander has N2,976,052 annually with a difference of about N186,000.00.
A Lieutenant Colonel, Commander or Wing Commander has an annual salary of N3,895,033, and when compared with that of a Major has a huge gap of N918,000. The gap also exists between Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, whose annual salary is N4,231,579.00 with a difference of N336,546.00.
Again, a Brigadier General’s annual salary is N8,134,745. When compared to the Colonel’s salary of N4,231,579.00 with a difference of over N3,900,000.00. If you take a glance at the salary of a Major-General, Rear Admiral or Air Vice- Marshal, which is N16,516,124 and place it side by side with that of Brigadier General, the difference is a whopping N8,381,379!
A Lieutenant General, Vice-Admiral and Air Marshal has an annual salary of N17,837,414, while Army General, Admiral of the navy and Air Chief Marshal all have an annual salary of N20,691,400 with a gap of N2.8 million.
Speaking to Economic Confidential on the disparities in the CONAFSS, a cross-section of both retired and serving military officers appealed to the authorities to tinker with the ‘great gulf’ in the salary structure among the rank and file to act as a morale booster in the armed forces apart from engendering loyalty. They added that there are grumblings here and there in the military which may result to outburst if not handled properly.”

$1trillion taxes illegally taken out of Nigeria to be repatriated — Finance Minister

Nigeria is set to have repatriated to the country taxes illegally taken out by multinational companies operating in the country.
The Federal Government had announced in August that multinational companies in the country had failed to remit over a trillion dollars in taxes which is what prompted the government to put in place a Multi-lateral Competence Agreement (MCA) and the Exchange of Country by Country Report (ECCR) so as to have a better grip on its tax laws and prevent any further tax evasion by multinational companies.
Speaking on Sunday, in Washington, at the end of the World Bank/IMF meetings, Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, who had a joint press conference with the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said the Nigerian team to the meetings was able to reach agreements with the UK’s Dept for International Development, the US Treasury Department and others would reverse the trend of legitimate taxes flowing out of the country.
Her words, “We have reached some high level agreement on a number of initiatives which we believe will bring significant repatriation of money into the Nigerian economy, particularly money that has flown out as a result of tax evasion. I will brief Mr President with the specifics and will be providing more details later to the public when I have Mr President’s approval.”
Mrs Adeosun also said that an agreement had been reached with the World Bank Group and other multilateral agencies to find solutions to the funding challenges of the power sector in Nigeria.
She said, “An agreement was reached to host a workshop on assessing solutions to the financial challenges in the power sector in Nigeria. The workshop is expected to bring together all critical stakeholders including the Ministry of Power, NNPC, NBET, NERC, generation companies, distribution companies, CBN, banks and other key players in the sector.”
The Minister, who used the occasion to speak of efforts by the government to revamp the economy, said the team held a meeting with the IFC, the private sector investing window of the World Bank Group, to stimulate the economy.
She said, “Though IFC has significant investment in Nigeria, it is limited to a number of sectors. They significantly want to scale up and we’ve agreed with them. Two things, one is that we’ll host a road show to showcase Nigerian indigenous companies that could be eligible for IFC inward investment and we’ve agreed with them also that we should try to develop a pipeline of products rather than waiting for IFC to look for companies, the Ministry of Finance should take a proactive role in showcasing some of our eligible companies for IFC which we believe will crowd in more private sector investment and the jobs and growth that we need.”
The Minister also spoke about the support of the World Bank Group as well as other development partners in the establishment of the Development Bank of Nigeria. According to her, “The Development Bank will serve as a conduit for intervention for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as part of our effort to achieve inclusive growth.”
Speaking on the economic outlook presented by both the World Bank and the IMF, Adeosun said, “The outlook was that the global economy and growth prospects will remain subdued. This outlook has some implications for us Africa generally and particularly in Nigeria specifically. There is therefore the need to apply a full combination of monetary, fiscal and structural tools to ensure that we are able to return to growth.
“We had a validation of our economic strategy, that is, our strategy to transform Nigeria from a consumption-driven to an investment-driven module. And whilst in the short-term, there has been some pain and dislocation, the long-term outlook for Nigeria remains confident. One of our key objectives at the meetings was to see how Nigeria could better take advantage of our relationships with multilateral agencies and with our friends and supporters in the ministry of finance and the treasury department of the various countries.”
On why the government is taking foreign loans, the minister said, “The Eurobond issue is an issue of pricing, not volume, but on the top of that and back to the issue that I talked on interest rates, we are going to look at how we can refinance some of our existing naira debt into the international market, to take advantage of the fact that there are negative interest rates in a lot of markets, and we think we can significantly lower our cost of funds.
“We think that is also important, working closely with the CBN, because it takes pressure off the domestic market. We would be borrowing less in the domestic market and then bringing in some much needed foreign exchange. We have spoken to a number of lenders because the markets are really very attractive right now. With the macroeconomics framework that we have put together and that we would continue to refine, we think we have a very credible story and we should be able to refinance some naira debts at very attractive interest rate, which of course will create more fiscal space for us to spend more on capital. We would spend less on interest and more on capital.”
The Minister said there was no disharmony between the Ministry of Finance and the CBN.
She explained that while the Ministry handled the fiscal aspect which is long term, the CBN’s focus is monetary, which is short term, so there would be times that there would be differences but the two are poised to get good results for the country.
She said, “When you are doing expansion, you need low interest rate and that is the general economics. What I said was that the Monetary Policy Committee is independent, they know what they are seeing on the monetary supply side. So, do I still need lower interest rate now, yes! And for as long as I am running a deficit financing, I need. But does that mean that they should lower interest rate at once, no. There was never a call on my part that they should lower interest rate. They asked me what I want and I said I need lower interest rates. Remember that I am borrowing externally and internally, so one of the things that we have always said is that we need to come out of the Naira and borrow internationally because it is now very low. Many countries have even negative interest rate. So that is an opportunity for us. Just because the MPC finds itself in a situation where they are looking at their indicators like inflation and money supply among others, they make their decisions based on that and that is always respected. I don’t see a disharmony. I am not a member of the committee and I don’t see what they do. We are all working together with one objective, which is to get the economy growing.
There would be times of dislocation in any economy but overtime these will working together in harmony on a number of fronts.”
Emefiele speaking along that line said, “There is no disharmony, we are all poised to see to it that we actually achieve growth in the Nigerian economy. If you read my vision statement just about three days after I assumed office, one of the core issues that I raised at that conference was that we would try to pursue a low interest rate regime.
“We feel that when people are able to access loans at low interest rates, it helps improve growth, reduce unemployment, boost industrial capacity and the rest. Of course, I’m trying to say it is something that eventually we would have to look at, but based on the numbers that the Monetary Policy Committee saw – based on the data that was available – the MPC felt we can pursue growth through another angle. It has nothing to do with disharmony. We are all working together and I believe that in due course, we would achieve the growth that we badly desire for the country.”
Speaking about the flexible exchange rate, Emefiele said the module had increased investors’ interest in the country. He, however, promised that the apex bank would keep fine tuning it to give the best to Nigerians.
He said, “I have not seen one person that has criticised the document. But what we only have to talk about is fine-tuning few aspects of it, in terms of the implementation of the content of that document. That is why I said we would from time to time, continue to look at it. As we are looking at it, I repeat, we would see how we would continue to fine tune it, to the extent that whatever we are putting in place would be such that would benefit Nigerians, improve their lives as well as the country. How do we make it possible for them to get foreign exchange for them to run their factories so that prices can be moderated at the level that the purchasing power of our people don’t look totally eroded. Those are some of the engagements and I am pretty much optimistic that as we continue those engagements, they would yield results.”
Adeosun also said, “We met with the World Bank Country Team as a group and one of the discussions was that there is an unacceptably low level of disbursement of funds to Nigerian projects. Indeed, the rate is 13 per cent at the moment, which is unacceptably low.
“We agreed on a number of measures to reverse this which includes reviewing the process of originating projects, project design and implementation issues to understand why certain projects are performing at a low rate. We will consider restructuring, reallocating or even cancelling irredeemable project components, strengthen our implementation capacity including our capacity for monitoring and evaluation; we will hold monthly meetings from now with the World Bank Group and there will be regular briefing of FEC and the NEC on the performance of Nigeria’s portfolios.”
She added that some of the projects are state government projects “and it is very important to bring to the attention of the governors failing World Bank projects in their states so that we can actually access this money which of course is consessional money and is aligning to our development goal. We believe it is unacceptable that Nigeria should be drawing down on such a low rate, especially at a time like this when we really need these investments. This exercise will not be limited to the World Bank but will be extended to all our multilateral partner relationships.”
She added, “We agreed to work on the $500m irrigation project covering the Bakalori River and Adija River, an irrigation scheme which has been delayed due to the non release of counterpart funding of $400m. We were able to agree and confirm that the Ministry of Water Resources has now made that payment out of the capital releases that it has received and therefore will be able to initiate the project which is part of our agricultural agenda and will significantly increase our capacity to do all-year-round farming.
“We also agreed on the step for the take of the 500m dollar no-phased reconstruction projects.
Agreement was also reached on the final steps on the take off of Development Bank of Nigeria which has been stalled due to a number of issues. We have resolved the issues and recruitment process will now be finalised and management team put in place. This will release 1.3billion dollars which is aimed at supporting our SMEs. As you all know, SMEs are part of the engine that we expect will bring growth back to our economy.
The Minister assured that the fiscal and monetary authorities would collaborate to bail the country out of the current economic challenges. “The outlook that was presented at this meeting was that the global economy and growth prospects will remain subdued. This outlook has some implications for us Africa generally and particularly in Nigeria specifically. There is therefore the need to apply a full combination of monetary, fiscal and structural tools to ensure that we are able to return to growth.”

We accumulated $60bn in foreign reserves at $30 per barrel —Soludo

You just made a presentation to Central Bank governors in Commonwealth nations which the media was not allowed to cover. Can you just give us the highlight of your presentation?
The focus of the presentation was actually on monetary policy under uncertainty and they asked me to speak on the Brexit because among governors of central bank of the 53 Commonwealth countries. The concern was about the possible implications of the Brexit on the economies of the Commonwealth and being governors of central bank, what this could mean for monetary policy. The major hypothesis there was that Brexit can only be seen as just one of the many sources of uncertainties in the global economy today.
If the worst case scenario happens, Brexit can only heighten the state of uncertainties. But the global economy itself is almost in reset button mood. There is an uptick in the level of uncertainties in the global economy. We haven’t gotten over the legacy issues as a result of the 2008-2009 global financial crises.
You can see that Europe and America still have tepid and sluggish recovery. There is a potential of China having a hard landing and there are fears about that, which could unravel quite a lot of things in the global econoy. You can see the price shocks on primary commodities dependent economies, such as Nigeria and so on. Several of them are in trouble.
And they are in trouble as a result of the oil price shock as well as wrong policy choices to respond to the shock. As a result of the old shock, many countries have reached the limit of the policy squeeze that they have. Many have accumulated huge public debts because they ran excessive deficits. For monetary policy, interest rates are almost at very low end and many of these countries now have negative real interest rates. So, there isn’t much. Where again are you going to go to stimulate these economies?
Some have raised interest rates in order to attract portfolio flows, but how far are you going to raise it without compromising growth? So, they have reached much of the policy handles. So, the emphasis of my message to these governors is that this is the time to take pre-emptive, proactive contingency planning, in anticipation of the next global crisis. The latest global financial stability report 2006, talks about the uptick of uncertainties and vulnerabilities and the potential risks that the global economic system faces.
Therefore, even though Brexit is unlikely going to have any major adverse impact on the global economy, it would have impact on Britain, but we still don’t know the magnitude and duration of such effect, whether positive or negative. I also discussed the opportunities of Brexit.
Global preparation for economic crisis
But, the key thing for central banks and policy makers over the world to be concerned about is the state of affair of the global economy and the financial system. There is a whole lot of uncertainty and risks everywhere. It just takes one major crisis in some place and it will snowball into another crisis.
So, what are the contingency plans that countries are putting in place? Otherwise, what you find is that people are going to be perennially reacting to the shocks as if they were not anticipated. Just like in the case of Nigeria, in 2010 I wrote a piece, in which I drew attention to the fact that we were having an unprecedented oil boom and we were actually saving nothing.
We were actually depleting the reserves even at the peak of the oil boom. Like I always say, I met $10 billion when oil prices were around $30 per barrel. By the end of the year, oil prices was still around $30 per barrel, but we grew reserves by more than 50 per cent and kept growing it until we reached about $60 billion.
I had an average monthly oil price of $59 per barrel throughout my 60 months in office and we were building reserves, almost doubling it every year. And we had to do the consolidation of the banks before the world crisis came. So, it is this kind of pre-emptive policies. You do it before it comes, you don’t do it when it comes. You need to anticipate that the global economic and financial system, given the globalisation, is inherently unstable and it is inherently crisis prone. Therefore, periodically, you will be having cycles of crisis and shocks.
Of course in the paper, I discussed quite a number of other things, about how the ministers of finance, the governors of central banks and the ministers of trade and investments, need to come together and develop what I call alternative scenario buildings. What if this happens, how are we going to react? What if this happens, how should we react? So, you have menu of options. I said them that what we did when oil price was rising in Nigeria has not been replicated in most parts of the world when they are having commodity and export boom. And that is to maintain an undervalued real effective exchange rate.
You wouldn’t have been able to accumulate the reserves. What you have is that when you have an export boom, countries have overvalued real exchange rate. But we have a singular record of having maintained an undervalued real effective exchange rate regime even during an export boom.
We deliberately did not allow the naira to appreciate as it should have, otherwise we could have had the naira below N100 to the dollar and that would have been catastrophic. You wouldn’t have been able to accumulate the reserves.
The real issues with Nigerian economy
People think it was because oil price was rising, that that is how you accumulate reserves, no! Even at that time, it was still expensive to bring in goods relative to what it should be. It made better sense for people to bring in money into the country, change it into naira and do business. And because of that inflow, there was a time when the central bank could not sell more than $20 million per auction. We would offer $200 million, and the banks could not take up to $20 million. That was because the system was awashed with private flows. So, the CBN at some point became a minor player on the foreign exchange market. Anyway, I don’t want to speak beyond that. But the significant point to leave you with is that, I know people are pre-occupied with today’s crisis, but, what they are facing today is like, take the Huricane Mathew in some part of America today, it is like some parts of the house facing leakage, and you are busy fixing it, but the huricane that might actually take out the entire house is fast approaching. So, it is how you prepare for all of these uncertainties that matters. As I said, it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the next global crisis would hit the world.
Do you foresee a global crisis?
Like I said, the global economic system is inherently crisis prone.
So for several countries facing commodity price shocks, in the short run, what did you advise them to do?
In the short run, I have told many of them that this is the time to rethink some of their policy instruments. Some of those countries have fixed or quasi-fixed exchange rate systems. That in theory and in practice, in a time when you have negative terns of trade shocks, is a no brainer. If you fix prices, if you fix the nominal variables, the real economy would adjust. Something must adjust. You cannot fix price and fix quantity. I said this in a lecture that I gave in November last year, when I was commenting on the exchange rate regime that we were operating, and to some extent, still doing now. The mismatch of what we have today, we call it flexible exchange rate regime. Of course, it is a quasi flexible exchange rate regime, creating all manner of distortions in the system. I did make the argument forcefully, that if we are fixing the exchange rate, then in the real economy, the quantities would adjust, and that is output and employment. So, when you see unemployment escalating and the economy going into recession, that is what we should expect. You can’t have your cake and eat it.
So the major message I left with them as Central Bankers, when you talk about the short term, is to look at the menu of policies handles that they have. That some of their policies was for an economy that no longer exists. Those quasi-fixed, bond issuance, and so on and so forth.
Yes, good enough, that actually encouraged them to borrow excessively externally. Since they have loaded that, they are now locked in to keep the fixed exchange rate, so that it helps them to service the external debt.
IMF MD Has said the Fund will start giving zero interest loans to countries facing challenges. Does that tally with what you’re saying?
Well, the IMF can give – they’ve got all kinds of concessionary lending facilities. You can give whether it is zero or it is at whatever interest. What does that really mean for many of these countries. The fundamental thing is to have a healthy balance sheet, that is sustainable.
Otherwise, if you are in an unsustainable path, whether it is zero or whatever thing, it is unsustainable, you get one today, you need it tomorrow, because you still have to pay back the principal.
If you are in an unsustainable path, you can’t even pay back the principal. So the point is some form of adjustments that get these countries to be on a sustainable path, that you’ll even be in a position – the IMF does not give grants, it is still a loan. It still has to be repaid.
The interest thing is on the margin as it were – it is still a loan; a loan is still a loan. It could help some countries tidy over, some highly distressed economy to tidy over their circumstances, but that is not the way.
People must think of those as short term. The fundamental thing is the adjustment that gets you on a sustainable path, and that is where I think the central banks need to re-examine their instruments. I’m talking about the Central Bank of the Commonwealth.
We talked about the instruments that they are using, and also called on the need for supra-national coordination. What needs to happen at the G-20, group of 20 countries that account for about 80 percent of the world GDP. Coordination of monetary and fiscal stimulus package in these countries could actually help to avert or at least postpone the crisis that we are talking about. That’s what we did, that’s what happened in 2008, 2009 as it were.
The global economy is already in some huge risks, everywhere. It hasn’t turned into a recession The global recession; we are out of it, but still wobbling, everything is still in a wobbling mode, and that is why everything else is going down.
Commodity prices have crashed, America is not growing fast, the European Union is not growing really fast – you have the Brexit. China is slowing, its cooling off, and so on and so forth.
These are the sources of uncertainty and anxieties around the world.
A lot of currencies are under pressure around the world. You once proposed naira denomination, looking at low income countries like Nigeria, would you advise us to redenominate our currency?
Let me tell you, like I told you, I didn’t want to come to start doing interview about what Nigeria should do, or what Nigeria is not going to do, I told you, if it is about the annual meetings, fair enough. It is a gentleman agreement to focus on the annual meetings, because if we are going into Nigeria, we have a saying in my place, it is not the kind of talk you get into without having a breakfast. Nigeria’s thing is not the kind of conversation you get into. You have to get breakfast. So let’s leave that one.
You have reservations talking about Nigeria. Let say the president contact syou privately, will you be willing to offer him some advice?
Did you see my reaction? It is only baba who laughs, me I’m just smiling at what you’re saying. I do my own citizen duty, as a citizen of Nigeria. I love Nigeria, and I have also done my own bit in public service. Those six intensive, intense years; we were almost running it 24 hours, I mean, doing what you should do in 72, 96 hours in 24 hours.
We have almost 200 million people in the country. Largely endowed country, and I believe that there are enough people, even within the government and outside of government. There are enough people with all the ideas. There are people, there are Nigerians, who can do this, so leave me, let’s not talk about this.
When you left office as CBN governor, you attempted to become a state governor. If you had become a state governor then, since then till now, what has been happening in the political space, how would you have coped?
We would have coped, extremely very well, I can tell you that. Even though at the state level, much of what you have, people get to face the same shock, it ripples back. The federal government in Nigeria is a major constraint to the states, and that is why some of us believe that the current structure that we have is for a time we no longer live in.
The current structure was designed to share and consume the oil rent, and I have argued that the structure that is designed for consumption, cannot be efficient for production. So we know that it would have its own ripple effect.
But if that happened, by now, I should be finishing my second term. So that first term thing, when things were still going, I’m sure we would have. We did it at the aggregate level, we would have been able to do it back in my state.
We prepared Nigeria to weather through the worst financial and economic crisis since the great depression. Nigerians took it for granted, but we still recorded six point something percentage growth at the end of the year. People took it for granted – that is how it is supposed to be.
We did it at the national level, we would also have done it at my state, and that is the message. Passed on to this government. The key word is seeing beyond today. When we were doing consolidation, people said impossible, why, how. Then, when the global crisis came, every country was then recapitalising, but we had done that several years before. The key thing is that we should be able to see beyond today, and that is the message I delivered to the governors of the central banks.
While they are pre-occupied with today, running in circles, the major thing is coming. That contingency planning, or futures mapping, what if this happens, this is how we react, what if this happens, this is how we react. It is those kind of things that help you stress test the system, and you then know how. If this one crystallises, it doesn’t come to you as a shock, because you had anticipated it, and you have prepared the instrument to respond. You don’t wait until it hits you, otherwise, you’d be going in circles.
Do you see the governors’ preparing for the future?
After my presentation, many of them responded by actually sharing experiences of what they are doing in their individual countries, and some actually reacted in anticipation. For example, I was impressed at what the governor of Mauritius responded in terms of the reserves, because I told them that to see the depreciation of the pound sterling as an opportunity in terms of diversification of reserves. It is down now at 30-year low, but it could also rebound tomorrow. So if you take a position today in pound sterling, from dollar, you get a lot of pound sterling and then tomorrow, when it appreciates, you can also get more dollars. For every bad thing, there is an opportunity.
He said once the debate on Brexit started, they took the position that it would happen, and so they did the adjustment in anticipation of the worst case scenario and they got it all right.
In Nigeria, do you see us preparing for the future?
You’re still going back to that. Like I said, for me, as a Nigerian, I have tried to intervene on this matter, doing my own duty as a patriotic citizen who loves that country. Also, as somebody with every sense of modesty, I have also paid my own dues. To put it on an even kill, when we were debating the exchange rate thing, I thought it was… I mean, I have never seen a thing like that.