Photos: Emir Of Kano inaugurated as UNIBEN Chancellor

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Mohammad Sanusi II, was inaugurated yesterday 25th of November, as the ninth Chancellor of the University of Benin. After the cut are some photos from the event....

Photo: Pope Francis addressing UNEP & UN staff in Nairobi, Kenya

Why didn't he come to Nigerian nah...choi!

I have political will to tackle traffic gridlock - Ambode

Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has assured the people of the State of his strong political will to tackle the traffic crisis in the state. Ambode stated this at the Traffic Management and Transportation Summit organised by the State Government in Lagos today November 26th. He said as a government, his administration is keenly committed to make Lagos work for all, and that effective traffic management, for him, is a good place to start.
He stressed that there is need for practical and innovative solutions to address the traffic challenges confronting the State to deliver immediate dividends and future aspirations.
“Lagos, in many ways, is a victim of its own success as many people leave other states and travel to Lagos seeking better opportunities. More Nigerians want to reside in Lagos and this obviously comes with some challenges. As one of the leading commercial centres and an emerging City-State, we need to go back to the drawing board and agree on how our transportation sector can be effectively and efficiently operated to support the kind of trade and investment we want to continually attract. We need to collectively examine how transportation sector can improve public sector delivery through better institutional framework, quality transport infrastructure and then tackle wasteful and socially harmful transport patterns. You will agree with me that the ease of travelling, mobility and communication are critical fuels for our State economic engine. As a Government that is keen on promoting business and creating wealth opportunities for our residents, we are committed to seeking and funding substantial and comprehensive solutions to traffic challenges, therefore we are ready to take tough recommendations you come out with. We owe it to the people to ensure Lagos works for all. Tackling traffic is a good place to start; a good place to begin the significant change that our people expect from us. Let us make Lagos work for us all" he said.

Court dismisses EFCC N19.2bn fraud charges against Timpre Sylva

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the N19.2 billion fraud charges filed against former Bayelsa state governor Timpre Sylva by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. At the resumed hearing of the case today, Justice Adeniyi Ademola dismissed the case, saying it was an abuse of court process. He stated that the fraud charges brought against the former governor who is now the APC candidate in the Bayelsa governorship election, had been dismissed by two federal high courts, and resuscitation was tantamount to an abuse of court process.

Kevin Federline apologizes to Beyonce

Britney's ex-husband Kevin Federline has apologized to Beyonce for accusing her of abusing Botox and ruining her looks. He actually called her sawface. His apology after the cut...

Photos: Buhari departs for Malta for CHOGM meeting

President Buhari has left for Malta to participate in the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which begins in the Island nation on Friday Nov. 27th. At the conclusion of the Summit on Sunday November 29th, President Buhari will leave Malta for Paris where he will present Nigeria's statement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled to open in the French capital on Monday, November 30.


He is accompanied by by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed and the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.)

Chris Brown shows off his blings

As he shared on instagram...

Buhari Bounce Becomes Bust as Nigeria Policies Irk Investors

Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari.

Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images

• Growth rate set to slow to 16-year low of 3.3% as oil falls
• Naira policy is biggest concern, Citigroup analyst Howell says

When Muhammadu Buhari clinched victory in Nigeria’s presidential elections in March, stocks soared as investors looked to the former military ruler to reverse decades of economic mismanagement and policy inertia. Now hopes have fizzled in his ability to turn around Africa’s largest economy and oil producer.
Money that flowed into stocks and bonds in the West African nation, which McKinsey & Co. says could become one of the world’s 20 biggest economies by 2030, is now fleeing as growth prospects diminish along with oil prices. While Buhari, 72, has prioritized stamping out the graft that has plagued Nigeria since independence from Britain in 1960, policy-making appears as uncertain and haphazard as ever.
“After the initial euphoria, people have become disillusioned,” Ayodele Salami, who oversees about $500 million of African equities as chief investment officer of London-based Duet Asset Management Ltd., said by phone. “He would probably say that he’s being deliberative and cautious. But we expected more.” Duet’s Africa fund has cut its investments in the country to about 24 percent of the total from 38 percent in the last year.

Buhari waited five months before naming his cabinet, hasn’t proposed a clear plan to revive growth and backed foreign-exchange controls aimed at defending the naira. His retention of gasoline subsidies, plans to raise spending in the face of declining revenue and silence about a $5.2 billion fine levied on mobile-phone operator MTN Group Ltd. have added to investor unease.
Nigeria’s benchmark stock index has plunged 22 percent since reaching a year-high on April 2, the day after Buhari was declared the winner of the presidential race against incumbent Goodluck Jonathan. That’s the third-worst performance globally in the period, after the bourses in Ukraine and Egypt. The index advanced 12.5 percent in the two days after Jonathan conceded.

To be sure, Buhari inherited depleted government coffers and a bureaucracy that multiple probes have blamed for looting billions of dollars of oil revenue. The president has said he delayed appointing ministers because he needed time to vet suitable candidates.
Garba Shehu, a spokesman for Buhari, didn’t immediately respond to written questions after requesting they be sent that way.

The hiatus has compounded the pain caused by the slide in the price of crude, which accounts for two-thirds of government revenue and 90 percent of export earnings. Growth, which averaged 6.3 percent annually over the past decade, is set to slow to a 16-year low of 3.3 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Many filling stations ran dry this month as the government withheld fuel subsidies to suppliers, preventing them from restocking. Lengthening lines forced Buhari to ask lawmakers for permission to pay 413 billion naira ($2 billion) in overdue payments, an amount that hadn’t been budgeted for.
While next year’s budget has yet to be finalized, Buhari wants to raise spending by 56 percent, according to a person who attended a briefing on the government’s plans and asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the government plans to spend its way out of a slowing economy and that an infrastructure fund will be created with public and private financing.

The penalty imposed on MTN’s Nigeria unit last month for failing to register about 5 million subscribers may be an attempt to plug the hole in government finances, according to Cobus de Hart, an economist at NKC Independent Economists.
“You cannot deny there might be a fiscal element to the massive fine,” he said by phone from Paarl, near Cape Town. “It will make investors a little bit more wary of investing in Nigeria.”
An even bigger concern for many investors is the authorities’ naira policy. The Central Bank of Nigeria, with Buhari’s backing, has burned through $4.3 billion of reserves this year and choked off supply of foreign exchange to banks and their customers to defend the naira, even as major oil exporters such as Russia and Colombia have let their currencies slide. The restrictions prompted JPMorgan Chase & Co. to remove Nigeria from its local-currency emerging-market bond indexes, tracked by more than $200 billion of funds, in September, triggering a selloff in the nations’ assets.
While the naira has been all but fixed at about 198 to 199 per dollar since March, forward prices suggest it will drop by almost one-fifth, to 243.5, in a year.

“The number-one issue is the exchange rate,” Andrew Howell, a Citigroup Inc. frontier markets strategist, said from Lagos. ”Access to foreign exchange is becoming a widespread problem.”
Nigerian Breweries Plc, the nation’s biggest brewer that’s controlled by Heineken NV, said it takes two weeks to obtain dollars to pay for its imports, twice as long as it required a few months ago. Nestle SA’s Nigerian unit has had to wait six weeks for dollars, according to Renaissance Capital Ltd. analysts.
Buhari has won plaudits from leaders including President Barack Obama for his efforts to tackle graft. He replaced the management of the state oil company, which was accused of withholding billions of dollars from the government, and has stepped up the fight against an insurgency being waged by Islamist group Boko Haram.
“The degree of transparency we’re starting to get with the new administration is hugely positive,” Douglas Rowlings, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, said in an interview in Lagos. “It gives investors the perception that operating in Nigeria will now be done following proper procedures.”
Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Group Plc, which oversees almost $60 billion of emerging market assets, remains unconvinced that Buhari is up to the job. The fund manager sold all its Nigerian government debt in the past year.
“So far the Buhari administration has done all the wrong things,” Dehn said by phone from London. “Not only has he been incredibly slow in taking any action, when he finally has taken action on the economic front it’s been diametrically opposed to sensible policy. That is a major disappointment given expectations prior to his election.”

From:Yahoo News

Read What Prof. Soyinka Has To Say about Tinubu

"I do not admire Tinubu because he is a saint...

I do not admire Tinubu because he is from the south...
I do not admire Tinubu because he is a Yoruba...
If I want saints, I will proceed to heaven not on earth...

Every human is fallible (but) I admire Tinubu because...
He saved Nigeria from the danger of falling into "one party state". He has nurtured many renowned National successors. He listened to the voice of the masses to surrender his personal ambition at the most critical moment.

He strategically terminated PDP 60 years life span in 16 years. The robust critic and critique we are enjoying today is because Tinubu aligned himself to the masses to return the power to them.

Tinubu has the option of joining the PDP elites to hold us hostage for another decade but he gave his all to the masses to dethrone the elites.

Political juveniles believed that APC won because of the votes from the North. No!!!, APC's victory was cemented the day Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu resolved to work together.

Asiwaju and PMB almost became a Nomadic by visiting every human that can help midwife Nigeria's salvation. Those 'Nomadic Almajiri' walk later brought salvation to us.

God willing, PMB is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Anybody, any cabal, any Viju milk activist, attempting to humiliate Asiwaju must have me to contend with.

An average PDP man is sad with Asiwaju because he brought them to their knees. If anyone thinks that to bring down Asiwaju is his project, that mission will not only crash but it will boomerang.

Don't tell me he is overbearing, your "underbearing" mentors were nowhere to be found when this Country was lying critically at the intensive care of the universe. Recall my first line, Asiwaju is not a saint. Stop demonising what you admire out of envy. Even your mentors admire him.

He owns Lagos? I hear you!
Ask your grand father and parents how they acquired your so called "family land". Is it God that allocated it to them?

You are terrorizing your neighbours and village with your kpof-kpof kobo yet you criticise a man that is naturally addicted to technocrats, irrespective of their tribe or religion.

He is evil? I agree, but we need more of him than any of your saintly specie.

Dear Asiwaju, the gentle stride of a tiger is not a symbol of a cowardice".

- Prof. Wole Soyinka's Tribute to APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Photos: Pope Francis arrives in Kenya

Pope Francis arrived Kenya for his state visit this afternoon and was received by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, his wife, Reverend Fathers and other top government functionaries. See more photos after the cut...