Nigerian Banks Stop Use of ATM Cards Abroad

Deposit Money Banks have commenced a process to stop all customers from using their payment cards, popularly known as Automated Teller Machine cards, for dollar-denominated transactions when they travel abroad with effect from January 1, 2016.

SUNDAY PUNCH’s investigation also revealed the banks would not allow their customers to use naira-denominated ATM cards locally for transactions denominated in forex.

This means bank customers will not be able to use their cards to buy products from foreign e-commerce sites like e-bay and amazon.com in which payments are made in forex.

The development follows the lingering scarcity of foreign exchange, especially the dollar, to settle obligations arising from customers’ use of the ATM cards for forex-denominated transactions.

Already, Standard Chartered Bank has notified its customers that from January 1, 2016, they will not be able to use their naira-denominated ATM cards for transactions that are denominated in foreign currencies, either locally or when they travel abroad.

In a notice to its customers, Standard Chartered said, “This is to notify you that from January 1, 2016, your naira card will no longer be enabled for international use. This is as a result of the limited foreign exchange supply in the financial market.”

Asked how long the suspension of cards from international transactions would be, the spokesperson for Standard Chartered Nigeria, Mrs. Dayo Adurogbo, said, “We cannot give a definite date. It depends on how soon it is available. We will do everything to meet our customers’ demand once it is available.”

Further findings showed that a number of other banks had stopped customers from using their ATM cards abroad but had yet to officially communicate this to them.

Some customers told our correspondent that when they notified their banks of plans to travel and the need to enable their cards work overseas, they were simply informed that the cards could not be enabled for now due to issues relating to forex scarcity.

SUNDAY PUNCH findings showed others banks might issue notices similar to that of Standard Chartered Bank before the end of the year.

“We had some discussions recently and some top bank officials said they would stop customers from using their naira-denominated cards for international transactions due to the serious challenges in getting forex to settle their international partners,” a top bank official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said on Friday.

The current situation means customers travelling abroad for Christmas and New Year may face severe payment challenges, a situation that may mar their shopping plans.

The fall in prices of crude oil, the main earner of foreign exchange for Nigeria, has made the nation’s forex income to reduce drastically, creating dollar scarcity crisis for the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The CBN has been rationing dollar to banks, importers and other forex users as the nation’s foreign exchange reserves continue to deplete, hitting $29.4bn on December 7, 2015.

The PUNCH had exclusively reported on Thursday that banks had cut the amount that their customers could spend using their debit and credit cards abroad by between 70 and 90 per cent. This took effect during the first week of December for the majority of the banks.

Specifically, banks cut customers’ card spending in foreign currencies from the annual $50,000 allowed by the CBN to between $5,000 and $15,000.

According to findings by our correspondent, Ecobank Nigeria Plc has reduced its limit from $50,000 to $5,000, with a maximum of $500 monthly and $100 daily expenditure.

Skye Bank Plc, in a notice to its customers via email, also slashed its international card spending limit from $50,000 to $12,000 annually, a maximum of $1,000 monthly and $100 daily.

Wema Bank Plc also slashed spending on its payment cards from $50,000 to $10,000 annually, $1,000 monthly and $100 daily.

Although other banks have yet to confirm their new international card spending limits, findings by our correspondent revealed that the new limits for most of them ranged from $5,000 to $15,000 annually, and $500 to $1,000 monthly.

SOURCE: porscheclassyng

Court 'Discharges' Nnamdi Kanu

A Magistrate Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday, December 16, discharged the cases against the director of the Indigenous People Of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu.

At the ruling the chief magistrate, Shuaibu Usman struck out all criminal charges levelled against Kanu.

Usman said that since the State Security Services (SSS) through its lawyer Moses Idakwo had filed for a discontinuation of the case, the accused is thereby discharged.

Citing section 108 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act, he said the case is struck out due emerging facts by the prosecutor on the matter under investigation.

On Monday, November 23, the SSS had filed an application for the discontinuation of the case against Kanu.

Idakwo during his submissions said the facts emerging from ongoing investigation by his client – the SSS – show that the case against the Biafra agitator cannot be entertained by the magistrate court.

He said that the magistrate court lacked the jurisdiction to handle such case. Kanu was arrested on October 14 on arriving Lagos, Nigeria from the United Kingdom.

Following his arrest,  he was arraigned by the SSS before chief magistrate Usman.

But during the trial process,  the SSS obtained an order from the Federal High Court to keep Kanu in their custody for a period of 90 days.
This the SSS said will enable it conduct investigation on Kanu following allegations of terrorism and terrorism funding.

But in an objection, Kanu’s counsel, Egechukwu Obetta also applied to the same Federal High Court presided by Ademola Adeniyi to revoke the order it had given to the SSS.

He said the prosecutor had fraudulently obtained the order during an ongoing trial of the accused person at the magistrate court. Adeniyi is expected to rule on the matter on Thursday, December 17.

Kanu has also asked the court to strike out the criminal charge with reference number FHC/ABJ/ CS/873/2015 levelled against him by the SSS.

Recall that a statement published on the website of Radio Biafra on Saturday, October 17, disclosed the arrest of its director, Nnamdi Kanu, by the Department of State Services (DSS) as soon as he got to Nigeria from the United Kingdom.

SOURCE: Naij.com

A rare map of the most complex conflict on earth

The war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was one of the most complex conflicts on Earth, even before the defeat of the M23 rebel movement, perhaps the conflict's most powerful combatant, in late 2013. 

Although there are more than 1.6 million people displaced, along with frequent fighting between the Congolese government and the region's constellation of armed groups, the conflict often defies a label as straightforward as "war."

Even after M23's downfall, the region is home to scores of combatants whose motivations range from plunder, to ethnic self-defence, to overthrowing the Congolese government, to overthrowing the governments of neighbouring countries. 

Violence is occasionally aimed at the Congolese state, whose military is one of the region's major human rights abusers and a primary driver of displacement. But overall, the war in the Congo is a more like a web of mutually reinforcing social and political conditions, rather than a confrontation between easily definable ideological or political opponents.

As a result, mapping the conflict can be incredibly difficult. And the conceptual challenges aren't the only reason that territorial maps like the ones that have become familiar for followers of the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are so difficult and time-consuming to produce for the Congo.

Misinformation travels more easily than people in the DRC's mountainous and underdeveloped eastern edge. And mapping the region's armed groups requires meticulous ground-level fieldwork in a difficult and often dangerous environment.

The Congo Research Group, a project at New York University's Center on International Cooperation, has now produced a definitive map of one of the world's most severe yet least-covered and least-understood conflicts. The map, which was published in October, shows the areas of influence for 69 armed groups in the eastern Congo, displaying where these groups carry out attacks, impose taxation, or have a notable operational presence.

It's an invaluable piece of scholarship and reporting — and it shows just how complex the situation has gotten.

© Provided by Business Insider Eastern Congo MapEven with no prior knowledge of the conflict, which has endured in some form since 1996, the map conveys one of the biggest obstacles to normalcy in the region: There are too many active armed groups.

While most of them field fewer than 200 fighters each, their sheer number reflects the Congolese state's inability to exert its authority over the region, or to incentivize these groups to lay down their arms. It also reveals a lack of cohesion among combatants — and the ease with which local warlords or even political leaders can mobilize their own militias.

© Provided by Business Insider North Kivu mapThe groups are also constantly splintering and shifting. According to the Congo Research Group report that accompanied the group's map, there were 20 armed groups in the region in 2008, while the map shows the areas of influence of nearly 70 such groups.

As Christoph Vogel, a senior fellow at the Congo Research Group and one of hte creators of the CRG map, told Business Insider, the map is just a snapshot of a highly fluid ground-level situation.

"The half-life of such a mapping is extremely short as conflict in eastern Congo is constantly evolving," says Vogel, who adds that researchers learned of "two 'new' small militias just days after publishing this map."

"It is literally impossible — even for the UN mission and the government itself — to have absolutely correct and precise information on each armed group’s exact zone of control," Vogel told Business Insider.

Militias and the national military often operate in the same areas, and the offices of the central government sometimes remain open even in places where anti-government groups are strongest. "In many areas, influence is not monopolized," Vogel said.

Another built-in challenge of mapping the conflict is that the size of an armed group's area of influence also doesn't necessarily correlate with that group's actual strength.

"Some stronger groups who traditionally maintain rather tight control in small areas  appear ‘weaker’ on the map than smaller but very mobile groups covering intermittently a much larger area," Vogel said.

Even with these inherent drawbacks, the map is gives a vivid sense of how the conflict in the eastern Congo has persisted for so long — and of why even a seemingly major development like the defeat of a leading rebel movement wasn't enough to solve the region's problems.

SOURCE: msn news

EFCC docks Dasuki, Yuguda, Bafarawa others, on fresh corruption charges

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday arraigned a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; a former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda; a former Sokoto State Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa; Mr. Bafarawa’s son, Sagir; and others on fresh charges bordering on money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

The charges against all the accused persons are currently being read to them at Court 24 of the FCT High court, Abuja.

We will serve details on the charges and proceedings in court in subsequent updates.

The EFCC had on Monday charged Mr. Dasuki, a former Director of Finance at the Office of National Security Adviser, Shuaibu Salisu; a former General Manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Aminu Babakusa; Waripamowei Dudafa (now at large), a former Senior Special Assistant, Domestic Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan; and two firms, Acacia Holdings and Reliance Hospitals.

They were docked at the Federal High Court Abuja on a 19-count charge bordering on money laundering and criminal breach of trust.

SOURCE: Premiumtimesng

UN: Women can contribute $12 trillion to global growth

Women can contribute an additional $12 trillion to global growth by 2025, the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Mukhisa Kituyi told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Forum on Women in Business held in Nairobi on Monday, Kituyi said that many economies are driven by women.

“It is the women that are always on the farms, it’s they that you find at the market, Kituyi said.

“The majority of the poor in the developing world are women, and economic opportunities, financial empowerment, access to technological capabilities is critical if women are going to realize the agenda of inclusive prosperity,” Kituyi said.

“It is the aim of this conference to bring more than 1 million women to the market by the year 2020,” he added.

Also present at the conference was Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, who called on African States to empower women in business.

“Today the challenge is to move women into business, to move them from the farm and the marketplace so they can get the benefit of participation in the everyday life of the economy, and this is why this conference is vital today.”

The International Forum on Women in Business was hosted by the government of Kenya and the International Trade Centre, in conjunction with the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. Policymakers, the business community and representatives of Women Business Organizations will convene to discuss actions to increase the participation of women in the economy.

SOURCE: http: msnnews

NIGERIA ARMS DEAL PROBE: ...More Revelations As The Sharing Goes On

Ex-VP, Sambo Received N20m From Dasuki Monthly- Ibrahim Idris Wambai, former Accounts 

Officer II, Office of NSA.

“In December 2014, I took cash of N4million to Col. Madaki(rtd) in his residence in Wuse II Abuja. I had made many cash payments to Doyin Okupe, Ahmad Idris (PA to ex-NSA), ADC to former First Lady Patience Jonathan as payments for monthly operation allowances.

“The documents showing evidence of the payments are in the office of Yazidu Ibrahim in cash payment files. The exact amounts paid and date of payments I cannot remember but are available in the files.

“The venue for the collection of the money was my office and the money was given to me from the cash in the strong room “So many cash payments were made on a monthly basis to the following beneficiaries: Office of the former Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo (N20,000,000). The money was being collected by former Deputy Chief of Staff; ADC to former President (amount not known but in cash payment files; Chief Personal physician to former President Goodluck Jonathan; former coordinator on anti-terrorism, Gen. Sarkin Yaki; former Director PC4, Gen. Terba Waya (rtd); Personal Assistant, Domestic Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

“The amounts and frequency of payments to the beneficiaries as well as the list of other beneficiaries are in the cash payment files

“I also witnessed several payments in cash to various people. Prominent was about payment of N300million to former Chairman on Security and Intelligence, Dr. Bello Matawalle from the cash in the strong room.

“To get details of cash payments in Naira and individuals and organizations summary and vouchers from January 2011 to July 2015, the documents are kept in Yazidu Ibrahim’s former office. These should be collected from the Director of Finance and Administration, Col. Jafaru Mohammed. I and Yazidu Ibrahim can supply the files and the summary.

"(Five firms were used to transfer money from the ONSA). The amounts of the five companies are ACACIA Holdings Limited (N600,000,000) via account no. 1017330319 with UBA and N650million via account no. 0122012650 with ECOBANK Nigeria Limited; Reliance Referral Hospital Limited (N750m) via account no.2022394057 with First Bank Nigeria Plc; Jabbama Global Nigeria Limited(N400m) via account no. 1013898095 with Zenith Bank; Continental Development etc.”

SOURCE: PM News

THE 50 THINGS EVERY WOMAN NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT SEX

Found this interesting article on UK Daily Mail written by Sexpert Tracey Cox, who revealed the 50 things females need to know in bed. Read below and share your thoughts...

1. You’ll have your first orgasm by yourself. Few of us are lucky enough to start our sexual lives with a lover who’s so patient and skilled he can teach us about our own body.

2. Enthusiasm and being willing to try (almost) everything once is what makes you sexy. Looks, breasts, legs up to your armpits – they’ll only take you so far.

3. A vibrator is the quickest, easiest, most effective way to stimulate the clitoris, which is how most women have an orgasm.

4. You won’t become ‘addicted’ to your vibrator.

Using it often won’t put you off having the ‘real thing’ - quite the opposite!

Women who regularly use sex toys have higher libidos, orgasm easily and report less sexual dysfunction. About the only ‘bad’ thing that can happen is feeling a bit numb from having it up too high. Panic not - It’s temporary.

5. Only 20 per cent of women can orgasm purely from intercourse.

His ex-girlfriend who used to climax every time, effortlessly, within minutes of him penetrating, was lying.

6. If he can’t kiss, he’ll be useless in bed.

Especially true of men who stick a stiff tongue down your throat the second you lock lips.

7. The male sexual system is join-the-dots stuff. The female sexual system is complicated and not terribly well thought through.

Who thought putting the clitoris outside the vagina would be a good idea?

8. Anyone can be good in bed. But you do need a good working knowledge of your subject, experience and be willing to take and give feedback.

9. It’s obvious if you don’t like sex. All the tips and tricks in the world can’t teach you how to fake I’ll-die-if-I-don’t-have-you-now desire

10. The chances of you both climaxing together is extremely unlikely. So let’s all stop pretending and stop faking just because that’s what couples do on telly and in the movies.

11. If you fancy a threesome, do it with someone you’re not in love with. It goes a lot smoother in your head than in your bed and not much fun if you’re a frothing mess of jealousy and insecure paranoia throughout.

12. You’ll have a much better sex life if you match up with someone who has the same libido. Everyone’s sex drive spikes at the start but about eight months in, you’ll get a good idea of how much sex you both naturally crave. Mismatched sex drives are the main reason couples fight about sex. If you can possibly manage it, stick with your tribe.

13. No one is born a brilliant lover. Sex skills can be taught and brushing up on the basics, just to check you’re on the right track, is something everyone should do. We can all improve.

14. It doesn’t mean you’re boring in bed if he wants to try something new. Let go of the concept that ‘you should be enough’.

It’s hard enough making love happily to the same person for the rest of your life. If you don’t have variety, you’ve lost the game before it’s even started.

15. Men are visual. They like looking at sexy things. This is the main reason why men watch porn.

It’s usually that innocent.

16. Both men and women like foreplay. Quickies are great now and then but dreary and unsatisfying if that’s all you’re offered.

17. Don’t confuse love and lust. You spend a tiny proportion of your lives having sex.

It helps if you quite like hanging out together the rest of the time.

18. Men generally like to be touched twice as hard as women do. Their skin is thicker. This doesn’t mean you should be rough though.

19. Giving oral sex without using your hands is about as effective as bobbing for apples in a bucket of water with your hands behind your back.

21. The more different ways you can orgasm, the more orgasms you’ll have. This means forcing yourself to try a new way to climax if you can only do it one way.

22. The first time you have sex shapes you forever.

If losing your virginity was a positive experience, you’re more likely to view sex as something that’s healthy and enjoyable and lovers as nice people who can be trusted.

If your first time still haunts you years later, consider working it through with a good sex therapist.

23. Men aren’t just out for sex. But it’s easy to spot the ones who are. They won’t hang around past date three if you don’t put out.

24. There is such a thing as bad oral sex. And not all men adore oral sex.

25. Erections come and go during sex. It doesn’t mean he’s not enjoying it, it means he was focusing on you and not receiving any physical stimulation.

26. It’s often easier to orgasm solo than it is with a partner, especially when it’s with someone new.

27. The most likely time you’ll fake it is at the start. You don’t want to seem anything less than perfect. It’s later on, when you start teaching each other what really does it for you, that you’ll have your first real orgasm.

28. All men watch porn. But that’s OK because lots of women do too. Don’t read too much into it.

29. Stop worrying about your weight.

Men are far more forgiving of your wobbly bits than you are. He’s not looking at your thighs and thinking ‘Ew! Porridge’, he’s thinking, 'Let me get my hands on those'. Sexy is a state of mind, not a body size.

30. All sex positions are a variant of the basic five: him on top, her on top, side-by-side, from behind and standing.

31. If you never initiate sex, your partner will feel like you only have sex to please them. Besides, initiating sex makes you feel powerful which is an aphrodisiac.

32. Women feel like sex a lot at certain times of the month and are repulsed by the idea at others. This is normal. The female libido fluctuates wildly during the monthly cycle.

Let your partner know this information so they don’t take it personally – and where you’re at right now.

33. Real men don’t always get erections. Stress, age, alcohol and lots of medication all affect them.

You don’t need an erect penis to have a good time in bed. Most women have their best, most intense orgasms through oral sex.

34. Genitals come in all different shapes and sizes. Don’t compare yours to the porn stars: they’ve all been ‘tidied up’, bleached and waxed.

35. If you’re thinking of getting a ‘designer vagina’, you are barking mad. Vaginal tightening after a particularly horrible birth is one thing but opting for a ‘labial face-lift’ is as risky as the above-the-belt version.

Except worse because there’s a risk of permanent loss of sensation if too much skin is removed or ultra-sensitivity if a nerve is exposed.

This effectively means your ability to orgasm is compromised - or removed. You look fine as you are. Really.

36. Having sex purely to get the cuddle at the end isn’t healthy. If that’s what you’re really after, go see a friend or your Mum instead of a lover. Better still, get a dog.

37. Some men ask for sex when what they really want is love.

Women aren’t the only ones who use sex to get affection. Having sex is a sneaky, ‘manly’ way of getting close to you.

38. Sex long-term is very different than sex short term. It doesn’t mean you don’t fancy your partner because you’re not spontaneously gagging for it every day, six years in.

39. He’s not a mind reader. No-one knows what it is you feel like, at any given moment, other than you.

40. Mouths are good for lots of things but telling your partner what you like and don’t like is the most important use of all.

41. Refuse to feel guilty about your fantasies. What you get up to in your imagination is your business.

42. Sex is smelly, noisy, sweaty and unflattering. Leave your ego at the door and replace it with your sense of humour. If you haven’t broken wind at the worst possible moment, you’re probably playing it too safe.

43. The more you have sex, the more you want sex. Stop having it and you’ll forget how good it feels.

44. Think before you share your sexual fantasies. Make it clear what you’re doing it or you may come home to a ‘surprise’ you definitely didn’t expect.

45. It’s OK to stop having sex from time to time.

Sometimes life is too stressful (work worries, death of a parent) or children too demanding. Taking a sex break takes the pressure off and stops either of you freaking out because you know it’s not permanent.

46. Kids kill your sex life. But you can wrestle it back again once they’re hit age two.

47. If you can talk though your sex problems you can nearly always solve them.

48. Don’t try to put yourself in a box. Women are far more erotically plastic than men and much more likely to be aroused by the person, rather than their gender.

49. If you’re feeling bad after sex you’re sleeping with the wrong person.

50.Sex is about give and take. You don’t have to reciprocate in the same session but if you’re constantly lying back and taking, you’re a selfish lover. Not sexy. Not lovable.