Nigeria: Meltdown in Nigeria Affecting Neighbouring Countries, Says Benin President

The economic meltdown in Nigeria is affecting neighbouring countries, the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, has said.

Talon who is in Nigeria on a one-day visit spoke at a joint press briefing between him and his host, President Muhammadu Buhari.

He lamented that the economic downturn in Nigeria was gradually affecting his country and other nations in the West African sub region.

Describing Nigeria as the engine room of West Africa, Talon challenged Nigeria to begin to explore its non-oil potentials to boost the country's revenue profile and its standing as a big brother in Africa.

Talon said he was looking forward to reactivating the existing bilateral relationship between Benin and Nigeria especially in the areas of trade relations, economy, energy development and education.

He pledged to partner Nigeria in dealing with the problem of illicit trade affecting both countries.

Earlier, Buhari has said his administration was considering the possibility of using modern technology to transform gas into liquid form for easy export, especially to the West- African sub-region.

The president also said Nigeria is making efforts to ensure that the West African Gas Pipeline project becomes more efficient to stabilise the energy sectors across the West African sub-region.

Buhari said the government was doing everything possible to stabilise the gas pipelines to enhance electricity supply in Benin and other West African sub-region.

"The economy part of (our discussion) it is mainly energy, making sure that the West African Gas pipeline is made much more efficient. This government is making all the efforts it can to stabilise the situation because the resources are there.

"The world knows that Nigeria has plenty of gas, what we need to do is to stabilise the environment so that this gas can be regularly pumped to the sub-region through the infrastructure already in place.

"Also, the Nigerian energy mixed is not doing too badly as gas can now be converted into liquid form gas, the technology is now available, to transfers to Benin Republic to run their power stations.

"The sad and long standing problem is the question of using Benin as a transit camp to bring a lot of goods into Nigeria.

"Under ECOWAS agreement, all we have to do is to remind ourselves about our respective national commitments that other than reall ECOWAS-originated commodities, we should not allow it. If we get strict on that, I think Nigerian industries would benefit from ECOWAS agreements," he said.

SOURCE: Allafrica

How Nigerians in the UK are earning up to £11,000 p/mth as Digital Project Management & Business Analysis Professionals

Imagine earning up to £11,000 per month working as aDigital Project Management & Business analyst in the UK! That’s the reality for a great deal of Nigerians on the Career Insights eWorkexperience platform. 

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Nigeria: Pipeline Vandalism - Surveillance, Reconnaissance Continue in Lagos, Ogun Creeks

The Operation Awatse Joint Task Force, comprising military forces and some elements of the paramilitary, yesterday sustained the tempo in flushing out the dreaded pipeline vandals occupying the creeks and mangrove in Lagos and Ogun States.

Although the weather hampered plans by fighter jets of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), to sustain it's four days aerial bombardment of the creeks, surveillance and reconnaissance however continued.

Also at alert are the land and maritime component, comprising the special forces of the Nigerian Army (NA) and Nigerian Navy (NN), respectively, as they constituted a blockade at the different escape routes across the creeks.

The JTF comprises the elements of the navy, army and air force, as well as the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).

The aerial bombardment and subsequent invasion of the enclave by the JTF is part of the military's operation tagged: 'Operation Awatse', a Hausa word for 'scatter', which has both the land, air and maritime components.

THISDAY gathered that the aerial surveillance video obtained by the NAF aircraft showed millions of kegs containing the stolen petrol products, which were chained together and hidden in the creeks.

At the Arepo area in particular, the video showed a massive oil theft cartel, operating their well-oiled operations in the creeks.

A military source who spoke on account anonymity about the ongoing operations said: "The army was supposed to move in on Saturday after our initial bombardments on Thursday and Friday.

"However, they had to put a stop to that because they wanted the Air Force to further bomb more grounds, thereby clearing the thick mangrove to prevent any ambush by the vandals.

"But attempts to fly today (Sunday) was hampered by the rains. We had already assembled at the flight line for take off, only for the rains to start.

"However, we did surveillance and from the shots we got, we saw over two million kegs possibly containing stolen petrol products. These people are robbing the country blind."

Responding to allegations that the bombs might have also killed civilians, he said: "For now, we are focused on using rockets.

"We are yet to start with bombs because the area is swampy. It's possible to drop a bomb and it won't detonate because of the swamps.

The intensive offensive air strikes were initiated to flush out the pipeline vandals turned militants operating at Ishawo and Igando areas of Ikorodu in Lagos State; then Arepo, Awawa, Elepete and Ibafo areas of Ogun State, given that the JTF was tasked with the responsibility of protecting the NNPC pipelines from Atlas Cove to Mosimi Depot.Hinged on the pilot scheme of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), the Air Force deployed two fighter jets, one MIG 34 and ATR4 aircraft for the operation.

SOURCE: THISDAY

FG extends online job application

The Federal Government on Monday extended the timeline for the N-Power online jobs and training applications till the end of August.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists.

Akande said the decision to extend the timeline was taken in order to pull in more potentially qualified candidates and expand the opportunity base around and across the country.

He said the application process which commenced on June 12 was initially billed to close on July 25.

The statement read, “However, being very keen on keeping its promise of empowering and uplifting young Nigerians by improving their livelihood and creating opportunities such as this (in an as inclusive and diverse manner), the Federal Government is providing an additional grace period for more young Nigerians to access the N-Power opportunity.

“The new deadline for the receipt of applications is now Wednesday, August 31, 2016.

“N-Power is one of the initiatives of the N500bn President Muhammadu Buhari’s Social Investment Programme designed to empower young Nigerians with life-long skills to find or create work.

“The N-Power programme is segmented into three: N-Power Teachers Corps Agriculture and Health related jobs; N-Power Knowledge for ICT and N-Power Build for building services and artisanal training

“N-Power is targeted at young Nigerians aged between 18 and 35 and is aimed at enlisting a total of 600,000 young Nigerians in phases, and under different sectors, in the largest capacity development and empowerment effort yet in the country.”

Akande said the Federal Government would continue to work with state governments through their respective focal persons on Social Investments to ensure that N-Power is diverse and inclusive.

He said the extension presented an opportunity for persons who have not had the opportunity to apply to do so now.

“This will also allow those yet to complete the application process to ensure they see the process through as incomplete applications will not be processed.

“To apply, simply log on to www.npower.gov.ng and register for any one of the three sub-programmes.

“Please note that applications may be subject to other criteria which can be found on the N-Power website. Any prospective applicant, who has any challenge with uploading supporting documents unto the Portal because of the size of the files, should attach these documents in a mail transmitted to support@npower.gov.ng

“After the Application portal closes, there will be a verification, testing and selection process before successful applicants are enlisted in phases as the specific programme design may necessitate,” he added.

Akande also said the Federal Government would publicise the selection criteria before the application process comes to a close.

Modalities relating to the enlistment process, according to him, will no longer commence on Monday as earlier envisaged due to the demand for extension by many Nigerians from across several states.

SOURCE: Punchng

P-Square Reconcile After Recent Break-up

Peter Okoye, one half of the P-Square duo has revealed that they are back together as a group again. He shared a statement on his Instagram page heralding news of the return of P-Square with their brother, Jude Okoye once again as their manager.

Peter apologized to fans for the troubles being faced within the P-Square camp and thanked them for their support. He promised that they would work through all the drama and come out with new music and ideas.

Read his words:

My dear fans, P-Square is back. Ours is a journey that started from our mother’s womb. It was a journey that started from Primary School, continued to St. Murumba College, to when we were in University in Abuja. It was a journey in which we shared childhood memories and grown-up dreams. We are back because brothers do not let each other wander in the dark alone. We are back because we have tried the lonely road and it was not the same.
I want to take responsibility for what has happened and sincerely apologise to you our fans. For supporting us throughout this journey we owed you so much more than what you have had to endure and I apologise for that. We are embarking now on a new journey with exciting new management (Jude Okoye), new music and new ideas.

We cannot thank you enough for all your prayers and support throughout this difficult period. Maya Angelou once said that brotherhood is a condition that people have to work at. We will continue to work on that and you can be prepared to be blown away by this new phase of P-Square.

God bless you all and be assured that you have not seen anything yet!
Peter Okoye, P-Square.

SOURCE:nigerianmonitor

UBA Reacts To Alleged Involvement In Turkish Coup

The United Bank for Africa Plc on Tuesday denied any involvement in the recent failed coup in Turkey, saying a Turkish newspaper report linking it with the high treason was false and spurious.

A Turkish newspaper, Yenisafak, had alleged that a suspected financier of the coup in Turkey, ex- US commander, General John Campbell, transferred funds used to finance the coup through the Nigerian bank.

It stated that Campbell managed more than $2 billion transactions through UBA in Nigeria, using CIA links to distribute the money among the pro-coup military personnel in Turkey.

But UBA in a two paragraph statement by its Head of Communications, Charles Aigbe, dismissed the allegation saying it was in no way connected with the coup in the European country

It said: “UBA is aware of the on-going spurious media speculation linking our institution to recent events in Turkey. In the light of this, we believe it is necessary to categorically state that UBA has no involvement in or connection to these accusations, which are clearly false.
“We remain focused and firmly committed to delivering on our strategy to build Africa’s premier banking institution.”

The report by Yenisafak had alleged that the Nigerian branch of UBA was the main base for the last six-months of money transactions for the coup plotters.

It stated that millions of dollars were transferred from Nigeria to Turkey by a group of CIA personnel.
The money, which it said had been distributed to an 80-person special team of the CIA, was used to convince pro-coup generals. More than two billion dollars were allegedly distributed during the process leading to the coup.
It said after taking money from their bank accounts, the CIA team hand delivered it to the coup plotters under military dresses.

It also stated that ongoing investigations showed that Campbell had paid at least two secret visits to Turkey since May, until the day of the coup attempt.

SOURCE: nigerianmonitor

Hillary Clinton Makes History As She Becomes First Female Presidential Nominee Of A Major US Party

The Democratic Party has made history by nominating Hillary Clinton to run for US president as the first woman to head a major party’s presidential ticket.

Speaking via video link from New York after her nomination on Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton told the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that she was honoured to have been chosen as the party’s nominee.

“I am so happy. It’s been a great day and night. What an incredible honour that you have given me. And I can’t believe that we’ve just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet. Thanks to you and everyone who has fought so hard to make this possible,” she said.

“And if there are any little girls out there, who have stayed up late to watch, let me just say: I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next.”

Delegates erupted in cheers throughout the roll call of states on the floor of the convention earlier in the evening.

“She’s got it. She has the numbers that are needed,” Al Jazeera’s James Bays said from the convention when Clinton passed the 2,383 votes needed to secure the nomination.

“We knew this was going to happen because obviously we knew she was the presumptive nominee and that she had all the votes that she needed from the primaries. But what happened here was a roll call, state by state announcing their votes. How many for Bernie Sanders. How many for Hillary Clinton. And a great deal of drama in the room.”
(Al Jazeera)