Buhari’s 2015 New Year message of Hope

As we welcome the year 2015, I have shared a message to Nigerians in general, but I find it crucial to send another message directly to Nigeria’s youth, who are the major stakeholders of this enterprise.

The year 2014 was a challenging one for most citizens of our dear country.

We remember our compatriots who were brutishly killed or maimed by evil terrorists in 2014. I remember with a still broken heart that 219 of our children from Chibok are yet missing, let down by a country that should protect them. I remember that, even as I speak, some of our towns and villages are yet under the occupation of Boko Haram.

Yes, it is enough for you to despair. It is enough for you to wonder if your country cares about you and can protect you. But do not despair.

2015 has arrived at a time of great discomfort; but the beauty of the New Year is that we can look forward with renewed hope and the knowledge that things can and will change.

In Nigeria’s particular case, we can truly look forward to the change that the elections can, and will, bring. Our country will be secure again. Our country will prosper again.

I have faith that 2015 is the year we shall begin to write a new story – a story of our youth creating jobs and expanding the frontiers of innovation and creativity everywhere from Mavin Records to the Co-Creation Hub; a story of genuine investment in our children and students be they in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka or in the Delta State University, Abraka; a country that finally makes a permanent shift from our debilitating dependence on the free-falling price of crude oil.I have unshakeable faith that 2015 will be the year of change.

Now some of you have asked me: what exactly does ‘change’ mean?

I have taken time to explain this at different opportunities, but on this special day, let me remind you in five short statements.

Change means:

1. A country that you can be proud of at anytime and anywhere: where corruption is punished, where your leaders are disciplined and lead with vision and clarity; where the stories that emerge to the world from us are full of hope and progress.

2. A Nigeria in which neither yourselves, nor your parents, families or friends will have to fear for your safety, or for theirs.

3. A Nigeria where citizens get the basics that any country should provide: infrastructure that works, healthcare that is affordable, even free; respect for the environment and sustainable development, education that is competitive and outcome-oriented in a knowledge-economy.

4. A country that provides jobs for its young people, reducing unemployment to the lowest of single digits and providing safety nets so that no one is left behind.

5. A Nigeria where entrepreneurship thrives, enterprise flourishes and the government gets out of your way so that you can create value, build the economy and aggressively expand wealth.

Are these things truly possible? Of course. That is the essence and outcome of leadership, and that is what my party and

I promise you as we get into 2015.

My dear friends, this New Year, more than ever before, I am hopeful about Nigeria

Yes, you are disappointed and you are angry, as you are entitled to, but you must never give in to the temptation to feel so weighed down by those who have failed you that you lose your hope and your energy and your passion to see change. You must never give up on Nigeria. Together, we can build a nation that is secure, prosperous and gives everyone a fair chance. This is the promise that 2015 holds. That is the promise that change will bring. That is the promise that I bring to you.

Once again, I wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.

Buhari’s 2015 New Year message of Hope

As we welcome the year 2015, I have shared a message to Nigerians in general, but I find it crucial to send another message directly to Nigeria’s youth, who are the major stakeholders of this enterprise.

The year 2014 was a challenging one for most citizens of our dear country.

We remember our compatriots who were brutishly killed or maimed by evil terrorists in 2014. I remember with a still broken heart that 219 of our children from Chibok are yet missing, let down by a country that should protect them. I remember that, even as I speak, some of our towns and villages are yet under the occupation of Boko Haram.

Yes, it is enough for you to despair. It is enough for you to wonder if your country cares about you and can protect you. But do not despair.

2015 has arrived at a time of great discomfort; but the beauty of the New Year is that we can look forward with renewed hope and the knowledge that things can and will change.

In Nigeria’s particular case, we can truly look forward to the change that the elections can, and will, bring. Our country will be secure again. Our country will prosper again.

I have faith that 2015 is the year we shall begin to write a new story – a story of our youth creating jobs and expanding the frontiers of innovation and creativity everywhere from Mavin Records to the Co-Creation Hub; a story of genuine investment in our children and students be they in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka or in the Delta State University, Abraka; a country that finally makes a permanent shift from our debilitating dependence on the free-falling price of crude oil.I have unshakeable faith that 2015 will be the year of change.

Parents of kidnapped CHIBOK school girl: 'The pain is indescribable' -- CNN

Samuel Yaga, a mechanic, was making a routine repair on a client's car when his phone rang. It was a phone call that would change his life forever. "I was called in the morning by my elder brother notifying me of an attack on the school where my daughter was schooling," he said.
Samuel's blood went cold as his brother continued, telling him that some of the girls had been abducted by Boko Haram.

Samuel knew only too well the vicious and brutal nature of the terrorist group: just a few months before this, Boko Haram had attacked his village in northeastern Nigeria. Armed men forced him out of his house and one of them pointed a gun to his head. By a sheer miracle, unexplainable even to Samuel, one of the militants intervened, and his life was spared.

Their entire village was razed to the ground and so Samuel moved his family to Chibok and enrolled his eldest daughter Sarah into the Government Secondary School so that she could sit for her final high school exam.

He chose Chibok because not only was it his ancestral home and he had relatives there but also because it had no history of Boko Haram attacks. He felt it was safe -- until now.
Later in the day Samuel's brother phoned him again. "Then before sunset he called me again, and informed me that my daughter was part of those that were taken by Boko Haram."

His wife Rebecca says the news of her daughter's abduction tore at her heart. She refused to believe it when her husband first told it to her -- until it was confirmed on the evening news.
"Seriously, seriously, mum and her daughter. The pain is indescribable," she reflects.
Rebecca says there is not a day that goes by that she does think of her daughter. She describes her daughter as an ambitious girl who saw education as a way out of poverty.


"She used to tell me one day she will finish school and become somebody. She used to assist the younger ones with their homework," she said
"She loved studies. She used to fall asleep with her books in her arms," she added.
Her father remembers her as the caring eldest child who used to secretly collect his dirty clothes, wash them and press them for him. He also remembers her passion for knowledge.
"She is brilliant. She liked reading. Always she loved going to school," he said.

Inside their small one roomed house -- there is nothing to indicate that the Christmas festive season has begun. They say Christmas used to be a time of laughter and spending time with family.

"Every Christmas we used to be complete and happy but now one of us is not there, how can it be the same?" asks Samuel.

"There is nothing I can say. It has happened. It is a bad Christmas. But there is nothing we can do," says Rebecca. A sadness surrounds the couple as they clutch to the only physical memory that they have of their daughter -- a few photos and one bright green top, one of her favorites.
But although they are at low spirits, they say their hopes remain high that their daughter will come back. They pass on that encouragement to their other five children who say they miss their sister.

"Her siblings know that she is not here -- they themselves know what is happening, having come out of war," says Samuel.
"They keep asking me, 'When is she coming back?' But I keep telling them to keep trusting God. Maybe He will hear us," he adds.

Parents of kidnapped CHIBOK school girl: 'The pain is indescribable' -- CNN

Samuel Yaga, a mechanic, was making a routine repair on a client's car when his phone rang. It was a phone call that would change his life forever. "I was called in the morning by my elder brother notifying me of an attack on the school where my daughter was schooling," he said.
Samuel's blood went cold as his brother continued, telling him that some of the girls had been abducted by Boko Haram.

Samuel knew only too well the vicious and brutal nature of the terrorist group: just a few months before this, Boko Haram had attacked his village in northeastern Nigeria. Armed men forced him out of his house and one of them pointed a gun to his head. By a sheer miracle, unexplainable even to Samuel, one of the militants intervened, and his life was spared.

Their entire village was razed to the ground and so Samuel moved his family to Chibok and enrolled his eldest daughter Sarah into the Government Secondary School so that she could sit for her final high school exam.

He chose Chibok because not only was it his ancestral home and he had relatives there but also because it had no history of Boko Haram attacks. He felt it was safe -- until now.
Later in the day Samuel's brother phoned him again. "Then before sunset he called me again, and informed me that my daughter was part of those that were taken by Boko Haram."

His wife Rebecca says the news of her daughter's abduction tore at her heart. She refused to believe it when her husband first told it to her -- until it was confirmed on the evening news.
"Seriously, seriously, mum and her daughter. The pain is indescribable," she reflects.
Rebecca says there is not a day that goes by that she does think of her daughter. She describes her daughter as an ambitious girl who saw education as a way out of poverty.

Nigeria will not reduce fuel price till after oil crisis – Finance Minister

Nigeria will not reduce the pump price of fuel despite falling oil prices at the international market, until the revenue crisis occasioned by the dwindling oil rates is over, finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Wednesday.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said in Abuja that the decision to review fuel price either upwards or downwards would only be taken after the current crisis in global oil prices has been settled.
The minister, however, said the government was awaiting expert advice from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, which is updating the fuel pricing template, to help proffer the best way to address the issue.

The PPPRA is the government agency responsible for monitoring and regulating the price of petroleum products in the country.
Petrol sells at N97 per litre in Nigeria.
“With declining crude oil prices by about 49 percent, soon there will no longer be subsidy in petroleum products as usual,” the minister said. “But, government is not going to take a decision till after the current volatility in crude oil prices has stabilised.”

The minister said the Nigerian government does not want to reduce fuel price today “only for crude oil price to rise tomorrow and we have to adjust the pump price again”.

The minister also announced that the government has decided to impose various charges on luxury goods/items and services, including taxes on private jets and yachts owners, luxury cars, expensive wines and executive mansions.

Other services that would attract taxes, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said, include official travels on first class and business class tickets, while foreign trainings would be cut down drastically.

Source: Premium Times

Nigeria will not reduce fuel price till after oil crisis – Finance Minister

Nigeria will not reduce the pump price of fuel despite falling oil prices at the international market, until the revenue crisis occasioned by the dwindling oil rates is over, finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Wednesday.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said in Abuja that the decision to review fuel price either upwards or downwards would only be taken after the current crisis in global oil prices has been settled.
The minister, however, said the government was awaiting expert advice from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, which is updating the fuel pricing template, to help proffer the best way to address the issue.

The PPPRA is the government agency responsible for monitoring and regulating the price of petroleum products in the country.
Petrol sells at N97 per litre in Nigeria.
“With declining crude oil prices by about 49 percent, soon there will no longer be subsidy in petroleum products as usual,” the minister said. “But, government is not going to take a decision till after the current volatility in crude oil prices has stabilised.”

The minister said the Nigerian government does not want to reduce fuel price today “only for crude oil price to rise tomorrow and we have to adjust the pump price again”.

Why Jonathan must not be re-elected – Gov. Fashola

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, scored the President Goodluck Jonathan administration very low and urged Nigerians to vote it out in the next general elections.

Fashola stated that change of leadership is expedient at the national level because Nigeria is too important both globally and continentally to be left in the hands of those who “play politics with the lives of her citizens.”

Addressing members of the Yoruba Tennis Club and their Island Club counterparts at their respective Club Houses in Onikan, Lagos on Wednesday, Governor Fashola said the national government, formed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has failed to provide its most important responsibility, which according to him, is the security of life and property of citizens and protection of the territorial integrity of the nation.

The Governor, who noted that Nigerians handed over a whole country to the ruling party in 2011, expressed regrets that the same party is now returning to Nigerians to ask for another leadership mandate with only part of the country, having lost some parts to insurgents.

“They are returning now to ask for our votes with only a part of the country that we gave them because some parts of the country have been lost to people we didn’t elect. So, in that most important responsibility, they have dropped the ball.”

Governor Fashola, who expressed dismay that the PDP has politicized everything, noted that nothing is too much for the party to sloganize about.
He accused the federal government of playing politics with the very sensitive issue of the more than 200 abducted secondary school girls in Chibok in Borno State.


The Governor also said that the PDP-controlled Federal Government has also orchestrated about how it made the country “the biggest economy in Africa”, wondering why smaller economies could provide electricity for their people while the self acclaimed “biggest economy” could keep her people in darkness.

“Please ask them why smaller economies could get petrol easily for their people and why we have to queue for hours and days to get petrol in a biggest economy in Africa,” the Governor said.
He also wondered why the so-called biggest economy in Africa is trying to buy arms from a smaller economy to secure the country.

He pointed out that the nation’s currency, the Naira, is now trading for N180 per Dollar while the South African Rand is trading at R11 to one United States Dollar.
According to Fashola, what matters is the quality of the life and prosperity of the citizens and not the size or number being bandied by the PDP-led government.

Governor Fashola tasked the people to figure out the last time the President went to present the Annual Budget in the National Assembly, an obligation which, according to him, is a constitutional one.
The Governor also said that the Federal Government also played politics with the Ebola Virus Disease containment as it almost turned the very grave situation into a political trophy.

Conversely, Governor Fashola said, the All Progressives Congress controlled Lagos State Government has done well at many fronts including the Education, Security, Power and the financial sector in spite of the very precarious economic and security situation in the country.

Source: The Nation

Why Jonathan must not be re-elected – Gov. Fashola

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, scored the President Goodluck Jonathan administration very low and urged Nigerians to vote it out in the next general elections.

Fashola stated that change of leadership is expedient at the national level because Nigeria is too important both globally and continentally to be left in the hands of those who “play politics with the lives of her citizens.”

Addressing members of the Yoruba Tennis Club and their Island Club counterparts at their respective Club Houses in Onikan, Lagos on Wednesday, Governor Fashola said the national government, formed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has failed to provide its most important responsibility, which according to him, is the security of life and property of citizens and protection of the territorial integrity of the nation.

The Governor, who noted that Nigerians handed over a whole country to the ruling party in 2011, expressed regrets that the same party is now returning to Nigerians to ask for another leadership mandate with only part of the country, having lost some parts to insurgents.

“They are returning now to ask for our votes with only a part of the country that we gave them because some parts of the country have been lost to people we didn’t elect. So, in that most important responsibility, they have dropped the ball.”

Governor Fashola, who expressed dismay that the PDP has politicized everything, noted that nothing is too much for the party to sloganize about.
He accused the federal government of playing politics with the very sensitive issue of the more than 200 abducted secondary school girls in Chibok in Borno State.

Mr. President, Nigerians are suffering ..by Bayo Olupohunda

Bayo Olupohunda

Before I begin this piece, let me make a useful digression that my thoughts today should not be misconstrued as pandering to partisan politics in the run-up to the 2015 elections.

 A clarification such as this is necessary because in recent times, it has become difficult to criticise political leaders and their policies without one being stereotyped as a hater or a tool in the hand of the “opposition”.

Even in the face of glaring facts portraying dismal economic and social realities confronting Nigerians at all levels of governance, the characteristic response has been to hurl ethnic and religious slurs at other Nigerians.

Myopic response to honest criticisms often makes me ask how and when our country came to this sorry pass that citizens can no longer offer honest suggestions without us being labelled as either a hater of President Goodluck Jonathan’s ethnic background or his person.

How quick have these sycophants forgotten that Jonathan became the president in 2011 through the votes and support of those being harangued as his detractors today? How can our country develop when public debate is drowned in primordial ethnic and religious sentiments? How can citizens contribute to national development when their suggestions are thought as influenced by sectional consideration? I hope our country gets back to the path of sanity soon.

That is why I am addressing this piece directly to the President. To repeat one simple undeniable fact that in spite of the propaganda and deliberate distortion of facts, more Nigerians are living in poverty today than in 2011. Mr. President, forget the feel-good, chest-thumping Nigeria-is-the-largest-economy-in-Africa rhetoric; ignore the Breton Wood statistics by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Also, forget about the number of privileged Nigerians who have acquired private jets in recent years.

Those statistics do not reflect the harsh living conditions of ordinary Nigerians. The fact of the matter is that Nigerians are suffering. But it should not have been this way. We have come to this situation because your administration has often disregarded honest criticisms that would have averted the present disastrous economic and social realities occasioned by massive corruption, soaring unemployment, growing insecurity, a divided nation and bleak economic outlook.


How can the government expect ordinary Nigerians to bear the brunt of its profligacy when despite repeated calls it has failed to cut back on its ostentatious use of public money? We are told to tighten our belts yet officials of your administration, as well as governors and the leadership of the National Assembly are not giving up any of their wasteful paraphernalia as we battle dwindling revenues, retaining extra-large convoys and travel teams, and flying private jets and first class with public money while your government says the nation must accept cutbacks to counter the oil crisis.

How can our country continue in a situation where a few officials of your government and their cronies live large while more than 100 millions Nigerians, according to the World Bank, live in poverty? Now, can your government expect Nigerians to live with the consequences of their recklessness? Since the beginning of your administration, our country has continued to experience the gradual depletion of our foreign reserves. In spite of calls by all well-meaning Nigerians that the government should cut back on its recurrent expenditure, the government keeps budgeting for frivolous projects with officials living as if there is no tomorrow.

In recent years too, both local and international reports have warned of dire consequences if government does not take pragmatic decision on the economy and invest in projects that will improve on the lives of Nigerians. The government has either branded these indices as political. For example, Madam Okonjo-Iweala is living in denial of how corruption has continued to thwart her economic policy decisions. I have no doubt that the minister meant well but how she has failed to realise that corruption will always be a drain pipe beats the imagination. Meanwhile, the government keeps bandying bogus economic statistics to hoodwink Nigerians that everything is ok. Now, Nigerians have seen that for us to move beyond our predicament, government at all levels must change their wasteful disposition to governance.

The power sector has not fared better. How can our country not have steady and regular power in 16 years? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo wasted the opportunity. The saga has continued in the current administration. What we get are excuses. After five years of being in the saddle, our country is still grappling with irregular power supply. What assurances do we have that power will be stable in the next four years? The power generation capacity has been greatly affected by the lack of leadership to steer the power sector reform to a productive conclusion. Sadly, the country even generates lower capacity than in 2011.

Nigerians are suffering for lack of electricity. Their social and economic lives have been put on hold. The power situation affects virtually all areas of our lives. The surging unemployment rate is the direct outcome of the dismal power situation. A large population of Nigerians in the informal sector who are artisans and small business owners cannot get electricity to power their businesses. Industries are spending more on power generation. For the first time in our nation’s history, unemployment figures continue to hit record high. Certainly, Nigerians cannot continue this way. Yet, we wallow in vainglory of being the biggest economy in Africa.

The Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and other security challenges in other parts of Nigeria are making life unsafe. The government seems at a loss on how to put a stop to the sect’s bloody campaign. What is even scary is that there is no road map on how to end the terror war. Nigerians are being told that terrorism is a global phenomenon. So, they should be content with being maimed and getting killed. It has become normal for schools to be attacked, for schoolboys and girls to be raped and abducted, entire villages attacked with millions of people displaced.

Certainly, our country cannot continue this way. The government must realise that it exists for the majority of the people and not for a few individuals. My message to Nigerians at Christmas is that as we elect new leaders in 2015, we must ensure our votes count to end this regime of impunity, poverty, corruption and insecurity. Merry Christmas everyone.

Source: Punch

Mr. President, Nigerians are suffering ..by Bayo Olupohunda

Bayo Olupohunda

Before I begin this piece, let me make a useful digression that my thoughts today should not be misconstrued as pandering to partisan politics in the run-up to the 2015 elections.

 A clarification such as this is necessary because in recent times, it has become difficult to criticise political leaders and their policies without one being stereotyped as a hater or a tool in the hand of the “opposition”.

Even in the face of glaring facts portraying dismal economic and social realities confronting Nigerians at all levels of governance, the characteristic response has been to hurl ethnic and religious slurs at other Nigerians.

Myopic response to honest criticisms often makes me ask how and when our country came to this sorry pass that citizens can no longer offer honest suggestions without us being labelled as either a hater of President Goodluck Jonathan’s ethnic background or his person.

How quick have these sycophants forgotten that Jonathan became the president in 2011 through the votes and support of those being harangued as his detractors today? How can our country develop when public debate is drowned in primordial ethnic and religious sentiments? How can citizens contribute to national development when their suggestions are thought as influenced by sectional consideration? I hope our country gets back to the path of sanity soon.

That is why I am addressing this piece directly to the President. To repeat one simple undeniable fact that in spite of the propaganda and deliberate distortion of facts, more Nigerians are living in poverty today than in 2011. Mr. President, forget the feel-good, chest-thumping Nigeria-is-the-largest-economy-in-Africa rhetoric; ignore the Breton Wood statistics by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Also, forget about the number of privileged Nigerians who have acquired private jets in recent years.

Those statistics do not reflect the harsh living conditions of ordinary Nigerians. The fact of the matter is that Nigerians are suffering. But it should not have been this way. We have come to this situation because your administration has often disregarded honest criticisms that would have averted the present disastrous economic and social realities occasioned by massive corruption, soaring unemployment, growing insecurity, a divided nation and bleak economic outlook.

Stock Market Hits New Low as Bears Sustain

The bench market index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) fell below 30,000 threshold points yesterday as the index declined 2.30 per cent   to close at 29,789.59 from 30,492.30 attained on Monday.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation  decreased to N9.83 trillion from N10.07 trillion the previous trading day.

The Nigerian equities market has been in turmoil since oil price went on a free fall, raising fears of economic uncertainties.

Similarly, trading activities on the Exchange decreased by 29.94 per cent as investors bought 261.05 million shares worth N3.29 billion, in 4,108 deals, compared to 372.64 million shares worth N3.00 billion, in 4,179 deals exchanged on Monday.

However, the banking sector remained the most active in terms of the number of shares traded,  leading  with a total of 130 million ordinary shares valued at N1.31 billion made in 1,683 deals.

The number of shares sold in the banking sector was largely driven by the activity in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc.

Trading on the shares of the four bank accounted for 73.3 per cent or 63.6 per cent of the subsectors turnover.

Individually, FBN Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc were the most actively traded stocks on the exchange yesterday in terms of volume, while FBNH Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Plc topped in value terms.


Meanwhile, nine  stocks gained on the bourse while 34 stocks declined leaving 51 stocks unchanged.  Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc emerged the toast of investors as it appreciated by 3.35 per cent to close at N159.00 kobo, followed by Fidelity Bank Plc with a 1.40 per cent gain to close at N1.45 kobo.

Others on the gainer’s’ chart included: Nestle Nigeria Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc.  On the flip side Seplat Plc topped the losers’ chart with a five  per cent decline to close at N280.25, closely followed by Skye Bank Plc, which declined by 4.78 per cent to close at N2.19.

Source: Punch

Stock Market Hits New Low as Bears Sustain

The bench market index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) fell below 30,000 threshold points yesterday as the index declined 2.30 per cent   to close at 29,789.59 from 30,492.30 attained on Monday.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation  decreased to N9.83 trillion from N10.07 trillion the previous trading day.

The Nigerian equities market has been in turmoil since oil price went on a free fall, raising fears of economic uncertainties.

Similarly, trading activities on the Exchange decreased by 29.94 per cent as investors bought 261.05 million shares worth N3.29 billion, in 4,108 deals, compared to 372.64 million shares worth N3.00 billion, in 4,179 deals exchanged on Monday.

However, the banking sector remained the most active in terms of the number of shares traded,  leading  with a total of 130 million ordinary shares valued at N1.31 billion made in 1,683 deals.

The number of shares sold in the banking sector was largely driven by the activity in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc.

Trading on the shares of the four bank accounted for 73.3 per cent or 63.6 per cent of the subsectors turnover.

Individually, FBN Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc were the most actively traded stocks on the exchange yesterday in terms of volume, while FBNH Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Plc topped in value terms.

Buyers deceived as Dangote cement sells for N1,745

Distributors and developers have accused the management of Dangote Cement Plc of silently increasing the price of its product to N1,745 per a 50kg bag instead of the N1,000 that it announced early last month.

Although the firm did not formally announce any increase in price, our correspondent gathered that it sent out text messages to its distributors on Monday, December 15, 2014, informing them of the new price.

The official spokesperson of the Dangote Group, Mr. Tony Chiejina, said he could not comment on the issue because he was indisposed, our correspondent gathered from other officials of the company that some variables in the economy had made it impossible to sell the product at the previously announced prices.

According to the officials, the recent devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the company’s inability to get gas to fire its plants have raised the cost of producing cement, adding that there was no way the company would bear the excess cost alone.

They explained that the announcement made by the firm some months back that it was shifting to coal as an alternative energy source had not fully materialised, hence the anticipated price reduction had not happened.

However, an angry distributor, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said though the firm had previously announced the crash of the 32.5 cement grade to N1,000 per bag, and the higher 42.5 grade to N1,150 from N1,700 irrespective of the grade, the distributors never got it at the announced prices.


The distributor called on the firm to also announce the latest increase, adding that the former announcement of a crash in price was “highly counter-productive to the marketers.”

The distributor said, “When the company reduced the price to N1,000, they were very quick to go to the press to announce it even though they were not even selling at N1,000 to we the distributors. They were selling it at N1,150. But as of yesterday (Monday), they had increased it to N1,745 for the distributors.

A text message allegedly sent by the company to the distributors, which was forwarded to our correspondent, reads, “Dear customer, kindly note these changes in price: Ibese (delivered) – N1,745. Ibese (self-collected) – N1,645 (five trucks and above); N1,655 (below five trucks). Isolo – N1,700 (five trucks and above); N1,710 (below five trucks). The changes are effective today, December 15, 2014. Thanks for your patronage.”

The text was allegedly sent by one “Bukky, Dangote Cement.”

On November 3, 2014, it was widely reported that Dangote had slashed the price of cement by 41 per cent.

The Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, had announced the price cut in a statement issued by the firm.

Source:Punchng

Buyers deceived as Dangote cement sells for N1,745

Distributors and developers have accused the management of Dangote Cement Plc of silently increasing the price of its product to N1,745 per a 50kg bag instead of the N1,000 that it announced early last month.

Although the firm did not formally announce any increase in price, our correspondent gathered that it sent out text messages to its distributors on Monday, December 15, 2014, informing them of the new price.

The official spokesperson of the Dangote Group, Mr. Tony Chiejina, said he could not comment on the issue because he was indisposed, our correspondent gathered from other officials of the company that some variables in the economy had made it impossible to sell the product at the previously announced prices.

According to the officials, the recent devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the company’s inability to get gas to fire its plants have raised the cost of producing cement, adding that there was no way the company would bear the excess cost alone.

They explained that the announcement made by the firm some months back that it was shifting to coal as an alternative energy source had not fully materialised, hence the anticipated price reduction had not happened.

However, an angry distributor, who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said though the firm had previously announced the crash of the 32.5 cement grade to N1,000 per bag, and the higher 42.5 grade to N1,150 from N1,700 irrespective of the grade, the distributors never got it at the announced prices.

APC VP Slot: Buhari Taps Osibajo, Targets Redeemed Church

Subject to any last minute changes, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari may have ignored the high-wire politics that have dogged the choice of his running mate by settling for former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Professor Yemi Osibajo, whose name will be announced today as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.

All political parties have till the end of today to submit the name of candidates vying for various political offices to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Osibajo emerged from an expanded list of Christian vice-presidential hopefuls from the South after a meeting of the leadership of the party last night in Abuja.

According to a party source, who was privy to the meeting, Osibajo was selected because he is a pastor of the Redeemed Church, whose Christian congregants Buhari and the APC are targeting in the 2015 presidential election.

Buhari and the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun were yesterday handed the task of choosing a running mate for the party from the array of candidates jostling for the office following the inability of one of the party’s leaders, Bola Tinubu to pick a running mate from the South-west zone.

Speaking to expectant journalists, who had laid siege on the national secretariat of the party yesterday, Oyegun said the running mate to its presidential candidate will be unveiled today before the close of INEC's deadline.

Oyegun, who spoke after a long meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC), said the party’s leadership had after due consultations mandated Buhari to announce his running mate.

Responding to concerns over the delay in announcing the party’s vice presidential candidate, Oyegun said the delay was not intentional but that Buhari has been asked to make his choice of running mate public by tomorrow.

“It is not delaying. The candidate will speak with you people. I have a feeling that he will speak with you tomorrow. The party has consulted with the candidate and has reached an agreement and he will address you on it today,” he said.

He added that the party had consulted widely on the issue and agreed on a candidate whose name will be announced by the presidential candidate today.

Source: Thisday

APC VP Slot: Buhari Taps Osibajo, Targets Redeemed Church

Subject to any last minute changes, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari may have ignored the high-wire politics that have dogged the choice of his running mate by settling for former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Professor Yemi Osibajo, whose name will be announced today as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.

All political parties have till the end of today to submit the name of candidates vying for various political offices to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Osibajo emerged from an expanded list of Christian vice-presidential hopefuls from the South after a meeting of the leadership of the party last night in Abuja.

According to a party source, who was privy to the meeting, Osibajo was selected because he is a pastor of the Redeemed Church, whose Christian congregants Buhari and the APC are targeting in the 2015 presidential election.

Buhari and the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun were yesterday handed the task of choosing a running mate for the party from the array of candidates jostling for the office following the inability of one of the party’s leaders, Bola Tinubu to pick a running mate from the South-west zone.

Speaking to expectant journalists, who had laid siege on the national secretariat of the party yesterday, Oyegun said the running mate to its presidential candidate will be unveiled today before the close of INEC's deadline.

Oyegun, who spoke after a long meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC), said the party’s leadership had after due consultations mandated Buhari to announce his running mate.

Responding to concerns over the delay in announcing the party’s vice presidential candidate, Oyegun said the delay was not intentional but that Buhari has been asked to make his choice of running mate public by tomorrow.

President Jonathan will lose 2015 Election — Asari Dokubo

Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari

One of the biggest supporters and kinsman of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has declared that the president has lost the support of his political base, the South-south and the South-East owing to the failure of his government to deliver on its promises.

Dokubo-Asari, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, said that it would be tough for Jonathan to win the presidential election in 2015 if he decides to run based on the poor showing of his administration.

He said that his decision to speak out was for him and others who are ardent supporters of Jonathan not to be blamed for his failure in 2015.

He said: “I want to start with an Ijaw proverb, which says: the eyes watched its seven children to death. Instead of advising them, it was just looking at them until they died, while the mouth talked its only child to life and success.

“We have continued as Ijaw people and the entire Niger Delta and South-South to support the presidency of President Goodluck Jonathan, but a time has come when silence cannot be golden.

“We mainly speak out in issues that are very critical to the survival of our people, the survival of the people of the South-South and the South-East, which happens to be the political base of Goodluck Jonathan.

“Jonathan is surrounded by very greedy people who are only in the Presidency to enrich themselves at the expense of Goodluck himself.

“This brings us to another Kalabari proverb, which says: where there are elders, a goat cannot be allowed to deliver tied to a stick.

“If we don’t talk and we continue to brush it aside, tomorrow we will be blamed and people will say: Mujahid Dokubo-Asari was around when Goodlcuk Jonathan was president and he didn’t talk.

“Them I will be an accomplice and accessory after the fact….

“It is alarming because the South-South must have its uninterrupted eight years tenure, which is constitutional.

“But with how things are going under Jonathan’s watch, we are afraid that we may not be able to have our eight years tenure because there will be no magic about it if it is going to be one man one vote.”

Dokubo-Asari said he will continue to speak out despite the fact that he had benefitted from Jonathan, adding that one of those causing trouble for the President remains the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godsday Orubebe. He said: “I have benefited immensely from Goodluck Jonathan with my stake but benefit alone is not enough to make me to keep quiet when the period is very challenging for our people.

“So, some of us are tempted to ask this question: why are all these things happening?

“Why has the President allow some ministers like Godsday Orubebe to continue in government?

“Everyday people die on the East-West Road.

“If Orubebe is incompetent as he has shown himself to be, he should be removed.

“Nobody voted for Orubebe.

“And why is Orubebe so important to the President that he can’t remove him even in the face of his obvious incompetence and several allegation to corruption?

“We feel very ashamed and embarrassed. “Orubebe was one of us. “He was attending meetings with us, sleeping in the ground with us, entering night bus with us and we nominated him to be appointed a minister.

“We have gone to him and complained to him that we don’t like they way things are going in his ministry and told him that if the President leaves in 2015 without the completion of the East-West Road, we are finished.

“And the man keeps telling us there is no money.

“When IBB (former military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida) was there, there was money.

“When Abacha was there, there was money.

“When others were there, there was money.

“How come the money disappeared when Jonathan got there?

“Jonathan and orubebe will account for the death in the East-West Road.”

On the face-off between Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dokubo-Asari said there was no need for it.

He said that no matter what Jonathan feels, he still remains a beneficiary of Obasanjo’s large heartedness.

He said: “First, there was no need for Goodluck Jonathan to disagree with Olusegun Obasanjo.

“I don’t like Obasanjo.

“I don’t like his face.

“I hate him.

“But he was instrumental in bringing Goodluck Jonathan to power.

“And the greedy people around Jonathan have not managed him enough to the extent that the President and people around him will allow Jonathan to disagree with Obasanjo openly

“And if you check, all the people who supported Goodluck Jonathan and fought to bring him to power, have openly disagreed with him.

“What was the cause of these disagreements?

“These are the questions we want to put to the president.

“Some people say Obasanjo is manipulating Goodluck Jonathan, that is why Jonathan is disagreeing with him and we ask: what has Goodluck Jonathan’s government achieved to show that it is a departure from other governments that have existed since 1956?

“For us, nothing has changed.

“It is still business as usual.

“So what are the advice that Obasanjo gave to Jonathan that were so difficult for him to fulfill, that made him decide to fall out with Obasanjo?

“Obasanjo was instrumental and manipulated the process that illegally removed Diepreye Alamieyeseigha as governor of Bayelsa State and installed Jonathan as governor, made him vice president, fought for him to become acting president and also fought for him to become president of Nigeria.

“Apart from Obasanjo, there are so many people who supported Goodluck Jonathan, some have been pushed out by those who were not there to give him any support, while some others are trapped and they cannot talk.

I have a feeling that Fulani man Buhari would have done more for Niger-delta than Jonathan has done so far Jonathan has done nothing for Niger Delta actually. It is getting more and more difficult to support him, the second niger bridge is another issue. Even his allies are denouncing him. What a shame!

Source: Bioreports

President Jonathan will lose 2015 Election — Asari Dokubo

Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari

One of the biggest supporters and kinsman of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has declared that the president has lost the support of his political base, the South-south and the South-East owing to the failure of his government to deliver on its promises.

Dokubo-Asari, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, said that it would be tough for Jonathan to win the presidential election in 2015 if he decides to run based on the poor showing of his administration.

He said that his decision to speak out was for him and others who are ardent supporters of Jonathan not to be blamed for his failure in 2015.

He said: “I want to start with an Ijaw proverb, which says: the eyes watched its seven children to death. Instead of advising them, it was just looking at them until they died, while the mouth talked its only child to life and success.

“We have continued as Ijaw people and the entire Niger Delta and South-South to support the presidency of President Goodluck Jonathan, but a time has come when silence cannot be golden.

“We mainly speak out in issues that are very critical to the survival of our people, the survival of the people of the South-South and the South-East, which happens to be the political base of Goodluck Jonathan.

“Jonathan is surrounded by very greedy people who are only in the Presidency to enrich themselves at the expense of Goodluck himself.

“This brings us to another Kalabari proverb, which says: where there are elders, a goat cannot be allowed to deliver tied to a stick.

“If we don’t talk and we continue to brush it aside, tomorrow we will be blamed and people will say: Mujahid Dokubo-Asari was around when Goodlcuk Jonathan was president and he didn’t talk.

We will see the end of Boko Haram – Buhari

 Major General Muhammadu Buhari 

Former Head of State and presidential flag bearer of the leading opposition party, All Progressives Congress, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), has once again strongly condemned the last week’s terrorist attacks in Kano and Jos where several persons were killed.

The ‘Peoples General’ in a statement, last night expressed optimism that terrorism would never prevail over the country, adding that Nigerians would see the end of terrorism together.

According to the former warlord, “Once again, those who seek to influence our way of life, modify our faith and our most sacred core values, have struck, leaving in their wake lives brutally cut short, limbs badly broken and dreams forced to fade away.”

Speaking further, the statement quoted Buhari as saying, “But these people, whose actions are not sanctioned by any religion and who subscribe to no known decent values, will not succeed. Our people are resilient and strong, and our nation is capable, based on our rich human and material resources, of successfully tackling these nihilists.

“We will together see the end of them and their reign of terror. They have failed because Nigeria will remain strong and united in the face of what has now become an almost daily infliction of terror on a defenceless people. Women, children and the aged are not spared by these barbaric purveyors of horror, intimidation and panic.

No religion condoles the killings of such vulnerable and innocent people, hence we are sure these terrorists profess to none of the world’s great religions, much as they seek to mask their actions with the cloak of religion.

“To my long-suffering fellow citizens who have borne the brunt of these almost daily senseless attacks, I say help is on the way. Terror must and will be defeated. All it requires is the political will, uncommon courage and unrelenting determination, and victory will be ours”, he added.

Source: Dailypost

We will see the end of Boko Haram – Buhari

 Major General Muhammadu Buhari 

Former Head of State and presidential flag bearer of the leading opposition party, All Progressives Congress, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), has once again strongly condemned the last week’s terrorist attacks in Kano and Jos where several persons were killed.

The ‘Peoples General’ in a statement, last night expressed optimism that terrorism would never prevail over the country, adding that Nigerians would see the end of terrorism together.

According to the former warlord, “Once again, those who seek to influence our way of life, modify our faith and our most sacred core values, have struck, leaving in their wake lives brutally cut short, limbs badly broken and dreams forced to fade away.”

Speaking further, the statement quoted Buhari as saying, “But these people, whose actions are not sanctioned by any religion and who subscribe to no known decent values, will not succeed. Our people are resilient and strong, and our nation is capable, based on our rich human and material resources, of successfully tackling these nihilists.

“We will together see the end of them and their reign of terror. They have failed because Nigeria will remain strong and united in the face of what has now become an almost daily infliction of terror on a defenceless people. Women, children and the aged are not spared by these barbaric purveyors of horror, intimidation and panic.

BREAKING: Series of bomb blasts hit Kano

Reports has it that  series of bomb explosions have gone off near a market in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. Details of the explosion is still sketchy for now. Further details will be available soon.

BREAKING: Series of bomb blasts hit Kano

Reports has it that  series of bomb explosions have gone off near a market in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. Details of the explosion is still sketchy for now. Further details will be available soon.

Nigeria’s Growth to Slow in 2015, Says Okonjo-Iweala

 Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,

As Nigeria adjusts to falling crude prices, growth could slow by about a percentage point next year, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said.

Africa’s most populous nation is cutting spending on government travel and equipment, and raising taxes on yachts and private planes as oil prices hit five-year lows.

The tightening will shrink growth to around 5.3 per cent, delaying some infrastructure, and will force the country to tax a booming informal economy that has long escaped oversight, said Okonjo-Iweala. “Undoubtedly, it is going to be tough times. We are beginning to feel the impact,” the minister told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ.

Tumbling oil prices have put crude producers from Iran to Venezuela on the back foot. Few of those countries are watching oil revenue dwindle at such an inopportune moment as Nigeria. The country’s spending needs are soaring as oil prices move in the opposite direction.

A costly and tense election next February is likely to pit a majority-Muslim north against the predominantly Christian southern regions. During the last election in 2011, at least 800 people were left dead in riots fuelled by religious tension.

On a brighter note, Nigeria’s middle class is steadily growing and its major cities are expanding fast. However, such growth burdens potholed roads, congested ports and rusted power lines in need of repair.

Then there is Boko Haram, an Islamist militancy boasting tanks and rocket launchers who control a Belgium-sized swath of northeastern Nigeria.

A recently-purchased set of helicopter gunships and surveillance planes are helping Nigeria recapture some of that area, Okonjo-Iweala said.
“They are being pushed out day by day.”

Nigeria’s problems are starting to add up, Okonjo-Iweala added.  If not for Boko Haram and dropping oil prices, Nigeria would be registering 6.8 per cent growth, she said.

That is about what the country averaged each year for the past decade. And yet, even during boom years, Nigeria struggled to tax the new businesses flourishing in its informal market.


Oil still accounts for 70 per cent of government revenue, but relatively little of it has been put aside.
An oil savings fund that sat at more than $20 billion in 2008, just before oil first crossed $100 per barrel, has now fallen to only $4 billion.

“On the savings side, yes, we could have done better,” said Okonjo-Iweala. “Thank god we had the four billion.” To prioritise, the finance minister is looking to focus spending on security and infrastructure projects. Okonjo- Iweala said she’s hoping to limit cuts to health and education spending.

In coming years, it will likely raise its valued-added-tax, she said. A fifth of the country’s budget is spent on the military, and that is unlikely to change, Okonjo-Iweala said.

“Do we have a choice? Should we say “no, let us allow the insurgents to take over?”

Source: Thisday

Nigeria’s Growth to Slow in 2015, Says Okonjo-Iweala

 Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,

As Nigeria adjusts to falling crude prices, growth could slow by about a percentage point next year, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said.

Africa’s most populous nation is cutting spending on government travel and equipment, and raising taxes on yachts and private planes as oil prices hit five-year lows.

The tightening will shrink growth to around 5.3 per cent, delaying some infrastructure, and will force the country to tax a booming informal economy that has long escaped oversight, said Okonjo-Iweala. “Undoubtedly, it is going to be tough times. We are beginning to feel the impact,” the minister told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ.

Tumbling oil prices have put crude producers from Iran to Venezuela on the back foot. Few of those countries are watching oil revenue dwindle at such an inopportune moment as Nigeria. The country’s spending needs are soaring as oil prices move in the opposite direction.

A costly and tense election next February is likely to pit a majority-Muslim north against the predominantly Christian southern regions. During the last election in 2011, at least 800 people were left dead in riots fuelled by religious tension.

On a brighter note, Nigeria’s middle class is steadily growing and its major cities are expanding fast. However, such growth burdens potholed roads, congested ports and rusted power lines in need of repair.

Then there is Boko Haram, an Islamist militancy boasting tanks and rocket launchers who control a Belgium-sized swath of northeastern Nigeria.

A recently-purchased set of helicopter gunships and surveillance planes are helping Nigeria recapture some of that area, Okonjo-Iweala said.
“They are being pushed out day by day.”

Nigeria’s problems are starting to add up, Okonjo-Iweala added.  If not for Boko Haram and dropping oil prices, Nigeria would be registering 6.8 per cent growth, she said.

That is about what the country averaged each year for the past decade. And yet, even during boom years, Nigeria struggled to tax the new businesses flourishing in its informal market.

Over 150 Reps lose re-election bids

Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal Speaker, House of Representative

The House of Representatives on Tuesday described as disturbing, the high number of lawmakers, who failed to win the primaries of their various political parties.

The House spokesman, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said “The high turnover is the bane of the development of our parliament,”

Findings by The PUNCH showed that over 150 members of the House did not make it in the primaries.

Investigations revealed that while a “negligible” number won the ticket of their parties to contest either a Senate seat or a governorship seat, the majority of the over 150 lost the primaries.

Among the few, who won to contest other offices in 2015 are the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, who would be contesting the governorship seat in Sokoto State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, and his Deputy, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, who won the Imo State PDP governorship ticket.

Others are the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Mr. Solomon Olamilekan, Mr. John Enoh   and   Uche Ekwunife, who will be vying for Senate seats in the 2014 elections.

“Flowing from a trend that has been noticed since 1999, it is expected that many more members will bid the House goodbye at the close of this term in May 2015,” a National Assembly source told The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday.


It will be recalled that after the 2011 polls, only slightly above 100 members of the House out of 360 returned from the 2007 set.

Source: Punch

Over 150 Reps lose re-election bids

Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal Speaker, House of Representative

The House of Representatives on Tuesday described as disturbing, the high number of lawmakers, who failed to win the primaries of their various political parties.

The House spokesman, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said “The high turnover is the bane of the development of our parliament,”

Findings by The PUNCH showed that over 150 members of the House did not make it in the primaries.

Investigations revealed that while a “negligible” number won the ticket of their parties to contest either a Senate seat or a governorship seat, the majority of the over 150 lost the primaries.

Among the few, who won to contest other offices in 2015 are the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, who would be contesting the governorship seat in Sokoto State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, and his Deputy, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, who won the Imo State PDP governorship ticket.

Others are the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Mr. Solomon Olamilekan, Mr. John Enoh   and   Uche Ekwunife, who will be vying for Senate seats in the 2014 elections.

“Flowing from a trend that has been noticed since 1999, it is expected that many more members will bid the House goodbye at the close of this term in May 2015,” a National Assembly source told The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday.