Without deregulation, Nigeria may become like Zimbabwe, says Sagay

Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption on Monday said there is no alternative to the deregulation policy of the federal government is Nigeria is to

survive and be economically viable.

Sagay, who described the recent fuel price increase as a bitter pill, said Nigeria may degenerate to the level of Zimbabwe if the government continues to foot- drag on the policy.

According to him “I don’t think we have a choice if Nigeria is to survive. If we are to survive as a country and we want to become economically viable again, this is a bitter pill we have to swallow. If we don’t do it now, our economy will collapse”.
“ We will degenerate to the level of Greece. Even Greece is even better. We will degenerate to the level of Zimbabwe. So, this is a measure to save this country from total economic collapse.
This is the only thing we can do. It is a very bitter pill but we have to swallow that pill in order to graduate to a brighter, greater and happier future”.
“I don’t expect this level of increase to continue for long. As soon as things settle down and there is competition among importers of fuel, and our local refineries are producing more, the prices will start coming down gradually.

Short Hair Don’t Care, Toni Tones looks Fierce in her new Pixie Cut!

Actress and singer Toni Tones debuts her new pixie cut and we’re loving it!

She shared this photo on her Instagram of her new haircut with a cation saying “There’s just something about a woman with short hair that screams POWER!”.

Posing in her signature position (like some other celebrities) with her yellow wall, Toni shared her first outfit of the day (ootd) photo with her new hair cut in a white column dress, white sunglasses to match, a black chocker and neon yellow sneakers.

Photo Credits: Toni Tones | @iamtonitones and bellanaija

First Chibok Girl ‘Found’ Two Years After Boko Haram Kidnap Of 276 Schoolgirls

Activists in Nigeria say they have rescued one of the Chibok girls, the first since a group of 276 schoolgirls was captured by the Boko Haram militant group in April 2014.



Local media in northern Nigeria said the girl had been found by the Civilian Joint Task Force, a vigilante group set up independently of the Nigerian army to assist in tackling the jihadist group.

The news was confirmed by the chairman of the Chibokgirls Parents community group, who named the girl as Amina Ali.



Activists told the BBC the girl was found on Tuesday in the Sambisa Forest, the area where the girls were originally taken on 15 April two years ago, after she was recognised by a militia member.


The capture of the Chibok girls sparked an international reaction, with people around the world uniting behind the #BringBackOurGirls cause.

But what started as a call to action soon turned to recriminations against the Nigerian government, accused of not doing enough to tackle Boko Haram in its heartlands.



At the end of last year, the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari sparked controversy by claiming the militant group was “technically defeated”, though the Chibok girls were still missing.


Terror attacks claimed by the jihadists continued, however, and Mr Buhari was forced to defend his statement. In February, he claimed he had meant Boko Haram “can no longer mobilise enough forces to attack police and army barracks and destroy aircraft like they used to”.

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Fidelity Bank: Okonkwo Returns As MD, Balarabe Now DMD after EFCC’s arrest over Diezanigate

Following the resumption of the managing director of Fidelity Bank, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, Alhaji Mohammed Lawal Balarabe who held forte in the absence of Okonkwo, has been appointed as the deputy managing director of the Bank, subject to regulatory approval.

Okonkwo was temporarily replaced by Balarabe following his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The bank, in a statement described Balarabe as an erudite banker with over 24 years’ experience in corporate, commercial and retail banking. He has worked in various capacities in Nigeria’s financial services industry where he acquired strong strategic management, leadership and people skills.

Balarabe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom (UK), as well as Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Finance from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He has attended several executive education programs at the Columbia University Business School, INSEAD; Said Business School, University of Oxford; and Kellogg School of Management, amongst others.



A licensed member of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) since 1992, Balarabe also served as Executive Director of Oceanic Bank Plc, pursuant to an appointment by the Central of Nigeria (CBN).


He was also a General Manager in United Bank for Africa (UBA) and had been the General Manager & Chief Executive of Newdevco Finance Services Company Limited before his appointment to the Board of Fidelity Bank in April 2012.

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Twenty civil societies back new petrol price, warn labour to shelve planned strike

A coalition of twenty civil society organizations has thrown its weight behind the deregulation of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, warning the organised labour to refrain from the proposed nationwide strike.

This demand was made by Conscience Nigeria in partnership with other Civil Society organizations like Stand Up Nigeria, Center for Leadership Development, CPALD, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Arise Nigeria, among others.

In a statement issued on Sunday for the coalition by the Executive Director of Conscience Nigeria, Comrade Tosin Adeyanju, the groups commended the bold step of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government in fully deregulating the oil sector, which they claimed have been plagued by many years of monumental corruption in the subsidy regime.
The statement reads, “No nation can move forward without liberalization or deregulation of its critical economy sector like ours as it was done in the telecom sector, about 80% of our countries revenue comes from oil proceed and as the global economy meltdown continue there is need for this to take place if we must be taken seriously among committee of nations.

Therefore, the step taking by the Minister of state to deregulate this critical sector is the best as at this material time.
“We All know the implication that will arise as a result of this sudden changes, however we must endure this face in other for our country to survive this present economy realities that is very obvious.
“We equally appeal on the Nigerian Labour Congress and our other Civil Society colleagues to shed the proposed nationwide strike and engage the government on the need to create immediate palliatives to Cushing the effect of this policy instead of worsening the already bad economy state of the country.
If our country is shut down as proposed, billions of naira will be lost and the country will suffer for it in the long run.
“We proposed immediate intervention by government in areas of introduction of subsidized transportation system across the country to ameliorate the sudden hike of transportation across the country.
We equally appeal to government to immediately begin the implementation of the budget and immediate engagement of all stakeholders across the country to inform them about the benefit of deregulation and its benefit to Nigerian people.
“Lastly, we all must be conscious of the fact that we have no other country than Nigeria and we all must strive to make sure that the country works for the good of all and the present leadership of the country has demonstrate that by its action thus far.













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Dont allow NLC, TUC to deceive you again over planned Strike – CNPP tells Nigerians

Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has warned Nigerians not to allow themselves to be deceived again ahead of planned industrial action by the organized labour over the increase in pump price of petrol.

In a statement jointly signed on Sunday by its National Chairman, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and the Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, CNPP urged Nigerians not to trust the Labour unions as they have been compromised, saying that the planned strike action for Wednesday won’t last beyond Friday as the labour unions were using the strike as a ploy to scuttle genuine actions against the increment in pump price as they did in 2012.



According to the CNPP, “What the labour unions are doing now by calling for a strike action was what they did in 2012 during the Occupy Nigeria protests in response to similar increase in the pump price of petrol under former President Goodluck Jonathan. The labour unions later scuttled the action by purportedly entering into an agreement with the then government on behalf of Nigerians and ended up fixing the pump price of petrol at N97.00 per litre.


“Nigerians must be aware that the planned strike action scheduled for Wednesday won’t last beyond Friday as the labour leaders have been compromised and are using the call as a ploy to deceive the masses.

“We have it on good authority that the labour leaders have compromised. Recall that the labour leaders were at a meeting where the decision to inflict more and more pains on the already impoverished Nigerian people by increasing the pump price was taken and never protested against it. Why the sudden U-turn by the same labour leaders?

“The ever increasing hardship enthroned on Nigerians by the current government cannot be tolerated. The federal government and its labour collaborators must be told that the CNPP, the masses and the civil society shall occupy Nigeria until the reversal of the pump price of patrol. Enough of more and more suffering under the guise of fuel subsidy removal,” the statement read in part.

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Proud Mama! Oprah attends her “daughter-girls” Graduations

Oprah Winfrey is a proud ‘mama’ this year as she attends the college graduations of young women who attended her girls-only school in South Africa, The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.

She’s making her rounds to personally congratulate them at their graduations. So far she’s been to all-women school Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, HBCU Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, and she says her next stop is Spelman, a women-only HBCU in Atlanta.

It’s so great to see Oprah followed up with these young ladies!

 Oprah’s Caption: Proud Happy Day! 2 graduations done. Tabitha at Mt. Holyoke. Mpumi and Thando at JCSU. Congratulations to my beautiful and brilliant “daughter-girls”. Now onto Spelman!

bellanaija

You Won’t Believe What the “Suspect Package” at the Abandoned Man U vs Bournemouth Game Was

Tens of thousands of fans were on Sunday evacuated from the 75,000 capacity Old Trafford stadium following a bomb scare.

The fans of both teams, Manchester United and Bournemouth were gathered for their last game of the Premiership when it was announced over the public address system that a “suspect package” had been found in the north-west quadrant – the corner between the North Stand and Stretford End.

The bomb squad was later invited to carry out a controlled explosion after which they found out what the “suspect package” was.

“Following today’s controlled explosion, we have since found out that the item was a training device which had accidentally been left by a private company following a training exercise involving explosive search dogs,” said Assistant Chief Constable John O’Hare of the Greater Manchester Police.

According to CNN, O’Hare said “Whilst this item did not turn out to be a viable explosive, on appearance this device was as real as could be, and the decision to evacuate the stadium was the right thing to do, until we could be sure that people were not at risk.”

The abandoned game has been shifted to Tuesday night.

WHO list Onitsha as World’s Most Polluted City

Onitsha, in Nigeria’s South East, has been tagged the world’s most polluted city, according to data obtained from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to the report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Onitsha produced pollution “levels of nearly 600 micrograms per cubic metre of PM10s – around 30 times the WHO
recommended level of 20 micrograms per cubic metre,” to get the unenviable rating.
Onitsha, along with three other Nigerian cities, Aba, Kaduna and Umuahia, featured in the top 20.
“Air pollution has risen by eight percent globally in the past five years,” resulting in three million premature deaths yearly, WHO says.

This remains one of the greatest environmental risks to human health, notes the report, as part of its ongoing annual African edition in Kigali, Rwanda, regretting that “most large cities in the developing world are breaching global air pollution guidelines.”



Following Onitsha on top of the list is Peshawar, Pakistan; Zabol, Iran; Rawalpindi, also in Pakistan; before Kaduna and Aba; while Umuahia; Ralpur, India; Kabul, Afghanistan; Ma’ameer, Bahrain; and Boshehr also in Iran, were the bottom five of the table in 2016 update of the WHO Urban Ambient Air Pollution database.


“The cost for countries is enormous. Air pollution affects economies and people’s quality of life. It leads to major chronic diseases and to people ultimately dying,” says Dr. Mari Neira, director of public health in WHO.

The new data, drawn from city and academic records, shows a rapid deterioration in air quality as low-income cities grow unchecked and populations become unable to escape clouds of smog and soot from transport, industry, construction sites, farming and wood-burning in homes.
Curiously, Lagos was not on the table of the latest urban air quality data, collected between 2011 and 2015, showing that 98 percent of cities with over 100,000 inhabitants in low- and middle-income countries do not meet WHO air quality guidelines.



“Of the 3,000 cities in the WHO’s air quality database, the most polluted at the time of measurement was Onitsha, a fast-growing city in Nigeria, which recorded roughly 30 times more than the WHO’s recommended levels of PM10 particles. Peshawar in Pakistan was in second place, followed by Zabol in Iran.

“These cities are mostly located in rapidly growing economies in the Middle East and South East Asia. Four of the 20 urban areas with the worst air quality at the time of measurement were in Nigeria, three were in Saudi Arabia, three were in India, and two in Iran.
“China, which has been working to tackle its air pollution problem, is the only country with just one city on the most polluted list.

“The Eastern Mediterranean (covering the Middle East and parts of North Africa) and South East Asia were the regions that performed worst overall in the database – with urban air pollution rising 5% in more than two-thirds of cities. Annual mean levels of air pollution in cities in these regions often exceeded five to 10 times WHO limits.”

Commenting on the data, Dr Maria Neira, Director of the WHO’s Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, said: “Urban air pollution continues to rise at an alarming rate, wreaking havoc on human health.

“At the same time, awareness is rising and more cities are monitoring their air quality. When air quality improves, global respiratory and cardiovascular-related illnesses decrease.”

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How we arrived at N145 price for fuel – FG

Amid threats of protest by labour, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachiukwu, and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) have offered explanations on how the Federal Government arrived at N145 as the price of a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol. They assured that the new price regime would block the drain through which government loses N16.5 billion monthly.

While the minister, whose announcement on Wednesday kicked off the new regime, said the price was based on foreign exchange conversion of naira to the dollar, the PPPRA put the calculations on its latest pricing template.

There were indications yesterday that the organised labour movement and its civil society allies may begin a protest against the new regime . The National Executive Councils (NECs) of both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) are set to meet today to deliberate on the outlook of the protest.

Kachiukwu, who spoke on a television programme yesterday, said government arrived at the new price by “a simple conversion of using foreign exchange at N285. That N285 is from nowhere; it is basically the secondary source that people buy foreign exchange from, versus the N320, which is the black market rate.

“If you convert it and throw it in, you will get about N141, N142 or N143. So there aren’t much of palliative elements left there for you to use. It is simply, ‘go out, find your product, your cost is covered, there is an opportunity for your efficiency to make money, come and deliver.’”

But according to the PPPRA’s pricing template, the cost elements include cost/freight, N109.01; lightering expenses, N4.56; Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) charges, N0.84; NIMASA charges, N0.22; financing, N2.51; jetty thru’put charges, N0.60 and storage charge, N2.00, which brings the landing cost to N119.74.



The landing cost is added to distribution margins, which are retailers, N6.00; transporters allowance, N3.36; dealers, N2.36; bridging fund, N6.20; marine transport average, N0.15; and admin charges, N18.37, bringing the total distribution charges to N18.37.


According to the PPPRA, the addition of the landing cost of N119.74 to total distribution margins of N18.37 gives a total cost of N138.11 per litre, putting the price at between N135 and N145.
Kachikwu justified the government decision saying, “We want everybody to be able to bring in the products. We want to achieve what was achieved in the marketing of diesel so that government will also not have intervention in petrol. Ultimately, we will let the market dynamics take place.

“In the past few months, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), imported the products largely subsidised, but the marketers took advantage and made excess profits. With this new system, they are going to start bringing in their own products and NNPC can sell its own products at its own price. So, there are no more opportunities for the short-term arbitrages unless those benefits in price come from your own efficiency

“What has happened is that we have provided an opportunity in the country for people to take advantage of government’s liberalisation policies and subsidies and make huge sums of money and this can have positive impact on the common man on the street.

“The reality is that if we let the environment free for people to operate you will be amazed at what will happen with pricing. I will almost take a bet with you that in six month’s time when you review this price, you will be amazed at what will happen to the N145 price.

“We discovered that queues would continue to happen until we address the issues. We do share sympathy and pains but as a responsible government, we must take decision to try and solve problems. We have come to see that if you free Nigerians to find sources of funds, they will find those secondary funds and import products, the burden on NNPC will reduce and the country will have peace and the suffering will go permanently.

“Extra earnings that NNPC makes through that avenue will be pumped into refineries, because our refining infrastructure are completely decayed. We mean well, Nigerians should please trust us. Give us support and you will be surprised.”

Also dwelling on the benefits of the new regime, the PPPRA said that government had been able to permanently eliminate subsidy payments, which was N1 trillion and had been able to save about N16 billion from April this year to date.

It noted that the current development would ensure 100 per cent FAAC payment on allocated 445,000 bpd and potential additional revenue stream, which can be tailored towards palliatives.
The agency said that even with the new price regime, Nigeria would remain one of the cheapest fuel markets in Africa and could even be lower, once competition takes effect, stressing, “Likelihood of smuggling to neighbouring countries will also be significantly reduced with the new price regime.”
An informed source said last night in Abuja that the need for the labour movement to firm up mobilisation and contact and also the meeting of the two NECs were cited as the reasons the strike would not be called immediately.

Meanwhile, facts are now emerging on factors that influenced government’s decision to jerk up the pump price.

A policy document exclusively obtained in Abuja yesterday revealed that renewed insurgency and vandalism in the Niger Delta region which have drastically reduced crude oil production to 1.65 million barrels per day, reduction of money accruing to the Federation Account as well as crude volumes for petrol conversion, which is also impacting Federal Government foreign exchange earnings, were responsible.



The document read in part: “Renewed insurgency and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta has drastically reduced national crude oil production to 1.65 million barrels per day as at today, against 2.2 million barrels per day planned in the 2016 budget. Further reduction in income to Federation Account is also affecting crude volumes for PMS conversion and impacting foreign exchange earnings.”


The document also stressed that the resultant fuel scarcity created an abnormal increase in price, resulting in Nigerians paying averages of N150–N300 per litre as prevalent hoarding, smuggling and diversion of products, have reduced volumes made available to citizens
Nigerians have begun to adjust to the new realities of petrol price adjustment with many of the filling stations immediately adjusting their pump and price display to between N140 and N145 per litre.
Already, the six months old queue has automatically vanished at some filling stations about 24 hours after the announcement and marketers have immediately effected new prices and are magically selling from all pumps, as against the initial method of rationing.
Visits to Mobil, NIPCO, Forte Oil and Conoil filling stations along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway showed that all were selling at N145 per litre, while Danco Oil at Iyana-Ipaja, was selling at N140 per litre.

Other stations visited were MRS, Total, and some NNPC stations, which were also selling at N145 per litre. All the visited fuel stations are in Lagos.

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Tompolo Vows Not to Apologize to Niger Delta Avengers

Ex-militant Government Ekpemukpolo a.k.a Tompolo has said that he would not apologize to the rising militant group, Niger Delta Avengers.

The group had given Tompolo a 3-day ultimatum last Tuesday for condemning their attacks and taking sides with the government.

After the ultimatum elapsed, the group, on Thursday, blew up the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) crude and gas lines, and Well D25 in Abiteye, a key gas well operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL.

Tompolo’s Media Adviser and Consultant Paul Bebenimibo who spoke to Vanguard over the weekend said:

He (Tompolo) will not apologize to them (Niger Delta Avengers). If not for his present issues with the Federal Government, he (Tompolo) would have gone after them and exposed them because they seem to make things difficult for him, as the government is pointing fingers at him, but he cannot do anything in his present situation.

According to Vanguard, Paul mentioned two prominent Itsekiri and Ijaw activists, both stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta state, who he said, “are only looking for attention from the government, so they use the happenings to seek relevance from the government; they may be behind these guys.”

Meanwhile Vanguard also reported that Itsekiri and Ijaw leaders Ayiri Emami and Johnny Michael, who spoke to its correspondent on the phone said that the militant group are acting Tompolo’s script.

bellanaija

Wizkid hits top 3 On Spotify World Artistes List, ahead of Justin Bieber, Kanye West

Wizkid , Top Nigerian Pop Singer  who was recently at number 11 on Spotify world artistes has jumped to the 3rd spot ahead of Justin Bieber, Kanye West . God is good Nice one, Nigeria is truly blessed with  super stars.

Wizkid ,Top Nigerian pop singer  who was recently at number 11 on Spotify world artistes has jumped to the 3rd spot ahead of Justin Bieber, Kanye West . Lol, God is good Nice one  super star boy I celebrate

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Why FG may increase petrol price soon – Marketers

The Federal Government may soon effect an upward review in the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, oil marketers have said, attributing this to the recent increase in the cost of crude oil at the international market.

Crude oil price had fallen below $30 per barrel earlier this year, but as of May 2, 2016, the commodity’s cost rose to $45.83, according to data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Saturday in Abuja.

The oil marketers also said that the current challenge they faced in the industry was how to sustain the improvement in the supply of petrol across the country.

They said they had started importing petrol as many oil majors and a few independent dealers were accessing the United States dollars, as promised by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

The Corporate Affairs Manager, Nipco Plc, a renowned oil marketing firm, Mr. Lawal Taofeeq, stated that the petrol subsidy issue must be managed properly by the government in order to ensure adequate sustenance of the present improvement in fuel supply across the country.



He noted that the marginal rise in the price of crude oil could force the government to review the pump price of petrol upwards, particularly should the government insist on not paying petrol subsidy to oil marketers.


Taofeeq said, “We’ve started importing products. But on sustenance, it depends on how the government handles the issue of subsidy. You know subsidy on petrol has returned and its management will go a long way in affecting fuel supply.

“Before, there was no subsidy on petrol. But now, considering the rise in crude oil price, there is subsidy despite the fact that the official pump price hasn’t been changed. So, if the subsidy issue is not managed properly, marketers may not want to import the product unless they are sure of their money.

“The government has been using the price modulation technique, and as crude oil price is going up, it will be adjusting the pump price of petrol. Any moment from now, there may be an upward review in the pump price of petrol to take care of the rise in the price of crude oil in the international market.”
Taofeeq stated that although petrol supply had improved considerably, some filling stations had yet to start getting the product seamlessly.



He said, “The level of supply has improved but you still find out that in some areas, not all the petrol stations dispense the product. All the stations cannot have fuel at the same time. For instance, on Ikorodu Road in Lagos, you still find queues in front of some petrol stations.


“This is because not all the outlets on this road are dispensing fuel as of today (Friday). The supply mechanism cannot take or get to all the stations in one day. Some may have to hold on for about four to five days before it gets to them. And when it gets to them, others may have exhausted their product. That is why you see queues in some places.”

The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, stated that the NNPC had ensured that petrol dealers would get the product, adding that many marketers had also started importing the product.



On the measures so far put in place by oil marketers to stabilise and sustain supply, Olawore said, “That is the challenge all of us face now. The sustenance is now the issue but we will try to sustain it.”


When asked if marketers had started accessing forex for petrol importation, he said, “The issue is that they (government and the NNPC) have spoken with the upstream companies. These companies are helping some majors. And the NNPC, on its own, is helping some majors as well as other marketers.

“The NNPC has done a lot. Let us give it to them because they’ve truly done a lot. We have also been bringing in the product but majority of the vessels were brought in by the NNPC. That is why I say it is right for dealers and consumers to laud them this time around.”

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Buhari gives fresh order to military to crush new Niger Delta militant group

President Muhammadu Buhari has given a fresh order to the military to crack down on a new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, which has been attacking oil installations.

It was gathered on Saturday that the President gave the directive on Friday, following the group’s attack on Chevron’s platform in Warri, Delta State, on Thursday and its blowing up of pipelines linking Warri and Kaduna refineries on Friday.

Following the attack on the Okan offshore production platform on Wednesday by the militants, Chevron said it had lost about 105,000 barrels of oil production in three days.

The oil major said the incident had affected about 35,000 barrels per day of its own net crude production, or about 15 per cent of its output in the country.

“Approximately 35,000 bpd of Chevron’s net crude oil production in Nigeria are impacted,” AFP quoted a Chevron’s spokeswoman, Isabel Ordonez, as saying in a statement.

The General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Deji Haastrup, confirmed the figure.

He said, “This is a very difficult time for the country because it needs the revenue it can get from oil production. Incidents such as this have the potential to impact that. We do hope that it does not seriously affect the country.”

Workers on the pipelines said that before the attack, they had pumped 28,000 barrels from the Escravos terminal on Thursday.

“Both Warri and Kaduna refineries also got a delivery rate of 903,000 barrels just before the attacks,” the workers who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

The workers said following the attacks, they counted about 10 military air patrols over the pipelines on Saturday.

They also added that it had been difficult for fire fighters to quench the fire from the bombed pipelines.

“The fire is still on and it’s going to be hard to stop it because it’s huge,” the workers said on Saturday night.

It was learnt that following the attacks, which has the potential of adversely affecting the revenue of the country, the President instructed the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force to stop the activities of the new group.



A presidential aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The President gave special instruction to the military, especially to the Chief of Naval Staff, that this ugly development of vandals in the Niger Delta should end immediately.”


It was learnt that the President also ordered the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, to ensure that all waterways and platforms were protected against further attacks by the militants.

The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. -Gen. Rabe Abubakar, in an interview on Saturday, confirmed that the military had gotten the directive.

He said, “We have the order from the President and we are monitoring the activities of the new group. All efforts will be made to bring out those behind it.

“The suspects who perpetrated the first vandalism were apprehended and paraded the day before yesterday (Thursday).

“These ones are not going to be different. We are going out on our operation to stop and apprehend them in accordance with the presidential directive.”




Abubakar was not specific about what measures would be taken to address the current situation.

“We are not deterred; nobody is happy about it but we are not deterred from doing what we are doing. And more proactive measures would be put in place.

“What they are doing is complete economic sabotage; it is economic terrorism,” he said.
Buhari had in April threatened that his administration would descend heavily on oil and gas pipelines vandals as well as other saboteurs the same way the nation’s Armed Forces were dealing with members of the Boko Haram sect.

The President who spoke in Beijing during a meeting he had with members of the Nigerian community in China, warned vandals and saboteurs blowing up oil and gas installations in Nigeria to desist immediately or face the same drastic action being taken against Boko Haram by the Armed Forces.

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Senator Dino Melaye was Caught Doing on the Street … see photo

This picture of Senator Melaye has gone totally viral after the distinguished senator was caught in public doing the unthinkable. Senator Dino Melaye has found himself in the news again. This time, the senator shared picture of himself hawking groundnut on the street.

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Pastor Adeboye angered by the growing violent crimes in Nigeria, declares ‘holy war’ against kidnappers, killer herdsmen

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, angered by the growing violent crimes across the nation, declared ‘holy war’, when he led the congregation, at the May Holy Ghost Service, against kidnappers and killer-herdsmen.

Just before his sermon, held under the theme, Victorious Grace, Adeboye led the mammoth crowd, that included Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to pray against the shedding of blood and kidnapping across the country.

“Our weapons of war are not carnal, but they are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds”, he said. And the congregation responded: “No more kidnapping; no more shedding of innocent blood all over the nation.”
The three prayer points, in apparent response to the menace of herdsmen and kidnapping, include: “Father, anyone planning to shed innocent blood, send down your fire to consume them all; Father, anyone who has kidnapped or is planning to kidnap as we are praying, set fire wherever he/she may be now. Enough is enough; Father, beginning from now, let things begin to get better in Nigeria!

Pastor Adeboye, in his message, outlined some of the cardinal ingredients to attract victorious grace to include an insatiable desire to win souls for the kingdom.

Addressing the church’s army of workers, the General Overseer urged them specifically to intensify efforts to win more souls for God’s Kingdom especially because the parish pastors have been mandated to increase their membership by 100 per cent or risk losing their jobs.

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Tiwa Savage thanks Fans during trying time

she back and better and we going to love the new Tiwa Savage 

The songstress was last seen on social media a night before her estranged husband Tunji ‘Tee Billz’ Balogun‘s rant on Instagram.

Making her return, Tiwa Savage thanked her fans for their support stating that she couldn’t have made it through without them
See her post below 
 

bellaniaja

Herdsmen with AK 47 is not normal, says Ndume

Nigeria’s Senate leader Ali Ndume on Thursday advocated stiff measures to deal with all forms of criminalities in the country while stating that herdsmen are not carry weapons such as AK 47 but sticks and cutlasses.

Ndume who is also head of the Senate ad hoc committee to investigate the recent attack on Ukpabi-Nimbo, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, gave the advice in interview with State House correspondents after a visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

In fact, it is part of the consultations we are doing now so that this problem that is growing will be nipped in the bud as early as possible.
“Herdsmen and community relationship or conflict is not new in the country, but this dimension of destruction and killings are not part of it.
“There could be misunderstanding and sometimes they settle it but this one is strange, this one you hear herdsmen carrying AK-47 is not part of it.

The typical Fulani man carries his stick and a small cutlass to cut grass or leaves from the tree for the animals.
“But this time around you find people carrying AK-47 and destroying the community.
“So we are trying to look at this problem holistically and we are urging the public too to come out and provide the information or suggestions as to how we can address this.”
Ndume said his committee had started consultation with stakeholders to do a holistic public hearing in order to nip the herdmen/farmers clash in the bud.
According to him, it is possible that the insinuation that the so-called herdsmen were Boko Haram members could be true.
“A criminal is a criminal and should be treated as such.
“Whether it is Boko Haram or Fulani, what is going on is criminality and should be treated as such.
“One thing that we did not want is to put religious coloration or tribal coloration into it.

That was how we missed the opportunity to nip Boko Haram by the bud.
“When it started, instead of addressing it as a criminal activity and treating it as such, people ascribed religious and tribal sentiments.
“Before we knew it was about to consume all of the country.
“So we don’t want to make that mistake this time around.
“A criminal activity in the South or West of East or North is criminal activity and should be treated as such.”
Ndume said people should avoid ascribing such dastardly acts to Fulani “as the Fulanis are neither strangers in the country nor their cattle grazing new”.
Ndume commended the arrest of some suspects in the Enugu attack, adding that, “the onus is on the security personnel to determine their full identity, sponsors, links and how they were equipped”.
He said the directive of the president to security officials was instructive.
On the insurgency in the North East, Ndume appealed to Nigerians to donate food stuff to the Internally Displaced Persons.

According to him, the next war to be fought in the North East was the war against hunger.
“It is true that we have received a lot of sympathy and support, but we need more.
“Only God knows the level of damage that the insurgency has done to our people.
“And you can imagine most of our people are subsistence farmers that feed from what they have harvested the previous year.
“For two or three years now, some communities have not been able to go to their farm.
“So the food challenge, the next war we are going to face in the North East is the war against hunger.
“People are dying of hunger, people are helping but we need more help.”
Ndume said that the effect of hunger was staring on the whole country due to the poor rainfall in the country.

Arsene Wenger slams Arsenal Job speculation as ‘becoming a farce

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has branded continued speculation over his future as a “farce” as the Gunners’ season continued to unravel with a 2-1 home defeat to Watford in the FA Cup quarterfinals.

he defeat was the first time Arsenal had lost in the competition in 37 months, as second-half goals from Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura put the Hornets in charge and a late Danny Welbeck consolation could not save Arsenal

Wenger said: “We have come to the end of a very, very long run in the FA Cup, so it is very sad, but we want now to focus on the next game. The next game is always a big challenge and you are always in the middle of a drama. It is becoming a farce

“What is going on at the moment is very, very difficult to take for the players, but judge us at the end of the season.
“We have lost a game. We are sad and we want to focus on the next game.
“Arsenal has lost games before in history and we will lose again in the future. We will stick together and cope with it and prepare for the next one with complete belief.
“Supporters stand behind the club and we want to fight until the end of the season for every single game.”

Wenger believes his side had enough chances to beat Watford.
“We have to look at ourselves maybe on the first goal. The second goal was a fantastic shot and I felt it was a real cup game.
“We do not make enough of our possession in the final third. Watford is a team who is good on the break and they depend on Ighalo and Deeney.
The defence kept with them and overall we did not give many chances away.


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Is This The End of P'Square, Peter Okoye (“Mr P”) Performing Alone

Am just dey imagine who will settle the rift in the P’Square family where it seems blood is no longer thicker than water

 Paul said if Peter can’t work with their elder brother Jude, then they can’t work together. Peter said people should ask Paul why he’s insisting on certain benefits for Jude; he’s suspecting foul play

These are issues that could be resolved but, sadly, that is not happening, at least not yet. Peter Okoye was in Abuja recently and for the first time he performed as a solo artiste by the name “Mr P”

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