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Foreign Affairs Minister, Khadija Ibrahim, Resigns

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khadija Ibrahim, yesterday announced her decision to resign from President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet to run for election as a member of the House of Representatives in the February 16, 2019 election.

Ibrahim, who confirmed her resignation while speaking with State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, her last appearance as a member of cabinet, said she would officially vacate the office on Monday, January 14, 2019.

Her resignation comes a month after the former Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jubril, resigned having been elected the 13th Emir of Nasarawa.

She said her decision is to enable her contest in the forthcoming election to represent Damaturu/Tarmuwa/Gujba/Gulani Federal Constituency of Yobe State.

The minister, who thanked the President for finding her worthy among Nigerians to serve the country as minister, promised to bring her experience from the Executive arm of government to contribute in strengthening the ninth National Assembly if elected as a member.

Mrs. Ibrahim had defeated her step-son, Mohammed Ibrahim, to emerge the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the election.

She scored 1,295 votes to beat her step-son Khadija Ibrahim, 52, is a wife of a former three-time governor of Yobe State, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who is currently serving as a senator. The former governor is not seeking reelection.

Her father was the legendary northern politician, Waziri Ibrahim, a minister in the First Republic and founder of Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP) in the Second Republic.

Adenuga Adds $3.9bn, Closes Gap With Dangote In Forbes Billionaires Ranking

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Globacom Chairman Mike Adenuga Jnr, with interests in oil exploration and real estate has moved up, ranking next to Aliko Dangote as Africa’s second richest man.

Forbes magazine said Adenuga’s net worth rose tremendously from $5.3 billion to $9.2 billion.

He is now just $800million away from Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote, whose wealth dipped to $10billion, from $12 billion last year.

However, Dangote retains the Africa’s richest man title for the eighth consecutive time despite.

BUA Group Chief Executive Officer Abdulsamad Rabiu featured on the list for the first time since 2015.

The merger between Rabiu’s Kalambaina Cement firm with the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled, in December, last year, was formally consummated in Sokoto earlier this week. He now owns 97 per cent of the entity.

Kalambaina, which operates a new cement production facility, started selling cement mid-last year just as Rabiu’s OBU Cement has expanded its operations, adding a new production line.

Forbes blamed plunging stock values and weaker currencies for the shrinking in the billionaires club in Africa.

It said: “Buffeted by plunging stock prices and weaker currencies, the number of African billionaires has shrunk to just 20, down from 23 a year ago.

“Four people fell off Forbes’ annual list of the continent’s richest since last year while one returned to the ranks after a four-year absence. All but four members of the list have smaller fortunes than a year ago.”

In a per country ranking, Egypt and South Africa are tied with five billionaires each, followed by Nigeria with four and Morocco-two.

Forbes found one billionaire each in Algeria, Angola, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

*Originally published by The Nation

Abdulsamad Rabiu Becomes Third Richest Nigerian On Forbes Africa’s Richest List

Posted on January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Becoming an entrepreneur extraordinaire is not mere lip service; it takes consistent effort and focus to grow from just being an entrepreneur with interest in a particular business to becoming a respected and renowned empire builder. Yes, cement mogul and chairman of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, is one of the few blessed men who started from the scratch, kept their nose to the grindstone and turned seemingly insignificant ideas into behemoth industries.

Yes, Rabiu is a man that would be sent to Mars and still treat it as a stepping stone to Saturn – the quality of constant invention and self-improvement that has earned him worldwide acclaim and prosperity.

However, in a year that saw many billionaires lose chunks of their money due to plunging stock prices and weaker currencies, with the number of African billionaires shrinking to 20 from 23 last year, the extremely wealthy industrialist, Samad, returns to the Forbes Africa’s Richest List. He was off the list in 2015 but his return was facilitated largely, according to the influential American magazine, by the merger of his Kalambaina Cement firm with publicly traded Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled. “Rabiu now owns 97% of Kalambaina, which operates a new cement production facility, and started selling cement in mid-2018. Separately, Rabiu’s OBU Cement recently expanded its operations, adding a new production line,” the magazine stated.

The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, and the Chairman of Globacom, Dr Mike Adenuga, top Forbes’ Africa Billionaires List released on Wednesday. Dangote saw his wealth drop by $2bn from $12.2bn in January 2018 to $10bn in 2019. But Dangote retained his position as Africa’s richest man for the eighth consecutive time. Adenuga, with interests in oil exploration and real estate, moved up to be Africa’s second richest man, while Abdulsamad is the third richest Nigerian on the list. The American magazine said Adenuga’s net worth dramatically increased from $5.3bn to $9.2bn because he provided more detailed information about his assets.

Indeed, the BUA Group commissioned its $350 million Kalambaina Cement Plant in Sokoto State in July 2018 with an installed capacity of 1.5 metric tonnes per annum and is the largest single private sector-led investment in North West Nigeria.

Findings revealed that Samad is currently one of the very few economic giants and magnates enjoying the respect of several world leaders courtesy his enviable business culture. Rabiu simply focuses on his enterprise and applies himself to it conscientiously and with a towering sense of personal and professional business ethics.

From the ancient city of Kano, Samad, a silver spoon, is the son of Isyaku Rabiu, one of the richest and most influential businessmen in northern Nigeria in the 1970s and 80s. Apart from CCNN, BUA Cement Limited also owns a $2 billion cement factory at Okpella in Edo State in Nigeria, which has a production capacity of 6 million metric tonnes per annum. BUA Cement also owns Edo Cement Company and BUA Cement Port Harcourt, which continue to operate as private companies.

Abdulsamad Rabiu, one of Nigeria’s most successful businessmen, is the founder of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate that has interests in sugar refining, real estate, edible oils, logistics and port operations. Rabiu, one of Nigeria’s largest private property owners, also owns homes in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite the shield and myth that money has created around him, Samad is reportedly a down-to-earth family man.

The New York Times Reviews Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

The notion that streaming services afford wide audiences a chance to sample overlooked pockets of world cinema gains some support with the release of “Lionheart,” a Nigerian feature now on Netflix. For many American viewers, the film will be an introduction to Genevieve Nnaji — one of the biggest stars of the Nigerian movie industry, or Nollywood, who has more than 100 credits.

In “Lionheart,” which is also her directorial debut, Nnaji plays Adaeze, the logistics director of a family transportation business that is working to win a critical state contract. Her father, Chief Ernest Obiagu (Pete Edochie), publicly praises Adaeze’s abilities at the pitch meeting — then suffers an apparent (but nonfatal) heart attack on the spot. That contrivance offers a sense of the movie’s storytelling, which tends toward the earnest and the functional.

“Lionheart” is only partly a movie about how a woman takes charge of a company in a sexist society. While recuperating, Adaeze’s father unexpectedly passes over her to appoint Godswill (Nkem Owoh), his brother, as the acting head, igniting odd-couple tension and comedy between the managers. But as a clock ticks down on settling the company’s debts, with an unscrupulous competitor (Kanayo O. Kanayo) circling, Godswill’s brash, transactional style meshes well with Adaeze’s measured approach.

Along the way, “Lionheart” offers sidelong observations about the importance of preserving a family legacy; the need for comity among Nigeria’s classes and ethnic groups; and the wisdom of older generations, even when change is necessary. It is globally minded filmmaking that is also comfortingly familiar.

Leaked Audio Tape: Amaechi Didn’t Insult Buhari – Soyinka

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Nigerian Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has said that nowhere on the audio clips leaked which featured Minister for Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, speaking about President Buhari, did he hear any insult.

The leaked audio clips which were released by an aide of PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has dominated the national discussion in recent times and most outlets reporting on the story have insinuated that Amaechi somehow insulted the President.

Soyinka, who was speaking at the event tagged, ‘Nigeria 2019: Countering Fake News’, said that it was erroneous for anyone to see what was said as an insult and that the media needs to stop misleading the Nigerian people.

“Just two or three days ago, I read an item where a minister was supposed to have insulted the President and it was carried in some media and I checked the statement and of course there was a video and so on and I looked through it, I read the text again and again and I said I have to relearn the English language because I didn’t see where the insults were.

“So sometimes, print media feels compelled to compete with the electronic media and this is a great mistake because there is a reputation, there is an expectation and you should not be embarrassed to show yourself superior to a medium which is accessible to the lowest, the very dregs of society.” he said.

So sometimes, print media feels compelled to compete with the electronic media and this is a great mistake because there is a reputation, there is an expectation and you should not be embarrassed to show yourself superior to a medium which is accessible to the lowest, the very dregs of society.” he said.

In the infamous clip, Amaechi was purported to have said: “The President is not listening to anybody. He doesn’t care. You can write anything you want. The President doesn’t care. Does he read?”

In other parts of the audio, Amaechi could be heard warning that what he was saying was not to be printed.

“These are not things you publish ooo. If you publish them, you will never sit with me any day.

“Three years of Buhari oo, everybody is crying, crying…pressmen are crying, farmers are crying, workers are crying, politicians are crying, students are crying, three years oo!

“The rate of poverty is very high. The people are hungry. Nigeria will divide!”

Amaechi also spoke of his utter lack of faith in the potential of the country and that nothing could change.

“This country can never change, I swear. The only way this country can change is in a situation where everybody is killed.

“This country is going nowhere. When Magnus (Abe) was secretary to the Rivers State Government, I told him that this country is hopeless and helpless and he told me, ‘Oga, stop it’. This cannot be coming from a governor.

“But two months in Abuja, Magnus came to meet me and said, I agree with you; this country is hopeless and helpless. All they do in Abuja is to share money.”

Divorce: Jeff Bezos Reportedly Dating TV Aanchor, Lauren Sanchez

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Lauren Sanchez while she’s still married to a high-powered Hollywood agent

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly has a new romance in his life: former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.

On Wednesday, the billionaire exec and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, announced they were divorcing, saying in a joint statement: “We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends.”

The New York Post and the National Enquirer both reported that Jeff Bezos, 54, is romantically involved with 49-year-old Sanchez, a former “Good Day LA” news anchor with Fox who also works as a helicopter pilot and entrepreneur.

The TV host is still married to Patrick Whitesell, the co-CEO of prominent Hollywood talent agency WME. Whitesell counts Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman among his clients. According to the New York Post, Sanchez and Whitesell separated in the fall. It’s after this that Bezos reportedly “became closer” with Sanchez. Sanchez has three children – two from her marriage to Whitesell and one from a previous relationship.

The National Enquirer said it conducted a four-month investigation into Bezos and Sanchez’s alleged affair, and suggested that it was its impending report – due to be published in full later this week – that sparked the announcement from Bezos.

Bezos has an estimated net worth of about $137 billion, and news of his impending divorce has sparked fevered speculation as to what it will mean for his fortune. It’s not clear whether Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos signed a prenuptial agreement or formed another arrangement regarding what would happen if they split. The couple have been married for 25 years, and have four children.

An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

Lagos APC Campaign Flag-off Tragedy A Show of Shame – Bode George

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Former Deputy National Chairman, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George has described the skirmish that occurred at the Lagos All Progressives Congress, APC, campaign flag-off as a show of shame.

George, who spoke on Wednesday at the PDP’s reconciliation and stakeholders meeting that had former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; former Minister of Works, Adeseye Ogunlewe; Dr. Remi Akintoye, among others in attendance.

“We all witnessed the show of shame on Tuesday when the APC goons murdered five people at their so called flag off which turned into killing field. Amid the blood bath, Emmanuel Oladesu, the Political Editor of The Nation Newspaper was hit by a stray bullet, the Correspondent of News Agency of Nigeria, Buhari was openly disposed beaten up. A Correspondent of the Telegraph Newspaper was equally robbed. Hundreds of people were injured.

“Surely we can’t continue with this madness. We need a real, progressive fundamental change. This is where we stand today. Lagosians deserve better than this arbitrary, undisciplined, aberrational cabal holding down our people. They must be voted out.

“That is our focus. That is our mission. That is our collective fight and devotion. Our party has now come out on a mission of rescue and salvage. Lagos must be redeemed and unchained from the manacles of APC,” he said.

On the rift in their fold, George said it was a fiction apparently masterminded by the APC, saying the PDP bond is currently strong.

“Contrary to the misleading opinion in some sections of the media, our party is not disrupted by any infighting. We are woven in a united vision, summed up in a thoughtful unanimity of purpose.

“We are now one, indivisible family. There is no rancour in our midst. There is no bitterness or hatred. We are no longer contesting anything with ourselves. Jimmy Agbaje is our unifying gubernatorial candidate. We support him wholeheartedly and with total commitment.

“Today our bonds are stronger. Our ideals and visions are more united, sharpened by the need to liberate our state from the present internal colonization by a greedy, monumentally selfish few,” stated.

I’ll Defeat Buhari and Atiku – Kingsley Moghalu

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Kingsley Moghalu, the presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, says he would defeat the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the February 16 presidential poll.

Mr Moghalu, at a town hall meeting tagged ‘The Candidates’ organised by the MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with NTA and DARIA media in Abuja, expressed confidence that he would emerge president.

He said that Nigerians were “tired of recycled politicians” and that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was not an option.

“We will defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and the reason is very simple, Nigerians are tired of recycled politicians and the PDP is not an option.

“Going for the PDP from the APC is like jumping from frying pan to fire,” he added.

Mr Moghalu said when elected, his administration would tackle root cause of corruption which is the broken value system in the country.

According to him, no matter what we do, as long as we do not have a philosophical foundation, we cannot make progress.

The candidate said that when elected, he would introduce the teaching of ethics in schools and ensure transparency in the budgetary system and the process of awarding of contracts.

Mr Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN said that he would ensure forensic checks in the process to enhance transparency.

On corruption, Mr Moghalu said that if anybody commits a crime, the law must take its cause irrespective of creed or political party.

According to him, our approach will not focus on the past but create a system to make corruption difficult.

He said the judiciary would be allowed to do its job and that corrupt persons would not go free.

The candidate said that to ensure sufficient power supply, his administration would disintegrate the national grid.

According to him, this boils down to restructuring, when this is done, things will change and price of items will reduce.

Mr Moghalu said his administration would focus on industrial areas and renewable energy and that about 50 per cent of power will be sourced from renewable energy.

On insecurity, Mr Moghalu said if elected, he would change the leadership of security agencies and intelligence gathering units.

He said appointment of heads of security agencies would not be based on sentiment but on competence and professionalism.

Mr Moghalu said that when elected as president, he would put mechanism in place to address desertification which would stem farmer/herders’ clashes.

NAN

EFCC Arrests Man For Failure To Disclose $207,000 At Kano Airport

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Kano zonal office, on December 31, 2018, arrested Sani Abdullahi, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, for money laundering offence.

In a statement by Tony Orilade, the EFCC’s acting head of media and publicity, said Mr Abdullahi was arrested en route Kano to China for failing to formally declare the sum of $207,000 in his possession.

According to the statement, the suspect only declared the sum of $86,000, but concealed the sum of $121,000.

“The concealed sum was discovered after he was searched by operatives of the Commission. It is an offence contrary to the Money Laundering Act 2011 (as amended).

“The suspect has been granted administrative bail and will soon be charged to court,” the statement said.

Soyinka Blasts Obasanjo For Supporting ‘A Devil’ To Become Nigeria’s President

Posted on January 10, 2019January 10, 2019 by The Elites

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has attacked former President Olusegun Obasanjo again, saying he is supporting a man he called ‘a devil’ several years ago to become Nigeria’s president.

Soyinka, who was a panelist at the event tagged, ‘Nigeria 2019: Countering Fake News,’ organised by BBC News, charged Nigerians to be wary of Obasanjo who pretended to be the conscience of the nation.

Though Soyinka did not mention names, but his utterances ostensibly refers to Obasanjo and his former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar.

Punch quoted Soyinka as saying that if the former leader had been referring to a certain person (Atiku) for eight years as a devil and is now telling Nigerians to vote for the devil, then there was a reason for Nigerians to express some doubt.

According to Soyinka, “We have got to develop a very healthy scepticism. If someone in a position of power for eight years has lectured a nation for eight years and after that continued year after year to continue to direct the minds of a whole nation in one direction, only saying ‘this is Lucifer from hell’ for eight years in office and several more years out of office, saying this is Lucifer and then one day he changed his left hand and says behold your redeemer, which of the two is fake news?”