Flowerbud News

Author: Lara Olaniyi

  • German factory orders slump over U.S.-China trade spat

    German factory orders slumped more than forecast in August as the US-China trade war and Britain’s Brexit crisis hit the manufacturing sector in Europe’s biggest economy.

    Industrial orders fell by 0.6 per cent month to month in August after a hefty 2.1 per cent drop in July, the Ministry for Economics said on Monday.

    Analysts had expected a 0.3 per cent fall in August.

    Year on year, August orders contracted by 6.7 per cent from a 5 per cent fall in July, the ministry said.

    Leading the monthly fall in August was a sharp 2.6 per cent drop in domestic orders, which helped to cancel out a 0.9 per cent gain in foreign orders.

  • Leave Chimamanda Alone And Face The Real Issue Of Ukpo Intimidation Of Abba: A Rejoinder To The National Association Of Igbo Youths.

    In view of the press statement from the National Association of Igbo Youths on the Abba-Ukpo land dispute and the attack on the personality of Chimamanda Adichie (a celebrated literary icon of international repute), Abba Elites’ Association, an umbrella association for undergraduates and graduates of Abba community, deem it fit to state some salient facts the National Association of Igbo Youths failed to address or deliberately shied away from addressing:

    1. The philanthropic gestures and magnanimous disposition of Prince Arthur Eze is not in dispute. However, his philanthropy does not place him beyond doing any wrong nor does it exonerate him from trying to wrongly take the land belonging to the people of Abba.
    2. No sane lawyer in Nigeria will ever think of going back to a High Court to re-address an issue already concluded at the Supreme Court as the High Court will naturally decline to attend to it. It must be clearly stated here that the legal team representing Abba in the land dispute only went to High Court based on the directive of the Supreme Court. And the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cannot be too blind as to give the legal team representing Abba a 21-day ultimatum on an accusation of judicial rascality as the facts are there for everyone to see.
    3. Chimamanda Adichie does not need to have a wide knowledge of the Nigerian legal system or jurisprudence to be able to understand the Supreme Court pronouncement written in a language she has an undisputed command in (English Language). Her article titled ‘My Hometown Under Siege” chronicles the travails of the people of Abba community with clear evidence and facts. With the objectivity expected of a person of her international stature, she even questioned whether Prince Arthur Eze was being ‘unfairly maligned’ and then laid out compelling evidence to the contrary, that can only be ignored by those who do not wish to face the truth.
    4. Unfortunately, the issue of Police brutality, harassment and intimidation of the people of Abba community raised by Chimamanda Adichie was not addressed by the National Association of Igbo Youths. The pictures and video footages of the actions of the Police in Oye Abba have since gone viral on social media for the world to see. The mammoth number of Police officers deployed to Abba Junction by the Enugu-Onitsha express road to put up a signpost bearing ‘Ukpo junction’ can only be equaled by the number of joint task force of security personnel deployed to the North – Eastern Region of Nigeria where an insurgency has been ongoing for some years now. Deploying that number of Police officers was meant to intimidate but it was unnecessary and a waste of energy as the people of Abba have always been known as peace loving people.
    5. The Igbo Youths failed to address the issue of the Police spuriously in a clandestine commando style arresting and unlawfully detaining some sons and daughters of Abba community without a court order or arrest warrant, and these persons arrested were never charged to court. If this is not harassment and intimidation, we may wish to appeal to be properly educated on what the action of the Nigerian Police is? We would respectfully request the Inspector General of Police and other relevant authorities to look into these issues. Note that most of those arrested are also Igbo youths, so should they be sacrificed on the altar of threat and intimidation because they spoke out against the injustice meted out to them and their community?
    6. The Igbo Youths would have gained more prominence if they had addressed the issue raised by Chimamanda Adichie – which is the harassment and intimidation of innocent citizens. Instead they resorted to personal attacks on her. If she raised any issue against your iconic leading light of Ndi-Igbo, Prince Arthur Eze, it behooves you to have upturned her facts instead of attacking her personality. This is highly unacceptable and cannot be said to be the true pictorial behaviour of any average Igbo youth which you have claimed to be representing.
    7. Chimamanda Adichie is one of the most celebrated writers in the world today. She is known to speak out about injustice. She is a proud Igbo daughter that has made the Igbo people proud within and outside the shores of this country; one who has demonstrated her love of Igboland in general, a daughter who is also an Igbo youth and presumably your member. To attack her in such a disrespectful manner speaks greatly of how members of Igbo Youth can be treated in situations like this for airing their sincere views.
    8. The Igbo Youth went even further to drag the personality of a retired and accomplished professor of international repute in the person of Professor Adichie, Chimamanda Adichie’s father. Professor Adichie is an 87 year old elder, and Nigeria’s first professor of statistics, an innocent man who has done nothing in all this. It was rather very unfortunate and highly disrespectful to an Igbo elder. This is not forgetting that you severally mentioned in your press release of your respect for elders, which is part of the Igbo culture. To speedily make a U-turn and cast aspersion and insult on a renowned Igbo elder is very unfortunate and ill-intended.
    9. The National Association of Igbo Youths is purporting to speak for all Igbo youths, and are thereby presumably claiming an affiliation informal or otherwise with Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo. It is expected that wherever there is any dispute between Igbo brothers and sisters, Ohanaeze Ngi-Igbo as a highly respected organization is meant to intervene through mediation, and as such it would be unfortunate for an organization of such repute to take sides in an issue and make pronouncements before fully considering the crux and nitty-gritty of the issue under contention and hearing from all sides.
    10. We wish to plead that people should not allow themselves to be used to attack Ndi-Abba and the personality of Chimamanda Adichie and her family without doing good research and getting hold of facts on the land dispute under contention. We also wish to state that we do not hold any personal grudges against Prince Arthur Eze or any other personality, and we believe same can be said for Chimamanda Adichie. We however want to implore that the focus be placed where it rightly belongs – which is the issues of intimidation and harassment of Abba people. Chimamanda Adichie wrote a well-researched article based on evidence of what is occurring in Abba community. Any responses to her article should focus on the issue and avoid personal attacks. Anyone who supports any form of injustice has invariably joined the team of oppressors and cannot exonerate themselves from any action taken by unjust persons.

     

  • China pledges strengthened support to Nigeria’s development pursuit

    Ambassador of China to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian,  has said that the Chinese government would strengthen its support and collaboration to Nigeria, to achieve its development and economic growth.

    Zhou made this known on Thursday in Abuja during the commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China.

    According to Zhou, China and Africa has always been a community with a shared future,  which is why China will work unremittingly to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with African countries.

    He said that China would continue to pursue a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, so as to share development opportunities with other countries.

    He added that China would stay as determined as ever to build world peace, contribute to global prosperity and uphold the international order.

    “Both China and Nigeria are major developing countries of great influence in the world.

    “Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1971 and strategic partnership in 2005 in particular, the all-round, wide-ranging and high-quality bilateral cooperation between China and Nigeria has been a pace-setter for China-Africa cooperation.

    “In recent years, thanks to the strategic guidance and personal commitment of President Xi and President Buhari, China and Nigeria have significantly enhanced political trust and secured fruitful outcomes in practical cooperation.

    “China-Nigeria relations are at their best time in history and face new opportunities of growth.

    “The brotherly South-South cooperation between China and Nigeria is equal-footed and mutually beneficial.

    “We firmly support Nigeria in pursuing a development path that suits Nigeria’s national conditions and have confidence that under the able leadership of President Buhari, Nigeria will achieve even greater success in its national development.

    “We stand ready to work with Nigeria to enhance mutual trust, jointly pursue Belt and Road cooperation in greater synergy with Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

    “Effectively implement the outcomes of FOCAC Beijing Summit, and elevate the strategic partnership between China and Nigeria to a new level,” Zhou said.

    He said that presently, the world was undergoing profound changes unseen in a century with various global challenges on the rise, under which circumstances no country can stay immune on its own.

    He said that all countries need more than ever before to strengthen communication and coordination, respect each other’s development path, multilateralism, among others and China stands ready to make positive contributions to this end.

    Also speaking, Amb. Zubairu Dada, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said that Nigeria and China enjoy strategic partnership in all facets of our bilateral relationship.

    Dada said that the Economic Relations  between Nigeria and China are largely characterised by trade and have grown tremendously over the years.

    “As Nigeria joined the Belt_and Road Initiative by signing the MoU on the one Belt and one Road framework, it is hoped that bilateral trade cooperation between China and Nigeria will reach greater heights.

    “Nigeria deeply appreciates the growing level of cooperation and technical assistance provided by China in several sectors of the economy both at bilateral level and through the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

    “Nigeria also commends the People’s Republic of China for its participation in the Federal government’s economic recovery and growth plan (ERGP) through its infrastructure projects in the country.

    “Nigeria appreciates China’s humanitarian and military assistance in the fight against security challenges facing the country,” Dada said.

    Dada explained that from the point of view of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy, Nigeria’s strategy was to promote partnerships with friendly countries through the attraction of Foreign Direct Investments, skills and technology for wealth and job creation.

    He said that as the Nigerian government continued to provide an enabling environment for foreign direct investments in Nigeria, it was the expectation that China would  continue to provide the necessary support.

  • NIS FCT Comptroller tasks officers on commitment to duty

    Mrs Angela Esekhaigbe, the new Comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Service in Federal Capital Territory, has urged officers and men of the command to be dedicated to their duties.

    Esekhaigbe gave the advice at a valedictory session in honour of her predecessor, Comptroller Ibraheem Yanda and four others who retired from the service in Abuja on Thursday.

    She urged the officers to brace up to the challenges of their duties and called on them to be ready to work hard and do their best to bring about the much needed change in the service.

    She pledged to carry all officers along for the progress of the service.

    “As the first female comptroller of the FCT, I will make the difference. I will carry my officers along.

    “Together we will work to push the command forward and the entire NIS.

    “We will serve our nation with all our strength and might,” she said.
    Earlier, the outgoing comptroller, appreciated God for all the years he spent in service.

    “I thank God for bringing me this far. It is a happy moment,” Iyanda said.

  • Minimum wage: Civil servants hail El-Rufa’i for sincerity of purpose

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) Some Civil Servants in Kaduna State on Friday commended Gov. Nasir El-Rufa’i for paying the N30,000 minimum wage as promised.

    El-Rufa’I had in a statement in August signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Muyiwa Adekeye, promised to pay the N30,000 National Minimum Wage in September.

    Mr Zubairu Bello, a Grade Level 10 officer, said he was shocked when he received an alert of N65,500, representing a N25,500 increase from the N40,000 he receives monthly as salary.

    “I am so happy with this development, because now I can comfortably feed my family, pay school fees and make some savings.

    “I want to thank El-Rufa’i for the gesture. This is a prove of his administration’s commitment on putting people first,” Bello told NAN.

    Another civil servant on grade level 05, Malam Shehu Jaji, told NAN that his salary has increased from N23,000 to N38,804.

    “I know the governor has promised to pay the N30,000 minimum wage, but I took it as a mere political statement until yesterday when I received salary alert of N38,804.

    “This will improve the quality of life of my family, because my disposable income has significantly improved. I deeply appreciate the governor for keeping his promise,” Jaji said.

    A level 07 officer, Asiru Abdulsalam, who equally thanked the governor for keeping his promise, also said that his salary has increased from 28,000 to 47,000.

    Similarly, the Trade Union Congress, Kaduna State Council, also joined workers in commending the governor for implementing the minimum wage as promised.

    The union, in a letter of appreciation to the governor, signed by the Council’s Chairman, Shehu Mohammed, described the development as commendable considering that the Federal government was yet to fully implement the national minimum wage.

    The union promised to support the El-Rufa’i led-administration to move Kaduna State to greater heights by assuring that the productivity of the workforce improved. (NAN)

  • Gov. AbdulRasaq promises to revive tourist sites in Kwara to boost IGR

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara has promised to revive the tourist sites in the state to boost internally-generated revenue.

    The governor made the pledge in his address to mark the occasion of the World Tourism Day celebration held on Friday, in Ilorin.

    AbdulRasaq, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Hajia Maimuna Adams, described the celebration as an opportunity to sensitise the people on importance of tourism.

    The governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to constructing an access road to the Owu Waterfall as part of efforts to develop tourism industry in the state.

    He also said that his administration would invest in Asie Museum so as to boost the government’s revenue drive and provide job opportunities for the teeming youth.

    The governor said that the theme of this year’s Day “Tourism and Jobs: A Better Future for All’, was aimed at promoting and fostering socio-economic cohesion among the stakeholders in the tourism industry.

    He, however, pledged his administration’s readiness to provide an enabling environment for foreign investors to tap the tourism potentials in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that students, hoteliers and dancing groups were present at the state Ministry of Culture and Tourism to mark the celebration. (NAN)

  • Lagos Task Force raids brothel in Mile 2, arrests 14

    The operatives of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit on Friday raided a brothel around Mile 2 area and arrested 14 persons for alleged possession of illicit drugs.

    Chairman of the task force, Mr Olayinka Egbeyemi, in statement said: ”during the raid, five notorious miscreants and nine commercial sex workers were arrested with illegal drugs, and the brothel demolished” he said.

    The unit chairman further said that the raid became necessary following complaints that the increased criminal activities around Mile II and FESTAC areas were being perpetrated by miscreants residing in the brothels.”

    “The brothel where these persons were arrested had previously been demolished, but surprisingly, it was rebuilt.

    “Let it be known also that the last time we demolished this illegal brothel, miscreants taking refuge in it attacked our officers with dangerous weapons.

    “With this current demolition, we will ensure that it will not be rebuilt, this task force under my watch will not allow miscreants to make life difficult for law-abiding citizens,” he said.

    Egbeyemi said that the demolished brothel allegedly harboured criminals who robbed unsuspecting members of the public of their valuables.

    “It also serves as an outlet for the sale of illegal drugs such as Indian Hemp, Tramadol and other sex enhancement drugs, especially to under-aged children,” he said.

    He said that all those arrested would be charged to court in compliance with the directive of the Lagos State Police Command.

  • IE University Host First Digital Solution Venture Day In Africa At Zone Tech Park, Lagos

    IE University, a leading global higher institution based in Madrid and Segovia, Spain held its first African Venture Day in Lagos State on Friday the 20th of September. Themed Growth and Scalability in Business: Crafting a Winning Strategy, the event was put together to help further support startups dedicated to providing innovative digital based solutions to everyday problems faced by African businesses.
    The Lagos Venture Day which held at Zone Tech Park in Gbagada Lagos, commenced with a welcome address from the Lagos Consul General of Spain, Mr. Juan Antonio Moreda Otero. According to him, “IE University, Nigeria and Spain are three clear dots joined by three lines which are entrepreneurship, knowledge and commitment”. This was followed by a keynote address delivered by the MD, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), Dr. Amy Jadesimi.
    An intellectual panel discussion on Business in Tech and Sustainability was deliberated on where Managing Director of BPL Nigeria Limited Ajibade Oluwabiyi also advised founders to think 10 years into the future when starting a business. “When looking for that first customer, it’s advisable to keep your cost very low,” advised Adedeji Oduntan – Co-founder of Gokada. Other members of the panel comprised of founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited, Dr Ola Brown; Senior Venture Analyst at Climate and Innovation Center, Adamu Garba; and Associate Director of Portfolio for Acumen (West Africa) Oluwatoyin Emmanuel. The insightful panel was moderated by CEO, Concept to Market, Funmi Odusola.
    Onyekachi Eke, Director of IE University (West Africa) and Sabine Yazbeck Director of IE University; (Middle East & Africa) shared the goals of IE which encompasses offering a dynamic, transformational learning environment that shapes the people who will go on to shape the world.
    The spotlight of the event introduced startups who pitched their innovative solutions to the jury made up of leaders in the tech and finance industries including Associate Director of IE Business School; Hans Kristofer Munthe-kass, Founder of TrainQuarters Stephanie Obi, Social Impact and ESG Manager at Alithea Capital, Temilade Denton; Programme Head, Accion Venture Lab Ekene Agu and; the Deputy Managing Director of Afrinvest; Victor Ndukauba.

    The five competing startups which had been selected based on their originality, financial viability and positive impact on major business challenges battled for the star prize of an all-expense paid trip to Spain to participate in a week long IE startup bootcamp and the South Summit start-up conference in Spain, 5 million Naira cash, $15,000 promotional credits courtesy Amazon Web Services and 50% scholarship for any IE University’s High Impact Online Program (HiOP) of their choice.
    Social Lender; an organization which offers lending services to low-income earners who cannot provide collateral emerged winner of the Venture Day after being pitched by Mudiaga Ogboru. Monify; a platform which provides financial advisory services emerged runner-up. Other competitors included InventOne (pitched by Oluwatobi Oguntade) which helps users and tech enthusiasts to create things with little or no tech expertise, E.Farms (pitched by Victory Israel) dedicated to funding, training and providing digital solutions to farmers and Get It Done (pitched by Akinwunmi Olayemi) an app that encourages users to get things done on time. The audience were also given the power to select a people’s choice startup winner via a Twitter poll with Social Lender still emerging as winner.
    Speaking on whether the ideas from the Venture Day would profit Africa, Dr Amy Jadesimi said, “Nigeria should be at the core of driving growth throughout Africa and young people are going to be at the forefront of that. The people in this room today are equally instrumentally changing waves in Africa to contribute to the economy”
    IE hosts several events annually connecting entrepreneurial communities all over the world. The institution has been over time dedicated to providing solutions and prior to the Lagos Venture Day, held an event titled African Solutions, Global Problems earlier in June this year. The event featured a keynote of intellects from various areas such as banking, law, Fintech, technology, civil service with speakers presenting solutions they had applied to solve global challenges.

  • Iran releases British oil tanker leaves Iranian port to int’l waters

    The released British oil tanker, the Stena Impero, has left Iran’s Bandar Abbas port to international waters on Friday morning local time, the Ports and Shipping Office of Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province announced, according to official IRNA news agency.

    “The captain and the crew of the ship have officially committed that they have no claims,’’ the statement by the Ports and Shipping Office was quoted as saying by IRNA.

    “Despite the release of the vessel, its dossier remains open in Iran’s judiciary and investigations into its violations still continue,’’ it added.

    Iran detained the Stena Impero on July 19, alleging that it had “violated” the maritime regulations while passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

    Iran had already released seven crew members of the oil tanker.