5 richest Nigerians can end extreme poverty in Nigeria – Oxfam

A report by Oxfam International states that the benefits of the nation’s economic growth has been captured by a few wealthy elite at the expense of the ordinary Nigerians - Oxfam International also discloses that Nigeria’s richest man earned 8,000 times more in one day than a poor Nigerian would spend on basic needs in a year - The reports says Nigeria is one of the few countries where the number of people living in poverty is on the increase despite the growth of the economy The inequality report released by Oxfam International on Wednesday, May 17, revealed that the combined wealth of five richest Nigerians, put at $29.9 billion, could end extreme poverty in the country. The report, entitled ‘Inequality in Nigeria, Exploring the Drivers’ and obtained in Abuja, exposed the large and growing gap between the rich and poor in Nigeria. It revealed that the benefits of the nation’s economic growth had been captured by a few wealthy elite at the expense of the ordinary Nigerians, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.According to the report, the economic inequality is a key factor in the conflict in the north-eastern states of the country. Oxfam International also disclosed that Nigeria’s richest man earned 8,000 times more in one day than a poor Nigerian would spend on basic needs in a year. It said that more than 112 million people were living in poverty in Nigeria, yet the country’s richest man would need to spend one million dollars a day for 42 years to exhaust his fortune. According to the report, Nigeria is one of the few countries where the number of people living in poverty is on the increase despite the growth of the economy. The report also indicated that 69 per cent of people now live below the poverty line in north-eastern states, compared to the 49 per cent in the south-west. Oxfam reports stated that the country’s richest man would need to spend one million dollar a day for 42 years to exhaust his fortune It also showed that women were not being captured on the benefits of economic growth because they tended to be employed in low-skilled, low-paid informal jobs. According to the organisation, women represent between 60 per cent and 79 per cent of Nigeria’s rural labour force but are five times less likely to own their own land than men. It further stated that women were also less likely to have had a decent education, noting that over three quarters of the poorest women in Nigeria had never been to school. The report said that poor people did not benefit from Nigeria’s wealth because of high level of corruption and the excessive influence big business and some wealthy elite had over government and policy making. According to the report, public office holders stole estimated $20 trillion from the treasury between 1960 and 2005, while multinational companies receive tax incentives estimated at 2.9 billion dollars a year. This development, it said, was three times more than Nigeria’s entire health budget. It further revealed that small and medium size businesses and workers in the informal sector, however, faced multiple taxes. “Despite being Africa’s biggest economy, the share of the national budget allocated to education, health and social protection is one of the lowest in the region. “In 2012, Nigeria spent just 6.5 per cent of its national budget on education and just 3.5 per cent on health. “By comparison, Ghana spent 18.5 per cent and 12.8 per cent, respectively in 2015. ‘’As a result, 57 million Nigerians lack safe water, over 130 million lack adequate sanitation and the country has more than 10 million children out of school,” it stated. Commenting on the report, Celestine Odo, Good Governance Programme Coordinator for Oxfam in Nigeria, said extreme inequality was undermining the economy and fermenting social unrest. According to him, Nigerian leaders must be more determined to tackling this terrible problem. Odo said that it was an irony that Nigerians were living in poverty in spite the abundance of wealth in the country. He said it was important to free millions of Nigerians from poverty by building a new political and economic system that would work for everyone and not just a fortunate few. “The government can make a start by tackling corruption, ensuring big business and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of tax, investing in vital public services, and protecting the rights of women,” Mr. Odo said. In another news story, the price of imported rice fell in the month of April according to new date released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). According to the NBS, the price fell from N418.71 in March to N250.30 in April per kilogramme indicating a 7.22 per cent reduction.Our source however stated that the average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality sold loose) increased year-on-year by 29.98 percent in the month under review. According to the report, the price of 1 dozen of Agric. eggs medium size increased year-on-year by 41.04 percent. 

NC Senator Collapses During Race, Taken Away in Ambulance

FILE - In this April 7, 2017 file photo, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Tillis collapsed Wednesday, May 17, 2017, during Washington race, received CPR, as was taken away in ambulance. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By Associated Press 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina collapsed during a Washington, D.C., race Wednesday morning and was taken away by ambulance.

Tillis, 57, was seen on the ground being administered CPR by bystanders at about the two-mile mark in the three-mile race in Anacostia Park in the southeast part of the city.

Tillis at first appeared unconscious but was revived and breathing when taken away by ambulance from the ACLI Capital Challenge Three Mile Team Race. Tillis was participating in the ACLI Capital Challenge race, an annual event in Anacostia Park in the district. He was leading his own team, "Team Tillis."

Tillis is serving his first term as a U.S. senator. It was not immediately known what hospital Tillis was taken to.

U.S. Aims to Sway China on New North Korea Sanctions After Test: Haley

| May 16, 2017, at 4:00 p.m.MORE

to Sway China on New North Korea Sanctions After Test: Haley 

 

 

   

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks while Japan's U.N. Ambassador Koro Bessho (L) and South Korea's U.N. Ambassador Cho Tae-yul (R) look on during a press encounter ahead of an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council at the United Nations in New York, U.S., May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it believed it could persuade China to impose new U.N. sanctions on North Korea following its latest ballistic missile test and warned that Washington would also target and "call out" countries supporting Pyongyang.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting on the missile launch, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley also made clear that Washington would only talk to North Korea once it halted its nuclear program.

"We are willing to talk, but not until we see a total stop of the nuclear process and of any tests there," Haley said. "If you are a country that is supplying or supporting North Korea we will call you out on it, we will make sure that everyone knows who you are and we will target sanctions toward you as well."

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday that landed in the sea near Russia, which experts said signaled major advances in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the United States.

The United States has been discussing possible new U.N. sanctions with Pyongyang's ally and neighbor China since a failed missile test about two weeks ago.

"The conversations that I have had... with my counterpart and in dealing with Beijing is that if (North Korea) did something else and if it looked to be long range, which this does, and if it looks like it is proactively leaning toward an ICBM, which it does, then we would take action," Haley said.

"I believe that China will stay true to that and we will come together on how we're going to do that," she said. "We have not seen anything from them in the past week but we are encouraging them to continue moving forward."

The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 and has strengthened the measures in response to its five nuclear tests and two long-range rocket launches. Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test.

Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated new sanctions before involving remaining council members. U.N. diplomats say the current talks are still just between the pair.

The Trump administration has been aggressively pressing Beijing to rein in North Korea, warning that all options are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development.

"We have worked well with China," Haley said. "They have really tried to help us in our communications with North Korea."

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom)

Copyright 2017 Thomson Reuters.

REVEALED! legislative aides are earning more than Senators

 The proposed National Assembly budget for the year 2017, shows that, the legislative aides would be collecting as much as N8,917,127,214 for the year under review. This amount, according to analysis, is more than double of what the honorable members of House of Representatives got for the year, even though, that of the Senators is also more than thrice less than the Reps’ allocation. In the proposed budget, the 360 honorable members of the reps would take home, a cumulative sum of N4,923,743,127 for the whole year, while the 109 Senators would take home a meagre sum of N1, 856,510,517 as salaries for the year 2017. Recent investigations show that legislative aides are getting more salaries than Senators Though the overhead cost for the legislative aides was drastically reduced to about N500m, with that of Reps members as much as N39bn and Senators N25bn; some legislative aides have argued that, it was strategically appropriated for, to continue to deny them of their allowances and other emoluments. According to Daily Post, the management of the National Assembly has not paid the Duty Tour Allowances (DTAs) and other allowances entitlements to legislative aides since year 2015. This has prompted the decision of the aides to embark on protest, to press home their demand; the decision which didn’t go down well with the management. One of the arrowheads in the proposed civil action, Mr. Olutoye Ibitoye, was reportedly arrested last week by the DSS attached to the National Assembly complex, and was later released, with a caution not to go ahead with the planned protest. Some legislative aides who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, claimed that, “with the meagre provision for overhead in the proposed budget, the management appears not ready to clear our outstanding allowances. “It also appears that, the management didn’t plan for staff trainings and other human development projects this year. ” Meanwhile, alot of aides to the lawmakers have raised serious concern over the provision of N150m for capital projects for them in the year 2017. They queried the rationale behind the said amount and wished it was added to the overhead cost, to attend to the avalanche of outstanding allowances and other claims. In a similar vein, following the nature of polity in Nigeria, some Nigerians are of the opinion that the present Senate has not delivered on behalf of the masses. There are some who hold the view that the Senate should be scrapped as to give room for fresh legislation.

How N80m loan saved Ladoja from impeachment — Witness

A witness in the ongoing trial of the former governor of Oyo state Rashidi Ladoja has said that the state government took a loan of N80 million to save the governor from impeachment. Waheed Atanda, the first prosecution witness told the Federal High Court in Lagos that the executive committee of the state's leadership processed the loan. Recall that Ladoja and his commissioner for finance Waheed Akanbi are facing trial over N4.7 billion fraud allegedly committed during their tenure in Oyo state.However, in his testimony, Atanda, an associate of the former governor said the loan was taken from Wema Bank. He said: “On N80 million loan from Wema Bank, we had a discussion before writing for a loan, but when the loan went bad, WEMA bank visited Oyo State government and the second defendant (Akanbi)." He said the loan was borrowed through V.T Leasing Limited and disbursed to the state government through the same vendors. In his testimony, Atanda, an associate of the former governor noted that the loan was taken from Wema Bank. He said: “I used V. T. Leasing Limited to apply for the loan from Wema bank, though, am a shareholder with less than one percent, but I used my goodwill to get the loan and I did not make any application." “I did not know the condition attached to giving the vehicles to 14 members of State Assembly loyal to Governor Ladoja, but the vehicles given out by the political actors in Oyo State, were collected by the Oyo State government’s drivers before handling them to 14 Ladoja loyalists at the State House of Assembly. “There was an agreement between V. T. Leasing and the beneficiaries of the vehicles as a backup to the lease agreement. Atanda further told the court that he guarantee the loan from Wema Bank, adding that when the loan from Wema Bank went bad, the bank met to the former governor and his Commissioner for Finance before coming to him," Atanda said. The witness further told the court that another N633 million was collected when Ladoja returned as Oyo state governor. He said the N633 million was part of expenses incurred when he (Atanda) shut down his hotel for one year to house Ladoja and his 14 loyal Assembly members, during the Impeachment saga.

BREAKING:‎ Protesting journalists shutdown OGBC in Ogun state

Premium Times is reporting that unpaid journalists working with the ‎Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) have shut down the broadcast station. According to the report, the workers locked their offices as they began an indefinite strike on Wednesday, May 10 morning. Protesting staff members sitting outside the offices of OGBC on Wednesday Premium Times is reporting that unpaid journalists working with the ‎Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) have shut down the broadcast station. The workers kicked off three separate notices by the radio workers to the management on the non-payment of their entitlements put at about N148,260,000. Doors of OGBC chained up by protesting workers Chairman‎ of Nigerian Union of Journalists Abiodun Ogundipe and Chairman of Radio Television and Theater Arts Workers Union had issued 21, 7 and 3 days warnings respectively to the management to pay the workers’ dues but nothing happened. ‎ The workers arrived at about 4.30 am armed with chain and padlock and locked up the door leading to the studio and other offices. Police officers have been drafted to the premises of the OGBC to maintain peace ‎The General Manager and other management staff of the station were also locked out of their offices. The management has however invited the police to the broadcast station maintain peace. Details later.

Alleged missing N6bn: BBC apologizes to Emir of Kano Sanusi

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has apologized to the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, over claims that he was under probe by anti-graft officials for alleged mismanagement of Kano Emirate fund. According to a report on Premium Times, Jamie Angus, editorial director at BBC, has tender an apology letter to Sanusi over an April 24 story that said the traditional ruler was amongst those being investigated in connection to alleged misappropriation of about N6 billion Emirate Council fund Angus has come out to say that the report is not correct. BBC apologizes to Emir of Kano Sanusi over alleged missing N6bn report, admits he is not under probe He explained that the station’s editorial staff in Abuja had inaccurately translated an April 24 interview with Muhyi Magaji, the chairman of Kano state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, who allegedly said that Sanusi was under investigation. Angus said: “The recording of the interview was passed to another colleague in Abuja office, summarised in a despatch and then sent to London where the online report was written and published. “It is now clear from our investigations that the reports did not accurately reflect what we were told by Magaji, who had, in fact, made clear to our reporter that you had not been invited in for questioning and indeed that it was unlikely that there would be a need to invite you for question. “Accordingly, the report we published suggested that you were under personal investigation was not correct and for that I offer my sincere apologies.” BBC apologizes to Emir of Kano Sanusi, admits he is not under probe In the apology letter, dated April 28, 2017, Angus said the BBC has removed the inaccurate interview from its website on April 26.It was gathered that the Kano state Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission was investigating the Kano Emirate Council as a body over alleged misappropriation of up to N6 billion, but not Sanusi as an individual. However, the Emirate Council has denied allegations of fraud and said the amount involved was only N4.3 billion.

Osinbajo speaks about acting president, coordinating president controversy.

Professor Yemi Osinbajo has waded into the controversy surrounding whether President Muhammadu Buhari duly handed over power to him when he left the country. President Buhari had left the country on Sunday, May 7 for medical treatment and the vice president was duly expected to replace him in acting capacity.On Tuesday, May 9 however, there was observation from Senator Mao Ohuabunwa that the president did not properly transfer power to the vice president following a letter read by Senate president, Bukola Saraki of the president’s medical trip. The letter read: “In compliance with Section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), I wish to inform the distinguished Senate that I will be away for a scheduled medical follow-up with my doctors in London. The length of my stay will be determined by the doctor’s advice. “While I am away, the Vice President will coordinate the activities of the government. Please accept, the distinguished Senate President, the assurances of my highest consideration.” Ohuabunwa criticised the letter saying there was no position of coordinating president in the constitution and that Osinbajo should have been duly addressed as acting president. He said: “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them the written declaration to the contrary, such function shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President. “Mr. President, I don’t think in our Constitution we have anything like ‘coordinating president’ or ‘coordinating vice president.’ It is either you are vice president or you are acting president and any letter (on transfer of power) should be unambiguous and very clear. So, I am saying that this letter really does not convey anything because ‘coordinating’ has no space or any place in our Constitution.“We have been having (receiving) letters like this in which he will tell us who is the acting president and we will know who to deal with as a Senate. This is the highest legislative body of any country and if you are sending us a letter, it should be direct, unambiguous. So, I am saying that this letter, for me, is not right and maybe it should be sent back.” Osinbajo in an answer to a question on twitter confirmed that Buhari handed over power to him as acting president as specified by the constitution. He wrote: Read more:https://www.naij.com/1103792-osinbajo-speaks-acting-president-coordinating-president-controversy.html