Avarine

By Demola Akinyemi The Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMET, has concluded arrangements to establish Regional Centre of Excellence in Meteorological Research in the six geo-political zones of the country with the University of Ilorin hosting that of the North Central. Director General of NIMET, Professor Abubakar Mashi, disclosed this last weekend while commissioning the Surface Meteorological Station (equipment for weather data collection) donated by the Agency to the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Ilorin. The event also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NIMET and the University of Ilorin. Prof. Abubakar said that the gesture was part of the Agency’s contribution to the development of education in the country, adding that though universities are primarily charged with the promotion of humanity, they cannot do so meaningfully without adequate attention to the weather. According to the Director General, Nigeri...

Hon. Obahiagbon Six key takeaways On Zamfara: S/Court vindicated National Chairman On Rivers: Centrifugal interplay of political forces is a problem Airport attack on APC leader opprobrious, lugubrious, anti-democratic, Machiavellian Godfather accusation is arrant bunkum and a farrago of baloney June 18, 2019 shall remain a day of anti-democratic infamy in Edo With or without Obaseki, Edo remains APC state By Chris Onuoha H on Patrick Obahiagbon, a former member of t he House of Representatives and Chief of Staff to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as governor of Edo State, is popularly known for his genre of grammar. In this interview, the close associate of Oshiomhole, who is the current National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), speaks on the many crises rocking the ruling party at the centre. Excerpts: Also read: Senate wants Buhari to reconstitute Federal Character Commission   L et’s start with the incident of last weekend in Benin when Co...

Prof. Muoboghare …Says killer herders must leave the kingdom By Perez Brisibe D elta State Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof Patrick Muoboghare and a traditional chief in Uwheru kingdom, in this interview, speaks on what he describes as moves by herdsmen to take over lands in the kingdom. He also explains the ban on sale and consumption of beef in the area over the killing of natives by herdsmen. Also read: DELTA KILLINGS: Enter our bush and die, rogue herdsmen bark at police, soldiers What is the position of Uwheru people after the exhumation of eight corpses reportedly killed by armed herdsmen? The people of the kingdom have met and some resolutions have been reached to stop herdsmen killings in Uwheru kingdom. First, the ban on the sale, purchase, and consumption of cow meat in the entire Uwheru kingdom has taken effect. It includes beef for marriages and burials. In fact, cow meat cannot be consumed anymore in the kingdom. It has become a taboo in the kingdom already....

Allen Onyema By Collins Adaka Nigeria, the seventh-largest country in the world, is a complex multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society. This huge population probably is why it has failed to manage her diversities very well. As a result, there are always one conflict or the other in some part of the country. Also read: Alleged Air peace fraud: Enemies of Igbo at work — Ogbako Igbo  This regular flare-up of conflict is apparently what shaped the philosophy of the Chairman of Air Peace and Founder of the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony of Nigeria, Mr Allen Onyema is a patriotic Nigerian whose penchant for peace and stability of Nigeria knows no bounds. Onyema’s peace advocacy started while he was a student at the University of Ibadan (UI). Thence, he and other nine students travelled to the ancient city of Zaria to mediate in a raging religious and ethnic riot that claimed several lives. As a result of the publicity he and his colleagues received on return to the...

•Funmilayo Adejoko Waheed By Josephine Agbonkhese To Funmilayo Adejoko-Waheed, an engineer, ‘money is good, but useless when not used to add value to people’s lives.’  The name of the Founder of Funmilayo Ayinke Humanity Foundation has literally become synonymous with ‘giving’ in Ogun State. A former lecturer at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Adejoko-Waheed cheerfully spends hundreds of millions giving to the poor, widows and vulnerable children of widows and single parents every year. Over the years, she has empowered over 10,000 women and sponsored over 500 undergraduates in university; all of whom today, fondly call her ‘mummy’. In this chat, Adejoko-Waheed, who is Executive Director, Funmi Ayinke Limited, a firm with multiple interests including engineering, reveals why she is committed to helping people out of poverty. Do you have your eyes on politics or have you been confronted by people about having political ambition? I am only doing what God has p...

By Funmi Komolafe It’s a new month. The first day in the month of March. Let’s appreciate God for his goodness to us in the last two months even as we look forward to more of his blessings in the new month. At whatever level we are, we surely want to move up. The rich wants to get richer, the barren wants to fruitful, the unemployed desires a job, the single hopes to get married, the sick wishes to be healed. Others want to be promoted from one position to another. We can go on and on. Though our desires may be different, we all wish to go on to another level. As human beings, we make efforts to attain our goals but some issues are clearly beyond us. With all that we may have put in, we just find that results aren’t anywhere close by. ALSO READ:   Joyful Homes: Coping with social pressure When situations like this occur, one needs to do a sober reflection on what to do to attain those goals. As Christians, such situations put our faith to test. Let’s take a cue from the wor...

Governor of Ebonyi state, David Umahi By Chris Onuoha G overnor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State is also the Chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum. Umahi, in this interview, speaks on insecurity in the country and the agitation to have regional police in the South-East just like the South-West has Operation Amotekun. Also read: Regional security outfits threat to Nigeria’s survival – Ita-Enang Can you tell us about your conversation with the Inspector General of Police? Was it what you were proposing that you got or what did you agree? Because of the heightened insecurity in every part of the country, people are agitating for different types of protection. And the summation of all these agitations is that people want state police.  Governors took the oath of office to uphold the Constitution. So, it becomes very difficult to have the governors do the wish of the people in terms of giving them what they are asking for in different forms. But we had a discussion with the Inspe...

By Nnamdi Ojiego New President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Dr. Aliyu Wammako, has made a call for the urgent recapitalization and streamlining of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN). Wammako made the call at his investiture as the 4th President of REDAN in Abuja. The new REDAN boss stated that the FMBN had a low capital in the area of five billion naira with other institutions pegging about eight billion according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s indices. He added that its inadequacy makes the provision of more homes a herculean task for real estate developers. ALSO READ:   FMBN needs 500bn recapitalisation to provide affordable houses — Umar Abdullahi He advised the Federal Government to look into the challenges of housing development and the underlying responsibilities of the FMBN in providing affordable houses for Nigerians Wammako said Real Estate development contributed to about 6.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)...

By Victor ‘Tunde Oso Felix Aighobahi, Sales Director of Euro Global Foods and Distilleries Limited says the real sector, still reeling from the adverse effects of the 2018 Excise duty, face bankruptcies, which could render millions without jobs with the new Value Added Tax VAT. Aighobahi also speaks on the menace of illicit liquor producers, among other issues. Excerpts: New VAT rate hike against the backdrop of the 2018 Excise duty Government has to always think deeply before introducing new taxes because it adversely companies in the real sector of the economy. When the Federal Government introduced excise duty in 2018, we tried to enter into dialogue with government several times, which came into nothing. Stakeholders then, under the aegis of Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), and the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers of Nigeria (AFBTE) rejected the 500% increase in excise duty rates on alcohol by government. Although the Federal Ministry...

By Femi Aribisala A woman brought an alabaster jar of very costly perfume and poured it all on Jesus. Jesus’ disciples were indignant, asking: “Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” (Matthew 26:8-9). But ultimately, perfume is meant to be used. Even if it is sold, the person who buys it would still “waste it” by using it. Expensive perfumes are not intended for use by the poor. They can only be afforded by the rich. So, what are Jesus’ disciples saying inadvertently? Is Jesus not rich enough to use expensive perfume? If not, who then can use it without it being a waste? This raises a number of other questions. What makes something valuable? Is something valuable because of its cost, or is it valuable because of its use? Child of God, don’t make the same mistake as the disciples of Jesus. Don’t determine the value of something by its monetary price. The valuable things are those things that are useful to God. Overrated m...

Oluseye Oladejo By Olasunkanmi Akoni Oluseye Oladejo is the Publicity Secretary of Lagos State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, Oladejo speaks on insecurity, Operation Amotekun and de-registration of parties by the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC, among others. Excerpts: Asiwaju Bola Tinubu initially didn’t speak on Amotekun. What happened? Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s position on the matter was very explicit. I think some people misunderstood the situation when some people went to make issue out of the silence of the APC National Leader on Amotekun. A notable leader will not speak on an issue when it is still germinating; a leader will need to wait till the fullness of time before coming out and expressing an opinion. And you will notice that when he (Tinubu) eventually spoke, it was actually more or less everything he said they are using as a template to drive Amotekun; asking them to follow the rule of law, follow the procedure while ask...