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Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello Caught Cuddling In A Sales space Throughout Late-Night time Dinner Date

Shawn Mendes denied that he’s courting Camila Cabello, however the singers nonetheless had a touchy-feely dinner date on the break of day on July 7!

Actions converse louder than phrases, similar to sitting on the identical facet of dinner sales space! Whereas Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s actual relationship standing stays a thriller (Shawn denied that he’s “courting” his “Señorita” collaborator in a meet-and-greet Q&A on July 6), they actually appeared just like the picture of an ideal couple at Kitchen24 in West Hollywood on July 7. Not solely did the singers sit by each other, however Shawn, 20, took the PDA a step additional by wrapping his arm round Camila, 22, and resting his head towards hers. It was a very early morning meal too, in keeping with TMZ — round 5 a.m., to be actual!

A fan additionally caught the intimate second on digicam, and the video was time stamped at 4:47 a.m. Later that day, Shawn and Camila returned to dine collectively for a brunch with Shawn’s mother, Karen, and his sister Aaliyah. However the second spherical of PDA wasn’t pictured till after lunch, as Camila and Shawn have been seen holding arms, hugging and carrying giddy expressions in Los Angeles!

It’s been an eventful week for Shamila shippers, as Camila gushed that Shawn was “superb” and “unreal” on her Instagram Story which documented Shawn’s live performance on the Staples Heart in Los Angeles on July 5. They have been simply seen getting flirty at a Fourth of July pool occasion, and even held arms as they arrived at Shawn’s West Hollywood residence the night time prior!

Whereas all this proof factors to courting, a supply defined why Shawn denied that’s what’s taking place. “They aren’t placing any labels on what they’re or usually are not proper now as a result of they’ve been pals for thus lengthy. In addition they can’t deny the attraction they’ve for one another and the real emotions of liking one another extra than simply pals,” the supply, who’s near each Shawn and Camila, EXCLUSIVELY advised HollywoodLife. “They each are desirous to attempt one thing extra. However are additionally scared to dive in as a result of they don’t need to spoil their friendship and damage every others emotions down he highway if it doesn’t work out.”

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Here’s why Don Jazzy insists on sex before marriage

The issue of premarital sex has been a long discussed topic even before the advent of social media as people give tireless reasons whether or not a couple should indulge in sex before marriage.

Well, for Nigerian music producer, Don Jazzy, premarital sex is a must because he wouldn’t want to find out his sexual compatibility with his spouse after marriage and be disappointed thereafter.

Don Jazzy in a question and answer session with his followers on Instagram, revealed that sex before marriage is quite important for him as he says,

Oga I must chop the thing b4 marriage o, if you no gree kark one side. Church no reach der o

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Global passenger traffic remains stable amid slow trend

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), has announced global passenger traffic results for May, showing a 4.5 per cent surge in demand compared to the same month in 2018. This is in line with the revised April traffic growth of 4.4 per cent and above the recent trough of 3.1 per cent year-on-year growth recorded in March. However, it remains below the 20-year average growth rate of around 5.5 per cent.

Capacity climbed by a modest 2.7 per cent and load factor rose 1.4 percentage points to 81.5 per cent, surpassing last year’s record load factor of 80.1 per cent.African airlines posted a 2.1 per cent traffic rise in May, compared to the year-ago period, which was up from just 1.1 per cent growth in April. Capacity climbed 0.1 per cent and load factor increased 1.3 percentage points to 67.0 per cent.

Traffic between Africa and Europe continues to expand strongly, but economic growth in South Africa – a key regional economy and air transport market– contracted sharply in the first quarter and this is adversely impacting air passenger demand.IATA’s Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alexandre de Juniac, said passenger demand growth, indeed, slowed compared to the past two years.

“This is in line with slumping global trade, rising trade tensions and weakening business confidence. In this challenging environment, airlines are managing capacity carefully in order to optimize efficiency,” de Juniac said.

International traffic demand rose 4.3 per cent in May over the year-ago period, which was down from 5.1 per cent growth in April. All regions recorded growth, led by airlines in Latin America. Total capacity climbed 2.1 per cent, with load factor jumping 1.7 percentage points to 80.4 per cent.

European carriers’ May demand climbed 5.4 per cent over May 2018, a deterioration from the 7.7 per cent year-over-year growth recorded in April. Capacity rose 4.6 per cent and load factor was up 0.7 percentage point to 84.2 per cent, which was the highest among regions. Most of the region’s growth, however, occurred in the first half of 2018, with demand moving broadly sideways since then.

Asia-Pacific airlines saw their traffic rise 4.0 per cent in May compared to the year-ago period, an improvement over the 2.9 per cent increase in April. Capacity increased 3.0 per cent, and load factor edged up 0.8 percentage point to 78.6 per cent. This is the second consecutive monthly increase in demand, but it still represents a soft outcome in a region that regularly saw double-digit growth rates over the past few years. The US-China trade tensions continue to weigh upon growth in the region. de Juniac said aviation remains the business of freedom, connecting people and trade and creating new opportunities for growth and development.

“But to be effective, the business of freedom relies on borders that are open to the movement of people and goods—and aircraft. In recent weeks, we have seen extensive airspace closures owing to political tensions. These closures have contributed to longer and less efficient routings, higher operating costs and increased carbon emissions. Without any compromise on safety, it is vital that governments work to minimize airspace closures so that the Business of Freedom can continue to deliver its benefits as efficiently as possible,” he said.

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Nigeria’s 1.97mbpd June volume highest since 2015, says survey

PHOTO:AFP

’Compliance pressures expected in coming months’ Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’s) compliance with its production quotas fell sharply in June, as output gains in the month by Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, along with Iraq’s continued flouting of its cap, shrank the bloc’s margin despite its supply cut agreement.   According to Platts’ data, Nigeria’s production rose to 1.97 million barrels per day (mbpd) last month, up from the 1.69mbpd quota under the cut agreement, signalling the nation’s highest output since January 2015.Among OPEC’s 11 members with quotas, Nigeria and Iraq were the least compliant, as Platts’ survey showed that pressure on both countries to comply with their quotas is expected to grow in the coming months.   Nigeria’s 1.97 million bpd output is its highest since January 2015, as its newest deepwater field Egina, which started production six months ago, is already pumping close to its capacity of 200,000 bpd.    The June figure was 110,000 bpd rise from May as none of Nigeria’s crude export grades are currently under force majeure. To meet its 2.3mbpd target for the 2019 budget, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), last month restated its commitment to resume oil search in the Chad Basin as soon as it receives security clearance.    The 11 members covered by quotas remain over-compliant with their committed cuts, but only by 40,000 bpd, for a conformity rate of 104 per cent, an S&P Global Platts survey of industry officials, analysts and shipping data found. That is down from May’s rate of 117 per cent. OPEC as a whole pumped 30.09mbpd, steady from May, the survey found, although much of the month’s decline came from exempt Iran and Libya, and were offset by the Saudi and Nigerian surges, leading to the lower compliance rate.    OPEC and 10 non-OPEC allies, led by Russia, last week extended their 1.2mbpd production cut agreement through March 2020, as they aim to prop up oil prices, and had touted their impressive compliance as evidence of their firm resolve to rebalance the market.With U.S. sanctions likely to shut in more production from OPEC members Iran and Venezuela, which is also exempt from the deal, the remaining members will have less room to raise output to make up for any losses and stay under their collective ceiling.Saudi Arabia saw its production jump by 150,000bpd in June to 9.85mbpd, assisted by sharp growth in crude exports along with a rise in direct crude burn amid soaring summer temperatures, the survey found.

This is the kingdom’s highest output since March, but it remains 460,000bpd below its quota of 10.31mbpd. Saudi’s oil minister, Khalid al-Falih, assured the market at last week’s OPEC meeting in Vienna that the kingdom will keep its production below 10mbpd in July.

Iran pumped its fewest barrels since September 1988 as output remains thwarted by stringent US sanctions. The country saw its production fall 100,000bpd to 2.35mbpd, with dramatic fall in its crude exports somewhat offset by a significant build in crude storage, according to survey panellists.

Iraqi crude output fell to 4.77mbpd from a record high of 4.82mbpd in May, on lower exports from its southern terminal, the survey found. Iraq’s quota under the deal is 4.51mbpd. Angola, OPEC’s second-largest African producer, saw its output slide to 1.39 million b/d in June, its lowest since joining OPEC in 2007, according to the survey. The country saw output tumble due to maintenance at some of its key fields along with ongoing technical and operational problems.   Libya pumped 1.08mbpd in June, a fall of 40,000bpd from the previous month, the survey found. Technical issues as well as maintenance at some oil infrastructure pushed output lower.Almost 700,000bpd of the country’s crude output remains at risk due to its protracted civil war, according to state-owned National Oil Corporation, which is calling for the international community to intervene in the conflict.

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GEIL invests $350 million in new wells, field development

Green Energy International Ltd

Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operator of the Otakikpo Marginal Field, in oil mining lease (OML) 11, Rivers State, said it has secured a $350million financing package for the second phase development of the field.

GEIL said the fund was secured from a consortium of international companies, including an oil services giant, London-based International Bank, prominent crude oil offtaker, and EPIC contractor.With the deal, the Otakikpo field, a crude processing and exporting hub in the Eastern Niger Delta, would unlock the potential of other commercially-stranded marginal fields in the area, GEIL Chairman, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe, said in a statement.

He said the second phase development involves the drilling of additional wells at the Otakikpo Field, which would significantly increase the field production from the present 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (bopd) to 20,000 bopd, and the expansion of processing facilities from 12,000 to 50,000 bopd to adequately handle production from other fields.

According to him, the project also involves the construction of 1.3 million barrels onshore terminal, and a 20-Kilometer export pipeline and crude oil loading system for efficient export of the expected production.GEIL had earlier secured the approval to construct (APC) for the onshore terminal, and the associated export infrastructure. The onshore terminal will significantly reduce the field production OPEX, increase operational efficiency, improve security and also contribute tremendously to the economy of the local communities.

The onshore terminal is expected to be located in the Atlantic Industrial Park, Ikuru Town, being also facilitated by GEIL, as a gas-powered commercial and high-value proposition anchored on the power to be generated from the field’s gas production.

Adegbulugbe said the deal remains a major milestone in the oil and gas industry particularly for the marginal field coming on the heels of a successful commencement of production in 2017, and recent conclusion of the interpretation of the 3D seismic data acquired by GEIL to maximise the Otakikpo field opportunities.

On gas monetisation, Adegbulugbe was quoted: “We are poised more than ever before to develop the oil and gas field with the Small Scale Gas Utilisation project ( SSGUP), as the backbone of field development activities to ensure compliance with the zero gas flare policy the Federal Government.”

He commended the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), for its prompt support in the conceptual designs and implementation of the projects for the development of the field, adding that the initiative project has the potential to bring over $350million direct foreign investment into the economy and bolster government’s drive for economic growth and investment inflow into Nigeria.

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On Lagos renewed efforts at tackling gridlock

Gridlock at Ilasa section of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway,Lagos… yesterday PHOTO: AYODELE ADENIRAN

Being a cosmopolitan city, access to a highly organized public transportation system remains one of the major challenges of Lagos residents. As it is with similar cities such as New York, New Delhi and Jakarta, population growth in Lagos compounds the challenge of public transportation. With a population in excess of 22 million people while also attracting 65 per cent of Nigeria’s commercial activities, Lagos, no doubt, has a peculiar public transportation challenge. The ubiquitous Lagos traffic, complicated by the legendary Lagosians’ knack for impatience in addition to motorists’ impunity, make commuting in Lagos a very tricky experience. 

Sadly, traffic gridlock has severe consequences such as economic losses arising from delays, weakened productivity, wasted energy, environmental deprivation and a diminished standard of living. Other effects are failed appointments, increased fuel expenses, decreased productivity and diverse health challenges. This, no doubt, poses great threat to socio-economic development in the state. 

A variety of strategies have been deployed by subsequent administrations in the State to deal with the perennial Lagos gridlock. In the past 20 years, the State government has expanded and rehabilitated major roads across the State. In same vein, the Bus Rapid Transit scheme, BRT, a mass transit initiative, was developed to advance and enhance public transportation.  Similarly, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, was created for efficient management of traffic.

Efforts were also made to improve water transportation while the first light rail project to be undergone by a State government in sub-Sahara Africa was initiated. Also, the first traffic radio station in the country, Lagos Traffic Radio, solely established to give traffic news to commuters, came on board in May, 2012. Equally, the Lagos Drivers’ Institute was set up in June, 2008 to improve and moderate the driving attitude of motorists in the State. 

However, in-spite of these genuine interventions, recent experience has shown that much still need to be done to effectively be on top of traffic situation in the State. It is, from this perspective that the current administration of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is embarking on numerous reforms towards easing traffic gridlock in the state.

To begin with, THEMES, an acronym for Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and the Environment, Education and Technology, “Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy”, Entertainment and Tourism as well as Security and Governance was conceived by the administration as a Pillar of Development (POD).   Part of the administration’s THEMES agenda is a comprehensive programme is to integrate road, rail and water transportation to solve the pressing problem of commuting within the metropolis. There are ongoing efforts to complete existing road projects, fix all bad roads and expand the road infrastructure to improve economic and social activities. Plans are also on to improve navigation on the State’s waterways to facilitate water transportation and promote private investment.

Presently, the state government has identified about 60 traffic gridlocks in the state and it is working round the clock to ensure that gridlock red spots such as Third Mainland Bridge and Lekki-Ikoyi/Admiralty Way and Lekki Toll Plaza, among others would be urgently tackled and resolved. Also, in one his earliest official tasks, Governor Sanwo-Olu signed his first Executive Order to address the issue of traffic control and management, fixing of potholes on the roads, sanitation as well as cleaning of drainages in the State. 

The Governor, who signed the Executive Order in the presence of Security Chiefs and the Heads of relevant agencies in the State, stressed that the support and cooperation of military personnel cannot be overemphasized especially in the implementation of the Order.Governor Sanwo-Olu also charged the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, to effectively carry out their functions by ensuring strict compliance with all extant traffic rules and regulations as prescribed in the enabling law, adding that other pronouncements would be made soon to address other issues relating to gridlock on Lagos roads.

Sanwo-Olu equally directed the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) to be more communicative and advisory on issues of bad vehicle wipers, spare tyres and non-provision of jacks in vehicles, among others.Similarly, in another development, Governor Sanwo-Olu announced 100% increase in the allowances of LASTMA officials. The aim of this gesture is to encourage and motivate the workers in the performance of their duties and also in fulfillment of his vision to make traffic management and transportation a number one priority in his administration.

Governor Sanwo-Olu who made this announcement at an interactive session with staff of the Agency warned them to desist from any act of corruption or corrupt tendencies. The Governor equally announced free treatment for every LASTM official in the state. He also promised a more conducive working environment for the staff such as repair of damaged vehicles and motorbikes, provision of raincoats among others.

The rapid transformation of Lagos metropolis in recent years has caught global attention, as two renowned international bodies, Citigroup and Urban Land Institute, ranked the metropolis as one of two most innovative cities in Africa. The other city is Cape Town in South Africa. Citigroup and Urban Land Institute, which assess cities worldwide in terms of sustainability and livability, once ranked Lagos and Cape Town the most innovative cities in Africa in the list of the world’s 25 most innovative cities.

Lagos with this kind of posture in the global pedestal cannot and would not afford to soil her reputation by allowing needless traffic gridlocks become a nuisance to become the order of the day in the metropolis. This is why all stakeholders must join hands with the State government to ensure that ongoing reforms and efforts at tackling gridlocks in the state achieve set goals. Ogunbiyi wrote from Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

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Buhari and vanishing hope of early ministerial list

[FILES] President Muhammadu Buhari. Photo/Twitter/AsoRock

Most Nigerians looked forward to July 2, 2019 with great expectations for two main reasons. First, it was the date fixed by the 9th National Assembly, which was inaugurated on June 11, to resume plenary after a two-week adjournment.Secondly, leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari, who was also inaugurated for a second term in office on May 29, 2019, was to drop his list of cabinet nominees.

In terms of weight, it could be said that expectations of an early ministerial nomination by the President conferred importance on July 2, more than the mere fact of revving up proceedings by the new National Assembly. Not a few citizens expected that the President would make up for similar time he lost during his first term, when he delayed the ministerial list for six months.

But, Nigerians observed that President Buhari behaved true to type by living up the expectations of the citizens in the breach. The talks of sending a list to the Senate, was not only a no-show, it also provided another opportunity for rumour mongers to fertilize their imagination, as well as draw the President’s spokesmen out to come up with refutations.

Although the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, kept faith with its time schedule by resuming plenary on July 2, despite the fact that Buhari’s ministerial list failed to grace the table of Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Nigerians knew that ‘something must have happened to stop it.’

It was therefore that ‘thing’ that aborted Buhari’s list that precipitated national apprehension, especially against the background of recent protest by Buharists on the overbearing influence of unelected fellows in and around the Presidency.By the time that Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Affairs, came out with clarifications, virtually all adult Nigerians have heard about the horse-trading trailing the nomination of ministers.

What Shehu’s statement could not disclose was that the President, as usual, was held hostage by entrenched interests, both economic and political. Next to those groups, some powerful stakeholders in APC were also said to be sending clear signals to the President that his second term would not be business as usual, especially given the way the February 23 Presidential Election was ‘won and lost’.

On top of all those, the President was at the receiving end of the contending forces from the bases of defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) on one hand and within the Southwest caucus of the same defunct ACN.

In the midst of the shifting strategies is also President Buhari’s desire to empanel a team of astute technocrats to put vibe in his second term agenda and correct the established notion of nepotism and sloppiness against him.For instance, sources close to the President’s insiders say one of the ways the President wants to earn public confidence and trust in his proposed cabinet is to get a petroleum minister from Southeast, while the power counterpart moves from Southwest to the northeast.

Yet, at the heart of such an ambitious contemplation is said to be the President’s fear of courting internal opposition from a former Lagos State governor, whom he considers a big ally.In the long run, not being accustomed to quick decision taking or independent judgment, Buhari’s ministerial list is also being afflicted by a variety of influences leading to the delay of more than one month after his inauguration. Should the President’s list of ministerial nominees come in bits and batches, the development should be blamed on the following:

Executive setbacks At the height of similar delay in coupling his cabinet in 2015, President Buhari had quipped that ministers are more of noisemakers than haymakers, even as he hinted on his preference for civil servants to get things done quickly.As the President prepares for his next level second term, civil servants, particularly Permanent Secretaries and Director Generals of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are said to be encouraging the delay in bringing in the ministers so as to continue to execute running contracts.

One federal Permanent Secretary told The Guardian in confidence that it was to their advantage that the ministers have not be named, stressing that the vacuum affords them the opportunity to undertake programmes and projects according to the stipulations of the 2019 budget.“But, why are Nigerians so much interested in ministers? Is there any project that is not running? What would ministers do that we are not doing?” he said explaining that the presence of ministers not only delay execution of projects, but also increases cost. CPC, ACN rivalry

IN the amalgam of former fringe opposition political parties that formed APC, stalwarts of the defunct CPC were consoled by the fact that one of them in the person of Buhari emerged President.

Meanwhile, as time wore on in the life of the immediate past administration the CPC aboriginals began to engage in subdued sulking, lamenting that a greater part of the pie was taken by members of former ACN, especially in the areas of appointment and strategic offices. It was against that background that at the onset of Buhari’s second term, his loyalists in the former CPC began to remind him they want to serve prominently in his Next Level tenure.

CPC apologists were said to have reminded the President that apart from Abubakar Malami and Babachir David Lawal, who later lost his exalted position of Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), they (Buhari’s loyalists in CPC) were not rewarded as their counterparts from former ACN.

The former CPC faithful were also said to have discovered to their chagrin that they were not as cohesive as ACN members, who aggregated around former Lagos governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to occupy many ‘exciting’ positions. It happens that this time around, the ACN flank in APC has taken a strong stand against the idea of allowing the President and his cabal to determine who gets what in the emergent government.

Helped by the fact that it produced the national chairman, the ACN playmakers insist that in the spirit of party supremacy, the party should have a say in how officials of the government that would deliver on the manifesto of APC are recruited.

Caught in the middle of these contending forces, and his desire to go solo on the issue of nominating would be cabinet members, the President was forced to thread the similar route that cost him six months before setting up a proper executive governance structure in place.

While he remained flummoxed by the tug of war among disparate economic and political interests, loyalists from the various camps floated fictitious lists that were short of setting a pattern for the President that is, otherwise, putting words into his mouth. To compound matters, within the same ACN that defunct CPC members accuse of appropriating a Lion share of appointments and visibility, the Southwest caucus came up with their own issues

Perhaps stung by the aftermath of 2019 gubernatorial election in Lagos State, some governors and former governors from the Southwest came up with the idea that each state should make its recommendations without recourse to a ‘powerful’ individual. The powerful individual was also accused of reducing his peers to yes-men just so he remains the only cock crowing in the geopolitical zone. He was accused of usurping a planned visit to President Buhari by the class 99 governors penultimate week.

Sources in the Presidency said how to wade through the Southwest schemes and allegations became a big source of headache for the President, such that he decided to keep everything about who should make his Next Level cabinet to his chest. Siege of governors

BARELY two weeks to the proposed inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, APC governors under the auspices of Progressive Governors Forum, visited Buhari at the Presidential Villa.

Although the visit came unannounced, it became the centre of further speculations on the delayed cabinet list, as most commentators associated the meeting with the series of intensive lobby by various blocs in the ruling party for ascendance in the emerging scheme of things.But, Presidency insiders disclosed that the governors came with a shopping list of issues affecting their political bases, including their inferences on the last general election vis-à-vis the demeanour of the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

Exasperated by the loss of a number states, principally Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Oyo and Zamfara, the governors were said to have complained about the treatment meted to immediate past governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, which culminated in his failure to seek a second term in office.

On the way forward, the governors tabled a set of demands before the President, including being allowed to run their states without undue interference from APC NWC and indemnifying their colleagues that could not make it back to office with a ministerial inclusion. However, despite accounts from multiple sources the Progressives Governors denied that their visit was ostensibly to make inputs or play any role in the selection of ministers.

Presidency’s silent actors THOSE who protested the influence of Mamman Daura, Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and Businessman Isa Funtua, include those who want to appropriate their closeness to President Buhari and tilt appointments to their side. Both the President and his inner men believe that most of those that worked for his re-election did so not essentially for patriotic reasons, but for the 2023 election cycle.

It was gathered that based on that realisation, President Buhari and his close allies decided to keep issues regarding the selection of ministerial nominees with utmost secrecy.But while the President was said to have taken his men into confidence about the need to have a crack team of performers, it did not take long before words started making the rounds of desperate individuals inducing some Presidency staff to smuggle their names for President’s attention.

Those familiar with the workings of the Presidency and Buhari’s personal capabilities said it was impossible for the President to work alone in nominating his ministers.As such at the height of the rumours about gratifications and inducements, acolytes of a serving state governor from Northwest and lieutenants of an APC big wig decided to move against the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari and his kinsmen, Mamman Daura and Isa Funtua in a street protest.

The protest was said to have alerted the President to the acute level of desperation among party chieftain, specifically in the light of the fact that the appointment holds the key to the future cohesion of APC and his administration. Sources also disclosed that the mid-June protest disrupted plans to have a list of cabinet nominees for members of the 9th Senate, who had resolved to proceed on a long vacation after inauguration.

The Guardian learnt that the combined effect of the Abuja street protest and invasion of Mamman Daura’s residence in Kaduna prompted a sweep by intelligence officers as ordered by the President. How long would the security cordon last? It is obvious that the President’s path to his Next Level would not be seamless.

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Making Women Affairs Ministry relevant

What will the political officers and women rights activists in Nigeria tell the world body as the major achievements of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (FMWASD) when they converge at the United Nations in March next year to appraise the Beijing Declaration of 1995? This question came to the fore recently when some observers and analysts sought to question the relevance of the special ministry for women affairs and social development amidst multifaceted challenges facing women and children in the most populous African nation, Nigeria. It is against the backdrop that next year, there will be an appraisal meeting in New York where such questions may arise.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the world will converge at the United Nations Headquarters in New York) from 9 to 20 March 2020 for the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

The meeting is to review and appraise the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The review will also include an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women; and its contribution towards the full realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

To assess Nigeria’s level of preparedness, it is imperative for the nation to appraise the extent the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, established by Decree No. 30 of 1989; with the broad mandate to advise the government on gender and children issues and issues affecting persons with disabilities and the elderlies has lived up to its billings. The ministry is also mandated to initiate policy guidelines and lead the process of ensuring gender equality and mainstreaming at both the national and international levels; and has National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS) and National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) as extra-ministerial departments and agencies.

While it may be acknowledged that FMWASD has moved the concerns of women to the fore in the nation and made some progress on its mandate of ensuring gender equality; apart from publishing the National Gender Policy, which is a strategic intervention, most of its interventions adopted the needs-based (Women in Development (WID) approach, which uses practical interventions to integrate women into existing structures, using welfare and women-only projects to increase women’s productivity and income; and their ability to manage households.

However, this is usually short-term and does not integrate women into all facets of our national life. Equality approach using needs-based, seeks to integrate women into the development process and views women’s exclusion and lack of participation from the development process as the problem. It ‘preaches’ marginalisation and feminises poverty. So, it focuses on women’s involvement in productive labour, reproductive role and women in labour force. The solution, strategy and policy approaches of WID, integrate women into existing structures using welfare, anti-poverty, efficiency, economic change i.e. empowerment, women only projects, increase women’s productivity, increase women’s income, increase women’s ability to manage households and focuses only on how women could better be integrated into ongoing development initiatives. This approach sees women as recipients of change, which has been the main focus of the pet projects of Nigeria’s first ladies (past and current), who most often than not have worked in collaboration with FMWASD. .

For instance, the women empowerment projects of first ladies (past and current) such as the Mariam Babangida’s Better Life Programme for Rural Women (BLPRW); Maryam Abacha’s Family Economic and Advancement Programme (FEAP), Honorable Justice Fati Abubakar’s NGO – Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA); Stella Obasanjo’s Child Care Trust (CCT); Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua’s Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF); Dame Patience Jonathan’s Women for Change Initiative (WCI); and Aisha Buhari’s Future Assured Project (FAP) mainly adopted the WID approach because all their interventions have focused on economic empowerment; skills acquisition; political empowerment merely in mobilising them to vote, but not putting them up to be voted for. It will be recalled that Sarah Jibril had only one vote during the presidential primary in which she contested and the then First Lady and Minister of FMWASD also voted during the presidential primary in this democracy.

So, while women leaders under the aegis of the FMWASD claim that they have made impact in Nigeria, such may not have been significant, after all. Doubtless, Nigeria may be far from achieving SDG5 if the nation continues in this trajectory.

Mainstreaming gender into all spheres, particularly in parliament will enhance having women in decision making positions. However, the outlook for this in Nigeria is poor as the European Union (EU) report on 2019 general elections shows a decrease in women elected. The report also stated that Nigeria has the lowest rate of women in parliament in Africa, with the number progressively decreasing since 2011. While attempts have been made to introduce legislative reform, there are currently no legal requirements for the promotion of women in political life.

Hence, FMWASD needs to refocus its interventions using the rights-based approach by adopting Gender, Legislation and Development (GLAD); because as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to take part in the advancement of his/her country. Adopting GLAD approach will allow Nigeria to draw on the full range of human resources available to it to progress; and help to ensure that women’s and girls’ needs are adequately met in policy making process.

The equality approach using right-based approach seeks empowerment of women through participation and transformation of the unequal power relations between women and men. It recognises unequal power relations between women and men; and argues that women’s subordinate position prevents gender equitable development and women’s full participation in society. The right-based approach is focused on unequal power relations and women’s subordinate position, gender mainstreaming policy; recognises women’s triple roles – reproductive, productive and community; and sees women as agents of change rather than passive recipients of development.

The solution, strategy and policy approaches of GLAD is anchored on women’s empowerment through participation and being in decision making process; gender mainstreaming in planning, policy making and programmes implementation to achieve equity. The dominant interventions of GLAD use direct state interventions (policies and legislations) to reduce inequalities; affirmative actions by the state; and pro-active approach by CSOs and women’s groups advocate who promote this framework against the forces of patriarchal class society.

Furthermore, GLAD says that the attainment of gender equality should not only be seen as an end in itself and a human rights issue but a prerequisite for the achievement of sustainable development. This is against the backdrop that holistic development integrates women into all facts of our national life and gives them the opportunity to play complementary roles in the nation’s development.

Essentially, there is still an opportunity for FMWASD to review its strategies and consider how to accelerate the 2030 agenda, building momentum for the effective implementation of SDG N0.5 – ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.’ It should be looking in the direction of using integrated and innovative approaches and new solutions that disrupt “the usual” to advance gender equality and empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection, participation in decision making, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure. FMWASD should, therefore, focus on gender-balanced boardrooms, gender-balanced government, gender-balanced media coverage, gender-balance of employees, more gender-balance in wealth and gender-balanced sports coverage amongst others. Achieving these requires addressing structural issues such as unfair social norms and attitudes as well as developing progressive legal frameworks that promote equality between women and men.

Therefore, for Nigeria to attain gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls i.e. SDG 5, which is at the centre of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the nation needs to address the barriers to advancing women human rights’ particularly in education and politics.

All told, FMWASD should continue to push for educating girls because it is a strategic intervention for empowering them to make genuine choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead. When a girl is educated, she realises the full potential in her; she discovers to be who-ever and whatever she wants to be. With education, she would break the shell of ignorance and open that of self-discovery. So, investing in girl child education is also a social protection and a holistic approach to so many socio-cultural challenges women and girls face. It is a holistic empowerment for improved reproductive rights, maternal and child health.

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ABCON urges Nigeria to gain from U.S., China, Russia trade war

Aminu Gwadabe

• Seeks more Naira-Yuan swap deal, derivatives market support

Nigeria must make the best from the growing tensions between the United States of America and Russia/Asian countries, particularly, China, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), has said.The Association noted that the fear of the dollar losing its global dominance is real, as Russia and Asian countries unite against the United States.   ABCON President, Dr. Aminu Gwadabe, while speaking with financial journalists in Lagos, yesterday, said Nigeria has to strategise to benefit from the emerging global trends, especially to strengthen the Naira-Yuan Swap deal, and boost derivatives market with new product development. The policy shift, he said, had become exigent given that Russia and Asian countries are already becoming less reliant on dollars and its hegemony, advising that Nigeria as an emerging market must not to  be caught unaware nor lose any immediate advantage.    Gwadabe noted that the insistence by Russia and China to cause a change in global economic system in such a way as to stop the United States from being able to exert economic pressure on world countries is an indication of how both countries can pursue the agenda, which has certain implications for Nigeria’s economy, its currency and financial system.He recalled that at the recently-concluded, G20 Meetings, in Osaka, Japan, European countries Britain, France, and Germany announced that the special trade mechanism that they have been working on this year is now up and running.

Called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (Instex), it will permit companies in Europe to do business with countries like Iran, avoiding American sanctions by trading outside the SWIFT system, which is dollar-denominated and de facto controlled by the U.S. Treasury. Gwadabe said the significance of the European move cannot be understated, as it was meant to weaken dollar dominance as the world’s trading and reserve currency.     Besides, talks have been on for years on establishing trade mechanisms that would not be dollar-based, but did not gain any momentum until the Donald Trump’s administration abruptly withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Iran over a year ago.Also, the U.S. had imposed sanctions on Russia over allegations of interference in the Ukrainian conflict, and its Presidential election in 2016, both of which Moscow had denied.    Washington also initiated a trade war with China, and tried to force Chinese tech-giant, Huawei, out of the global market. Gwadabe disclosed that rather than progressing towards a deal, and despite reaching a tentative truce at the G20 Summit in Osaka, the U.S. and China are as entrenched in their positions as ever.   “China is insisting that as a prerequisite to a deal, the U.S. removes existing tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Again, China is unlikely to do more to placate the US and bring the crisis to an end,” he predicted.Speaking further, he said after one year of the intense trade war between both parties, it will be difficult for the U.S. to remove all the tariffs that have been implemented so far to allow for final settlement. He disclosed that Nigeria is already benefiting from the crisis, adding that it has led to continuous rise in crude oil prices, which is good for the naira and the Nigerian economy.

Gwadabe said further that local banks stands to gain more from the $2.5 billion currency swap deal between Nigeria and China, as the economies of both countries need each other. The banks in both countries are not only going to be earning fees from the ensuing transactions, but will begin new lending to businesses. It was these gains and the need to keep the naira stable prompted the apex bank to sign the bilateral currency swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC),” he said.

He explained that in local currencies, the swap is worth 15 billion Renminbi (RMB) or N720 billion.The three-year renewable deal will allow  for the direct exchange of RMB and naira for the purpose of trade and direct investment between both countries.He also called for a deepening of the Naira-Yuan swap deal. He said that Russia and the Asian countries are already utilizing their Yuan Swap agreement with China to strengthen their local currency, a strategy Nigeria is also expected to pursue. 

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Kate Beckinsale, 45, Reveals Off Slim Waist In Tiny Prime & Skintight Leggings — Pic

Kate Beckinsale took to Instagram on July 6 to share an unbelievable mirror selfie that confirmed off her match abs as she wore a black sleeveless crop prime and matching black leggings.

Kate Beckinsale, 45, is trying half her age in her newest Instagram pic! The English actress posted a surprising mirror selfie on July 6 and as at all times, she gave off a horny and youthful vibe. Within the snapshot, she is standing and carrying a black tube prime and black leggings as she holds the telephone in her hand in entrance of her chest. She has her hair tied again right into a ponytail and exhibits off black heeled boots. “

@chase_aston,” she captioned the pic, tagging make-up artist Chase Aston.

Kate’s flattering pic, which confirmed off her toned abs, bought a principally optimistic response. “Wow you’re essentially the most lovely girl everrrrrrrrrr,” one follower commented. “You’ll at all times be in my prime 10 most lovely actresses ever

,” one other wrote. “Fully attractive!!!! Wow!,” a 3rd follower enthused.

That is simply one of many many occasions Kate turned heads over the previous few weeks. On June 9, she regarded equally as unbelievable in a black latex ensemble whereas celebrating at L.A. Pleasure. Just some days after that on June 14, she was seen taking a stroll whereas carrying fitness center gear, together with a white sports activities bra that learn “Religious Gangster” on it and patterned leggings with black heeled boots. She additionally confirmed off her humorousness on June 21 when she posted a video of herself doing squats over a bathroom seat.

Kate is thought for each her attractive appears and her foolish humor so it’s at all times a deal with to see pics and movies of her most memorable moments. We sit up for seeing extra from her sooner or later.

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Afreximbank’s $1b adjustment facility for AfCFTA debuts

Afreximbank

Following the official take off of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) last weekend, the region’s largest trade bank – African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has unveiled a $1billion financing tagged: “AfCFTA Adjustment Facility”.

The stabilisation facility is coming as a further boost for the implementation of the world’s largest free trade zone, to be made available to member countries to sustain efforts in achieving the more than $3trillion trade value on the continent.

Specifically, AfCFTA Adjustment Facility, as the name implies, would comes as a support to any initial fiscal imbalance arising from the implementations and firm up arrangements to raise the capacity of the participating countries and contribute to the regional trade integration process.

Afreximbank President, Prof. Benedict Oramah, at the weekend, told delegates at the just-concluded 12th Extraordinary Summit of African Union (AU) Heads of State, in Niamey, Niger, that there are series of initiatives to support the implementation of AfCFTA, which he had hinted at the recently-concluded yearly meetings of the bank in Moscow, Russia .

Oramah reiterated that the $1billion facility will enable countries adjust in an orderly manner to sudden significant tariff revenue losses as a result of the implementation of the agreement.“This facility will help countries to accelerate the ratification of the AfCFTA. You have started a movement. You must not look back. This movement is now unstoppable,” he said.

Besides, the bank also launched the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the first continent-wide payment digital system focused on facilitating payments for goods and services in intra-African trade in African currencies.

Today, we will launch the Africa-wide digital payment infrastructure – the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) – that we developed in collaboration with the African Union.”It is a platform that will domesticate intra-regional payments, save the continent more than $5 billion in payment transaction costs per annum, formalise a significant proportion of the estimated $50 billion of informal intra-African trade, and above all, contribute in boosting intra-African trade,” he said.

Oramah noted that by making it possible for Africans to pay for intra-regional trade in their local currencies, the digital platform will deal a fatal blow to the underdevelopment of Africa caused by defragmentation of its economies.”Our goal is to reduce, significantly, the foreign currency content of intra-African trade payments. No people have achieved meaningful development when their economic progress depends on others.

“Renewed focus on industrial and value-chain development across the continent in trying to boost trade and investment, it is imperative that we address the economic costs of effecting so many payments in scarce foreign exchange.“Making cross-border payments easier, cheaper and safer is an obvious critical step in creating an Africa we want,” he added

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Abbo’s dirty slaps

His clan, the youths, had been celebrating Elisha Cliff Abbo, 41, Senator representing Adamawa North Constituency as the youngest Senator in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They have a right to crow because it seemed to them that after a lot of noise-making in the last few years young people were about to be ushered into the mainstream of Nigeria politics and governance.

No young man got elected as President or Governor but having a 41-year-old Senator is something, some kind of consolation prize. It seemed an unhappy coincidence, at least for the National Assembly, that in the week that some Representatives were slapping each other in parliament, a Senator was seen in a video slapping a nursing mother in a sex toys shop in the heart of Abuja. The video recording was done Saturday May 11, 2019. On that day, Senator-Elect Elisha Abbo as he then was, arrived at the sex gadgets shop at 6pm in the company of three young ladies. As the three girls and Abbo were sampling the sex toys to see which ones will do the job best, one of the girls threw up, making a mess of the whole place. The shop owner, a lady, was angry, saying she should have done the vomiting outside, not inside her shop.

Mr. Abbo accused the shop owner of poisoning the store’s air conditioner. The lady punctured Abbo’s argument by saying that if the air conditioner had been contaminated other people in the shop would have been affected too. Mr. Abbo flew into a rage and an altercation ensured between them. He made phone calls to the police and in response the shop owner phoned her father. Power was going to meet power. Abbo probably did not know how high in rank the shop owner’s father was in the multi-layered wedding cake-like power structure of Abuja. Not being satisfied with calling the police he apparently tried to man-handle the shop owner but one of her staff, a nursing mother, intervened pleading that her madam should be spared. Getting angry for being prevented from doing what he wanted to do, Abbo descended on the peacemaker and rained on her what we have come to know in Nigeria as “dirty slaps”

One dirtier slap followed an earlier dirty slap. As the slaps rained on her, the woman winced but Abbo’s anger did not wane. The walloping continued. It was like a slapping festival. He could be an excellent kickboxer if he enrolls in the art. And there was a policeman in police uniform on the spot, not looking the other way but looking straight at the hapless woman, a nursing mother, being assaulted and battered by a man, a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The policeman in an unpardonable act of complicity or connivance or condonment just stood there without restraining the irresponsible Senator from his criminal indulgence. The policeman stood there as a Slapping Supervisor (SS) giving himself and the Nigeria Police the image of a sadist when he had the full powers of his office to intervene in the interest of peace. He probably gave the Senator a smart solute for his aberrant behaviour. I hope that the Police Service Commission has taken administrative notice of the policeman’s ill conduct for disciplinary purposes.

When the story first broke, Senator Abbo in a display of arrogant justification or self-exculpation had said that he was not a Senator but a Senator Elect when the matter took place, a very puerile attempt at being lawyerly as if the matter had anything to do with rank or ranklessness. Then he said the video was edited and that the full airing of it unedited would show that he, infact, was the victim, not the victimizer. I saw that as the normal gra-graness of the entitled but I knew that whatever may have happened would have received the full attention of his powerful office as a Senator if he was a victim. He said he was going to bare all at a press conference, but when he received more hammering in various media he decided to show repentance and to apologise. His apology is accepted and should serve purely as a mitigation of whatever punishment awaits him.

A man of his stature should never have been involved in such a reckless show of power because it is a bad advertisement for his party, the PDP, and the Senate. Good a thing both institutions have condemned his reckless behaviour while the Police have pulled him in for questioning. His apology is a prima facie admission of guilt. His offence is compounded by the fact that his victim is a woman. Women are generally very badly treated in Nigeria by men in and out of uniform. And in Abuja women are treated like slaves and it is a shame to think that that is the Federal Capital of Nigeria which should set an example in the upholding of people’s rights. I think they got their play book from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. I have seen women being whipped in Abuja by uniformed men for wearing miniskirts or trousers. And there is no evidence that Abuja is the headquarters of saintliness in any shape or form.

Mr. Abbo’s bad behaviour is bad news for the youths who have, deservedly, been critical of the bad behaviour of older Nigerians who have been running and ruining the country since independence. Abbo did not go to the Senate as a representative of the youths but he is one of them. If he discharges his duties creditably in the Senate, proposing bills that will uplift Nigeria the youths will have a reason to crow and to ask for higher responsibilities. However, if he behaves like an agbero, as he has done, it will be a bad testimonial not only for the people of Adamawa North that he represents but also for the youths who thought that through him they could acquire some bragging rights. While Abbo has been able to prove that he is not too young to run as a Senator he has also shown that he is not too senatorial not to slap someone, a woman.

The problem with men who show violence to women is that they always underestimate women and the possibilities of retaliation. Some men are stronger than women, but what if a man meets a woman who has a black belt in judo or karate who can destroy his ego with a kick at his torso and two fingers in his eyes with the quickness of lightning? What if at that moment of madness that woman slapped by Abbo had decided, in an angry resort to self-defence, to punch Abbo’s head with her pencil heeled shoes? He would have been dead, dead as a dodo. That is what many violent men forget, namely that in any conflict situation everyone always has a coterie of retaliatory choices. If they don’t respond to their attackers in kind they are more decent human beings than their attackers. That woman who refused to attack Abbo in return was displaying the spirit of decency despite the unwarranted provocation. She was more decent than Senator Abbo by many kilometers.

While the police are doing the needful by questioning Abbo, the police and the Police Service Commission should also call to question the sense of duty of the policeman at the scene of the incident. If he thought that his duty was to serve as a referee to a one-sided slapping match they must let him know that he is in the wrong job. If the rascally senator did not know his limits the errant policeman ought to have told him where the red line is. Failing to do that at the scene of a crime is a dereliction of duty for which he must be called to account.

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ICC convicts Congolese warlord Ntaganda of war crimes

•Buhari pledges support for Libya’s stability Nine years after his arrest, the International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday found former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) warlord, Bosco Ntaganda, guilty of war crimes and related offences committed in Ituri, between 2002 and 2003.Trial Chamber VI, composed of judges Robert Fremr; Kuniko Ozaki and JChang-ho Chung, announced its verdict during a public hearing in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Ntaganda was sentenced on 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity. In arriving at the verdict, the chamber, in a statement, said it received submissions from parties and participants as well as reviewed all the evidence submitted during the trial, including documents, eyewitnesses and insiders.

The panel found out that the Union des Patriotes Congolais (Union of Congolese Patriots) (UPC) and its military wing, the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo (Patriotic Force for the Liberation of Congo) (FPLC), were at all times involved in at least one non-international armed conflict with an opposing party, in Ituri district of the DRC from August 6, 2002 to December31, 2003.

“The conduct of the UPC/FPLC against the civilian population was the intended outcome of a preconceived strategy to target the civilian population and the crimes committed took place pursuant to a policy of the UPC/FPLC. Mr. Ntaganda fulfilled a very important military function in the UPC/FPLC,” the statement read in part.Besides, President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged Nigeria’s continued support for Libya’s quest to regain political and security stability.

The president, who discussed recent developments in the North African country as well as bilateral issues between the two nations with Prime Minister Fayez Mustafa Al-Sarraj, noted that there were over 6000 Nigerians in the country who see it as a gateway to Europe.

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CIOTA to build world-class transport administration institute

Bashir Jamoh

• Articulates road map for growth The Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA), has said it will build a reputation as a world class institute by providing and advancing top notch study, training, certification, and practice of transport management and administration, and other related matters.   CIOTA also articulated strategic road map for its growth and development, following the recent enactment of the act establishing the Institute by the Federal Government.   Speaking at its maiden news conference in Lagos, yesterday, CIOTA National President, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said the Institute will expand transportation practice footprint across the country by becoming a reputable organisation, based on the mandate of the act establishing it.He added that the six geo-political zones will be duly covered to lead specific transportation-related initiatives from the roads in the East, to the North-Central where a lot of mining is presently going on while in Lagos, the hub of the South-West, focus will be on pipelines, cable transportation and aviation.     CIOTA also intends to establish valuable partnerships and strategic alliances with all target stakeholders such as the Federal Ministry of Transport, and other related Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) in aviation, roads, rail, maritime, pipelines, transport, labour and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).    Jamoh said CIOTA will continue to train professionals, and also advise government and all stakeholders to adopt and implement global best practices in transport administration, while also appreciating the 8th National Assembly for passing the bill, and President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to make it an act.    Jamoh had during his investiture as the Institute’s president earlier in the year, promised that his administration will prioritise attainment of a charter status to make it a leading voice in Nigeria’s transport sector. He said the attainment of charter status had been a long struggle, and a lot of hard work, which involved building on the legacy of his predecessors because institutional building is a continuum.

CIOTA is a professional body dedicated to broadening and improving the knowledge, skills and experience of its members in the practice of efficient transport management or an intermodal mode basis covering road, rail, air and pipeline/petroleum.It was founded in 1944, in Great Britain, and organised throughout the vast transport industry worldwide as an association of professional transport managers and administrators with more than 30,000 membership strength.     The Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (Nigeria chapter), was incorporated as an autonomous transport professional body on September 22, 1986, under the Land Perpetual Succession Act Cap 98.The institute has grown steadily in membership within Nigeria, to more than 2,000 members, and attracted transport professionals from all sectors of the industry. 

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‘The Hills’ Recap: Stephanie Fears Justin Bobby Is ‘Playing’ With Audrina’s Emotions

Old habits die hard, right? The July 8 episode of ‘The Hills: New Beginnings’ felt awfully familiar due to the fact that Justin Bobby was acting super hot and cold with Audrina.

The rest may still be unwritten, but if you ask us, we know how Audrina‘s future with Justin Bobby unfolds, and it’s not pretty. The July 8 episode of The Hills: New Beginnings was all we needed to see to know that Justin Bobby is once again “playing” with Audrina’s emotions — just like he did the last time they dated… over a decade ago. It became crystal clear (no pun intended) when Audrina met up with Stephanie to go plant shopping. Audrina told Stephanie how she feels Justin Bobby’s acting hot and cold with her. Especially given that fact that despite not picking her up for the music festival, like he said he would, he then gave her a kiss on the lips when they said goodbye. As we said — he’s hot and cold.

And Audrina became even more confused after Stephanie told her that Justin Bobby drove to her apartment to check on her after her blowout fight with Spencer. So he drove to LA from Huntington Beach for Stephanie, but wouldn’t drive 10 minutes to pick up Audrina before the music festival. Doesn’t sound very nice, does it? Well, Stephanie agreed and she told Audrina that she fears Justin Bobby is “playing” with her emotions.

Things then took a turn for the worst, when Stephanie confronted Justin Bobby about his “kiss” with Audrina, and he denied ever doing such a thing. He also said that he and Audrina are just friends. So Audrina wanted to skip his concert later in the week — an event that most of the cast was invited to — until Jason Wahler‘s wife convinced her to go anyway. So she went, but she left before the performance was over, so it wouldn’t look like she was there to support Justin. (Sure, Audrina.)

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Oh, and Spencer and Brody also got into a fight, but you can read more about that here. Want more drama? New episodes of The Hills: New Beginnings air Mondays at 10pm on MTV!

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Honeywell Flour Mills grows revenue to N74.4 billion

Managing Director, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Lanre Jaiyeola

Honeywell Flour Mills Plc (HFMP), a leading foods manufacturer in Nigeria, has grown its revenue by 4 per cent to N74.4 billion recording its largest revenue figures since inception.

The company’s audited results for the year ended March 31, 2019, showed a Gross Profit Margin (GPM) of 15 per cent, while operating profit reduced by 58.7 per cent to N3.9 billion just as total assets increased by 10 per cent to N137.5 billion

The company commenced commercial operations from its new ultra-modern pasta plant at its Sagamu factory during the financial year. Management expects that concentrating pasta production in one location and sales of the increased volumes of pasta will boost revenues of the business, thereby improving the operating profit in the coming years.

Managing Director, ‘Lanre Jaiyeola said, “Despite the humongous challenges operating out of our flour mill in Tin Can Island, Apapa, our 2019 year end results shows a 4 per cent growth in revenue to N74.4 billion from the N71.5 billion recorded in the previous year which is an all-time high for the company.

“The growth in sales volume and revenue is testament to the strength of our brands portfolio even in a difficult operating environment. Due to higher input costs, particularly cost of purchasing wheat, cost of sales increased by 13.5 per cent to N62.9 billion.

“Consequently, gross profit declined by 28.3 per cent from N16.05 billion to N11.5 billion, as the increase brought about by higher input costs could not be passed onto the customer. He explained that selling and distribution costs also grew at a higher rate than sales volumes and reflected the increased costs associated with evacuating finished products out of its flour milling plant at the Tin-Can Island Port, Apapa where the traffic gridlock has now persisted for over a year.

“In line with our strategy to continuously improve operational efficiency and effectiveness, we reduced net finance costs by 28 per cent from N4.6 billion to N3.3 billion during the period under review. “The significant reduction in the finance costs was as a result of the restructuring exercise we initiated in FY’18 to manage the cost of borrowing by replacing a significant portion of our loans with financing from development banks at concessionary interest rates.

“Honeywell Flour Mills Plc remains focused on creating value for our stakeholders particularly consumers, customers, employees and shareholders. We are well placed to continue to provide our highly valued consumers safe, nutritious and affordable food products and also capture previously un-served markets,” he stated.

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Open letter to Buhari on Ruga settlement

Buhari

Dear Mr. President, “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” – Rosalynn Carter. Sir, the “new normal” is not always normal in our country-Nigeria. It has always been one-day-one-dose-of-trouble for our beleaguered (troubled) Nigeria. Our needless and man-made problems are recurring and intractable. At times, you forget not to listen to people who advise you not to follow a popular set of priorities! It’s understandably true that most of your enduring and popular programs are unpopular among some Nigerians. Because, the nucleus of integrity is amiss from the people’s values, it’s practically difficult to sell integrity in a dysfunctional society.

Painfully to some of us, your government seems inadequate at explaining to all Nigerians from the onset: your popular and futuristic programs in the areas of agriculture, road constructions, exports, and imports, responsible leadership, war on corruption and indiscipline, etc. These are good policies that lack adequate and simplest tools of information dissemination. Your special advisers are good at fire-brigade-approach or damage control to explain to the disgruntled Nigerians when the damage has been done to ill-informed the nation. People have the constitutional rights to understand the business of government. Cattle ranching are not a new development in Nigeria, but when that integrity-man from Daura sees a comparative advantage of today’s decision for the future and takes advantage of it, the good intention becomes ethnicized, politicized and tribalized. The recent State House press release of your special adviser was a “medicine after death.” Why was the nation not informed of this common-sense policy that can potentially stop the communal conflicts between the cattle herders and aggrieved farmers? Why didn’t the Federal government extend the same gesture to Fishermen in Ijaw and all geopolitical zones in the country to disavow this mutual ethnic suspicion and internecine battle? 

The politicized and tribalized monstrous herdsmen saga has warped our psychology to understand the role of your government, and the gains of farm-RUGA settlement in the nearest future. Anywhere the name of the herdsmen is mentioned in the Nigerian geopolitical zones of the South West comprising Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo states; South-South: Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta and Edo states, and South East which consists of Abia, Anambra, Ebony, Enugu, and Imo states, the monstrosity, and killings of these mindless herders readily come to people’s minds. The dwarfed fact is that not all herdsmen are killers. But the killer-herdsmen have soiled the names of your other law-abiding citizens.

These citizens are mostly from your Fulani’s enclaves in the northern part of Nigeria.  Sir, while we are grappling with the confusion, contradictions and nauseating COZA helmsman’s rape tragedy in the “God’s vineyard”, RUGA settlement rears its ugly or good head into our collective conscience and consciousness again!  RUGA settlement has been politicized, polarized and ethnicized in Nigeria. The intention of your administration is good but the imports and publicity of your policies are grotesquely miscalculated and misappropriated. It has also been grossly under-reported. Your political handlers are ineffective and ineffectual at explaining to Nigerians the pros or advantages of the RUGA settlement to all interested states that want the program. Your handlers seem to be your greatest political enemies at explaining your long-term policies that will benefit all Nigerians! Thousands of Buharis in Nigeria will be ineffectual to the plebeians if they are not being informed of your government’s policies and programs. 

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to ask if your citizens are suffering from unexplained generic sins. Do Nigerians really need collective atonement for wrongdoings or these unidentified generic sins? Failure to answer all these concerning questions among others truthfully will continue to make us go around (circumlocutory) with our mundane problems. And the buck wittingly stops at your official table in Abuja. Mr. President, what is RUGA at this polarizes period in our nation’s history? Why was RUGA’s priority not explained from the conception to the polarized nation? The more we try to disinfect our bad breaths in the polity, the more your government put the indeliberate mess in our fouled mouths! What is the intention behind this decision at this period? Whatever the good intention that brought this policy at this period, it may be a big problem to appease the absence of peace in a divided country. Your government needs to explain the long-term benefits of RUGA settlement to the country in the form of mobilization. 

The unexplained RUGA settlement is a big COMMA in your popular efforts at bringing the country together from the inanity of the past. To enjoy immediate and future sanity and tranquility, your government must be proactive in information dissemination! As a nation, we have so many peculiar messes ongoing in our country! The long-term benefits of RUGA settlement among others are not being communicated in a way to de-emphasized ethnic suspicion in our country. In an aggrieved and polarized nation, you the constitutional right to appoint who you want, but when it appears that your appointments are mostly of northerners to ministerial and key positions, and you do some things that appear only favorable to the North. It will raise ethnic suspicion from other people in other geopolitical zones.

When you comment on some pressing issues and ignore other outcries, it will trigger intrinsic biases and ethnic suspicion. You must address the nation in time national emergency. One of the reasons Jonathan failed woefully was because his appointees were so inept in their duties that they did nothing to tell or propagate some the good works he did. Remember the adage “if a tree falls in the forest…” Same here. It does make noise regardless, but someone has to put the news out there that the tree did fall and it made a noise, otherwise no one will know or hear about it.” I am sure the protagonists (advocates) and antagonists (adversaries) of your government’s policy may not like my opinion on this burning national issue! But it’s just my honest and patriotic opinion to make your government succeed. 

In conclusion, at the infancy of your second term in office, we want you to succeed and entire Nigeria to grow into prosperity. You need to walk a fine line to govern and pacify your divided countrymen and women: grappling with the pervasive state of squalor, confusion, and contradictions. This is just my honest and concern advice as a concerned Buharist to your troubled administration. God bless you, sir, may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  Balogun wrote from Arizona, United States of America.

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