CBN INSISTS HERITAGE BANK PLC REMAINS SOUND AND RESILIENT

The attention of Heritage Bank Plc has been drawn to deceptive reports contained in a media publication, alleging the Bank’s inability to honour its obligations to customers amongst other contrived reports on the financial state of the bank.

 

Heritage Bank wishes to categorically refute this false information being circulated about the institution with a misdirected intent to derail and misinform the banking public on its financial state.

 

Whilst we acknowledge the challenging operatingenvironment currently experienced in all sectors of the economy, Heritage Bank remains financially stable and has continued to discharge its obligations to all customers and stakeholders. This position is buttressed by the commendable results posted by the Bank in the past financial year and the last three quarters of 2016, resulting in shareholder approvals to list its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange within one year of its business combination with the erstwhile Enterprise Bank Limited.

 

The Bank wishes to assure all customers and stakeholders of the safety of their deposits and financial transactions in line with our commitment to a strong service culture and sound corporate governance practice.

 

Photos As AJUMN Lagos Chapter Chairperson Seun Aransiola bags Award in America

It was a moment of joy for the ever radiant Chairperson of Association of Juju Musician of Nigeria Lagos Chapter, Seun Aransiola as she was part of those honored in far away United States by the Organisers of the annual Oodua Image  Awards. She was recognized via her chosen profession, Music. Below are pictures from the event. The Metronews family rejoice with her.

Nigeria will miss Dasuki’s wisdom - Gov. Sani Bello

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has described the passing away of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, the 18th Sultan of Sokoto as a colossal loss, whose wealth of knowledge will be greatly missed at this crucial and critical period of the nation’s life. 

The Governor in a condolence message to the Caliphate and Sokoto State Government, said the late Dasuki left an indelible footprint virtually on every sector of human endeavor during his lifetime. 

A statement signed by Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, eulogised and described the late monarch as a seasoned technocrat, respected traditional ruler, diplomat par excellence and religious bridge builder. 

"The passing away of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, the 18th Sultan of Sokoto is a tragedy to the Caliphate, Sokoto State, the Muslim Ummah and the country. His demise at this critical and crucial moment of our country has created a big vacuum. We have lost a rare gem and repository of wisdom.”

"The late Sultan Dasuki traversed the civil service from the Native Authority to regional and national levels where his contributions to nation building were legendary. From a clerk in the Treasury Office of Sokoto Native Authority, the late Sultan rose to the peak of his carrier as Permanent Secretary in the service of Northern Nigeria. 

"The late Sultan Dasuki made his mark not only as a traditional and religious leader, but also as a political icon. His contribution to the building of an egalitarian society where all, irrespective of colour, creed, religion or tribe were afforded a level playing ground remain unparalleled. 

"We are deeply saddened by the demise of the patriot, whose wealth of wisdom we would have needed at this trying period in our country. My heart goes out to the entire royal family, the government and good people of Sokoto State, and the country.

"Our consolation however is that the 18th Sultan lived a life of service to mankind, his country – Nigeria, and to Allah his Creator. I pray that Allah grant him Aljannah Firdaus and courage for his immediate family to bear the irreparable loss".

The late Dasuki was the 18th Sultan of Sokoto between 1988-1996.

EU/UNODC/UNDP SUPPORTS NOT IN MY COUNTRY TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

NOT IN MY COUNTRY, the Pan-Nigeria campaign against retail corruption and an initiative of the Akin Fadeyi Foundation (AFF)has secured partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) under the Project on Support to Anticorruption in Nigeria which is fully funded by the European Union.  The overall objective of this initiative is to empower Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria, enhancing their capacity in the provision of services and participation in Anti- corruption crusade.

According to a statement signed by the Founder/Executive Director, Akin Fadeyi Foundation, Mr. Akin Fadeyi,

 “We are extremely proud to announce that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) under the Project on Support to Anticorruption in Nigeria which is fully funded by the European Union, have partnered with our nationwide campaign against retail and petty corruption- NOT IN MY COUNTRY.

This commendable support is coming after a strict shortlisting processes and other global standard measures. We shall be working in concert with other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who also bring on board various advocacy projects aimed at social reordering for a better society. 

At the Foundation, “Our projects are driven by enterprising, cerebral and young patriotic Nigerians who are selflessly committed to impacting their environment to shun retail and petty corruption, I believe this support will further accelerate our collective quest to meet the global most valued agenda in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will reawaken us as a nation, specifically against ingenious acts of citizen-corruption, poverty and environmental unfriendly acts.” We have such ambition to influence our social space which has suffered social corrosion and a depletion of societal core values with debilitating effects on our collective psyche, Fadeyi said.

“Our quick areas of interest is to strengthen capacity by partnering with some institutions including law enforcement Agencies to combat petty corruption. We shall also work with select Nigerian schools and explore opportunities for instilling the right values and raising Anti-Corruption Ambassadors from that vulnerable sector of the society” Akin noted.

Since the beginning of the year, Akin Fadeyi Foundation has creatively deployed one minute dramatic infomercial parodies to campaign against corruption in Nigeria through a citizen led initiative. This has been with the inclusion of top-rate thespians in Nigeria. NOT IN MY COUNTRY tells the story of the corrupt on the one part, and the campaigner against corruption on the other part - both from the same populace of a nation blessed with culturally adept and value-driven people but beleaguered by the social dysfunction of endemic corruption.

Other Civil Societies Organizations (CSOs) that are benefitting from the Anti-Corruption grants funded by the European Union, and in partnership with UNODC and UNDP are Youth Progressive Association in Taraba,  African Network for Environment & Economic Justice, Justice Development and Peace Commission,  Alliance for Credible Elections, African Centre for Rural Development & Environment, Self-Help Development Facilitators, Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria, Integrity Organization, and The New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative.

Sad: Missing Journalist Is Dead

A photojournalist with Naij.com, Yinka Adeparusi, who was declared missing by his employers, has been confirmed dead.

A source at the online publication told Qed.ng that he was involved in a motorcycle (Okada) accident in Abuja on Saturday, November 12, the day he was last seen.

The police have confirmed the accident.

Naij.com had earlier said “several calls made to his mobile phone lines have not been going through. Mr Adeparusi has also not made any contact with those close to him or his colleagues in the office.”

Adeparusi was an award-winning photojournalist who graduated from the Lagos State University with a degree in mass communication.

The former National Mirror staff received, among others, the People’s Choice Award for Human Rights Photography in Africa, German Development Media Awards in 2013 and was winner of the photojournalism award of the 6th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting in 2011.

A colleague told Qed.ng that the former staff of National Mirror lost his mother earlier in 2016.

Source:Qued

Ex-NSA Loses Father Ex-Sultan of Sokoto

The detained former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki has lost his father Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki this evening at a Hospital in Abuja.

 

His late father who was a former Sultan of Sokoto, died at the age of 93.

 

PRNigeria gathered from the family that the Sultan will buried on Tuesday November 15, 2016 after the 2.00pm afternoon prayers at at Hubbaren Shehu Usman Dan Fodio Site in Sokoto State.

 

The ex-NSA, Sambo Dasuki has been detained by the Federal Government since December 1, 2015 in spite of the bails granted him by three different High Courts in Abuja. The ECOWAS Court had also ordered his release.

 

As at press time it was not certain whether the government would temporarily permit the detained ex-NSA to pay his father the last respect during the burial.

 

Note for additional information on Ex-Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki of Sokoto.

Sultan Dasuki in Wikipaedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Dasuki

 

The travails of Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki: http://naijarchives.com/ibrahim-dasuki-the-18th-sultan-of-sokoto/Reference

 

 

PRESIDENT BUHARI MUST READ THIS

NNPC MANAGEMENT POSTINGS: WHY DR. BARU MUST BE CALLED TO ORDER 

The Nigerian Association of Online Publishers has called on the Minister of Petroleum Resources,President Muhammadu Buhari and the Board of the NNPC which is headed by the Minister of State For Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to quickly review the resent movement of Management Personnel in the organisation because  it contains very palpable cases of vandetta and injustice.

In a press release signed by its National President and Secretary and made available to newsmen in Abuja, the Association made particular reference to the NNPC spokesperson,Mallam Garba Deen Muhammad who was given an ambiguous posting that leaves him in limbo.

Until the recent postings  Muhammed was the Group General Manager,Public Affairs of NNPC but in a very curious action,he was moved to the position of "General Manager Communication and Stategy"While still retaining his GGM position. This is enough to destabilize and kill the organization morale.

The Online Publishers also queried the rush with which the GMD went about the postings. They observed that if Baru's motives were sincere and in the interest of the corporation he would have wait d another couple of days when the NNPC Board would be inaugurated and then run the process through the Board. That way he would have avoided the suspicion and errors that normally accompany a one man know all decision. But as it were, Baru cannot defend himself against the accusation of carrying out a personal vendetta against his perceived enemies.

It is very possible says the Online Publishers that Muhammed who joined the NNPC about six months ago is a victim of hate and vendetta by Baru who had never hidden his disdain for outsiders joining the NNPC. 

This attitude is particularly dangerous when the case of Mr Garba Deen is examined. The Online body of Publishers said that Garba Deen was invited by the Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Kachikwu who was then doubling as GMD,to come and serve his country. Garba Deen accepted to serve out of sense of national duty. "Garba Deen left a flourishing media practice, a respectable job as the editor at large with The Sun Newspapers, a popular and respected columnist while also doubling as the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors to come and serve his country only for him to be treated so shabbily and wickedly. This is injustice and unacceptable under any guise. It is in this light that we call on President Buhari whose sense of justice is not in doubt to intervene and salvage the reputation of an honest and patriotic citizen whose only crime was that he answered the national call to serve his country at the expense of a brilliant career that he built painfully over the last two decades. 

The Association further said apart from discouraging competent Nigerians at home and abroad from making sacrifices for the country, such inexplicable I constituency coming less than six months after a similar exercise will spook investors and stun growth of the Oli and Gas Industry. The Online practitioners averred that if indeed the President granted approval for this injustice it must be because he was misled by Baru and  that is why the President and the Board of the NNPC have a moral obligation to review the exercise and wherever infractions were detected they must be redressed. Recalling the role that Garba Deen played during the fuel subsidy standoff with Labour and other stakeholders,the Online Publishers maintain that humiliating Gabar Deen so cruelly  for the personal satisfaction of the GMD is sad and a depressing indicator of why the corporation has been going down over the years. The NNPC is bigger than the interest of any individual and injustice to one is injustice to all.

Another Yoruba Actress Dies

This was posted online by some of her colleagues touched by her sudden demise.

BREAKING NEWS: Ajimat gone too soon!

It saddens our association Theatre Arts and Movie Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN),Ogun State Chapter, to announce the untimely death of our beloved sister/colleague Kudirat Ajimat popularly known and called Ajimat...

The news of her death got to us this morning as a shocker but we don't have power to stop God from doing what is right in HIS sight...

Ajimat, we will seriously miss u and ur friendly lifestyle!
Rest in Peace!

#OgunTAMPAN

May her soul rest in peace!

Pictures From OPU Launching In Switzerland

Glamour, Funfair, Thrills and  Frills as the 76th Chapter of Oodua Progressive Union  (OPU) Is Launched in Zurich, Switzerland.

What you need to know about OPU

As part of our mission in OPU, we are determined to provide every sons and Daughters of Yoruba race in Diaspora with the most effective representation in their country of residence and to preserve and promote the historical and cultural heritage of our people.

OPU seeks to attract interest and research and teaching of Yoruba language to Yoruba sons and daughters in the Diaspora in order to keep them abreast of their history and background

OPU is to work towards ensuring the establishment of true federalism in Nigeria.

In OPU, we are determined to inspire and nurture the undying spirit of Love and sharing among Yoruba sons and daughters.

It is the initiative of Otunba Gani Adams, who is the Convener of the body. 

Tito Da.Fire Involves In CaCrash…Escapes Death By The Whisker

Popular Singer and Grindiin Records CEO, Tito Da.Fire reportedly crashed his car into a stationary barrier at 4.15am Saturday 12, November 2016 Military Cantonment, Maryland Lagos on his way back from an event on the mainland. 

According to a soldier who chose to remain anonymous,  they were on duty at the Cantonment barricades when a red Toyota Camry Muscle engaging Mobolaji Bank Anthony way from Adekunle Fajuyi, was nearly run over by a reckless truck driver. In attempt to swerve away from the truck, the Camry ran into the Military barricades at Cantonment. The truck driver did not wait.

Another eye witness who was driving behind The Camry said vehicle had two occupants who were helped out of the wrecked vehicle, as the driver was lying helpless on the ground after the soldiers pulled them out. They were rushed to to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Tito Da.Fire and a popular Mavin Records and Ray Power Fm DJ Chenz,  were earlier seen around 2amin a club in Magodo where the "Imagination" singer performed to the delight of the crowd. 

Efforts to speak with Tito Da.Fire proved abortive as his mobile phone rang endlessly, a call to his manager TONY "Don T" Anifite was not returned as at press time. We pray for his speedy recovery.