NIGERIAN NOTCH

Truly, "there's no easy walk to freedom" as opined by the most revered African, Dr. Nelson Mandela. The struggle for a liberated Imo was not an easy one as prices were paid for its actualisation. Progressive minded persons fought from different fronts to realise this nobel dream. In this concise piece, I will give an eye witness cum participants account that led to eventual liberated Imo through emergence of Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodinma as duly elected Governor of the State.  Imo Equity Movement was the first pronounced movement formed for this singular course of liberating Imo, though for purposes of a Governor of Owerri Senatorial Zone extraction. The pioneers of Imo Equity Movement which was launched in 2017 at country home of Dr. Uzoma Obiyo, Uguri-ike Nneise Ikeduru LGA Imo State includes, Dr. Vitals Orikeze Ajumbe, Barr. Kingsley Ononuju, Dr. Uzoma Obiyo with Barr. Uche Onyeaguocha as spokesperson, amongst other personalities. It was at the launch of...

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has advised Nigerians to protect themselves against the new Chinese coronavirus disease. First identified by Chinese researchers with the pathogen behind a mysterious illness that had sickened 59 people in Wuhan, a city of 11 million in Central China, coronavirus is a group of viruses common among animals but now confirmed that it could also infect humans. The NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, therefore, in a public health advisory on Wednesday, stated that the sypmptoms of the new coronavirus 2019nCoV appeared to cause mild to severe respiratory symptoms like cough and breathing difficulties. He noted that “from current evidence, it appears that death is a rare outcome, mostly in patients with underlying illness.” Ihekweazu explained in the advisory that there was no specific treatment for disease caused by the novel coronavirus yet, but many of the symptoms could be treated. He stated that “treatment is based on the p...

National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday called for dialogue between governors of South-West states and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice over the zone’s security initiative, code-named “Amotekun”. In a statement titled “Public Discourse on Amotekun” in Lagos, Tinubu said he did not believe the Western Nigeria Security Network was intended to put the country at risk.  He said that dialogue between the two parties would address the grey areas. The APC leader, who was reacting for the first time since the issue became a national debate, however, said what could undo the country was the negative commentaries and “the dangerous rhetoric of those who should know better.” He added: “Those claiming that this limited, inoffensive addition to security threatens the Republic have taken themselves upon a madcap excursion. “Those claiming the Federal Government seeks to terribly suppress the South West have also lost their compass....

United States Democrats began laying out a detailed case on Wednesday for the removal of the nation’s President, Donald Trump, accusing him at his historic Senate impeachment trial of seeking to cheat to ensure re-election in November. Adam Schiff, the head of the prosecution team from the House of Representatives, took the floor of the Senate for opening arguments after lawmakers were told by the sergeant-at-arms to remain silent “on pain of imprisonment.”  “President Trump solicited foreign interference in our democratic elections, abusing the powers of his office to seek help from abroad to improve his re-election prospects at home,” the California lawmaker told a hushed chamber. “And when he was caught, he used the powers of that office to obstruct the investigation into his own misconduct,” said Schiff, who headed the probe that led to Trump’s December 18 impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House. Schiff shrugged off Republican arguments that American voters —...

The security outfit tagged  “Operation Amotekun” was recently launched by states of southwestern Nigeria to help in providing security for their citizens. However, the Attorney-General of the federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has declared the outfit as illegal because, according to him, “security remains the exclusive preserve of the Federal Government”. In the first place, it does not lie within the province of the attorney general or indeed the President to declare Amotekun illegal as that can only be done through a duly constituted court of law. This is because the Constitution recognises Nigeria as a federation and has set out the powers of the federating states where disagreements and conflicts are to be settled through the judicial arm of government. Secondly, under section 4(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, it is only the National Assembly that has the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation or ...

Nd’Imo ndi nwem, I greet you all. It gives me great pleasure to address you today. A few days ago, precisely on Wednesday January 15, it pleased God Almighty for me to be sworn in as the duly elected governor of our dear state, following the historic judgment of the Supreme Court the previous day. I recall that on that event a large, enthusiastic crowd of our people thronged the airport and the swearing-in venue, Hero’s Square, to welcome me and to witness the ceremony. That was a clear indication that Ndi Imo joyfully welcomed my final emergence as the governor of the state. I recall too that an unprecedented large crowd of our people enthusiastically received me on November 15, 2018 when I clinched the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governorship candidate of the party. I was the front runner in the state all through electioneering. I deeply appreciate these uncommon show of support and love and I thank you profoundly. I deem it necessary at this po...

....... As IMHA Confirms Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.  Nine lawmakers of the Imo state House of Assembly, have defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, just as the Deputy Speaker of the House, Okey Onyekanma, resigned his position. Our correspondent in Owerri, was at the House of Assembly to capture the defection drama, as more lawmakers are  prepared to move to APC, soonest. The defection started around 3:30 pm when the Speaker of the House, read the letters of the decampees at the floor of the House. Apart from the announcement of the defectors, the Speaker announced the screening of the Attorney General of Imo State, Cyprian Akaolisa, as appointed by the governor, Sen Hope Uzodinma, who was also confirmed. The nominee, Barr. COC Akaolisa, whose name was earlier sent to the House by the Governor and read at plenary by Speaker Collins Chiji, was screened following the request by Uzodinma for speedy consideration of his nomination to ens...

Nigerian and United Kingdom (UK) investors have sealed commercial deals worth more than N153.4 billion at the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit held yesterday in London. Disclosing this in a statement made available to Vanguard, the British Deputy High Commission in Lagos, said that the summit, which was  designed to create lasting new partnerships that deliver more investment, jobs and growth, benefitting people and businesses across Nigeria and the UK, featured announcements of  commercial, trade and investment deals. Specifically, the N153.4 billion deals were announced by Savannah (for gas asset); Low Energy Designs (for street lighting); Trilliant (for smart metering for Abuja DisCo); and Tex ATC (for airport control room towers). On trade and investment support, the Department for International Development (DFID)  launched three  major programmes that will benefit African countries, including Nigeria. These are: N13.1 billion Investment Promot...

…Insists on reversal of Imo judgment The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has commended the Supreme Court for affirming the election of Governors Aminu Tambuwal, Bala Mohammed, Samuel Ortom and Ahmed Fintiri of Sokoto, Bauchi, Benue and Adamawa states respectively. In a statement signed by the party’s spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan on Tuesday, the PDP said governors truly won in their states adding that “any disposition to the contrary would have further diminished the hard-earned image of the highest court of the land as Nigerians know that the PDP won in those states.” The states read in part: “The PDP, however, insists that the judgment on the four states would not in any way sway it to abandon or even diminish the nationwide agitation for a judicial review and reversal of the miscarriage of justice by the court in its judgment on Imo state governorship election. “The party notes that by upholding the Sokoto, Bauchi, Benue and Adamawa elections, the Supreme Court has shown t...

FCMB, NSE, Nigerian stocks, Nigerian stock exchange, Presco, Cadbury, UACN led top gainers' chart as ASI gains 0.51%, Guinness, UBA, Access, two others led top gainers on Monday , Access, Zenith and GT Bank traded N3.42 billion shares on Tuesday , Ikeja Hotel, Cadbury, Union Bank top gainers’ chart on Wednesday , Nigeria Breweries, Unilever, Unilever lead gainers chart on Friday , Stock Market dipped N197.35 billion Equity value on Monday , Bulls return to the NSE as market cap hits N13 trillion mark, FCMB, Cornerstone Insurance lead gainers as bourse gain N94.2 billion , Law Union, Lafarge, Unity Bank lead gainers on Tuesday  Wealth NG ads The Nigerian Stock Exchange traded negatively on Tuesday as the all-share index dipped 0.83% to close at 29,462.76 index points while the bourse recorded trades in 272.84 million units of shares valued at N3.71 billion across 4,945 deals. Total equity market capitalisation closed at N15.176 trillion, 0.84% decline compared to N15.303 reco...

Dignitaries and models across  Nigeria and Africa will participate  during  Face of Arise Africa beauty Pageant. Speaking with the Founder of Arise Africa Network Mr . Ikechukwu Anyanwu who is also Publisher Arise Africa magazine, CEO of Face of Arise Africa, Sommies Ltd, Gcfn Consults, He affirmed the readiness of the group to deliver a world class event set to redefine  pageantry while attracting local and foreign investment into the Imo State tourism sector. The leadership blogger further explained that, ‘Face of Arise Africa beauty pageant is one that primarily focuses on harnessing the potential of women while also exploring our capacity to lead an army of achievers in addressing some of the challenges bedeviling the Nigerian society. The Face of Arise Africa beauty pageant is designed to raise confident, elegant and inspirational women who would use the power of their inner strength and character to provide solutions to some of the challenges  our ...

Access Bank has finally acquired 100% of Kenya’s Transnational Bank Plc and its 28 branches, as the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) gave its final nod. In October 2019 we gathered that Access Bank from the first quarter of 2020, would expand its footprint across Africa. The bank, which is the largest in Nigeria by customer-size, had embarked on this path seven months after merging with another Nigerian bank, Diamond Bank. When will takeover be effective? Nigerian Notch learnt that 100% of the shareholding of Transnational Bank will become that of Access Bank from February 1, 2020, after receiving approval on December 24, 2019, for the acquisition. In a statement, the Kenyan bank regulator, CBK, stated that, “Access Bank Plc’s business model mainly focuses on corporate and retail banking and its strong group support is expected to drive Transnational Bank Plc’s business growth for the benefit of the Kenyan economy and the banking sector.” Kenyan banking industry in inorganic pha...

Imo State Chapter of Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria, OMPAN congratulates the new Governor of Imo state, Senator Hope Uzodinma (Onwa) on his Supreme Court victory and swearing in as the duly elected Governor of Imo state on 15th January, 2020. They urged His Excellency to extend an olive branch to all governorship candidates he contested alongside with and those he had cases with at the tribunal up to the Supreme Court and carry everyone along in the scheme of things, noting that Imo belongs to all of us. We need to move Imo forward and all hands ought to be on deck so as to make Imo a prosperous state,the release narrated. Imo OMPAN prayed his Excellency all the best as he steers the affairs of the state and in the same spirit, we ask your Excellency to continue from the legacies and good works of past administrations of the state which acts as a foundation to the betterment of Imolites because government is a continuum. The release said that "We have ...

Pandemonium broke around Ekoro area, Abule-Egba, Lagos, as pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation exploded in the area. The fire erupted after some vandals allegedly ruptured the pipeline in a bid to scoop fuel. Though, the estimated value of the properties lost to the incident could not be ascertained but sources said several millions of naira have been lost already. Sources revealed that some residents in the area have abandoned their homes, leaving with some vital documents like credentials and property documents. Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr. Oluwafemi Okeosanyintolu, who confirmed the incident said, “There is a fire incident at the area. We are already coordinating.” Also, the Director-General, Lagos State Fire Service, Margaret Adeseye, said three fire service station had been deployed in the area to curtail the fire incident, adding that no casualty had been recorded. “Yes, a fire incident is ongoing. Thr...