NIGERIAN NOTCH

BY RAYMOND OZOJI, Awka  The Federal Cooperative College Oji River Enugu State has proven herself to be a credible alternative as well as viable option as the 2023/2024 academic session shows that more Nigerians subscribed to the institution.  The College admission officer Hon. Obinna Ezeano, who spoke with this journalist, said that the 2023/2024 academic year was a quantum leap from other years as all the departments were in very high demand.  Ezeano recalled that in previous years the Cooperative Economics and Management Department (CEM) had more patronage but the current academic year, according to him, has shown that the Federal Cooperative College Oji River has endeared herself to Nigerians as other departments in the College had more intakes even as he said that admission was still ongoing.  The admission officer maintained that from the outcome of the current academic year, many people have realised the urgent need to take advantage of the academic opportuniti...

The Julius Abure led Labour Party(LP) has returned him and about 7 others to the Nat Working Committee.  14 others NWC members we're dropped -either for non-performance or having served out the allowable number of years as per the party's constitution.  One such officer Chief Innocent Sunday Okeke(Agumba), the immediate past  Asst Nat chairman (South East) stepped down for having served out the allowable 2 terms.  Also the former national Organizing Sec, chief Clement Ojukwu is now the deputy Nat Chairman. The party 2023 presidential candidate, HE Peter Obi, and Sen Victor Umeh and Sen Tony Nwoye all stayed away from the convention.  The Abia state governor Alex Otti sent his deputy.  No one was forthcoming over why the key party members shunned the convention.

.....Suit fixed for April 4 From Chuks Collins, Awka March 27,2024 The Alh Lamidi Apapa faction of the Labour Party (LP) has described the ongoing national convention  of the party today at the Grand Seasons Hotels, Nnewi, Anambra State as a sham.  According to the Anambra State faction of the party, Peter Okoye, "this is not a Convention, okay.  "We are on top of the matter.  "It's pure illegal.  "There was no Ward Congress, no Local Government Congresses ,no State Congress, and now who and who elected the delegates that is Electing the NWC members ? "The NLC is not there, TUC is not there ,,the owners of the party and members of the NEC and BOT members we're not there too.", the state factional chairman noted.  According to Okoye, "The matter is coming up on 4th of April 2024 for hearing."

The ongoing National Convention of the Labour Party in Nnewi Anambra state has witnessed a disturbing dimension by barring members of the media from entering the venue of the event, a move which some members of the public see as unbecoming of a National Party.  Some hoodlums who wanted to cause distress to the ongoing convention have been moved out of the venue. But our sources have it that they were boys hired to paste posters of a 1 million march proposed event for the party. But unfortunately they were arrested and tagged hoodlums The labour party recently has been in crisis following a disturbing power tussle over who becomes the national chairman of the party, a move many political watchers see as discouraging. 

The naira yesterday appreciated to N1,350 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,430 per dollar on Monday. Similarly, the naira yesterday appreciated to N1,382.95 per dollar in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM). Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,382.95 per dollar from N1,408.04 per dollar on Monday, indicating N25.09 appreciation for the naira. Consequently, the margin between the parallel market rate and NAFEM widened to N32.95 per dollar from N21.96 per dollar on Monday. Over the past month, the Nigerian naira has surged by 18.28 percent to reach N1,408.04 on Monday, up from its low of N1,665.50 recorded on February 23, 2024, as per data compiled from the FMDQ Securities Exchange. The recent appreciation of the naira against the dollar can be attributed to foreign exchange reforms implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Key reforms include the consolidation of exchange rate windows, liberalization of the F...

By Ifeanyi Onyekwelu After reading a piece by the press secretary of the Anambra State Governor, Mr Charles Aburime, with the above title, my first inclination was to roll on the floor with laughter for it is said that those that live in glass houses should not throw stones. By his very response, Aburime showed his poor knowledge of history and I won't even waste time arguing with him. I will use just three examples to expose his lies, with one of them vindicating Mr Valentine Ozigbo's assertion that Gov Chukwuma Soludo has not done as well in the last 2 years. Aburime described Ozigbo as a political prostitute for joining Labour Party from the People's Democratic Party, PDP. Beautiful. But isn't it amazing that a whole Press Secretary is unaware that his principal, Soludo, has done some long jumps that would have won him gold at the just concluded All Africa Games? Has he forgotten how Soludo first joined the PDP to contest against Peter Obi in 2010 but los...

Youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has hailed the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government for the release of the schoolchildren abducted by bandits in Kaduna State. The group was also full of praise for the Tinubu administration over the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approval of a 2 per cent youth quota and 30 per cent representation of young people in all government appointments.  It could be recalled that the pupils, who were freed in Zamfara State, arrived in Kaduna on Monday amid jubilation by their parents and guardians.  The federal government has also come out to say that no ransom was paid for their freedom.  In a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike described the efforts of the government and the security agencies as historical.  Okwu said the swift action taken by the government was respo...

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has hiked the benchmark interest rate by 200 basis points to 24.75 percent.  This is according to a Tuesday communique by the CBN governor Yemi Cardoso after the second MPC meeting of his tenure in Abuja. The new interest rate is a jump from the 22.75 percent announced by the MPC about a month ago and the second rate hike by the current committee. Cardoso announced the retention of the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of deposit money banks at 45 percent. However, the MPC adjusted the CRR of merchant banks from 10 percent to 14 percent. The committee also retained the liquidity ratio at 30 percent. #CBNMPC raises MPR by 200bps to 24.75% from 22.75% pic.twitter.com/hJCD8douCB — Central Bank of Nigeria (@cenbank) March 26, 2024 “The considerations of the committee at this meeting focused on the current inflationary pressures and the need to anchor inflation expectations as well as ensure sustained exchange s...

Emeka Rollas, the President of the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria, AGN, has insisted that Nollywood actor, Zack Orji, is not dead. This follows rumours on social media on Tuesday morning. In an Instagram post less than an hour ago, Rollas wrote: “Mr Zack Orji is alive. This comes only a few days after another veteran actor, Amaechi Muonagor, passed away due to kidney failure.

Nigeria's delegation to the on-going 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), led by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has sought the collaboration of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the area of Digital and Marine economies. Addressing the WTO media, shortly after a courtesy visit to the Director General of the WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, in her office in Geneva,  Switzerland, on Monday, Senator Akpabio said, the delegation were at the WTO on a courtesy call and to look for areas of collaboration with the organisation in the various sectors of the economy for the overall benefit of Nigerians.  According to him, " we used our attendance at the IPU to pay courtesy visit to one of Nigeria's very costly export to the world, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala; the Director General of the WTO. We came to thank her for the job she is doing for the world and thank her staff for supporting and standing by her to succeed. We, in Nigeria are very pro...