Nigeria's Army Chief spends the night in former Boko Haram fortress (Premium Times)

A night with Nigeria’s Chief of Army in Gamboru

The border town of Gamboru, a town in North-Eastern Nigeria, has witnessed several attacks by Boko Haram insurgents. Apart from attacking the village and sending residents fleeing to nearby communities including Fotokol in Cameroon, Boko Haram also occupied Gamboru and for about a year lorded over the area.

However on Wednesday, one week after Nigerian soldiers recaptured the town after fierce battles with the insurgents, the Nigerian Army chief, Tukur Buratai, vowed the town would never fall to insurgents again. In an unprecedented move, the army chief not only visited Gamboru to fraternise with soldiers, he slept in the quiet town.

In a display of strength, Mr. Buratai, a Lieutenant General, also ordered the hoisting of Nigeria’s flag that was a taboo during the Boko Haram conquest.
For anyone that saw what the terrorists made of the once bubbling and economically vibrant Gamboru, having a army chief pass a night there would be one of the craziest things a top soldier would consider doing.

The Banker who married a Danfo Driver (A Love Story)

I was an active member of my students union in my days in UNIBEN, from 1988 to 1992, I took a Bsc Economics & statistics degree and then ended up in Elf Petroleum on Kofo Abayomi, Lagos where I worked in the Information Systems and Telecommunications department. This was my invite into postgraduate in Computer Science, which I excelled in with honours.

My good fortune changed in 1994 when my contract was not renewed because Elf Was facing an uncertain future in Nigeria.

I was just 25 years old and just when I started thinking my life was settling into a nice rhythm, it was punctuated by this unfortunate event. Days turned into miserable months as I couldn’t secure another job. Eventually, I lost my flat and had to move in with a friend.

At the time, I had become a committed Christian worshiping in Winners Chapel, Raji Oba, Lagos. I learnt from Bishop Oyedepo that there’s is no food for the lazy so I secured N190,000 loan and got an L 300 Mitsubishi bus (danfo).

"I paid N10,000 and exchaged my Q10 for B-29 soap :(" Computer Village Stories

I had been usiing my Blackberry Bold 5. I think. One
of those camera phones and it was clear that The Lord
wanted me to upgrade. A new year beckoned and I wanted to
enter it with one of those phones that used stylus and were
y’know big. So, ladies and gentlemen, I proceeded to proceed to
Computer Village to make my dream a reality. I had with me
my old phone and about N10, 000. The plan of course was to
do a swap, add some cash and get the precious Q10. Gosh, I
was so excited.

That’s how I got there with my own two legs and saw those
guys that sell phones on the street. Asked one if he had the
phone o, he said yes. Can’t remember his name sha, but he sha
showed me the Q10. I played with it, even made a demo call
and all to be sure it worked. Baba took me off the street saying,
“We can’t do business here o, before these agberos will ask you
to settle them”. So, he took me to a shed. All this while, he
wrapped the Q10 in a white handkerchief saying he didn’t
want it to scratch and that’s how he keeps his phones. Me that I
wasn’t even paying attention. I was just excited ‘cos my level
was about to change. Nigga just give me phone, abeg.

Buhari appoints Popular NA Gate Climber Suleiman A. Kawu as SSA on National Assembly Matters (House of Reps)

PRESIDENT BUHARI APPOINTS SGF, CHIEF OF STAFF, OTHERS

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the following appointments:

Engr. Babachir David Lawal - Secretary to the Government of the Federation
Alhaji Abba Kyari - Chief of Staff to the President
Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd.) - Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service
Mr. Kure Martin Abeshi - Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service
Senator Ita S.J. Enang - SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate)
Hon. Suleiman A. Kawu - SSA to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives)

The appointments are with effect from today, August 27, 2015.

Fashola spent N139 billion on 2 boreholes - LASG (as Pigs refuse to leave Fashola)

Another accusation against former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola. According to a report byPunch, the Lagos State Government is accusing Fashola of spending N139million on the drilling of two boreholes at the Lagos House, Ikeja. Report below...

The project was completed by Deux Projects Limited according to a report published by the state government. The report, which was part of the awarded contracts by the Lagos State Tenders Board in 2013, was seen on the website of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency.

In the same year, N640m was spent by the Fashola administration for the reconstruction of a car park and other associated works at the Lagos House, Marina. The report stated that the N640m contract was given to Julius Berger Plc as part of phase two of the reconstruction of Lagos House where Fashola lived during his eight years in government.

In the same year, N300m was spent on the relocation of cables belonging to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. The contract was awarded to Deux Projects Limited.

According to the report, the former governor also spent N175m to replace the railings of a pedestrian bridge on Carter Bridge from Ido to Idumota with concrete railings. The contract was awarded to A Abicon Engineering Limited.

According to the report, N220m was spent on the facility management of the Lagos State University College of Medicine. The contract was awarded to Deux Projects Limited.

The former governor, according to the report, spent N619m on surface repair on Ajara-Erekiti-Iragon-Ikoga Road in Badagry Local Government.

According to the report, Fashola spent N1.2bn on the construction of an unidentified multi-storey building in Onikan, Lagos.

The former governor was also said to have spent N1.6bn on the construction of a 48-bedroom hotel at Lagos State VIP Chalets, Badagry.

About N510m was spent on the remodelling and equipping of the official residence of the state’s Chief Judge at 4 Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos, according to the report.

About N165m was spent on the construction of an 18-classroom block at Ajara Senior Grammar School, Ajara Badagry. The same amount was also spent on an 18-block classroom at Community Senior/Junior Secondary School, Bayeku, Ikorodu.

Source: Punch

How 120 passengers on Aero Flight escaped death

Over 120 passengers escaped the grasp of death when an Aero Contractors Airline Flight 180 from Lagos to Kaduna developed technical fault mid-air on Friday, June 5.

According to reports, 20 minutes after it departed the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude.

This forced the aircraft to wobble continuously in the air for over an hour before it was eventually diverted to Abuja.

Director, Muslim Rights Concern, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, who was aboard, revealed that the flight took off from Lagos at exactly 6.30pm.

#FuelScarcity may come back. FG's resolution with Marketers yesterday explains why...

So you heard the FG and MOMAN (Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria) had an agreement at their meeting yesterday which resulted in 'suspending' the strike and asking marketers to lift fuel and distribute across the nation within 6 hours from the close of the meeting or have depots sealed off.

So is everything sorted out? No.

What do the marketers want?

They want their subsidy debts paid and the foreign exchange increase(dollar)/bank interests/charges to be covered by this government before its tenure expires as the banks have deducted debts owed from the initial money the FG paid them, hence, they cannot pay transporters. Who wants to negotiating on subsidy with Buhari who says he doesn't know what subsidy means?

What does the FG want?

Okonjo-Iweala, coordinating minister of the economy says the N159 billion of marketer's claim is fraudulent, and she will not pay such, and the marketers are sabotaging the economy.

Way Forward?

The senate committee came to a decision which both parties agreed to. The committee set up by the FG to verify marketer's claims must finish its job and submit its report before the end of this government's tenure (which I think is unlikely) or the FG should state in its handover note to Buhari's government that the FG is in the process of negotiating with marketers, and they should be paid their balance.

Conclusion.

If the FG's committee's report does not favour the marketers or Buhari decides to do his own verification of the marketers claims and goes ahead to remove subsidy, the horrible drama we have witnessed in the past few days may likely re-occur.

Hotels.ng raises N250 million!!!

Firstly, congrats to Mark Essien and team. A small scrappy startup has made a massive step forward with yesterday’s announcement of his Series A round. Getting to this point has not been easy. Although Mark is arguably one of the most impressive Nigerian technology entrepreneurs, the funding environment over the last few years has been completely unforgiving. Even to one of our brightest stars. 

Mark would’ve been successful regardless. From when we first connected I knew there was something potentially amazing happening. 

I have heard mentioned how funding events should not be celebrated. I disagree. Everyone who has actually been through one understands the emotional energy expelled, just getting the deal closed. Even now after several years, Bastian and I still find the process challenging. In the West, most startups don’t get funded. In Africa that margin is slimmer. My belief (and hope) is that this changes. With Omidyar and EchoVC stepping in to fill the next stage ($500-2m), my hope is that others follow suit. Bastian has been meeting with prospective funders for years. But rarely do they pull the trigger. We welcome and thank Omidyar and EchoVC for taking a lead in the next generation of internet companies in Nigeria. 

From a Spark perspective, this is the first great validator to our portfolio. As the funding environment dried up over the last few years, some of the earlier bets we have made back in 2013 were significantly undervalued (or not valued at all). From Hotels to ToLet to Drinks, they have all been able to fight their way to cash flow positivity and reach a degree of traction without burning through tons of capital. Others have succumbed to execution risk and a lack of follow-on capital. This is the nature of the game. Some you win, some you lose. Over my 11 years as an entrepreneur, I have witnessed more failure than success. But on average, things are good. On paper, the investment in Hotels.ng has gone up x5. This is a first step. We expect this to rise considerably over the next few years. Yet, at the end of the day, we are happy to be part of the journey. 

We are children of the internet. We belong to the future. Only the young, fearless and ambitious can capture the value around us in Nigeria and Africa. Because we view the world from a different perspective. Back in Jan 2012, I felt that way. Today it’s exactly the same. We need to solve the big challenges around us. If we do, then we can collectively make a dent in the universe. 

Source: Jason's Blog http://www.jason.com.ng/post/119927763800/hotels-ng-raises-1-2m

Soldiers Hijack Capital Oil, Buy Petrol in Drums [Punch/Linda]

CEO of Capital Oil, Ifeanyi Ubah made an announcement on Sunday that his company would release 13 million liters of fuel to help out with the fuel scarcity situation in the country since then officials of the Nigerian Army have taken over the Ojodu Berger outlet of Capital Oil, buying petroleum products in drums, after they had scared away thousands of prospective consumers.

The armed personnel came pretending to maintain peace and order, but they soon abandoned their primary responsibility and started buying fuel in drums.

They shoved, maltreated and chased off those who were on queue to tend to themselves.

The military officials who were fully dressed had taken over the only two pumps that dispensed the Premium Motor Spirit.

There was an unregistered white Isuzu truck the soldiers had been using for the ‘deal’ and this truck had visited the filling station for the fourth time and each time bought fuel.

The fourth truck was loaded at 8:50pm on Monday night.

The vehicle, on each visit, left with at least 14 drums and dozens of gallons filled with fuel.

Helpless consumers, some of who slept at the filling station, suspected the soldiers were buying fuel to sell to sell in Lagos black market.

Those who complained about what was going on were severely beaten

By 9pm on Monday, not more than a hundred cars left the station with fuel.

Source: Punch