Husband disappears as wife gives birth to twins

A man identified as Mr Martin Nwosu reportedly ran way as his wife was at the verge of delivering a set of twins in Abuja recently.

The whole scenario started when the man reportedly told the wife to abort the pregnancy, saying that he did not want to have more babies, but the woman, Mrs Gloria Johnson, refused to abort the pregnancy.

While speaking to Saturday Tribune, Mrs Johnson said that months into her pregnancy, Nwosu packed out of the house owing to his inability to live up to his financial responsibility, including failure to pay his rent.

According to her, “when I became pregnant, I told him, he was happy but a month after that, he changed. He used to give me N1,000, but he cut it down to N500, and I have a son for him already. Anytime I complained to him that the money was small, he would tell me that there was no work.

“In the long run, he stopped coming back to the house after work, and whenever I asked him why he didn’t come back to the house, he would tell me that he had no transport money.”

“We are owing the landlord, my husband said I should bring money, I told him that I didn’t have money because I fried akara and yam, he would become angry and said that I would get tired of the house, then he packed all his property and left the house.”

Johnson, who hails from Abak Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State, further said that when she was in labour, friends and neighbours of her husband tried getting across to him by phone to come and take her to the hospital, but that he refused to come, until one of the neighbours took her to Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja.

She said that Asokoro General Hospital refused to take her in because she didn’t register with them, and that she was taken to another private hospital where she was also rejected.

“When I was  in labour, people called him on phone to come and pick me, he refused, so our neighbours took me to Asokoro Hospital but I was not registered with them and they refused to accept me. Then they took me to another private hospital, where they rejected me again and we went to another hospital where I delivered.

“Throughout that period, I was calling my husband’s number but he switched off his phone. I delivered the twins by Cesarean Session (CS) and I lost a lot blood. I can’t feed them and I can’t pay the N150, 000 hospital bill,” she added.

Saturday Tribune gathered that a National Youth Service Corps member, identified as Onuoha Adenike signed an undertaken to take the woman out of the hospital to raise her hospital bill.
Source:Tribune

Nigerians Are Hungry – Sen Sani

Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Domestic debts, Senator Shehu Sani has said that it will be a blatant deceit for anyone to say that Nigerians are not suffering or going through hard times, stressing that the unadulterated truth is that “Nigerians are hungry”.

This is just as he reiterated that “change can only be change if it is truly a change that people can see, affirm and confirm to be so”.

Senator Sani who represents Kaduna Central in the red chamber who stated this when he received Journalists who paid him sallah homage in Kaduna, further stressed that, “Nigerians are suffering, there is so much hunger in the land, states are unable to pay salaries with a multiplying effect such that  Nigerians are unable to settle bills, pay fees for their children and meet family needs.

“Anyone who says Nigerians are not suffering is only deceiving themselves” he emphasised.
According to the human right activist, “it is time to remind those of us in position of leadership to deliver on our campaign promises, because in as much as we call on Nigerians to exercise patience, we must not take their patience forgranted.

“We must fundamentally restructure the economy that can address challenges of the 21st century, because if we don’t do it, we are likely to be swept away by the people of Nigeria.

“Violence in the Niger Delta must be proactively addressed, there must be solution to oil dependent economy which must be number one, two and three priority of the present administration.
He however called on Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his quest to reposition Nigeria, adding that challenges of the country requires collective efforts.

In the same vein, he called for harmonious relationship between the Executive arm of government and the legislative arm who all he said have the mandate of Nigerians to fulfil their 2015 campaign promises.

Senator Sani also averred that nigeria needs a sustainable government and political structure that can manage it’s resources effectively.

Towards this end, he advocated that the 36 states should be reduced to 6 with FCT as it’s capital, adding that, “no need for 36 federal permanent secretaries and Ministers, even the Senate and the Federal House of Representatives can be merged together instead of duplication of efforts” he said.

Source:Leadership

Imminent nationwide strike in petroleum sector: FG meets PENGASSAN, NUPENG today

Ahead a planned nationwide strike to commence today by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), the Federal Government has scheduled a crucial meeting with PENGASSAN and NUPENG today.

A two-paragraph statement signed by the Deputy Director (Press), Ministry of Labour and Employment, Prince Samuel Olowookere, on Wednesday said the Minister of Labour and Employment Sen. Chris Nwabueze Ngige and the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu will today hold a crucial meeting with the two unions to find a lasting solution to the problems in the petroleum industry.

“The  Minister of Labour and Employment Sen. Chris Nwabueze Ngige and the  Minister of State, Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu will tomorrow (today) hold a crucial meeting with Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to put a lasting solution to the lingering problems in the oil and gas sector.” Olowookere said.

The meeting is scheduled to hold at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Minister’s Board Room, 11th Floor, NNPC Towers, Abuja by 10:00am Prompt.
PENGASSAN had on Monday warned of an impending fuel scarcity in the country as it has ordered its members to leave their duty posts in all oil installations and offices throughout Nigeria as from Thursday, July 7, 2016,, beginning from 12.01hrs.

PENGASSAN has also ordered its four zones, which include Lagos Zone, Port Harcourt Zone, Warri Zone and Kaduna Zone to commence sensitisation of its members with details of the planned action as from last Monday, July 4, 2016.

The strike, according to a statement signed by the PENGASSAN Acting General Secretary, Comrade Lumumba Okugbawa, will affect all sub-sectors of the oil and gas industry, which include the upstream, the midstream and the downstream sectors.
Source:Tribune

Sallah holiday: Street traders return to Lagos highways

The spectacles on Lagos roads on Tuesday, were quite different from those of Monday, as street traders and hawkers, used the occasion of the Ramadan holiday to make brisk business on almost all the roads.

In almost all the places visited by Lagos Metro on Tuesday, street hawkers were seen meandering through the usually busy traffic, persuading road users to patronize their wares, with no law enforcement agents enforcing  the ban.

Hawkers were seen doing it discreetly, when Lagos Metro visited Yaba, despite the implications of their action.
Said the hawkers “We still operate here, albeit discreetly. We take to our heels whenever any KAI official is in sight,” they stated.

The same scenario played itself out in  Ijaye, Kollington Bus Stop, Mosalasi and Abucon areas in Alimosho Local Government Council Area of the state. Traders were seen in these places moving freely around, with their wares, while beseeching customers to patronise.

Though many engaged in the usual trading, it was obvious that they were not relaxed in carrying out their business.
Source:Tribune

CBN takes over Skye Bank

•Appoints new board, mgt      
…Says bank not in distress
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday appointed a new board and management for Skye Bank Plc after it failed to sustain key liquidity and capital adequacy ratios.

The Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, at a press briefing at its head office annex in Lagos, said the apex bank appointed new board and management to take over the affairs of the bank following the resignation of the Chairman, Chief Tunde Ayeni, and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Timothy Ogunatayo.

It was also revealed that several key management staff of the bank had resigned in anticipation of the planned dissolution of the board and management by CBN, which has discreetly been working to remove directors of some commercial banks that have demonstrated a level of distress in the last few months.

Skye Bank had been in talks with shareholders and new investors to raise N30 billion ($150 million), but suspended plans for a rights issue last year due to weak market conditions.
Emefiele said the bank’s outgoing board and management had consistently failed to turn its fortunes despite regular warnings from the CBN.

In place of the outgoing board and management, Emefiele said the CBN has appointed Alhaji Mohamad K. Ahmad as the new Chairman, while Mr. Tokunbo Abiru is the new MD/CEO.
The governor explained that CBN had to remove all the non-executive directors and two longest-serving directors of Skye Bank and appointed new non Executive and Executive Directors and EDs in their place.

“The most important issues in banks are Non Performing Loans (NPL), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and liquidity situation. What we have since late 2014 to 2016 is that the prudential and adequacy ratio has been weakening. We thought it is not right for us to allow this to continue to the point that it gets irreversible.

That is why we took this step to nip it in the bud. It has nothing to do with being in distress. We do not want the liquidity and adequacy ratio to worsen to the point that depositors’ fund gets into risk,” he explained.

The CBN boss urged shareholders and customers of the bank to remain calm, assuring that the bank was  not in distress.
“I maintain that Skye Bank is not in distress. We have only taken this unavoidable decision to ensure that depositors’ funds are not eroded,” he said.

He hinted that the overall banking industry was sound, despite weaknesses in the economy but that none of Nigeria’s 21 commercial lenders were in distress.

“The strategic health of the banking industry remains sound and where there is need to inform the general public about the strategic health of the banks, we will do it. I want to assure everybody that the strategic health of the industry is still good.

“No doubt, as a result of the global shock, there is certain weakening in certain ratios, then those ratios have not weakened to the point where we can say the industry is distressed. We are appealing to all depositors to be calm. There is no need to leave an impression that any bank is distressed. We at the CBN and NDIC have held discussions and I want to assure you that no deposit is at risk.

“Customers should continue to do their businesses the way they have been conducting in all the banks. No depositors will lose their money. SEC and other concerned regulators have been informed of this development,” Emefiele said.

Skye Bank evolved from the merger of five legacy institutions including Prudent Bank Plc, EIB International Plc, Bond Bank Limited, Reliance Bank Limited and Co-operative Bank Plc.
Recall that on October 5, 2014, AMCON announced Skye Bank Plc as the preferred bidder for Mainstreet Bank Limited with N126 billion. Mainstreet Bank, formerly Afribank, was adjudged to possess N261 billion assets in 2012 and N29.8 billion shareholders’ fund as at 2011.

AMCON had selected Skye Bank for the acquisition of all its interests in Mainstreet Bank, representing the entire capital of the bridge bank after a rigorous bidding exercise that spanned five months and involving over 20 bidders.

The bank said it intended to leverage its wealth of experience from the successful integration of the five legacy banks to drive efficiency, increase market share and ultimately ramp up stakeholder value from the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank.

According to the lender, the acquisition will avail it of many benefits, including cost leadership, business optimisation and greater ability to offer business convenience to its retail and commercial customers, with a combined branch network of over 450 across all the states of the federation.

Skye Bank, a leading tier two bank, was among the eight banks designated as Systemically Important Banks in 2014, which reflected its industry leadership, strong market share, diverse location spread and strong brand equity.

Within four days of the announcement of Skye Bank as the preferred bidder by AMCON, the bank paid the mandatory 20 per cent deposit of the bid price well ahead of the October 9, 2014 deadline, the same day it signed the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA).

And in a display of capacity and commitment to see the deal through, the bank again, on October 31, 2014 paid the 80 per cent balance to complete the takeover of Mainstreet Bank ahead of the transaction deadline.
Source:Daily Sun