Uroye lauds Okowa on road construction

The former transition committee chairman of Warri South Local Government Area, Delta State, and chairman, Road Committee of Atori Layout, Tankers Park Road Ekpan, Mr Augustine Uroye, has commended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for responding quickly to the plight of people leaving within and outside the layout by constructing the one kilometer road with concrete drainages at both sides.

He said: “The road was constructed within the first 80 days of his administration. It is a wonder to the people living in the area, because in the last five years, we have been suffering from the bad state of the road and all hope was lost especially with the bad economy of the state as we never expected that the road would be repaired so soon.”

Shell Graduate Programme 2015

Shell Graduate Programme 2015

At Shell, we’re developing all kinds of ideas to help meet the growing demand for energy. And we’re looking for ambitious students and graduates to help us do more.

Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies, employing approximately 87,000 people and operating in more than 70 countries and territories. Our aim is to meet the energy needs of society in ways that are economically, socially and environmentally viable, now and in the future. Our focus on innovation and technology has made us a leading manufacturer, distributor andMARKETER of refined petroleum products and has us ranked amongst the top 50 most innovative companies in the world.

We are breaking new grounds in Africa and are looking for top talents who have expressed capacity, achievement and strong relationship skills to deliver on the global energy challenge.

Shell's core values are Honesty, Integrity and Respect in all its operations, is an equal opportunity employer and an advocate for diversity and inclusiveness.

Position: Shell Graduate Programme 2015

The Shell Graduate Programme is a development framework that enables new graduates to become fully independent Shell professionals in 2-5 years. At Shell, new graduates have access to an unparalleled range of roles and world-class training and development opportunities, including:

Leadership skills development

Networking, Coaching and Mentoring relationships

Learning curriculum (training, e-learning modules, accreditation) 

Who we’re looking for:

Workforce Graduate Trainee Recruitment 2015 / 2016

Workforce Graduate Trainee recruitment 2015 / 2016

Our client is an institution in the Financial Services Sector that is driven by operational excellence, advanced technology, innovation and professionalism.

Their continuous quest to revamp the financial services in Nigeria especially for small and medium businesses has led to the creation of career opportunities for young graduates with business acumen to fill the entry level roles that exist within the institution.

Workforce Group has been given the mandate to source for candidates in the North, South South, Mid-West, South East and South West regions of the country who meet the following selection criteria;

Bayelsa: The dialectics of defections

IT is election season in Bayelsa State. The cradle of the Ijaw nation and glory of all lands is astir. Election for the office of the Governor is due on December 5, 2015 with the incumbent Mr. Seriake Dickson staking an almost unassailable and unprecedented performance record for re-election for a second term of office while his political opponents are feebly realigning and awkwardly labouring to build a coalition of forces to oust the incumbent from the Creek Haven, the State’s coveted seat of power.

Some months ago , there have been spate of defections, the most notable being that of high ranking party members from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC). Among the defectors are, Senator Heneiken Lopokri, Chief Clever Ikisikpo, former senator representing Bayelsa East Constituency, Dr. Taria Tebepah, erstwhile chairman of NNDC, former acting governors of Bayelsa State, Hon. Nestor Ibinabo and Werinipre Seibarugu and Chief Timi Alaibe, former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC), amongst others.

A pedestrian observer of Bayelsa politics may be tempted to imagine that Governor Dickson’s chance of re-election for a second term is doomed with the realignment of opposition forces, most of whom are without doubt political heavy weights and veritable stakeholders in the Bayelsa Project and the larger Ijaw national interest.

However, there is the need to properly discern the motives and motivations of these defectors as it will help us deconstruct their political objectives and enable the dispassionate observer of the Bayelsa political scene to come to terms with altruism of their mission and the futility of their mission which can best be described as dead on arrival.

A common thread that runs through the defectors is that they are associates and allies of Chief Timipre Silva, the former governor of the state who was controversially removed from office and whose tenure as a governor ordinary reminds the average Bayelsan of its wasted years and lost opportunities.

Majority of the defectors are people who came into prominence between 2007 and 2011 when Sylva was governor as such beneficiaries of his freewheeling largesse with public funds. They are therefore nostalgically yearning to latch on to the fortunes of their erstwhile benefactor as he bids to relaunch himself to relevance. They constitute a curious bunch of blind loyalists and political journey men who at best have little or no electoral value.

They won elections into the State and National Assemblies during Sylva’s tenure and bluntly refused to support Dickson’s candidature in the run up to the 2012 governorship elections. Their wrong-headed support for Sylva eventually turned out to be a mismatch to Dickson’s overwhelming coalition of goodwill which comprises of the then President Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP machinery, party stalwarts and most importantly the good people and masses of Bayelsa who all saw in Dickson, the epitome of effective and compassionate leader the state rightly deserves.

Against these odds, Dickson coasted home to victory in the 2012 governorship elections and set out from day one to fulfil his covenant with Bayelsans by embarking on unprecedented developmental strides spanning across human capital development, building of critical infrastructure, initiation of welfare programmes, restoration of trust and ethical governance and winning the peace across the streets and creeks of the state and the larger Niger Delta region in general.

The major hallmark of Dickson’s governance is people-centred leadership which placed the interest of the masses at the heart of governance. It is critical to note that Dickson’s first term in office has been almost crises free, a feat which is a rarity in the previous era of governance and when viewed in the particular context of the combustive nature of the politics of Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta area where there are always myriads of interests to contend with.

Breaking News: Supreme Court halts Saraki’s trial at CCT

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA – The Supreme Court, this morning, stayed further hearing on the 13-count criminal charge pending against ‎the Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

The apex court, in a ruling today, directed the Justice Danladi Umar-led tribunal to suspend the trial to enable it to hear and determine the substantive appeal that Saraki lodged before it.

This was even as the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, entered ‎an undertaking before the apex court that “no unusual step will be taken by the federal government”, in relation to the matter.

In their ruling, a five-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court ‎led by Justices John Fabiyi, held: “It is imperative to state that all the parties, including the Code of Conduct Tribunal, should tarry a while to enable this court to determine the appeal before it.

File: Bukola Saraki in Court: Senate President Bukola Saraki at Code of Conduct Tribunal shortly after his lawyers walkout of the Court during court sitting in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

“In effect, further proceeding at the CCT should be stayed pending the hearing of the appeal. Hearing date will be communicated to all the parties”, Justice Fabiyi ruled.

All the other members of the apex court panel also concurred with ‎the lead ruling.

Saraki is in his appeal marked SC/852/2015, praying the apex court to invoke its powers and quash the 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the federal government.

Pro-Biafra protests: S-East Govs, Ohaneze’s meeting postponed

Biafra protesters

By Chidi Nkwopara, OWERRI.

Baring any unforeseen circumstance, the planned meeting of the South East governors, the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo and other stakeholders, will now hold next Tuesday, in Enugu.

According to a press statement signed by Governor Rochas Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Mr. Samuel Onwuemeodo, the meeting which was initially slated for Owerri, has been moved to Enugu, for strategic reasons.

“The expected meeting of the governors of the South-East states, the leadership of Ohaneze and other stakeholders, initially slated for this weekend in Owerri, at the instance of Governor Rochas Okorocha, to discuss the continued pro-Biafra protests across the South-East states and other neighbouring states, has been shifted to Tuesday, November 17, 2015”, Onwuemeodo said.

Okorocha’s image maker also explained that “the venue of the meeting has also been moved from Owerri to Enugu, which has been the traditional headquarters of the South-East states”.

Giving the reason for the postponement, Onwuemeodo said it was informed by the need for all those expected at the meeting to be in attendance.

“The South-East governors, Ohaneze leadership and others who will be at the meeting will deliberate on the pro-Biafra protests that had gained momentum in recent time and for the governors and other leaders to do what they are expected to do in the circumstance”, the CPS said.

FIFA approves five presidential candidates

Issa Hayatou, Acting FIFA President

FIFA on Thursday approved five candidates to stand in February’s vote to replace Sepp Blatter as president of world football’s governing body, but Michel Platini has not yet made the list.

The five who met the qualifications following a series of integrity tests were: Prince Ali Al Hussein, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino and Tokyo Sexwale, a FIFA statement said.

The candidacy of Platini, the suspended head of European football who had been the favourite to succeed Blatter, will be examined once his 90-day suspension byFIFA’s ethics committee is over.

The only candidate to be disqualified after receiving provisional approval wasMusa Bility, the head of the Liberian football association.

“The Ad-hoc Electoral Committee did not admit the candidature of Musa Hassan Bility, in view of the content of the integrity check report relating to him,” the statement said.

FIFA said it had explained the reasons for disqualification privately to Bility, but it would not make the specifics public.

The race is thought to be wide open given Platini’s potential ethics violations, including a probe over a murky $2 million payment he received from FIFA in 2011.

Ministerial portfolios: So long, too long

By Chioma Gabriel

After a long wait, President Muhammadu Buhari finally assigned portfolios to 36 ministers who were, yesterday, sworn in, bringing to an end 166 days of President Buhari as sole administrator of the Nigerian state.

Buhari, who has hyped his commitment to ending corruption, slashed the number of ministries from 36 to 24, making some nominees only junior ministers.

He also took charge of the Petroleum ministry.

The assignment of portfolios to ministers was received with mixed feelings by Nigerians across social and political divides. Many expressed dismay that the President is taking charge of the petroleum ministry when erstwhile Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Managing Director, Ibe Kachikwu, could have handled the ministry.

President Buhari was perceived to have breached constitutional provisions that demanded that a minister of the Federal Republic should pass through senatorial screening especially when he already had his hands full as a president.

President Muhammadu Buhari flanked by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Water Resources Minister, Engr. Suleiman Adamu (5r) while other Members of Council watched in a group photograph shortly after the swear-in ceremony of the newly composed Federal Executive Council at the Aso Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida 11/11/2015

According to a critic: “It is wrong for the President to appoint himself Petroleum minister. What interest has the President in the petroleum ministry which he thinks none of the ministers would achieve? The duties of the President are too challenging to be combined with a ministerial position. He came to power on a message and must live on it.”

The minister with the most challenging responsibility is perhaps Kemi Adeosun, a former investment banker and accountant who recently served as finance commissioner in Ogun State, and just yesterday emerged Finance Minister. She now has the task of reflating an economy whose fortunes are nose-diving, chiefly as a result of a free-fall in oil prices.

From economic indices, Nigeria’s GDP growth is currently running at just 2.35 per cent, while inflation is creeping towards 10 per cent and the Naira, the national currency is weak.

Adeosun has the responsibility to perfect all that concerns the economy.

And as the war against terrorism rages with a casualty of not fewer than 17,000 dead and at least 2.5 million homeless, retired Brigadier-General Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali was assigned the Defence portfolio and is expected to end the war against terror by December as the President ordered.

Another big challenge was the appointment of former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, as the Power, Works and Housing minister while the former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, got the Transportation ministry.

The combination of three porfolios of Power, Works and Housing is perceived as being too much for one minister to handle, and as such not in the interest of the nation as national challenges in the three sectors are too enormous to be supervised by one minister.

Deputy Majority Leader of Abia State House of Assembly, Chief Solomon Akpulonu faulted the merger of the Power, Works and Housing ministries stating that the challenges facing each of the ministries are too enormous to be supervised by a minister and urged the President to reconsider his decision.

According to him, “when you look at the new Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, you will observe that these are critical sectors which are expected to drive the engine of growth of our economy. You talk of power, it keeps fluctuating. What do we say about the works sector where all the roads are dilapidated? It is the same with the Housing sector. I think the President made a mistake to have merged these hitherto separate ministries and now assigned only a minister to oversee it.

“He should reconsider the decision by assigning a minister of state to the ministry. Otherwise, Babatunde Fashola would need to be superhuman to achieve result in this new ministry. Buhari must be careful not to create another problem while trying to save cost.”

Fashola and Amaechi are both political heavyweights in Buhari’s governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party where Amaechi served as Buhari’s campaign manager during the last general elections .

Fashola is expected to re-enact his magic success in Lagos to the national stage.

Will he be able to do that?

The good thing though about assigning of portfolios to ministers is what the lack of their assignment has caused the nation. The lack of ministers since May had left Nigeria in political limbo and created uncertainty in the business world.

An uncertain investment climate and delayed spending decisions had enveloped Nigerian economy as economic agents await government clarity.

Before now, President Buhari was running Nigeria with just permanent secretaries, many of whom he fired Tuesday. The situation changed with yesterday’s assignment of portfolios to ministers who are made up of technocrats and political appointees from each of Nigeria’s 36 states.

With this new development, it is expected that a clearer picture would emerge of President Buhari’s government direction.