Arewa youths write FG

• Plead for Igbo to have Biafra

By Adetutu Folasade-Koyi & Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

A new twist emerged in the October 1, 2017 quit notice handed down to Igbo living in the North, yesterday, as Arewa youths pleaded with the Federal Government to arrange a plebiscite, which would allow the South-east have Biafra Republic.

Leaders of Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network, in a letter dated June 19, 2017 and signed by Shettima Yerima, Joshua Viashman, Aminu Adam, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman and Nastura Ashir Sharif, and addressed to Acting President Yemi osinbajo, said Federal Government should allow a peaceful process that would excise the South-east from the federation.

“While we do not see this clamour for Biafra as an issue over which a single drop of blood should be shed,  we, at the same time, insist that the Igbo be allowed to have their Biafra and for them to vacate our land peacefully so that our dear country Nigeria could finally enjoy lasting peace and stability,” the coalition said.

The letter read further:

“Concerned by the fact that the Biafrans have confessed to arming themselves for a violent breakup,  we feel that it is risky for the rest of the country, particularly the North, to go on pretending that it is safe for us to cohabitate with the Igbo given how deeply they are entrenched in our societies.

“And, since evidently, the Igbo have not been sufficiently humbled by their self-imposed bloody civil violence of 1966, we are strongly concerned that nothing short of granting their Biafran dream will suffice.

“And, since the Igbo have virtually infiltrated every nook and cranny of Northern Nigeria where they have been received with open arms, as fellow compatriots, we strongly believe that the region is no longer safe and secure in the light of the unfolding threats and the fact that for a long time, the Igbo have gone to extraordinary length to ensure that in their domain in the South East, northerners and westerners are as much as possible disenfranchised from owning any businesses whereas, in Kano alone,  they own not less than 100,000 shops across all the business districts.

“That, since the younger generation of Nigerians makes up for more than 60 percent of the nation’s population, it is our hope that they inherit this country in better shape so that they can build a much better future for themselves and their offspring in an atmosphere that is devoid of anarchy, hate, suspicion and  negativity that characterise the polarised, and clearly irreconcilliable differences forced on us by the Biafran Igbo.

“To make a bad situation even worse, their leaders have continued to show support for this treacherous cause and, thus, giving credence to our concern that what they say against us is what they truly mean and intend – ‘kill everyone in the zoo’ (North).”

The Arewa youths said they could not afford to discard the threat as mere mischief as the utterances that caused the Rwandan genocide was still fresh in the mind.

The youths said while they are not waging war or calling anyone to violence, they averred they were, also, not willing to continue tolerating the “malicious campaign and threats of war that the Igbo have continued to wage against us.

“Neither can we afford to continue giving the keys to our cities to a people whose utterances, plans and arrangements are clearly geared towards war and anarchy.

“We, therefore, demand that the only enduring solution to this scourge that is being visited on the nation is complete separation of the states presently agitating for Biafra from the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a peaceful political process by:

“Taking steps to facilitate the actualisation of the Biafran nation in line with the principle of self-determination as an integral part of contemporary customary international law.

“The principle of self-determination has, since World War II become a part of the United Nations Charter which states in Article 1(2), that one of the purposes of the UN is ‘to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.

“We submit that this protocol envisages that people of any nation have the right to self-determination, and although the Charter did not categorically impose direct legal obligations on member states; it implies that member states allow agitating or minority groups to self-govern as much as possible.

“This principle of self-determination has since been espoused in two additional treaties: The United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 1 of both international documents promote and protect the right of a people to self-determination. State parties to these international documents are obliged to uphold the primacy and realization of this right as it cements the international legal philosophy that gives a people the right to self-determination.

“As the Igbo agitations persist and assume threatening dimensions, we submit that there is need to ensure that they are given the opportunity to exercise the right to self-determination as entrenched under the aforementioned international statutes to which Nigeria is a signatory.”

The Arewa youth coalition said given that the right of self-determination in international law was the legal right for a ‘people’ that allowed them to attain a certain degree of autonomy from a sovereign state through a legitimate political process, “we strongly demand for a referendum to take place in a politically sane atmosphere where all parties will have a democratic voice over their future and the future of the nation.

“The Igbo from all over the country and Diaspora should be advised to converge in their region, in the South-East, for a plebiscite to be organised and conducted by the United Nations and other regional bodies for them to categorically to decide between remaining part of Nigeria or having their separate country.”

The group said government should, at the end of the plebiscite, “implement whatever was agreed and resolved in order to finally put the matter to rest.”

Regardless, a top Presidency source, who declined to be named, because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told Daily Sun that “ongoing consultations with leaders of thoughts and traditional rulers from the North and South-east, following escalation of ethnic tensions, occasioned by the agitation for Biafra and the vacation order issued by northern youths, was the best way to approach the issue.

“Our response is the ongoing consultations the acting president is engaged in with leaders of thought from both regions. It is the best way to get everyone to see reason. The Presidency doesn’t want to escalate the  matter by responding to individual groups. The ongoing parley is the best approach.”

Sun

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Southern Leaders Unite, Insist on Restructuring

• Want concrete steps taken on Confab report before Oct 1 

• Enough of bloodshed, Ag. President tells S’East traditional rulers 

• DSS warns agitators, ethnic jingoists

By Omololu Ogunmade and Paul Obi in Abuja Shola Oyeyipo in Lagos

Following the refusal of the relevant security agencies to apprehend some Northern youths under the auspices of the Arewa Youths’ Consultative Forum (AYCF) which recently issued a quit notice to Nigerians of South-eastern extraction, leaders in the South have resolved to work together to protect the interest of the region.

They also resolved to pursue the restructuring of the country and called for concrete steps to be taken on the implementation of the 2014 National Conference report before October 1, 2017

Rising from a meeting that lasted for about four hours yesterday, leaders of the three geopolitical zones in the region – the South-west, South-east and South-south – declared in a communiqué that they were forging a common front to pursue the interest of the region, noting that rather than reduce the issue to the North and the South-east, it was an issue of the entire Southern and Northern Nigeria.

The communique signed by Afenifere chieftain, Ayo Adebanjo, on behalf of the South-west; founding Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Chief Albert Horsfall for the South-south; and former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe‎ (rtd.) for the South-east, also criticised the manner in which the federal government and the acting President Yemi Osinbajo have handled the ultimatum given to Igbos resident in the North.

Part of the communique read: “We the people of Southern Nigeria, comprising the South-east, South-west and South-south of Nigeria, decided to come together to forge a common and formidable front for the sustenance of sound principles of national development, equity, fairness, social justice and political emancipation.

“The meeting held against the backdrop of the ultimatum given by the Arewa youths to the people of the South-east and by extension to all Southerners to vacate the North by October 1, 2017, and the refusal of the Nigerian state to activate the law against any of them, giving us the impression that these youths are not acting on their own but on the back of their establishment.

“We consider the need to avert the impending danger arising from the ultimatum given by the Arewa youths. We agreed that there is a growing demand by our people and other Nigerians to form a stronger federation in which the principles and practice of true federalism are upheld.

“We observe that the cry for self-determination will continue unabated and become much more stringent unless the federal government sincerely addresses the issue of Nigeria’s restructuring.

“We therefore resolved that we reject the attempt to reduce the current crisis in Nigeria, flowing from the unresolved nationality question, to an Igbo and North affair.

“The meeting therefore insists that any further discussion on this crisis should be between the entire South and the North of Nigeria. The South-east is advised to consider any further meeting where the South-west and South-south are not involved as Southern Nigeria because the issues involved affect all of us.

“We also demand that the Arewa youths and their sponsors must withdraw the quit notice given to the people of the South-east, as failure to do so will be taken as an ultimatum given to the entire Southern Nigeria to quit their region and any attack against anybody from the South, will be considered an attack against Southern Nigeria.

“We therefore advise the federal government to take seriously and live up to the primary responsibility of any government, which is to protect the lives and property of every citizen of Nigeria wherever they may reside. 

“The meeting also condemned in the strongest terms the activities of Fulani herdsmen who have taken over the entire Southern and Middle Belt of Nigeria, including invading state Houses of Assembly preventing them from making laws; cows going into classrooms and chasing our children out of schools; killing our farmers on their farms and raping their wives.

“Now, we also resolved on the need for the restructuring of Nigeria and to uphold the principles of true federalism as agreed by the founding fathers of Nigeria and practiced effectively in the years before the first military coup in Nigeria. 

“We reaffirm our stand on true federalism as the system of government founded on democratic principles and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between the national and the federating units.

“Such units have control over their own affairs and are bequeathed equal status with their constitution, which is consistent with the federal constitution.

“We affirm and are resolved on the implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference aimed at the complete transformation and restructuring of our country and to build and confederate Nigeria’s unity through peaceful and harmonious unity, progress and genuine development.  

“We want concrete steps taken on the implementation of 2014 National Conference Report before 1st October 2017.

“We resolve to reawaken once more the spirit of friendship and mutual respect among our people and extol our common determination to pursue peace, progress and enhance the continued existence of Nigeria, just as we commend the convener of this dialogue in bringing us together. We appeal to them to continue to do so in future.”

Some of the eminent Southern leaders present at the meeting which held at the Lekki, Lagos home of Adebayo included General Alani Akinrinade (rtd.), President, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Nnia Nwodo, Secretary, Afenifere, Mr. Femi Okunrounmu, Dr. Okey Anueyiaya, Chief Sydney Dike, Chief Eric Ebeh, Walter Ofonagoro, Senator Bucknor Akinrele, Ogita Iyalla-Finnih, Dr. Kunle Olajide, Chief Mike Uwaka and Abdulaziz Ude.

Others were Chief Goddy Uwazurike, Prof George Obiozor, Prof. Joe Irukwu, Charles Odunukwe, Iyaze Ebigwe, Col. Tony Iyiam, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Dr. Amos Akingba, Supo Shonibare, Chief Tokunbo Ajasin, Senator Bassey Henshaw, Air Comodore Idongest Nkanga (rtd) and Chief Guy Ikokwu.

 

‘Enough of the Bloodshed’

 

The meeting of the Southern leaders came on the heels of Osinbajo’s meeting yesterday with traditional rulers from the South-east.

During the meeting, the acting president informed his audience that enough blood had been spilled on Nigerian soil, warning that events hurtling towards further bloodshed in any part of the country would be resisted.

The acting president made this remark at the opening of his meeting with the traditional rulers at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, in continuation of his meetings with leaders of Northern and South-eastern Nigeria.

Osinbajo, who told the traditional rulers that yesterday’s meeting had become imminent in view of the influence that the traditional rulers wield in their respective domains, said many Nigerians had paid the supreme sacrifice for the unity of the country and hence, attempts to toy with such sacrifices by dragging the nation towards another civil war would not be allowed.

Recalling the protracted agitations for secession in the South-east as well as the attendant ultimatum from the North, the acting president said both incidents were in grave violation of Section 2 of the constitution which recognises Nigeria as both a sovereign state and an indissoluble entity.

Observing that such agitations were predicated on perceived marginalisation and compromised safety in such regions, Osinbajo submitted that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that such perceived injustice is dealt with, pointing out that Nigeria’s greatness lies in its unity.

“In planning these meetings, I was conscious that we should have a separate set of meetings with our traditional rulers because of the peculiar and the unique positions that they hold especially in their relationship with those that live in their kingdoms.

“This was the reason we chose to have two separate meetings, one with the South-east traditional rulers and tomorrow evening, I will be having one also with traditional rulers from the North.

“I want to emphasise that it is the unique position that traditional rulers occupy that is behind the separate consultations and we want to take advantage of it as much as possible.

“Most of us are aware, especially for those who have been following the consultations, that we have worked very hard to ensure that the representations across the two zones that we are interested in consulting with initially, is as wide as possible and we have tried to inculcate that even in our meeting with traditional rulers today.

“As you are aware, there has been agitation from some of our youths in the South-east, urging secession, the creation of Biafra. In apparent response, young people in the Northern states, under the aegis of Arewa youths, have purportedly issued an ultimatum where they have set a date for the eviction of persons from the South-east region who live in the Northern states.

“Those agitations, the manner of those agitations, the method and objective are wrong, unlawful and violate the laws of Nigeria and the constitution of Nigeria.

“I want to repeat that both the agitations for secession and the ultimatum to leave the Northern states are wrong and a violation of our constitution.

“Our constitution says in Section 2 that Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign state to be known by the name Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is the law of our country.

“Let us not be in any doubt about the fact that the federal government is committed to ensuring that our country remains united, and that anyone who violates the law in the manner such as we are seeing all over the place will be met with the full force of the law.

“And the reason why it is so is because enough blood has been spilled and many hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost. 

“Many have paid for the unity of this country with their lives and it will be wrong of us as men and women of goodwill in this generation to toy with those sacrifices that have been made.

“This is why men of goodwill in our generation must not tolerate any tendency that drags us in the direction of yet another civil conflict.

“But we must be sensitive to the reasons why there are agitations by the various young men across the various zones of this country. Many have to do with perceived marginalisation.

“Some have argued that safety in different zones has been compromised. But I want to say the only way to make things right is to do things right.

“And it will be wrong of us to approach even our grievances by threatening to disobey the laws or by threatening the integrity of our nation.

“What the federal government is committed to doing is ensuring that we listen to all the reasons, the various suggestions and the various agitations and the reasons for those agitations and to ensure that we do justice to all persons, regardless of where you are from in this country. 

“That is the commitment of the federal government which I am able to make to you today.

“I recall that President Muhammadu Buhari said that as a person who served in the Nigeria Army, he committed his life to the service of this country, and that he did so not alone but with others from the North, South, West and East of Nigeria.

“And that he fought side by side from Congo to so many related places where he had served the country, protecting each other’s lives and ensuring that all of them were safe.

“That in the Nigerian Army, they were men and women from all parts of Nigeria and that is the reason, according to him, he is so committed in ensuring that Nigeria remains one united country.

“Our greatness lies in our being together and I believe very strongly that as our royal fathers, you will ensure the message is clear to all, that the greatness of any people lies in their ability to work together despite our differences, despite the types of offence that have been caused between each other.

“The greatness of any community lies in our unity. We trust that you our royal fathers will give us the right directional advice to ensure that our country remains together,” he stated.

 

DSS Warns Agitators, Tribal Jingoists

 

Meanwhile, the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday also warned regional agitators and tribal jingoists in the country against hateful utterances and misinformation likely to threaten the unity of the country.

In a statement signed by Tony Opuiyo on behalf of the DSS, the agency said: “The Department of State Services has watched with keen interest the disturbing trend desperate and mischievous elements that have tended to steer the ship of our nationhood to calamity and irretrievable destruction.

“Only recently, the Arewa Youths in a press statement called for the relocation of the Igbos from the North. Unfortunately, this development has been followed by a release from an unknown source styled, Niger Delta Watchdogs, threatening all Northerners to quit Niger Delta region.

“Meanwhile, another group went to the extent of harvesting from the internet, a horrific accident scene, for the purpose of making it look like a site of massacre of the Igbo ethnic group by Northern youths.

“However, the service has been able to establish that the purported murder scene being depicted as a field of massacre was a high casualty accident scene which occurred along the Owo-Akure road, Ondo State, on the 3rd March, 2016.”

The DSS said that those behind the “misleading and despicable acts” have since been warned to desist from anything capable of causing disaffection and stoking nationwide tensions.

“Consequently, the service, in line with its statutory mandate of ensuring the internal security of the country, wishes to inform the public that it will stop at nothing to deploy all resources at its disposal to identify and deal with all those culpable, as well as maintain peace and order in every length and breadth of the Nation.

“To this effect, it warns, in very clear terms, all those who are charting the course of disunity among Nigerians to desist from their divisive actions.

“The service is also not oblivious of the efforts of some miscreants to ignite fear and cause ethnic tensions across the country. It strongly condemns in its entirety the call for relocation of anyone to places against their wishes.

“Such relocation order is not only illegal, it is strongly viewed to be against the spirit of our constitution which allows for freedom of movement and association, among others.

“The DSS, therefore, frowns at the tendency some ethnic chauvinists easily and cheaply resort to hate speeches, misinformation and total manipulation of information, especially on the social media simply to fan the embers of discord and subvert the efforts of government in implementing its policies for the good of everyone.

“Well-meaning and law abiding citizens and residents are enjoined to disregard persuasions by these tribal jingoists to make our beloved country a theatre of the absurd and bloodletting.

“It is time for us Nigerians to show our humanness and patriotism which have been our defining strength as one united indivisible nation,” it added.

 The DSS also said that it has commenced a detailed investigation to get the perpetrators of the hate campaigns as well as their sponsors.

“At the appropriate time all those involved in these condemnable acts will be unmasked and decisively dealt with in line with the laws of the land.

“The service wants to reassure the entire populace that it will not leave any stone unturned to ensure that those who are bent on causing a breakdown of law and order are not spared,” it said.

It encouraged anyone with useful information to volunteer same to the DSS or the nearest security agency or formation for prompt action.

  Thisday 

“My father cannot say that I didn’t take care of him, I gave him N3M and bought him two vehicles- Billionaire kidnap kingpin, Evans reveals

“My father cannot say that I didn’t take care of him, I gave him N3M and bought him two vehicles- Billionaire kidnap kingpin, Evans reveals

Following reports that Evans father, Mr. Stephen Onwuamadike was living in poverty in the village while his Billionaire kidnapper son was living an extravagant lifestyle, Evans has revealed that he took good care of him by buying him two vehicles and also gave him th sum of N3 million, which he said his father used to start fish farming and his pig rearing business

Evan who led police operatives to two houses in Ejigbo and Igando areas of Lagos state where he kept some of his victims for months, made the disclosure during a chat with Vanguard.

'My father cannot say that I didn’t take care of him and my other siblings. I took good care of my father even when he didn’t take care of me. My father lived a very wayward life as a person.

’He stopped paying my school fees which made drop out of school. He went on to marry a second wife.   As if that wasn’t enough, my father took a third wife and he married her as a 70-year-old man.

‘’I was not happy with my father, that was why I don’t go close to him but I made sure I provided all his needs. I bought him a car and a bus. They are in our compound and I also gave him N3 million which he used for his pig and fish farming business. 

According to him,  he used to help his family members a lot including children of his father’s other wives, stating that his father lived a wayward life that made him divorce his mother.

He continued‘’I know I have done terrible things but I want to be forgiven.  I also want to advise other criminals to turn a new leaf. The Nigeria Police is not what it used to be. They are far more advanced than they were. If they could arrest me, there is no criminal they can’t arrest, “he stated.

He also revealed that the Igando hideout, located at Green Street, was where he kept five persons including  Chief James Uduji and Francis Umeh at the Igando den. He stated that he vacated the den when people started suspecting his activities in the area.

He further disclosed that he rented the apartment in 2014 stating that he kept Francis Umeh for five months in that apartment before he moved to the other house in Ejigbo. 

The kidnap kingpin also took detectives to a bungalow at Orisunmbare by hospital junction in Jakande Estate, Lagos where he had another hideout.

Evans equally revealed that he contacted Colon Cancer while he was trafficking drugs. He said he used to swallow wraps of cocaine and one of it got burst in his stomach. He revealed that he is a good family man and normally leads his family in prayer because he knew he was a bad person who had done so many terrible things and he wanted God to forgive him through his children’s prayers.

The 36-year-old from Nnewi, Anambra State was arrested last weekend in Lagos. He's responsible for coordinating several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies within several states in the country.

 

Culled from Lib/Vanguard

The deeper meaning behind your fear of eating in front of your partner

Hattie Gladwell

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Recently, you might have spotted some memes focusing on girls eating in front of the people they’re dating. 

Usually, the meme includes the caption: ‘Girls eating in front of their partners vs me’, with a couple of photos alongside it – the first showing a girl looking embarrassed about eating, and the latter a girl who doesn’t care at all.
Many may assume that this simply says one girl is completely comfortable while another girl doesn’t want to be judged for the way she eats or how much.
The memes tend to get loads of retweets from women who can relate – either to not giving a toss about eating in front of someone they’re dating, or to the common discomfort that comes with digging into a burger in front of someone new.

when girls can't eat in front of their mans vs me pic.twitter.com/Ph6bfn0jh1

— cam (@CamilleWalker21) May 1, 2017

There are lots of reasons behind an insecurity around eating in front of your partner, but for many, things run much deeper.
Zoe, 21, told Metro.co.uk that a battle with an eating disorder is what led her to feeling uneasy about eating in front of her partner.
She said: ‘For years, I lived with bulimia, and while I had recovered from the binge eating and the purging, eating in front of people was always hard for me – though it resonated mainly with partners.
‘When I first started dating my current partner, I remember refusing food when we were out together.
‘I didn’t want him to see me eat because I didn’t want him to associate me with food or weight.
‘It sounds silly now I think back to it, but at the time, eating in front of him was hard.’
She continued: ‘Of course there were times when we had to eat together – lunch, dinner, and if we went out for food, but I was very careful in the way I did it.

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

‘I’d often never order what I wanted to – always looking at the calories and making sure I ate less than him. One time I even ordered a meal I didn’t like because it was the only meal healthier than his.’
For Zoe, as her relationship went on and she disclosed her eating disorder and the way it had affected her, she felt more comfortable eating in front of her partner.
‘I remember he called me out on my eating habits one time and asked me why I always had trouble ordering or eating in front of him,’ she explained.
‘I pretty much had a breakdown there and then as I struggled to keep up a facade – but he was incredibly understanding and made it clear that he wasn’t judging me.
‘Though my eating habits were hard to get out of – as they’d become exactly that, a habit – I slowly managed to rid myself of the obsessiveness and insecurity and taught myself how to eat in front of my partner.’
She added: ‘I’m grateful for the conversation we had. I’m pretty sure that had we never had it, I’d still have trouble eating in front of him today.’

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

The insecurity of eating in front of a partner doesn’t just come from previous trauma – sometimes it can be inflicted by the partner.
23-year-old Lauren said that she didn’t have a problem with eating food in front of others until she met her now ex-boyfriend.
Lauren had struggled with her weight, and felt unable to overcome her body issues due to nasty comments regarding her eating habits.
She told us: ‘I used to eat fine but then I gained a lot of weight and became obsessed with losing it and dieting. It seemed my ex became obsessed with me losing it, too.
‘If I even ate something remotely unhealthy he would say “I thought you were dieting” and “you can’t complain about your weight if you’re eating that”, and so I’d end up indulging in another room on my own to avoid his comments.
‘I ended up becoming so obsessed with food and the fear of being judged by him that if I wanted a treat I’d eat it elsewhere or purge if he saw me eating.’

(Picture: MMuffin)

Lauren went on to say that her ex’s weight was another factor in her becoming ashamed of eating.
She said: ‘He was naturally so skinny so he ate what he wanted, which just made me feel ashamed to eat anything that wasn’t healthy.
‘He made me feel as though I should feel guilty for doing so and not be upset that I’m “fat” because hey I’m the one eating the chocolate bar!’
Eventually Lauren found the courage to leave the relationship after it completely deteriorated and she decided enough was enough.
Just a few months later, she met her current boyfriend, who has done nothing but support her and make her feel beautiful. Over time, she has found the confidence to eat in front of her partner and to enjoy food without being made to feel bad about it.
‘My current boyfriend made me feel so comfortable so early on,’ says Lauren.
‘Even though I still get those thoughts he always reassures me and never makes me feel bad for eating or treating myself.

(Picture: Mmuffin for Metro.co.uk)

‘Even now I still get thoughts. Say I went out with friends: I’d see what everyone’s ordering first before picking something because I don’t want people to point out how much I’m eating – but I know deep down that’s just my ex’s comments trying to break me down again, and I won’t let that happen.’
While there are many reasons that people may fear eating in front of their partner, Click For Therapy‘s Rebecca McCann, says that overall, it’s a type of social anxiety.
She tells Metro.co.uk: ‘It can be linked with a fear of being evaluated by others. It may be that there has been a direct incident in the person’s past where they have had a negative experience of eating in front of others, [whether it’s] being told that they eat in an anti-social manner, [or one bad] comment or an event.
‘This has manifested into a fear of eating in front of their partner, someone whose opinion of them means a lot.
‘It may also be linked with low self esteem, a feeling of not being good enough that add to feelings of anxiety.
‘It’s more common than you think as many people just don’t talk about it!’
Counselor Seth Gillman adds: ‘People worry they may look unattractive while eating, or make a social error such as spilling a drink, choking, or becoming flushed from spicy food.
‘When the other person is your partner these anxieties may be magnified due to the closeness and intimacy of the relationship.’

(Picture: Liberty Sadler)

In terms of overcoming the fear, Rebecca explains: ‘Absolutely it can be overcome. There are different ways to overcome this fear, the first is acknowledging that it’s there, and then getting to the bottom of where it came from is often helpful – this can be done through talking therapies and even hypnosis.
‘This combined with challenging the fear through CBT techniques can be successful.’

Culled from Metro Uk

Divide Among Banks Widens as Small Lenders Face Cash Crunch

• Transactions in I&E FX window hit $2.2bn

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku and Obinna Chima with agency report

The divide between the haves and the have-nots among Nigerian banks is widening, a report by Bloomberg has indicated.
The country’s biggest lender by market capitalisation, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, is so flush with cash it plans to repay its $400 million of bonds when they become due in November 2018 rather than issuing additional debt, while the Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc – the next largest banks by market capitalisation – sold international bonds for the first time since 2014.

At the other end of the scale, smaller lenders are scrapping plans to raise dollar loans and struggling to find investors to raise capital.
Tier 1 banks in Africa’s most-populous nation and biggest oil producer are rallying after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in April opened a foreign exchange trading window for investors and exporters, easing a crippling currency shortage that contributed to the worst economic contraction in 25 years.

Smaller banks are lagging behind as they battle rising levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) and capital buffers near regulatory minimums.

“The gap between the Tier 1 and Tier 2 banks has been widening in profitability and balance-sheet size,” said Omotola Abimbola, an analyst at Afrinvest West Africa Ltd.

“In the next one or two years we will probably see the trend extending further.”
UBA, the third-biggest lender by market value, raised $500 million in its first Eurobond sale on June 1 at yields below initial guidance.
This followed an equivalent issue a week earlier by Zenith Bank in a deal that was four times oversubscribed.

GTBank said this month it has no plans to sell Eurobonds because it’s setting aside funds to repay existing debt.
By contrast, small- and mid-sized lenders like Wema Bank Plc dropped plans last month to raise dollar loans to rather sell naira debt locally in smaller tranches.

Unity Bank Plc, which missed a February 28 central bank deadline to recapitalise, has been in talks with investors since October, while Diamond Bank Plc started negotiations to sell businesses and issue debt over a year ago.
“We view the Tier 2 banks as potentially challenged,” Exotix Partners LLP analysts Jumai Mohammed and Ronak Gadhia said in a note last month. The lenders seem unable “to weather asset-quality deterioration storms”.

The central bank had to step in last year when it replaced the top management of Skye Bank Plc for breaching liquidity thresholds.
That’s still a far cry from the full-scale takeovers in 2009, when former central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi rescued 10 lenders and spent N1.8 trillion ($5.5 billion) to rescue banks that had been brought to their knees by souring loans and corrupt managers.
Still, the five-year dollar bonds didn’t come cheap. UBA settled on a coupon, or interest paid twice annually, of 7.75 per cent.

That’s the highest of at least 10 sales of $500 million by emerging-market banks this year from Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, South Korea and China. Zenith will pay 7.375 per cent, compared with 6.25 per cent on five-year notes sold in April 2014.

Even so, more lenders will issue Eurobonds because they need dollars to offer loans in the U.S. currency or to repay debt, said Lekan Olabode, an analyst at Vetiva Capital Management Ltd. in Lagos.
Ecobank Transnational Inc., based in Lome, Togo, plans to sell a $400 million, five-year convertible bond this month to refinance debt and provide short-term bridge funding for non-performing loans at its Nigerian unit.

Fidelity Bank Plc will decide in the third quarter whether to refinance $300 million of bonds due in May next year or issue new debt after seeing yields on the securities drop and strong demand from investors for Zenith and UBA’s notes, Chief Operations Officer Gbolahan Joshua said Tuesday. Access Bank Plc has $350 million of bonds due in July.
Some banks may use share-price gains to sell equity, although most trade at less than book value, making a rights offering expensive, Olabode said.

Local debt also comes at a price, with yields on five-year government bonds at 16.3 per cent.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange Banking (NSE) Index has advanced 44 per cent this year, with UBA soaring 99 per cent to its highest since January 2014, while Access Bank has climbed more than 80 per cent to a four-year high.

Wema has gained less than 2 per cent and Skye Bank and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc are up about 10 per cent in 2017.
Union Bank, in which former Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara Ltd. owns 31 per cent, said in November it will sell as much as N50 billion in a rights issue scheduled to take place by the end of this quarter.

Sterling Bank, which announced plans to raise N65 billion in Tier 2 capital last July, managed to raise N7.9 billion in 2016 at 16.5 per cent, and is waiting for market conditions to improve before another issuance, according to Chief Financial Officer Abubakar Suleiman.

Without capital to back new business and write loans, small lenders risk falling further behind as Nigeria’s economy recovers from last year’s 1.6 per cent contraction.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast Nigeria will expand 0.8 per cent in 2017 as oil price improves.

“Big banks have a pricing advantage,” said Vetiva’s Olabode. “That makes a big difference in size and capacity to do business,” he stated.
But even with the disparity between Tier 1 and Tier 2 banks in the country widening, there were indications Tuesday that confidence in the Nigerian FX market has been restored, with the cumulative transactions on the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) segment of the market rising to $2.2 billion, from about $1 billion last month.
Confirming this Tuesday, CBN spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, also disclosed that trading on the I&E window, has helped in boosting liquidity and ensured timely execution and settlement of eligible transactions.

The spokesman expressed confidence that interventions by the central bank would continue to guarantee stability in the market and ensure availability to individuals and business concerns.
CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in an exclusive interview with THISDAY at the weekend said the introduction of the I & E window had eliminated sharp practices in the market.

“Now, everything is done in the open and in a very transparent manner. If you want to sell your dollars, you offer the banks and the bank knowing that he has a buyer, matches you with the buyer and the bank makes only N1 spread.

“With the transparency that has been brought into that market, we have seen a lot of inflows into that market and rates began to converge…
“As much as possible, the central bank does not want to be seen to be having excessive control over the market. We can only come in based on our reading of the market, based on our understanding of what the exchange rate is, to come in to intervene as a player in the market,” Emefiele said.

Analysts believe that the increase in volume of transactions on the I&E segment is a positive sign of return of confidence in the financial markets as clearly demonstrated by the bull run on the stock market.

According to them, the investor sentiment has strengthened since the CBN introduced the I&E FX window, which they agreed has ensured greater flexibility in exchange rate determination.
They, however, advised the CBN to continue its march towards the convergence of rates.
Meanwhile, the CBN said it injected another $418 million into various segments of the inter-bank Tuesday.

Figures obtained from the CBN indicated that the retail segment of the market received the highest intervention with $226 million, followed by the wholesale window that got $100 million.
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) window received a boost of $50 million, while the retail invisibles segment was allocated $42 million to meet the demands of customers.
The CBN on Monday injected $413.5 million into the interbank market in its unrelenting bid to guarantee liquidity in the market and shore up the value of the naira.
The naira remained stable at N363/$1 on the parallel market Tuesday.

Culled from Thisday

Boko Haram: US senators oppose sale of fighter jets to Nigeria

Adetutu Folasade-Koyi

United States of America Senators, Cory Booker and Rand Paul, have opposed sale of American fighter jets, to aid Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram.

The senators said Nigeria must first investigate cases of alleged human rights abuses in the North East before sealing a deal to buy the fighter jets from the US.

In February, Amnesty International accused the Nigerian Army of violating human rights and committing war crimes in its fight against Boko Haram.

In its 2015 annual report, AI highlighted several cases of torture by security agencies, excessive use of force, non-abolition of death penalty, gagging of freedom of expression, violation of court orders. The organisation also noted what the government has done to protect citizens’ rights from abuse, in a report presented by AI Country Director, Mohammed Kaura Ibrahim, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Regardless, in a June 8, 2017 letter, addressed to the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson,  Booker and Paul expressed concern that Nigeria’s acquisition of these aircraft would “spur unrest and violence, particularly in the North Eastern part of the country.”

They also added that if the aircraft are sold without any indication of Nigeria’s commitment to the protection of human rights, it would go contrary to the US security objectives.

While citing the Shi’ites “massacre” allegedly carried out by the Nigerian army and the accidental Rann bombing by the Nigerian airforce, they said there were allegations of corruption, abuse, and misconduct in the military.

Booker was part of a bipartisan group of senators that voted to block a weapons sale to Saudi Arabia “because of concerns over the country’s targeting of Yemen civilians.”

“We request that before you approve this sale, you brief us on the steps Nigeria has taken to investigate and hold accountable those that have committed human rights abuses. We believe the security threats Nigeria is facing are very real, but that a sale of this nature, and at this time, is ill-advised,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

“Boko Haram – a 5,000 to 10,000 strong insurgent force with ties to the Islamic State – will not be defeated through expanded air power alone.

“At the same time, there continues to be additional allegations of corruption, abuse, and misconduct throughout the Nigerian military. While some soldiers have been released or retired, there has yet to be any real or meaningful accountability for the systemic challenges that have plagued Nigeria’s security forces for decades.

“Without addressing these problems at an institutional level, reform is merely cosmetic and will only perpetuate long-standing patterns of abuse, which could serve as propaganda for Boko Haram and other insurgent groups seeking to discredit the Nigerian government.

“We are concerned that the decision to proceed with this sale will empower the government to backtrack even further on its commitments to human rights, accountability, and upholding international humanitarian law, which in turn could spur greater unrest and violence, particularly in the north-eastern part of the country.

“Accordingly, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to sell A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Nigeria without any meaningful reform or any clear safeguards in place. Instead, we recommend you make clear to Abuja that the sale of these aircraft can proceed only if there is positive and measurable progress on reforming the security institutions.”

Two months ago, Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump’s administration had agreed to sell 12 fighter jets to Nigeria at $600 million.

Quoting some officials, the newspaper said congress was expected to receive formal notification of the deal within weeks.

Culled from Sun

Apapa, Nation’s Economic Hub, Grinds to a Halt

Apapa… Hellhole on earth where ease of doing business has been put in abeyance

Solomon Elusoji

The roads leading to Apapa, Nigeria’s busiest port city, are in a mess and should be declared a national emergency. It is a mystery how goods continue to flow in and out of its docks, how trucks and trailers defy its dilapidated state to bring profit to their taskmasters, how workers, who earn their living from offices domiciled on its streets, brave the daily assault to put bread on their tables and milk in the fridge.

To understand the gravity of the Apapa situation, one needs to walk on its cratered streets and inhale the sharp smell of smoke that wafts from the bottom of the trucks, trailers and motorcycles that are omnipotent on its roads; one needs to make the sign of the cross and attempt to access the port through one of its two main thoroughfares, via the Marine Bridge or Tin-Can Island axis; one needs to get his or her senses assaulted by the solid waste, urine, faeces and sludge that have overrun the port city and its surrounding creeks and turned it into a hellhole on earth.
Coming through the Ijora and approaching Marine Bridge, the average commuter, usually has to queue up behind rows of trailers that stretch for distances as long as five kilometres and longer.

When the trucks and trailers manage not to breakdown, tip over, or offload their contents on other commuters, they are expected to only occupy either the left or right lane of the road, but the policemen who are expected to enforce the rule collect bribes from impatient truck drivers and allow chaos to reign.

Descending from Marine Bridge into Apapa, a signboard screams “Welcome to Apapa Premier Port”, but what reveals itself beyond the windscreen is a road dotted with innumerable holes and craters huge enough to swallow whole cities. The tar on the “welcome road” is whitewashed and has undergone metastasis to turn to dust; smooth surfaces have become broken things and vehicles wobble from side to side as they navigate the death trap.

It is a curious phenomenon to watch trucks, loaded with heavy goods, navigate these death traps. It is no longer surprising when a truck fails to hit the right momentum in crossing a crater and capsizes, spilling to the ground the content of its trailer. There are numerous tales of how people have been killed under such circumstances, crushed and buried for the sins of those who could have sanctioned the road’s repair. But the tragedy is like the steam that oozes out of a kettle; it soon disappears and business, as usual, continues.

There have been comic attempts to fill some of the potholes and gaping holes, especially those along Airways bus stop, by filling them with sawdust, sometimes a poor mixture of cement-sand. But, of course, when the rain comes, the hypocrisy is exposed and vehicles swim in pools of water.

However, compared to the Tin-Can axis, coming into Apapa via Marine Bridge is like skating through smooth ice. The Tin-Can axis, which is at the end of the Oshodi-Apapa expressway, has been turned into a ghost town. Most commercial vehicles don’t even bother making the trip; they turn around at Coconut bus stop, more than six kilometres from the port. Their reasons are not far-fetched. From Coconut, the road has collapsed; it is a series of gallops and huge holes, and there are trucks that have turned it into a permanent garage.

In Apapa, motorcycles are made for kings. Their drivers, hair caked with dust and sporting dark glasses, are superheroes without capes. They are a commuter’s best chance of beating the constant gridlock, as they flout traffic laws, crossing road dividers to escape a stalemate, braving a sharp bend to avoid an onrushing vehicle and, sometimes, running straight under trucks to come to unfortunate ends, both driver and commuter.

It is not uncommon to find piles of garbage and grime, like goods on display, lying along the sidewalk on Apapa streets. On Creek Road, the stench from these dumps is mixed with the nauseating aroma of caked human excreta and urine, deposited by truck drivers, while they queue for their turn to load up.

In 2014, statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the Gross Registered Tonnage at the Apapa Port (excluding the Tin-Can port) was 37,041,879, from 1,503 vessels. In 2015, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) recorded revenue of $1.8 billion. Although the numbers have since slightly declined due to the recession, it demonstrates the amount of revenue that flows into the country from Apapa. This, of course, begs the question of why its roads and essence have been left to wither away, like a leaf cut from its source. What Demon haunts Apapa?
The Demon is said to have been created by the federal government during the early 2000s, when the NPA and Ministry of Transport doled out some real estate from the Lagos Port Complex to some oil firms to use as fuel tank farms. This raised, significantly, the number of trucks and tankers streaming into Apapa. Meanwhile, the government made no parking provisions for the new influx of tankers, prompting their drivers to start parking on the highway and inner roads.

Expectedly, companies whose businesses were affected protested against the new nuisances in town, but the tanker drivers resorted to violence and strikes when the state government, in collaboration with some federal government agencies tried to establish some order. And so the Demon grew from strength to strength and has, today, become a monster that cannot be tamed.

It is on record that successive governments have tried to outwit this Demon, but it appears to be a slithery, cunning creature that slips from the grasp even when caught. Take for example the story of the current Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola. As governor of Lagos State, Fashola blamed the federal government, then controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for creating the mess and obstructing the state government from taking charge. He cried and wheezed, spouting lamentations upon lamentations. However, as fate would have it, Fashola was appointed as the head of the very ministry under which the duty of reconstructing Apapa’s roads falls under; but after almost two years on the job without results, Fashola has changed the melody of his dirges.

The tragedy of Apapa is its transition from a palatial neighbourhood to a vulgar zone. Once, it was a quiet, serene part of Lagos, home to fine buildings and elite occupants.

“By the time I went to Apapa, it was probably the most peaceful area in Lagos,” accomplished businessman, Chief Alex Duduyemi, told THISDAY in 2015. “I was forced to go there, after the Tafawa Balewa coup. I used to live in Ikoyi, in the government quarters. Since then, I’ve never lived anywhere other than Apapa. But today, it is horrendous. It’s a different story. It takes me over two hours to get from my house to the office, because of the gridlock on the road. Normally, it should take me between 20 to 30 minutes.”

Today, people like Duduyemi would rather move east, to Victoria Island and Ikoyi and Lekki, rather than stay in Apapa. The port city has lost its former lustre and its decline might just have been sealed if Fashola and his people do not put some action behind their words and squarely confront the Demon that tramples on the commonwealth of all Nigerians.

Thisday

After Recovering N11.6bn, FG Pays N375.8m to 20 Whistleblowers

Ndubuisi Francis

The federal government wednesday confirmed that it had released N375,875,000 to the first batch of 20 providers of information under the Whistleblower Policy, culminating in the recovery of N11,635,000,000.

Of the N375.8 million, the 20 whistleblowers were paid various amounts, the government stated.

Under the Whistleblower Policy, anyone who provides information leading to the recovery of public funds is entitled to between three and five per cent of the recovered amount.

The Ministry of Finance, in a statement quoted the minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun as saying: “This payment, which is the first under the Whistleblower Policy, underscores the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in meeting obligations to information providers. The policy is an essential tool in the fight against corruption.”

The statement issued by the Director (Information) in the ministry, Mr. Salisu Na ‘Inna Dambatta, said Adeosun further disclosed the recent amendments to the Whistleblower Policy, including the introduction of a formal legal agreement between information providers and the federal government, which is executed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

Procedures have also been introduced to ensure the protection of the identity of information providers during the payment process, she added.

The minister explained that all payments are taxable and are only made upon confirmation of the final recovery of the assets and confirmed by the AGF as being free of legal disputes or litigation.

The minister also provided details of the Whistleblower Unit (WBU), a multi-agency team, which is resident in the Ministry of Finance.

Adeosun added that the unit is staffed by people seconded from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police Force and Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), among others.

“The WBU is the first line of response to whistleblower information, where the initial review is undertaken before cases are forwarded to the relevant investigative agencies,” Adeosun added.

The finance ministry recently reported that the WBU had received 2,150 communications and 337 tips through its dedicated channels from many patriotic Nigerians, leading to the recovery of substantial assets that were illegally acquired by various individuals.

The primary purpose of the policy is to support the fight against financial crimes and corruption, promote accountability and enhance transparency in the management of public finances.

Adeosun said the federal government would continue to encourage all Nigerians with information on misconduct, violation or improper activity that can impact negatively on the country to report same to the appropriate authorities.

Culled from Thisday

Nigeria’s Total Debt Hits N19tn

Obinna Chima

The Debt Management Office (DMO) Monday revealed that Nigeria’s total debt stock increased to N19.15 trillion at the end of first quarter 2017, from the N17.36 trillion at the end of last year.
According to the DMO, the external component of the country’s debt stood at $13.80 billion at the end of March 2017, as against $11.40 billion at the end of December.

But the domestic component of the debt fell to N11.97 trillion, as against N13.88 trillion last year.
A breakdown of the domestic debt component showed that while FGN Bonds was N8.178 trillion, Nigerian Treasury Bills N3.6 trillion, Nigerian Treasury Bond was N191 billion and the FGN Savings Bond N2.068 billion.

The federal government raised a total of $1.5 billion through Eurobond sales in two tranches in the first quarter of this year.
Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun recently said Nigeria’s debt is not too high. However, she pointed out that the country’s revenue was too low.

She had said the country’s debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio remained low.
“The problem is not that our debt is too high, but that our revenue is too low. It is revenue you use to pay debt and our revenue in Nigeria right now is very low.

“Most of our debt matures between two years. That means that the actual amount of interest we are paying is significant. What we are doing right now is refinancing most of that debt, especially those maturing within the next two years.

“We are also working on improving government revenue through tax. Our tax to GDP is six per cent; we are one of the lowest in the world. Ghana is 15 per cent, South Africa, 24 per cent.

“So what we are doing is working very hard to see how we can get more people into the tax net and how to get those who are already in the tax net to pay the right taxes,” she had explained.

Adeosun further said government was devising a means to ensure that all streams of income of an individual were taxed.

Culled from Thisday