Lagos : Ambode presents record N1trn budget — N254bn less than Cross Rivers’

Akinwumi Ambode, governor of Lagos state, has presented the 2018 budget before the state house of assembly.

The N1.046 trillion budget is N254 billion less than Cross Rivers’ 2018 budget. The south-south state estimated N1.3 trillion; the highest by any Nigerian state.

Tagged budget of progress and development, it has a capital expenditure of N699 billion and a recurrent expenditure of N347billion.

The capital to recurrent ratio of the budget stood at 67:33.

“The budget will be used to consolidate on infrastructure, education, transportation/traffic management, security and health, with an added emphasis on mandatory capacity building for civil servants, all teachers in public secondary/primary schools, officers in the health service sector and women and youth empowerment,” Ambode said.

He said that the estimate of total revenue for year 2018 was N897.423billion, of which N720.123billion would be generated internally.

According to him, a total of N148.699billion will be sourced through deficit financing within the state’s medium-term expenditure framework.

He said that in 2018, economic affairs would continue to dominate and get the largest allocation of the budget, adding that there was a lot to be achieved in the coming year.

According to Ambode, as at November 2017, the 11-month period revenue performed at N448.396 billion at 76 percent compared to full year’s performances in 2016 of N449.609 billion at 83 percent and N399.382 billion at 82 percent for 2015.

“Suffice it to say that the overall budget performance stood at 74 percent as at November 2017 and it is projected to close at 80 percent by the end of the year 2017.

“The state average contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2015-2017 remains strong at about 30 percent,” he said.

Giving highlights of the sectoral allocation for 2018 budget estimate, Ambode said that General Public Services got an allocation of N171.623 billion while public order and safety got N46.612 billion.

He said N473.866 billion was allocated to economic affairs while environmental protection got N54.582 billion. - The Cable 

Unnamed PL star 'banned by bookmaker after spending £5.5MILLION in a matter of months'

Unnamed Premier League star has been banned from a bookmaker after spending £5.5MILLION in a matter of months, according to reports.

He was spending upwards of £250,000 a week via online casino games on a popular betting website before the alarm was raised.

The footballer is believed to earn around £100,000 a week.

The firm, which has not been named either, has now shut down his account.

A source told the Sun on Sunday: "He was deemed a compulsive gambler and it was flagged up to managers.

"The total cash that went through his account was more than £5.5million.

"Most sites love it when punters are depositing such amounts frequently.

"But when someone’s doing it at this rate people get worried."

It comes as a number of footballers have opened up about problems with gambling.

The Professional Players Federation said earlier this week the situation is at "crisis" point.

The organisation also urged "responsible bookmakers" to ensure sponsorship agreements with a sport include provision for mandatory education for participants about the risks of problem gambling.

Former stars Clarke Carlisle and John Hartson are among those who agree action must be taken to help addicts.

Brexit: City of London will lose 10,500 jobs on day one - EY

City firms plan to move 10,500 jobs out of the UK on “day one” of Brexit, with Dublin and Frankfurt the financial centres most likely to benefit from the UK’s departure from the EU.

The job tracker compiled by accountants EY found that the number of roles likely to be affected had fallen from estimates of 12,500 a year ago. But it also concluded that the jobs being impacted by Brexit were not just the “back office” ones that had initially been expected but were also “front office” staff who deal directly with clients.

The EY tracker counts the job announcements to the end of November but Omar Ali, EY’s UK financial services leader, said Friday’s announcement of an agreement with the European commission to move the Brexit negotiations on to trade discussions had sent “a wave of relief across the City”.

“It signalled an intention to agree a transitional period as early as possible next year and the starting point for negotiations on future trade deals. Both of which are fundamental to avoid adding any additional risks to the system and for the future strength of the UK financial services industry,” said Ali.

Major City firms have started to announce how they will respond to the UK’s exit from the EU after being told by the Bank of England to present contingency plans for all eventualities, including a “hard” Brexit. Last month Sam Woods, a deputy governor of the Bank, warned that 10,000 jobs could leave the City on “day one” after reviewing these plans.

Ali said that firms’ contingency plans had become more detailed over the past year. “The extent of broader strategic restructurings and relocation plans will of course ultimately depend on the specifics of any long-term UK deal with the EU, but a drop in the volume of jobs moving will be welcome news for the City”. - The Guardian

Salah named BBC African Player of the Year

Mohammed Salah is the first Egyptian winner of the award since Mohamed Barakat won it in 2005 and the winger says he hopes to go down as the best player his country has ever had.

After the turn of the year in the last campaign, Salah contributed towards 19 goals (10 goals, nine assists) in Roma’s final 20 games of last season across all competitions which earned him a £37m move to Liverpool in the summer.

There were doubts about the diminutive Egyptian and whether he could cut it in the Premier League having fizzled out at Chelsea but he’s silenced all his critics in the last four months.

Just 16 games into the Premier League season, Salah leads the race for the Golden Boot with 13 goals, taking his tally to 19 in just 24 games for Liverpool, with six assists to boot.

His fine form has translated to international level where it was his last-gasp penalty against the DR Congo that booked Egypt’s place at next summer’s World Cup and he’s rightfully been named the BBC African Player of the Year.

“I have always followed my way, and I want everyone in Egypt to follow my way.”

“Since I left Egypt, in my mind, I want to be the best Egyptian ever. I work hard and try to be different from them.”

It was a one-two for Liverpool in the voting as Sadio Mane was the runner-up to Mane, while Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completed the top three and Naby Keita, who will be joining Liverpool from Red Bull Leipzig next summer, was fifth.

2017 really has been the year of Mohamed Salah. - Read Sport

Shocking !!! How we lure children from churches, sell to buyers – Suspect confesses

Six member of a child-trafficking gang, who allegedly specialise in stealing children from churches and selling them to buyers, have been arrested by the Imo State Police Command.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Andrew Enwerem, parading the suspects on Sunday said the leader of the gang, Nnenna Njoku (32) uses her 10-year-old daughter, Chinecherem Onyejiaka, to lure children from churches and homes to her mother.

The police spokesperson, who identified the other suspects as Ijeoma Eboka, Irene Ogbuehi, Chinyere Mark, Perpetua Dike, Lilian Asoluka, Grace Ogueri and Edith Ejiaga, said investigation revealed that the number of children missing in the prime suspect’s area of operation was nine.

Enwerem said, “After a thorough investigation, the prime suspect, Nnenna Njoku, a resident of Umuagwo in Imo State, was arrested.

“She was detained and later released on bail to help the police to track down other suspects she sold the children to. The prime suspect confessed to stealing three children.

“The other suspects were arrested and they made confessional statements, which led to the recovery of three children – Ezinne Nwosu (4), Chimjindum Felix (3),and Rejoice Ezirim (3).”

“It is worthy of note that one Chimaobi Duru (4),was earlier recovered from the prime suspect, Nnenna Njoku, and has been released to his biological parents, Mr. and Mrs. Victor Duru from Anambra State. Effort is on to recover the remaining stolen children,” “Enwerem added.

The leader of the gang, mother of five children, confessed that she made N380,000 from the sale of the three children stolen from the church to Eboka, an indigene of Delta state.

The second buyer, Ogbueri (45) from Orlu in Imo State, confessed that she bought two children from Eboka for N600,000 each, while she sold them at N750,000 to Dike (60), and another buyer who was at large.

The police spokesperson added that the suspects would be charged to court soon after investigations. - Daily Post

I’ m ready to die fighting corruption in Nigeria – Magu warns looters

Ibrahim Magu, the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared that the fight against corruption in Nigeria is a “do or die affair.”

The EFCC’s Czar issued the warning while addressing a rally to mark International Day against Corruption at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja.

Acting EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, addressing the press at the end of a rally to mark International Day against Corruption

The anti-graft agency boss said corruption is Nigeria’s number one enemy.

According to Magu, “For us as a country, the fight against corruption is a do or die affair; we have to win the battle or die trying.

“Corruption, as agreed by every consensus, is our number one enemy and as President Muhammadu Buhari correctly prescribed, if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”

Calling for consensus against the malady, Magu noted that Nigerians cannot afford to be on the fence on the issue of corruption.

He said, “The fight against corruption is now a war in which there is clear line between forces of evil and those of good; between agents of progress and reactionary elements who mean no good.

“For those of us on this side; in the anticorruption agencies of government, in the media, and civil society, the dagger is drawn and I believe I am speaking the mind of everyone on this side that we intend neither retreat nor surrender in our noble intention to cure our country of the evils of corruption.

“As I often say, our bit is not enough. Winning the war against corruption is the aggregate of our collective bits and pieces. No Nigerian can afford to be on the fence in this effort to rid our country of its Enemy Number One. It is time for all hands to be on deck to march on corruption and the corrupt”.

Magu also noted that EFCC “has broken new grounds in investigating and prosecuting important cases, and recovery of stolen money.

“Our asset recovery derive has raked in billions of naira to the federal government in form of forfeitures. We have also secured 171 convictions within the last one year”. - Daily Post

''Alooter Father'' !!! Nigeria lost $32bn to corruption under Jonathan – DFID

About $32bn was lost to corruption during the six-year administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development said on Monday.

The agency said the huge amount represented 16 per cent of the previous government’s resources that could have been channeled to development.

The agency’s Head of Office, DFID Nigeria, Debbie Palmer, said this at the expression of undergraduate debates challenge to celebrate this year’s international anti-corruption day.

The event was organized by a non-governmental organization, Youngstars Foundation Initiative in Abuja.

She said millions of dollars tied up in legal challenges remained in other countries.

Palmer said: “An independent report estimates that up to $32bn was lost to corruption under the previous government. This is around 15 per cent of state resources during the period and could well be an under-estimate.

“So the estimate is that nearly 16 per cent of the previous government’s money was lost to corruption. That is a staggering amount of money. And that is money that is to all of you and to your future. That is why we all should care about corruption.

“Millions of dollars also remain in other jurisdictions tied up in legal challenges.”

Palmer said youths in the country have a critical role to play in President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft fight.

She added that the UK is committed to supporting Nigeria to tackle corruption in all its various forms through its anti-corruption programme in Nigeria. - The Nation

Loneliness In Britain Has Escalated From Personal Misfortune Into A Social Epidemic

Imagine Britain in the grip of a chronic illness that was causing widespread misery, costing the country millions in lost days at work, and doing more harm to those affected than smoking fifteen cigarettes a day or being obese. There would be calls for immediate action.

That is exactly the impact that loneliness is having. The evidence suggests that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by about a third, as the NHS will be highlighting later this week. But because it is so often hidden from sight, it is too easy to ignore. The damage it is doing right now is so profound that we have to respond quickly. Fortunately, the cost of effective action is not high. The price of inaction is enormous.

We have been studying the evidence over the past year as co-chairs of the Jo Cox Loneliness Commission. It is now clear that none of us is immune. As Jo herself said, “young or old, loneliness doesn’t discriminate.”

For some, its phases are acute but fleeting. For others, chronic and debilitating. The triggers can be anything from losing a loved one, to major changes at work or in our home lives. Loneliness surrounds us, from the quiet child in class to the high-powered executive too busy to engage in meaningful conversation, from the new mum to the family carer. It hides in plain sight. 

We have been here before. For a long time, we saw positive mental health as the norm and mental illness as an aberration. It turned out that wasn’t true. The same applies to loneliness.

For individuals, loneliness can be hugely draining emotionally. There’s a reason why misbehaving toddlers are sent alone to the ‘naughty corner’ and why solitary confinement is used on prisoners as a punishment and torture technique.

Mentally, loneliness results in anxiety and stress, insomnia and depression, dementia and neurodegenerative disease. Physically, it can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, strokes, and diabetes. Lonely people visit GPs more often, stay longer when in hospital and find it harder to recover afterwards.

As families, loneliness can rob us of perspective and cause our closest bonds – our safety nets – to fray.

It undermines community cohesion as people disengage, forgetting that we have more in common than that which divides us, receding into their respective corners in a downwards spiral of withdrawal.

And it damages our national economy, to the tune of £32bn per annum.

The evidence is clear: loneliness is toxic. And the problem is getting worse by the day.

We are living alone more, often moving away from family, and we work alone at home more too. We spend a greater proportion of our day by ourselves than we did ten years ago. Many of the institutions that once brought us together are fading, as each week another church or pub is converted into flats. On-line ‘friends’ replace real ones. The professionals, whether GPs, carers or church leaders, tell us they now have to confront the damage done by loneliness on a daily basis.

We can’t leave it up to them. All of us need to make tackling loneliness our business. Starting a conversation each day in your neighbourhood can be a radical act of community service. Whether it be in the doctor’s waiting room or the supermarket queue, it really is good to talk. We walk the same streets, so let’s not live in different worlds.

We learn from National Rail, on whose tracks hundreds of desperate people commit suicide every year, that just saying hello or asking someone on the platform about the weather could avert another tragic death.

So, let’s try to break out of the routine journey that is head-down, headphones-in, not a word spoken from home to work, and have a quick chat with a fellow passenger. When we get home, let’s phone an older relative or check on a neighbour who may be lonely but too proud or embarrassed to say so.

On Friday we will be publishing the report of the Jo Cox Loneliness Commission.

Central to our recommendations is the need for ministers to make tackling loneliness a priority at all levels of government. Yes, it will cost some money but, like all preventive interventions, will save far more in the long run.

We can’t afford not to act. Loneliness in Britain has escalated from personal misfortune into a social epidemic.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The problem is solvable. If we were all to play our part in strengthening the increasingly thin ties between us we could build a less lonely Britain.

As MPs, working to continue Jo’s work on this has been the greatest privilege of our professional lives. She pictured a country where nobody need feel isolated from the rest of society unless they choose to. Now it’s down to the rest of us to make that vision a reality. - Huffington Post UK

Corruption Commandants !!! Why Buhari’s audit committee on recovered loot must probe Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan – SERAP

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the audit committee on recovery of assets probe the administrations of former presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo, Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

SERAP, in a letter to Buhari, titled “welcoming the inauguration of the Audit Committee on the Recovery and Management of Stolen Assets as a partial fulfilment of the judgment by Justice Idris,” requested he uses his “leadership position to strengthen and extend the mandate of the committee to cover the periods starting from the return of democracy in in 1999, as ordered by the court.”

The letter was dated 9 December 2017 and signed by SERAP’s Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni.

SREAP urged Buhari to, “strengthen the capacity of the committee, and to extend the four weeks deadline within which it is expected to submit its report to at least 6 months so that the committee can effectively document the details of information ordered by Justice M.B. Idris.”

According to SERAP, “The rule of law might prove to be fragile if its force depends upon the sum of the governmental calculations of costs and benefits made. The kind of commitment needed to nourish the rule of law is a strong political and ethical commitment to obey all judgments of courts in full, and not in part.

“Extending the mandates of the committee to cover periods starting from the return of democracy in 1999 could have a profound effect on combating the culture of impunity that prevails wherever corrupt individuals feel that the risk of punishment is low, and that they would be allowed to keep their ill-gotten wealth.

“Partial implementation of the judgment by Justice Idris would continue to encourage impunity for grand corruption. And the effects of corruption on the rule of law are not only harmful, but destructive to the entire criminal justice system, as well as erode public trust in law and order. We believe that the more transparent and democratic is a society, the more resilient it would be against corruption. And the more corruption is tamed, and recovered stolen assets properly spent on developmental projects, the more Nigeria can thrive among the comity of nations.

“Detailed terms of reference for the committee have not yet been published. It is also unclear the periods of time covered by the committee’s mandate. These lacunas if not urgently addressed could undermine the effectiveness of the committee, and the integrity and credibility of its work.

“While we welcome the inauguration of the committee as a partial compliance with the judgment by Justice Idris, we urge your government to fully comply with the terms of the judgment by extending the mandate of the committee to cover the periods starting from the return of democracy in 1999, as well as accessing and collecting information on recovered assets as ordered by the court.

“We would again like to draw your attention to the judgment delivered in March 2016 by Justice Idris following a Freedom of Information suit no: FHC/IKJ/CS/248/2011 brought by SERAP. The judgment directed your government to provide SERAP with up to date information on recovered stolen funds since the return of civilian rule in 1999, including: Detailed information on the total amount of recovered stolen public assets that have so far been recovered by Nigeria.

“The details ordered by the court to be disclosed include: information on the total amount of recovered stolen public assets by each government; the amount of recovered stolen public assets spent by each government as well as the objects of such spending and the projects on which such funds were spent.

“The court noted that successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999 “breached the fundamental principles of transparency and accountability for failing to disclose details about the spending of recovered stolen public funds,” and ordered your government to “ensure accountability for all recovered stolen assets under the governments of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, former President Goodluck Jonathan account fully for all recovered loot.”

The organisation further appealed to Buhari to “Renew and strengthen the mandate of the audit committee to cover the periods starting from the return of democracy in 1999, as ordered by Justice Idris, and to extend the four weeks deadline within which the committee is to submit its report to at least 6 months;

“Develop detailed terms of reference for the committee, including the power to access files and interview all persons of interest to the committee from all governments since the return of democracy in 1999;

“Ensure the publication of the report of the committee, and if the report establishes any relevant admissible evidence that some of the recovered assets have been re-stolen, to refer such cases to the appropriate anti-corruption agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), for further investigation and prosecution;

“Work with the leadership of the National Assembly to promote and encourage the urgent passage of the Proceeds of Crimes Bill, to ensure sustainability and transparency in the management of assets;

“Encourage and facilitate civil society participation in the work of the audit committee.” - Daily Post

CSOs to FG: Publish names of treasury looters, recovered monies

A coalition of civil society groups under the auspices of the Say No Campaign has asked the Federal government to make public the names of Nigerians found to have looted the public treasury and also make public the actual amount of money so far recovered as it will help the fight against corruption in the country.

One of the congeners of the Coalition, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said a the 2017 world anti corruption day celebration in Abuja that the government owes it a duty to inform Nigerians on the progress so far made in the fight against corruption, adding that when the government says it is fighting corruption, it is not doing anybody any favour because it is part of its constitutional duties.

He said the group was out to demystify the fact that the fight against corruption was one man’s fight, adding that “it is easy in Nigeria to build a personality cult around the anti-corruption fight; it is easy to make the anti-corruption fight a cliché. So you hear the government saying every time that it wants to fight corruption but the truth of the matter is that it is in the Constitution that it is the role of the government to abolish it.

“So, when the government says it is fighting corruption, it is not doing anybody a favour, the consequence of corruption is upon us, its effect is upon us. When you hear that billions of naira is stolen, it means there are no drugs in the hospital, it means that citizens cannot have jobs; they will sell recharge cards.

“It means that our industries will not work and Ajaokuta, Oshogbo and Aladja Steel Rolling Mills will never come to life”, adding that Ajaokuta mill alone could employ 17, 000 engineers. If you take 17,000 engineers off the unemployment market, that is a respectable self-esteem kind of job but corruption has hampered that’’.

Another convener and Coordinator African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, Chidi Onuma, Keeping the names of those who have looted the treasury is a disservice to the fight against corruption, saying “I don’t know anybody you would ask in this  country who wouldn’t want to make those names public. It goes beyond the name.

“We should also have the amount that the government has recovered so far from its effort in the fight against corruption. It will help in ensuring that there is greater confidence in the government and its anti corruption war.

“It is important for Nigerians to know because it is beyond making an elaborate statement about how much was recovered and the corrupt people who are being prosecuted.

“It is important that we also come out to tell Nigerians how much of the looted funds has been recovered and from who. Some of the reasons may be because of the legal implication because you have to ensure that the judicial system takes its course and ensure that things are resolved before you make anything public”.

He said further that even though People have different opinion about the war against corruption, there has been some successes, but there is still room for improvement, adding that “we need to keep talking about it with the hope that it would primate every Sector and aspect of the Nigeria society. You do not resolve the issue of corruption in a day.

“The current government has made efforts through whistleblowing, treasury single account among others. There has been some criticism, but it is something that we need to continue to work on as a people until we are able to reduce corruption to a bearable minimum.

“Every now and then, you hear accusations of selective prosecution. I think the question. We should be as, I give ourselves is whether anybody who has been picked up for corruption irrespective of political affiliation, has committed a crime.

“If a crime has been committed, we should look beyond where the person comes from, his religion, ethnicity of political party. If we look at that, I would say you that allegations can’t stand because in my own estimation. Almost everybody that has been put on trial for corruption in this country has a case to answer.” - The Nation