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Pakistan welcomes Qatar, Saudi Arabia revival of ties

Bilkisu Halilu Pai
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Pakistan has welcomed the revival of ties between Qatar and its neighbours in the Arabian Gulf, with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi holding talks over the telephone with his counterparts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Qureshi spoke with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani on Thursday, the foreign ministry says.

Pakistani Foreign Minister, Qureshi appreciated the positive developments that led to a successful (Gulf Cooperation Council) Summit in al-Ula, Saudi Arabia,” said a statement on the call with the Qatari foreign minister.

“He hoped that the spirit of cooperation in the GCC Summit will augur well for enhanced confidence and cooperation among the countries of the organisation.”

Throughout the crisis, which saw Qatar forced to rely on food and other imports from Turkey, Iran and other allies via sea and air, Pakistan, a close Saudi Arabian ally that also enjoys warm relations with Qatar, said it would act as a neutral party.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced a restoration of ties with northern neighbour Qatar, after a three-and-a-half year diplomatic spat which saw the kingdom and its allies – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt – cut diplomatic and trade ties and impose a land, sea and air blockade on the Gulf state.

A day later, the four countries agreed to restore full diplomatic and trade ties with Doha at a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in al-Ula in Saudi Arabia.

Qatar was accused three years ago by the blockading nations of supporting “terrorism” and being too close to its regional rival, Iran. Doha has consistently denied the charges.

Among the demands of the quartet had been for Qatar to end its alleged support for the Muslim Brotherhood transnational political party, close the Al Jazeera media network, downgrade diplomatic ties with Iran and shut a Turkish military base on Qatari soil.

Doha refused to implement the demands at the time and none appears to have been implemented as part of the rapprochement this week.

Qatar has agreed to freeze a series of lawsuits instituted at international fora against the blockading states.

On Thursday, the UAE said it could resume trade and travel links with Doha as early as next week but that a resumption of diplomatic ties would require “rebuilding trust”.

 

Ighalo Receives Offers From Two Clubs In English Premier League

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Shanghai Greenland Shenhua of China striker, Odion Jude Ighalo may yet have a golden opportunity of remaining in England at the expiration of his loan spell at Manchester United, s two clubs in the English Premier League are reportedly on his rail, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

While Ighalo’s extended stay at Old Trafford is billed to end without much ado on the 31st of this month, the former Super Eagles’ striker could opt to keep his chances going in the EPL by accepting one of two bids that have bbeen put on the table before his representatives.

This is in contrast with lowly permutations trailing the striker, who failed to continue the very majestic surge he had with The Red Devils in the first half of his loan stint from Shanghai, and his extended deal in June has turned into a nightmare of sort.

Ighalo is already preparing to bid farewell to United before the January transfer window closes at the end of this month, but a report by Sky Sports has revealed that the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations top scorer is attracting interest from two clubs in the English top-flight.

However, it is not only on England that Ighalo’s thoughts will be, as the report adds that clubs in Saudi Arabia and Qatar are also keen on buying the soft-spoken attacker, who is expected to be out of Old Trafford on January 31, after which he would return to Shanghai and await a fresh decision by the club on his future.

Ighalo, whose contract with Shenhua runs out at the end of this season, has struggled for game time in the current season, with his woes at United compounded by the arrival of Uruguay ace, Edinson Cavani in October.

Ighalo’s statistics in 23 outings across all competitions for United have been stuck at five goals – two in the UEFA Europa League and three in the English FA Cup, all in the first half of his loan deal, and the 31-year-old star now has just five games left to get a full debut in the EPL, as all 12 games he has played in the prestigious competition were off the bench.

Air Task Force neutralises terrorists in Borno

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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The Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE has inflicted heavy casualties on Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno State, North East Nigeria.

A statement from the Coordinator Defence Media Operations Major General John Enenche said the air task force took out the insurgents hideouts in Alagarno, including a compound housing some high-value Boko Haram Terrorist leaders.

The compound, concealed under thick vegetation and located 2.3Km North East of KAFA, was being used by the terrorists to coordinate their nefarious activities.

Major General Eneche further said the destruction of the locations was achieved through multiple air strikes executed on 6 January 2021 as the Air Task Force dispatched appropriate force packages of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets and attack helicopters to engage the target areas in day and night raids, neutralizing several of them.

The Armed Forces of Nigeria said it will not relent until all enemies of the Nation are neutralised and normalcy is restored to all troubled zones.

Nnenna.O

COVID-19: PTF assures Nigerians of safety, efficacy of vaccines

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Nigeria has assured Nigerians that the COVID-19 vaccine recommended for use in Nigeria is safe.

The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Agency in Nigeria, Dr. Faisal Shuaib gave the assurance in Abuja at the National Joint briefing by the PTF.

He further advised Nigerians not to be obsessed with the detection of a new strain of the Corona Virus noting that Nigeria has not detected any new strain.

Dr. Shuaib however disclosed that enhancing the vaccine to confront any new strain of the virus was not going to be a problem.

” So for example in America, in temperate countries almost every year, they have to change the type of flu vaccine that is given just because of the rapidity with which mutation occurs with the flu vaccine. So it’s something that’s happening, but also it’s a great thing that technology is also advanced enough to be able to produce vaccines in such a short time as to counter whatever new strains are available,” he said.

 

Nnenna.O

KSADP moves to revamp watari dam to boost irrigation agriculture

Mosunmola Ore
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The Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) has awarded a contract for the rehabilitation of the Watari Irrigation Scheme in order to boost agriculture in the state.

This was revealed by KSADP, that the project is worth over N314 million, and has been awarded to Hajaig Nigeria Ltd.

The irrigation scheme is situated downstream of the Watari dam, in the Bagwai Local Government Area of the state.

State Project Coordinator, Malam Ibrahim Garba Muhammad during the official handing over of the project site to the contractor in charge, informed newsmen on the project’s makeup.

Muhammad revealed that the dam which was constructed over 40 years ago, has the potential to support cultivation of vast hectares of rice, several irrigated crops and vegetables.

He said the dam and its auxiliary infrastructure since existence have not undergone any form of repairs despite its huge potential for agriculture and rural development.

“Besides the renovation of the dam, whose embankment has been eroded and its canals blocked, our project intends to create additional 1, 000 hectares of irrigation land, meaning more people in this locality would be engaged in farming,” he added.

The Project Coordinator further appealed to farmers and other stakeholders in the area to cooperate with the project’s contractor to ensure speedy completion of the work.

KSADP is funded and supported with grants by the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, to improve crop production and enhance livestock productivity.

Senegal reports bird flu outbreak on poultry

Mosunmola Ore
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Senegal has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu on a poultry farm.

This was reported by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on Thursday.

The outbreak, which occurred in the Thies region east of the capital Dakar, has killed 58,000 birds in the 100,000-strong flock, with the remaining animals culled, the OIE said, citing a report from Senegal’s veterinary services.

Nigerian government targets over N895bn of dormant balances, unclaimed dividends

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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The Nigerian government has set a 2021 target to take over N895 billion from banks and quoted companies representing unclaimed dividends and dormant bank balances as special borrowing to fund crisis related expenditures.

This measure reported by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is in response to the hard-pressed situation for additional sources of funds to plug the continued increase in revenue shortage.

It follows the provision of the Finance Act 2020 which empowers the FG to take over unclaimed dividends and dormant account balances unutilised for more than six year as special credit   through the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund.

The Finance Act 2020, section 77, 1-3 states that:

“From the commencement of this Act, any unclaimed dividend of a public limited liability company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and any unutilised amounts in a dormant bank account maintained in or by a deposit money bank which has remained unclaimed or unutilised for a period of not less than six years from the date of declaring the dividend or domiciling the funds in a bank account shall be transferred immediately to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund.

“Provided that this section shall not apply to official bank accounts owned or belonging to the Federal Government, State Government or Local Government, or any of their Ministries, Departments or Agencies.”

CBN Guidelines define dormant accounts as any account not operated by the owner for more than one year. According to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), as at May last year,  there are 44.5 million dormant bank accounts.

Vanguard investigations show that dormant account balances constituted about 2.5 per cent of total deposits of banks, which stood at N29.5 trillion as at September 30th, 2020, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 

Thus, the amount of money in dormant account balances is about N737.5 billion. When combined with the N158 billion outstanding unclaimed dividends, the total amount of money that would be taken over by the FG may be up to N895.5 billion.

Further informations showed that the original version of the  Bill was limited to Unclaimed Dividends and did not include dormant bank account balances. Industry sources disclosed that the dormant account balances were included following a suggestion by a leading legislator during the public hearing on the bill.

The inclusion of dormant account balances in the Act, according to Dr. Uju Ogubunka, President, Bank Customer Association of Nigeria (BCAN) indicates desperation on the part of the government.

He said: “ I have not had the privilege of reading the law. But from information going round, it does appear to me that this is a novel development that signifies, at best, desperation.

“As it is well known, in every creditor-debtor relationship, there is always a known creditor and a known debtor. From your write-up, the government will be the known debtor; but who is the known creditor?

“Creditors always attempt to secure their positions against default by debtors, except they want to be gratuitous, by taking collateral from prospective debtors. What collaterals will the government provide?

“More importantly, creditors give serious consideration to credit-worthiness of prospective borrowers. What is the credit-worthiness of the government? In other words, is the government credit-worthy?

“If you answer these questions, you will appreciate whether or not the government should be allowed to go the way it is intending.”

Speaking on the issue, Chairman of Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, Mr. Ganiyu Musa said that it is better for stakeholders to create a mechanism through which unclaimed dividends can get to the owners rather than what is being dictated in the finance bill.

“A number of commentators have suggested different mechanisms in terms of ensuring that shareholders have access to their dividends.

“Rather than leave it according to the dictates of the Finance Act, I would have thought that focusing on the mechanism to get the unclaimed dividend to the owners be instituted.

“Such mechanism should be extended to the companies and it should be left to the companies to manage the funds but the Federal Government should come up with a regulation to compel the companies to identify those shareholders and give them their dividends,” Musa stated.

Suzan O

Tesla’s Elon Musk becomes world’s richest person

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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Elon Musk, Tesla Incorporated’s electric auto-maker and owner, has become the world’s richest entrepreneur adding $165.5 billion of wealth in the past year. 

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Presently he has surpassed Amazon’s owner, Jeff Bezos, who’s held the spot since 2017

A statement that seemed outlandish one year ago became plausible, then almost inevitable as Tesla Inc.’s share price climbed higher and higher in 2020.

On Thursday it finally happened. The electric-automaker’s shares surged 7.9%, boosting Musk past Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.

Musk is worth $194.8 billion, or $9.5 billion more than Bezos, whose Blue Origin is a rival to Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Ltd., or SpaceX, in the private space race.

Tesla’s ascent thrusts its brash founder into a role occupied by only a handful of other people in recent decades and underscores the dramatic stock moves that have upended the global wealth rankings of late.

Over the past year the South Africa-born engineer has added more than $165 billion to his fortune in what’s probably the fastest bout of wealth creation in history.

Fueling his rise was an unprecedented rally in Tesla’s share price, which surged 743% last year on the back of consistent profits, inclusion in the S&P 500 Index and enthusiasm from Wall Street and retail investors alike.

The shares have gained more than 23,900% since its 2010 initial public offering, including a 5-for-1 stock split last year.

The jump in Tesla’s stock price further inflates a valuation light-years apart from other automakers on numerous metrics. Tesla produced just over half-a-million cars last year, a fraction of the output of Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co.

Its market value of $773.5 billion is bigger than that of Facebook Inc. Larry Ellison’s 2% stake in Tesla alone would be enough to place the Oracle Corp. founder among the world’s 175 richest people (including his Oracle shares he’s ranked 10th).

Musk’s rise is even more astonishing given his dust-ups and gaffes in recent years, typically exacerbated by his spontaneous tweets. In 2018 he agreed to pay a $20 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission and step down as chairman of Tesla after tweeting a notion to take the company private at $420 a share, with “funding secured. ” Something he never did.

Still, he’s gotten on board with at least one trend among the super-rich. He confirmed last month he’d personally relocated from California to Texas, a state that has gained new popularity among the wealthy for levying zero income tax.

 

Suzan O

Kano state government pledges commitment to minimum wage implementation

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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The Kano state government has reaffirmed its commitment to the continuous implementation of the N30,600.00 minimum wage for civil servants.

The state commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba who stated this indicated that the deduction was necessary to keep the government going in the face of the prevailing economic recession facing the country.

He clarified that the November/December workers’ salary was a temporary measure informed by the drop in federal allocation and dwindling internally generated revenue occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The state government took the measure instead of contemplating on paying half salary or in batches as obtained in other states or layoffs.

“Similar temporary measure was taken, including cut in the allowances for all political appointees in its administrative structure, during the first wave of the pandemic in the country between March and July, last year, which was withdrawn soon after the virus situation improved.

“As soon as the state of affairs improves, the state government would not hesitate to pay workers in its employ the full salary” Garba stated.

He solicited for the support and cooperation of the entire workforce in the state to bear with the situation and desist from spreading rumours on the government intention.

Suzan O

Bitcoin hits $40,000, an all time high

Nnenna Okoronkwo
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The Bitcoin has soared to $40,000 for the first time on Thursday, as it continues a rally that has seen the digital currency climb more than 700% from a March 12 closing low.

The surge has been as a result of an increasing demand from institutional, corporate, and more recently retail investors has powered bitcoin’s surge this year, attracted by the prospect of quick gains in a world of ultra-low yields and negative interest rates.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency climbed as high as $40,402.46 and was last up 6.1% at $39,100. It crossed $30,000 for the first time on Jan. 2 and $20,000 on Dec. 16.

Smaller coins ethereum, the second largest in terms of market capitalization, and XRP, the fourth biggest, gained 1.8% at $1,231 and 31% at 32 U.S. cents, respectively. Both currencies often move in tandem with bitcoin.

Some investors viewed bitcoin as a hedge against inflation amid enormous monetary stimulus aimed at battling the economic devastation caused by COVID-19.

Market participants though warned a correction could be in the cards after a scorching rally.

“While further growth is inevitable, investors should not expect this to move in a straight line,” said Gavin Smith, chief executive officer of cryptocurrency consortium, Panxora Group.

“The reality is that bitcoin is far from being a magic money tree, nor is it free from downward price swings. In fact, we can expect dips as sharp as 25% at times as investors periodically withdraw profits,” he added.

Bitcoins surge happened as the market cap for the entire cryptocurrency sector topped $1 trillion on Thursday, according to data trackers CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.

Glassnode, which provides insight on blockchain data, noted that retail interest in bitcoin has increased the last few weeks, with the number of bitcoin addresses or wallets holding a “non-zero amount” of the virtual currency reaching an all-time high of more than 33 million.

The information provider also said while interest in bitcoin and news coverage have grown, it is far from being in recognition territory. The number of daily new bitcoins has still not reached 2017 levels, Glassnode said, suggesting the currency is experiencing strong organic growth in adoption, but not the sort of “viral growth typical for recognition and exposure.”

Suzan O

 

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