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The disagreement between banks and MTN over sharing formula for the USSD platform has been laid to rest.
MTN customers, for some days, have been unable to recharge using the online bank payment platform as a result of the disagreement.
ODUDUWA NEWS can confirm that MTN customers have been reconnected by the banks and can now perform their USSD transactions.
Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Sunday, visited the burnt down Agodi Gate Auto spare parts Market in Ibadan to assess the extent of damage done by the fire incident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday.
The governor, who inspected the market alongside top government functionaries, expressed shock and sadness over the loss of goods worth millions of Naira.
He said that he would hold a meeting with leaders of the market to find common grounds on ways of resolving the travails of the market.
The governor also promised that his administration will come to the aid of victims of the inferno by providing palliatives within the shortest possible time.
He said: “I greet every one of you here this afternoon. I have seen the extent of destruction and I know how important this market is to the economy of Oyo State.
“I was here during the electioneering and interacted with you. I am still trying to process in my head the way forward but I want to let you know that the government will come to your aid.
“We won’t allow you to bear the brunt alone. So, I will ask the leadership to send your representatives. And by tomorrow (Monday), we will sit together and look at the immediate palliative we can do for you.
“The second thing is, I want all of you to go and think about it very well; is it time for us to move this market to a far more organized setting? “Please, think about it. Do we need to move this market to a better place that will be more comfortable and spacious for everyone to stay in? It is a decision that we need to all take together because I don’t want any reoccurrence of this in the state. And the only way for us to ensure that we don’t witness anything like this again is for us to sit down and think of a solution that will endure.
He asked leaders of the market to start compiling the list of shop owners who were affected by the fire, adding that “within the next one or two weeks the state will make a decision on the market generally.”
According to him, even if the market will remain in the present location, “we need to see how we can arrange ourselves such that this kind of thing won’t happen again.”
The President of the market traders, Mr Moruf Olanrewaju, took the governor and his entourage round the market to see the level of destruction.
Governor Makinde also sympathised with the victims of the inferno and promised to assist them.
Though he hinted that the market might be moved to a more spacious location, he stated that the final decision would be taken collective by the government and representatives of the traders.
He directed the market leaders to organise themselves and send their representatives to his office on Monday, April 5, for a crucial deliberation on the way forward.
It will be recalled that the auto spare parts market in Agodi, Ibadan, was razed by fire in the early hours of Saturday April 3, 2021.
The inferno was said to have started from the tyre section of the market before it spread to other parts of the market.
Though men of the state fire service responded promptly, they couldn’t curtail the raging fire as their trucks were unable to reach the interior of the market due to blockage of access road.
Petroleum dealers, on the platform of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Ibadan depot have threatened to shut down all petroleum stations in Oyo State.
IPMAN noted that the need to shut down all the petroleum stations was necessary due to the killing of innocent citizens in some parts of the State.
Oduduwa News recalls that the State, in the last one month, has witnessed the killing and kidnap of no fewer than seven people in some parts of the State.
Our correspondent recalls that no fewer than four people have been kidnapped in the State in the last three weeks.
Among the four people kidnapped in the last three weeks are a woman abducted at a Quarry site in Moniya, a farmer kidnapped along old Ibadan/Oyo road, Mrs. Jimoke Oludele-Babalola, an elder sister to Mr. Sunkanmi Babalola, member representing Egbeda State Constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly and a medical doctor in Ibarapa North Local government area of the State.
It was authoritatively confirmed to us that out of the four people kidnapped in the last three weeks, only one of them, Mrs. Jimoke Oludele-Babalola has been released.
ODUDUWA NEWS gathered that among those who were killed at the weekend is a petroleum dealer, Mrs Sherifat Adisa, who owns Subawah petroleum.
IPMAN in its reaction has threatened to shutdown all filling stations in the State.
IPMAN Chairman, Ibadan Depot, Alhaji Bukola Mutiu, said all filling stations in Ibarapa zone of the State had been ordered to close down.
Mutiu, in a statement obtained released on Tuesday, said the closure of all filling stations in Ibarapa was a warning to the Oyo State government to urgently arrest the growing trend of killings and kidnap of petroleum dealers in the State.
Mutiu, while describing the killing of Mrs Adisa as one too many, warned that except the trend is arrested, all filling stations in the State would be shut down.
He said, “This killing and kidnapping has become so rampant as series of cases have been coming up recently.
“Last night (Saturday), one of us, Alhaja Sherifat Adisa, who was the owner of Subawah petroleum, was kidnapped at about 7:30 p.m. from her office and two people were also killed in her station. Her corpse was found at about 11:00 p.m. close to her station.
“The IPMAN has decided to close down all petrol stations in Ibarapa till something is done by the government to protect them and if something is not done, the shutdown of all petrol stations will be extended to Oyo State as a whole.”
Governor Seyi Makinde has ordered the closure of Schools in Ibadan.
He made the statement known today while speaking on the state of security in Oyo State amidst the ongoing protest against Police brutality which reads in part:
“As a result of unrest in Oyo state, especially in Ibadan metropolis, the state governor, engineer Seyi Makinde, in his broadcast speech, directed that all schools in Ibadan, should be closed from tomorrow, Wednesday, October 21st, 2020 for the rest of this week, noting that the situation will be reviewed on Friday, October 23rd, 2020, after which further directives will be given”.
It has been gathered that the independent oil marketers have not been fully incorporated into the business of importing petrol due to their inability to access foreign exchange.
Dealers stated that since the downstream oil sector was deregulated in March this year, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had remained the major importer of PMS into the country.
It was gathered that although some big players made imports in previous months, a large majority of marketers had yet to resume petrol importation due to the inaccessibility of the dollar.
The international petrol business is largely run in dollars and accessing the greenback had not been easy due to the fluctuation of the naira against the dollar for months now, the marketers said.
Asked whether oil marketers had resumed the importation of petrol, the National President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, replied, “How can we import when we do not have access to forex?”
He told our correspondent in Abuja that independent oil marketers had always been ready to import petrol, not just only few major marketers and the Pipelines Products Marketing Company, which is the downstream subsidiary of NNPC.
“We have storage tanks everywhere and so we can import but the problem here is that at what amount are we going to access the dollar?” Gillis-Harry asked.
He added, “How are we sourcing it, are we to source it at the black market rate? Or are we sourcing it at the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) rate?”
When told that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency had said it would ensure that marketers access forex at the same rate with the NNPC, Billy-Gillis said many dealers had yet to receive any correspondence on that.
The PPPRA Secretary, Abdukadir Saidu had observed in the past that the deregulation of the sector came with its pains.
In a statement on Sunday, Winifred Akpani, DAPPMAN chairman, urged the federal government to take a step further by fully deregulating the downstream sector to allow the sector enhance economic growth.
The government, in March, introduced a price modulation policy where international product prices and associated landing costs in Nigeria are used as input in the determination of final pricing to the local market by the government through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and disclosed periodically.
Commending the government for consistently seeking ways to reposition the sector for effectiveness and profitability, Akpani said DAPPMAN remained in full support of the implementation of a fully deregulated regime which will make the downstream sector’s operations more seamless, enhance transparency, competitiveness and sustainable growth.
DAPPMAN is mindful of the commitment of the government and the functional organs managing the sector to ensuring value to every Nigerian and we salute them for this as we are indeed up against uncertain times,” she said.
“However, we believe that full deregulation of the sector remains the most viable option for Nigeria to effectively navigate this period and ultimately safeguard the future of our economy and wellbeing of 200 million Nigerians.”
Akpani explained that deregulation will open up the sector for fresh investments and diversification which will translate in stable demand and supply regimes that will ensure that consumers have uninterrupted access to affordable quality products without the huge financial burden currently borne by the government.
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has on Friday September visited the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to inspect some facilities put in place as part of the readiness for the resumption of international flights.
Sanwo-Olu while speaking to the PRESS after the inspection said, he has embarked on the visitation to ascertain the level of preparations of staff members of the international airport and that it is necessary at a time Nigeria is set to open up various flight operations in the country.
He added further that Lagos State is gradually experiencing reduction in COVID-19 cases and that they cannot leave anything for chance at this time until it is ascertained that everything is put in proper perspective as well as a safe environment for the resumption of operations.
OduduwaNews has gathered that many African leaders attended the inauguration of the President of African Development Bank, AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina which was held yesterday.
African leaders on Tuesday also reaffirmed their support for the African Development Bank Group and its leadership, under Dr Akinwumi Adesina, as he began his second five-year term with a renewed mandate to foster sustainable development on the continent.
In goodwill messages to mark Adesina’s inauguration, Nigerian President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); Paul Kagame of Rwanda; Alpha Conde of Guinea; George Weah of Liberia; Sassou Nguesso of Republic of the Congo; and Guinea Bissau’s Umaro Embalo commended the bank’s interventions, especially its assistance to member states in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Dr Adesina, you have our full support as you continue to lead the bank through this COVID-19 period, marked by turmoil but also the prospect of new opportunities for our continent,” Kagame said.
Kagame noted that the bank had played a key role in ensuring that Africa’s interests reflected on the international agenda during the crisis.
Adesina, who first took office as the eight elected president of the bank in 2015, was unanimously re-elected by the Board of Governors with a 100 per cent vote at the end of the bank’s 2020 annual meeting on August 27.
For the first time, the meetings were held virtually due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Buhari noted that the unanimity of Adesina’s re-election was a vote of confidence in his leadership and programmes, especially the bank’s High 5 priority agenda.
If diligently implemented, the High 5s would help Africa to meet most of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, he noted.
“Under your leadership, the bank has made admirable progress and we are confident that this gain will be consolidated and scaled up in the next five years,” Buhari said in a message presented on his behalf by the bank’s governor for Nigeria.
Holders of Higher National Diploma (HND) under the umbrella of Coalition of Higher National Diploma stakeholders have asked the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), to urgently commence the process of implementing approved government white paper that eliminated the disparity between university (BSc) and polytechnic graduates (HND).
The coalition threatened industrial action if government fails to implement the white paper detailing the removal of dichotomy on their career progression in public service in four weeks.
“We are going to occupy that office until they do the needful because we will not continue to keep quiet and things will continue to go wrong,” Chris Isiquzo Ikechukwu, president of Nigerian Union of Journalists and a Visitor of International Institute of Journalists, told a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
He said having one group of workers enjoying their promotion in service and another group retarded, “is unacceptable to us.”
“We are not going to take this lying low; we are going to mobilize our students and members across Nigeria.”
The white paper has been nearly 14 years waiting to be implemented, said president of Higher National Diploma Holders Association of Nigeria (HNDHAN) Sabastine Onyemaobi.
He added that the wait continues to expose HND graduates to discrimination, stigmatization and undue stagnation.
He said HND holders do not progress above level 14 rather they are faced with demotion in cases where they try to rise above that, after acquiring PGD and Masters as required by the law.
He demanded that the HND certificate holders from accredited NBTE be recognized as approved by the white paper to progress to higher grades up to level 17.
While noting that their members are becoming restive and they may not be able to contain their agitation, he said promotion and progression in career if free and highly
The former Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria and the current President of African Development Bank AFDP, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has been re-elected for a second five-year term.
The election was taken place via electronic platform on Thursday at the virtual annual general meeting of the bank.
This was made known by President Buhari new media aide, Bashir Ahmad who tweeted via his twitter handle, “Nigeria’s Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has been re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). With this re-election, he will spend another 5 years supervising the affairs of the Bank. Congratulations!”
Adesina’s reappointment on Thursday at the helm of the 56-year-old bank is considered a formality as he is the sole candidate.
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