MTN REBRANDS AS EPIC

MTN has changed its name to epic, marking the occasion with an event on Thursday evening.

“As of today, there is a breath of fresh air in our market, inaugurating a new era, which leads to the future,” epic’s Chief Executive Officer Thanos Chronopoulos said.

In his speech, he referred to the pillars of the new strategy and to the company’s investment plan of for the coming years.

“Three are the main pillars of change: our infrastructure, our customers’ experience and the internal operations,” he stated.

“Firstly, we are radically changing our infrastructure: With an investment of over €40 million, we are creating a super-fast network with 10 times more capacity than in the past. Essentially, we are talking about a brand new network that will gradually cover the whole of the Republic of Cyprus and will upgrade the customers’ daily communication experience substantially and practically.

“Secondly, we are decisively focused on the customers. We put them at the heart of our everyday lives. This requires emphasis on immediacy, flexibility and speed to meet and exceed the customers’ needs.

“Finally, we are restructuring radically our internal operations. We are implementing new, unified tools to help us keep track of the customers’ requests from the beginning to the end, ensuring they receive the best possible services, while this process helps us monitor and, therefore, improve continuously ourselves.”

Epic is one of the largest telecommunication providers in Cyprus. It provides integrated mobile and fixed telephony, internet and pay-TV services as well as specialised ICT solutions for businesses. At the same time, it operates 18 stores with tech products, accessories and telecommunication solutions.

Epic belongs to Monaco Telecom, the Principality of Monaco provider, and is a member of a dynamic European telecoms family which operates in France, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland.

FG TO PROSCRIBE ALMAJIRI SYSTEM

NSA, Babagana-Monguno

The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, yesterday said the Federal Government will proscribe the Almajiri system and other groups that have become a problem to the society.

This is even as the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu, has said the security situation in the country has stabilised.

Briefing State House correspondents after the National Economic Council, NEC, meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at Presidential Villa, Abuja, the NSA said the $1 billion approved in 2017 by NEC from Excess Crude Account for security was earmarked for the military.

Though, Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, and governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had while briefing journalists earlier this month, said the $1 billion, which even raised dust among the governors, had been expended.

However, the NSA said the $1 billion was earmarked for the military and that he was not aware whether the money had been released or spent on security.

Monguno said he briefed NEC on several issues relating to security in the country and that the council was on the verge of releasing a blueprint over the myriads of security problems.

He said:  “I briefed the council on the drivers of insecurity, which are unemployment, under-employment, poverty, drugs abuse, rising population.

“I also made suggestions regarding the way forward, which include employment creation and reduction of poverty, and is the culture of impunity and looking at stabilising certain areas of the country by giving rise to affordable education.

“This is very important because, in most parts of the country, we have a lot of children roaming around without any formal education.

“As the president mentioned earlier, when he was inaugurating the National Economic Council, we need to make education compulsory and free for every child in the country because the problems we face today are rooted in the fact that a lot of people who have been denied the opportunity to get formal education end up over the years.

“There is an accumulation of a large mass of human beings who end up becoming criminals, drug addicts and so on and so forth. And they end up becoming tools to be used by elements in the wider society who have very dangerous intentions.

“Therefore, it is very important to proscribed certain groups ultimately running around under the guise of maybe getting some kind of education that is not really formal and then begin to cause a lot of problems for society.

“The group I spoke about on illiteracy is the Almajiri. Ultimately, the government will have to proscribe this Almajiri phenomenon, because we cannot continue to have street urchins, children roaming around, only for them in a couple of years or decades to become a problem to society.

“We are not saying that they are going to be contained in a manner, that you might think we want to do something that is harmful to them, no. What we want to do is to work with the state governments to enforce the policy of education for every child.

“Now, the bandits in the northwest have become major threats to national security. Of course, in recent weeks the Nigeria Police Force has made a lot of gains in dealing with these criminals.

“I also briefed the council on the activities of herdsmen/farmers. Their activities are limited to 16 states so far, but the council is working on the blueprint, it is on the verge of releasing the blueprint to solve these problems. It is a complex problem but it is about to be resolved within the council.

On his part, IGPAdamu said, in terms of general security, the situation in the country has stabilised, disclosing that NEC has approved the setting up of Security and Policing Committee, with the governors of Ekiti, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Katsina, Ogun and Borno states as members.

Other members of the committee, he said, were NSA, IGP and Chief of Defence Staff.

WHY IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW MINIMUM WAGE MAY BE DELAYED

A disagreement between the Federal Government and Organised Labour in the Public Service on the template to work out consequential adjustment in wages may delay the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage.

President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Kaigama told The Nation on the sideline of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland that while the government wants an amount be fixed across all levels, labour wants the adjustment to be done in percentages.

The immediate past Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige had told The Nation in his last interview as Minister that the government will run into trouble in the implementation of the minimum wage if it carries out the consequential adjustment on percentage basis as the government will not have the money to implement it.

The government has however set up a technical committee made up of representatives and officials of the Public Service Joint Negotiating Council to work out the template for the adjustment from grade level one step two to grade level 17.

Kaigama, who threw his weight behind the call for a universal minimum wage being canvassed by some world leaders at the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference, however assured workers that whenever the template is finalised, government will be obliged to pay arrears of the new wage.

He said: “We are concerned that the templates for the implementation of the new minimum wage are not yet out.

“It is one thing to sign the law proscribing minimum wage and another is implementations because there are two bodies in charge of negotiations.

“But as soon as we finish this last leg, the effective date of the law is the day the President signed the bill into law.

“Be rest assured that all employers of labour in Nigeria will have to pay for arrears. The President gave us one month to sort this out.

“But after setting up the technical committee, we discovered that there are hitches.

“So we decided to go back and prepare some scenarios, then back and look at them before agreeing on one which will cut across all levels in the service.

“Government is of the opinion that we fix an amount across, but we believe that is not scientific.

“We believe we should take a percentage and even if that means you have to stagger it.

“We are preparing scenarios and at the end of the day, we hope to arrive at something.”

BUHARI REMOVES MAIKANTI BARU, APPOINTS KYARI AS NNPC GMD

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, bringing to an end the tenure of Maikanti Baru, as the oil firm’s boss.

NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, who disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday morning, stated that the President also appointed alongside Kyari, seven new Chief Operating Officers.

Until his new appointment, Kyari, a geologist, was Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC and also doubled, since May 13, 2018, as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Buhari also directed that the new GMD and the newly appointed Chief Operating Officers work with the current occupiers of the various offices till July 7, 2019 towards a smooth transition on July 8, 2019, when their appointments would take effect.

The corporation, however, stated that the appointment of Mr. Farouk Garba Said (North West), who is replacing a retiring Chief Operating Officer, is effective from June 28, 2019.

It outlined the newly appointed Chief Operating Officers to include Mr. Roland Onoriode Ewubare (South-South) – Chief Operating Officer, Upstream; Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu (North Central) – Chief Operating Officer Refining and Petrochemicals; Yusuf Usman (North East) – Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power; and Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu (South East), Chief Operating Officer Ventures.

Others include Umar Isa Ajiya (North West) – Chief Financial Officer; Adeyemi Adetunji (South West) – Chief Operating Officer, Downstream; and Farouk Garba Said (North West) – Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Services.

Ughamadu stated that Baru had congratulated the new appointees.

According to the corporation, Kyari is a quintessential crude oil marketer with prerequisite certification and outfield pedigree in petroleum economics and crude oil and gas trading.

It said that in the last 27 years, the new NNPC boss had traversed the entire value chain of the petroleum industry, with exceptional records of performance.

NNPC said under Kyari’s watch, the Crude Oil Marketing Division had recorded noticeable transformation in the management and sales of various Nigeria’s crude oil grades via an infusion of transparency and automation of the processes.

Kyari would be the 19th Group Managing Director of the national oil company.

 Mele Kolo Kyari

Baru Maikanti Baru

AGAIN GUNMEN INVADE BAKANA, A RIVERS COASTAL COMMUNITY, ABDUCT 4, CART AWAY 6 SPEED BOATS

Gunmen

Again, gunmen have invaded Bakana, a Coastal Community in the Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, leaving not less than four persons missing and six speed boats carted away.

The gunmen struck on Tuesday at about 10 pm.

The Youth President of Bakana, Comrade Francis Duke, who narrated the incident said several persons were missing after the invaders stormed the community shooting sporadically unchallenged.

He said the surprise invasion of Bakana caught the residents unaware, forcing them to look for places to hide for safety throughout the period of invasion.

Duke said that by Wednesday morning, some families reported cases of missing persons with traces of blood littered in front of their houses. He said they are not sure whether those abducted persons were alive or dead.

He also claimed that six speed boats were declared missing after the invasion.

“Yesterday night, at bedtime, Yet-to-be identified invaders were already in community shooting sporadically into the air forcing residents to run to safety places. Nobody could challenge them because we don’t have security people on ground. They did whatever they wanted to do. After they left, four young men were missing,” he said.

However, some members of the community who craved anonymity accused the Degema Local Government Council Chairman, Dr Tony Philmore of not doing enough to provide security in the area.

“The Chairman of the Local Government is from Bakana, Ward 5. He Has not done enough to provide security for Bakana. We need security. We cannot continue like this,” a source said.

At the time of the report, the Rivers State Police Command is yet to  reacted to the invasion of Bakana.

67-YEAR-OLD NIGERIAN WOMAN HACKS FIRST BANK ACCOUNT, STEALS N16.2 MILLION

A 67-year-old woman has been arraigned before the Lagos State Magistrate Court at Igbosere, Lagos, for allegedly hacking into a First Bank Plc account and stealing N16.2million.

The woman, Wuraola Folashade Oluloye, was arraigned on a five-count charge of fraudulent diversion, was arrested following a complaint from Solomon Akhanolu, Head of the Department of Forensic Auditors of First Bank. 

Oluloye pleaded not guilty to the five counts and was granted bail by Folashade Olukoya, the presiding magistrate and the chief magistrate of Igbosere court. She is to raise N500, 000 in bail bond and provide two sureties in like sum. 

Oluloye would be remanded in Kirikiri Prison custody until she meets her bail conditions

George Nwosu, the prosecution counsel, said Oluloye committed the alleged offences between last October 16 and December 31, at First Bank’s Agidingbi Branch, Lagos.

He said the 67-year-old woman allegedly hacked the account of a First Bank customer, Emefiele Ogbor, with account No 3014419974, and withdrew N16,200,000 from there and transferred same to her accounts in Stanbic IBTC, Union, Sterling and First banks.

Shortly afterwards Oluloye showed up at the bank to make withdrawals from her account. Unknown to her, the police were waiting and she was arrested.

The alleged offences contravened Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, the court heard.
The defendant pleaded not guilty.

The case continues on June 24.

YOU'VE 1 MONTH TO REFLECT NEW MINIMUM WAGE IN WORKERS' SALARIES - FG TELLS MINIMUM WAGE COMMITTEE

The federal government will begin adjusting the salaries of civil servants to reflect the new minimum wage. This is as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Gida Mustapha, on Monday, June 17, inaugurated a 22-man committee to achieve this

The head of the committee, led by the head of the civil service of the federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, said it will do it utmost to achieve positive results

After its inauguration of a 22-man committee on Monday, June 17, to negotiate the adjustment of salaries of workers to reflect the new national minimum wage, the federal government gave the group one month to come up with positive results.

The committee, inaugurated by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Gida Mustapha, is led by the head of the civil service of the federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, Daily Trust reports.

Some of the members of the committee are the ministers of labour and employment, budget and national planning, education, health and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the minister of justice.

Others members of the committee are director general, budget office of the federation, secretary, federal judicial service commission, secretary, National Assembly Service Commission, and chairman, national salaries, incomes and wages commission will serve as member/ and secretary.

Speaking to the committee, the SGF said that its key duty will be to negotiate the consequential adjustment in salaries arising from the new national minimum wage.

Mustapha said: “I have no doubt in my mind that you have abundant literature, reports and other materials to help this assignment. The duration of the assignment is four clear weeks from this inauguration. It is expected that the committee will work assiduously to complete the assignment.”

Oyo-Ita, said that in view of the economic realities in the country, the committee will do its utmost to deliver positively.

PRESIDENT BUHARI TO NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES: YOU’VE FAILED THE COUNTRY

President Muhammadu Buhari has taken a swipe at the country’s universities, berating them for failure to develop “ground-breaking researches” in various fields of human endeavour.

Reviewing the Nigeria’s tertiary education development since independence in 1960, the President regretted that, “it is not heart-warming that in our over 58 years of independence, Nigerian universities are slow in discoveries and inventions.”

Buhari, speaking on Saturday in a message he sent at the fourth convocation ceremony of the Federal University (FUDMA), Dutsinma, in his home state of Katsina, challenged, “all universities to come out of their shells to conduct researches that will attract industries to patronise the universities in order to enhance and improve their capacities to produce and diversify their products.”

BREAKING: SENATOR AHMED LAWAL ELECTED SENATE PRESIDENT OF 9TH SENATE

Sen. Ahmed Lawan

Sen. Ahmed Lawan have just been elected senate president of the 9th Senate. He came out victorious after keenly contested election conducted by the Clark of the national assembly. The election was between Sen Lawan and his colleague, Sen Ali Ndume. 

Senator Lawal polled a total of 79 votes to defeat his rival, senator Ndume, who polled a distant 28 votes. 
Senator Lawan just took his oath of office as Senate president of the 9th Senate. 
Details shortly....

RIVERS PENSIONERS SAY THANK YOU TO GOV. WIKE

Pensioners who retired from the Rivers State Civil service, yesterday, held a street procession in honour of the state Government and the Governor, His Excellency E.N. Wike for signing the new pension bill into law without delay.

According to some of the pensioners, "there is a brighter ray of hope that the backlog of unpaid pension would be cleared soon by the Rivers State Government.

The pensioners finally urged the Rivers State Government not to delay any farther in the payment of pension as a lot have died waiting for their pension.