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Shoprite sells its Nigerian business to Ketron Investment

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Shoprite sells its Nigerian business to Ketron Investment

Shoprite has sold its N30bn worth Nigerian business to Ketron Investment.

The new Nigerian owner of Shoprite is led principally by Persians Group.

The deal comes eight months after Shoprite announced in August last year that it has classified its Nigerian business as a discontinued operation after it was approached by potential investors willing to take over its Nigerian operations.

The new owners in a statement on Wednesday, said that it has received regulatory approval from Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to buy the business from the South African firm.

Tayo Amusan, the Chairman of Ketron Investment Limited said, “We are thrilled to complete the acquisition of Shoprite, ensuring the continued operations of one of the biggest retail success stories in Nigeria.

“We look forward to building an even stronger company following our acquisition and are excited about the greater impact we will achieve to the benefit of our customers and other stakeholders now and well into the future.”

Shoprite owned by South African billionaire Mr. Christo Wiese and over 2,300 stores across Africa had stated that in 2018, revenue from other countries with the exemption of Nigeria only accounted for 11.6 percent of sales, while South African operations contributed 78 per cent of overall sales.

Gunmen kill Imo PDP youth leader

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Gunmen kill Imo PDP youth leader

Youth leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Oru-East Local Government Area of Imo State, Kenneth Amukamara, has been killed by gunmen suspected to be assassins.

The assailants also burnt Kenneth’s house and damaged the vehicles of his brother, who is said to be a retired soldier.

The incident, which happened at Umuokwe, Eziawo 1, in the local government area, heightened tension in the area.

Greg Nwadike, the leader of the PDP in the state, confirmed the unfortunate incident in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement partly read: “Finally confirming the assassination of the PDP LGA Youth Leader for Oru-East LGA, Imo State, Kenneth Amukamara.

“He was assassinated on Monday night at his home in Awo-Omamma by assailants and his house was said to have been set ablaze. Sketchy information available say two other members of his family were also killed”
Also, a journalist, Don Uba, who spoke on the killing of the youth leader, said residents of the area were in panic.

Uba said, “The Peoples Democratic Party youth leader in the Oru-East LGA, Kenneth Amukamara, was assassinated this morning (Tuesday) in his country home.

“His house was set ablaze too. Efforts made to confirm the ugly incident from the Imo State PDP Youth Leader, Greg Nwadike, who travelled to Abuja for an official assignment, proved abortive as of the time of making this post.

“Information had it that his elder brother was targeted too for assassination, but he was able to escape as he is a retired military officer. Kenneth’s house and vehicles were not spared as they were set ablaze and vandalised.”

Spokesperson of the Imo State Police Command, Bala Elkana however said the incident had not been reported at any police formation in the state

Don’t teach the President how to do his job – Keyamo replies Buhari’s critics

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Don’t teach the President how to do his job – Keyamo replies Buhari’s critics

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo has thrown his weight behind his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari amid the backlash a Tuesday statement of the president stirred.

The minister advised Nigerians not to teach the president how to restore calm and order in the southeast region that has increasingly witnessed attacks on police stations and offices of the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The President had in a statement on Tuesday night said a rude shock awaits those fanning the embers of insurrection and those burning down critical national assets.

He also said those misbehaving in certain parts of the country were obviously too young to know the travails and loss of lives that attended the Nigerian Civil War.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.

“We are going to be very hard sooner than later,” he said sternly.

The reference of the President to the civil stirred an outburst of the threat having a genocide undertone as such, a lot of Nigerians took to Twitter to express their displeasure with the president’s alleged history of talking tough against the Igbos.

Reacting to the statement amid the negative reception however, Keyamo in a series of tweets explained the position of the President and said the Mr Buhari’s threat was to the insurgents causing mayhem in the region.

He tweeted, “I hope some elites who couldn’t find their voices to rein in their wards when their region burnt, will not suddenly find their voices against Mr. President! Those who screamed that it’s Mr. President’s duty to maintain law & order should NOT try to teach him how to do his job now.

“The anger some are displaying against the President’s resolve to be decisive in dealing with these scoundrels is an indication of their support for the destruction of public infrastructure because they want to cripple Govt. A pure case of cutting your nose to spite your face!

“The President has vowed to deal with the scoundrels destroying public infrastructure & killing people to instigate insurrection & some dimwits really interpret this to mean he is threatening INNOCENT citizens! This reasoning is so ABSURD that I don’t know whether to laugh or cry

“We were told they are UNKNOWN GUNMEN. But the moment the President vowed to deal with these ‘unknown’ elements, they have suddenly become known as INNOCENT CITIZENS in a part of the country! It is a case of ‘Cunning man die, Wayo man bury am’! A huge conspiracy blown wide open!”

HURIWA warn Buhari to stop reminding the Igbo speaking people of Nigeria how he participated in the progrom that left over three million people dead

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HURIWA warn Buhari to stop reminding the Igbo speaking people of Nigeria how he participated in the progrom that left over three million people dead

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari to forthwith, stop reminding the Igbo speaking people of Nigeria how he(Buhari) participated in the progrom that left over three million people dead.

HURIWA carpeted Buhari, accusing him of excessive penchant for always robbing soap into the eyes of Igbo speaking Nigerians over his recent threat to deal with youths agitating for self-government in the South East.

Buhari had on Tuesday after a security briefing about the attacks on facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the South East, categorically threatened to deal with those who, according to him, want to destroy his government.

Buhari said such individuals or groups will receive the shock of their lives as they will be treated in a language they will understand.

HURIWA wondered how Buhari could issue such a threat to the suspected members of the self-determination organisations such as the proscribed Indigenous peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Movement for the Survival of Biafra (MASSOB) and multiple other organisations.

In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA, however, asked Buhari to stop threatening war against any section of the country and behave like a statesman except if he wants to tell the world that he is a warlord.

The Rights group pointed out that armed Fulani herdsmen are being allowed to kill thousands of farmers and destroying communities but Buhari allegedly pampers them and has never threatened to take war to their stronghold.

The group noted that whenever issues affecting the South East of Nigeria are involved, Buhari speaks with so much hatred to such an extent that it is becoming apparent that he is not yet tired of waging war against the South East of Nigeria even after he fought on the side of Nigeria for 30 months against the then Biafra Republic.

“Please President Muhammadu Buhari stop reminding us the Igbo of how you participated in the pogroms that resulted in the killing of over 3 million Igbo in the late 60’s and even after destroying the then Eastern Region, General Yakubu Gowon the then war time junta leader failed to rehabilitate or reconstruct the destroyed Eastern region but after the people through their efforts rebuilt South East of Nigeria, President Buhari is now threatening to launch another civil war against Ndigbo only because a bunch of boys are constructively canvassing self-determination.

“This is outrageous, provocative and sadistic. We condemn this dangerous rhetoric and hate speech with all our hearts and minds and we are putting the World on notice that Muhammadu Buhari plans to carry out another pogrom against Ndigbo”.

‘Genocidal undertones’: Nigerians react to Buhari’s civil war reference

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‘Genocidal undertones’: Nigerians react to Buhari’s civil war reference

Last night, President Muhammadu Buhari said a rude shock awaits those fanning the embers of insurrection and those burning down critical national assets.

He gave the warning after he received a briefing from Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, on a series of attacks on facilities of the electoral body round the country.

He said those misbehaving in certain parts of the country were obviously too young to know the travails and loss of lives that attended the Nigerian Civil War.

https://twitter.com/NGRPresident/status/1399851931779149826?s=19

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.

“We are going to be very hard sooner than later.”


The statement, shared on the President’s Twitter handle @MBuhari has since set tongues wagging and stirred outbursts among Nigerians who have alleged that the statement had some genocidal undertone.

They claim that the reference to the civil war just a day after the Biafra remembrance day, on May 31st amid the threat to deal with criminals further proved the President’s dislike for the Igbo people.

They said it is an example of the institutionalised Igbophobia and has formed the basis of why a sizable amount of the Igbo people have been calling for a secession from the Nigerian federation.

Some other Nigerians said that the threat by the President pales to the meek statements when he referred to bandits and Boko Haram /ISWAP terrorists that have been responsible for millions of killings and kidnappings in the northern region.

Making a statement, the enraged Nigerians reported the tweet to Twitter support system en masse and tweeted at Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter to suspend Mr Buhari’s Twitter handle.

Despite blocking Nigerians from replying the tweets, the statement generated over 15,000 direct reactions and has since made Buhari a trending subject on the micro-blogging site.

Here are some reactions:

https://twitter.com/Mazigburugburu1/status/1399831589849337859?s=19
https://twitter.com/DrOlufunmilayo/status/1399790839040258048?s=19

Kaduna State University students protest almost 600% increase in tuition fees

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Kaduna State University students protest almost 600% increase in tuition fees

Students of the Kaduna State University on Tuesday led a protest to the Government House in Kaduna to protest over an increase in their tuition fees.

The state-owned tertiary institution recently announced an increase of its annual school fee of N26,000 by almost 600%.

According to the proposed new tuition fees, indigenous students studying social science courses are to pay about N150,000 while their counterparts in medicine and other science courses will pay between N170,000 and above as annual fees.

The student had been protesting within their school premises since last week but they decided to block the roads as they increase their calls for the state to review the decision.

The protesting students carrying placards with various inscriptions marched from their campus located along the Tafawa Balewa Way through Muhammadu Buhari Way (formerly WAFF road) and headed toward Government House before they were prevented by security operatives comprising the regular police and men of the Kaduna State Vigilante Group.

The students blocked all the major roads to the government house, thereby preventing the free flow of traffic. They insist their demands must be met by the state government.

Some of the students conducted prayers on the main road while the others watch.

Security operatives were also on the ground to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order.

The students lamented that the hike in some courses to N300,000 and N400,000 from N36,000 will force many of them to drop out of school.

They, therefore, demanded a reversal of tuition fees.

They called on the State Governor Nasir El-Rufai whose policy is to ensure that children of common people are given access to Education to intervene.

‘Whoever wants the destruction of the system will soon have the shock of their lives’ – Buhari warns

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‘Whoever wants the destruction of the system will soon have the shock of their lives’ – Buhari warns

President Muhammadu Buhari said a rude shock awaits those fanning the embers of insurrection and those burning down critical national assets.

He gave the warning on Tuesday after he received briefing from Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, on series of attacks on facilities of the electoral body round the country.

He said those misbehaving in certain parts of the country were obviously too young to know the travails and loss of lives that attended the Nigerian Civil War.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.

“We are going to be very hard sooner than later.”

https://twitter.com/MBuhari/status/1399768537393156097?s=19

In his briefing, Prof Yakubu said that so far, there have been 42 cases of attacks on INEC offices nationwide, since the last General Election.

“The 42 incidents so far occurred in 14 states of the Federation for a variety of reasons….

“Most of the attacks happened in the last seven months, and they are unrelated to protest against previous elections.

“From the pattern and frequency of the most recent attacks, they appear to be targeted at future elections.

“The intention is to incapacitate the Commission, undermine the nation’s democracy and precipitate a national crisis,” Prof Yakubu said.

Buhari responded by saying that he receives daily security reports on the attacks.

He said it is very clear that those behind them want this administration to fail,” he said.

“Insecurity in Nigeria is now mentioned all over the world. All the people who want power, whoever they are, you wonder what they really want.

“Whoever wants the destruction of the system will soon have the shock of their lives. We’ve given them enough time.”

President Buhari recalled that he visited all the 36 states of the country before the 2019 election.

He said majority of the people believed me “and the election proved it”.

He promised to continue leading the country in accordance with Constitutional provisions.

The President said the Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police have been changed, “and we will demand security from them.”

On the dangers posed to future elections by the burning of INEC facilities, President Buhari said he would give the electoral commission all it needed to operate, “so that no one would say we don’t want to go, or that we want a third term.

“There will be no excuse for failure. We’ll meet all INEC’s demands.” he said.

‘Membership of the National Assembly should be part time’ – Akeredolu suggests

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‘Membership of the National Assembly should be part time’ – Akeredolu suggests

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, on Tuesday, advocated the scrapping of the Senate with each zone having equal number of four representatives at the National Assembly.

Mr Akeredolu made the call at the Akure Centre of the Southwest Zonal Public Hearing, organised by the House of Representatives Special Committee on Constitution Review.

The governor, represented by his Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, said the country should consider dropping the current bicameral structure of the National Assembly and adopt a unicameral legislature.

“The membership of the Assembly should be part time. No member should earn allowances not known to the Revenue Mobilisation and Allocation Committee, and the people they claim to serve.

“Legislators should earn under a uniform salary structure. Allowance peculiarities must not be about obscenity. The Senate should be scrapped.

“The House of Representatives too should not be unwieldy. A maximum of four representatives should come from each zone,” he said.

Mr Akeredolu said all issues which elicited distrust and suspicion must be investigated dispassionately.

He said: “Nobody must be shut out; all must be treated equally. All decisions must be anchored on the principles of equity and justice.”

The governor noted that constitution review was an important assignment which must be undertaken with all seriousness.

Senate to hold national public hearing on constitutional review June 3-4

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Senate to hold national public hearing on constitutional review June 3-4

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, says a national public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution would be held from Thursday, June 3, to Friday, June 4, in Abuja.

Lawan made the announcement on Tuesday, during plenary in a letter addressed to him by the Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

According to the Senate President, the two-day National Public Hearing on proposals to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 was scheduled to be held at the African Hall of the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.

He described the zonal public hearings held across the six geo-political zones of the country as “quite successful.”

Lawan appealed to Nigerians to seize the opportunity provided by the national public hearing commencing on Thursday to state their positions on issues that would improve the quality of governance.

He said: “Let me also congratulate the members of the Constitution Review Committee of the Senate, who had conducted the public hearings across the country.

“[And] in fact, the report we received has shown that in all the centres, the public hearings were quite successful.

“I want to also appeal to Nigerians to take the opportunity of the national public hearing that will start on Thursday.

“This is an effort that the National Assembly – particularly the Senate is attached to.

“We believe that we must do whatever is necessary to provide a platform for Nigerians to hear their views, give their positions and canvass for whatever they feel would make our country better, and make governance more efficient and successful.

“Like I said before, we have no preconceived positions on anything and, therefore, this is the time for our citizens to take the opportunity.”

‘Governor Ayade moved to APC because PDP did not respect him’ – Cross River Speaker says

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‘Governor Ayade moved to APC because PDP did not respect him’ – Cross River Speaker says

Speaker of the Cross River state house of Assembly, Eteng Jonah-Williams says Governor Ayade’s defection from the PDP to the APC was timely.

The Speaker, who represents Yakurr II State Constituency in the Assembly, told NAN that out of the 25 House of Assembly members in the state, APC has 18, while the PDP has seven.

“Before the governor took the decision, he consulted widely and majority of the people told him that he needed to move to the APC.” he revealed.

“While in PDP, the governor was not respected and given the honour he deserved by the hierarchy of the PDP as the leader of the party in the state.

“So, there was need for him to move. The Governor has also stated clearly that he needed to align the state with the happenings in the centre for the interest of the state.

“Cross River is known for always playing politics with the centre. Since 1999, former Governors Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke all played politics from the centre.

“Ayade is the only governor from the state who has played opposition for six years now and he feels it is time to align with the centre for the benefit of the state,” he said.

He recalled that during the last ward and chapter congresses of PDP in the state, the PDP national had to recognise a list of executive members who did not even contest for the positions at the ward and chapter level.

He said that such marginalisation of key stakeholders in the state by the PDP also informed their decision to defect with the governor to the APC.

“As Speaker of Cross River House of Assembly, the ward list from my political ward that I have been winning elections with was neglected and a new list was constituted with members that I do not even know and nobody consulted me,” he said.

According to the Speaker, the remaining two years period of Ayade will attract the needed development from the centre into the state.

He gave assurance that APC will win all the elective positions in the state in the 2023 general elections in view of the governors defection to the ruling party.

“The Superhighway and the Deep Seaport will now be given utmost attention by the Federal Government and other things will also fall in place as well.

“Gov. Ayade has spent six years in office, I will advise him to consolidate on the gains of his industrial revolution in the state by completing the projects and privatising them for the future”.

“The House of Assembly wants the industries that were initiated by Gov. Ayade to live beyond this administration.

“On road infrastructure, I want to specially commend the governor on the construction of the Mfom-Obanliku dual carriageway and the ongoing East-West road in Boki local government area,” he said.

‘Despite Buhari’s efforts, naysayers have refused to see progress’ – Lai Mohammed

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‘Despite Buhari’s efforts, naysayers have refused to see progress’ – Lai Mohammed

Nigeria’s minister of information, Lai Mohammed says despite the government’s best efforts, “naysayers” have refused to see progress.

According to the minister, the security challenges confronting the country will not define President Muhammadu Buhari’s legacy.

“I want to state emphatically that while more attention has been given, especially in recent times, to the security challenges facing our country, those challenges are fleeting and will not define the legacy of President Muhammadu Buhari,” Lai Mohammed said while speaking at a press conference on the Buhari administration’s mid-term report (second term) on Tuesday.

“Let me say that President Buhari’s legacy is assured, and will be defined by his massive achievements in office.

“The roads, rails, bridges, mass housing, port development, improvement in power supply and other massive infrastructural development will last for generations to come and will help propel economic growth and national development.

“However, in spite of our best efforts, the naysayers have continued to say they have not seen what this administration has achieved. They have continued to deny the obvious by pretending that these achievements are not real.” He stated.


“Even when they have travelled on the new standard gauge rail from Abuja to Kaduna, Lagos to Ibadan, and Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri, they still deny that any progress has been made in modernizing the country’s rail infrastructure.

“They travel through the ultra-modern airport terminals in Abuja and Enugu, yet they deny any progress has been made in modernizing our airports.”

This minister then listed Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Apapa-Oworonsoki expressway, Enugu-Port Harcourt road dualisation, Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road dualisation, Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria expressway, and the Kano-Maiduguri expressway dualisation as some of the projects achieved by the administration

Buhari seeks Senate confirmation for Farouk Yahaya as new COAS

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Buhari seeks Senate confirmation for Farouk Yahaya as new COAS

President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate seeking its confirmation of the appointment of Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

The president’s request which was addressed to the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, was read at the resumption of Senate plenary on Tuesday.

President Buhari had last week named Major General Yahaya as COAS to replace Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru who died alongside 10 other military officers and men in an air crash in Kaduna last month.

Yahaya, a member of the 37th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy was until his appointment, the Theatre Commander, Operation Had in Kai, an outfit for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in the North East.

Details later…

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