High Street

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has given its final sanctions to the scheme of Merger between the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria and BUA Group’s Kalambaina Cement Company. This comes on the back of overwhelming Shareholder approval as well as final approvals by the regulators – The Securities & Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. With this development, the Nigerian Stock Exchange is expected to list the shares of the expanded entity in in what has been described by the regulator as the largest deal of the year in Nigeria in 2018 at its recently held NSE CEO Awards. Speaking on this development, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder/Executive Chairman of BUA Group who is also the Chairman of CCNN, praised the effort of all stakeholders in bringing the merger to fruition. According to him, the expanded CCNN will remain the market leader in its regional market of North West Nigeria – which is the third largest market for cement in Nigeria by consumption, whilst co...

Pure bliss and pulsating thrills enveloped the Landmark Events Centre, Oniru, Lagos, days back, as friends and family members gathered to celebrate Theresa, the mother of AITEO boss, Benny Peters, who celebrated her 80th birthday. A party and a half by all ramifications, the celebration was as grand and elaborate and well-attended as they come. The celebrant, an epitome of good health and overwhelming gratitude, could not have been more elated at the impressive turnout of guests. She swirled and swayed as she praised God for the attainment of 80years on terra firma. Though she did not betray any worry, not a few guests whispered that the colouration of the party would have been of a different hue had her first child, Benny, been present. You would recall that billionaire Benny, the founder and chief executive officer of Aiteo, one of Africa’s fastest growing energy leaders had issues with the Federal Government which have been cleared though. He would resurface in Ghana when...

Kola Karim, the polished and stylish international businessman and CEO of Shoreline Energy has a specialty, starting companies and nurturing them to success. Building extremely viable international partnerships is also one of his innate characteristics. What many may however not know about him is that he is fiercely loyal to his friends and whenever any of his friends needs support, he is always there to lend a hand. If his friend has an aspiration, to him, it is all or nothing. He never supports in half measures; he goes the whole hog. The news now is that Kola Karim has built yet another partnership. Thanks to the man whose company recently acquired 51% stake in Entrepose, a leading provider of construction and mechanical services to International Oil Companies, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaign has received a major boost. Kola Karim has promised a support of $ 30.5 million. He also promised another ₦ 9 billion before the end of January. With that, Atiku will have...

A non-governmental organisation, Centre for Democracy and Infrastructure Development has given the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) a 14-day ultimatum to rehabilitate the road infront of the secretariatof Agege Local Government or face mass protest. The call was made in a statement signed by the National Coordinator of the group, Arc. Lanre Shodimu after the emergency meeting of the organisation which took place at the weekend. "We are constrained to issue this statement because the road is becoming a huge embarrassment to the state government in general and Agege Local Government in particular. "Investigations have revealed that the local government had sent save-our-soul messages to the corporation but the agency had not responded to any neither has the road been rehabilitated," the statement said. The organisation stated further that it was aware that the local government wrote on 6 September, 2018 practically beggin...

A leading gubernatorial aspirant in the last Osun APC primaries, Kunle Rasheed Adegoke popularly known as K-Rad has called for Christ-like virtues among his supporters and Osun residents. He made this call in a Christmas message he personally signed as reproduced below: Compliments of the season to you all Tiwa n Tiwa lovers and supporters both home and abroad and all indigenes and residents of our great Osun State. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a great new year in advance. This time last year, we were in the trenches moving from one local government to another battling for the soul of our dear State, a great State specially endowed by God with all that is required to live to the fullest of glory. The love we have for the State is the love of Christ (also by  Muslims as Isa) which is unfailing and unending no matter how rigorous the trials might be. This is the template we all must uphold in the efforts to create an assured future: Ojo Ola To...

The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly and Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa has urged Nigerians, particularly Christians, to imbibe the spirit of love, tolerance, and sacrifice which made the life of Jesus Christ worthy of emulation. Rt. Hon. Obasa, in his Christmas message released on Monday, stated that these are qualities essential for the development and growth of the country. "Jesus Christ was an embodiment of peace, love, tolerance and sacrfice in his entire lifetime hence he is referred and adored throughout the world. For us to be great as a nation, we must not only imbibe these qualities but we must also put them into practice," the Lagos Assembly Speaker said in the statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary,  Musbau Rasak. According to him, "throughout his life, Jesus Christ was tolerance even against his most bitter enemies, preached and shared love and ...

Rahman Barkindo Discreet investigations have revealed top level clandestine moves to compromise the judicial arm of the government with respect to multitudes of pre-election matters arising from the last turbulent primaries of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress(APC), from the various stages of the Federation.  Disillusioned with the democratic stance of the President insisting on the rights of the aggrieved aspirants to ventilate their grievances in the law courts, the leadership of APC under a well- scripted arrangement to bribe the judicial officers handling the cases, are alleged to have recruited the services of some notable retired judges and the current Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati, to prevail on the various judges of the Federal High Courts to dismiss the pre-election cases pending against the party.  While it is glaring that in most states of the Federation the All Progressives Congress(APC) did not conduct fre...

CoralPay has deployed the first interoperable USSD and mobile payment platform to Nigerians desirous of a seamless and secure payment solution.  The solution, which fulfills the mantra of being Africa’s Gold Standard for payments, allows for enhanced interoperability amongst stakeholders in the payment ecosystem. The solution, according to the CEO CoralPay Chioma Nkechika, allows customers using the USSD short codes of their respective banks alongside their Mobile Apps to pay for goods and services directly from their bank accounts and wallets. The transactions are accepted on POS terminals, and ATMs, with receipts printed or on eCommerce sites with emails sent to registered addresses. The C’Gate solution, which is already being adopted and deployed by leading Nigerian banks and Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), seamlessly enables USSD to POS, USSD to Web, USSD Fast Transfer transactions, USSD on App, USSD to ATM, and CiCo (USSD Cash-In and USSD Cash-Out) on POS, offering cu...

Behind the scene details reveal there are emerging talks about the Chairman of Financial Institution, United Bank for Africa. And it centers around Elumelu’s inability to operate the oil block license he did all to acquire. Information available to societynow.ng revealed that the stylish bank chief acquired the oil block license in 2008. Further findings revealed the chief promoter of Heirs Holding actually got the oil block license during late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s regime. The oil block is tagged OPL 2008. Elumelu sealed the oil block license deal with one of his business concerns Tenoil Petroleum and Energy services Limited societynow.ng learned. Tony Elumelu is the chairman of the petroleum company – with Tony Chukwueke listed as Managing Director. Elumelu and Tenoil Petroleum and Energy Services Limited did not operate the oil block license until it expired in 2016, societynow.ng gathered. Societynow.ng’s investigation revealed that emerging talks specu...

Bosun Oredola, the wealthy big boy behind Globalbridge Projects Limited is back to the big time after finding mercy in the magnanimity of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. And he is living it up real good, forgetting perhaps that a few months back, his marriage to Olayinka – a renowned pharmacist and founder of Megacare Group, tottered precariously on the brink of collapse. Yinka and Bosun were divorcees who met and gave marriage a second chance. With a stately home in Banana Island, the Oredolas – hip and fun-loving and love living life to the hilt – were the envy of other couples. Shortly after they got married, Yinka introduced Bosun to former Minister of Petroleum, the embattled Diezani Allison-Madueke who pushed a lot of deals their way. They came into a different kind of wealth, buying properties in choice areas – notably two apartments at Tango Towers, Bourdillon, Ikoyi – and jetting round the world. It was a good time for the couple. With Diezani’s ouster from power, the Ore...

The attention of the Senator Representing Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District, Senator Godswill Akpabio and his wife  has been drawn to a story making the rounds in the media purporting that his wife,  Mrs Ekaette Unoma Godswill Akpabio caused a security breach at the airport during the visit of the wife of the President and First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,  Mrs Aisha Muhammadu Buhari to Akwa Ibom State on Friday, December 14, 2018. The story obviously syndicated by the Akwa Ibom State Government House is a serious indictment to the practice of Journalism in Akwa Ibom State. Even though they carry different bylines, it is obviously from the same source, using the same language and quotations, evidently a hatchet job.  However, we want to state categorically that the story sold to different newspapers is a piece of fake news clearly marketed to malign the integrity of the former First Lady of Akwa Ibom State, Mrs Ekae...

Dapo Abiodun, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun state, is enmeshed in allegations of perjury over his post-secondary school qualifications, TheCable can report. According to documents seen by TheCable, Abiodun declared only his West African School Certificate (1978) in the Form CF001 that he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on October 23, 2018, ahead of the 2019 general election. However, when he ran as the APC senatorial candidate (Ogun east) in 2015, he claimed to have attended the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (graduating in 1986) and Kennesaw State University, Atlanta Georgia, US (1989) in his INEC form CF001, backed by an affidavit he swore to at the high court, Abeokuta, Ogun state. Curiously, while he listed B.B.A. (hons) accounting as the degree he got in 1986 as at then, he was silent on what he studied at Kennesaw State University. However, in his official curriculum vitae, he claimed to possess anot...

Popular Blogger Linda Ikeji reveals exclusive details of her love life with baby daddy Solaye Jeremi  Meet my son Jayce…and yes, Sholaye Jeremi is his dad! Two days before my 38th birthday on September 17th, I welcomed my first child, my son, Jayce. I look at him and I wonder why I waited so long to have a child. I’ve never known love like this. I literally have tears in my eyes every time I look at him. I can’t believe he came out of me. He is by far my greatest blessing and I’m looking forward to navigating him through life! Now to the reason why you are reading this. I argued with myself for a long time whether to put this out or not…and finally decided it was a story I wanted to share. I've always been open about my life but I'm sharing details about my personal life mostly because of the girls who look up to me. The girls I have mentored, mentoring right now and plan to mentor in the future. I’m very particular about our young girls and I ha...

Despite his established reputation for being imperious and shrewd and coldly aloof, those who know Segun Agbaje, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank posit that he could be pliable and servile when it has to do with anything that would help to position his bank as an industry leader. Those who hold these views also concede that for his wife, Derin, however, he could throw anyone under the bus if it would make her just grin. And he literally did just that when he subjugated a normal tradition in GTB on the altar of his wife’s 50 th birthday celebration. The bank was supposed to hold its annual end-of-the-year party this weekend but gangling Segun unilaterally moved it to next Tuesday just so he could fete his wife who is the daughter of Nigeria’s first female chartered accountant, Toyin Olakunri, OFR. Late Mrs Olakunri who was also chairman of the Education Trust Fund (now Tertiary Education Trust Fund) between 1999 and 2007 died earlier in the year. Agreed,...

 The yearnings of  the people of Lagos for freedom was reaffirmed last weekend when the venue of  "Experience 13"    celebration organised by the House on the Rock Metropolitan Church in Lagos erupted in frenzy when Jimi Agbaje, the People Democratic Party, PDP candidate for the 2019  gubernatorial election in Lagos State was introduced to the crowd at the event. The Pharmacist turned politician, at his campaign launch last week, reiterated that his mission in Alausa is to liberate the state and bring true freedom and democracy to the people. He maintained that after 20 years, Lagos yearns for freedom from godfatherism; dilapidated schools; hopelessness; poverty and terrible traffic. He posited where a state is under the control of one man can not augur well for democracy and charged Lagosians to use the instrumentality of the ballot to free themselves. Agbaje insisted that as a megacity, Lagos must rightly be compared with others around the world....

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has taken into custody the surety of the managing director of Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo, after the suspect jumped the administrative bail granted him by the commission. Chris Ezem, who stood as surety for the Fidelity Bank boss, was arrested by EFCC operatives on Wednesday after Mr Okonkwo failed to report to the commission’s office. “The [Fidelity Bank] MD failed to report to be served his charges,” a source at the commission who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES. Mr Okonkwo is facing a 14-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering alongside a former director at First Bank, Dauda Lawal, before a federal judge. According to the EFCC, the suspects alongside Lanre Adesanya and Stanley Lawson, conspired with former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to conceal $153 million in 2015. The anti-graft agency often grants administrative bail to suspects who...

- Wole Arisekola What will we not hear from our effusively childish modern politicians? Last week , Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State was so proud of his achievement as the first  Akwa Ibom son to fly a private jet to his state from Lagos before he became their Number One citizen. He said  "those who came back to Akwa Ibom State through night bus and the ones who came back through chartered flight, are they the same?" If Nigeria is a country where people reward achievements, I think  Mr Udom Emmanuel deserves one. Or is it not an achievement to fly a private jet to see one's parents in a mud house? Is it not an achievement to fly a private jet to where you have no single building  before you became governor? This is one of the hazards of promoting individuals beyond their intellectual capacity. Most renowned politicians started their lives as nobodies. I am sure Chief Awolowo did not fly a private jet to Ibadan when he became Premier of the We...

Zenith Bank Plc is set to light up the social and entertainment scene this December with the launch of “Style by Zenith”.  “Style by Zenith”, a flagship Lifestyle, Beauty, Fashion, Accessories and Entertainment fair, powered by Zenith bank in conjunction with Fashion One, a foremost international lifestyle and entertainment company, would hold in Lagos on Saturday, December 29 and Sunday, December 30, 2018 at the Open Ground by Four Points Hotel, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. The two-day fair is a potpourri ofLifestyle activities featuring runway modelling by leading Nigerian and international models accessorized by top designers, beauticians, beauty and lifestyle products manufacturers, accessory makers, food and confectionary, entertainment for adults and children as well as  performances by top Nigerian artistes, amongst other activities. Speaking on the launch of the platform, the General Manager of Zenith Bank Plc. and Coordinator of the event, Mrs. Adobi ...

Over two centuries ago, the Hausas made their first contact with the Yorubas of the South-West.The story behind the migration of the Arewa people to Lagos ledto the coinageof the name ‘AGEGE’ which justifies the history of the socio-economic ties between the Hausas and the Yorubas. The Arewa migrated to Lagos basically for trade. This was aided by the railway line which bridged the gap between the North and South-West. History says trains brought cattle from the North, and conveyed Kola nuts up North from the South-West. In no time, theArewa people in Lagos established socio-economic relationshipswith their host communities thereby contributing immeasurably to the growth of the state. It is altogether pleasant to mention the political contribution the Arewa community and its political loyalty to her wonderful host, the Yorubas. His Royal Highness, Alhaji Mohammed Dogon Kada the seventh Sarkin Hausawa of Agege confirmed that His emirate inherited a fantastic relationship with ...

Public Relations professionals in the country have been urged to be awakening to innovative ideas that could resolve issues relating to the profession and their clients in order to attain the needed growth required as well as respectable position among their counterparts. This was the submission of the Chief Consultant of TPT International, Adetokunbo Modupe, who was guest speaker at the December 2018 edition of the Lagos PR Clinic of the state chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) under the theme: Ideapreneurship: The Nature of Our Trade. He postulated that PR practitioners are ideapreneurs who should be driven by intellectual ideas that are well tailored towards clients’ needs and their target publics for desired results, and not be inundated with business gains in the manner of entrepreneurs. Modupe, a Harvard-trained ideapreneur with over two decades experience in PR, affirmed that since the profession is dynamic, practitioners should re-examine their b...