Gist Arena Online: January 2017

Tuesday, 31 January 2017

NINIOLA, DO NOT PULL OF YOUR FACE FOR ATTENTION

Niniola looking glamorous on this pic, but it beat my imagination if she is trying to pull off her face or endeavoring to drag attention by pulling of her face or it's all about the fame thing.

Psquare spotted on their exotic power bikes.

Paul and Peter of Psquare chilling on their exotic power bike, who says hard work does not pay. More grease to the elbow of the Duos.

Federal High Court in Abuja as at yesterday declined the Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike for an order stopping the police probe of complaints, allegations, petitions of crimes and acts of criminality during the December 10, 2016 re-run elections. Wike suffered a similar fate on January 16 when Justice Gabriel Kolawole refused his ex-parte motion for an interim injunction restraining the police from conducting the investigation, but instead, directed the defendants to show cause why Wike’s prayers in his motion ex-parte should not be granted. Defendants in the suit are the inspector general of Police (IGP), State Security Services (SSS) and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Damian Okoro. Wike is, in the substantive suit, challenging the powers of the IGP to set up a judicial commission of enquiry to investigate allegations of violent crimes in his state. He is, in the motion, seeking among others, an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants or their agents from enforcing or executing the matters contained in the letter written to him by the IGP on December 20, 2016. The IGP in the letter titled, “Investigation into allegations of crimes committed during the last rerun elections in Rivers State,” said the “purview of the investigation will cover allegations of bribes taken, several brazen murder incidents (including that of serving police officers), reports of gross human rights abuses, acts of sabotage/terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and ballot box snatching, all of which were perpetrated in connivance with several federal and state civil servants as well as highly placed politicians within and outside the state”. The letter requested the governor to furnish the police investigative team with necessary information and exhibits that might assist the team. Yesterday, rather than file affidavit to show cause, as ordered by the court, the 1st and 3rd defendants, who responded to the case filed objection, challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case. The DSS did not file anything. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said he had been served with the 1st and 3rd defendants’ notice of objection and counter-affidavits to his client’s originating summons and motion for interlocutory injunction. Ozekhome, who prayed the court for a short time to respond to the defendants’ processes (documents), urged the court to grant an interim order directing parties to maintain the status quo pending the hearing of his motion for injunction. He noted that the defendants did not only admit conducting the investigation, which formed the thrust of his clients’ case, they confirmed they were proceeding with the investigation despite the pendency of the suit. Responding, lawyer to the 1st and 3rd defendants, Deji Morakinyo, objected to Ozekhome’s prayer on the grounds that his clients were challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case, which sought to question the exercise of the IGP’s statutory and constitutional powers to investigate crimes. Justice Kolawole refused Ozekhome’s prayer on the grounds that there was no irreparable damage that could occur to the plaintiffs should the defendants proceed with their investigation.

VICE PRESIDENT OSINBAJO VISITED THE NIGER DELTA REGION

Vice president Yemi Osinbajo flanked by Chief Edwin Clark and Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa during as the vice president addresses leaders of the Niger Delta during his visit to the region recently. As though the recent fact-finding visit of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the Niger Delta during which he lamented the scandalous neglect of the people of that zone by successive administrations was an eye opener for him, his comments about the unacceptable neglect of the region remains a true expression of genuine sentiment by anyone who has any modicum of a sense of rights and justice. Osinbajo, who led a Federal Government delegation that included the Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, decried the deplorable state and criminal neglect of the Niger Delta in the most uncomplimentary terms. He was quoted as saying: “Many of the initiatives to change the story have not been able to make those changes. From the Niger Delta Development Board in the 1960s to OMPADEC to the NDDC and the Amnesty Programme, many of these projects have not been able to meet the objectives they were set up to achieve. My message to you today is that it is time to prepare for the future.

SUCIDER KILL SELF IN MAIDUGURI

An early morning suicide bomb attack by suspected Boko Haram member at Central Mosque, Dalori quarters, Maiduguri left one dead. The deceased, One Salihu Ali, a graduate of the department of Continuing Education, University of Maiduguri, was said to be checking people entering the mosque to pray, but met his death when a lone suicide bomber approached him and detonated the improvised explosive device, IEDs.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP POLICY AND NIGERIA

On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the world’s most powerful country, the United States of America. President Trump campaigned on a populist economic and political agenda the implementation of which has broad implications for Nigeria. Essentially, Trump’s election promises an end to the liberal political and economic order that the U.S. and its allied built after World War II. Nigeria benefitted from that order, as it was instrumental in ending the colonial period, as the U.S. and its allies sought to curtail the potential spread of communism, in the face of vigorous and sustained opposition to colonialism by Nigerian politicians. It was clear to America and its allies that the then Soviet Union, had the ability to support a message that could be compelling to Nigeria and other African countries, and that they risked losing access to minerals and consumers with a political shift towards the Soviet Union. At their core, Trump’s policies are populist, anti-globalisation and protectionist. The policies threaten to increase tariffs on imports and restrict the flow of investment from the U.S. to other countries. Such policies are posited to hinder trade and investment between the U.S. and other countries and by effect, depress global economic growth, while stimulating growth in the U.S. Similar policies in the 1920 and 1930s helped worsen the great depression, as American protectionism in the form of higher tariffs on thousands of imported goods, triggered retaliation and currency wars. Nigeria is a commodity dependent economy and is hugely exposed to global economic conditions. Dependent on oil and gas exports as the basis of the revenue that powers its economy, policies that depress global growth have a significantly negative economic effect as they depress crude oil and natural gas prices. The U.S. is the leading global economic, consumer and financial power in a deeply interconnected world, and the protectionist policies, that will have to be implemented for Trump to deliver his campaign promises, threaten global economic growth. Given Trump’s pledge to revoke regulations deemed to hinder business growth and job creation in the U.S., a second threat comes from the increasing possibility that congressional Republicans will overturn anti-bribery regulations aimed at U.S. resource companies, such as Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. The danger here, is the creation of a global climate that reduces the focus on corruption, as potent factor limiting economic growth and corroding national values. There is no doubt that enforcing sanctions on politicians for political and economic corruption, in a manner akin to the individual sanctions placed on politicians in Iran and Russia, will be a force for quickly reducing the rate of corruption in Nigeria, but it is clear that Trump, is unlikely to do that. Advertisement There is nothing Nigeria can do to counter the populism that has swept the U.S. and its potential to lower global economic growth and continue a lack of intense support from the U.S. to the country’s fight against corruption. As a crude oil exporting country, Nigeria is ill equipped to leverage the growth that Trump’s proposed trillion-dollar investment in infrastructure, reduction in regulations and isolationist policies is expected have on the U.S. economy. In fact, over the last 10-years, the U.S. has reduced its import of Nigerian crude to next to nothing and has no need to import liquefied natural gas. Nigeria has also hitherto failed to significantly leverage the opportunities created by President Clinton’s Africa Growth and Opportunities Act and President Obama’s Power Africa initiative, in any significant manner. Nigeria can only hope that China (and possibly western Europe) will be able to negate any negative impact on global economic growth by powering the growth required to tighten the supply and demand conditions that are necessary for crude oil and natural gas prices to increase in a rapid and sustainable manner. Clearly, this is a tall order, given the huge inventories on hand, as being seen with the current slow increase in crude oil prices, as well as the fact that as OPEC is reducing its supply of crude oil to global markets, U.S. producers are ramping up production in response to the attendant price increase. Slowing economic growth in China, as it continues the process of restructuring from an investment and export led economy to a more sustainable consumer and innovation led one, also portends headwinds for global economic growth and thus rising demand for minerals and commodities and the increasing prices Nigeria needs to ramp up revenues. In response, Nigerian politicians can elect to deepen their own brand of nationalism by maintaining the high tariffs placed on selected goods in response to the deep foreign exchange crisis the country is currently facing, implementing tactics to inculcate a Nigeria first mentality in its population and conceivably increase consumption of locally produced goods and services, waging a war on corruption with deterrence as the key outcome to enhance the efficiency of budgets and the use of resources, making moves to create a skilled labour force, trimming the size of the public sector, and running budget deficits. What is clear, is that the populism that has taken root in the U.S. gained traction in the United Kingdom, and threatening to take political power in France and Germany, has the distinct possibility of reducing global growth and having negative effects on commodity driven economies like Nigeria, that needs to be actively managed in a manner that fosters economic growth and job creation in the country.

2017 BUDGET, SENATE TO COMMITTES

The Senate leadership has come to resovle so as to meeting committees in order to facilitate speedy 2017 budget passage https://today.ac/vwty7 via @todayng