FG seeks fresh $1.2bn loan from Brazil

 

The Federal Government of Nigeria is seeking a loan of $1.2bn from Brazil to finance agricultural programmes in the 2021 budget.

 

A request for approval has also been transmitted to the National Assembly, according to Punch.

 

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made this known when she appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance in Abuja on Tuesday, November 3. to defend the budget proposed by her ministry.

 

Ahmed disclosed that the Federal Government sent a request to the National Assembly to approve the loan from the Brazilian government to address issues in the agriculture value chain as Nigeria.

 

Ahmed also said the Federal Government would acquire 100,000 hectares of land in each state for food production, adding that link roads would be built in such locations to provide access for farmerAs to move farm produce to markets and reduce post-harvest losses.

 

Chairman of the committee, Mr James Faleke, had asked the finance minister about diversification of the economy.

 

Responding, Ahmed said, "For borrowing to improve industry, we are before the parliament. I request for the approval for loan that we call the Green Imperative Programme which is for loan of $1.2bn from the Brazilian government.

 

"It is a programme that is addressing the whole of agricultural value chain from mechanisation, production, processing and selling. It is meant to lend to businessmen for tractors, plants at all levels."

 

Giving updates on the 2020 budget implementation from January to September, Ahmed said, "As of the end of Q3 2020, FGN’s revenue available for budget funding (excluding GOES) was N2.83tn, 70 per cent of target.

 

"FGN share of oil revenues was N1.20tn (representing 158 per cent performance, over and above the prorated sum in the revised 2020 budget) while non-oil tax revenues totalled N927.47bn (76 per cent of revised target)."

Joe Biden flips Arizona, first Democrat to win state since 1996

 

Joe Biden has become the first Democrat to win a Presidential election in Arizona in 24 years. 

 

With his win, Biden denied President Donald Trump 11 pivotal electoral votes that were once reliably Republican. 

 

While Trump ran up the score in rural Arizona, Biden carved a path through fast-changing Maricopa County, where Phoenix and its suburbs supply some 60 percent of the state’s electorate. It was the largest county in America to go to Trump in 2016, but it is also at the center of twin trends reshaping Arizona politics: disaffected suburbanites migrating away from the Republican Party and Democratic-leaning Latinos turning out in greater force with every election.

 

The southwestern state broke its own records with early voting, marking a significant turnout with 2.6 million votes having been cast before Election Day.

 

Biden also picked up an Electoral College vote in a Nebraska congressional district that voted for Trump four years ago. The president hadn't converted any new territory by early Wednesday morning.

 

Republicans breathed another sigh of relief when must-win Ohio was added to Trump's column. 

FG allegedly freezes accounts of #EndSARS promoters

 

The Federal government has been accused of freezing the bank accounts of Nigerians who promoted the #EndSARS protests.

 

Nigerians took to the streets on October 8 to demand an end to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit of the Nigeria police and an end to police brutality.

 

The protest took a different turn when it was hijacked by hoodlums. On October 20, security operatives stormed the Lekki tollgate plaza and allegedly opened fire on the protesters.

 

Two weeks after the protests, there are allegations that the Federal government has begun a clampdown on persons who promoted the protest via any means.

 

According to a report by Punch, some #EndSARS promoters alleged that their banks informed them that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed that their accounts be frozen. The apex bank reportedly instructed banks to place a “Post No Debit” restriction on the accounts.

 

Nigerian pharmacist, Bassey Israel, who was in charge of the #EndSARS medical team in Port Harcourt, reportedly said his account with Access Bank marked 003397XXXX has been frozen since October 15.

“I am in charge of End SARS medical team in Port Harcourt and we had people donating for medical supplies, food, water, ambulance services and these donations were made directly into my account and of course these donations had End SARS descriptions so I think that was how they were able to flag my account.

I noticed that on October 15, I was trying to make a debit transaction on my account and noticed that there was a restriction.

So, I called the bank and I was told that there was indeed a restriction but I should go to any branch near me and when I did so, the branch manager sent a mail to the branch where I opened the account. The response to the mail was that there was a directive from the CBN to restrict the account.

The lady was surprised and even asked me if I had any issue with the CBN and I responded that if I had any issue with the CBN, I wouldn’t be in the bank in the first place, I would be on the run. I asked what could be done and she gave me no answer. She had to  show me the mail on her computer which I read. It was directly from the CBN and it read, ‘Place this account on PND” he was quoted as saying

 

When asked if others had similar problems, Israel said,

“I know many persons that have this same challenge.”

 

Another #EndSARS protester who spoke on condition of anonymity, also alleged that she had not been able to access her account and had been informed that it was frozen.

 

The CBN is yet to confirm or deny this allegation.

 

On Sunday, Modupe Odele, an #EndSARS advocate, narrated how she was stopped from travelling out of the country by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The lawyer said she was detained and her passport was seized.

 

The Ministry of Interior, however, denied the allegation that it is compiling the names of #EndSARS protesters on a no-fly list.

'I had expectations that this time November 2020 I will be posting baby on the way pictures but my belly is still flat'' Toke Makinwa writes as she turns 36

 

Toke Makinwa turns 36 years old today November 3.

 

In a post shared on her Instagram page, the media personality shared the many struggles she has had to face this year and the many expectations she had before her 36th birthday that never became reality.

 

In her lengthy post, Toke said she had expected to be posting "baby on the way photos" but her belly is still flat and her waist still slim. 

 

Her post reads

 

The month of October was not the best I’ve felt, I don’t just want to post glam pictures cos I do love the glam life but that’s not all there is to me. I have been given this platform to share, to rise, to fall, to bare it all so you all know that there’s nothing like picture perfect, we are all just trying to figure life out.

 

I was stressed emotionally, exhausted spiritually, working round the clock feeling empty cos I had so many expectations and it seemed like the devil heard be brag so loud about how good God has been to me, he decided to test my mind. Falling sick after God told me the plague in the land will not visit my family, oh I had expectations that this time November 2020 I will be posting baby on the way pictures but my belly is still flat, and my waist is still disappearing. The only thing I had going for me was work. Losing friends to betrayal and my anxiety on a all time high, I couldn’t travel cos my work load kept piling and I just wasn’t feeling great. I stopped praying cos I was tired of the same prayer points and as my birthday drew closer I felt even more anxious.

 

Yesterday I watched a sermon by @sarahjakesroberts titled “Girl get up” and I broke down really bad, I was carrying it all in, smiling for the world but the weight of all my emotions was on override and I let it all out. I felt God, I felt new and I felt peace. I started to remind myself of that little girl with dreams, the little girl that wanted to live the life that I live now and though all isn’t perfect, I am turning 36 whole. I know only God could have brought me this far and the view from the 36th floor will be even more amazing. I know this was meant to be a hot picture but I decided to share this to let someone out there know that we are all in this thing called life together. All of it, the happy and sad, the joy and aches, the wins and loss, the view will only get better, I promise you.
Sorry for the long caption, if it’s not for you, scroll and pass but if it is, read it knowing God knows your name and he makes no mistakes. He is never late and your miracle is taking longer cos it will be a sign to the whole world that he did it. Hang in there''

 

New Zealand PM, Jacinda Ardern appoints country's first Indigenous female foreign minister with face tattoo and gay deputy PM

 

New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern on Monday November 1 unveiled her 'incredibly diverse' cabinet, which includes New Zealand's first indigenous female foreign minister with a Maori facial tattoo and first openly gay deputy prime minister. 

 

Ardern promoted Mahuta, an MP for Hauraki-Waikato who has spent more than two decades in Parliament, to the job on Monday in the wake of her landslide election victory which secured her second-term.

 

 

Mahuta, who is M?ori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, is also the country's first female member of parliament to wear a moko kauae, a traditional tattoo on her chin.

 

"I'm privileged to be able to lead the conversation in the foreign space," Mahuta said, according to national broadcaster Radio New Zealand.

 

The prime minister also appointed Grant Robertson as deputy prime minister, making him the first openly gay person to hold the role.

 

 

Robertson, 49, has long acted as Ardern's right-hand man. He was formerly the country's purse finance minister during her first term and was chief strategist of her election campaign.

 

Speaking about her cabinet's diversity, Ardern said the appointments were made on merit.

 

'It is both a cabinet with huge merit and talent, which also happens to be incredibly diverse,' the 40-year-old said.

 

'I think it's an important point to make - these are individuals who have been promoted for what they bring to the cabinet, they also reflect the New Zealand that elected them.'

 

African liberation is a serious problem for people who have wronged Africa and people who wish to continue to rape Africa - 2Face

 

2Face has shared his thoughts on African liberation and young people taking over power from old African leaders. 

 

The singer in tweets he shared, stated that "open eye" has made Africans think "their things are inferior and foreign accent is intelligence". 

 

2Face who further averred that African liberation is a serious problem for people who have wronged Africa and people who wish to continue to 'rape' Africa, added that Africans leaders are out of ideas and too proud to ask young people to take over because they've done "bad things" in government. 

 

He tweeted; 

 

"ÒPEN ?YE" in pidgin English mean say u sabi oyibo thing and u dey live oyibo life. "ÒPEN ?YE" don wound us plenty. E make us think say London or yanky accent na intelligence. E make us think say our things na inferior. E make generally no like ourselves.

We sabi oyibo tins pass oyibo. African leaders don give up. Them no get ideas again . Them just dey too proud to ask for young people to take over and help because them don shit for church too much. Every race is racist to black people. WHY?

Until we get our own EDUCATION system plus our MEDIA system plus our AFRICAN POLICY system plus our RESOURCE CONTROL system plus our UNIFIED DEFENCE system We will never be independent and in control of African development.

AFRICAN LIBERATION Is a serious problem for people who have wronged Africa and people who wish to continue 2 RAPE Africa. Local/foreign But AFRICA is so blessed that we don't want revenge. We just want to live in peace. Enough things for all. But we must #UNWASHTHEBRAINWASH

 

God should deliver Buhari from wicked counsels and counsellors who tell him life is sweet without giving him the reports from the streets - Pastor Tunde Bakare

 

Running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2011 election and founder of Citadel Global Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare has expressed his intention to contest in the 2023 Presidential election. 

 

Speaking in an interview on Arise Television, the Pastor prayed for God to deliver President Buhari from wicked counsels and counsellors who tell him life is sweet and that everything is going fine, without giving him the reports from the streets. 

 

He added that without an enduring legacy, it will seem like Buhari came twice – first as military head of state and second as democratically elected president, without much achievements ascribed to him. 

 

Bakare said; 

 

“Every Nigerian citizen who has the aspiration to add value to this country is at liberty so to do. It is my fundamental right to run if I chose to. I mean every word I spoke. I cannot fold my hand or say well, let me continue to watch. No.

“My support for former president Goodluck Jonathan then was more or less based on what the late Obafemi Awolowo said that days would come when someone from a minority will rule this country which happened in the time of Jonathan.

“I am a citizen of this country, born and bred here by the grace of God and I intend to contribute my quota. It is like a matter of life and death. If we have the right people, I will support them. And if I offer myself and people support me, so be it. I am not taking those words back. I have something to offer my country.

“But it is all left for my country to say we want you because I cannot impose myself on them. I challenge right-thinking patriots to rise and let us join hands to fix our country. If God designs it that I will be the 16th president in 2023, I’m ready. I’m prepared. I have no word to impress anybody. All I have is quality service and God who took David from the sheepfold to shepherd the nation of Israel has trained me for over 30 years to be able to add my value to this country. 

“One of the things I pray for President Buhari is that God should deliver him from wicked counsels and counsellors who tell him life is sweet and that everything is going fine, but without giving him the reports from the streets. 

“In 2015, it seemed as if we had a long time. But, four years has gone and we are into the second year of the second term which is going to end soon. Time is going and anyone who is thinking of legacy, it is the best time to go into action – maybe two, or three things which people may see and say in the days of President Buhari, Nigeria took a giant trip in these three areas.

“Without that, it will just be like he came twice – first as military head of state and second as democratically elected president –  without much being ascribed to him as achievements of his administration.

“President Buhari still has enough time to leave behind an enduring legacy. He can still do a lot between 2021 and 2022 because 2020 is already running out. "