From Our News Desk

UPDATES: Chibok girls: Gordon Brown wants UK troops in Nigeria. Jonathan’s incompetence affecting Nigeria –Balarabe Musa. Patients groan as doctors’ strike bites harder. Diezani, NNPC stall hearing of jet scandal suit. Impeachment: Court dismisses Nyako’s application. Fashola gives automatic employment to 200 graduates. Oshiomhole cancels teachers’ competency test. Reps protests stall FCT’s N271.1bn budget. Igbeke replaces late Akunyili. IG meets senior officers over rising insecurity. Kefee to be buried on July 11.  Nigerians to get loans for locally-assembled cars. Unity Bank records 92% rise in profit. Resolve bank customers’ complaints in 30 days –CBN. N53.6bn UBEC intervention funds yet to be accessed –FG. Parents Of Chibok Girls: We’re Ready To Die In Sambisa Forest. Minister orders registration of foreigners in Abuja.

Amodu, Oliseh tipped to replace Keshi

Former Super Eagles coach, Shuaibu Amodu and ex-captain Sunday Oliseh have been lined up to replace Stephen Keshi in the short and long-term, KickOffNigeria.com reports.


Keshi, whose contract as Nigeria coach lapsed with the country’s elimination from the World Cup, has not been offered a new deal and is not likely to get a contract renewal, despite reports to the contrary.

Instead, Amodu, who has had three spells as Super Eagles coach, is expected to be put in temporary charge while the Nigeria Football Federation shop for a replacement.

The first name being considered is Oliseh. Despite his limited experience, NFF chiefs have been impressed with his knowledge of the game and his name came up for discussion immediately news of Keshi’s resignation became public.

Top NFF officials however told KickOffNigeria.com that nothing had been decided yet, and the Federation will take it’s time in picking a suitable replacement.

What is certain however is that the relationship between Keshi and the NFF is fractured almost beyond repair.

50 Killed In Suicide Explosion In Maiduguri

As  many as 50 people today lost their lives when asuicide attacker detonated a bomb at the central market in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State.

Eyewitnesses and a security source said the death toll was so high because the suicide bomber appeared to have targeted roadside traders along the city’s busiest area. One source said the attack left scores of people injured with blood splattered all over the ground.
 
Witnesses said dismembered bodies were gathered up and taken away from the scene almost an hour after the gruesome attack.
 
Bukar Mali, a trader at the market, said 27 bodies were first taken away, adding that more charred bodies were later discovered.
 
A civilian member of the Joint Task Force said he counted at least 40 dead bodies, adding that another 69 injured victims were taken away to health facilities.
 
Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno visited the scene of the deadly explosion at 2.30 p.m. (Nigerian time) and later went to the state specialist hospital. Addressing the press, Mr. Shettima condemned the attack. He pledged to continue to deliver services to the people of the state, announcing that the families of the 15 youth volunteers who died when they accosted the bomber would receive N1 million each.He said the volunteers sacrificed their lives to save the lives of others.
 
Dr. Laraba Bello, medical director of the Maiduguri General Hospital, said 18 injured victims had been admitted at the hospital’s accident and emergency ward. She disclosed that the hospital could not admit all the injured victims and was compelled to transfer many to other hospitals, adding that two women were among the victims.
 
Babagana Bukar, the general manager of the Maiduguri International Market, confirmed that 15 of the dead victims were members of the youth vigilante group the locals call civilian JTF. He told Governor Shettima that 69 injured people were taken to various hospitals.
 
A leader of the youth volunteers in the area told the governor that 17 of their members had died.
 
Angry youths in the market attacked some firefighters for failing to arrive quicker at the scene of the carnage.
 
Today’s attack registered one of the highest casualty rates since January 14 when a blast near the post office in Maiduguri claimed close to fifty lives.

State creation divides delegates

The clamour for state creation pitted delegates against one another at the National Conference on Wednesday.

Some delegates claimed that it was wrong for the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government to have recommended for the creation of one state for the South-East alone without anything for the other zones.

The report of the committee says, “There shall be created an additional state for the South-East zone and that all other requests for state creation should be considered on merit.”

The committee approved guidelines for the creation of states by saying that any new state sought to be created must be viable.

In determining what is viable, the committee says such state must be economically viable or potentially economically viable and it should have human, natural and material resources and enough land mass.

The new state, it said, should have cultural/ historical antecedents, with strong cultural affinity amongst the population of the new state and that such a new state should have a minimum population of one million people.

There were 34 requests for state creation before the committee while a request was made to change the name of Adamawa State to Gongola State.

A delegate, who was a former Minister of Industry, Chief Nike Akande, canvassed for the creation of another state from the present Oyo State.

She requested that all requests for state creation should be considered on their merit and in accordance to the criteria.

Akande said, “I support the creation of more states and in this regard, I propose the split of Oyo State into two, which are Ibadan State and the rest. Oyo State has a landmass of about 28,245.26 square kilometres. It is one of the most urbanised states in the country. In the 2006 census, the state has a population of about 5.58million ranking as the fifth most populated among the 36 states of the federation.

“The splitting is justifiable, expedient and necessary given the position of the state. The proposed state meets the generally accepted criteria for state creation including population, viability, historical considerations, culture affinity and contiguity.

The creation of another state from Oyo State would ensure social and economic development of the states.”

In his contribution, a former National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ahmadu Ali, queried the rationale used by the committee toward a new state for the South-East.

He said, “I don’t know what criterion was used in awarding a state for the South-East geo-political zone. All of us must go and fight for state creation. I said it before that the old eastern region has 11 states.

“I believe that states that wish to merge should merge. Regionalism is retrogressive. The zone we also talk about is a dangerous precedent and is not constitutional. There is an attempt to smuggle it into the report of the conference.”

However, Chief Olabode George also called for the creation of Isale-Eko State from the present Lagos State.

In his contribution, a former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, queried the reasons for the creation of local governments in the country.

He said it was wrong for highly populated states such as Lagos to have a small number of local governments while smaller states should have a larger number of local governments.

Osoba said, “Local government should be taken out of the constitution. A state like Lagos with over 12million people and only 20 local governments is unjustified. Therefore, states should be allowed to create their local governments.”

Another delegate, Mr. Lawrence Ikpeazu, kicked against the call for the creation of states, saying that unlike the country, the United States of America had a few states at the beginning but that some of the states that joined the union came with their land, people and resources.

He also rejected the call for sharing of the country’s resources, wondering why some parts of the country failed to contribute to the wealth of the nation.

Analysis: New CBN governor must work to restore financial sector confidence

Godwin Emefiele assumed office on Tuesday as the 11th governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

The former Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc. is succeeding Lamido Sanusi, whose suspension from office by President Goodluck Jonathan last February over alleged financial recklessness triggered a major crisis that not only unsettled the delicate stability of the entire banking sector, but also the confidence of investors in the country’s economy.

Though the crisis appears to have been brought under control in the last three month under the interim management of the acting governor, Sarah Alade, Mr. Emefiele appears to find himself in office as the helmsman at the CBN when the vestiges of the declining confidence are yet to completely ebb.

In the aftermath of the ugly face-off between Mr. Sanusi and the government over the $49.8 billion oil revenue controversy, the autonomy and independence of the CBN appeared to have been negatively impacted.

Followers of developments at the Central Bank said on Tuesday that as Mr. Emefiele assumes office, he needs to urgently settle in and map out ways of rebuilding the confidence and help railroad the county’s economy on the path of sustained stability and growth.

Despite the unfortunate politicization of the role of the bank governor, Mr. Emefiele has the responsibility to find a way of restoring the era of strong legacy of excellent financial sector management set in motion by his predecessor.

According to the former acting Governor, Mrs. Alade, the thrust of the concerns of the management of the Bank as she found out during her brief stint at the helm revolves around the need to sustain financial system stability and restore investors’ confidence in the country’s economy.

As he assumes office, the aggregate expectation of most Nigerians is that Mr. Emefiele would immediately think about how to exert the appropriate response, through appropriate monetary instruments, to contain potential shocks capable of unsettling the financial system stability.
Having overcome the uncertainty that beclouded the financial system in February and March as a result the Sanusi crisis, there has been some observed stability in the foreign exchange market, money market and capital market.

For Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, although the macroeconomic environment appears to be relatively stable, several risks are still lurking in the corner for the new CBN governor.

“The conflicting trends of core and headline inflation since January 2014 will have to be put in perspective as well as the concerns over the eroding fiscal buffers; all of these could accentuate another speculative attack on the naira,” Mr. Rewane said.

For the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, CSJ, Eze Onyekpere the challenge for the new CBN governor has to be how to assert his office and reassure all stakeholders, particularly executive and legislative authorities, on the need to maintain CBN’s autonomy and independence away from politics.

Arisekola-Alao’s widow dies in car crash

Exactly two weeks after the death of Aare Musulumi of Yoruba land, Abdul-Azeez Arisekola-Alao, one of his widows, Jelilat, died in an auto-crash at Eyenkorin, near Ilorin, Kwara State on Tuesday evening.


She was aged 62.The Punch gathered that the late Jelilat Arisekola-Alao was the eldest wife of the late billionaire who died in his London home on the day he was due back in Nigeria.

She was last seen by a neighbour in Ibadan on Monday afternoon, just before she embarked on the fatal journey.

She had two children for the Muslim leader, Abdulahi and Fatimah. She was buried at her residence in Apata area of Ibadan on Wednesday.

From Our News Desk

UPDATES: Don’t work for APC, Jonathan, Mu’azu beg Oyinlola. Politicians sabotaging war against Boko Haram –Shettima. Doctors’ strike cripples hospitals nationwide. Second Republic minister Umaru Dikko dies at 78. Blasts in Kaduna, Borno, Osun states. Delegate seeks death penalty for election riggers. We don’t run a secret cult –Tambuwal. Senate moves to avert Nigeria, Cameroon crisis. Court orders arrest of Cross-Country boss. Anambra, Kogi Reps clash over disputed oil well. President, govs must have varsity degree –Confab. Policemen, families escape death as Lagos barracks collapse. Boko Haram uses weapons stolen from Nigerian Army. Pinnacle wins digital broadcasting licence with N618.75m. FG woos Chinese investors for national carrier. We’ll fight vandals until power supply stabilises —FG. Police Ban Sale Of Newspapers At Power House Junction In Abuja. Rescue N11trn Onne Port, Investor Tells FG. Senate Begins Screening Of Shekarau, Others Today. Excess Charges Top List Of Customer Complaints – CBN. Cashless Policy: FG Transacts N12trn On e-Payment Platform. NFF Deny Keshi’s Resignation. Pension thieves risk 10 years jail term. Davido Wins Best International Act At Bet Awards. U.S. can’t track Boko Haram’s funding. Confab adopts 25-year minimum age for state legislators. FG approves N1b take-off grant for Oil, Gas Polytechnic. Kaka signs for MLS side, Orlando city. World cup: Argentina 1-0 Switzerland, Belgium 2-1 USA.