Cameroon: Fru Ndi To Storm Yaounde On May 20

Fru Ndi

The National Executive Committee, NEC, of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, has resolved that the National Chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi, would attend the May 20 National Day celebrations in Yaounde for the second time.

Senators, Parliamentarians, Mayors and national executive members have been tasked in the NEC meeting that held in Bamenda over the weekend, to ensure that the mobilisation this year triples that of last year.

Briefing the Press after the NEC meeting, SDF National Communication Officer, Beatrice Anembom Munjo, said the presence of the National Chairman in Yaounde will speak volumes because, apart from springing surprises, the SDF which is the leading opposition in the country has on such occasions, driven home political or democratic messages that have brought some changes in the electoral system.

It was also resolved that the SDF Elective Convention will hold February 17, 2017, at a venue still to be decided.

Cameroon: Limbe Mayors Blame Difficult 2015 Year On Taxes,Debts

The Mayor of the Limbe I Council, Rodanny Mbua Mokako, and that of the Limbe II Council, Duncan Molindo, have told Fako SDO that 2015 was a difficult year due to taxes and debts.

The Mayors were addressing themselves to the First Assistant SDO of Fako, Vincent Nafongo Lokombe, who was in the two councils, respectively on May 6 at the Limbe I and on May 7 at the Limbe II, to preside at the examination of the accounts of the two councils for the 2015 fiscal year. Mayor Rodanny said his Council collected a total sum of FCFA 413.170 million out of FCFA 632 million that was budgeted. Of the above amount, he said, a total of FCFA 410.829 million was spent on both recurrent and investments.

As to why such a huge amount just for taxes, Mayor Rodanny said councils “find themselves in a situation where once they don’t pay their dues on time, they are bound to pay later but with very heavy fines and these are the fines that” guzzled up lots of the councils’ money that could have been invested for projects.

The Mayor urged the SDO to try and assist the councils so that taxation can exonerate them from such crippling fines. Meantime, Mayor Duncan of the Limbe II Council said, out of FCFA 472.754 million budgeted for 2015, FCFA 339.440 was successfully collected recording a 69.68 percent recovery rate.

Duncan, nevertheless, told the SDO that they would have done even better, were it not for the fact that so many establishments still owe his Council. He disclosed that the Shipyard Project at Mokundange owed the Council unpaid taxes up to the tune of FCFA 24 million, whereas the Council Support Fund, FEICOM, as well as the Limbe City Council, still owe them some subvention money for 2015.

70-Year-Old Indian Woman Gives Birth To First Baby

An Indian woman who gave birth at the age of 70 said Tuesday she was not too old to become a first-time mother, adding that her life was now complete. Daljinder Kaur gave birth last month to a boy following two years of IVF treatment at a fertility clinic in the northern state of Haryana with her 79-year-old husband.

Kaur said the couple, married for 46 years, had almost lost hope of ever having a child and had faced ridicule in a country where infertility is sometimes seen as a curse from God.

"God heard our prayers. My life feels complete now. I am looking after the baby all by myself, I feel so full of energy. My husband is also very caring and helps me as much as he can," Kaur told AFP.

Dangote Promises 210,000 Jobs, Refinery, 12,000MW By 2018

Aliko Dangote

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group of Companies on Tuesday said the orgabisation would create 210,000 jobs for Nigerians in agriculture beginning from 2016 to 2018 in various capacities. Dangote stated this in Katsina State in a goodwill message at the opening of Katsina Economic and Investment Summit.

“We will create 210,000 jobs between now and 2018, with 80 per cent coming from the agricultural sector. So, we should pay attention to the agricultural sector for investment opportunities, particularly when crude oil is now becoming unreliable,” he said.

He noted that Brazil, which had same similarities with Nigeria, had $350 billion in its foreign reserve, with 80 per cent of the fund coming from agriculture.

Dangote also said that he would establish the largest single refinery with the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day and two subsea pipelines of 550 kilometres in Delta, Ogun and Lagos. He also said that he would assist government reduce pipeline vandalism as well as provide 12,000 megawatts of power. He called for the creation of the enabling environment for investors by identifying areas with comparative advantage.

“You don’t need to call for investors, just create enabling environment for the local ones, you will see the foreign ones gate-crashing,” he said.

N4bn Campaign Funds: Falae’s Firm’s Account Frozen, Fani-Kayode Detained

Olu Falae

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has frozen the bank account of a company belonging to a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, The PUNCH has learnt.

It was gathered that the account with the United Bank for Africa titled Marecco Nigeria Limited with number 1000627022, was frozen as part of investigations into the N4bn disbursed by the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation during the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.

This is just as the EFCC detained a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, on Monday for receiving N840m from the campaign funds. The ex-minister, who arrived at the EFCC headquarters  at 9.45am was still being quizzed as of 8.40pm.

Both Falae and Fani-Kayode were accused of receiving N940m from the Director of Finance of the campaign organisation, Senator Nenadi Usman, during the build-up to the election.

Son Of Ex-Chief Justice Uwais Who Joined ISIS Reported Dead

Ibrahim Uwais, son of a former Chief Justice of the Federation, Mohammed Uwais, who joined the Islamic terror group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria was reportedly killed near Aleppo, in Syria. He died after an airstrike was carried out by the United States targeting known ISIS camps, according to a report by Sahara Reporters.

Ibrahim Uwais had allegedly departed Nigeria and joined ISIS early in 2015, causing security agencies to begin investigations to uncover the identities of Nigerians, who might have joined the terrorist group.

Woman Accuses Husband Of Bed-Wetting, Seeks Divorce

A businesswoman, Juliana Okoli, on Tuesday told a Jikoyi Customary Court in Abuja that she was tired of living with her husband because he ‘bed wets’. Juliana made this known when she testified in a divorce petition before the court.

“I am tired of living in the same house with him because he always ‘bed wets’. When he wakes up in the middle of the night and is feeling cold because of the urine on the bed, he places my clothes on the urine to protect himself from the cold,” she said.

Juliana also said that her husband was a drunk.

“My husband is also a drunk; whenever he drinks, he bed wets even many more times before morning and when I talk to him about it, he starts beating me. He sometimes chases me and our children out of the house in the middle of the night,” she added.