Fayose threatens to release 11 damaging pictures on Buhari’s health

The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has threatened to release 11 pictures which he said would proof to Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari’s health had deteriorated.

Fayose said there was no iota of truth in the claim by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo that the President was fast recuperating in London.

The governor, who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, insisted that the President should resign and attend to his failing health.

“If care is not taking, I will release pictures and this will create serious problems for the country. The offices of the governors and the president are that which require work. If care is not taken, I will release about 11 pictures (on his bad health”), the governor said,

Fayose, who is the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, however, said he was not praying for the President to die.

SOURCE: http://punchng.com/fayose-threatens-to-release-11-damaging-pictures-on-buharis-health/

World Bank advocates single regulatory authority for free zones

THE World Bank has advocated a single authority for the regulation of operations of free zones in Nigeria. Mr. Craig Raymond Giesze, Senior Operations Officer, Trade & Competitiveness, Global Practice, World Bank Group, made the case at the public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce. The public hearing was aimed at taking input from stakeholders for the purpose of amending the nation’s Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Authority, OGEFZA, Act.

He stated: “Beyond the fact that a single regulatory authority is global best practice, the benefits include the fact it reduces administrative costs; the approach creates investor confidence in an economy; investors abhor a confusing regulatory environment and considers such environment as too risky but prefer consistency in regulation because a single regulatory authority offers long term stability that guarantees safety of investments. In that regard, the World Bank perspective would be that Nigeria should seriously consider the adoption of a single regulatory authority regime for its free zones”.

Are robots taking over the world’s finance jobs?

The year is 2030. You’re in a business school lecture hall, where just a handful of students are attending a finance class. The dismal turnout has nothing to with professorial style, school ranking or subject matter. Students simply aren’t enrolled, because there are no jobs out there for finance majors.

Today, finance, accounting, management and economics are among universities’ most popular subjects worldwide, particularly at graduate level, due to high employ-ability. But that’s changing.

According to consulting firm Opimas, in years to come it will become harder and harder for universities to sell their business-related degrees. Research shows that 230,000 jobs in the sector could disappear by 2025, filled by “artificial intelligence agents”.

Are robo-advisers the future of finance?

A new generation of AI Investments in automated portfolios rose 210% between 2014 and 2015, according to the research firm Aite Group. Robots have already taken over Wall Street, as hundreds of financial analysts are being replaced with software or robo-advisors.

In the US, claims a 2013 paper by two Oxford academics, 47 per cent percent of jobs are at “high risk” of being automated within the next 20 years – 54 per cent of lost jobs will be in finance.

This is not just an American phenomenon. Indian banks, too, have reported a 7 per cent decline in head count for two quarters in a row due to the introduction of robots in the workplace.

Perhaps this is unsurprising. After all, the banking and finance industry is principally built on processing information, and some of its key operations, like passbook updating or cash deposit, are already highly digitised.

A man leaves an Axis Bank automated teller machine (ATM) in New Delhi, India. Adnan Abidi/Reuters. Now, banks and financial institutions are rapidly adopting a new generation of Artificial Intelligence-enabled technology (AI) to automate financial tasks usually carried out by humans, like operations, wealth management, algorithmic trading and risk management.

For instance, JP Morgan’s Contract Intelligence, or COIN, programme, which runs on a machine learning system, helped the bank shorten the time it takes to review loan documents and decrease the number of loan-servicing mistakes.

Such is the growing dominance of AI in the banking sector that, Accenture predicts, within the next three years it will become the primary way banks interact with their customers. AI would enable more simple user interfaces, their 2017 report notes, which would help banks create a more human-like customer experience.

NSE indices up by 0.44%, turnover 232.43%

Activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed for the week on Friday on a positive note, with the turnover volume appreciating by 232.43 per cent, while market indices grew by 0.44 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a total of 480 million shares valued at N1.98 billion were exchanged by investors in 2,713 deals.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 144.39 million shares worth N1.54 billion transacted by investors in 2,303 deals on Thursday.

Activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed for the week on Friday on a positive note, with the turnover volume appreciating by 232.43 per cent, while market indices grew by 0.44 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a total of 480 million shares valued at N1.98 billion were exchanged by investors in 2,713 deals.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 144.39 million shares worth N1.54 billion transacted by investors in 2,303 deals on Thursday.

NAN reports that Staco Insurance drove the activity chart with an exchange of 252.12 million shares worth N126.06 million.

United Capital followed having accounted for 61.96 million shares valued at N24.88 million and Zenith International Bank traded 59.53 million shares worth N893.06 million.

FCMB Group sold 21.29 million shares valued at N27.53 million and FBN Holdings traded 15.19 million shares worth N50.33 million.

In the same vein, the market indicators closed higher with a growth of 0.44 per cent due to price appreciation recorded by some highly capitalised stocks.

An analysis of the price movement table indicated that Total Nigeria led the gainers’ table gaining N2.90 to close at N273.01 per share.

Death toll in Suleja flood disaster rises to 13

The death toll in Suleja Local Council of Niger State where flood wreaked havoc at the weekend, has risen to 13 while three others are still missing. Four persons were also said to be unconscious, and are receiving treatment in Suleja General Hospital, as seven houses at Nasarawa area of Suleja have been submerged.

It was gathered that the head of the household of seven, Abubakar Saraki, survived; but his six children died. Meanwhile, the Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, said out of the 11 that died in the Suleja flood disaster, eight bodies have been recovered. Inga said four areas were badly affected by last Saturday’s flood in Suleja.

He said 90 houses were destroyed, and no fewer than 500 people displaced; adding that there is the possibility of using primary schools in the area as temporary camps for survivors.

The death toll in Suleja Local Council of Niger State where flood wreaked havoc at the weekend, has risen to 13 while three others are still missing. Four persons were also said to be unconscious, and are receiving treatment in Suleja General Hospital, as seven houses at Nasarawa area of Suleja have been submerged.

It was gathered that the head of the household of seven, Abubakar Saraki, survived; but his six children died. Meanwhile, the Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, said out of the 11 that died in the Suleja flood disaster, eight bodies have been recovered. Inga said four areas were badly affected by last Saturday’s flood in Suleja.

Etisalat Nigeria gets deadline to stop use of brand name

The crisis rocking Etisalat Nigeria deepened yesterday with a directive from the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), the largest shareholder in the embattled firm, that the Nigerian arm should stop using the brand name within the next three weeks.

                       

       The Chief Executive of Etisalat International, Hatem Dowidar, told Reuters yesterday that Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat had terminated its management agreement with its Nigerian arm and given the business time to phase out the brand in Nigeria.

The implication is that the new management must decide within the next 21 days on the options before it, which are either an outright sale of the company or merger with an existing operator in the country.

Etisalat, which controls 13 per cent market share in Nigeria, has had a running battle with a consortium of 13 banks since March, after it notified them of its inability to service its $1.2 billion debt in February due to the foreign exchange challenges in the country.

Neville hails Rooney as Man United’s brightest striker

Manchester United icon Gary Neville hailed Wayne Rooney as the finest striker he has ever seen at Old Trafford after the captain’s return to Everton was confirmed.

Rooney’s departure to Goodison Park on a two-year deal was confirmed yesterday after the clubs agreed an undisclosed fee.

Though Rooney’s powers have faded in recent seasons, he will leave Old Trafford as United’s record scorer with 253 goals in 559 appearances, having won five Premier League titles and the Champions League among 12 major trophies.

Neville was in the United team, as Rooney marked his debut with a phenomenal hat-trick against Fenerbahce in the Champions League in 2004.

And though he played with such club icons as Eric Cantona and Ruud van Nistelrooy, Neville places Rooney above the lot in the annals of United strikers.