OBIO/ Akpor Peoples Forum, has called on the Police in Rivers State to caution Mr. Timothy Nsirim from saying he would not respect the recent dissolution of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area by Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

When a major political event like the defection of the rebellious members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, takes place, it is easy to get confused. When confusion sets in, you will see people who should be sober or suspicious rejoicing as though they have won a major trophy.

After months of horse‑trading and political manoeuvring, a member of the House of Representatives in EkitiState under the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele has finally dumped APC for Labour Party, LP.

The subject of reckless debt accumulation has been discussed in several articles such as “Another Useless Debt Burden” November 2006, “National Assembly Fiddles as Debt Burden Cripples” May 2008, etc (please see www.lesleba.com). Incidentally, when Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) was established in 2003, the excruciating existing burden of external debt was over $35bn; domestic debt, however, was still tolerable and manageable, with treasury bills accounting for about 60% at over N800bn, while treasury bonds accounted for about N430 billion.

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc and Access Bank Plc, both quoted banks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE have jointly built a waiting lounge at the Ikoyi passport office of the Nigeria Immigration Service , NIS as part of their Social Corporate Responsibility, CSR.

ANTI-RIOT policemen have been deployed to Ode-Irele in Irele council of OndoState to prevent a bloody clash by factions claiming rights to the town’s throne.

FORTY eight hours to the deadline given by the Federal Government to striking university lecturers to resume classes or be sacked, the union has remained adamant, advising parents not to risk the lives of their children by sending them to the campuses.

But in Nigeria, it almost invariably ends up getting bogged down in colossal corruption. The minute government embarks on a multi-billion naira enterprise the sharp guys devise the plans to subvert it by robbing the programme blind. SURE-P is going the way of National ID Card Scheme, Obasanjo’s $13-16 billion IPP for which we had nothing to show until PHCN was privatized and the National Water Rehabilitation Scheme of another regime.

Former Green Eagles captain and 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner, Segun Odegbami has said there is still time for the current Super Eagles to improve, as he believes the team lacks cohesion.

Leonard L. Berry and A. Parasuraman put it beautifully. In their classic, Marketing Services: Competing Through Quality, they describe superior service recovery as “doing the service very right the second time.” In the simplest of terms, service recovery is the act of making things right for the customer whenever a service failure is occurs.

GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, held a crucial meeting in Abuja, with last Tuesday’s defection of five of its governors to the All Progressives Congress, APC, as top on the agenda.

Rice import policy
The policy of the Federal government is noble and desirable. Any country that is forward looking, will want to pursue that route. The Minister of Agriculture is clear in his vision to grow rice locally, as we have more than 60 percent arable land in Nigeria. Government felt that we should discourage import and encourage our local rice production. The government did not take into consideration, the harm that smugglers will unleash on this noble policy. Now, the importers are put on hold because they cannot compete with the prices of smuggled rice, neither could the farmers and processors.

Zenith Bank PLC has been named bank of the Year Nigeria by the Banker, a publication of Financial Times of London. In a statement on its website the Banker said “Zenith has come a long way since it was founded in 1990. The bank, which had $17bn of assets at the end of 2012, is the largest in Nigeria based on Tier 1 capital, according to The Banker’s latest Top 1000 rankings. By the same measure, it is the sixth biggest lender in the whole of Africa.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 36-year-old Nigerian living in South Africa for trafficking 2.390kg of methamphetamine.

With government spending rising, it is important for revenue administrators to devise ingenious means of improving tax collection. One sure way of doing so is automation of the tax collection process.