THERE is no Nigerian I know who is happy with the country’s state of affairs. Every group or nationality complains of marginalisation. Sometimes, the marginalisation beat gets so loud that you will think the drum is about to burst.

THE fateful 23rd June 2016 referendum vote by a majority of the United Kingdom, UK, citizens to take their country out of the European Union has left the whole world reeling. Perhaps, many people did not really expect the “ayes” (or “leave”) to have it. But they did by 52 percent of an exercise where the younger segments of the society did not bother much to participate in the voting.

A Delta State High Court sitting in Otor-Udu, has proclaimed the two parallel executive committees of the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, Delta State chapter as unconstitutional.

The country’s oil and gas business may be heading for good times as Blooming Faith Petroleum Ltd., a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Blooming Faith Global Holdings Ltd, would partner the Federal Government to build and operate a refinery with an installed capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, in Akwa Ibom State.

Some federal government agencies now operate bank accounts in violation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). The TSA is a bank account or a set of linked accounts through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments. Under the TSA, all government payments for services and revenue collections are operated through one account known as Consolidated Revenue Fund/Treasury Single Account (CRF/TSA) domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Going by the TSA regulations, ministries, departments and agencies under the federal government are not allowed to open or operate any bank account.

Lafarge Africa Plc has declared N13.66 billion dividends, which translates to 300kobo per share and bonus issue of one new share for every 10 previously held by shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2015. The company stated that it expects its installed capacity to rise to 14.1 million metric tons per annum with the completion of 2.5mm tons plant lines in one of its subsidiaries, United Cement Company of Nigeria, Unicem, Limited.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday reported that economic activities declined faster in June, confirming that the nation’s economy formally entered into recession in the second quarter of the year. Economic recession is a period of general decline in economic activities and it is typically defined as a decline in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters. Nigeria’s economy contracted in the first quarter of the year, as it recorded negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the quarter. According to the National Bureau of Statistics the nation’s GDP in Q1 2016 contracted by 0.36 per cent, the first negative growth in many years.

Former first lady of Old Anambra State, Chief Caroline Onoh, Bianca Ojukwu’s mother, would be laid to rest on August 5, 2016.

The former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi has urged Nigerians to avoid peddling falsehoods,which are injurious to individuals, institutions and society at large – especially in this trying period of the nation’s development. He made this observation yesterday while interacting with some journalists in Lagos.

It has been a rewarding 29-day spiritual activity: a period of recompense, a period of closeness to Allah, a period of illumination by the glorious Qur’an, a period of re-direction of destinies and possibilities, of charity, of divine blessings. It is indeed a memorable period.