Al Mann Dies At 90!

Jewish- American Billionaire, pioneering entrepreneur and philanthropist whose companies developed breakthrough medical devices including the first rechargeable pacemaker and Second Sight Medical Product, an artificial retina that allows the blind to see,  Alfred E. Mann,  also known as Al Mann, is dead. 

Mann passed in Las Vegas, where he had spent the majority of his time over the past several years on Thursday, February 25, at the age of 90. 

Alfred Mann founded 17 companies in aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and  medical devices fields, including MannKind Corporation, a Valencia, California, based biopharmaceutical company which  is focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic products for diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

2016 Budget Brouhaha!

Welcome to another edition of our dialogue...this time, we take on the recently rejected 2016 budget, a budget faulted for being wasteful considering the austere period the country is currently undergoing.
It was recently reported in the dailies that the two arms of the National Assembly, NASS, declared that the 2016 budget was full of errors, adding the document could no longer be passed on February 25 as expected.  



Scene inside a commuter bus in one of the major cities of Nigeria, the topic of discussion is the 2016 budget as presented by the President: 

Passenger 1: ....Can you imagine...a whooping 89.1 million allocated to buying kitchen equipment, unbelievable....will the whole country be cooking in there??? 

Passenger 2: For this hard time wey money no dey, our Naira just dey fall like humpty-dumpty, prices of foodstuff getting higher by the day...

Passenger 3 (a Woman) cuts in: Go to the market everything is now expensive...fish, vegetables and pepper sellers blaming it on dollar...

Passenger 4: I tell you...alarming naira, dollar and pounds exchange rates, lack of electricity supply...and the administration needs =N=89. what?...for what una call am again? ...they cant be serious.

Passenger 5: They are seriousooo, dey there...When it comes to money matters, I assure you our governments don't joke ...no matter how ridiculous it sounds.

Passenger 1: What about the kitchen equipment the immediate past administration used, that one wey I hear say dem use =N=237m buy for 2015?

Old man in the bus:That one has expired naw...which government makes use of a past administration's property, when they all behave like new wives...when a new one comes in, she discards all the properties of the former wife, even the decorations like virus. What worries me is that all these  non-essential things they purchase is at the expense of some vital areas the resources could be channeled to. 

Passenger 5: Kitchen cabinet is a vital areaoooo...maybe not to you...but to them....(everyone bursts into laughter)

Passenger 2: People dey find work to do, no jobs, from childhood our parents endevoured to send us to school so that we could have a better life than theirs, you go school finish, no job, you divert to create job for your self and others through SMEs, no loan for start-ups, and in situations where there is loan, the rigorous process of securing one can be so frustrating and discouraging. 

 Passenger 1: Meanwhile the fund is there...banks just sit on it and be waiting to loan to private organizations and individuals with high interest rates, and some of them end up not paying back...

Old man: You didn't talk of tax...I think we have one of the most unfavorable atmosphere for Start-Ups and Entrepreneurship development. There are all partners in this, there is no way you will convince me that the government does not know about this, yet they turn their eyes the other way, give a deaf ear...and keep disbursing money to banks for so called SME loans...

Everyone echoed: That is part of the corruption we are talking about naw...

Passenger 3: What about all the young people trying to make some thing out of their lives, no government jobs, no money for start-ups, they opt to street hawking...instead of the government to provide shopping spaces for them at very affordable rents, and flexible payment modes to get them off the street so that hoodlums don't take advantage of the situation to rob people in traffic, they whisk them away in 'black-maria' instead like criminals. They should provide alternatives first...

Passenger 5: But they did provide an alternative

Every body asks unanimously: What alternative?

Passenger 5: (straight face) Go back to your village...

Passenger 4: And do what? 

Passenger 5: Farm...fish...turn to the village nuisance or marry, have children...at least be useful and help increase the population for election times...do what ever you want to do...join militancy...or insurgency...

(everyone bursts into laughter) shakes head...you cant be serious

Old man: But he is talking some sense here, when even in the rural areas you are not empowered...what else is left to do when you'v been deprived of your entitlements as a citizen of a state? It all boils down to getting our priorities right in this country...an expenditure channeled in the wrong direction can cause so many damages in the society...because key areas that need some attention will not be getting any...

Light out....

Dialogue copyright: Oby Denis

Show - Down Spoiling In Nigerian Senate?

From the look of things, all seems not to be too well in the Nigerian Senate especially since the presentation of the infamous '=N=89.1 kitchen equipment' budget.

Senator Kabiru Marafa, who represents Zamfara Central in Zamfara State, North-west Nigeria, has alleged that the 2016 budget proposal controversy had something to do with the trial of Saraki at the CCT which as endorsed by the Supreme Court on February 5, 2016. According to Marafa, the controversy was induced by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to blackmail President Muhammadu Buhari.

Marafa also faulted the proposal by the 8th Senate to purchase vehicles worth N4.7billion and the continuous shrouding of the National Assembly accounts in secrecy; an allegation which prompted the Senate to direct  its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to launch an investigation on the Senator.

In the meantime, the National Assembly has postponed voting on the 2016 budget on the grounds what it termed citing inherent errors, ambiguities and rampant cases of budget padding discovered in the draft budget.

The Nigerian 2016 budget was faulted for being wasteful considering the austere period the country is undergoing with escalating =N=/$/£ exchange rates and little money in circulation, masses barely getting enough to feed on, an almost 0% electricity supply with an alarming electricity bills, for the Senate to request for =N=89.1m to purchase kitchen equipment, when the previous administration spent =N=237m in 2015 to purchase same 'kitchen equipment'  is unbelievable. 

We keep our fingers crossed....

Agenda 'Oil Price Stability' - Muhammadu Buhari Off To Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Makes Brife Stop At Mecca, Medina!

Shortly after returning from the Africa2016 : Business for Africa, Egypt and the World" conference, held recently in Egypt, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari,  accompanied by the Minister of State (Petroleum) and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu,  on Monday, 22nd February, embarked on a week-long official visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to discuss 'Oil Price Stability'.

According to a statement release by the Special Adviser to the President

on Media and Publicity,  Femi Adesina on Sunday, February 21st, the President  is expected to visit Riyadyh,  Saudi Arabia’s capital and main financial hub, on Tuesday to have talks with King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and senior officials of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom, heads of international financial organisations and multilateral associations.

To further solicit for support in his administration’s efforts to revamp "the Nigerian economy by taking advantage of the great investment opportunities currently available in Nigeria’s mining, agriculture, power supply, infrastructure, transportation, communications and other sectors", Muhammadu Buhari  is also scheduled to meet with leading Saudi and Qatari businessmen in Riyadh and Doha, Qatar capital. 

After visiting Saudi Arabia, President Buhari will make brief stops at Medina and Mecca to pray for greater peace, prosperity and progress in Nigeria.

Cambodia Investigates Fresh HIV Out Break!

With just 0.2 doctors for every 100,000 people, on a par with Afghanistan, according to World Bank figures, one of Asia's poorest nations, Cambodia, could be on the verge of a fresh HIV outbreak after tests left more than 200 people infected in Peam a small Cambodian village, north of Phnom Penh.

In a telephone interview with AFP, a 33 year-old resident identified as Phy Sobin,  on Monday, 22nd February, after Cambodia health officials screened hundreds of villagers for HIV, Sobin said "The villagers are nervous now. They suspect the doctor might have spread HIV," ...confirming that her 67-year old aunt had been confirmed HIV-positive, Sobin said "I used to get many injections from the doctor. I and my two kids tested negative for HIV, but my husband has not tested yet,". 

It would be recalled that a recent outbreak was traced to an unlicensed doctor in the western province of Battambang, who was reusing dirty needles. 

The doctor was jailed for 25 years, partly because some of his patients died after being infected. 

However, Ly Peng Sun, the director of the National Centre for HIV, said it was too early to say what caused the latest outbreak.

Ambode's Administration Promises Lagosians 24hours Power Supply Come 2017!

As Lagosians try to come to terms with the incessant lack of power supply in most parts of the state and the hot weather  associated with weather transition, especially at this time of the year, the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has reassured Lagosians that between now and 2017, he had an agenda to create clusters of Independent Power Projects (IPPs) across the state to improve on power generation and ensure 24hours power supply in Lagos.

Responding to questions from captains of industries and members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), at the 5th Lagos Corporate Assembly, a forum for public-private sector engagement held at the Banquet Hall of Lagos House, Ikeja, on Thursday, 18th February, governor Ambode gave a re-assurance of his administration’s commitment to ensure that the Blue Line of the Light Rail Project is up and running by December 2016, he also debunked claims that work had stopped on the first phase of the project connecting Mile 2 to CMS. According to him, “The truth is, you might not see the contractors but they are actually working on the waters for now and by December this year, the project will start running. So, work is seriously ongoing,” he said. 

To encourage investors and reduce the pressure on the road networks in the state, governor Ambode said his administration is at the verge of concluding on the channelization of the Lagos water ways to improve on water transportation. 

Governor Ambode assured members of the OPS as well as would-be investors that the state is more than willing and ready to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive with the overall aim of improving on the socio-economic well-being of the citizens. To this end, the governor said his administration created the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund to give soft loans to entrepreneurs just at three percent, while the Office of Overseas Affairs and Investments otherwise known as Lagos Global, the Office of Civic Engagement, as well as the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment Generation were equally established, all in a bid to promote investment opportunities.

As part of measures to boost an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, Ambode further stated that his administration is in the process of establishing Lagos Micro Finance Bank, which would go a long way to provide succor for business owners. “As we speak, we are in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on this and very soon we shall come up with the Lagos Micro Finance Bank and this is another effort geared towards the economic wellbeing of our people.” He said.

Earlier, in a meeting  with visiting Austrian Vice Minister for Foreign Economic Policy and European Integration, Mrs. Bernadette Gierlinger at the State Secretariat, Alausa - Lagos, on Wednesday 17 February, the State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade disclosed that the Lagos State Government is ready to partner Austria in areas of mutual interest in order to create investment opportunities, jobs and reduce unemployment.

Virgin Galactic Passenger Spaceship Unveiled!

16 months after a fatal accident destroyed its sister ship during a test flight, Virgin's  new Virgin Galactic passenger spaceship was on Friday, 19th February, unveiled by Richard Branson.