PRESIDENT TRUMP DEFENDS ‘UNDER-FIRE’ JEFF SESSIONS

As pressure mounts on the U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions to resign, President Donald Trump has defended him, saying he is “an honest man”.

Mr Sessions is under fire for having denied at his confirmation hearing that he had contact with Russian officials.

President Trump, however, said Mr Sessions “could have stated his response more accurately but it was clearly not intentional”, and accused democrats of a “witch hunt”.

Mr Sessions also rescued himself from an FBI probe into alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

He said he had spoken with the Russian Ambassador as a U.S. Senator and not as Mr Trump’s “surrogate”.

Meanwhile, the democrats maintained their attacks on Mr Sessions, saying his explanation regarding his contacts with the Russian Ambassador in 2016 were “simply not credible”.

 

OSINBAJO APPLAUDS IKPEAZU’S ON HIS DRIVE CONCERNING MSMEs AND HE BELIEVES NIGERIA HAS NO BUSINESS WITH CHINA IF ABA IS DEVELOPED

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has commended the economic drive of Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu in the buy Made-in-Nigeria goods campaigns, saying that Nigeria had no business with China if Aba was generally developed. Osinbajo also said Aba was “very strategic and important to the country in terms of manufacturing and production.” The Acting President spoke while receiving a delegation of some top functionaries of Abia State Government, Aba businessmen and industrialists led by Ikpeazu and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Okey Enalemah at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday. The meeting which dealt on the measures to fully realizes the potentials of the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs in the country was a follow up to the launch of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs in Abuja and Aba, Abia State on January 24 and 26 respectively by the Acting President. Osinbajo also directed the National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC and Standard Organization of Nigeria, SON to ensure that registration of SMEs would not be cumbersome for business owners and operatives to which the agencies agreed to work within 60 and 90 days respectively. While commending Governor Ikpeazu’s “smart business approach to governance”, Osinbajo said “Nigeria has no business with China if all hands are on deck to develop Aba as a major industrial Base.” Speaking, Abia Governor stated that “If Aba is giving the needed and adequate attention, which include infrastructural and human capacity development, it has the potential and capacity as the SME capital of Nigeria, to position Nigeria as truly the giant of Africa. “Our government is doing all we can do ensure the infrastructural turnaround of Aba, but we can’t do it alone, that is why we are thankful to the Federal Government for showing very strong interest in partnering with us to development Aba as the SME capital of our dear country-Nigeria.” On the campaign for made-in-Aba goods, Ikpeazu said: “it is our collective resolve to promote goods and services made in Aba, and we will not relent in the campaign. We call on Federal Government and multinational companies and individuals to, not only join us in the campaigns, but to also patronize made-in-Aba goods.” The governor also told State House Correspondents that the meeting was a follow to the SMEs lauch. He said: “This is a follow up to the MSME clinic which Mr. Acting President led to Abia state. In this meeting, all the stake holders regulatory agencies, the minister and the minister of state, including Bank of Industry, Export Promotion Council were present. The whole idea is to see how far we have gone from that day uptil now so that we can cross the Ts and dot the i’s and the outcome is very straightforward and gladdening. The regulatory agencies are committed now to specific days or time frame between which more businesses can register and get certification for their products. “We have received additional advice of what we need to do in Abia state to create the environment for federal government to step in to make us acquire equipments and machineries to drive the automation of our products going forward”. Also speaking, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Enalemah said that NAFDAC and SON have agreed to work with the specific period of 60 and 90 days respectively. “As you know Aba is a place well known for its products, industry and entrepreneurship. It is a very good example of how partnership can happen within the private sector and the government. Between states and federal government and between funding agencies and enterprise. “So with specific reference to MSME, we have received commitments to some of our key agencies like NAFDAC that they will do everything possible to give any approvals that they need to give within 90 days, which as you know is quite ambitious and is something that we welcome very much. We received similar assurances from Standard Organizations of Nigeria, SON, that where they need to give certifications or set standards or whatever approvals that MSMEs will need from them, that they will work with 60 days time frame from start to finish, including testing’s and all the other things. “The important thing about this is the commitment of working with them to get the solutions or services from government speedily, transparently and readily”, Enalemah said. The meeting also attracted the presence of Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, the Acting Managing Director of Bank of Industries (BoI), Acting Director General of NAFDAC, Director General of Standard Organization of Nigeria, SON, the Registrar General Corporate Affairs Commission CAC, and Director General DG, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Abia State Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Mrs Kate Nwosu and Commissioner for Industry, Chief Henry Ikoh.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/msmes-osinbajo-commends-ikpeazus-drive-says-nigeria-no-business-china-aba-developed-osinbajo/

FISH FARMERS WANT MIDDLEMEN REMOVED FROM CBN LOAN SCHEME

The Federal Government has been called upon to prevail on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to dismantle the middlemen in its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme to farmers nationwide.

President of United Ufuoma Fish Farmers Association, John Ihesinaulo, who made the appeal in Ekpan, Uvwie Local Council of Delta State, noted that the agents were posing an impediment to government’s quest for productivity and food sufficiency, as the facility hardly gets to farmers intact.

He averred that, however good an agricultural policy or intentions of government, the implementation aspect determines the effect, alleging that the agents/middlemen who now demand huge sums of money before disbursement of the loan to the targeted audience, were frustrating the good disposition of the present administration.

His words: “The Federal Government has taken the right step by asking people to go into farming as it would help in the food sufficiency drive of the government. But it should take a step further to empower existing farmers. Paper policy will not take us anywhere. Going down to the grassroots to identify existing farmers for empowerment, to me, is the best thing that will yield the desired result.

“We are aware of the Central Bank of Nigeria Anchor Borrowers’ Programme but we are being frustrated out of the scheme by middlemen who demand for huge sums of money all in the name of trying to help us secure the loan. Of what essence is the loan if it is out of reach of those it is meant to serve. Contractors are asking for too much from us. You cannot give an individual money and ask the group to pay collectively.

“Having said that, I want to use this medium to call on the Federal Government to prevail on the Central Bank of Nigeria to jettison the idea of middlemen as they are doing more harm than good. Government is empowering contractors not farmers. Contractors are asking for too much. I must tell you that the programme is not feasible. It will be more favourable to government if they pass through the cooperatives and deal directly with them.”

FACEBOOK IS PLANNING TO USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO PREVENT 'SUICIDE'

According to available data, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- to 29-year-olds and quite a lot of it has been committed live using Facebook and other social media sites.

Now, Facebook wants to leverage artificial intelligence to help with prevention. The company announced yesterday that it is testing the ability for AI to identify potential "suicide or self injury" posts based on pattern recognition from posts that have been previously flagged on the site in the past. 

Its community operations team will then review the posts to decide if Facebook should surface crisis resources to the user. For now, the test is limited to the U.S.

In 2016, Facebook made some suicide prevention tools available to its 1.86 billion monthly active users: People can flag questionable posts for the company to review. Facebook will either suggest the person in distress reaches out to a friend, with an optional pre-populated text to break the ice. It also suggests help line information and resources.

A FEMALE PILGRIM HAS BEEN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN JAIL WITH HARD LABOUR FOR SMUGGLING COCAINE TO SAUDI ARABIA

Justice B.O. Quadri of the Federal High Court Abuja has sentenced a 55 year old female pilgrim Binuyo Basirat Iyabo, caught last September smuggling 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 931 grams to Medina, Saudi Arabia to ten years imprisonment with hard labor with effect from yesterday., March 1st.In his judgment delivered on Monday February 27, 2017 Quadri said that the sentence will serve as a deterrent to others. Besides, he lambasted the convict for not revealing the identities of her sponsors.

LIB previously reported that Binuyo tested positive to narcotic ingestion at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja while on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last September. She was immediately placed under observation by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) where she excreted seventy-six (76) pellets of substances found to be cocaine.

NDLEA commander at the Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan said that the convict hails from Irepodun local government area of Kwara State. She is married with three children and a trader at dosumu market, Lagos. In her statement to the NDLEA, she agreed to smuggle the drugs for a fee.

"I am a trader in Lagos, married with three children. I wanted to expand my cosmetic business but I have no money. My sponsor offered to foot my expenses to Saudi on pilgrimage. I was excited until I was asked to take drugs along. I wanted to decline but considering the offer of a million naira, I accepted. I swallowed the drugs in Lagos and took flight to Abuja on my way to Medina but I was caught in the process" she stated.

Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retd.) while applauding the sentence warned against drug trafficking.

"The war against drug trafficking in Nigeria is on course. Stopping the woman from going to Saudi with the drugs was highly commendable and the punishment is right. No drug traffickers shall go unpunished" he stated