Agbaje Yusuf Wanted By The Nigeria Police Force

I don’t deserve to win any award this year – Davido

Davido

‘OBO’ crooner, Davido, has reacted to fans comments over the absence of his name on the recent list of artists nominated for the MTV Africa Music Awards Johannesburg 2016 (MAMA).

Some of the artists on the list include: Wizkid, Olamide and Flavour N’abania

This year has been less productive for Davido in his music career.

While some fans feel he should have been nominated for the awards, the ‘skelewu’ master has declared that he really doesn’t deserve any award this year via his twitter page.

“I really shouldn’t be nominated this year for what?? I got three MAMAS in two years I’m good !

“It’s still going to be a great show,” he said.

The last time Davido officially dropped a song was 11 months ago, which was, ‘The Money’ featuring Olamide on November 7, 2015

FG says sale of national assets needed to fund 2016 Budget

The Federal Government on Saturday adduced reasons why it is imperative for some national assets to be sold off at this point, explaining that government had lost almost half of its expected revenue this year.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma who stated this in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Mr Akpandem James, disclosed the proceeds from such sale would be used to fund the expenditure of government as contained in the 2016 budget.

The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, had while welcoming his colleagues from a two-month recess re-echoed the suggestions of business mogul, Aliko Dangote, that some of the country’s assets should be sold  to steer Nigeria out of the present recession.

“Executive must raise capital from asset sales and other sources to shore up foreign reserves. This will calm investors, discourage currency speculation and stabilize the economy. The measures should include part sale of NLNG Holdings; reduction of government share in upstream oil joint venture operations; sale of government stake in financial institutions e.g. Africa Finance Corporation; and the privatization and concession of major/regional airports and refineries,” Saraki stated.

The organised labour have, however, rejected the proposal,  urging well-meaning Nigerians to join the fight against surreptitious moves by some businessmen and the political class to acquire the remaining national assets which he said should be preserved in the interest of future generations.

But the Budget minister explained that while the government had mapped out key infrastructural projects that would support its economic diversification agenda, the shortfall in revenue had made it difficult for these projects to be executed.

He pointed out that the unfortunate scenario was what prompted the Economic Management Team to urgently work out a fiscal stimulus plan to generate large funds to be injected into the economy.

The funds, Udoma noted,would be injected through proceeds of asset sales, advance payment for license rounds, infrastructure concession, use of recovered funds, among others, to reduce the funding gap.

He explained that the primary objective of government’s fiscal stimulus plan is not to sell off all major critical national assets, but to source immediate funds to reflate the economy to the path of recovery.

Photo: Nigerian special forces in Pakistan training on how to defeat Boko Haram

According to @Pakistan Defence who shared this picture on twitter this evening, these Nigerian Special Force operatives pictured above are currently in Pakistan to train hard towards fighting Boko Haram terror group in Nigeria.

Photo: Nigerian special forces in Pakistan training on how to defeat Boko Haram

Turkey’s president stops his motorcade to talk suicidal man off jumping from bridge (photos)

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayip Erdogan was passing through the 211ft Bosphorus bridge which links Europe with Asia after Friday prayers on Christmas day when he spotted a man attempting to jump off the bridge. He stopped his motorcade to talk to the man whom police had been trying to talk to for two hours. See the photos after the cut…

Footage showed Erdogan’s bodyguards bringing the sobbing man, who appeared to be in his early 30s, to talk to the President through the window of his car. After a few moments, the man could then be seen kissing Erdogan’s hand before being escorted to safety.

Police had allegedly been trying for almost two hours to talk the man out of committing suicide.
He was said to have abandoned his car on the bridge and climbed over the side railing due to long-standing depression.
The man is as yet unidentified.

Photo: Zimbabwe to make Chinese yuan legal currency after Beijing cancels $40m debts

Zimbabwe has announced that it will make the Chinese yuan legal tender after Beijing confirmed it would cancel $40m in debts, AFP reports. 

"They [China] said they are cancelling our debts that are maturing this year and we are in the process of finalising the debt instruments and calculating the debts," minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a statement.

Chinamasa also announced that Zimbabwe will officially make the Chinese yuan legal tender as it seeks to increase trade with Beijing. Zimbabwe abandoned its own dollar in 2009 after hyperinflation, which had peaked at around 500bn%, rendered it unusable.

It then started using a slew of foreign currencies, including the US dollar and the South African rand. The yuan was later added to the basket of the foreign currencies, but its use had not been approved yet for public transactions in the market dominated by the greenback.

Use of the yuan "will be a function of trade between China and Zimbabwe and acceptability with customers in Zimbabwe," the minister added.

Zimbabwe’s central bank chief John Mangudya was in negotiations with the People’s Bank of China "to see whether we can enhance its usage here," said Chinamasa.

China is Zimbabwe’s biggest trading partner following Zimbabwe’s isolation by its former western trading partners over Harare’s human rights record.

In early December,Chine presient Xi Jinping stopped over in Zimbabwe in a rare trip by a world leader to the country, and presided over the signing of various agreements, mainly to up

Olamide stole ‘Shakiti Bobo’ dance from me — LT {Read more)

An upcoming singer, Olowu
Taiwo aka LT. has said that
rapper, Olamide stole the
popular ‘Shakiti Bobo’ dance
moves from him.
LT made this assertion during
an interview with HIP TV,
monitored by Vanguard
Newspaper. In his words, “After
I did my video, a friend of mine
told me the dance I did in the
video (Yobo dance) was
trending on Instagram by
Olamide. And my friend told me
he had already told someone
who is in Olamide’s crew about
the dance. I released the audio
version of my own song on 22nd
April, 2015, and Olamide
released his own song on 2nd
May. During that time, I was
working on my viral video which
I released on 6th May. It wasn’t
up to 24 hours after that, I saw ‘Shakiti Bobo.’ I was like, what’s going on; why
is this happening at this particular time. I’m not here to point fingers that
someone stole my dance moves, but I feel it’s not cool for you to do something
that you knew about from someone else, and pick it up as your own.”
Meanwhile, when a call was put through to Olamide’s manager, Alex, to react
to the story, he hung up the phone, and other attempts to reach him proved
abortive.

Why Enyeama must apologise -NFF

Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama
The Nigeria Football Federation insists Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama must apologise for questioning the security situation in Kaduna ahead of Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Chad on June13 in the city.

Enyeama had said he was not satisfied with the choice of Kaduna, following the current security conditions and challenges in parts of the North.

“I am concerned because of the security thing. I really don’t care where we play as long as there is going to be security and safety of the players and everyone coming to watch the match,” Enyeama had said.

But the NFF was upset that the captain of the national team made such   comments and queried the Lille goalkeeper. His case was also referred to the Ordinary & Disciplinary Committee of the NFF.

The NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, said the “uncomplimentary comments” cost the football body a huge sum of money.

The committee was ready to listen to Enyeama’s explanation on Tuesday, but the player did not show up, saying he was not invited.

“Enyeama was not at the sitting in Abuja on Tuesday because he was on holidays. However, his comments about the choice of Kaduna for the game against Chad were quite unbecoming,” Chairman of the committee, Christopher Green, was quoted as saying on SuperSport.

“He must apologise for his actions or face severe actions.”

The 32-year-old, who is the most capped Nigerian player with 101 appearances, told BBC Sport that he was not officially asked to appear before the committee on Tuesday.

“I respect my country and those in charge of our football, which is why I find the whole thing strange,” he said.

“As the captain, I only raised our concerns about the venue before our game, which didn’t go down well with the football authorities.

“I was told to apologise for my comments, which I did immediately, and they told me that’s fine.

“I only received a letter cautioning me about it (my comments) and to avoid a repeat of such. As it was resolved in-house, I thought that was the end of the matter.

“I only found out about a disciplinary hearing in the media but I didn’t get any letter to that effect.”

Enugu Police break robbery, car snatching syndicate, kill one

The police in Enugu have gunned down a notorious armed robbery and car snatching suspect in Ikirike Layout, Enugu.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Enugu State Police Command, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, stated that the suspect was gunned down on Wednesday during a gun battle with the police.

triple MG artist Tekno releases new promo photos

Made Men Music Group (Triple MG) singer, songwriter and instrumentalist, Tekno Miles releases new promo photos which represents an exciting mixture that showcases Tekno’s electric personality intertwined with a high-end street style fashion fusion. See the photos after the cut...

Govt. Should be blamed for unpaid salaries

e Federal Government on Wednesday absolved
itself of blame in the inability of some state
governments to pay their workers’ salaries.
It said the governors of such states should be
blamed for the development in their states
because they were told through the Federation
Accounts Allocation Committee to make the
issue of wage a priority.
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala, said this in a statement by her Special
Adviser on Communications, Paul Nwabuikwu.
The statement was necessitated by the All
Progressives Congress governors’ claim that the
negative manner the outgoing Goodluck
Jonathan administration was running the
economy had made it difficult for them to pay
salaries regularly.
But Okonjo-Iweala said that despite the 50 per
cent drop in gross federally collectible revenue,
the Federal Government had made the issue of
workers’ salaries a top priority in order to
ensure that the “people do not feel the negative
impact of the revenue drop on the economy.”
For instance, the minister said that contrary to
the “misinformation being put forward by
certain governors to the effect that federal
workers are being owed, staff salaries at the
Federal level are up-to-date.”
She said in the five paragraph statement that
the states, being one of the three tiers of
government that receive monthly allocations
from the Federation Account, should be blamed
for their predicament.
The statement read, “This is to clarify the
misinformation put forward by certain
governors to the effect that Federal workers are
being owed salaries.
“This is incorrect. Staff salaries at the Federal
level are up-to-date; workers have received their
April salaries.
“Regarding difficulties in salary payments,
certain governors are trying to blame the
Federal Government for their predicament. This
is wrong. They had been told through the FAAC
to prioritise salaries but they chose not to do
so, hence the backlog that some states are
experiencing.
“The 50 per cent drop in revenues simply
means that salaries should be prioritised. The
Federal Government should not be blamed for
avoidable mistakes made at the state level.”
The APC governors had during a meeting with
the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, in
Abuja on Tuesday, expressed frustrations about
their inability to pay workers’ salaries.
They therefore appealed to Buhari to consider a
bailout plan for all the 36 state governments
after his inauguration on May 29.
They said, “One of the issues that became of
concern to all of us is the state of the Nigerian
economy which is really in a bad shape.
“We have come to notify the incoming president
of the challenges ahead of him. As it stands
today, most states of the federation have not
been able to pay salaries and even the Federal
Government has not paid April salaries and that
is very worrisome, by May and June, that
(salaries) will be in cumulative of three
months.
“We wonder with the huge expectation of
Nigerians and people who have voted us into
power, we are hoping that the president-elect
will do everything humanly possible to bring
about a bailout not only for the states but the
Federal Government, at least for people to get
their salaries and turn around the economy.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress had on April 28,
insisted that state governors must pay
outstanding salaries before the May 29
handover date.
The factional Deputy President of the NLC,
Peters Adeyemi, said at the ninth National
Delegates conference of the Medical and Health
Workers Union of Nigeria in Abuja, that
workers had commenced the campaign to prevail
on the governors to pay outstanding salaries
before May 29.
The National Administrative Council of the NLC
had on March 19, 2015 set up a committee to
compel state governments to pay over eight
months salary arrears owed workers.
The congress had on December 31, 2014 said
that 11 states owed workers salaries.
Adeyemi said that workers should not be made
to bear the brunt of the mismanagement of the
economy as they were not part of those who
looted the treasury.

Obey traffic rules, buhari tells his escorts

The President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on
Wednesday ordered all security personnel
attached to him as well as his official escorts
to obey traffic rules.
This, according to a statement signed by the
Director of Media and Publicity of the All
Progressives Congress Presidential campaign
council, Mallam Garba Shehu, is a
demonstration of Buhari’s leadership style.
Buhari was quoted as saying obedience to the
law would be the guiding philosophy of his
administration, adding that “without leadership
by example, the ordinary citizens would become
copycats of the lawlessness of their leaders.”
The President-elect explained that the
“arrogance of power, lawlessness and disregard
for the rights and convenience of fellow citizens
will have no place in his government.”
According to him, for leaders to inspire respect,
they must obey the laws, adding that when
leaders treat the country’s laws with contempt,
they would be sending the wrong message to the
citizens.
Buhari lamented a situation where fellow
citizens “are punished at traffic points and
public roads because of the arrogant
lawlessness of the leaders.”
He said in a democracy, leaders should not
inflict inconveniences and other unbearable
ordeals on the citizens for their own comfort.
The President-elect advised his military and
police security personnel to be in tune with his
philosophy of “bringing the rule of law to bear
on the conduct of leaders during their
movements on public roads.”

Adeboye's wife - mrs folu adeboye tackles fraudster on facebook

Wife of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Mrs. Folu Adeboye, has gone on Facebook to disclaim an imposter using her name for financial gain.

One of her last week’s posts drew the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to a pseudo Facebook account that uses her name to solicit money.

She posts, “I wish to bring to your notice one Pastor Folu Adeboye scamming a lot of innocent Nigerians on Facebook by taking advantage of the fact that many people are looking for spiritual blessings. This person is pretending to be Pastor (Mrs.) Folu Adeboye, the wife of the G.O. of the RCCG.

“This came to my attention when he/she defrauded a colleague of mine, claiming God sent him/her to deliver a message to her. He/she asked my colleague to ‘sow a seed’, which means to pay some money into an account. My colleague fell for it.”

The warning has not stopped the use of the parody account, however. As of Monday, it was on and active, duplicating messages and photographs posted on verified accounts of the Adeboyes.

As of last view, the fake account had 3,894 followers.

The alarm raised by Mrs. Adeboye has brought back the conversation on identity theft, which has become a worrisome issue to Internet users.

Some of the people, who responded to Adeboye’s message, confirmed they had received fraudulent messages from the account. Almost everybody, who admitted relating with the alleged imposter(s), said the user demanded telephone recharge cards in exchange for prayers.

But one Jimoh KC says it is time those ‘robbed’ on social media began to explore available tools to unmask the people behind the fraudulent activity.

“Many of the victims have experts who could track these guys and hand them over to appropriate authorities for prosecution. It is not enough to complain. People should begin to take action,” says KC.

Experts have questioned the commitment of law enforcement agents to fighting cybercrime, when everyone that uses the Internet leaves footprints, in form of what experts call the Internet Protocol, that can be used to trace them.

Meanwhile, the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has condemned homos3xuality and satirically said that the world does not need to worry about global warming anymore.

A world that is embracing a non-child bearing union, he says, should not worry about global warming, a problem partly caused by growing population.

The cleric, an unrepentant anti-homos3xuality crusader, took to Facebook to condemn same s3x marriage, wondering why people who are seeking the adoption of the practice still panic over global warming.

Adeboye, one of the most active users of social media among Nigerian clerics, says he does not hate homos3xuals but the act.

“I went to a country and journalists were waiting for me. Why? Because they believe I hate homos3xuals. I do not hate anyone, and you can do whatever you want to.

“But a man marrying a man and a woman marrying a woman? Then, there is no need to stop global warming because soon there will not be newborn children.

“What is that they want to adopt? Who will give birth to the child?” Adeboye asks.

Typical of the GO’s posts, his remark on same s3x marriage has generated heated responses, with many commentators aligning with his view.

While he uses the social media to share his knowledge about God, Adeboye, in recent times, has channelled his Facebook account to helping his followers to lead a better life.

He has employed scriptural lessons to guide youths, especially on how they can shun vices.

For instance, he warns youths against cybercrime, saying money made through the fraudulent act will be repaid.

“To all youths out there, you think you can press some buttons here and there and make money via Internet fraud. You will not spend the money you make fraudulently. If you do, you will repay more than you get,” he posts.

No hiding place for desperate housewives

EbonyLife unveils stars of Desperate Housewives Africa at a premiere in Lagos, Akeem Lasisi writes

The MUSON Centre, Lagos glowed with excitement last Tuesday when EbonyLife TV premiered Desperate Housewives Africa. It is an adaptation of award-winning ABC drama series, the different versions of which have been produced and showed in different parts of the world – including Argentina, Turkey, Colombia and Mexico.

The original Desperate Housewives won both the 2005 and 2006 Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, and was created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios.

The series is broadcast in more than 200 territories around the world, where it has been one of the most popular US TV shows in recent history with its eighth and final series concluding in 2012.

Like the typical EbonyLife event, dignitaries from all sectors rose to see the African version that is already being aired on the channel and DSTV. But the story of the screening may not just be the glitz that characterised it. Rather, it seems to be the fact that the Mo Abudu-led global black entertainment and lifestyle network is coming out with another ambitious production.

Since its inception over a year ago, EbonyLife TV has produced or powered many drama series that have been generally upscale. And based on the calibre of the cast unveiled on Tuesday, the potential for Desperate Housewives to also hit the roof is great.

Indeed, some practitioners, especially those who had been there before Abudu joined the TV/film producing scene, are likely to blink with envy, considering the rate at which she has been able to rally the industry alongside the corporate world to churn out big productions.

For instance, organisations, such as Airtel and Procter & Gamble, are not only sponsoring the new series, their top officials were also present and made presentations at the launch.

A statement from EbonyLife says much about the colour of the premiere, “It was an enchanting evening of beautiful people, beautiful appearances and altogether beautiful moments full of gorgeously-dressed guests and hostesses, bespoke décor, colouful branding, red carpet interviews, cameras, lights, music, cocktail, light refreshments and cut-to-the-chase addresses and remarks.

“Then came the moment everyone was waiting for – the screening of the pilot. The guests were expectant and the ‘sneak peek’ did not fall short of expectation as everyone cheered and clapped at what was only a foretaste of an enthralling and spell-binding home-grown remake of the multiple award-winning TV series, one which has promised to take drama to a scandalously new dimension.”

Stressing that Airtel is the headline sponsor of the series, the statement notes that others behind it include Diageo’s apple-flavoured alcohol drink, Snapp, Oral-B and Ariel.

I’m cautiously optimistic about Buhari, says Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says he believes that the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, cannot be worse than past presidents because he will be guided by a sense of history.

He, however, said he “is cautiously optimistic” about Buhari’s performance.

Soyinka said this while delivering a lecture titled, ‘Predicting Nigeria, Electoral Ironies’ at the Harvard University Hutchins Centre for African and African American Research in the United States, according to a gazette by the institution.

A former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, had asked Soyinka if Buhari could reform Nigeria like the late Singaporean leader, Lee Kuan Yew.

In his response, Soyinka said he was optimistic, adding that Buhari might deal ruthlessly with corrupt politicians.

Soyinka said, “I am very, very cautiously optimistic.”

He predicted that Buhari would be influenced by those around him to “keep his nose to the letter of the law. In his zeal to absolutely eradicate corruption, he might take advantage of ambiguous areas in the law and the constitution to empower himself to deal very ruthlessly and quickly with those who have robbed the nation blind.”

Soyinka reasoned that Buhari was unlikely to do worse than his predecessors.

He, however, said it would be naive for Nigerians to think that Buhari is the messiah.

He said, “I think that Buhari has a sense of history. He knows that he must make a mark, a very positive mark, on Nigeria to be able to live with himself, or die with a clean conscience. We must make sure that Nigerians are not allowed to forget his past. They should not think that the messiah has finally arrived.

“I think we stay on guard and continue to do what has needed to be done for the past 20 years or so.”

Soyinka said he believed that terrorism would continue for a long time because those perpetrating the act were of the belief that they were doing God’s work.

He said, “We will never get rid of Boko Haram. They are jihadists, who wish to impose Sharia law and ban Western learning across Nigeria as indoctrinated. They are fanatics, who believe that if they die in the cause, they will go straight to heaven where they believe literally in the 77 virgins awaiting their arrival.”

Lenovo P70 makes it to India with its 4,000 mAh battery

A few months ago Lenovo announced the P70, which subsequently went on sale in the company's home market of China. Today though marks the P70's debut in India.
The handset has a price tag of INR 15,999, which right now means $251 or €222. It should already be available to purchase throughout the country.


The P70 is a midrange smartphone that boasts a huge battery, a 4,000 mAh cell in fact. This is undoubtedly going to be its main selling point, but it also has 4G LTE support and dual-SIM functionality.
The phone features a 5-inch 720p touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 5 MP front snapper, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of expandable storage. The MediaTek MT6752 chipset is employed, sporting a 1.7 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU and Mali-T760MP2 GPU.
It runs Android 4.4 KitKat, with an update to Android 5.0 Lollipop planned to arrive before the end of June

AppleBot now crawls the web to power Siri and Spotlight searches

Apple is now running its web crawler dubbed AppleBot to scour the web and aid search services used in Spotlight for Mac and Siri for iOS. All the search queries will now be routed and powered by AppleBot, not by Google or Bing. Support documents don’t mention when the change was initiated.
AppleBot operates similarly as the GoogleBot, and crawls the web to discover new pages as well as ones that have been updated. Since the service is new, Apple advises that in its absence, users should utilize GoogleBot.

Facebook aims to host full news stories, will let publishers keep ad revenue

By placing news and videos from other websites directly on Facebook, the social network's "Instant Articles" feature would speed up the often frustrating experience of trying to click to an article from the Facebook feed. In return for their content, participating publishers would be offered a share of the advertising revenue.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the social network is offering to let publishers keep revenue from ads sold through these Instant Articles, though deals are still being finalized. Some publishers are reportedly "wary of tethering themselves more tightly to Facebook," and it remains unclear what control a publisher would have over the Instant Articles experience.
The move is aimed at improving the user experience on Facebook. Today, clicking on a news story on Facebook directs you to the news publication's website, adding additional time as the page loads and --more importantly for Facebook -- taking you away from the social network. With Instant Articles all the content would load more or less instantaneously, keeping users engaged on Facebook's site.
Earlier this week, Facebook began testing a new feature that would let users prioritize updates from particular friends. That feature, paired alongside something like Instant Articles, could go a long way to helping people find things worth lingering on Facebook for.

Lagos community where every street corner is a fuel depot

Some now sell petrol from the boot of their cars

Gboyega Adepitan, 33, is an ardent lover of news. A young executive at a fast-rising advertising agency in Ikeja, Lagos, he keeps track of latest information both on his smartphone and laptop computer regularly. The nature of his job also means he has to monitor news bulletins on leading radio and television stations in the city to know how clients’ adverts are fairing. As a result, the 10:00pm news on Channels Television, a respected news platform, is a daily ritual for him.

But on Monday, April 20, 2015, Adepitan almost broke down in panic. After leaving his Ikeja office at 8:30pm, he had calculated that in less than 30 minutes he would have arrived his new two-bedroom apartment on Anibaba Street, Ketu, where he had recently moved to from Onipanu, a sprawling suburb in the metropolis. He was wrong. Forty minutes after leaving Ikeja, the Ogun State-born Mass Communication graduate of the Lagos State University was still stuck in traffic at the Ojota end of the popular Ikorodu Road. By the time he finally got home at 9:40pm, a bigger challenge awaited him. There was no electricity supply in the neighbourhood, no fuel in his generator and he had not remembered to buy petrol from any of the filling stations still open along his way. The three filling stations in the axis close around 9:00pm. There were important adverts on the 10:00pm news bulletin on the popular television station Adepitan must monitor and make report on the next day at the office. Time was ticking away and frustration was gradually setting in. The only option: suck up some fuel from his car to power the generator. To do that, he needed a hose. The 33-year-old approached one of his new neighbours for help. But the ensuing conversation changed everything. Just one phone call from the neighbour and there was enough fuel to power Adepitan’s generator for days.

Home delivery made easy

“It was one of the biggest surprises I have seen in my life,” the young man told our correspondent who chatted him up after hearing him narrate the experience to a friend at a drinking joint in the area last Sunday during a top English Premiership match between Arsenal and Chelsea. “My neighbour made a phone call that night and a man brought 10 litres of petrol to our compound. The man came less than 15 minutes after my neighbour called him. As much as I was happy to finally have fuel to watch news and monitor adverts on TV that night, I was shocked because I never believed there was a place in this country where you could order for petrol on the phone and at that time of the day. My brother, I am still surprised,” he said.

Even though still amazed at the funny discovery within his new neighbourhood, Adepitan is now a regular user of this mode of service. Most of the fuel consumed by his generator since that period has come through this rare channel. He told our correspondent how he no longer fears missing any news bulletin he must monitor on television no matter the time of the day.

“After that night, my neighbour gave me the fuel man’s number. I have never had to worry about fuel for my generator since that time even if I return from work by 10:00pm. Once I call him, the fuel would be delivered to my house in no time. He has never disappointed me and takes the burden of going to the filling station off me,” the 33-year-old said, beaming with smiles as he sipped beer.

Adepitan and his new neighbours are not the only ones enjoying fuel home delivery service at this Lagos suburb – it is a system many across the neighbourhood know about and have been utilising for several months as a result of makeshift ‘filling stations’ that now litter the neighbourhood.

Benefits galore

On another part of Anibaba Street, a barber, Fatai Lawal, who runs his business in a small kiosk, told our correspondent that he only goes to the filling station to buy fuel occasionally especially on Sundays when his supplier decides to rest for the week after servicing many clients like him. According to Lawal, the man who delivers petrol to his shop sells five litres for N450, N15 more than what obtains at the filling station where it is officially sold for N87 per litre. But the barber is able to save N150 extra by patronising his customer. At the filling station, fuel attendants would mandate him to pay N50 as levy for bringing a keg while he would have spent N100 to board a bike to and from the place. Additionally, the five litres from his customer come with added benefits. He could get half a litre as bonus and even more depending on what business has been like on a particular day for the man who supplies him. Also, the man who delivers the fuel to his shop helps pour it into the generator as part of his client service. For those very loyal to him and whom he has built a very special relationship with, he could supply fuel on credit. To customers like Lawal, these factors combine to keep their loyalty intact even though a filling station is a trekking distance from his shop if he decides to go by foot.

“I cannot remember the last time I bought fuel from the filling station,” the lanky barber began. “Since I discovered the guy who supplies people petrol here, I realised it was a waste of time going to the filling station where the attendants would also extort N50 from me.

“The fuel man gives me extra petrol on many occasions especially on days he also bought it at a good price from his source. On such days, he would be so happy and wants to also make you happy as a customer. Apart from that, normally he would turn the fuel you ordered for into your generator and also help start it if you want. For this reason, a lot of people choose to buy from him rather than go to the filling station. I am very comfortable patronising him. I really love his service,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Amazing customer base

There are at least 30 residential buildings on Anibaba Street. On the average, the fuel man has a ‘customer’ on each of the houses. But his customer base is far higher in nearby Oduntan Street where over 60 houses compete for space. Here, he commands a patronage of at least one customer on each building, according to findings by our correspondent. This is apart from the handful more shop owners and commercial motorcyclists who turn to his services regularly. Across the area, the light-complexioned fuel man is a known face – morning and night, the people besiege him with orders. He laughs all the way to the bank.

“Call him around 10:00pm, he would bring you fuel. How many filling stations are open at that time in Ketu or how many traders can supply orders to your home at that time of the day?,” asked Salam Oladunni, owner of a football viewing centre on Oduntan Street. The guy is very reliable and serious with his business; that is why I personally patronise him. Even if you tell him to come back for his money after supplying the fuel, he would not grumble. In fact, place another order after that one; he would bring it again even if you still don’t have the cash at that time to pay. Once he trusts you and knows that you would surely settle him, he has no problem bringing fuel to you. His system is very convenient for me,” he said.

The genesis

According to findings by our correspondent, the fuel man who established the first makeshift ‘fuel depot’ in the area and has been operating for about two years now, first started at a corner of the fence of the Junior Secondary wing of Ajibola Aiyedere High School on Anibaba Street when the MRS filling station that served the entire neighbourhood was closed down temporarily. The difficulty of going to Ikosi and Ile-Ile bus stop to buy fuel at Total and General filling stations respectively became a huge burden for many residents and shop owners who need electricity to attend to domestic and business needs every day. The establishment of a make-shift fuel depot in the neighbourhood was the relief many wished for and had greatly looked forward to. Before long, words spread. It was a dawn like never before for the fuel man who soon moved to a corner of the intersection linking Anibaba and Oduntan Street for more visibility.

Hide and seek tactics

However, regular harassments from police patrol teams and street urchins popularly known as Area Boys soon forced him to relocate to Omojuwa Street where he has since been clandestinely operating from. His kegs of petrol are hidden in gutters and coded corners to further disguise his trade. But once an order comes in, he quickly arranges for the fuel requested before hopping on the nearest bike to deliver it. As part of security measures adopted, our correspondent discovered that the fuel man has since relocated his wife and children to the Mowe area of Ogun State. He comes into Ketu very early everyday to service his ever growing customer base.

Last weekend, at Oladunni’s viewing centre where our correspondent came across him, the fuel man gave a pointer to what business has been like and reasons why he had to move his family to the Ogun community.

“Chairman, your face scarce o,” our correspondent said in Pidgin English, trying to force out some vital information from him without suspicion. “E don tey I see you for this area. E be like say you no even dey this area again,” our correspondent asked further. “I dey bros,” the man replied. “Na police and area boys no let person rest. Na Omojuwa side I dey now, even sef I don comot for Ketu pack go Mowe. You know say for this our work, person need to dey coded. Even now sef because of the way police dey disturb us, e get the kind of order wey I dey check well before I answer. If person no do like that, man fit go enter trap one day. Now, I dey only enter Oduntan and Anibaba when customers call me. Na the only way wey person fit take protect himself be dat these days,” he said in distorted Pidgin.

Boom time for all

Interestingly, this fuel man is not the only one who now operates a makeshift ‘petrol depot’ in the neighbourhood and supplies gallons of petrol to homes and shops in Anibaba and Oduntan streets in Ketu – three others have also come into the picture following the success of the pioneer and also its lucrative nature. Though, the three do not get as much orders as the first man, they also control a sizeable customer base from their operational units. One attends to customers inside a compound housing a one storey building on nearby Segun Salau Street, the other operates from the compound of a two-storey building on Quadry Street while another is stationed at the corner of a fence around a mechanic workshop at the main entrance leading into Oduntan Street. For them, everyday is boom time. Morning, afternoon, night, there is a steady flow of demand.

Following constant power outage in most parts of Ketu and Mile 12 coupled with sparse supply of filling stations and their early closure in the area, make-shift fuel depots like the ones operated in Segun Salau, Oduntan and Omojuwa Streets are now a common feature across most street corners in the locality including at the nearby Ikosi area. From little tables to middle-sized kiosks, mechanic workshops to okada parks and even to open corners at the popular Mile 12 market, mobile fuel merchants who deliver the commodity at your doorstep at just a phone dial, now flood the landscape. Operators of these illicit businesses adopt all forms of disguise techniques to get attention off them. It is among reasons why many of them are stationed very close to mechanic workshops, vulcanisers, okada parks, lotto kiosks and markets in the community. Some even stuff the product at the boot of their vehicles at street corners from where they attend to customers.

Chilling discoveries

Though, the few who our correspondent interacted with refused to fall for the various tactics used to find out the source of their supplies, a taxi driver at Kosofe bus stop who claims to live at the Ajelogo area of Mile 12, told our correspondent that many of those in the mobile petrol business in Ketu and Mile 12 get the product from Agiliti, a small town west of the Maidan River. The area is a riverine community linking other coastal towns in Owode, Ajegunle and parts of Ikorodu. Others, he said, got their supplies from Majidun, Igbo-Olomu and Ebutte areas of Ikorodu – communities notorious for pipeline vandalism and oil theft.

“Many of the black market petrol sellers in Ketu and Mile 12 get their stock from Phase 2 in Agiliti. They usually go through Maidan to access the place. It is very close to Magodo.

“Some buy and resell at the spot while others simply go to sell at streets to make more profit. At the source, a 50-litre keg is usually sold between N2, 500 and N3, 000 for those who would resell while for ordinary users and drivers like us, they sell that same quantity for N3, 500.

“But at Igbo-Olomu which I think is the main place where black market petrol is sold for both ordinary users and resellers, the price is cheaper. I don’t know the exact amount they sell 50 litres there but I am aware that it is cheaper than at Phase 2 in Agiliti,” the taxi driver revealed.

Last Monday, through the help of a local bone setter at Maidan, our correspondent was able to locate one of the take off points used by the suppliers to distribute stolen oil across the axis. More than four local boats were seen by our correspondent moving several 50-litre kegs on the river towards Agiliti. According to the native bone doctor, such movements occur round the clock.

“Anytime of the day you come here, you would see these young men moving kegs of petrol in small boats. We have tried to challenge them in the past but we were attacked. As a result of that, everybody decided to keep quiet for their safety. The police cannot claim to be unaware of this situation. I have not seen any concrete step they have taken to stop these guys from their illegal business,” he said.

Deadly consequences

Apart from the hazard the constant spillage of the petrol moved by boat appears to have done to aquatic life on the Maidan River, the rise and growth of the illegal street corner fuel business in Ketu and Mile 12 has also led to catastrophic consequences.

On March 13, 2015, a section of the Mile 12 market was gutted by fire after drums of petrol and kerosene stored indiscriminately by traders went up in flames following a power surge that dropped a life electric cable on one of the drums. Three persons died in the tragedy while several others were left badly injured. Over 20 fully-stocked shops also went down with the flame.

Business unusual

Though, indiscriminate sale of fuel in the open market has been curtailed for now following regular police raids and scarcity in supply, a specialist in sewing machine repairs in the place, Samuel Oladeji, told Saturday PUNCH that the petrol cartel are still in operation but now using the delivery service method. He revealed that he had indeed ordered for fuel through his phone but had to book well ahead as a result of the high demand for the commodity in the expansive market.

“There is no day that I don’t buy petrol of at least N1, 000 for use both in my shop and at home. I don’t go to the filling station, I just call my customer ahead and he delivers it to my shop by afternoon. He has never failed me.

“The Hausa guys in the business adopted this strategy shortly after the fire incident in the market in March. They cannot sell petrol openly for now like in the past because the fire incident is still fresh and police come in regularly to monitor the area. Also, the scarcity of the product is getting at them. So, to stay in business, they devised this new system to service their customers. But you have to call early to book for fuel or else you might not get any,” Oladeji told our correspondent.

A ruthless monster

On February 4, 2015, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation through its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said attacks on its pipelines and oil installations were adversely affecting the nation’s economy and that the country loses billions of naira daily as a result of the problem.

On March 3, 2015, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, said Nigeria was losing an estimated N1.18bn daily to theft of around 100, 000 barrels of crude oil. Annually, Jibrin said the amount was N433.62bn even though the Federal Ministry of Finance had earlier put the volume of crude stolen daily to around 400, 000 barrels.

Deputy Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Mr. Leo Atakpu, told Saturday PUNCH that the ugly trend of makeshift ‘fuel depot’ in street corners portends grave danger for the environment if not quickly curbed. He wants the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to be more proactive in tackling this problem.

“The establishment of this type of fuel markets is an ugly trend that portends grave danger for the environment. The mode of refining leaves in its trail, air, water pollution while soil is degraded for both flora and fauna. Gas is also flared, emitting carbon to the atmosphere which exacerbates climate change.

“Another danger is that the trend of petrol being sold in street corners could lead to fire outbreaks which could in turn lead to loss of lives and properties and catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

“The thieves operate because the government allows them. We hope the incoming administration would route the perpetrators. Law enforcement agencies should swing into action and arrest perpetrators and make them face the law,” he said.

Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Kenneth Nwosu, told Saturday PUNCH that the police have been working tirelessly to tackle illegal petrol sale in the city but that some fundamental issues need to be addressed for the war to be finally won.

“The police have never taken a break from tackling the evil of oil theft and pipeline vandalism. Not too long ago, some of our officers were killed in Owutu area of Ikorodu when they went to flush out these criminals. We have a special unit that deals with issues like this, so you can see what the police are doing as far as this issue is concerned.

“However, for us to finally overcome this scourge, there are fundamental things that need to be addressed. What are the factors fuelling oil theft and illegal petrol business, who are those responsible for it? There are several key issues that need to be looked into before even talking about the role of the police.

“We are fully committed to arresting crime in Lagos. Our officers are well trained and have the capacity to tackle the situation but then it is a collective fight. The public must also supply us with useful information to achieve our goals,” he said.

While the police and other law enforcement agents intensify their battle

with oil thieves in Lagos, the war on illegal petrol sale could take longer than expected to win especially with more makeshift ‘fuel depots’ now springing across Ketu, Mile 12 and Ikosi area of the city on daily basis.