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By Harrison Akamule  It is expectation of every parent seeing his child goes on in life to become successful. One of  those who benefited from  parental commitment, dedication, good character, integrity, dignity and concern,  and did not allow where he was born and the environment to deter  him from fulfilling God’s purpose in his life is the Rt. Honorable Nicholas Ebomo Mutu, a five-time member of the House of Representatives,  representing Bomadi/ Patani Federal Constituency. If not for God,  and the commitment of  the parents,  how could it have been possible for the lawmaker, raised in Girinya and Ebegya  communities in Konto-Karfi Local Government Area  of Kogi State but shot into limelight from the rural setting. Ebegya in Ebira Konto language literally means an inland of nets where fishermen and women congregate for work. Mutu Ebomo With this advantage of growing up in the North,  Mutu speaks Hausa,  Ebira a...

By Victor Ahiuma-Young & Johnbosco Agbakwuru NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, led by Mr. Ayuba Wabba, yesterday suspended its ongoing nationwide strike to force the Federal Government to reverse the N145 per litre pump price of petrol and resolved to resume negotiation with the government. This came as the Joe Ajaero led faction assured that labour would engage the federal government to ensure there was a time frame for ending importation of refined petroleum products into the country. Giving reasons for the suspension in a chat with journalists, Wabba said: “Let me also inform you that part of the decision is because of the intervention particularly of the leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the fact also that we are going back on the negotiation table. We also thought that this was an opportunity to bring the things on the table. But we have remained consistent on our position.” Earlier, at an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council, NEC, in...

BRITAIN’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has widened its investigation into Rolls-Royce to examine allegations of suspected bribery in Nigeria, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Rolls-Royce, the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines, said in 2013 the SFO had launched a formal investigation into concerns about possible bribery and corruption in China and Indonesia. The FT said yesterday this had now spread to examine Rolls-Royce’s former energy operations in Nigeria. “We are co-operating with the authorities,” a Rolls-Royce spokesman said. “We do not comment on the subject of ongoing investigations nor on the countries in which those investigations are being conducted. We have made it clear that Rolls-Royce will not tolerate business misconduct of any kind.”The SFO declined to comment on the report but said its investigation continues. The FT cited people familiar with the situation as saying the SFO was investigating whether Rolls and its agents were involved in any bribe...

By Chioma Obinna  The Institute of Human Virology, IHVN, and Access Bank Plc yesterday unveiled plans to establish a N5 billion world class Medical Research Centre that will research into infectious diseases and non infectious diseases on the Nigerian soil. Some of the diseases expected to be researched into includes; HIV&AIDS, Tuberculosis, TB, Lassa fever, cancer among others. The Centre will be directed under the leadership of Professor Alash’le G.Abimiku, a distinguished scientist and will be used to create an enabling environment for creative thinking and innovation in science to address Nigeria’s and global health priorities. Making the announcement at a press conference in Lagos to intimate the media on the collaboration between Access Bank, IHVN, and Dangote Foundation to raise N5 billion for the state-of-the-art International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE), the Chief Executive Officer of IHVN, Dr. Patrick Dakum said the building of the Centre would improve the...

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba in Abuja on Thursday, said it was ready to negotiate with the Federal Government. Wabba said this while briefing newsmen after a closed-door meeting between the leadership of the union and the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki. He, however, said the strike would continue as the government had yet to reach out to the union for negotiation. He said he did not walk out of any meeting with the federal government. He added that the  union had not received any formal invitation for meeting with the government since they commenced the strike. “The Senate leadership called us to brief them about what transpired and where we are now, which we have already done.’’ In essence, what we did was to try to give a preview of the process we have followed to arrive at the stalemate. “This is also to confirm because there has been media reports that we had been invited and we refused to attend meetings. “We sa...

By Emma Amaize  WARRI—THE leadership of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ijawland, Delta State, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to order the immediate take-off of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Warri South-West Local Government Area of the state. The Maritime University site in Okerenkoko At a meeting hosted by former acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Pastor Power Aginighan, the Ijaw APC leaders said: “The University was approved by the Federal Executive Council, having met the requirements stipulated by the National Universities Commission, NUC.” They urged the President “not to be persuaded by the allegations of corruption in connection with projects in the university now before the judiciary to endorse any move to scrap this specialised institution, which holds a lot of promise for economic development of Nigeria.” The APC leaders condemned the recent vandalisation of oil installations by “a group, which styles ...

Kurt Badenhausen   ,   FORBES STAFF Apple   AAPL -0.39% ’s 13-year run of quarterly revenue growth came to a crashing halt last month when the tech giant reported revenue of $50.6 billion, off 13% thanks to soft iPhone sales and a slowdown in China. The gloom-and-doom sentiment around the company has reached a zenith with the stock off 30% from its all-time peak 12 months ago. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File) But Forbes’ annual study of the world’s most valuable brands shows that Apple is still in a class by itself with a value of $154.1 billion, 87% more than second-ranked  Google   GOOGL -0.83% . It is the sixth straight time Apple has finished first since Forbes began valuing the richest brands in 2010. “Brands get their value from how customers perceive them,” says David Reibstein, a professor of marketing and branding expert at the  University of Pennsylvania ’s  Wharton School . “What makes it valuable from a company perspectiv...

Denise Restauri   ,     CONTRIBUTOR This is Mentoring Moments (#25), a series of wow-you-need-to-know-these stories from successful women of multiple generations. Mentoring Moments is now  a podcast .  As 24-year-old  Lizzie Velasquez  walked on stage for her TEDxAustinWomen talk she told the producer, “Don’t freak out, but I’m going to throw my whole plan away and speak from my heart.” Lizzie’s  talk  went viral with over 10 million views. Lizzie Velasquez. Photo credit Women Rising That wasn’t the first time a video about Lizzie went viral. Born with a rare disease that prevents her from gaining weight, Lizzie is now 27 years old and has never weighed more than 64 pounds. When Lizzie was 17, she stumbled upon a YouTube video labeling her “The World’s Ugliest Woman.” It had over four million views and thousands of cruel comments: “Do everyone a favor and just kill yourself” and “Kill it with fire.” Lizzie was c...