Folarin Kehinde

Many subscribers to the MTN network in Nigeria are now stranded as the telecommunications giant disconnected their lines over failure to link their National Identity Numbers to their Subscriber Identification Module cards.

This is coming after several warnings by the Nigerian Communications Commission and the telecoms company that subscribers must link their lines to their NINs.

On Friday, MTN Nigeria reported that over 4.2 million lines were disconnected from its network after the February 28 deadline given by the NCC.

The firm disclosed this in its Earning Report for the year ended December 31, 2023.

It also noted that 19 million lines on its network were currently being verified, adding that 4.3 million had been verified as of February.

MTN noted, “We also had approximately 4.2 million lines disconnected for which the subscribers did not submit their NIN. Several of these lines were low-value subscribers, minimising the revenue impact.

“We are actively engaging the authorities to accelerate the NIN verification process. We have also increased our engagement with the affected customers, providing various channels for verification to minimise service disruption.”

The disconnected lines are part of an industry-wide directive requiring telecom operators to bar subscribers whose lines have not been linked to their NIN.

The NCC had in December 2023 issued a directive to MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9Mobile to fully bar phone lines not linked to subscribers’ NINs by February 28, 2024.

Those who had submitted their NINs but were not verified were also subject to barring.

For lines with submitted but unverified NINs, the directive mandated barring on or before March 29, 2024, for five or more linked lines.

For less than five linked lines, our correspondent learnt that barring would occur on or before April 15, 2024.

The NCC emphasised the need for biometric and biodata verification before unblocking the affected lines.

Industry sources noted that about 12 million lines across the networks might have been disconnected after the February 28 deadline.

President Bola Tinubu has celebrated the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, as he marks his 82nd birthday anniversary.

In a statement issued on Friday, March 1, by his special adviser on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu thanked Pastor Adeboye for his constant prayers and wise counsel.

The statement read: “President Bola Tinubu celebrates the grace of stewardship and leadership upon the life of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, as he marks his birthday on March 2, 2024.

“The President congratulates Pastor Adeboye on hitting another milestone and joins the Body of Christ in thanksgiving for the General Overseer’s remarkable life of impact that transcends cultures and borders.

“President Tinubu thanks the Lord’s own servant for his regular prayers for the country and his wise counsel, noting his patriotic zeal and manifest determination to see Nigeria succeed.

“The President prays for the continual well-being of the General Overseer and his wife, in addition to many more years in the service of God Almighty.”

Prison inmates at the Correctional Centre in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Friday protested increased hardship in the cramped facility.

The inmates also expressed displeasure over the plan by prison officials to reduce their food ration.

It was gathered that the protest erupted after the inmates got a wind of the plan to reduce their daily food ration which most of them considered inadequate.

During the protest, the inmates refused to take orders from the custodial officials and also shunned breakfast.

More to follow…

A consultant with the World Bank, Urum Eke, on Thursday, rejected President Bola Tinubu’s appointment to serve as a member of the Central Bank of Nigeria Board of Directors.

Tinubu had, on February 13, forwarded the names of Eke and four others for confirmation as members of the board for the CBN.

However, during the confirmation, the former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Kalu,( APC, Abia North ) told the Senate that Eke, who is his constituent, had called him on the phone to reject the offer, noting that it would conflict with his present job as a consultant with the World Bank.

This came to the fore during the Thursday plenary when the Senate began the process for the confirmation of the nominees.

The Senate, however, has confirmed the appointment of four other members of the Board of Directors of the CBN – Robert Agbede; Ado Yakubu Wanka; Professor Murtala Sabo Sagagi and Mrs. Muslimat Olanike Aliyu.

In this piece, PUNCH Online highlights 13 facts about Eke:

Born on November 20, 1964, Eke attended the Comprehensive Secondary School, Aba and Government College, Umuahia, the state capital, for his West African School Certificate and Higher School Certificate respectively.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Lagos in 1985.
Afterwards, Eke earned his Master in Business Administration in Projects Management Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri in 2008.

The 59-year-old is an Alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School and the Wharton Business School, amongst others.
Eke is a recipient of Nigeria’s National Order of Merit and
National Honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.

He began his career in 1986 with Deloitte Haskins & Sells International as a senior auditor till 1991.

Eke further went on to serve as an Executive Director at Diamond Bank Plc for 19 years from 1992 – 2011.
Eke, a consummate financial services expert, is a former Group Managing Director at First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc.

He also served as a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of FBN Limited and FBN Merchant Bank Limited.

In 2017, he was appointed to the board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (Sovereign Wealth Fund) and served until 2021.

Eke is the Executive Chairman, Fairchild Group which comprises Fairchild Capital Ltd, Fairchild Base Investment Ltd, Fairchild Ventures Ltd, among others.

He is also the Chairman, Board of Directors of NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, a foremost cancer treatment centre in West Africa.

Eke has over 35 years of experience in financial services covering auditing, business assurance, consulting, amongst others.

Source: Punch

A fake National Youth Service Corps member, Ogeh Chibuife, has been nabbed by the Nasarawa State Police Command for illegal entry into the Magaji Dan Yumusa Orientation Camp, Keffi, the state capital.

A statement by the state police spokesperson, Ramhan Nansel, on Thursday stated that Chibuife who is an undergraduate at the Ebonyi State University confessed to had bought the NYSC gears in the market and had sneak into the camp to take pictures during the 21-day orientation programme meant for the 2024 Batch A, Stream 1 corps members.

Nansel said the suspect, an extra year student of Public Administration, was discovered during a head count at the camp.

He said the case was reported to the police by an NYSC official on Sunday, and she was apprehended by officers of the force.

“Investigation revealed that the suspect was a student of Ebonyi State University, Faculty of Management Science and Department of Public Administration.

“She confessed that she was supposed to have graduated in 2022, but had a lot of spillover courses, and in a bid to cover up the lies she had made to her parents, she went to the market and purchased NYSC uniforms/other items meant for corps members and sneaked into the camp in order to take pictures and send to her parents before nemesis caught up with her,” he said.

Nansel also added that the suspect had been charged with criminal trespass, impersonation, and forgery at the Chief Magistrate Court in Keffi.

He warned the Nigerian youths to avoid being pushed into such acts as the law will eventually catch up with them.

Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa has announced his resignation as the Commander General of Kano’s Hisbah Board, citing “discouragement” from Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano.

Daurawa said he was discouraged by the governor’s comments despite his efforts to promote societal morality during his tenure at Hisbah.

In a video shared on his social media handle, Daurawa said, “Currently, I’m in Kaduna State, meeting with lawmakers led by the Speaker to discuss implementing a mandatory pre-marital health check in Kano, similar to other Nigerian states.

“However, I’ve encountered discouraging comments from Kano, despite my efforts at Hisbah to promote societal morality.

“I’ve actively engaged with Kannywood and TikTok celebrities, offering guidance and even providing financial assistance to some TikTokers. I even extended advice to Murja too.

“Unfortunately, those who disregarded our guidance faced consequences.

“But I am saying sorry to the Excellency Governor for being angry, I sorry to say I have resigned from the position he gave me in Hisbah, I wish him best in his leadership.”

Governor Yusuf had expressed dissatisfaction with how Hisbah’s ‘operation kau da badala’ was being carried out across the state.

Operation ‘Kau da Badala’ is Hisbah’s initiative aimed at fighting immorality and enforcing sanity in accordance with Islamic values.

The governor while speaking at a meeting with Imams at Kano Government House on Thursday said the modus operandi of the board needs to be looked into.

He said, “I saw a video that disrupted my peace. You parked cars and went to where males and females were doing unholy things. They were picked up and beaten with bamboo sticks while they took to their heels. They were being packed up inside the vehicle like animals. This, I think is a big mistake for you to hold an adult and throw him like a goat into a Hilux.

“Hisbah is a board that we take in high esteem and bring in God fearing people that we know they can deliver given the people’s mandate in line with what is right.

“I want to call on the attention of agencies saddled with the responsibility of putting youth on the righteous paths especially Hisbah.

“The meaning of establishing agencies like this is to do the right thing and also advise us and all stakeholders on the right thing to do.

“We want the right thing to be done, what if, God forbids someone got injured on his spinal cord, he is finished. I saw a video where students’ rooms were raided, beaten and thrown into the vehicle.

“There is a problem, we establish a board to help strengthen Islamic values but if these things are like this, the children will not also obey. What we want them to change into the will then be the opposite of it. God forbids.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed cement companies to go back to the status quo as regards to the price of the commodity.

Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, revealed this to newsmen shortly after inspecting BUA cement factory in Sokoto on Thursday.

The Minister was responding to the Executive Director of BUA group, Alhaji Kabiru, who said they were selling bag of cement at the rate of N6000 as part of their commitment to Mr. President that a bag of cement should not be sold more than 7000 every where in Nigeria.

“On the issue of pricing I can authoritatively say that they can still do better in line with their discussion with Mr. President.”

“Mr. President insisted that, they should go bag to the status quo as far this cement price is concerned for the common man.

“I want to encourage them to abide by the directive of Mr. President so that we can achieve massive housing programme and the renewed hope agenda of concrete roads by the President,” he said

Umahi commended the company for completing its 5th line.

“When the chairman of the company visited Mr President last week, he assured that the 5th line will soon commence operation and with my visit here, I can confirm the 5th line, though waiting to be commissioned has already commenced operation,” he testified.

Accompanied by the Senate committee chairman on housing, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, the Minister said the federal government was embarking on 372 kilometers of road, dual carriage way from Zaria to Sokoto State.

“I am here to see things for myself, as you are aware, the federal government is currently embarking on 372 dual kilometers of road of which the first phase will be done with Asphalt, while the step down will be done with concrete.

“If you calculate the 372 kilometers, because it is dual carriage way into two will give us total of 744 kilometers.

“The second 372 kilometers will be conducted with pure concrete in line with the renewed hope agenda of Mr President.

Also speaking, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, commended BUA management for living up to expectations in the discharge of its responsibilities.

He also appealed to the management of the company to in addition to improved capacity in its production also ensure the availability of the product to the masses at affordable prices so as to meet up with the current administration of housing for all.

Earlier in his welcome address, managing director of the company, Engineer Yusuf Binji, assured that with the fifth line, the company will ensure massive production of the product in the company.

He said the increase in the production of cement will further pushed down the price of the product in the market.