NEWS
Sanctity of Truth
Friday, May 9, 2014
5
Fraudsters hack into NNPC GMD’s mail Adeola Yusuf Houston, Texas
M
anaging Directors of top International Oil Companies (IOCs) and politicians yesterday received scam letters and phantom oil contract deals from the e-mail address of the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu. The management of the NNPC, which confirmed this also raised the alarm over what it termed the desperate attempt by internet fraudsters to desecrate the
character and person of its Group Managing Director. The corporation noted in a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Ohi Alegbe, that some hackers and internet scam artists had broken into the personal email account of the NNPC GMD early yesterday and have been using the account to send all manner of scam letters and phantom contract deals to some highly placed contacts within and outside the oil and gas industry. The NNPC said days earlier, some online news sites were intermittently
flashing a strange icon which had the photograph of the NNPC GMD juxtaposed with some members of the House of Representatives under the caption “The blackmailers”. “While we explore all options to arrest this menace, we wish to advise members of the public to disregard any such seemingly juicy voodoo contract proposals said to be emanating from the email address of Engr. Andrew Yakubu or any other email address. Anybody who commits to such transaction is doing so at his own risk,” the NNPC said.
On the strange online icon, the NNPC blamed it on the handiwork of some desperate individuals bent on tarnishing the image and hard-earned reputation of Yakubu. It notes that Yakubu is neither a politician nor one whose temperament is given to political chicanery. “Engr. Andrew Yakubu is a well-heeled technocrat who in the last three decades has demonstrated an abiding commitment to evolving the NNPC into an efficient national oil company with global aspirations. We call on wellmeaning members of the
L-R The Honorary Consul of Italy in Lahore, Mr. Cav Hussain Dawood; Group Chairman, ORANTO Petroleum, Chief Arthur Eze and Vice-President/ Chief Commercial Officer (Distribution), General Electrical Power and Water, Mr. Darry Wilson, briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with Vice-President Mohammed Sambo in Abuja...yesterday. photo TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.
N236.4bn
The IGR realized from direct assessment sources of Benue State in 2010. Source:National Bureau of Statistics
5.8%
The estimated percentage prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in girls and women (15 49 years) of Togo in 2006. Source:Blatantworld.com
3.2m
The total population of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2010. Source: Blatantworld.com
public, especially the oil and gas stakeholders, to disregard the strange icon as it has nothing to do with what the GMD stands for or represents,” the NNPC said.
The corporation warned that facts available to it indicate that the campaign of calumny is likely to continue in the electronic and print media in the days ahead.
African leaders signs $700m MoU to support immunisation
A
frican leaders yesterday signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of $700 million to support immunisation and investment in the health sector across the region. The President African Development Bank (ADB), Mr. Donald Kaberuka, said this at the launch of “Immunise Africa 2020 leaders”, at the ongoing 24th World Economic Forum on Africa, in Abuja. Kaberuka said the amount would help cofinance the purchase of vaccines by GAVI Allaince and the bank between 2016 and 2020. Gavi Alliance is a publicprivate partnership, committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in poor countries. “The investments countries that are making vaccines today will reap enormous benefits in the short and long term. “With commitment to immunisation, African leaders are taking a bold step towards securing their countries’ prosperity and economic security,” he said. Kaberuka explained that the amount was an addition to the billions of dollars African countries had already spent on health services. He said that strong
progress was being made on improving the health of people across Africa. He urged GAVI Alliance and its partners to do more to help continue the decline in child death rate on the continent. President John Mahama of Ghana said that immunisation was one of most important treatment given to children to guarantee their future. “Immunisation is one of the most important investments we are making in our children and in their future. “We are committed to ensuring that vaccine programmes in Ghana will be sustainable, so that our children are fully protected from potentially fatal diseases.” President Jakaya Kikete of the Republic of Tanzania said immunisation was the smartest investment that African leaders could make in the health sector for the citizen and for the future of the nations. “As leaders of this dynamic continent, we will ensure that our children have access to the best, most sustainable technologies to provide them with the best possible start in life,” Kikete said. Other president present at the launch was President Macky Sall of Republic of Senegal.
Buhari: Let’s recover Nigeria’s sovereignty from Boko Haram CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
our youthful population and pending demographic transition. As you know Africa’s population is very young. Other continents are “aging”, but Africa’s population of young people is growing. African leaders therefore face special challenges. We have the challenge to provide jobs, housing and healthcare.” McKinsey, a consulting firm, he said, calculated that an additional 122 million workers would enter Africa’s labour force by 2020. “By 2035, the combined size of the African labour force would be greater than that of the most heavily populated countries in the
world, including China,” he added. He regarded the prediction as “daunting and should be a wake-up call to all of us in Africa to work harder on job creation with a great sense of urgency. We have a lot of young people who are unemployed but who also do not necessarily have the required competencies or skills, even if the jobs are available and that again, is a major challenge.” While shedding more light on efforts by his administration to create more jobs, Jonathan said the private sector would be the engine of growth and job creation, adding that that was why govern-
ment is devoting considerable energy to supporting private sector’s growth such as ensuring stable macroeconomic environment, low inflation and exchange rate, investing in critical infrastructure and development of skills of the people. “After our GDP rebasing exercise, our GDP for 2013 is now estimated at about $510 billion. Yet, the quality of our growth has been less than desirable in the sense that we are not creating as many decent jobs as we need to,” he said. The Federal Government, he stated, “focused on a number of priority sectors which have
high job-creating potential, such as agriculture, manufacturing, housing and construction, and the services sectors. And in each of these sectors, we are working to unlock the various obstacles faced by businesses so they create jobs.” The recent GDP rebasing exercise, according to him, shows that the service sector now accounts for about 51 per cent of the Nigerian economy, up from 26 per cent. “So, we are introducing targeted measures to further harness this sector by supporting the development of our SMEs. For example, we are working to develop our housing and
construction sector, given its potential to create jobs for our craftsmen and artisans. We also recently launched our National Industrial Revolution Plan which will further invigorate our manufacturing sector,” he said. Also speaking on the occasion, Chinese Premier, Mr. Li Keqiang, described Africa as an emerging “pole” in world affairs, saying that in the international political and economic landscape “it is always better to have more poles in the world than fewer poles.” He listed three key reasons why Africa can no longer be ignored in world affairs.
According to him, Africa with 54 countries accounts for over “a quarter of United Nation’s members is increasingly speaking with one voice and playing an ever increasing role in the governance of world affairs” has made Africa a “major pole in the world political arena”. “Second, Africa has a total population of one billion and an economic aggregate of over $2 trillion. Of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies in 2013, seven are in Africa, which indicates its growing weight in the developing world, Africa is therefore also a major pole in global economic growth,” said Keqiang.