CBN to issue N5, N10, and N50 notes in polymer substrate

By AMECHI OGBONNA, TITUS NWOKOJI and BLAISE UNDUNZE Thursday, September 17, 2009
In continuation of the currency reforms initiated by Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex bank has said it will on September 30, 2009 issue a total of 1.915 billion notes in N5, N10 and N50 denominations using polymer substrate format.

Mallam Sanusi Lamido

The new notes which will be launched by President Umaru Yar’Adua, is to replace the existing paper mode in the affected denominations.
Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, who briefed the press in Lagos on Wednesday said the extension of polymer substrate was due to the cost effectiveness of the base material and its long lasting nature.
He stated that polymer notes are known to last longer in circulation and was 1.8 times the cost of the paper notes but last 4 times longer than the paper notes. It does not tear easily, nor get soiled easily. According to him, the N20 note on polymer was a test case to determine the advantages and demerits of polymer substrate and its acceptance; and the lower denominations are being reprinted because of their frequency of use by Nigerians.
Of the total amount being introduced, The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc will only handle 615 million notes while a foreign printing company will complement with 1.3 billion notes.
He explained that the reason the NSPMC was handling only 615 million was because it is still saddled with the responsibility of printing other higher denominations of the naira and has reached its capacity due to the large volume involved.
He enumerated the elements of the currency reform to include reduction in the size of the notes to make them fit properly into a wallet in addition to streamlining of security features for cost effectiveness.
The notes have special features to assist the blind in recognizing the various denominations. They have no naira sign on them while the values are expressed in Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba for easy recognition by most Nigerians, and reflect modern designs in currency production.
Sanusi noted further that the objectives of the reform includes making the notes secure and keep ahead of counterfeiters, enhance the durability of banknotes, thereby sustaining Central Bank’s clean notes policy.
“Since polymer notes last longer in circulation, it implies that the frequency of processing/sorting and replacing unfit/dirty notes will be reduced, translating into cot-savings. The reduction in cost will free resources that could be diverted to other uses.
“ Besides, the long-term cost advantage of polymer is backward integration as the material can be made from petrochemical products which exist in Nigeria” the governor stated.
The new notes, according to him have retained their current sizes, designs and other key elements. Only the watermark has been replaced with the transparent window and G-switch which turns from green to gold when the note is tilted which are essential features present in N20 note.
Responding to questions journalists, Mr. Ben Onyido, director of currency and branch operations Central Bank of Nigeria said that 1.3 billion notes was given to a foreign printer was through a competitive bid process. He recalled that in 2008, no currency was imported from overseas but in this case, the NSPM has reached its capacity for the year

source

Son to Nigeria’s newly appointed Ambassador to US accused of rape

Sep 19, 2009
We are Embarrassed — Senators

By Victor Omoregie & Emma AzikenAdedamola son of Nigeria Ambassador-designate to the US Professor Tunde Adediran was charged with rape in the US. It happened in Maryland, and he is now charged with gang_raping three women in the city of Baltimore, according to ABC_2 News, a local Baltimore television station. However Prof. Adeniran in Nigeria confirmed that Adedamola is his son but feigned ignorance of the rape charges.Maryland police say on July 27th, two women accepted a ride from two men near North Calvert and West Fayette streets in Downtown Baltimore. But instead of driving them home, police say the men got on I_95 south, threatened the women with a knife, and drove them to the parking lot of Seton Keough High School in Southwest Baltimore. There, police say the women were both raped by the two men and a third man who arrived later.

Professor Tunde Adeniran and son Adedamola
Three men were charged in the case, 19_year_old Adedamola Adeniran of Halethorpe, along with 19_year_old Anthony Edoror and 20_year_old Opeyemi Adigun, who both live near Woodlawn.
On August 18, an identical attack took place, but the victim was able to identify the licence plate of the car to the police, thereby leading the police to one of the suspects. She identified the other two men.

Apart from the rape charges against his son, Nigeria’s ambassador_in_waiting, who was appointed over five months ago, faces potential hurdles to his clearance to assume his exalted position in Washington DC. State Department officials said that Professor Adeniran has two wives in the US bearing his name, which effectively makes him a polygamist. They said it is a grey area that needed to be sorted out before he can be finally cleared.
In addition to rape, Adedamola and the other two men also face charges that include false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit rape. If convicted, they could spend the rest of their lives in prison.

We are Embarrassed — Senators
This rejection arose from criminal proceedings being instituted against his son who has been charge along side other fellow Nigerians for statutory rape in the US. In the US, public office holders are liable to infraction by their families. So it is expected that anybody, even representatives of foreign countries and members of their families, should be above board morally, financially and other wise.
What remains now is the reaction of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to this diplomatic move.
Embarrassed Senators of the Foreign Affairs Committee have said they would not have cleared Professor Tunde Adeniran as Ambassador nominee to the United States of America if they knew his son was facing rape charges in America.
Their reaction was part of the storm of protests from leading politicians, trade union activists academics and lawyers that greeted the rejection of professor Tunde Adeniran by the United States of America, as Nigeria’s Ambassador nominee.

The common refrain was that Professor Adeniran,s rejection has brought shame to the country.Prof. Adeniran was reportedly rejected by the United States government as Nigeria’s envoy to that country on account of his son’s alleged involvement in serial gang rape in the United States.
His son Adedamola 20, is reportedly held in custody in the United States without bail alongside two other Nigerians allegedly involved in the gang rape of some American girls.
Senators Effiong Bob (PDP, Akwa Ibom Northeast) and Abubakar Sodangi (PDP, Nasarawa West) both members of the Senate committee on Foreign Affairs which cleared Adeniran before his approval by the Senate claimed that they were not aware of the alleged criminal inclination of the nominee’s son. A third member of the committee, Senator Osita Izunaso (PDP, Imo West) claimed ignorance of the alleged indictment of Prof. Adeniran’s son and did not comment on the issue.
Chairman of the Senate committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Jibril Aminu could not be reached as at press time on the development.
“That fact was not before us that is why we conducted all these hearings so that people who have established facts could have briefed us, so I am not aware except reading of it today (yesterday) in the paper,’’ Senator Bob told Saturday Vanguard yesterday on telephone.
“We were not aware of the criminal allegation against the son and if we were aware the man would not have been cleared,’’ he further affirmed.
Speaking in the same tone, Senator Sodangi said:
“I am just hearing of it from you. It is very embarrassing if it is true and it is a matter of investigation and if it has happened it is actually a very, very embarrassing situation to the Professor himself and as well to the country.’’ “Of course we have people who are very clean who have no skeleton in their cupboards that we can take.”
Senator Sodangi said that the case if established was another reason why parents should show godly examples to their children. “This is a lesson to all of us that we should be living above board and that we should be very godly because if we bring up our boys wrongly their misbehavior will affect us one day and even above all, in the hereafter.’’

SOURCE

New Nigerian music| Omo 2 sexy|Justina (Hit)

419?

Dear ATM Card Holder,

Because of high rate of fraud,Central Bank Of Nigera CBN has decided to put extra security on all ATM Machine to secure you and your money while you use the ATM Cards for withdrawals.This measure will include an Email/SMS verification code which shall be send to your Mobile Number or Email addresses anytime your ATM Card is slot in to any ATM Machine.

As a result, you are required to Upgrade your ATM Card Informations to the new ATM Machine Code including your mobile number and email address where
verification codes will be sent.The new ATM Machine Verification codes will ensure you to have access and use of your ATM Card.Kindly assist us by filling the individual customer form,the form will be made available by clicking on http://cbnverificationonline2009.justfree.com/cbn.html

(Failure to Upgrade your ATM Card will result in ATM Machine rejecting your ATM Card,which means you will no longer be able to use your ATM Cards with any ATM machine) Be notified that all ATM Cards must be upgrade On or Before 15 August 2009.after verification and upgrading of your ATM card a 3 digit code will be sent to you within 48 hours either through phone or via email signifying that your ATM card has successfully been upgraded.

We Appreciate your prompt attention to this important message.

WARM REGARDS
Mr.Tony Ede
Assistant Director,
LAGOS OFFICE
Office Address:Tinubu Square,Lagos
Postal Address:P.M.B. 12194,Lagos.
Fax: +234(1)882 617

What is happening?

What is happening?

The forum has been dull for some period and I have waited for good news to come from some angles but none … I am still waiting .

We welcome everyone back from the long vacation.

Personally, I returned after some months of ‘partial’ absence to meet lots of confusions, many questions and few answers in the community which has the Nigerian Embassy or KINGDOM (as it has been recently baptised) on one side and the community on the other side.

Can an informed member enlighten us on some of these:

1. Why did the Nigerian community get a police authority to have a protest march to the Nigerian embassy Rome ?

2. Why was the Protest march cancelled?

3. Another protest is being organized, who is behind it and why?

I suppose these three questions may lead to most of the recent info in the community.

Thanks.

We are waiting,

The Moderator

EDC.......Enugu -Lagos 'First...non-stop exprsss'#links#links

...PHOTO THOUGHTS...: EDC.......Enugu -Lagos 'First...non-stop exprsss'#links#links

Hilary hits Nigeria: Your problem is failure of governance

Hilary hits Nigeria: Your problem is failure of governance
By Our Reporter
Thursday, August 13, 2009

• President Umaru Yar’Adua welcomes Mrs Hillary Clinton, the visiting Secretary of State, USA, to the State House, Abuja on Wednesday. Photo: The Sun Publishing

More Stories on This Section

United States Secretary of State, Mrs Hilary Clinton, Wednesday night delivered a damning verdict, blaming Nigeria’s inability to take her seat among the 20 top nations in the world on failure of governance.

Answering questions at a Town Hall meeting organised by the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and the U.S. Embassy in Abuja with the theme Nigeria: Towards a better future, Clinton noted that Nigeria could have featured at the last meeting of the G20 nations, but for myriad of problems, notably corruption, bad governance and the concentration of wealth among few top people to the detriment of the masses.

She asserted that it was up to the citizens to shape the country’s future.
Clinton also identified faulty electoral system as a setback. And to get things right, she stated unequivocally that Nigeria must have a truly independent electoral council that would guarantee free and fair election and give the citizenry the much-desired benefits of democracy.

While stating that the foundation of democracy was trust, the US Secretary of State, also reminded that such democracy should be nurtured by free election, just judiciary and a solid democratic institution.

“We recognise that Nigeria is at a cross-road and it is imperative that citizens be involved and engaged in helping to chart the future of this great nation. “Today I’m in Nigeria, a country that produces two million barrels of oil a day, has the seventh largest oil reserve than any country in the world.
“But according to the UN, the poverty rate in Nigeria has gone up from 46 per cent to 76 per cent over the last 13 years,’’ Clinton said.

She gave reasons why Nigeria was still at a crossroad to include the destructive legacy of colonialism, devastating civil wars and other external forces.
“But as President Barrack Obama said in Ghana, the future of Africans is up to Africans and the future of Nigeria is up to Nigerians,” she said.

Clinton further said: “The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is the failure of its governance at the local, state and federal levels.
“The 100,200 million barrels of oil importation are staggering, but they do not tell you how many hospitals and roads could have been built.

“They do not tell you how many schools could have been opened or how many Nigerians could have attended colleges,” she said.

Clinton quoted the World Bank recent statistics as stating that Nigeria had lost 300 billion dollars during the last three decades as a result of all of the problems listed above.
“Therefore, it is imperative that we look at where Nigeria is today and in the spirit of friendship and partnership of a country that has made its own mistakes and had its own problems.
“We look for ways to help one another, in particularly to help the people of this country,” Clinton stressed.
On the seven-point agenda of Yar’Adua’s administration, the wife of former US president expressed her government’s support. She, however, expressed conviction that the success of the agenda would largely depend on the efforts of the citizenry.

Clinton believed that the civil society and the media had much to do, stressing that everyone should come together to uphold the tenets of true democracy and be the watchdog.
She wondered why Nigeria had not got her efforts at true democracy rewarded, when countries such as India with about 600 million voters, as well as Indonesia with only 10 years democratic experience, were making commendable headway.

Nigeria, according to Clinton, had a future but she quickly added that there was the need to have free and fair election in 2011.
She, therefore, challenged Nigerians to work hard to achieve genuine democracy emphasizing that, “it is up to you, it is your responsibility.”

On the Niger Delta issue, Clinton assured Nigeria of her country’s support for the peace process. She said from what she was told, government had taken the right steps towards achieving lasting peace in the region.
Participants at the forum included members of the civil society groups, women group, labour and the media.

"REBRANDING LAGOS" Alla Nerone

Putting a litttle order and neatness in Lagos... alla Nerone of the
Roman empire......some suffering though..
By: chukbyke@Lagos 30/07/2009 (between Mile 2 & Orile)