Nigerian Ministers and their portfolios [FULL LIST]

FULL LIST of  President Buhari's Ministers


Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers)–Transportation

Chris Ngige (Anambra)–Labour and Employment

Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti)–Solid Minerals

Babatunde Fashola (Lagos)–Power, Works and Housing

Abdulrahman Dambazau (Kano)–Interior

Aisha Alhassan (Taraba)–Women Affairs

Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi)–Science and Technology

Kemi Adeosun (Ogun)–Finance

Abubakar Malami (Kebbi)–Justice

Hadi Sirika (Katsina)–State for Aviation

Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa)–Water Resources

Solomon Dalong (Plateau)–Youths and Sports

Ibe Kachikwu (Delta)–State for Petroleum

Osagie Ehanire (Edo)–State for Health

Audu Ogbeh (Benue)–Agriculture

Udo Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom)–Budget and National Planning

Lai Mohammed (Kwara)–Information

Amina Mohammed (Gombe)–Environment

Ibrahim Usman Jibril (Nasarawa)–State, Environment

Anthony Onwuka (Imo), State for Education

Muhammadu Bello (Adamawa)–FCT

Adamu Adamu (Bauchi)–Education

Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia)–Industry Trade and Investment

Aisha Abubakar (Sokoto) State for Trade, Industry and Investment

Khadija Bukar Abba (Yobe), State for Foreign Affairs

Claudius Daramola (Ondo)–State, Niger Delta

Geoffrey Onyeama (Enugu)–Foreign Affairs

Monsur Dan-Ali (Zamfara)–Defence

James Ocholi (Kogi), State for Labour

Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna), State for Budget

Mustapha Shehuri (Borno)–State for Power

Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa)–State for Agric

Isaac Adewole Folorunsho (Osun)–Health

Usani Usani Uguru (Cross River)– Niger Delta

Abubakar Bwari Bawa (Niger)–State for Solid Minerals

Adebayo Shittu (Oyo)–Communications

Muhammadu Buhari–Petroleum

Aliko Dangote: Africa's richest man leads 'lions' of business

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote typifies the new "African lions" whose business empires are winning a competitive edge over foreign multinationals because of their better grasp of local markets.
"In emerging markets, there is no substitute for on-the-ground experience," said a report released Tuesday by the US-based Boston Consulting Group, called "Dueling With Lions".
When business magazine Forbes last week published its latest list of the most powerful people on the planet, Dangote was one of only two people on it from Africa.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ranked 49th in the list, while the Nigerian tycoon was 71st, rated by his power over people and resources, financial clout and range of activity from cement, telecoms, oil and gas to sugar, flour and pasta.
Through hard work, shrewd business practices and tactical networking he has built an empire from South Africa to Senegal and become a regular at events such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
On November 5 the 58-year-old's estimated net worth was $13.8 billion (12.7 billion euros), according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

"You have to think big. If you think small, you will remain small in life. And you must be consistent. When you start a business, you might have hiccups here and there," he said in an online video in 2012.
"That does not mean that the business is not going to work. There must be challenges... you must know how to work round these challenges."
The Lagos-based Dangote Group is Africa's largest private employer with some 26,000 staff, giving it a head-start over foreign firms through local knowledge and long-standing relationships.
Dangote Cement, which he hopes to list on the London Stock Exchange, has subsidiaries in at least 14 African countries.
In August, it signed a $4.3 billion contract with China's Sinoma International Engineering Co. for the construction of 11 new cement plants, 10 of them in Africa and the other in Nepal.
When completed, the company's existing capacity of 46 million metric tonnes per annum is expected to be boosted by about 25 million metric tonnes.
As such, Dangote has positioned his businesses as indispensable in a changing continent, providing the raw materials to build its new infrastructure, fuel its growing industries and even feed its workers.
In an interview on CNBC published in March 2014, he said: "Africa has come of age. The opportunities we have in Africa are second to none."
In his home country, where patronage reigns, Dangote has courted politicians of all stripes and outlined plans to help develop badly-needed infrastructure.
He recently signed loan agreements to invest more than $9 billion in a petrochemical refinery and fertiliser complex in the southwest -- the country's largest.

President Muhammadu Buhari is keen to develop agriculture and he has re-started the country's four existing refineries, which had run idle in favour of the expensive export of crude and import of products.
The refineries have a total capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but are only currently producing less than half that. Dangote's single plant aims to produce 400,000 bpd.
In an interview with CNBC in 2014, Dangote said of his drive to succeed: "Hard work pays. Nothing is impossible."
But he has also followed the example of tycoons such as Microsoft's Bill Gates and Virgin's Richard Branson of giving back to society.
His Dangote Foundation has spent billions of naira on education, healthcare and disaster relief, including a $3 million pledge in December last year to help victims of the west Africa Ebola outbreak.
In 2012, he teamed up with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate polio in Nigeria. In September, Nigeria was taken off the list of the world's polio-endemic countries.
Like many Nigerians, Dangote is an avowed football fan and has long been rumoured to be keen on buying a stake in Arsenal, which could make him the first African owner of an English Premier League club.
"I still hope, one day at the right price, that I'll buy the team," he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg in May.
Few would put it past him.



AFP

Nigerian bags World Scrabble title, in first for Africa

Cowboy-hat wearing Wellington Jighere from Nigeria crushed his English opponent 4-0 at the World Scrabble Championship in Australia to become first African to bag the word game's global title.

Jighere, 32, was among more than 120 competitors who travelled to Perth for the World English-language Scrabble Players' Association Championship, which culminated in Sunday's best-of-seven final against England's Lewis Mackay.

"He had to battle for four days to emerge on top but once he got there -- maybe he was a little fresher, or got a bit of luck -- everything fell into place for him and he won four-nil," Adam Kretschmer, one of the organisers of the event, said of Jighere's effort.

The Nigerian used such high-scoring words as "fahlores", "avouched" and "mentored" as he puzzled his way to victory.

"It is the first time that an African has won in these world championships," Jighere told The Guardian after the win.

But he conceded: "Nigel is still the master. It just happens that today was my day."

It was a reference to New Zealander Nigel Richards who dominates English-language Scrabble, with three world championships, five North American titles and 11 wins at the prestigious King's Cup in Thailand, sponsored by the Thai royal family.

Richards stunned the francophone world in July when he also won the game's French version even though he doesn't speak the language and only spent nine weeks studying the official Scrabble dictionary.

A trained engineer, Richards reportedly began playing Scrabble at 28 at the request of his mother, who was frustrated that his photographic memory was making their card games too one-sided.

But he proved dazzling at the word game, even though he favoured mathematics at school and was never much of an English student.

A rival New Zealand Scrabbler once said Richards was "like a computer with a big ginger beard", while Malaysian tournament organiser Michael Tang has called him "the Tiger Woods of Scrabble".

On Facebook, Jighere said the Perth tournament -- in which each player had played 32 games over four days before the finalists were decided -- had been exhausting.

"I really must endeavour to rest now," he posted late Sunday.

"I've not slept well in about a week. The fact that I was able to perform in spite of the sleeplessness still baffles me. It only goes to prove that God was deeply involved in this matter."

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari telephoned Jighere to congratulate him while the head of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation, Suleiman Gora, described the victory as "the climax" for him.

Nigeria had six slots for the tournament and Gora said the players prepared hard at seven training camps.

 AFP

Boko Haram 'most wanted' poster yields first arrest: army

Nigeria's military has said it has made its first arrest as a result of publishing a list of the 100 "most wanted" Boko Haram suspects.

Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman said in an emailed statement late on Sunday that one man whose photograph featured on the poster was spotted and held at Abuja airport.

"Chindo Bello was apprehended by aviation security as he was boarding (an) Aero Contractors' flight to Lagos," he said.

No further details were given about Bello or when he was held but Usman said security agents were tipped off and the arrest was made "as he attempted to flee".

He was handed over to military intelligence for questioning, he added.

The "most wanted" poster, published in English and the local, northeastern languages of Hausa and Kanuri late last month, appeals for public help in tracking down suspected Boko Haram members.

The group's leader Abubakar Shekau features twice in the rows of colour photographs, reflecting the military's belief he is in fact a composite character played by lookalikes.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called for the public's help in providing intelligence to the military, particularly with the Islamists having increased attacks on urban areas.

 AFP

83 Biafran separatists arrested in Yenagoa

YENAGOA The Nigerian police force said they arrested more than 80 members of a Biafran separatist movement on Friday during one of a series of protests in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, against the detention of the group's leader.

 The 78 men and five women were detained in a motorpark in Yenagoa, "because they want to foment troubles and unleash mayhem" said Bayelsa police spokesman Anisim Butswat.

Witnesses reported other rallies in at least four other areas, and one activist said police fired tear gas at marchers from Imo state walking to Bayelsa state border, though there was no independent confirmation.

Secessionist feeling has continued to simmer in the region since the Biafra separatist rebellion tipped the country into a 1967-70 civil war that killed an estimated 1 million people.

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra group called for a "million man march" on Friday after their leader Nnamdi Kanu was arrested in Nigeria on charges relating to broadcasts by his Radio Biafra station.

It was not immediately clear if the group had attracted anywhere near that number of people onto the streets.

DSS foil plot to blow up Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi

The Department of State Services (DSS), secret police in Nigeria foiled a major terror attempt to blow up Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi area of Lagos State. The attack was said to have been slated for September soon after the arrival of the suspects in Lagos.

 At least 45 alleged members of the terror sect, Boko Haram, have been identified as the brains behind the plot by the secret police.

They were arrested following intelligence report on their alleged plan to attack the highbrow residential areas, the DSS told a court on Friday.

 The court ordered the remand of the 45 suspects in Kirikiri prisons in the state. The security operatives told the court that the suspects had volunteered confessional statements, adding that arms were recovered from them.

In August, the DSS announced the arrest of 19 suspected terrorists of Boko Haram in Lagos, Enugu, Plateau, Kano and Gombe States. They were described as commanders and front-line members of the sect who had played active roles in its bloody campaign in the northeast.

Dolphin Estate is a gated community in Ikoyi environment, which is home to rich Nigerians as well as expatriate workers.

Nigerian Expats In Qatar Celebrate 55th National Day

The Giwan Hall of Radisson Blu Hotel in Doha was filled to the brim with elegantly dressed Nigerian expats and other guests on October 16 to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the country’s independence. This event was organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation-Qatar (NIDO-Qatar) with Lulu Hypermarket and Gulf Warehousing Company as sponsors. There are more than 7500 Nigerians living in Qatar, most of who are professionals in the fields of oil & gas, medicine, engineering, health & safety, education, hospitality, academia etc.

The event organised to mark the Independence Day of Nigeria which falls on October 1 — was an occasion for the Nigerian expats to demonstrate unity in diversity as represented by various ethnic groups in the country. Individuals and groups showcased their typical traditional heritage and culture for the audience, which included diplomats from Liberia, Swaziland, Benin Republic and the Gambia.

On this 55th anniversary of independence, the keynote speaker was HE Enoch Duchi, Charge D’Affaires of Embassy of Nigeria in Qatar. Throughout his presentation, Duchi challenged his fellow Nigerians to remember that they are in the Diaspora- and must come together to support the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I congratulate you all fellow Nigerians, brothers, sisters and friends of our dear country!

“We should be good ambassadors of Nigeria in our host country Qatar and

Amadi Nwokocha, President of Nido-Qatar in his keynote speech said: “The celebration of Nigeria @ 55 is an opportunity for critical reflection of our journey so far, and a rededication to the ideals of our founding fathers, so that their labour will not be in vain.”

Amadi said the current Executive Council of NIDO-Qatar was elected in June 2015 and commenced work to deliver the mandate of its members. He said the key challenge has been to restore the image and dignity of Nigerians in Qatar.

“We appreciate that this task cannot be accomplished overnight and, therefore, have undertaken some strategic initiatives in this process.

“We have embarked on initiation of the development of a comprehensive database of Nigerians resident in Qatar; rebranding of the organisation through redesign of the logo and rebuilding of the website.

“Also, we have opened regular engagement between the organisation and officials of the Nigerian embassy. Relations with the embassy officials have been greatly enhanced,” Amadi added.

The new logo and website of the organisation will be launched soon according to the official.

The evening included a bountiful buffet table of Nigerian foods and special cultural dances – including the Yoruba Dance Group that stole the thunder with their dance steps. The group led by Bisi Bello, an official of the association danced to the admiration of the crowd who cheered their dance steps as they rhythmically moved and swung their backside lower to the earth on the dance floor. What followed next was the spraying of Qatar Riyals to dancers as it was placed on their forehead while dancing away at the event.

Madam Gloria’s “God bless Nigeria” music captivated guests who stood up to applaud the woman who over the years had entertained Nigerian residents in Qatar selflessly.

Emmanuel Nnanyelugo’s (Push) “Yeye Boy” soundtrack was greeted with applause and BGY’s, a Yoruba music band entertained through the night with their talking drums and DJ Walexy mixed the latest jams.

There were a raffle draw and winners emerged to take home Iphone 6 plus, Ipad Air 2 and laptop with other consolation prizes for best dancer, kids and for artists.