We’ll ensure diligent privatisation process, says Osinbajo

The Presidency on Tuesday said it would ensure that the process of privatisation of public enterprises was undertaken diligently.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said this while granting audience to members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation led by Mr. Ahmed Yerima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Graduate entrepreneurs to secure loans with certificates

In the bid to encourage the entrepreneurial tendencies of graduates, the National Collateral Registry has concluded plans to allow them to secure loans from financial institutions using their certificates.

The Head of Research and Development, NCR, Dr. Musa Olasupo, disclosed this at an interactive forum in Lagos.
According to him, since most young business owners don’t possess fixed assets to secure start-up funds from banks, their certificates can serve as moveable assets to be registered by their credit institutions with the NCR as collateral.

Civil servants kick against tenure suspension

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria has condemned the suspension of the tenure policy in the federal civil service by the Federal Government, saying it is a policy somersault that must be stopped.
The workers stated that instead of suspending the policy, the government should convene a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the issue.
According to the association, the policy summersault has been generating intense restiveness among public servants, adding that the situation should not be allowed to deteriorate further.

Nigeria’s sovereignty is negotiable, says Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has lent his voice to the growing calls for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation, saying the sovereignty of the nation is negotiable.

Speaking during a visit to PUNCH Place, the corporate headquarters of PUNCH Nigeria Limited, Kilometre 14, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, on Tuesday, Soyinka said decentralisation of the nation would ensure healthy rivalry among the component units.

Argentina fans beg Messi

Argentines begged Lionel Messi on Monday not to abandon the national team before the 2018 World Cup after he tearfully announced his retirement in frustration at another last-gasp international defeat, AFP reports.

As Chileans danced in the streets and honked their horns to hail their team’s victory by penalties in the Copa American Centenario, the rainy streets of Buenos Aires were deserted.

God hasn’t told me to quit acting –Mama G

Ever since veteran actress, Patience Ozokwo, announced that she has re-dedicated her life to Christ, various rumours have been circulating about her. Top on the list was that she said God told her to drop her popular pseudonym, Mama G. Others claimed that she said God told her to quit her lucrative career.
In an exclusive chat with Saturday Beats, the actress denied the rumour. However, she added that if God gives her such instructions, she would not flinch before bending to His will.

I am in London working on my album –Majek Fashek

Although the rain maker has had his fair share of bad press, he is currently unhappy about the falsehood peddled about him in the media. Some media portals have reported that the singer has had a relapse and is back to using illicit substances.

In an exclusive chat with Saturday Beats, the musician said that he has not relapsed, instead he is working on his album in the UK.

Tiwa Savage, Banky W, Praiz, Cobhams Asuquo, Stonebwoy set to put African music on world map

Nigeria’s foremost disc jockey had his patience tested by controversial singer, Terry G, when the singer slapped one of his apprentices at a comedy show tagged, D’Good, D’Bash and D’Ugly.

When the incident happened, the ‘cool’ DJ Jimmy Jatt simply asked his boy to close shop. In an exclusive chat with Saturday Beats, the disc jockey said that Terry G had mended fences and there was no problem between them.

National conference: Akinyemi blasts SGF for calling delegates boys

A former Minister of External Affairs and Vice Chairman of the 2014 National Conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has criticised the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, for referring to delegates at the conference as boys.

Akinyemi also faulted the claim by the SGF in an interview published on Monday that delegates to the conference were paid N7m.

N4.6bn fraud: Court remands Fani-Kayode, others in prison

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the remand of a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, and two others in prison over an alleged fraud of N4.6bn.

Justice Suleiman Hassan gave the remand order shortly after Fani-Kayode, Nenadi Usman and Danjuma Yusuf were arraigned before him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.