Jerry Douglas' Blog

The management of Jibril Aku-led Eco Bank is presently running from pillar to post from an impending trouble over an unprofessional conducts, fraud and financial malpractice on an account belonging to one of the institutions` biggest customers, Francis Ogaree who`s one of the senior managers with the  Nigerian  National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of NNPC Towers, Abuja.  Aside suing the bank for a N100m damages, Francis Ogaree has vowed to make sure Eco bank loses its banking licence as a result of what he termed as unprofessional, unethical and sharp banking practices by falsifying his account statements thereby ridiculing his person before credit bureau and other financial institutions. According to the statement of claims made available to National Enquirer by Ogaree`s counsel, Dr. Yemi Oke of MJS Partners suing the bank for a N100m and directing the apex bank, the central bank of Nigeria to revoke Eco bank`s licence, Eco bank was said to have been in the hab...

Nigeria is one liberally sentimental society where what you write or say about religious idols are quick to be termed as blasphemy but truth be told, Nigerians are being taken for granted and it`s high time we take our destiny in our hands by making our leaders answerable to some of the financial calamities the country has been plunged into over the years. By estimation, according to international analysts, Nigeria is meant to be one of the most prosperous nations in the world owing to its staggering production of about 2.4 million barrels of oil everyday and with the price of oil pegged at $93.61 a barrel, our dear country earns a whopping $224 million income a day, and this is just from crude oil sales. With its geopolitical power and economic resources, I doubt if any country would have the power and financial might to change the course of black/African civilization like Nigeria had our leaders not corrupt. Nigerian citizens are probably the worst treated in the world with...

A few days ago, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and one of Nigeria’s most respected Christian leaders, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, noted in an interview with a global news network, Al-Jazeera, that he bought a private jet to aid him in his work as the head of the church. “When you have to oversee churches in 160 countries, you  can't  do that on a bicycle,” Adeboye was quoted as saying in the interview. With that statement, the pastor confirmed that he is among prominent Christian leaders, including the vocal President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, and the head of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, who claimed to have acquired private jets for similar purposes. But Adeboye’s defence ignited reactions from many Nigerians across the country. A few minutes after the interview was broadcast live on television, it went viral on social media. In no time, the acquisition of private aircrafts b...

As the National Assembly resumes from its Easter recess, indications have emerged that creation of new states in the fresh amendment of the 1999 Constitution may be a mirage after all. Also, consideration of a single term tenure of six or seven years for both the President and his deputy, the governors and their deputies, may have been foreclosed in the Senate. Daily Sun checks in the federal legislature showed that despite promises by National Assembly joint Constitution Review Committees (CRC), creation of new states by the Seventh National Assembly may not scale through. Demand for new states has shot up from the initial 46 in the Sixth National Assembly to 56, at the last count. A ranking member of the Senate CRC told Daily Sun yesterday that “the Senate has no agenda in state creation. If we ever had an agenda, then, Senate has no position on the issue…” Asked whether the Upper Legislative Chamber was also considering the single term of six or seven years as pr...

The Federal Government has assured that all ongoing projects including the Second Niger Bridge will be completed and commissioned before May 2015. Minister of Works, Mike Onolemenmen, who gave the assurance, listed other priority projects that must be completed before the end of the current administration to include the Enugu-Port-Harcourt Road, the Ikorodu-Sagamu Road. Fielding questions from journalists after inspecting the ongoing work at Ebu-Utor Bridge between Edo and Delta states, Onolemenmen said: “The Second Niger Bridge is a done deal, as it has gone through crucial technical process necessary for its take off.” The 400-metre Ebu-Utor Bridge, which is a link between the two states, was abandoned in 2007 after N2 billion had been sunk into it but was re-awarded last year at the cost of N4.4 billion to Interbau Construction Company Limited. According to the minister, the Federal Government was committed to the completion of some abandoned road projects that would im...

Several people have been hurt in two explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line. It happened around 2:45 p.m. outside Marathon Sports on Boylston Street, according to WBZ-TV’s Lisa Hughes, who was near the scene covering the marathon. There were two “incredibly powerful explosions just seconds apart,” according to Hughes. Some people were reportedly missing limbs.  Others had blood on their heads. “There’s a lot of blood” at the scene, according to WBZ-TV producer Ken Tucci, who reported seeing more than ten people taken away from the scene on stretchers. Cheryl Fiandaca, the public information bureau chief with the Boston Police Department, wrote Monday evening on Twitter that "[the] JFK incident appears to be fire related. Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for the Boston Police Department told TPM that an explosive device had gone off at the library. No injuries were reported. Corbin Johnson, a 19-year-old student at Berklee College of Music, told the Bos...