INSTANT NEWS

Ultimate Love, Nigeria’s first love reality TV show, which kicked off on Sunday, February 9, 2020, has left some viewers confused about the dynamics of the show.


The show, which centres on finding love, will project 16 housemates, consisting of single men and women, living together in the ‘Love Residence’ for eight weeks.

These ‘Love Guests’ as they are called, are expected to find love during the show after which the winner will be rewarded with five million Naira, a house, and a sponsored traditional wedding.


However, the organizers of the show failed to provide straightforward answers to some troubling questions viewers are bothered about.

1. Is the Ultimate Love reality show here to replace the popular Big Brother Naija reality show? Since nothing has been heard from the organizers of the annual Big Brother Naija reality television on whether it will hold in 2020, Nigerians are now wondering if the Ultimate Love show is here to take the place of the BBN. Some have even described the new show as a low budget BBN.

2. Since there are sixteen love guests in the house, how are the love birds expected to emerge at the end? What is the method of eviction adopted if there is any? What parameter will be used in the final selection process? Another question that readily comes to mind is, if there will be eviction at all. Yes, there will be voting, but what will the vote decide? Will housemates be evicted from the house or will the 16 love guests stay in the house till the end? If there is an eviction, then Ultimate Love appears like a cloned reality show. If there is no eviction, then the reality show is ultimately heading to anti-climax on arrival. It will then be stripped of a major aspect – Suspense. Is reality not full of suspense. Is life itself not drama? A questions the organizers haven’t answered yet.


3. How were the Love Guests selected?

To some viewers, the housemates just appeared from nowhere. There was no publicity about the audition as it is popular with the BBN.

4. What would be the activities of the love guests in the house?


What will they be preoccupied with for a period of 60 days? Are the activities going to be based on love issues? Nigerians believe that the organizers will have to be very creative in ensuring exceptional and unique activities that won’t look cloned from BBN. Its, therefore, a big task for the organizers to achieve as having followed the events of the new reality show for the past 24 hours, one wonders what will keep the housemates pre-occupied for the duration of the show. What games would be introduced? What would be the tasks? How would the housemates be called to order? Nigerians have already noticed a show struggling to find a unique feet and space, without necessarily being the ‘copy-cat.’

5. Can love be managed, tutored or directed? Does love select? Can any real love emerge from a situation where a man or woman is made to deliberately chase after a love partner in a carefully choreographed approach? Who is even a love aunty or coach? People love in varied ways, so how do you guide people to love? At the end, will that be a natural love? What is the parameter to measure the love among couples and how will they be merged? Now, the big question is, how will the love be measured? What will determine the realness of the love existing among the best couple? Nigerians think some love guests may pretend to be in love, plan to emerge as the best couple after which they’ll go their separate ways.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said his administration was fully determined to combat and defeat terrorism, banditry and all forms of criminality in Nigeria.

Buhari made the declaration while urging Nigerians to support and cooperate with security agencies, who are ready to defend and preserve the unity of the country.

Speaking at a meeting with the Executive Committee members of the Nigerian Community in Ethiopia (NICE), in Addis Ababa, the President assured Nigerians, at home and abroad that their protection would continue to remain a key priority of his administration, as well as fighting corruption and bringing prosperity to Nigerians.

On economic matters and doing business in Ethiopia, the Nigerian leader said he had been briefed on the challenges faced by some Nigerian companies with investments in the country, especially the Dangote Group and Lubcon.

A statement signed and sent to DAILY POST by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu quoted Buhari as saying: ”I have directed the relevant ministries to take up these issues with a view to resolving all complaints amicably with the Ethiopian authorities.”

Commenting on the issue of diaspora voting, Buhari while responding to a request by the leader of NICE, David Omozuafoh, said he was in support of it, but legislation was required to make it a reality.

”I have said it severally that I am not against it. However, you will need to convince the National Assembly to amend the relevant laws to make Diaspora voting a reality,” he said.

President Buhari’s assurance on security is coming just a few days after Boko Haram attacked Auno near Maiduguri in Borno State.

The latest attack by Boko Haram terrorist sect had left about 30 people dead.

Mr Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officers of Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) says securities lending will witness exponential growth with the elimination of tax on manufactured dividend arising from securities loan transaction by the Finance Act.

Onyema made the assertion at a symposium on the Finance Act, organised by the exchange in partnership with KPMG in Lagos.

Onyema said an exponential growth in securities lending activities would further boost market liquidity, given the elimination of tax on manufactured dividend arising from securities loan transaction.

Securities lending is the act of loaning a stock, derivative or other security to an investor or firm. Securities lending requires the borrower to put up collateral, whether cash, security or a letter of credit.

When a security is loaned, the title and the ownership are also transferred to the borrower.

The NSE’s boss explained that the multiple taxations embedded in securities lending business arrangement had slowed down its adoption in the Nigerian capital market despite being a 2.44 trillion dollars market globally.

According to him, there have been some improvements with 20 million units of shares currently available for lending in the Nigerian capital market.

“The recent amendment to the tax laws by the Finance Act 2019 is in line with global best practices for Securities Lending.

“And,  I want to seize this opportunity to enjoin capital market operators and asset owners to take advantage of the benefits,” Onyema said.

He said the elimination of double taxation in Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) including Real Estate Investment Structures as pronounced by the Act would have a significant impact on the growth of the currently nascent $2.77 billion asset management industry in Nigeria.

“We have convened committees and conferences to dimension the real estate industry and the necessary policy changes required to jump-start financing into the sector.

“So, this positive policy announcement is a good start towards increasing the viability of REITs for issuers and investors.

“With the nation’s housing deficit put at 17 million units as estimated by the African Development Bank, I believe strongly that REITs and other real estate investment vehicles will play a critical role in funding real estate and infrastructure development in Nigeria.’’

Onyema added that exemption of micro and small enterprises with an annual turnover of N25 million ($70,000) or less from paying company income tax by the Act aligned with the Exchange’s commitment to SMEs.

According to him, SMEs and growth companies in our ecosystem can now enjoy tax benefits, thereby improving their operational efficiency.

He noted that the signing of the Finance Bill into law was a landmark achievement for the Nigerian Capital Market.

Onyema said the NSE, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other capital market stakeholders had been at the forefront of advocacy with policy makers and tax authorities for favourable tax structures in the Nigerian capital market.

Also speaking, Mr Wole Obayomi, Partner & Head, Tax, Regulatory and People Services, KPMG, said, “Finance Act 2019 is a landmark legislation that should be embraced by all stakeholders to ensure it achieves its laudable objectives.

Obayomi said the removal of multiple tax footprints for securities lending and real estate investment schemes would stimulate activities in those segments of the market.

He stated that the generous incentives for SMEs in the Finance Act coupled with the launching of the Growth Board for capital raising by that sector from the NSE, were timely interventions.

According to him, these will drive the growth of the economy through the SMEs.

…To start “supervised quarantine”

…Gov Sanwo-Olu becomes Chief Incident Commander

In a bid to prevent an outbreak of the fast-spreading Novel Coronavirus, the Lagos State Government on Monday launched an Incident Command System.

The health emergency structure is being set up to help with containment in the unlikely event of outbreaks of the virus in the State.

Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi explained that the Novel Coronavirus is a new pathogen to the human race and as such, research is still ongoing on how to arrest it.

According to him, no suspected or confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus has been found in Lagos, warning residents against rumour-mongering on public health and safety.

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while launching the Incident Command System said the measure is not to stigmatise citizens of any country but a precautionary one taken in the interest of the people.

The Command System will have the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the Incident Commander while the Commissioner for Health will serve as the Deputy Incident Commander.

The Governor noted that relevant health professionals, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of health, would be deployed to the Lagos International Airport for a higher level of monitoring.

The Governor assured that the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations will continue to escalate communication and create public awareness.

He said: “What we have started to do is to have what we call a heightened state concern on the Coronavirus. We are not declaring an emergency in any form but creating a heightened state concern.

“Also, the Honourable Commissioner through his Ministry will identify relevant health professionals that would, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of health, be deployed to our International Airports in Lagos where we would see a higher level of monitoring as well as organised level of incidence reporting layout.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu said that although the team expects people to be self quarantined, he, however, stressed that the State will carry out a supervised quarantine where details about immigrants will be taken at the point of entry while the team will do daily follow-ups through phone calls to identified individuals for a period of two weeks.

According to the Governor, the command will be in operation for the period of time the risk lasts. He assured that adequate preparation has been carried out to tackle the virus.

The Governor said: “This command will go on until when we believe and we have been given assurance that we have a stable and controlled environment but in the meantime, these exercises are going to be put in place and we are going to start things immediately.

“I also want to mention that we have started providing both human and material logistics required for this exercise.

“All of our major General Hospitals are also being prepared in event of an outpour into any of them. The hospitals in the mainland have tents coming up and extensive resources are being put in that particular health facility for them to be on standby in case of any suspected or identified case.”

Abayomi further added that the WHO has declared the novel coronavirus a global health concern, saying this will make the State Government step up scrutinising travellers coming in from the mostly affected region.

“We need to really ramp up the human capacity at the airport to be able to scrutinise all travellers coming in from particularly the routes that are coming in from the South East Asian regions.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; the Consul General of People’s Republic of China, Chu Moaming and the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Folashade Jaji were among the dignitaries present at the event.

Some tricycle operators from Lagos Mainland, Yaba and Oyingbo on Monday staged a peaceful protest at Maryland against the ban on their operations in some parts of the state by the Lagos State Government.

The tricycle operators, commonly referred to as “Keke Maruwa”, urged the government to rescind its ban on the commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators in 15 local government and council development areas which began on Feb. 1.

Hundreds of protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as “Create Jobs, Don’t Take Jobs”, “Sanwo-Olu, My Job is My Life” and Maruwa Operators are not Criminals”.

Mr Seun Adeleke, Chairman, National Union of Tricycle Operators, Yaba/Mainland said the government’s decision was unfair as it would plunge many able-bodied young men into unemployment.

He said: “We are the ones that voted for this government and we need the government to support us.

“Look at everybody here now, they want to work.  In Yaba/Mainland, we have over 500 tricycle operators and we pay N200 daily to the council.

“So we contribute to the economy and we want to continue to do that. The government should please look into this decision.”


Also, a civil rights activist, Mr Wale Balogun, who mobilised the protest, said commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators were not responsible for the security challenges in Lagos.

Balogun said he was in solidarity with the protesters because he believed that restricting their operations would worsen security in Lagos and neighbouring states.

He said: “Commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators are partners in progress with the Lagos State Government.

“They are the friend of the masses who do not have big cars to ply their roads. Many commuters have been stranded since the ban began.

“We are saying the government should rescind its decision and not plunge these teeming youths into unemployment.”

According to him, if the government had created employment opportunities, many youths will not go into commercial motorcycle and tricycle operation.

“They cannot take away what they did not give. Rather than take to crime, these young people decided to earn their living by riding “Okada” and “Keke”.

“Many are still paying in installments about N1. 2 million and the state government cannot just take this away. How will they feed their families?

“Our appeal is that government should look again at this decision in order not to push these people into criminal activities,” Balogun said.

He commended the protesters for their peaceful conduct, adding that they should not relent in the struggle to be able to earn a legitimate income.

Mr Gbenga Omotosho, Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy had on Jan. 27 announced the ban, which he said came after consultations with stakeholders, the State Security Council and in compliance with the extant Transport Sector Reform Law 2018.

The boards of directors of  Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc and Access Bank Plc and have scheduled meetings later this month to consider and approve the audited financial statement and accounts of the banks for the year ended December 31, 2019. The meetings will among others consider final dividend recommendation to be made to shareholders.

The notification of the scheduled board meetings quickened investors’ appetite for three of Nigeria’s five largest banks. GTBank, Nigeria’s largest financial services company, in terms of market capitalisation, rose by 90 kobo at the weekend to close at N30.10. Zenith Bank, the second largest bank, also rose by 55 kobo to close at N19.25 while Access Bank appreciated by 5.0 kobo to close at N10.15 per share.

In separate regulatory filing, the three banks indicated that their directors would be meeting to review and approve the earnings report and accounts for the 2019 business year, preparatory to sending the accounts for the clearance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before release to the investing public at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

GTB’s board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, January 22, 2019 while the boards of Zenith Bank and Access Bank will meet on Tuesday, January 28 and Wednesday, January 29, 2019.

Extant listing rules at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) require quoted companies to submit their annual audited account to the Exchange not later than 90 calendar days after the relevant year-end, and published same in at least two national daily newspapers not later than 21 calendar days before the date of the annual general meeting. They are also required to post same on their websites with the web address disclosed in the newspaper publications. Also, an electronic copy of the publication shall be filed with the NSE on the same day as the publication.

Most quoted companies including all banks, major manufacturers, insurers, oil and gas companies, breweries and cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar year as their business year.  The deadline for the submission of the annual report for the year ended December 31, 2019 is thus Monday March 30, 2020. The NSE meanwhile gives special recognition to companies that submit their reports earlier than others.

Most analysts at the weekend said the scheduled meetings by the three leading banks marked the onset of the earnings season citing increased demand for the shares of the banks.

The three banks, which had paid interim dividends based on their first-half results, are expected to determine their final dividends at the board meeting later this month. The first-half results, which were audited, were regarded as more indicative of the potential of the banks for the 2019 business year.   GTB, which had paid interim dividend of 30 kobo per share, is widely expected to pay a final dividend not less than N2.45 per share paid for the 2018 business year. GTB’s earnings per share had stood at N3.50 for the six-month period.

Zenith Bank had also paid an interim dividend of 30 kobo for earnings per share of N2.83 for first half 2019. Access Bank had distributed an interim dividend of 25 kobo as net profit after tax rose from N39.6 billion in first half 2018 to N63.01 billion in first half 2019.

The Nation had reported that Nigeria’s five topmost banks recorded a total profit of N416.55 in the first half of 2019 as the largest commercial lenders continued to draw on technologies and improved operating efficiency to mitigate headwinds and improve underlying profitability of their businesses.

Average profitability in the top five banking groups improved by a percentage point, which translated into a 12.1 per cent increase in total pre-tax profits recorded by the top five banks. The average pre-tax profit margin for the top five groups inched up from 33.35 per cent in first half 2018 to 34.14 per cent in the first half of 2019, undercut by a decline in profitability of the third largest bank.

The top five banks, which traditionally pay cash dividend twice a year, distributed N44.22 billion as interim cash dividend for the first half of this year, with interim dividend per share ranging from 20 kobo to N1.

The top five banks, by market capitalisation, otherwise known as the first tier banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc, Zenith Bank International Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Access Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.

A market intelligence report by The Nation showed all top-five banks witnessed steady growths across key performance indicators with the exception of Stanbic IBTC, which suffered a decline in profitability. The top-five banks’ gross earnings rose by 9.79 per cent from N1.17 trillion in first half 2018 to N1.29 trillion in the first half of 2019. Total pre-tax profit by the biggest five commercial lenders grew by 12.08 per cent to N416.55 billion in first half 2019 compared with N371.66 billion in the comparable period of 2018. Total net profit, after taxes, increased by 13.22 per cent from N303.8 billion to N343.96 billion.

Average gross earnings within the top-five group had increased from N234.79 billion in first half 2018 to N257.77 billion in the first half of 2019. Average profit before tax also improved from N74.33 billion to N83.31 billion. After taxes, the average net profit increased from N60.76 billion to N68.79 billion.

Nigerian equities recorded the second consecutive negative trading on Wednesday as continuing profit-taking transactions shaved off N114 billion from market capitalisation.

The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks share prices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), dropped by 0.74 per cent to close at 29,062.50 points as against its opening index of 29,283.15 points.This depressed the average year-to-date return to 8.3 per cent.

Aggregate market value of  quoted equities also dropped from its opening value of N15.106 trillion to close at N14.992 trillion, representing a drop of N114 billion.

With 17 losers to 11 gainers, all sectoral indices closed negative with the exception of the NSE Insurance Index, which rose by 0.33 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index dropped by 0.29 per cent. Its Consumer Goods Index dipped by 0.21 per cent. The Banking Index lost 0.21 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index slipped by 0.11 per cent.

MTN Nigeria Communications led the losers with a drop of N3.70 to close at N120.50. BUA Cement followed with a loss 95 kobo to close at N38 while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated dropped by 60 kobo to close at N7.20.

On the positive side, Beta Glass led the gainers with a gain of N5.90 to close at N64.90. Forte Oil rose by N1.15 to close at N19 while GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria chalked up 40 kobo to close at N6 per share.

Total turnover dropped by 46 per cent to 360.08 million shares valued at N2.83 billion in 4,345 deals.

Morison Industries was the most active stock with a turnover of 126.8 million shares. Access Bank was followed with 52.5 million shares, United Bank for Africa placed third with 32 million shares.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said they expected a better performance in successive sessions due to bargain hunting.