In 1993, Bola Ahmed Tinubu surrendered $460,000 to the U.S. government after a Chicago court found the income came from packing and shipping heroin.
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Loan apps on Play Store will lose their ability to access their users’ contacts or photos from May 31, 2023.Source: https://punchng.com/FG-bars-online-banks-from-accessing-customers-photos-contacts
This came as the Federal Government said it would enforce the latest policy by Google, saying the action was consistent with the Nigerian authorities’ move to curtail the invasion of customers’ privacy by loan app firms.
The Federal Government had in recent time taken major decisions aimed at tackling the violation of customers’ privacy by loan apps. Notably, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission had recently registered 170 loan apps out of the 200 operating in the country.
Google, in its April 2023 policy updates, said the new policy update would provide respite for loan app users in Nigeria and other places that have become accustomed to crude loan retrieval methods employed by a majority of loan apps.
Google said, “Policy preview (effective May 31, 2023): This article previews changes included in our April 2023 policy updates.
“We are updating our personal loans policy to state that apps aiming to provide or facilitate personal loans may not access user contacts or photos.
“We are introducing additional requirements for personal loan apps targeting users in Pakistan. Personal loan apps in Pakistan must submit country-specific licensing documentation to prove their ability to provide or facilitate personal loans.”
This new policy is coming after the firm announced updates to its Developer Programme Policy, mandating digital money lenders in Nigeria, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Kenya to conform to regulatory rules or be taken down by January 31.
According to the firm, only digital money lenders that have adhered to and completed the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending, 2022 (as may be amended from time to time) by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and obtain a verifiable approval letter from the FCCPC will be allowed on Play Store in Nigeria.
Commenting on the new policy to The PUNCH, the Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, stated that it was a welcome development and shows that Google was institutionalising its regulatory policy.
He said, “It is a welcome development effort and is consistent with the position the FCCPC has taken and what we are enforcing.
“Google is now institutionalising our regulatory effort as a policy, which is very welcome. It is certainly important for proper regulatory oversight of the industry, and we commend Google for taking a position that is consistent with our position as regulators.”
He added, “Recall that we took this position earlier and what has happened is that Google has looked at the regulatory landscape, looked at the regulatory priorities, and is supporting those priorities by institutionalizing those regulatory priorities and position.”
The FCCPC recently stated that it has approved 173 digital lending applications to operate in the country. 119 of these got full approvals while 54 got conditional approvals. This move became necessary after loan apps started harassing Nigerians by sending defaming messages to their contacts, and more.
The commission’s ‘Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022’ is an attempt to regulate the digital lending space and make registration and approval a prerequisite for companies seeking to operate in the space.
Although, Google’s policy states that it does not “allow apps that promote personal loans that require repayment in full in 60 days or less from the date the loan is issued,” many loan apps in the country do not adhere to it, exposing many Nigerians to confidential data leak.
Speaking recently on Arise TV on how the recent registration drive of the commission will protect the privacy of Nigerians, Irukera stated, “We also want to restrain what kind of information they are able to pull off people’s phones and what they are able to do with that information, especially with respect to making contact with people on the contact list, and their loan recovery practices; the kind of language the times they call, what kind of things they say.”
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Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, says Nigerians are frustrated by the outcome of the 2023 election and also believe that justice has eluded them.
In a statement on Sunday, Kukah described Nigerians as men and women returning from a funeral with forlorn looks.
The cleric condemned the violence that trailed the elections, saying it cannot be accepted as the new ladder to power.
“Nigerians are so collectively frustrated that it is almost impossible to convince them that they can find justice,” Kukah said.
“Everywhere you turn today, Nigerians look forlorn, disconsolate, lugubrious, and despondent. Our swagger is gone. We look like men and women returning from a funeral, murmuring discontentment in hushed tones. It is therefore not surprising that even the victors are blowing a muted trumpet.
“Unpleasant as this may sound, this blood that they have shed could be seen as blood of the birth of a new Nigeria. It can become the blood of our new birth, our redemption. However, we cannot accept that violence and bloodshed are the normal route to power. Because like the blood of Abel, the blood of those who have been murdered continues to cry out to heaven seeking for justice ( Gen. 4:10).”
The bishop empathised with aggrieved citizens and asked them not to give up in the quest for justice but to align their hopes with the celebration of Easter.
“Though we are tempted with the drudgery of fatigue and despondency, unlike the apostles in the garden of Gethsemane, we should be ready to wait in patience for one hour or more (Mt. 26:40),” Kukah said.
“Our dream is merely in suspense, a punctuation mark in the book of our unfinished greatness. Let us see this as a detour, a diversion. We still have our roadmap in our hands. It is time to return to the highway so as to choose a road less travelled, a road of hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and hope. The ugliness of yesterday must not define us. We must finish this journey together. We shall neither relent, slow down nor give up.
“The resurrection is a promise that despite the seeming hopelessness, God’s plans cannot be frustrated. Those who position themselves at night with stones to guard the entrance of the tomb will find themselves confounded at dawn by an empty tomb. A new Nigeria will emerge from the tombs of our seeming helplessness.”
‘DON’T LET YOUR ANGER HOLD YOU PRISONER’
Speaking to aggrieved Nigerians, Kukah asked them not to show their anger through violence but to transform it to a motivation to seek justice.
“Yes, we are all angry and we all want justice. Yes, we have the right to be angry and we should be angry. But, angry about what, angry with whom and justice for whom? St. Thomas Aquinas, known as the angelic doctor of the church, said: ‘He who is not angry when there is a just cause for anger is immoral because anger looks to the good of justice. If you can live with injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust’,”Kukah said.
“This is why the urgent task before us is to restore the dignity of the Nigerian nation and her citizens. Nigerians have for too long been beaten by the rain and the sun of injustice.”
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My Obidients, a very happy Holy Month of Easter and Ramadan to you all. As we celebrate the Easter and look forward to a joyous Eid El Fitr, we pray for God Almighty's guidance, protection and blessings as we face and pass through litany of challenges in our dear country, Nigeria- flawed electoral processes, insecurity, weak institutions, multidimensional poverty, unemployment, inflation, lack of justice, fairness, equity, opportunities and many more.
As we reflect on these challenges and look forward to a New Nigeria that is POssible, Datti and I are painfully mindful that for the mere reason of being OBIdient, most of you have suffered vituperations, physical attacks, loss of rights and privileges, hateful trolls, indignities and vexatious fighting words, even from some of those we long regarded as civic leaders and conscience of our nation.
Please bear such attacks as the sacrifices that we are all required to make in order to create a New Nigeria, where justice, equity, fairness, love and prosperity shall reign.
Be assured that Datti and I are with you, and that the ongoing unfortunate orchestrated efforts to demarket and delegitimize the OBIdient Movement will fail.
We are fully structured and have remained focused and steadfast in addressing the ills in our nation; while underpinning the supremacy of our Constitution and imperatives of the rule of law. Do not relent; and do not be lured into unnecessary conflicts.
Be assured that in the fullness of time, our mission to rescue Nigeria from those engaged in State Capture will come to fruition.
We are also using all lawful and peaceful means allowed under our laws and constitution to reclaim our mandate to create a New Nigeria that is POssible.
Therefore, in all your actions and inactions, I continue to implore you to be law abiding, respectful and peaceful.
In all you do, always remember those immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr, that "The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience, but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges". A New Nigeria is Indeed POssible.
God bless you all, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. -PO
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Gender Advocate, Rita Daniels Rallies Support For Lauretta Onochie, Decries Attacks
The leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo (women wing) Chief Mrs. Rita Daniels Chukwuji says she is in solidarity with the Board Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Lauretta Onochie saying she has demonstrated capacity to pilot the affairs of the commission.
Speaking with correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday, Chief Mrs. Daniels said Onochie is a sad example of how women have been subjected to unwarranted attacks in the country just for being females, calling on Nigerians to have a re-orientation of the mind.
She said the series of disenchantment that greeted the nomination of Onochie as NDDC chairman because of her closeness to President Muhammadu Buhari as his aide was needless and resonates how women have been limited by the system from giving their best in efforts to serve the country.
"As someone with the interest of women, I stand in solidarity with Chief Lauretta Onochie, the Board Chairman of NDDC and all women who have faced society-induced attacks because of their gender.
"Her recent political persecution, including her suspension from her party which has now been reversed is a clear indication that gender-based attacks are very common in Nigeria and must be dealt with.
"In a short while, the once comatose NDDC is now gaining a new life, fulfilling the aims and objectives for which it was created. Kudos to the first female chairman ever.
"I appeal to women across the country to support theirs and shun antagonistic gestures that will reverse the gains being made to have more women representation in government", she said.
She further described Onochie as a grassroots mobilizer who has attracted the love and support of Anioma women through several philanthropic and humanitarian projects she had embarked upon.
She also called on other women across the country to demonstrate solidarity with Onochie and all other women facing persecution because of their gender.
The women of Anioma are also drumming support for their daughter while applauding her for consistency and impact in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
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President Muhammadu Buhari says he closed the country’s land borders to encourage Nigerians to produce food for their consumption. He said a...
