Anti-Graft War: EFCC, INTERPOL Sign MoU

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, today, November 29, 2018 signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the International Police, INTERPOL as part of collaboration aimed at tackling corruption in Nigeria. The MoU, I-24/7, is a global police communications system that connects law enforcement officers in all member countries. It enables users share sensitive and urgent police information with their counterparts around the globe, 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year.

While receiving the delegations led by Commissioner of Police, Shola Subair, CP INTERPOL, at the EFCC Headquarters, Jabi, Abuja, the Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, expressed his appreciation for the initiative, which he said will go a long way in checkmating the activities of fraudsters across the globe and Nigeria in particular.

The MoU, according to Magu, will further create a greater technical team work and allow the EFCC to be connected to the 194 member countries of the organisation. He stressed the need for EFCC staff to be seconded to the Interpol. He used the opportunity to explain how the Data base can be used in tracing the movement of looters in an out of the country and also how this collaboration will give EFCC access to the 194 member countries of the Interpol.

“All sort of criminality is taking place and looters are everywhere, now that the EFCC is going for extradition of looters outside the country, there is no better time than now, EFCC will use it opportunity judiciously”, Magu said, adding that the MoU will strengthen the EFCC’s efforts in areas of monitoring illegal assets.

He further added that, with the elections fast approaching, “the EFCC is on the watch out. We would not fold our hands and allow people move illicit funds indiscriminately in the name of vote buying. Nigeria is blessed with both human and natural resources. It is high time the generality of Nigerians get rewarded for God given natural resources that are about”.

Subair, who led the delegation, stressed the importance of the INTERPOL, EFCC partnership, as it would further strengthen the anti-corruption efforts of the anti-graft agency.

He said: “INTERPOL provides a wide range of policing expertise and capabilities, supporting three main crime programmes: Counter-terrorism, Cybercrime, Organized and Emerging Crimes. We are mobilising for the enlistment of all law enforcement agencies in Nigeria, and we consider to kick start the assignment at the EFCC.”

The INTERPOL delegation was received by the newly appointed Secretary of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede; Dr. David Tukura, Commandant, EFCC Academy and Osita Nwajah, Director, Public Affairs.

See New Salary And Rent Structure Approved for Nigeria Police

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has approved new salary structure for the police. Below is the breakdown.

{1}Commissioner of Police under the new arrangement will get up to N1.5 million, while Deputy & Assistant Commissioners of Police get N531,000 & N483,000 respectively.

{2} A Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) gets N419, 000 while a Superintendent of Police (SP) gets N342, 000.

{3} A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) gets N321, 000 while an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) 1 & II under the new arrangement will get N296, 000 & N271, 000 respectively.

{4} Inspector of Police 1 & II get N254, 000 & N167, 000 while a Sergeant major, Sergeant & Corporal get N119,000, N96, 000 & N88, 000 respectively.

{5} A Police Constable I and II get N86, 000 & N84, 000 respectively

The new salary and rent structure approved took effect from 1st Nov &  would be funded from the treasury.

It is recalled

that in January 2008, late President Umaru Yar`Adua approved an increment in the minimum wage of policemen from N6, 000 to N26, 000 which was not implemented

"Nigerians Eager To Make Atiku President" ...PDP

The

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says Nigerians are eager to elect its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as the next president of the country.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said this while receiving leaders of Coalition of youth groups from Kano, Katsina and Kaduna states, at the party National Secretariat on Wednesday in Abuja.

Ologbondiyan said that Nigerians were eager to elect Abubakar because he had demonstrated that the essence of leadership lies in applying its powers and privileges for the good of others rather than self.

He said Abubakar was generally accepted as a unifier, a broad-minded leader, who is committed to the welfare and uplifting of living standard of Nigerians.

He said that since the popular emergence of Abubakar as PDP Presidential Candidate, the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its candidate’s camp had continued to deplete in millions.

Addressing E-Payment Challenges in Nigeria

Online merchants and consumers alike expect online buying and selling to

be easy, efficient, and safe. eCommerce transactions trigger automated processes that involve financial players: banks and fintechs. New technologies have already simplified and smoothed business-to-business and business-to-customer experiences with mobile payments and e-wallets. 

As e-payment becomes popular, there are so many challenges in the Nigerian e-payment space which needs to be addressed. The onus is now on providers to provide peer-to-peer payments beyond traditional banking models and to facilitate a cashless society that can enable any purchase seamlessly. Below is a list of some of the challenges in online payments in Nigeria and how to overcome them. 

Card data security
Customer and card data security is a top priority for any e-payment company. Any exposure or breach of data lead to crises.  Preventing online payment security issues is a must for anyone doing business online. This is why banks and fintechs spend a huge chunk of their profit on securing their systems to prevent any data breach. Prevention is better than cure!

Multi-currency and payment methods
Global eCommerce means accepting a variety of payment methods and currencies.  Electronic payments such as e-wallets, mobile payments, and credit/debit cards help online merchants compete in international markets by allowing their customers to pay in their native currencies. For merchants, multi-currency, cross-border transactions can require new bank accounts, new business entities, and new regulatory hurdles in each national market. Selecting a payment service provider with the necessary infrastructure already in place can provide effective, and immediate, solutions to those problems. A merchant can easily collect payment in one currency and credit the merchant account in its home currency.


Fraud and chargebacks
This is the number one challenge in the e-payment space in Nigeria. So, as e-commerce expands, opportunities for fraudulent misuse of payment networks and data theft grow right alongside. For this reason, customers are advised to use a secure e-payment platform to guarantee data safety and security. This is why Jumia, Nigeria's no 1 shopping destination is the platform Nigerians can make their eCommerce purchases without any data compromise. The eCommerce platform payment gateway is secured and to reinforce this perception, it introduced Jumia Pay. Jumia Pay allows every shopper on the Jumia website to shop conveniently and make secure online payments. The site employs state of the art technology and procedures to protect customer's online transactions. Chargebacks, in addition to being costly, can damage business reputation. While chargebacks do sometimes happen for legitimate reasons, the use of customer service practices based on know-your-customer principles, and merchant accessibility, can substantially reduce or eliminate chargebacks.

Technical integration
Online payment systems run across hardware and software platforms. Credit card-affiliated payment processors, while more secure, can be expensive for online retailers. Added to the expense is the lack of interface between processing systems—it may be difficult or impossible for some fintechs to link with other systems, resulting in processing and payment delays, lost transactions, and expensive fees. In true real-time processing, a combination of features, including integrated systems and gateways, addresses liquidity issues minimises delays while preserving online transaction integrity. 

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'How To Make Air Travel Affordable In Africa'

The business of air travel in the continent of Africa is booming as commercial airlines are battling to get and cement their market share. This competition is awesome as currently, Africa’s aviation industry supports 6.8 million jobs and USD72.5 billion in economic activity. Unfortunately, this has had little or no impact on the rates of these airlines. This continues despite the presence

 of 'budget airlines' that fly to only a handful of destinations. While budget airlines have secured their foothold in other parts of the world, countries in Africa are still struggling to establish a continent-wide one.

Hence, it is unarguably true that Air travel is quite expensive and travellers within and outside the continent are left with no choice than to make these payments because they will be the ones to bear the brunt.

Even the International Air Transport Association (IATA) vice president for Africa Raphael Kuuchi recognises the fact that Air Travel in Africa has to become more affordable. 

Kuuchi said that the cost of air travel in Africa is far more expensive than anywhere else in the world, and the reasons are this includes very high operating costs from the airport ends, high taxes and charges that are imposed by governments and other institutions on passengers and airlines.

Indeed, there is the need for an urgent solution to reduce the cost of air transport in the continent despite many challenges highlighted by Kuuchi. This is key because an expensive air transport system will stifle the growth of the tourism industry as local and international tourists won't want to visit destinations that are not affordable.

What can be done to make air transport in Africa more affordable?
Understandably, the government has a huge role to play when it comes to making air travel more affordable. The government should perhaps grant tax breaks to airlines, and create an air transport fund dedicated to the industry to reduce their overhead cost. Additionally, more airlines should collaborate so that they can deplore data and technology to cut cost which will have a ripple effect on the price of air travel.

Amidst the demand to make air travel more affordable, an online travel agency that has taken the bull by the horn to make air travel more affordable is Jumia's hotel and flight marketplace. The hotel and flight booking platform recently partnered with Amadeus, a leading travel technology company, to launch the first flight marketplace in Africa.

According to a statement announcing the partnership: “It is the base for a new flights marketplace on Jumia, that will be a step further towards making travel in Africa simple and affordable. The platform aims at enabling travel agents, airlines, and travel websites to bring all flight content online, to offer customers the best available prices for their flights.”

In summary, Jumia's hotel and flight marketplace has created the first of its kind marketplace in Africa where rates are aggregated from different travel agents and airlines and this allows the air traveller to select the airline with the best available rate at that moment. And since the platform debuted in September, Jumia has seen a significant increase in booking as travellers jostle to get the best available rate.

In the near future, it is hoped that a budget airline that will cover Africa will come on board in order to make African travel less expensive. Till then, the Jumia flight marketplace is your sure bet to get the best flight rates.

-Adeniyi Ogunfowoke

Police Nab Fake AIG!

The Police Command in Sokoto state says it has arrested one Ibrahim Dangaladima who claimed to be an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG).

The command’s Public

Relations’ Officer, DSP Cordelia Nwawe, made the disclosure at the state command in Sokoto on Wednesday.

Nwawe said that Dangaladima had been on police wanted list for many fraudulent and impersonation offences for the past four months.

“Luck ran out of him on Friday, Nov. 23, when he claimed to be an AIG of Police and Force Secretary who has an office in the Police Force Headquarters Abuja.

“He offered to provide nine slots – five Cadet ASPs, and four Cadet Inspectors to an unsuspecting business man.

“He requested for N482, 500 for each of the cadet ASPs slot and N222,000 for each of Cadet Inspectors slot.

“On interrogation, he confessed to have been in the business for about five years and have duped unspecified number of unsuspecting law abiding citizens,” she said.

-NAN

Super Falcons Beat Lionesses, Gets To 2019 AWCON F

The Super Falcons of Nigeria on Tuesday maintained their dominance over the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon as they defeated their perennial rivals 4-2 on penalties to reach the finals at the ongoing 2019 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Ghana.

The match which was rightly tagged final before finals lived up to expectations as both heavy weights fought hard to pick the ticket to the grand finale on Saturday.

The Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon who had suffered back-to-back final losses against the Super Falcons  in 2014 and 2016 saw yesterday match as an opportunity to take back their own pound of flesh.

It is also on record that apart from the two losses in the AWCON finals, the Cameroon ladies have lost 11 out of 12 times they faced the Super Falcons.

At the blast of the whistle yesterday, the Lionesses took total control of the game in order to show their intent at stopping the Falcons in their tracks.

After absorbing the Lionesses’ pressure, the Falcons also pushed forward but their incursions yielded no positive results.

The second half of the explosive encounter also failed to separate the two giants as the match ended 0-0 after regulation and extra-time.

In the resultant penalty shoot-out, Onome Ebi, Rasheedat Ajibade and Asisat Oshoala scored from the spot as Rivers Angels goalkeeper, Tochukwu Oluehi denied Cameroon from scoring two of their kicks.

Ngozi Ebere then fired in the last penalty that landed the Falcons in the 2019 AWCON finals.

With yesterday’s victory, the defending champions have become the first African nation to qualify for 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.

They also extended their historic streak of qualifying for every FIFA Women’s World Cup since the maiden edition in 1991.