The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), has appealed to Nigerians to stop eating foreign rice because it is poisonous.
He said this on Thursday in Abuja at a news conference organised by the Ministry of Finance.
Ali said the Federal Government had not issued license for importation of rice and that any rice seen on the streets that was not produced in Nigeria was smuggled.
He said that the imported rice was poisonous because before coming into the country, it must have spent a minimum of five years in the silos.
“A chemical must have been added to sustain its freshness and that chemical is harmful.
“Also, it has been re-bagged with a new date given as the production and expiry dates, and that is what we consume here which causes diseases.
“So, I appeal to Nigerians to please patronise our own rice, it is available, more nutritious and if you do that you will assist Customs by making sure these people are put out of business.”
Ali said that rice importation was one of the biggest challenges the NCS was encountering, adding that it still happens because Nigerians consume imported rice.
He added that if Nigerians stop buying the imported rice, smugglers will go out of business and there will be no need to bring it in.
“We always ask for assistance from Nigerians to apprehend these smugglers, but up till now, there is no private citizen that has walked up to us to give us information, the only people giving us information are the rice millers.
“We are working very closely with them to make sure that the rice that comes into this country is validly processed.”
According to him, there is no smuggler that is too big to be arrested, and that the NCS has in custody three big rice smugglers.
He said because of the smugglers, the NCS enlarged its task force specifically to fight rice problem, especially in the season of fasting, a celebration period which smugglers would try to import rice.
A recent study conducted at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, has revealed that migraine is associated with an increased risk of pregnancy-related hypertension disorders in mothers and newborns.
Concise News reports that according to the lead author of the study, Nils Skajaa, Epidemiologist Department of Clinical Epidemiology, “Migraine is a disabling condition, common among women of reproductive age.
“Accumulating evidence shows that migraine in pregnancy may lead to several adverse outcomes in the mother and child, but treatment may alleviate these risks”.
The study further reveals that maternal migraine was associated with an increased risk of a variety of adverse outcomes, including low birth weight, preterm birth, Cesarean delivery, respiratory distress syndrome and febrile seizures.
However, the research team notes that treated migraine was not linked with higher risks of adverse outcomes compared with untreated migraine.
“This suggests that migraine itself, rather than its treatment, is associated with pregnancy complications,” the author says.
No transaction in luxury real estate stands alone; every home purchase happens in the middle of a network that yields new opportunities. High-net-worth clients are likely to purchase and sell multiple properties, and their wealth is typically shared among immediate and extended family. Real estate professionals have the opportunity to engage with all of these stakeholders when working with a client throughout the years.
Frank Aazami, Founder of the Private Client Group at Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty, has experienced this long-term network firsthand. “Everything that we’re working on today is from what we had seeded years ago,” he explains. “Ten years ago, we worked with a family that was still growing. Now, the parents are empty nesters. We’re finding them a condo, and helping their kids purchase their first homes.”
The best way to ensure the prosperity and longevity of your business is to build connections that last a lifetime — or several lifetimes. But what exactly goes into making those generational relationships? Here are Aazami’s top three suggestions.
1. Establish the full picture and address it with expertise
Real estate entails so much more than purchasing a home. “It’s all about the investment,” says Aazami. Clients want to know that their investments are protected, and professional assistance throughout the process can provide peace of mind and asset security.
Be purposeful in learning everything you need to know: about your clients’ desires, their portfolio, and the wider real estate landscape. “If someone is hiring me for a service, I want to make sure I do that service well; and I can’t do it unless I understand the entire scope of their finances, their timelines, their likes, their lifestyle. All of it,” says Aazami. “That’s how I built my business — by just asking a lot more questions. I became an advisor, not a real estate agent.”
2. Propose creative solutions
Aazami established his credibility early on by becoming a problem-solver. “It was an agent referral that got me into the business and kept me in business. I would find multiple ways to make a deal work.”
Aazami had a client who was considering building a dream house on a lot that he owned but was reluctant to start because of the time and costs involved. Aazami took a holistic look at the client’s assets, funds, and future aspirations. He found an investor who would be interested in buying the client’s property, and who already owned a spec home similar to the one his client hoped to build. The investor happily purchased the lot, paying the balance in cash, and the client bought the spec home — living in an ideal $2.5 million dollar property when his original budget had been $1.5 million.
“Real estate agents take a listing, and they talk about the size, the features, the selling price,” says Aazami. “For me, it’s more than that. It’s understanding a client’s entire portfolio, their assets, what they want, and what they can afford, and using all that information to create something unexpected and wonderful for them.”
Affluent clients may not be in the market for a new confidant, but they do need someone with whom they can be comfortable sharing deeply personal information. Real estate agents for high-net-worth-clients need to be tactful in striking this balance, cultivating trust without crossing boundaries.
“Your perspective about every topic matters,” Aazami cautions. “Keep it as professional as possible, tailored to what you’re hired to do. Clients will be watching you along the way — everything you say, everything you do — especially now online, where all of it is transparent.”
Privacy and discretion are always critical with clients, and this is no less true for agents that navigate the relationship between parents and children. When it comes to partnering with a family long-term, Aazami is respectful of his client’s wishes regarding how much information they want to share with their children at any given point in their real estate journey. “We keep discussions as private as possible,” he says.
But as properties are gifted from one generation to the next, or passed along through a will, knowing the whole family is helpful. If you are the parents’ trusted advisor, it’s more likely the children will trust you too.
“This is something I just experienced recently. The family’s children were never in any of the meetings, but they saw me in and out with their parents. Then, later on, they came to me when it was time to talk about how money gets dispersed, where properties go, who’s in charge.” This well-deserved trust forms the foundations for long-term partnerships.
As a knowledgeable, present problem-solver, you can ensure that your partnerships with your clients are perennial. When they or their loved ones need an expert they can count on, they’ll naturally turn to you.
One of Nigeria’s leading real estate companies, Propertymart Real Estate Investment Limited, has assured prospective homeowners on timely delivery of houses in Citiview Estate, Arepo in Ogun State and other projects across the country.
Senior officials of the firm, who gave the assurance to investors, disclosed that on-going housing units would be completed and handed over to them before the end of 2019.
In a statement issued last week, the Managing Director, Deji Fasunwon, said that Propertymart has delivered over 85 per cent of houses across all its housing projects in key cities and towns. “Propertymart has provided real estate solutions in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Our key housing projects include Citiview Estate, Arepo; Edensville Estate, Simawa; Fairmont Apartment, Lekki; and Fairmont Hilltop, Alagbado amongst others,” he said.
Fasunwon commended clients for their patience and assured that the company was focused on assisting Nigerians to achieve their dreams of becoming homeowners.He explained that though Propertymart, like many businesses, experienced the harsh operating environment occasioned by the 2016 economic recession, it has consistently looked inwards and innovatively devised ways to achieve its objectives of ensuring client satisfaction.
“One major step taken by the company was to dispose of some of its stock trade meant to be reserved for profit in the future. These included plots of land in prime locations in some of its estates and also some of its other properties. Efforts are yielding good results as it has resulted in delivering properties to customers.
“The company is constrained to work with only a few reliable and trusted contractors to ensure quality to its customers. The effect of this delay, expectedly, led to dissatisfaction of many of the customers who had subscribed to different products and were expecting delivery of same,” he stated. Fasunwon added that rather than introduce new housing estates during the recession period, Propertymart focused on achieving delivery of most of its backlogs.
He said, “This has been productive as 136 units of houses were delivered in the first quarter of 2019 and another 138 units are expected to be completed and delivered at different times in the second quarter. It is expected that all remaining housing units will be delivered before the end of the last quarter of 2019. It is noteworthy that over 85 per cent of houses due for delivery have already been delivered across all projects while over 90per cent of serviced plots sold have also been allocated.”
While acknowledging that Propertymart has suffered some backlashes in situations that some delays had occurred, he reassured that the firm was always resolute in its decision to remain committed to delivering best-in-class real estate solutions to its stakeholders.
“The harsh economic climate was not strong enough reason to compromise on the structural integrity of our buildings, and as such, no cost-cutting measure was introduced on our projects. The company has significantly achieved its goal as construction activities are currently at top gear in all of its projects. These developments are being carried out in phases for a strategic delivery to its customers.
“The company has also revamped its customer service unit to constantly engage its customers on the development plan and update them on the progress of their investments,” he said. Propertymart assured clients of capital appreciation of their investment while urging those that had yet to take delivery of their houses to visit the project sites and verify the progress made on the construction of homes paid for.
A gospel artiste with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Michael Arowosaiye, has allegedly committed suicide.
Arowosaiye, who regularly performed at RCCG programmes, was said to have hanged himself with his belt on Tuesday at Sunnyvale Estate, Lokogoma District, Abuja.
It was learnt that the deceased, who ministered during a recent youth praise event at the church, was allegedly depressed over certain personal issues.
Acting spokesman for the police in the Federal Capital Territory, ASP Gajere Danjuma, confirmed the incident.
The Head, Media and Public Relations, RCCG, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi, while commiserating with the family of the deceased, said Arowosaiye had left the church before the incident.
He said, “For us as human beings, it is painful that somebody has committed suicide. So, it is not right to begin to say whether he was with us or not. So, we to first sympathise with the family.
“The report we have is that he used to be one of the singers in one of our parishes in Abuja. He left the church a while ago to join the Shepherdhill Ministry, where he became their choirmaster. So, as of this time, we cannot say that he was our member.
“Secondly, if he were our member, there is a tradition in RCCG whereby every parish attempts to assist every member under stress. So, if he were our member or minister and had some challenges, he could have approached his pastors.”
The Senate has just confirmed Dr. Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria for a second term.
Emefiele had been screened by the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, on Wednesday during which he was grilled in issues affecting Nigeria’s economy.
The screening exercise came after the mandate given by President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, to the committee at the plenary on Tuesday. The committee was given one week to carry out the screening and report back to the Senate.
Emefiele, who was appointed as CBN Governor on June 2, 2014, is due to end his first term on June 2, this year.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last week written to the Senate requesting that Emefiele be confirmed as CBN Governor for a second term of five years.
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt are giving a second chance to their romance. The two have broken up with their respective spouses officially and their romance has been growing since then. According to the recent reports, the two often text each other and have already rekindled their interest.
Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston: Love story so far
Jennifer and Brad realized that they still have feelings for one another when they were reunited at the 50th birthday celebration of “Friends” last February. The two have started exchanging intimate texts since then and even went on trips together. According to some sources, it is said that Jen never stopped loving Brad.
She’s overjoyed that they’ve secretly reunited and are now planning a new future together. They started texting about the past and what went wrong in their marriage.
Rumor has it that Brad apologized to Jennifer for everything that happened in the past. He was resentful and took the entire blame for all his past actions. He said that the therapy helped him to realize his mistakes and bad behavior.
Moreover, Brad told Jenifer that he wasn’t nice to her during their marriage. He has promised that he won’t keep secrets from her anymore. The actor won Jennifer’s heart once again and asked for forgiveness.
There are claims that stories about Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are nothing but fabricated stories. The two are too focused on their careers that they wouldn’t like to date anyone else for now. Brad Pitt is having a tough time dealing with his divorce with Angelina Jolie. So it is likely that these stories may actually be fabricated.
The Nigerian afro pop singer Yemi Eberechi Alade popularly known has Yemi Alade has brought her fans to the notice of her new song titled “woman of steel.
She made the song titled known on her instagram handle @yemi_alade by writing “yemialade woman of steel” with a pass mark in front of it.
The Nigerian artist is set to feature a well known Nigeria celebrity/actress Funke Akindele in the album.She will also be featuring Grammy award winner Angelina Kidjo and a great music star Duncan Mighty.
Yemi Alade has decided to make this known to her fans so as to set their minds in anticipation and expectations on the album “Woman of steel”.
The Yoruba-Igbo girl as she is being referred based on her father being a Yoruba man and her mother an Igbo woman,has won many multiples award in her musical career including ” best female artist at the WANAmusic award in 2018,
The 30yr old singer is one of the most successful artist in Nigeria and also one of the leading female artists in Africa.
Delectable Nollywood Actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim, 44, has revealed that she had to remove her womb to live a normal life.
The actress who stars in ‘Heaven’s Hell’ which was premiered in the cinemas on Friday, recently shared her story at an event tagged ‘Conversation with Nse.’
Nse also revealed that she was never going to be able to have a baby as she was diagnosed three years ago with Adenomyosis, a condition whereby the inner lining of the uterus breaks through the muscle wall of the uterus.
“I was told I couldn’t have kids,” she said to the now sombre audience.
“And so, I had to have a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) to make me have a life again and to stop going through what I was going through. And I’m literarily telling women and men, it really doesn’t matter if you can’t bear children. What really matters is what you would do for the world, for the universe. Tears dropped and then my husband squeezed my hand. It was reassuring there was someone there and it was telling me that this is reality, my reality.”
The popularly known Nigeria male barbie Idris Okuneyen a.k.a Bobrisky has replied to people questioning him on where his manhood is.
The cross-dresser wrote on his instagram page that he has cut of his manhood. He said, “I have cut off my d-ck, what will a fine girl like me be doing with Gbola”.
He went further to say anyone who is not paying his listed bills and fee and want to have a say in his life, will be punish by God and use the F-word “Fuck You”
Bobrisky set the internet on fire some times last year when he put up the picture he took wearing a coloured wig, his skin bleached, his fans standing with him and his penis protruded in the trouser he was putting on, on his Instagram page.
The Nigeria barbie said he has finally done the real deal now of becoming a complete beautiful woman by cutting off his manhood. Therefore, nobody should question him on his action especially if they are not paying his bills.
