10 Most Powerful Cars on the Market

Most people like power. You don’t have to be passionate about it, but you have to admit that you prefer having power to being powerless. This simple truth is obvious, and you can find it in everything that surrounds us – even our homes and our toys. Passion for power is obvious when you look at some cars. Here are some of the most powerful cars you can buy today.

1. BUGATTI VEYRON 16.4 SUPER SPORT

With a 1,200 horsepower engine, Veyron Super Sport will leave every other vehicle on the road in a cloud of dust. Built with a streamlined appearance, it looks like a hunting cheetah. However, it comes with a bad looking price tag – Bugatti has only sold around 435 of these machines, so far. Reaching a top speed of 252.97 miles per hour, this car uses a set of specialized tires that can only be serviced at a shop in France, for $70,000.

2. FERRARI LAFERARRI

Sometimes called the F150, Ferrari’s LaFerarri kept the same streamlined look that Ferrari fans have always loved. However, this car is powerful, but eco-friendly; the engine is a hybrid, running on petrol and electricity. That doesn’t take away from it’s power, though; with 950 horsepower under the hood, this monster can reach 186 miles per hour in only 15 seconds. It’s top speed is somewhere around 217 miles per hour. The LaFerrari set records on its test course, finishing the entire circuit in 1 minute and 20 seconds, which is faster than any other vehicle Ferrari has ever produced – any that were road-legal, anyway.

3. MCLAREN P1

When people think of electric cars, they don’t often think of speed — they usually think of them in terms of envirnoment, as of nice, silent, decent looking cars that are good enough, but not too impressive when it comes to power.  Therefore, McLaren P1 comes as a surprise. With a 903 horsepower engine, P1 is a powerful hybrid with a top speed of 217 miles per hour; if  you remove the inhibitor, it can reach speeds even higher than that. It hits 62 miles per hour in just 2.8 seconds, and 186 miles per hour in 16.5 seconds, which makes it faster than McLaren F1.

4. PORSCHE 918 SPYDER

With 795 horsepower under the hood, this is the fastest spider you’ll find.  Spyder is also a hybrid, much like LeFerrari and P1. However, it offers something neither of the other two has: four wheel drive. The Spyder can reach 60 miles per hour in just 2.2 seconds, and 100 miles per hour in just 4.9. One of the more readily available powerhouses on the market, Spyder can be yours for just $845,000.

5. FERRARI F12 BERLINETTA

F12 Berlinetta has 730 horsepower packed into a V12 engine. It was named the Supercar of the Year in 2012 by Top Gear magazine. This machine can hit speeds higher than 220 miles per hour and go from 0 to 60 in just 3.1 seconds. Part of its power lies in a lower center of gravity and reduced-weight chassis. Multiple variations of the Berlinetta have been created, including  SP America and  F12 TRS, but these variations tend to be one-off models that are much more difficult to obtain than the standard version.

6. DODGE CHARGER SRT HELLCAT

Capable of delivering amazing 707 horsepower thanks to its great 6.2 liter engine, Hellcat has a top speed of 204 miles per hour. It can reach 60 miles per hour in just 3.7 seconds, making it one of the fastest road-legal cars on the market; however, it comes at a lower price than many other cars on this list, starting at just $59,995. 

7. LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR LP700

Lamborghini has long been known for their finesse and their power, and the Aventador model is no exception. With 690 horsepower under the hood and the ability to reach 62 miles per hour in just 2.9 seconds, it is a powerful vehicle. The 217 miles per hour top speed doesn’t hurt, either. In addition, the Aventador possesses the sleek, streamlined look, similar to other Lamborghini models. It is a popular choice despite having less power compared to other supercars.

8. FERRARI FF

Ferrari FF can deliver 651 horsepower, and comes with an additional feature not often seen in tourers: four-wheel drive. Its top speed is 208 miles per hour, and  it can reach 62 miles per hour in just 3.7 seconds. Ferrari FF is available for $300,000, which makes it cheaper than most other supercars. Only 800 Ferrari FFs were produced during the first year.

9. MCLAREN 650S

McLaren 650S (Spider) is a powerful two-door car with 641 horsepower coming from a 3.8 liter V8 engine. It reaches 62 miles per hour in just 3 seconds flat, and can reach 124 miles per hour in 8.4 seconds. The carbon fiber chassis provides the vehicle with a powerful, yet lightweight frame, allowing it to reach higher speeds in less time. 650S is based on MP4-12C; however, it has roughly 25% different parts which give it 500 ft lbs of torque.

10. SRT VIPER

As part of the famous Dodge Viper line of vehicles, SRT Viper is a powerful machine with 640 horsepower and the top speed of 206 miles per hour. You can buy it for $459,000; however, there is a limited edition package called the Time Attack package that would cost you additional $16,000.  The package adds another 200 pounds of downforce, making the top speed a little lower – 193 miles per hour, but making the vehicle more aerodynamic than before. An interesting thing to note is that it set the production car lap record in 2013, with 1:33:62.

Saraki: The unfolding drama

YOU know that saying: ‘Be careful what you wish for, because you might get it?’  Well, current Senate President, Bukola Saraki is experiencing that feeling at the moment.

I say ‘current Senate President’ because the way things are going, the fine chap might not be presiding over the Senate too much longer.

How did things get to this sorry pass?  There was (is) a change agenda in the firmament but Saraki got the wrong script.  First, he put himself up for the presidency of the Senate against the expressed wish of his current Party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).  But that wasn’t his main crime.  What the APC found most objectionable was that Saraki used the enemy – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – to accomplish that feat.  He had gone too far.

Additionally, there is real fear in some high quarters of what Saraki and his co-conspirators in the PDP could do if they put their minds to it.  Unwittingly, we have been pitched the politics of one-up-manship and blackmail.  Only a careless President and a crazy ruling political Party will leave its future and fortunes to chance giving the situation in the Senate.  So the APC has been obsessively doing one thing after the other to protect its flank.

Act one, scene one, was to drag Saraki’s wife to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in July to answer some nebulous charge of fraud and corruption.  That case is still pending.  Scene two.  The government began formal investigations of various Saraki’s businesses.  This, similarly, is ongoing.  Then one Kennedy Izuagbe, a former director of Societe Generale Bank and the Managing Director of Carlisle Properties and Investment Limited, a Saraki company, was declared wanted by the EFCC.

The latest scene is unfolding now at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).  The APC has only gone and exhumed a presumably tainted thirteen year old Asset Declaration Form and hung it inelegantly around Saraki’s neck.  Of all the ex-governors in Nigeria and more than a decade after the fact, it’s only been discovered that Saraki may have falsely declared his assets.  We have seen this script before: In October 2011, right in the middle of his transformation into a proper Asiwaju, the PDP and Jonathan dragged Tinubu to the same CCT, placed and displayed him in a newly built, finely polished witness cage.  It was a clumsy attempt to stop Tinubu from becoming the bona fide godfather of Southwest politics.  It didn’t work then.

Now?  Who knows.  Unfortunately for Saraki, and contrary to most legal expectations, the Court of Appeal dealt him a quasi fatal blow.  It unceremoniously told Saraki to go and tango with the CCT.  It is one dance too many.  Saraki is being systematically overwhelmed by his own Party.

Act two would follow shortly enough.  You can bet your lunch money that there would be something else.  We all know the routine: if any government decides to go after you, they’ll find something.  It could be that time when you snuck your girlfriend into the back of the Science block for some dry and inconclusive kiss.  Anything!

So you can see where things are headed for brother Saraki.  It goes without saying that no one wants a Senate President who is entangled in a criminal trial – even his colleagues at the Senate would draw the line at that.  Impeachment could be a real possibility if this hot potato is not handled with delicate care.  Resignation is another dreadful possibility.  All the options available to Saraki appear to be ugly ones.  All that energy and guile of sleeping and hiding out in his car at the National Assembly parking lot are bringing him a different set of results today.

As these things go, Saraki’s pool of friends and supporters is drying out fast.  Monies, in Dollars, no less, are being alleged to have come from APC strongmen to induce Senators to abandon him.  This flies directly in the face of President Buhari’s anti-corruption agenda.  But ‘change’ is at stake here and Saraki is apparently not a part of it.  The worse bit is that Saraki is in danger of seeing his 2019 presidential dream crumble even before the referee blows the whistle.  This is the nature of Nigerian reptilian politics.

But Saraki is a fighter, a survivor.  He wouldn’t have got to where he is today if he wasn’t.  He cut his teeth in ultra-conservative Nigerian politics eons ago.  Surely he would push back against the daunting forces arrayed against him?  A tragic-comedy of ambition and raw power unfolds.  Get your popcorn…

Dr. Michael Egbejumi-David,  a medical  practioneer wrote from London.

Were I Senate President Saraki, I would resign today!

By Ogaga Ifowodo
THE formal filing of charges against Senator Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, not to speak of the issuance of a bench warrant for his arrest for failure to appear in court to take his plea, leaves him with only one honourable course of action: resignation in order to clear his name. The alleged offences impeach very seriously his character and integrity, qualities that no leader, if he or she is to enjoy the respect and confidence of his or her peers (as of the electorate) and be effective, cannot afford to have under any shadow of doubt. Certainly not in these hopeful days of change, the real manifestation of which the people await with bated breath.

It is a serious thing to ask an “elected” official to resign his mandate, even though the office here is really only a privilege. Thus, in addition to my unqualified citizenship right to comment on matters of (urgent) national interest, I proffer, unbidden, further bona fides. I am a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress. Had I succeeded in my bid to represent the Isoko people in the House of Representatives, I would be Saraki’s colleague in the National Assembly. And I consider it a matter of honour and duty that Saraki resign from the office he occupies through means considered devious and unbecoming by almost everyone except those boxed into his Amen Corner.

Bukola Saraki

Mostly, though, I make this call as the natural step enjoined on Saraki by the lofty sentiments he espoused and urged on his fellow senators in his inaugural senate address. In just the first four sentences, Saraki had uttered the words honour, honoured, distinguished, respect, faith, trust, humility, responsibility, and duty, repeating “humility” and “honour” as if to be sure that we would notice how much he valued those virtues. By the sixth sentence, he was literally aloft while describing the presidential election of 28 March as a “lofty victory for our country and our democracy.”

All of this, it would appear, was to enable him deploy the phrase “individual ambition” by appearing to deplore that tendency while thanking the senators who elected him for their “courage.” Their support, said Saraki, went beyond “any individual’s ambition.” Curious words, but they remind us that his ambition, writ large for all the world to see, required the absence of nearly all the senate members of his party, and that he got his victory from the defeated party at the ransom price of trading away his party’s capacity for effective legislation towards the transformative change it had promised, the elimination of corruption being a priority.

Yet, taking him at the surface meaning of his words imposes a minimum decorum. At least, for the sake of the integrity of the vaulted office he so doggedly covets, and because he seems not unaware of that ethical responsibility. “Beyond any political party or personal victory” (how the personal and the individual haunt this thoughts!), he said, the 2015 elections marked “a major watershed in the political annals” of our country, a “moment . . .  when our democracy truly came of age . . .  fired by our people’s overwhelming desire for change . . .  [thus imposing] enormous responsibilities . . . on those of us who occupy leadership positions in our respective capacity (sic) at this time [that] can hardly be over-emphasised.”

Well, this unique moment of change is threatened by a heavy cloud of suspicion hanging over the head of the leader of the legislative arm of government. The thirteen felonious charges of non-declaration and false and anticipatory declaration of assets, fraudulent conversion of public funds for personal gain, contravention of the law prohibiting public officials from operating foreign accounts, etc., may well turn out to be unfounded and really an excuse for a witch-hunt (suggesting, ironically, that his own party members whom he thinks are behind his troubles consider him the witch in their midst). Malicious prosecution, as Saraki and his counsel, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, must know is an offence and offers him additional remedy through a post-acquittal action in tort.

Thus, if I were Saraki, knowing that my reputation and moral authority have been grossly tainted, I would jump at the opportunity to restore my name. I would go to any court or tribunal, any forum, properly constituted, to prove my innocence. I would spurn my lawyers’ well-laid obstruction strategy sure to delay my day of vindication. After all, their best outcome can only be legal victory in the stifled courtroom but assured conviction in the open court of public opinion. I would say to my lawyers, “And while you file motions upon motions and cripple the court, how shall I regain the respect and trust of my peers and my party for the serious business of nation-building? What will the people think of me while you grin in self-satisfaction over your cleverness?”

But then if I were Saraki, I would not be in this fine mess in the first place, not having made it past the party primaries for the House of “undistinguished” Representatives. And faced with felonious charges aimed at proving my ultimate unsuitability for public office, at destroying my public career, I would sooner have witch-hunters as my prosecutors than the more down-to-earth citizens in the streets. Which is why, on my honour, I would resign and hasten to court to clear my name.

How the US is expanding its fight against extremism in Africa

Numerous worldwide threats exist across almost every part of the planet including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. This typically puts Africa at the bottom of the pecking order.

But America is taking more notice of the African continent due to the expansion of extremist organisations operating in Africa like al-Qaeda, al-Shabbab, Ansar al-Sharia, al-Murabitun, Boko Haram, Islamic State (IS) and others.

The four main threats

Islamic extremist organisations operating inside Libya, Nigeria, northwest Africa and Somalia pose the largest substantial threats to the African people and their international partners like the US.

The situation in Libya, also referred to as “Somalia on the Med”, has spiralled out of control since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011. Fighters from Ansar al-Sharia, IS and others control territory and operate and train with impunity. The US strategy here is to contain the situation by supporting its allies like Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia.

The second main threat comes from Somalia and al-Shabaab. Despite a robust African Union mission supported by a host of African and international countries, the group continues to execute lethal attacks within Somalia’s borders, as well in countries like Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

The US strategy is to support partner operations by helping to plan and co-ordinate operations and to support maritime security efforts in the region. For instance, the US donated US$92.4 million to the Kenyan Defence Forces in August for soldier training and new equipment acquisitions.

The third main threat comes from Northwest Africa and al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM). The strategy is to support France. AQIM is France’s number one overseas problem, and they understand this is not a short term fight. In May, the US gave France US$35 million to support their operations in Chad, Niger and Mali, but also to help combat the threat posed by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Boko Haram recently pledged its allegiance to IS, meaning its aim is now to establish a caliphate in West Africa rather than just Northern Nigeria.

The US strategy is to help Nigeria and neighbouring countries get back into the fight. Under a new joint US Department of State and US Department of Defense initiative, the Global Security Contingency Fund, the US will contribute US$40 million to the governments of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. This money is to train and equip their military and civilian forces and to lay the groundwork for increased cross-border co-operation against Boko Haram.

A last threat, but not at the same level as the other four, is the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Led by Joseph Kony, the LRA is believed to still be carrying out small-scale attacks around the border region of the Central African Republic, DRC, South Sudan and Uganda.

The US first deployed 100 special forces in 2011 to support the search for LRA commanders. The US strategy is to continue supporting its African partners, particularly Uganda, through a Special Operations Command Africa-led operation.

Barriers to success

Africa’s gigantic size makes the operations difficult.

In war, the military needs overhead imagery to provide crucial intelligence. If satellites are not available, drones are the other option. But due to the location of the airports the US military uses and the sheer distance between areas, flying a drone from one location to another at 80-90 knots can hypothetically mean only 30 minutes to one hour of actual intelligence out of 16 hours flying time.

Troops are too far from each other in Somalia, making communication and movement difficult. In March, the US helped combat the air support problem by donating two Cessna 208B aircraft as a token of appreciation for Uganda’s counterterrorism and security efforts.

From an ideological viewpoint, it is hard to fight extremist threats because of their effective narrative. They are fighting under an ideology they claim is powered by God. This is difficult to counter. Negative socioeconomic factors only exacerbate the situation.

All of these operations equate to money. Until 2014 when transitions were made in Afghanistan and Iraq to an “advise and assist” role, most of this money was not going to the US military’s African Command but to Central Command responsible for America’s security interests in 20 nations, stretching through the Arabian Gulf region into Central Asia.

Even when money is available and military training of partner nations is going well, what is the US to do if the newly trained and equipped African defence force is used elsewhere, say to squash internal uprisings?

The good news?

The good news is that the new US defence budget of US$534 billion is the largest ever. AFRICOM is to get 2% more after a 6.5% cut the year before. The US is expanding African operations. This includes new US military facilities in countries like Niger.

It was announced in August that jet fuel is now available at Zinger Airport in Niger enabling American planes to make pit stops. This is in addition to the new US drone base in Niamey and another refurbished airstrip in the fringe of the Sahara Desert, all closely located to Boko Haram’s operating territory.

Expect more US-Nigerian military cooperation with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a US Army War College alumnus, in command. Washington refused to sell US-made Cobra fighter-helicopters to Nigeria during President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency due to concerns over the protection of civilians when conducting military operations.

Strides are already being made on certain fronts. In 2008, the LRA had approximately 800 troops. Today it has about 190 to 200. US Special Forces are even using Ugandan music and a famous song, Come Home, to encourage defections.

The FBI recently sent officers to Uganda to assist with investigations in relation to the International Criminal Court trial of ex-LRA Commander Dominic Ongwen. Of the five indicted LRA commanders only two Ongwen and Joseph Kony are still alive. The latter is still on the run.

This new multifront and multidimensional battle is different from the 1990s when Osama bin Laden was based in Sudan. America is doing what it can to assist and will be doing more. There is increased overall multilateral support, but there can always be more. Africa itself can always do more. Without security there is no “Africa Rising”.

There are three “Ds” of America’s security strategy: diplomacy, development and defence. We cannot downplay the importance of the military and defence, but diplomacy is terribly underfunded. America’s military has more members in its 158 military bands than diplomats in the State Department in the US and abroad. In the long term, you can’t shoot your way out of this one.

Nigeria: My Ordeal in Kidnappers' Den - Olu Falae

The former secretary to government of the federation ,SGF, Chief Olu Falae, yesterday regained his freedom from his abductors who kept him in their den for four days.

Falae who was abducted on his birthday by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen at his farm at Ilado Village in Akure North local government area of the state, also narrated his ordeal in the hands of his abductors.

He revealed that it was hell being in the kidnappers' den because he was forced to sleep on the bare floor for the four days that he spent with them.

In his discussion with the Ondo State governor Olusegun Mimiko, who paid him a visit at his Oba-Ile residence, Falae said when he told kidnappers that his family could only raise N2million out of the N100million they demanded, they rejected it and queried, "Is it Boko Haram you are giving N2million to?"

All efforts to officially speak with him were disallowed by his children who kept saying "go back; Baba wants to rest; he cannot talk to you now".

But the Afenifere chieftain was said to have disclosed to his close associates and family that he was made to trek from Ilado to Owo, which is a distance of about 30 kilometres.

The source said, "Baba has just narrated his ordeal to some of us. His abductors made him trek from his farm to Owo. Baba also said he was sleeping on the ground since his kidnap.

"We can't say if any ransom was paid for his release. According to Baba, when he told the kidnappers that his family only had N2million, they asked him if he thought the amount was enough for Boko Haram."

The inspector general of police, Solomon Arase, said no ransom was paid before the Afenifere chieftain secured his freedom, adding that policemen had been making efforts to rescue Falae since Monday.

The police boss did not deny or confirm the arrest of any of the kidnappers, saying he would disclose that later.

He said, "Security challenges like this are a new trend. They are an emerging trend. It is not only localised in Nigeria. It is a global thing. We are going to devise strategies to ensure that hoodlums cannot overwhelm any state in the country. It is not possible.

"We will continue to disgrace them; we will continue to catch them. Right from Monday when he was kidnapped, policemen had been working underground. No ransom was paid. I will let you know if anybody was apprehended later."

Also speaking, Governor Mimiko expressed happiness at the rescue of Falae.

Mimiko said, "We are happy he is back. We thank God he is back both safe and sound. We are just happy that he is back. I was praying he would come back safely because there could be very deep security dimensions to it.

"So, we thank God he is back. Naturally, one is also worried as a Nigerian that the issue of kidnapping is taking another dimension in Nigeria.

"Somebody of his pedigree was taken away from his farm while working on the farm. For us, these are very serious security challenges. And I think we must address this."

It was like the Biblical triumphant entry for the elder statesman as he was cheered by scores of his friends, family and people of Ilu Abo town, where he is a traditional ruler. The people were singing and dancing to welcome the arrival of their patriarch.

How IGP coordinated Land, Air Operations To Free Falae

The Nigeria Police Force has revealed how the Inspector -General of Police , Mr Solomon Arase, personally coordinated the aerial and land operations that resulted in the successful rescue of Falae from his abductors.

According to a statement by the force spokesperson, Olabisi Kolawole, Arase coordinated both operations to ensure freedom for the former secretary to the federal government.

Falae was kidnapped four days ago by suspected Fulani herdsmen from his home in Owo, Ondo State.

But the development prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to issue an ultimatum to the IGP to ensure his immediate release from the kidnappers' den.

"The rescue of Chief Olu Falae from his captors on September 24, 2015 was made possible as the IGP Solomon Arase, coordinated both aerial and land operations to ensure the freedom of the former presidential candidate of the SDP.

"The operation which started in the early hours of the aforementioned date, combed every nook and cranny of Ondo State till success was achieved in Owo," Kolawole said.

The spokesperson further said the IGP later reunited Falae with his family and warned that the police and other security agencies are everywhere to deal decisively with miscreants who intend to test the capabilities of the Force.

Pointing out that the police would leave no stone unturned to arrest the perpetrators who were still on the run, Kolawole also said that Olu Falae was hale and hearty at the time of his rescue.

Nigeria: Sharks, Dolphins Battle for Survival as Pillars Entertain Wolves

The cities of Aba and Kano will host the star matches in this weekend Nigeria Premier League Week 31 games just as the oil city of Port Harcourt host the derby of strugglers.

In Aba, it will be a game between table toppers Enyimba FC and third placed Wikki Tourist FC of Bauchi that is expected to set the commercial town on 'fire'.

Enyimba with 54 points who have not lost at home this season will be taking on Wikki with 36 goals for and 27 against with a plus 7 goals advantage in a game that will decide where the title will go at the close of the season.

Enyimba will want to consolidate their lead on the log just as Wikki will want to shock Enyimba in Aba to brighten their chance of winning the league.

Speaking to SHOT! during the week, Wikki's sweat merchant Abdu Maikaba said the game in Aba tomorrow is crucial to their aspiration to win the league crown for the first time.

"I am happy we are doing well. I must tell you my players are in good shape to take on any team in the race for the title and as we engage Enyimba on Sunday, I see the match as the one that will decide if we are going to win the league.

"Enyimba is a good side any day but you cannot rule us out as we have what it takes to tackle them right in front of their home crowd. My players know the importance of this game and our winning it will give our title drive a great lift. I believe with God and hard work we will get it," he said.

In Kano, Pillars will be hosting second placed Warri Wolves inside the Sani Abacha stadium. The boys from Delta will want to see if they can hand Pillars their second home defeat this season.

Pillars who appear to be crawling back into the top of the log will not give the Coach Paul Aigbogun side any space to operate as they will unleash their deadly strikers Hassan Adamu, Tony Edjomarigwe, Moses Ekpai and top striker Gambo Mohammed on the Wolves.

Port Harcourt will witness the game of strugglers as relegation threatened Sharks FC and Dolphins FC battle for the three points at stake in the local derby.

Sharks FC is currently placed 17th with 33 points as against Dolphins 15th position with 34 points on the log. The game is expected to be keenly contested as the battle to survive the drop from the top league between the two sides will be upper most in the heart of the players.

In other matches, Sunshine Stars will take on Abia Warriors FC in Akure, Rangers will be home against Kwara United, Lobi Stars will host Shooting Stars.

Relegation fighters Bayelsa United will confront Heartland FC in Oghara, El-Kanemi Warriors will be guest of FC Taraba in Jalingo while FC IfeanyiUbah tackles Giwa FC in Nnewi.

Nigeria: Banking Digital Disrupters

Essentially... the new barbarians are in our midst; and they are not just a first world phenomenon. Given how much they have made life easier elsewhere, we ought to welcome this development.

Much has been made of how the revolution in information and communications technology (ICT) has helped improve the ease of access to and convenience of use of services across economies -- from banking through commerce. In manufacturing, the disruption has been less sanguine. Automation has wiped out much work that previously depended on brawns on the shop floor. It is currently threatening middle level workplace functions (that include large repetitive content).

So complete is the ICT disruption that even our contemporary Luddites are equally bothered. They understand the need to rally against this new machine age. Yet cannot ignore the irony of having to carry out much of their organising through smartphones and the internet.

In those places where this impact has been felt the most, the demographic context has compensated. With many of the countries in the OECD struggling with falling birth numbers and the greying of their societies, robots have usefully taken up the slack.

For frontier emerging markets, like Nigeria, much of the conversation around these phenomena and the trends around them (how the sharing economy, for instance, threatens to re-define what "work" means), therefore, have occurred in spite of us. We have been spectators of a sort.

 what all of the telcos are doing with their call credit is, strictly speaking, "retail lending"; and it is on a daily basis far bigger than what most of our local banks do.

Then I get told, first, that MTN, the leading domestic telecommunications company may have ceased to define itself as a telco since 2011. On one hand, given the size of its call credit business, analysts have started describing it as the leading lender in the domestic space. The numbers that I have heard being discussed are mind-boggling. I do not have official numbers, and so I am loth to repeat them here. But it suffices to say that what all of the telcos are doing with their call credit is, strictly speaking, "retail lending"; and it is on a daily basis far bigger than what most of our local banks do. Second, MTN seems to have acquired a license to stream pay-tv through phones on its GSM network.

Then there is the case of Nigeria's leading shopping mall chain. Yes, Shoprite. It would seem that management there has decided to acquire a license to provide transaction switching and electronic payments processing services. On the back of this, the markets expect that Shoprite would begin to issue electronic cards to their customers.

Essentially, therefore, the new barbarians are in our midst; and they are not just a first world phenomenon. Given how much they have made life easier elsewhere, we ought to welcome this development.

There is but one difficulty. These digital barbarians are knocking at a gate about which economies like ours are unnecessarily finicky: the banking sector. There are a number of threats in these developments for the banks. First is the danger from customers of these businesses keeping "wallets" with them. As our nascent e-retail businesses have demonstrated, these wallets make both payments and refunds easier; and so make sense.

However, every wallet that each customer of our new ecommerce businesses opens with the digital disrupters is deposit fleeing the banks. Worse, is that the banks still get saddled with the vault cash management expenses associated with these wallets. Then there is the distinct possibility that the ecommerce operations may then aggregate their respective customers' "wallets" and return same to the banks at much higher deposit rates.

Our banks should join in the disruption of their currently staid operations as part of the process of improving customers' experience... It would help even more, if the regulators could learn to stay out of the way while these changes are afoot.

It could get worse, when you consider that these businesses have proven more adept at mining customer data than our banks have been. In which case, from "customer buying behaviour" data to insights on their spending patterns, chances are that these businesses would be able to build databases on their customers that would make any credit bureau livid, and eventually lend more profitably to their retail customers.

On these measures, the danger to what the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) calls "deposit money banks" is not just of their respective lunch packs being expropriated by these insurgents. It is that they run the risk of being redefined out of existence.

Okay!!! I exaggerate. But only a bit. It is easy to point to the West and indicate that even more robust challenges to the financial services sector there from non-bank insurgents has not removed the former's raison d'être. However, peculiarities in our space lend all the difference. The default setting of our banks is regulatory protection. The default setting of our financial sector regulators is "bank cossetting".

Together these would ensure that the banks' response to these digital disrupters would be to raise and reinforce the battlements that separate "their business" from commerce. This would be the instinctive thing to do; but it would not necessary be a wise response.

Ease of access. Convenience of use. These are the new tests of businesses' value propositions in the digital age. Our banks should join in the disruption of their currently staid operations as part of the process of improving customers' experience.

It would help even more, if the regulators could learn to stay out of the way while these changes are afoot.

Nigeria: Zero Budgeting Policy May Render Some MDAs Redundant in 2016

Abuja — There are indications that the new zero-budgeting policy of the present administration may render several ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs) idle in 2016 as they could be denied of capital votes for project implementation.

It followed government's decision to dump the hitherto envelope or incremental budgeting system, whereby capital votes were indiscriminately allocated to agencies and parastatals annually for projects, with minimal results often achieved.

But faced with serious fiscal challenges occasioned by the drastic drop in oil prices, which had more than halved government revenues, the present administration of President Muhammmadu Buhari has resolved to cut costs and prioritise spendings to projects that would have immediate impact on Nigerians.

THISDAY gathered that as a result, government has decided that only MDAs which fall within its prioritised programmes would be allocated capital votes in 2016.

By implication, other MDAs would be left without funding to undertake capital projects next year and this has already caused anxiety for most of them.

The fears stemmed from the fact that such agencies could fall victim of the proposed move to rationalise public institutions, it was further gathered.

Speaking in an interview with THISDAY on the new zero budgeting policy of government, Secretary to the National Planning Commission (NPC), Mr. Bassey Akpanyung, said it would not be business as usual for project implementation in the country.

He said: "We are not going to use incremental where you have to add on the budget you had from the previous year and go on; what it really means is that we are just starting as if there was no programme at all and then we look at specific sectors that are priority to government and decide which project we want to implement, look at the pros and cons, the multiplier effects of that project and linkages to the economy and then decide that it is worth implementing and then we set money on it with the feasibility study that has been done and then the proper costing and then we put money on it and implement it to the end."

He said rather than give small amount of capital allocations to all the MDAs "which ends up not getting any project completed" government would now select specific core MDAs and core sectors and consider projects that'll actualise the policy of government."

According to him: "If the MDAs are those that are priority-and that's where the thrust of the government is-surely, they'll get their capital budget but if it's those ones that are not on the priority, then maybe not in 2016, may be in 2017 because there's no MDAs that's not essential to the economy.

"But then we are going to be facing the implementation of the capital project to just ensure that it is those essential projects and programmes that speak directly to the policy of government that are implemented."

Continuing, he said: "We pick a particular policy like the social protection policy; what specific programmes are we going to be doing there-we do the costing-how many people are going to be covered and once we decide that these are the numbers we are going to cover, this is the amount of money and then government budgets directly on it irrespective of what had happened in the past."

APC NWC meets, to discuss ministerial list, Osinbajo/El-Rufai clash, others

A meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will hold today, Monday.

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun summoned the emergency meeting, according to a Vanguard report.

Issues listed for discussion include President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list expected to reach the Senate this week.

APC is reportedly worried about Buhari’s attitude of not consulting officials of the party in the appointment of his cabinet.

The APC NWC will also look into the face-off between the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, referred to in some quarters as the ‘unofficial Vice President’.

El-Rufai was alleged to have made an uncomplimentary remark on Osinbajo, who protested and eventually walked out of a meeting, which had Buhari in attendance.

Before leaving, a furious Osinbajo allegedly told Buhari: “I am an elected Vice President and would not sit down here and allow a governor to insult me.”

An NWC member told Vanguard that the leadership of APC was not comfortable with the incident and would not sit idly while the Vice President was being treated as a puppet.

The source noted that the crises in APC, especially the management of the party’s success at the general elections, was becoming a big headache for members.

Another issue is the power rift between former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, former governor of Osun State, Bisi Akande and national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, over who becomes APC Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman.

Also to be discussed at the meeting is the feud between Tinubu and the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki.

Similarly, the disrupted Bayelsa governorship primary held on September 22 will be raised.

The outcome has led to a media war between Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole and former governor of Bayelsa State, Timi Sylva.

Nigeria: JP Morgan - a Wake-Up Call

As the frenzy over the decision by JP Morgan to phase out Nigeria from its Government Bond Index for Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) effective from October 30, 2015 begins to die down we draw attention to the need to adopt measures that would extricate Nigeria's economy from whims of foreign investors.

The GBI/EM index gives international credibility to economies for foreign investments. Nigeria was admitted in 2012 with JP Morgan suggesting then that the inclusion would translate into inflows of about USD1.5 billion. But by August the 2015 total investments were worth USD2.8 billion, indicating huge foreign investment interest in the Nigerian market.

Sadly, however, in January this year, JP Morgan placed Nigeria on Index Watch signaling a withdrawal of interest in reaction to measures by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which they claim to have impeded the ability of foreign investors to access the foreign exchange market.

In response, the CBN, Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and Debt Management Office (DMO) issued a joint statement saying, in a nutshell, that their overriding concern is for Nigeria and the interest of Nigerians and would only continue to take economic decisions that will impact positively on the lives of all Nigerians.

We hereby identify with and support our government institutions in their efforts to protect the Nigerian economy in the face of seeming threats to our domestic economic interests. In as much as Nigeria desires and needs foreign investment inflows, it is important to begin to appraise the type of foreign investment that should be encouraged.

Measures taken in the recent past had included a removal of foreign investment restrictions opening the door to the unprecedented volume of foreign portfolio investments (FPI's). But these FPI's move out quickly at the slightest presentation of risk. Just within 10 days of the JP Morgan announcement about USD1.2 billion worth of FPI's has left the Nigerian financial market and the exit is continuing.

They can actually pull out everything in one week or less. Stocks on the Morgan Stanley and Barclays Indices are now volatile. Financial institutions with large investments in bonds could record huge market losses in the near term.

The Nigerian economic and monetary authorities should therefore restructure the economy to present stronger incentives for the longer term FDI's, build domestic factors of production and bridge the deficits in critical infrastructure.

They should take measures to stimulate the comatose real sectors, domestic investment and reduce the cost of doing business by influencing interest rates downwards. Additional focus should be on controlling inflation and maintaining a steady foreign exchange regime.

Our JP Morgan delisting could be a blessing in disguise to the economy depending on the federal government's response to it.

Eid-El-Kabir: Buhari Orders Military, Security Agencies to Provide Maximum Security

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Armed Forces and national security agencies to provide maximum security across the nation during Eid-El-Kabir prayers and celebrations, especially in areas most vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

The president, in a statement to celebrate Eid El Kabir which was signed  by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu‎, assured all Nigerians that their safety and security remained the highest priorities of his government.

Buhari seized the opportunity to extend heartfelt commiserations to families in Maiduguri and North-Eastern Nigeria who lost beloved relatives in recent terrorist attacks.

The president said his  thoughts and prayers for divine solace were with all those who lost loved ones   to mindless terrorists, at a time when others were celebrating Eid-El-Kabir.

Eid el kabir: Imbibe values of love, peaceful co-existence – Ambode urges Muslims

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday called on Muslims in Nigeria to imbibe the values of peaceful co-existence and brotherly love as they join their counterparts worldwide to celebrate this year’s Eid-el-Kabir.

In his goodwill message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Habib Aruna, Governor Ambode said since Islam preaches the message of peace and tolerance, every Nigerian should embrace brotherly love and harmonious co-existence.

He also enjoined Muslim faithful to pray for continued peace and tranquillity in the state and the nation, especially in the North East.

While urging Muslims to shun religious extremism, which according to him, is a challenging development for the country, the Governor described those who hide under the veil of religion to perpetrate terrorism as being ignorant to the teachings of Islam as nobody can fight for God.

“You cannot fight to protect an authority that we owe our existence to or on behalf of one who is greater than the sum total of us,” he said.

He explained that the significance of the season should be beyond the festivities, rather it should be a moment to reflect on why God has united everyone with a common humanity of blood, food and water as these should constitute what binds the people.

“As we celebrate this auspicious occasion, therefore, let us renew our faith in our nation and implore the Almighty Allah to restore to us those values that place high premium on human life, love of neighbour and sharing even as we ventilate our faith in the unity of our dear country and the possibility of her taking her proper place in the comity of nations”, the Governor said.

He expressed appreciation for the support given to the present administration, and sought for the sustenance of the peaceful co-existence in the midst of diversity of ethnic origin and religion in the state.

While wishing all Muslim brothers and sisters in the State a happy Eid-el-Kabir celebration, Governor Ambode enjoined Nigerians in other parts of the country to take a cue from Lagos and continued to be their brothers’ keepers.