In a little over a year, Aiteo Group, a leading energy company in Nigeria, under the leadership of Benedict Peters has ramped up crude production to 90,000 bpd from an average production of the 23,000 bpd after acquiring OML 29 for $2.8 billion from Shell at a time when local oil companies struggled to manage divested assets.

OML29 stretches over an area of 983 square kilometres, and includes the Nembe, Santa Barbara and Okoroba Oil Fields, including related facilities such as the 97-kilometre Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL). It also has a 100 kilometres long pipeline with a capacity of 600 thousand barrels per day.

In March 2015, Aiteo Eastern E & P, a subsidiary of Aiteo Group, acquired SPDC’s interest in OML 29 and the NCTL. Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited – the other joint venture partners – also assigned their 10 percent and 5 percent interests respectively to Aiteo, giving the company a 45 percent interest in OML 29.

The bold acquisition has not only ramped up Nigeria’s crude production to the 1.8million bpd prior to militant attacks, It has proven that that indigenous companies can successfully operate an oil asset. The company also highlighted several existing and developing projects that could potentially grow its asset production to over 150,000bpd and 200 million standard cubic feet of gas daily in the near future

“Our outlook is bright with 3 producing oil fields and viable crude exports via Bonny terminal. We also have contingent resources to appraise and prospective ones to explore in the medium-to-long term, including full 3D seismic coverage and 2P NNS reserves of more than 1.6bn bbl. Put simply, we have a clear vision for the future with the experience and assets crucial to providing oil and gas consistently on a regional and global scale,” said Peters in a statement.

Some months down the line, this legacy achievement is impacting lives and has created significant direct and indirect employment in Nigeria’s highly competitive oil and gas industry.

Aiteo legitimately secured the oil bock after a keenly contested but transparent divestment bid driven by Shell. The funding of Aiteo’s acquisition was made possible through a combination of debt and equity involving several Nigerian and international banks. All these entities conducted stringent and substantial due diligence before backing the Aiteo Consortium’s bid for the oil block, adjudged one of the most transparent in the history of Nigeria.
Aiteo Group, since its formation in 1999 by a young ambitious Benedict Peters, has transformed into Nigeria’s pre-eminent energy conglomerate with an international focus. It is leading the vanguard with innovative solutions and strategic investments across the energy value chain – petroleum products storage and distribution; natural gas, power and exploration as well as production. The Group’s subsidiaries include Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited (AEEPCo), Aiteo Downstream and Aiteo Power.
As Executive Vice Chairman, Peters has been responsible for directing the company in terms of strategic development, policy formulation and execution.
“Our group’s vision is to create the most sustainable energy solutions to power growth on the African continent. By working together, we inspire people and communities across Africa to have a collective vision; Aiteo is showing its commitment to encouraging a transformed energy sector which creates health and wellness as well as resilient economic prosperity across its stakeholders. We have shown by our story that indigenous oil companies are competent enough to participate along with international oil majors in the exploration and development of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources, beyond the provisions of the 2010 local content act,” says Peters.
Aiteo has very strong ambitions still. It has already identified several existing and developing projects that could potentially grow its asset production to over 150,000bpd, with a vision to provide oil and gas consistently on a regional and global scale.
In the last one year, Aiteo has also made significant investments in sports development. In April 2017, the company announced a record N2.5 billion partnership agreement with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to pay the salaries of the Super Eagles’ coaching crew at N500 million per annum for the next five years. This social investment, which covers all the local and foreign components of the NFF’s financial obligations for the main team, earned the company the title ‘Official Optimum Partner of the NFF.’
This decision has made a two-pronged impact. It has put paid to the problem of delayed payments affecting the morale of our coaches and the Super Eagles’ performance, resulting in Nigeria’s qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup.
“We are fulfilled that the Super Eagles have qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Nigerians are passionate about football and as a company, we are passionate about things which unite Nigerians. We are committed to ensuring that Nigeria’s national soccer teams are well managed and primed to bring glory to our nation at all tournaments,” said Benedict Peters after the Super Eagles’ much-celebrated qualification.
Acknowledging Aiteo’s support for the Super Eagles, NFF President Amaju Pinnick said: “Our teams are focused and show technical depth and excellence, thanks to AITEO’s financial intervention. The Nigerian soccer team is inspired, confident and relaxed that all bills are paid as opposed to the former times when players and coaches paid for their expenses themselves, all were dejected and most were hardly reimbursed.”
Amidst the euphoria, Aiteo did not neglect a key player on the national team whose contributions were interrupted by health challenges. It therefore committed to and redeemed a pledged to contribute N10 Million towards the treatment of Super Eagles goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme, for every goal scored by the Eagles against the indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the return leg in Yaounde. Ikeme was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in July, 2017.
As an indigenous oil company, Aiteo has also made significant contributions towards developing the local football league. In June 2017, the company announced another N2.5 billion agreement to underwrite the costs associated with organising the Federation Cup, Nigeria’s equivalent of the English FA Cup and which is the oldest football tournament in Nigeria. The contest, rechristened Aiteo Cup, had been struggling for sponsorship before Aiteo’s intervention. The 5-year package guarantees a monetary reward for the tournament’s best performing teams, with the winner of the men’s category guaranteed N25 million as prize money while their female counterparts will get N10 million for winning.
In October 2017, Aiteo also signed a partnership agreement with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to sponsor the Annual CAF Awards 2018, which honours footballers who have made outstanding contributions to the development of football development on the continent.
As a tribute to the company’s support for football development, international football governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), extended a special invitation to Aiteo’s Deputy Managing Director Francis Peters to attend the recent FIFA Best Football Awards in London.
The company’s marks is outside sports, Aiteo is also committed to host community development. As such, it shares economic benefits with these communities by providing work opportunities, offering training programmes and supporting local businesses.
Aiteo has a clear vision for the future with the experience and assets crucial to providing oil and gas consistently on a regional and global scale. The company is currently developing a pipeline of power generation projects across the country with an ambitious five-year plan which includes transforming the oil-rich Niger Delta region into a power generation hub and ultimately tackling Nigeria’s power challenges through its legacy investments in the gas-to-power value chain. It is also working on developing a 24,000 MT LPG facility in the Delta with associated LPG distributing facilities nationwide.
Aiteo Power is developing a gas-to-power strategy by leveraging its power and upstream capabilities. It is utilizing the significant gas resources in OML 29 that would see the oil rich Niger Delta region become a hub for power generation in Nigeria. Aiteo Power is also a supporter of renewable, clean energy; developing multiple solar energy power projects within the sub-Sahara African region.
For its belief in Nigeria and significant investments in football and community development in the last one year, BusinessDay’s board of editors is pleased to name Aiteo ‘Company of the Year 2017’.

https://www.businessdayonline.com/aiteo-group-emerges-businessdays-company-year-2017/

NIGERIA is a country of surprises. Each time things seem to take a turn for the worse, some surprise development will occur to raise hope in the future of our country. This has happened over and over again in our tortuous history.. The recent surprise turn around in the state of security in Anambra State approximates one such development. The security miracle in Anambra State is taking place at a time the nation has virtually lost hope in the face of widespread threats to lives and property in Nigeria by a wide range of criminals some of whom have directly and successfully challenged the Nigerian state in armed uprisings that approximate to a civil war. Beginning with the OPC challenge of the late 1990s in the South West, to the Militancy in the Niger Delta, the Boko Haram terror group and Herdsmen have taken the nation by storm, killing, maiming and destroying lives and property across the country on a regular basis. The IPOB recently joined in the mayhem, even as commercial kidnapping spreads from the South East and South South to the North and the South West. In the North Central and North East Herdsmen have turned whole geopolitical regions into a theatre of war and bloodshed. Southern Kaduna has witnessed a sustained bloody war between Herdsmen and indigenous communities, while Zamfara has become a theatre of bloody attacks by cattle rustlers year in year out with horrible tales of bloodshed and destruction of entire communities along the border with Niger Republic. While most governors keep running to Abuja cap in hand to beg for federal intervention, Governor Willie Obiano, a fresh hand on the job in his first term as Governor decided to take the bull by the horns: He won’t accept the fate that had befallen Anambra for almost two generations as the most crime infested state in the South East of Nigeria. Name it: Kidnapping, armed robbery, MASOB violence, cult wars: All combined to make Anambra a true hell in the South East. Suddenly even Ndi Anambra began to flee the State, while annual Yam festivals and Christmas holidays witnessed fewer and fewer people coming home! The economy nosedived into prolonged stagnation as the highly industrious and commercial people of Anambra moved their businesses to other parts of the country. Believing that he must take the destiny of his people firmly into his own hands, Governor Obiano decided to prioritise security as a number one programme on assumption of office in 2014. building on the initial work of his predecessor. Obiano engaged the security sector through a well thought out and well funded intervention, working through the Police and all the other Security Agencies. Through consistent visioning, planning, partnership and supply of equipment, funding and motivation of the security agencies, Obiano gradually and firmly turned the tables against kidnappers and other armed criminals who had made Anambra the epicenter of their nefarious and destructive operations for decades. He followed this up with community policing and awareness campaign backed by consistent leadership. Within two years of his tenure: the impossible began to happen: all the hardened criminals and their networks began to relocate from Anambra to other parts of the country! Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi began to witness calm and serene peace. Today bank and shop robberies have abated. The high ways are safer. Neighbourhoods now witness less and less crimes and night life has actually returned to Onisha of all places! The State has started to witness a new lease of life. Ndi Anambra can testify that coming home now is done with more confidence. The result is the huge dividends being recorded in sharp upsurge in economic growth in the last few years. Gradually Anambra has become a leading destination for inflow of foreign direct investments in commerce, industry, agriculture, manufacturing, and air and land transportation. Even as Nigeria roiled in one of the most disastrous economic recessions in the last three years, Anambra witnessed high annual GDP growth of between 12 and 16 per cent in the Obiano years. Not only has Anambra taken the lead in rice and vegetable production, it has become a modest earner in foreign exchange from the export of vegetables. The State has continued stable growth in investment grossing $7 USD in three years. Hotels in Awka and Onitsha are filled up on daily basis as business continues to boom in Anambra State. Internal revenue generation also continues to witness steady growth to the extent that from last September, Governor Obiano started paying salaries and wages without waiting for allocations from the Federation Account. This in spite of the fact that he rejected all the bail out loans offered by the Federal Government to other states to pay backlogs of salary arrears. He owes no worker or pensioner a dime in Anambra State. The icing on the cake of the investment dividends improved security and business environment have brought to Anambra State was the recent announcement by Chinese investors to build an international Cargo Airport City in Anambra State worth 2.6 Billion US Dollars. The Airport which groundbreaking ceremony was performed a few weeks ago will be the biggest in West Africa on completion, and all without a dime from Anambra State treasury. In just three years Governor Obiano has proven that State Governors can, and indeed have a responsibility to provide their people with security of lives and property. He has also demonstrated the maxim that security is the foundation of economic growth and prosperity. The Obiano security model shows clearly that absence of leadership at the State level is largely responsible for the insecurity in Nigeria. As Anambra returns to the polls on November 18 to choose who among the 37 candidates will lead the State in the next four years, incumbent Governor Obiano has proven in three years that fixing Nigeria’s security crisis can indeed be done within reasonable timeline. The missing link is focused leadership, the right priority, funding and the motivation of our security agencies to do the job! Governor Obiano has restored our hope: That a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria is indeed possible if our leaders at all levels are willing to do their job with focus, patriotism and commitment. By Kenechukwu Ezenwoke, rote from Awka, Anambra State.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/obianos-imprints-security/

Preciousnelly19:

Abeg ask him oooo. The last time I checked, he is Peter Obi the Politician and not Saint Obi

He wants to be a godfather. . . Dont mind him

Oviconji:
Obiano is nothing but a lieing, scamming, betrayal and backstabber. Simple!!!

Obiano is the best option we have

IgwePeace:
Obiano spent N44bn on 101 inherited projects – commissioner

Mr Mark Okoye, the Anambra Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, has said that the Gov. Willie Obiano’s administration had spent N44 billion on projects inherited from his predecessor.

Okoye told Newsmen in Awka on Friday that Obiano, who assumed office on March 17, 2014 inherited 101 projects from the former Gov Peter Obi’s administration out of which 51 have been completed.

He said it was not true to say that the current government in Anambra was not doing anything on capital projects.

“N44 billion has been spent on inherited projects, there are 101 of them and 51 of them have been completed.

“Another N30 billion was spent on projects initiated by this administration and are at various stages of completion. It will be unfair to say that we have not done anything on infrastructure.

“You cannot keep the over 48, 000 civil servants both at the state and local government levels hungry because you want to build infrastructure alone,” he said.

The commissioner said Obiano deserved second term because “he had done noble’’ by ensuring that the economy of Anambra remained viable and did not go into recession.

He said there had been steady increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Anambra since the inception of Obiano administration which he attributed to the economic policy direction of the governor.

Okoye said that it was not true that the government had spent over N400 billion cumulatively in the budget proposal from 2014 till date.

He said the total expenditure for the period was about N270 billion as budget implementation for any fiscal year had not exceeded 65 per cent.

“There has been steady growth in our state economy. “In 2013, our GDP was N2.8 trillion, in 2014 when this administration came in, it was about N3.2 trillion; it rose to about N3.7 trillion in 2015 and to N3.8 trillion in 2016; it means Anambra did not go into recession.

“This is possible because of the economic policy implemented by the Willie Obiano’s administration through his developmental agenda.

“A budget is essentially a proposal which is sent to the legislature for approval and if accepted it subjected to implementation.

“Implementation is driven by revenue which is sourced internally and externally, and in these years, maximum budget implementation was 65 per cent and if you discount 35 per cent from that figure you will see that the total expenditure is between N260 billion and N270 billion.

“Half of that expenditure goes into recurrent expenditure like payment of salaries, gratuities and pensions.

"About 120, 000 school children between primary one and primary three are being fed daily by the government.

“We are not where we want to be yet, but we are on the right path,” he said.

Okoye said the ongoing Anambra International Trade Fair was a good testimony of the productive capacity of Anambra as it was featuring largely locally made goods.

“You can see the effect of what we are doing in the trade fair where most of the products on exhibition are locally made, they are harvested, processed and package in Anambra State and it was not like that four years ago.

“You will agree with me that if re-elected, Gov. Obiano will transform the fortunes of Anambra beyond imagination in the next four years.

“Our people will be happy because they would have seen that state economy had been fully diversified from oil,” he said.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/obiano-spent-n44bn-101-inherited-projects-commissioner/

Vote APGA to Keep Willie Working!!!

Good work.... Willie is working

globemoney:
I am very happy with this election.. I want to see peter obi spend some of the monies he stole from anambra and still lose

He looted our money and used it to build one of the biggest malls in Abuja

Preciousnelly19:
Hahahahahaha. This is just a sign of fustration. Doing all you can to make sure you remove Obiano for not giving you share of the Government money.

You have said it all my dear, he is just desperate

nwabobo:


Keep deceiving yourself.

After November 18th we will know if I deceived myself

nwabobo:


You guys should keep deceiving yourselves.

This airport is a Chinese investment.

Government only provides land and the Chinese make the actual investment.

It is a PPP scheme.

michlins:
we ain't gonna give him four more years to waste. I don't support any aspirant right now but Obiano will definitely leave. All you paid agents aren't enough to save him

You just sounded like one.... APGA all the way

michlins:
we ain't gonna give him four more years to waste. I don't support any aspirant right now but Obiano will definitely leave. All you paid agents aren't enough to save him

Obiano is by far the best candidate..... Others will bring uncertainty... Willie is working

Opakan2:
3D indeed..

It all starts and ends on paper.. region of propaganda.

kikikikiii

Will you prefer APC statues of Zuma.... Let's not make the same mistake Imo people made o

Obelenwajesu:
we are not kids to be deceived by mere 3D
Willie out!!! Ezeemo in!!!

my brother all good things start from a vision.... or do u prefer statues like the one Apc government is doing in IMO

CaptainJeffry:
Very cheap propaganda for campaign. He should have at least laid the foundation. Anambra people are too smart to be shown a project on paper.

lets support our Governor, this is how Imo people ended up with APC, we are not going to make the same mistake.... willie is working

What does Willie Obiano bring on board?

By Chuka Nnabuife

WHY anybody would opt to play glib on the feats of Willie Maduabuchukwu Obiano as Anambra State governor still baffles me but how am I sure I am right? Therefore, in tandem with Socrates’ aphorism that “wisdom begins in wonder,” I have decided to examine my own head. I chose to ponder Obiano’s reign so far with the aim of arriving at a clear conclusion backed by evidences, open and hidden.

Monday, October 2, 2017 being the day of Gov. Obiano’s commencement of his campaign for a second four-year term in office underscores a landmark in Anambra State’s politics.

The kick-off at Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka is remarkable in many ways that go far beyond politics. This is because it re-establishes the immense merit in clear focus in pro-people governance and re-corroborates the wisdom in the governor’s statement that he “came prepared” for the job.

As he re-articulates his mission for Anambra people and recounts the records he has garnered so far – an endeavour which has yielded multiple tangible and intrinsic dividends – the gains of that his prior preparation and pursuance of the plan with clear focus offer students of politics a lot to study.

Like a master conductor who knows his way through the world of legends, Gov. Obiano has made a hearty symphony orchestra of his opus for Anambra people. He has, within the past three and half years launched the state far beyond the imaginations of his forerunners. More so, he has walked the path of leadership with the tact of an internally stable hermit and calmly achieved feats with an unusual ease and candour that is the hallmark of a natural leader. But most notable is the intangible social treasures that his style has brought in the forms of soothing calm and unprecedented economic growth to a land that seemed synonymous with political bickering, perennial caucus rows, campus cult-rivalries uploaded into state governance, faith-based divisions, distracting court cases and general schism.

Nobody can convince even a nincompoop that the struggle for power and position in Anambra has been clement or sane. It has been weirdo all along and we cannot hide it. As the ancient Roman poet, Horace (56 – 8 B.C) wrote. “It is the false shame of fools to try and conceal wounds that have not healed.”

Indeed, no matter how we try, we cannot hide the fact that Anambra’s is a troubled polity. Rocked by the perennial onslaught of thousands of millionaires, nay billionaires with bursting ego and ever-charged financial alertness, the state is bound to ever witness an avalanche of political upheavals. More so, it has a robustly republican and enterprising populace that largely does not need anybody’s meal to stave off hunger. Anambra is as engaging as a tensed thriller, any day.

Therefore, whenever election campaign periods come, the partisanship in political developments fire up like molten at melting temperature.

But surprisingly, we have less than two months to the November 18, 2017 gubernatorial election and Anambra state is calm and peaceful. The tension that many enemies of Anambra expected is contained. Somebody made this possible, and God is using him to make a clear statement that Anambra cannot degenerate to what her foes wish her to be.

Gov. Obiano’s declaration of his intention to run again for the State House should provoke deep rumination of what he brings on board. A prime factor many wise ones will ponder is how he calmed down the various theatres of tension as well as the several harbingers of crime and havock to tame a hitherto volatile state.

The wise will easily remember how grim life was and how poor the state was postured to be not very long ago even to the discomfort of prospective investors. It was scary to the extent that one weather-beaten piece of clothing that neither encountered the laundry nor the pressing-board-iron hung on many public servants’ body for weeks. Workers starved through months without wages as retirees struggled, ailed and many died without their valedictory emoluments – pensions and gratuities. Things were presented as extremely dire and non-pleasant that even government-to-populace relationship was harsh, mercantile, transactional and Machiavellian. Even when Anambra State walked into the rich league of oil-holding states as the state capital and urban centres were left to look like ghost towns which scared away prospective investors.

Without straining their facilities, the politically sagacious will, on beholding the governor’s announcement of his intent to continue in office, note how he has devoted himself keenly to the job of transforming Anambra State radically despite an acrimonious clime that was created around him from inception on March 17, 2014. They will spot the sanity and control he exuded even when affronted.

In the maxim of the 19th century American writer and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, “a man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone”. Hence those who appreciate noble leadership qualities ( who are many in Anambra) would note how Dr. Obiano repeatedly received a plethora of clear beckons to fight-to-finish and provocations which his predecessors would have devoted real steam and raw energy to but opted to ignore them. Committed to leaving behind a legacy of peace, bliss and being a leader of all Anambra people, he kept mute when slandered; avoided rage when maligned and concentrated on working hard even when detractors were hell bent on fraying him to frenzy.

Even when traducers in their well-hatched plot mocked and tagged him a non-politician in order to draw him out and get him in their ring, he chose not to dissipate energy and the scarce resources of Anambra on the inanities of mundane politicking. He focused on the economy and state-building. At his political expense he ensured that the people had incentives to go to work daily; did well in their trades notwithstanding nationwide recession, and farmed to put food on their families’ tables. At the risk of coming across as apolitical and too altruistic, he concentrated on using the security votes which his predecessors, in their era, guarded like hidden troves of gold and diamond. He chose to really work on security and development of the state. The result is awesome.

In a land where sleeping with closed eyes was a rare development as brigands and kidnappers had field day to the extent that for over a decade sons and daughters of the land fled their country homes and businesses people now talk and roam freely, forgetting quickly that many were forced to take their aged parents out of the state in fear of people who would abduct them for money or silence them for holding opposing political views. The fact that ndi Anambra now shuttle between their homes and diaspora bases at will distinguishes Obiano’s tenure. Those who understand what this development portends now praise the governor for transforming Anambra to a sane, safe state within a short span of time.

An impressed son of Anambra, Omenyi Nibo once disclosed that hitherto, he hardly returned home if had no ‘truck load’ of paid mobile police men but currently he visits regularly and feels free. Like many, he wonders how it happened. But the answer is simple – the governor places priority on the safety and wellbeing of Anambra people. He always said wants “ndi Anambra to always feel at home… and motivated to bring their investments home.” That is one major thrust of his ‘Akulueuno’ (bring your wealth home) philosophy.

This is also a secret behind the magical attraction of N8 billion (and still counting) investments to the state by his government through his novel establishment, Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA).

The same pro-people’s welfare demeanour informed his commitment to Agriculture for food sufficiency and agro-business buoyance. Same goes for his creation of the Anambra Small Business Agency (ASBA), through which financial incentives and loans are given to cottage start-ups and citizens in order to keep them in business.

It is equally this mindset that made the governor to make Anambra the first in Nigeria to evolve an economic recession stimulus for the citizens in 2016. These and several ingenuous economic development initiatives of his government which comprise the novel all Anambra community’s infrastructural development project that executed N20 million worth of facilities in all the towns established Obiano’s emotional and economic intelligence in governance. The N20 million community development project which other peer states have already began to copy, for example spread cash liquidity and a thitherto inexistent feeling of belonging to all parts of the 21 local councils of Anambra. Upon appraising these, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Governor, the first class professor of Economics, Chukwuma Soludo, remarked that “Anambra is lucky,” at this time of general economic gloom, “to have a governor who understands economic issues.” Soludo’s successor as CBN Governor, the frontline banker, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, current Emir of Kano, reiterated same comment recently and wished that other states have what Anambra has.

As Chief Obiano declares to run again those who recall Jimmy Johnson’s inspirational word that “the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra,” would spot the extraordinary leader in the governor who never pretends or poses as a tin god or political godfather. He cherishes his being one of us who emerged from an everyday Anambra home.

The son of a basic school teacher and a fish trader, who by dint of brain, toil and resolute quest for the top of his career rose to the pinnacle of his banking profession ensures he is ever attuned to the populace in his policies and politics but never fails to bring all his learning and experiences to bear in shaping the state to a better land, ready for the challenges of the future.

In line with the understanding that the future belongs to a people who are adequately prepared for the knowledge-based economy and intellectual robustness, he breeds a state with lesser preoccupation on mundane interests like raw natural resources, rent taking and less durable physical facilities. He commits heavily to boasting education standard, improving healthcare, ease-of-doing-business, social justice delivery, merit in appointments, fair play and freedom of expression because all these factors will determine the great societies of tomorrow.

He also never fails in paying workers, pensioners and contractors while cancelling double taxation of the very lowly market men and women such as wheelbarrow, hawking and some odious taxes. Yet he did not descend to molly-cuddling of criminals, demagogy and cheap populism like some leaders who are not firm in character but harbour such passion for people tendencies would.

Sure, in some quarters among traducers, the hue and cry would sound like: ‘show us the roads he did1’ ‘Show us this and that!’ – all to deceive the gullible ones among the masses and distract general attention to the almost 2000 km of roads he has constructed so far (a massive record) and the hundreds of physical structures he has done which even the blind can testify to. Anyone who knows what the world has turned into and where the near future development trends point to and still tout that would be very glib and mischievious. The world is going pro-intelligence and pro-technology not exactly pro-material resources. That is where Obiano’s side of development wins the argument.

May be the agents of deception are yet to wake up and smell the coffee. William Hale White’s caution: “face what you think you know and you will be surprised,” would suffice for them. They should not drag Anambra back to their archaic convenience, we have long left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.

The world of tomorrow belongs to knowledge-based societies, and that is where Obiano has turned Anambra face towards. If that mission is obstructed we will all rue it soon. Hence his opting to run for another four-year term is appropriate and very important because it will consolidate the state’s mission in that visionary direction.

For ours’ and our children’s greatness this his quest and clear-headed step forward is the best thing Anambra needs now. Therefore, I am in for him, lest our land returns to the old holes and dungeons and we die in the hands of those who lack requisite knowledge, passion, will and skill to move us ahead. Lest we blindly bring back the reign of brigands, mercantile godfathers, political rent takers, boyish cult lords and mean extorters, Obiano is here and I am for him on this. Step out too and be counted because courage is knowing when not to fear. In the wise words of Plato (‘The Republic’) "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber".

* Sir Nnabuife, Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief of Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation, writes from Awka, Anambra State

The mammoth crowd of aggrieved PDP members who rallied at the Ekwueme Square, Awka, threatened to support the candidate of another party if the leadership of the PDP does not, within five days, withdraw the candidacy of Obaze and replace him with any of the other governorship aspirants of the party. The Awka rally had mainstream PDP grassroots leaders from across the 326 electoral wards in the 21 local governments of the state, who control the major structures of the party, in addition to the party’s polling center agents across the state. The aggrieved members, chanting anti-Obaze songs insisted that he is still a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and cannot be imposed on the PDP as a flag bearer

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/anambra-guber-pdp-splits-faction-rejects-obaze-threatens-to-join-another-party/

Many may not consider Nigeria or other African countries to be world leaders in the energy and oil sector. However, one man believes the region can be a powerhouse in the coming decades.

Nigeria-based Aiteo Group and its CEO Benedict Peters have earned a reputation as leaders and pioneers in the country’s oil and energy sector. In the last few years, Aiteo Group has achieved a series of business successes which have pushed the company upward in the oil sector, earning a strong name and well-deserved respect.

In 2015, Aiteo earned the rights to a massive Nigerian onshore oil block, OML 29. While Nigeria was experiencing its largest economic downturn since the 1990s, Aiteo was building and looking forward. OML 29 proved a hit, and Aiteo has since boosted its oil output from 23,000 barrels of oil per day (BPD), up to 90,000 BPD, a drastic increase in production. Aiteo is working to increase its output even more in the coming years.

In another success, Aiteo was able to lock in a sponsorship deal for Nigerian football with the Nigerian Federation (FA) Cup. This move by Aiteo is set to help restore the league’s tarnished reputation, which has been tainted with rumors of the inability to pay many of its coaches’ salaries. In an epic win-win, Aiteo Group hopes to increase the standard and reputation of Nigerian football as well as its own visibility and become more of a household name.

Peters is earning his reputation as a visionary, and he has high hopes for Africa as an energy leader. Coming from a modest upbringing, he is now one of the Nigeria’s wealthiest businessmen with an estimated net worth of US$2.7 billion. Born in Nigeria in 1966, Peters earned his BA in Geography and Regional Planning at the University of Benin in 1989. Soon after, he joined the oil sector and co-founded the company Ocean and Oil, later taking the position of managing partner at MRS, another oil firm.

After nearly a decade of experience in oil and energy under his belt, Peters decided to take the leap and found his own company, which he still runs today. Started in 1999, Aiteo has been on a successful upward trajectory ever since and is sure to become a household name for Nigeria.

Peters was an outspoken proponent of recent Nigerian legislation hoping to change regulations and business for the country’s oil sector. Dubbed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), Peters believe that if implemented correctly, the law can give more power to regional energy players hoping to get their foot in the door. More attraction from foreign investments will help drive local businesses and give them an opportunity to contribute to the region.

Peters believes much of Africa’s energy problems can be solved with a good mix of micro-grid and macro solutions. He believes that by embracing newer and alternative forms of energy, not just traditional oil plants, African countries can create solutions for localized regional problems, from players who best know the region and all of its intricacies. This approach is based on a practical and integrated strategy to solving energy problems, as well as a dedication to the region and its people.

He believes that while much of Africa’s energy problems can be solved by building large macro scale projects, the continent must embrace newer technological solutions and applications. Peters has argued that many countries across the world are burdened with maintaining, repairing, and replacing older energy infrastructure, which are expensive and soon to be obsolete.

Many African and sub-Saharan countries are relatively lacking the energy infrastructure that other countries might have. This allows African nations, according to Peters, an opportunity to bypass the problem of trying to play “catch up” with soon-to-be obsolete infrastructure, and instead focus on innovating and creating new micro-grid and regional solutions.

It is this type of forward thinking and resourcefulness which is help fueling Benedict Peters success and helping him emerge as a leader in Nigeria’s huge oil sector. His optimism is refreshing and perhaps should be considered by those interested and involved in Africa’s energy crisis.http://www.ibtimes.com.au/meet-benedict-peters-new-face-nigerias-energy-revolution-1560572

Nigerian oil company Aiteo Group has taken over the sponsorshipof the annual CAF Awards organised by the Confederation of African Football.

Telecommunications company Globacom has been sponsoring the awards since 2005 but Aiteo announced on Sunday that they are the new sponsors.

The CAF Awards recognise the best players, coaches, administrators and teams in Africa annually.
“We are now proud to take our corporate social investments in developing African football by sponsoring @CAF_Online award… More to follow,” Aiteo tweeted on Sunday along with a picture of CAF President Ahmad Ahmad in Lagos.

Aiteo also sponsors the Nigerian FA Cup, whose final will be played this evening between Akwa United and Niger Tornadoes in Lagos.

https://www.completesportsnigeria.com/aiteo-takes-sponsorship-caf-awards/

Introducing The Real Peter Obi (Part 1) By Obiora Aghadinuno
The trouble with Peter Obi is that he thinks that he is cleverer than everyone else. He maintains a bland and colorless surface that conceals a grandiose interior. He talks with the voice of a woman in labor but carries a heart of stone. He maintains a well-cultivated religious outlook but his soul is the engine room of demons. The former governor of Anambra State reminds me of a luscious apple with a large maggot neatly embedded in its middle.

The trouble with Peter Obi is that he thinks that he is cleverer than everyone else. He maintains a bland and colorless surface that conceals a grandiose interior. He talks with the voice of a woman in labor but carries a heart of stone. He maintains a well-cultivated religious outlook but his soul is the engine room of demons. The former governor of Anambra State reminds me of a luscious apple with a large maggot neatly embedded in its middle. So, can we really blame those who mistake him for a good man?

The trouble with Peter Obi is that he believes that no one else is smart enough to see through him; that he remains opaque and enigmatic to people around him. He immerses himself in so many devious games of intrigue and subterfuge—revealing only a side of him that he wants to share with the public, a side of him that seems pleasant and kind.

But beneath the surface lies a vicious puff adder. The side that stirs awake in the dead of the night to order a contractor to the Governor’s Lodge and demand a kickback for jobs awarded in broad daylight. The disingenuous side that lays bobby traps for his successor with the eleventh hour award of multiple contracts without any provisioning.

The trouble with Peter Obi is not just that he thinks that he could deceive the priests and the religious in Anambra State after forcing a wedge between the denominations and setting the house of God on fire by instigating bitter rivalries between God’s servants. No. It is that Peter thinks that the rest of us would believe his innocence once he is decorated with high religious titles and maintains the well-worn attitudes of false religion. Meanwhile, the landscape is still reeling from the many horrors of his my-church-is-better-than-your-church policy that polarized brothers and split time-honored friendships. If Peter does not consider us all fickle and thoughtless he wouldn’t have left the Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia, still asking whether Anambra is cursed.

He would have accepted that he is the curse himself, the very pox that has continued to corrode Anambra State even after his exit from power.

The other trouble with Peter Obi is that he believes that after stealing Anambra State blind, he could just rustle up a ridiculous handover note and force-feed his voodoo accounting principles on the rest of us and we would lap it all up without question and remain eternally grateful that we have been touched by an angel. What a cheek! Peter thinks that because he spent all his years in Nsukka, “peddling stuff” rather than studying philosophy, we are all addle-headed like him and would not remember or understand that in any accounting process, there are assets and liabilities as well as credit and debit. So, he manufactured a laughable handover note that is full of dead bodies and believes that by shouting about it from the rooftops, our attention would be diverted from him while he enjoys his loot in absolute peace. Worse still, he believes that his spin-doctors, Val Obienyem and Mazi Odera, have all the cunning and firepower to weave believable stories that would mislead probing eyes. So, he directed them to shout about his phony N75bn anytime Governor Obiano’s performance seems to attract a positive reaction and hijack the encomium for the little god of Agulu.

Unfortunately, in his blind pursuit of vendetta, he fails to realize that many people are aware that no one in his right mind would withhold or divert an applause meant for a governor who has proved himself with a resounding performance in one and a half years. He forgot that sooner than later, people would begin to wonder if the great achievements they are seeing all over Anambra State are still the products of the past administration which “democratized poverty” with its famed “supermarket” knowledge of economics. They would begin to ask questions about all the local government allocations in eight years and the huge security votes that have now been ploughed into building poorly run shopping malls in Abuja and elsewhere. People would also ask questions about the blatant rape of Anambra State, the award of contracts without due process, the dubious collaborations with South African businessmen and the criminal neglect of Awka, the state capital, for so many years. Naturally, they would shudder at the utter lack of big ideas in eight years and the disastrous entry into national politics that cost Goodluck Jonathan a well deserved second term and threw Ndigbo into a political evil forest. Of course they would remember that Chukwuma Soludo had warned Jonathan of the inevitable consequences of having Peter as his adviser. But Jonathan did not pay attention. He had hoped that if Jesus had told Peter, “Upon this Rock will I build my church,” then he, too, could build his second term hopes on the Peter of Agulu. Now, it has dawned on Goodluck Jonathan that Obi is a different kind of Peter—in fact, that this Peter is no ROCK at all!

The real trouble with Peter Obi is that he takes himself too seriously. Peter believes that his “clever” politics of yester years is still valid today. So, he goes around visiting schools that he had starved of funds as a two-term governor, handing out miserable N1m cheques while smiling impishly to cameras and hugging the widows left behind by elder statesmen whose medical bills he had refused to pay while they struggled for life and making a meal of the photo opportunities. And funnily, he believes that we are all conned into accepting this moth-eaten image of a squeaky clean “St. Peter.”

The niggling trouble with Peter Obi is that he does not understand that you do not preserve a legacy by fighting for them or constantly reminding the people about them. No. Once we struggle to preserve a legacy, it takes something away from it. Legacies are like monuments embedded in memory. They are not easily washed away by the vagaries of time. They continue to announce themselves through the ages by the sheer force of their enduring value. A great legacy does not need the hagiographic skills of Val Obienyem or the praise songs of Mazi Odera. A legacy endures in the very lives of the people that it exists to serve. So, in striving to preserve the roads he built and the cheques he handed to Mission Schools and hospitals, Peter Obi is unwittingly calling attention to his lack of signature projects; his lack of a legacy. And the import of all this is not lost on us.

In the end, the actual tragedy of Peter Obi is the fact that he has chosen to write his name in the dark chapters of history. And no one should save him from his destiny. It is the road he chose to travel and the cobwebs of infamy are waiting to engulf him as he journeys.

willie is working

Aiteo Group is an integrated, global-focused Nigerian energy conglomerate founded in February 2008. The company is the successor entity to Sigmund Communnecci Ltd. Peters said that the payment was meant for the development of football in Nigeria, adding that the agreement was as a result of the groundwork done by Amaju Pinnick, the President of the NFF. According to him, we are ready to support him because we knew he is an achiever considering what he did at Delta Football Association (FA). “That is why we decided to partner with the NFF in paying the coaches’ salaries with N500 million per annum for the next five years. “The sponsorship will commence on May 1, 2017 and will last five years with an initial option of a one-year extension. “The deal grants exclusive rights to Aiteo Group and will cover all local and foreign components of the NFF’s financial obligations for the main team which is dissimilar to the recent deal with Zenith Bank. “Aiteo Group’s overreaching social responsibility objectives are to encourage a positive impact through our activities in the society at large and which it has successfully done for several years. “This is the long awaited injection of funds the NFF has earnestly yearned for. “We are convinced that we are turning a new chapter in Nigeria’s football with this agreement in place,’’ he said. Reacting, Amaju Pinnick said that the journey started two years ago when he was campaigning to be Executive Committee member of Confederation of African Football (CAF). According to him, I met a lot of delegates from other countries who kept on mentioning Aiteo Group which have been supporting football in their countries. “When I came back, I researched about the company and later met with them. “They accepted my proposals as soon I contacted them, and within 10 days of discussion, we reached an agreement on how to be official sponsors of the NFF. “In the next five years, there will be nothing about owing any Nigerian coach. “ I call on other corporate organisations to support the NFF to succeed, and I assure you, we will abide by every aspect of the contract signed today,’’ he said. Also, the Chairman of League Management Company (LMC), Mr Sheu Dikko, applauded Aiteo Group for becoming the Official Optimum and Technical Support Partner to NFF. Dikko explained that the indigenous oil giant has the right to use the images of all national football teams in their commercials. (NAN)

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/salaries-aiteo-group-pay-nigerias-football-coaches-n2-5bn-5-years/
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/salaries-aiteo-group-pay-nigerias-football-coaches-n2-5bn-5-years/&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwiasuek9-_WAhVCJlAKHac4BE0QFggOMAM&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AOvVaw0TxgrG0C4vSVFNEWtMCTCK

Speaking during the inauguration of campaign committee for re-election of the incumbent governor, Chief Willie Obiano, the lawmaker said he expects the poll to be tough as all the candidates who emerged from the political parties are not push over’s. He however predicted that the incumbent Governor Obiano will emerge victorious because he has justified with his achievements the mandate freely given to him by the people of the state. “The state Governor has achieved remarkable feat when, some of his colleagues in other states are owing their workers accumulated arrears of salary. The standard reward for any hardworking person all over the world is to give more work to such individuals noting that the same rule is expected to be applicable to Anambra state incumbent governor.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/09/reward-obiano-good-works-lawmaker/

JOSAN Integrated Mills and Farms.

This company, due to the favourable policies of Gov Willie Obiano to support agriculture, has invested in the resuscitation of abandoned some key rice farms and mills in Anambra, thereby bringing back old farms to life, built and installed its own new rice mills, empowered out-growers and rice farmers in Anambra, created jobs in the rural areas of Anambra State, brought development and investments to Anambra and has started to produce rice which is farmed and processed in Anambra.

“Ndi Anambra, when I assumed office with my Team on March 17, 2014, we took-over a state that had no landmark infrastructure and no clear-cut strategic vision for the future. And perhaps more importantly, we met a state that was heavily traumatized by violent armed robbery, kidnapping, child-trafficking and endless cases of drug-related crimes. This crime-ridden scenario discouraged investments and successfully cut off the state from the grid of modern development. Ladies and gentlemen, my Team and I inherited a state with an average ambition but through strategic re-focusing and a commitment to excellence, we have repositioned Anambra among Nigeria’s leading states today!”
…Governor Willie Obiano

what has Ekwueme done for the Igbos...Obiano all the way

Governor Willie Obiano has announced a cash reward of one million naira to the overall best teacher in Nigeria, Mr Clement Okodo.
The Governor who announced the reward during a meeting of the State Executive Council held at the Governor's Lodge, Amawbia, also directed immediate promotion of the teacher in accordance with the promotions he recently approved for teachers and other Civil servants in the State.

Mr Okodo, a primary school teacher at Central School, Abagana who hails from Abatete in Idemili North Council Area, bagged the award at the World Teachers Day celebration held in Abuja by the National Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Teachers.

The Award organized under the President's Teachers and Schools Excellence Awards saw the teacher receive a brand new Nissan car as the prize for the first position.

Governor Obiano who was represented at the ceremony by the Commissioner for Education, Professor Kate Omenugha also bagged the honour of the most Education-friendly Governor in Nigeria after a thorough survey of the imputs of all Governors in the country in the Education sector.



Receiving the Awardee, Governor Obiano said his government will be sending 60 teachers abroad for training next year under the train the trainer initiative aimed at ensuring that Anambra teachers keep pace with modern practices in the teaching profession.

He enumerated the various initiatives which his administration had introduced in the education sector which has guaranteed the state an enviable position in the country, notable of which are the ICT training for teachers and additional pay for teachers in remote areas.

Congratulating Mr Okodo for making the state proud through the award, Governor Obiano said his government will continue to support teachers to be at their best, urging them to remain focused on ensuring that Anambra students are the best in the country.

The Commissioner for Education, Professor Omenugha in her speech, acknowledged that the awards which the Governor, teachers, students and pupils in the state are winning in Education bear eloquent testimony to the huge investments the present administration is making to improve the quality of education in the state and assured that the State Education Ministry is committed to driving the laudable vision of the Governor to reposition the sector.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Chief Nzemeka Olisa noted that the award will act as a motivation for other teachers to push towards excellence to achieve the set objectives.

Responding, the Awardee, Mr Okodo attributed the achievement to hardwork and the immense support of the present administration through various training packages which he has benefited from and assured that the reward will spur him to achieve more to bring honor to the state.

Governor Obiano was later presented with the award received on his behalf at the Abuja event by the State Education Commissioner, Professor Omenugha.

http://www.absradiotv.com/9209-obiano

Aiteo is aggressively pursuing exploration and production. Africa is the next growth frontier and is central to our vision and ambitions for the future. We see opportunities where others do not look, and employ expertise and innovation to turn opportunity into rewarding reality.

Our joint venture with IS45 energy has produced more than a highly complementary partnership. We are devoted to responsibly developing energy resources in some of the world's most significant basins, including the Niger Delta basin and the Benue Trough.

The potential of these key areas is enormous and we are well positioned with the expertise, production assets and strategic locations to grow the yield for the long term.

Nigeria is ranked 11th in the world overall for oil production capacity and in 2010 produced roughly 2.45 million barrels per day. Through aggressive exploration and innovative extraction techniques, we are keeping the oil flowing for an energy-hungry world.

The deep water basins off the shores of West Africa represent an important source of new oil at a time when many conventional sources are becoming more challenging to develop.

It may not be easy to realize the full potential of West Africa's offshore fields, from the Niger Delta to the Benin Basin to the west, but the rewards for doing so are significant. Deepwater exploration is expected to take Nigeria's proven oil reserves above 40 billion barrels by the middle of the decade, while retrieval of the valuable commodity could bring this figure back down to less than 28 billion barrels by 2021.

We aim to work tirelessly across the upstream market, in both exploration and retrieval, so that our future discoveries add to the known oil reserves of the African continent as a whole and support the oil industry for the long term, while our work to tap into already-known reservoirs of oil increases output in the short term, bolstering Nigeria and other African countries' positions as world leadersin oil production.

Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and, in global terms, ranks 11th, with an output of around 2.45 million barrels per day. However, an increase in output of 500,000 barrels per day could take it to 7th worldwide, ahead of Mexico and the United Arab Emirates; output growth of 1 million barrels per day would put it close to Canada with nearly 3.5 million barrels of daily oil production

Similarly, Algeria's current position of 16th on the world stage would change significantly with efforts to raise its output. From its current 2 million barrel daily production, a 500,000-barrel increase would put it on a par with Nigeria's current capabilities. With a 50% rise in production to 3 million barrels, Algeria would also overtake Mexico, placing it in the world's top ten oil nations.

We know it will not be easy to reach the absolute full potential of Africa's continent-wide oil industry, but we are keen to see all the countries of our continent achieve their potential, reasserting their right to a strong standing on the world stage.

However, we are not mere prospectors; we also have the skills to undertake the necessary downstream activities to bring the raw materials to market as refined products, and to put them to important use in energy generation, for the mutual benefit of our stakeholders and of Africa's communities that currently live in fuel poverty.

Following some reports, canard and what can be described as an ‘antagonistic political wrangling’ and blackmail against governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state from his political opponents, perhaps for the fort coming Nov 18th gubernatorial election, was literarily gunned-down by a veteran and Nollywood actor, Bob-Manuel Udokwu who unveiled via a video clip one out of millions achievements of Gov. Obiano led administration in his state, saying that Obiano has achieved much for Ndi Anambra.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/09/operation-light-anambra-state-obiano-achieved-much-bob-manual-udokwu/

give him a second term