RayTec Trust Nigeria

After 30 years of iron-fisted rule in Sudan, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, 75, fell from power last week after four months of persistent protest by Sudanese people. A daily outrage that began over the increase in the price of bread, the protesters defied threats of violence, a state of emergency and cabinet reshuffle by al-Bashir. They eventually brought down the man who had manoeuvred his way to lord himself over the people of Sudan over the years. Omar Al-Bashir had a humble beginning. He worked at a construction site as a schoolboy and served in the army as a paratrooper. Al-Bashir crept into power on the back of a military junta that sacked Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi in a bloodless coup in 1989. In order to consolidate his image as an Islamist, he formed an alliance with the prominent cleric Hassan al-Turabi, who was popular for his oratory and learning. After years of cooperation, Al-Bashir however fell out with the man initially seen as his ideological mentor. Since he asce...

Governors of the nineteen Northern states got a timely piece of advice mid last week when President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, urged them to embark on immediate steps to reduce the high level of extreme poverty in the region. Dangote, reputed to be Africa’s richest man, spoke at the Fourth Edition of Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit in Kaduna. The event, organised by the Kaduna Investment and Promotion Agency, had the theme “Expanding investment frontier.” Dangote said, “In the north western and north eastern parts of Nigeria, more than 60 per cent of the population live in extreme poverty. It is instructive to know that the 19 northern states which account for over 54 per cent of the country’s population and 70 per cent of its land mass, collectively generated only 21 percent of the total sub-national Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2017.” He added, “Northern Nigeria will continue to fall behind if respective state governments do not move to close the devel...