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Showing posts with the label African

Africa's Richest Man; Dangote drives himself and Doesn't Own a House

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Aliko Dangote, Nigerian businessman and richest man in Africa, says his refinery which is under construction will be completed in the last quarter of 2017. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the chief executive officer of Dangote Group shared his business ideals and the next step for his business empire. Here are 10 key topics he touched on. REFINERY IN 2017 Dangote says his refinery, which would refine 650,000 barrels a day, would be among the largest in the world. “We didn’t really realize that we were going to need almost 70 million cubic meters of sand. But we are catching up, and I’m sure we’ll be able to deliver it by the last quarter of 2017. “We have actually never failed in delivering any project. We always deliver our projects on time and at cost. If we hadn’t delivered our projects on time, that would be something. We will definitely deliver, by the grace of God.” LIFETIME PROJECT To Dangote, the refinery is his lifetime project and he is backing it up with h

Meet Ogudu, A Spiritual Diety of Abia State

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Popular stories of one sort or the another have existed in every place and age. Some of these stories, over time, have become part of the people and invariably their culture. Ogudu, having been in existence for over 300 years in the community of Agbiyi Umuede–Amaegbuato, Nkpa, in Bende Local Government of Abia State, has become a cultural phenomenon used for celebration every leap year of the community. Ogudu is not a human being, an animal or artifact preserved for ages, which has become an object of worship, but an old male Ngwu trunk that looks rickety having survived vagaries of weather  over  several decades; it  has remained a mysterious object of celebration till the current dispensation. Ngwu is not just any tree in the forest. Those who are competent to decipher mysteries like personalities endowed with uncommon mystical prowess like juju priests and native doctors are better informed to talk about Ngwu and its species: Male and female. Mere mortals  cannot   identify Ngwu tre

Gabon Presidential Guard Bombs Opposition Party HQ, Leaves 2 Dead

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Jean Ping, chief rival to Gabonese President Ali Bongo, said the presidential guard bombed his party’s headquarters and killed two people on Thursday, according to a report by BBC Africa. A government spokesman who confirmed the bombing to BBC said that it was done to fish out the protesters who set fire to the parliament. “The presidential guard plus some mercenaries and the police, after 1 a.m., bombed my headquarters,” Mr. Ping said. “They destroyed everything, and we have now two deaths and several people wounded.” Protests erupted in Libreville, the capital city, on Wednesday after Mr. Bongo was declared winner amid accusations of rigging. According to the electoral commission, Mr. Bongo defeated his rival with 49.8 percent of the vote to his rival’s 48.23 percent. Mr. Ping, who had declared himself winner on Sunday, has demanded a recount. “Everybody knows that I won the election,” Mr. Ping told Reuters. “The [Bongo] family are repeating the same scenario for almost half a c