Gist Arena

F ive firms are bidding to acquire troubled telecom firm 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat), The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday. It was learnt that the five were picked as qualified among the 16 that Expressed Interest to Barclays bank, the financial advisers on the bid. NCC Executive Vice Chairman Prof. Umar Danbatta said yesterday the five successful bidders had been “allowed access to the data room of 9mobile in order for them to assess the financial situation of the company and subsequently make bids for the takeover under a regulated manner.” He added: “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC are supervising what is going on through the Interim Board that was jointly appointed by both of them. We are going to look into the financial standings of the potential bidders as well as their technical capacity. “In the final analysis we would like to see 9mobile taken over by a bidder who has the financial as well as technical capacity to ful

R otimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, says Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, has just one agenda which is “Amaechi”. The minister, who governed Rivers between 2007 and 2015, said this when he featured on Question Time, a programme on Channels Television. “The governor has just one agenda – if he is in his toilet, ‘Amaechi’; if he is outside his toilet, ‘Amaechi’,” the minister said. Referring to Wike as one of his sons, Amaechi denied having any rift with the governor. “He (Wike) was my staff; he is like one of my sons,” Amaechi said. “Why should I engage him? He was local government chairman when I was the speaker of the state.” Amaechi said his impact is still being felt in the state, particularly in the education sector. “When I was governor, I used Rivers state’s money on projects in the state. If you visit the state, you will see the primary schools that we built. No matter what the governor does, the projects are there,” he said.

N igerians on twitter have commended the Nigerian Army on the professionalism shown in replying a twitter, who accused Nigeria Defense Academy (NDA) by saying that some cadets of the Academy abscond from the institution for days, keeping their military uniforms and other property in the care of Fulani herdsmen. Nigeria Army took to their twitter handle to address the allegation and also promised a full scale investigation. Read the Nigeria Army tweet below The attention of the Nigerian Defence Academy has been drawn to a report, specifically on Twitter, in which the writer purports that some cadets of the Academy abscond from the institution for days, keeping their military uniforms and other property in the care of Fulani herdsmen — Nigerian Army (@HQNigerianArmy) December 14, 2017 The Nigerian Defence Academy genuinely appreciates the vigilance and forthrightness of the writer of the article and wish to assure the writer and other well-meaning Nigerians that the Aca

C hristmas, Jesus' birth, will not be celebrated this year in Nazareth, Jesus childhood home, because of Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has caused a backlash in the region, particularly among Muslims, and the reaction has reverberated to Nazareth. Nazareth, the northern Israeli town which is home to a population made up mostly of Muslims and Christians, is scrapping all holiday plans, including a Christmas market and festival. The town's mayor, Ali Salam, who is a Muslim, announced on Thursday that all planned Christmas events would be canceled. Salam said: “Our identity and faith cannot be bargained. [Trump’s] decision has taken away the joy of the holiday and we will cancel the festivities this year.” Nazareth is believed to be Jesus Christ's childhood home, though he was born in Bethlehem. As such, the annual Christmas events in Nazareth are