Tonto Rocks In New Photo Shoot

 

N5,000 note’ll encourage money laundering – Fasehun

Dr. Frederick Fasehun

Founder and President, Oodua Peoples Congress, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, says the planned introduction of N5,000 note will encourage money laundering.

Fasehun said this during a media roundtable in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to him, imposing the new note on Nigerians would not augur well for the security and social life of the people.

Fasehun said, “Introducing a high denominational currency will lead to inflation.

“Our fight against corruption, money laundering and inflation will end in a smoke if the CBN goes ahead to intoduce the N5,000 note.”

He wondered why the CBN was insistent on the new note at a point when corruption is widespread in Nigeria.

He said, “What do we want to do with N5,000 note? Ghana, rather than coming up with higher denomination note when the Cedi was losing value, downgraded it and it helped her economy to grow.

“We will resist it if the CBN goes through with the new denomination.”

Meanwhile, National Vice-President, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Mr. Taiwo Otitolaye; Kwara State chapter of Nigeria’s Political Parties and The Concerned Citizens of Nigeria have warned that Nigerian may be thrown into another mass revolt over the planned introduction of N5,000 notes if the Federal Government does not stop the planned exercise.

They urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to halt the exercise.

The country had witnessed an unprecedented mass revolt in January over the withdrawal of fuel subsidy.

In a statement on Wednesday, Otitolaye said CDHR would team up with other civil society groups in the country to ensure that the plan did not succeed.

He alleged that the introduction of the N5,000 note was a script allegedly drafted by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other imperialist agencies.

He also said the policy would lead to inflation and urged the National Assembly to intervene and stop its implementation to avoid another mass revolt in the country.

Fire Destroys 300 Shops, Property Worth N1bn In Ibadan

Property worth more than one billion naira was lost, Wednesday, as fire gutted Labaowo International Market, off Oke-Bola, Ibadan. A girl was also injured in the fire.
Although, no life was lost, traders whose wares were lost in the inferno that started some minutes past 10am struggled to retrieve one or two things from the burning fire.
When Vanguard visited the market yesterday around 3.05pm, fire was still burning some of the shops. Firemen were seen struggling to put out the fire.
The President of the market, Alhaji Lukman Alaka, told our correspondent that more than 300 shops were burnt.
Items such as electronics, motor spare parts, generator spare parts, building materials and many others were lost to the fire incident.
When asked what caused the fire, he said; “Suddenly, we saw balls of smoke was accompanied by fire. We called all the fire stations close to us, but, the response was not immediate. I called Challenge fire station and another one at Mapo. When I noticed that they were not forth coming, I had to go to Mapo before help could come. But, before we got back to the market, the fire had gone out of hand.
“As for the property lost, it can’t be less than one billion. Many traders were affected. Some could not even retrieve anything from their shops. We would be happy if the government can provide a fire station for us here.”
One of the affected traders, Mr. Tijani Amoo explained that he just took a bank loan worth N800,000 to buy wares lamenting how he would refund the money.
He said he lost all the items. Though, he was not far away from the scene of the fire, by the time he knew, the fire was too much.
The Director of State Fire Service, Mr Kareem Oyekunle said his men battled for long before the fire could be put out. He said as soon as the distress call came, he and his officials rushed to the scene.

Licence Back In Hand, Dana Airline Joins Plot To End Inquest Into Crash

DANA

Dana Airline on Thursday filed an affidavit to support a motion to halt the ongoing inquest into the cause of the crash involving its McDonnell Douglas MD-83 on 3rd June, killing all 153 people aboard as well as at least six residents of a building in Iju-Ishaga, Agege.

The affidavit, described by the presiding judge as “a novel issue” comes just one day after the Federal Government lifted an earlier suspension on the airline’s operating licence.

The plaintiffs, Dele Ore and the Civil Aviation Round Table Initiative, want the Federal High Court, Lagos to end the inquest on the point that the Lagos State Coroners’ System Law is inapplicable to deaths arising from aviation accidents.

Joined as the 1st to the 4th defendants in the suit are Oyetade Komolafe, the coroner; the Chief Coroner of Lagos State; the Lagos State Chief Judge; and the Attorney General of Lagos State, respectively.

Also joined as defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation; the Federal Ministry of Aviation; Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB); Nigeria Air Space Management Authority (NAMA); and Dana Airlines.

Delivering the bench ruling, Okon Abang, the presiding judge, said that although there is no provision allowing a defendant to file a motion in support of the affidavit of a plaintiff, the court will rely on it if it will be of use.

“The most important issue is to consider if the interest of the 1st – 4th defendants will be prejudiced,” he said.

“The 1st – 4th defendants are at liberty to file their objection to the affidavit if they so wish.”

He fixed 13th September for “definite hearing” of the plaintiff’s motion for interlocutory injunction.

Ore, a retired pilot, had filed the suit on behalf of the Civil Aviation Round Table, asking the court to pronounce the Lagos State Chief Judge as acting ultra vires by inaugurating a coroner’s inquest into the air mishap.

He argued that the country’s ratification and domestication of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Chicago 1944 Act, renders the coroner’s inquest “unconstitutional, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever.”

He equally urged the court to hold that the Coroners’ is inapplicable to aviation-related matters and deaths arising from aviation accidents.

And in their affidavit at the court, Dana Air’s counsel corroborated the positions of the plaintiffs, saying, “The crux of instituting this application is in the sole interest of the public. The inquest ought not to have commenced until the conclusion of the AIB investigation. The coroner has subjected the AIB report to scrutiny by various experts.”

WORLD LITERACY DAY: Is education for all feasible by 2015?

EVER heard the saying that Illiteracy is a disease? Perhaps, that informed the setting aside of September 8 every year as the International Literacy Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO; an agency of the United Nations whose purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture.
It is a day set aside by UNESCO to raise global awareness and concern for literacy problems within communities.  So come Saturday, September 8, Nigeria will join the rest of the world to mark the 2012 edition of the International Literacy Day which was first celebrated in 1966 after its proclamation on  November 17, 1965.
According to UNESCO, literacy is a human right because it is a tool of personal empowerment and a means of social and human development. Also, because educational opportunities depend on literacy, literacy is at the heart of basic education for all (EFA) and is essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.
As the world celebrates International Literacy Day 2012, it is pertinent to note that though the international community has pledged to improve adult literacy levels by 50 per cent between 2000 and 2015, about 800 million adults – 64 per cent of whom are women – still lack basic reading and writing skills.

literacy class

Themed: Literacy and Peace, the 2012 International Literacy Day is aimed at showing how literacy contributes to peace by bringing people closer to attaining individual freedom and better understanding the world, as well as preventing or resolving conflicts. The connection between literacy and peace is that it is harder to establish or sustain a literate environment in unstable democracies or conflict-affected countries.

Activities lined up to celebrate the day include high-level international round table on literacy – Reaching the 2015 Literacy Target: Delivering on the Promise, and the 2012 UNESCO literacy prize winners’ ceremony.
There is no denying the fact that quality basic education equips people with literacy skills for life and further learning; literate parents are more likely to send their children to school; literate people are better able to access continuing educational opportunities; and literate societies are better geared to meet pressing development, according to UNESCO.
But despite numerous efforts, global literacy rate looks alarmingly low. According to UN analysis, one in five adults (800 million) is illiterate; 75 million children don’t attend school and many more attend irregularly or are drop outs. In Nigeria, the literacy rate of males between 15-24 years is 78 per cent, while that of females within the same age bracket is 65 per cent.
Speaking in Abuja at a meeting of Education ministers and senior officials from nine highly populated developing countries (E9 countries) of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan, Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqquayatu Rufa’i said E9 countries were still short of their targets years after committing resources to achieve universal literacy by 2015.
“In spite of accelerated impetus to achieve Education for All (EFA) goals by 2015, we still lag behind. One goal is to reduce illiteracy by 50 per cent,” she said.
At least, two in every three illiterate adults or young persons reside in an E9 country, which account for 535 million illiterate people out of the estimated 800 million considered illiterate globally.
EFA’s six goals that countries should target against the 2015 deadline are: expand early childhood care and education; provide free and compulsory education for all; learning and life skills for young people and adults; increase adult literacy by 50 per cent; achieve gender equality in education; and improve quality of education.
With nearly 3.5 billion inhabitants in 2005 – more than half of the world population, E9 countries represent tremendous challenges that weigh heavily on global education trends as most of them are yet to achieve universal primary education and all face major quality deficits.
Of the world’s 800 million adults who lack the basic learning tools to make informed decisions and participate fully in the development of their societies, nearly 70 per cent live in E9 countries.
Tackling the literacy gap is both a moral and development imperative for E9 governments and donor countries. It requires strengthening efforts to expand education and to significantly improve its quality.
This, Rufa’i agrees with, as she pointed out that for E9 countries to achieve the level of literacy required, there is need to reach out further to those living in remote and rural areas and very difficult terrains, women, youth and the marginalised.
Bringing it closer home, she said one of the programmes through which Nigeria can up her literacy rates is being implemented in collaboration with UNESCO through a self-benefiting Funds-in-Trust valued at over N1bn.
“We are now in a better position to address the challenge of illiteracy with a renewed commitment and a sense of urgency and we expect that the programme will yield remarkable outcomes before 2015,” she enthused.
Though some considerable successes have been recorded since efforts were first made in 1944 to address the issues of illiteracy in the country, but the challenges are quite daunting. Nigeria, presently, has over 50 million illiterate citizens which, to a large extent, has impacted negatively on all facets of national development and has led to civil unrest in some parts of the country.
As it stands, Nigeria might still miss the 2015 target date of reducing its illiteracy rate by 50 per cent under the EFA declaration made in Jomtien, Thailand in March 1990.

FG approves contract on Benin-Sagamu Phase 3

The Federal Executive Council yesterday approved the reconstruction of outstanding sections of Benin-Ofosu-Ore-Ajebandele-Shagamu expressway phase 111.
The contract which was awarded in the sum of N65,223,155,642.34 with a completion period of 36 months, according to Minister of Information Labaran Maku “will not only improve the socio-economic activities of the area, but will also reduce vehicle operating costs, travel time and accidents on the road”.
The Minister who was flanked by his colleagues, the Minister of Works, Mike Onomelemen and Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide, said the “outstanding sections of the road are in disrepair’ there is need to reconstruct them to ease traffic flow along the road.
He said when completed, the project will generate employment for Nigerians as well as impact positively on the informal sector of the economy.
Speaking on the project, Mr Onolememen said the scope of work would include the complete reconstruction of Km 9 to Km 18 and Km 75 to Km 162 of the road, adding that it would have three lanes on both carriage ways at the completion of the project.
Other approvals granted by the Council include the purchase of various search and rescue operation items for the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.
Some of the items include a GSSI life locator, in the sum of N161,406,388.00; rapid intervention vehichles, in the sum of N400,551,272.00; fully equiped emergency rescue vehicles in the sum of N251,680,000.00; and 328 sets of helmets, harness, lanyards and absorbers, descenders, fall arrestors, ascenders, aluminium and steel carabineers in the sum of N120,227,377.64.
Maku said “the rampant increase in the spate of disasters in the country has continued to stretch the resources of NEMA in terms of equipment and logistics” necessitating the contract.
Others include the construction of Southern Parkway in the Federal Capital Territory in the sum of N10.901,23 billion thereby bringing the total contract sum to N16.235 billion.  The Minister said as part of the efforts to reduce the heavy traffic being experienced in the city, the FCTA has embarked upon the construction of the Southern Parkway from the Christian Centre S8/S9 to ring road 1 comprising10 lanes, to complement the existing Northern Parkway. When completed, the Southern Parkway would undoubtedly ease the increasing heavy traffic situation in the Southern parts of the FCT within the corridors of already developed and fast developing districts like Central Area, Garki, Gudu and Durumi.
Council also approved the sum of N2.835 billion for phase II contract for the provision of infrastructure to Apo Estate layout, thereby bringing the total sum of phase I and II to N5.755billion.
The council also ratified the president’s anticipatory approval for the Sagbama erosion control rehabilitation works in Bayelsa State in favour of Messrs Nigerian Westminister Dredging and Marine Limited in the sum of N1.501billion, with completion period of 12 months.
In another development, Council also approved the Good Governance Tour, a non-partisan tour being put together by the Ministry of Information in conjunction with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to showcase on-going and completed projects across the country.
According to the Minister of Information, the inspection tour will cover the federal and state projects. He announced that it will kick-off on September 20th from the North-Central region, starting from the FCT.

Nigerian's in New York celebrates Indipendence Day in a grand style!

i hope to be there.......cause its gonna rock!.......really fun!!!

Terrorists bomb telecom firms’ offices, masts in Bauchi, Borno

TERRORISTS have struck at unusual targets in Bauchi and Borno states as the raging violence in Maiduguri escalates.
They torched the regional office and equipment of five Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM) firms in the state.
The incident, which occurred at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, has disrupted telecommunications services in the metropolis.
Prior to the attacks on the GSM firms, gunmen operating in the state and other parts of the North had made worship centres, markets, banks, military and police facilities and personnel their main targets.
Three hours after the Borno attacks, the terrorists bombed masts of some GSM firms and injured one person in Bauchi town. The blast occurred at 11p.m. on Tuesday.  Their attempt to bomb a mosque in Kofar Idi near Bauchi was foiled by the police anti-bomb squad, which arrived the area and diffused the device.
A resident of Kumshe Ward in Maiduguri, said the attack on the GSM firms was one of the “desperate attempts” of the Boko Haram sect to disrupt communication services used in providing information to the military Joint Task Force (JTF) and police on the hideouts and modus operandi of the terrorists.
The masts destroyed in the attacks, according to Borno Police Commissioner, Yuguda Abdullahi, belonged to Airtel, Visafone, Etisalat and Glo.The regional office of MTN at the West End Roundabout was torched by the terrorists.
Abdullahi said he was yet to get the details of the attacks on the GSM firms’ facilities and office.
He said: “Suspected armed hoodlums launched attacks on the regional office of MTN at the West End Roundabout. Other GSM services providers, which masts were attacked are Airtel, Glo, Visafone, and Etisalat that dot the various areas and wards of the Maiduguri metropolis.”
The police chief said as soon as the Police Commander of Operations, briefed him on the incidents, the media would be briefed on the casualties and the exact number of masts and offices of torched.
An eyewitness however told The Guardian that eight GSM masts were torched in nine areas of Maiduguri metropolis.
The affected areas, according to him, are Dala-Almadiri, Kumshe, Adam-Kolo, Bolori, Gwange, Limanti, Railway Quarters and Sulueimanti Ward on Damboa Road.
A top security source in Bauchi told journalists that “as far as we are concerned the incident was a failed attempt because we have information about plan by hoodlums to attack some places. We have taken adequate security measures and deployed soldiers and policemen and other security personnel to guard every identified flash point to ensure that they did not give them chance to attack even the one targeted at the mast was exploded outside the gate because the hoodlums dropped it and it was exploded. A security man guarding the place was on red alert. Everything inside the mast was intact except the metal door, which injured the security guard and he was treated and discharged.”
Another security source said:  “We have foiled an attempt to bomb a target on Gombe Road. They (hoodlums) dropped explosives there, but we are happy it did not explode before we diffused it.”
A resident said late on Tuesday night that they heard a loud sound of explosives and when we got there, they found that a metal door was affected while there was fire near the expulsion but the air-condition and generating set inside the mast building were working.
The increasing damage to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure across the country has been described as a great disincentive to investment in the sector.
At present, the sector has attracted about $25 billion Foreign Direct Investments in the last 11 years.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, affirmed this, when he said the FDIs increased from $18 billion in 2009 to $25 billion by 2012, which put the growth rate at 39 per cent within the last three years.
At a roundtable yesterday in Lagos on the need to protect telecoms infrastructure to ensure quality of service and safeguard investments, the Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, said it had become imperative for the Federal Government to protect ICT infrastructure, stressing that the state of insecurity in the country has remained appalling.
While the meeting was going on, Adebayo informed that the news reaching him, revealed that some telecommunications infrastructure in the North Central zone were under serious attack.
“Information just filtered in now that series of bombings early this morning (yesterday) in some North Central states of the country have reduced to rubbles, about 25 base stations,” he said.
The representative of the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, Ishaku Barau, said the police or other security operatives lack equipment to fight crimes in the country.
Barau described the increasing damages to ICT infrastructure as very unfortunate, stressing that government must do more in providing jobs for the teeming Nigerians.
The Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke has described security as an important tool in the promotion of tourism in Nigeria. Receiving the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) for Zone 6, Mr. Muktari Ibrahim in Calabar, Imoke said security is seen all over the world as a veritable tool for growth in the tourism sector.
He explained that Calabar, which is the headquarters of Zone 6, is peaceful and urged the new AIG to sustain it.
Earlier, Ibrahim, who described his posting to Calabar as home-coming, praised the state government for ensuring that Cross River is safe and serene.
To address security challenges, abject poverty and unemployment in the North, its governors must revive its ruined economy through “re-thinking and multi-dimensional approaches,” instead of their clamour for a review of the current revenue sharing formula, the Head of Economics Department of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Prof. Dahiru Balami, has said.
In an interview with journalists yesterday in Maiduguri on the collapse of the North’s economy due to three years of Boko Haram insurgency, the don said the destruction and the systemic collapse of the economy in the 19 northern states, could only be reversed through the implementation of multi-dimensional approaches towards reviving the textile, agricultural and livestock sectors.
He said even before the Boko Haram insurgency, job creation and revenue earning sectors were dumped, as the governors continued to rely on the oil revenue collected monthly from the Federation Account.
Balami asserted that the calls by the governors for increased revenue sharing from oil and natural gas would not address security challenges in the region.

No roads to anywhere in the Mambilla

WHEN the people of Mambilla Plateau in what is today Sardauna, Kurmi, Gashaka and some other local councils of present day Taraba State voted in a plebiscite to be part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria rather than join Cameroun, they thought it was a sound choice.
After all, they had been promised good roads, potable water, hospitals, higher institutions, industries and other good things of life.
That was in 1961, now 51 years after, the people are no longer sure joining Nigeria was a wise choice.
Among those now almost regretting that choice is the village head of Mbamnga, in Sardauna Local Council, Alhaji Abubakar Sale who told The Guardian none of the promises has been kept.
“Year in year out, we continue to wallow deeper and deeper in poverty.
“The Federal Government, whether in Lagos or Abuja, has not showed it cares for us?
“None of the promises it made because of which we agreed and voted to be part of Nigeria has been kept.
“We have nothing to show as Federal Government presence, particularly in the area of roads, which we are paying dearly for.
“Every Mambilla man is not only hard working but peace-loving, but the bad condition of these communities, in spite of the plebiscite agreement with the Federal Government, is giving us serious concern,” he said.
A first-hand experience of what Alhaji Sule was talking about came when The Guardian made a trip to Cameroun from Gembu; the administrative headquarter of Sardauna Local Council.
The distance of about 75 kilometres took almost eight hours by bus due to the deplorable condition of the roads.
Somewhere during the trip, many passengers, including The Guardian had to abandon the bus, which kept being trapped in the muddy roads, and continued on commercial motorcycles.
That was not any easier as, too often, the passenger had to get down and push along with the rider to free the motorcycle, which was also entrapped in the muddy road.
A not-too-happy Alhaji Sule told The Guardian their plight ought not to be as sorry as it is because “there are enough natural resources here that can be exploited and the revenue used to better our lot.
“Why is the government looking only at oil when there are so many other minerals here that can improve revenue accruing to the Federal purse as well as create much-needed employment?
“Because they do not care in Abuja since they are not spending money here, no one has noticed that our neighbour, Cameroun has started encroaching massively into Nigeria’s territory and before we know it, what happened to Bakassi may repeat itself here.”
The motorcyclist that conveyed The Guardian, Mr. Ngandi Sale, was unhappy that the only available infrastructural facilities in some of the communities were self-help projects initiated and executed by some of the sons of the communities
He mentioned the State Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General, Gebon Timothy Kataps and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Abel Peter Diah, who had tried to uplift their communities.
The only cottage hospital and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) lodge in one of the communities was donated to them by Kataps while Diah has been behind the Millennium Development Goals projects.
Both men are said to have been at the forefront of drawing Federal Government’s attention to the 1961 agreement and the deplorable condition of roads in the area.
In separate comments to The Guardian, Diah and Kataps said the abundant natural resource in the area were enough to entice the Federal Government.
“All that is needed is just for the Federal Government to construct roads, open a free trade zone between Nigeria and Cameroun.
“If done, the Federal Government would derive more revenue here than from Seme or any other borders in this country” said Kataps
He continued: “Our governor, Danbaba Suntai would have built the roads but for the lack of resources and of course, these impassable roads are owned by the Federal Government.”
An Immigration Officer who bared his mind at one of the border outposts blamed the Federal Government for the deplorable condition in the communities
“I do not know the Deputy Speaker or the Commissioner of Justice, but for them, these people would have been thinking of seceding.

“I am not from this part of the country, but I must admit that the Federal Government is unfair to the Mambilla people.”

EFCC to NGOs: You ‘re money laundering outfits

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, descended on non-governmental organisations in the country, describing some of them as vehicles for money laundering.
Head of the agency’s Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, Angela Nworgu, who made the allegation at a seminar for non-financial institutions in Abuja, also accused some of the organisations of serving as a conduit for money laundering and criminal activities.
Nworgu said that research by the Financial Action Task Force had indicated that money launderers use NGOs to carry out layering of stolen wealth through several countries to disguise the actual origin of the money.
She said it was discovered that “such elements did not mind losing 40 per cent  of the total amount in the process, because it is money gotten from illegitimate means”.
But many NGOs in Nigeria have kicked against the labeling by the EFCC, asking it to name the particular groups involved in money laundering.
One of them, the Programme and Advocacy Coordinator of Network on Police Reform in Nigeria, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, described the allegation as reckless and unfounded, since there was no proof that any NGO had been indicted for money laundering by the anti-graft agency.
Nwanguma said in the absence of any arrest of either an NGO or an international development partner by the commission, it was wrong to blackmail the organisations.
He, however, called on EFCC to work towards checking rising corruption in the country and justify its existence.
Nwanguma said, “let the EFCC give us one specific case of money laundering that any NGO has been involved in Nigeria and what they have done about it.”

N34bn ID card scam: French court fines coy for bribing Nigerian officials

A French firm, Safran, has been fined about N100 million (500,000 euros) by a court in Paris for bribing public officials in Nigeria to secure the  N33.5 billion contract for the printing of more than 70 million identity cards between 2000 and 2003.
Safran, a French aeronautics and defence group, was found guilty by the investigating magistrates, of giving bribes to Nigerian officials that helped it win the contract.
The company is partly owned by France,which owns a 30 per cent stake.
The court found that SAGEM (Société d’Applications Générales de l’Électricité et de la Mécanique, translated to mean Company of General Applications of Electricity and Mechanics, a company that merged with SNECMA to form Safran in 2005, paid bribes worth between N4.8 million ($30,000) to N80 million ($500,000) to Nigerian officials between 2000 and 2003 to secure a 171 million euro contract.
The court condemned the company for endorsing the payments, but dropped charges against two former SAGEM executives: Jean-Pierre Delarue, then a sales manager in Nigeria, and François Perrachon, the former director for identification systems.
Prosecutors had sought a suspended sentence of up to 18 months and fines of 15,000 euros each for the two officials.
The prosecution alleged that Sagem paid millions of dollars as bribes to high-ranking Nigerian officials including the former Minister of Internal Affairs, late Chief Sunday Afolabi.
In reaction to the fine, Safran said it would appeal, and further reiterated its commitment to anti-corruption rules.
The company said, “Safran would like to point out that it is deeply attached to the strict respect of anti-corruption rules.”
Prosecutors had originally sought to have the Safran case dismissed, but did not lodge any formal request at the trial in June. The case came to global focus in 2005, when former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo said Sagem paid bribes and presented gifts, including Rolex watches to Nigerian officials to secure the contract.
Afolabi, who was appointed Minister of the Interior in 1999, was in charge of the Identity Card project. He had noted that the cards, to be issued to Nigerians would be used for the 2003 Federal and State elections. Afolabi was arrested on December 5, 2003, by the  Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, on allegations of corruption.
In December 2003 Afolabi stood trial with his successor in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mr. Mohammed Shata, former Labour Minister, Hussain Akwanga and others on charges that they had sought bribes worth about N320 million ($2million) from the French firm, Sagem in connection with the $214million contract to produce identity cards.
All the accused persons were granted bail on December 31, 2003.
Afolabi died of cancer in London in May 2004. In June 2004, the court dropped all charges against him.
Like all members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, France is part of the convention against the bribery of foreign officials, which requires that the practice be a criminal offence.
A report by Reuters said foreign corruption rulings against big French companies are rare in France.
It said a report from the OECD that was leaked in July said French authorities lacked the resources to fight possible corruption in big export contracts.

Woman Gives Birth on Spanish Bus

SITGES, Spain, Sept. 4 -- Police in Spain said they helped a Nigerian woman give birth to a baby after she went into labor on a bus.
Authorities said the 34-year-old woman called for help after her water broke Monday night on the bus, which at the time was passing through a tollbooth in Sitges, southwest of Barcelona.
The driver got the attention of police officers who were nearby assisting another bus that had broken down and the officers helped the woman give birth to a baby boy before an ambulance arrived.
The mother and newborn were taken to a local hospital, where doctors said they are both doing well.

Chinedu Ikedieze Denies Having A Child

It was reported that actor Chinedu Ikedieze and his wife of eight months Nneoma had a baby recently. A report he finds ridiculous.

Chinedu Ikedieze

 "Everybody knows my wife graduated from a fashion school a couple of weeks ago. Did she look pregnant or was she like a nursing mother?
Yes, the photo is mine but it was taken in 2008 with a fan's baby.
I don't know why it is now being recycled. I honestly don't know the intention and plan of those who are sharing the photo"

Woman Keeps Baby In Freezer For 10yrs

BERLIN  (AFP) – German prosecutors said Tuesday they had opened a manslaughter investigation against a 49-year-old woman after the corpse of a new-born baby girl was found in her freezer after 10 years.
The grisly find was made by her former husband on Friday when he defrosted the freezer in the house where they used to live, said prosecutors in the northern city of Flensburg.
It was not clear whether the baby was alive or dead when placed in the freezer, investigators said. There were no signs she had been violently treated but authorities confirmed the baby was not stillborn.
The woman, who has not been named, has admitted the baby was hers and said she was “in a state of complete exhaustion and hopelessness” at the time.
The couple already had three, now fully grown, children and divorced in 2009, prosecutors said.
The woman was released pending further investigations.

15-Year-Old Sentenced For Murder Over Facebook Posts

A 15-year-old Dutch boy was sentenced to a year in juvenile detention on Monday for stabbing to death a girl whose Facebook posts reportedly led to a contract for her killing.
The case, known in the Netherlands as the "Facebook murder", caused widespread debate about the role of social media in violent crime.
The court said the boy did not know the victim and had murdered her "at the request or instructions of others".
Dutch media reported that the 15-year-old victim, named in court documents as Winsie, had argued for weeks with two friends on the social networking site before they allegedly asked the defendant, who was 14 at the time, to kill her.
He was offered a 1,000 euro payment, the media reported.
"I am not happy with one year for my daughter's life," her father said outside the courthouse. "But that's what the law book says. We were powerless and so were the authorities."

Man U, City Monitor Ronaldo’s Crisis At Real

Cristiano Ronaldo put Manchester giants City and United on red alert after admitting he wants to quit Real Madrid.
 A source said: “Yes, Cristiano told president Florentino Perez he wants to leave the club.”
It follows the Portugal superstar’s bombshell on Sunday after scoring twice against Granada.
Ronaldo, 27, did not celebrate either of his goals and said afterwards: “I am sad and the people at the club know about it.
“It’s about professional issues. I can’t say any more.”
Megabucks City and his old club United will keep a close eye on developments – along with Chelsea.
The Portuguese forward, bought from Manchester United for £80m in 2009, led Real to the title last season scoring 46 goals in 38 La Liga games and 60 in all competitions, a performance the 27-year-old perhaps thinks is worthy of a pay-rise.
He has raced to 150 goals for the club at the rate of more than a goal a game but continues to be eclipsed in Spain by Messi’s heroics at Barcelona. Some say the Messi factor eats away at him, such is his vanity.
When he performed poorly for Portugal against Denmark in Euro 2012, Danish fans taunted him by chanting Messi’s name.
Ronaldo is not cherished by Real as Messi is by Barca and one radio station reported that he has told club president Florentino Perez that he does not have the support of the dressing room.
He was at pains to point out, however, that his ‘professional sadness’ was not simply a fickle reaction to losing out to Andres Iniesta in UEFA’s Best Player in Europe award, last week.

How First Lady Contacted Food Poisoning In Dubai - Presidency

A Presidency source told my correspondent that after efforts to stabilise her  (Patience Jonathan) worsening health condition proved abortive by a combined team of the Presidency’s health team, the office of the National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, was immediately contacted on Friday, August 24 to make emergency arrangement for a flight to Italy where she was expected to be treated at a specialist hospital.
Though spirited effort were made to airlift the First Lady, getting permit to fly European skies was said to have frustrated the move until sometime in the midnight when a positive response was obtained from the German Authorities.
Following the approval, a Presidential jet departed Abuja on Saturday, August 25 to Frankfurt with wife of the President and a few trusted aides.
On their arrival at Frankfurt, the ailing first Lady was taken to Wisbaden where she was admitted and is currently being treated for food poisoning.
The source said: "I am aware that she contacted food poisoning in Dubai. We really can't say exactly what she ate in Dubai which resulted in the ailment. But as soon as it was becoming difficult to get her stabilised here, we were advised to fly her to Bologna, Italy where a particular hospital is said to be good in handling such matter.
"Because it was an emergency case and there was no assurance that a permit would be granted for the team to fly European skies that night, we were still thinking of an alternative until words came in from the German authorities that we could fly in the next day.  Calls were made to those asked to be on the alert for a journey to Italy as they would now be flying to Germany. The team left for Frankfurt the next day, Saturday, August 25 and Madam was then taken to Wisbaden where she is currently undergoing treatment."
Asked why there was no official statement on the matter, another source said:"I really can't say but there is no truth in the  rumour that'she underwent any operation. Before she left, the medical team was sure it was food poisoning which came out of what she probably ate in Dubai. I am not in the media team of the First Lady and therefore would not know why a statement was not issued.
"All I know is that the First Lady is recuperating and even shook hands with some of the aides that followed her to Germany before she was admitted. She never flew out in an air ambulance but in an official Presidential jet. "
Since the news of her ill health was published by an online news agency, the Presidency has kept mum over the real state of Dame Jonathan's health, insisting that she had simply travelled out for some "moment’s rest" following doctor's advice.

Biafra war veterans, group bemoan insecurity

MASSOB

Two groups, Biafra War veterans and Community Policing Campaign of Nigeria (CPCN) have condemned the state of insecurity in the country orchestrated by the Boko Haram sect even as they called on all to join hands to stop the trend.
Speaking in Aba, Abia State through the head, communications and public affairs, Moses Bak  Ogba during the familiarization tour of the five South east states, deputy director general of CPCN, Prince Akinloye Ogunmodede said the current security situation was disturbing.  He stated that since government could not do everything alone, he said that all hands must be on deck to fight the menace which he said was affecting the political and economic development of the country.
While admitting that the country has diverse nationalities,he stated that since there was the general belief there is unity in diversity, every citizen should take it as a challenge to bring about peace in the  nation.  He particularly called on traditional rulers in the country to be more security conscious and monitor the activities of their subjects more closely.
In a release signed by Ibe Nwachukwunta, counsel to Biafra War veterans, the group said it was worried by the state of insecurity in the country, stressing that the spate of killings across Nigeria was capable of plunging the country into another civil war.
The group said as people who saw it all during the civil war, the country may not be lucky this time round to survive another war.  Stressing that the current security problem was not what should be left only for President Goodluck Jonathan to handle, the Biafra War veterans urged all Nigerians to join hands in fighting the menace.

Baby dies in Redeemed Church’s creche

The Baby!

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When Mr. Pius Okafor’s wife was delivered of a male child on November 10, 2011 through caesarean section (CS), his joy knew no bounds. Although he already had three female children, the coming of the boy was something special, for obvious reasons. As a typical African man, he desired a son, who would take over from him.The Okafors, friends and well-wishers had taken the infant to church for thanksgiving. To underline the circumstances of his birth, they named him Christopher Akachukwu (Hand of God). According to Okafor, who hails from Amaeze Ikpocha village of Arondizogu, in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State, the decision to go for the fourth child, after his wife had had three children, all through CS, was a risky gamble. His faith in God, however, emboldened him, coupled with his desire to have at least one male child.
Fortunately for him, the male child came. Baby Akachukwu, was growing happily and Okafor decided to register him at the crèche section of the Little Wonders Palace (LWP), to join his older sibling, who was at the playgroup of the school. He paid N12,000 per month, as fees for the child. LWP, comprising crèche, pre-school and nursery, is owned by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Royal Diadem Parish, located on No. 2, Victoria Street, Off Osolo Way, Isolo Lagos. It turned out that this decision was on a journey that brought eternal sorrow to the family.
According to Okafor, even when one of his family friends noticed that the once-bubbly and vivacious boy was becoming dull and lethargic, he still didn’t give it any serious thought. Neither did his wife, who is a staffer of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). However, on June 8, the worse happened. The joy of the Okafor family turned to sorrow, as little Akachukwu died in controversial circumstances in school.
The infant, whom the father said was hale and hearty when he was taken to school, was confirmed dead at 3pm.
How the baby died: Narrating how it all happened, Okafor said: “On June 8, I took my seven-month-old baby to the Little Wonders Palace Crèche along Osolo Way. He was born on November 10, 2011. Before I left for the school, my wife was playing with the baby seated on the floor of our sitting room, but she later left before me. I went to the school, in company with my wife’s niece. She was carrying the baby, while I carried the elder one, who was in the playgroup.
In the afternoon, about 2:56pm, I got a call from the school that my baby was critically ill. I asked the caller, Mr. Ademosun, the Head of Admin what the problem was, but he couldn’t give any meaningful answer.
I asked if the baby had convulsion and he said no. I told him that the baby was okay when I took him to the school. After about seven minutes, I got another call from the Medical Director of St Emmanuel’s Clinic, where they took my baby, saying that my child was brought into his hospital, but unfortunately, he was confirmed dead on arrival.
“I called my wife and asked her to proceed to the hospital. I didn’t tell her that the baby was dead. I just told her that the baby was taken to the hospital because I knew she would not be able to withstand the shocking news. She was there before I got there and we saw the body lying dead. I asked the care-giver what happened and she said she was about to feed the baby when he suddenly closed his eyes and started jerking and she screamed for help. Another care-giver, however, told me that it was when the woman was feeding the baby that he suddenly closed his eyes and passed out.”
However, according to the medical report from St Emmanuel Clinic, which was signed by Dr Callistus Eze, “the complaint from his care-giver was that the baby was closing his eyes unusually, as he was being fed his lunch. Examination revealed a well-nourished male infant, who was obviously lifeless on getting to the hospital at the time.
There were no breathing moments, no pulses felt, no heart sounds were heard and the pupils were dilated and unresponsive to light. He was certified dead by attending doctor as a ‘Brought-In-Dead’ (BID) body at 3:00pm.” For Okafor, his world literally came to an end when he saw his baby’s lifeless body at the hospital.
He pulled himself together and tried to console his wife, but she remained inconsolable, wailing and weeping profusely over the irreparable loss. So many things ran through Okafor’s mind. He asked the care-giver a few other questions like: if the baby was crying while on bed, but she said no; if the baby was running temperature and she said no or if she noticed convulsion and she said no.
At this juncture, Okafor said, what came to his mind was autopsy and not even reporting the matter to the police. “I took the body to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba for autopsy in company with Mr. Ademosun, the school’s head of admin and one of my uncles. I didn’t bother to report to the police. After the autopsy, the doctors said they would conduct another test, the toxicology test, which is an embodiment of the entire autopsy report. That was conducted by the Toxicology Department of LUTH. I paid for the test. At that point, I demanded the body for burial because it was exactly one week after the baby’s death.
They prepared a temporary death certificate and wrote ‘primary and secondary causes of the death pending the outcome of the toxicology report.’ But then samples had been taken for the two tests. It was only Mr. Ademosun from the school and three of my relations that accompanied me to the Atan Cemetery in Yaba, where the baby was buried,” he explained. The grieving father said he only informed the police when the hospital demanded Corona’s form from him.
“To get the comprehensive report from LUTH, I was asked to produce the Corona’s form and that was when I went to the police. I opened a file at the Aswani Police Station and from there we went to the Chief Magistrate’s Court, Yaba to see the Chief Corona.
She demanded to see me before signing the form for the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), Sgt Ade, for onward conveyance to the Head of the Morbid Anatomy Department of LUTH, Prof Banjo. Having signed the form, the IPO took it to LUTH and the hospital management gave a copy of the report to him,” he stated. Okafor said he would have allowed the sleeping dog to lie, bearing in mind that no amount of monetary compensation or apology would bring back his dead son, but the attitude of the school management left much to be desired.
He said it was only Ademosun that accompanied him to bury his son at the Atan Cemetery, Yaba, Lagos. After that, according to him, he never heard anything from the school authority until he called them to demand the report of what led to his son’s death. He said the school’s management kept telling him the report would be ready this week, next week, until finally, they gave the report to the police. According to him, it was from the Aswani Police Station that he read the report of his son’s death, as presented by the school.
The content of the report, he said, made him almost go berserk. The school management report of July 6, signed by Dr. Segun Fagbuyi, Dr. Kayode Adegboyega and Mr. Olusolan Mesele, a copy of which was made available to Saturday Sun said:
“A committee was set up by the management of LWP to enquire into the immediate facts surrounding the death of baby Akachukwu Okafor in the crèche on June 8. In that regard, we interviewed the staff of the crèche and recorded their statements. We were not privy to any medical document, either as the cause of death or as to the medical condition of the baby; we made no inquiry into these issues nor did we make any commitment on them. “At about 3pm, the care-giver decided to give the baby another meal of cereal i.e.
Cerelac, having given him pap in the morning, but immediately she carried him; she noticed that he had a very high temperature. She would have brought the temperature under control by bathing him with lukewarm water, but for his mother’s general instruction not to bathe him, as it would lead him to having cough, she didn’t.
She proceeded to feed the baby, preparatory to administering Paracetamol, which the parents usually placed in his bag to bring the temperature down and had only given him a spoon of Cerelac when she noticed he was not taking the food and decided to add water and try again to feed him. In the process, the baby’s eyes shut and he became unconscious.” Commenting on the report, Okafor said that it was baffling.
“In their report, they said the baby was slumping and running a very high temperature before they took him to the hospital. They also said that it was about 3pm that the care-giver wanted to feed him when I was called from St Emmanuel’s Clinic, where the baby was rushed to before his death at 2:56pm and the hospital report said the baby was confirmed dead at exactly 3pm. Even what they said led to the death of my child was not what the care-giver told me at the hospital the day my baby died. I asked her if the baby was running temperature and she said no.
So, trying to cook up another story was what made me decide to let the world know the truth,” Okafor submitted angrily. He is also not happy that it took the Province Pastor, Tunde Netufo, over one month to visit him and his family over his son’s death. And his reason for staying that long was tight schedule.
“It was one month after the incident that the Province Pastor, Tunde Netufo, came to my house. He claimed that was the time he had chance to visit. He was in company of the head of admin of the school, Mr. Ademosun. My mother-in-law even took it up with the man for saying he was too busy to have come. They were highly insensitive to my plight. I didn’t intend to make any case out of this, going by my faith as a Christian.
If the report had said exactly what the care-giver told us, I would have left everything to God, but when I looked into the report, it was a different thing entirely,” he said. Report from LUTH Dr. O.R Akinde, a pathologist at the LUTH, who signed both the medical and toxicology report on June 13, stated: “I certify the cause of the death, in my opinion, to be severe cerebral edema due to marked anaemia and toxicology evidence of Diazepam in body fluid.”
Diazepam is a tranquilising drug used to reduced anxiety and tension and as a muscle relaxant and sedative. Okafor said the medical and toxicology report is a confirmation of the widespread rumours that most crèches are involved in the use of sedatives on the children under their care and that his son was a victim of such unethical and wicked practice.
The school, on its part, is of the opinion that the cough mixture and other drugs the baby’s parents fed him that morning was what the report detected. School’s position When our reporter visited the school, to get first hand information from the authorities, regarding all they knew about the death of Baby Akachuwu Okafor, silence was what he got. When he met the Head of Admin, Pastor Ademosun and asked him to react to Okafor’s allegation, he said:
“Actually, I don’t have anything to say on that for now. The matter is already with the Aswani Police. All you want to know about the case is with them, including our own story. When you go there, ask after Sgt Adesoji and he will give you everything you need.”
However, a few days after our reporter’s visited the school and head of admin declined comments, he visited The Sun corporate headquarters, in Lagos, alongside the care-giver to narrate their own side of the story. In her account, the caregiver, Mrs. Banjo said: “They brought Akachukwu to our crèche in February this year.
At a point in time, they were feeding the baby Golden Morn and I advised them against that. I told them that the baby was not mature to take that kind of food, as it could increase the cough he already had, as the baby was coughing.
I remember they told me they don’t sleep at night. Before his death, the parents would bring antibiotics and that was what I was administering on the baby until when I complained that I was not comfortable with giving that kind of drug to the baby.
I gave the baby antibiotics provided by his parents consecutively for two weeks before I complained. “On Tuesday May 22, I advised the mother to take the baby to hospital for proper medical treatment instead of continued administration of antibiotics on him and she left with a promise that she would do that. But on Wednesday, May 23 and Thursday, May 24, they didn’t bring the baby to school.
I called her on Thursday morning to know how the baby was faring with the ill-health and whether she had taken him to the hospital, as we discussed, but she told me that she was in her office. I was surprised because I know that it is not healthy to have too much antibiotics in a baby’s system. Then the following day, which was Friday, May 25, she brought the boy, but this time, she changed the antibiotics to cough mixture.
And from then on, they stopped bringing antibiotics for me to give to the baby; they changed to cough mixture. “On June 8, the day the baby died, a young lady, who lives with them, was the one that brought the baby to school. The baby was sleeping and I asked her to put the baby on the bed because I was talking with somebody.
She laid him on the bed and left but later the mother called to inform me that I should give the baby morning food because she didn’t do that before she left for work that day. And I did that around 11am, but I discovered that the baby was very dull. I felt that it could be because of the cough mixture they were giving him, as it makes babies to sleep. That day she told me that she had administered the cough mixture in the morning and that I should repeat it in the afternoon.
After the first food I gave the baby around 11am, I didn’t give him the drug because of the one his mother had given him in the morning. I put the baby in the walker after feeding him around 11am so that he could stretch out his body because he was very dull, but as soon as he entered the walker, he slept and he was laid on the bed again.
At about 3pm, I felt the baby should take another meal and I prepared the Cerelac because after I complained that the baby was too young to be taking Golden Morn, they changed it to Cerelac. So, when I carried him, his body was very hot, but I couldn’t administer any drug not even Paracetamol because he needed to eat before any drug could be administered.
I tried to give him food, but he was not taking it very well, so I asked somebody to give me water so I can mix the food to make it liquid for him to be able to take it. By the time I gave him the first one, the person that assisted me with the water alerted me that the baby I was giving food had closed his eyes.
I shouted and attracted the attention of Pastor Ademosun, who rushed downstairs and took the baby to the hospital, where he later died.” Asked if she knew the name of the cough mixture she was given to administer to the baby, she said no. Speaking about the baby and her job, she said:
“The boy has been with me from February till June 8 when the sad incident occurred. His elder sister was with me from February 2011 to April this year when she left for pre-school. I have been taking care of children for a very long time and I know when a baby is sick.
The other day, his father went to the police station to complain that the baby wasn’t disturbing me in the office but he disturbed them in the house.” She maintained that exposing the baby to a higher cereal and antibiotics could have contributed to the baby’s death, as she maintained that the baby was too young to have been fed with the cereal and antibiotics.
Though she could also not remember the kind of antibiotics she was giving to the baby, as directed by the parents, she said the crèche and the school have never recorded any death since existence. Still on the baby’s death, she said: “I didn’t hold the boy in the morning when they brought him for me to know how he was feeling that fateful June 8 because he was sleeping.
I just asked the lady that brought him to lay him on the bed. Even when he was feeling drowsy, as I was feeding him, I immediately concluded that it was the drugs the mother gave him in the morning that was affecting him. We have never recorded any death since we started running the crèche. The mother instructed me not to bathe the baby with water. In fact, I don’t know the total health history of the baby. In the crèche, it is only their child that I don’t bathe. I would bathe all the other children and dress them well before they go home.”
“A week before the death of the child, his father came to the school and was fighting with the nanny that the air-conditioner should be switched off. But he saw the air-conditioner when he brought his child for registration. Many of them have air-conditioners in their houses and cars and that’s what they pay for in the crèche.
Why shouldn’t we put on the air-conditioner? I wanted to tell the mother that they should take their child to another place if this place was not comfortable to them. Before they came, I had 16 children in the crèche and they were enjoying themselves; everybody felt okay. And that baby could have been among the fourth set to have graduated from the crèche and nobody had ever complained of cold.
“If the baby’s mother could be truthful, she would attest to the fact that I warned her on two occasions about the antibiotics. I complained of the cereal and it was changed to Cerelac. I equally complained about the antibiotics and it was changed to cough mixture, but I don’t know the name of the mixture.”
Pastor Ademosun added: “We don’t use any drug on the children apart from what the parents give us. I am saying that experts should look at the post-mortem and see what happened. It is the drugs the parents have been administering on the baby that really affected him.”
The police angle The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) at the Aswani Police Station confirmed the incident, but stated that it was at the moment being treated as Sudden Unnatural Death (SUD). He said: “The man didn’t even report the death of his son to us until after one month when the child had already been buried. That is why we decided to treat it as SUD until the result of the autopsy was out. We have asked the two parties to go and settle and come back to us.
We are still expecting them to come and tell us whether they have settled or they want to go to court. Already, we have the autopsy report from LUTH, which said there was Diazepam in the deceased’s system. So, if they could not settle, then we will change it to murder and forward it to the Police Homicide Unit, Panti, Yaba because we cannot handle murder case here. That is the situation now.”

Baba G! na your hand we dey oooo!!

Presidency: Time to remove fuel subsidy fully

Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters, Ahmed Ali Gulak, has said that Nigerians have seen the need for the removal of fuel subsidy.
Gulak said: “It has now dawned on everybody that we cannot continue to sustain this subsidy.”
Gulak stated this in Abuja when he received in audience members of the Initiative for Diaspora Knowledge Transfer (IDKT), led by its Chairman and Global Coordinator, Prince Chidi Ibe, who said the modules developed by IDKT is capable of changing a lot of misconceptions about the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Gulak said Ibe has been part of the journey of Jonathan’s presidency since 2010 when the project of Goodluck Jonathan was started and subsequently, Goodluck/Sambo.
He said: “Mr. President is hungry for development,” adding: “That is the more reason Mr. President has always said that it is better for Nigeria as a country to deploy our resources to productive sector, rather than consumption.”
Gulak further said: “Take for instance, in January, Mr. President said we have to do away with this fuel subsidy of a thing and most people did not take it the way we saw it and there was a protest all over the country.”
He said it has now dawned on everybody that the country cannot continue to sustain the subsidy regime, which forces Nigeria to continue to spend over N1 trillion on consumption.
He added that if the country had been deploying the resources to productive sectors such as agriculture “where youths will be employed, like railway system where they will have the cheapest mode of transportation, like our public works, it will be better for this country than subsidizing petrol consumption that will be available to a section of the community.”
Gulak promised to look into the modules earlier presented by Ibe and his team, especially the trade and agricultural aspect, where Ibe spoke about the cluster.
He said he would refer Ibe to the appropriate Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) to see what the government can tap from Ibe’s knowledge.
Speaking with Saturday Sun, Ibe said his purpose of visiting the Office of the Political Adviser to the President was to tell the government that IDKT has quick-fix projects that the government could adopt to show it is working.
Ibe said: “The modules are things that are also job-creating, job-oriented modules that we have. We want the political office to push it to the administration to come up with quick-fix projects that the people will really appreciate.”
While saying that his initiative was hinged on transformation, Ibe further said: “We believe that you can’t leave everything to government to do. So, we bring our own ideas to support the government so that the government can tap knowledge from what has happened in other economies so that the government will be able to further their own development.”

 I would have suggested that we embark on a Nationa wide strike when subsidy is been removed fully but the point is when we went on strike in January. What was the outcome?

See Why Naija Football Has Not Grown

See Why Naija Football Has Not Grown

See Why Naija Football Has Not Grown


At the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea, the Golden Eaglets were in all-conquering form as they strode to Nigeria’s third title in that category. One of the players leading the line for the Africans was Ganiyu Oseni, who played all the champions’ six games and gave defenders nightmares with his strength and pace.

At the same championship, Germany could only finish third with Toni Kroos their star player and the Golden Ball winner with five goals from midfield. Both Oseni and Kroos were expected to go on to have great careers.

Four years on, while the German is fulfillilling expectations and his career is on the rise with Bayern Munich, the Nigerian has been in rapid decline.

Oseni had the better of Kroos when both teams met in the semi-finals, leading the Eaglets to a 3-1 win.
But it is Kroos who is having the far better career, playing four games for Germany at the last senior World Cup in South Africa last year and emerging as a key figure in Bayern’s Bundesliga and Champions League campaign.

Logically, at 20 or 21 (officially Oseni was born on September 19, 1991; Kroos on January 4, 1990) a player should be looking forward to a bright future. While this is true for Kroos, Oseni’s career has already reached its peak and is now downhill. He is now dwelling on a bright past.

The Nigerian is at present without a club after a journeyman career that has seen him play in Tunisia, Russia and far-flung Vietnam. His stock has fallen so low that he was not considered good enough for the mediocre U-23 Eagles team that failed at the Olympic play-offs in Morocco.

EMENIKE HIGH, AS SPARTAK QUALIFY FOR CHAMPS LEAGUE

Spartak Moscow will feature in the group stage of the Champions League after they dumped Joseph Yobo’s Fenerbahce 3-2 on aggregate.

 Both teams drew 1-1 in Istanbul as Emmanuel Emenike led the Spartak attack against a defence anchored by Yobo on Wednesday night.

 Speaking with MTNFootball.com after the game, Emenike said he was delighted that he will be returning to Moscow victorious.

“It was a tough game as envisaged but I am happy that we won and advance to next stage. That was what we aimed for and we have achieved that,” said Emenike, who did not allow his arrest on Tuesday over match fixing allegations to affect him.

 The Russian club, who won the first leg 2-1 at home, again took the lead after just five minutes before Senegal striker Moussa Sow equalised for Fenerbahce in the 69th minute to end the game 1-1.

Spartak played the last 10 minutes with a man down after Demy De Zeeuw was red carded after a second bookable offence.

Red-hot Nigeria striker Brown Ideye was the hero of his Ukrainian team Dynamo Kiev when he scored the goal that led his team to the group stage of UEFA Champions League despite a 2-1 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach.

In a game played at NSK Olimpijs'kyj, Kiev Dynamo Kiev were on the verge of crashing out of the most prestigious club football tournament in the world before Ideye scored in the 88th minute to give his team a 4-3 aggregate win.

He also scored the last goal for Dynamo Kiev in the first leg 3-1 away win.

Compatriot Taye Taiwo, who is on loan from AC Milan, was also on for the entire duration of the game for Dynamo Kiev.

Meanwhile, Nigeria striker Victor Anichebe was on song for Everton in an English Carling Cup game.

Anichebe scored his side’s fourth goal in the 36th minute in a 5-0 bashing of Leyton Orient.

Kim Kardashian’s Ex Boyfriends (Love Life)

Kim Kardahsian was born on born on October the 21st 1980. She is a daughter of late attorney Robert Kardashian and Kris Jenner. This young model/actress/entrepreneur/producer has dazzled the world with her extraordinary beauty and strength of a capable businesswoman. She acted in a couple of movies, launched her own fragrances and last but not the least she was in her family reality series ‘’Keeping Up with the Kardashians’’. However, this reality series is not the thing that made her famous’ she is widely known for her sex tape taken with her boyfriend Ray J. This skillful business woman has also launched a clothing line with her sisters Kourtney and Kloe. What she is also famous for are her turmoil relationships with some of the most desirable men on the planet.

1. Kim Kardashian and Damon Thomas

In 2000 Kim got married to a music producer Damon Thomas in Las Vegas. Their married life was a nightmare for the 20 year old Kim. As she has stated, Damon abused her on many occasions, he was possessive and wanted to know her whereabouts at all times. He punched her in the face on a few occasions in the face and tried to choke her. He gave her $3,650 to have liposuction and another $1,000 for surgery since he wanted her to look perfect at all times. She alleges that he made her quit college, her job, and that was forbidden to see her friends and family. She was living in fear and this bizarre marriage finally ended in divorce in 2004.

2. Kim Kardashian and Ray J

A couple of years after in 2007 her divorce Kim started dating R&B star Ray J. This couple split later in the year but before that they made a sex tape. Sometime after the tape ‘’’leaked’’ so KK sued Vivid entertainment for ownership but in the end settled with them for $5 million, making her another star who made her “grand” entrance in this way.

3. Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush

Later on in 2007 Kim K started dating NFL star Reggie Bush. After a painful breakup they got back together once more but finally split up in March 2010. According to a source the reasons of their separation were maturity differences. The reality show star found that Reggie was too young to keep up with her marriage and motherhood plans since he is four years younger and wasn’t ready to pop the question. 

So you see, Kanye West is not the first to enjoy the .............hmmmm

WAJE's officially luches new singles....I WISH!

29 killed, 16 injured as buses collide, burst into flames

Two buses collided head-on and burst into flames in northern Nigeria’s Yobe state on Friday, killing at least 29 people.
“Two Toyota Hiace Buses… travelling in opposite directions on the Potiskum-Kano Road had a head-on collision and thereafter went off in flames.
Twenty nine persons — eleven of them burnt beyond recognition — have so far been confirmed dead,” national police spokesman Frank Mba said in a statement, adding that 16 people were also injured.
Police said the accident happened at 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) in the state’s Nengere area and the injured were taken to a hospital in the neaby city of Potiskum.
The statement lamented the “incessant cases of accidents” on Nigeria’s highways, considered some of the most dangerous in the world.
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Sector Commander, Malam Shehu Umar, confirmed that the two buses travelling on the opposite direction had a head on collusion about 10 km from Potiskum and killed the passengers on board.
“The buses went up in fire as they collided, killing the 29 victims with nine burnt beyond recognition,’’ he said.
Umar attributed the accident to reckless driving and over-speeding, adding: “accidents on this road are mostly associated with reckless driving and over-speeding.’’
More than 17,000 people died in about 31,000 road accidents across the country, between 2007 and 2009, according to the federal road safety agency’s 2010 report, the most recent published.
may their souls rest in peace........Amen

Jonathan Promises Improved Standard Of Living By 2013

Jonathan made the promise at the inauguration of the SAB-Millers Brewery, in Onitsha, Anambra State, according to News Agency of Nigeria.

President Jonathan at the extreme right.

He noted that in spite of the challenges facing the country, the private sector was still making massive progress, noting that the Federal Government would continue to support the private sector Operators and provide infrastructure to assist them.
“I want to commend this company for what it has done; I also want to commend others for what they are doing considering that fact that within this period as a nation, we know we have our challenges.
“But this administration is totally committed to changing things; we have challenges in terms of road infrastructure, power; we have that also in security and others.
“I know all these are major handicaps to the development of industry in the nation; but even under these situations the companies are trying and doing well.
“We promise you that we would change things and make sure that the private sector blossoms in this country because that is the only way we can create jobs.
“Our transformation agenda is going on, in a partnership between government and the private sector; that’s’ why even in our economic management team we have people from the Federal Government; state governors are there, Governors Peter Obi  and Murtala Nyako and of course key captains of industry from the private sector.”
Jonathan also noted that Nigeria’s population of 160 million people, 70 per cent of which was made up of the youth, made it an attractive investment destination for investors.
He praised Governor Obi for deploying his private sector experience to attract investment to the state.
“I promise SABMiller breweries investors that they would not regret their investment in the country as young people under the age of 35 constitute 70 percent of the country’s population and we are not under any restrictions to what they could eat or consume.”
Governor Obi, in his address promised that the people of the state would support and stand with Jonathan having overwhelmingly voted for him in the 2011 Presidential elections.
The governor said with the level of private sector investments springing up, the state was fast becoming the home of Africa’s greatest entrepreneurs.
Mr Mark Bowman, Managing Director of SAB-Miller Africa, expressed gratitude to the Anambra and Federal governments for creating the enabling environment for the brewery to thrive in the country.
“We are grateful for the support and infrastructure you have assisted us with and we promise that the company would deliver on its promises of job creation.”
It will be recalled that SAB-Miller Breweries had invested $100 million (N15 billion) on building a green-field brewery in Onitsha in 2011.
The brewery is the highest direct investment by any group or company in the history of the South-East geo-political zone.
The factory, which is expected to produce beer and malt for a start, has 12.5 per cent share owned by indigenous entrepreneurs and 10 per cent share owned by Anambra Government.
The brewery is expected to directly employ about 750 youths and indirectly engage 4,500 people, especially through its subsidiary distribution company Interfact Nigeria Ltd.
The brewery would be taking advantage of the largest market in West Africa – Onitsha Main Market – as well as 1.5 million residents excluding thousands of visiting traders daily.
Meanwhile, Anambra State Government had announced that it would provide tax cuts and infrastructure to the brewery and other industries within the Onitsha industrial harbour.

I'm not moved a bit with this kind of talk!! This is not the first time we hear this kind of talk. we need action and not talkatives  

Woman Caught On Tape Stealing Money From A 10-Year-Old

A woman turned herself into the authorities after a surveillance tape showing her allegedly taking $13 from a 10-year-old girl went viral.

On Aug. 11, the young girl went into a beauty supply store in Shreveport, La., to shop for her grandmother, who was sitting in the car, KETK-TV reported.
As she placed her money on the counter, another woman eating an ice cream cone, later identified as Tanika Stephenson, approached the cashier and purchased something. While she was waiting for her change, the surveillance camera apparently caught her on tape slipping the little girl's money into her purse before she slipped out of the store, according to KSLA-TV.
The local police posted the surveillance tape on its YouTube page. The video quickly collected approximately 3,700 hits.
That number may also seem small, but many of the viewers managed to identify Stephenson as the woman in the video -- and they weren't happy with her, according to KFXK-TV. Some viewers even sent her Facebook page and other information to authorities.
In the end, the viral campaign worked, according to KEEL-AM. Stephenson turned herself in on Monday morning after reportedly receiving dozens of phone calls from citizens over the weekend, some of which weren't "very pleasant" she told detectives.
Stephenson was arrested and booked into the City Jail for one count of Misdemeanor Theft.

 

Crime Stoppers Coordinator, Sergeant Jim Taliaferro appreciated how citizen badgering helped cops bring in the suspect.
"It is very refreshing to have our citizens call Crime Stoppers to identify this suspect who stole money from a child and I applaud those tipsters who declined a possible reward for their information," he told KSLA-TV.

Watch the video from this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mCVQRmChxzY