What really happened was that Ajimobi was supposed to settle for Tegbe. Tegbe has Itsekiri blood; he is from Delta State but he was born and bred in Oyo town,” said a Government House source. “Shortly before the primary, the likes of Otudeko, Onasanya and co mounted pressure on Ajimobi to drop Tegbe for Adelabu. Ajimobi was given $10million; that is N3.57billion. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. It is an open secret in the camp of the decision-makers of Oyo politics.”

The last-minute decision of Abiola Ajimobi, Governor of Oyo State, to back Bayo Adelabu rather than Joseph Tegbe for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was not without money changing hands, SaharaReporters has been told.

Months before the primary election, Ajimobi egged on anyone who indicated interest in succeeding him; however, as the primary election drew near, it became apparent that he was tilting towards Tegbe over Adelabu.

A source had told SaharaReporters back then: “Each time anyone went to him to say he wanted to run in 2019, the Governor always encouraged them. He would answer, ‘Of course you are qualified. You schooled and you work in a reputable company; go ahead’. Now, those aspirants misconstrued the Governor’s encouragement for endorsement, not knowing that he had been telling all them the same thing,” he said.

http://saharareporters.com/2018/10/31/ex...yo-adelabu

A notorious thief who lures his victims mostly ladies and steals their mobile phones in the process, has been apprehended in Delta state.

According to reports, before the suspect's capture, his modus operandi was to lure girls to his house after sweet-chatting with them on Facebook. 

After meeting the victim, the suspect who is said to come from Benin, Edo state, will pretend to be checking out the girl's phone before vanishing into thin air.

It was gathered that had been his style before he was busted.

When a search was conducted after his arrest, about 28 mobile phones were retrieved from his possession. 

The suspect has been handed over to the police for possible prosecution. 

See more; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/10/notorious-phone-thief-who-lures-girls-through-facebook-arrested-photo.html

by Mayowa Tijani


Over 1.1 million Nigerians have slip into extreme poverty in just four months, TheCable can report.

This has brought the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty — or below $1.90 a day — to 88 million.

In June 2018, the Brookings Institution named Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world, with 86.9 million extremely poor people.

Nigeria overtook India as the world poverty capital, despite being six times smaller in population than the Asian country.



More to follow…

Quote:Over 1.1 million Nigerians have slip into extreme poverty in just four months, TheCable can report.

This has brought the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty — or below $1.90 a day — to 88 million.

In June 2018, the Brookings Institution named Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world, with 86.9 million extremely poor people.

Nigeria overtook India as the world poverty capital, despite being six times smaller in population than the Asian country.

According to the World Poverty Clock, created by Vienna-based World Data Lab, 88,011,759 Nigerians are currently living in extreme poverty.

The World Bank, IMF, United Nations, and major development institutions across the world forecast that Nigeria will not hit the 2030 target for ending global poverty.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also suggest that West Africa, primarily, Nigeria will host 40 percent of the world’s poorest people by 2030.

Buhari is the most successful fraudster in the history of Nigeria'' - Eedris Abudulkareem

Veteran Nigerian rapper, Eedris Abdulkareem has described President Buhari as the ' the most successful fraudster in the history of Nigeria'.



In a recent Instagram post, the controversial rapper wrote, '

Quote:Buhari is by far the most successful fraudster in the history of Nigeria. First he was fraudulently enlisted into the Nigerian army. He fraudulently gained promotion that he wasn't qualified for while in the army'.


He went on to say, 'he truncated our democracy and rendered Nigerians poor and helpless. He turned the Petroleum Trust Fund to Petroleum Trust Fraud to help Abacha loot his way to the grave. He came back, deceived 15 million Nigerians with fake integrity and became a president without the required certificate. He gained an unrestricted access to our national treasury and went on a looting spree that made Nigeria the poverty capital of the world. Now he wants to continue...no way, he must be stopped because we cannot continue to reinforce failure'.

Landlord Breaks Into Tenant’s Shop Over Refusal To Quit
October 31, 2018 NEW
 
                             
A landlord, Adetoye Adebayo, has been arrested by the police for allegedly breaking into his tenant’s shop over the latter’s refusal to quit.

The tenant, Aanuoluwapo Alonge, alleged that the septuagenarian damaged some of her property and made away with items from the shop in the Ipaja area of Lagos State.

Akelicious gathered that in 2014, Adebayo rented out the shop to Alonge to run her business with the agreement that she must not exceed 9pm as closing time.

It was also learnt that Adebayo issued his tenant a notice to quit in 2016 when she allegedly defaulted on the agreement.

In her report to the police, Alonge said Adebayo broke into her shop without her knowledge and took some items.

She said, “I got to my shop on August 31, 2018, and discovered that it was in total disorder­­­. My landlord came to my shop without my knowledge. How he got into the shop is still unknown to me, because I neither gave him my key nor know that he had a spare key to my shop.

“The roof of my shop was removed and the fence securing my shop was broken down. When I checked all my property in the shop, they were no longer in a good condition because they had been exposed to sun and rain. My business cost me a fortune and now everything is no longer in a good conditon. I spent about N1.5m to equip the shop. The items missing in the shop are one LG inverter, air conditioner, OX fan, three Chandelier light fittings, one microwave and one generator.”

The 79-year-old Adebayo, however, said he took the action because the tenant refused to quit despite promising to do so.

He said, “I gave her a notice to quit in January 2016 and I gave her three notices afterwards. There was a peace meeting between us and we agreed that she should quit the place for a proper shop to be built on the land. But till date, she refused to quit the place despite several attempts and telephone calls.


“She locked up the place and denied me access without payment. After two years of waiting, I knocked down the fence without her knowledge to build the shops. I took inventory of the things she had in the shop and they are still intact. But I removed the air conditioner and one standing fan and kept them in a safe place. I did not damage anything and I did not steal anything. The aluminium structure is still intact as well.”

Adebayo was, however, arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court on four counts bordering on stealing and unlawful damage.

The charges read in part, “That you, Adetoye Adebayo, sometime in August 2018 at House 31/32 Road, Third Avenue, Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, did break and enter the shop of one Aanuoluwapo Alonge, to commit felony; thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 309(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.”

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The presiding magistrate, Mrs S.K. Matepo, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties each in like sum.

She adjourned the case till November 19, 2018.

1.4m people migrate to cities weekly, says UN
October 31, 2018 INTERNATIONAL NEWS, NEW
 
                             
The UN says no fewer than 1.4 million people migrate every week to cities around the world.

Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the weekly migration could contribute to “disasters”.

The UN chief said the development “can strain local capacities, contributing to increased risk from natural and human made disasters”.

In his message for World Cities Day, celebrated annually on Oct. 31, Guterres stressed that “hazards do not need to become disasters”.

“The answer is to build resilience – to storms, floods, earthquakes, fires, pandemics and economic crises,” he said.

Guterres explained that cities around the world were doing just that, forging new ways to increase resilience and sustainability.

He noted that the capital of Thailand, Bangkok has built vast underground water storage facilities to cope with increased flood risk and save water for drier periods.

In Quito, the capital of Ecuador in South America, local government has reclaimed or protected more than 200,000 hectares of land to boost flood protection, reduce erosion and safeguard the city’s freshwater supply and biodiversity, he noted.

The UN chief also indicated that the city of Johannesburg in South Africa “is involving residents in efforts to improve public spaces so they can be safely used for recreation, sports, community events and services such as free medical care”.

Guterres said a range of UN-backed international agreements provided “a roadmap for a more sustainable and resilient world”.

The agreements include the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the New Urban Agenda

World Cities Day was established by the UN to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanisation, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanisation, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.

Maimunah Sharif, Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), flagged the importance of investing in resilience or face growing “economic, social, political and human” risks.

“It has been estimated that without action on climate change – which accounts for just one facet of resilience – some 77 million urban residents risk falling into poverty,” she warned.

Sharif elaborated that human-made and environmental threats ranged from droughts, floods and fires to economic shocks, disease outbreaks, war and migration.

“Investing in resilience is a wise investment,” the UN Habitat chief said.

The theme of the 2018 commemoration, ‘Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities’, focuses on the need to preserve human life and limit damage and destruction while continuing to provide infrastructure and services after a crisis.

Nurse Admits To Killing 100 Patients
October 31, 2018 NEW
 
                       
Former nurse Niels Hoegel admitted Tuesday to killing 100 patients in his care, on the first day of his trial in the biggest serial killing case in Germany’s post-war history.

Hoegel, 41, has already spent nearly a decade in prison on a life term for other patient deaths, and is accused of intentionally administering medical overdoses to victims so he could bring them back to life at the last moment.

As the proceedings opened in the northern city of Oldenburg, presiding judge Sebastian Buehrmann asked whether the charges against him were accurate. Hoegel replied quietly “yes”.

“What I have admitted took place,” he told the courtroom crowded with dozens of grieving relatives.

Buehrmann said the main aim of the trial was to establish the full scope of the murder spree that was allowed to go unchecked for years at two German hospitals.

“It is like a house with dark rooms — we want to bring light into the darkness,” he said.

After a minute of silence in the courtroom for the victims, the bearded, heavyset Hoegel listened impassively, his head lowered, as public prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlmann read out the name of each dead patient and the charges against the defendant.
– ‘Little, vulnerable mass murderer’ –

Prosecutors say at least 36 patients were killed at a hospital in Oldenburg where he worked, and about 64 more at a clinic in nearby Delmenhorst, between 2000 and 2005.

More than 130 bodies of patients who died on Hoegel’s watch have been exhumed, in a case investigators have called “unprecedented in Germany to our knowledge”.


One of the more than 100 co-plaintiffs in the trial, Christian Marbach, said it was a scandal that Hoegel had been allowed to kill with impunity for such an extended period of time without hospital authorities or law enforcement intervening.

“They had everything they needed (to stop him) — you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes,” Marbach, the grandson of one of the patients, told AFP.

Hoegel told the court he was “surprised” when a superior at the Oldenburg hospital asked him to resign in late 2002, saying he would get a positive recommendation and holiday pay if he left voluntarily.

“I felt bad, like I had been caught,” Hoegel said, adding however that he was never explicitly told why they wanted him gone.

Marbach said the defendant seemed remarkably composed as he admitted to the extraordinary list of killings.

“He looks like a little, vulnerable mass murderer.”
– 200 victims? –

Caught in 2005 while injecting an unprescribed medication into a patient in Delmenhorst, Hoegel was sentenced in 2008 to seven years in prison for attempted murder.

A second trial followed in 2014-15 under pressure from alleged victims’ families.

He was found guilty of murder and attempted murder of five other victims and given the maximum sentence of 15 years.

It was then that Hoegel confessed to his psychiatrist at least 30 more murders committed in Delmenhorst. That prompted investigators to take a closer look at suspicious deaths in Oldenburg.

Taking the stand Tuesday, Hoegel said he began taking painkillers shortly after becoming a nurse in 1999 as he felt overwhelmed by the stress of working in the intensive care unit.

“I should have quit,” he said.

Asked by the judge why he didn’t admit to the remaining murders before now, Hoegel said it was “out of shame” and because it took him a long time to face up to what he had done at the first hospital.

It was only through reading the court files and in therapy that “I started to recognise the full dimension”, he said.

Investigators say the final toll could top 200 but fear they might never know for sure because the bodies of many possible victims were cremated.


Hoegel appears to have followed a similar procedure each time, first injecting a medication that triggered cardiac arrest, followed by an often futile attempt at resuscitation.

Prosecutors say he was motivated by vanity, to show off his skills at saving human lives, and by simple “boredom”.

The choice of victim appears to have been entirely random, with their ages ranging from 34 to 96.

Mikel Obi Finally Breaks Silence After Being Omitted From Super Eagles Squad
October 31, 2018 SPORT
 
                                  
Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has stated that he remains fully committed to the national team and will make himself available for selection once he sorts out his ‘physical and fitness issues’.

The Tianjin TEDA midfield maestro, who has not been in action for Nigeria since the World Cup in June, emphasised that he will keep supporting the Eagles as they look to seal their place in the 2019 AFCON billed for Cameroon.

“I’m still not ready to come back yet. Still have some physical and fitness issues. I wish the team well and will always do.

“My commitment to the national team remains 100%; I still remain a part of the team and will always support the lads. The Nations Cup remains our ultimate goal for now and we are just one point away from reaching that target,” Mikel told AOIFootball.

Gernot Rohr had earlier revealed that Mikel’s exclusion from the team is down to his own decision and that the 31-year-old is to determine when he will return to international duty.

South African Man Arrested After He Was Caught Penetrating A Cat
October 31, 2018 INTERNATIONAL NEWS
 
                              
A South African man from Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal was arrested on Friday for alleged bestiality after his neighbour caught him penetrating her pet cat.

Prem Balram‚ for security firm Reaction Unit South Africa‚ said that the man’s neighbour had raised the alarm after she caught the suspect fully Unclad while he was having sex with the cat.

“She informed the controller on duty that her neighbour was having sex with her pet cat.

“The woman had walked to his residence to investigate when she found the Unclad man holding the cat by rear legs and penetrating the animal‚” he said.

“The woman informed our officers that she wanted the man removed from the premises. Officers entered the home and found him dressing‚” he said.

In the statement made to Times Live, Balram added that the SPCA had been called to attend to the injured animal.

“The suspect was handed over to the South African Police‚” he said.

Dangote to address dirty fuels issue with Euro V
October 31, 2018 BUSINESS
 
                           
Dangote Oil Refinery Company (DORC) says the 650,000 barrels per day refinery has been designed to process a variety of light and medium grades of crude and produce extremely clean fuels that meet Euro V specification.

Nigeria has remained a home for dirty fuels (with sulphur), which results in vehicle emissions that negatively impact on health and environment. The presumed ban on such products is not having the desired effect.

Speaking on ‘Promoting Efficiency and Clean Fuels in African Refining and Petrochemicals Market’ at the Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) conference in Lagos yesterday, Dangote Group’s executive director, Devakumar Edwin, said that the refinery was investing in the most advanced units to produce Euro V fuel to help Nigeria meet the European standard of gasoline.

Edwin, who was represented by the director, business strategy and optimisation, Dangote Refinery, Srinivas Rachakonda, said that the refinery would provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add value to Nigeria’s economic development.He noted that the facility would lead to significant skills transfer and technology acquisition opportunities in the country.

The group has embarked on a landmark integrated refinery and petrochemical project, regarded as the largest industrial complex in the history of Africa, which is expected to take Nigeria to new heights through transformation of the economy, he added.

According to him, the refinery will ensure the security of local supply of petroleum products as well as the availability of petrochemical feedstock (poly-propylene and polyethylene), enough for the Nigerian market and neighbouring countries.He noted that the refinery would also produce carbon black feedstock and sulphur.

Rachakonda disclosed that the company invested in the East West Offshore Gas Gathering System (EWOGGS) project, which is expected to unlock significant gas supply and help to reduce gas flaring in Nigeria.

The first phase is expected to deliver gas for the use of Dangote industries, including the proposed fertiliser plant in the refinery complex, and other identified industrial and power plant users. Speaking during the session, former executive secretary of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Reginald Stanley, said that Dangote Refinery “is going to be a game-changer” for the entire African downstream industry.

He condemned the continuous importation of dirty fuel.“Emission is the highest killer today in Nigeria. I commend Dangote Refinery for its decision to produce Euro V specification of gasoline. Dumping of toxic fuel in the country is not acceptable. The earlier they stop it, the better for us,” he added.

NNPC rules out hike in fuel price
October 31, 2018 BUSINESS
 
                         
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday dismissed plans to increase pump prices of petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.

The corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu, said contrary to the trending information on the social media, the Federal Government also had no plan to review prices of white products.

He noted though the agency has since last October been sole importer of petrol due to the inability of the oil marketing companies (OMCs) to cope with the Open Market Price that exceeds the official N145 per litre, the spokesman, however, dismissed any increment moves by government.

A statement by him warned purveyors of false information against acts that could stir sharp practices as the festive period approaches. Ughamadu urged the public to report any filling stations selling above the official pump price to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

Besides, it has announced the re-entry of its subsidiary, NIDAS Shipping Services, into the international shipment of crude oil and petroleum products, seven years after falling out of reckoning.The development follows the ongoing re-engineering by the Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, to add value to the organisation.

VIDEO: Oba of Benin 5 Wives Looking Radiant At His 2nd Coronation Anniversary

http://www.ebalsblog.com/2018/10/video-o...oking.html

[ url=
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRAFYc9H...e=youtu.be[/url]

Power generation drops to 2,390MW, 15 plants idle



Power generation in the country plunged to 2 , 390 . 20 megawatts on Monday as the number of idle power plants rose from seven to 15, according to the latest data from the Federal Ministry of Power , Works and Housing .
Total electricity generation has been hovering below 4 , 000 MW in recent months and stood at 3 , 741 . 30MW as of 6 am on Sunday .



The nation generates most of its electricity from gas -fired power plants, while output from hydropower plants makes up about 30 per cent of the total .



But the three hydropower plants accounted for more than 50 per cent of the electricity generated as of 6 am on Monday, with Kainji , Jebba and Shiroro producing 366 MW , 354 MW and 494 MW , respectively .
Egbin , the biggest power station in the country , saw its output drop to 176 MW on Monday from 306 MW on Saturday .



The idle plants are Sapele , Afam IV & V, Geregu , Omotosho , Geregu NIPP , Alaoji , Omotosho NIPP , Odukpani NIPP , Ihovbor NIPP , Gbarain NIPP , Okpai , Afam VI , AES , ASCO and Rivers IPP .


The PUNCH had reported on Monday that electricity generation companies in the country were saying that their plants were being forced to operate below their optimal capacity levels .


The Executive Secretary , Association of Power Generation Companies, the umbrella body for the Gencos , Dr Joy Ogaji , in an emailed response to questions from our correspondent , attributed the problem to transmission and distribution .



She said, “Specifically , generation companies are pinned down by some operational impediments . The frequency of instructions to either increase load or decrease load ( ramp up and ramp down) and , in some cases, shut down, has induced damaging stresses to the components of the machines .



“These instructions, reflective of the grid behaviour , are subjecting key electrical components of the power plants to operational stresses. Our available generation has always been steady between 7 , 500 MW and 8 , 000 MW ; you can check the records at the National Control Centre , Osogbo . ”


https://punchng.com/power-generation-dro...ants-idle/

Quote:By Abdullateef Aliyu



A former governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, said yesterday that President Muhammadu Buhari will win the majority votes in the North but will not garner as much votes as he did in 2015.

Shekarau said his prediction was premised on the strength of the opposition PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar who also hails from the North. He, however, said Buhari will ultimately defeat Atiku in the contest.

In an interview with Daily Trust on the sidelines of the conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) in Ibadan, yesterday, Shekarau, a chieftain of the APC noted that the 2019 election would not be as simple as the 2015 poll.

But with massive mobilization, he said Buhari would win majority votes in the North and ultimately a re-election.

Commenting on the chances of Buhari and Atiku, he said, “I don’t think it is as simple as that. As a practical man, I wouldn’t say that it is totally out of place. You cannot wish away the issue of regional, tribal, religious influences in anything that you do about people. Both of them (Buhari and Atiku) are from the North.

“So I think it is going to be a very tall order in terms of the struggle that decides the votes in the North; there is no doubt about that. Buhari may not necessarily get all of the votes he got in 2015 but we are still very hopeful he is going to have majority votes, I have no doubt about that,” he said.

Shekarau who dumped the PDP for APC recently after the defection of his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, insisted that the national leadership of the PDP practically handed over the leadership of the party to Kwankwaso.

He said he was determined to sacrifice his presidential ambition for peace to reign in Kano State, noting that his members felt cheated by the way they were treated by the PDP leadership.

He said he was today vindicated because the PDP in Kano was currently disintegrated, adding, “A large chunk has left for APC, a large chunk left for PRP (Peoples Redemption Party), and many of them have withdrawn from participating in political activities.

“So what remains of PDP today? Just Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiyya group and I am sure they are going to regret it in 2019.”

He said he was not certain if Kwankwaso was contesting with him in the Kano Central Senatorial election but noted that he was not a challenge to his aspiration.

Quote:By Taiwo Amodu



Governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are at war again. They are on familiar ground: their common enemy is not the main opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) but the Chairman of their party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. TAIWO AMODU unveils the forces and reasons for the belligerence.

Less than five months after his assumption of office as national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is about to be bullied out of the party national secretariat.

His predicament is more pathetic, unlike the fate that befell his immediate predecessor from same home state of Edo, Chief Odigie Oyegun. It is the same forces that neutralized Oyegun, and the battle is the same: who controls the party structures, in the aftermath of the primaries, ahead the general elections. But while the enemy camp, the governors were divided in the plot to remove Chief Oyegun, there is unanimity of voices in their fortuitous battle to unseat the former chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress, (NLC).

At the weekend, an embattled Comrade Oshiomhole was on top of his voices, alerting the nation of sinister move to remove him. The Save-My-Soul statement signed by his media aide, Simon Simon Ebegbulem, fingered certain stakeholders as behind the budding plot.

The statement read in part: “We must appreciate the fact that it has pleased the Almighty God to place him in the saddle of APC leadership at this time for a purpose.

“The purpose has begun to manifest in its vast flourish and ramifications: instilling discipline, ensuring party supremacy, promoting due process, dealing with impunity and executive arrogance wherever they manifest to undermine intra-party electoral processes in the states.”

Comrade Oshiomhole further noted that those not comfortable with his resolve to restore party supremacy were up in arms against his noble agenda for the ruling party.

“From the outset, we never expected that those who cherished and supported the status quo, which Comrade Oshiomhole supplanted, would cave in easily under the magnitude of the current political revival that he spearheads.

«Indeed, while the progressives are enamored of change, the conservatives find it difficult to embrace it. That is the current reality in the deliberate effort to rebrand the APC.

«Again, we were not, in the least, deluded that the process of rebranding or rewriting the narrative of the four-year old party would be easy. What we are witnessing in the APC today is Comrade Oshiomhole’s adroit management of the strains and pains that accompany the birth of a resuscitated governing party.

“The leadership provided in the recently-held primary elections and the large-scale integrity of the processes are developments that should hence serve as exemplars in the administration of governing parties.

“Indeed, the message therein is very clear that the party, and not pseudo political empires in the states, has the power to superintend the primary elections for the nomination of the party’s candidates in the general election.

“While the party will not surrender its functions, which are constitutionally circumscribed, to any other entities, it will always be ready to moderate the divergent tendencies and mediate the disparate political camps in the interest of party cohesion.

“This is one of the hardnosed truths that the Comrade Oshiomhole-led NWC preaches and practices with an apostolic zeal to the chagrin of some influential stakeholders in the states.

“Comrade Oshiomhole envisions an APC that is capacitated to pragmatically build a corpus of leadership and membership that do not only submit to the high ideal of party supremacy but also the credo of party discipline.

These-party supremacy and discipline- are two fundamentals that had been eroded even before the emergence of the Oshiomhole leadership. It is sad that while the national chairman is working round the clock, some stakeholders have thrown selfish political agendas into the mix to threaten the building of institutional capacity for the APC.”

“These influential stakeholders, according to grapevine, have begun to mobilise to pass a no-confidence vote in the leadership of Oshiomhole, having failed to impose their preferred candidates on the party in the nomination process.’’

While the statement was silent on the specifics, it was easy for discerning party faithful and Nigerians who have shown more than passing interest in the recent development in the APC that the innuendo, ‘’influential stakeholders’’ was targeted at the ubiquitous governors.

Oshiomhole, in his inaugural speech as chairman, said he was determined to inspire confidence-building in the party by ensuring the practice of genuine internal democracy. The man of the soap box further declared that his leadership would ensure that those holding elective offices on the party platform submit themselves to it. The party, the former leader of organised labour union, noted would be the envy of other political parties in the African continent, including the African National Congress, (ANC) of South Africa!

Those familiar with the undemocratic process that threw up Oshiomhole, a system which ensured that he was the sole candidate for the exalted office were not bemused over his zealotry.

Nigerian Tribune checks revealed that others in the race, who announced their withdrawal days before the convention that proclaimed Oshiomhole as chairman through voice votes, were Professor Oserheimen, Clement Ebri, and Chief Ibrahim Emokpaire.


The arduous task

Determined to walk his talks of taking the party structures from the governors and asserting its supremacy, his first battle was with the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige (incidentally a former governor!) over the latter’s refusal to constitute the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, (NSITF). Oshiomhole “ultimatum” to the Minister of Labour was rebuffed, leading to a media diatribe between the duo.

“For me it is the height of mischief for any minister, you cannot purport to be an honourable minister and you act dishonourably and nobody is greater than the party.

“And if the President condones disrespect for his office, I will not condone disrespect for the party. And when we expel the minister we will prevail on the president that he can’t keep him in his cabinet; people who have neither respect for his own decisions nor have respect for the party without which they would not have been ministers. No minister is above the party and they have taken undue advantage of the president’s fatherly disposition.”

Ngige in his response said he had inaugurated three boards in the ministry but would not be in a hurry to inaugurate that of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), because of an alleged N40 billion corruption scandal by the former board.


Battles governors

The APC chairman gave a hint with the Osun state governorship primary that while the party constitution offered three options in selection of candidates for elective offices: consensus, direct and indirect, his mind was made up for the direct primary as the best option for the party.

The former Edo State governor submitted that the direct primary would take the party back to its ordinary faithful and ultimately, deepen internal democracy.

He said: “We have decided that in order to ensure popular participation, and to deepen democracy in Osun State, in line with the provision of our party constitution which allow for either direct or indirect primary, we have resolved that the governorship election primary in Osun State will be conducted on the basis of direct primary. What that means is that every card carrying member of our party will participate in the process of nominating the flag bearer of the party.

“This for us is the most democratic way to conduct the election and is in line with what our critical stakeholders from that part of the country want and we are quite happy to oblige. The whole idea of that the more we allow our party members to participate in the process of nominating candidates, we will remove the issue of corruption or monetizing the processes of nominating ageing candidates, in addition to the fact that party members will have a sense of ownership of the outcome of the exercise.

‘’ Our democracy has to grow and our constitution allows for this process and I am proud that the people of Osun State are ready to go through the whole hog of allowing party members rather than allowing party caucus to determine who fly our flag. I think that is more democratic.”


Oshiomhole recants

Checks revealed that even when the party resolved at its NEC meeting to use only the direct primary for the nomination of its presidential candidate and allow each state to pick the option it preferred, Oshiomhole was adamant until the intervention of the Presidency.

At a meeting with governors held last month before the commencement of the primary, the APC chairman told newsmen that reason had prevailed and he was going to allow each state explore any of the option allowed by the party constitution.

He said: “I think my task and the task of the party is clear. We have a tradition as a progressive party to submit ourselves to the dictates of our party and we believe in internal democracy because we are democrats and democracy must begin from within the house before we can do it outside…

“Our task is very simple; obey the rules of the party, obey the rules of fairness, obey the rules of natural justice and that is what we mean when we talk about free and fair primaries,” he said.
Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha announced that they had agreed on indirect primaries in states.

“We met with the chairman and we have resolved that in support of the party that we are going to have free and fair primaries. Everybody will be given equal chance to participate in the primaries which will be transparent, free and fair. We have adopted both direct and indirect and most of the states are going for indirect primaries, but for the president it is going to be direct primaries.

“So, we have all resolved to assure Nigerians that we are ready for the primaries and we are ready for the main election as decided by NEC and we are sure that come 2019, APC shall have the victory. We are calling on all our supporters to support the party.’’


The final ambush

The primaries conducted across states in the country were marred by irregularities, as it turned out to be a bullying process, with aggrieved parties resorting to litigations. In Imo, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Rivers and Zamfara, Kano, amongst others, the fate of the party hangs in the balance. In Zamfara, the INEC had since written to notify the ruling party that it would not be eligible to present candidates in the forthcoming general elections.

INEC in a memo, “Failure To Conduct Party Primaries in Zamfara State Within The Stipulated Time Frame, ” signed by its acting secretary , Okechukwu Ndeche and addressed to the APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole notified the latter that his party would not be eligible to field candidates in Zamfara as the Commission, noted that the APC failed to conduct primaries.

But in its reaction, the APC NWC in a letter dated October 10, 2018 and addressed to Mr. Ndeche claimed the ruling party candidates emerged through affirmation, not primary.

Oshiomhole further claimed in his response to INEC that aspirants for elective offices on its platform in Zamfara agreed to produce candidates, through a consensus arrangement, which he said was affirmed by delegates, after what he called “intense horse trading.

In Imo, certain aggrieved aspirants boycotted a fresh primary ordered by the APC NWC which was won by Uche Nwosu, the son-in-law to the sitting governor, Rochas Okorocha. The aggrieved aspirants insisted that the primary conducted by Ahmed Gulak which declared Senator Hope Uzodinnma as winner be upheld by the party. They have since approached the court, with a prayer that the fresh primary won by Uche Nwosu be declared a nullity.

The governors whose anointed candidates lost out in the primaries continue to squeal against the process, accusing Comrade Oshiomhole of acting a script.

On Monday, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, whose anointed choice, Adekunle Akinlade lost the governorship ticket to Dapo Abiodun, believed to be the choice of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former Lagos and Ogun states governors, respectively, has pointed fingers of scorn at the trio of Oshiomhole, Tinubu and Osoba as he accused them of falsifying figures. Amosun, whose parallel primaries were not accorded recognition by the Oshiomhole led NWC dismissed the entire process as a charade.

He said: “The President already knows there was no election in Ogun State. He knows that they just went to Lagos, write all results, and that what they did is fraud. If the National Working Committee or the National Chairman said there was any election in Ogun State, It was all fraud. That is what I said.

“Mr. President already knows, there was no election in Ogun State, other than the one we held,” the governor said.

“The issue of Chief Osoba and Asiwaju and co, what we said was that there was a deafening silence from their end, and silence means consent.’’

Before Amosun’s outburst, the First Lady, Aishat Buhari, whose brother, Mahmud Halilu lost the governorship ticket to the sitting governor, Jibrilla Bindow had spoken in the same vein, as she accused the embattled Oshiomhole of impunity.

Mrs Buhari, in a tweet on her official handle @aishambuhari, restated her disdain for what she called the extortion of aspirants being perpetrated in the ruling party under the watch of comrade/ activist.

“It is disheartening to note that some aspirants used their hard earned money to purchase nomination forms, got screened, cleared and campaigned vigorously yet found their names omitted on election day, these forms were bought at exorbitant prices.

“Many others contested and yet had their result delayed. Fully knowing that AUTOMATIC tickets have been given to other people.

«All Progressives Congress being a party whose cardinal principle is change and headed by a comrade/ activist whose main concern is for the common man, yet, such impunity could take place under its watch.”


Who blinks first?

While the governors are regrouping, smarting for a showdown with their party national chairman, the latter appears to put up a façade of a man, prepared for the war ahead of him. The camp of the governors, led by their chairman, Rochas Okorocha are not relenting; Oshiomhole emboldened by his benefactor, Bola Tinubu is not sounding apologetic. Who blinks first? The answer lies in the belly of time …

Two students of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, have been killed following a clash between the Eiye and Aiye () confraternities.

According to reports, the incident occurred at Right Link Villa, Okanlawon Street.

The two Eiye cult members (pictured) were hacked to death and their hands chopped off as a sign that they were killed by the Aiyes.

Last week, at least one person was killed with several others injured when some youth suspected to be members of rival cultists clashed in Ijapo area of Akure, Ondo state capital.

It was gathered that many residents of the area and passerby ran for their lives when the cultists engaged themselves in a fierce shootout.

According to an eyewitness, the cause of the clash was unknown but the gunmen started shooting and running across the estate while one man was caught down and others with gunshot escaped from the scene of the incident.

He explained that it took over two hours before men of the state police command curtailed the incident but said the identity of the cult group behind the shootout was still unknown as at the time of writing this report.

More below:

https://zenithnaija.com/two-eiye-cult-me...in-ondo-4/

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES

WEDNESDAY, 31ST OCTOBER.

ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU LOOK.


But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (James 1:25).


The Word of God is the mirror of God. The Bible says anyone who hears the Word and doesn’t act accordingly is like a man who looks at himself in a mirror, turns around, and forgets what he looked like. (James 1:23-24). This means that God expects you to always remember who you are according to the Word; He wants you to always remember that His Word projects your image as “the glory of God!”
You might say, “No, that can’t be”; but 2 Corinthians 3:18 explains it. It says as we look at the glory of God in a mirror, we’re metamorphosed; we’re changed into the same image, from glory to glory.

What does this mean? We know that a mirror only reflects whatever is set before it. Now, as you study the Word, particularly the Epistles, the reflection you see is the glory of God; that’s the real you. This is what the Lord is asking you not to forget.
The Word, the mirror of God, reveals that you’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus; you’re the seed of Abraham; you’re an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ! These and other realities are reflections of you that you shouldn’t forget.

You’re the epitome of God’s righteousness; you’re His living tabernacle; the embodiment of His wisdom, love, and grace! See yourself that way; talk and act accordingly, and you’ll experience the reality of Christ and His glory in your life always.

PRAYER

Blessed Father, I thank you for your glory and righteousness in my life! I’m making progress with giant strides; I’m excellent, and full of glory. Your Word is working mightily in me, causing me to prosper in all I do, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

James 1:23-24 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

1-Year Bible Reading Plan
Philemon 1:1-25 & Jeremiah 33

2-Year Bible Reading Plan
James 5:1-20 & Ezekiel 31


#AFFIRMATIONTRAIN


31ST OCTOBER.

I affirm that I am God’s choice; I am fearfully and wonderfully made! the joy of the Lord is my strength. The Holy Spirit living in me has filled me with courage and supernatural ability to be a blessing to my world, manifesting the virtues and perfections of divinity. God’s righteousness, peace, joy, and excellence exude from me.

I am an extension of the Father; I dwell in the realm of life and possibilities because Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. God’s Word is truth, and therein, I see the true pictures of who I am: prosperous, victorious, courageous, and wise. The Word is in my heart and in my mouth today; and as I behold the glory of God in the mirror of God, I am metamorphosed, from glory to glory. Hallelujah! I am a burning and a shining light; my light shines brightly before men, that they may see, and glorify my Father which is in heaven.

I am exceptional, the intensity of my light dazzle and discomfit Satan, his demons and the negative works of darkness. Men are inspired to praise and glorify my heavenly Father, as they see and experience my good works—my works of righteousness. Glory to God. Hallelujah!

SPEAK IN OTHER TONGUES NOW

• Be bold to say the same things that God has said concerning you in His Word. That is what takes you beyond salvation, to enjoy the benefits of salvation ~ Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.
You can now reach us on:

God bless you.

Kaduna – President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said the recurring killings in Kaduna State must stop and directed security agencies to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Buhari made the remarks in Kaduna where he went to commiserate with victims of the recent clashes in the state.
He said those who were used to going Scot free after such killings, must now answer for their crimes.
“The Federal Government will take strongest measures possible to punish perpetrators of these crimes. No one will go Scot free. “We shall now hold everyone to account for these latest killings,’’ the president stressed. Buhari who described the incidents as “unacceptable’’, said Kaduna must not earn itself a new name as “home of violence.’’ “My earnest appeal to all citizens of Kaduna is to do their best to uphold peace in their respective communities,’’ he said. The president commended the state government for managing the crisis, and assured that his administration would recruit more security personnel and deploy them nationwide to protect citizens. He also welcomes the pledge of the state and local governments to support the construction of more police and civil defence offices to enhance security at the grassroots. Buhari appealed to all citizens to be law abiding, learn to listen to each other and resolve differences through peaceful means. He also said that individuals and communities must respect the rights of others to live wherever they chose, worship freely and pursue lawful livelihood anywhere in this country. Buhari said that the federal government is doing its best to develop human capital, tackle poverty and inequality in all parts of the country, as well as provide decent education and health. While responding to an appeal by Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i, the president pledged to promptly look at the outstanding issue of compensation for victims of the 2011 post election violence in the state. Earlier, El-Rufa’i, the state governor, had briefed the president on the security situation in the state and informed him that the state would henceforth enforce the 1915, 1917 and 1958 laws to hold communities where violence occur, fully responsible. He said that the state government also plans to set up new police and military outposts in Kasuwan Magani, Narayi, Sabon Tasha and other flash points. The governor appealed for the deployment of 30 additional judges to fast truck justice delivery in the state. Also, the Emir of Zazzau, Dr Shehu Idris commended the prompt action taken by the state government and security agencies to contain the crisis. He urged all citizens to live in peace and shun religious and community leaders as well as individuals pushing them to violence. The emir advised that all those found involved in the crisis as well as those promoting rumour be adequately punished. He called for more dialogue among religions and communities to enhance peace in the state. 

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/kaduna-we-hold-everyone-to-account-for-these-latest-killings-buhari/

Check the traditional wedding reception video of Nigerian lady Temi and her White husband Chris.

Funny Nigerian Wedding: White Man Falls Down As He Carries Nigerian Bride During Traditional Wedding Ceremony

The rib-cracking video has since gone viral.

http://kikiotolu.com/video-white-man-fal...l-wedding/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6UHMrN3Ars

A man has ended his life after his girlfriend sent him a video of her shaving sex with another man.

It was gathered that the estranged girlfriend decided to mock her boyfriend and probably provoke him by recording a sex video with another man which she sent to him (her boyfriend), not knowing it would end in a tragic way.

According to reports, the man who couldn't bear the heartbreak following the sex video of his girlfriend, reportedly committed suicide by drinking a poisonous substance.

He was rushed to the hospital where he later died.

According to online reports, the shocking incident happened recently in Azua, a municipality in the Dominican Republic.

Pictures of the deceased and his estranged girlfriend have gone viral online with multiple internet users wondering why the lady decided to cause her lover's death.

See more; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/10/man-...r-man.html

Quote:John Ameh , Abuja


There were strong indications on Monday that more All Progressives Congress members of the House of Representatives might leave the party as the raging crisis over the loss of return tickets for 2019 deepened.

Findings showed that about 36 more aggrieved members could leave the party next week .

Recall that up to 70 members had protested their loss of return tickets after the party ’ s primary election to its appeal panel .

Incidentally , the panel was said to have resolved only eight of the cases in favour of the petitioners , leaving the majority of 62 out of the equation.

On Wednesday last week , a member from Kaduna State , Mr Musa Soba, resigned from the APC on the floor of the House in Abuja to cap his protest against alleged “ injustice . ”

He had also disclosed that the members , after a series of meetings , had resolved to start defecting or resigning from the party in batches .

When contacted on Monday , Soba confirmed to The PUNCH that about 36 aggrieved members would be in the next batch to leave the APC .

He added that more members would leave before November 17.

Soba stated , “ About 36 more members will follow next week .

“ Others will also exit before the 17th of November . ”

The Majority Leader of the House and leader of the APC caucus , Mr Femi Gbajabiamila , in a quick reaction on Monday , told The PUNCH that there were “ genuine ” and “not so genuine ” cases , which would ultimately be resolved by the APC.

Gbajabiamila gave details , “ These things are normal during election cycles when people feel short - changed . It has happened across all parties and it is how it is handled that matters .

“ Some have genuine cases and some not so genuine . However , I know many of the members who might have lost out during the primaries and I believe over time when the dust settles, their issues will be resolved one way or another .

“ I know them to be fierce party loyalists , who will remain true to the party . Of that , I am confident . ”

The defection plans are on in spite of the ongoing efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the disputes in the party .

Three weeks ago , he had summoned the aggrieved lawmakers to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa , just days to the submission of the final list of candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The PUNCH learnt that the President called the meeting after he heard the threats by the members to defect from the APC and work against the party during the 2019 polls .

However , one aggrieved member informed The PUNCH that the presidential intervention did not yield any positive results “ in our favour because , at the end of the day , most of our members still didn’ t get their tickets . ”

The source stated that any meeting that would not resolve the issue of the return ticket in their favour was a “ waste of time . ”
RE
The source spoke further , “ There is still the last window for the substitution of the names of candidates before expiration in December .

“ We were encouraged to work for the party , to support it and we did . But , see how things have turned out.

“ The party has been unable to keep the promise of giving us automatic tickets . ”

President Muhammadu Buhari has said it will require more than one election cycle to fix Nigeria and deliver the promised change.

According to him, the change promised by his government was not an event but a process and it would, therefore, require time to deliver.

He urged Nigerians to re-elect him for another term of four years, promising that the fruits of the efforts he had made in fixing the country in the last three and a half years would soon begin to manifest.

Speaking yesterday in Lagos at the 75th anniversary business lecture of the Island Club, Buhari also debunked the argument that Nigeria lacked institutions, and said the claim was one of the “hyperbolic expressions that fly around these days.”

The lecture titled, “Nation building and institutional development, lessons for Nigeria from the Island Club at 75,” was delivered on his behalf by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

Buhari, who is the grand patron of the club, recalled that unlike now, there was a time when the club held its major events in the open air because it had no hall and could not afford one then.

“It took more than one term and one election cycle of the Chairman of Island Club to build this hall just as it will require more than one election cycle to build the nation and deliver change,” the President said.

He stressed that the fact that the Island Club had existed for 75 years had put a lie to the claim that there were no institutions in the country.

This, he said, was another lesson that the nation had to learn from the club’s 75th anniversary, stressing that the fact that people expected more from the existing institutions did not mean that the institutions did not exist.

“The process of change and reform did not happen because Island Club did anything; it happened because people, members of the club, and I believe, non-members, who were men of goodwill, chose to act,” he added.

Buhari said he had put the country on the path of food security by banning the importation of rice despite opposition by vested interests, who frustrated earlier government food security policies such as Operation Feed the Nation and the Green Revolution.

As a result, he said, his administration had produced millions of rice and wheat farmers, adding that his vision was to industrialise the nation’s food sector.

Buhari said under his watch the manufacturing sector had made progress, citing recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Buhari said his reforms in the power sector had led to improved power supply, which had rubbed off on small-scale businesses.

“It is because of these small business owners, hard-working Nigerians that I am offering myself to serve for one more time,” the President said.

https://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/10/one-...geria.html

The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Redemption Party, Balarabe Musa, has said that despite the glaring failure of President Muhammadu Buhari, he is still better than the former vice president and now Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

According to him, ‎there is no doubt that Mr Buhari has failed Nigerians. He however said Mr Abubakar will fail even more if elected in 2019.

Mr Musa said the choice between Messrs. Buhari and Abubakar is a question of a choice between “two devils”.

The former Kaduna governor said the forces backing Mr Abubakar, which include former presidents, will not allow him rule well if he wins the poll.

Mr Musa, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES in Kaduna‎, said all that those forces are interested in is defeat Mr Buhari.

“Buhari has failed but Atiku will fail even more because of Atiku’s connection with some forces among them former presidents who ‎are on the root of the rot we are now facing in this country,” he said.

“For Atiku to align with them for whatever reason, is more dangerous th‎an Buhari.

“Because all they have to tell Nigerians is that they want to defeat Buhari but is that all Nigerians want to know?

“Nigerians want to know what is the qualitative and demonstrative character and differences between Atiku and Buhari and between APC and PDP.

“There is nothing; so it’s a question of choice between two devils. So the only thing is that if we are faced with such a situation and we can’t have a credible alternative like we had when former President Badamasi Babangida established two political parties.

“One to the left and other other one to the right calling one SDP and the other NRC, and if you want to participate in politics then you have no choice but to select one of the two and there nothing you could do about it.

“So if we still face with that kind of situation today, whether you support Atiku or Buhari or support PDP or APC — which we don’t pray to have such a situation.

“But if we do face such situation, then it’s better to support Buhari because he is a lesser problem to Atiku.

“Because Atiku with him being rich and with the support of those forces, we will have a greater task in handling him,” he said.

‎On whether Mr Abubakar’s business experience can help revive Nigeria’s economy, Mr Musa said the country does not need a business man to control its destiny.

“It’s the question of private enterprise versus public enterprise. If we really don’t want to risk this economy, then we have to rely on the state to lead the economy.

“We can’t take up the economy by depending on private enterprise. What is the character of Nigeria’s private enterprise? It’s simple parasitic.

“It was created not even by the colonialists. It’s created by corruption and it was when the military came that we have these corrupts private enterprises.

“The choice of these people that we have now who are the marchants in private enterprise arose from the product of corruption.

“How can you rely on them to build a nation. Whether we like it or not we need a system whereby the state plays a role in the economy.

“Up till 1970 we registered some progress throughout the country on basis of the state controlling the economy.

“Even though we are not saying that there is no private enterprise, but the public and private enterprises should compete under the leadership of public enterprise because it is the public‎ that can control the destiny of the people.

“Not private enterprise that is only interested in profits. Maximization of profits that all.

“Buhari relies on his credibility only but what about Atiku? He relies only on his wealth. Buhari’s level of power to decide ‎as an individual is very limited and you can use democratic process to control him whether he likes it or not.

“But how can you control Atiku who is so wealthy and with the forces behind him. This is why I said it’s better to rely on Buhari despite his failure.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-...-musa.html

The Atiku/Obi presidential ticket and campaign team just had a policy and upcoming campaign strategy meeting at dubai in preparation of the huge task ahead of them of #LetsGetNigeriaWorkingAgain

By Dyepkazah Shibayan in On the GoThe Nation

Quote:Peter Obi, running mate to Atiku Abubakar, presiedential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the period Nigeria is in calls for sober reflection and not for dancing “Shaku Shaku.”

“Shaku Shaku” is a popular dance step common among entertainers and young Nigerians.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had said he is learning the dance step ahead of the 2019 general election.

Speaking with journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport in Abuja upon his arrival from Dubai on Monday, Obi said the Atiku team is spending its time thinking of how to create jobs and not learning how to dance “Shaku Shaku.”

“I have not had the opportunity of reading his comments as I haven’t seen the dailies. I know Vice-President Osibanjo is a gentleman and may not have made such a comment,” Obi said.

“However, while I am not against people dancing or learning how to dance ‘Shaku Shaku’, as I believe it is one of those things that is keeping our people going on in this very difficult times, I believe that the crossroads that we have found ourselves in as a nation requires sober reflection.

“For me in particular, this period calls for sober reflection not dancing or learning how to dance as there are many challenges facing our nation at the moment. Not the least being recently having our country named the world headquarters of extreme poverty with over eighty seven million people. Worse still millions more are losing their jobs, with four million by the third quarter of this year alone.

“Millions of Nigerians go to bed hungry not knowing where the meal for the next day will come from, hundreds of thousands risk death by crossing the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea to wherever they can make a living.

“These and other challenges are indicative of the dire straits facing us as a nation today. And these are what we on the Atiku team are spending our time with the best minds on how to start creating jobs and putting food on people’s table. We must get Nigeria to start working again for the good of everyone.”

The Ex-Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose, who just completed his bail conditions tweeted, saying "Goodluck Jonathan is the last democrat to rule Nigeria". See his tweets at attached below...

..http://www.apygist.com/2018/10/goodluck-...at-to.html

Quote:In this country, convoy of a sitting president was attacked with stones in Bauchi, no one was shot. God bless Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the last democrat to rule Nigeria.

THE story appears unbelievable, but on inquiry, police officers at the “C” Division, Police Station, Asaba, Delta State, Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Delta State Command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka and Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammad Mustafa, confirmed that it actually happened.

A supposed human rights activist wearing lawyer’s robe stormed the “C” Division ostensibly to ask for the release of two suspected cultists held by the police over a case of murder.

He met the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Aniete Uyo, and while introducing himself, the DPO had some reservations and asked some pertinent questions on his identity, which infuriated him.

What happened next, for supposedly having the audacity to cross-examine him, the activist dealt the DPO a blow, tore his uniform and went on a vandalization spree of his office.

The Divisional Crime Officer, DCO and other policemen, who were taken aback by the action of the activist, were still trying to fathom how a civilian would assault their boss when hooligans invaded the station.

In the ensuing melee, the DCO himself was wounded on the head and subsequently rushed to the hospital, where doctors had to stitch his head.

The activist tried to escape, but bewildered policemen chased and managed to seize him and three others, while others escaped.

As mind-boggling as the story is, Commissioner of Police, Mustafa, said: “The supposed activist and three other persons, who carried out the attack on the policemen have been arrested. We are going to arraign them in court for the incident; you cannot invade a police station and fight our officers in that way.”

Sources hinted that some persons had intervened, pleading with the Commissioner to drop the matter.

http://kikiotolu.com/horror-in-delta-pol...dcos-head/

Rhapsody Of Realities Daily Devotional

A HERITAGE OF PROSPERITY

Tuesday, October 30th


...Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant (Psalm 35:27).


Every Christian has the right to be happy, prosperous, healthy, and sound. In 3 John 1:2, the Apostle John reveals the mind of the Spirit, saying, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” You don’t have to pray or beg God to prosper you; the Christian isn’t the poor trying to be rich, but the rich discovering his inexhaustible riches and inheritance in Christ.

Financial prosperity is your God-ordained right, for you’re the seed of Abraham. The Bible says Abraham was blessed in all things (Genesis 24:1); he was rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold (Genesis 13:2). Like Abraham, you’ve been blessed and enriched in all things unto all bountifulness. Galatians 3:29 says, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” You’re an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ.

Being a joint-heir with Christ means all His assets and estates are yours, as much as they’re His; you own everything He owns, and guess what? He owns the whole world, including all its precious stones and natural resources! Thus, the whole world, plus its entire wealth, belongs to you. Can you dare to think and live with this consciousness?

Paul understood this; having studied the Scriptures, he concluded that ALL things are yours (1 Corinthians 3:21). You don’t have to struggle for anything in life; everything you need has been granted you; there’s therefore no need to even ask for anything.

2 Peter 1:3 says, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” This is your calling. The day you became a Christian, you accepted that call; you embraced a heritage of blessings, and endorsed the life of supernatural prosperity, success, and victories.

PRAYER

Blessed Father, what a place I have in Christ, and what joy fills my soul to know that you’ve blessed me with all I require for life and godliness! Mine is a heritage of blessings, and a life of supernatural increase, prosperity and glory in Christ Jesus. Thank you for your grace at work in me to bless and lift others, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.


FURTHER STUDY:

2 Corinthians 8:9 AMPC For you are becoming progressively acquainted with and recognizing more strongly and clearly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (His kindness, His gracious generosity, His undeserved favor and spiritual blessing), [in] that though He was [so very] rich, yet for your sakes He became [so very] poor, in order that by His poverty you might become enriched (abundantly supplied).

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:

Psalm 16:6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant [places]; yea, I have a goodly heritage.


DAILY SCRIPTURE READING

1-Year Bible Reading Plan Titus 3:1-15 & Jeremiah 31-32

2-Year Bible Reading Plan
James 4:1-17 & Ezekiel 30




#AFFIRMATIONTRAIN

30TH OCTOBER.

I affirm that I am full of love because the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit. I am propelled and inspired by love always; I am kindhearted, hospitable, and gracious. The flame of God’s love and compassion burns fervently in my heart! I yield myself to God’s Spirit, to be the answer to the cry of the needy.

I am moved by God’s love, and I demonstrate it profusely and unconditionally, because the Spirit of God works in me, to lift, encourage, and build others, touching them with the compassion and liquid love of Christ, to the end that they may be established in the Kingdom of God’s dear Son! Hallelujah. I am special; I’ve been ordained to lead and show many the path to divine life, through the Gospel. Thus; I am recording notable victories and achievements this year, being my year of the supernatural! I make manifest the savour of God’s knowledge in every place, reigning with Christ, and bringing Him glory today.

Hallelujah! My mindset is adjusted to think, talk and act in line with who I am —the seed of Abraham— one that’s been separated for glory and honour. I am conscious that I am uniquely different, because of God’s presence and glory in my life. Blessed be God. Hallelujah!

SPEAK IN OTHER TONGUES NOW

• Be bold to say the same things that God has said concerning you in His Word. That is what takes you beyond salvation, to enjoy the benefits of salvation ~ Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.


God bless you.

Men of the Kogi State Police Command have arrested two suspected armed robbers in possession of counterfeit $800,000.

The command’s spokesman, William Ovye Aya, who confirmed the incident in a statement yesterday in Lokoja said the duo of Sofianu Seidu and Aliu Ismaila were arrested from their hideout along the Lokoja-Abuja highway on October 10.

He said operatives attached to the Federal SARS through an intelligence-led operations stormed their hideout and arrested the suspects.
“Items recovered from their hideout include, Eight hundred thousand fake U.S Dollars, one matchete and assorted handsets.

“They both confessed to the crime to being in possession of fake US dollars to defraud unsuspected citizens. They will soon be arraigned in court on completion of investigation”, Aya said.

Read more:
https://zenithnaija.com/two-suspected-armed-robbers-nabbed-with-fake-800k-along-lokoja-abuja-highway/

Earlier today, civil society, communities and electricity consumers gathered in their numbers to protest in Benin city, Edo state against the purported plan to renew the operational license of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

The Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Civil Society Organizations (EDOSCO), Osaze Edigin said the peaceful demonstration which will last for three days is to draw the BPE attention to the “incompetence of the distribution company.”

Osaze said the Performance Agreement the company entered with the Federal Government elapses on the 31st of October, 2018 and not the proposed extension of December, 2019 by the BPP.

He further disclosed that “BEDC operational Licence must not be extended or renewed. BPP and NERC cannot be compromised”.

The protesters said, "Today, we are in collaboration with other interest groups and critical stakeholders, reaffirming our stand that the operators of the BEDC do not deserve an extension or renewal of operational licence for a day later than the 31st of October, 2018".

"We vehemently object to it and sue the BPP and NERC to pursue the happiness of the people whom they swore to serve".

"The BPP and NERC should not display the posture that suggests that they have been compromised by the DISCOs as Nigerians in Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states are seriously expectant of the non extension and renewal of the licence of Vigeo Holdings Limited, the operators of the Benin Distribution Company (BEDC)".

See more; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/10/protest-against-benin-electricity-distribution-company-bedc-in-edo.html

Quote:A lady has been robbed and raped in Lagos by four armed robbers who forced her into an uncompleted building and engaged her in sex romp in turns.

Source reports that the incident happened at the building along Michael Ogun Street in Surulere, Lagos, where they accosted the victim.

It was gathered that the victim was going home at about 4.30pm when the robbers accosted her, forced her into the uncompleted building and raped her while pointing gun at her. Thereafter, they robbed her of her gold earrings and mobile phone and sent her away.

The matter was reported to the police in the area who trailed and arrested one of the suspects. The suspect, Emmanuel Okafor, was arrested and transferred to the Gender Section of the Police Command for further investigation. During investigation, the police found Okafor culpable. They later charged him before the Ogba Magistrates court for rape at gun point. The other accomplices were said to be at large and the gun they used for the assault was yet to be recovered. He was charged before the Presiding Magistrate, Mr. O.A. Ogundare, who ordered his remand in prison custody.

The court directed the prosecutor, Inspector E. Edet, to duplicate the file and send to DPP for advice.

Source gathered that Okafor risks a long prison term if the DPP finds him culpable and he is found guilty of the offence. The matter may likely be transferred to the High Court because of the seriousness of the offence he allegedly committed.

Immediate past governor of Ekiti state, Peter Ayodele Fayose, has regained his freedom from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as he has met his bail conditions.

According to his aide, Lere Olayinka, the former governor filed all the necessary documents before the court for verification on Friday and should be out of EFCC custody today (Monday).

A Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Justice Mojisola Olatiregun on Wednesday granted Fayose N50 million bail and ordered him to deposit his passport with the court as part of his bail conditions.

The former governor was also asked to provide a surety who must have landed property in Lagos. The surety is also required to have three-year tax clearance in Lagos.

He was arraigned on an 11-count charge bordering on abuse of office.

See more; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/10/fayose-regains-freedom-from-efcc-custody-in-lagos-photos.html

October 29, 2018
Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja 

Quote:
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiary, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, and other companies in the oil and gas sector have yet to remit a total revenue of $22.06bn and N481.75bn to the Federation Account. 

Latest report on the summary of unremitted revenue, losses and unreconciled differences from operations and transactions in the oil and gas sector released in Abuja on Monday by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative showed that the NNPC alone had yet to remit a total revenue of $19.04bn and N424.57bn.

Providing a breakdown of the unremitted revenues by the other firms, the report stated that oil and gas producing companies were still withholding $152.69m and N5.2bn; companies involved in offshore processing contracts, $498.6m; and NPDC, $2.38bn and N51.95bn.

The NEITI report stated that the total losses to the federation arising from crude oil production, processing and transportation was $3.04bn and N60.99bn.

It said unreconciled differences arising from the allocation, sale and remittance of proceeds from domestic crude allocated to NNPC was N317.48bn.

President Buhari today received the Governor General Of Canada, Julie Payette.

Ms Payette was received at the courtyard of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, alongside officials in her entourage. She is scheduled to address journalists after the meeting with President Buhari. Thereafter, she will deliver a lecture at the National Space Research and Development Centre Agency.



Source: https://www.dailynaija.com/post/photos-president-buhari-receives-the-governor-general-of-canada-julie-payette

SPECIAL REPORT: Amidst inadequate funding, insecurity, Buhari administration’s road projects continue across Nigeria



[size=undefined]Ongoing road construction at Dadinkowa mayama Local govt Kebbi State

In the second and final part of this report, the state of two major roads being constructed by the Buhari administration are reviewed.
Read the first part of the report here.
Gombe-Numan Road

The Gombe-Numan federal road rehabilitation project was awarded afresh by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2016.
Nearly two years into the life of the multi-billion naira contract, Nigerians plying the road are not elated about the progress of the project.
The federal government awarded the contract for the completion of the rehabilitation of the Gombe-Numan-Yola road to Triacta Nigerian Limited and Chinese Geo-engineering Company (CGC).
While Triacta Nigeria Limited undertakes the Gombe to Kaltungo portion of the road, CGC is to rebuild the road from Kaltungo to Numan.
The phase-II of the project, located in Gombe State, is to cover the road from Gombe to Kaltungo, which covers a distance of 83km. Earlier in March, motorists plying Gombe-Numan-Yola highway were assured that the ongoing construction work on the Gombe-Kaltungo axis would be completed by June.
The Project Manager of the road, Imran Khan, told the Director Federal High Way, North-East at the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Rufai Mohammed, that over 45 kilometres out of the 68 kilometres from the Gombe – Kaltungo axis of the road had been completed.
From Gombe, there is a completed road portion which stretches up to Ngadao, a little village located about 30km away from Ngadao, up to the Wuro-Yola village (about 5km further).
Our reporter observed in July that fresh rehabilitation works are being undertaken, with some portion of the two sides yet to be completed. A large portion of the road, which leads to Kumo town (44km away) is, however, yet to be tarred, after the recent removal of the dilapidated tarred road.
All the reconstruction effort from Gombe axis heading to Kaltungo, stops some few kilometers from Kumo town. The rest of the road, which leads beyond Kumo town, up to about 18km away from Kaltungo, is still yet to be rehabilitated.
PREMIUM TIMES, however, observed that a completed portion of the road, about 18km, leads up to Kaltungo town.
Isa Adamu, a petty trader in Wuro-Yola village, informed PREMIUM TIMES that about 2km portion of the excavation and grading part of the road, which passes through their village (about 36km away from Gombe), was only done between the June 10 and 13.
“It was not up to a month that they moved their equipment to where it is now, not far away from our village,” he said. “I think they stopped working due to Ramadan Sallah.
“We are looking forward to having them return immediately so that they can tar the road on time, before the rains turn the graded road into (a) pool of mud and cause problems for travellers,” he said.
Saleh Abdullahi, a vulcaniser who operates along the Gombe-Yola road, said “the completed portion that stretched up to Akko local government was done long ago, but when the minister of works came to visit the road, the contractors came to do some dressing of the road, like painting the middle and so on, and left to Kaltungo area”.
Our reporter also observed the presence of road construction equipment which were parked at the spots where fresh works were being carried out. Vehicles had to dust their way through the freshly graded portion of the road which is awaiting further development.
The remaining stretch of road that goes beyond Kumo town is still dotted with large potholes.
Construction work ongoing along Gombe-Numan road at Wura-Yola village.


Auwal Suleiman, Triacta Nigeria Limited’s quality control manager for the Gombe-Yola project, said “the Gombe-Numan-Yola rehabilitation project was awarded since 2011 but there was no mobilization for contractors to commence (the) work, until 2016, when it was finally funded”.
He said the work commenced in earnest in June 2016; starting from the Gombe town to Kaltungo, in Gombe State.
“And we were able to cover 23km by December of 2016. After that, we received a signal from the federal ministry of works to go to the Kaltungo end of the project which happened to be the worst part of the project.
“And in 2017 we were able to cover about 18km from that axis. After tackling the worse aspect of the road, we now returned to the Gombe side of the project where we left off, to continue the work, with the intention of connecting it with the Kaltungo side.
About 30km long portion of the Gombe-Numan road completed by the contractors.
On the stage of the project’s completion, Mr Suleiman said “so far, about 65 per cent of the project has been completed.
“There are some sections of the road that are difficult, which we have not been able to cover, especially between Kumo and Billiri towns. Even vehicles are not moving on the road. They have to go down the shoulders and so on. We hope to cover the remaining 35 per cent part of the road by December.”
On the issue of funding, Mr Suleiman said the government has not been defaulting in payment.
A portion of the awarded Gombe-Numan road where work is yet to be commenced by the contractors.



“This government is really trying because they have not been defaulting in terms of payment. Each time we raise certificate for part completion, they pay promptly. That is why you see us working on the road.”
Traffic Challenge

The challenge being faced by Triacta Nigeria Limited, according to Mr Suleiman, is the issue of traffic on the highway.
Gombe-Yola road is one of the busiest roads in North-east Nigeria. Contractors have to constantly pay attention and make provision for easy flow of traffic while the work is still ongoing.
This slows down the work, he said.
Another major challenge for the contractors is the rainy season, he said, which also slows down the speed of the road construction – though a common phenomenon in civil engineering.
The contractors said they have engaged over 500 unskilled labourers who are mostly from Gombe, Yola, Kaltungo and other smaller villages which the road passes through.
Most of the residents have not made any major complaints on how the construction efforts has made life difficult for them because the road is an existing one. Hence no one has asked for any kind of compensation due to encroachment.
“There is enough space to work on, so there has never been any cause to pay compensation whatsoever,” said Triacta’s quality control manager.
He added that “even if there is any private structure that is close to the highway, we see it as an encroachment and the federal government has the right of way. And that happen only when we are taking the project through the town.
PREMIUM TIMES observed that there is only one bridge between Gombe and Kaltungo which is yet to be built. The management of Triacta explained that work could not start on the bridge due to some technical issues.
“There is only one bridge at kilometer -44, between Gombe and Kaltungo. It is a 90 meters long bridge. We have not commenced construction of the bridge due to some issues concerning the discrepancies in the estimation and what it would actually require to build it.
Project Manager Triacta Construction Company Mr Walid with Premium Times Correspondent at Shagari Quarry Sokoto State on Monday



“We came to realise that the expected depth written in the design is not going to be workable. The piling depth that was prescribed for the bridge was too small to carry the bridge. So we invited the foundation technician to come and carryout some investigation to know the exact depth of the piling foundation.
“We are still waiting for that to be carried out, even though we believe it is going to be more than what they are going to specify in the bill.”
The road from Gombe to Kaltungo is being built with a wearing course (which is the outlook layer) of about 4cm; with a binder course of about 10cm; then a stone base of about 20cm, and then the sub-base (laterite base) which is 15cm.
There was not much filling on the road because it is an existing road, except where the contractors say they find the road level to be low.
Meanwhile, the other portion of the Gombe – Numan road rehabilitation is being handled by a Chinese company, CGC (Chinese Geo-Engineering Company). It is a 113km road distance which has been in a very bad shape for a long time.
PREMIUM TIMES’ visit along the road noticed work being done but at a very slow pace.
None of the portion of the road which has been excavated from Cham, a village on the border of Gombe and Adamawa state in Numan Local Government Area, has been completed.
Motorists are still seen pounding their ways through thick dusts of the excavated road as they ply to and from Gombe and Yola. A small number of construction workers, seen on the road, would not speak to PREMIUM TIMES or give contact details of their employers.
The excavation and partial laying of stone asphalt did not go beyond Savanah Sugar Company which is less than 20km. All the remaining portion of the road, from Savanah Sugar Company through Lamurde, up to Kaltungo (about 95km) where Triacta Company started its construction to Gombe town, has been in very bad shape.
A motorist, Sani Buba, seen changing a burst tyre near Lamurde town, said the bad road has so much toll on their vehicles.
A portion of the awarded Gombe-Numan road where work is yet to be commenced by the contractors.

“We have never seen such kind of road contract in this country,” he said.
“Unlike what we have in the ahead in Kaltungo up to Gombe, these contractors are just punishing us here, especially in the area that they have graded”.
Efforts to get the management of CGC to comment on why the project was being executed at a very slow pace were unsuccessful.
Sokoto –Tambuwal-Jega Road project

The Sokoto-Tambuwal Jega- Birnin Yauri road transverses Sokoto and Kebbi states.
The project was awarded by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in December 2014. Its cost was increased from N10.6 billion to N30.5 billion then. The project was to have been completed in 36 months, which means it should have been completed in 2017.
“The rehabilitation of Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega-Birni Yauri Road: Jega-Birni Yauri (186km) in Kebbi State was awarded in favour of Messrs Triacta Nigeria Limited in the sum of N19.8bn, thereby revising the contract sum from N10.5bn to N30.4bn with a completion period of 36 months,” the then information minister, Nurudeen Mohammed, said.
However, inadequate release of funds, insecurity and slow disbursement of funds are however delaying the ongoing construction of Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega road project, according to the project manager, Triacta Construction Company, Walid Aboujaoudi.

Like for other road projects covered in this investigation, the works ministry refused to provide details of released funds.
Slow disbursement of cash

“Part of our challenges is slow disbursement of cash,” Mr Aboujaoudi said.
“If the government is willing, we could have finished phase one and two of the projects but the little payment installment is holding the project back.
“The project from Sokoto, Jega and Yawuri is 311 kilometre by length. One bypass at Tambuwal is eight kilometre. Now 180 kilometre is completed. Put together, the phase one and two of the project is at 65 per cent completion stage.
“The completion period depends on how much the government budgeted for the project in a year. If the government can put a budget of N7 billion in a year, we can finish the project in less than two years. But they budgeted only N2 billion. That’s what makes the project to be uncompleted.
Ongoing road construction at Tambuwal Sokoto State

“If the government can’t increase the budget for the project, it will take several years before completion.
“The more they increase the budget, the more we move fast and our rate is five-year-old. Prices of diesel, gadgets, cement are going up. It’s better for us to finish quickly because of the increasing rate.”
Insecurity

Mr Aboujaoudi explained further that the issue of security is a major concern, as there are issues with workers’ safety.
“They are kidnapping us. They came here to the quarry in the month of Ramadan. They killed three police officers on guard and kidnapped our colleague.”
When asked how much ransom they paid before their colleagues were released, he said he was not part of the negotiation because they did everything from Abuja before the staff was released.
He said, “Because of the security situation, we are scared of staying longer in the site. We are forced to leave site early in the day because of the fear of the unknown.
“The host communities do complain about the slow movement of the project. We tried to explain to them our willingness to complete the project on time but the slow disbursement of funds and even the budget, is delaying the project.”

On the project impact on the host community, he said over three hundred locals were employed.
“We have three quarries. One in Zamfara, one at Sokoto and also in Kebbi State. We employed over three hundred locals in the host community.”
The village head of Marake in Shagari Local Government Area of Sokoto, Abubakar Magaji, commended the federal government over the ongoing road project.
Mr Magaji called on the construction company to provide speed breaks in specific locations because of the high speed with which motorists now ply the highway.
“We have little kids and our livestock are moving around. Only the speed breaker can notify some drivers to understand that they are approaching a village,” Mr Magaji said.
For three months, efforts to get the details of the money disbursed to the contractors have been unsuccessful.
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Hakeem Bello, spokesperson to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, in July, he promised to get back to our reporters on details of the payments made to the affected contractors.
But several weeks after our reporter sent the questions and followed up with reminders, he did not respond.

This article is a product of a partnership between PREMIUM TIMES and #Buharimeter to fact-check the state of major roads being constructed by the Buhari administration.
Buharimeter is an initiative of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the Department for International Department (DFID)

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/292745-special-report-amidst-inadequate-funding-insecurity-buhari-administrations-road-projects-continue-across-nigeria-2.html


Meanwhile for those who think this second report is only about northern projects, you can read the first report here by the same premium times.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/289368-special-report-amidst-inadequate-funding-buharis-road-construction-projects-across-nigeria-continue-1.html[/size]

At least 11 people lost their lives and six others wounded after a gunman invaded a church and yelling 'all Jews must died'.
The gunman, Robert, Bowers
 
A gunman yelling, “All Jews must die,” stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue during Saturday services, killing 11 worshippers and wounding six other people including four police officers, before he was arrested.
 
Robert Bowers, 46, of Pittsburgh, was taken into custody after a shootout with a SWAT team. Federal prosecutors charged him with 29 criminal counts including violence and firearms offenses, and violating U.S. civil rights laws.

“The actions of Robert Bowers represent the worst of humanity. We are dedicating the entire resources of my office to this federal hate crime investigation and prosecution,” U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania Scott Brady told reporters.
 
Earlier, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said federal prosecutors could seek the death penalty.

 
 
FBI special agent Bob Jones said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the probe, said the crime scene was the worst he had seen in 22 years with the FBI. He said he believed Bowers was acting alone, adding: “We have no knowledge that he was known to law enforcement before today.”
 
KDKA television cited police sources as saying Bowers walked into the building and yelled “All Jews must die.”
 
Bowers had made many anti-Semitic posts online, including one early on Saturday. In another, he slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for doing nothing to stop an “infestation” of the United States by Jews.
 
Jones said Bowers was armed with an assault rifle and three handguns. He said authorities believed the suspect entered the synagogue, murdered the worshippers and was leaving when he encountered a uniformed police officer. The pair exchanged gunfire, Jones said, and Bowers reentered the building before a SWAT team arrived. After a shootout, he surrendered.
 
Bowers was taken to a hospital where he was listed in fair condition with multiple gunshot wounds. Victims taken to area hospitals included a 61-year-old woman, a 70-year-old man, and a 55-year-old officer. No children were killed, authorities said.
 
Three police officers were shot and one was injured by shrapnel, authorities said. Two of the six people injured were in critical condition.

 

RAGING AGAINST ‘INVADERS’
A social media post by Bowers on Saturday morning said a Jewish refugee organization, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, “likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
 
The comment was posted on Gab, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based social networking service created as an alternative to Twitter. In a statement, Gab.com confirmed the profile belonged to Bowers and also said it had suspended the account and contacted the FBI about it.
 
The mass shooting prompted security alerts at houses of worship around the country. It follows a spate of pipe bombs found mailed in recent days to prominent political figures, mostly Democrats including former President Barack Obama.
The Tree of Life synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, a heavily Jewish area, was holding a Shabbat religious service at the time of the shooting.
 
Police are normally only present at the synagogue for security on high holidays, Michael Eisenberg, former president of the synagogue, told KDKA.
 
“On a day like today, the door is open, it’s a religious service, you can walk in and out,” he said.
 
Around the time, three congregations amounting to about 100 people would have been using the building, Eisenberg said.
Shortly after reports of the shooting emerged, Trump said in a tweet he was watching what he described as a “devastating” situation.
 
Trump told reporters later that the killings might have been prevented if there had been an armed guard in the building.

“If they had some kind of a protection inside the temple maybe it could have been a much more different situation, they didn’t,” he said when asked if there was any link to U.S. gun laws.
 
He also called the shooting a wicked act of pure evil, called on Americans to rise above hate, and ordered U.S. flags at the White House and public buildings to be flown at half-staff. He said he would visit Pittsburgh, but did not say when.
 
In the city on Saturday night, mourners held a candlelit vigil for the victims under light rain. The Islamic Center Of Pittsburgh offered its deepest sympathy and condolences, and called on its community to donate blood.
 
The Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Council for Public Affairs described it as the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States.
 
On April 13, 2014, a pair of shootings occurred at a Jewish Community Center and a Jewish retirement community, both located in Overland Park, Kansas. A total of three people were killed in the shootings.
 
In 2015, a white supremacist murdered nine African Americans during a prayer service in Charleston, South Carolina.
 
In 2012, a neo-Nazi gunman with white supremacist ties walked into a Sikh gurdwara - or house of worship - in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and murdered six Sikh Americans.
 
-Reuters

A London university student believes they've come up with a way for dads to breastfeed their babies.


Marie-Claire Springham, a product design student at Central Saint Martins, is in the process of making a "chestfeeding kit" to enable dads breastfeed their newborns.


The idea behind the product is for dads to be able to help mums who are struggling to breastfeed or mums who are too sick or incapacitated after childbirth.


Still in the conception stage, the kit is yet to be tested, but contains a cocktail of hormones that the man would take while his partner is pregnant, in order to "grow milk ducts". The main hormone is progestin, a form of the female sex hormone progesterone, which helps to stimulate the production of milk-producing glands.


This would be followed by a round of domperidone which is often given to mums who are experiencing difficulties with breastfeeding as it encourages the production of prolactin, a hormone which tells the woman's body to produce milk.


However, there is one major possible side effect to taking the female hormones. Which is that the man could grow "moobs" or man boobs, up to a b cup until they stop taking the hormones.
As well as the different hormones, the chestfeeding kit also contains a pump and a compression vest, which is very similar to a maternity bra.


Marie-Claire hopes her idea will help to stop fathers from feeling left out when raising their baby and believes the kit could be available in five years time.
Her design for the kit recently won an award at the Meaning-Centred Design Awards.


However, in order to make the product available for purchase, it would need to be rigorously tested as it is not known how much milk a man could produce, or if it would even be nutritious for the baby.

More below:

https://zenithnaija.com/fathers-may-soon...-research/

Quote: 

On Tuesday, as the Nigerian government commenced payment of the pension of retired employees of the defunct Nigerian Airways, members of the House of Representatives passed a resolution to investigate those indicted for looting the resources of the fallen national carrier.

After weeks of verification, the government eventually cleared about 6,000 former employees to be paid from the N45 billion earmarked for the purpose. The former employees have not been paid their entitlements since 2003 when the airline went belly up. 

The House resolution to identify those indicted by the white paper with the aim of ensuring they are “prosecuted and made to refund the loot,” followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by James Faleke (APC-Lagos) during plenary. 

Mr Faleke said the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002 set up the Justice Obiora Nwazota Judicial Commission to probe the operations of Nigerian Airways. He said the commission revealed the looting and misappropriation of the company’s resources to the tune of N60 billion. 

“The white paper was approved by the federal government and further directed the Federal Ministry of Finance and the police to recover the stolen funds and prosecute the indicted culprits,” he said.

“Those indicted in the report are believed to be largely visible in the public arena while the ex-workers continue to languish in abject poverty having been denied their rights to their entitlements with many of them reportedly dead without receiving their entitlements.”

Mr Faleke then added that if the Obasanjo government and subsequent administrations had implemented the recommendations of the white paper, workers of the airline would not have suffered much pains and deprivation.

An orgy of fraud

In 2013, a PREMIUM TIMES’ two-part investigation on the judicial commission of inquiry’s white paper detailed the orgy of fraud and unbridled embezzlement that ultimately hastened the death of the once prosperous airline.

The airline, which had 32 airworthy aircraft in its heyday in the 1980s, saw its fleet reduced to just two barely functional airplanes. Outraged by the cascading status of the airline, Mr Obasanjo in 2002 set up the commission of inquiry to investigate its management.

The commission was mandated, amongst other things, to “examine all books of account and records and determine whether there has been compliance with appropriate regulations.”
The commission worked for a year going through documents and interviewing stakeholders and other experts. At the end of its assignment, it submitted a four-volume report that revealed mind-boggling fraud, misappropriations and wanton recklessness running into billions of naira involving several officials of the airline, administrators, travel agencies, financial institutions, local and foreign companies, as well as one prominent development organization. 

On December 11, 2002, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a draft White Paper on the commission’s report and directed the ministry of justice and the police to prosecute and recover the stolen funds. It also directed the office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to gazette the recommendations of the white paper.

That was the last heard of the white paper. The police, the justice ministry and the SGF failed to do as the FEC directed.

The Justice Nwazota-led Commission of Inquiry revealed that decency was thrown to the dogs in the management of the Nigerian Airways. It was a free-for-all contest of corruption with almost everyone involved in the running of the airline trying desperately to out-embezzle the other.

Due process was alien to the managers of the airline. Officials stole and misappropriated tens of millions of dollars. Administrators arbitrarily signed shady contracts with companies without recourse to regulations; monies were dubiously deposited and lost in moribund financial institutions. Functional airplanes were sold as scraps and the revenue stolen.
Officials collected huge loans from financial institutions with the name of the airline and kept the money for personal use. 

The indicted

Though several individuals, organizations, companies were indicted by the judicial panel of inquiry for their roles, which includes the stealing of several millions of dollars, in the eventual demise of Nigerian Airways, some persons received prominent mentions for their brazen and unrestrained looting of the airline.
Just like Mr Faleke said on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, many of them are still around today, free and enjoying the proceeds of their alleged fraudulent act after killing a national icon. Below is a list of these men.

1. Mohammed Joji 

No single individual should be blamed as much as a former managing director of the Nigerian Airways, Mohammed Joji, the judicial commission found. In fact, the commission stated that Mr Joji, who owns Skypower Express Airways and is the secretary general of Aircraft Operators of Nigeria was brashly corrupt and handled the affairs of the airline in such a reprehensible manner that it recommended he should be banned from ever holding public office in Nigeria. 



However, last year, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration allegedly appointed him to head a committee that supervised the repair of the Abuja airport and the temporary relocation of international flight to nearby Kaduna Airport. That alleged appointment was, however, not publicly announced . 



The Nwazota-led commission found that in 1993 Mr Joji “collected and spent” N4.37 billion ($12 million) royalty from Swissair without approval.
Also, in the same year, he diverted N3.57 billion ($9,800,000) to himself in a single transaction. According to the judicial committee, Mr. Joji claimed that he paid N3.93 billion ($10.8 million) to a defunct Belgian national airline, Sabena Airline, but he only paid N364 million ($1million), the panel discovered. 

Further, the white paper revealed that in March 1993, Mr Joji “unlawfully approved” N2 million to one Grace Hembah as imprest account.
In the same year, Mr. Joji outsourced the maintenance of a Boeing 737 aircraft to Brazilian consultants paying them in full despite up to 75 per cent of the maintenance was done by employees of Nigerian Airways. The committee said the airline lost N1.28 billion ($3.53 million) in the process.

A year before, Mr. Joji had paid Nicon Insurance PLC N896.43 million ($2,458,064) less premium due to the then government-owned insurance company. Also, the judicial committee found that during the tenure of Mr. Joji as the managing director of the airline, N813.38 ($2,230,357) discounted from the premium accrued to the airline had vanished into thin air.
In all, the white paper revealed that Mr. Joji was responsible for the diversion or siphoning of N11 billion ($30,018,421) in 24 months.

When contacted in 2013, when the story was published, Mr Joji, told PREMIUM TIMES that his indictment was as a result of a witch-hunt against him by former aviation ministers, Bablola Borishade and Kema Chikwe.
He described Mr. Nwazota as a mere consultant, adding that the committee did not do a good job.
“There were several panels. Nwazota was just a consultant. Is that what you call a panel? They didn’t do a proper job,” he said in a telephone conversation. 
“Do your research. The question you have to ask is who wrote the white paper? Was it gazetted? Was anyone charged?”
He wondered why PREMIUM TIMES was interested in the story 10 years after.
“At that time, no newspaper wrote about it. The White Paper was published 10 years ago, why are you just writing about it now,” he queried.

When told we had just started publishing, he replied:
“You are starting on a bad note. They will charge you to court. The White Paper is not gazetted. You’re playing a dangerous game. Ten years ago, something was written, and you just came overnight and want to write something about it.”
“It just a wishy-washy thing by Mr. Borishade and Kema Chikwe. It wasn’t gazetted and I wasn’t charged,” he said.

2. Jani Ibrahim 

The second biggest culprit in the demise of the Nigerian Airways identified by the Nwazota commission of inquiry is Jani Ibrahim. The chieftain of the Nigerian ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kwara State was indicted for several fraudulent and illegal acts between 1996 and 2001 that he was the managing director of the airways. 



Mr. Ibrahim, who is now a director of Heritage Bank, was so enmeshed in corruption that the investigating commission declared that ““every project and contract was conceived with fraudulent intent.” The white paper specifically described him as “fraudulent and high-handed.”
According to the white paper, Mr. Ibrahim treated the airline’s account like his personal wallet and summarily sacked those “he thought were threats to his fraudulent practices.” 

The judicial commission found that between 1997 and 1999, Mr. Ibrahim collected rent valued at N1.47 billion ($4,052,234.00) due to the airline and spent the money without recourse to laid down regulations.
He unilaterally paid $1.78 million without guarantee to Alpine Aviation, a travel agency for the 1999 Hajj operation. The agency failed to deliver. But only $560,000 was recovered from the agency. The balance of N444.92 million ($1.22 million) could not be recovered, the commission stated in the white paper. 

Between 1997 and 1999 was the period Mr. Ibrahim was most profligate, the report stated. In that period, he appointed and paid a third-party company, Hak Air, N338.75 million ($928,895) to collect revenue on behalf of the airline. After analyzing the deal, the judicial commission stated the Hak Air has no capacity whatsoever to carry out the job assigned to it. 

Mr. Ibrahim also overpaid Hak Air (N529 million) $1.45 million for overhauling two aircraft – DC10-30 and B737, the white paper stated.
During the first C-Check of an Airbus in Nigeria by United Kingdom-based aircraft maintenance firm, Revilo Aerospace, Mr. Ibrahim made an over-payment of N224.68million ($616,052.26). He also “single-handedly signed and disbursed N379 million ($1,039,439.00) without the signature of the airline’s financial director as regulation required.” 

Mr. Ibrahim also unilaterally allotted 24 plots of land belonging to the airline in the Ayobo area of Lagos to non-staff members of the airline.

In keeping faith with what the judicial commission described as Mr Ibrahim’s authoritarian approach to leadership, he went into a Wet Lease agreement with Al-Mahfooz Aviation, a Gambian chartered airline, that was to last for a year, but the venture collapsed because Mr. Ibrahim did not consult Nigerian Airways technical department. The failure of the agreement cost the airline N247.28 million.
In all, a whopping N3.63 billion disappeared as a result of corruption and the highhandedness of Mr. Ibrahim while he was managing director of the airline, the report stated. 

3. Bernard Banfa and Patrick Koshoni

During his time as managing director of the Nigerian airways, the judicial commission revealed that Bernard Banfa, a retired air commodore, colluded with Patrick Koshoni, a retired admiral and the minister of aviation at the time, to sell airworthy A310 aircraft at giveaway prices against the advice of experts. The commission recommended that the duo should refund N158.73 billion ($435.25 million) being the cost of an A310 aircraft. 

There is no evidence that both men repaid the money as directed by the commission. Despite his indictment by the commission, in 2016, President Buhari appointed Mr Banfa, who was a member of the President’s defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which later merged with other parties to form the ruling APC, into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

4. Afam Nwagboso

Afam Nwagboso, who was the director of finance of the Nigerian Airways in 1992, with the approval of Mr Joji, designated a moribund bank (Continental Merchant Bank) as the collecting bank for all cash taking of the airline. Soon after the designation, the bank failed, and the airline lost N40 million already collected by it.

5. Olu Bajowa and Alabo Graham-Douglas

The managing director of Nigeria Airways between 1988 and 1990, Olu Bajowa, a retired major general, gave CES Travels the exclusive right to sell tickets for the airline in the United Kingdom and the United States. During the period, CES Travels failed to remit N2.29 billion ($6.3 million) worth of tickets it sold on behalf of the airline. 



Commission recommended that Mr. Bajowa, Alabo Graham Douglas, a prominent Ijaw politician and member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State, M. Abdulsalam, T. Mgbhor and U.S.H Maigida, should refund the money to the airline’s account. 

6. Mohammed Kari

The judicial commission also wrote in its white paper that in 1993, a former managing director and chief executive of Nicon Insurance, Mohammed Kari, colluded with other officials of Nicon Insurance and Nigerian Airways to divert N50.82 billion ($13,935,956) to a phony company – Alexander Services Limited in the Channel Island, an offshore tax haven. 

 

In July 2015, Mr Buhari, in one of his first appointments made after being sworn-in as president, named Mr Kari the commissioner for Insurance and chief executive of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
For days, Mr Kari failed to respond to questions about his indictment sent to by PREMIUM TIMES through the spokesperson of NAICOM, Razaq Salami. 

7.Ibrahim Bala

Bala Ibrahim was an area marketing manager of the airline. In 1993, he stole N860.50 million ($2,359,546.95) collected from the Jeddah station for excess baggage and luggage allowance, the commission revealed.

8. All-Well Brown

For two years, between 1995 to 1997, All-Well Brown, a director, “kept some crew of the airline in Miami for five months for no reasonable cause,” the commission discovered. Their stay cost the airline N44.49 million ($122,000.00).

9. Alexandra Howden

Some officials of the airways connived with a defunct UK insurance company, Alexandra Howden, and transferred N893.49 million ($2.45 million) to its account without rendering any service to the airline.

10. A. Olafisoye 

According to the report, Mr Olafisoye, the Managing Director of Fidelity Bond Limited, and other senior management officials, stole millions of dollar from the airline. The report described Mr. Olafisoye as “all-in-all [who] manipulated the operators of the company at will.” The report said his involvement with the company “led to the looting of funds and other fraudulent activities that brought the [airline] on its kneels.”
Fidelity Bond has vacated its only known address at Elephant House, Alausa, Ikeja, in 2011, PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed 

Senator of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that the party will emerge stronger from the crises arising from its primaries.

It is also his position that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar cannot defeat President Muhammadu Buhari in February’s poll.

Senator Abu Ibrahim (Katsina South), who x-rayed the crisis in some state chapters of APC, traced the cause  to the burning desire of many Nigerians to secure APC’s tickets for the 2019 elections.



He noted that APC being the ruling party made it attractive to those seeking elective positions in 2019.

Ibrahim also said the crises stemmed from the “high interest and high stake” most people placed on the primary election as “the main thing” before the general election in 2019.

Ibrahim said, “The APC is a governing party. Everybody believes once you have the ticket, APC will do it for you.

“Obviously, the interests are high, the stakes are so high. Everybody wants to take APC ticket.

“Everybody wants to be APC candidate. Many people were shocked when I bought APC form and decided to opt out of the primary election. I said I will not contest again. They said, you are Mr. President’s man, you will get it. Why do you want to leave?

“Everybody believes that taking the ticket of APC is a sure way of winning election. People believe that once you have the ticket of the party your work is done.

“The primary election is the main thing, once we are through with it, every other thing will fall in line.

“It was easier for me to secure nomination when I was in opposition in Katsina State. For those who were in PDP it was difficult because then PDP was government party.

“We were only two people that bought the form while PDP had close to 10 people. So it is always like that with the governing party, the government party.



“You can see, even those of us who are not contesting, there is pressure. But our duty is to make sure that the right persons take over.”

In the Katsina South senator’s view,  nobody is happy with the crises rocking the party, but he is hopeful that APC will emerge much stronger from the crisis.

He applauded the national chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for working assiduously to institutionalize democracy in the party.

For him, anybody working to effect positive change in any system would face the kind of challenges Oshiomhole is facing in APC.

He said: “I salute the national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, for putting a lot of his time to the party and for working to institutionalise democracy in the party.

“That is what he is trying to do, let democracy take root in the party. Oshiomhole wants to change the system.

http://thenationonlineng.net/atiku-no-match-for-buhari-says-senator/

'Buhari has performed exceptionally well, he deserves a second term in office'' - Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, was a guest on Channels TV yesterday where he spoke extensively on why President Buhari deserves a second term in office.

According to Lai Mohammed, the Buhari-led administration has performed well on most of its campaign promises. He added that President Buhari has rebranded governance and has put the country on the path of sustainable growth and development, among other things.

“He has rebranded governance, he has put the country on the path of sustainable growth and development, he is rebuilding infrastructure, implementing what can be described as the most ambitious social investment programme in the history of the nation, he is ensuring that a few fat cats do not loot the national resources, at the same time, he is ensuring that Nigeria is self-sufficient in many areas especially in food production. Above all, he has brought honour and respect back to the country and at the same time, fighting all forms of insecurity. We have put in place certain measures that have made it difficult for those who want to loo our resources to do so” he said



When asked to speak on the reactions that have trailed President Buhari and his certificates,Lai Mohammed said it was “a non-issue and a mere distraction”



“We have moved beyond that. Let me quote what former President Olusegun Obasanjo said in 2015 during this saga of the President’s certificate. Obasanjo said that it is an insult on a man, who rose to the echelon in Nigeria Army, attended the War College in the US and Staff College in Nigeria, for anyone to start asking whether he has a certificate or not. I think I want to rest this case on that because it is a non-issue'' he said


Source: https://www.dailynaija.com/post/buhari-has-performed-exceptionally-well-he-deserves-a-second-term-in-office-lai-mohammed

Bishop Oyedepo reveals sponsors of killer herdsmen


[img]data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="431px" width="640px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>[/img]
The Bishop of Living Faith Church (aka Winners Chapel), Bishop David Oyedepo, yesterday said the inability of the government to arrest killer herdsmen in some part of the Middle Belt zone was because the killers were agents of the government.


Speaking in Ota, Ogun State, at the Church’s Sunday Service titled ‘Covenant Day of Settlement and Thanksgiving’, the clergyman stated that it was absurd for the government to fail in arresting some self-confessed killer herders in Jos, Plateau State.
Oyedepo said: “Help me ask them how many mosques have been destroyed by these people? You can also ask them how many of those who have destroyed the church has ever been caught? How many of the destroyed churches has government ever added a dime to rebuild?


“I have said it, let us remove the mask from the masquerade and nobody will fear it anymore. Government is part of this thing; you don’t need to go to school to know that.
“If people claimed responsibilities to the killings in Jos and were not arrested, the question is who is to arrest them? Is it the citizens or government? It’s the government, but they cannot arrest them because they are their agents.”
While stating that every leader is a caretaker and God remains the creator and owner of every nation, including Nigeria, he added that Nigeria would have peace when they understand that God is in control of everything, including the land.


“When a caretaker starts behaving like a landlord he will be removed. God is the permanent landlord of the earth.
“Too many arrogant foes who pose to own this nation, be warned because the day of God’s judgement is here.
“Those who sponsor and perpetrate killings and also offer covering for killers to keep killing, God will lead them to rest. God will give us peace in this country by all means.
“God enthrones kings and removes kings,” he said.





Dailypost 

Man arrested for allegedly raping teenage housemaid
October 29, 2018  NEW

                             
A 42 years old man has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly raping his 16-year-old housemaid.

The incident happened at the family’s house at the Government Reservation Area (GRA),Ibara, Abeokuta, the state capital.

The Ogun police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident on Sunday, said the suspect, Abiodun Amosun, a website designer, committed the crime on October 25 while his wife was away in Lagos.

His arrest followed the complaint lodged at Ibara Police Division by the Benue State born victim (name withheld) who was accompanied to the station by a member of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR).

The victim told the police that the suspect forcefully dragged her into his bedroom and raped her. She said when she started making noise after the man had his way; the suspect beat her up and sent her out of the house.

Mr Oyeyemi said a member of the CDHR saw her and took her to the police station to report after which the suspect was arrested.

“On interrogation, the suspect initially denied the allegation, but when confronted with the blood stained bedsheet in his bedroom, he admitted to the commission of the offence,” Mr Oyeyemi stated.

“The victim who claimed to be a virgin before the incident has been taken to General Hospital for medical attention and the medical report has confirmed that victim was actually sexually abused,” the police said.

The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has directed that the case be transferred to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for proper investigation and prosecution of the suspect.

Man Pretending To Be Female Relative Defrauds Senator Alasodura Of N3m
October 29, 2018  NEW

                          
The operatives of the Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, have arrested a 38-year-old man, Omoniyi Ademola, who defrauded Senator Tayo Alasodura of N3 million, while pretending to be a female relative.


The suspect who launched a WhatsApp support group for the Senator using a woman’s picture and putting up favourable post on the group daily which the Senator was also a member of, started defrauding the lawmaker in June 2016, during his campaign for the Ondo State governorship election.

The suspect who is a native of Ikare-Akoko area of Ondo State, however ran into trouble in September, when he attempted to defraud the Senator of an additional N5 million, while claiming he has been kidnapped by some bandits operating along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.

“He (Senator) was moved by the support I gave him on the group and wanted to know why I was showing so much interest in his campaign since he didn’t commission me to do so.

“I identified myself as Deborah, one of his distant relatives, schooling in Jos. He believed me, then I started swindling him.”

Ademola who sent a text message to the Senator in Hausa dialect, begging him to pay N5 million as ransom or he (Ademola) would be killed, was busted after IRT operatives, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, discovered during investigations that the said bandit was nowhere near the Abuja-Kaduna Highway, but was in Akure, Ondo State.

The arrested suspect further said; 

“My phone has an application that could turn my voice from that of a man to a woman. “During our chats, I told Senator that I needed money to write my project and he sent me some money and after writing my project, I told him that I had no money to come back home and he sent me some money.

“But few days later, I called and told him that I was involved in an accident and my leg would be amputated. He took pity on me and said he would spend any amount of money in ensuring that my leg was not amputated.

“He asked to speak with the doctor of the hospital I was taken to and I gave him my second number and spoke to him as the doctor. “He then sent me some money for my treatment and feeding. After a long time, he called to check how I was doing and I told him that I wasn’t improving.

“Then he directed me to a place in Ede, Osun State, to continue treatment and sent me money for the treatment and feeding.

“After some months, I called to inform him that I was fine and he asked me to come to Akure so he could see me. He sent me some money for transport.

“While he was expecting me, I sent him a text informing him I had been kidnapped. He immediately stopped talking to me and before I knew what was happening the Police came and arrested me.”

Nigeria’s capital market can finance infrastructure, experts insist
October 29, 2018  BUSINESS

                               
Experts and stakeholders in the financial sector have restated their calls on government at various levels, to take advantage of the multiple benefits inherent in the nation’s capital market to facilitate their respective infrastructure projects.

Reiterating the market’s capacity, the stakeholders warned that in an era of fiscal constraints, attention must focus on capital markets to provide the funds needed to finance energy, transportation and social infrastructure projects, beside the budget financing.

According to them, the nation’s infrastructure needs are too massive to be dependent on the meager yearly budgetary allocation.


They reemphasised that government must now prioritise the market as the most reliable medium to finance critical infrastructure, which already, is severally identified as the most challenging factor in doing business in the country.
Specifically, the Group Managing Director of Meristem Securities Limited, Sulaiman Adedokun, argued that the market has huge potentials, challenging the government to explore the potentials in the market.
“The market has huge potential. We are in a developing economy and there is huge gap to be filled.
The gap is so huge that the market will remain so much untapped in some areas.
”The capital market needs to be deepened more than this to provide an opportunity for growth in the economy. It is a barometer of growth and development in the economy. When the capital market is down, people believe the economy is down and this provides an opportunity for the government to grow the economy.
“The connection between the monetary sector and real sector is the capital market. No economy grows without the real sector and the real sector cannot grow without funds.
The funding of the real sector can better come from a long-term fund, that is, from the capital market.
“Funds can be raised from the capital market to fund various infrastructure projects in the country from a state of deficiency to a state of sufficiency. There is a lot to be done by the government in exploring the potentials of the capital.”

An independent investor, Amaechi Egbo, said infrastructure deficit has been estimated to cut about two percentage points from Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) yearly.
He pointed out that the capital market provides variety of financing instruments and investor categories, which could lead to larger pool of funds than other financing options.
According to him, capital markets can offer better pricing and longer maturities, as well as access to a wider investor base.
They can also offer funding for riskier activities, and by doing so, contribute significantly to innovation in an economy.
He added that the capital market is a critical pillar to long-term fund mobilisation needed for capital formation to fast-track economic growth and development in the country.

He maintained that the capital market is the market for securities, where companies and governments can raise long term funds, noting the main function of the capital market is to channel investments from the investors who have surplus funds to the investors who have deficit funds.
The President, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria, Patrick Ezeagu, also highlighted the capital market’s role in supporting the mobilisation and deployment of resources to fund infrastructure in Nigeria.
According to him, infrastructure deficit remains a major challenge to Nigeria’s efforts to achieve its full development potential.
He maintained that the nation’s capital market has the potential to fill the gap in infrastructure investment given the limited resources of government and banks.
Admitting that there is no single solution to Nigeria’s infrastructure needs, he noted that the most effective approach lies in mobilising funds that would finance critical infrastructure development through the instrumentality of the capital market.

Two modular refineries for inauguration in Niger Delta December
October 29, 2018  BUSINESS

                           
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, at the weekend said two modular refineries would be commissioned in Delta and Rivers states in December.


Speaking at the 2018 graduation of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Effurun, he added that government had issued licences for 38 of the facilities currently at different stages of completion.

Represented by a director in the ministry, Mr. Idang Alibi, the minister stated: “As I mentioned during my last visit, the Federal Government is very much interested in constructing modular refineries.


Their development would help to address the perennial shortage of domestic supply of petroleum products, create jobs and stop illegal refining of crude oil and the attendant deleterious impact on the environment. He also disclosed that government was poised to end flaring by utilising and monetising the abundant gas resources in the country.

Kachikwu added that the current administration had redoubled efforts to drive utilisation and commercialisation hence its investment in the nation’s seven critical gas development projects to deliver about 3.4 billion standard cubic feet of the product yearly to bridge the medium-term supply gap by 2020.

He noted that the approval of the Nigeria National Gas Policy last year by the President Muhammadu Buhari government was to ensure the product play its full role to the growth of the national economy.

The policy, according to the minister, is key to the realisation of a full-blown domestic gas market in the country in the future.

He, however, regretted that the nation lacked the critical manpower in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the industry.

Meanwhile, stakeholders have deplored the continued burning of illegal refineries by the military in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

At the yearly tripartite meeting involving oil companies, Rig/HWU firms and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Warri, the players observed that the incineration of confiscated crude and contrivances was not only destroying the delicate ecosystem in the zone but also posing severe health risks to inhabitants.

The Warri Zonal Operations Controller of DPR, Mr. Asuquo Antai Eyo, said the presidency had recently set up a panel to look into the issue and was agreed that the military joint task force should henceforth put an end to the exercise owing to observed health hazards.

He added that it was equally resolved that the stolen content be taken back to the oil firms whose pipelines were vandalised for the scooping.

Kaduna government relaxes curfew in metropolis, environs
October 29, 2018  NEW


                          
The Kaduna State Government has relaxed the curfew in Kaduna metropolis and environs with immediate effect.

A statement yesterday by Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, said: “From (today), Monday, October 29, 2018, the curfew is relaxed from 6.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. daily. Residents of Kaduna metropolis, Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru and Kateri, can now join the people of Kachi in having free movement during day time hours.

“Banks and markets are expected to reopen and deliver services as usual. The Kaduna State Government has also requested the airlines and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to promptly resume normal services to Kaduna.



“Night time curfew hours will continue to be enforced from 5.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m. until further notice. The Kaduna State Government urges residents to remain peaceful, law-abiding and vigilant.”
However, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has advised residents of the state to embrace peace for the sake of progress and development while condemning the killing of the traditional ruler of Agom Adara that instigated the third crisis.
A statement by the ACF National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Mohammad Ibrahim Biu, said: “The Forum is shocked, grieved and sad with the news of the gruesome murder of Agom Adara, His Royal Majesty, Dr. Maiwada Galadima, who was kidnapped in the wake of the Kasuwan Magani crisis in Kaduna State.
“We urge the government to not only strengthen its peace building process, but also sustain it to ensure durable peace in the state..”
However, Southern Kaduna indigenes and other stakeholders have condemned the comments made by Governor Nasir El-Rufai that he will demolish and relocate Gonin Gora community if mob attacks and killings of innocent people plying Abuja-Kaduna highway would not be guaranteed.
In another development, the apex Islamic body in the North, Jamatul Nasir Islam (JNI), has called on the federal and state governments to relocate troubling communities away from highways for the safety of road commuters.
In a statement by the body’s Secretary-General, Dr. Khaleed Abubakar, he said such approach becomes imperative as militias unabatedly venture into blockage of major inter-state roads linking various states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to hack road commuters to death.

Panic grips Abuja as Shiites march today
October 29, 2018  NEW

                              
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are worried about the probable outcome of today’s Arbaeen Trek by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (also known as Shiites).

Saturday’s edition of the yearly event turned deadly as some members of the sect were killed during a confrontation with men of the Nigerian Army.

Last year, two people were reportedly killed when members of the organisation and the police faced off in Kano during a similar procession.


The police denied any life was lost. A 2016 edition, also in Kano, was said to have left many people and a police officer dead.

The march which also took place yesterday was without confrontation with security operatives but the procession caused apprehension among the population.

Packing flags with Arabic inscriptions, thousands of the sect’s members defied heavy rains and stomped through the busy Kubwa-Zuba highway, heads adorned with red and green bands.

The Abuja Peace and Development Initiative earlier yesterday raised the alarm over an alleged plan by the sect to unleash violence on the nation’s capital. It alerted security agencies to act decisively.

It also warned that alleged IMN’s fighters were on their way to the city, describing them as an invading force and not pilgrims on a trek.

“IMN plans multi-locations attacks and protests to renew demand for (the release of) their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, who is standing trial before a court in Kaduna state. Using the demand for El-Zakzaky’s release is therefore a ruse since they should have taken their trek, procession or protests to Kaduna State where their leader is being tried and not disturb the peace of Abuja,” said president of the Initiative, Rev. Aaron Audu, in a statement yesterday.

Mohammed Inusa, a fruit seller in Zuba told The Guardian he would stay at home today to forestall any trouble.


One Kingsley Besong, who lives in Gwarimpa Estate, said many of his co-tenants have decided they would not leave home until they are sure the coast is clear.

On his part, Peter Awhensebe, a retired military officer who lives in Nyanya, near the scene of Saturday’s clash, said he had instructed his family to remain indoors to avert any unpleasant situation.

But FCT police spokesman, Anjuguri Manzah, said residents had no reason to panic.

“Following trending social media messages that Islamic Movement of Nigeria is planning a major procession into the Federal Capital Territory, the FCT police command wishes to reassure members of the public that it has deployed both uniformed and plainclothes operatives at strategic points to forestall any breakdown of law and order,” Manzah said.

According to him, adequate security measures have been put in place to protect life and property and ensure a free vehicular movement in and out of the FCT. He therefore urged members of the public to go about their lawful activities.

A video meanwhile emerged online yesterday purportedly showing men of the Nigerian Army opening fire on what appeared to be IMN members. The upsetting two minute-thirty-five second clip opened on a gridlocked road. Some youths could be seen hurling objects at three armed soldiers who seemed uncertain whether to flee, duck for cover, or shoot. Chaos set in, as some passers-by and motorists fled the area.

Voices, in Hausa and English, could be heard saying, among other things: “Rush at them!” As the soldiers readied their rifles in a seeming attempt to shoot or possibly scare away the determined attackers, a voice could be heard saying: “It’s a lie! It’s a lie!” A shot rang out, followed by more shots. Military reinforcement arrived and bullets poured.

At least, two persons appeared to have been shot. It is not known whether passers-by were hit by stray bullets or sustained injuries in the pandemonium.

There are conflicting accounts on what transpired between the military and the religious organisation on Saturday.

“Troops of Army Headquarters Garrison on official duty escorting ammunition and missiles from Abuja to Army Central Ammunition Depot in Kaduna State were attacked by some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) sect at Zuba Bridge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at about 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 27, 2018,” said a statement by the Commander Army Headquarters Garrison, Major General James Myam yesterday.


The statement reads in part: “The sect who were supposedly in a procession, established an illegal road block denying motorists free passage. When the troops’ convoy attempted to clear the roadblock, they met stiff opposition from the sect. Members of the sect used various objects to barricade the road and also pelted the troops with stones and other dangerous items. They smashed both military and civilian vehicles’ windscreens and windows.

“They also attempted to overrun the escorts to cart away the ammunition and missiles the troops were escorting. This led to the troops opening fire to extricate themselves. Consequently, troops of 102 Guards Battalion, in whose area of responsibility the incident occurred, rushed to the convoy’s rescue.

“Unfortunately, during the encounter three members of the sect were killed while two soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries and are being treated at a military medical facility.”

The Islamic Movement however dismissed the army’s claim as “false, unsubstantiated, and mischievous”.

It described the account as an attempt to “justify the bestiality they meted out to the innocent, unarmed members of the Islamic Movement on Saturday, while carrying out their solemn religious duty of Arbaeen mourning procession at Zuba.”

The group’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, in a counter-statement said: “These age-long, worn-out malevolent storylines are no longer being believed by members of the public because, over time, the Islamic Movement has convincingly demonstrated its peaceful disposition while conducting its religious obligations, even in the face of extreme official persecution.


“It is not their nature to attack security agents, government property or fellow citizens during their protests. The Nigerian Army should please find other storylines, but certainly not these.

“What was witnessed on Saturday was done in broad daylight and in full glare of the public. Video clips of both the procession prior to the unprovoked, brutal attacks and of the fierce attacks by soldiers at unarmed people scrambling for cover while the soldiers take deliberate steps to seek them and shoot them dead are all in the public domain.

“Therefore, the government and its army cannot confuse members of the public by going further with their campaign of calumny and false propaganda with a view to maligning the movement and its leadership.

“The public is led to believe that the government and its army are resorting to these vicious campaigns in desperation. Yet, they would never wish away or bury their crimes against humanity.”

[img=309x0]https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hhQAsZ7EKBU/W0WOIHK3ywI/AAAAAAAAvH8/Icq01A0_QrseSqlD3smDSOAxiLdbOpx-gCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/AKELICIOUS.PNG[/img]
Senator passes no-confidence vote on APC, foresees defeat in 2019
October 29, 2018  politics

                         
Representative of Yobe East senatorial district on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Buka Abba Ibrahim, yesterday expressed disappointment over the way and manner in which the party is running the country.

He pointed out that the APC should not take the Northeast (Borno, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba states) for granted in the 2019 general elections, as the zone may decide to vote against the party.

Ibrahim, who blamed the ruling party for the nation’s tottering economy, also warned the APC against assuming that it would win the 2019 general elections through massive rigging.


He stated this in Abuja during the Internet launch of his book titled: Poorlitics, stressing that the ruling party is not better than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He accused the APC administration of being unable to actualise the positive change it promised the country.
“We have certainly not done what I dreamed we will do, and in many ways, we are no better than the PDP that we sought to displace. Since APC came to power, things have not changed and many things are worse and Nigerians are very bitter,” he said.
Ibrahim, a former Governor of Yobe State, further accused the ruling party of violating the rule of law, which is against the tenets of progressive politics it claimed to uphold.
Meanwhile, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom’s aide, Terver Akase, has stated that George Akume and the party’s governorship candidate, Emmanuel Jime’s campaign rally at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Daudu was a mockery of herdsmen’s attack on the victims.
Akase, who wondered why the group chose IDPs camp for a political rally, when Akume and Jime promised that they were visiting the camp to donate relief materials, noted that it was the height of deceit when the IDPs discovered that their visit was actually for a campaign rally.
“It is on record that Jime has never condemned the attacks and killings of Benue people by armed herdsmen. He did not send one relief material to the victims in various camps.
“Now that electioneering campaigns are here, Jime has not only found his voice, but has also chosen to dance on the graves of the dead and mock the displaced persons by mounting on a campaign podium to deliver a ‘sermon’ on governance,” he stated.
On challenging Ortom to a debate, Akase said, Jime doesn’t need to challenge Governor Ortom to a debate.
“There will certainly be a debate before the 2019 elections where Jime will tell Benue people what he has done for them in his public service career and why he had remained silent over the attacks and killings of innocent people only to surface on the eve of elections to demand votes from the traumatised victims,” he said.

Assassination Attempt: Coalition Blasts APC for Importing Thuggery in to Enugu
October 28, 2018  NEW


                         
Our attention has been drawn to the series of crisis, brigandages and disturbances members of the confused All Progressives Congress in Enugu State has been creating in the state despite the efforts of our amiable and God-fearing Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to institutionalize the culture of peace and political tolerance in the state.

It will be recalled that since this year, members of the failed All Progressives Congress has been swimming in crisis after after crisis and from one brigandage to another; giving the state a bad name in the commity of peaceful states in the country.

Of particular concern is the recent assassination attempt made against it's chairman by some members of the party in the state.

Where it not for the timely explanation of the victim; accusing members of his own party of being the brain behind the shameful act, accusing fingers would have been pointed to the opposite direction especially now that we are in the mood for election campaigns.

In fact, here is what the chairman said about the killers who invaded his home: ''It was a politically calculated attempt on my life. Those behind it should be arrested and prosecuted. During our primary, one of the aspirants mobilized thugs to disperse what we were doing. I have strong conviction that what happened had to do with the crisis in our party, and attempt by some persons to become state APC chairman so as to present governorship candidates.''

This is a party that enmeshed the entire state in to confusion when it conducted it's congresses early this year. It also disturbed the peace of the state during it's primaries.

Now, members of the crisis-ridden party wants to give the whole state a bad name by attempting to kill their chairman because of submission of candidates names to INEC.
And only God knows what will happen in the state during general elections!
Therefore, we urge Ndi-Enugu to outrightly reject them at the polls because they have nothing to offer the state apart from thuggery, hunger and lawlessness.
Enugu is in the Hands of God and it will continue to be in the Hands of God.
Signed:
Dr. Edwin Obune,
National Coordinator,
Enugu Youths Coalition

A MAN from Lukala village in Inyathi died after his manhood was crushed by a hammer which he had earlier used to knock down a man whose wife he was allegedly caught in bed with.

The incident that happened two weeks ago, has become the talk of the village and surprisingly, villagers are celebrating the death of Mthandazo Sibanda (50) whom they said met the “appropriate death” as he had allegedly become notorious for bedding married women in the area.

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Siphiwe Makonese said she could not immediately comment on the incident as she was out of office but Sunday News on Friday visited the area where villagers and officials narrated how the spine-chilling incident happened.

Acting village head Mr Simetshi Ndlovu said on the day, Sibanda who was already on the police wanted list received a phone call from his alleged lover whose husband is based in Botswana asking him to come for a sleepover.

Sibanda allegedly lied to his wife that he was going to sleep in the scotch-cart since police were looking for him.

Unbeknown to the two lovers who were already cozy in the blankets, on the same day the woman’s husband arrived from his base in Botswana unannounced.

Mr Ndlovu said the man went to knock at his bedroom and his wife came out hurriedly and told him she was rushing to fetch water.

Surprised by the reaction, the man budged into the house and Sibanda bolted out of the bedroom Unclad brandishing a hammer. Mr Ndlovu said Sibanda hit his lover’s husband on the chest and he fell down, allowing him time to flee.

“When the woman’s husband fell down Sibanda ran away, unfortunately he was tripped by the fence and he also fell down. The woman’s husband then seized the opportunity and rushed towards him. He took the hammer and aimed straight at his private parts. He crashed his manhood. Villagers also joined and assaulted Sibanda. He was rescued by a police officer but died on his way to the police station. The woman’s husband was picked up by police,” he said.

Despite Sibanda meeting such a spin chilling fate, villagers said while it was taboo to celebrate death, they were happy that he was no more.



They claimed Sibanda had wrecked many marriages in the area and was also violent. Mr Ndlovu claimed Sibanda was a monster who moved around with an axe.

“It was his tendency to prey on married women. Not so long ago Sibanda was busted having a nice time with another villager’s wife. The matter was brought to us and we had to involve the police since villagers were baying for his blood. This person we are talking about was not just a home wrecker; he was also an unrepentant criminal. He spent most of his life in and out of jail. As we speak he was on the police wanted list. That is why people are celebrating his death,” said Mr Ndlovu.

A delightful villager who only identified himself as Mr Ncube said he once caught Sibanda in his bedroom with his wife.

“He told me that he will finish me off if I dare try to attack him and he took some of my property and left. He told me to report the matter to the police if I had the guts. To me his death came at an appropriate time,” he said.

Lukala Village 2 Ward councillor, Douglas Bafana Mpofu said the village was now at peace.

>> https://groovenaija360.com.ng/mans-manhd-crushed-with-hammer-for-sleeping-with-married-woman-in-zimbabwe/

The authorities of the Cherubim and Seraphim’s Church in Ondo state has sealed off a branch of the church, Edidi Emi C & S Church at Alhaja lane, Ayedun in Akure Ondo State.

The action was taken following the report of an investigative panel set up by the authorities of the church over an allegation made by a church member against the branch’s founder and prophet, Prophet Sunday Michael popularly known as ‘Woli Adonai’.

The Church member, Oluwakemi Dauda, while narrating her experience in the church to Omo Edema, had alleged the prophet of attempted various rituals on her, hence prompting the authorities to take action and seal off the church.

See more; https://www.nationalhelm.co/2018/10/church-sealed-in-ondo-after-female-member-accused-pastor-of-ritual.html

A plane carrying 188 people has crashed into the sea north of Indonesia's capital Jakarta shortly after take-off.


Pictures and video shared online by the head of Indonesia’s disaster relief agency show debris and oil floating on the water.

The fate of the passengers is unknown, but relatives were seen crying as they awaited news on their loved ones.





https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6327571/Passenger-plane-crashes-near-Indonesia-shortly-taking-Jakarta.html






The Lion Air aircraft crashed about 13 minutes after taking off for Indonesia.


Data from the Flight Radar website showed the plane took off before it stopped transmitting north east of Jakarta.


Preliminary flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbed to around 5,000 feet (1,524 m) before losing, and then regaining, height, before finally falling towards the sea.



Wreckage from the plane and miscellaneous items belonging to its passengers






No survivors have been found, and seats from the plane were found empty, floating in the ocean, striking fear into the hearts of those with loved ones on board.


The relatives were seen comforting each other as they all waited as a group for news.







https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/world/asia/indonesia-lion-air-plane-crash.amp.html

The resumption of flights at Osubi Airport in Warri, Delta State notwithstanding, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) yesterday insisted that the operator owing N566.4 million.

Though it confirmed a receipt of N31 million recently from Shoreline Oil Services, the agency, through its General Manager, Public Affairs, Khalid Emele, added that the payment was from an alleged N600 million indebtedness. It warned that the “balance” must be cleared to prevent further action.

NAMA, however, denied shutting down the facility, stating: “We do not have such statutory or physical powers.”

But the operator said the N600 million figure was the accumulation of “frivolous claim of N17.7 million NAMA levies on a monthly basis, contrary to the agreement of N2.975 million per month that erstwhile owners, Shell, had with it.”

https://www.akelicious.net/2018/10/warri-airport-owing-n5664m-nama-insist.html

Quote:President Muhamma­du Buhari’s govern­ment inherited $63 billion debt and has borrowed $10 billion since 2015.
Vice President Yemi Osinba­jo said that the nation’s debt now stood at $73 billion.
He made the disclosure in Ibadan on Saturday during the 9th Public Lecture of Sig­ma Club at the International Conference Centre, Universi­ty of Ibadan.
Osinbajo delivered a lec­ture entitled ‘Developing the Nation Through Youth Empowerment.’

“In 2010 our debt was $35 billion, $41 billion in 2011, $48 billion in 2012, $64 billion in 2013, $67.7 billion in 2014, $63.8 billion in 2015, $57.8 billion in 2016, $70 billion in 2017 and $73 billion in 2018.

“The nation’s debt as at to­day was $73 bilłion, an incre­ment of $10 billion from the $63 billion inherited in 2015,” he said.
Osinbajo revealed that from oil, the nation earned $119.8 billion from 1990 to 1998, $481 billion from 1999 to 2009 and $381 billion from 2010 to 2014, while present adminis­tration has only earned $112 billion from June 2015.
“The earnings from oil from 2010 to 2014 were the highest recorded in the history of the country. This is a period when the price of oil per barrel sold from $100 to $114.

He said that the most im­portant drain on the nation’s public purse was grand cor­ruption, saying the nation would earn more revenue if such was addressed.
“In a 2015 transaction met by this administration, a sum of $67 million was made with­out a purpose for it. So also is another $292 million,” he said.
The Vice President also list­ed lack of commitment to di­versification of the economy as one of the problems which affected the economy.
On restructuring, Osinbajo said that some of those clam­ouring for it were those who opposed their efforts on re­structuring years back when they were in government.

“Let me explain my position clearly. I am not just an advo­cate of restructuring, there is no other government in Nige­ria that has actively pursued restructuring such as we did when I was Attorney General in Lagos State.
“People talking about re­structuring, if you ask them what they meant by restruc­turing? They won’t even know what it means and that is the problem we have to face,” he said.

The vice president narrat­ed how he pursued issues of restructuring to the Supreme Court when he was the Attor­ney General in Lagos State.
According to him, “We start­ed with fiscal restructuring, which is more of resource control. Should states control their own resources? We went to the Supreme Court. They argued that each state should control its own resources.”
“The states that argued in favour of autonomy for states to control their resources were the oil producing states in the country and Lagos State, while some others argued on the other side because they want to share oil money.

“We lost at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said no, that you cannot con­trol your resources. If you are an oil producing state, take 13 per cent extra, which is derivation.”
He said that Lagos State further argued that it had ports and the ports served the entire nation, so the state should also take 13 per cent derivation which the Supreme Court objected.

Osinbajo said that further argument led to the introduc­tion of onshore and offshore law, which enabled the state to share from onshore resources.
“All this time, this was 2000, some of those people, in­cluding the presidential can­didate of PDP, who is talking about restructuring, was the vice president then.
“They opposed every step we took. Of course, we were tak­ing the Federal Government to court then. They opposed every step.
“The next thing we did was that the states should be able to create their own local gov­ernments, which is autonomy of states.

“So, we created 37 new lo­cal governments in Lagos. The president then, Chief Obasanjo, seized our local government funds and said we could not create new local governments,” he said.
He also narrated how they challenged the seizure at the Supreme Court and the court ruled in their favour. “If you ask those people now talking about restructuring, none of them has done anything com­pared to what we have done. So, I am not a latter day con­vert to restructuring.
“I am an active practitioner of restructuring, and I have gone to the Supreme Court 12 times to test restructuring,” Osinbajo added.

David Oyedepo, founder of Living Faith Church worldwide, has warned Nigerians and politicians over the killings in the country.

Oyedepo gave this warning in a satellite telecast of the church’s prayer session for the nation monitored by NAN on Sunday.

The Bishop, while urging politicians to repent and have value for the lives of citizens, said if they do not repent after this warning, they would fall down for the sake of the nation. He emphasized that the day Nigeria will become divided is the day it becomes an Islamic nation.

“Politicians be warned, whether in power or not in power. There is no day Nigeria will become an Islamic nation and this nation will remain one nation,” he said.

“Allow the Christians to go to church, allow the Muslims go to their mosque and let the traditional worshippers do their thing.

“God is giving Nigeria peace by all means, the peace of those promoting this wickedness, God is taking away, if they refuse to repent. Their supplies shall dry up because Nigeria shall not see war.”

He said every leader is just a caretaker and God remains the creator and owner of every Nation including Nigeria.

“When a caretaker starts behaving like a landlord he will be removed. God is the permanent landlord of the earth,” Oyedepo said.

“The God of heaven has given you authority and power. He has given you might and glory. Pride makes us think that we do not need God. Pride separates us from God. Nebuchadnezzar did not give credit to God, and God had enough.

“God had warned Nebuchadnezzar and had been very patient with him. But finally, the prophecy came true. All of the things that he was so proud of were taken away.

“Nebuchadnezzar had to eat grass just like the goats and cows! He was used to living in a grand palace, but now he had no shelter over his head; For 7 years, the great King Nebuchadnezzar lived out there in the wilderness like an animal.

SOURCE:https://gleetz.blogspot.com/2018/10/bishop-oyedepo-reveals-day-nigeria-will.html

Quote:The presiding Bishop of Divine Seed of God Chapel Ministries, Prophet Wale Olagunju, has reiterated his earlier prophesy that the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, will defeat President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 presidential election.

Prophet Olagunju revealed this during an interview with Sun News on Sunday, October 28.

The cleric, who accurately predicted the return of notable APC members back to their former home, also noted that those who are yet to decamp will do so and “throw their full support for the man after God’s heart”.

"Let me congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari for winning the ticket of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and let me also make it clear to him that he will lose to Atiku Abubakar. Let me also congratulate Atiku in advance because he will win the next presidential election come 2019. Let me say, as a matter of fact, that Buhari does not need an Alfa or prophet to deceive him that he would win the election, for as God lives, he would lose. What the present President of Nigeria and the ruling party would rely on to have their from Buhari. You remember I predicted the return of notable APC members back to their former home, to be frank, big guns in APC will soon decamp and begin to campaign for Atiku. It is then that Buhari and the so-called APC will realize that the party is as good as dead."

The man of God also took a sweep at the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, describing him as a failure.

“I am highly disappointed in Yemi Osinbajo. He has failed God and the entire Christendom and ought to have resigned by now because to me, his integrity as a pastor is in doubt.

“He is in a government where they are killing his Christian brothers on daily basis and he sat there, folding his arms.”

Prophet Olagunju maintained that Buhari is destined to lose with or without Osinbajo, adding that Yoruba’s will vote for Atiku.

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES

MONDAY, 29TH OCTOBER.

RESPOND TO THE WORD…NOT TO CIRCUMSTANCES.

But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me (Matthew 14:30).

On a certain day, Peter and the other disciples were in a boat, far in the sea, when they saw someone walking on the water towards them. Frightened, they thought they’d seen a ghost; but to assuage their fear, the Lord said to them, “...Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27 NKJV). To be double sure, Peter replied, “...Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matthew 14:28 NKJV). And Jesus said to Peter, “Come!”

Straightaway, Peter got out of the boat, into the water, and started walking on water to meet Jesus; a remarkable miracle! However, as Peter approached Jesus, the wind and waves became boisterous, and Peter became distracted, and began to sink (Matthew 14:30). He walked on the water as long as his attention was on the Master, but things changed when he shifted his focus to the prevailing circumstances.

Refuse to allow circumstances run your life. You’re a creature of faith, and faith doesn’t consider circumstances; faith responds only to the Word. No matter how fierce the attacks of the enemy may be, refuse to be moved; walk on in victory. Be like Abraham who refused to consider his body, when he was about one hundred years old, neither did he consider the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Rather, he was strong in faith, giving glory to God (Romans 4:19-20).

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Stay your mind on the Word always; look away from the challenge, the difficulty, unto Jesus, the living Word, and He’ll keep you in perfect peace; the peace of prosperity. Hallelujah!

CONFESSION

My gaze is fixed on the Lord and His eternal Word. I refuse to be moved, deterred, distracted or influenced by situations or circumstances that are contrary to the provisions of God’s Word. I soar above circumstances, and walk in perpetual victory, because I live by the Word. Blessed be God!

FURTHER STUDY:

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Romans 4:19-20 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

1-Year Bible Reading Plan
Titus 1-2 & Jeremiah 29-30

2-Year Bible Reading Plan
James 3:1-18 & Ezekiel 29




#AFFIRMATIONTRAIN

29TH OCTOBER.

I affirm that my spirit is built up and energized as I constantly look into the mirror of God, and give the Word first place in my life! My profiting is evident for all to see! Christ is my Ark and I will never sink in life. The terrible economic situation of the world will never cause me to sink.

It doesn’t matter who is sinking, it does not matter the business that is moving out of town, it does not even matter the nations that are going into recession; I am in a safe place! I am in Christ, the secret place of the Most High. Life is not a mystery unto me because I dwell in the realm of light. I am in the centre of God’s will and purpose for my life. I am anointed to grow by the power of the Spirit. No weapon fashioned against me prospers. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.

I go out with joy and I am led forth with peace; my steps are ordered of the Lord. Joy, health, peace, prosperity and the good life are my heritage in Christ! In every area of my life, as I walk in union with Him, I experience God’s manifold wisdom, supernatural blessings, and revelation of His Word. I live above sickness, poverty, failure, death, defeat, and destruction. Hallelujah! This is my time and season, and there’s no stopping me. Blessed be God!

SPEAK IN OTHER TONGUES NOW

• Be bold to say the same things that God has said concerning you in His Word. That is what takes you beyond salvation, to enjoy the benefits of salvation ~ Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

God bless you.

@POLITICSNGR

Below is a Press statement from the Nigerian army made available to PoliticsNGR on the recent clash between Nigerian Soldiers and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN);

Troops of Army Headquarters Garrison on official duty escorting ammunitions and missiles from Abuja to Army Central Ammunition Depot in Kaduna State were attacked by some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) sect at Zuba bridge, of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at about 3.00pm on Saturday 27th October 2018.

The sect who were supposedly in a procession, established an illegal road block denying motorists free passage. When the troops’ convoy attempted to clear the road block, they met stiff opposition from the sect. Members of the sect used various objects to barricade the road and also pelted the troops with stones and other dangerous items. They smashed both military and civilian vehicles’ windscreens and windows.

They also attempted to overrun the escorts to cart away the ammunition and missiles the troops were escorting. This led to the troops opening fire to extricate themselves. Consequently, troops of 102 Guards Battalion in whose Area of Responsibility the incident occurred rushed to the convoy’s rescue.

Unfortunately, during the encounter 3 members of the sect were killed while 2 soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries and are being treated at a military medical facility. 

Meanwhile, normalcy has been restored in the general area and members of the public especially those plying the Abuja - Zuba Road are requested to go about with their normal activities with the assurance from the NIgerian Army that no individual or persons would be allowed to disturb public peace and unprovoked attacks against military convoys.

https://politicsngr.com/just-shiites-attack-soldiers-stones-attempt-steal-weapons-photos/

Quote:The Atiku campaign organisation has accused Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) of trying to revise history over the role Atiku Abubakar played in the actualising of restructuring.

Osinbajo had said the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opposed the restructuring of the country when he was vice-president.

Reacting, the Atiku campaign organisation released a statement which read: “Given that restructuring has become the major issue in the 2019 elections and given that Prof Osinbajo and his boss have been speaking discordant tunes on restructuring, we can understand their desperation to revise history, however, it is impossible to revise documented history.

“Professor Osinbajo needs to be reminded that there are well documented accounts in the Nigerian media chronicling Atiku Abubakar’s support and struggle for restructuring.

“To set the records straight, we recommend to Professor Osinbajo the article ‘Nigeria: 6-1 Onshore-Offshore Jurisdiction Verdict’ written by Jide Ajani, then the Political Editor of Vanguard Newspapers and published on July 13, 2001.

“In that piece, which is still available online, Vanguard Newspapers chronicled the successful efforts of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, to restructure the revenue allocation formulae to allow littoral states of the federation benefit from off shore oil proceeds. Ironically, it was precisely Mr. Osinbajo’s boss, Muhammadu Buhari, who as military dictator, cheated these states of their just due by military fiat.

“It is also common knowledge that the six geopolitical zones structure which all parts of Nigeria benefit from today is the fruit of the collaborative efforts of His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, the late Alex Ekwueme and other patriots.

“Their efforts at restructuring Nigeria are captured in the Hansard of the 1995 Constitutional Conference, which is a public document and is still available at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Professor Osinbajo may want to familiarise himself with that document.

“The question we want to ask Professor Osinbajo is this – why do he and his boss constantly resort to rewriting history? Why can they not campaign on their achievements? Is it that they are forced to campaign on subterfuge because they have no achievements to campaign on?

“President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo promised to make N1 equal to $1. They vowed to create three million jobs per annum. They promised to pay the unemployed a “job seekers allowance”. They said subsidy was a scam. They also said that they would defeat Boko Haram.

“Nigerians want to know if these promises have been kept. They are not interested in fairy tales about how Atiku Abubakar did not support restructuring because they know that he is and was and will always be an active promoter of restructuring.”

The Nigerian Army has been ordered by a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Friday ordered the to pay the sum of N1.25million to Nollywood actress Ebere Ohakwe as compensation after she was beaten up by men of the Nigerian Army in February 2017.

They were also ordered to publish a written apology in at least two national dailies to the actress, Punch Metro reports.

Ohakwe, popularly known as Jewel Infinity, was travelling in a public bus from Port Harcourt, Rivers State to Onitsha, Anambra State when operatives of the Nigerian Army stationed at Omagwa axis of the Port Harcourt Airport Road stopped the vehicle for a routine stop-and-search and, in the process, physically assaulted her.

The Federal High Court presided over by Justice Adamu Mohammed had earlier ruled on the matter in March 2018.

Mohammed had ordered the defendants (Nigerian Army) to pay the sum of N1m to the plaintiff as compensation for infringing on her fundamental human rights.

But the Nigerian Army through its counsel filed an application to the court to set aside the judgment and resume fresh hearing.

Counsel for the plaintiff, Chime Chime, in a counter-application, urged the court to dismiss the defendant’s submission.

Mohammed, however, struck out the application of the Nigerian Army, stating that it lacked merit.

The judge awarded N250,000 against the defendants in addition to N1m the security outfit was expected to pay to the victim, as well as a written apology to her to be published in at least two national dailies.

https://lailasnews.com/army-ordered-to-pay-actress-ebere-ohakwe-n1-25million-for-assault/

Quote:OGBONNAYA IKOKWU writes on the gruesome murder of three pastors at the Wind of Glory International Church, Ohokobe village, Umuahia, by some yet-to-be-identified assailants

As the men of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Abia State Police Command are currently working hard to unravel the mystery behind the death of Pastor Blessed Iwuanyanwu and his two assistants, some members of his church have raised the alarm that the killers are still making calls with Iwuanyanwu’s mobile set.

Police operatives, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the SCID, Patrick Edung, had, last Saturday, uncovered the decomposing bodies of Iwuanyanwu; his assistant pastor, Ambassador Ikeagu; and the Women Leader of his church, Pastor Ruth Andrews.

The deceased were pastors at the Wind of Glory International Church, Ohokobe village within Umuahia, the Abia State capital. Iwuanyanwu, said to be about 27 years old, was the Founder and General Overseer of the church.

The late clergyman, who hails from Mbano in Imo State, was a Mathematics graduate from the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. He also attended St. Peter’s Seminary in Okigwe, also in Imo State.

An elder in his church, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the late G. O was last seen on Saturday, October 13, 2018, when he came to the church to observe choir rehearsals.

The elder said the church members were thrown into confusion when their pastor and his assistants did not show up for the service on Sunday, October 14, 2018. He added that when their absence was becoming worrisome, many of the church members’ started calling his mobile number but the calls were not returned.

He said, “I was the person that coordinated the service. It was a special service where our pastor was meant to pray for a particular women group led by one of our church members for the successful conduct of their 2018 August meeting.

“But when the service had gone half way without our pastor in the church, we all became worried and started calling his mobile number but he was not picking his calls. After a while, he sent a message to the woman that brought her group for prayers that we should go on with the church service, saying he went to camp for prayers.

“Personally, I wasn’t happy when I heard that because he has not done a thing like that in the past. Previously, before he leaves the town for any programme or even going to the mountain, he used to inform us. But be it as it may, we conducted the service and went home, expecting to see him in church during our Wednesday service but he didn’t show up too. We got the same message that we should carry on with our service again.

“For us, we thought we were speaking with our pastor not knowing it was his killers who were using his phone to deceive us until last Sunday morning when we came to church and heard the news of his death and that of the two other pastors. It was a big shock to us. All we did that Sunday was to cry because of their deaths.

“Even after we got to know that our pastor was dead, his killers were also calling and threatening some of our church members with his phone.

Alleged romance with church women leader

On the much rumoured romance between the deceased pastor and the church women leader, who owns a private school in Umuahia, the elder said the church had no knowledge of any alleged affairs between them.

He added that Ruth, a mother of three, was a dedicated member of the church who was its women leader before she was ordained a pastor in the church.

He said, “Sister Ruth, who was also killed with our pastors, was coming to church like any other person; she was our women leader and was recently ordained a pastor. Nobody has ever reported any ungodly relationship between her and our pastor.

Search for the missing pastors

Ambassador Kalu Ikeagu, the assistant pastor to Iwuanyanwu, had informed his family members that he would spend a night at his senior pastor’s house on Saturday, October 13, 2018, from where he would attend the church service on Sunday, October 14.

However, his mother and siblings became worried when he did not return to his family. His younger brother, Valentine, said Ambassador was not known for spending the night outside their home. He explained that to worsen the case, his cell phone indicated that it was switched-off.

Valentine explained that he also called the phone of Iwuanyanwu which ranged out several times, saying this forced him to send text messages which were not replied.

According to him, the search continued until last Thursday when he involved Ambassador’s girlfriend in the search for his brother. He added that the lady equally complained that she had called him and his boss for several times without reaching them within that week.

Valentine added, “On the same Thursday evening, my brother’s friend called and told me that Pastor Iwuayanwu called her and said Ambassador was with him and that they were together in a camp for a meeting.

“Then, last Friday, I contacted another Ambassador’s friends known as MOG, and complained to him. He was the one who visited pastor Iwuanyanwu’s house and perceived a bad odour from the compound from the gate which was locked.

“When he told me that, I asked him to report to the police because I was not in town. He went to the police station with my sister on Friday evening and lodged the complaint. So, on Saturday, the policemen visited the house; forced the gate open, and found the bodies of my brother, his pastor and the women leader.”

PLEASE NOTE: PICTURES ARE DISTURBING

Is marriage worth life?

By Ada Nma


This is not a film tricks, not one of the scenes acted in Nollywood movies. In a real-life situation, she was beaten to death by her husband, who stuffed her body in this box and was caught on his way to depose her.

Now listen, I have been married before. Blessed with two adorable children, something that was supposed to be a very happy marriage, going by the way it started. Got so soured to even bear with. That’s by the way.

One thing I realised in those times was that your family will never ask you to leave, though you decide to leave, they will not support you in your decision. And when you summon the courage to even finally leave, don’t expect to count on their support. Only a few kind-hearted and understanding ones would extend a helping hand towards you and your children. Others would claim, “were you not the one who decided to leave? Carry your responsibility naw”.

The truth is, these things shouldn’t bother you. Don’t even give thoughts to such, think beyond every form of human help. Perceive yourself as a Conqueror, and visualise yourself being alive in the future with your children. It is more important than answering a WIFE whose life could predictably end up in this way. Thereby forcefully abandoning your children for another wife that will replace you within 1yr or in the hands of well-wishers.

This gory images are that of a woman who refused to walk away when she had the chance to. Apparently she doesn’t want to be called a single mom, a divorcee or a woman who can not stay under a man. So, ya na nwoke ahu ga n’emeju ihe afo, so that she will continue to answer his wife.

Does it really worth it?

I mean looking at these pictures, would you still encourage couples who have fallen out of love to continue managing? Love spells everything in a relationship, but the absence of love breeds things like this. Either the woman stabs/poison the man or the man beats her to death.

Just hold it there, don’t preach to me couples have issues, it’s normal. I know very well they sometimes do, and I also know that if it’s an act done mistakenly, no man who truly still love his wife, would squeeze her in this manner with her pregnancy, and try to throw her away with his own baby. This is wickedness, this is an act borne out of prolonged HATRED.

Take a walk out of that abusive relationship, give yourselves time to breathe, heal and see if planning a comeback will make things right again.

What you don’t know is that, If you keep forcefully get stock there, your kids get spoilt. You spend your whole time quarrelling, fighting, depressed, planning a counter-attack and you’ll never have the time to teach your children right from wrong, no time to show them love or tell them how much you love them. Nor teach them how to love. I mean, can you give what you don’t have?

https://www.9jareporters.com.ng/2018/10/28/is-marriage-worth-life/

A Nigerian lady has told the rather shocking story of how she almost got killed in a really tragic manner during the Kaduna crisis.

Nanmet Anthony, a young lady living in Kaduna, has recounted the horrific events that almost claimed her life recently during the crisis that ravaged the state.
 
Telling the heartbreaking story on her Facebook page, Nanmet  explained that she was not the only one who almost died as other persons were with her when the attack came.
 
According to Nanmet, they were on the way to drop off a friend who had come to visit when they ran into some thugs heavily involved in the fighting. A series of events happened very quickly after that and they were almost killed.
 
However, they were saved after staging a daring escape before getting help from some Muslim women.
Their car was shattered
 
Read her post below:
 
"UNTIL GOD SAYS IS OVER, IT IS NOT OVER YET. 

"Nanmeta and the kaduna state crisis.

"At about exactly 4:50pm yesterday the 21st October, 2018 we left the base(Airforce) for Rigasa to drop my kd moma's frnd who came to visit her. While on our way to the train station, we got stocked in the mist of the crisis (terribly). Approaching the huge number of them by the road(Muslims @Angwan ruwa express by Danapa filling, station) no u-turn and few of them came closer to the car and couldn't view us cos the car is tinted(you wouldn't believe that we forgot to put the car on central luck)the muslim guy beside flying officer Sani who was driving us was really curious to know who were in the car and forcefully open the driver side and immediately he opened and discovered we are Christians, he began breaking d glass and others standing from the other side all came on us (some with knife, matchets and stones) they began breaking the car on us and they also open my side and began to drag me out of the car but thank God i was on sit belt and also managed to hold d handle at upside of the car with my left hand and they couldn't succeed. Hmnn. Funny enough, one guy was struggling to drag out d driver but he was strong enough to use his right hand to change gear and immediately drove off with speed (thank God they where not with guns). We kept moving with speed crossing all the the road blocked and our car almost summersaulted plenty times and finally stoped in the middle of the road and all we saw was them coming on us again from all directions (hmnn). God decided to move the again and we zoomed off.

"Approaching the road again..... My God, there were more than 100 of them if I can count and there was no way we could hav escaped that crowd except we climbed them with the car to either survive or die but God sent an angel we can't explain. A young boy maybe 18-20year old boy standing by the entrance of their area (harmless) and the guy screamed (ku binan! Ku binan)meaning, follow here! Follow here and bcos we hav no choice we followed the road and the inhumans where still after us but d guy who directed us stop them (only God knows what he told them that they had to go back to the main road). This boy kept following us on foot directing us to only where God knows. Hmnn!

"On reaching one house while still driving into the area, we met some men standing by their gate and they asked where we were coming from and going to and we all responded Airforce base. This good Samaritan Muslim family open there gate for us instantly(hmnnn). God bless their wives. They gave me and moma their jalabia(overall).

"It didn't end there cos we thought we had escaped but naaaa, they were still looking for us and the only option was to jumpt into the next compound through the fence. Thank God the woman we were taking to the train station is also is a Muslim woman so we left her in the first house (only myself, ma Momi Mrs Kutan and Flying officer Sani the driver who is also a Christian)jump into the next compound through the fence. Hmnn, immediately we left they actually came and was asking for the owners of the car, she told them it belongs to her and they asked of the guy(Flying officer Sani) driving and they told them he went to mosque to pray cos it was almost 6:30pm. They left and came back to that same house again insisting they saw a lady with red skirt and long hair where has she entered cos we saw her in the car(Nanmeta) but they told them if only I haven't been killed cos I ran out of the car into the area immediately I discovered the place wasn't saved for me. Hmnnn, they entered the house searching for me everywhere but to no avail and they put teargass in the house and left Hmnn!

"While waiting for the airforce patrol that were deployed to come and pick us after calling them, (thank God the cowards have gone to pray) even though we heard they said they will come after prayers to search every single house

The God almighty use the man that first hide us to go get police men before they finished their prayers and thank God he brought them in good time and they took us out of the area and on reaching the main road at about 7:30-8pm, Airforce operation yaki were already at the junction trying to reach us that was how the police men handed us over to them and they brought us to the base.

"Finally, Thank God non of us were killed.

"We only sustain injuries from the broken glasses and the fence climbing. 

"To the glory of God we are strong and fine.

"Toh! Facebook wuna Weldon for not allowing me finish my typing and even editing my wrk hmnn! u guys just uploaded it without ma permission and now it took me time to be able to come edit. Wuna thank u sha.

"Smiling...... For my good God"

Quote:Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, on Saturday advised Nigerians to stop electing leaders without education into public offices.

He said Nigerians in the past had elected or chosen to elect leaders who had no education and thus could not give an education when they were elected.

The former Central Bank of Nigeria governor spoke at the 6th convocation ceremony of Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, where he was conferred an Honorary Degree of Science along side the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III.

He said: “We have to take an interest in the quality of our leaders and representatives in the level of education. If you look around this country at many levels of leadership, we have elected and we have chosen to elect people who do not have an education. And because they are not educated, they cannot give an education.

“We need to lay more emphasis on the quality of people we elect to executive and legislative offices and we need to make sure that those to whom we entrust policy are themselves educated and know the value of education.”

The Emir also advised the Federal Government to invest the trillions of naira it was spending on subsidising petroleum products on educating the young ones in the country.

According to him, the money spent on building roads, bridges and trains should first be used to educating the young ones, noting that development was first and foremost about people.

Sanusi said: “Let us invest more in education and let us give up some of the privileges that we have such as the trillions we are spending subsiding petroleum products. That money should go into educating our young people.

“We are spending too much monies on roads and bridges and trains and too little money educating our children. Let us educate these young people and they will build the roads, train and bridges. We do not need to invite the Chinese to do that for us. And until the leadership at all levels in this country and the followership understand that this is what is most important, because I do understand sometimes that if a governor does not build roads or bridges, he is seen as not have been performed by the people.

“We build all these highways and there are more pedestrians on the highways than cars and those pedestrians are most often people without education and help. Development is first and foremost about people.”

He also blamed northern leaders for failing to provide the enabling environment for children in north to attend schools.

Earlier in his remarks, Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Huseyin Sert, said 21 students were awarded First Class degree out of the 365 graduands.

He said: “In this 2017/2018 session, we are glad to celebrate our 6th convocation ceremony with a total number of 365 graduands made up of 21 first class honours, 67 Second Class Upper, 96 Second Class Lower and two Third Class.

“Indeed, the turnover of graduands from the university has justified our vision and mission statement of producing quality graduates who shall be full of knowledge, skills and experience to contribute to technological and economic development nationally and internationally.

“The university expresses its gratitude to all those that contributed to the success of this occasion which enabled us to actualise our dream of being one of the best tertiary institutions in the world. We particularly felicitate with both graduating students and their parents for their high sense of duty and commitment in making their stay in the university a fruitful one.”

Also, the Alaafin of Oyo commended the institution for the award, saying that it will spur him to do more for society.

Nigeria's former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, today arrived Qua Iboe Church, Ikot Ekpene Road, Uyo, for a worship service with Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Emmanuel.

Their Excellencies are joined by the wife of the Governor, Mrs Martha Emmanuel, Deputy Governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo, Speaker, Rt. Hon. Barr. Onofiok Luke, Methodist Prelate Emeritus, Most Rev. Sunday Mbang and other government functionaries.



Source:http://www.trezzyhelm.com/2018/10/obasanjo-arrives-uyo-to-worship-with.html

FG can’t fund budget 2018 unless assets are sold, says Ministers


• Selling Of Assets Will Mitigate Loans Burden
• No, Its Assets-Stripping – Enwegbara 
Huge cost of servicing new loans amid poor revenue informed the Federal Government’s decision to dispose of 10 state-owned assets to select investors and the public between now and year end, in order to fund the 2018 fiscal plan.This clarification was given by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, and her counterpart in the Budget and National Planning Ministry, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, who also argued that borrowings and the assets sale not only constituted strategic actions to funding the 2018 budget, but were in the overall interest of the country.

In the sale of the 10 ailing key national assets, two of which must be sold this month (Nicon Insurance Limited and Skyway Aviation Handling Co), the government is expected to earn the sum of $797m, that is N289b. A Director at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Joe Anichebe, who revealed government’s plan to sell the outfits, informed that the privatisation agency had pledged to raise N306b to help finance the planned spending.

Apart from the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, which the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele equally identified as one of the assets penciled for disposal, other firms that are up for sale are in the power, aviation and insurance sectors.Earlier in July this year, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A. Okoh, also informed that some entities had been prepared for privatisation or for commercialisation.

He listed them as Afam Power Plant; concessioning of Terminal “B,” Warri Old Port; restructuring and recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA); partial commercialisation of the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST); and the restructuring/ commercialisation of six River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs); partial commercialisation of three selected national parks and re-privatisation of Yola Disco etc.

In the 2018 Appropriation Act, the sum of N350b is expected from privatisation proceeds, and the BPE boss, Okoh had advised the Federal Government to reduce the propensity of loans accretion because of their high cost of service, and instead dispose of some obsolete assets to raise money for the funding of the yearly budgets.

The capital component for which vital assets are being sold to part finance, in addition to funds from borrowings in the local and international markets is N3. 133t, out of the N 9.12t the 2018 fiscal plan, which implementation began mid – June this year.Under the plan, nearly N2t is to be raised from borrowings from both the domestic and international markets to fund infrastructure captured in the spending plan for the year.

The Guardian recently learnt that the sum of N643b has so far been raised from the domestic market by the Debt Management Office (DMO) this year, and handed over to the Federal Government for that purpose. Speaking recently while on a familiarisation tour of revenue generating agencies, as well as, at the just concluded International Monetary Fund ( IMF)/World Bank Annual Meetings in Indonesia, Bali, Indonesia, Ahmed defended the approach adding that more funds outside government’s revenue was needed to make things happen because revenue has become inadequate.

Corroborating Ahmed, Udoma said: “The draft 2019-2021 Medium Term Fiscal Framework shows that Nigeria faces significant medium-term fiscal challenges, especially with respect to revenue generation. Thus, key reforms will be implemented with increased vigour to improve revenue collection and expenditure management. Achieving fiscal sustainability and macro-fiscal objectives of government will require bold, decisive and urgent action.”

One of those in support of the planned sale of government assets is a macro-economic policy analyst, Prof. Ken Ife, who equally sees the decision as sound and well-articulated policy under the government’s privatisation plan.

According to Ife: “The decision to privatise Ajaokuta Steel Complex is a wise decision because that complex remains one of the white elephant projects that we have in Nigeria. We need to look for a competent investor with a large war chest who can inject the needed funds to revatilise that complex so that it can play its role in the country, by providing the necessary steel derivatives for rail, auto, manufacturing, building and construction industries and the production of steel pipelines for the transportation of petroleum products thousands of kilometres away.

The advantage is enormous. You can’t beat it. All we ask is that government must this time around be cautious and careful in the selection to avoid a repeat of the situation that we are experiencing in the power privatisation programme, where DISCOsdiscos operators are still heavily dependent on government to supply them money, and are refusing to metre customers, preferring estimated bills, where they collect monies from customers indiscriminately.”

As far as development economist and public analyst, Mr. Odilim Enwegbara is concerned, what the government intends to do amounts to asset-stripping on the eve of the country’s general election, insisting that the government can still borrow more money both locally and internationally.

His words: “This administration cannot embark on a sale of a key strategic asset like Ajaokuta Complex when it has less than a year to end its tenure. It should wait until after election to do so, that is if it wins again. Besides, the executive lacks the power to sell such a critical national asset without the approval of the legislature, which I am aware, is making efforts to revitalise that complex.

“Again, another concern is that if the complex is sold under any name, it will be given away after government’s over $30b investment there. Let the government look for funds elsewhere to fund the budget because it cannot sell key national assets to fund one fiscal budget. What happened to the recovered loot that they got?”
.


https://www.guardian.ng/news/fg-cant-fund-budget-2018-unless-assets-are-sold-says-ministers/amp

Co-convener of the BringBackOurGirls, BBOG, advocacy group, Aisha Yesufu, has reacted to a statement by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, that President Muhammadu Buhari will return power to the South West in 2023.


Fashola had while speaking at a special Town Hall Meeting on infrastructure organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Orientation Agency held in Ibadan, Oyo State on Thursday called on the people of the South West to support Buhari’s second term bid in order to regain power in 2013. 

“Did you know that power is rotating to the South-West after the completion of Buhari’s tenure if you vote for him in 2019?


“A vote for Buhari in 2019, means a return of power to the South-West in 2023. I am sure you will vote wisely,” the former Lagos governor said.

His statement has since stirred reactions especially from some leaders in the South-East who had on several occasions, maintained that President Buhari will be handing over power to the region in 2023 if he gets votes from the South-East.

However, Aisha reacting to the statement in a post on her Twitter page described Fashola as one of the leaders who has depreciated since he got appointed into Buhari’s administration.


According to her, “Some leaders build people around them. Others depreciate people around them. See how Fashola depreciated before our very eyes.”

https://www.akelicious.net/2018/10/fashola-has-depreciated-aisha-yesufu.html

• Aggrieved govs being offered juicy Senate positions, ministerial slots

Quote:President Muhammadu Buhari appears to be in a serious dilemma over finding a resolution to the crisis rocking the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), arising from the fallout of the party’s primaries. The dilemma stems from the growing disenchantment against the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, among state governors elected on the platform of the party, members of the NWC as well as the Chairmen of the State Chapters of the party.

A vote of no confidence was recently passed on Oshiomhole by the State Chapters, but five state chapters from the South-South geo-political zone later dissociated themselves from the decision. Sunday Telegraph learnt that in spite of this little reprieve from the South-South (Oshiomhole’s home base) his fate is still hanging in the balance as those opposed to his continued stay in office were yet to back down on their threats to oust him.

According to a source familiar with the plot, only a presidential intervention could save Oshiomhole, but President Muhammadu Buhari is also said to be careful in wadding in to avoid incurring the wrath of the governors as the general elections draw near. “Buhari holds the aces of whatever happens to Oshiomhole.

If the President backs those fighting against the former labour leader, the Oshiomhole elements will move against the president, said a source who spoke with Sunday Telegraph. In recent weeks, the APC National Chairman has been facing a barrage of criticisms arising from his handling of the party primaries.

The outcome of the exercise was upsets in the power equation in several states which brought him on a collision course with the governors of the affected states. Our source, who recalled the conduct of the party’s primaries in each of the regions, said that there was no major crisis in the South- South, except for Rivers State. “Delta, Edo and even Bayelsa states were able to manage the crisis, to some extent. But in the core Igbo land, there is a major crisis. Enugu is divided, while some are for Oshiomhole, some are for the president. Whatever will happen depends on how he handles the situation.

This will be the time to know his thinking, as a statesman,” our source said. In the South West, Oshiomhole is caught in between two influential power blocs namely, those who believe that they are the true owners of the APC, by virtue of the fact that they came from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the other group who joined the APC from other parties. This perhaps explains why it’s been difficult for President Buhari to back any of the groups because of the potential danger of listing either of them.

“The people who actually own the APC are re-asserting themselves, against the new comers like Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo governor) and Kunle Amosun (Ogun governor) who came from the APP to APC. They are showing them that they are the real owners of the APC. It will be very difficult for Mr. President to side with the Amosun and Akeredolu. “They are telling the president that the party is in the hands of the original owners of the ACN, who hold the aces in the region. What has happened in Ogun State is a reassertion of the original owners of the defunct ACN, led by Asiwaju BolaTinubu and Chief Segun Osoba, who hold the aces in the region.” Speaking further, our source said: “In Kaduna, the President has always said that he respects the rule of law. He has cast his lot with the Governor.

He believes that Malam Nasir El-Rufai is one of the people that are canvassing for him, not just in the APC, but also on the larger Nigerian stage. He does not want to ruffle feathers.” Meanwhile, Sunday Telegraph also reliably learnt that there are high level moves to placate the aggrieved party members and ensure that APC goes into next year’s election as a united party. Sources told us that since they are aware of the enormous power and influence the governors wield, steps are on to bring them back into the fold.

“We are aware of the powers that they (governors) have so efforts are already on to offer those eyeing senate seats to placate them with principal office positions in the senate; while those not contesting will be offered frontline ministerial positions should the party retain power in 2019,” explained the source. The source, who is close to the party hierarchy, however, also stressed that it was highly unlikely that the National Chairman of the party would be sacrificed before the February 2019 elections.

“To do so would be very detrimental to the chances of the party retaining power next year. That is why all hands are on deck to find an amicable solution to the problems currently being faced by the party,” he said. National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr Lanre Issa-Onilu, also dismissed reports of an impending implosion in the ruling party. Speaking with Sunday Telegraph yesterday, Issa- Onilu said that some reports insinuating that the governors and NWC members were ganging up to oust Oshiomhole were speculative and do not represent the facts on the ground. He admitted that there were grievances in some quarters but these were being addressed by the party. “Where are they gathering? Are we not in this country together? Where did they hold the meeting?

There is nothing like that. How many states are affected by whatever issues that arose from the primaries? “I know of Imo, Ondo, Ogun, Zamfara and Niger; out of how many states? Niger is even out of it. We have no problem with the governor of Niger and the Niger State governor has no problem with us.

There are issues yes, not that every governor is now up in arms; that impression is wrong completely. They just want to create an atmosphere of problem. “When you say they, one wonders those you are referring to, those who are speaking to you. It might be politicians and they want the media to continue reporting crisis so that it becomes real in the minds of some persons. They want that atmosphere to be created, you know. Just like sometimes you build a castle and you look for people to put inside and sometimes you get the people before building the castle.

They are building the castle of crisis and looking for people,” he said Sunday Telegraph’s efforts to get the Presidency to respond to reports that President Muhammadu Buhari was in a dilemma over the crisis in the party did not yield the desired results. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, neither answered his calls nor responded to a text message sent to his mobile phone.

"I hear people argue that the PDP presidential candidate is of Adamawa origin, but I make bold to say that President Buhari is more; he's one of us by virtue of marital affinity. This being the case, and coupled with the President's surpassing feat, we in Adamawa, will rather go with our dear sister and her husband. Conclusively, let me state unequivocally clear that Buhari will defeat Atiku in Adamawa State like never before."

Quote:A political group, Operation Deliver Your Unit (ODYU), says President Muhammadu Buhari will defeat Atiku Abubakar, an Adamawa indigene and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State.

The group vowed to work for Buhari's victory on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 general election.

ODYU, believed to have been founded by the Crown Prince of Yola Emirate and Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Mohammed Barkindo, has strategically constituted supporters in all the 2,609 polling units in the state.

Barkindo's support for Buhari is also aimed at challenging the ambition of Atiku, who is also the Wazirin Adamawa (number two man in the Adamawa Emirate).

Speaking at a gathering, Barkindo, more popularly known as 'Kauran Adamawa', said: "Buhari's victory has been sealed. Ours is to await the sharing of booties of a conquest," alluding to political appointments in the new government.

Ahmed Lawan, Organising Secretary of the party in the state, tasked delegates to see Buhari as an indigene of Adamawa State.

"I hear people argue that the PDP presidential candidate is of Adamawa origin, but I make bold to say that President Buhari is more; he's one of us by virtue of marital affinity.

"This being the case, and coupled with the President's surpassing feat, we in Adamawa, will rather go with our dear sister and her husband. Conclusively, let me state unequivocally clear that Buhari will defeat Atiku in Adamawa State like never before."

Aisha Buhari, wife of the President, was commended at the sitting, as speakers took turns to eulogise her for her outspoken stance on burning national issues.

://thenationonlineng.net/2019-atiku-southeast-leaders-rift-deepens-over-single-term-request/

Quote:Dare Odufowokan On: October 28, 2018 

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, does not seem to be interested in committing himself to a single term in office if he wins next year’s election, The Nation can now report.

Prominent Igbo leaders are said to have been putting pressure on Atiku to agree to do only one term in office as a condition for the geo-political zone to support him.

The idea is to pave the way for a Southeasterner to succeed him in 2023.

But Atiku, who believes his choice of Mr. Peter Obi from the zone, is enough as an expression of his respect for the people, is not keen on doing one term.

Southeast stakeholders, including prominent political leaders, are worried that the zone may have to wait till 2026 to have a shot at the Presidency should Atiku stick to his gun, and goes on to win the 2019 election.

The Nation learnt that the issue was the main subject of discussion as a meeting in Enugu last week when a committee earlier mandated to discuss the request with Atiku and his handlers reported back to the house.

The committee, sources said, informed the meeting that the PDP presidential candidate gave no definite answer on their proposal.

Those at the meeting were said to have expressed disappointment at the situation, coming so soon after Atiku was accused of not consulting them in picking Obi as his running mate.

Although Atiku had, in a previous interview pledged to do only one term, sources said he has refused so far to give any such undertaking since he was nominated at the Port Harcourt convention of the PDP.

Atiku was quoted in that interview as saying: “I have said it before on my own initiative… if I am elected as the president in 2019; I give an undertaking that I would only do one term… I am prepared to sign an undertaking to do only one term.”

Sources said he has not come forward to give effect to that vow, since he got the PDP ticket.

A source close to him confirmed the development to The Nation but denied that Atiku is now dodging the issue.

He recalled that Atiku had publicly said he might do one term if elected.

He, however, frowned at what he described as an attempt to ‘box’ the PDP presidential hopeful to a corner even before he is elected president.

The source said:”I can tell you categorically that Atiku, as a person, is committed to keeping his promises.

“But in politics, every little detail matters. While they may say he will win the confidence of the Igbo by signing an undertaking like that are they thinking of how his people from the North will feel about such move?

“We were all living witnesses to how such a commitment became the albatross of former President Jonathan.

“There is no crisis over this matter and it is not true that Atiku doesn’t want to discuss the issue. I suspect that those who claim to be acting on behalf of those making the demands are not being truthful about the real situation of things.

“If a man has given his words publicly and you still want more, then you will have to do more to get more.”

A serving PDP Senator from the Southeast who also spoke to The Nation on the matter said the leaders of the region have taken it upon themselves to get Atiku to address the issue as it is of great importance to the political future of the people.

He, however, said some politicians from the region are also helping the PDP candidate to dodge the question.

He said:”It is true we are worried about the single term request.

“It is very correct that we are yet to get a definite answer from Atiku and we are not pleased with that.

“Just like he handled the manner in which he nominated his running mate, Atiku is allowing this issue to generate too much bad blood from our midst towards him. It is a very germane matter that is being handled with levity by him and his handlers.

“We had a committee made up of prominent people including people very close to Atiku himself. And they have not been able to tell us something definite. We find that quite funny.

“The people of the Southeast are very sophisticated people who will not allow anybody or group of people to take them for a ride. We know Buhari cannot seek another term after 2023. We need Atiku to tell us his plans beyond 2023.

“Our people are only keeping quiet now because we agreed to save the PDP in the Southeast by managing our differences better. Following the bad publicity generated by the bad handling of the Peter Obi choice, we agreed to keep issues away from the press.

“That is why I am speaking with you on anonymity. But if care is not taken, another round of uproar will soon break out because the Igbo race will not allow anybody to disrespect us for long.”

The Nation also gathered that as part of last minute efforts to get Atiku to address the single term question, a delegation of Southeast leaders has been raised to meet him and present the matter to him.

“This new delegation is likely to have headed to Dubai to converse with the PDP candidate. The group is made up of largely PDP chieftains. Some of them had been at loggerheads with Atiku before now. But they all agreed to carry out the task to save the situation. We await the outcome of this last effort,” our source added.