OBLONG MEDIA GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE is where independent minds meet to dissect politics, society, power, and global affairs without fear or filters. This is not mainstream media.
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In the 2015 presidential election, the APC was more prepared for defeat than for victory. The party did not expect to win and clearly had no agenda for victory. In a 1972 Hollywood film entitled The Candidate, Robert Redford acts as Bill Mckay, a political neophyte who is drafted out of the blue into a race for the U.S. Senate. With no chance whatsoever of winning, Mckay is given a free hand to say whatever he likes on the stump. Therefore, he tweaks the political establishment at every turn. However, as a result of a series of unexpected developments,…
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The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has said that he will not be forced to relinquish the task of rebuilding the party entrusted to him by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP. Speaking at his first interactive session with journalists at the party’s national secretary in Abuja yesterday, Sheriff said since he was given the major task of rebuilding and repositioning the party, he believed that it was the responsibility of the leadership to decide on his tenure. Responding to allegations of his links to Boko Haram, Sheriff said there was…
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One time Speaker of the House of Representatives under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Na’Abba has said that President Buhari should ignore any advise from former President Obasanjo. He made emphasis to an event in 2015 where the former President Obasanjo led a delegation of experts to present a strategic development report to President Buhari, on various sectors of the Economy. The former speaker described this as a joke, highlighting the issue of power where he accused Former President Obasanjo of spending $16bn without anything to show for it. Na’Abba remarked as follows; “The other day, I watched on television…
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The oil price drop that has dominated the headlines in recent weeks has been framed almost exclusively in terms of oil market economics, with most media outlets blaming Saudi Arabia, through its OPEC Trojan horse, for driving down the price, thus causing serious damage to the world’s major oil exporters – most notably Russia. While the market explanation is partially true, it is simplistic, and fails to address key geopolitical pressure points in the Middle East. Oilprice.com looked beyond the headlines for the reason behind the oil price drop, and found that the explanation, while difficult to prove, may…
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Sanusi Muhammad II, the emir of Kano and immediate past governor of the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the naira has already been devalued. He added that President Muhammadu Buhari and the CBN were only subsidising the private sector by selling dollars to the sector at N200 as against the real market price. “This argument (on devaluation) I think has first of all been framed wrong, it’s not an argument about do we devalue or do we not devalue. The naira has already been devalued,” he told the BBC Africa Business Report. “What is the value of the naira?…
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Goodluck Jonathan was the best executive President Nigeria ever had. This is the reason why APC is fighting the truth,they don’t want to be judged with his intimidating achievements. *CNN Money projected that the fastest growing economy in the world in 2015 will be China (7.3% growth); followed by Qatar (7.1%) and then followed by Nigeria (7%). this attests to the astute management of the economy by the Jonathan administration under the ministerial assistance of the world renown economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. * Nigeria’s Gross domestic Product ranked the nation’s economy 1st in Africa and 26th globally; from 3rd and…
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Nigerian Catfish Pepper Soup (popularly known as Point & Kill) can be a source of cancer due to its abundance in omega 6 fatty acids. A cardiologist, Dr. Jane Anisulowo, says that farm or home-grown catfish is the worst example in this regard, as it contains more fatty hormones than the ones harvested from natural water. Anisulowo says, “Fish is better than meat, no doubt. It digests easily and it contains proteins. However, catfish is not really a good option, especially the ones they sell these days, which are cultivated with hormonal feeds that are filled with steroids and…
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Minister of Interior, Abudurahman Dambazau, has warned Nigerians not to pay above official fee when obtaining the international passport from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The minister who issued the during the inauguration of one of the 18 new passport offices located at the premises of the Government Office Annex, in Warri, Delta State said, “I was happy to hear the Comptroller- General, Martin Kure Abeshi, reeling out the official cost of Nigerian passport to the audience.” According to him, “nobody should pay a kobo above the official fees mentioned. We are open to complaints from the public. Whoever…
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President Muhammadu Buhari will begin a weeklong official visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Monday, and hold a special prayer for Nigeria before returning to the country. Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, announced the president’s trips in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday. The statement said Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum and group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), will accompany the president, who is expected to hold talks with Saudi authorities on stability in the price of oil. “Before going on to Doha, the…
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First of all, let me ask all my countrymen a question: has there ever been a political party in the history of Nigeria that had such a genius for totally meaningless prattle like the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) which is self-righteous and well versed in the art of hypnotising the people with outright misleading information for political gains? I have searched the history books and listened to oral history but have found no match to this propagandist organisation’s hypocrisy and predilection for deception on the scale we are faced with today. I have always been worried by the…
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President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to leave Abuja for Suadi Arabia and Qatar tomorrow to engage officials of both countries in talks for the stability of oil prices. The president who would be away for a week will be accompanied to the journey by a high-powered Federal Government delegation, including the Minister of State (Petroleum) and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu. On Tuesday, president Buhari would fly to Riyadyh, the Saudi Arabia capital to meet talks with King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and senior officials of the Kingdom of Saudi…
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In an exclusive and shocking disclosure, It has been revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, has handed out jobs of the apex bank to the children of those highly connected to save his own. It can be recalled that it was reported that the CBN governor, may be the next top profile government official to lose his job as a top presidential aide confided on Monday that the dragnet is drawing closer to Emefiele, who was appointed as head of the nation’s apex bank by former President, Goodluck Jonathan on June 3, 2014.…
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Vanguard reported a curious drama during the State House briefing after the meeting of the National Executive Council, between State House Correspondents and the Minister for Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed. It seemed like the Buhari cabinet did not have much to talk about. There is of course much going on. Boko Haram is still killing and pillaging. The Chibok girls are as good as lost. To remove the sheen from that fact, the President was reported a while ago to have pointedly told parents of the girls of Chibok to go home as there’s not much else he could do…
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South African retailer Truworths has left Nigeria citing import restrictions. “We were unable to operate the stores properly any longer because we were unable to send merchandise to the stores because there’s regulation preventing that,” chief executive Michael Mark told Reuters in telephone interview on Thursday. The company said it was even struggling to pay its rent and get access to foreign exchange which is scarce these days in Nigeria as a result of the slump in oil prices. Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of Nigeria’s forex earnings. The country’s currency has thus lost most of its value,…
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South Africa: Rand 1 = 13 Naira . Angola: 1 kwanza = 2 Naira . Botswana: 1 Pula = 18 Naira . Cape Verde: 1 Escudo = 2 Naira . Algeria: 1 Dinar = 2 Naira . Egypt: 1 Pound = 25 Naira . Eritrea: 1 Nakata = 13 Naira . Ethiopia: 1 Birr = 9 Naira . Ghana: 1 Cedi = 50 Naira . Gambia 1 Dalasi = 5 Naira . Kenya: 1 shilling = 3 Naira . Liberia: 1 Dinar = 4 Naira . Lesotho: 1 Loti = 14 Naira . Libya: 1 Dinar = 146 Naira .…
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Ali Modu Sheriff has denied having any links with the Boko Haram sect – Sheriff reminded Nigerians that he was a victim of the Boko Haram attacks which led to the death of his brother – The newly appointed PDP chairman noted that he was labelled Boko Haram sponsor shortly after leaving the APC “Few days after I became the chairman of the PDP, Ali Sheriff is now Boko Haram; so if you are in APC you are not a Boko Haram.” Ali Modu Sheriff, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has denied having any links…
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Boko Haram started killings with my own blood brother I Will Hit the Road, pacifying PDP members, asking them to return Not a few Nigerians were surprised and shocked by the announcement of former governor of Borno State, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff as the new Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), especially because of his alleged links with the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram. It was therefore natural to be eager to put a number of questions to him on the issue. It was a long wait as guests continuously streamed into the expansive living room…
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Ali Modu Sheriff was born in Ngala Town, Ngala Local Government Area, Borno State in 1956. His father was the business tycoon Galadima Modu Sheriff. He attended Government Secondary School, Bama (1974–1979). He attended also the London School of Business, where he studied Insurance, Banking and Finance. In 1981, he joined his father’s construction company as a Director, later becoming Managing Director. In 1985, he registered his first company. His companies include Meroil Organisation and Union Chase. He was elected as a senator from Borno during the Third Nigerian Republic under the banner of NRC. He was also a member…
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Republican Donald Trump will not be president because it’s a “serious job”, President Barack Obama has said. “I continue to believe that Mr Trump will not be president. And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people,” said Mr Obama. Mr Trump, a billionaire businessman, is the frontrunner in the race to be his party’s choice for the White House. He has won one state primary already, and leads the polls in South Carolina, where Republicans vote on Saturday. Speaking at the Asean economic summit in California, the president was asked by a…
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Wole Soyinka, a professor and Nobel Laureate, has described Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the most brutal face of military dictatorship after Sani Abacha. The revered professor, who spoke to the BBC, suggested that Nigerians are in a serious dilemma with lack of alternative. When asked about his comments about the general as a brutal devil, Soyinka said he did not exactly call him the devil, but a brutal dictator. “I didn’t exactly call him a devil, but of course I talked about dinning with the devil with a very long spoon, but…
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A group of legal practitioners under the aegis of Coalition of Lawyers Against Corruption in Nigeria (COLAC) will stage an anti-corruption rally in Abuja on March 25, to show support for the anti-graft war being waged by the Muhammadu Buhari administration. This was disclosed by COLAC executive members, led by Barrister Olusegun Bamgbose, during an official visit to the State House, Abuja, where they were received by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. Also on the delegation were three zonal directors, Barristers Muhammed Garba (North-West), Muhammed Musa (North-Central), and Ejike Ben…
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Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has attributed his government’s failure to prosecute holistically looters of the nation’s treasury, especially those in the oil sector, to ‘lack of evidence’. Buhari, in an interview with Peter Okwoche of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, in London, United Kingdom, after attending a conference on the ongoing Syrian crisis, said that there was no way he could go ahead to fight the ongoing war against corruption successfully without having viable evidence to backup the prosecution of such cases. Making an indirect reference to the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke, and others, Buhari…
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Lt-General Jeremiah Useni is among other things a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, former military governor of the old Bendel State and is presently, senator representing Plateau South in the National Assembly. In this interview with MARIE-THERESE NANLONG, he gives his views on sundry national and state issues. Going by what has been happening in Nigeria since the return of democracy in the country; do you think the military was right in interfering in governance in the past? The military was very justified because looking at what was happening at that time, there were lots of…
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Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has told the Federal Government to perish the thought of imposing the Treasury Single Account (TSA) on States, pointing out categorically that the Federal Government was not in the position to counsel or force any State to accept policies that are not working for those that introduced them. Governor Fayose said in a press statement issued on Friday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka that “the Federal Government should rather face the dwindling economy of the country instead of going about grandstanding on a TSA policy that was…
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There is a roving, seemingly ubiquitous army of Nigerians who have appointed themselves defenders of President Buhari. Unfortunately, by employing offensive and ineffective logics and tactics, these fanatical supporters of the president are doing more reputational harm than good to their hero, and turning away compatriots who would otherwise be willing to give the president a fair hearing on the mounting disappointments with his administration. Yesterday, I saw an update on my Facebook timeline with the following words: “if Jonathan had won, the dollar would be exchanging for N1000.” This was apparently advanced to counter the criticism of the naira’s…
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Sacked former Central Bank Governor and current Emir of Kano Lamido Sanusi has said the government should end its policy of trying to maintain the value of the currency, the naira. Mr Sanusi said the drawbacks of the policy “far outweigh its dubious benefits”, the Financial Times reports. President Muhammadu Buhari told the BBC last week that he was not convinced of the need to “murder” the naira. The falling oil price has put pressure on his currency policy. The authorities are keeping the official naira rate at around 200 to the US dollar, but the black market rate is…
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The Presidency has confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari, would be embarking on a trip to Egypt, to participate in the 2016 Africa Business Forum. The trip is coming on the heels of a fee fall of the naira to the dollar, padded 2016 budget and lack of viable economic team. The Senior Special Adviser, SSA, to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, confirmed Buhari’s trip to Egypt in a statement issued on Thurdsay, February 18. “President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Friday for Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt to participate in the Business for Africa, Egypt and the…
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The I support Buhari group, the franchisors of the #IstandwithBuhari campaign took to the streets in a show of support for the administrations war against corruption. Joining the march by the partisan group was the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu. The event raised concerns from various quarters who have challenged the agency’s involvement in a partisan march. Mr. Ibrahim Magu, who has come under fire by the opposition PDP for allegedly witch hunting its members and ignoring corruption cases against the ruling APC party members. The recent move by the…
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After announcing the sack of of 24 Directors-General of federal agencies on Monday, it has been revealed that President Buhari will embark on another round of disengagement of directors-General of most 0f the remaining agencies with the source saying that the new sack may be announced during the week. Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Professor Suleiman Bogoro; Director-Generals of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Sola Omole and those of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ladan Salihu; Voice of Nigeria (VON), Sam Worlu; National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mike Omeri; Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Emeka Mba and the…
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Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has hailed the emergence of former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), calling on all members and supporters of the party to support the new chairman. Governor Fayose, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said the choice of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was in the best interest of the party. He said; “I have always defended the party even at the risk of my position, personal security and comfort. I have always stood…
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The possibility of the Nigerian economy plunging into recession in 2016 is not in doubt, going by the poor economic policy direction of President Muhammadu Buhari. Professor Pat Utomi has maintained. As crude oil prices dive lower, threatening to dip below $30 a barrel for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008, commodity economies around the world are catching a cold. The collapse of oil price is already taking its toll on the Nigerian economy. As it stands, there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet. Nigeria’s situation is further worsened by the current…
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The PDP government tackled corruption head on and did not de-market Nigeria by conducting media trials and making unguarded statements abroad. People were investigated and prosecuted along the fundamental rights of the people without propaganda, witch hunting, vendetta or blackmail. The PDP government, established the two major anti-corruption agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), with strict establishing and operation laws to ensure effectiveness and immunity from executive interferences. The following video is a flashback of the PDP years and the commitment to fighting corruption.
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I have been reading some folks talk about the former president Dr. Goodluck Jonathan not saving for hard times as we are facing now, while the price of oil was high. But many forgot how the APC governors and some PDP governors, spearheaded by Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State led APC governors and other rebellious PDP governors to demand that the Federal Government share the money realised via EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT, ECA. I vehemently remembered Dr Ngozi Okonjo -Iwela saying on television that we must save this money for rainy days, and not squander it. But Gov. Rotimi…
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President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday admitted that Nigeria is currently disorganised as a result of drop in oil price because the country relied on mono-economic product for too long. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke while receiving a team of British members of Parliament led by Nigerian-born Chi Onwurah at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari was quoted as lamenting that Nigeria has found herself in a phase of development which is not a very welcome one. He therefore solicited the support of Britain in his administration’s efforts…
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WHEN the incredible issue of a missing/counterfeited 2016 budget arose some weeks ago, I was expecting to hear from the APC that Goodluck Jonathan was to blame. Surprisingly, that did not happen. Instead, blame was traded between the Presidency and the National Assembly, seemingly forgetting that both organs of government are now controlled by the same APC. The stock-in-trade of this government is to blame Goodluck Jonathan for everything. If there is petrol shortage: Jonathan is to blame. If there are power cuts, Jonathan is to blame. If there are Boko Haram killings, Jonathan is to blame. This government has…
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Power supply to households and businesses across the country has plunged by 1,589.69 megawatts since the nation achieved its peak generation of 5,074.70MW on February 2. Electricity supply on Sunday, February 14, dropped to 3,485MW from the 3,558.39MW generated that day, data obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power on Monday showed. Power generation and supply stood at 4,150.64MW and 4,068.5MW on February 11, according to the Presidential Task Force on Power. The PUNCH reported on Monday that officials at the ministry said on Sunday that issues around gas pipeline rupturing by vandals as well as oil theft had…
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THE Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ibuchukwu Ezike, said the situation is an “embarrassing development, shocking, a shameful monumental dent on this “religious and sacred” government. He stated: “The shock many Nigerians received on learning about this tragedy is not that such scandalous development has happened, but who did it? “It is not news that a man or woman is caught in the act of adultery, but it is when it involves a man or woman in the temple of God, an ordained man/woman of God, because of his or her status in the arena of…
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The Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has said former President Olusegun Obasanjo and erstwhile Minister of the territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, awarded the Abuja Rail Project in 2007 at an inflated cost by millions dollars. The committee also said the project was awarded based on uncalculated estimates with neither a design nor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Chinese firm, CCE, handling it. Accordingly, the committee led by Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West), has demanded the refund of the sum of 195,878,296.74 dollars being the sum allegedly funneled into private pockets. The committee said the contract,…
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The Nigerian Medical Association in Imo State has accused billionaire and governor Rochas Okrocha of trafficking human organs. He is accused of doing so “with officials of Turkey and Croatia, and with Hashim Thaci.” Thaci is currently Kosovo’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister. Belgrade-based daily Blic writes that the association’s president Philip Njemanze spoke about this “after an emergency meeting of the association in Owerri, the state capital.” Nigeria’s newswirengr.com website quoted Njemanze as saying, “For the first time in human history, a government has declared itself an organ trafficking cartel – Imo State government is…
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Anti-abortion activist, Dr. Philip Njemanze was Monday arrested following his allegations suggesting Governor Rochas Okorocha’s possible complicity in a transnational human organ trafficking ring. While analysing Okorocha’s earlier decision to concession the existing 11 general hospitals and 27 others under construction to ‘unlicensed expatriate physicians’ unapproved by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, Njemanze stated that with the flaws in the newly passed National Health Bill, the governor had set the stage for easy organ poaching from patients in the state by expatriate doctors who can easily ferry same overseas via covert means. Njemanze who is also the Imo…
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It ain’t the things you don’t know that cause the problem. It’s things you think you know that ain’t so. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882. President Buhari must have entered into the GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS for taking five months to assemble a cabinet of less than fifty people and about thirty Special Advisers, noise makers as he called them. File: Buhari during the 2016 budget presentation to the National Assembly. The reason given would have been acceptable if he was going to bring the people from another country or planet. Given they were all going to be Nigerians, the excuse…
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President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mr. Tijjani Mohammed Abdullahi as the Director-General (Budget). Mr. Abdullahi, a fellow of the Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, and a banker of repute with experience in managing public finance, will replace the current Director-General (Budget), Mr. Yahaya Gusau. The new Director-General (Budget) is expected to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning to efficiently deliver on the mandates of the Budget Office of the president. President Buhari has also approved the appointment of Mr Ben Ifeanyi Akabueze as the Special Adviser on Planning to the Minister of Budget…
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Contract inflated by $10m per kilometre Senate demands refund of $196m The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) handling the Abuja rail project, yesterday, told the Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that former President Olusegun Obasanjo awarded the project in 2007 without a design and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Project Manager of the Chinese company, Mr. Etim Abak, also told the lawmakers that the then Minister of FCT and current Governor of Kaduna State, nigeria railwayMallam Nasir el- Rufai, allegedly signed the contract based on uncalculated estimates. The shocking revelations were made as a sequel to the…
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The Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami has disclosed that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government may soon initiate probe into the Siemens and Halliburton bribery scandals. The scandal involves a number of prominent Nigerians, including former military Heads of State, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Senator Jubril Aminu, who were accused of collecting bribes to award multi-million dollar contracts to the two foreign companies. Speaking with Vanguard in Abuja, Malami revealed, that the current government had not closed any criminal case being investigated in the country. He also refuted claims that Buhari was afraid of taking…
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Former Aviation Minister, Chief Osita Chidoka has said that Nigeria of tomorrow cannot be built on yesterday’s ideas. It must be built around new consensus that can withstand the existential and irrational challenges of religious and ethnic extremism. In a publication he made in his new column on the back page of Leadership Newspaper Monday, Chidoka said “Our ethnic, tribal and religious diversity ought to provide the inspiration and aspiration to build a nation out of our different tribes and tongues. Our founding fathers missed the opportunity to inspire and construct a nation of ideas and not a mere…
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President Muhammadu Buhari may have resolved to move against former President Olusegun Obasanjo, following moves to probe the controversial launch of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library by Bells University. Huge sums of money were donated by top businessmen, leading private and government institutions, especially top government contractors and public officers. This is even as outspoken Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose yesterday asked the ex-President to explain the sources of his stupendous wealth. Already, President Buhari’s directive to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to reopen investigation into the Halliburton scandal over which foreign consortium of companies allegedly bribed…
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The Nigerian Communications Commission is considering a framework for the regulation of over-the-top services in the Nigerian telecoms market. Over-the-top services, otherwise known as OTT, are services carried over the networks, delivering value to customers, but without any carrier service provider being involved in planning, selling, provisioning, or servicing them. OTT services are offered through Internet communication. In Nigeria, the most common OTT services are WhatsApp messenger, BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, and Skype which are classified under social media applications. In other words, telecom operators such as MTN, Etisalat, Glo, and Airtel lack direct control or influence over WhatsApp messenger,…
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Metropolitan Police Chief, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, will be grilled by MPs this week over claims that Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were involved in a “deliberate cover-up” of damning evidence of police corruption during the investigation and trial of former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, in the United Kingdom, reported UK-based The Mail on Sunday newspaper yesterday. A court was told that the Met and the CPS repeatedly concealed documents suggesting that officers investigating Ibori for fraud were paid to leak details of the inquiry that could have helped him evade justice. One detective was…
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Falana wants Nigeria to drop plan to borrow $3.5bn from World Bank. Nine days after he wrote the Nigerian government advising against the plan to secure a $3.5 billion loan, Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, has said he would commence legal proceedings against the government. Mr. Falana had, in a letter dated February 5, urged the Finance Ministry to jettison its plan to secure a $3.5 billion (about N700 billion) loan from the World Bank and the African Development Bank. In a statement on Sunday, the lawyer said he had not received any response from the ministry. “Since…
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…..And I don’t mean the mantra that brought him to power nearly a year ago. I mean HE has changed. I’ve interviewed him four different times now. The first time was in 2012. Then he wasn’t too sure if he still had the stomach to stand for election as president again, having already lost three previous times. The second time was just after his Chatham House Lecture, just weeks before last year’s elections. After his victory, I got a scoop: being the first international broadcaster to interview him. Finally, I interviewed him again last Friday at the Abuja House,…
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The minister for justice just announced that judges found to be corrupt will be tried by this administration. This is problematic. Though this sentiment is much shared, it should not be left to the president and his administration to define “corruption,” or determine which judge is corrupt. For the avoidance of doubt the writ of this republic does not make the president the supreme authority of the land. The constitution is the governing authority of this republic, and the president is, as are all Nigerians, governed by the Constitution. It would amount to overreach for the president to break the…
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MANY ingredients went into making Donald Trump. An under-appreciated one is the distinctively German, or rather Kallstadtian, tinge to his family history. Mr Trump is descended from German immigrants who arrived in America penniless and succeeded quickly through hard work, a free relationship with the truth, opportunism, shrewd business tactics and a great sense of family loyalty. Fred Trump, Donald’s father, who was a strict taskmaster with all his five children, told his three sons to be “killers”. Fred Trump’s father, Friedrich Trump, came to America in 1885 as a 16-year-old from Kallstadt, a village in Rhineland-Palatinate, a region…
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The Chairman, Senate committee on Foreign and Domestic Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, has described the plan by Northern governors to obtain loans from a Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank, as unlawful. In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, which was made available to New Telegraph, Sani said that the action was in direct contravention of the Act, which vested the responsibility of external borrowing in the Federal Government. He said that the Debt Management Office Act 2003, section 21 and external borrowing guidelines 2008-2012, paragraph 2.1 clearly state that any government or its agencies can only obtain external loan through…
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Diezani-Alison-Madueke Former Oil minister, Diezani Madueke who is currently undergoing successful treatment for cancer in the United Kingdom has stated that Nigeria has a well recorded history of vilifying its oil ministers. President Muhammad Buhari as an oil minister (1976-1978) under then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo was accused of N2.8 billion fraud when same amount disappeared from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corpration’s (NNPC) Midlands Bank account in the UK. She added, “Till this day no one has been able to prove that the then Major General stole a kobo.”She also named other former ministers who have been vilified…
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PDP lawmakers rule out impeachment Notwithstanding the Supreme Court verdict which upheld the trial of Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT recently, the lawmaker is desperate to hang on to the plum office against all odds. Investigations at the weekend showed that, for the senator to achieve this onerous task against the plot of the Ahmed Lawan loyalists who are desperate to catch-in on the apex court’s ruling to pull the rug off his feet, Saraki has garnered the support of no fewer than 85 senators who have reaffirmed their support for him.…
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Iran has shipped crude oil to Europe for the first time in five years just a month after world powers lifted sanctions on Tehran in step with the landmark nuclear deal reached last July. The oil shipment to Europe opened “a new chapter” in Iran’s oil industry, Rokneddin Javadi, Deputy Oil Minister said on Sunday, IRNA news agency reported. Iran is said to have recently loaded several European tankers with oil after announcing on Saturday that it would do so within the next 24 hours. “In the coming 24 hours, 4 million barrels of crude oil will be loaded…
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The objectives of the US military presence in Africa are well documented: counter Chinese influence and control strategic locations and natural resources including oil reserves. This was confirmed more than 8 years ago by the US State Department: In 2007, US State Department advisor Dr. J. Peter Pham commented on AFRICOM’s strategic objectives of “protecting access to hydrocarbons and other strategic resources which Africa has in abundance, a task which includes ensuring against the vulnerability of those natural riches and ensuring that no other interested third parties, such as China, India, Japan, or Russia, obtain monopolies or preferential treatment.” (Nile…
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On the morning of the 22nd of December 2015, Nigerians were glued to their television sets watching their President, Muhammadu Buhari make a presentation of the 2016 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly. At the end of it all, the presentation was applauded by a number of Nigerians as one of the finest hours of Buhari’s seven month old Presidency. But as it is with football, after the applause has died and the last fan has departed, the stadium is left in a mess. And that is exactly what the Buhari-led government has left Nigerians with;…
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The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has tendered an unreserved apology to former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili and his wife, Justice Mary Odili over disrespectful statements allegedly made by the party’s Candidate in the last governorship election in the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside. You will recall that Peterside had alleged that Peter Odili and his wife were ‘used’ to procure the verdict of the Supreme Court which validated the election of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike as the duly elected governor of the state. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a swift response,…
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THE shortest course to the unraveling of a government is for it to turn its back on the people who have kept faith with it, especially, through hard times. Without feigning, and in less than one year, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its government are showing true colours in their anti-people and exploitative antics. Such antics are found in the arrogant nature of operatives of this government; their impatience for dissent and the brazen attempt to re-calibrate their own campaign promises. Before our very eyes and unabashedly, they now say that Nigerians misunderstood the campaign pact and social chatter…
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Nigeria’s defence chief, Olonishakin, speaks on soldiers who went missing after battle with Boko Haram. Nigerian Army confirms PREMIUM TIMES story on deadly gun battle that left several Nigerian soldiers missing. Nigerian Army officials in contradictory claims to cover up battle with Boko Haram that left several soldiers missing The icirnigeria.org can authoritatively report that, contrary to claims by the military authorities, scores of Nigerian soldiers were, indeed, killed by Boko Haram insurgents in Gudumbali in Borno State on Wednesday, November 18, 2015. Information at the disposal of this website, including a video clip of the aftermath of the…
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#NigeriansAreNotCriminals: How the Nigerian president’s Telegraph interview caused a storm – BY Colin Freeman. Remarks by President Muhammadu Buhari that too many of his countrymen are in jail abroad have sparked a furious social media campaign. For any journalist not working in the likes of North Korea, creating a stir has long been part and parcel of a good day’s work. Yet while I relish generating controversy as much as any other reporter, never in my career did I expect to be accused of branding a nation of 170 million people as criminals. That, though, is one of the…
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The Central Bank of Nigeria has placed Overseas School fees and Medical Tourism on its Foreign Exchange Prohibitive list. Nigerians who intend to travel abroad for studies will thus have to source Foreign Currency from the from the parallel market. The Naira has reportedly being impacted by the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria as the Naira falls immediately to N325 to 1 US Dollar and N450 to 1 GBP. The apex bank may have directed financial institutions to immediately begin publishing Returns on Utilization of Foreign Currency purchased from the Central Bank as several newspapers were seen…
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Pastor Yemi Osinbanjo hands are not clean, honestly. Same device he employed in Lagos State dedicated to creating avenues for Tinubu to siphon the economy of Lagos State, he has started erecting in Abuja. This man is corrupt. Reps to probe N7bn Vice President’s official residence The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has resolved to investigate the N7 billion contract for the building of Vice President’s official residence. The committee headed by Hon. Herman Hembe took the decision after undertaking an oversight visit to the project site in Abuja’s Three-Arms zone yesterday. The committee…
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Earlier this week, in the course of answering a question in an interview in London with British newspaper The Telegraph, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari gave an insight into his thinking that promptly kicked off a firestorm on Nigerian social media. Here’s the relevant section of that wide-ranging interview: A number of Nigerians use the migrant routes to come to the UK to claim asylum, saying their lives are at risk from Boko Haram. Is is legitimate for them to do so? “Some Nigerians claim is that life is too difficult back home, but then again some Nigerians have…
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Former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, has slammed the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), saying that it lacked the ideas, capacity and strategy to move the country forward owing to the daunting economic challenges confronting the country. Nnamani who made this observation at the public presentation of a book titled ‘Zoning to Unzone, the Politics of Power and the Power of Politics in Nigeria”, also advised the incumbent administration to focus more attention to development issues. According to him, rather than the current trend of tarnishing the image of the country at global stage, as well as its continual…
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On Tuesday December 22, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari walked into a joint session of the National Assembly and presented the first annual budget proposal of his administration, ambitiously tagged: “The Budget of Change”. After highlighting the economic challenges that confronted the country due to the fall in oil prices, the president vowed the budget would cut waste from government spending and its funds would only be used for public good. “We are determined to ensure that our resources are managed prudently and utilized solely for the public good,” Mr. Buhari said. “To set the proper tone, one of our…
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….Inside the negotiations that brought him in President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Executive Vice Chairman of ExxonMobil Africa, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, as Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). This however did not come without some high level political horse trading that puts President Buhari’s celebrated integrity at stake, investigations can reliably reveal. It can be disclosed that Kachikwu who has before the dissolution of the board of the NNPC been behind most of the administration’s directives in the oil and gas sector is the candidate of the biggest private players in…
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In an exclusive interview with Premium Times, a continuation to a previous chat, Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, who is known for his vocal criticisms of the Muhammadu Buhari administration as well as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and his critics, has touched on several issues. Below are the highlights we compiled from the chat; 1. Obasanjo is not a Democrat: When asked if he disdains Former President Olusegun Obasanjo because of the role he played in his impeachment in 2006, Fayose stated: “No sir. I say it as it is. The military in Nigeria should subject…
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I think trying to pass the blame to Civil Servants for the huge discrepancies in the 2016 Budget by supporters of this government and some in the corridors of power is not only laughable, it is defeatist. Ministers are supposed to have Executive Assistants, Special Assistants, Personal Assistants, and all sorts of assistants who are specialists in the area of specialization of the ministry. The Presidency also have specialists in virtually every ministry, and they are telling us they did not see the discrepancies? At what point did the padding start taking place? So after the Ministers have concluded…
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Governor Rochas Okorocha has announced the recall of the over 3000 workers in 19 parastatals of the State in the heat of a protest by members of the Nigeria labour congress. The state Chairman of the NLC, Austin Chilakpu, had said the protesting workers would commence an indefinite strike if the government failed to meet their demand to rescind the controversial concession policy and recall the sacked workers. The workers wore black clothes and chanted solidarity songs, while displaying placards bearing inscriptions, some which read, “Okorocha, you are wicked,” “Rochas revert your policies, it is anti-workers” and “We cannot…
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The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Tuesday said Benin Kingdom in Edo State remained part of the expansive Yoruba race, a pronouncement that may spark fresh rivalry and altercation between people of the two ancient kingdoms. The monarch made the comment in reaction to a statement credited to the palace of the Oba of Benin challenging the claim by the Alake of Egbaland, Adedotun Gbadebo, that the Ooni of Ife remained the pre-eminent spiritual leader in Yorubaland and environs. Oba Ogunwusi, via a statement by his Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare, made available to PREMIUM…
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FOR a government that projects change, the 2016 national budget proposals are in certain respects an outright mess. Its authors exhibited an unpardonable level of slothfulness, while President Muhammadu Buhari, who dutifully presented it, was inattentive. The proposals should be withdrawn and amended to remove the in-built waste, extravagance and fraud smuggled in by bureaucrats. Buhari’s reputation for honesty, frugality and fiscal responsibility has taken a hit from the self-indulgence embedded in the proposals. How can a government of change justify spending N3.8 billion on the State House Medical Centre, over N1 billion on the purchase of vehicles and N89.17…
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President Muhammadu Buhari is not in an enviable position right now. Just a year ago, Nigerians were chanting “FeBuhari” and piling their mountains of soteriological expectations on him. In about six weeks, it would be one year since he won the presidential election and if anything, Nigeria has proved tougher than what body language, or mere force of the President’s much touted incorruptible personality, can successfully heal. For a man who became President by surfing on the wave of democratic discontent lunged at his opponent, it was clear from the start to any perspicacious observer that his administration would…
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The Federal Government has warned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea not to do anything that can jeopardise peace in the Korean Peninsula and the world. The federal government was reacting for the first time to last Sunday’s Ballistic Missile fired by the Northern Korea, which has drawn global condemnation and threats from world powers. In a statement made available in Abuja yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned the North Korean Government to abide by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 which requires it to suspends all activities related to its ballistic missile programme. The statement added…
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The Imo State government has recalled workers it suspended in 19 parastatals in the state, ending the disagreement between the government and labour unions on the issue. Signed agreement The decision was reached on Wednesday after a meeting between the State government officials and some leaders of In an agreement signed after talks by the ‘Committee on Joint Government-Labour Negotiation in Imo State’, an immediate recall of all suspended workers of Imo State was recommended, “notwithstanding that the parastatals in the opinion of Government should have been more productive”. One of the other clauses in the agreement…
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With respect to the government of Mohamadu Buhari, it appears the time has finally come for Nigerians to end the prolonged honeymoon and draw a line in the sand. There can be no better call to arms or rallying issue than the nauseating and shameful ongoing revelations of padding, fraud and deliberate misallocation of scarce resources in the 2016 federal budget. That a country as blessed as Nigeria will present a budget with dodgy and shoddy figures as are being revealed calls into question the competence of the people President Buhari is relying upon to handle the finances of…
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently announced the implementation of a N50 stamp duty on every transaction starting from N1,000. Here’s what you need to know about the CBN’s N50 stamp duty: 1. This announcement affects only current account holders and not savings account holders. 2. It does not affect salary accounts or student savings accounts. 3. The new policy includes all receipts by a bank or financial institution in acknowledgement of services rendered, in respect of teller deposits and electronic transfers for the value of N1000 and above. 4. The policy complies with the provisions of the…
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Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, yesterday told Nigerians that it was wrong to condemn the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, before he was even found guilty by the court. Saraki is standing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, over alleged false assets declaration. Speaking with journalists after a closed-door meeting with the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Ndume said Saraki would not resign his position unless convicted by the court. He also dismissed insinuations that the meeting with Osinbajo had political connotation as to finding a political solution to the trials of the…
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The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday named Shamma AlMazrui, a 22-year-old Oxford graduate, as the minister of state for youth affairs. “After discussion with my brother Mohammed bin Zayed and the approval of the President, we hereby announce the new UAE cabinet,” Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said on Twitter. “The new cabinet focuses on the future, youth, happiness, developing education, and combating climate change.” UAE appointed ministers for tolerance and happiness, adding that happiness is not just a wish, it is a process that must be planned and worked out. “We have appointed Lubna bint Khaled al Qasimi…
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Banks in the country have begun the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive that they should start charging N50 on every lodgement in current accounts worth N1,000 and above amidst outcry from customers. Investigation by our correspondent showed that some operators of Small and Medium Enterprises were not aware of the plan to start charging stamp duties on every transaction until they received alerts of the deductions from their banks. A bank customer, who said she is a proprietor of a small school, told our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday that she was alarmed when she received…
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BENIN CITY —The Palace of the Oba of Benin has stoked controversy over the supremacy of Obas in the South West, saying it was not true that the Benin monarch was the third in the ranking of kings in the region as declared by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo. The Esogban of Benin and Odionwere of the Kingdom (traditional head), Chief David Edebiri, yesterday, said the Alake of Egbaland, goofed when he said the Oba of Benin was third in the hierarchy of Obas. He explained that the Ooni of Ife was a son…
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Meet Sibongile Sambo, a South African businesswoman. Getting more female pilots into the skies is not just her work, it’s her passion. Years ago she wanted to be a flight attendant with South African Airways, but she did not meet the minimum height requirement to become one. Then Sambo decided to do something incredible. She sold her car, took her mother’s pension money and started her own business – Africa’s first female aviation company. In 2004, Sambo was commissioned with her first flight for the South African government. Since then, SRS Aviation has grown to provide personalized services…
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More than 60 people were killed by a twin suicide bomb attack at a camp in Dikwa town, northern Nigeria for people displaced by an insurgency of the jihadist Boko Haram group, a military and emergency official said on Wednesday. The attack took place some 85 km (50 miles) outside the capital of Borno state, center of the seven-year insurgency, they said. It took place on Tuesday, but a breakdown in the telephone system had prevented the information being made public earlier, reports Reuters. The attackers reportedly detonated their explosives while the refugees were queuing to collect food rations.
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FUNDAMENTALIST: A person who takes their religion so literally and to such extremes that they contradict the very basis of their faith. They typically believe in a literal, verbatim interpretation of their scripture. They also have ridiculous, childish defenses to intelligent criticism of their beliefs that border on insanity. The level of hypocrisy and stupidity most of these people exhibit is truly profound. ~ Urban Dictionary. The recent utterance of Dakuku Peterside saying Governor Nyesom Wike influenced the Decision of the Supreme Court Judgement, shows that he is not a Politician but rather a Fundamentalist just like his party the…
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My unstoppable struggle for an open society, promotion of responsible and responsive government, transparency in the act of governance, and respect for voices of dissents shall not peter-out because of crude power show of cowards who never honored Police invitations without being accompanied by Governors in recent past. I shall soldier-on and dare any aspiring dictator that is trying to condense the frontiers of liberty and freedom in Kaduna State and Nigeria at large. I shall continue to test their abiding or otherwise faith in basic tenets of democracy up to their last seconds in the office. I want…
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People especially my family in an attempt to protect me , asked me why i embarked on this controversial research/ articles/book? In responding to this question I wish to refer to the words of Parley. In prefacing his famous book Principle of moral and political philosophy states: “When a writer offers a book upon a subject on which the public are already in possession of many others, he is bound by a kind of literary justice to inform his readers specifically on what it is he professes or he expects to improve. ‘’Wars may be fought with weapons, but…
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There are so many things wrong with the PDP. It is an understatement to insist it is a very imperfect political party. But for everything that is wrong with the PDP, the APC is worse. It is ludicrous to pretend the APC is squeaky-clean while the PDP is corrupt when a large chunk of APC members were formerly in the PDP. Today, both the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives, for example, are former PDP members. These turncoats did not become new creations when they crossed over to the APC. When queried about why APC’s so-called…
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Brig-Gen. Paul Boro • Report shows Boro spent N157.2m on armoured, other cars, N510m on 150 ex-militants to take UTME in two months Ahead of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta’s consideration of the 2015 Status Report of the Presidential Amnesty Programme at the Senate today, senators have indicated their disapproval of the over N48 billion purportedly spent by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s coordinator of the programme, Brig-Gen. Paul Boro (rtd), since he assumed office last July. The senators, who preferred not to be named, were particularly concerned over Boro’s purchase of official vehicles for his office for over…
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The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, says Ile Ife will be the take-off point of the new Nigerian economy in a post oil and gas era, stressing the need for focus to shift from oil and gas to other solid minerals in Nigerian states. In an exclusive interview during Channels Television’s programme, ‘View From The Top’, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, says Ile Ife will be the take-off point of the new Nigerian economy in a post oil and gas era, and expressed optimism that an exploration of the huge solid minerals in the state, especially…
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Emergency crews work at the site of a train crash near Bad Aibling, southern Germany, on Feb. 9, 2016. Photographer: Sven Hoppe/AFP via Getty Images Bad Aibling, Germany (AP) — Crews using helicopters and boats rescued dozens of people from the wreckage of two German commuter trains that crashed head-on Tuesday in an isolated part of Bavaria, killing at least 10 and leaving authorities trying to determine why multiple safety measures failed. The trains crashed on a stretch of track running between a river and a forest about 40 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of Munich. Though the first rescue crews…
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Nigeria’s own Dr. Bennet Omalu who serves as the Chief Medical Examiner of San Joaquin County in California was recently honoured on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for his efforts to raise awareness of repetitive brain trauma. Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, took the opportunity to honor Omalu, whose discoveries have highlighted the potential dangers to those who play football. Omalu was the first medical professional to raise the alarm that repeated head trauma could lead to a degenerative brain disorder, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. He made his original discovery as a forensic pathologist in Pennsylvania. Dr. Omalu…
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Borno State governor and Chairman, Northern State Governors’ Forum (NSGF), Alhaji Kashim Shettima yesterday lamented the perennial insecurity crisis, occasioned by bloody activities of Boko Haram as well as the rising social vices in northern Nigeria. He said that the region as a theatre of war, terrorism and poverty, is obviously dragging the entire country backward from attaining purposeful development. Governor Shettima stated this in Kaduna during his opening remarks at the meeting of the 19 northern governors, with majority of them in attendance, including the host, Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. This is the first meeting of…
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The north will never discover oil in the Chad basin of Nigeria even after it has wasted $3 billion, approximately (N900 billion) in oil exploration in the basin, said Senator Shehu Sani, Chairman, Senate Committee on foreign and domestic debts. Sani, made the above affirmation Monday when members of Kaduna State Students Union paid him a courtesy call in his Kaduna office. This in variance with the position of the Chairman, of the Northern Nigeria Development Company, (NNDC) Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, who had said last year NNDC would commence the exploration of oil and gas in the said basin…
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