₦airaland Forum

There are indications that more officials of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) in Lagos will be sacked for intimidating residents and flouting the directive of the state government.


The state Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire, said this at a press briefing to mark the second year of Governor Babatunde Fashola in office, on Wednesday.


It will be recalled that about 50 officials of KAI were dismissed by the government in 2008 for various offences, which included bribery and corruption.


According to Banire, some officials of KAI were apprehended at Alimosho Local Government Area of the state while intimidating residents and traders, against the instruction of the state government.


He said the officials could only work in four local government areas, which included Ikeja, Apapa, Surulere and Eti-Osa, adding that any KAI official found in areas other than those mentioned acted on illegality[color=#000099][/color]


“I want to let you know that we will still dismiss more of them for flouting this order. We have found out that not all the local government areas need the officials. That is why we have redeployed them,” he said. Meanwhile, the state government has issued about 50,000 abatement notices to individuals, business premises and corporate organisations for committing various environmental offences.


According to the commissioner, the notices were served to make the companies comply with the beautification prog-ramme of the state, adding that “we have zero tolerance for dirty environment.”


http://www.tribune.com.ng/14052009/news/news18.html

Fashola, this is commendable
By Our Reader
Published: Thursday, 23 Apr 2009

I paid my tax at First Bank, Surulere branch, using self assessment form last July. I did not receive my receipt until last week when I sent a text message to Governor Babatunde Fashola. When I saw his reply about an hour latter, I showed it to my wife who doubted that the governor could reply me personally. She thought that perhaps one of his aides sent the reply, until an hour later when I started receiving calls from different people – from the head of Alpha Beta, to the secretary, Internal Revenue, who all promised that my receipt would be sent as soon as possible. My tax card and receipt were sent to me two days after my text to the governor. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we have a listening governor that anybody can communicate with. It’s unbelievable. I commend the governor. So, if you have a problem and you do not text the governor, don’t blame anybody.



http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2009042223435356




MAY GOD GIVE US MORE POLITICIANS LIKE FASHOLA

An aggrieved Arsene Wenger pointed at the turf in the wake of his team's FA cup defeat to Chelsea,
18 Apr 2009 20:29:25


Arsenal were ousted from the FA Cup by an impressive Chelsea side today at Wembley, with a late strike from Didier Drogba proving the difference between the two teams.

The Gunners took an early lead through Theo Walcott, but didn't push hard enough for a second goal, inviting Chelsea into the game, and eventually losing out to their fellow Londoners.

Arsene Wenger spoke to Setanta Sports after his teams exit from the competition.

"It's disappointing, after a good start," said the Frenchman.

"We dropped off a little bit, physically, and I felt like we gave two cheap goals away."

Lukasz Fabianski, celebrating his 24th birthday today, filled in for the injured Manuel Almunia, but the Polish stopper didn't look comfortable in front of goal at any point during the match.

After making a catalogue of errors, one of which caused Arsenal to concede the second goal, Wenger was asked to comment on Fabianski's poor performance.

"He's a great goalkeeper. It was not his greatest day, but we have to take that on board.

"It was a game in which any mistake would be costly."

The surface at Wembley was always a concern of Wenger's and the coach made sure to mention it after the game.

"Chelsea defended well, but as long as the pitch is in that state, you will never see a technically great game of football.

"It's terrible," he sighed.

"The pitch doesn't determine who wins or loses, but when you want people to pay to watch a football game, you have to provide the teams with a good pitch to play on."

Arsenal had one day less to prepare than their opponents, a fact that Wenger claimed was not decisive, but did not help matters either.

"If we had the choice, we would have had the same amount of days to prepare. Having one day less was certainly not an advantage."

Chelsea will meet either Everton or Manchester United, who play on Sunday.



http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2009/04/18/1216670/arsene-wenger-blasts-poor-wembley-pitch-after-arsenal-defeat

why should anyone believe any soft sell magazine?

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Intercontinental Bank Plc have emerged first, second and third, respectively, in the top ten customer-focused banks in the retail segment of the market, says the 2009 edition of the KPMG Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS).


The three banks have consistently featured on the KPMG top 10 banks survey since inception three years ago. GTBank has been rated high for exceptional customer service.


Zenith Bank for its proximity/accessibility of branch network and financial stability, while Intercontinental Bank has featured on the strength of its financial stability and access to credit.
Other banks in the top 10 are Stanbic IBTC, Access Bank, FCMB, Oceanic Bank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity Bank and Skye Bank. Key consideration for the customers in this survey is excellent service.


The BICSS is geared towards assessing and identifying the Nigerian banks with a customer driven focus. The edition was expanded to cover not only the retail and corporate/commercial segments, but also the SMEs across nine locations within Nigeria, namely Aba, Abuja, Ibadan, Jos, Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Onitsha and Port Harcourt.

They are liars.

While not trying to defend Oshiomole or trying to justify any form of excesses, we should not expect the Peoples Deception Party to keep quiet or tell us the truth. Let the PDP tell us about other governors on their party platform. We willlike them to compare Edo's spending parterns with Oyo, Ogun Delta etc in order to see who is wasting public funds.

The Edo state house of assembly has not allowed the governor any breathing space since the issue of budget started in between them and prominent Edo indigenes has been pleading with the assmebly to put the state interest above party politics.

Akala retained his seat. All the points brought forward in the Appeal were dismissed.

NTA Network broadcasted the proceedings live.

Like i said in my earlier post, the un-popular and selfish decision has been reversed.

While not defending Intercontinental Bank, I think it is necessary that we consider what other experts in the banking world has to say of the bank, Intercontinental Bank , paticularly agencies and bodies outside Nigeria that are not being influenced by our Nigerian factor.

First, the trend between most Nigerian banks and their overseas partners in the recent past has been that all form of support / credit lines are being withdrawn from Nigerain banks (Intercontinental Bank inclusive), however Intercontinental seems one of the few ones that is getting back the credit facilities back (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/02/18/afx6067625.html). This, to me is a sign of good health on the bank, cause due diligence are always carried out by the overseas banks before such facilities are extended to any bank.

For those of in Lagos, most of us will have experienced the bitter rivalry and pull-him-down syndrome among almost all the banks. From my observations, this is a result of desperate marketers wanting to convince prospective customers on why they must bank with their bank only. (probably to meet their always unrealizable targets). What do amuse me is that I have encountered situations where the person that is running down a particular bank came back about 2weeks after that she has just moved to that same bank!

To the issues raised about opening and operating balances that was increased by Intercontinental, I was in one of their branches in Lagos on Friday and was realiably informed that the action has been reversed due to pulic outcry that greeted the action. Though to me, that is not enough to ascertain the health of any bank.

From my discusions with friends that knows more than I do about banks / banking, some of the symptoms of a drowning banks  include:
, not paying salaries and allowances as at when due
, being out of clearing (even if for a day)
, staff lay-offs
, bad loans / unsecured facilities
etc

So, for now I don't think there is a cause for panic as per Intercontinental Bank, even if only for the sake of the WORD for TODAY being distributed freely in their branches.

LONG LIVE NIGERIAN BANKS

i will advise you talk to your Supervisor or any other senior staff that can mediate between you and the HR Manager. From your story, it might be very difficult to win any case against the bank; since your school initially denied your result / certificate, which seem to be the turning point in the relationship between you and the bank. The bank was misled by your school. Try and make sure the letter from your school accepts the initial error.

And also, do not tie your destiny with any bank, if the bank refuses to listen move on with your life, i believe there are better opportunity out there!

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] has arrested the Former Governor of Ondo state Olusegun Agagu.
Dr. Agagu was arrested at about 8.00am this morning by officials of the Anti-Graft agency.

His arrest according to sources at the Commission is in connection with the alleged embezzling of 25 billion naira belonging to the Ondo State Oil Producing Community Fund. [color=#990000][/color]


The Anti-Graft Agency moved in on the former governor upon hearing that he is billed to travel to Australia tomorrow via London.

Spokesman for the Commission, Mr. Femi Babafemi has confirmed the arrest of the former governor.


http://www.channelstv.com/headlines.php

Computer experts have called for Facebook to review its security processes after the social networking website was hit by soilers five times in a week.
Four separate "rogue applications" and a virus targeted users of the site, according to security firm Trend Micro. Although there is no evidence that people's personal details were stolen by the cybercriminals, experts fear that could be the next step.
The problem lies in the fact Facebook allows people to create software to run on the site but those applications do not need to be approved first.
Rik Ferguson, senior security adviser at Trend Micro, said: "I think that it is time Facebook had a review of its application vetting policy. It launched a service in November last year where people can pay to get their applications approved, but it is voluntary."
According to Mr Ferguson, the rogue applications which were active last week - Error Check System, Facebook Closing Down, Bigger Than MySpace and Closing Down - sent messages to users' profiles saying, for example, that a friend had reported a violation or had a problem contacting them.
Once the user clicked on the message or link, it was forwarded to everyone in their address book. It also gave soilers the opportunity to steal personal information contained in the profile, Mr Ferguson warned. The programs appeared to be test runs, with the next stage potentially proving more dangerous.
Mr Ferguson said: "It looks like this is a proof of concept. They did not appear to do anything malicious other than spread themselves extremely fast and well. Now they have worked out how to do it, we would expect to see more and more malicious applications."
On Saturday, a variant of the Koobface virus that first appeared on social networking sites last December, added to Facebook's problems, Mr Ferguson said. By getting users to visit a fake YouTube page, hi-tech criminals then install malicious software on to the computer.
Mr Ferguson advised people to be careful about the information they made available on Facebook. Profiles should be set to private and not contain any details beyond what is absolutely necessary. "Be very careful and do not click on any strange notifications," he said. "If you receive a notification that looks suspicious do not open it."
A spokesman for Facebook later claimed a review of its application vetting processes in the wake of security breaches would be like introducing "martial law" after two robberies. He said: "We've tried to make the process of building on the Facebook Platform relatively easy in order to stimulate innovation - and to allow the kid in a college dorm room to compete against the big corporation,  our developer community has more than 660,000 developers, which is about the population of Glasgow. The drastic measures others have suggested is akin to saying, 'there have been two robberies, we need to implement martial law in the city'."


http://tech.uk.msn.com/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=14719140

Beginning from next year, anyone who drops refuse on roads in Lagos state will be arrested and prosecuted, the Lagos state government has warned.

The new move by the state government is to enforce its zero tolerance for indiscriminate dumping of refuse on roads in the state. Managing Director, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mr. Ola Oresanya, who disclosed this, said come next year, it would be a taboo for people to drop refuse on the road.

He explained that a lot of public awareness would first be carried out before the measure would come into operation. Oresanya disclosed that the vision of the state government was to ensure a clean city.

“Waste storage is a big issue in Lagos state and we are ready for the battle. People still drop refuse on the streets because they have nowhere to drop their refuse,” he said.

Oresanya disclosed that 4,200 people have been employed to sweep the highways, adding that by next year, the number of sweepers would increase to 10,000. The LAWMA boss revealed that the state government would begin the conversion of wastes to electricity next year.

“We have a good collection system now. Our collection system has increased by 80 per cent. Investors will come in and I want to assure you that we have serious investors. We are reaching out to the Clinton Foundation. They will partner with us.

“Olusosun dumpsite will be the first area we are starting with, because we have the gas there. We have a huge volume of gas trapped there. We are at the point of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on this,” he stated. Oresanya also disclosed that LAWMA carts away two to three trailer loads of used tyres on Lagos roads, daily.



http://thepmnews.com/2008/12/03/drop-refuse-on-roads-go-to-jail-%e2%80%93lasg

As from January 1, 2009:

1. All Okada riders and the passenger must wear a crash helmet

2. No more roadside advertisement of cars to be sold / no more pasting of FOR SALE on cars. Only authorised dealers can sell cars

*********** When will our Politicians get to this level? ********************[color=#990000][/color]

==========Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, this morning, phoned and congratulated the president-elect, Barack Obama, after the results of the US presidential election were announced.

Speaking with his supporters in Arizona, his home state, McCain said the battle is over. “We have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

“A little while ago, I had the honour of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. “In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
“I’ve always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too. “But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

“A century ago, president Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

“America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

“Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth. “Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.“Sen. Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

“These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight, to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

“I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

“Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that. “It is natural. It’s natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

“We fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours. I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honour of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.

“The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you. “I’m especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.

“I have always been a fortunate man and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me. “You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate’s family than on the candidate and that’s been true in this campaign.

“All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead. “I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I’ve ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength, her husband, Todd, and their five beautiful children, for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

“We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

“To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenging campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship. “I don’t know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I’ll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes and I’m sure I made my share of them. But I won’t spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

“This campaign was, and will remain the great honour of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience, and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Sen. Obama and my old friend Sen. Joe Biden, should have the honour of leading us for the next four years.

“Please, I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century.

“Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it. “Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens— whether they supported me or Senator Obama.

“I wish godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. “Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history. “Thank you and God bless you and God bless America. Thank you all very much.”
==================================================================================================

Kwara suspends 24 teachers for cheating in exams
06.11.2008

[b]THE Kwara State Government has suspended 24 teachers for cheating during the Teachers’ Development Needs Assessment Test conducted recen[/b]tly.


The test was conducted by the state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The suspension order was contained in a statement signed in Ilorin by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi.


It said the suspension was with immediate effect. The statement said it was disheartening to note that those who were expected to be role models could get involved in such acts. It directed the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to set up a disciplinary committee to investigate the level of involvement of each of the teachers.


The statement reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring discipline in its education sector. In another development, the SUBEB said it would give permanent first and second batches of the Federal Teachers Scheme.


The board said in a statement by its Secretary, Mr Ibrahim Woru, that it would soon conduct the requisite examination for the exercise.



http://www.tribune.com.ng/06112008/news/news14.html

I'm Married to a Lawyer ,

In Thy Hands O Lord (at the back of a rickety Molue)

The end is truly near and now is the time for those that thought they are standing to beware. One of the major problem in the church today is that everyone wants to justify and satisfy their lust of the flesh.

I pray that God will help us to see and embrace the truth always


http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/09/ray_boltz_comes.html

you can get on YOUTUBE too

Female banker, 12-yr-old killed in Lagos bank robbery


A female banker and a 12-year- old boy were on Monday morning shot dead by armed robbers who invaded a branch of a new generation bank in Ketu area of Lagos State.


The bank, situated on Demurin Street in Ketu, is about 400 metres from a police station, yet the robbers had a field day terrorising early callers at the bank as well as residents of the area.

The robbers, numbering about 20, created chaos and confusion early in the morning as they shot sporadically in different directions while trying to force their way into the banking hall.


Nigerian Tribune gathered that the robbers, all clad in black attire, had around 8:00 a.m., invaded the bank and their attempt to force their way into the banking hall was stalled by the security door.


The robbers, while trying to break the barrier at the security door, shot sporadically at the door and eventually found their way into the banking hall where they shot a female banker whom they thought was the branch manager.


The robbers, while escaping after ransacking the bank, shot in different directions leading to several people being injured while they escaped through a canal in the area.


Two hours after the incident, policemen stormed the area and arrested some of the people around at the time of their invasion.


The Police Public Relations Officer for the state command, Mr. Frank Mba, declined comments on the incident.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/07102008/news/news8.html

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT FOR OUR PEOPLE TO BE CONTENTED??

IT was a shocking news on Tuesday when it was revealed how bank officials connived with bullion van drivers and suspected armed robbers to attack a bullion van and cart away N215 million.


Many people, including police officers and journalists, were dumbfounded when the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, paraded suspected armed robbers who attacked a BMC bullion van carrying N215 million belonging to a new generation bank from Onitsha to Awka in Anambra State.


The IG gave the names of the suspects as Emma Umunna, aged 40, who is the head of Cash Management Unit, South-East of the bank; Ellis Enobakhere, aged 31, the Operations Officer; Ebenezer Eloka, aged 23, a motorcyclist, and the ringleader and Obinna Ibegbulam, aged 30, the driver of the bullion van.


The other suspects are Azuka Victor Maduamago, Augustine Arima Okafor, Ngozi Samuel Okafor, Michael Chukwuezi, Sunday Ekwunife, a BMC driver, Emeka Nnalugha, a BMC official and Nonso Nwaolisa, a student.


Okiro disclosed that the bullion van drivers connived with the bank officials to rob the bullion van, carrying cash and also attacked and killed a police constable at Awkuzu, Anambra State.


According to him, while conveying the money to Central Bank, Awka, after Enugwu Agidi junction, the convoy stopped and pretended to have been robbed by robbers already positioned there.


The group of robbers had earlier raided the Awkuzu headquarters of SARS with a view to killing all the policemen there and liberating their members who were arrested for other robbery operations, during the police raid of the Obanye shrine at Umuleri.


Okiro disclosed that during the shoot-out at the SARS headquarters, seven members of the gang already in police custody were killed, while a police constable also lost his life, while over 30 others were injured with several parked vehicles damaged and some members of the invading gang, 18 of them, were inflicted with wounds by the police.


However, nemesis caught up with the robbers when the following day, September 18, after robbing the bullion van, information came to the police that some people suspected to be robbers were extracting bullets from their body somewhere at Aguleri.


He said that the police swung into action and arrested one Ebenezer Eloka, the first suspect, whose confession led to the arrest of other members of the gang and recovery of some money totalling N398,000 and other exhibits.


Recovered from the suspects are one Brownie pistol, six AK-47 rifles, 86 7.35mm live ammunition, six empty AK-47 magazines, cash of N398,000, one locally made double barrelled gun, 19 live cartridges, 32 AK-47 rifle magazines containing 960 rounds of .56mm live ammunition.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/24092008/news/news3.html

Burglars from hell took caution to the wind before dawn on Monday as they broke into the family house of President Yar’Adua in Katsina and robbed his ageing mother, Hajiya Dada Yar’Adua in her bedroom.

Daily Sun learnt that the robbers beat the security around the house to have access to the room where the about 80-year-old mother of the president was sleeping through the air conditioner opening.

The president’s mum reportedly did not wake up during the operation, as she was believed to have been hypnotized.
A source in Katsina told Daily Sun that Hajiya Yar’Adua only woke up to find that her room was in disorder and some of her jewelries had been removed.
The source, however, said the thieves were unable to unscramble the safe in the room to have access to its contents.

It was gathered that as early as 5 a.m. during the Muslim early morning Subhi prayers, the president’s younger brother, Alhaji Jafaru had reportedly been informed by his mother about the incident. He in turn went to one of the president’s sisters, Hajiya Hadi, to alert her to the development.
It could not be ascertained at press time whether the president had been informed, but it was gathered that the modest family house in Katsina, where the robbery took place was agog with family members and neighbours who were on hand to show their sympathies.

Monday’s incident has further raised questions about insecurity in the country where robbers walk easily into the bedroom of the mother of the president, even as there had been reported cases of politically-motivated killings in the state.

It was gathered that just last week, chairman of a local government in the state was killed and his body dumped on the street, just as Muktari Kakumi, assistant director, media, Katsina Agriculture and Rural Development Authority (KTARDA) was reportedly murdered in cold blood recently.


http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2008/aug/19/national-19-08-2008-001.htm

baba re a gbe o!

and someboby should remind the General that HE ANULLED THE MOST CREDILBLE ELECTION

Problem Has Change Name

P--------Problem

H--------Have

C--------Change

N--------Name

Let them go on 3 month warning strike and lets see the impact

we were told that masqurades are dead people who come from heaven to bless their loved ones. And come to think of it, i still wonder why old women would kneel down to greet a masqurade!

I was told that if someone stands in the doorway while it's raining, that thunder will strike the person dead!.

[s](I only grew up to know that it's a way of keeping us inside whenever it's raining)[/s]

Please help check this VIN ----- JHLRD78433C015108


Thanks