₦airaland Forum

Retired Col. Hameed Ali, the Comptroller -General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Wednesday warned that he would either discipline, dismiss or jail any officer found guilty of corrupt practices. Ali gave the warning while addressing officers and men of the NCS in Calabar, capital of Cross River.

Customs CG, Hameed Ali
Customs CG, Hameed Ali
He said that there was the need for them to be of good conduct and show professionalism while carrying out their duties. The C-G said his administration would have zero tolerance for corruption, hence the need for officers and men of the service to shun all forms of corruption.

“I want to make it clear to all of you that I have zero tolerance for indiscipline and corruption. I will dismiss and jail any officer found guilty of such. “Indiscipline will no longer have a place in the NCS. We must have officers and men with impeccable character to promote the image of the service.

“Anyone caught falsifying any documents or compromising with fake imported goods will also be dismissed and jailed. “The NCS has resolved that anyone caught in an unprofessional conduct, no matter the circumstances, will be dismissed and jailed for the offence,’’ the comptroller-general said.

According to him, dismissal and jailing of erring officers will serve as a deterrent to others and result in the reformation of the service. “I am determined to undertake reforms and reorganise the service, so we can generate more revenues into the Federal Government’s coffers.

“We have been seen as the most undisciplined para-military organisation because we have refused to obey the laws that govern us. “Para-military is all about discipline and we must operate on that basis. We must also work in line with the law establishing the service,’’ Ali said.

He assured officers and men that, just as the NCS would discipline erring officers; it would also reward those seen to be hard working. On welfare for officers and men of the NCS, the comptroller-general assured them that arrangements were ongoing for the provision of suitable accommodation for them. “We are aware of the accommodation challenges you are facing in your command; we will try our best to provide better accommodations for you all,’’ he said.
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End Time firing

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has assured Nigerians of better times ahead, saying they will soon get the change they voted for.

”This Government will not give excuses. The painstaking and methodical approach by the Buhari Administration, its deep analysis and understanding of the challenges and the recent inauguration of the cabinet will herald a new dawn,” the Minister said at a meeting with representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mohammed: It is another PDP scheme
Mohammed: It is another PDP scheme
He said that in the next few days, the Administration ”will start firing from all cylinders, starting with the unveiling of the 2016 budget”.

”Nigerians will witness measurable and impactful progress in all spheres of governance. We shall not abandon our social intervention policies such as one meal a day for school children and the payment of 5,000 Naira each to vulnerable Nigerians. We are committed to lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

On how the Administration will fund its programmes, in view of the drastic fall in the price of crude oil, the Minister said it would be through the diversification of the economy, plugging of leakages as well as exploiting and widening the country’s tax base without necessarily raising taxes.

”A comparative analysis between Nigeria and South Africa will drive the point home. In 2013, with a population of 160 million and GDP of $510 billion, Nigeria collected $30 billion in taxes, whereas South Africa, with a population of 54 million and GDP of $366 billion, collected $74 billion in taxes.

”In 2014, Nigeria, with a population of 170 million and GDP of $535 billion, collected $26 billion, while South Africa, with a GDP of $350 billion and population of 54 million, raked in $70 billion. From the figures, it is obvious that if only we can widen our tax base, we do not need to raise taxes to increase our tax revenue,” he said

The Minister commended the CSOs for the role they played during the last general elections, saying the organizations, especially those grouped under the Situation Room, contributed hugely to the success of the polls.

He said the Buhari Administration will carry the Civil Society along in its efforts to change, for the better, the country’s fortunes.

”That is why we have started our engagement with you this early. Therefore, this will be the first in a series of engagements with the Civil Society. We see you as credible, and we see you as patriots, who are genuinely interested in the welfare of the people,” the Minister said.

In his speech on behalf of The Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo urged the Federal Government to tackle growing national issues with the urgency that it deserves.

”Expectations are very high amongst Nigerians for the changes promised by General Buhari during the campaigns. The need to deliver on campaign promises is against the background of the complete lack of public trust in government and its institutions,” he said.

Mr. Nwankwo listed ”urgent symbolic steps and quick wins” to be urgently implemented by the government as including transparency and openness of loot recovered from officials of the immediate past regime, openness of the national budget, sale of some of the presidential jets, zero tolerance for impunity and the probe of the FCDA land swap.
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THE Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has advised the management of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, to take the Employees Compensation Scheme, ECS, to the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, for them to know the benefits of the scheme.

Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige
Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige
Speaking during a department briefing with the management team in his office in Abuja, weekend, Senator Ngige called for a review of the ECS Act 2010, to include stiff penalties for employers that failed to register their employees on the scheme.

The minister, who stressed the need for the NSITF management to come hard on defaulters, lamented that the level of compliance was low after over four years of implementation, even as he regretted that he had not heard of any prosecution of employers for non-compliance.

He told the management of NSITF to make a business case of the scheme to the Governors Forum, stressing that it would be a more effective way to get the states come on board.

According to him: “We have no option, but to push the ECS to performance level. There is no doubt that the idea is a great one. We must, however, ensure that Nigerians feel the positive impact of this initiative.

“I think that the management has to engage the governors through the Governors’ Forum so that we can explain the advantages of this scheme to them. I believe that the stipend to be paid on employees salaries are small to the advantages that the scheme gives to workers especially when they are injured in the course of work.

“I believe every governor would be happy to hear about the numerous advantages that their workers stand to benefit by joining the scheme.

“It is not acceptable that no employer has been sanctioned for non-compliance especially when cases or non-compliance abound. This must change.”

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of- NSITF, Umar Abubakar told the minister some of the challenges confronting the Fund which include lack of comprehensive data on all employees on government’s payroll and non-compliance by state governments and many organizations in the private sector of the economy.

Abubakar disclosed that the Fund has installed computer software that would greatly enhance its operations through a partnership with Oracle systems, pointing out that the computerization project had earned the Fund an ISO 27001:2013 certification.

He said that the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Turin, Italy, continually train NSITF staff on the global best practice in social security, stressing that available data speaks volume to how much the Fund had delivered in terms of claims and benefits in response to claim requests submitted to it.
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The computer will interpret your body language to determine how you are feeling and then tailor its response intuitively, just as we do with each other. What's more, we will like it because it is far more intuitive than the keyboard, mouse and touch screen as an input method.
As a way of communicating, emotion is very old indeed. Long before humans invented spoken language we communicated non-verbally at an emotional level. It is still the principal way that we get information from each other, with around 70% of a message's content being conveyed by body language, about 20% by tone of voice and only 10% by words.
This is why we are able to instinctively recognise people's emotional state. Wherever you are in the world, you can tell when a stranger is angry or happy or sad. Indeed it is such an ancient way that many people can accurately gauge how animals are feeling based on their body language.
Affective computing allows humans and computers to go beyond keyboards and use these rich, non-verbal channels of communication to good effect.
How can computers know our emotions?
Computers will read our emotions by much the same process that humans do. It begins by connecting an array of sensors (cameras, microphones, skin conductivity devices) to a computer that gathers varied information about facial expression, posture, gesture, tone of voice and more.
Advanced software then processes the data, and by referencing a database of known patterns it is able to categorise what it is picking up from the sensors. The pattern might match for a range of emotions such as angry, disgusted, afraid, happy, sad, surprised, amused, contemptuous, contented, embarrassed, excited, guilty, proud of an achievement, relieved, satisfied, sensory pleasure or ashamed.
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All over the world, there is an increasing attention on the role technology plays in preparing students for the 21st century. Unlike the traditional method of learning which is more about the paper and pencil teacher centered approach, technology-induced learning not only motivates learning in students, but it also offers them the 21st century skills needed to remain competitive in a highly technological knowledge-based economy.

However, most teachers in this current dispensation have little or no knowledge about technology and so come across as averse to this new method of infusing technology into education, explaining why in many schools, the use of mobile devices which could help improve learning process is prohibited.

Although, there have been several interventions from both the Federal and State governments, particular in the use of technology, tablets, desktops and laptops among students, but these interventions cannot work effectively as long as attention is on just the students and not the teachers.

To this end, future teachers, and educators, in general, need professional development, not only in technological skills and applications but also in new academic methods of incorporating technology into the classroom.

At the forefront of promoting technology skills in the classroom is Intel Corporation. The blue chip company recently partnered with the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) on a 4-day training exercise tagged, “Intel Teacher Professional Development Training.”

The training exercise is part of Intel’s global Teach Program to improve effectiveness among teachers through professional development, by helping them integrate technology into their teaching, while promoting among the students, problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills.

Speaking on the training, Global Education Specialist, Intel, Shelly Shott, who facilitated the training sessions, emphasized the need for a student-centered environment which according to her is a perfect environment to introduce technology. Shott said that, “Intel believes that we have to educate our students for the 21st century. The old format of teaching does not necessarily support technology in the classroom, which is why we are advocating for a student-centered approach to learning.”

Being the first University of Education, the partnership with TASUED, will provide Intel with the opportunity to have a system in place whereby teachers year in year out are given technology skills before they graduate. Moreso, Intel through the program, has provided the school with its curriculum for teachers training which they can apply to both Pre-service and In-service teachers.

Speaking on the initiative, the Corporate Affairs Group Manager, Intel, Babatunde Akinola said, “The course we are running is Intel Teaching Portfolio of Courses and we have been training teachers around the world for the past 10 years. The company has invested over 1 billion in education and we still continue to do that. We see TASEUD as a strategic partner because their mandate is Education.”

Akinola added that, “Being a state government University and the first University of education in Nigeria with a mandate to train teachers for the economy, the training will definitely filter down.”

Noting that without the right skill set, the Nigerian child faces a global dis-enfranchisement, he explained that, “The world is getting more global and if you do not fit in, you face being dis-enfranchised.

That is not what we want for our children, unfortunately we do not have the teachers with the right skills set to help them stay competitive.
“Yes, they might have the right content, but in terms of delivery, things have changed.

Attention span for children has changed, reading method and culture have also changed. We have to meet the kids at their needs. What are the things they relate to? They relate to devices.

So, we need to know how to use these devices both to teach and to promote learning.”

Commending Intel for the initiative, Director Academic Planning, Quality Assured and Research, Tai Solarin University of Education (TASEUD) Dr. Niran Adetoro said the training could not have come at a better time, given that the school is looking for exciting and innovative ways to help teachers and by extension the children learn better.

On the mode of implementation, Dr. Adetoro added noted that, “We will do a report to the University management and thereafter, we will want to step it down to teachers within the University that technology can be very useful in facilitating learning.

We intend to pass on the knowledge to teachers in the Secondary school and we are also going to do Pilot. We hope to do a lot of studies from this and ask for some funding from government and TETFUND. We will be doing this first and foremost with the Secondary schools and the schools around for the piloting.”

While noting that the management of the school is very committed to the program and would do everything within its power to pass on the knowledge learned from the exercise, he stressed that, “The level of commitment from the management team is very high, especially from the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluyemisi Obilade, who herself is a thoroughbred teacher that believes in innovative ways of impacting the profession.”
On his part, Dr. Yomi Okunowo, Fellow, African Humanity Programme (AHP) and American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) noted that a lot of advocacy will be carried out to project the usefulness and possibilities that are open to employ technology into teaching and learning.

Dr. Okunowo stated that, “For us, we have been discussing how to go about making people to join the bandwagon from what we have gained from here. And we believe, beyond the university authority, there should be a survey of the technology we have in schools and conduct a survey of the professionals in the school.

The survey would address questions like, what do they know? What is it that they do not know? What are the facilities on ground? From what we see on ground, how then can we intervene and help to project the knowledge we have learnt from here?”

Describing the training as an eye opener, another participant, Dr. Kemi Banjoko, a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry remarked that, “The one that intrigued me more, had to do with the use of mobile phone and tablets in teaching.

Though, we use them majorly for social networking, the training has opened up a world of new possibilities for me in using them to enhance learning and teaching. I learnt that you could even create a group for your students using mobile devices, where you discuss topics, post information, where you even post questions and get instant feedback.”

Aside training the teachers, there was also a 2-day workshop for Intel business partners. According to Intel, the training for business partners was strategic since they also fit into the chain of learning and teaching.

Akinola said that, “Because they are the ones that go out to deploy the feature solutions, we wanted them to understand that it is not just enough to deploy feature solutions, but they need to also focus on teachers and provide the right content for teachers for them to be comfortable.”

With more than 200,000 teachers trained in the last 10 years, Intel Teaching program in Nigeria has become the most successful of its kind and stakeholders within the industry express optimism that, Intel’s partnership with TASEUD would yield more results in the coming years.
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Committed to individuals and organisations to achieve more, technology giant, Microsoft through its Citizenship Program has partnered with leading Nigerian footwear and leather products manufacturing company, Shoespeed and Italian Shoemaker, Scali Shoes to empower 100, 000 Nigerian youths with shoemaking skills.

The initiative which is designed to help mitigate the country’s unemployment challenge, Microsoft said would provide youths with the skills required to unleash their entrepreneurial capacities, thus helping to create jobs for the local economy and lifting many out of poverty.

With the partnership, the leading technology company will upload a Shoe Making Video produced by Microsoft and Shoespeed on Microsoft Aiki portal for a month, where viewers will be trained on how to make shoes. Viewers would be required to make a prototype of the shoe to be able to participate in the campaign. The winners will then be trained by the shoemaking experts.

Explaining Microsoft’s motivation for adopting the laudable initiative, Corporate Citizenship Lead, Microsoft Nigeria, Olusola Amusan said, “Earlier this year, McKinsey and Co estimated youth unemployment in Nigeria at around 50 percent. Our vision at Microsoft Citizenship is to scale the impact of the work that we do around youth and employment – by creating over 100,000 jobs over the next 2 to 3 years.’’

Amusan added that, ‘’ International organisations like the United Nations and World Bank have shown strong interest in working with Microsoft to increase the total of young individuals who have skills, so they can have and also create jobs.”

He disclosed that the goal was to empower youths with skills that would satisfy needs across a broad spectrum of industries, stressing that, the technology giant had decided to deploy a strategic industry by industry approach to tackle the nation’s unemployment challenge.

Speaking on the partnership, the Chief Executive Officer of Shoespeed Nigeria, Abiodun Folawiyo said that, “We have an academy where we train youths on how to make shoes and we have partnered Scali Shoes because Italians have the expertise, equipment and resources to help train individuals in Africa on shoe designing and production.”

Expressing her delight at the opportunity to partner Microsoft for the empowerment of youths in local communities, Italian National and Scali Shoes founder, Silvia Scali said that, “At Scali Shoes, we have great passion for Africa.

Africa is full of potentials and we are immensely delighted to partner Microsoft on this lofty objective of empowering the continent’s teeming youth population with skills that give them hope for a better tomorrow.”

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Worried with the increasing cybercrime causing more economic harm than good in Nigeria, platforms and productivity services giant, Microsoft Nigeria has joined forces with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and other industry stakeholders, to tackle the ugly trend.

With over N159 billion lost by Nigerians through online scam and identity theft between 2000 and 2013 as well as 2,175 websites defaced within the same period, in a cybersecurity capacity building workshop organised last week in Abuja between Microsoft and NSA, participants agreed that there was need for education and awareness intervention for security and law enforcement and other ICT regulatory agencies in Nigeria for enhancing the security of the country’s cyberspace so as to checkmate cybercrime promptly.

Earlier in his welcome speech, the National Security Adviser, Major Babagana Monguno, represented by Barrister. Isaac Idu, Director of Internal Security in the office said, “The cyberspace virtual global domain while dismantling barriers to commerce, is increasingly transforming our economy and security posture, creating opportunities for innovations and the means to improve general welfare of the citizens.

Since cybersecurity had taken the dimension of global phenomena which requires concerted efforts of both the private and public strategy to tame it, Major Monguno expressed happiness that Microsoft as a key partner is aligning itself with ONSA to provide a secure online space in the country as part of efforts to ensure security strategy to secure the cyber space.

Reiterating that the workshop was part of government’s renewed measures towards safeguarding the nation’s presence in cyberspace and ensuring protection of the national critical information infrastructure, Monguno explained that the Federal Government was determined to confront the threats in the Nigerian cyberspace, uphold and support the openness of the cyberspace as well as balance security with respect to privacy and fundamental rights.

In his address, the Managing Director, Microsoft Nigeria, Mr. Kabelo Makwane said the partnership on the cybersecurity capacity building workshop was borne out of the desire to support ONSA, Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs), to grow capacity with respect to global approaches to national cybersecurity strategy, addressing cybersecurity risks through amongst others computer emergency response Team (CERT) management, security and privacy of data in the cloud, cybersecurity forensics and audit skills, global policy and legal developments, cloud computing and its benefits, growing local data hosting capabilities, in line with the new Nigerian cybercrime law, the Cybercrime Act 2015.

According to Makwane, ONSA’s National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCSS) closely aligns with Microsoft’s ambition to provide a safe, secure and resilient online environment.

Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mr. Peter Jack and Managing Director, Microsoft Nigeria, Mr. Kabelo Makwane
Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mr. Peter Jack and Managing Director, Microsoft Nigeria, Mr. Kabelo Makwane
For the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mr. Peter Jack, the agency had established the NITDA’s cert.NG centre to police the cyberspace.

He added that the agency is constantly involved in critical role in capacity building through the agency’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) centres established in 2014, adding, “We are also concerned and have started the Child Online Campaign. We believe strongly in multi stakeholders strategy, as we have worked closely with ONSA in formulating the national cyber-security policy formulation and documents”.

According to him, NITDA has also concluded plans to collaborate with ONSA to develop a framework aimed at addressing child online abuse in the country.

He said: “We wait eagerly to call all the stakeholders to have the Cybercrime Council inaugurated and then we can make progress.”

Noting that the time had come for multi-stakeholder’s strategy to combat all forms of cybercrimes and identity theft, Jack disclosed that of the 2,175 websites that had been defaced, 585 were actually government websites.

Meanwhile, conscious of the diversity of implications of the nation’s risk exposure in cyberspace, the Federal Government as a matter of urgency had put in place cohesive measures towards addressing the emerging risks effectively.

Development of the Nigeria’s National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy documents; Establishment of the Nigeria’s Cybercrime Act 2015; Establishment of the National Cyber Monitoring Centre, i.e. the Nigeria’s National Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT) Operation Center; Establishment of National Computer Forensics Lab for cybercrime investigations by all security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies and Establishment of effective collaboration mechanism with international cybersecurity organizations across the globe, among other are some of the measures put in place by the government to tackle the menace of cybercrime.
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LAGOS —Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, is meeting with the management of distribution companies, DISCOs, today with a view to acquainting himself with them and also intimate them about his expectations from them on the way forward.

Sen. Fashola
Sen. Fashola
The meeting, which will hold in the minister’s office this afternoon comes ahead of a scheduled meeting between the power industry regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC and the DISCOs, to discuss the contentious issue of tariff.

This comes as NERC said it has already worked out some benchmarks for DISCOs to meet in order to approve tariff increases for them.

Fashola had earlier met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and later with the Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, last week, to discuss development in the nation’s power sector, during which according to sources familiar with the meeting, stressed the need for DISCOs to recapitalise.

The minister had noted that the DISCOs needed to perform better, adding that there were several options open to them including recapitalisation by floating their shares in the capital market to raise the necessary funds to retool and run their operations.

He had also agreed that some deliverables be set for the DISCOs, as funding will no longer be accepted as an excuse for non-performance.

But there were also speculations that the minister may have given approval to NERC to revoke licences of distribution companies who are unable to meet their privatisation obligations.

The speculations may have been given credence by the recent pronouncement by the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, who warned that the Federal Government would reacquire the stakes of non-performing DISCOs for $1, and float their shares on the stock market.

Some of the DISCOs, who were also allegedly penciled down for such licence revocations, denied knowledge of such a move, and told Vanguard that “If such is to happen, we will be communicated formally in writing.”

But denying this vehemently, Amadi told Vanguard on phone yesterday that Fashola could not have given such approvals, considering that he is yet to have the details of the DISCOs operations, and was still studying developments in his ministry.

According to him, “the minister can’t approve for licences to be revoked when he doesn’t have any details on the operations of the DISCOs. Besides, revocation of licence is a last resort after every other measure may have failed. So it is not a decision that is taken lightly.”



New tariff

He, however, admitted that the Minister, NERC and the DISCOs will be meeting today for a formal introduction to Fashola, while NERC discusses the deliverables upon which tariff increases will be approved for the DISCOs.

Amadi disclosed: “NERC is working on service level agreements with the DISCOs, which will be tied to deliverables that will go with new tariffs, going forward.”

He further said: “The meeting with them (DISCOs) is strictly to talk about tariff. The minister also wants to meet with them to introduce himself to them and urge them to brace up to their responsibilities.”
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In a bid to recover stolen defence cash running into trillions of Naira, the Defence Headquarters might have started recalling no fewer than 20 Generals said to have been involved in the purchase of arms and ammunition for the country.

Counterfeit nairaCompetent military sources told Vanguard last night that the suspected top military officers were being detained at a military facility in Abuja and would soon be made to face the music for their roles in fleecing the nation.

Similarly, the sources hinted that key military, naval and air force officers, who had retired within the last three months, were also being recalled to face an investigating panel probing the purchase of arms for the nation since 2009 with a view to ascertaining their roles in the missing defence funds.

According to one of the sources, who spoke in confidence to our correspondent yesterday, the investigative panel, which was raised by the Chief of Army Staff, is headed by a Brigadier General, whose name was not also disclosed for security reasons.

According to a source, “I can tell you that the current leadership of the Defence institution in Nigeria has zero tolerance for corruption given the need to give Nigeria a new lease of life. All those suspected to have diverted any money meant for the armed forces are being recalled to explain their roles in arms purchase.

“As we speak, some Generals currently serving are under detention at a military facility in Abuja while some who had retired but held sensitive appointments relating to arms and logistics procurement have been recalled by an investigating panel.”

It was learnt that some of the detained top military officers might have connived with some national security officers to divert huge sums of money set aside for the procurement of vital equipment and platforms for the armed forces by acknowledging receipt of such items when none had been supplied.

The Presidency is said to have ordered the military authorities to take immediate steps to recover stolen funds allocated to them.



Panel report

This followed the report of a panel raised by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 31 this year to look into defence budget and recommend the way forward for Nigeria.

In turning in its interim report, the panel raised the alarm that certain individuals saddled with the task of arms procurement for Nigeria, made away with huge sums and left the army to fight with bare hands.

The panel said that extra budgetary interventions collated by the committee was N643.8 billion while the foreign currency component was $2.2 billion.

The report indicated that the amounts excluded grants from the state governments and funds collected by the Directorate of State Services and the Police.

The statement said the committee observed that in spite of this huge financial intervention, very little was expended to support defence procurement.



Failed contracts

The committee also observed that of 513 contracts awarded at $8,356,525,184.32; N2,189,265,724,404.55 and 54,000.00 Euros, 53 were failed contracts amounting to $2,378,939,066.27 and N13,729,342,329.87 respectively.

According to the statement, the committee also noted that the amount of foreign currency spent on failed contracts was more than double the one billion dollars loan that the National Assembly approved for borrowing to fight the insurgency in the North East.

It stated that the committee also discovered that payments to the tune of N3.850 billion were made to a single company by the former NSA without documented evidence of contractual agreements or fulfilment of tax obligations to the Federal Government.

The statement said: “Further findings revealed that between March 2012 and March 2015, the erstwhile NSA, Lt. Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) awarded fictitious and phantom contracts to the tune of N2,219,188,609.50; $1,671,742,613.58 and 9,905,477.00 Euros.

“The contracts, which were said to be for the purchase of four Alpha Jets, 12 helicopters, bombs and ammunition were not executed and the equipment were never supplied to the Nigerian Air Force, neither are they in its inventory.

“Even more disturbing was the discovery that out of these figures, two companies, were awarded contracts to the tune of N350,000,000.00; $1,661,670,469.71 and 9,905,477.00 Euros alone.

“This was without prejudice to the consistent non-performance of the companies in the previous contracts awarded.

“Additionally, it was discovered that the former NSA directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to transfer $132,050,486.97 and 9,905,473.55 Euros to the accounts of Societe D’equipmente Internationaux in West Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America for un-ascertained purposes, without any contract documents to explain the transactions.”
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Pope Francis lashed out at wealthy minorities who hoard resources at the expense of the poor as he visited a crowded Nairobi slum on Friday, wrapping up the first-leg of a three nation tour.

The 78-year-old pontiff was given a rapturous welcome as he arrived in Kangemi, which is home to more than 100,000 people who live in shacks without sewerage, including 20,000 who belong to the local Catholic parish.

Kenyans wait to see the convoy transporting Pope Francis during his visit to Africa in Nairobi on November 25, 2015. Crowds lined Nairobi's streets to welcome the pontiff during his visit to Kenya, Uganda and the troubled Central African Republic (CAR) on a six-day trip. Vast crowds are expected to turn out to see his motorcade pass.
Kenyans wait to see the convoy transporting Pope Francis during his visit to Africa in Nairobi on November 25, 2015. Crowds lined Nairobi’s streets to welcome the pontiff during his visit to Kenya, Uganda and the troubled Central African Republic (CAR) on a six-day trip. Vast crowds are expected to turn out to see his motorcade pass.
“These are wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, who selfishly squander while a growing majority is forced to flee to abandoned, filthy and run-down peripheries,” he told crowds in the slum which is on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital.

Wild singing and ululating erupted as Francis’ arrived in Kangemi, his popemobile weaving through a sea of tin-roofed homes.

Speaking at the local Catholic church, Francis — whose visit to the shanty town was a highlight of his three-day visit to this east African nation — condemned the “dreadful injustice of urban exclusion.”

“I am here because I want you to know that I am not indifferent to your joys and hopes, your troubles and your sorrows,” Francis told the packed congregation at the church of St Joseph the Worker.

“I realise the difficulties which you experience daily. How can I not denounce the injustices which you suffer?”

– ‘New forms of colonialism’ –

People arrived long hours before dawn in the hope of catching a glimpse of the pope, who has made humility and help for the impoverished a hallmark of his tenure.

“It is once in a lifetime,” said Edward Mwaniki, who comes from Kangemi and who waited for hours with his wife and three sons. “It is an honour to be here being a Catholic.”

Francis criticised the lack of “infrastructures and basic services”, including sewerage, electricity, good roads, school and hospitals in a key address just hours before he leaves for Uganda and the Central African Republic.

“They are a consequence of new forms of colonialism… countries are frequently pressured to adopt policies typical of the culture of waste,” he added.

The pope went on to meet young people at Kasarani national stadium, where US President Barack Obama gave a keynote speech when he visited Kenya in July.

After arriving in Nairobi on Wednesday on his first-ever visit to Africa, the pope celebrated a giant open air public mass and spoke forcefully about the dangers of radicalisation and climate change.

“Experience shows that violence, conflict and terrorism feed on fear, mistrust, and the despair born of poverty and frustration,” he said after arriving on Wednesday.

The fight against poverty has been a key theme of his visit, one that he picked up again before Thursday’s mass on meeting leaders from different faiths.

“All too often, young people are being radicalised in the name of religion to sow discord and fear, and to tear at the very fabric of our societies,” the pope said.

– Heading for Uganda –

He also visited the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi, issuing a stark environmental message in which he warned it would be “catastrophic” if agreement is not reached at a key UN climate change summit which begins in Paris on Monday.

“We are confronted with a choice which cannot be ignored: either to improve or to destroy the environment,” he said.

Thousands of people queued through the night braving torrential downpours to take part in Thursday’s mass. But the numbers fell far short of the million people Catholic officials had expected to attend the service, with the weather likely keeping many away.

Pope Francis leaves Kenya mid-afternoon for Uganda where he will spend two days before continuing on to Central African Republic, a country wracked by sectarian conflict.

Security has been ratcheted up for the landmark visit over fears for his safety.

Islamist rebels have staged a string of attacks in Kenya, including the April massacre at Garissa university in which 148 people died, and the 2013 assault on the Westgate shopping mall that killed 67.

But Francis has shrugged off fears for his safety, joking that he was “more worried about the mosquitoes.”

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Staff of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, yesterday called off the one week national warning strike embarked on as a result of the failure of National Incomes and Wages Commission, NSIWC, to review their monthly allowance.

The workers also urged the Federal Government to order Salaries and Wages Commission to review their allowance.

Speaking during a press conference in Lagos, the Chairman, Federal Area Council, FAC, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, Comrade Ibrahim Isah said the workers were resuming tomorrow (today), adding that they were giving the government more time to review their allowance.

He said: “We have been on NAFDAC job specific allowance since 2013, pleading with NSIWC, to review our allowance, but NAFDAC was denied the review by NSIWC in 2014. Tomorrow (today) our people will go back to work for the good of the country, but the commission should review the allowance to avoid subsequent illuminate strike in NAFDAC.”

He stated that the issue of allowance started when NAFDAC was moved from Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) to Consolidated Research and Align Structure (CONRAISS), adding that NAFDAC was not a research institute but a regulatory agency.

Isah however faulted the Director of Admin/HR, NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni as the cause of the internal and external problem bedeviling the agency among which are: persecution of union executives, illegal suspension of staff without due process, payment of 2015 productivity allowance, among others, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to redeploy her before she destroyed the agency.

He said: “Staff has generally requested the redeployment of the Director Admin/HR, Mrs. Yetunde Oni from the agency, as a result of her highhandedness, lack of administrative acumen, mis-managing staff welfare and creating confusion in the agency with respect to staff and management relationship.”

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The Director-General of the Centre for Management Development, Dr. Kabir Usman, on Thursday said for Nigeria to achieve his aim of becoming one of the first 20 economies in the world by 2020, more attention must be paid to human development.

He said the Federal Government must ensure that its workers are exposed to regular trainings to improve their capacities.



Usman spoke at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on strategic leadership for change management for State House officers on Grade Level 14-17 organised by the Centre for Management Development.

The event was held inside the auditorium of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“For Nigeria to achieve its aim of becoming one of the 20 top economies of the world by 2020, government must embrace human development to improve its workforce,” Usman said.

He described the civil servants taking part in the training as the engine room for efficient service for the nation since they make decisions and formulate policies for the country.

He warned that in discharging their duties, the workers must never allow any obstacle to stand on the way of the present administration’s change agenda.

Usman urged civil servants to be ready to contribute their quota to ensuring that the present administration fulfills its electoral promises to Nigerians.

He described leadership as a combination of education and character, hence the need for the training to help educate the workers.

The Director, Administration in the State House, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed, expressed the hope that the training would go a long way in repositioning the workers for better service delivery.

Mohammed assured Nigerians that the civil servants working in the seat of power would assist the government of the day to make lives more comfortable for them.

The topics of lectures delivered during the workshop included “Strategic leadership in the 21st Century”; “Change management for effective service delivery”; “Emotional intelligence for 21st Century leadership; “Target setting, performance improvement and benchmarking”; “Computer security, cyber crime and e-government”; “Results based M and E; as well as “Relation management, ethics and value reorientation.”

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Some people lead their entire lives without earning a million dollars, so it sounds impossible that some businesses might be able to achieve this milestone within their first year. But it is possible. Plenty of businesses have achieved this goal, and you can too!

Pay attention to the following tips and use them to help power up your revenue growth:

Find a growing market

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One of the easiest ways to build a million-dollar company in such a short period of time is to find a growing trend and ride it to the top. Take the example of Micah Adler, CEO of mobile app developer Fiksu, which grew from less than $1m to $100m in just three and a half years – with only $17.6m in venture capital – following its 2010 launch.

Certainly, Adler’s success comes in part from building great products, but it also comes from his timing. In 2012, just two years after Fiksu’s launch, mobile-app development represented $19bn in revenue and was experiencing annual growth of more than 60 per cent a year. Finding a growing market of your own like this can put you on the fast track to

Think monetisation from the start

It seems strange to think objectively, but some startups start without any obvious monetization strategies. Twitter is one example of this phenomenon, but there are countless other companies out there building up their free user bases, hoping that inspiration – and, consequently, financial stability – will strike along the way.

If you want to grow a million-dollar company in your first year, you can’t afford to think that way!

Most profitable companies operate from one of two models: either they sell a lot of inexpensive products to a lot of people or they sell a few big-ticket items to a more limited buyer list. Neither model is easier or inherently better than the other. What’s more important than choosing is having a defined plan for monetisation. Knowing how you will make money from the start will prevent wasted time spent hoping that something profitable will come together for you.

Be the best

There are plenty of mediocre products out there, but the odds are good that these companies aren’t making a million dollars or more during their first years. If you want to hit these big potential profits, you have got to bring something to the table that wows customers and generates buzz within your marketplace.

How can you tell if you have got a “best in breed” product? Look to your current customers. If you aren’t getting rave reviews online or positive comments sent to your inbox, chances are your clients are not as ecstatic about your product as they need to be to hit your target sales. Ask your existing customers what you can do to make your product better and then put their recommendations into place. They will appreciate your efforts and will go on to refer further sales to you in the future.

Hire all-stars

Hitting $1m in revenue during your first year is no small feat, and you certainly aren’t going to achieve this goal with a team of underperformers. Yes, hiring these people will be cheaper and easier, but you’ll pay for this convenience when your end-of-the-year sales numbers come up short.

Instead, you need to hire all-stars, and the fastest way to do this is to ask around for referrals. Pay particular attention to the sales hires you make, as these key employees stand to make the biggest difference in your business’s bottom line. Get them on the bus and then encourage them to do whatever is necessary to close deals (pro tip: a good series of incentives won’t hurt!).

Consume data

Finally, if you want to shoot for the revenue moon, you need to be absolutely militant about gathering data and acting on it. When I approach a new marketing project, I prefer to work in short sprints of a few weeks or less where we’ll try something new, check the statistics to see how the changes impacted revenue and then either commit the changes or try a new test.

Do the same with your growing company. You have a veritable gold mine of information just hanging out in your Google Analytics account, so put it to good use by identifying your company’s key performance indicators and running tests designed to push these metrics even higher. If you aren’t able to carry out these tests on your own, bring on a rock-star analyst who can help you make sense of your numbers. When every penny counts towards reaching your $1m-a-year goal, you’ll find these employees to be worth their weight in gold.

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Business plans are typically the first piece of information banks want to see before considering a request for a loan. A relationship manager of a top Nigerian bank informed Nairametrics that even when business plans are received, they often fail to clearly show how the business will generate the cash flow required to repay the loans. Rather than focus on cash flows, entrepreneurs focus more on the idea and execution. Business owners should have multiple business plans that cater to different types of financiers.
A business plan may have information that is suitable for an equity investor but lack the details lenders want to see. Lenders are more risk averse unlike equity investors who are not afraid of taking risk. A business plan should be able to show lenders what the risks are and how the company aims to mitigate it. A credit analyst reveals that a good business plan should show what the competition is if any and how much of the market share you own.
Business plans that fail to show a ready market for a product or service is more likely to fail credit risk assessment for most banks. It is more likely that a bank will give you a loan when you show them confirmed orders for your product.
Poor accounting records
Banks also complain that most small businesses seeking funding from them fail to keep a simple book of accounts. Most are so poorly run that they do not even have a balance sheet that shows how their assets and liabilities are classified. Those who even provide accounting records do not have it properly audited suggesting that it was quickly put together perhaps for tax reasons. For businesses to be loan worthy, they should at least keep three years of audited financial statements that show balance sheets, profit and loss accounts as well as cash flow statements.
Mixing personal and business cash
Small business owners also make the fundamental mistake of not separating their personal cash and expenses from that of the business. Financial advisers cite this as the fundamental reason for keeping poor accounting records. This also leads to poor corporate governance and risk of misappropriation of cash belonging to the business. When banks see this they don’t even bother to consider the application let alone lend.
No collateral
Banks also complain that most small businesses that even provide good business plans and sound financial statements often lack assets that can be used as collateral for loans. Some of the assets that they provide cannot be verified, valued independently or recovered. The Central Bank of Nigeria has been working on an asset registry for years now which they hope will help solve some of the issues banks and small businesses have with collateral. Till then, small businesses may have to set money aside over time, either as cash collateral or use them to acquire assets that they can use in future as collateral.
Knowing the right people
In Nigeria, having “connection” involves knowing influential people who can help you obtain loans faster and possibly at better rates. Successful small businesses inform Nairametrics that having an influential person on their board as a director helped shorten the entire loan application process by about 50 per cent. It can even rise to 70 per cent if your board member is also on the board of the commercial bank or microfinance banks that you have applied to. Banks value personality and integrity believing that an influential board members can use their experience to guide management of small businesses.
Poor Debt Service Coverage Ratio
A lot of businesses confuse income and cash. For banks, cash is the live wire of a business and they will want to be sure that the ratio between income and cash is as close to one as possible. A lot of businesses sell products and record income but have no cash to back it up due to huge trade debtors. Banks can detect this ratio by comparing the cash turnover in your bank statement to the turnover in your financial statements. This is why most banks come up with a debt service coverage ratio which is the ratio of cash your business can generate historically to debt repayment and interest payments. The higher your historical DSCR the easier it is to convince the bank that you can repay the loans as agreed. Nigerian banks often like to a see a DSCR of times two. In fact, getting a loan on a DSCR of times one or less is often indicative of a business that had no plans of repaying loans.
Credit history
A small business owner informs Nairametrics that he was unable to get a loan from any bank after he defaulted from a previous loan. According to him, he had obtained a short-term loan and used it to finance a local purchase order from a government agency. Unfortunately for him, they refused to pay after a new director general assumed office.
Banks these days exchange credit history with a registered credit bureau of their choice. Unknown to some small businesses, banks have a credit bureau that tracks, stores and shares credit ratings of borrowers. That way a customer who defaults with bank A cannot escape a review by bank B. Sometimes small businesses end up getting black listed.
Business model
Credit analysts surveyed also complain about ventures that are not bankable. They argue that while some business ideas may sound good on paper, using bank loans to finance them creates more harm than good. Business owners need to recognise this when seeking funding. For example, a business requiring equity style funding either via a venture capitalist or angel investor cannot be seeking for funding from a bank. Business managers should only seek bank funding when their business is already generating positive cash flows and seeking to scale up.
One analyst explains that positive cash flow is cash generated from sales that is at least twice the company’s expenses.
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MRS Roli Bode George has been appointed as the first woman acting Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, following the retirement of Alhaji Ahmadu Giade who has bowed out after serving 10 years in the agency.
MRS Bode George’s appointment is considered by observers as a significant gender balancing at a period when the Buhari administration is being leaned upon to appoint more women in the position of public relevance and reckoning.
The Chairman of Women Initiative Group (WING) Mrs Tinuade Joseph described the appointment as a good step in “redressing the gender imbalance in the recent appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari.”
George is generally perceived as an unobtrusive goal- getter and a quiet but formidable achiever, who has the requisite field training and solid academic credentials to give the NDLEA the cutting edge leadership in the crucial war against drug trafficking and substance abuse.

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Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has banned Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the country “with immediate effect’’, Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said. The minister made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday. Bojang said the president declared the ban on the sideline of his nationwide tour.

Reacting to the development, anti-FGM campaigners said it was not clear when a law would be passed to enable the ban to be enforced. They opined that a law was needed to “save countless lives” in the West African nation where three-quarters of women have been cut. Seven out of nine ethnic groups in Gambia carry out FGM, an ancient ritual which is shrouded in secrecy and widely condemned elsewhere as a serious violation of women’s rights.

The practice, which involves the removal of the external Instruments, causes numerous health problems which can be fatal. Some girls bleed to death or die from infections, while others die later in life from childbirth complications caused by FGM. “President Jammeh’s declaration sends a clear message to the world, but enacting a law urgently will send an even stronger signal,” said anti-FGM activist Jaha Dukureh.

“A law is going to save countless lives in the Gambia.” One of the main challenges for activists in the Gambia has been tackling the misconception that FGM is a religious duty, but Dukureh said they had won the support of religious leaders, women’s representatives and community elders in recent years.

FGM affects an estimated 140 million girls and women across a swathe of Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia, and is seen by many families as a gateway to marriage and a way of preserving a girl’s virginity- uncut girls are often ostracised. More than 1,000 communities and 150 cutters in the Gambia have abandoned FGM in four mass declarations since 2007, according to Isatou Touray, Gambia’s highest-profile campaigner against FGM.

“The whole country has been calling for change and for a law – we are moving towards zero tolerance of FGM,” said Touray, who has faced death threats during some 25 years of activism.

Due to nairaland polices visit the link to see more photos

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obamaination!!!!

learn to mind your business it will do you plenty good

very funny indeed!!!

Hannysmilez:
There are things that we can't help. They are called 'obstacles', it's left to you to decide if you're gonna be brought down by them or you're gonna let it fuel your determination. Btw. For the fact you're a graduate doesn't mean you deserve employment.

nice talk
some tinz are jas to b left untouched Cos touching dem to more complications

now dats a bit of a problem

kemlily:
story for the Gods.....

hahahahahah indeed

nice one

kemlily:
Haha nawa oooo
Celebs going mad everyday ....
a more clearer pic wont be bad

lolzzz funny you

u kidding rite? is legalised

Interesting and nice

TEN (10) LESSONS FROM THE HEN: 1. She first lays enough eggs before sitting on them: GOOD PLANNING. 2. When she starts sitting on her eggs, she minimizes movement: DISCIPLINE. 3. She physically loses weight while sitting on her eggs due to decreased feeding: SACRIFICE and SELF DENIAL. 4. She can sit on eggs from another hen: INDISCRIMINATE and GENEROUS. 5. She sits on her eggs for 21 days, patiently waiting and even if they don't hatch she will still lay eggs again: FAITH, HOPE and COURAGE. 6. She detects unfertilized eggs and rolls them out: SENSITIVE and DISCERNING. 7. She abandons the rotten eggs and starts caring for the hatched chicks even if it is only one: WISE, CONSCIOUS and REALISTIC. 8. No one can touch her chick: PROTECTIVE LOVE. 9. She gathers all her Chicks together: UNITY of PURPOSE. 10. She doesn't abandon her chicks before they mature: MENTORING Live your dreams, one day they shall hatch and you shall see them grow. HAVE A BLISSFUL WEEK!

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Everyone against Isis....Isis against every one Syria the playground every one trying to b world power I wish Everyone all the best against isis and terrorism