₦airaland Forum

Immigration authorities in New Zealand on Thursday reported a dramatic increase in the number of Americans enquiring about moving to the country, following Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said its website had received 56,300 visits from people in the United States in the 24 hours up to 9am (2000 GMT Wednesday), almost 25 times the usual daily average of 2,300 visits.

“In the same 24-hour period the New Zealand Now website – which contains information about living, working, studying and investing in New Zealand – received 70,500 visits from the United States compared to a usual daily average of 1500 visits,” a spokesperson said.

In the year to June, 1,288 Americans were granted residency in New Zealand. Another 8,876 were granted work visas and 2,997 were issued with student visas.

US media reported Wednesday that Canada’s immigration website had crashed due to a high number of visits, which was thought to be linked to people wanting to emigrate north from the US.

http://latestnews.com.ng/americans-consider-relocating-to-new-zealand-after-trumps-win

Top Nigerian blogger, Linda Ikeji’s launch of a social network, Linda Ikeji Social was top on Google search this week, an official of Google in Lagos said on Thursday.

Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa, made the disclosure in a statement in Lagos, saying that the search was between Nov. 2 and Nov. 9.

Google Trends, launched in May, 2006, allowed one to see how popular search terms and demography had been over time on Google.

“Google search trend this week moved between the tension-filled U.S. elections to Linda Ikeji social, the newly launched social networking site of famous gossip blogger.

“The awoof buying spree on Jumia online store along with some other exciting news also got people’s attention online,” Kola-Ogunlade said.

“Ikeji goes Social” this week witnessed the announcement of the latest competition to Facebook in Nigeria, the Google manager said.

“Top Nigerian blogger, Ikeji launched her new social network and hit 50, 000 sign-ups on the first day.

“Linda, who runs a blog that is widely known as a top gossip site, says she plans to pay users to gain more followers on the site,” he said.

According to Kola-Ogunlade, with a few hours remaining to the Nov. 8 elections, search for updates on the blood pumping US elections shot up on Google.

“Internet users wanted to know things like the latest forecasts, what time winners would be announced, and even the newest gaffes from either of the two contestants, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

“Up until the day of elections, citizens wanted to know who was likely to become the US President,” he said.

The Google manager said that folks went into frenzy search on Google when the ‘Awoof’ buying on Jumia Black Friday sales dates was announced by the online retail giant Jumia Nigeria.

He said that they offered buyers amazing discounts on the Website for quality products ranging from electronics, beauty and more.

“Jumia announced that this year’s Black Friday will start on Nov. 14 and end on the 25th and customers who spend 10,000 and above will win mouth-watering prizes,” he said.

Kola-Ogunlade said other sites visited included “Stop the rumour: Kogi’s helmsman is alive.’

He said that to calm the rumour, which went around over the weekend on the demise of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, the state government sent out a statement refuting the death.

He said that the Director General, Media and Publicity, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, disclosed that the governor was on a two-week break outside the country approved by the state House of Assembly.

The public affairs manager said that in some other reports, the governor was said to be in Germany for an eye surgery.

“Several people went scampering for news on Kwara Poly all over the internet to know if indeed the polytechnic had increased its school fees, Kola-Ogunlade said.

He said that the Rector of Kwara State Polytechnic rebutted the rumour, saying people should stop listening to rumours that started on the social media.

http://latestnews.com.ng/linda-ikeji-social-tops-google-search-terms-in-nigeria

Court fixes Nov. 17 for ruling on bail
The Federal Government yesterday re-arraigned the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and three others in Abuja. They appeared before a third judge, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court on an 11-count charge bordering on treasonable felony, illegal possession of firearms as well as terrorism.

Nyako was the third judge to hear Kanu’s case as he had earlier accused two others: Justices Adeniyi Ademola and John Tsoho, of bias.

http://m.guardian.ng/news/government-re-arraigns-ipobs-nnamdi-kanu-three-others/

Nigeria’s population reached 182 million this year with more than half of its people under 30 years of age, putting a severe strain on a nation suffering from a slowing economy and declining revenue to provide enough schools and health facilities.

The latest estimate is based on the population of 140 million recorded in the last census a decade ago, using an annual growth rate of 3.5 percent weighed against other variables such as a rising life expectancy and a declining infant mortality rate, Ghaji Bello, director general of the National Population Commission, said in an interview Monday in the capital, Abuja.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is witnessing a growing youth bulge, with those under 14 years accounting for more than 40 percent of its citizens, he said. This is happening at a time when the International Monetary Fund has forecast the West African nation;s the gross domestic product will shrink 1.7 percent this year, the first full-year contraction in more than two decades.

“The implication is that they’re assets, they’re are the future of your country, but they are also liabilities,” Bello said. “We need to know how to plan for their transition from youths to the next category. It has implications for education, health and security, particularly in our environment where you have a lot of unemployment.”

Census Delayed

Plans to hold a census this year were delayed by the election of a new government last year and the plunge in state revenue due to low prices for crude, the country’s main export, and slashed output caused by militant attacks in the southern oil region, according to Bello.

“We’re hopeful the government will soon make a statement for the next exercise,” he said.

To ensure an accurate figure when it does take place, the commission plans to obtain the biometric data of citizens counted to curtail the temptation to inflate numbers by states and municipalities in a bid to attract more social benefits and services based on larger numbers.

During the last census, the northern state of Kano registered a higher population figure than Lagos in the south, which includes the commercial capital that’s a major destination of urban migration in the country.

“It’s our mandate to produce figures that are accurate and credible,” Bello said. “If we do that successfully, we’ll be able to lay to rest some of these issues.”

Source: http://latestnews.com.ng/nigerian-population-hits-182-million-with-widening-youth-bulge-bloomberg

I disagree with Dr. Abati’s article in The Guardian of 14 October 2016 titled: “The spiritual side of Aso Villa”. Abati’s spiritual tonic about Aso Rock villa’s redemption, the seat of power in Abuja, Nigeria should be taken with a pinch of salt. Abati’s exposition about the Aso Rock demon or witchcraft is complete balderdash. Nigeria, nay Africa, will remain in perpetual darkness and retrogression if we refuse to grow up and get out of our self-induced bondage of religion.

Every time Nigerians go spiritual in politics or social nuance, it makes us a laughing stock in the eyes of the civilized world. Most Nigerians are very religious but pretentiously ungodly in all ramifications. Providence has given us the robust platform to be one of the greatest countries on earth, but we daily squander the opportunity. We should leave God alone to rest on His majestic oars. We aren’t his only holy creatures!

Nigerians should wake up from their 19th century slumber to meet the rest of the world in this 21st century of progressive imagination and
seriousness. I bet you. Abati’s sanctimonious stance will be noxious to his contemporaries in other civilized world. So, my former Muse should shut the f**k up!!!


The greatest damage a man can do to himself is to throw away integrity for short-term rewards; fantasize with the immediacies of everyday living, and dwell on other worldly mundane things. If a man refuses to take heed of opportunists, or have an eye open with fake people around him, those who are celebrating him today may be his worst enemies tomorrow. Dr. Abati, our once epitome of intellectual sagacity has now become a ping pong on the
touchscreens of the Nigerian print and social media users.
Abati is a master sartirist and a prolific writer. He has carved a niche for himself in the academia and became the editorial darling of the media, but the homo sapien’s gene in him prevented him from predicting his own future in order to create it, or maintain his integrity. He made irrevocable the mistake of his lifetime to have dined with the devil with a short spoon. It is unfathomable to note how Abati manages to balance his current life without a regurgitation of his immediate past.

Every time I think of Abati, my journalistic instinct, intellectual quest and inquisitiveness go to Dr. Ebenezer Babatope of Nigeria’s defunct second republic politics. Babatope was one of the Apostles of Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was a monumental betrayal of Awo’s legacy in the dark days of Ibrahim Babangida and Ogbeni Sanni Abacha. The mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Man is the architect of his own fortune and misfortune. Ebenezer Babatope is a by-product of his gross political miscalculation and self-interest, his legacy of Awo’s glorious days has been cast into the dustbin of history. He now belongs to the comity of looters. Just like Babatope, Abati was used and dumped by the state. The option left for him was to join a
lootocratic party, and then struggle with his past and present for a future with uncertainty.

Despite the various admonitions to quit governments that were destined for failure, they bluntly refused to quit. Now, they’re having a forced date with history. We must all beware of the burden of history.

Dr. Abati was the conscience of the nation and the voice of the impoverished millions of the strayed youths in the country. Before he compromised his intellectual integrity, every inquisitor in Nigeria always looked forward to purchasing the edition of The Guardian on Sundays for his articles. His rich articles were intellectual tonics for insatiable minds like us. He was a literary engineer who mesmerized us in the construction of sentences with unique words.

This writer unrepentantly empathize with Dr. Abati’s present conundrum and his clouded future. History seems not to be on his side. Since his debut after the inglorious tenure in the administration of ineffectual president
Goodluck Jonathan, his efforts at coming back to win his admirers has been an unmitigated failure. His attempts at revamping his glorious past has been abysmal failure. Those of us who are infatuated with Abati’s intellectual acuity are reluctant and unrepentant to detach ourselves from his academic prowess. The more his antecedents nauseate us, the more we look back, and feel attracted to his literary gymnastics, or get subsumed in his presentations and scholarship.

My humble advice to Dr. Abati is to come to term with the existential reality of life. He should come out of his oiled ego and apologise to all his admirers; he should be humble and remorseful in his demeanor to fully atone for his “sins” and come back to us. Some of us are very forgiving of those with remorseful minds, who by commission or omission have transgressed against the will of the people. To some, no amount of professorial writings or exposition can sway them to him unless he honestly admit his mistakes in order to move on. Abati’s preachment after he has benefitted from habitation of what I call ‘ the forest of demons’ is not only insulting but ludicrous.

Consequently, we should always preserve our values. Our values are our principles, standards and qualities, those values shape our lives and define who we are as individuals. Our actions at any given time reflect those values. The true measure of a real man is when he is faced with the most difficult choice of his life. As an individual and a stakeholder in the project of Nigeria, or elsewhere, I dread the judgments of history in decision-making. Man must be careful to look back and avoid the pitfalls of the past; the present, in order to secure a well deserved future. Abati’s pitfall is a big Lesson for those who are subsumed in vanity and political opportunism.
Yahaya Balogun, Arizona, USA.

Source: http://guardian.ng/opinion/a-lesson-from-abatis-travails/

After ten years at the Stamford Bridge, Super Eagles team captain, John Obi Mikel, has been told to look somewhere else for his club career.

Mikel, 29, a former Lyn Oslo starlet has been on the books of the London team since 2006.But Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte confirmed yesterday that the holding midfielder has not yet been offered a new deal.

“In every squad, there are players who arrive at the end of their contract and then together the club will take a decision,” Conte told reporters yesterday afternoon. “The most important thing is that Mikel is working very well. I am pleased with his work rate.”


Signs that Mikel might be declared surplus to requirement at the Stamford Bridge appeared on the wall long ago, as he was not considered good enough for a single appearance for the club since September despite being fit.
According to www.Allnigeriasoccer.com, some clubs based in France, Turkey, Italy, United States and China are monitoring the situation of Mikel and will swoop for him if he leaves Chelsea.

Mikel had said recently that he is making plans for life after final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge.The Nigerian, who has made more than 350 appearances in all competitions since joining Chelsea from Lyn Oslo in June 2006, told Goal he will talk to interested clubs in January if he is not offered an extension.

Mikel is the club’s longest-serving player behind John Terry and has won every major club trophy at Stamford Bridge.Under interim manager Guus Hiddink last season, Mikel a regular starter at Chelsea, regaining a level of prominence before falling back down the pecking order following the arrivals of coach Antonio Conte.

Source: http://guardian.ng/sport/no-new-contract-for-mikel-says-conte/

The Lagos State University (LASU), has directed successful candidates in the first round of its 2016/2017 admission screening to pay non-refundable acceptance fee of N10,000. ‎

This is contained in the varsity’s bulletin obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos on Friday. ‎

It said the candidates were expected to report for clearance ‎from Nov. 7 and proceed with ‎the payment of the fee. ‎ ‎ The university directed the candidates to visit the LASU E-payment website to access guidelines for the approved procedure for the payment of the fee.


According to the bulletin, successful candidates are expected to appear before the Faculty, School and College clearance team‎ with evidence of payment, and original and photocopies of credentials, among others.

Source: http://guardian.ng/features/new-students-to-pay-n10000-acceptance-fee-at-lasu/

​Emirates Airlines has officially shut down its operations in Abuja, Nigeria.

The airline had announced that it would suspend its four flights per week from Abuja to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with effect from yesterday.

“The decision was made after a review of the airline’s operations to ensure the best utilisation of its aircraft fleet for its overall business objectives. The airline continues to serve Nigeria with a daily flight to and from Lagos,” the airline said in a statement.

Minister of State for Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika had last week met with Regional Manager, West Africa of Emirates, Manoj Nair, where he urged foreign airlines to rescind the decision to scale down operations in Nigeria.

The Emirates representative told the minister that the airline’s inability to access foreign exchange for its operations, high cost of aviation fuel and the state of the Abuja Airport runway were some of the factors responsible for its decision to cut operations.

Source: http://latestnews.com.ng/emirates-airlines-shuts-down-operations-in-abuja

The seventh prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former National Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, has explained how the N400 million transferred to the latter was allegedly expended.

Mr. Richard Ihediwa told the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, that out of the amount said to have been given to Metuh, N21 million was spent to acquire media intervention centre, where journalistic and advocacy works were carried out.

According to him, the money was paid through the account of Chief Tony Anenih, and that though the property located in Asokoro area of Abuja did not belong to the latter, he, however, assisted the team in securing it.


“The amount covered the cost of hiring the structure, pool vehicles as well as security gadgets at the centre.”
The witness said members of staff of the centre were converted to work for the team.

The witness, led in evidence by the counsel to the first defendant, Chief Emeka Etiaba (SAN), also told Justice Okon Abang’s court that there were groups co-ordinated by government functionaries, including the late Oronto Douglas and Malam Abbah Dabo, for the same advocacy.

While he was not very certain about how much money was released to the late Douglas, he said the sum of N25 million was however given to Dabo in line with alleged directives of former President Goodluck Jonathan as mobilisation for advocacy groups they co-ordinated.

Narrating the circumstances leading to the alleged transfer of the said N400 million to Metuh, Ihediwa said, among others: “When it came to the turn of our team to make presentation before the former President and other top government functionaries in a meeting conveyed by him, the lead consultant, Yomi Badejo, was called upon and he reviewed the issues raised by the former President regarding the worries of the government over tension in the polity across the country.

“At that time, there was tension in the six geo-political zones of the country. In the South-South, there was problem of agitations for resource control and militancy issues.

“In the South-East, there were issues of kidnapping, and a section of the citizenry was also agitating for self-determination.

“In the South-West, there was an issue of demand for the implementation of the National conference reports. Some leaders from the region were already agitating for self-determination for the region.

“In the North, there was problem of insurgency in the North-East and that of religious crises in other parts of the region. On the whole, the stability of the nation was at stake. There were also perceptions in some sections of the country that the problem was because of certain things the government did or did not do at that time.

“So, the lead consultant reviewed these issues and went ahead to state the strategies the team was presenting as solution. It was an elaborate presentation.

“It showed that intervention in terms of advocacy and assuring the citizens on the fact that government was doing a lot to protect lives and property was urgently needed.”

According to him, at the end of the presentation, those at the meeting reached a consensus that Metuh’s team was in the best position to handle the intervention.

The trial was adjourned till November 15 and 16 .

Source: http://guardian.ng/news/how-metuh-disbursed-n400m-for-media-project/

igerian author and Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka has said he will destroy his green card, a permanent residence permit for the US, if Republican Party’s candidate in the November 8 US presidential election, Donald Trump, is elected.

“The moment they announce his [Trump’s] victory, I will cut my green card myself and start packing up,” said Soyinka in a video of a conversation with students at Oxford University in the UK.


Soyinka said he feared Donald Trump would ask all green-card holders to reapply to come back into the US.
Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton also painted a grim picture of a Trump presidency on Thursday, warning undecided voters as the ever tighter White House race entered its final five-day stretch.

“Imagine it is January 20, 2017, and imagine that it is Donald Trump standing in front of the Capitol,” Clinton told a 15,000-strong crowd in Tempe, triggering a chorus of boos for her Republican opponent.

“Imagine that he is taking the oath of office and then imagine that he is in the Oval Office making the decisions that affect your lives and your future,” she said.

Source - http://guardian.ng/news/i-will-tear-my-green-card-if-donald-trump-wins-soyinka-says/

You do have a point

Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed has indicted the Federal Government and state governors for the existence of corrupt judges.

Mohammed’s indictment of the executive was contained in a letter sent to Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

According to him: “The failure on the part of the executive arm of government to act upon recommendations by the National Judicial Council (NJC) cannot be blamed upon the NJC.”


The letter with reference No.CJN/Gen/MISC/A37/Vol.XXI/8 and signed by the Senior Special Assistant, H. S. Sa’eed, to the CJN, was in response to SERAP’s request to Mohammed to “take over from the Department of State Services (DSS) the cases of all the seven judges and refer them to anti-corruption agencies for conclusion of investigation and prompt prosecution.”
The CJN added: “Certainly, you will agree with me that where there are clear constitutional provisions relating to the power of any individual, institution or arm of government, then it cannot deviate nor exceed such powers as this will be unlawful.

“While restating the willingness of the NJC to act upon any petition as well as commitment of the Nigerian judiciary to the fight against corruption, his Lordship opines that any significant involvement in the fight against corruption will be upon a similar commitment of the prosecutorial agencies to actively prosecute their cases expeditiously when information about same is received.

“It is necessary to restate that the NJC is a creation of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) being established under Section 153 with its mandate clearly set out in Para 21, Part One of the Third Schedule to the Constitution. This provision clearly stipulates at Para 21(b) and (d) that the Council may only ‘recommend’ to the President and the governors the removal from office of judicial officers and to exercise disciplinary control over such judicial officers, which in effect is the extent of its power to discipline. Hence, the Council cannot, suo moto dismiss any judicial officer.”

Source: http://guardian.ng/news/blame-fg-governors-for-corrupt-judges-says-cjn/

I have in the last few months been travelling from Lagos to my hometown of Achina in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State at a high frequency for reasons which need not be stated here. I have been going by road because the road is today much better and safer than, say, this time last year. Another reason is to have a firsthand experience with a view to reporting to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who always solicits for such frank reports with a view to taking appropriate action.

Whereas the Onitsha-Asaba-Benin-Ore sections of the Lagos to Onitsha Highway have in the last few years been generally good, the Lagos-Sagamu-Ore sections are in a mess. One is glad to report that tremendous reconstruction work is currently taking place in the worst of all the failed sections. Reynold Construction Company (RCC) has divided the Lagos-Sagamu-Ore sections into four parts and is working on them simultaneously in a rather frenetic manner, even in the rains.
In a fashion reminiscent of the mass attack style, RCC is reconstructing what remains of the Ondo State section of the highway, the Ijebu Ode part, the Sagamu end as well as the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. When I was driving from Anambra State to Lagos two days ago, I had to stop briefly at the Ijebu Ode site because what is going on there looks more like new construction rather than rehabilitation. Rev Sister Christy Okonkwo, an impressed Catholic nun who is from Nnewi in Anambra State and works with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Congregation at Epe in Lagos State, remarked after watching the massive deployment of equipment, machines and human resources: “There is still hope for Nigeria”.


Until now, such massive reconstruction which always resulted in the closure of at least one side of the highway invariably led to traffic gridlock. Reverend Sister Christy narrated how she and her colleagues spent three hours on one spot while going for the funeral of a colleague’s relative. Like the rest of her colleagues, she consequently developed a phobia for travelling by road to the Southeast and South-south from Lagos. But this time traffic is directed professionally not just by the RCC workers and Federal Road Safety Commission officials but also by teams of police and army personnel whose presence has injected discipline and order in the heads of commercial motorists, especially those of minibuses whose irresponsible driving exacerbates traffic gridlock.
What is more, the conspicuous presence of soldiers in particular has driven away armed robbers and kidnappers from the highway. Capitalising on the failed portions which naturally forced motorists to stop, kidnappers on one occasion shot an Igbo priest with the Warri Catholic Diocese in the hand and took away a young boy with him; on another occasion, they abducted nuns of the St. Louis Congregation in Ondo State who were travelling on a bus and hid them in a thick forest for a whole 10 days. Today all this criminal nonsense has become history.


While driving through Benin, we noticed there were two awfully failed sections of this extraordinarily busy highway. One is directly opposite the NIPCO filling station on the Benin-Agbor section of the road while the other is on the Benin Bypass. Mr. Fashola was contacted on his personal phone, and he quickly began to ask questions about the exact locations, extent of failures and the impact on traffic. It was evident that the officials of the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) had yet to report the failed parts to him. When he was satisfied with details of the failed portions, he promised to immediately get in touch with the contractor to assess the rehabilitation and revert to him. Talk of responsive leadership. Talk of working with passion and commitment.

One thing about Fashola is that he executes every assignment as though his life depended on it. He is, to a considerable extent, the face of what the Catholic Church has in recent decades popularised as the common good. He is also a considerable representation of the concept of servant leadership. A few weeks ago when it was brought to his knowledge that the Asaba end of the Lagos-Onitsha Expressway had collapsed, he immediately directed Julius Berger which was working on another project in the neighbourhood to move to the site of the failed part. Work is going on there right now. This work is going on in the rainy season which interestingly has always been given as a reason by governments in Nigeria for suspending infrastructure work. But Fashola is a different kind of fish, as we have seen right from his days as the Lagos State governor.


One has not in the last few months been travelling to other parts of the country, but one understands that road reconstruction is taking place all over the federation everywhere there is a provision in the budget for it. Even the most awfully failed part of the Okija-Ihiala-Uli-Egbu-Oguta-Ahoada linking Anambra, Imo and Rivers states which is not captured in this year’s budget is being rehabilitated because it is considered a national emergency.

It has to be noted that RCC, Julius Berger and Integrated Services Ltd are among several companies which moved to sites before the release of the first quarter of this year’s budget. They went to work without the payment of mobilisation fees in these economically hard times because of their trust in the integrity of the minister. As management experts have long noted, integrity or character is a most invaluable asset in business transactions whether in the private or public sector. In other words, as more releases are made, both the scope and intensity of road work by the Federal Government will escalate.

Fashola assumed duties as the Minister of Power, Works and Housing only last November, that is, less than a year now. Before he could settle in office, take stock of things, make his own projections and then mobilise funds, critics had gone to town, with some wondering if he could run this enlarged ministry successfully. If Fashola could excel as the Lagos State governor in a way which earned him great praise and awards from the greatest global media and think tanks, he should be expected to continue on the trajectory of high service delivery. Now that work is going on even in the rainy season on federal roads, why have even the media been shy to report it? Well, if the media fail to report these developments, frequent road users like us who feel and experience the massive work daily cannot deny the evidence of our eyes.

Source: http://guardian.ng/opinion/fashola-at-work-why-is-no-one-talking/

Nigeria most prolific polygamist has spoken out to dismiss rumours of his death and assure people that he is very much alive and looking to bring more women into his life.

Mohammed Bello Abubakar, who rose to fame in 2008, for his ever expanding brood, which includes over 100 wives and 185 children told Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper: “My dear, I am very much alive, hale and hearty.”

The Muslim cleric, believed to be in his early nineties, was rumoured to have passed away after battling a disease, but he spoke to Nigerian press to dismiss the stories.

He said: “The rumour is baseless and can best be described as the work of my detractors because they envy what God has done and what He is still doing for me.

http://www.latestnews.com.ng/2016/10/20/nigerian-man-97-wives-alive/

The gifts were given in small contributions by several persons some of whom she cannot even now recall over this period of 15 years sometimes in as small a gift as N250,000 Naira.

She really has friends, lots of them.

Patience Jonathan, wife of former Nigerian President has explained in graphic details how she accumulated in 15 years $15million in several bank accounts linked to her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The explanation was given in court papers filed by a group that has sued Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) on her behalf. SERAP had filed a suit in court to compel the attorney-general of the Federation to take a legal action against Mrs. Jonathan.

Union of Niger Delta Youth Organisation for Equity, Justice and Good Governance suing for themselves and on behalf of Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan filed a suit number FHC/L/CS/1349/2016 before a Federal High Court in Lagos, alleging “campaign of calumny by SERAP against her.

“The funds in question were legitimate gifts from her friends and well-wishers over the last 15 years which she had been saving in order to utilize to upgrade family businesses and concerns which had been somewhat dormant by reason of the long period of her husband service as a public officer in Nigeria.

“The gifts were given in small contributions by several persons some of whom she cannot even now recall over this period of 15 years sometimes in as small a gift as N250,000 Naira. In order to preserve the value of these funds which she did not require for any purpose at the time she changed them into foreign exchange and kept them as cash for a long period in her home safe in Port Harcourt and Abuja.

http://www.latestnews.com.ng/2016/10/20/made-15m-patience-jonathan-replies/

The affected commissioners are Mr Folorunsho Folarin-Coker who was the commissioner for tourism and culture, Dr Mustapha Akinkunmi of the ministry of finance and commissioner for transportation, Dr Ekundayo Mobereola.

Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has sacked three commissioners from his cabinet exactly one year after they were sworn in.

No reason was given for their sack.

The affected commissioners are Mr Folorunsho Folarin-Coker who was the commissioner for tourism and culture, Dr Mustapha Akinkunmi of the ministry of finance and commissioner for transportation, Dr Ekundayo Mobereola.

http://guardian.ng/news/metro/ambode-sacks-three-commissioners/

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will meet the 21 Chibok girls that were freed on October 13 and their families at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday, Presidency Office of Digital Engagement said.

Buhari left for Germany last Thursday, a few hours after the girls were released. But they were received on his behalf by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo later on that day.

The girls were part of more than 200 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls held since April 14, 2014, by Boko Haram.

The presidency said in a statement that the girls were released after negotiations between Boko Haram, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian and Swiss governments.

The statement added that negotiations were ongoing, raising the prospect of more releases.

“These 21 released girls are supposed to be talebearers to tell the Nigerian government that this faction of Boko Haram has 83 more Chibok girls,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, told Reuters.

“The faction said it is ready to negotiate if the government is willing to sit down with them,” said Shehu, adding that the state is prepared to negotiate with the branch of Boko Haram.”

http://guardian.ng/news/buhari-meets-21-released-chibok-girls/?

Reuben Abati last Friday came out in The Guardian with a strange article he wants everybody to see as his great revelation of how the presidency he served for over four years was jinxed, with the entire Villa given over to the service of Satan. He titled the article “The spiritual side of Aso Villa”. Abati, as you know, served as Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 until the end of the Jonathan administration on May 29, 2015.

Since his return to his beat as a columnist in The Guardian, Abati has been using every article he puts out to try to recapture his lost voice and win back his audience. He lost all that when he abandoned his popular weekly columns and went to Abuja to serve President Jonathan. Though on his way to the corridor of power, he boasted he would keep up speaking for the masses the way he did why working for The Guardian as Chairman of the Editorial Board, it was ‘to your tent O Israel’ the moment Abati’s feet touched down at the Presidential Villa. He never kept the promise he made. Or if he ever advised Jonathan on ways to better the lot of the common man, the public never got to hear of it. Now Abati has come out with what I perceive as a self-serving article to explain away why all the ‘wise advice’ he and his colleagues gave to President Jonathan turned out sounding foolish in the public perception, just like when God turned the wise counsel of Ahithophel, David’s counsellor to foolishness!

Now, hear Abati: “When Presidents make mistakes, they are probably victims of a force higher than what we can imagine…When you issue a well- crafted statement, the public accepts it wrongly. When the President makes a speech and he truly means well, the speech is interpreted wrongly by the public. When a policy is introduced, somehow, something just goes wrong…Those mistakes don’t look normal.”


If you are doubting all this coming from Abati, one of Nigeria’s foremost public affairs commentators and a media professional with a multi-disciplinary background in drama, management, journalism, law, and so on, then I don’t know what you are going to think of him when you read this one too: “I am therefore convinced that there is an evil spell enveloping this country. We need to rescue Nigeria from the forces of darkness. Aso Villa should be converted into a spiritual museum, and abandoned.”

Truly, I have several problems with this article. Apart from what I have already said, the article is self-serving, that is, it is an attempt by the writer to ingratiate himself with his lost audience. I think if Abati wanted to be fully believed, he should have opened up and told us his own involvement in witchcraft in the Villa. Or if he felt that’s too heavy to admit openly, at least, let him tell the readers how on coming to the Villa he had to join in the worship of Satan once he discovered Satan was the god every occupant in the Villa worshipped in order to stay alive! Rather than confessing to that, Abati presented himself as a small baby who had never heard about Satan or Satan worship until he took up the Jonathan’s appointment and resided in the Villa! That’s very fantastic for an Abeokuta man!


Abati claimed he came to the villa “using Lux soap, but that most people around the place always bathed in the morning with blood. Goat blood. Ram blood. Whatever animal blood…” And for not following his fellow occupants at the Villa in bathing in blood, Abati here recalls the direct consequence of that foolishness: “I really don’t envy the people who work in Aso Villa, the seat of Nigeria’s Presidency (But Abati was there for four years; he didn’t resign!). For about six months, I couldn’t even breathe properly. For another two months, I was on crutches. But I considered myself far luckier than the others who were either nursing a terminal disease or who could not get it up.” He concludes by choosing to talk like Donald Trump, the American loquacious Republican Presidential candidate, who never cares a hoot about the untruthfulness of most of the things he says. Hear Abati as he signs off his fantastic piece: “Aso Villa is in urgent need of redemption. I never slept in the apartment they gave me in that Villa for an hour.” Truly?

I believe Abati wrote: “The spiritual side of Aso Villa” as a satire but if indeed he meant what he said about the presidential abode, I would agree with him that the Villa should be “converted into a spiritual museum, and abandoned.” But Abati should have suggested this while he was still savouring the glory of his office…


http://guardian.ng/opinion/abati-presidential-villa-and-witchcraft/

Reports from England suggest Arsene Wenger is prepared to keep Alex Iwobi at the club with a new deal, his second in six months.

Alex Iwobi who has been in an impressive form for Arsenal since breaking into the senior team will get a new pay rise by Arsene Wenger based on his brilliant form this season.

Alex Iwobi signed a £25,000-a-week deal in April this year but is now in line for a further extension and more than double his current earnings.

Iwobi will now join Hector Bellerin, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, all who are currently discussing newer contracts with Arsenal.

http://www.arsenalnews.com.ng/2016/10/09/arsenal-set-offer-alex-iwobi-new-contract/

Alex Iwobi scored his first international goal for Nigeria against Zambia in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday.

Iwobi has been in fine form for Arsenal, now scoring his debut goal worth the screens for Nigeria and this will only complement praises by German star and World Cup winner, Mesut Ozil who compared him to his uncle and Edgar Davids.

Speaking to ESPN, Mesut Ozil says Iwobi is a mixed talent of Jay Jay Okocha and Dutch legend, Edgar Davids and believes he would enhance his game if he continues playing this way for the whole of the season.

“He reminds me of his uncle, Jay-Jay Okocha,” Ozil told ESPN FC. “He was a player I loved watching.

“Alex reminds me of a mixture of him and Edgar Davids. He’s really strong on the ball, also defensively, but he’s good in front of goal too.

“He’s developing really well and if he continues the way he’s been playing for the whole season, he will enhance his game.

“The manager knows exactly how good he is and I wish him all the best.”


http://www.arsenalnews.com.ng/2016/10/09/mesut-ozil-alex-iwobi-reminds-jay-jay-okocha/

Not in the next 8 years though

lmao. Hopefully he does.

The University of Ibadan (UI) has been ranked 600th among the best 1,000 universities in the world.

UI achieved this feat in the latest 2016/2017 ranking, which was carried out by Times Higher Education (THE). The result showed that UI is the only Nigerian university that made it to the top 1,000 globally ranked universities.

The latest ranking was based on teaching, research, citations of scholarly publications, industry income and international outlook.

Despite being the only university, which entered the list of top universities in the world, University of Ibadan came behind South African universities with University of Cape Town ranking 148 followed by Stellenbosch University (401) and University of KwaZulu Natal (501).

University of Ghana Legon (601) is the only university from Ghana in the latest ranking and it is ranked after Nigeria’s premier university.
Only 22 universities across Africa made it to the world-class universities with South Africa and Egyptian universities dominating.

Reacting to the latest ranking, Vice Chancellor University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka said the institution is blessed with world-class scholars who are dedicated to their calling and must be engaged by Nigeria to solve her problems.

Describing the latest ranking as a welcome development, Olayinka urged the Federal Government to allocate special funding to the institution to improve research infrastructure to rise further in future ranking.

“The truth of the matter is that the Times Higher Education Rankings is one of the elite global ranking bodies. It is a thing of joy that we have a respectable position in comparison to peer universities in Africa. This is message to the Federal Government of Nigeria that we need funding to improve our research infrastructure and funding support in order to enhance productivity.

“We congratulate all faculty, staff and students who have made this feat possible. The Federal Government should learn to use research output from the University of Ibadan to solve problems facing the country. We cannot have world class scholars in Nigeria and rely on those who have never conducted researches on our problems to come and solve our problems.”

http://guardian.ng/news/ui-is-600th-in-ranking-of-best-1-000-global-varsities/

Nigeria will spend an equivalent of its 2016 budget to service debts as its currency, the naira, continues to lose value against the United States dollar.

Devaluation has put the real value of the country’s debt stock at around N18.9 trillion, when considered at the official rate of N307.79 per dollar, according to figures from the Debt Management Office.

The additional naira stock (per dollar) that would be needed to service existing debt will cause the country to lose about N6.33 trillion, a near-equivalent of the 2016 budget, when compared to N12.6 trillion at N197 per dollar as at December 31, 2015. It is also a disincentive for future external borrowing despite a positive debt-to-GDP ratio.

http://guardian.ng/news/nigeria-loses-n6-33tr-to-naira-devaluation/

“Hiding under the mantra of low debt-to-Gross Domestic Product is deceitful,” a public sector financial analyst, who asked not to be named, told The Guardian in Lagos at the weekend. “The economy is in recession and cannot churn out those activities anymore.
“If we compare our debt service bill without revenue earnings ratio, it is not sustainable and that is where foreign investors will be looking at to price our international bonds,” the public sector analyst said.

“With more than 21 per cent of the entire budget dedicated to debt service and more than 33 per cent of the total budget being in deficit, the budget performance is now made worse with near-non-activities called recession. The reality is daunting,” the source said.

The additional N6.33 trillion required to pay off Nigeria’s external debt represents 20.58 per cent, a one-fifth of its estimated $296 billion, or N91 trillion GDP.

The national debt stock consists of external obligations for both federal and state governments estimated at $11.3 billion (about N3.5 trillion); domestic obligations of $37.5 billion (about N11.5 trillion) and $12.7 billion (about N3.9 trillion) for federal and states respectively.

The devaluation was necessitated by the plummeted foreign exchange earnings, which created huge unmet demand due to the shortage of dollar and naturally erased the value of the local currency through speculations.

The debt report released by the Debt Management Office came two weeks behind schedule and put the debt stock by June 30, 2016 at $61.45 billion. The report stressed that the figure was higher in naira value than the $71.66 billion posted on March 31, 2016.

The amount, also at current official rate of N307.93 per dollar is higher than the estimated $65.43 billion debt worth N12.6 trillion as at December 31, 2015, at N197/$.

With a planned N1.8 trillion borrowing to fund the N2.2 trillion deficit in 2016 budget, from a mix of dollar-denominated and local debts, the country’s obligations and associated service bill will rise to new record high soon.

Already, the 2016 budget had a debt service provisioning in excess of N1.4 trillion, representing more than one-fifth of the entire budget plan.

The combined forces of devaluation and inflation, also took toll on the nation’s economic activities between December 2014 and 2015, eroding naira value, as well as pushing the sovereign debt stock to ₦12.12 trillion.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in November 2014, tactically devalued the naira and barely three months later, it devalued the local unit further to ₦199/$.

Besides the concern for eroded value of the currency, which requires more naira to offset the debt stock when denominated in dollar terms, a conservative estimate of about N920 billion was lost to the then exchange rate, occasioned by devaluation, even at lower debt stock of $63.5 billion (June 2015), compared to $67.7 billion in December 2014.

The national debt stock as at then showed that the Federal and States external obligations as at December 31, 2014, stood at ₦11.2 trillion ($67.7 billion), but moved to ₦12.06 trillion ($63.5 billion) three months later and ₦12.12 trillion ($63.8 billion) as at June 30, 2015.

Given the eroding value, Nigeria lost about ₦920 billion to devaluation, with respect to the debt stock, representing 8.2 per cent loss over the actual value in six months.

Also within the period under review, the inflationary trend has been on persistent upward movement. Although still in single digit, it moved from eight per cent to 9.4 per cent, trend, defying all liquidity tightening measures of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Still, the estimation of ₦920 billion loss appears to be conservative, given the fact that the domestic debts of sub-national governments (states) were denominated in dollar at the 2013 exchange rate of ₦155.7/$, which is not attainable now.

For example, if the states’ domestic debt profiles were denominated in current dollar exchange rate at ₦307.79, the total estimate would push losses far beyond N1 trillion mark.

Source: http://guardian.ng/news/nigeria-loses-n6-33tr-to-naira-devaluation/

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has urged Nigerians to be of good courage, saying the present administration would take the country out of the current economic challenge.

At a church service in Abuja, yesterday, to mark Nigeria’s 56th independence anniversary, he said: “This leadership will take us across the Red Sea and take us to the new Nigeria. The promise of God to our nation is that He is building a new Nigeria; a Nigeria where there will be peace from the North East to the Niger Delta; a Nigeria where the economy will experience abundance and prosperity, where there will be job for the jobless; a Nigeria led by honest and committed leadership, where Christians, Muslims, men of different faiths and ethnic groups will live and work together in peace and harmony. We are on our way out of the wilderness to the land flowing with milk and honey.”

The economic recession is self-imposed. To surmount it, the government in power must look beyond its political party, seek the advice of experts and divine intervention, said president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Dr. Samson Ayokunle.

Ayokunle said Nigerian leaders have not been wise, like Biblical Pharaoh, who sought counsel on how to manage resources in a time of abundance. He said instead of investing, the country’s leaders squandered the resources and amassed wealth for themselves, at the expense of the land.
Speaking on ‘Wisdom that prevails over economic recession’, Ayokunle said: “Our leaders need divine revelation from God, to get the country out of the recession. We must come out of this situation. We can’t leave this as legacy for our children. The solution is not in one man and it is not limited to the Federal Executive Council.

“President Buhari must look beyond his political party and look for experts beyond Nigeria for brainstorming, and be ready to receive advice. The leadership must show ability to listen. The counsel that will bring solution is not limited to a group of people. Have listening ears, even if the advice is coming from your enemy. As we call on God for wisdom, to handle these matters, help will come from above, and our economy will bounce back again.”

http://guardian.ng/news/buhari-will-take-nigeria-to-promised-land-says-osinbajo/

The Road Traffic Act 1959, makes it mandatory for all vehicle owners to have at least a third party cover to provide compensation for other road users in the event of bodily injuries, death or property damage resulting from the use of the car.
Motor insurance plans come in three categories; Third Party Motor Insurance, Third Party Fire and Theft and Comprehensive Motor Insurance. What is the difference?


Third Party Motor Insurance and Third Party Fire and Theft – Third Party Motor Insurance covers damage to others as the result of an accident that is deemed your fault while Third Party Fire and Theft covers damage to others and loss of vehicle resulting from a fire incident or theft.

Comprehensive Motor Insurance Plan – covers loss or damage to the insured vehicle by fire, theft, and accidental collision, Legal liability for damage to other vehicles and damage to property belonging to Third parties and in some cases medical expenses for both the policy holder and third party.
What You need to know about Motor Insurance in Nigeria

Pricing – as the saying goes, ‘you get what you pay for’. Cost of Motor insurance varies from company to company and the extent of cover is different as well. When buying motor insurance, people tend to compare rates but never bother to find out the extent of cover for each rate and this gap always leads to dissatisfaction at the point of claims.

Depreciation - this simply means that at the point of claim, you get paid the market value of your car and not the value you insured for. Some comprehensive plans use deprecation while others don’t. If you want to get full value at all times, discuss depreciation with your insurer.

Claims – all insurance companies pay claims but the turnaround time is different. While some companies can pay within 48 hours other stay one to three months. It would make sense to discuss turnaround time before signing any contract.

Accessibility and Authenticity – It’s a digital world, insurance companies have website and some of these website are e-commerce enabled. You can also get the list of registered insurance company from the website of the National Insurance Commission; http://www.naicom.gov.ng.

Fraudsters have also taken advantage of the legal backing on Motor insurance to flood the market with cheap and fake insurance plans. Many motorists have fallen victim of this. To check the authenticity of your Motor insurance, visit; http://www.askniid.org or text policy number*plate number to 33125

Find out more, visit http://www.ensure.com.ng