This is disheartening! I pray that GOD will give strength to victims of terrorism and violent crimes across the globe.

I'm speechless! This is so touching. This young men are giving their all for our safety and the unity of Nigeria. God bless our gallant forces.

Like him or hate him. Governor Fayose is loved by his people.

Beautiful! The President's seeming love for children is endearing.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministers-designate are unwilling to declare their assets publicly,Saturday PUNCHhas learnt.
Some of the ministers-designate said they were only bound by the constitution to declare their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau and not publicly.

Buhari and the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, have declared their assets publicly, but the Presidency recently said it would not compel ministers to do the same.

Many of the ministers-designate insisted that they did not have to do more than is required by the constitution, irrespective of Buhari and Osinbajo’s actions. Meanwhile, only a few of Buhari’s ministers-designate are willing to emulate him and Osinbajo.

One of the ministers-designate, Mr. Ibrahim Jibril, from Nasarawa State, said he was under no obligation to declare his assets publicly when assigned portfolio.
Jibril, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Ibrahim Umar, said, “It is not necessary to emulate Buhari and Osinbajo.”

After several telephone calls to get the view of the minister-designate from Niger State, Abubakar Bawa Bwari, on the issue were not answered, our correspondent sent him a text message, which he also did not reply.
Later, Bwari however answered a subsequent call that was placed on his number, saying, “I got your text, and I’m in a meeting right now. Thank you.”

The minister-designate from Oyo State, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, was also noncommittal, saying the constitution does not make it compulsory.

The minister-designate from Ondo State, Prof. Cladius Daramola, declined to comment on whether he would declare his assets publicly, saying he had no assets to declare.
Daramola said, “I have no comment. I don’t have assets; I am a teacher and my children are my only assets.”

Daramola’s counterpart from Cross River State, Usani Uguru Usani, also declined to comment on the issue of public declaration of assets.
“Until I take office, I will not speak to the press,” he said.

Prof. Isaac Adewole, a nominee from Osun State, expressed his readiness to declare his assets publicly if required to do so.

Efforts to speak with Chief Audu Ogbe, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Mr. James Ocholi were not successful as they neither responded to calls nor text messages sent to their mobile telephone lines.
When one of our correspondents spoke to Mr. Hakeem Bello, the media adviser to Fashola, he said he did not know his principal’s plan but would find out if he was able to reach him later.

However, other sources close to Fashola toldSaturday PUNCHthat the former Lagos State governor would not declare his asset publicly to avoid controversy that might stem from the action.

The nominee from Edo State, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, declined to comment on the issue in a telephone conversation with one of our correspondents on Thursday.

However, the minister-designate from Ogun State, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, also expressed readiness to declare her assets publicly.
She responded with “of course” when our correspondent sent her a text message to get her view on the issue.

Mr. Solomon Dalung from Plateau State said he would declare his assets soon. He toldSaturday PUNCHthat he had already collected his assets declaration form, saying “Very soon. I have collected the form.”

On whether minister-designate from Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, will declare his assets publicly if confirmed as a minister, the APC Publicity Secretary in the state, Mr. Chris Finebone, described the decision as personal.

Source: PUNCH Newspaper

There were indications on Friday that the Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, may have given the approval for the suspension of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Anne Odey, following a directive that banned devotions in public and private schools in the state.

Odey had on October 21 written to all the private and public primary and secondary schools in the state, ordering them to suspend morning and afternoon devotions subsequent to an intelligence report that bordered on security.

The government said the directive violated civil service rules.
The Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Tina Agbor, said in a statement that Ayade had directed the setting up of a three-man panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the circular without recourse to higher authorities, but the State Security Adviser, Mr. Jude Ngaji, said the governor had ordered Odey’s suspension.

According to the statement by Agbor, the panel is to be chaired by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Ivara Esu, with the Secretary to the State Government as the secretary.
However, in an interview with journalists on Friday, Ngaji said the governor had directed that the permanent secretary be suspended indefinitely and the ban on schools’ devotion lifted immediately.

He said, “It is true that the police got intelligence information that Boko Haram are planning to bomb schools during morning devotion and therefore directed authorities in the Ministry of Education to act fast.”

Source: PUNCH Newspaper.

That moment when Senator Adeleke jumped up in excitement with thumbs up was epic. Very priceless moment!

This is so sad. She personally operated on my child and was part of the team of Doctors for two other surgeries on him during a long sojourn in her unit in LUTH.

Dr Hestianna Thomas was so dedicated and passionate about her job and contributed so much in saving my kid. I had planned to acknowledge her kindness and the great role she played in a book I'm writing about the experience. You couldn't help but like her.

How could such a beautiful soul exit this world in such a horrible manner?

Rest in the bosom of the Lord, Doc.

Such an insightful but abandoned thread. Where is Quincy? His services seems to be top-notch. I should be in Ghana next month.

This is so touching. We all must strive to be kind to the helpless.

Scores of people were feared dead and others injured when a six storey plaza in the heart of the popular Balogun Market in Lagos was gutted by fire on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the plaza is surrounded by several important business premises, which included the Union Bank, Diamond Bank and the United Bank for Africa.

NAN also observed that the plaza, which was being used as a wholesale and retail outlet for shoes and bags, is directly beside and attached to Union Bank building.

Investigations revealed that the fire started at about 9am and was battled by a team of combined firefighters from the Union Bank and UBA before the arrival of the Lagos State Fire Service.

Some eyewitnesses, who spoke to NAN, said some people, who jumped out from various floors of the burning plaza to escape the fire, were carried away dead.

Mallam Hamza Abdullahi, a trader in the market, told NAN that he saw three dead bodies and five people, who were wounded.

“People were shouting and jumping down from up stairs. I saw a woman dead with her skull open,” he said.

Mrs. Florence Adewunmi, a staff member of the Lagos State Ambulance Mobile Intensive Care Service, stationed at the scene told NAN that some victims had been stabilised and transferred to hospital.

Adewunmi added, “There are several casualties. We got a distress call at about 10am that there was a fire outbreak at Balogun, behind UBA.

“We proceeded here and learnt that they have rushed some people to General Hospital, Lagos, but we met some casualties on the ground.

“The patients jumped from the second, third and fourth floor and had fractures and varying degrees of injuries.

“There were those that inhaled too much smoke, so we gave some oxygen, some Dyclofenac injection; we treated ankle dislocations; we sutured deep cuts before carrying them to General Hospital, Lagos.

“So far, we have carried six people to hospital and discharged four after treatment.”

One of shopowners, who deals on female shoes, Mr Nonso Christian, told NAN that he came to the plaza at 10am and met it on fire.

“I met the plaza on fire and I tried to go in to bring out my goods but I couldn’t because the fire is too much.

“My shop is on the second floor and I just re-stocked on Monday. I don’t know what to do because the second floor is still on fire,” he said.

Several other shopowners, who were wailing while watching the fire, declined comment. One of them simply said “we are sad, this hard economy. Where do I start from?’’

A security man attached to Union Bank, Mr. Umoru Monday, told NAN that the fire started a few minutes before 9am.

Source: Punch Newspaper

The security officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria on Thursday prevented a suspect (names withheld) from trafficking $271,14 (N54.35m) through the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja.

The FAAN Deputy General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mr Onyekwere Nnaekpe, made the discosure in a statement in Lagos.

The statement said the money was found on a cleaner (names withheld) attached to one of the cleaning contractors at the airport.

It added that the FAAN official apprehended the suspect during a pat down at one of the screening points at ‘D’ Finger of the international terminal.

According to it, some of the foreign currency was found on the suspect while the remaining amount was found in the sanitary bucket which he was trying to pass through screening.

The statement said the cleaner was trying to convey the foreign currency to an accomplice at the sterile area of the terminal.

It stated that the suspect was immediately handed over to the appropriate security agencies at the airport for further investigation

Source: Punch Newspaper

Federal Government has ordered the Department of State Security Service (DSS) to henceforth carry out screening of all crew members of airlines, especially those operating regional and international routes.

According to a source in the Presidency, arrest of the Arik Air cabin crew at the Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom for drug was a national embarrassment.

As a swift reaction to the incident, the Presidency was said to have directed the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, Mrs. Binta Bello, to immediately write a circular to the DSS to carry out checks on cabin crew members while all the privileges they hitherto enjoyed should be scrapped.

Up till the incident, crew members were made to pass through the same security checks with the passengers, but they were given some privileges by the security operatives, which may have ended with the Monday arrest of the Arik crew member

Source: Tribune Newspaper

The Central Bank of Nigeria said on Wednesday that it had given approval to the request by the Deposit Money Banks to provide funds for state governments to enable them to pay the backlog of salaries of their workers.

This central bank stated this in a statement made available to our correspondent and signed by the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Mu’azu Ibrahim.
It said in the statement that the approval was based on the CBN’s decision to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to consider ways of liquidating the outstanding staff salaries owed by states and local governments.

The statement read in part, “The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the request by the Deposit Money Banks to provide financial accommodation to state governments to enable them to pay the backlog of salaries of their workers. “This is sequel to the decision by the National Executive Council at its meeting of 29th June, 2015 requesting the Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with other stakeholders, to appraise and consider ways of liquidating the outstanding staff salaries owed by state and local governments.

“The conditions for accessing the loan facility include resolutions of the State Executive Council authorising the borrowing and state house of assembly consenting to the loan package, as well as issuance of Irrevocable Standing Payment Order to ensure timely repayment.”

The statement said out of the 27 states involved, funds had been disbursed to two states, namely: Zamfara and Kwara states, which met the requirements as agreed with their respective banks. Efforts, it added, would be made in the coming days to conclude disbursements to other states so that all outstanding salaries to civil servants could be cleared.

The CBN approval is coming just three days after the Debt Management Office had said that the 11 states that had their commercial debts restructured into bonds would be paying an interest rate of 14.83 per cent of the value, which their debts to commercial banks were converted into.

The DG, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, had stated in Abuja that the 14.83 per cent would be paid by the 11 states whose debts had already been restructured in the first phase of the exercise. The restructuring, according to him, has already been effected. And with the arrangement, the bond, which had already been issued, would mature on July 18, 2034.

The first 11 states that got their debts to commercial banks restructured are Osun, N88.6bn; Delta, N69.8bn; Ogun, N55.4bn; Imo, N37.1bn; Ekiti, N18.8bn; Kwara, N15.6bn; and Edo, N11.9bn. Others are Benue, N10.9bn; Oyo, N9.1bn; Bauchi, N6.5bn and Kogi, N0.81bn.

Nwankwo had revealed that the impact of the debt management operations implied that the monthly debt service burden would reduce by a minimum of 55 per cent and a maximum of 97 per cent among the 11 states. Similarly, interest rate savings for the 11 states would now range from three per cent to nine per cent per annum

Source: Punch Newspaper

Give it to Dr. Ben Carson. He's exactly what America needs now.

She's beautiful and wonderfully made by God like every other female on planet earth.

That's serious!

africandictator:
guy go and get your fact right before quoteing me... Tee A grduated from unilag.. Fac of arts

You're right. He graduated from the University of Lagos but he actually studied Yoruba Language like the first guy indicated.

It's understandable. Adekunle is a promising act. A refreshing break from the lewd lyrics of Lil Kesh, his label mate.

That 'man' is Otunba Niyi Adebayo, former Governor of Ekiti State. Both 'men' are just exchanging pleasantries. Nothing more.

Arsenal. That's indisputable!

*Modified* I said it. The Community Shield is ours now. Congrats Gunners!

Good development! Nigeria of our dreams is beginning to unfold.

Smart choices. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Nothing special. They're both key figures in the ruling political party.

The Lagos State Government has given okada (motorcycle) riders in the state 21-day ultimatum to leave restricted routes.

The government met with okada unions on Thursday at the state secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, where the ultimatum was given.

The Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Tunji Bello, who chaired the meeting, said the government decided to give the riders 21-day ultimatum for the unions to sensitise their members to vacate the restricted routes before enforcement would begin.

He said. “We have held a meeting with the okada unions on what should be done. We had a meeting with security agencies before now on the resurgence of okada riders on the highways.

“They said they thought that the government had relaxed the law; there is no relaxation. We have decided to give them three weeks for enlightenment because we are not doing anything new; what we are doing is to re-enforce the law.”

Bello said when the law was introduced in 2012, okada accidents reduced.

He said, “We are not going back to that era again. For three weeks, they will educate their members on the need to leave the road. We need to save members of the public and the only way to do that is to restrict their movement and enforce our traffic law.”

The SSG stated that enforcement was relaxed during the last elections so that political parties would not capitalise on the enforcement for cheap political gains.

“We relaxed enforcement during the general elections because we didn’t want crisis and violence. We needed to avoid crisis at that time so that political parties would not capitalise on it. The enforcement will be in full force after three weeks. This is a law already in place and it has to be obeyed,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Oluseyi Coker, said the law restricting okada riders from major roads was still in force as the government had not suspended it.

He said, “We are doing this so that when we start enforcement, they will not say government did not caution them. The violation is much and we want the unions to educate their members.

“The Lagos State Government will do it right. We assure the residents that there will be normalcy on the road.”

Source: Punch Newspaper

Asa is arguably Nigeria's biggest musical export of our generation. A worthy successor to Baba Fela and King Sunny Ade in terms of the influence she wields globally.

Good move!

The joy of fatherhood

God bless you Sir.

A good start!

Beremx:
I am sure you bought the soap from those women who sell the soaps on trays. Their soaps are all fake.

If you wanna buy next time,buy in a shop

I actually bought it from a supermarket in my neighbourhood. When I told the shop owner about my discovery, she said the company salesman supplied it directly.