₦airaland Forum

Lawrence Summers, Obama's head of the National Economic Council, fell asleep today during a White House meeting. This would be funny normally, but considering he did the same thing during an economic speech by President Obama in February, it's hilarious.

Now, we don't really blame Summers, being in charge of fixing this mess has gotta be rough, but it doesn't inspire extra confidence during this crisis.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/24/political-figures-sleepin_n_169652.html#s20621&title=Larry_Summers

franco4christ: its only in Nigeria that such insults can be hurled at the President and the offender goes scotfree.If it is in developed countries, that guy is going to jail straight.may God help us in this country.

Really?

https://www.nairaland.com/639186/nigerian-political-class-foreign-counterparts#8055217

Around Alausa - Lagos State introduces the Medical Village

Despite the problems the health sector finds itself in, the state government is introducing a set-up similar to the Dubai Healthcare Centre (DHCC) where complete professional medical services can be provided.


With the brain drain of Nigerian medical experts to foreign countries, we have been depleted in terms of available professional services. The present face-off between the Lagos State Government and the doctors is escalating an already problematic situation which could cause more harm than good.

However, despite the conundrum the sector finds itself in, the state government is introducing a set-up similar to the Dubai Healthcare Centre (DHCC) where complete professional medical services can be provided. The project, called Medical Village, has been earmarked for development in Lekki Schemes I and II under the supervision of the New Towns Development Authority (NTDA).

The Scheme I project is a Medical Centre built on 3000sqm of land with a large enough parking lot located along T.F. Kuboye Street. The total land area for the project, including the construction of public institutions beside it, is about 0.43 hectares. The development in Lekki Scheme II along the road to Ogombo Village is more representative of the DHCC concept. According to the layout plan, it consists of two medical centres, 17 medical plots of 1000sqm, a school, a shopping centre and a public utility company along with spaces for recreational use and gardens. The whole development will be built on about 5.08 hectares with a total of 24 plots of various sizes for the different structures.

The Village is built strictly for medical practitioners as indicated in the application process which states that only corporate entities that are licensed to run medical outfits, or individuals, who are medical practitioners, will be eligible to purchase plots. Other criteria include being above 18 years, registered and licensed to practice in Nigeria or abroad and evidence of tax payment to the state government. Applicants are also expected to show the financial to complete the purchase and development.

The Medical Village could be the right step in the right direction as it may attract more Nigerian professionals abroad improving the medical service delivery and range. It may also attract interest from foreign medical practitioners or institutions adding more quality to the system. A chat with the NTDA office revealed that the project is yet to be launched officially but those in the medical profession should be alert to the opportunities offered and be ready to jump on the train to a better medical Nigeria.

http://www.castlesweekly.com/%28X%281%29S%28r5anr045mwqcrx55ckwosuim%29A%28IQ-ER0VbzQEkAAAAODI2ZDY5NjEtMjA3NC00ZmY0LThiNmMtZmJlYTI4YWQ3NmVlq930Dfzz11Rigcy2_ArtWZ6nf541%29%29/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=2147

Driver Sent To Prison For Blocking Fashola’s Convoy
Published on May 24, 2012

For allegedly blocking the Lekki-Epe Expressway with a truck at Ilasan area of Lekki, Eti- Osa, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, thereby causing obstruction to the convoy of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday, a driver, Mr. David Abiodun, 31, has been arrested by the police at Ilasan Division.

He was arraigned Wednesday before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, on a five-count charge of dangerous and reckless driving without regard to other road users and causing obstruction to the Lagos State governor’s convoy.

The police stated in the charge sheet that the accused was arrested when he used his Mack truck with registration number XY 33 GGE to block the entire lane on the Lekki-Epe Expressway for unjustifiable reasons and in the process prevented the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola and his convoy from having easy passage to their destination.

During interogation, it was alleged that Abiodun could not give satisfactory reasons on why he blocked the road.

He could not also produce his driver’s licence and the vehicle’s particulars on demand.

The offences, the police prosecutor, Inspector Clifford Ogu said, contravened Sections 28(i), 39(3) of the Traffic Act 548, 36 (P), 44 (1) Cap. 172, Vol. 7 of the Road Traffic Law of Lagos State of Nigeria and Section 126 (1) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and the presiding magistrate, Mrs. Famobiwo, granted him bail in the sum of N20,000 with two sureties in like sum who must produce evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government and they must also be resident in the state.

She adjourned the matter till 6 June, 2012 for mention.

The defendant was moved to Ikoyi Prison when he could not perfect his bail conditions.


http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/05/24/driver-sent-to-prison-for-blocking-fasholas-convoy/

LEKKI PHASE 2: NTDA Fools Gov Fashola
Published on May 23, 2012

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) was at Lekki Phase Two Estate yesterday to deliver nine roads built by a Chinese construction company.

The ceremony, which kicked off two hours behind schedule, was well attended by commissioners and special advisers, local government officials and residents of the estate.

As was the custom of the governor, he spoke about the significance of the roads, in the context of the efforts to provide infrastructure in the state. But when he veered into the other facilities that government had provided for the estate, residents present wondered if the governor was not talking about Victoria Garden City or Cooperative Estate in Badore, all private estates.

In the governor’s words, Lekki Phase Two has been provided all amenities required to get on with life.

“The water supply is ready, the electricity cables and poles are ready. Transformers have been installed and the street lights are on.”

The Governor added that one of the things observed by the government is that allottees were not coming to develop their land and this prompted government to intervene and locate one of its residential estates-Elegushi Housing Estate within the scheme in order to begin to populate the estate.

Governor Fashola observed that since he last visited the estate, some allottees have responded by developing structures on their land, a development which he observed as a sign that the investment and policy of the government are all working.

Residents of Lekki Phase 2 were quick to point out yesterday that the glowing impression Governor Fashola painted about the estate was far from reality.

To begin with, the estate which Fashola said has ‘water supply ready’, is yet to see any water flowing from government source.

Residents draw water from boreholes as the government’s water company is yet to start functioning, making people wonder why government spent hundreds of millions in building the water facility in the first instance.

True, there are indeed electricity poles and cables in some areas, but there is no electricity running through them. P.M.NEWS also found that many of the poles have not been connected with cables.

Yesterday’s show when the street lights on the roads commissioned by the governor were switched on was a mere deception to fool the governor—the New Town Development Authority and the contractors actually brought an electricity plant that powered the lights.

According to residents, people started moving into Lekki Phase Two about eight years ago. Despite the erection of electric poles and cables and transformers, there was no electricity supply in the estate until three years ago, after the residents frantic efforts to beg the PHCN to power one of the transformers then in place, bore fruit. Many of the other transformers that government on paper thought were in place and ‘working’, had been vandalized.

Today, there is only one transformer supplying electricity to residents and it was not the one that powered the street lights on Road 100 yesterday, P.M.NEWS learnt. The transformer is so overworked, so overloaded, that almost every other day, PHCN engineers carry out one repair after another on the transformer.

P.M.NEWS learnt that residents who attended the event yesterday itched for an opportunity to give the Governor an untainted report of the state of the estate, but they were completely blacked out.

Those who hoped that the governor would enter their estate through Road 14 or Road 15 or Democracy Road, were left disappointed as the NTDA officials took the governor’s convoy via the new roads just completed, giving the deceitful impression that all was well in the estate. Governor Fashola would need to visit the estate without the guided hands of the NTDA officials to see how many of the roads and bridges in the estate have fallen into disrepair, into very terrible shapes.

Road 14, the first access road to the estate from Ogombo Road has two major gullies that can swallow a truck. In the rainy season, as it is now, it is a forbidden road to residents and motorists. Road 15, now named Muis Banire Road is also in bad shape and that is the second access road to the estate. When it rains, residents usually make a detour to reach their homes. Road 4, that serves as a main artery of the estate, is also falling into bad shape, with gullies emerging at several points.

The Lekki Phase Two estate, in the opinion of many residents of the estate, is a good example of the shoddiness of bureaucrats in the state. At a time, when Nigerians live under security scare, the residents in this estate are open to attacks from many flanks since about 10 roads, lead into the estate, four alone from the abutting villages.

At a meeting residents held with the NTDA officials about 16 months ago, the need to fence the estate and centralize the entrance was raised. But they were told the matter had been sent to Governor Fashola for approval. Two state budgets after, the residents are still waiting for action.

The security lapses as P.M.NEWS learnt may just be one of the primary reasons allottees are not moving into the estate, as the Governor expected.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/05/23/lekki-phase-2-ntda-fools-gov-fashola/

Jacob Zuma
Portrait of a president

May 18th 2012, 16:38 by D.G. | JOHANNESBURG

UNLIKE Britain's queen, President Jacob Zuma does not often have his portrait painted. But a new likeness by a South African artist, Brett Murray, now showing at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, has the nation agog and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) frothing at the mouth.

In truth, hardly anyone had heard about the painting until the ANC issued a statement on May 17th expressing its "outrage" over the "disgusting" depiction of its revered leader and demanding its immediate removal from the gallery and the website of the only newspaper until then to give it any coverage. The portrait, the ANC thundered, was a violation of Mr Zuma's constitutional right to dignity and therefore illegal.

This sent South Africans rushing to the internet to see what all the fuss was about. There they found a stylised picture in yellow, black and pink of a bespectacled fully-dressed man, barely recognisable as Mr Zuma save for the characteristic bump at the back of his shaven head, looking sideways in an apparent heroic Leninesque pose, but with his genitals hanging out of his unzipped trousers. The painting, entitled "The Spear", is now splashed across the pages of virtually every newspaper in the land. It has just been sold for 136,000 rand (about $16,400).

Mr Zuma, who has four wives, two exes and 22 children by ten different women, was charged in 2005 with raping a struggle comrade's daughter, but was later acquitted. Two years ago a cartoon was published, depicting the president unbuckling his belt, about to rape a blindfolded "Lady Justice" being held down by his henchmen. Mr Zuma is suing the artist, Zapiro, South Africa's best-known political caricaturist, and the publishers of the cartoon for 5m rand. So the legal threats now being issued by the ANC are not to be taken lightly.

The ruckus has sparked off a lively debate over the limits of artistic licence versus an individual's right to dignity in a country where the freedom of the press is being squeezed. According to the catalogue of Mr Murray's exhibition at the gallery, the artist was simply trying to expose in a humorous manner the ruling elite's greed and paucity of morals. But Mr Murray has hit a nerve in a party not given to laughter when it is being criticised, however jokily.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2012/05/jacob-zuma

I wonder who the guy sitting on the left is.

The new French president (sitting on the right) is not even moved!

I wonder if he is thinking: "why are we wasting our time with this when there are more important issues to discuss!"

Cameron celebrates, Merkel sulks as Chelsea triumph

May 21, 2012

Chicago: British Prime Minister David Cameron savoured Chelsea’s win over German club Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on Sunday after watching the deciding penalty shootout with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a summit in the United States.

“It’s not often you get the opportunity to watch a penalty shootout between an English team and a German team and watch the English team win,” Cameron told reporters in Chicago before a NATO summit.

“There are many great privileges in this job but to be able to do that with the German chancellor was a great moment – but we did hug and make up afterwards,” he said.

Cameron was photographed with his arms thrust aloft in triumph while watching Saturday’s final on television with other world leaders during a break in the Group of Eight summit at the US presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, on Saturday.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (L to R) , US President Barack Obama, and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel watch the overtime shootout of the Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich. Reuters

In the photo Cameron was next to US President Barack Obama, with his mouth open in amazement, and Merkel, who looked disappointed.

Chelsea became the European champion when Didier Drogba made the last kick of the shootout in Germany after the match ended in a 1-1 stalemate after extra time.

It was sweet revenge for Cameron after he and Merkel watched part of Germany’s 4-1 thrashing of England at the 2010 World Cup on television at a Group of 20 summit in Toronto.

Cameron said he had to explain some of the finer points of Saturday’s penalty shootout to Obama “and he was beginning to catch up on the rules by the time it was over.”

“You’ve got the American president not fully understanding the rules of football, or soccer as he would call it, a very despondent German chancellor and, of course, another happy man in the room, which was the Russian prime minister (Dmitry Medvedev),” he said.

Chelsea’s success was built on the millions invested in the club in the past nine years by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Cameron said the leaders had watched a bit of the game and then he had insisted they get back to their discussion of weighty global matters, including the euro zone debt crisis.

“I got everyone back in the room but when the penalty shootout started Angela Merkel drifted away and after trying to focus minds on what we were talking about I drifted away too, obviously suspecting that an England-Germany penalty shootout was going to be another difficult night for me,” he said.

“That is why you see me being quite so elated when Drogba put that great penalty in,” he said.

Reuters

http://www.firstpost.com/world/cameron-celebrates-merkel-sulks-as-chelsea-triumph-315778.html

Ejiné: The work is being undertaken by the Italian company, Roche Constructions.

Here's another shot:

Italian company, Roche working for Rochas?

Thanks Naptu2

Labour peer Lord Ahmed denies Obama 'bounty' remarks


A Labour peer suspended by the party over reports that he offered a £10m "bounty" for the capture of Barack Obama has denied making the remarks.

A newspaper in Pakistan quoted Lord Ahmed offering cash for the capture of the US president and his White House predecessor George Bush at a reception in Haripur on Friday.

The Express Tribune said he spoke out in direct response to a US reward being offered for the capture of a prominent Pakistani radical.

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed founded the violent extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed by India for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed.

Labour moved swiftly to suspend the peer, pending an investigation.

"If these comments are accurate we utterly condemn these remarks, which are totally unacceptable," a spokeswoman said. "The international community is rightly doing all in its power to seek justice for the victims of the Mumbai bombings and halt terrorism."

But Ahmed complained that party chiefs had not spoken to him before announcing the move and challenged the party to produce evidence against him.

However, speaking from Pakistan, Ahmed admitted he had told the meeting that Bush and former Labour prime minister Tony Blair should be prosecuted for war crimes.

"They have suspended me? That's a surprise to me. I did not know," he said.

"If the Labour party want to suspend me I will deal with the Labour party. They will have to give me some evidence."

Asked about the reported comments, he said: "I never said those words. I did not offer a bounty. I said that there have been war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan and those people who have got strong allegations against them – George W Bush and Tony Blair – have been involved in illegal wars and should be brought to justice.

"I do not think there's anything wrong with that," he said, adding that he was equally concerned that anyone suspected of terrorism should face justice as well.

The newspaper said the peer called the US bounty on Saeed "an insult to all Muslims".

"If the US can announce a reward of $10m for the captor of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of £10m on President Obama and his predecessor George Bush," it quoted him as saying.

Lord Ahmed added that he would sell his house to fund it if necessary, the paper said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/apr/16/labour-peer-lord-ahmed-denies-obama-bounty/print

15 April 2012 Last updated at 14:51 GMT

[size=14pt]Jacob Zuma to wed for sixth time[/size]

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma will marry for the sixth time next weekend, making long-term fiancee Gloria Bongi Ngema his fourth current wife, his spokesman says.

Mr Zuma is a Zulu traditionalist, and polygamy is legal in South Africa.

His spokesman, Mac Maharaj, said the private ceremony would take place in Nkandla in KwaZulu Natal province.

Mr Zuma usually takes one wife with him on official events, on a rotating basis.

The marriage will be his sixth, but he is divorced from one wife and another took her own life in 2000.

The BBC's Southern Africa correspondent, Karen Allen, says Ms Ngema - a businesswoman from Durban - is already a familiar figure at the president's side.


Mr Zuma, who became president in 2009, recently celebrated his 70th birthday and has 21 children.

A statement on the president's website said there would be no cost to the government for next weekend's ceremony, nor did the state pay for the maintenance of the four spouses' households.

Mr Zuma was acquitted of rape charges in 2006, though he admitted having unprotected sex with the woman, who was HIV-positive, showering afterwards in the belief that this would reduce the chance of infection.

In 2009 he fathered a child out of wedlock with the daughter of a senior football official.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17721296

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17525708


On a narrow and sandy strait in Togo dozens of men, women and children plunge into the ocean and return with numerous containers which have been towed to shore by swimmers. Fuel is much cheaper in Nigeria compared to its neighbours as the government subsidises its price.

Daily deliveries provide an alternative supply to Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. The fuel is sold at up to 30% less than at the licensed pumps.

To ensure their valuable stock stays secure, young men take turns living in a small room with the fuel that has been smuggled out of Nigeria.

Young woman carrying fuel containers
Man by fuel bottles

A young woman carries empty jerry cans into a warehouse at the Togo-Benin border. A full barrel can be worth up to $300 (£190). Nigeria says the fuel subsidy costs the equivalent of more than $8bn a year, and attempted to cut it in January, but reversed its decision after a nationwide strike.

Na today?


Give us the IMF job, Europe shrieks

Posted by: CNN Anchor, Richard Quest

The Europeans are in a tricky position. They desperately want to keep the top job at the IMF, but they can’t be seen to be nakedly saying “it’s ours by right.”

So leaders from European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to finance ministers from Austria, Sweden and Denmark, (in fact just about anyone from Europe who has opened their mouth on the subject), are turning linguistic cartwheels to promote a European solution.


These are the arguments:

The standard formula runs something like this:

1. Of course, the best person should get the job.

2. Europe has the best person … give us the job.

There is a variation introduced by Angela Merkel of Germany which goes this way:

1. Of course over the mid term the job should be open to everyone BUT

2. At the moment, with Europe in such a mess it should go to a European. Give us the job.

The newest argument to be invented is that it should be Europe’s because … wait for it….

1. European Union countries collectively are the biggest shareholders of the fund

2. We pay the most. Give us the job.

The Europeans are desperate not to give up this role – and frankly for its own political reasons, nor is the United States. Because under the existing arrangements if Europe loses the IMF the U.S. might lose their automatic right to the World Bank presidency.

The quickest way to make sure there is no change in the status quo is for Europe speedily to agree a consensus candidate. Get them out into the open before the other countries even have time to hold a meeting. This is one reason why the name of French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (pictured above) is being promoted so heavily. The hope is by getting her name out into the open, they can get American agreement before other voting blocks even realize what’s happened. Get the Americans on board and it’s a done deal.

If the candidate is Christine Lagarde then the contest is probably just about over. She was an intern to a top U.S. congressman. She is a former chairman of the law firm Baker & McKenzie. And she has been minister for trade and industry and is now finance minister of France. Christine Lagarde has the experience, diplomacy, stature and reputation that would make her just about unbeatable.

Provided of course … the Europeans get moving , fast.

https://www.nairaland.com/671557/zoning-international-level#8357567


http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/19/give-us-the-imf-job-europe-shrieks/?hpt=C2

source, please

Berlusconi's 'bunga bunga' women testify at his trial
By Hada Messia, CNN
April 16, 2012 -- Updated 1502 GMT (2302 HKT)


Rome (CNN) -- Women danced in their underwear at a "bunga bunga party" held by Silvio Berlusconi, a woman testified Monday at the former Italian prime minister's trial on charges of having sex with an underage prostitute, Italian media reported.

Imane Fadil said women dressed as nuns removed their habits as they danced at the party in February 2010.

She was embarrassed and asked to leave the party, but Berlusconi persuaded her to stay, showing her around his villa and giving her gifts including a watch, rings and cash, she told the court, according to Italian media.

She said Berlusconi had promised her a job at one of his television stations, but it never materialized.

The hearing is the latest in a long-running case around dancer Karima el Mahroug, nicknamed "Ruby the Heart-stealer."

Prosecutors say Berlusconi had sex with her 13 times when she was underage and abused his power as prime minister to get her out of jail when she was held on suspicion of theft.

He denies the charges.

El Mahroug has said that she never had sex with Berlusconi and that she lied to him about her age, telling him she was 24.

Berlusconi acknowledged in an interview over the weekend that he had paid some of the witnesses but said there was nothing improper about the payments.

He said he had given the money to people who had been unfairly hurt because of their association with him.

"All of my guests have had only the fault of having been invited to dinner by the prime minister and have been swept into a colossal media lynching operation," he told the Italian newspaper Il Giornale on Saturday.

"Having the means, when I find myself in front of dramatic and touching cases, I don't hesitate to act, " Berlusconi said.

Ambra Battilana and Chiara Danese were also due to take the stand on Monday.

Berlusconi resigned as prime minister in November over his country's debt crisis, bringing to an apparent end an 18-year era in which he dominated Italian politics.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/16/world/europe/italy-berlusconi-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

lastpage: I will also like the A.C to sop acting like some "medieval aristocratic party" in that it should practice "true democracy" when it comes to the choice of party representatives. As long as it continues doing this "selection of in-laws, wives and sons" into elective positions, the people (electorates) are not "blindly loyal or stewpid" and will see this as an insult on their intelligence 'cos to say the truth, no one person is bigger than the majority or indispensable!
A "Balogun/General" is only as strong and fierce as long as the people are behind him!

The type of "Agbalabga Mafioso-Gangsterism" that characterized the last ACN-party primaries, leaves a sour taste in the mouth of genuine ACN lovers and if not quickly checked and redressed, will certainly sound the death-knell of ACN in the S/West and may lead to a "sympathy or Protest vote" in favor of the PDP, which is ready and willing to capitalize on any slip-up from ACN, to capture the West
What happened to "the Clinton Political machine" during the American Democratic primaries (Hillary Clinton Vs. Obama), should be a lesson to such "God fathers"!

Just my take.

Lastpage!

GBAM!

Let those who have ears, hear!

British Member of Parliament puts $16 million bounty on Obama, George W. Bush
The Daily CallerBy Jamie Weinstein - The Daily Caller | The Daily Caller – 10 hrs ago

British Lord Nazir Ahmed put a £10 million ($16 million) bounty on both President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush Friday, according to The Express Tribune, an English language Pakistani newspaper.

Nazir, who is of Pakistani heritage and a member of the British House of Lords, reportedly made the comments while at a reception in Haripur, a Pakistani city 4o miles north of Islamabad. Nazir told the audience that he was putting the bounty out for the capture of the American leaders in response to the bounty placed on Hafiz Muhammad Saeed by the United States.

“If the U.S. can announce a reward of $10 million for the captor of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of 10 million pounds on President Obama and his predecessor George Bush,” Nazir reportedly said.

Saeed is widely believed to be the head of the Pakistani based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was responsible for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India that killed more than 160 innocents including six Americans. After the 2008 attacks, Saeed denied being connected to the terrorist group. In April, the U.S. government announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture in connection to the attacks.

According to The Express Tribune, Nazir said the bounty on Saeed was a grave insult to all Muslims and that he would sell his house if necessary to obtain the funds necessary to pay the bounty he placed on Obama and Bush.

The Pakistani report was brought to the attention of The Daily Caller by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

http://news.yahoo.com/report-british-member-parliament-puts-16-million-bounty-211443991.html;_ylt=AvoLnWckaMk7UDwY_GQDJQf59XQA;_ylu=X3oDMTRvOG8wYTg0BGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwM5MDVlZDA1Yi1kYTc5LTNmYWUtOWU4OC0yYTZmMGQzZDgwNTYEcG9zAzEEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDMDU4MDBjMDAtODc0MC0xMWUxLTlmZGYtODE0ZWI4MmIzNjJm;_ylg=X3oDMTMxb3MyNzkzBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDYTc4ZWY5ODctMmRiOC0zOGFkLThmZTYtOTkwZjg5OGZkZDYxBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljcwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

Imperial overkill
By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

For anybody who lives in New York, the United Nations General Assembly is a nightmare. It means lots of traffic, snarl-ups, blockades, and policemen stopping people every time the foreign minister of some small country decides he wants to go to some diner for breakfast. But nothing compares with when the President of the United States decides to leave his hotel - or even, for that matter, to stay in his hotel.

I was trying to get to a restaurant two blocks away from where President Obama was staying. I ended up being half an hour late for my meeting because the President was going from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel straight up Park Avenue to a fundraiser. You would think this would be a pretty easy logistical challenge. But, instead, it seemed like half the New York police force had come out. Something like 30 blocks were sealed off. There were at least 100 vehicles involved in the motorcade blockading side streets - all so he could travel 40 blocks uptown.

I understand the need for security, but it’s worth pointing out that when you travel around the world, even the presidents of Russia and China and other very big countries have nowhere near the kind of obsessive security that the President of the United States has. I understand the challenge. Nobody wants to be the guy who signs off on lowering the security levels for the President, because if something happens, that’s the person who’s going to be blamed. But we have to get a grip on this ever-expanding security apparatus.

The imperial air of these cordons and enormous motorcades is incredibly off-putting. It really has become a joke at this point with other diplomats talking about it all the time. It is worth quoting at length from the extremely well-written memoirs of British diplomat Chris Patten (who is ardently pro-American), recounting his experiences as Europe's Commissioner for External Relations.

"Attending any conference abroad, American cabinet officers arrive with the sort of entourage that would have done Darius proud. Hotels are commandeered; cities brought to a halt; innocent bystanders are barged into corners by thick-necked men with bits of plastic hanging out of their ears. It is not a spectacle that wins hearts and minds."

This is coming from a guy who was effectively the Foreign Minister of Europe and was the Governor of Hong Kong. He is used to pomp and splendor. All this American security has the feeling of the Roman Empire at its full height, obsessively worried about massive shows of strength and logistics.

By the way, there’s also a huge incentive for local authorities to maintain it. UN General Assembly week is the best week for overtime for the New York Police Department. If you ask, “Do you really need the 500 policemen on every side street around where the President is 24/7?” I’m sure they wouldn’t argue against it. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that President Obama's visit to New York is a great opportunity for lots of overtime.

https://www.nairaland.com/639186/nigerian-political-class-foreign-counterparts/4#9204788

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/21/imperial-overkill/

President Obama's Lavish Vacations Are Under Scrutiny Again
Yahoo! Contributor Network
By Tara Dodrill | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 15 hrs ago

This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.

COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama is very adept at side-stepping questions and diverting the conversation from real issues to partisan rhetoric. Earlier this week Obama sat down with ABC News St. Louis anchorman Larry Conners to discuss the "Buffett Rule" and again proved how out of touch he is with the American people. Once the interview turned to the topic excessive and expensive vacations taken by the first family, Obama's entire demeanor changed as he evaded the question, according to videos clips on The Blaze.

A president deserves to take a vacation with his family. White House travel is always heavily scrutinized and publicized. The frequent trips create an image of opulence at the expense of the taxpayers. President Obama's family vacations and state business trips should not also be a part of his campaign schedule. Perception is reality in the political arena. Every time the first family is photographed stepping off Air Force One, the trip is typically viewed as leisure travel by voters.

Instead of addressing the question posed in a forthright manner, Obama just stated that he feels the American people realize how hard he is working for them and that he is raising a family. Millions of adults also work hard and will have to eliminate or shorter family vacation plans this year. It is understandable that the president must travel on Air Force One with a full security force everywhere he goes. Security costs vastly increase when a president travels to public locations for vacations multiple times throughout the year.

When American families are cutting back on travel due to rising gas and food prices, President Obama should be considerate of the sacrifices millions of citizens are forced to make and adjust his travel plans accordingly. [/b]Statistics published by The Blaze note the [b]Obama vacation to Hawaii last year cost approximately $4 million. Before the family trip to Hawaii, the Obama's had already spent $10 million dollars of taxpayer money traveling to Vail, Colo.; Martha's Vineyard, Mass.; and Spain.

The anchorman's viewer-prompted questions concerning President Obama's vacations were valid and deserved far more than a brush-off response. Obama appeared to be more concerned about how many viewers had voiced concerns than the question which had also been posed by a many journalists during his term in office.

http://news.yahoo.com/president-obamas-lavish-vacations-under-scrutiny-again-153900010.html;_ylt=AjXRjWJfXAePqJ1x66xSkTrNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTRvY21rbzRuBGNjb2RlA2dtcHRvcDEwMDBwb29sd2lraXVwcmVzdARtaXQDTmV3cyBmb3IgeW91BHBrZwNhNzhlZjk4Ny0yZGI4LTM4YWQtOGZlNi05OTBmODk4ZmRkNjEEcG9zAzEEc2VjA25ld3NfZm9yX3lvdQR2ZXIDMWY2ZjYyNzEtODcxMi0xMWUxLWFiN2UtMjJmOTViOWY1YWEz;_ylg=X3oDMTNoNGY1MmVzBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZTYxYTJhMGMtNDU5NS0zYzYzLTliNmItMDlmY2FjNGZhNDlmBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xkZXN0aW5hdGlvbjIwMTIEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

rayo2002: hi, any advice about buying a house at ocean bay estate?
is it in danger of being washed away or affected by the sea
Also is the estate well occupied.

Thanks

Any info for Rayo?

See this:

https://www.nairaland.com/903500/sss-parades-kidnappers-wearing-asho#10501955

Ghana’s firm announces more power outage
.
Wednesday, 04 April 2012 00:00 Editor News - Africa

GHANA’S major power producer, Volta River Authority (VRA), has urged the citizenry to brace up for three more months of erratic power supply in the West African country, Xinhua reported yesterday.

After going through a month of load-shedding between February and March, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), major power distributor and supplier, has announced yet again a new schedule after a request by VRA.

Like the previous one, the newly announced schedule also starts from 1800 GMT to 2200 GMT, nationwide within groups A, B, C, D, and E, zones of power supply across the country.

However, Getrude Koomson, Head of Public Relations at the VRA, told Xinhua in a telephone interview that the demand for electricity supply had surged beyond generating capacity, hence the need to shed some load to stabilise the system.



“Recently, the power system has become vulnerable and unstable and when the three utilities met, they decided that there were enough reserves and redundancy difficulties in the system; so it was decided to embark on load-shedding to manage the shortfall in supply,” Koomson explained.

According to her, when these demands are all met, the system breaks down due to inadequate capacity available to the nation. Koomson added that the current exercise would persist till June or July when the VRA was expected to bring two plants of 200 Mega Watts (MW) total generating capacity on-stream.

A new project at Aboadze, near Takoradi, 218 km west of the capital, is expected to be completed between June and July, which will add 100 MW to the generating capacity. She said another 100 MW plant of the VRA, which broke down last year at Aboadze, had had its faulty parts taken away by the manufacturers for replacement by the middle of the year.

The first batch of load-shedding was attributed to a shortfall in gas supply from the West Africa Gas Pipeline in Nigeria.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is on contract to supply 130 million cubic feet of gas to the West African sub-region. But, according to Group Executive Director of Gas and Power at the NNPC David Ige, only 70 million to 80 million cubic feet were being supplied due to some constraints, adding, however, that Nigeria had resumed gas supply to Ghana.

The Ghanaian government promised to increase the country’s generating capacity from the current 2000 MW to 5000 MW by 2015, taking advantage of gas resources in the country’s oil fields to build more thermal plants.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82099:ghanas-firm-announces-more-power-outage&catid=98:africa&Itemid=557

Newspaper distributors at The Guardian, fault ban of vendors on Lekki road .

Wednesday, 04 April 2012 00:00 By Wole Oyebade, Isaac Taiwo and Beauty Edia News - National

NEWSPAPERS and Magazines Distributors Association of Nigeria (NMAN) yesterday faulted the ban of newspaper vendors on the corridors and adjourning roads of the Lekki-Epe Expressway toll road by the Lekki Concession Company Limited (LCC).

The association during a courtesy visit to The Guardian Newspapers, said that the ban posed a serious threat to their sales-target, given the fact that over 70 per cent sales were made on the route.

NMAN Chairman, Kakawa branch, Lagos, Mr. Bolanle Folorunso said that since the completion of the Lekki-Epe expressway expansion project that newspaper vendors had been denied access to the axis.

Folorunso said that the LCC management had continued to send the police , Keep Against Indiscipline (KAI) brigade and Man o’ War to arrest their vendors.

“They force them into the Black Maria and seize their papers. They said that they do not want vendors around the tollgate. Yet, 70 to 80 per cent of all our papers are sold in Lagos Island,” he said.

He added that all efforts to convince the commandant against the ban had proved abortive.

Leader of the nine-man visiting team appealed to The Guardian’s management to help put an end to the “unfortunate incident that is affecting our lives. We want it resolved immediately so that we can be selling 10, 000 copies of our paper.”

While he, on behalf of his members, thanked the management for their kind gestures to the association, he added that the emergence of online services in the media industry was also posing a huge challenge to patronage that they had earlier enjoyed.

Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian, Mr. Emeka Izeze, described the ban as an infringement on freedom of access to information.

Izeze said that he was not unaware that the sanitation laws in the Lagos State exempt the vendors because their activities constituted no menace to the environment. He said that since the LCC was subject to the laws governing the state, the management would intervene for a favourable resolve of the matter.

Chief Operating Officer of The Guardian, Dr. Alexander Thomopoulos however urged the association to find a way around the obstacle at least as a temporary measure.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82160:newspaper-distributors-at-the-guardian-fault-ban-of-vendors-on-lekki-road&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

I thought there are ACN members in the National Assembly?

Why not ask them to move the motion for impeachment instead of asking Lai to "make noise" about the matter (as usual)?

Playing to the gallery again(no pun intended!)

Proposed 4th Mainland Bridge On Course

Published on April 2, 2012

The Lagos State government says the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge is still on course as government is determined, and that the on-going development of the jetties to link the eastern and western parts of the State will not hinder the project.

Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Hamzat disclosed this while inspecting ongoing projects in Eti-Osa Local Council Development Area and environs explained that the development was in tune with the intermodal transportation plan of the government.

He noted that the state would soon become a giant construction works yard, expressing satisfaction with the spate of work at various sites visited.

Hamzat noted that since the commencement of water transportation the daily passenger using ferries had risen from 400,000 monthly to 1.4 million; a figure expected to increase to over four million when the jetties are completed.

The Commissioner also stated that the completion of the 3 new jetties along with those being rehabilitated at Mile 2 and Oworonsoki will ensure the end of the perennial gridlock that characterize moving around major parts of Lagos.

Hamzat said that the on-going litigation on the Osborne jetty site would not distract the state government from accomplishing the goals of water transportation, adding that “it is in the character of the administration to obey laws.”

According to the Commissioner, the bridge development had been concessioned, while government is also promoting water transportation with a capacity of moving over four million people monthly in a more effective and efficient manner.

He disclosed that contracts for over 180 roads had been awarded across the state, covering both the rural and cosmopolitan areas, adding that the state government had incorporated the period of rainfall into its master plan to ensure appropriate project delivery.

The commissioner pointed out that the state government, bearing in mind that Lagos is a coastal city state, has incorporated the possible flooding resulting from rainfall into the master plan of road construction by including the upgrading and construction of drainage channels that would ensure proper discharge of water from the roads in the event of rising sea level.

Hamzat also explained that projects which were not performing to expectation would be re-awarded to ensure that the intended benefits get to the people.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/04/02/proposed-4th-mainland-bridge-on-course/

Na designer jeans and shorts (e.g. PUMA) dem dey take bling Boko Harams and [i]Aso Ebi[/i]s for SWeners

Remember the "armless" bombers?