homebase: Oh my goodness! I just check out the Qwen. It can search the web, generate image and video. This world is beautiful honestly. I am jealousy of the coming generations.
Ai is aiding my works everyday. I use Claude, meta, perplexity, Chagpt, and of recent Deepseek and now Qwen.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced today on January 23 that the free tier of ChatGPT will now use the o3-mini model, marking a significant shift in how the popular AI chatbot serves its user base. In the same tweet announcing the change, Altman revealed that paid subscribers to ChatGPT Plus and Pro plans will enjoy “tons of o3-mini usage,” giving people an incentive to move to a paid account with the company.
The o3-mini model is part of OpenAI’s latest advancements in its generative AI technology. Although smaller in scale compared to the flagship GPT-4-turbo model, o3-mini promises faster response times, reduced computational requirements, and the ability to handle simpler queries with ease.
This move aims to improve the user experience for free-tier users while allocating premium resources, like GPT-4-turbo, for paid subscribers who rely on the platform for professional and intensive use cases.
This update comes shortly after ChatGPT went down on Thursday, January, 23, at a time when OpenAI is focusing on balancing resource demands. ChatGPT’s free tier has historically been powered by earlier versions of GPT models, but integrating o3-mini represents a strategic pivot toward efficiency. It’s designed to serve the needs of everyday users with lightweight tasks like casual queries, brainstorming, and conversational interaction.
it's funny how a chinese company (DeepSeek) forces the US company (openAI) to kneel down and offer their latest model, o3-mini, for free to users agree? https://x.com/slow_developer/status/1882523264628731924?t=eUTL1A3sqXLz-4bZn2oO_Q&s=08[/quote]This is mad sick! DeepSeek and Qwen are on steroids already and ChatGPT got bum rushed but will innovate from competition or die. I don't know what those Chinese tech folks "eat or smoke" to keep coming up with all sorts of "disruptive innovative" solutions, but time will tell if the rest of the world can keep up with the fast pace they are moving.
Odewaleadesoye: [font=Georgia] Ever wondered what those three-letter codes on Lagos license plates mean? They are not random! Each one represents a specific Local Government Area (LGA). Below is a quick breakdown:
SMK – Somolu
[b]JJJ – Ojo
KJA – Ikeja
AAA – Lagos Island
FKJ – Ifako Ijaiye
AKD – Ibeju Lekki
LND – Lagos Mainland
KTU – Alimosho
BDG – Badagry
EKY – Eti-Osa
KRD – Ikorodu
EPE – Epe
MUS – Mushin
GGE – Agege
LSR – Surulere
LSD – Oshodi Isolo
KSF – Kosofe
AGL – Ajeromi Ifelodun
APP – Apapa
FST – Amuwo Odofin (Festac)
Why Does This Matter? 1. Security: Helps track stolen or suspicious vehicles.
2. Navigation: Instantly know where a vehicle is from.
3. Local Revenue: Tied to LGA vehicle registration.
Now that you know, which one is yours? Let’s discuss!
It's rather weird seeing this... A lot of the number plate letterings do NOT correlate with the supposed Local Governments they represent here.
While KJA – Ikeja and BDG - Badagry are rather easy to detect as Ikeja and Badagry, JJJ – Ojo and AAA – Lagos Island are NOT easy to decipher for Ojo and Lagos Island.
ultraviolet27: Dem Sabi greedy and callous for that state the most expensive state to live in the south western state even their state university(EKSU) is the costliest.
Ado is the costliest state capital in the south west be it in the area of accomodation, or goods and services maybe na because Education na the only industry dem depend on.come to Oye and Ijero Ekiti you will marvel at the high cost of accomodation and transportation
I am an Ekiti babe and I reside presently there
It's a surprise to me that you say here that the cost of living in the capital of Ekiti State and other contiguous towns are the highest [based off of "greed and callousness"] among the Yoruba States. I expect the government of the state and the Obas to step right in here and NOT allow prices to be so high up starting with the state University. Aside from the agricultural base, the civil service structure and educational institutions, it's important for states such as Ekiti to initiate the teaching of "financial literacy" for her indigenes so that they know how to invest and trade in the global money markets and financial markets (From effective savings, to investing in T-bills, stocks, mutual funds, etc) and NOT just depend on monthly salaries alone from office jobs or the civil service. As I type this out, there are thousands of highly qualified young people in China who have NO jobs after reading finance careers in the Universities so they have to make do with working in bars and restaurants. That's the new normal of rising unemployment of highly qualified college graduates we've been seeing since the 1990s on a global scale in multiple countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America, Africa, etc.
On the other hand, there are more durable and cheaper methods of building construction such as the bullet-proof and earthquake-resistant adobe or Hydraform technology which uses stabilized laterite bricks instead of the more expensive method of using cement and sand mixtures for making the less durable cement blocks. This can drastically bring down the cost of housing in Ekiti and other contiguous states if employed in mass housing by Ekiti State Government or private investors.
On the other hand, I read on IG that the very serene and beautiful Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort in Ekiti West (@GoSeeIkogosi) was voted as the BEST resort in Nigeria for the years 2023 and 2024 which to me is a massive plus for tourism in Ekiti State. I last visited the Ikogosi Warm Spring back in 2001... yes 2001, for a conference but what I can see there in online videos as of today is nothing short of pure magic in terms of transformation. It's surely a veritable source of leisure, sustainable FX inflows and with the new airport in Ado-Ekiti, more tourists would easily fly in to Ado and drive via chartered cars to the resort.
I'm aware of a huge Diaspora population of folks who are of Ekiti descent living and working in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, even in Lagos, Ibadan and PH who are professionals in various fields in tech, STEM fields, wealthy business moguls and multimillionaires, etc. The famous Bolanle Austen-Peters who owns TerraKulture on Victoria Island is a trained lawyer and movie producer of international repute who is the biological daughter of Chief Afe Babalola, SAN. That gives you a sense of what Ekiti folks around the world can collectively do to transform their state.
With the presence of the new Ekiti International Agro-Allied Cargo Airport, I'm sure it would motivate more folks of Ekiti descent and others who are not of Ekiti origin but from other Yoruba states and abroad to come in and invest in Ekiti State and see how technologies can be deployed to lower the costs of living. Flying in directly from Lagos would shave off over 3 hours of boring land journey through Ore to Ondo City and Akure to get to Ado-Ekiti and other nearby Ekiti towns.
A rail line linking Ekiti with Osogbo would also trigger benefits for the long-haul movements of cheaper food items and other goods to Ekiti. I read an article where the former Governor Kayode Fayemi said the former President Buhari promised him that a rail spur would be constructed to link Osogbo with Ekiti but that did not materialize. The current Governor of Ekiti must lobby the current President of Nigeria to quickly initiate that rail line linking Ekiti to Osun thereby opening Ekiti up for a final direct linkage to Lagos by rail.
https://x.com/alagakemi/status/1540030264835022848?t=RyACuwOKSvpO6be5bJbHqQ&s=19[/quote]I can CLEARLY see in the second attached picture that concrete interlocking-bricks were used to reconstruct that Navy Town Road in Auto Odifin, Lagos State which will ensure the longevity of the road due to the FACT that the land terrain has a very high water table (even right up to Festac Town) which leads to the regular damage of roads built with asphalt.
High water tables are clearly the reasons why roads built with asphalt in coastal communities tend to get damaged fairly quickly so, a better road construction method (such as the use of concrete or interlocking bricks is the best choice).
PressMyButton: Eshalomi confirmed her appointment on X on Tuesday. She is the second Nigerian to be appointed as the UK trade envoy — Helen Grant is the first. “It is an honour to have been appointed as the United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy to Nigeria,”
she wrote: “I’m looking forward to building on my close ties with Nigeria to promote a strong and flourishing economic relationship between our two great nations. “I am looking forward to building on the UK’s relationship with Nigeria, to help explore shared growth and opportunities for both countries.
” In a statement on Tuesday announcing the appointment of 32 parliamentarians, Jonathan Reynolds, UK’s business and trade secretary, said trade and investment are key to delivering economic growth.
“I’ve launched a new team of Trade Envoys, who will use their experience, expertise and knowledge to unlock new markets around the world for British businesses, drumming up investment into the UK and ultimately driving economic growth,” Reynolds said.
Eshalomi, the 44-year-old politician, was first elected as a member of parliament (MP) for Vauxhall in 2019, succeeding Kate Hoey. She was re-elected in 2024 for the newly created Vauxhall and Camberwell Green constituency.
A member of the Labour and cooperative parties, she previously represented Lambeth and Southwark as a London Assembly member (AM) from 2016 to 2021.
Prior to her new appointment, she focused on transport, housing, and equality issues as an MP and currently serves as chair of the housing, communities, and local government committee.
Eshalomi holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) honours in Political and International Studies with Law from Middlesex University. She began her working life at 16 years old at Sainsbury’s before moving into public affairs and campaigning.
Eshalomi’s career includes roles as a policy officer in local government and a regional organiser for the Labour Party during the 2005 general election.
Florence Eshalomi, Born in 1981... Looking at her brilliant profile online, she's indeed well-read with a strong background in Politics, International Studies and Law, so, she fits right in as a Trade Envoy to Nigeria.
Even right in the United States, young African-American women are complaining about African-American men and others NOT wanting to approach them for long-term relationships due to the long-held perceptions about the attitudes of some African-American women. It's really more about a woman having VALUE, "Emotional Intelligence" combined with LOCATION and TIMING. You've got to be clearly in the right place at the right time. Of course, dating sites and online programs such as "Pop the Baloon" being beamed from the State of AZ, are some of the ways to remove the inefficiencies in dating but without commitment forget it.
Ilekokonit: On second thoughts, are these UK based Nigerian women saying that they can no longer afford to pay a male escort they hired online the £50 per hour he charges to come give them home service.
These UK Naija women should not pretend that we don't know that some of them hire male prostitute's to sleep with them in the UK. That secret has been out of the bag for at least 15 years in the UK to guys who are night crawlers.
And na woman like them tell me and my guys this secret to the extent that some of these sex starved UK single mothers have up to 12 male escort phone contacts that they can call at will to come and give them full home service for a fee.
"Indeed, long ago on the Nigerian Diaspora dating scene especially for the females, the chicken came home to roost."
Ilekokonit: I made the below post as far back as 2012 in response to the topic :- Why Are Men No Longer Pursuing Women?
Because men have learnt from Divorced and Seperated men that all your efforts on a so called good girl may be a waste of time, effort and money on the long run 5 years into marriage because most of our Westernised sisters are copying home breaking skills in the West all in the name of Feminism.
The current rise in "Independent woman syndrome" and "Delayed womens liberation" in our westernised sisters is making any rational man shun such women afterall, it is better to reside in a small corner of the roof than live with a brawling woman in a mansion
No man wants to marry a woman who behaves like a man. We all love feminine women and westernised women are not feminine in their ways
So when examples abound of ungrateful and poison tongued women, do you expect a sane man to put all his emotions and effort into pursuing someone who 5 years down the line may suddenly become cantankerous ?
I normally don't pay them attention unless I've had a few shots of cognac in a club but on one Sunday, I went shopping somewhere in South London and I saw a Naija lady that caught my fancy and I approached her to say hello and maybe because she was wearing her Sunday best on her way from church and I was dressed down as I came out to do grocery shopping she gave me one look that said don't come near me and I was forced to tell her that that's not how her mates do it.
This epidemic of single unmarriageable women left to rot on the shelves in the UK has been brewing for a long time and the smart Naija women in the UK who sussed this out quick enough quickly did all they could to trap a man and have kids with him.
sync: Dated my subordinate. It was genuine on my part but brought some form of disrespect from him and also office gossip from the rest of the staff. Overall, never going that lane again
I like your maturity for sharing this example above. Punishing lessons get learned from the negative experiences of life to refine us though.
Indeed, that keyword "disrespect" is the part that keeps popping up in multiple work-related locations worldwide. If the other person is NOT CLEARLY intentional like you were, or you're not in sync (maturity-wise) with the other person, then these relationship scenarios of disrespect and office gossips in a work-related environment will keep playing out. It's BETTER to clearly and ruthlessly lay the relationship ground rules from the start. Some people are just not worth it because they leak information about their private romantic relationships to friends at work thereby triggering those insidious work-related gossipings.
Kobicove: As for me I can never date a person who works for me or who reports to me in a business setting...that is the best way to kill your business enterprise!
That's absolutely the BEST advice... Succinctly stated. The only scenario is if the boss is a single male and is clearly intentional about having a long-term relationship leading to marriage. Anything short of this, leading to an office fling would end in dire consequences and disrespect within the business setup. Period.
AmazingGenius: President Donald Trump has offered buyout packages to almost all federal workers who do not want to return to the office, a major move designed to shrink the US government.
In an email sent to millions of employees on Tuesday, his administration told workers they had to decide by 6 February whether they wanted to be part of a "deferred resignation program".
If they agreed to leave their jobs by that date, the message said, they would receive about eight months of salary as a severance package.
The Trump administration expects up to 10% of employees to accept the offer, or around 200,000 of the more than two million workers the federal government employs, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.
Senior Trump officials told US media that the buyouts could save the government up to $100bn (£80bn).
Workers wishing to take the deal on Tuesday were asked to reply to the email with the word "resign" written into the subject line. The offer includes both pay and benefits for workers until 30 September.
Certain employees did not receive the offer, including postal workers, members of the military, immigration officials, and some national security workers, according to the email.
The message from the Office of Personnel Management, the government's HR agency, on Tuesday evening also warned of future downsizing that could impact those who choose to stay.
"We cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity," it reads.
The email follows Trump's earlier announcement that federal employees who had been working remotely since the Covid pandemic would be required to return to the office five days a week.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said the government's two million workers were "overwhelmingly left of centre", adding it was "essential" for Trump to "get control of government".
Trump repeatedly pledged to cut the size of the government and slash federal spending while on the campaign trail.
He tasked Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy with leading an advisory body focused on cutting regulations, spending, and headcounts within the federal government. Ramaswamy has since left the "Department of Government Efficiency" (Doge).
But the email on Tuesday bears a resemblance to one sent to Twitter, now X, employees in late 2022 after Musk bought the social media platform. He asked for an emailed response if they wanted to remain at the company.
The mass buyout offer came at the end of an at-times chaotic day in Washington, following a memo Trump issued which said he would pause federal grants, loans and other assistance.
The Trump administration expects up to 10% of employees to accept the offer, or around 200,000 of the more than two million workers the federal government employs, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.
Senior Trump officials told US media that the buyouts could save the government up to $100bn (£80bn).
/ A savings of $100 billion is expected from the disengagement of around 200,000 workers out of a Federal workforce of more than 2 million! /
dre11: The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has shut down the infamous Cemetery Market in Aba, Abia State, for the second time in two years.
The agency said it uncovered and confiscated fake and substandard food and beverages worth over ₦5 billion in its latest operation tagged Operation Clean Up Aba.
Described as a hub for Africa’s largest counterfeit wine and beverage cartel, Cemetery Market has been notorious for producing fake alcoholic drinks, carbonated beverages, and food products.
NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement she signed on Tuesday, described the raid as “the most decisive action in the history of the market.”
“This is a major step toward safeguarding public health and curbing the circulation of fake products in Nigeria,” Adeyeye said.
During the operation, over 240 makeshift factories were said to have been discovered, producing counterfeit products under unsanitary conditions.
Adeyeye revealed that these factories used harmful chemicals, contaminated water and recycled bottles to manufacture fake versions of popular brands, including Hennessy, Seaman Schnapps, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Peak Milk and Hollandia Yoghurt.
“These criminal elements use unhygienic sources of water, saccharin, colouring agents, and harmful chemicals unsuitable for human consumption. The adulteration of alcoholic beverages involves cheaper sugars and starches instead of fruits or grapes,” Adeyeye explained.
She added that over 1,500 cartons of fake products were destroyed on-site, with the total street value of the seized and destroyed goods estimated at ₦5 billion.
She said the operation also led to the discovery of three warehouses stockpiling expired Hollandia Yoghurt for revalidation on January 22.
NAFDAC commended the Abia State Government, led by Governor Alex Otti, for supporting the raid.
“The unwavering support of Governor Alex Otti, the Mayor of Aba South, and the interim market management committee has been critical to the success of Operation Clean Up Aba,” the Director-General said.
The agency urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and report any suspicious products to the nearest NAFDAC office.
“We are determined to safeguard the health of the nation and rid markets of fake and substandard products,” Adeyeye assured all
These criminal elements among the Igbos have done a lot of damage to the consumer market within their immediate Abia State environment, Nigeria and some parts of West Africa as a whole for years now. The Ibo criminals who engage in these insidious acts produce these FAKE drinks, fake pharmaceutical drugs and other consumer products in dirty, makeshift factories with several arrests made over the recent past and decades back in Lagos, Ogun, Anambra, Abia, Abuja, Kano and other parts of Nigeria. The videos of these sting operation arrests by Nafdac officials and the Police are still online. One such major arrest of these greedy criminals among the Ibos was made in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State by the former Police boss of Lagos State, Edgar Imohimi.These criminals who all hailed from Anambra State caught in Ikorodu, Lagos were making FAKE contaminated MALT drinks products and a dead rat was also found inside one of the drums of already made fake malt they had manually produced with impure water waiting to be bottled!
A second criminal gang of FAKE wine makers was arrested at Ojora compound in Ijora, Lagos. Those arrested were Ibos who were originally deported from South Africa and then they went into fake drinks production with some of the money they allegedly made while in South Africa and used the Ijora compound in Lagos State as a point to make and sell these fake consumer products to the general public. These several instances would lead to MORE folks and buyers boycotting Ibo sellers and small Ibo shops for consumer items to fully focus on buying from shopping malls and other accredited stalls that sell genuine Nafdac-accredited products.
In countries such as China and indeed a lot of Asian countries, these criminals would have been executed by now after being tried in court because what they are doing is economic sabotage. Trying to make quick millions by selling substandard drinks and several consumer items to the general public (with the health danger of KIDNEY failures leading to deaths) within the general populace is a capital offence. Stronger laws are needed in Lagos, Abia, Anambra and indeed all over Nigeria to ruthlessly deal with these crazy criminals who make useless counterfeit consumer products otherwise they won't stop. Period.
AImiron: New York, CNN — Google is complying with President Donald Trump’s executive action that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Soon, the name change will appear on Google Maps.
In a post on X, Google explained that it has a “longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.” The name will be tweaked when the Geographic Names Information System, a government database of names and location data, is updated.
Google will also change the name of Mount McKinley, the nation’s highest peak, from Denali. Former President Barack Obama renamed the Alaska landmark to Denali in 2015 as a nod to the region’s native population.
Both changes stem from an executive action that Trump signed shortly after taking office last week, saying the changes “honor American greatness.”
“It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes,” the executive order said.
The order criticized Obama’s decision to rename McKinley as “an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice.” Drawing parallels to Trump, the order notes that McKinley “championed tariffs” and was assassinated “in an attack on our Nation’s values and our success.
And in a nod to the Gulf of Mexico’s contributions to the US economy, Trump is “directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America.” The executive order calls for all federal government maps and documents to “reflect its renaming.”
Google notes that only users in the United States will see both changes because when “official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.” Source: CNN
ogugwa1992: There Will Be No Military Coup In Nigeria Because Nasir el-Rufai Lost Out in Power - Reno
I read with dismay the coup-baiting comments by the former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai. Not only is it irresponsible for any politician to bait the military to take over because they lost out in this administration, but it is also treasonous, especially when such comments are being made by a man who was himself a danger to democracy while he held sway in Kaduna.
Nasir el-Rufai, speaking yesterday, said:
"For those of us who lived half our lives under military rule, we know what it is. We don’t want a military rule, but we also don’t want civilians behaving like the military in their babbar riga and suits."
He further said:
"This is a national emergency, and we must act before history repeats itself."
His comments likening this administration to a military dictatorship is false and self-serving.
Nigerians should be reminded that under Nasir el-Rufai as Governor of Kaduna, the homes of his critics were demolished. Several of them were arrested and jailed, including Audu Maikori, who was forced into exile by Nasir el-Rufai.
Furthermore, then Governor el-Rufai admitted paying herdsmen, and his reign marked the beginning of mass killings on an industrial scale in Southern Kaduna, which have now ended after he left office.
This is a man who threatened foreign election observers that they would leave Nigeria in "body bags", and today, he is accusing the Tinubu administration of acting like a military government?
Yes, he is counting on the fact that Nigerians have short memories and may not remember his misdeeds
Interestingly, on the same day that Nasir el-Rufai was photographed together with his newfound political friends, Peter Obi gave an interview and said he was not interested "in any coalition that is for the purpose of taking power."
Why did Peter Obi choose to make that statement on the same day that those men met? Look, the signs are obvious. Peter Obi knows, as I know, that their intentions for Nigeria are just state capture.
Because Mr. Obi was part of the Jonathan administration, like myself, and knows that Nasir el-Rufai met President Jonathan at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, and began praising Dr. Jonathan after that meeting and urging the then-acting President to contest the 2011 Presidential election because he thought he would be named vice President by President Jonathan.
But four days later, on May 15, 2010, when then-President Jonathan named Namadi Sambo the vice presidential nominee instead of him, Nasir el-Rufai began fighting him.
And the same Nasir el-Rufai, who had the previous year insisted General Buhari and said, "General Buhari has remained perpetually unelectable because his record as military head of state, and afterwards, is a warning that many Nigerians have wisely heeded", suddenly joined General Buhari and became his mouthpiece to fight the Jonathan administration.
Now, after having been snubbed by this administration, el-Rufai is up to his old antics.
I call on Nigerians to remind Nasir el-Rufai of his diabolical history and tell him they would not stand for a military coup because he lost out on becoming a minister.
Nasir El-Rufai has to be very careful with his highly incendiary comments. Nasir has to go for psychoanalysis therapy sessions as well to solve any underlying issues because the human brain is very fragile (and deteriorates overtime due to a gradual depletion in brain stem cells). Some of his concerns might be right but his method of communication is very dangerous and the unintended consequences will be very dire for him. There's a saying that "when you point an accussing FINGER at someone, SEVERAL accusing FINGERS are pointing right back at you." Nasir El-Rufai is one of the very brilliant Fulani folks that I know out there BUT he has to learn to be less TACTLESS when talking, which as Reno rightly stated has been going on as far back as 2010 when Nasir supported Goodluck Jonathan.
Regardless, EVERYTHING Reno Omokri said in his post on X about Nasir El-Rufai's volatile actions from the Southern Kaduna killings by foreign Fulani bandits and heardsmen from other Sahelian West African countries of Cameroon, Mali, Niger, etc, who the then Governor Nasir El-Rufai CLEARLY stated in 2016 that he gave millions of Naira to (using the Miyetti Allah contacts) in order to stop the killings of Southern Kaduna people on a live Channels Television program which is still online. That 2016 Channels Television interview and confession shocked a lot of people who had expected that the Interpol and other intelligence agencies should have been used to identify the Fulani who killed people and bring them to justice.There was CLEARLY a deliberate Fulani cover-up of these killings and this is why those killings have NOW reduced. As of today, the indigenous Hausas of Nigeria too have been crying out in some videos I've seen online after noticing the relentless illegal migration of foreign Fulanis into Nigeria who are killing them and trying to displace them and resettle right on their Hausa ancestral homelands.
Leobankx: The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has warned against any attempt to establish a Sharia Court in the state.
[b]In a statement he signed on Tuesday, Abiodun noted that Sharia Courts cannot be legally constituted by individuals or groups without legal backing.
He said the state government only recognises courts established through the legal framework of the Nigerian Constitution, adding that a Sharia Court does not form part of the legal framework operating in the state.
“The Ogun State Government has noted the circulation of a digital notice announcing the launch of a Shari’ah Court in Ogun State,” Abiodun said.
“No Sharia Court is authorized to operate within Ogun State. The courts that are legally empowered to adjudicate disputes arising within Ogun State are those established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by State Laws, which are: Magistrates’ Courts, High Court, Customary Courts, Customary Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.
“No law operating in Ogun State has established a Sharia Court, and Sharia law does not form part of the legal framework by which the Ogun State Government administers and governs society.
“The Ogun State Government upholds and protects the rights of individuals to practice the religion of their choice, or to subscribe to no religion, and recognizes the freedom of individuals to apply their faith in their personal and private matters.
“However, this freedom does not extend to the formation of unauthorized assemblies or institutions. No individual or group is legally permitted to constitute a court or present themselves to the public as a court without legal backing.
Those behind that notice have no legal backing. They cannot set up a court or administer justice by fiat or public notice.
“The Ogun State Government hereby directs that all persons involved in the creation or operation of this unauthorized court must immediately cease all related activities and disband the illegal entity and all its apparatus.
“”The Ogun State Government also advises members of the public to disregard any summons, documents, or persons associated with the illegal Sharia Court. Such occurrences should be promptly reported to the state.
“The Ogun State Government will uphold the rule of law, ensure respect for the legal and judicial framework within the State, and prevent a breakdown of law and order.”
Kennitrust: WHO SOLD NIGERIA TO THE BRITISH FOR £865K IN 1899?
This is the story of the first oil war, which was fought in the 19th century, in the area that became Nigeria.
All through the 19th century, palm oil was highly sought-after by the British, for use as an industrial lubricant for machinery. Remember that Britain was the world’s first industrialised nation, so they needed resources such as palm oil to maintain that.
Palm oil, of course, is a tropical plant, which is native to the Niger Delta. Malaysia’s dominance came a century later. By 1870, palm oil had replaced slaves as the main export of the Niger Delta, the area which was once known as the Slave Coast. At first, most of the trade in the oil palm was uncoordinated, with natives selling to those who gave them the best deals. Native chiefs such as former slave, Jaja of Opobo became immensely wealthy because of oil palm. With this wealth came influence.
However, among the Europeans, there was competition for who would get preferential access to the lucrative oil palm trade. In 1879, George Goldie formed the United African Company (UAC), which was modelled on the former East India Company. Goldie effectively took control of the Lower Niger River. By 1884, his company had 30 trading posts along the Lower Niger. This monopoly gave the British a strong hand against the French and Germans in the 1884 Berlin Conference. The British got the area that the UAC operated in, included in their sphere of influence after the Berlin Conference.
When the Brits got the terms they wanted from other Europeans, they began to deal with the African chiefs. Within two years of 1886, Goldie had signed treaties with tribal chiefs along the Benue and Niger Rivers whilst also penetrating inland. This move inland was against the spirit of verbal agreements that had been made to restrict the organisation’s activities to coastal regions.
By 1886, the company name changed to The National Africa Company and was granted a royal charter (incorporated). The charter authorised the company to administer the Niger Delta and all lands around the banks of the Benue and Niger Rivers. Soon after, the company was again renamed. The new name was Royal Niger Company, which survives, as Unilever, till this day.
To local chiefs, the Royal Niger Company negotiators had pledged free trade in the region. Behind, they entered private contracts on their terms. Because the (deceitful) private contracts were often written in English and signed by the local chiefs, the British government enforced them. So for example, Jaja of Opobo, when he tried to export palm oil on his own, was forced into exile for “obstructing commerce”. As an aside, Jaja was “forgiven” in 1891 and allowed to return home, but he died on the way back, poisoned with a cup of tea.
Seeing what happened to Jaja, some other native rulers began to look more closely at the deals they were getting from the Royal Nigeria Company. One of such kingdoms was Nembe, whose king, Koko Mingi VIII, ascended the throne in 1889 after being a Christian schoolteacher. Koko Mingi VIII, King Koko for short, like most rulers in the yard, was faced with the Royal Nigeria Company encroachment. He also resented the monopoly enjoyed by the Royal Nigeria Company and tried to seek out favourable trading terms, with particularly the Germans in Kamerun (Cameroon).
By 1894, the Royal Nigeria Company increasingly dictated whom the natives could trade with, and denied them direct access to their former markets. In late 1894, King Koko renounced Christianity and tried to form an alliance with Bonny and Okpoma against the Royal Nigeria Company to take back the trade. This is significant because while Okpoma joined up, Bonny refused. A harbinger of the successful “divide and rule” tactic.
On 29 January 1895, King Koko led an attack on the Royal Niger Company’s headquarters, which was in Akassa in today’s Bayelsa state. The pre-dawn raid had more than a thousand men involved. King Koko’s attack succeeded in capturing the base. Losing 40 of his men, King Koko captured 60 white men as hostages, as well as a lot of goods, ammunition and a Maxim gun. Koko then attempted to negotiate a release of the hostages in exchange for being allowed to chose his trading partners. The British refused to negotiate with Koko, and he had forty of the hostages killed. A British report claimed that the Nembe people ate them. On 20 February 1895, Britain’s Royal Navy, under Admiral Bedford attacked Brass and burned it to the ground. Many Nembe people died and smallpox finished off a lot of others.
By April 1895, business had returned to “normal”, normal being the conditions that the British wanted, and King Koko was on the run. Brass was fined £500 by the British, £62,494 (NGN29 million) in today’s money, and the looted weapons were returned as well as the surviving prisoners. After a British Parliamentary Commission sat, King Koko was offered terms of settlement by the British, which he re
Nice read on the insidious Royal Niger Company. However, based off of my several decades of reading advanced Nigeria history, I'm NOT aware from history that anybody sold Nigeria to the British for £865K in 1899 as used in the article title in form of a question mark.
Jubo Jubogha (a former Ibo slave in Bonny turned a naturalized Ibani-Ijaw was popularly known as "Ja-Ja" or Jaja to the Europeans) became rich through his ruthless monopolisation of the oil palm trade route and he wickedly prevented (through wars and killings) other ethnic groups such as the Ibibio, Annangs, Ngwas, etc, from engaging directly with the European merchants in the oil palm trade through the Imo River and according to Nair's book, this led to a major war between the Annang and Opobo in 1887 popularly called "Ikot Udo Obong Wars."
The British described the beheadings and killings of the Annang and Ibunos by Jaja of Opobo (Opobo was originally known as Ikot Abasi, a part of the larger Ikot Abasi Ibibio community as of 1870) as a punishment for defying his orders and trading in palm oil directly with the British merchants instead of going through him as a middleman. In the war that ensued, the British intervened and with the help of the Annangs, they captured Jaja and exiled him to the West Indies.
These were some of his many sins that made the British to remove him as a middleman chief and subsequently deported him.
Komu1048: Say e no change your life. I know a woman wey e change her life and not only did I see it, she admitted it.
Spoiler alert I hate APC govt, they r bunch of directionless people that are only interested in power and not governance.
Having said this, this woman in Ikirun in Osun State 2018. has nothing doing with 2 kids, she got the money. Bought a bag of charcoal and start rebaging into smaller size of N100 and N200. She sells to people roasting corn, barbeque etc. from two bags she started from before I left Ikirun she grew to having 30bags and sells both in bags and small sizes. She was able to feed herself n her kids from there and she added roasting yam, plantain and the rest from it. So there are people who managed the money well and make something out of it but ofcuz many only see it as free money n spent it. But don't throw tradermoni to the ground like that. Apart from her another woman also use it to start egg business then.
All this small small fg money might be nothing to people in the city but to people in the village it really makes a difference to some people
You aren't telling lies here. It was actually the Bank of Industry that professionally distributed the funds and if you watch the 4 videos that I attach in my post just right above this one, you will get to here the positive testimonials from men and most especially women who used the loans to EXPAND their small businesses and they quickly paid back. I used to monitor BOI Weekly on Channel Television's YouTube channel during that period in 2018 and 2019 and a lot of traders gave out positive feedbacks on the success of the program.
It's the propagandists in the other opposition political parties especially the PDP that went about falsely claiming that Trader Monica was all done for vote-buying BUT that was an irresponsibly idiotic thing to say knowing full well that the lives of many of those traders changed for the better based off of the testimonials you can see and hear in the videos which incidentally tallies with the post that you wrote.
ednut1: una don start again. Can you compare atikus performance as vp with osinbajo? Stop overhyping the man he failed with Buhari. Same man that was in charge of trader moni😒
That program called Trader Moni didn't fail.
The Bank of Industry (BOI) was completely in charge of disbursing the funds professionally to low income traders who gave testimonials in several BOI videos on YouTube. Even though Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was at the launch of Trading Moni from a BOI Command and Control Center in Abuja, the Bank of Industry was the one that took charge of professionally disbursing the money around Nigeria. I was impressed with seeing a lot of women who had almost nothing but were able to EXPAND their businesses through the funds from BOI which they promptly paid back. I remember vividly a market woman in Anambra State commended the government for the initiative and even requested that BOI should give out larger sums since she had been able to pay back what she initially borrowed. So, the Trader Moni program wasn't a case of vote-buying like some members of the rapid opposition political parties where trying to imply.
No doubt some market traders defaulted, (especially some men who from past evidence are highly notorious for NOT paying back loans on time) unlike the women who are more diligent and tend to use grants and loans for what the are really meant for.
Great! I just found the BOI Weekly videos from Channels Television again so you can watch them.
Osinbajo Assures TraderMoni Beneficiaries Of Continued Support |BOI Weekly|
okrote4real: You made us victims of your rage and the war you have chosen never to let go - Tuface's brother, Charles Called out Annie Idibia
In a heartfelt post shared on his Instagram in 2021, Charlybrave, the younger brother of legendary musician Tuface Idibia, poured out his emotions regarding his strained relationship with Annie Idibia.
"I pray for composure as I write this, and I pray for clarity because there is so much to say."
Addressing Annie directly, he expressed his disappointment, stating that despite always treating her with love and respect, she has continuously disrespected not only Tuface but also his family, friends, and staff. He cited numerous instances of public humiliation, including altercations at events and even domestic incidents.
Charlybrave accused Annie of creating unnecessary conflicts, locking out Tuface’s mother during a visit, and attacking his own wife shortly after they lost a child, all because she refused to partake in ongoing battles with "baby mamas" and supposed "enemies."
He also questioned Annie’s frequent complaints about financial burdens, pointing out the presence of multiple house staff, a live-in mother, cousin, and brother—all tending to just two children—while painting himself as a villain for merely visiting occasionally.
"Do you think my conversations with Inno are always about money? That’s all you think we share as brothers because I’m not a millionaire?" he asked, lamenting Annie’s lack of effort in maintaining a relationship with him despite his gestures on special occasions.
Accusing Annie of portraying a false image of love and unity on social media, Charlybrave said she had already decided to make him an enemy, ignoring the efforts of the family to foster peace. He rejected the narrative that the Idibia family was trying to destroy her marriage, stating that they accepted her wholeheartedly but were met with "pre-installed hate."
His biggest concern, however, was the increasing violence in her relationship with Tuface. He warned that if things escalated, the consequences could be dire, citing a hypothetical scenario where Annie might harm Tuface over a simple phone call regarding his children.
"Have a re-think, Annie. You have made us victims of your rage and the war you refuse to let go, yet you are quick to play the victim. We can’t all agree with you all the time just because your husband is ‘King’ and you are the ‘Queen’ we must bow to."
He concluded by wishing her peace, stating that he had done his best to mend the situation but could no longer endure the toxicity.
"God knows I’ve tried. Bye."
"Pre-installed hate." ~ Charlybrave That's a strong adjective right there.
okrote4real: You made us victims of your rage and the war you have chosen never to let go - Tuface's brother, Charles Called out Annie Idibia
In a heartfelt post shared on his Instagram in 2021, Charlybrave, the younger brother of legendary musician Tuface Idibia, poured out his emotions regarding his strained relationship with Annie Idibia.
"I pray for composure as I write this, and I pray for clarity because there is so much to say."
Addressing Annie directly, he expressed his disappointment, stating that despite always treating her with love and respect, she has continuously disrespected not only Tuface but also his family, friends, and staff. He cited numerous instances of public humiliation, including altercations at events and even domestic incidents.
Charlybrave accused Annie of creating unnecessary conflicts, locking out Tuface’s mother during a visit, and attacking his own wife shortly after they lost a child, all because she refused to partake in ongoing battles with "baby mamas" and supposed "enemies."
He also questioned Annie’s frequent complaints about financial burdens, pointing out the presence of multiple house staff, a live-in mother, cousin, and brother—all tending to just two children—while painting himself as a villain for merely visiting occasionally.
"Do you think my conversations with Inno are always about money? That’s all you think we share as brothers because I’m not a millionaire?" he asked, lamenting Annie’s lack of effort in maintaining a relationship with him despite his gestures on special occasions.
Accusing Annie of portraying a false image of love and unity on social media, Charlybrave said she had already decided to make him an enemy, ignoring the efforts of the family to foster peace. He rejected the narrative that the Idibia family was trying to destroy her marriage, stating that they accepted her wholeheartedly but were met with "pre-installed hate."
His biggest concern, however, was the increasing violence in her relationship with Tuface. He warned that if things escalated, the consequences could be dire, citing a hypothetical scenario where Annie might harm Tuface over a simple phone call regarding his children.
"Have a re-think, Annie. You have made us victims of your rage and the war you refuse to let go, yet you are quick to play the victim. We can’t all agree with you all the time just because your husband is ‘King’ and you are the ‘Queen’ we must bow to."
He concluded by wishing her peace, stating that he had done his best to mend the situation but could no longer endure the toxicity.
WriterNig: France is considering deploying troops to 🇬🇱 Greenland in response to 🇺🇸 US President Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about acquiring the Arctic island, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday.
Barrot confirmed that France discussed the issue with Denmark but stressed there are no immediate plans for action.
“At this point, it is not Denmark’s wish,” Barrot said in an interview with Sud Radio, adding that Europe would act if security interests were threatened.
The comments come as Denmark seeks European support to counter Trump’s growing interest in Greenland. Trump has cited the island’s natural resources and strategic value, stating, “I think we’re going to have it.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been meeting with European leaders to discuss the matter and dismissed any immediate military threats to Greenland. She emphasized the importance of transatlantic cooperation.
Barrot described the Arctic region as “a new field of conflict,” and Frederiksen signaled a cautious approach, avoiding an escalation of tensions.
Denmark recently announced a €2 billion investment in Arctic defense. Anadolu Agency || MSN
Politics › Re: Bandits Attack Chikakore In Kubwa, Abuja, Kidnap 5, Including 3 Family Members by Konquest: 12:58am On Jan 31, 2025
?