₦airaland Forum

…Amends laws establishing
higher institutions in the state
From GEORGE ONYEJIUWA, Owerri
Members of the Imo State House
of Assembly, yesterday, in
plenary, unanimously approved a
re-ordered supplementary
budget of N23,752,610,557 for
the year ended 2014.
Raising the motion before her
colleagues, the Majority Leader of
the House and member
representing Ahiazu Mbaise state
constituency, Mrs. Adaku Ihuoma,
urged members of the House to
give accelerated passage to the
supplementary budget, as this
would accord the executive the
necessary support in carrying
out its duties in the interest of
the people of the state.
This was just as the House
amended the law establishing
the proposed Imo Turkish
University and re-named it Imo
State Claretian University,
Onuimo-Okigwe, following lack
of commitment by the Turkish
stakeholders, who had earlier
indicated interest in the
university project.
Contributing to the amendment
bill, the member representing Isu
state constituency, Ikenna Emeh,
said the amendment in the name
of the proposed institution
became necessary due to alleged
non-commitment of the Turkish
stakeholders, who were
supposed partners in the
establishment of the institution.
He stated that the order of the
Claretian missionary had shown
enough interest in partnering
with the state government
towards ensuring that the
university was established.
The House also amended the law
establishing the Imo State College
of Education (Technical) to
become the Imo State College of
Education, Ihitte-Uboma.
Contributing to the bill, the
member for Isiala Mbano state
constituency, Simeon Iwunze,
explained to the House that the
amendment to the bill estab­
lishing the institution would give
it a wider scope, both in
admission and in attracting the
necessary logistics needed for its
sustainability. MORE>>> www.newsgregator..com

Diddy made headlines this week
for putting a cool quarter million
dollars on Floyd Mayweather and
50 Cent—as is his custom—blew
that wager out of the water. The
Money Team’s resident MC is
putting up $1.6 million on his on-
again-off-again friend
Mayweather to defeat Manny
Pacquiao in Saturday night’s
highly-anticipated boxing bout.
But Fif has some guaranteed
money coming in even if Money
Mayweather does go down for
the first time in his career.
According to TMZ, the G-Unit
General will be performing Friday
night in Las Vegas at Drai’s
Nightclub and is expected to pull
in half a million bucks for his
show, with another $500K lined
up in Atlantic City through his
Effen Vodka two weeks later.
Of course, there’s a lot of history
between these two. Back in
August, 50 put up $750,000 that
Mayweather couldn’t read a full
page of a Harry Potter book
without messing up. That
sparked a back and forth
between the two that ended last
week, when Mayweather and 50
were spotted together for the
first time in months and
announced that The Money
Team, their joint boxing venture
that was made official in 2012
but dates back years before, was
back together.
50 Cent’s $1.6 million would be a
literal drop in the bucket for a
bout billed as the Fight Of The
Century, which is predicted to
pull in somewhere around $400
million in revenue. And either
way, Pacquiao and Mayweather
—and no doubt 50 as well—are
guaranteed to bring in huge
figures. So, with fight night fast
approaching on May 2, who do
you got?
MORE>>www.newsgregator..com

Don’t look now, but yet another
subcompact SUV is about to join
the seemingly endless parade of
small sport utilities vehicles
introduced over the past 6
months. I’ve personally written
about three of these vehicles
since mid-December
, and with the all-new 2016
Honda HR-V going on sale May
15th it marks an average of one
new small SUV arriving in dealer
showrooms every month for the
past 4 months. That’s a run rate
I’ve never seen in my 20 years
covering the industry. It’s
enough to give one pause while
asking the obvious question: can
the U.S. market absorb so many
all-new models, all focused in a
single vehicle segment, in such a
short timeframe? With over two
million compact crossovers and
SUVs sold last year, representing
an annual growth rate of 14.5
percent, the answer looks like a
resounding “YES!”
In fact, just 3 months into the
year Kelley Blue Book is tracking
the segment’s growth at an
additional 9.5 percent, and that’s
with many of these newer
models still ramping up to full
production. This means Honda’s
2016 HR-V will face a full
formation of competing compact
SUVs when it goes on sale next
month. Yet Honda knows a thing
or three about selling small SUV’s.
The company’s CR-V has been
tearing up sales charts for over a
decade, and the new HR-V uses
much of the same philosophy in
a smaller, more affordable
package. The recipe starts with a
functional-yet-sporty exterior
design wrapped around a space
efficient cabin. With over 100
cubic feet of interior volume
(including 24.3 cubic feet behind
the second-row seat and 58.8
cubic feet behind the front seats
when the second row is folded
down), the HR-V packs plenty of
utility inside a small, easy-to-
manage frame. That frame
features 27 percent ultra-high
strength steel, and Honda reps
told use they are confident the
HR-V will earn top safety scores
from the NHTSA and IIHS.
COMPLETE STORY: www.newsgregator..com

Gov. Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto
State has assured Nigerians that
the President-elect, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari will not fail
the nation.
‘The APC-led Federal Government
under Buhari will strive to meet
the expectations and yearnings
of Nigerians, irrespective of
religious, ethnic or cultural
differences,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria
( NAN) Wamakko spoke on
Monday in Sokoto when the
members of the Correspondents’
Chapel of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ) in the state paid
him a courtesy visit.
”Buhari will ensure social justice,
adherence to the rule of law,
youths and women
empowerment, improvement of
security and the power sector.
” All Nigerians will be treated
equally and fairly under Buhari;
the electorate in the country as
well as the international
community will find Buhari to be
a worthy democratic leader.” he
added.
Wamakko said that the peaceful
conduct of the 2015 general
elections was a victory for
democracy, and urged Nigerians
to continue their support and
prayers for the new
administration to deliver.
He commended working
journalists for their objective
coverage of the general polls
which had ensured peace in the
state and the country.
Earlier, the chairperson of the
chapel, Mrs Rakiya Mohammed
said that the visit was to felicitate
with the governor over the
successful conclusion of the
general elections in the state
www.newsgregator..com

Emmanuel Frimpong has
stated on social networking
site Twitter that Hector
Bellerin deserves to retain his
place in the Arsenal team
despite the return to full
fitness of Mathieu Debuchy.
France international defender
Debuchy made a comeback for
the Gunners on Saturday after
recovering from an injury he
sufferd in January.
The 29-year-old was drafted
into the Arsenal starting line-up
for the FA Cup semi-final tie
against Reading at London's
Wembley Stadium.
Debuchy played the entire 120
minutes as Arsene Wenger's
side won the tie 2-1 after extra
time, while Bellerin was not
even part of the matchday
squad.
Bellerin has been playing well at
right-back in the absence of
Debuchy, and former Arsenal
prospect Frimpong hopes that
the 20-year-old gets to feature
regularly for the rest of the
season.
Bellerin's performances and
progress this season have been
stunning, and there is little
doubt that he is one of the best
young right-backs in the
Premier League at the moment.
However, Debuchy, who moved
to Arsenal from Newcastle
United in the summer transfer
window, is the designated first-
choice right-back.
One suspects that Wenger is
likely to play the Frenchman
more regularly now, which will
come as a disappointment to
Bellerin.
MORE NEWS: www.newsgregator..com

Special Adviser to the
President on Media and Publicity,
Dr Reuben Abati has dismissed
as “mischievous, false and
embarrassing”, a report in a
national daily, (not Vanguard)
that the Presidency spent N2
trillion on the 2015 General
elections.
Reacting to the story yesterday,
Dr Abati equally denied the
allegation that a Committee of
Five has been set up by President
Jonathan to conduct an audit of
how the funds were disbursed
by party members and state
officials.
According to Dr Abati, rather
than striving to reduce the
president before Nigerians and
the international community,
critics should applaud the
president for deepening
democracy.
The statement reads:
President Goodluck Jonathan
“The front-page story alleging
that the Presidency spent a
whopping N2 trillion on the
2015 General elections, and that
a Committee of Five has been set
up by President Jonathan to
conduct an audit of how the
funds were disbursed by party
members and state officials is
mischievous, false and
embarrassing.
“The President has not set up
any committee as alleged in that
story. It is also not true that the
Presidency and the Peoples
Democratic Party used state
funds, or spent N2 trillion during
the campaigns. The innuendoes
are wrong-headed; the motives
behind the story are suspicious.
“The story alleges, for example,
that the Presidency spent
N2trillion on elections and
embarked on a money-sharing
spree to party members, support
groups and state officials. The
authors of the story and their
self-appointed megaphones
further insinuate that public
funds were deployed in this
regard. Their allegation of a theft
of public funds is extremely
malicious.
“How much is the budget of the
Federal Government of Nigeria?
The annual budget of the Federal
Government is a little over N4
trillion. The story is practically
suggesting that half of the
federal budget was spent on
elections. This kind of reckless
insinuation is meant to incite the
public and instigate national
crisis.
“With FAAC having to do
everything possible every month
to ensure disbursements and
with the Federal Government
heavily committed to the war
against terror in the North East,
where is the alleged N2 trillion
from the Federal purse?
President Jonathan and the
People’s Democratic Party
conducted the 2015 elections in
strict accordance with the rule of
law. The suggestion of any
unlawful conduct cannot be
sustained under any
circumstances.
“President Jonathan has done his
best to protect and strengthen
democracy and promote peace.
He justly deserves all the
accolades that he has received
from both Nigerians and the
international community for this.
Certain persons and interest
groups may not be happy that
his profile has further risen and
that his legacy is assured; but
they do their country gross
disservice when they act so
unpatriotically.
“Anyone who is engaged in
imposing a crisis on the country
by any means is not being fair to
Nigeria. We can only appeal to
the public to be wary of such
reckless tactics now on display,
which form the substance of an
odd, malicious campaign after
the elections.”
More news: www.newsgregator..com

they say a thousand journey starts in a day. Dnt you think this woman deserves some kudos