₦airaland Forum

The wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, sustained injury while physically abusing a student of the Federal University, Dutse, Aminu Adamu Muhammed, who was arrested over a Twitter post.

This was confirmed by the publisher of Daily Nigerian, Ja’afar Ja’afar, who noted that Mrs Buhari while attempting to throw a kick on the student, slipped and fractured her leg.

SaharaReporters had on November 21 reported that the wife of the President was rushed to an Abuja hospital after suffering a leg fracture.

Meanwhile, while giving an update, Ja’afar said, “From my findings, it was not SSS but plain-clothed policemen who arrested & tortured a final-year student @aminullahie and another lady named Zainab Kassim (a former social media aide to First Lady). The operation was engineered and executed by Aisha Buhari’s ADC Usman Shugaba.

“It may sound like a fairy tale, but the following is actually what transpired: the duo were beaten to a pulp in the presence of Mrs Buhari by three security aides. While Aminu and Ms Kassim were being beaten, the First Lady felt that they were not beating them well, so she joined them.

“As she attempted to throw a kick, she slipped and fractured her leg. It was the injury she suffered during the assault that took her to Cedar Crest Hospital for treatment.

“While Ms Kassim was released on the condition that she would not speak to the press, the final-year student may face trumped up charges of defamation. This is sad for democracy.”

SaharaReporters had earlier today reported that policemen acting on the orders of the Aide-De-Camp to Mrs Buhari, Usman Shugaba had arrested the 23-year old student for tweeting that the wife of President was feeding fat on poor people’s money.

The tweet, which was posted in Hausa reads: “Su mama anchi kudin talkawa ankoshi.”

The tweet, which was accompanied by a photograph of Mrs Buhari, loosely translates as “Mama has eaten poor people’s money and is now full”.

According to his friends, he made the post because he was frustrated about the prolonged strike by universities across the country.

The strike started in February 2022 and ended in October after eight months.

However, on November 8, 23-year-old Muhammed was picked up by security operatives on campus and was reportedly beaten up following his arrest around noon.

He had said he was beaten and taken to the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that Muhammed, a final-year student in the Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, in June 2022 posted on Twitter that Mrs Buhari had suddenly added weight after taking part in plundering the nation’s meagre resources as the masses endured hardship under her husband’s regime.

Muhammad’s arrest has caused a lot of concern in the university and also among the parents considering the security situation in the country.

The arrest sparked outrage on social media as many people criticised the First Lady, who is yet to publicly comment on the issue.

Media Personality KieKie welcomes her first child.

We Seek Justice For Aminu Adamu Muhammed, Taken Away From Federal University Dutse On Thursday 8th November, 2022 By Suspected Security Operatives From Aso Rock.

Below Is The Comment Made By Aminu Adamu Shalele On His Tweeter Handle Sometimes In June During ASUU Strike, Which Warrants His Castigation.

"SU MAMA ANCI KUDIN TALAKAWA ANKOSHI"
This Statement Is Attached With Pictures Of First Lady Of 2015 And That Of Today.

First leader Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has made him rest in front of her and cursed him all, after he gave himself water.

We are seeking justice to Aminu Adamu Muhammed, the alleged security officer took him from Dutse Federal University. Aminu is 23 years old, who is in his last year in the field of management (environment and poison) at FUD University in Jigawa State, security forces have arrested him over his speech to the wife of President Aisha Buhari.

Aminu's disappearance was unexpected news that came to his father when a friend from the University called him to inform him that he was not seeing Aminu for five days in the school.

A source from the school said that Aminu was arrested at 12 pm with the power of tuwo who is allegedly security agents.

Aminu said after security agents gave him nad'in taburma and he was beaten in front of the president's wife to escape frustration, he was taken to an unknown place in Abuja, he was not taken to police office, long I'm so happy to see One week without him before he was allowed to call his father Adamu Shalele Azare, a retired employee of Bauchi state government.

Aminu's father has expressed his sadness over the level of security agents and the bad act of the president's wife.

Here is Aminu Adamu Shalele's speech on social media on Tweeter sometime since June during ASUU strike, which gives confirmation of his allegations.

Aminu has written that

( "SU MAMA, THE POOR PEOPLE'S MONEY HAS BEEN EATED"

This information was from when he was in school and included pictures of the president's wife in 2015 and today's wife who was full after Baba finished farming.

We are calling for justice to him Aminu Matashi is an environmentalist who will write his final exam on 5th December.

Please we are pleading with the Muslim community to put Aminu in their prayers, may Allah make him free.

Twitter staff, A lot of folks have asked about how you'll be able to distinguish between @TwitterBlue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that are verified as official, which is why we’re introducing the “Official" label to select accounts when we launch.

Twitter will add an ‘official’ badge to high-profile accounts in lieu of verification

Twitter is turning the famous blue check mark into a symbol that denotes you’ve paid Elon Musk $8, rather than one that identifies public figures. But of course, if anyone with a spare $8 and a fragile ego can get verified, then the symbol is rendered meaningless, paving the way for trolls to go hard on impersonation gags. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO learned this himself firsthand, so Twitter is introducing an “official” badge, a separate form of user verification than the blue check.

“Not all previously verified accounts will get the ‘Official’ label and the label is not available for purchase,” explained product manager Esther Crawford in a tweet. “Accounts that will receive it include government accounts, commercial companies, business partners, major media outlets, publishers and some public figures.”

The official badge seems like it will essentially represent what blue checks used to denote . . . which should not be confusing at all for over 200 million creatures of habit who log onto the bird app every day.

“The new Twitter Blue does not include ID verification — it’s an opt-in, paid subscription that offers a blue checkmark and access to select features,” Crawford continued in a Twitter thread. “We’ll continue to experiment with ways to differentiate between account types.”

App researcher Nima Owji spotted this feature in development less than a week ago as what remains of Twitter’s staff rush to meet fast deadlines.

Twitter initially planned to roll out its new system, in which anyone can buy themselves a blue check, on Monday. But the rollout was delayed until after Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections in an attempt to curb abuse. The move was reportedly aimed at limiting the potential fallout of verified users impersonating political figures or news outlets claiming false results that may discourage others from voting.

This “official” designation would attempt to safeguard this kind of deliberate misinformation from spreading, yet it’s a tall ask to educate over 200 million daily users about a new feature that will fundamentally change the way they identify and consume news on a platform that they may have been using for over a decade. Still, Twitter Head of Safety and Integrity Yoel Roth claimed that Twitter’s “core moderation capabilities remain in place” despite the company’s mass layoffs.

Yesterday, I finally found the courage to confront a pain I've lived with all my life. This could fundamentally change everything but it's an important first step towards recovery.

It all started 27 years ago

One of the things we don't talk about is the fear of confronting what may be a worsening health condition. We ignore the pain and tension building up in our bodies because we're afraid of what we might find. Instead, we opt for blissful ignorance and hope for the best.

I have done this more times than i care to admit...
For 27 years, i have lived with excruciating pain in my right leg.
I wasn't born this way but something happened that changed the trajectory of my life.

Shortly after I was born in 1994 (i was 9 months old), I got really sick. My mom described it as a chronic case of measles.
This came at a time when my parents struggled to even put food on the table. My Dad's car spare parts shop in Eko had just been demolished by the government

There was no money to take me to the hospital and as my condition worsened, my mum had to take me to a local nurse who gave me a bad injection without proper diagnosis. First mistake.

With time I got better but my mum noticed something odd after the first few weeks of recovery.

I had started walking as a baby before I fell sick but after recovery, I stopped walking.
This was strange as I was a very active baby. My parents were worried but weren't sure what to do anymore as they had spent their entire live savings on paying the nurse for the treatment.

My Dad's elder sister stepped in and took me to Igbobi hospital where they did an xray and discovered that some damage had been done partly due to measles and the bad injection from the nurse.
I was immediately admitted and booked for surgery. I spent the next 3 months in Igbobi.

I still couldn't walk properly after igbobi.
My mom told me at the time that she used to hawk sachet water at oshodi underbridge with her twin sister, she would carry me on her back for several hours in the sun before we could eat.

Now you know why oshodi�

With time, I started walking again and had a pretty normal childhood until I was about 10 years old.
This was when i started feeling extreme pain in my right leg, it was really bad. I couldn't sleep on most nights and my poor mother could only help massage with Robb and aboniki

Things had gone from bad to worse for my parents and going to the hospital wasn't even an option. We never went to the hospital in my entire childhood/ teenage years. It didn't matter how sick we were, it was always local herbs.

This is the reality for most families in Nigeria.

The pain got worse because no one paid attention to what was wrong. I had to find a way to live with it.
I have lived with this pain ever since then and I have come to embrace it as a part of my reality.
There were nights when I was crippled with pain and contemplated suicide.

Deep down it hurts because now I know that if my parents were Educated or wealthy, maybe they would have handled things differently. They did what they thought was best because they didn't know any better.

Time passed and I became a victim of a tragedy I knew nothing about.

January 6th 2018...
On my way back from church, I wanted to cross the road to the other side where I was gonna get a Danfo to my destination. It was a busy road and I could have used the pedestrian bridge but I loved the thrill and rush that came with crossing the highway...

I had timed my surge properly and ran half way when I suddenly felt a sharp crippling pain in my leg,I fell in the middle of the road with cars approaching at dangerous speed. I thought it was the end but thankfully there was a guy just behind me,who pushed me towards the culvert

He saved my life and helped me get home.
That night, I cried
I picked up my phone and started asking questions on Google. I found the experiences of others and discovered that I had a slight LLD condition caused by trauma and ACN(Avascular Necrosis). I went down the rabbit hole.

This was not a Doctor's report, it was based on my own research.
PS: Don't Google your health problems

Everything I read that night made one thing very clear- I didn't have a lot of years to be strong. With time, there was going to be a serious risk of Arthritis, scoliosis etc.

It was a condition that could be fixed with surgery but it was going to cost 40-80k dollars
At the time, I was owing the woman selling garri on my street 200 naira for garri that I took on credit.
Going to see a Doctor was a pipe dream so I gave up on finding a solution/treatment.

That night fundamentally changed my life.
I was alrrady at the stage in my life where I was frustrated by my living condition and was actively planning to japa. It was also around the same time I was thinking about the chess in slums project.

I had to make a decision knowing fully well that I didn't have a lot of years to be strong. In my head I thought I had maybe 10 years to do something worthwhile before ending up in a wheel chair.
On that night I decided to pursue the CIS project with all the strength I had left.

On that night I found something to live for- I found purpose.
I wrote down these words- "I'm not sure what the future holds, but for the next 10 years, this frail body will house the greatest spirit humanity will ever know"

My pain become my greatest strength.

I was 23 years old at the time and I made the decision to commit the best years of my youth to using the talent of chess that I had and giving it as a gift to other children like me who will grow up in extreme poverty and become victims of a tragedy they knew nothing about.

It's been almost 5 years now and a lot has happened�.
I have without a doubt lived my dream of giving children in poverty a fighting chance and an opportunity to find their place in the world again.

I took the the road less traveled and never looked back since then.

While I was in Crossriver for the girl child project, I sprained my knee playing football and the pain came back.
Finally did a Pelvic xray yesterday and yes, it's really bad.
After 27 years of neglect, there's a good chance that I'll need a full hip replacement surgery.

It's ironical how I've taken at least 5 children to get their xray done and paid for their surgery, but never for once thought about actually getting one myself.
I've always ignored the pain and lived in constant fear of what I might discover.

I can no longer live in denial.

I'll probably need to start speaking to a few Orthopedic surgeons and seriously consider my options for surgery next year. Please point me in that direction if you know any good ones (Nigeria and abroad).
My doctor says I need to rest and completely quit high impact activities.

It's been such a beautiful year with a lot of highs and lows but I'm grateful for the gift of life.
It took a lot of courage to share this because I don't want anyone to feel sad or pity for me. I hope other people who have the same struggle and pain will be inspired by my story.

This pain point is why I seem almost delusional about my dreams and vision for every child-to build a future includes all of them.
Poverty has dire consequences,and when they say 120 million Nigerians live in Multidimensional poverty, it's not just some random survey...

These are actual lives and the ones that bear the most brunt of this are the children who become victims of a dysfunctional health and educational system.

Maybe I'll need to take a gap year to focus on the surgery, write a book, take on more speaking engagements, share my story.
I don't know. Nothing is certain, but I trust God completely. The God who gives purpose that suits the nature of a man.

He'll hold my hands through this.

I was playing around in Photoshop and came up with this in an hour and 30 mins.

I took inspiration from the 100 Naira note and copied the security chipset on the 50 pound note and added custom guilloche patterns.

@Fosudo
Then Arabic Inscription removed. This shows the kind of person you are. Bigoted, Tribalistic and Hypocrite. If truly your work comes within the depths of intellectuality, then out of sheer respect you won't mind putting the Arabic.
Shame on you!!!!

Chinedu Okoli (born 23 November 1983), better known by his stage name Flavour N'abania or simply Flavour, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He began his musical career as a drummer for a local church. Flavour is popularly known across Africa and the world for his hit song "Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix)". He is currently signed to 2nite Entertainment.

In 2005, he released his self-titled debut album N'abania. In 2010, Flavour released his second studio album, Uplifted. It was supported by the singles "Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix)", "Adamma", and "Oyi Remix". The album's success made Flavour one of Africa's most sought out artists. He was booked to perform at numerous concerts and social events following Uplifted's release....

Covenant University makes my blood boil. When my sister told me this story, I was so mad.

I'd leave my stories for another day!

This is heartbreaking

The Police Command in Kaduna State says prompt police and the military response has foiled an attempt to kidnap 76 victims along Funtua-Zaria Road.

The command spokesman, DSP Muhammad Jalige, said in a statement issued on Monday in Kaduna that the incident occurred at about 11:00 p.m. on Friday.

He said that the kidnap attempt was made by a large number of bandits wielding sophisticated weapons, who blocked a section of Funtua-Zaria Road at Gulbala, Giwa Local Government Area.

Jalige, however, said a combined team of police and military mobilized to the location and thwarted the intention of the gunmen who had already herded some passengers into the bush.

“On reaching the location, a Ford open truck was found and information gathered had it that a large number of passengers on the truck had been moved off the road by the bandits.

“This development engendered an immediate search and rescue operation by the operatives into the adjourning forest.

“In the process, the bandits were encountered and by the sheer force of firepower by the security operatives, they were left with no option than to abort their nefarious mission and take to flight with injuries.

“Thorough combing of the forest over several hours by the crack operatives succeeded in the rescue of a large number of victims totalling 76 comprising males and females of different ages,” he added.

Jalige said preliminary investigation revealed that the victims were passengers on the truck travelling from Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State to different destinations when they were abducted.

“Operatives are still on operation within the general area in search of the main truck driver and two other passengers who are yet to be accounted for,” he added.

Jalige said that the Commissioner of Police, Yekini Ayoku, described the development as an important breakthrough and a demonstration of the imperative for strong inter-service collaboration.

He assured that the inter-agency coordination and collaboration would be strengthened to insulate the public space from enemies of the country.

Nobel Prize-winning author, Wole Soyinka, has stated that he does not have a need for any religion and does not worship any deity.

He said at the public presentation of his two-volume collection of essays on Sunday.

According to , Soyinka admitted that he is a mythologist and also believes that people have a right to create myths around themselves based on their experiences.

He said, “Do I really need one (religion)? I have never felt I needed one. I am a mythologist. I believe that people have a right and cannot help creating mythologies around themselves, around their experiences about what they project from the inner recesses of their minds as answers to questions.

“And so I find nothing wrong with utilising mythologies as part and parcel of my creative warehouse.

"But religion? No I don’t worship any deity. But I consider deities as creatively real and therefore my companions in my journey in both the real world and the imaginative world.”

If not for my case against Jack Dorsey through the Nigerian courts & the ban on Twitter, @elonmusk might not have been able to buy twitter

Part of what send Jack away from Twitter board was his wanton interference into Nigerian politics. We dealt with him & protected our country.

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan GCFR, GCON (born 20 November 1957 is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari, and was the first incumbent President in Nigerian history to concede defeat in an election.

Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010 under the administration of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua; and in oil-rich Bayelsa State as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007.

Early life
Goodluck Jonathan was born on 20 November,1957 in Ogbia to a Christian family of canoe makers, from the Ijaw minority ethnic group in Bayelsa state.

Education
He received a bachelor degree in zoology (second-class honours), a masters degree in hydrobiology and fisheries biology; and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Port Harcourt.

Pre-presidency
Before his entry into politics in 1998, he worked as an education inspector, a lecturer and an environmental-protection officer.

Governorship
On 29 May 1999, Jonathan was sworn in as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa alongside Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who came in as the governor of the state on the platform of PDP. Jonathan served as Deputy Governor until December 2005. On 9 December 2005, Jonathan, who was the deputy governor at the time, was sworn in as the governor of Bayelsa State upon the impeachment of the current Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha by the Bayelsa State Assembly after being charged with money laundering in the United Kingdom.

Vice President
As a vice-president, Jonathan took a very low profile. While recognising the constitutional limits of the vice-president's office, he participated in cabinet meetings and, by statute, was a member of the National Security Council, the National Defence Council, the Federal Executive Council, and Chairman of the National Economic Council.

Goodluck Jonathan was instrumental in negotiating an agreement with many of the major militant groups in the Niger Delta, to lay down their weapons and stop fighting as part of a government amnesty program.

Order of succession
Goodluck Jonathan was named Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 9 February 2010, following a controversial doctrine of necessity from the Senate of Nigeria, due to President Yar'Adua's trip to Saudi Arabia in November 2009 for medical treatment. On 10 February 2010, during his first day as acting president, Jonathan announced a minor cabinet reshuffle.

In accordance with the order of succession in the Nigerian constitution following President Umaru Yar'Adua's death on 5 May 2010, acting President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as the substantive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 6 May 2010. On 18 May 2010, the National Assembly approved Jonathan's nomination of Kaduna State governor, Namadi Sambo, to replace him as Vice President. For the general election in 2011, Jonathan and Vice-President Sambo attended political events and travelled the country to campaign for the nation's highest office.

A year later, on 29 May 2011 he was sworn in as President, Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State. He gave his inauguration address where he declared his government was to focus on a Transformation Agenda and promised to continue implementing the seven-point agenda policy framework of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. He cited anti-corruption, power and electoral reforms as focuses of his administration. He stated that he came to office under "very sad and unusual circumstances".

Post-presidency
Since leaving office, Jonathan has continued to defend his administration. In 2019, he was appointed as the honorary Special Adviser to the Bayelsa Education Trust Fund Board. In June 2019, Goodluck Jonathan emerged as chairperson of the newly inaugurated International Summit Council for Peace (ISCP). In July 2020, Jonathan was appointed Special Envoy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); to lead mediation talks during the 2020 Malian protests.

Personal life
Family
Jonathan and his wife, Dame Jonathan Patience, have two children, Ariwera (Son) and Aruabai (daughter).

No caption needed. This photo tells you what’s going on. You might wanna zoom in.

Again, we are not “NEPA” but Ikeja Electric.

“Up Ikeja Electric” or better still “Up IE” �

P-Square is the defunct music duo consisting of the twin brothers, Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye. They produced and released their albums through Square Records. In December 2011, they signed a record deal with Akon's Konvict Muzik label. In May 2012, P-Square signed a record distribution deal with Universal Music Group. On 25 September 2017, numerous media outlets reported that the group disbanded. Reports about a breakup surfaced after Peter reportedly sent a termination letter to the group's lawyer. Prior to this report, the duo disbanded in 2016, supposedly over a disagreement about the role of their manager.

Controversy
The duo were reported to have handled most of their production/beat making in house. The band has been faced with many controversies for their habit of sampling western songs and popular hits in their records. They have addressed the issue many times in interviews as well as in the lyrics of their songs. Technically speaking, P Square does more in the line of reconstructing the drum patterns, chord progressions or lyrics of the sampled songs as against actually cutting parts of the song and directly sampling into their production. This accounts for the largely electronic feel of their sound.

Some of the songs which have been called up on this account include "Get Squared", "Game Over", "Danger" and others.

P-Square attracted headlines because they reportedly turned irate when they were notified by organisers in the middle of their performance at the Guinness Show about some change in plans which would affect the length of their performance, and that of the next act, 2 Face Idibia. As reported by a news site vanguardngr.com, the info apparently stirred up resentment as Peter immediately said "I don’t know why, anytime a foreign artiste comes to Nigeria, they (show organizers) wanna treat us like slaves in our country". Although initially they continued their performance but midway through, they threw their microphones to the ground and angrily stormed out of the stage saying, "We are leaving; they don’t want 2face to come on stage." They were said to have immediately left the premises of the show, but after intervention of the show organisers, they came on stage later with 2face for a performance, but later on received an apology.

The duo had a difference in opinion regarding what Peter perceived as a lopsidedness in individual input of songs which was getting featured on their joint albums with Paul getting a lion share of his songs selected. This led to Peter refusing to do anything associated with the name "P-Square" for weeks. He later relocated with his wife and kids from the mansion they shared. A lawyer was involved to help split their fortune as they were both involved in joint ventures over the prior years.

Nancy Pelosi, who has led Democrats in the US House of Representatives for almost two decades, has announced she is standing down from the role.

The 82-year-old is the most powerful Democrat in Congress and the first woman to serve as speaker of the House.

She will continue to represent her California district in the lower chamber of Congress.

It comes as Republicans are projected to take back control of the House following the midterm elections.

Republican Kevin McCarthy has won the party's nomination to be speaker in the new Congress and is likely to succeed Mrs Pelosi.

"I never would have thought that someday I would go from homemaker to House speaker," Mrs Pelosi said in a statement in the chamber on Thursday.

"I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress. The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus," she said.

Mrs Pelosi will serve as speaker until January when a new Congress takes over, and will remain in the seat she first took up in 1987 until January 2025.

New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is widely expected to take up the top Democratic leadership post in the House, which would make him the first black congressional leader in US history.

Speaker of the House is the one congressional job detailed in the US Constitution. After the vice-president, it is next in line to the presidency.

The speaker and their deputies and committee chairs determine what bills are considered and voted on. They set the agenda and decide the rules governing debate.

Mrs Pelosi became minority leader, the title held by the person leading the opposition in the House, in 2003. The Democrats then took control of the House for the first time in more than a decade in 2006, and she became the first woman to lead a major party in either chamber of Congress.

Mrs Pelosi became minority leader again four years later but returned to the speaker's chair in 2018.

The first woman to lead a major party in either chamber of the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi will also go down in history as one of the most effective - an invaluable asset for Democrats and a formidable opponent for Republicans.

Her legislative acumen, her ability to keep a restless party united when it matters, and her instinct for political theatre have made her a force on Capitol Hill, as well as a lightning rod for criticism from her detractors.

She wasn't the most telegenic Democratic leader. Her speeches and press conference were hardly inspirational. But her ability to keep her fractious and often slim majority in the chamber together on key votes had few rivals.

Her political instincts were invariably sound, and her sense of legislative timing - when to push and when to wait and what it would take to win a vote - was impeccable. And she did it in an era where the House leadership had incentives, such as earmarked spending authorisations, to keep recalcitrant back-benchers in line.

Her strength has come at a price, however. It is in part because of these abilities that she became a hobgoblin of the right - a villain whose name or imagine headlined countless fundraising pitches and political adverts.

During the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump stormed through the Capitol building in search of the speaker and were photographed trashing her office and placing their feet on her desk.

The duration and depth of her grip on House Democrats, stretching over two decades, has also stunted the growth of younger leaders within the chamber, who have waited years to have their chance to move up in the party's command structure. Now, at last, they may get their chance. But they will have large shoes to fill.

2px presentational grey line
As speaker, Mrs Pelosi played a critical role in advancing - or thwarting - the agendas of multiple presidents.

She is widely credited with marshalling the passage of former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare legislation, as well as bills to address infrastructure and climate change under incumbent President Joe Biden.

Mrs Pelosi also directly challenged Donald Trump throughout his presidency, famously ripping up a copy of his State of the Union address behind his back.

Rumours around her future had swirled in the aftermath of a violent break-in at her home last month that left her husband Paul, 82, in need of skull surgery.

Lawmakers gave her a standing ovation on Thursday as she thanked them for their prayers and spoke of her "beloved partner in life and my pillar of support".

John Lawrence, a former chief of staff to Mrs Pelosi, told the BBC he expected her to play an important role in counselling new members of Congress and working with the White House now that Democrats were in the minority again.

"There's never really a good time to leave," he said. "When you're in the ascendancy, you want to accomplish a great deal, and when things are going against you, you want to fight back."

In a statement on Thursday, President Biden called Mrs Pelosi "the most consequential speaker of the House of Representatives in our history".

Why Some BDC Operators were Arrested- EFCC

The recent arrest of some Bureau De Change operators across the country especially in Lagos and Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was incidental to the Commission's overall efforts in sanitizing the foreign exchange sector.

The Commission’s Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol stated this on Monday, November 14, 2022, while fielding questions on Good Morning Nigeria, a breakfast programme on the Network Service of the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA. Chukkol who represented the Executive Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was among eminent personalities invited to discuss the topic ‘’Sanitizing Ungoverned Operators in the Forex Sector”.

According to him, EFCC’s arrest of BDC operators and currency speculators in the parallel market was not indiscriminate but a product of intelligence. “At EFCC, we work with intelligence and with other stakeholders; and when we talk of illegal forex operators you cannot just invite people on the street even though sometimes you could, but generally you do not have a choice but to make arrest”.

He stressed that the Commission considers foreign exchange malpractice as an economic crime against the Nigerian state, adding that the Commission as far back as 2016 established a full-fledge Section known as Foreign Exchange Malpractices Section and for over ten years maintained visible “presence at all airports in the country to checkmate incidences of bulk cash movement outside Nigeria which is another aspect of this menace.”

Through the Commission’s presence at the major gateway into the country, many arrests of cash smugglers have been made and humungous sums in foreign currencies recovered.

“Some were arrested with excess of $6 Million (Six Million United States Dollars), others with $2 Million (Two Million United States Dollars) and we know that these huge sums were not meant to be used in buying goods but stolen monies being laundered out of the country,” he said

Chukkol further stated that EFCC not only recovered some of these monies, but secured their forfeiture to the federal government, while the culprits were prosecuted.

He emphasized the need for active inter-agency and stakeholder’s collaboration, pointing out that many of the over 6,000 registered BDCs do not belong to the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria and therefore out of the orbit of regulators.

“The CBN guidelines are clear regarding returns by BDCs, but how many of them do this,” he asked.

Other discussants in the programme which includes Director of Monitoring Policy Department of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Dr. Hassan Mahmud, President, Association of Bureau De Change of Change Operators of Nigeria, Dr. Aminu Gwadebe, a finance and investment analyst, Niyi Akinsuji and a commentator on financial issues and Managing Director of Timeline Consult, Shuabu Idris in their respective contributions identified the issue of Nigeria being an import driven economy ,lack of adequate penalty, shortage of trained manpower, and identification of what truly constitutes ‘black market’ beyond the institutional banking system as some of the problems bedeviling the fight against foreign exchange malpractice in Nigeria.

So policemen threatened to shoot at me today.

My first encounter was at Total Garden, they asked my Bolt guy to park and asked me to bring my phone. I told the guy I can't give him my phone for no reason. He started shouting until I told him that "Oga Osifeso (Oyo Police PRO)

...no go dey happy say you wan collect money from journalist hand o". Then he let me leave.

While I was going back home this evening, I stopped over at Jericho Mall to get something and just after that roundabout after the mall, a Micra overtaked my ride and ask me to alight.

I questioned the officer who was not in uniform nor any means of recognition except the guns with them. He said I look like a suspect and I asked him that on what grounds. Then he cocked his gun and asked me to drop my phone. I told him that the PPRO won't be happy he was...

.. assaulting a journalist and the other guy wanted to slap me which I dodged. It took a lot to convince him that I wasn't a 'Yahoo Boy' and he had to use his phone to Google my name to ascertain that I wasn't a fraudster.

That very spot at Jericho was where my immediate bro... @estoy_BASTOS had 100k extorted from him by same policemen whose description matches those who almost assaulted me today.

As a friend of the police, I'm putting this out so that Oyo Police can do the needful so that we can collectively avoid another crisis.

Let me reiterate that I gave none of them shishi!

Shishi! It's not a crime to wear a round neck, shorts and face cap.

#EndPoliceBrutality
#EndImpunity

I’m literally stranded in the UK because
@ZenithBank has refused to pay my upkeep funds that have been APPROVED by
@Cenbank.

I have had to borrow money here just to even eat. CBN approved this Form A since June 2022!!! Please it’s the 5th month now pay my money.

AFTER SPENDING OVER 30 MILLION NAIRA ON MY STUDIES, I FINALLY GOT WITHDRAWN IN MY FINAL YEAR JUST BECAUSE
@ZenithBank
REFUSED TO CREDIT MY UNIVERSITY FOR A TRANSACTION THAT WAS APPROVED IN AUGUST 2022. SAD

I BELIEVE I SHOULD SAY AN EXCEPTIONALLY ENORMOUS THANKS TO EVERYBODY THAT AIDED RETWEETED, LIKED, AND SHARED MY TWEET ON ALL WEB-BASED PLATFORMS, I TRULY FEEL A DEBT OF GRATITUDE AND CAN NOT THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH ON THE GROUNDS THAT YOU ALL SAVED MY LIFE.
@ZenithBank

SAW EVERYTHING AND THEY HAVE PROCESSED MY TUITION FEE TRANSACTION EFFECTIVELY. LIKEWISE, IT HAS BEEN AFFIRMED BY MY UNIVERSITY AND I HAVE BEEN REINSTATED BACK TO THE UNIVERSITY.

Dear @cenbank there are reports that bank staff are charging between ₦200k - ₦400k bribe to "FastTrack" Form A and this has got UK universities suspending many Nigerian students and reporting them to Home Office. There should be full investigation into this.

"Meltdown Being Tracked Real-Time": Elon Musk On Reports About Crypto Exchange FTX Hacking

The Bahamian cryptocurrency exchange FTX has announced that it has been hacked and advised users not to install any future updates and to remove all FTX apps

According to the report, more than $600 million in cryptocurrency reportedly fled the wallets of bankrupt FTX late on Friday, after which the company claimed that it had been hacked.

"FTX has been hacked. FTX apps are malware. Delete them. Chat is open. Don't go on FTX site as it might download Trojans," wrote an account administrator in the FTX Support Telegram chat. The message was pinned by FTX General Counsel Ryne Miller.

FTX has filed for bankruptcy protection after abnormal transactions caused hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto assets to be withdrawn.

This is the latest blow for FTX, which has been marred by controversy in recent months.

On Saturday, the official Twitter account of FTX retweeted comments from Ryne Miller, the company’s general counsel in the US, in which he said it was “investigating abnormalities with wallet movements related to consolidation of FTX balances across exchanges”. Outflows were estimated to be at least $266mn over the past 24 hours

FTX has been embroiled in controversy in recent months, with some calling into question the exchange’s business practices. In May, FTX was accused of market manipulation after it was revealed that the exchange had been offering “margin trading” to its users.

Margin trading allows users to trade with borrowed funds, and it can be used to artificially inflate prices.

Then, in June, FTX was again accused of market manipulation after it was revealed that the exchange had been offering ”futures contracts” to its users. Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an asset at a future date, and they can be used to speculate on the price of an asset.

Now, the potential hack is the latest blow for FTX. The exchange has lost hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets, and it is currently under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It remains to be seen how this will all impact the future of FTX.

I need an answer, is it normal for police to enter any street and start picking people without any offense and put them in cell?
This thing has been happening since a week ago, around agunbelewo, okini, old garage.
Is it because of new commissioner? Please we need to know.

FACT CHECK: No, the US will not reject old dollar notes from Jan 2023

Multiple online reports have claimed that by January 31, 2023, the United States dollar notes issued before 2021 will no longer be accepted as legal tender.

“USA moves to checkmate dollar stockpile in Africa,” reads the headline of a report by TheNewsNigeria

The claim also appeared on Nairaland, a well-known social networking platform in Nigeria.

The post claims that the government of the US “has set date for restriction on an acceptable legal tender note of US Dollar which will commence on Jan. 31st 2023”.

“The restriction implies that any US Dollar note below 2021 printed date will no longer be accepted or be a legal tender anywhere in the world… This effort is to curb billions of illegal monies in dollar bills warehoused around African continent emanating from drug-related, terrorism, kidnapping and money from corrupt politicians,” the post reads.

The claim is coming over a week after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the redesign of some naira notes including N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, which will be effective from mid-December 2022.

According to Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, one of the factors that influenced the redesign of the naira notes is the “significant hoarding of banknotes by members of the public”.

He said statistics show that “over 80 percent of currency in circulation are outside the vaults of commercial banks”.

“As at the end of September 2022, available data at the CBN indicate that N2.73 trillion out of the N3.23 trillion currency in circulation, was outside the vaults of commercial banks across the country; and supposedly held by the public,” he said.

No evidence shows the US is issuing new dollar notes

TheCable checked the official website of the US department of the treasury, the national finance and treasury office of the federal government, and found no such announcement.

Further checks also revealed that no reputable news media, both in the US and Nigeria, published reports on dollar redesign.

The US federal reserve board currently issues seven denomination of dollar notes, which includes $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100.

According to information available on the website of the US Currency Education Programme, the current design of the $100 note, issued on October 8, 2013, is the latest denomination to be redesigned.

The $1 note, issued in 1963, and featuring former President George Washington has never been changed.

The US government periodically redesigns federal reserve notes to make them easier to use, and more difficult to counterfeit.

All US currency remains legal tender regardless of when it was issued.

The US Currency Education Programme which provides education, training, and information about federal reserve notes emphasises that “it is U.S. government policy that all designs of U.S currency remain legal tender, regardless of when they were issued”.

The US CEP added that the policy includes “all denominations of federal reserve notes, from 1914 to the present”.

Verdict

The claim that the US has redesigned dollar notes and will reject all old notes from January 2023 is false.

$1 back to 690 naira, Black market rate

U.S. inflation eased to 7.7% in October, raising hopes that high prices have begun to slow down

Consumer price increases eased to 7.7% in October, a sign that the persistent inflation that has plagued the U.S. economy is showing glimmers of cooling off, even as it remains near four-decade highs.

The new data compare with a reading of 8.2% in September. On a monthly basis, inflation increased 0.4%, compared with 0.4% in September.

Market analysts had forecast a 12-month increase of 8%, according to the research group FactSet.

Following the data release, President Joe Biden said in a statement that the report represented "progress" in the fight to bring price growth under control.

"It will take time to get inflation back to normal levels — and we could see setbacks along the way — but we will keep at it and help families with the cost of living," Biden said, adding: "Americans are already paying around $1.20 less per gallon of gas than this summer.

Today’s report shows a much-needed break in inflation at the grocery store as we head into the holidays. And millions of Americans shopping for health insurance plans are continuing to save $800 per year, thanks to legislation I’ve signed into law."

Even with Thursday's lower reading, stubbornly high prices likely played a role in the outcome of the midterm elections, with voters naming the economy as their top issue of concern.

"It isn’t just the ongoing pace of increase that is troublesome but the pervasiveness of surging prices across various spending categories that has scarred household budgets,” Bankrate chief financial analyst Greg McBride said in a note in advance of the latest inflation report.

The data also follows the Federal Reserve's move to raise its key federal funds rate another 0.75%, the fourth consecutive hike of its kind and the sixth increase this year. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said he now expects to increase the federal funds rate to a level beyond where the central bank had previously anticipated because inflation has not cooled off.

Even as the Fed has sought to make it more expensive to borrow money, the U.S. economy has remained strong, especially as measured by jobs. The United States added 261,000 jobs in October — well ahead of expectations for 200,000.

In fact, the Fed is trying to decrease demand for labor, something that pushes up wages and, in turn, feeds into higher prices. By raising interest rates, the central bank hopes it can make it more costly to borrow and invest, thereby cooling off further price increases.

Some economists remain optimistic that the Fed can continue to raise rates without tipping the U.S. into recession.

“We still see a very plausible ... path from the high-inflation economy of the present to a low-inflation economy of the future without a recession," Goldman Sachs analysts led by economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a note to investors. The economy would get there through a slowing economy that does not result in sharp job losses, they said.

There are signs that inflation is cooling off. Gas prices are down about $0.10 over the past month. Data show that both home prices and rents are on the decline, though there are often lags before they show up in official data. Prices of used cars have also drifted lower after reaching significant highs earlier this year.

But the inflation rate remains far above the Fed's 2% target, meaning aggressive actions by the central bank are likely to continue.

Na Obidients wey no wise dey hold flags for oshodi, the ones wey wise dey enter private jets

Nigerian Army just saved us from being kidnapped on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Omooo, thank you God.✨❤️
I am sorry about the ones who got kidnapped and shot tho���

Mark Zuckerberg just shared the following with Meta employees:

Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1.

I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted.

How did we get here?

At the start of Covid, the world rapidly moved online and the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth. Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments. Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected. Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.

In this new environment, we need to become more capital efficient. We’ve shifted more of our resources onto a smaller number of high priority growth areas — like our AI discovery engine, our ads and business platforms, and our long-term vision for the metaverse. We’ve cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint. We’re restructuring teams to increase our efficiency. But these measures alone won’t bring our expenses in line with our revenue growth, so I’ve also made the hard decision to let people go.

How will this work?

There is no good way to do a layoff, but we hope to get all the relevant information to you as quickly as possible and then do whatever we can to support you through this.

Everyone will get an email soon letting you know what this layoff means for you. After that, every affected employee will have the opportunity to speak with someone to get their questions answered and join information sessions.

Some of the details in the US include:

Severance. We will pay 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap.

PTO. We’ll pay for all remaining PTO time.
RSU vesting. Everyone impacted will receive their November 15, 2022 vesting.
Health insurance. We’ll cover the cost of healthcare for people and their families for six months.

Career services. We’ll provide three months of career support with an external vendor, including early access to unpublished job leads.

Immigration support. I know this is especially difficult if you’re here on a visa. There’s a notice period before termination and some visa grace periods, which means everyone will have time to make plans and work through their immigration status. We have dedicated immigration specialists to help guide you based on what you and your family need.

Outside the US, support will be similar, and we’ll follow up soon with separate processes that take into account local employment laws.

We made the decision to remove access to most Meta systems for people leaving today given the amount of access to sensitive information. But we’re keeping email addresses active throughout the day so everyone can say farewell.

While we’re making reductions in every organization across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs, some teams will be affected more than others. Recruiting will be disproportionately affected since we’re planning to hire fewer people next year. We’re also restructuring our business teams more substantially. This is not a reflection of the great work these groups have done, but what we need going forward. The leaders of each group will schedule time to discuss what this means for your team over the next couple of days.

The teammates who will be leaving us are talented and passionate, and have made an important impact on our company and community. Each of you have helped make Meta a success, and I’m grateful for it. I’m sure you’ll go on to do great work at other places.

What other changes are we making?

I view layoffs as a last resort, so we decided to rein in other sources of cost before letting teammates go. Overall, this will add up to a meaningful cultural shift in how we operate. For example, as we shrink our real estate footprint, we’re transitioning to desk sharing for people who already spend most of their time outside the office. We’ll roll out more cost-cutting changes like this in the coming months.

We’re also extending our hiring freeze through Q1 with a small number of exceptions. I’m going to watch our business performance, operational efficiency, and other macroeconomic factors to determine whether and how much we should resume hiring at that point. This will give us the ability to control our cost structure in the event of a continued economic downturn. It will also put us on a path to achieve a more efficient cost structure than we outlined to investors recently.

I’m currently in the middle of a thorough review of our infrastructure spending. As we build our AI infrastructure, we’re focused on becoming even more efficient with our capacity. Our infrastructure will continue to be an important advantage for Meta, and I believe we can achieve this while spending less.

Fundamentally, we’re making all these changes for two reasons: our revenue outlook is lower than we expected at the beginning of this year, and we want to make sure we’re operating efficiently across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs.

How do we move forward?

This is a sad moment, and there’s no way around that. To those who are leaving, I want to thank you again for everything you’ve put into this place. We would not be where we are today without your hard work, and I’m grateful for your contributions.

To those who are staying, I know this is a difficult time for you too. Not only are we saying goodbye to people we’ve worked closely with, but many of you also feel uncertainty about the future. I want you to know that we’re making these decisions to make sure our future is strong.

I believe we are deeply underestimated as a company today. Billions of people use our services to connect, and our communities keep growing. Our core business is among the most profitable ever built with huge potential ahead. And we’re leading in developing the technology to define the future of social connection and the next computing platform. We do historically important work. I’m confident that if we work efficiently, we’ll come out of this downturn stronger and more resilient than ever.

We’ll share more on how we’ll operate as a streamlined organization to achieve our priorities in the weeks ahead. For now, I’ll say one more time how thankful I am to those of you who are leaving for everything you’ve done to advance our mission.

Mark