₦airaland Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOVJmE_55Vg

One of his messages, while alive.

This is the story of Pastor Olugbenga Joshua who through his lifetime remained heavenly minded and preached it. He died, on the day of his burial, a sign appeared in the sky to the sight of everyone confirming his glorious journey to heaven. My people, Heaven is real, and Jesus Christ is the only way. Let us be steadfast in our service and commitment to finish strong. Heaven is real!

The late Pastor Joshua was the Pastor in Charge of Chapel of Redemption International Ministries, Mararaba, Nasarawa State until his death.


https://web.facebook.com/ajiboduabidemi/videos/3056777724448794/?__tn__=CH-R&eid=ARCoF9hDqZNrPvD2vAswfmFLhfjfgwiZlpk5Rx8gaOR09kflnL1_465jVuuP73cXiAaKnuvZjza9m2gP&hc_ref=ARQqr0NZI48QX2tKzyW8YLf_H7W0uZLsSCNr50TO34D_Ntxu0obKpUzhqPpSDj2ZTwU&fref=nf&__xts__[0]=68.ARAfcZnBin9LOLZd4nXsgrcJaWmGMVrJGmtT__hWjbTtqjYTJM4iTIIaFAtMmnwWGpCvqwod6c1eOgpTFuiN6c5piUucH0Pl0FAAYprbJOcE3jjYexQcj2E4qFJm9aOooDhShGIgPT5N6K65Jw8M8X9jL2DriEeleOsMF6tvOZxbIvARKVM8Ir5-lSmq7_A4bXqocZzzj9RrRFeOM0aVu1QBAeGkc_Tq52AIXRMV0spUeHJczVm9yLnK3svus03gPRN6_DBcw2MidA5iYQc8u_eXTX4UVLh25rOQUscAX0gW86lq1DrUgJcU6W7iBk2KRwmyNy9xOpzMdXXfQOvUyg3IpUg66RQp2FU

Nice assertion

I have 5 business ideas in place and have started out with 2. I urgently need a partner and investor.

If interested kindly contact me on adetenterp@gmail.com

There is the need for our governments to be more proactive. The terms of the Quarantine Act signed by Mr President should be implemented to the letter. While each State government should enforce their internal laws on COVID-19 prevention. We are gradually easing back to the normal ways of life, and dangerously playing by the precipice.

Abi

PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME TO READ THROUGH THESE POSTS, AS IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE

It seems many people are breathing some relief, and I’m not sure why. An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope can also be predicted. We have robust data from the outbreaks in China and Italy, that shows the backside of the mortality curve declines slowly, with deaths persisting for months. Assuming we have just crested in deaths at 70k, it is possible that we lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. That's what's going to happen with a lockdown.

As states reopen, and we give the virus more fuel, all bets are off. I understand the reasons for reopening the economy, but I've said before, if you don't solve the biology, the economy won't recover.

There are very few states that have demonstrated a sustained decline in numbers of new infections. Indeed, as of May 3rd the majority are still increasing and reopening. As a simple example of the USA trend, when you take out the data from New York and just look at the rest of the USA, daily case numbers are increasing. Bottom line: the only reason the total USA new case numbers look flat right now is because the New York City epidemic was so large and now it is being contained.

So throughout most of the country we are going to add fuel to the viral fire by reopening. It's going to happen if I like it or not, so my goal here is to try to guide you away from situations of high risk.

Where are people getting sick?

We know most people get infected in their own home. A household member contracts the virus in the community and brings it into the house where sustained contact between household members leads to infection.

But where are people contracting the infection in the community? I regularly hear people worrying about grocery stores, bike rides, inconsiderate runners who are not wearing masks.... are these places of concern? Well, not really. Let me explain.

In order to get infected you need to get exposed to an infectious dose of the virus; based on infectious dose studies with other coronaviruses, it appears that only small doses may be needed for infection to take hold. Some experts estimate that as few as 1000 SARS-CoV2 infectious viral particles are all that will be needed (ref 1, ref 2). Please note, this still needs to be determined experimentally, but we can use that number to demonstrate how infection can occur. Infection could occur, through 1000 infectious viral particles you receive in one breath or from one eye-rub, or 100 viral particles inhaled with each breath over 10 breaths, or 10 viral particles with 100 breaths. Each of these situations can lead to an infection.

H[b]ow much Virus is released into the environment?[/b]

A Bathroom: Bathrooms have a lot of high touch surfaces, door handles, faucets, stall doors. So fomite transfer risk in this environment can be high. We still do not know whether a person releases infectious material in feces or just fragmented virus, but we do know that toilet flushing does aerosolize many droplets. Treat public bathrooms with extra caution (surface and air), until we know more about the risk.

A Cough: A single cough releases about 3,000 droplets and droplets travels at 50 miles per hour. Most droplets are large, and fall quickly (gravity), but many do stay in the air and can travel across a room in a few seconds.

A Sneeze: A single sneeze releases about 30,000 droplets, with droplets traveling at up to 200 miles per hour. Most droplets are small and travel great distances (easily across a room).

If a person is infected, the droplets in a single cough or sneeze may contain as many as 200,000,000 (two hundred million) virus particles which can all be dispersed into the environment around them.

A breath: A single breath releases 50 - 5000 droplets. Most of these droplets are low velocity and fall to the ground quickly. There are even fewer droplets released through nose-breathing. Importantly, due to the lack of exhalation force with a breath, viral particles from the lower respiratory areas are not expelled.

Unlike sneezing and coughing which release huge amounts of viral material, the respiratory droplets released from breathing only contain low levels of virus. We don't have a number for SARS-CoV2 yet, but we can use influenza as a guide. Studies have shown that a person infected with influenza can releases up to 33 infectious viral particles per minute. But I'm going to use 20 to keep the math simple.

Remember the formula: Successful Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time

If a person coughs or sneezes, those 200,000,000 viral particles go everywhere. Some virus hangs in the air, some falls into surfaces, most falls to the ground. So if you are face-to-face with a person, having a conversation, and that person sneezes or coughs straight at you, it's pretty easy to see how it is possible to inhale 1,000 virus particles and become infected.

But even if that cough or sneeze was not directed at you, some infected droplets--the smallest of small--can hang in the air for a few minutes, filling every corner of a modest sized room with infectious viral particles. All you have to do is enter that room within a few minutes of the cough/sneeze and take a few breaths and you have potentially received enough virus to establish an infection.

But with general breathing, 20 viral particles minute into the environment, even if every virus ended up in your lungs (which is very unlikely), you would need 1000 viral particles divided by 20 per minute = 50 minutes.

Speaking increases the release of respiratory droplets about 10 fold; ~200 virus particles per minute. Again, assuming every virus is inhaled, it would take ~5 minutes of speaking face-to-face to receive the required dose.

The exposure to virus x time formula is the basis of contact tracing. Anyone you spend greater than 10 minutes with in a face-to-face situation is potentially infected. Anyone who shares a space with you (say an office) for an extended period is potentially infected.

This is also why it is critical for people who are symptomatic to stay home. Your sneezes and your coughs expel so much virus that you can infect a whole room of people.
[/b]
What is the role of asymptomatic people in spreading the virus?

Symptomatic people are not the only way the virus is shed. We know that at least 44% of all infections--and the majority of community-acquired transmissions--occur from people without any symptoms (asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people). You can be shedding the virus into the environment for up to 5 days before symptoms begin.

Infectious people come in all ages, and they all shed different amounts of virus. The figure below shows that no matter your age (x-axis), you can have a little bit of virus or a lot of virus (y-axis). (ref)

The amount of virus released from an infected person changes over the course of infection and it is also different from person-to-person. Viral load generally builds up to the point where the person becomes symptomatic. So just prior to symptoms showing, you are releasing the most virus into the environment. Interestingly, the data shows that just 20% of infected people are responsible for 99% of viral load that could potentially be released into the environment (ref)

[b]So now let’s get to the crux of it. Where are the personal dangers from reopening?

When you think of outbreak clusters, what are the big ones that come to mind? Most people would say cruise ships. But you would be wrong. Ship outbreaks, while concerning, don’t land in the top 50 outbreaks to date.

Ignoring the terrible outbreaks in nursing homes, we find that the biggest outbreaks are in prisons, religious ceremonies, and workplaces, such as meat packing facilities and call centers. Any environment that is enclosed, with poor air circulation and high density of people, spells trouble.

Some of the biggest super-spreading events are:
Meat packing: In meat processing plants, densely packed workers must communicate to one another amidst the deafening drum of industrial machinery and a cold-room virus-preserving environment. There are now outbreaks in 115 facilities across 23 states, 5000+ workers infected, with 20 dead. (ref)
Weddings, funerals, birthdays: 10% of early spreading events
Business networking: Face-to-face business networking like the Biogen Conference in Boston in late February.

As we move back to work, or go to a restaurant, let’s look at what can happen in those environments.

Restaurants: Some really great shoe-leather epidemiology demonstrated clearly the effect of a single asymptomatic carrier in a restaurant environment (see below). The infected person (A1) sat at a table and had dinner with 9 friends. Dinner took about 1 to 1.5 hours. During this meal, the asymptomatic carrier released low-levels of virus into the air from their breathing. Airflow (from the restaurant's various airflow vents) was from right to left. Approximately 50% of the people at the infected person's table became sick over the next 7 days. 75% of the people on the adjacent downwind table became infected. And even 2 of the 7 people on the upwind table were infected (believed to happen by turbulent airflow). No one at tables E or F became infected, they were out of the main airflow from the air conditioner on the right to the exhaust fan on the left of the room. (Ref)

[b]Workplaces: Another great example is the outbreak in a call center (see below). A single infected employee came to work on the 11th floor of a building. That floor had 216 employees. Over the period of a week, 94 of those people became infected (43.5%: the blue chairs). 92 of those 94 people became sick (only 2 remained asymptomatic). Notice how one side of the office is primarily infected, while there are very few people infected on the other side. While exact number of people infected by respiratory droplets / respiratory exposure versus fomite transmission (door handles, shared water coolers, elevator buttons etc.) is unknown. It serves to highlight that being in an enclosed space, sharing the same air for a prolonged period increases your chances of exposure and infection. Another 3 people on other floors of the building were infected, but the authors were not able to trace the infection to the primary cluster on the 11th floor. Interestingly, even though there were considerable interaction between workers on different floors of the building in elevators and the lobby, the outbreak was mostly limited to a single floor (ref). This highlights the importance of exposure and time in the spreading of SARS-CoV2. [/b]

Choir: The community choir in Washington State. Even though people were aware of the virus and took steps to minimize transfer; e.g. they avoided the usual handshakes and hugs hello, people also brought their own music to avoid sharing, and socially distanced themselves during practice. They even went to the lengths to tell choir members prior to practice that anyone experiencing symptoms should stay home. A single asymptomatic carrier infected most of the people in attendance. The choir sang for 2 1/2 hours, inside an enclosed rehearsal hall which was roughly the size of a volleyball court.

Singing, to a greater degree than talking, aerosolizes respiratory droplets extraordinarily well. Deep-breathing while singing facilitated those respiratory droplets getting deep into the lungs. Two and half hours of exposure ensured that people were exposed to enough virus over a long enough period of time for infection to take place. Over a period of 4 days, 45 of the 60 choir members developed symptoms, 2 died. The youngest infected was 31, but they averaged 67 years old. (corrected link)

Indoor sports: While this may be uniquely Canadian, a super spreading event occurred during a curling event in Canada. A curling event with 72 attendees became another hotspot for transmission. Curling brings contestants and teammates in close contact in a cool indoor environment, with heavy breathing for an extended period. This tournament resulted in 24 of the 72 people becoming infected. (ref)

Birthday parties / funerals: Just to see how simple infection-chains can be, this is a real story from Chicago. The name is fake. Bob was infected but didn't know. Bob shared a takeout meal, served from common serving dishes, with 2 family members. The dinner lasted 3 hours. The next day, Bob attended a funeral, hugging family members and others in attendance to express condolences. Within 4 days, both family members who shared the meal are sick. A third family member, who hugged Bob at the funeral became sick. But Bob wasn't done. Bob attended a birthday party with 9 other people. They hugged and shared food at the 3 hour party. Seven of those people became ill.

But Bob’s transmission chain wasn’t done. Three of the people Bob infected at the birthday went to church, where they sang, passed the tithing dish etc. Members of that church became sick. In all, Bob was directly responsible for infecting 16 people between the ages of 5 and 86. Three of those 16 died.

The spread of the virus within the household and back out into the community through funerals, birthdays, and church gatherings is believed to be responsible for the broader transmission of COVID-19 in Chicago (ref)

Sobering right?


Commonality of outbreaks

The reason to highlight these different outbreaks is to show you the commonality of outbreaks of COVID-19. All these infection events were indoors, with people closely-spaced, with lots of talking, singing, or yelling. The main sources for infection are home, workplace, public transport, social gatherings, and restaurants. This accounts for 90% of all transmission events. In contrast, outbreaks spread from shopping appear to be responsible for a small percentage of traced infections. (Ref)

Importantly, of the countries performing contact tracing properly, only a single outbreak has been reported from an outdoor environment (less than 0.3% of traced infections). (ref)

So back to the original thought of my post.

Indoor spaces, with limited air exchange or recycled air and lots of people, are concerning from a transmission standpoint. We know that 60 people in a volleyball court-sized room (choir) results in massive infections. Same situation with the restaurant and the call center. Social distancing guidelines don't hold in indoor spaces where you spend a lot of time, as people on the opposite side of the room were infected.

The principle is viral exposure over an extended period of time. In all these cases, people were exposed to the virus in the air for a prolonged period (hours). Even if they were 50 feet away (choir or call center), even a low dose of the virus in the air reaching them, over a sustained period, was enough to cause infection and in some cases, death.

Social distancing rules are really to protect you with brief exposures or outdoor exposures. In these situations there is not enough time to achieve the infectious viral load when you are standing 6 feet apart or where wind and the infinite outdoor space for viral dilution reduces viral load. The effects of sunlight, heat, and humidity on viral survival, all serve to minimize the risk to everyone when outside.

When assessing the risk of infection (via respiration) at the grocery store or mall, you need to consider the volume of the air space (very large), the number of people (restricted), how long people are spending in the store (workers - all day; customers - an hour). Taken together, for a person shopping: the low density, high air volume of the store, along with the restricted time you spend in the store, means that the opportunity to receive an infectious dose is low. But, for the store worker, the extended time they spend in the store provides a greater opportunity to receive the infectious dose and therefore the job becomes more risky.

Basically, as the work closures are loosened, and we start to venture out more, possibly even resuming in-office activities, you need to look at your environment and make judgments. How many people are here, how much airflow is there around me, and how long will I be in this environment. If you are in an open floorplan office, you really need to critically assess the risk (volume, people, and airflow). If you are in a job that requires face-to-face talking or even worse, yelling, you need to assess the risk.

If you are sitting in a well ventilated space, with few people, the risk is low.

If I am outside, and I walk past someone, remember it is “dose and time” needed for infection. You would have to be in their airstream for 5+ minutes for a chance of infection. While joggers may be releasing more virus due to deep breathing, remember the exposure time is also less due to their speed. Please do maintain physical distance, but the risk of infection in these scenarios are low. Here is a great article in Vox that discusses the low risk of running and cycling in detail.

While I have focused on respiratory exposure here, please don't forget surfaces. Those infected respiratory droplets land somewhere. Wash your hands often and stop touching your face!

As we are allowed to move around our communities more freely and be in contact with more people in more places more regularly, the risks to ourselves and our family are significant. Even if you are gung-ho for reopening and resuming business as usual, do your part and wear a mask to reduce what you release into the environment. It will help everyone, including your own business.

https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

...Family members, aides tested positive, but Diya negative

Diya's younger wife, Shade, dies of COVID-19 as second wife down with virus

Folashade, a 66-year old younger wife of retired Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya was diagnosed and confirmed dead of Coronavirus pandemic following a possible infection of the Diyas by some of their domestic staff.
BusinessDay gathered that the 70-year old elder wife of the former Nigeria’s Chief of General Staff, Josephine, who was mistaken for Shade and reported to have died by some social media news platforms, is down with the virus and has been quarantined at one of the Isolation centres in Lagos.
Also, some domestic staff and family members of the Diyas, have been quarantined as a result of COVID-19 diagnosis carried out on them which proved positive but retired General Diya’s COVID-19 diagnosis was said to be negative and he has since been put under a serious clinical observation and care.
Confirming the sudden death of Shade, Olawale Adekoya, Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, the retired General, said that “Deborah Folashade Diya (JP), who was the second wife of the former number two citizen during the late General Sanni Abacha’s regime, died on Monday barely few days to her 66 years birthday.”
Although the press release signed and made available to the journalists on the demise of Shade was silent on the cause of her death, an impeccable source told our Correspondent that Shade had been battling with high blood pressure and had been sick before now which made her more susceptible to COVID-19 death due to underlying health challenge.
“Madam Deborah Folashade Diya was preparing and looking forward to her 66th birthday celebration on May 23rd 2020 (this week). But as man proposes, God disposes; six days ago, she took ill and was taken to the hospital, where she took her last breath on Monday, May 18”, the press release quoted the retired General’s media aide, Adekoya.
In a related development, the eldest son of retired General Diya, Oyewole Babafemi, has debunked the death rumour being peddled against her mother, Josephine, saying the Septuagenarian mother is alive.
In another press release signed by Oyewole Babfemi Diya entitled “CHIEF MRS JOSEPHINE DIYA IS ALIVE”, the eldest son said “The attention of the family of His Excellency Gen. Oladipo Diya (Rtd) GCON, MNI, has been drawn to a social media story concerning the elder wife of the retired Army General, Elder (Chief) Mrs Josephine Diya.
For the avoidance of doubt, Chief( Mrs) Josephine Diya is well, alive and doing very well. She is at her Ikeja residence, as well as her husband His Excellency Lt.Gen. Oladipo Diya Rtd. The house is not deserted as touted in the social media report. Aides and family members are still on the premises.

“The information is grossly misleading and highly insensitive. It’s really unfortunate that a story was cooked using the picture of a 70-year-old woman to announce her purported death.
“However, Lt.Gen. Diya’s family is presently mourning the demise of another wife of the former Chief of General Staff; Otunba(Chief) Mrs.Deborah Folashade Diya, JP, aged 66 who passed on, on Monday 18th May 2020.

“This is to debunk the widespread social media report circulating and set the record straight. We are deeply saddened by our loss and presently mourning our wonderful wife, mother and grandmother.
“We pray the public to respect our grief and be left alone to mourn this great woman in peace.”

https://businessday.ng/news/article/diyas-younger-wife-shade-dies-of-covid-19-as-second-wife-down-with-virus/

Jonathan Adewumi, Who Made Everyone Feel at Home, Dies at 57

This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.


Jonathan Adewumi grew up in New York, but he was African through and through.

From creating a fashion company that dressed celebrities like Stevie Wonder in clothing from Nigeria to creating a Nigerian film festival and a Brooklyn restaurant that became a gathering place for the diaspora, Mr. Adewumi was dedicated to bridging the cultural gap between Africans and black Americans.

“He was often the first point of contact to many people who never had an African friend and for Africans who didn’t understand the struggles of black Americans,” said Adebayo Adewumi, a younger brother.

Mr. Adewumi died on April 17 at Bayonne Medical Center in New Jersey. The cause was complications of the novel coronavirus, his brother said. He was 57.

Mr. Adewumi was born in London on Sept. 12, 1962, to Jacob and Grace (Ulowandi Oriaku) Adewumi, physicians from Nigeria who had traveled to England to further their medical education.

When Mr. Adewumi was still a young boy, the family moved back to Nigeria to open a maternity hospital in their hometown, Ile Oluji, about a five-hour drive from Lagos. They moved to the Bronx when Mr. Adewumi was 10.

He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and went on to receive a degree in computer science from Utica College in 1986. His favorite class was African history. He liked playing handball and became president of the black student union and a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. (He would later help start a chapter in Nigeria.)

Nigerian Fabrics and Fashions started almost as an accident. Mr. Adewumi’s parents had moved back to Nigeria and would send the children cloth and clothing. People began asking about the colorful garments he and his sister wore. Mr. Adewumi, a natural marketer and a gregarious businessman, saw a niche.

Although African clothing had become popular in America as part of political movements in the 1960s, Mr. Adewumi’s company was soon swept up in an 1980s fashion trend that embraced the African aesthetic. He and two of his four siblings began presenting their clothes for black student union groups on college campuses and at bridal shows, and garnered national exposure as part of a Miss Black America Pageant in 1989. Soon, Stevie Wonder became a customer, and sent his friend Aretha Franklin to buy their clothing. The actor Wesley Snipes was also a fan.

After 9/11, when anti-Muslim sentiment rose along with an appetite for American-made products, business dropped. After 20 years, the company closed.

Mr. Adewumi headed back to Nigeria for a few years. When he returned, he joined his brother at Amarachi, a Nigerian restaurant in downtown Brooklyn that served American-style chicken wings and steak and West African jollof with oxtails, all served with an Afrobeat soundtrack. With his outsize personality, he quickly turned it into a cultural center that attracted immigrants and a popular spot for community events.

“Jonathan had a unique way of making everyone feel at home, like they belong,” Ugo Nwaokoro, a former deputy mayor of Newark, said.

Mr. Adewumi, who was divorced, is survived by a son, Jonathan Adewumi Jr. of Union, N.J., and, in addition to Adebayo Adewumi, another brother, Samuel Adewumi, with whom he lived in Brooklyn; and two sisters, Joyce Adewumi of Harlem and Elizabeth Body-Lawson of White Plains, N.Y. Another brother, Emmanuel Adewumi, died in 2000.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/obituaries/jonathan-adewumi-dies-coronavirus.html

Good!

Account in Nigeria linked to European COVID-19 mask fraud - INTERPOL
By Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban

INTERPOL on Tuesday unmasked an international COVID-19 fraud racket straddling three European countries – Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Nigeria was mentioned, as home to an account that was to receive a fraudulent onward transfer sum.

The elaborate plan that targeted German health authorities had to do with securing of face masks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. INTERPOL reported that what started as a chain of referrals eventually led to compromised emails and an advance-payment fraud scheme.

“It all started with an email address and website which appeared to be linked to a legitimate company in Spain selling face masks. Unbeknownst to the buyers, the site was a fake and their legitimate email addresses had been compromised,” the report ‘Unmasked: International COVID-19 fraud exposed’ said.




Nigeria popped up at the point of chasing advanced payments to the fraudsters. A majority of emergency payment, EUR 880,000 by the German buyers to the supposed Dutch supplier was moved from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom with the final destination being Nigeria, INTERPOL said.

The relevant paragraph read: “The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service quickly tracked down the EUR 880,000 which had been transferred from the German company. Nearly EUR 500,000 of those funds had already been sent to the United Kingdom, all of which was destined for an account in Nigeria.”

INTERPOL did not state whether the recipient of the said funds was known or will be traced. It is not known whether Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had been contacted, neither have they commented on the issue.

Advance-fee fraud also known as 419 is one of the main crimes that the EFCC have busted over the years. It was one of the areas that earned the pioneer EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu, national and global acclaim in the line of anti-corruption in a country that has been bedeviled by corruption in different levels of society.

https://www.africanews.com/2020/04/15/account-in-nigeria-linked-to-european-covid-19-mask-fraud-interpol/

[quote author=FromZeroToHero post=81085890]they would have had up to 50m followers if it was Messi.[/quote

...

Pantoo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSFHJaQueAk

Rough play

well done

I haven't told this story for a while so hear goes.

A cleaner at a hotel was doing her rounds early in the morning and when she passed a room she heard a woman screaming for help. She let herself in and found a naked, middle aged lady handcuffed, spread eagle on the bed and a banging noise was coming from the wardrobe.

The cleaner, thinking a serious crime had been committed called for security and the duty manager. When they arrived and unlocked the wardrobe they found a rather embarrassed gentleman dressed as superman. See, this couple were playing a game where the wife is handcuffed naked to the bed and he husband, dressed as superman, would climb on top of the wardrobe and jump on top of her. The problem was that the wardrobe couldn't quite take his weight and the top broke, dropping superman into the wardrobe which was locked from inside.

I can only assume there was kryptonite inside the wardrobe as superman wasn't able to break out for about 10 hours till he was released and with her hands and feet cuffed without easy release cuffs, his wife wasn't able to free herself. So there they stayed for a good 10 hours.



by David Crocker
David Crocker, studied at University of Surrey

I haven't told this story for a while so hear goes.
Quora.com

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

PRESS RELEASE

WHAT NIGERIANS SHOULD EXPECT FROM BUHARI IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, BY VP OSINBAJO

*Says FG will ensure prosperity & decent existence for all

The focus of the Buhari administration in the next four years will be to address, among other things, the deficiencies in the quality of human resources caused by poor education and healthcare, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof Osinbajo spoke today at the University of Lagos where he delivered the Convocation Lecture ahead of the university's 50th anniversary

According to him, “I may begin by affirming the belief of the Buhari administration that Nigeria's prosperity means a decent existence for all. Second, that prosperity so defined will be attained if we are able to address the issues of extreme poverty, productivity, corruption, the rule of law and the deficiencies in the quality of human resources caused by poor education and healthcare.”

Speaking further on the relevance of human resource development to the administration, Prof. Osinbajo said, the government would adopt a strategy that prepares young Nigerians for emerging challenges as well as opportunities.

He said: “We must have a robust enough healthcare system that ensures that the average person is in good health, an educational system that guarantees education capable of preparing children for the opportunities and challenges of a knowledge economy.”

Continuing, the Vice President said, “in planning the path to prosperity we also took into account the age-old weaknesses of the Nigerian economy and the illusion of prosperity that frequently distorts our understanding of the actual fragility of our economy”.

On the way forward, the Vice President said from the onset it was clear to the Federal Government that it needed to devise an economic plan that prioritized the basic issues with our economy.

“For us, we needed to prioritize; the building of infrastructure especially rail, roads, power and ports; productivity as we diversified the economy from oil and gas; the fight against public sector corruption; developing a new educational curriculum that emphasizes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths.

“Others include; adopting a new approach to resourcing healthcare; putting in place a social investment programme that deals with issues of extreme poverty and unemployment. Our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan effectively addressed these issues”, the Vice President added.

On the progress made so far, Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari administration believed that “creating an environment for productivity investment in hard and soft infrastructure is crucial”.

He assured Nigerians that with the integrity of President Buhari and the commitment of his administration, Nigeria would not derail from its current path to prosperity.

According to him, “If we stick to our agenda in the next two years we will see the most significant improvements, in our power sector.

“Industrial Infrastructure is a major component of our economic transformation plan. Project MINE (Made in Nigeria for Export) is the major plank of our industrial policy. The idea is to build Special Economic Zones which accommodate industries for local manufacture of goods for which Nigeria has a comparative advantage. These include cotton, garments, leatherware etc.”

Shortly before delivering the Convocation lecture, Prof. Osinbajo unveiled the Mascot for the 26th NUGA games; commissioned some projects executed by the University.

Some of the projects include the newly constructed Container Building for the University Technology Hub, the Academic Publishing Centre Building, the Faculty of Engineering Lecture Theatre, and the remodelled University Medical Centre.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
1st April 2019

https://www.facebook.com/sesco.love/posts/10161466055435433

Ok. Op, flow the story here to be read

SHEHU SHAGARI: A GOOD MAN BUT A BAD LEADER

Former President Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari passed on today at the age of 93. Our condolences go to his family, his people in Shagari Village in Sokoto State, Sokoto State and fellow Nigerians. Being a former President of this much raped and abused Country, his loss should be mourned by all. May Allah, the merciful, the beneficent , grant him Aljannah Fridaus.

Before becoming President in October 1979, Alhaji Shagari served in many capacities at the Northern Region and Federal Government levels. He started his career as a school teacher before his foray into politics.

He was a Federal Parliamentarian and Minister, in the First Republic, under Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, between 1958 and 1966, when the first military coup aborted that Republic. After the end of the civil war , he returned to government in 1970 as a Minister, a position he held until 1971, when he succeeded Chief Obafemi Awolowo as Minister of Finance , when the latter resigned from the Gowon’s Government. Alhaji Shehu Shagari served in that capacity between 1971 and 1975, when the Gowon Government was sacked in a military coup, paving way for the emergence of the Murtala/ Obasanjo Military Regime.

Thus , when he became the first Executive President of Nigeria, in 1979, upon a switch of Nigeria to the American presidential system of government ( from the parliamentary or Westminster system of government), he was not new to politics , government and power. Although his emergence as president was controversial, it was expected that he would bring his experience and knowledge to bear on the running of government business and affairs.

Two controversies dogged his emergence as president. First, Alhaji Shehu Shagari was not said not to be an overtly ambitious, power craving politician. He reportedly had initially expressed no interest to run for office as president, indicating his preference to be a senator. He was, however, persuaded by the kingmakers in that era , principally and allegedly in the “ Kaduna Mafia “, a Northern Nigeria political power epicentre, to vie for the office of the President. He was, therefore , an unwilling ( and presumably) an unprepared candidate. When his performance in office became lacklustre, his leadership failures were attributed to his being an unwilling president.

The second controversy was about the very contentious election that brought him to power. The Electoral Decree No 34 of 1977 that governed the presidential election of 1979 had provided , just as it is the case currently, that in order to be elected as president, a presidential candidate must have scored at least one quarter of the total votes cast in at least two-thirds of the states in Nigeria; and the highest number of the votes cast. The requirement addressed the need for spread, since the entire country was the electoral constituency of the president. Nigeria had nineteen states then. In the election , held on August 11, 1979,Alhaji Shehu Shagari scored the highest number of votes cast in the election ( 5, 688,657 against Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s 4,916,651); and at least a quarter of the votes cast in twelve states. But that was not two thirds of the nineteenth states , mathematically . In the thirteenth state ( Kano State), Alhaji Shehu Shagari failed to score the required one quarter of the total votes cast . He secured 19.94 % of the votes cast in Kano State . Yet he was declared the winner of the election by the Federal Electoral Commission ( FEDECO) and returned as president-elect . The outcome of the election was challenged by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his Unity Party of Nigeria ( UPN) in the election tribunal, which dismissed his petition. When an appeal from the tribunal’ s verdict eventually got to the Supreme Court, ( in Awolowo v Shagari ) before a full panel of seven justices, Chief Richard Akinjide, SAN who eventually became the AGF and Minister for Justice rehashed his arguments before the Election Tribunal, which was accepted by the Tribunal. His contention was that in order to get one quarter of the total votes cast in the thirteenth state, the reckoning must not be the total votes but two thirds of the total votes ; meaning that once a candidate satisfied the requirement of obtaining one quarter of the total votes cast in twelve states and in two-thirds of the thirteenth state, then he should be accepted as having satisfied the requirement of scoring at least one quarter of the total votes cast in each of at least two thirds of the nineteen states of the Federation.

That argument was rejected by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who argued that one quarter of the votes in the thirteenth state could not be determined on the basis of a split of the total votes cast in the thirteenth state into fractions . He pressed the Court to accept that one quarter of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of nineteen states must be one -quarter of the votes cast in each of at least thirteen states of the Federation.

The Supreme Court in a majority decision of 6-1( Kayode Eso, JSC dissenting ) accepted the 12, 2/3 argument and upheld the dismissal of the Awolowo’s Petition. That decision did not rest the argument about the legitimacy of the Shagari Government. Especially given the fact that the election was held against the “anti- Awolowo disposition “ of General Olusegun Obasanjo , the outgoing military ruler , who had declared before the election that the best candidate might not necessarily win the election .

Upon being sworn into office , President Shehu Shagari exhibited humility, geniality and generosity of spirit. He conferred the highest honorific title in Nigeria, the title of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic ( GCFR) , usually reserved for heads of state , on Chief Obafemi Awolowo .

Unfortunately, President Shehu Shagari was a genial President who presided over a profligate and financially reckless government that squandered the opportunities for a post-thirteen years of military rule era development of Nigeria. With the hawks in his government like Senator Uba Ahmed ( Secretary General of the ruling NPN) Umaru Dikko ( the Transport Minister), Meredith Adisa Akinloye ( Chairman of the NPN ) and Inspector General of Police , Sunday Adewusi, whom he couldn’t reign in, a budding fascism was being implanted in Nigeria. Every patriotic admonition by the opposition, principally the Obafemi Awolowo-led UPN that Nigeria was headed in the wrong political and economic direction was derided as a prophesy of doom from an ever-lamenting Jeremiah ( a reference to Obafemi Awolowo, whose baptismal name was Jeremiah ).

Most of the policies and programmes of the Administration were incoherent and not well thought through. In the agricultural sector , for example, a meaningless green revolution programme , patterned after Olusegun Obasanjo’s Operation Feed the Nation ( OFN ), put in place , with millions of naira being voted for the importation of fertilizers to help farmers. Yet , evidently, the fertilizer importation frenzy was largely a scam meant to siphon money. So also was the rice importation and cement importation policies . The ports became congested , with task forces being set up to clear the ports . It was an era of unbridled importation of goods , including luxury goods leading to the depletion or evaporation of Nigerian foreign reserves.

To the credit of the Administration, however, there was an expansion of the Country’s education system at the Federal level ; establishment of River Basin Authorities , irrigation schemes and dams across the country; and the laying of the foundation of the steel development sector in the country.

In departure from the pretentious “ low profile “ culture of the Obasanjo era, where the official car of members of the military executive ( military governors , Head of State) was a Peugeot 504, for example, President Shehu Shagari brought a thoughtless flamboyance into government, a lifestyle that the economy could not support. Mercedes Benz Cars became the official cars of government officials ( just like Toyota Prado Jeeps of today). And Nigerians were quick in naming the car “ Shagari Style “. His government bought a presidential jet, thereby starting a tradition of maintaining a wasteful presidential fleet , a tradition that continues to rule our lives as a country till today .

When patriots were warning that poverty had become accentuated under his government, a garrulous and cynical member of his cabinet reportedly taunted Nigerians that no Nigerian had started eating from refuse dumps.! The Government boasted that the economy was strong , and when the bubble burst , President Shagari , faced with the grim situation of the economy introduced “ austerity measures “. It was the economic hardship brought about by that gross mismanagement of the economy that the military used as a pretext to stage a come back coup , which unfurled a chain of unbroken military rule for another 16 years , until the death of General Sani Abacha led to a short transition to civil rule programme which brought Olusegun Obasanjo , a retired military general back to power .

Unfortunately also, President Shehu Shagari, ran a political party ( National Party of Nigeria) and a government, which obviously did not exhibit the character of a party, politicians and a government that had learnt any lessons from the tragedy of the First Republic. The First Republic collapsed, in part, because the politicians of that era who were in control of the Federal Government took a democratic opposition for treason , and political dissent for insurrection. It’s war on the opposition and persecution of opposition politicians presaged the collapse of the First Republic. Alhaji Shehu Shagari was a participant in that era . He was a Northern People’s Congress Minister. He was in attendance at the meeting the remnants of the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Government had with Major General Aguiyi Ironsi on January 15 1966, following the abduction and killings of the Prime Minister; Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Northern Nigeria Premier, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the Western Nigeria Premier, Okotie Eboh, Finance Minister and other military commanders. The meeting purportedly transferred powers to the military.

The historical significance and lessons of that meeting ought to have been etched in the memory of Alhaji Shehu Shagari for ever, such that when he had a privilege to take over power back from the military thirteen years after those unfortunate occurrences , he should have striven to run a government and play the politics that would avoid the mistakes of the First Republic’s civilian administration, in order to inoculate the Second Republic from self inflicted destruction, and prevent it from coming into grief in the hands of ambitious soldiers who had seen themselves as the military wing of the Nigerian ruling class and the alternative to a “ fumbling “ civilian administration.

That was not to be . In spite of President Shagari’s personal geniality, he lacked the requisite discipline in leadership. Just as the NPC had behaved earlier, intolerant of the opposition, the NPN , under President Shehu Shagari, and his NPN Government started persecuting the opposition. In Kaduna State , Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the Governor of the Aminu Kano-led Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) was impeached by an NPN-led House of Assembly. Bala Muhammed, radical Marxist Lecturer in ABU was mobbed and burnt to death by political thugs for being a fierce critic of the Shehu Shagari Government. And Shugaba Abdurrahman Darman, the house leader of the Great Nigeria People’s Party ( GNPP ) controlled Borno State House of Assembly was deported from Nigeria and thrown into Chad , for not being a a Nigerian. The Minister of Internal Affairs signed a deportation order in 1980 to ground his deportation. His ostensible offence was that he was a fierce critic of President Shehu Shagari. It took a UPN inspired legal intervention of Chief GOK Ajayi, SAN to restore his citizenship and bring him back into Nigeria. He won the legal battle in the High Court In Maiduguri, and the appeals that followed up to the Supreme Court. Not without drama though. At the High Court hearing , a woman who had been procured from Chad , to claim that she was the real mother of Shugaba , surfaced . She wailed all through pleading that his son , “who had run away from home in Chad should be returned to her “ Be it noted that in 1980 , Shugaba, born in 1920 was a sixty year old man!

Of course, the apogee of the political infamy of the Shagari Administration was the massive rigging of the 1983 general elections. Political violence to terrorize the opposition ahead of the election was combined with actual police clampdown to spread terror before and during the election. Ondo State resisted the political robbery with tragic consequences. And predictably, two months after being sworn into office for a second term of four years, the military struck and overthrew his administration.

Instructively, while he and the Vice President, Alex Ekwueme , were detained following the coup, notable truculent members of his administration whose actions contributed to the collapse of the Second Republic escaped into exile : Adisa Akinloye, Richard Akinjide ; Umaru Diko, Uba Ahmed .

President Shehu Shagari was not known to be a personally corrupt ruler , as some of the military rulers before him and after him were known to be . He was flamboyant in his resplendent, well embroidered “Shagari Style” dress with his tall cap to match. He enjoyed the pomp and pageantry of presidential power; and he enjoyed traveling the world. He liked paying state visits. In 1983, he left Nigeria on a scheduled trip to India on the sad day NITEL Building in Marina, the tallest building in Nigeria, was consumed by inferno. On that day , he visited the burning NITEL building on his way to the airport , left it burning, and embarked on his trip.

President Shehu Shagari certainly was not like many politicians of the Fourth Republic who engage in massive asset stripping of the Nigerian State in the name of privatization. Nor did he recklessly loot the treasury of the country as many of them have done But , by His laissez faire approach to governance, his negligence of duty , his permissiveness and his lack of exhibition of a disciplined leadership , he created a basis for the collapse of the second republic.

It was sad that when the posibibility of a military coup stared him in the face , he attempted to dissuade senior military officers from embarking on a coup by allegedly providing luxuries for them, including gifting Mercedes Benz Cars to the upper echelon of the military. That could not stop the planned usurpation of power

As we mourn the passing of President Shehu Shagari, in a country like ours where our cultures prescribe we do not speak ill of the dead , and where our past and recent histories are often distorted or forgotten, we must faithfully state his poor leadership records ,even as we recognize his warm, and genial personality.

This is the right thing to do . By so doing, history is not robbed. Facts are not distorted. And the current power welders, who are “ good people “ surrounded by some “ bad people” may take heed in the realization that personal character and integrity means nothing if it is not matched by transparent competence, and if it cannot be used to prevent bad people who find their way into government from being the determiners of the direction of government while the elected good people wring their fingers and do nothing.

Adieu President Usman Aliyu Shehu Shagari

https://www.facebook.com/jiti.ogunye/posts/1440394529430037

I have read with great amusement some opinions in the orthodox press and the social media questioning the decision of our own dear indefatigable Festus Keyamo, SAN, to accept to serve as the Director of Strategic Communications and Official Spokesperson of President Muhammadu Buhari re-election campaign. They have hinged this on his long-standing history of fighting for the downtrodden in the country, which they argue is inconsistent with his present position. They have tried to justify their position by drawing attention to the attributes of his late boss, the inimitable Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN of blessed memory. Some have said the masses had long viewed Keyamo as their “new Gani Fawehinmi”, but are now disappointed by his present support for President Buhari. Let me pause here to lecture such fellows with this kind of opinion on how they got it all wrong, both in perspective and in history. For ease of writing, let me refer to them here as the anti-Keyamo fellows.

Firstly, when you are fighting for the masses, you are struggling to protect their interests. In doing this, one should be prepared to go to any length to achieve this. The mistake the anti-Keyamo fellows are making is that they are equating “fighting for the masses” to opposing and abusing every single government in power. How that mentality came about in Nigeria, I do not know. This is because, shorn of all politics, would any reasonable person question the steel and determination that the Buhari regime has employed in going after those who have stolen our common patrimony? Would anyone who is sincerely patriotic frown at the humongous recoveries of stolen monies this government has made? Do these recovered monies not belong to the masses of this country? Is President Buhari recovering those monies on behalf of himself or on behalf of the Nigerian people? So, sincerely, do the anti-Keyamo fellows now expect people like Mr. Keyamo to lend their voices to those who oppose the recoveries under the guise of some warped theories of human rights, rule of law or “selective probe”?

Unfortunately for the anti-Keyamo fellows, since they decided to use Chief Gani Fawehinmi as a standard bearer for lampooning Mr. Keyamo, then they have destroyed the very essence of their arguments and fatally cut the ground from under their own feet. If the anti-Keyamo fellows have read the Press Release by which Mr. Keyamo accepted the offer to serve, they would not even pick their pen to write. Let me recall what Mr. Keyamo wrote:

“In doing this, I take a cue from my revered late boss, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN who mentored me. Throughout his career, he also consistently and fiercely engaged every government in Nigeria and suffered as a result. Guess what? THE ONLY GOVERNMENT HE FULLY SUPPORTED THROUGHOUT HIS LIFETIME was that led by General Muhammdu Buhari in 1984 – 1985; and that was to the chagrin of some of his professional colleagues and fellow “radicals”. However, he saw what they did not see at that time, because when that government was overthrown by General Babangida, what followed was the worst era in our history in terms of institutionalizing corruption and political chicanery in Nigeria. In the 2007 Presidential election, my late boss again endorsed General Buhari in the following words: “When we talk of anti-corruption war, there is no way you will exclude General Buhari. I don’t want to hear what a political party is going to do, whether ANPP or PDP or NDP or which other political organization. Tell me who is leading the party, tell me who is leading the government, that’s my concern. It’s a matter of leadership. This is a serious election, very serious one”.”

Let me further educate the anti-Keyamo fellows on what they do not know about Chief Gani Fawehinmi that they have constantly used as a standard bearer for Mr. Keyamo. All his life, in the fight against corruption by any Government, Gani supported the use of any means possible, even when there was a perceived breach of the rule of law. When he supported Buhari’s regime in 1984/85, he got into trouble with the NBA because he supported the use of Military Tribunals to try and jail politicians and he refused to boycott those Tribunals on the directives of the NBA. He was blacklisted as a result. Again, during the Ribadu tenure as the head of EFCC, Gani supported the removal of Governor Dariye of Plateau State from office on the grounds of corruption by less than one-third of the members of the House of Assembly (just six of them) after the other members sympathetic to the Governor were hounded by the EFCC, arrested and suspended from sitting. He gave the same support to the removal of Ayodele Fayose from office in 2006 under the same circumstance as Dariye. In one of his famous response, when reminded of the Rule of Law in the fight against corruption, Gani, thundered, “Rule of What?!”.Fayose and Dariye are still alive today to confirm what I am saying for those who forget history so easily. A simple google search will also give you the result.

It is for this reason, Gani (the standard bearer for the anti-Keyamo fellows) supported Buhari till his death. When Gani lost his dear mother in 2003, the ONLY past Head of State or President he invited to the burial in Ondo State was Buhari and Buhari obliged him and attended. If anyone does not know this side of Gani, just ask any editor old enough, and you would be educated.

I have read some very funny articles since Mr. Keyamo’s acceptance saying if Gani were to be alive, he would have been turning in his grave and changed his mind on Buhari and bla bla bla. Rubbish! We are here talking about what Gani ACTUALLY DID and you are there saying WHAT YOU ASSUME HE WOULD HAVE DONE!.

What people do not know is that to Gani, in the fight against corruption, all was fair. Therefore, in reference to the release of the looters’ list by this Government, the exposure of Ekweremadu’s assets by some unconventional means etc, are all consistent with the use of all means possible to fight corruption. The very funny thing the anti-Keyamo fellows cannot easily recall is that during Obasanjo’s regime, there was a weightier thing that happened than the release of the looters’ list. It was a list of “corrupt persons” just compiled and released by EFCC, (not for public consumption alone like this one) but with a directive from Government that they were banned from running for any kind of office. Guess what? Some of them were not even invited at all by the EFCC to answer to any allegation nor did they know they were being investigated. Again, the anti-Keyamo fellows’ standard bearer, Gani, came out fully in support of that move. The younger ones are free to google all these facts or simply make their research in any old library with old newspapers. It was that kind of list that was used to disqualify people like Peter Odili, Rotimi Amaechi and Rahman Mimiko from running for office under the platform of the PDP.

Therefore, Keyamo’s open support for President Buhari is even a milder form of the kind of support Chief Gani Fawehinmi gave him. We can then see that Mr. Keyamo has not deviated one single inch from the path he laid out for himself from the beginning and from the path set by his revered late boss, Chief Gani Fawehinmi. There is no single strand of inconsistency in the rich history of Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN. True to his training, he has been consistent, unbending, unyielding and uncompromising. His latest exploits as the Director of Strategic Communication for President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation is borne out of a desire to be on the opposite side with those who have looted our common patrimony and who seek to return in 2019. He realizes there is only ONE REAL opponent to the President and that opponent consist of those who partook of the grand corruption of yesteryears. So, even with all the human foibles of President Buhari, Mr. Keyamo cannot afford to switch sides and begin to act or speak on the side of these looters. His natural inclination is to find himself in bed with the man (President Buhari) that has been acknowledged globally as an honest leader. If you google to find any such description of any past leader in Nigeria, nothing comes up.

It would also be nice to remind the anti-Keyamo fellows about what some other “heroes” of the masses and those who fought for our democracy did in the past and are still doing today. Our own revered Professor Wole Soyinka was invited by the Military regime of General Babangida to be the pioneer head of the Federal Road Safety Corp. He accepted and served meritoriously. Our own Tai Solarin was invited by the same Military regime of Babangida to come and be the pioneer Chairman of the Peoples’ Bank. Tai Solarin accepted and served meritoriously. In both cases, they reasoned rightly or wrongly that they were protecting the interests of the masses by their roles. Do not tell me that those roles are different from that of Keyamo now. You cannot say you do not eat beef but you eat the soup cooked with beef.

There are others, too numerous to mention, who fought so hard for our democracy and are today teaming up with Buhari’s Government or his party in different capacities. There are journalists like Babafemi Ojudu, Bayo Onanuga and Kayode Fayemi. There are great student leaders like Opeyemi Bamidele. Then there are the NADECO leaders like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. I have tried to research to see whether these anti-Keyamo fellows campaigned for Gani they so love in 2003 when Gani ran for President and the result is blank.

Let me also remind the anti-Keyamo fellows that this Government was voted in by 15 million Nigerians. It is not a military regime like the ones other people served. It was democratically elected by the masses of this country. Mr. Keyamo stands with those masses. It is only INEC that can tell us in 2019 whether that support has dwindled or increased, and not some self-conceited fellows in their bedroom.

Finally, Mr. Keyamo is not a coward like many others who hide behind one finger and try to campaign for their preferred candidates or parties using all kinds of innuendoes. They should be bold enough to name their candidates. Most of them are uncomfortable with the choice of Mr. Keyamo as President Buhari’s re-election Spokesperson. That was the same way a PDP thug in Awka also reacted sometime in April after Mr. Keyamo’s appointment. I doubt whether it is true that Mr. Keyamo was attacked in Awka. Let me recall here what Mr. Keyamo told Premium Times after the incident:

“First of all, the report was wrong; nobody attacked me. There was no such thing. I went to do my normal legal work in Awka; I went to defend some persons in Awka. When I was coming out of court, there were large number of people and they were all congratulating me and were very happy with me. Then one known PDP thug in that area who is not a businessman, a known PDP thug, was at a distance. He was just shouting that they will not vote for Buhari, they will not vote for Buhari. And some of the members of the crowd said ‘Vote for your own choice now’. It was as simple as that. That was what happened and then I entered my vehicle and left. There was no such thing at all.”

Mr. Keyamo owes nobody any apologies or explanation for his personal decision to stand by the man the corrupt elements and looters love to hate. Mr. Keyamo will only add to their nightmare. And that is consistent with his position with the masses. He will only stand taller with the people after this assignment.

Thank you.

Niyi Fatogun
faniyi.fatogun@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/niyi.fatogun.3/posts/10156481911719382

Do we have issues with comprehension? Most of the responses are at variance with the article

guywitzerogal:
I beta start looking for the place ds man pays his tithe and start paying mine

Please do. It pays.

daroz:
I have a big question for all our G.Os and Fathers in the Lord who are the levites of our time....


Do Dangote pay tithe?


If not , why is he still so financially & material blessed, since we are all made to believe that we can only be blessed and avoid devourers in our lifes only through tithing, and not freewill giving to the poor and needy?

I need explanation pls..

YES HE DID. Go and find more about it

My understanding of the whole issue
1. Bishop requests the 3 Priests to pay their Annual remittances to the Diocese called "Assessment". This assessment is used to run the affairs of the Church and pay workers/staff/Priests of the Diocese.
2. The 3 Priests refused to allow their churches make payment of the Assessment as required by the law of Diocese, citing cases of non-payment of their salaries.
3. The behaviour of the Priests irked the Bishop (who has absolute authority over the church and the Diocese) and he transferred them from their churches - A power statutorily given to him under the law of the Diocese and the Church. (Please note: He has ABSOLUTE power under God to direct the affairs of the Diocese).
4. For the fact that the Priests refused to be transferred (an effrontery to him), he requests the withdrawal of their licence (this is also within his power as a bishop). The priests refused and appealed to the head of the Church in Abuja (Primate) to intervene.
5. The intervention of the Primate was slow in coming thus the need to approach a court of law to deter the priests from continuing to usurp his power in the Diocese.

Testimonies of the church
The members of the Church are supporting their priests on the fact that:
1. They see the Bishop as a Dictator or a De Facto leader
2. They accused him of Mal-administration, intimidation and harassment
3. They want to show solidarity for their Priests
4. They want the Bishop to be removed.

The 3 Priests' position
The priests refused to accede to the Bishop's request because:
1. They have not been paid their salaries
2. The submission of their licences to the Bishop is tantamount to sack, and they don't want to be sacked
3. They have appealed to the Primate, and awaits his intervention
4. The affected Churches are supporting them

We should not see this as a ploy by "gullible leaders" of the church to fight over money as the Anglican Church is orderly and takes accountability serious at all levels. They give account of church spending annually to members in the month of February every year, a rare case in most churches.

My position however is that the Bishop should organise a round-table discussion with the Priests and other senior Priests in the Diocese to resolve this matter and also engage the leadership of the affected churches. He should withdraw the case from court and allow the Spirit of God to direct the proceedings in the Diocese.

Hebrews 12:14 says "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"

nerodenero:
Politics isn't played like this.

With due respect to the office of the Vice President, it's probably the most useless office to occupy most especially when the President is active. VP Osinbajo became active only because PMB became incapacitated. Again since 1999, has there been any VP that has succeeded in becoming president? None.

What the Igbo wants is the office of the President. By asking for the VP slot in 2019, they're trying to reposition themselves towards claiming the Presidency in 2023. We all know that in 2023, the Presidency comes to the south and if they occupy the VP office, it would be alot easier to lobby for office of the president.

I guess it's a smart move if they succeed but they'd have created more enemies in the SW, besides both region never agree politically. At the same time, I doubt PMB and APC would accept such arrangement.

Goodluck Jonathan was a VP before he became the President

solid3:
The baba wey arrange Otedola otumopo tell am say na only white cloth him must dey wear for public.

Yoruba people say "isale oro l'egbin"

How about his cap colour? Is that white?

Phonefanatic:
This shows that most people are naive of what intellectual property protection means. She has the right to sue if actually her ideas was stolen and used for monetary benefits without her permission.

A clear case is when you develop a business idea then get in people to work with you on executing your plans but on the line you paused only for them to go behind and use the idea you disclosed to them for their personal benefit. It could happen to anyone who doesn't think of having a Non Disclosure Agreement before sharing business ideas.

Until we see the ills in stealing another person's idea(s) for monetary gains, we may not make much progress innovation-wise. Though her approach may be wrong, but the issue should be looked at in the right frame. This is pure stealing, which should be condemned in its entirety.

Ini Edo should approach the Governor, who is the boss, and have him resolve this issue, rather than resort to Abuja.

Hmm

45mins. My teacher was such a 'mean' man, he took me to the express road, asked me to face oncoming vehicles and trucks. He took me through a busy street and asked me not to panic, went up the hill and descended the hill. Pushed, pushed and pushed me. The manual car we were using had an extended pedal, he was there to control it whenever I was to veer off. After 45 mins, he told me to go and come back the next day to continue my class.
By evening, from the boldness i had gotten from my lecture in the morning, I set out with my car, which i could not drive before then. I took one of my neighbours, who could drive, in the car (this is to get someone to bail me out in case I am stuck). I drove round my street (and mistakenly brushed the rear of a new vehicle owned by one big man in my area. He asked me to pay, even after much plea. I paid). I did not go back for the driving lessons. I started driving on my own, since then.

Those lessons learnt that day made me to become careful with my driving. I am a better driver today.

Abee79:
Correct spelling COLUGO
* Thanks. Never knew of such animal

Nice one!

Unfortunate though

NIGERIA has commenced negotiations with the Indian government for the release of $15bn as upfront payment for crude oil purchase.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed this on Monday.

The minister was quoted to have said in a statement signed by the Director, Press, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Idang Alibi, that the deal would be in consideration for Indian public sector companies collaborating with Nigeria in the refining sector as well as exploration and production activities.



He explained that the collaboration would be on a government-to-government basis by Indian PSU companies, long-term contracts for supply of crude to such firms by Nigeria, and executing city gas distribution.

Kachikwu, who is currently on a three-day visit to India, was said to have concluded talks on the investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in a bilateral meeting with the Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.

The statement said both ministers noted the existing and significant engagement between the two countries in the hydrocarbon sector, while acknowledging that Nigeria is one of the largest trading partners of India in Africa, especially in terms of crude oil and gas.

It said in 2015, India imported nearly 23.7 million metric tonnes of crude (nearly 12 per cent of the country’s overall imports) and over two million metric tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas from Nigeria.

The statement read in part, “Following this negotiation, the two countries have agreed to work on a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate investments by India in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, and specifically in areas such as term contract, participation of Indian companies in the refining sector, oil and gas marketing, upstream ventures, the development of gas infrastructure and in the training of oil and gas personnel in Nigeria.

“The MoU is expected to be firmed up in December during Petrotech-2016. Both ministers also agreed to strengthen the existing cooperation in oil and gas sector, and in particular to explore investment opportunities for Indian public and private sector companies in Nigeria.”

On the sidelines of the visit, Kachikwu had one-on-one meetings with top executives of Indian public sector oil and gas companies, and representatives of some private firms, the statement said.

Reuters quoted the minister as saying that the nation’s oil production rate was expected to jump by 22 per cent by the year-end to 2.2 million barrels per day from current levels, adding that he hoped a force majeure on all its oil fields would be lifted by December or January.

Kachikwu told reporters, “Nigeria has a bit of a cash flow problem right now. Our reserves are not as strong as we want them. The impact of that is the value of the naira is coming down.

“So, what we are trying is to leverage the assets we have to receive immediate cash.”

http://punchng.com/nigeria-seeks-15bn-upfront-oil-payment-india/