₦airaland Forum

yea saw anichebe's goal, the guy is on fire and should be called up to the eagles for pete sake

@ op

its 10 ooooo still waiting sha

No nametags. No photographs. No video. Attendees remain utterly anonymous -- and that’s the way they like it.

Formidable American offensive security hackers are meeting in Miami with other top hackers from all over the world to hone their technical expertise, swap war stories – and compete in a little digital jiu-jitsu. And real jiu-jitsu. Really.

INFILTRATE’s annual summit, focuses entirely on the technical aspects of offensive security issues, bringing together the best and brightest in the hacker community.

It’s largest gathering of purely offensive information security experts on the planet, with more than 200 hackers from as far away as Israel, India, Sweden and China.

Organized and sponsored by Immunity, an education firm founded by former NSA hacker Dave Aitel, the conference ran April 11 and 12. Aitel stressed that it was just for offensive work.

“Defensive information security tends to focus on potential protective measures,” he told FoxNews.com. “Offensive information security looks purely at getting into computers -- and staying there undetected.”

The hacker way

Offensive techniques are used by a wide range of people from governments and banks through to researchers working on protecting critical national infrastructure.

“INFILTRATE is important because it is the only conference dedicated to offensive information security techniques. Deep down this is about the attendees, who all share a technical competence in the area, and a burning interest in learning more about it. There are, of course, plenty of security teams here. For example, Blackberry announced on their twitter feed they are here,” Aitel said.

If you don’t understand what TTF Font Fuzzing and Vulnerability means, this is the wrong conference for you, in other words.

The show covers the latest in the field, from computer and network exploitation and vulnerability discovery through to rootkit and trojan covert protocols.

And while it sounds esoteric and dry, it has profound ramifications for ordinary Americans.

For example, legendary hacker “RenderMan,” also known as Brad Haines, gave an opening keynote on “Attacking the Next Generation Air Traffic Control System” -- hacking the FAA’s monitoring system.

“I came to INFILTRATE to spread knowledge of vulnerabilities in air traffic control in hopes that the attention and collaboration with other hackers would result in a safer and more secure air traffic control system,” he told FoxNews.com.

“Ironically, I'm speaking about vulnerabilities in air traffic control and I have to fly home. It’s in my best interests to help make it secure. The next generation air traffic control scares the hell out of me,” he added.

Other speakers include Chris Eagle, a lecturer in computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School, and Stephen Watt , a former cybercriminal convicted in 2008.

While still under a court-ordered restriction that prohibit him from a wide range of ordinary tech, including owning an iPhone and running a non-Windows operating system on his government-monitored laptop, Watt continues to speak out against computer the commercialization of vulnerability.

In addition to briefings by the rock stars of hacking, Immunity offers Master Class training courses in web hacking and unethical hacking. Attendees have also been competing in a wireless + web challenge to win the grand prize -- a free wireless penetration testing tool called SILICA.

Off the keyboard

It may come as some surprise to those outside the hacking community, but many of INFILTRATE 2013's attendees are avid practitioners of the Brazilian martial art jiu-jitsu, sometimes described as “physical chess.”

“Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a shared passion for many in the offensive information security field,” Aitel told FoxNews.com. “It combines large-scale strategic thinking with fast paced tactical technique. For every attack, there is a defense, and for every defense, a counter-attack.”

Away from keyboards, INFILTRATE also provides the opportunity for hackers new to the sport to have a go under the supervision of an experienced blackbelt.

source: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/04/12/largest-gathering-offensive-hackers-converges-on-miami/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fscitech+%28Internal+-+SciTech+-+Mixed%29

Wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, on Thursday made her first public appearance since she returned to the country on Friday allegedly from a medical trip to Germany.


She joined her husband and top government officials to receive the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Donald Tusk, and his wife, Malgorzata, at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Tusk is on a two-day visit to the country.

Mrs. Jonathan, who looked radiant throughout the brief ceremony, dressed in a yellow, purple and brown gown (boubou) with a purple head tie to match.

While Tusk was inspecting the guard of honour mounted by men of the Presidential Guards Brigade, Mrs. Jonathan engaged the wife of the Polish leader in discussions.

The two women retired into the President’s office with their spouses after the ceremony.

About 30 minutes later, Mrs. Jonathan again came out with her Polish counterpart.

After seeing the guest off to her car, the President’s wife returned into the President’s office from where she left for her residence.

While returning to the office, Mrs. Jonathan amid a radiant smile, acknowledged greetings from journalists by waving at them.

Since she returned to the country on Friday, Mrs. Jonathan has not been sighted in public. She was absent at the third Presidential Breakfast Prayer at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa on Saturday.

The event had in attendance members of the diplomatic corps, some governors, ministers, traditional rulers and members of the clergy among others.

One of her aides, who pleaded anonymity, had told our correspondent that she did not attend the event because she was resting after the rigours of the long trip.

Mrs. Jonathan was also absent at the last Sunday service at the Aso Villa Chapel.

While away, there was widespread speculation that she was again flown abroad to attend to her alleged failing health.

The Presidency however issued a statement debunking the claim.

Her media aide, Ayo Osinlu, in the statement, said she was abroad to attend to her ailing mother, Mama Sisi and to spend “quality time” with her children who were holidaying.

source: http://news.naij.com/30769.html?sub=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=local

A Magistrates’ Court in Gusau on Friday sentenced one Aliyu Abubakar, 30, of Talata Mafara town for driving a tinted glass vehicle without permit.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Dalhatu Zalphania, told the court that on April 11, the accused was arrested while driving a tinted glass car, Golf salon, along Sani Abacha Way, Gusau, without permit.

The accused pleaded guilty.

The Magistrate, Hajiya Rabi Bashir, sentenced the accused to one month imprisonment or pay a fine of N1, 000.

source: http://news.naij.com/30838.html?sub=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=local

Lagos State Government yesterday warned residents living in flood-prone areas to relocate ahead of the coming heavy rains.

The state Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr Wale Ahmed, gave the warning yesterday during government’s “emergency preparedness sensitization” with chairmen of Lagos Island Local Government and the Lagos East Local Development Areas (LCDAs).

He said the state was expecting heavy rainfall in the course of the year, stressing that it was important to vacate such areas to avoid any major disaster.

Ahmed’s advice came just two days after the state Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, appealed to residents of the state to be conscious of their environment during and after rainy seasons.

The commissioner explained that the government would provide a map showing the topography of lands in the state to all the chairmen of the 57 local Government Councils/LCDAs to enable them sensitize residents in their domains.

“I want to appeal to residents living in flood-prone areas of the state to move immediately. In the first place, they are not supposed to be living in these areas. We are expecting heavy rains and naturally, that will come with floods. Though the government has put so many mitigating measures in place, it is essential that these people move to prevent emergency situations,” he said.

The official said the state government had developed a map identifying the low and high grounds in all the local government areas of the state as a strategy to guard against flood-related disasters.

He explained that the essence of the map was for residents to be informed about the safe grounds in their areas, where they were expected to temporarily relocate in times of flooding.

The commissioner said government had also embarked on massive desilting of drains across the metropolis as a precaution against flooding. He added that it inaugurated Local Emergency Committees in all the local government councils to sharpen government response to emergency situations.

He explained that the constitution of the committees would enable grassroots people to participate in emergency management efforts and be their brothers’ keepers.

The commissioner also noted that the government had concluded arrangements to strengthen the capacity of the committees to enable them to perform optimally.

Responding, the chairman of the Lagos Island Local Government, Mr Saheed Bashua, thanked the state government for integrating the grassroots in the emergency response system of the state, urging the state government to train members of the committees in basic emergency management strategies to enable them to do their work satisfactorily.

source: http://news.naij.com/30815.html?sub=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=local

jay4genius: sory bro. Av bin recieving calls since morning. But u guyz dat droppd ur email wil get it by 10

Thanks bro waiting for 10

You are a joker

@ 7lives
What do you mean by its ONLY prayers? It's good to pray but you have to act in accordance with your prayer by taking every necessary step to prevent flooding, we can do more than praying bro

send me at bobblaze777@gmail.com

Thanks

which dam them wan release again? since dem say na dam release caused the last floodings

The National Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday warned the people of the South West to take seriously the recent prediction by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency regarding excessive rainfall in the zone this year.

The NEMA Zonal Coordinator (South West), Mr. Iyiola Akande, said this in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital during a "Workshop on 2013 Flood Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness Awareness Programme" organised to address the peculiarity of the NIMET’s seasonal prediction of 2013 as it affects the Southwest states.

Akande stressed that the people of the South West zone should not treat the NIMET prediction with levity.

He noted that although the prediction was worrisome, NEMA would do everything possible to reduce, control and manage effects of the NIMET prediction.

NIMET had recently predicted that the Southwest would this year witness perennial rainfall which might have negative effect not only on agricultural yields in the zone, but also affect the health of the people of the area.

source: http://news.naij.com/30527.html?sub=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=local

http://sunnewsonline.net/news/prepare-for-flood-nema-warns-south-west-states

what of abuja?

utumunta: The man who brought home ant-infested firewood, shld expect a visit from d lizard. U do not make frnds wt d leper and decline a handshake.
Do u kill with d spirits at night and expect to mourn with humans by day? A rotten mortar and derelict pestle can only churn out garbage.
It is wisdom dat sustains d tongue's joint-tenancy wt teeth in d mouth, cos no matter how d star criss-crosses, it can never outshine d moon!

bros thank you for your uncountable adages, i really dig them o.

Faponmile: Quit whinning and get on with the job. Is there any real difference between APC & PDP? Should you fail to present a formidable oppositon come 2015, 9ja will be doomed. Know that.

i wonder and this is the party we expect to produce a formidable opponent against GEJ? i think they should rather wait fro 2019 when they would have formed a viable party with reliable party philosophy.

@ talktimi


very true bro

An Abuja-based radio station, Crowther Love FM, has restored its popular programme, ‘Brekete Family’ on air after the resolution of a disagreement between the station and its independent producer.

According to the programme’s website, the radio talk show is designed for the poor and the rich in the society, whose fundamental rights had been violated.

The popular live radio programme aired on Thursday morning, 7.30 to 8.30 a.m., before a near three-week absence on the airwaves.

The General Manager of the Station, Sam Akpan, in an interview said on Monday that the dispute with the independent producer of the programme had been resolved.

Mr. Akpan said the programme was forced to go off-air after the presenter refused to sign an undertaking not to use uncouth language on air and abide by the National Broadcasting Code, NBC.

He said the station received a letter from the producer on Monday stating that he would conform to the rules and regulations of the NBC.

He added that the management of the station considered the decision of the producer as “a right action,” and gave him the green light to resume the programme.

Mr. Akpan also said that the station has two pending court cases linked to the programme on alleged libel and defamation of character.

He, however, insisted that the court cases had nothing to do with the suspension of the radio programme.

Also speaking on the temporary suspension of the programme, Salihu Auwalu, the spokesman of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, said the commission had its “concern on the way the radio programme was run”.

He, however, denied any complicity in the programme temporarily going off-air.

Mr. Auwalu said the commission had made efforts “in the normal way” to draw the station’s attention to the programme.

“We were concerned about the style of presentation.

“We were concerned that the programme did not show enough respect for the power of the medium and the effects that it could have on the society and we made our concerns very clear to the station,” he said.

Brekete Family, which prides itself as the “only reality radio talk magazine programme in Nigeria,” has been off-air for at least three weeks.

The programme’s presenter and President of Brekete Family worldwide, Ahmad Isah (Ordinary Ahmed) is known for strong criticism of under-performing government agencies and officials.

@ mosquitoNet

its part of the game bro

President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the immediate payment of check off dues of pensioners in the country.

The president gave the directive during a meeting he held with the leadership of the organised labour at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday.

There were the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and the Nigerian Union of Pensioners .

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, told journalists at the end of the meeting that having listened to the presentation made by the organised labour, President Jonathan had directed the relevant ministry and agency to ensure that the check off dues of pensioners are paid immediately.

Mr Abati added that the President also at the meeting set up a government team that will sit with representatives of organised labour on other issues raised during the meeting.

According to him, members of the government team include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Minister of Labour and Productivity; Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the State Counsel; and the Director-General of the Budget Office.

All Progressives Congress, a political association promoted by the coalition of opposition political parties has cried out that its ranks have been infiltrated by apologists of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, one of the partners in the merger, Lai Mohammed told reporters on Monday that the proposed merger would still go ahead, because many of its leading lights belonged to the association.

Mohammed said, “Where have they (PDP) not infiltrated in Nigeria? We have been in this business for long. We know where it is coming from, we know who is financing them.

“When the fake APC fell by the way, they have to try another thing. Here everyone that matters from Yerima, Sheriff, Shekarau and everyone that matters are here at the meeting.”

On areas which were being fine-tuned, he said, “We are completely on track, we are not going to be stampeded into making a mistake because of some clowns, who are afraid of losing election. We will never change our name.

“You have a meeting with about 90 people. Can you keep a secret among 90 people? Even the process of arriving at a name, is it not by robust debate?

Mohammed explained that the enlarged caucus meeting of the merging political parties in Abuja, was designed to fine-tune details of the APC manifesto and its constitution among other issues.

He said, “We are here to meet, whatever is decided here, we have to take it back to our individual parties where they will make observations and suggestions which they will give us to bring back, this will be harmonised and a final decision will be taken.”

Mohammed added that the enlarged caucus meeting was not considering a name change because it was following the laid down rules and regulations guiding the merger of political parties.

He said the association had no problem with the Independent National Electoral Commission because the process for registration was different from that of the merger of existing political parties.

He said, “When somebody wants to ambush you he will try his best to ambush you, it is left for you to work on the straight path. There is no time INEC told us that we are doing anything wrong in our bid to merge.

“The ACN has written INEC on the convention coming up in Lagos on the 18th of this month and they (INEC) know we are going to discuss the issue of merger among other things.”

source: http://news.naij.com/30376.html?sub=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=politics

By Ameh Comrade Godwin on April 9, 2013


Governor of Niger state and Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliu, has called on northern Governors to fish out members of Boko Haram sect in their respective states in order to create an enabling environment for the actualization of the Federal Governments proposed amnesty programme.

The Governor said this on Monday in Minna, the state capital, that the President’s decision to commence amnesty programme for the dreaded sects was a welcome development.

Speaking at the opening of a workshop on the review and evaluation of the 2006 population and housing census, organised for the commissioners and state Directors of by the National Population Commission, Aliyu said identifying the Boko Haram members would enable the ‘‘government to discuss with human beings not ghosts”.

Aliyu said, “I also call on the Governors in the North to begin to unmask the ghost among them so that we will be talking to human beings and not ghosts”

“Please let me use this opportunity to congratulate and commend the president, Goodluck Jonathan for demonstrating an excellent leadership quality by listening to the cries and wise counsel from different quarters on the possibility of an amnesty for Boko Haram to engender peace and security in the nation.”


Aliyu however said declaration of amnesty to Boko-Haram members was not the solution to the prevailing crisis in some parts of the country.

“We must look at other angles to give Nigerians peace before asking Nigerians to support the President in the onerous responsibility of finding solution to the mirage of security problems facing Nigeria,” he added.

He noted that no matter how well planned and executed a population census was without a peaceful environment, the figures would come to nothing.

Aliyu noted that previous census conducted in the country did not receive acceptance from the majority of Nigerians because of illegality perpetrated by officials of the commission and community leaders.

National Chairman of the Commission, Festus Odumegwu, said the workshop was designed to unite all the participants and to reflect on the experiences and challenges of the 2006 population and housing census with the aim of evaluating the process and outcome of the exercise.

source: http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/04/09/amnesty-northern-governors-should-identify-boko-haram-members-in-their-states-aliyu/

this is very untrue and an inaccurate representation of the nigerian women by the so called aljazeerah report.

no doubt women bleach in nigeria but the statistic presented by aljazeerah is false and grossly exaggerated. where did they get the stat from and how did they get it?

if aljazeerah has nothing to say, they should shut-up!

Am surprised that Keshi and his crew seem to ignore Everton's nigerian striker; Victor Anichebe who has been instrumental in Moye's quest for champions league spot in the EPL.

Anichebe has been consistent in Moye's line-up this season which suggests he's improving. i think he deserves a call up to the Eagles.

A member of the Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Sani Zangon Daura, at the weekend accused Northern governors of selling themselves to President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 presidential election.

Zangon Daura, a former Minister of Agriculture and later Environment, who participated in a Liberty Radio live programme which SaharaReporters monitored online in New York, blasted the chair of the Northern Governors Forum, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, the Niger State Governor and other Northern governors. He told them to “shut up” as they were the ones that mortgaged Northern Nigeria to President Jonathan on the platter of gold for their egos comprising that of the region in 2011.

He said, “If at that time the Northern Governors said to Jonathan, ‘No Mr. President, you have completed tenure of your boss now back out to the North,’ (Jonathan) wouldn’t have contested, because he has no power over delegates. So for Governor Muázu Babangida Aliyu to even come out and be talking, he is wrong, because they sold themselves first, now he has no mouth.”

He also blasted Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over his outburst that Jonathan should run in 2015, saying, “I am not surprised because he has no option than to do it, he was rejected in the race [for chairmanship of the party] and was brought through arm-twisting of power. I am not in any way surprised if he compromised.”

Daura added that it could also be to save himself from several crises he is presently in, as his son is now being prosecuted in respect of fuel subsidy theft and shady deals that Tukur is calling on Jonathan to run in 2015.

He described Tukur as a complete failure, a man who was deserted by governors in his reconciliation moves, and that no genuine democrat have confidence in him, concluding, “I will continue praying that he (Tukur) continue making mistakes, so that the whole party (PDP) will be out of the way.”

Samoa Air has become the first airline to start charging customers according to how much they weigh.

The company, based in the Samoan capital Apia, is the first to bring in the controversial measure that means overweight passengers pay more for their ticket.

A statement from Samoa Air said: "We at Samoa Air are keeping airfares fair, by charging our passengers only for what they weigh.

"You are the master of your air 'fair', you decide how much (or little) your ticket will cost. No more exorbitant excess baggage fees or being charged for baggage you may not carry. Your weight plus your baggage items, is what you pay for. Simple."

When booking online, customers are asked to enter their details, including the estimated weight of passengers and their baggage, and the fare is then calculated accordingly.

Customers prepay the estimated cost and the airline then weighs them at the airport, to ensure they have paid the correct amount.

Samoa Air chief executive Chris Langton said paying by weight is the fairest way to calculate fares.

He told ABC radio: "People have always travelled on the basis of their seat but as many airline operators, know airlines don't run on seats - they run on weight.

"The smaller the aircraft you are in, the less variance you can accept in terms of the difference in weight between passengers.

"We have worked out a figure per kilo. This is the fairest way of you travelling with your family or yourself. You can put your baggage on, there are no separate fees because of excess baggage - a kilo is a kilo is a kilo..

"The people that have been most pleasantly surprised are families because we don't charge on the seat requirement, even though a child is required to have a seat - we just weigh them.

"So a family of maybe two adults and a couple of mid-sized kids and younger children can travel for considerably less than what they were being charged before."

Rates per kilo for fares vary according to how long the flight is.

"There is no doubt in my mind that this is the concept of the future. We always weigh the mass that is on an aircraft," Langton said.

"And that always has to pay for the transportation; it doesn't matter whether you are carrying freight or people. "

Samoa Air's fare policy follows comments made by Norwegian professor Bharat Bhatta, who said overweight passengers should be charged more because of the extra fuel needed to transport them to their destination.

(Reuters) - A Brazilian doctor who was charged with killing seven patients to free up beds at a hospital intensive care unit may have been responsible for as many as 300 deaths, according to a Health Ministry investigator.
Prosecutors said Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza and her medical team administered muscle relaxing drugs to patients, then reduced their oxygen supply, causing them to die of asphyxia at the Evangelical Hospital in the southern city of Curitiba.

De Souza, a 56-year-old widow, was arrested last month and charged with seven counts of aggravated first degree murder. Three other doctors, three nurses and a physiotherapist who worked under De Souza have also been charged with murder.


Prosecutors for the state of Parana said wiretaps of De Souza's phone conversations revealed that her motive was to free up hospital beds for other patients.


"I want to clear the intensive care unit. It's making me itch," she said in one recording released to Brazilian media. "Unfortunately, our mission is to be go-betweens on the springboard to the next life," she added in the same phone call.


De Souza's lawyer, Elias Mattar Assad, said investigators had misunderstood how an intensive care unit works and she would prove her innocence.


More cases are expected to emerge as investigators comb through 1,700 medical records of patients who died in the last seven years at the hospital, where De Souza headed the intensive care unit.


"We already have more than 20 cases established, and there are nearly 300 more that we are looking into," the chief investigator assigned by Brazil's Health Ministry, Dr. Mario Lobato, said on Globo TV's Fantastico program on Sunday.


If prosecutors prove that De Souza killed 300 patients, this could be one of the world's worst serial killings, rivaling the notorious case of Harold Shipman, the English doctor who was found to have killed at least 215 patients.


Lobato said the deaths he reviewed occurred under similar circumstances: a muscle relaxant such as Pancuronium (trademark Pavulon) was administered, increasing the patients' dependence on artificial respiration; then the oxygen supply was reduced, causing death by asphyxia.


Some of the patients were conscious moments before they died, he said.


Prosecutors said De Souza felt "all powerful" running the intensive care unit homicide, to the point where she "had the power to decree the moment when a victim would die."


In some cases, De Souza was absent from the hospital and gave instructions to end the life of a patient by telephone to members of her medical team, according to documents detailing the charges.


Last week, a Curitiba judge ordered the release of De Souza and her medical team. Prosecutors sought on Monday to have her returned to custody because she was the leader of the team and witnesses had reported being intimidated.


Parana state prosecutors asked police on Wednesday to investigate whether more hospital employees, including former managers, were involved in the case.


President Dilma Rousseff's government will announce steps on Thursday to reorganize the hospital, a spokesman for the Health Ministry said.

Several government sources in Ekiti State have confirmed that Deputy Governor Funmilayo Olayinka is seriously sick.

Two of the sources revealed that Mrs. Olayinka has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The deputy governor’s prolonged absence from public events had fueled rumors that she had passed away. However, when a correspondent of SaharaReporters sent a text to Governor Fayemi of Ekiti four days ago inquiring about speculations of his deputy’s death, the governor wrote back denying the rumors. In his text, Mr. Fayemi stated that Mrs. Olayinka was alive.

Even so, Mr. Fayemi failed to respond to follow-up texts asking about the deputy governor’s whereabouts and health condition.

In interviews with several government sources, SaharaReporters learned that Mrs. Olayinka had been unable to perform official public functions due to her serious ailment. “Her Excellency, the deputy governor, is suffering from cancer,” said one of our sources. He added, “We’re all praying God to heal her and make it possible for her to return fully to serving the state.”

Our sources disclosed that Mrs. Olayinka was receiving treatment at St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos. However, they stated that they could not reveal the stage of her cancer.

One source disclosed that the governor had warned top government officials not to discuss the deputy governor’s health crisis. “The governor is in touch with her and with members of her family and is offering every possible form of assistance in addressing her cancer,” the source stated.

The government officials we spoke to were cagey about the deputy governor’s location. One of them said the ailing deputy governor “is very much in Nigeria,” even though he would not disclose whether she was within the state or outside. A different source also stated that the deputy governor had been discharged from St. Nicholas hospital and is currently recuperating at her Lagos home with her family.

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party told SaharaReporters that he sympathized with the sick deputy governor, but he criticized the Fayemi administration for concealing information about her condition from the people of the state. “Governor Fayemi and his group raised their voices in protest when [former President] Yar’Adua was flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment without Nigerians receiving information or updates about his condition. Today, the same Fayemi is behaving like the cabal that surrounded Yar’Adua,” said the source. He added, “Mrs. Olayinka is a public official.

If she is too sick to attend to her official duties, then the good people of Ekiti State deserve to be told.”

The leader of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has expressed utter discomfort over the continuous killing of the Igbo in the northern parts of the country as he said the Igbo nation would consider an option of declaring war against the North if pushed to the wall.



The MASSOB leader, who made this known said the Igbo nation had borne the pains of sustained killing of their kinsmen in the northern parts of the country by terrorist groups for too long, contending that the issue, to members of his group, has assumed a more dangerous dimension which he said demanded an urgent attention.

The Igbo, he said, would not fold their arms while recording the highest casualty in the killing fields of the north, warning that MASSOB would soon engage the North in a bloody war to avenge the killing of innocent Ndigbo, who he said, have been plying their trades in the troubled northern zone.

Uwazuruike made the remarks at the wedding ceremony of the daughter of former Chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, in Obinugu community in Imo State, just as he assured the Hausa community in the Southeast of adequate protection, disclosing that there won’t be reprisal.

More

“The Hausa community living in the Southeast should not be afraid, no one will attack them. We are not going to resort to reprisals but will soon declare a full scale war against the North. We can’t take it anymore. We will take the war to their doorsteps now,” he said.

The separatist leader noted that the Nigerian government has failed in its responsibility of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians particularly the Ndigbo living in other parts of the country, especially in the Northern states.

It is recalled that over 70 Igbo traders were killed in a recent attack on a motor park in Kano when suicide bombers blew up Lagos-bound luxury buses.

Meanwhile, the Boko Haram insurgence in the northern parts of the country has started attracting the sympathy of the south-west zone, amid resolve by the leadership to hold special meetings on how to assist the North and the Federal Government to surmount the problem.

There has been a consensus among well-meaning Yoruba leaders that the Federal Government should have a rethink on the issue of request for Amnesty by the northern leaders for Boko Haram members, and the need for the government to hold a national dialogue aimed at solving the national crises before they degenerate into unimaginable chaos.

The Yoruba leaders, it was learnt, are now of the view that if Nigeria must overcome the problem of terrorism, the north should be assisted greatly with collective efforts across the country such that the problem would not end up consuming the country, going by the sustained trend.

The South-West leaders, Nigerian Tribune learnt, were also of the view that on the issue of amnesty option for Boko Haram members, the presidency should not take a rigid stance, such that it would be easy to use amnesty to convince the northern leaders to accede to the necessity of holding a national dialogue for all component units to discuss the future of the country.

The new thinking in the South-West, it was gathered, was that the Federal Government should take necessary steps to prevent Nigeria from entering the phase of another civil war, which the Boko Haram insurgence, militancy in the Niger Delta and the spate of violence in the southern parts of the country had been portending.

One of the prominent Yoruba leaders, who also hold key offices within the southern political groups, Dr Kunle Olajide, affirmed the new thinking among the Yoruba leaders, contending that the concern of most of the leaders was that since a country could not survive two civil wars, it would be appropriate for all the ethnic groups in Nigeria to rally forces behind the government to prevent such.

Olajide said he was of a personal view that patriotic Nigerians must, as a matter of urgency, come together and offer useful suggestions to the government and the northern leaders on what to do to make all parts of the country safe for Nigerians, irrespective of where they came from.

“The Yoruba have made enough sacrifices to promote the cause of national unity and so are not willing and prepared to support move capable of making the country go into another civil war, a reason leaders would support any agenda aimed at addressing the issue of Boko Haram insurgence in the country,” he said.

According to Dr Olajide, at the moment, the South-West people were not happy with the current system of politics in the country and the kind of constitution the country had been experimenting with, just as he said the two would have to be corrected in the interest of peace and tranquillity.

Olajide said the Federal Government should seize the opportunity of the Centenary celebration to correct whatever the anomaly that existed in the country’s socio-economic and political system, and not just limit the Centenary to mere jamboree and celebration as being generally canvassed.

“Now that we are planning towards the centenary age of Nigeria, we should use the period for stock taking, while concerted efforts should be made to address the grievances of each and every ethnic group, while creating atmosphere for justice, equity and sense of fairness to prevail in the country,” he stressed.

Northern leaders, yesterday, frowned at what they described as a desperate attempt by President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration to blame the rising wave of insecurity in the north on the leaders.
Governors Aliyu, Yuguda, Lamido and Kwankwaso


The leaders vowed to resist any attempt by the Presidency to use the Boko Haram onslaught to blackmail them instead of taking proactive measures to nib the insurgence in the bud.

The grouse of the northern leaders was that whereas the President had earlier claimed that he could not offer amnesty to Boko Haram members as they were ghosts, he went ahead to call on Northern elders to enjoin Boko Haram to stop bombings in the country.

A member of the Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Junaid Mohammed and National President of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, who spoke separately to Vanguard described the action of the government as a deliberate attempt to blackmail and provoke the north.

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It will be recalled that during a visit to Borno State last month, Jonathan had rejected calls for amnesty to Boko Haram members, saying that he could not be dealing with those he described as ‘’ghosts”.

Last week, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, issued a statement, calling on the Northern elders to prevail on the sect to down tools and accept dialogue as the Niger Delta militants did before the late Yar ‘Ádua offered them pardon.

Okupe said: “There is no need for over-politicization of the demand for amnesty, or to blackmail the President for taking strong, patriotic views that are contrary to those of some of our respected elders.

“The true expectation is that our respected leaders will go back to the drawing board and increase consultation and networking with the aim of reaching out to the leadership of the insurgents and convincing them to do the needful and step out to be counted.”

Mohammed, a second Republic politician and leader of the ACF vilified the President for refusing to grant amnesty to the sect members, saying that what was good for one part of the country was also good for the other.

Mohammed noted that the President had failed to use his position as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to find an answer to rising insecurity that has led to the killing of innocent men, women and children in the north despite the avalanche of security apparatus and intelligence at his disposal.

The ACF leader, Yerima Shettima, on the other hand, told Vanguard that the north took serious exception to the attempt by the Presidency to associate its leaders with the Boko Haram sect.

Shettima noted, “We don’t control Boko Haram and have no way of knowing what they are doing and what they want. It is the President who once declared that there were Boko Haram members even in his government.

“Having made that public declaration before the world, it is baffling why the President has found it difficult to deal with such members in his government but has continued to make contradictory statements almost on a daily basis, trying to rope in northern elders”.

“We therefore, plead with the President to leave northern elders out of the Boko Haram issues and devise realistic ways of solving the problem of insurgency in the country, one of them being, the carrot and stick approach, so as to give peace a chance to reign in the land.

source: http://news.naij.com/29546.html?sub=1&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=local

World to End Tomorrow: On March 31, 1940 the Franklin Institute issued a press release stating that the world would end the next day. The release was picked up by radio station KYW which broadcast the following message: "Your worst fears that the world will end are confirmed by astronomers of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Scientists predict that the world will end at 3 P.M. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is no April Fool joke. Confirmation can be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger, director of the Fels Planetarium of this city." The public reaction was immediate. Local authorities were flooded with frantic phone calls. The panic only subsided after the Franklin Institute assured people that it had made no such prediction. The prankster responsible for the press release turned out to be William Castellini, the Institute's press agent. He had intended to use the fake release to publicize an April 1st lecture at the institute titled "How Will the World End?" Soon afterwards, the Institute dismissed Castellini.

The Origin of April Fool’s Day: In 1983 the Associated Press reported that the mystery of the origin of April Fool's Day had finally been solved. Joseph Boskin, a History professor at Boston University, had discovered that the celebration had begun during the Roman empire when a court jester had boasted to Emperor Constantine that the fools and jesters of the court could rule the kingdom better than the Emperor could. In response, Constantine had decreed that the court fools would be given a chance to prove this boast, and he set aside one day of the year upon which a fool would rule the kingdom. The first year Constantine appointed a jester named Kugel as ruler, and Kugel immediately decreed that only the absurd would be allowed in the kingdom on that day. Therefore the tradition of April Fools was born. News media throughout the country reprinted the Associated Press story. But what the AP reporter who had interviewed Professor Boskin for the story hadn't realized was that Boskin was lying. Not a word of the story was true, which Boskin admitted a few weeks later. Boston University issued a statement apologizing for the joke, and many papers published corrections.

Bombs Away! 1915: On April 1, 1915, in the midst of World War I, a French aviator flew over a German camp and dropped what appeared to be a huge bomb. The German soldiers immediately scattered in all directions, but no explosion followed. After some time, the soldiers crept back and gingerly approached the bomb. They discovered it was actually a large football with a note tied to it that read, "April Fool!"