₦airaland Forum

Germany's 7-1 humiliation of hosts Brazil in the semi-finals of the World Cup had statisticians rewriting history practically every time Joachim Low's side touched the ball.

Brazil's dreams of winning the tournament in their home country were effectively ended by a first-half masterclass that saw the Germans score five goals in the opening 29minutes - the fastest time it has ever taken a team to reach that figure in World Cup history.

But, that wasn't the only record to fall on an astonishing night in Belo Horizonte.

The 7-1 scoreline was equal to the worse defeat in the history of Brazilian football.
The Selecao were beaten by 6-0 by fellow South Americans Uruguay in 1920 - nearly a century ago.

This was also Brazil's heaviest World Cup defeat, the next being their 3-0 loss to France in the 1998 Final. By contrast, Spain only scored eight goals during the entire tournament to win the 2010 World Cup.

Most World Cup goals
Germany have now scored 221 World Cup goals, to move one ahead of their hapless opponents as the tournament's highest ever scorers.

Germany (10) only had two more shots on target than Brazil ( in this match.
Germany scored two more goals tonight than England have in their past two World Cup campaigns combined.

Heaviest World Cup semi-final defeat
No other team has ever scored seven goals in the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Germany's six goal victory was the heaviest semi-final defeat in the tournament's history, ahead of 6-1 West Germany's 6-1 defeat of Austria in 1954 and Uruguay's win by the same scoreline against Yugoslavia in 1930.

Germany netted as many goals in this semi-final as they had in their previous six World Cup semi-finals (1982-2010).

It is the first time since 1938 that Brazil have lost a World Cup semi-final, they had progressed in their previous six.

Most goals conceded by Brazil at World Cup
It was also the first time that Brazil had conceded more than five World Cup goals since 1938, although on that occasion they managed to comeback to beat Poland 6-5 after extra-time. Furthermore, Brazil has not let in seven goals at home... ever!
Brazil have conceded eight in a game before during a 8-4 friendly defeat to Yugoslavia on 3 June 1934.

Most goals scored against the World Cup host nation
Brazil is the SECOND host team to let in seven goals in a World Cup match, following Switzerland's 5-7 defeat to Austria in 1954.

The next highest was Brazil who managed to score five against hosts Sweden in 1958 during a 5-2 victory.

All-time record goalscorer at World Cup
Miroslav Klose added salt to Brazilian wounds by netting his 16th goal at the World Cup finals to move clear of Ronaldo as the competition's all-time leading scorer.

And, Germany have NEVER lost a match where their talisman Klose has scored the first goal.

Muller scores Germany's 2,000th goal
Thomas Müller could yet take home the Golden Boot after moving to within a goal of Colombia's James Rodriguez when he scored the opener for his his fifth strike, which also happened to be Germany's 2,000 in history of Die Mannschaft.

Müller is the third player (after Cubillas and Klose) in history to score five or more goals in two different World Cups - he has scored 10 goals and provided six assists in just 12 World Cup matches.

Fastest brace in World Cup history
Toni Kroos' first-half double, which came in just 69 seconds, was the fastest brace in the history of the competition.

Fastest four goals scored in World Cup history
Joachim Low's side scored four goals in the space of six minutes (from 23 to 29). That has never been done in World Cup history...

Earlier today, Nigerian rapper, Olamide updated his Instagram page with a the picture above (a tweet from his account) which has received much response from his fans on Instagram.

The picture had the message "Loooool... Niggas calling for feature. Bleep yo money. If you ain't dope...I ain't jumping on tha shii..broke nigga dats dope is better"

Speculations has been flying concerning who he is actually referring to with his post. But we have a reason to believe that it may be the Koko Master, D'Banj.

In recent times the Koko Master has been seeking remix with a lot of musicians as his strife to get back into the Nigerian music market continues. His feature with Oritse Femi on "Double Wahala" wasn't so welcomed by Nigerians, likewise his feature on "Kukere" remix with Iyanya.

However, this is just a speculation. Mr YBNL could be referring to anyone. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Police in Rio de Janeiro have said a Fifa official is involved in a US$100m ticket scandal.

Officers have arrested 11 suspected ticket touts as part of an investigation called Operation Jules Rimet, which has tapped the mobile phones of the suspects.

Fabio Barucke, the police investigator in charge of the case, said a Fifa official who was a source of the tickets had access to Fifa offices and stadiums and match tickets.

Some tickets have been re-sold for eight times their face value.

Investigators are planning to meet Fifa and its official ticket agency Match, which sells World Cup hospitality packages.

Fifa's head of media Delia Fischer said it had not received any information from the police identifying the person.

"Maybe it's not from Fifa – it's often easy to come to a conclusion about who is Fifa," she said.

Barucke said the ticketing ring aimed to make up to $US100m, around £60m, by illegally re-selling tickets and that the group had operated at previous World Cups.

The suspected ringleader has been named as Mohamadou Lamine Fofana, an Algerian man who was previously staying at the Copacabana Palace hotel, where all the Fifa top executives are staying.

Barucke believes Fofana was the middleman and that the ticket source was "someone higher up" the chain.

"He [Fofana] has tickets from hospitality, from Match, and he was close friends with someone from Fifa who was in the middle of that negotiation - who was helping out with that negotiation.

"We were able to identify there is the participation of someone from Fifa."

Children spend nearly a year slumped in front of the TV or staring at computer screens by the time they are seven, a former children’s minister has warned.

Tim Loughton said this screen addiction in youngsters could cause changes in the brain similar to those seen in cocaine addicts and alcoholics.

In a report titled ‘The state our children are in’ for the charity 4Children, the Tory MP cited research by a psychologist suggesting today’s children were at risk of a lifelong dependency on TV and computer screens.

The research by Dr Aric Sigman warned that a generation of kids could suffer damage to the body as well as the brain as a result.

In the essay, Mr Loughton called for a crackdown on the ‘health and safety’ mentality that stopped children taking part in rough and tumble activities.

He cited NHS statistics that showed half as many children are being admitted to hospital after falling out of a tree than they were ten years ago.

In contrast, kids are twice as likely to go to casualty for injuries caused by repetitive strain movements, such as playing computer games for too long, than a decade ago.

He said: ‘Should the state be intervening to rebalance the average child’s day, when they’re spending - on average - ten times as long on the computer or watching TV as playing outside?

The research by Dr Sigman showed 12 to 15-year olds spend on average more than six hours a day staring at screens.

At the time, he called for a ban for toddlers and severely rationed for other youngsters and will warn that parents who use technology as a ‘babysitter’ could be setting up their children for a lifetime of ill health.

His work and studies by other researchers link time spent in front of screens with health problems including obesity, high cholesterol and blood pressure, inattentiveness and declines in maths and reading, as well as sleep disorders and autism.

In the report, Mr Loughton called for the relationship between the state and families to be rebalanced.

Noting that there had been 100 Acts of Parliament in the last 25 years affecting children, he questioned whether these had ‘strengthened families’.

He said: ‘The approach I have always favoured [is] where the State is there to serve, to enable, to promote the family, not to stifle it, nor to direct or supplant, other than in those severe cases where neglect or cruelty harms the children

The MP for East Worthing and Shoreham also said that a toxic concoction of 24 hour social media, the sexualisation of childhood and pressures to ‘fit in’ and achieve were fuelling a ‘quarter life crisis’ among today’s young people.

SGP Technologies SA, the Switzerland-based joint venture of Silent Circle and Geeksphone behind Blackphone, has announced that shipping of the Blackphone has begun to the device’s first pre-order customers.

SGP touts the Blackphone as “…the world’s first smartphone built from the ground up to maximize user privacy. Blackphone’s security-enhanced operating system, PrivatOS, built on Android™ KitKat, provides users protection and control over security issues without the usual compromises.

The unique features include:

Private communications: Blackphone features private encrypted voice and video calls and text messaging with attachments via Silent Circle‘s, Silent Phone and Silent Text apps created by Phil Zimmermann and Jon Callas, giving users the freedom to communicate securely anywhere they find cellular or Wi-Fi connections.

Wi-Fi security: The included Kismet Smarter Wi-Fi Manager prevents Wi-Fi hotspots from capturing Blackphone users’ wireless connection history and other information that could be used to track users’ locations or patterns of activity and information about sensitive office or home networks.

Security Center: Gives owners complete control over application permissions, allowing immediate changes without rebooting or reinstalling.

Remote wipe and protect: A powerful remote wipe tool gives Blackphone owners further peace of mind in having the ability to control their phone’s data from anywhere in the world.

Anonymous Web browsing and VPN: Disconnect Search is the default search provider for Blackphone, offering private browsing protection from invasive Web monitoring by hiding users’ IP address, browser cookies and personal information. Blackphone also features Disconnect’s Secure Wireless app, which is a smart VPN designed to prevent eavesdropping over Wi-Fi and cellular networks.

Private cloud storage: Blackphone owners can access files in SpiderOak’s private encrypted cloud service right from their mobile device, knowing only they have the means to decrypt and access their private files.

This Android smartphone comes with pre-installed privacy and anti-surveillance services, including Silent Phone for encrypted VoIP; Silent Text, for encrypted messaging; and Silent Contacts, for an encrypted contact list. All of these apps are available on iOS and Android if you want to install them on your phone today but they carry each of their own price tags. However, Blackphone comes with two years of these services included in the bundle, in an unlocked device, for $629 (from N103 000).

Quick Office, Google's answer to Microsoft's Office mobile suite for smartphones will be taken down from the Google Play Store. The company has given users of the app a few weeks notice before it finally takes down the app

Although Google had its own online office suite before then, it bought Quickoffice in 2012 in order to, somewhat ironically, improve its productivity offering on Android as well as in iOS. Google made no qualms about the fact that it will be rolling Quickoffice features into Google Drive (a free way to keep your files backed up and easy to reach from any phone, tablet, or computer via cloud storage), called Google Docs. That process has finally reached completion and there is very little reason for Quickoffice to retain a presence on Play Store.

The past few weeks, Google has been busy updating Google Drive's document functionality, culminating in a major announcement that coincided with I/O 2014 last week. First it separated the Docs and Sheets part of Google Drive into their own apps, both on Android and on iOS. The last missing piece fell into place last week when Slides was also given its own app spot, at least on Android initially.

However, the nail in the coffin was actually the new level of MS Office interoperability that Google announced last week. Previously, Google Drive could open and save to Microsoft's formats, but there was some deal of conversion between file formats involved, which could lead into potential lose of styling, if not data. Quickoffice, however, worked seamlessly with those same formats and, as of last week, Google's office suite finally gained such functionality as well.

As such, Google will be unpublishing Quickoffice from Google Play Store, but existing users who already have the app installed will still be able to use it, but as far as new features and fixes go, there won't be updates anymore.

New users, however, will no longer be able to install the app. Google hasn't mentioned anything about the iTunes version of the app, but we can expect it to follow suit in the near future.

Amazon finally launched the Fire Phone at a packed event in Seattle on June 18, 2014. After months of rumors, expectations were running high. Even though we’ve already heard about most of the specs, the device, once revealed, is still impressive, particularly the MayDay, Firefly, and Dynamic Perspective 3D features. Read on to find out more about Amazon’s first smartphone attempt.

Good specs

The Fire Phone features a 4.7-inch display with an HD resolution. It is optimized for one handed use, even though it has a larger display. The display is made out of Gorilla Glass 3 and has a rubber frame around the edge. The display looks long and wide, sort of like an Apple iPhone 4S or Google Nexus 4.

Amazon adds dual Dolby stereo speakers to the Fire Phone for surround sound while watching videos on the device. Amazon knows that people love watching videos on their smartphones and tablets.

Second Screen and X-Ray

Second Screen is somewhat similar to Apple’s AirPlay and Google’s Chromecast, because it lets you push the video you’re watching on your phone to an Amazon Fire TV and select Samsung televisions. That way, you see all of Prime’s great content on the big screen. With Second Screen enabled, you can then use the Fire Phone to learn more about the content you are watching by pulling up info via IMDB (Amazon calls it X-Ray, which also works when playing music or reading books).

Camera with unlimited photo backup

The device also has a 13-megapixel camera on the back with a f/2.0 lens with optical image stabilization. Amazon says that the camera shutter will stay open longer to ensure that even low-light shots look stunning (while this would be fine for static shots, we aren’t sure how this would affect action scenes). Users can take panorama, burst, and action shots, too. Amazon will also offer unlimited photo storage, so users can take as many pictures as they want without worrying about storage.

Mayday - customer service

Mayday is Amazon’s new take on customer service, which lets users call an Amazon tech expert 24/7, 365 days a year, in case of a problem.

Amazon stated that its well-loved Mayday feature will be included in the Fire Phone.When you hit the Mayday button, a helpful tech expert will appear to solve all your problems. They can even draw on your screen to show you what you need to do. Mayday will now be accessible via Wi-Fi. Normal data charges will apply; so be mindful of your data cap.

Firefly scans real-world objects, locates them on Amazon

Firefly is a great new feature that helps you find the products and objects you encounter in the real world, online. The ultimate show-rooming tool, the feature uses the one of the cameras on the front of the Fire Phone to recognize books, DVDs, phone numbers, QR codes, CDs, games, and all other kinds of media. Once Firefly figures out what you’re looking for, it searches for that product in its database and finds a version that you can buy on Amazon. We are sure brick-and-mortar retailers won’t be too pleased.

If it’s not a product you’re looking for, but rather information on a painting, tourist site, or something else, Firefly will hook you up with a Wikipedia page on the subject. Amazon says that it can recognize more than 100 million items, including 240,000 movies and TV shows, 160 live TV channels, and 70 million different products.

The Fire Phone has a dedicated button for Firefly, so you’ll be able to find and use the feature easily.

3D effects with Dynamic Perspective

Prior to the launch of the Fire Phone, there were talks about the brand-new 3D effects that would revolutionize smartphone ecosystem. Amazon has done just that with what it calls “Dynamic Perspective.”

In essence, the new feature merely allows users to interact with images, Web pages, and other content like maps, in a different way. With a simple tilt of the Fire Phone, you can change the point of view you have of each image, map, or 3D-enabled app you are looking at on the device. A simple tilt of the phone displays a new angle of each image.

The effect can also work when you’re shopping. For example, when you’re looking through a rack of dresses online, you can move through to the next one by tilting your phone to the right or left. Amazon created a brand-new Shopping app, which lets you view products from every angle imaginable.

Then, when you’re browsing the Web, you can tilt the Fire Phone back to scroll down. This effect also works with ebooks in the Kindle app. One of the coolest Dynamic Perspective features lets you access app menus more easily, too. To view the menu on any app, all you have to do is tilt the phone to the left and it will pop up. Conversely, if you tilt the phone to the right, information and short cuts appear. For example, when you’re in the messaging app and you want to send a picture, tilting your Fire Phone right will give you access to all your photos, so you can pick which one you want to send.

In order to accurately track users’ head motions, Amazon added four front-facing cameras, placed at a 120-degree angle on each corner of the device. Infrared sensors and a great algorithm were also needed to make Dynamic Perspective work perfectly.

Full specs:Screen: 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 pixel LCD screen Processor: 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processorGraphics: Adreno 330 GPURAM: 2GB RAM Memory: 32 or 64GB of storageCloud storage: 5GB of extra free space via the Amazon Cloud DriveNFC: YesBluetooth: Bluetooth 3.0Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 802.11acData: 4G LTEBattery: 2,400mAh battery (up to 11 hours during video playback and 22 hours of talk time)The Fire Phone seems to be a perfect phone but however, there are certain things that could've been better.

1) It spots a 4.7 inch screen: In the Smartphone world were big screens has become a tradition, this can be considered as being relatively small. A 5.0 inch screen would have done justice to this device.

2) It Lacks microSD slot for storage expansion: For some people, the smartphones are their office, their mini hard drive. This could bring some restriction to that.

3) Battery is not user replaceable: If your battery goes bad, your phone is bad, no alternative but to get a new one.

4) Pricing: The Fire Phone is on the high side, priced at $649 (starting from N108 000).The Amazon Fire Phone is a great device for a lover of good smartphones. It gets a 7.0 rating.

The Chairman, Finance Commissioners Forum, Timothy Odah, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has accepted that it owes the Federation Account.

Odah, the Commissioner for Finance in Ebonyi, made the revelation in Abuja when he briefed journalists about the outcome of Friday’s monthly Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.

He said the NNPC representative at the meeting admitted that the organisation owed the federation, and acknowledged not remitting the exact amount it generated.

The governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wrote a letter to the president that NNPC failed to remit 49.8 billion U.S dollars to the Federation Account between 2012 to date.

Odah, however, said the actual amount of its indebtedness would be determined at the next FAAC meeting.

“The NNPC has admitted that truly they owe the Federation Account and by that information, we referred the deliberation on the figure of what they say they owe to the next FAAC meeting,” he said.

“This is so that the technical committee will be able to examine NNPC accounts before we will be able to publicise or accept the figure they have quoted.”

Odah said the NNPC’s acknowledgment of its indebtedness to the Federation Account over revenue it had failed to remit was “important” and described it as a welcome development.

“You know, previously, that it has always been a matter of controversy. They say they don’t owe and sometimes they will say that it is the federation account that owes them, but this time they have accepted that they owe. Although, the difference between what we claim they owe and what they claim they owe is very marginal,” he said.

The Federal Government has approved the sum of N40.2Billion for the construction of phase III Part III and the upgrading of the two chambers of the National Assembly Complex.

Following this, it will close down the National Assembly Complex for a period of twelve months to facilitate the renovation of the chambers and the construction of additional facilities.

The government also approved the sum of N2.3 billion naira for the construction of a laboratory for the testing of physical and chemical properties of petroleum products in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

Briefing journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, which was presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed, said N3.5 billion naira of the total contract sum is meant for the renovation of the chambers.

The contract, which was awarded to Julius Berger at the cost of N40, 238,899,499.85 has a completion period of 40 months.

The new projects will include a new library, budget office, printing press, clinic, restaurants, banquet hall, places of worship, plenary hall (auditorium), TV/radio/press facilities, fitness room, administrative offices, technical rooms, meeting rooms and upgrading of the two chambers.

Mohammed further explained that provisions have already been made for legislators to use meeting rooms for their proceedings.

He said the project is a federal government national priority project whose timing cannot be distorted, which is the reason meeting rooms that have been well distributed in the third phase complexes built between 2007 and 2011 make a good alternative for the legislators.

Information Minister, Labaran Maku, who threw more light on the National Laboratory project explained that the laboratory would not only save the country a lot of money as most of such testings were carried out abroad, but would also partially settle the cases of stolen crude from Nigeria.

According to a working document of the FEC the contract for the construction of National Laboratory in Owerri, Imo state was awarded to Messrs Trident Oil and Gas Ltd at the cost of N2,391,965,201.79. with a completion period of 36 months.

The purpose of the project is to carry out testing of physical and chemical properties of petroleum products, and petrochemicals in all oil and gas industry as well as to detect, and check adulteration of products, detect stolen Nigerian crude outside the shores of Nigeria, by under taking chemical finger printing services.
“All advanced analysis of samples will be done in Nigeria rather than doing so abroad as is the case presently.”

Council also approved the acquisition and purchase of an office building for Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board at Plot 542, Cadastral Zone, B09, Kado District along Mabushi Expressway, Abuja in the sum of N3, 630Billion.

According to the working document of FEC, the Board has operated from rented quarters since 1998. It added that the approved office building “is a two-winged fully developed office complex on six floors with basement, maintenance block and gate house.”

The Information minister in a related development said a legal framework for the development of metallurgical products is being developed. It was inconclusive and a subcommittee was set up, headed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), to look into the bill.
Maku said Council also discussed a draft national migration policy, which was inconclusive.

The wife of the Nigerian president, Patience Jonathan, on Friday, called for stiffer penalties backed by effective law enforcement for perpetrators of sexual violence against women.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Elysee Summit for Peace and Security in Africa holding in Paris, France, the Nigerian First Lady urged the more than 50 spouses of world leaders attending the summit to use their positions to mobilise support against sexual violence and other abuses against women.

The meeting was hosted by the First Lady of France, Valerie Trierweiler, on the sideline of the Elysee Summit for Peace and Security in Africa holding in Paris.

Jonathan said conflict-related sexual abuse should not be regarded as unavoidable or acceptable consequences of war because of their devastating consequences.

She urged leaders and policy makers to continue to promote girl child education, women empowerment and gender equality as critical steps to ending sexual violence against women.

Jonathan also called on UN member states, especially African leaders, to reassert their commitment to the effective implementation of UN resolutions on women.

She specifically advocated commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1325, which calls for greater protection of women from gender-based violence.

She emphasised the need for strategic collaboration and the inclusion of men in the global response to the problem of rape, saying “behind every rape, there is a man”.

At the summit, a film on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo was screened for the participants. They also listened to eyewitness accounts of situations in Libya and the Central African Republic.

The special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, and some of the first ladies in attendance also spoke at the meeting.

Patience is attending the Summit alongside her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan.

Having overtly conceded top spot to two-time world champions Argentina in Group F of next year’s World Cup in Brazil, Bosnia-Hezergovina Coach Safet Susic has stated that his team will try to beat Nigeria to the second spot in the tricky group.

Speaking to fifa.com on the heels of Friday’s draws, Susic posited that his team is at par with the Eagles even though he admitted the African champions have a slight edge with their previous World Cup experiences.

“Having seen the other groups, we can be satisfied,” the Bosnia Coach began.

“We don’t need to be unhappy, even though we share the group with Argentina, who are one of the favorites to win the world championship.”

On his team’s chances, the Bosnia Coach said: “Of the other teams, one is clearly weaker than us: Iran. The other, Nigeria, has in the worst-case scenario the same qualities we have, although they have more experience in World Cups. I believe we will fight for the second place with them.”

Bosnia, who are making their debut appearance at the World Cup this term, will start out against Argentina before taking on the Super Eagles in their second group game and then Iran in their final group fixture.

The Federal Government has pushed further the deadline given to striking lecturers to resume work in various institutions across the country.

The deadline, which was initially December 4, has been moved to the 9th of the same month.

Speaking about the new development, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okogie, in Abuja on Tuesday, said that the ultimatum had been shifted to enable the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) carry out the burial ceremony of Professor Festus Iyayi, a former leader of the union who died in the line of duty.

Okogie also said that all lecturers, who would resume duties and who were ready to work on the new date would be paid their full salary arrears.

He pointed out that the leadership of ASUU, at the end of its meeting with the president on November 4, had agreed to call off the strike after several resolutions were reached which did not include the new conditions recently released by the union.

The union said it did not add any new condition but only emphasised the non-victimisation clause, which states that no member of the union should be punished for being part of the ongoing strike.

It also reiterated that the government deposit the 200 billion Naira revitalisation fund for public universities as agreed with the Central Bank of Nigeria, before the strike would be called off.

It would be recalled that the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, on November 28, issued December 4 as the deadline for all lecturers to resume back in school or face the penalty of losing their jobs.

The Lagos State Government, on Saturday, said it would demolish structures built under electric transmission cables across the state.

The State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, said this while monitoring the monthly sanitation in Ayobo/Ipaja area of the state.

He said building under high tension installations was fraught with grave danger, adding that it also constituted environmental nuisance.

Bello said government could not afford to watch residents endanger their lives, adding that officials would soon remove the illegal structures.

“In fact, I have instructed the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to deal with that.

“Ordinarily, how can people erect structures under high tension cable?

“We have said time and time again that people shouldn’t build under the high tension cables and poles because it is dangerous, but they won’t listen.

“And some of these people still ask us for amenities like drainages and so on. Who will ever do that? We are sorry we cannot do drainage for people under high tension,” Bello said.

The commissioner warned residents against building on flood plains, saying the practice threatened lives and the environment.

He advised residents against dumping refuse in drains and canals as doing so could cause flooding.

The commissioner said the government was building new drains and expanding the capacities of existing canals to prevent flooding.

He appealed to residents to co-operate with government in improving the environment by abiding with environmental laws.

Chairman of Ayobo/Ipaja Local Council Development Authority, Mr. Shakiru Yusuf, said flooding was a major problem in the area.

According to him, most of the residents were confined to their homes most times during rainy seasons as the area was always flooded.

“We, therefore, appeal to the state government to come up with urgent intervention to end this perennial problem,” he said.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Works, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson, said the government was committed to the transformation of Ipaja/Ayobo and the rest of Alimosho.

He said the ongoing rehabilitation of Ipaja/Ayobo road and execution of other projects demonstrated that commitment.

Johnson appealed for patience on the road, saying the council was doing everything possible to ensure its early completion.

The federal government has stepped in to pay the N78 million outstanding wages of Super Eagles manager, Stephen Keshi and his assistant.

Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, said he had received approval from President Goodluck Jonathan to pay the money.

“The Presidency has made arrangements to pay the salary arrears of the coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi,” he said. “We (the sports ministry) don’t have the responsibility of paying the coaches. The (Nigerian Football) Federation has that responsibility.

“But the government cannot say ‘let the federation handle it on their own’ anymore. Since it was not in our budget, I had to appeal to the Presidency and everything should be cleared soon.”

The Nigerian Football Federation, which relies on government funding, has been plagued by financial worries in recent years and receives little in the way of private sponsorship.

There are complaints that the budget is inadequate to meet the team’s commitments.

Nigeria and the United States of America have begun a campaign towards the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls in Nigeria.

Speaking on Wednesday at a meeting co-hosted by the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) and the US Mission in Nigeria to commemorate the International Day of Elimination of Gender-based Violence, in Abuja, the US Deputy Chief of Mission, Maria Brewer, said it was time the two countries collaborated to checkmate the menace.

She noted that one in three women experience some form of gender-based violence in lifetime.

She said since violence against women and girls is a global issue, everybody must stand up to the impunity that leaves perpetrators unaccountable for their actions.

“Whether it is a little girl left malnourished or uneducated, a woman beaten or raped, or a widow ostracised from her community, the cost to human lives and societies is overwhelming,” she said.

Brewer said that in the US alone, the cost of violence against women and children exceeds $5.8 billion yearly, with another $4.1 billion in medical costs and a loss of $1.8 billion in productivity.

“Nigeria also pays the price for gender-based violence. Many women from Nigeria, forced into prostitution and human trafficking, die needlessly for lack of proper healthcare, face poverty for lack of an education and cannot live up to their potential to contribute to a democratic and prosperous Nigeria. Today, we join forces so that the world could offer up more than words to free women and girls from violence,” she remarked.

She pointed out that no country can progress when half its population is marginalised, mistreated and subjected to discrimination.

The Director General of the NCWD, Onyeka Onwenu, said it was high time violence against women is dealt with in Nigeria, adding that gender violence in Nigeria suggests a conspiracy of silence which conceals the nature and extent of the problem.

According to her, some cultural values and norms in the society serve to condone and reinforce abusive practices against women, manipulation and misinterpretation of religious doctrines are used to place women in bondage...

Legal practitioner, Festus Keyamo, on Tuesday, raised alarm over the arrest of Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

According to a press statement from Keyamo’s chambers, Dokubo-Asari was arrested in Cotonou, Benin Republic, between 1:00pm and 2:00pm by the country’s gendarme (Police Force).

Speaking via the statement, Keyamo said the arrest of his client may be “a ploy by certain forces in Nigeria in unholy alliance with the Beninoise government to keep him away as 2015 approaches.”

He further said that Dokubo-Asari was picked up around the Lubeleyi roundabout and taken to an unknown destination.
“We want to emphasise that Alhaji Dokubo-Asari carries on legitimate business and has been living partly in Benin Republic for many years now. In fact, he owns houses, schools and an academy in that country. All these places have been searched as at this evening and nothing incriminating was found.”

He called on the Nigerian government to immediately intervene and “ensure that no harm befalls Alhaji Dokubo-Asari and to use all diplomatic means to secure his immediate release and safe return to Nigeria.”

“Meanwhile, we shall be liaising immediately with our colleagues in that country to enforce his fundamental rights.”

Perhaps there has not been a greater collective to recover stolen funds with success like the manner the federal government has doggedly chased the Abacha funds to various parts of the world. Not even the duo of the avowed anti-corruption czars, Buhari and Idiagbon, chased moneyed trails as the governments that had succeeded General Sani Abacha since his demise in 1998.

“In December 1999, Nigeria presented to Switzerland a formal request for mutuallegal assistance involving former Head of State, Sani Abacha,” he said. “On the basis of Swiss legislation in partnership with Nigerian authorities, it was able to gather all relevant information to proceed, between 2005 and 2009 with the restitution of the funds to the Nigerian government.”

According to Mr Hodel, a total of 700 million USD was returned to Nigeria. As it is characteristic with our handling of funds, where probity and accountability is lacking most at times, he further stated that “Switzerland and Nigeria agreed to request the World Bank to participate in the review of the use of the funds, in the framework of a budget control process of various welfare projects.”

Through some will disagree with their stance of telling the government what to do with the money, the Swiss understand our proclivity to pilfer funds, such that they even stated that the Swiss government is funding a network of NGOs monitoring the uses of the recovered funds in various developmental projects like rural electrification, primary healthcare and vaccination programs; also included are basic and secondary education, portable water and rural irrigation.

We will attempt to recount some of the sordid details that appear stranger than fiction that have resulted in the Swiss ambassador’s statement.

In January 2000 it was reported that $654 million had been found in about 140 Swiss bank accounts in the names of Abacha, his family and associates; his NSA and money courier had been placed under house arrest for 18 months without being charged to court for any crime.

In September 2000, Mr Gwarzo appeared before a Swiss judge and a team of Swiss detectives in the FCT. He offered to pay another $500 million to the federal government.

In May 2000, Luxembourg confirmed it had found and frozen $630 million in eight bank accounts in MM Warburg & Co, a private bank, in the names of Alhaji Sani Mohammed and Abba Sani Mohammed, Abacha’s sons, pending Nigeria’s official claim.

In its May 2000 story, the IHT also reported that “part of an additional $654 million” had been found in Switzerland’s famous Credit Suisse.

In August 2000, Nigeria asked Liechtenstein to help recover GBP100 million.

In April 2001, the Financial Services Authority, Britain’s financial watchdog, revealed that 23 London banks had handled $1.3 billion, belonging to family and friends of General Abacha.

In May 2002, President Olusegun Obasanjo struck a deal with Abacha’s survivors under which the government was to recover about $1.2 billion while the Abachas kept $100 million and par bonds worth $300 million.


In November 2003, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the Nigerian government had recovered $149 million from the Island of Jersey, an offshore-banking centre in the British-ruled Channel Islands; she said the money was different from the $618 million for which she had just visited Switzerland and was confident that country would return to Nigeria.

The aforementioned roller-coaster of graft, which led to the investigation of almost 60 banks in Switzerland alone, ensured that the concept of “politically exposed persons” emerged and was included in the 2003 UN Convention against corruption...

The Managing Director, National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof. John Idoko, has said 3.4 million Nigerians are living with HIV of which 58 per cent are women.

Idoko gave the figure at the end of a two-day Biomedical HIV Prevention Forum on Tuesday in Abuja.
He was represented at the occasion by Dr. Morenike Ukpong, Coordinator, New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society.

Idoko said there was a need for biomedical prevention technologies because the decline in new infections was much slower in adults than in children.
He said that an estimate of 388, 864 people became newly-infected by HIV in 2011, and that 217,148 people died from AIDS-related causes in 2011.

He said that donor funding accounted for 75 per cent of the expenditure in 2011.

According to him, there is prediction that new cases may rise in Nigeria from rapid population growth because of the recent increase in Mozambique and Tanzania.

“To keep pace with current spending, 30 billion U.S. dollars is required by 2031. Where is that money going to come from?”

He said that nationwide prevalence stabilised around four per cent but 12 states carried higher burden and Nigeria was behind target in several important indicators.

Mr. Bright Ekweremadu, the Country Director, Society for Family Health, an NGO, said that establishing priority populations to be targeted and identifying appropriate intervention strategies were among the primary mandate for HIV prevention funding.

According to him, intervention to promote accelerated antiretroviral therapy (ART) remained one of the most important scientific advances in HIV programme intervention.

Following the delayed arrival of election material and logistics, The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rescheduled election in 65 polling units in Obosi in Idemili North Local Government Area for Sunday between 8am and 12.30am.

The Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Anambra state, Prof Chukwuemeka Onukogu made the announcement on Saturday in Awka.

“The rescheduling was due to “challenges of logistics” in the areas” and any inconveniences are regretted.”

Onukogu said the rescheduled election will hold at Obosi Registration Area, Ward 07 and urged parties involved to be ready for the polls.

The lack of accreditation of voters disrupted the election in Idemili North and South Local Government Areas due to lack of voting materials, incomplete voters’ registers, and lack results sheets adding that many registered candidates did not find their names in the registers.

Former Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia, has congratulated the Super Eagles for securing a berth to compete at the Brazil 2014 World Cup and advised that the Eagles needed to put in more work ahead of the World Cup proper.

Speaking with Telegraph after the Saturday 2-0 win at the UJ Esuene Stadium, the Beijing Olympic silver-winning coach said the technical bench of the eagles should have noticed the areas they needed to work on ahead of next year’s mundial.

“I feel very happy that the Eagles have qualified for the World Cup again,” the former national team coach began in his chat with the Telegraph.

“While I am happy with qualification, I think the team still has more work to do so they can improve before Brazil 2014 starts. I know the coaches know what to do but let’s celebrate this moment for now,” Siasia concluded.

The Eagles scored a goal in each half to secure a 2-0 win and a 4-1 aggregate victory that would see them flying to Brazil to join the likes of Spain, Germany, Japan and host Brazil who had already cemented their place at next year’s football showpiece.

It is not news that the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, to answer for overpriced bullet-proof BMW limousines presumably bought in her name.

With the air disaster, the near miss and suspension of airline operator licences that made October 2013 arguably the worst month of Mrs Oduah’s tenure, the crisis of confidence was compounded with the purchase of unnecessary vehicles by a cash-strapped independent agency under her ministry.

After numberless claims and counter-claims from many government agencies with none of the at least five stories lining up, she appeared and said whilst she approved the transaction, she annotated with, “Approved. Do the needful.”

‘Do the needful’ might well become a meme, but ‘Do the needful’ could mean anything from doing due diligence to exculpating oneself from responsibility if the whole issue blows up as it has done, overshadowing President Goodluck Jonathan’s pilgrimage and visit to Israel, last week.

However, rather than attempt to add another story to this scandal with the aim of creating a Nigerian version of Arabian Nights and a story for bedtime, we should ask ourselves the hard questions: what is so wrong with our country that things like this can happen, and happen, over and over again?

Impunity is slowly becoming an acceptable way of life in Nigeria. The battle against corruption has become a joke and government officials entrusted with positions of trust are now very happy to use those positions as they deem fit, as against the way the Constitution of the Federal Republic expects them to. A Constitution they swore to uphold.

Impunity as a way of life is, if looked at dispassionately, acculturated and etched, skin-deep within the population. We don’t seem to see anything wrong when one of us breaks the laws, so long as there is something for us to personally benefit from it.

This is exemplified by the comments made by Rita Obu, the President of Goodluck Jonathan Women Support Group, during a protest by her group in support of Stella Oduah, when she asked: “Have the men exposed other political office holders who are also riding bullet-proof cars?”

This is no way to prepare future leaders of the country.

Pupils of Ogba Junior Grammar School, Ikeja, were on Friday kept out of their classrooms following the fainting of some of them on Thursday after allegedly inhaling a poisonous gas.

More than 20 of the pupils were said to have been affected by the gas which was alleged to have emitted from a nearby laboratory.

Razaq Fadipe, the Director, Lagos State Fire Service, said that 22 students were unconscious after inhaling the gas but many were revived and taken home. He had said that four pupils were receiving medical attention in a hospital.

On Friday, the students were seen outside their classrooms, with officials saying that they believed the open air was safer until the classrooms were cleared.

The students were later asked to go home by school authorities.

One of the teachers, who asked that her identity be protected, said that all the doors and windows of the classrooms would be kept open all through the weekend so to allow fresh air into the classes.

“We are grateful to God that we did not lose any of our pupils to the incident; it was a horrible experience,” she said. “The four in a hospital are in stable condition.”

When contacted, Jide Lawal, the Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Ministry of Information, said that there had yet to be any development on the matter.

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Wednesday, said the crises and challenges facing the country was impeding major economic development.

The President also noted that no one can talk of economic development where there is no peace, adding that to develop economically there must be internal democracy and internal stability.

Jonathan, who stated this while receiving the 2013 Africa Peace Award from the United Religions Initiatives (URI), at the Presidential Villa, noted that there can be no meaningful economic development where people are fighting, and differences cannot be resolved through the barrels of the gun.

“So let me call on all Nigerians, especially the young people, if you come to the South part of this country you hear about militancy, kidnapping and if you go to the North you have this issue of Boko Haram. For us to develop our country we must all embrace peace,” he said. “There is no way the government can perform magic when the people are shooting guns, because economic growth and development is in the hands of the private sector.”

The President said that pursuant to this fact, the leadership of the African Union and ECOWAS are now interested in helping African States to achieve peace, having accepted the belief that as Africans we must help ourselves and help our states by governing them the way they should be governed.

“The leadership of African Union and ECOWAS have changed and we believe that we must help ourselves and help our states and govern our states the way it should be governed. If there are crises we should intervene and that has been helping us significantly,” Jonathan said.

Dedicating the award to all Nigerians, the President promised to continue to play the roles that will enhance peace and guarantee political stability in Nigeria as economic growth, development and stability are tied to political stability.

“We will continue to our best. For me as an individual I will continue to play my role in spite of the challenges. Let me use this unique opportunity to call on all Nigerians and all the people of the world to embrace peace. You cannot talk about development when you are fighting,” he said.

Earlier, the Regional Director of URI, Ambassador Mussie Hailu, while presenting the award to Jonathan, said it was in recognition of the President’s immense contributions to religious harmony in Nigeria as well as peace keeping operation under the United Nations.

The award, which he said is a non- monetary honour for people who have distinguished themselves and exhibited exceptional leadership qualities have as its previous recipients the former President of Mozambique, Joaquin Chissano, Girma Woldegiorgis of Ethiopia, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso amongst others.

“We have been following with great interest the great role the President plays in his country, West Africa and Africa as a whole since he took office as President of Nigeria. We commend his leadership qualities in West African sub region, in particular as ECOWAS Chairman and also laud the current transformation agenda of his administration,” he said.

The Head of Dental Department at the State Specialist Hospital, Okitipupa in Ondo State, Dr Segun Adegoke, has said that chewing sticks are better for cleaning the teeth than tooth brush.

Adegoke said that chewing sticks contained anti-microbacterial substance called ‘tannin’ which was the same as fluoride in toothpastes.

He said the natural ‘tannin’ helped to fight bacteria in the mouth, maintained the gums, made the teeth stronger and improved the oral hygiene more than tooth brushes.

“Our aged parents use chewing sticks and even at 60 years of age, their teeth are stronger than that of the youth of today,” he said. “Why many people choose tooth brush is because it is faster to use and they also hold the belief that chewing stick is outdated.

I think chewing sticks are better than tooth brushes because the tannin in it helps in various ways to keep the teeth cleaner, fresher and stronger.”

He, however, said that the only advantage tooth brush had over chewing stick was its ability to get to the corners of the mouth.

Shooting Stars, one of Nigeria’s most famous clubs, have been relegated to the lower league after losing 1-0 at Nembe City on Saturday.

The loss leaves the club with 43 points from 36 matches to remain rooted at the bottom of the table.

With two games to go, 3SC, the first Nigerian club to win an international trophy, can only have 49 points which would hardly be enough to keep them afloat.

Rotimi Omaniwa scored in the 37th minute to hand the hosts the one-nil win.

The Federal, States and Local Governments have shared N1.25 trillion from the Federation Account for August and September, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, said in Abuja on Friday.

Mr Ngama briefed journalists at the end of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FACC) meeting for September.

A breakdown of the amount showed that the federal government received N236.15 billion, state governments N119.78 billion, while local governments got N92.34 billion for September.

For August, the federal government received N248.27 billion, state governments N125.92 billion and local governments N97.08 billion.

The minister said the country received N431.07 billion revenue from mineral resources in September, compared with N424.61 billion in the previous month; representing an increase of N6.4 billion.

Similarly non-mineral revenue in September amounted to N94.53 billion, compared with N123.78 billion in August; representing a decline of N29.2 billion.

According to the Mr Ngama, no fund was proposed as augmentation during the months under review because of moratorium placed by FAAC members. FAAC members reached a decision only to distribute actual and not budgeted revenue.

A breakdown of the distributable figures provided by the minister showed that the statutory allocation distributed to the three tiers of government in September was N507.22 billion, compared with 530.12 billion in August.

On the distribution of revenue from the Value Added Tax (VAT), Mr Ngama said the total revenue for September was N63.9 billion, compared with N69 billion in August.

Refund from NNPC

The total revenue shared by the three tiers of government for the months also included refunds by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and savings from partial subsidy removal.

He gave the figures distributed from the NNPC as N7. 6 billion, while N35. 5 billion came from the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

“You will recall that the NNPC was allowed to refund the states and the local governments in 32 equal instalments of N7.61 billion and they have kept to it,” he said. “This month, they have also paid and this is the 26th instalment and we have six more instalments to go.”

On the amount shared to the oil producing states under the 13 per cent derivation fund, the minister said N53.65 billion was distributed for September and N52.82 billion in August.

According to him, the Excess Crude Account was credited with N18.3 billion in September, compared with N18.2 billion in August.

Issues resolved

FAAC failed to distribute funds to the tiers of government last month due to unresolved disputes over distribution of arrears of revenue shortfall.

Chairman, Forum of Commissioners, FAAC, Timothy Odah, said some of the issues had been resolved. “The problem of FAAC is that of money and I will not say it is over,’’ he said.

He said the state commissioners pledged their support to the federal government to ensure that the problem of NNPC’s remittances to the federation account was properly looked into.

CBN policy

He said the meeting also deliberated on the recent monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that requires states to deposit 50 per cent of public accounts with the bank.

“It is very demoralising and is affecting the states so much,” he said. “The compulsory deposit of 50 per cent has heightened the coupon rates on facilities taken by the public offices or states especially. We have interest rates going up to 20-24 per cent and this is not good for the states.”