₦airaland Forum

I am deeply grateful to all Nigerians – Muslims and Christians alike who have prayed and are continuing to pray for my good health.

This is a testimony that in spite of the hardship being experienced, Nigerians support the Government in its effort to tackle our country’s challenges.



The best way for me to repay you all is to re-dedicate myself to serving you, protecting your interests and keeping your trust. I thank you very much.
I am feeling much better now, there may, however, be need to have further follow-ups within some weeks.

Rather than sending delegation upon delegation to Abuja to welcome me, may I appeal to all Nigerians to continue to pray for our country’s unity, progress and prosperity.

I thank you very much and may God bless our Country!



Muhammadu Buhari

President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said he will continue to rest while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo continues to act.

Buhari arrived 8.37 am at Presidential Villa and emerged from the Presidential Chopper 8.42 am.



He was received by the members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), all heads of security agencies and the governors Kogi, Yahaya Bell and Zamfara, Abdulaziz Yari.

He later met with them at the First Lady Conference Room at the Presidential Villa.

Addressing those at the meeting, he expressed his gratitude to Nigerians who prayed and called for more support as he rededicated himself to service.

He said he feels much better now and appealed to all Nigerians to continue to pray for him.



He said was still a little bit tired but said “whatever the case I’m still grateful to Nigerians”.

He said he was conscious of the cost his treatment abroad but added that he received the best of treatment.

seunmsg:
The police and DSS should immediately withdraw their personnel from the governor since he doesn't need their protection. Let us see how his ordinary people will protect him all over the country.

Fayose can't keep talking nonsense and getting away with it. Someone needs to clear this guys doubt that he's not super human.

A former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Dr. Godknows Igali, has forfeited 47 brand new SUVs to the Federal Government.


Godknows Igali, photo: Channels Tv
This followed an order of the court obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on the cars discovered where Igali parked them in Abuja.



The EFCC uncovered the 47 cars in the Utako, Abuja residence of Igali.

Igali is from Bayelsa State and served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power during the regime of former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Igali had said the vehicles were for the presidential election of Jonathan on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015.

Jonathan lost the election to the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari.

The news of the forfeiture of the cars was contained in a document submitted to the Senate Committee on Anti-corruption and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

EFCC sources revealed that the money used to procure the vehicles was from N27 billion insurance premium of deceased workers of the defunct Power Holding company of Nigeria.

The document of the forfeiture of the properties was personally presented to the Senate Committee by the Acting Chairman of anti-graft agency, Ibrahim Magu.

The document showed that out the 49 forfeited cars to the Federal Government, 47 Sport Utility Vehicles belonged to Ambassador Igali, a close ally of former President Jonathan.

One of the companies that supplied the vehicles confirmed to the EFCC that part of the money was paid by Baseworth Insurance Brokers Limited, one of the companies that handled the N27 billion insurance premium of the PHCN workers.

Dilly Motors was said to have received N300 million from the insurance company in one instance.

TROOPS of the Nigerian Army and operatives of the Department of State Services have arrested three foreign Boko Haram terrorists.

The foreign terrorists were arrested on Sunday afternoon in Gombe, Gombe State.

They have been identified as Chadians.

According to available information, the terrorists belong to the Abu Musab al-Barnawi faction of Boko Haram.



Their names were given as Bilal Muhammed Umar, Bashir Muhammed and Muhammed Maigari Abubakar.

They were arrested at Arawa and Mallam Inna areas of Gombe metropolis.

They were reported to be members of the al-Barnawi faction of Boko Haram that operates in Chad and mostly northern part of Borno State, but came to Gombe State for another heinous assignment.



During the operation, one of them, Bilal Muhammed Umar, attempted to escape and was shot on the leg.

He was however apprehended and is receiving medical treatment.

The terrorists were also arrested with Improvised Explosive Devices, materials that they could have coupled to attack parts of the State.

The suspects are in custody undergoing preliminary investigation.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has placed a telephone call from London to the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Usman, over the death of the latter’s mother, which occurred on Saturday.

Mr. Buhari condoled with the traditional ruler, urging him to take solace in the fact that Aminatu Mai Babban Daki lived a good life, devoted to serving Allah and humanity.



“Please be comforted. May Allah accept her soul,” a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina said.



The deceased was survived by nine children, and has been buried according to Muslim rites.

Lalasticlala, mynd44

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has said President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has performed creditably well in the areas of fighting corruption and insurgency in the country.

Obasanjo was reacting to the performance of the present government in the last 21 months.

Obasanjo who noted that the government has not performed well on the economy said the Buhari administration has stepped up efforts on the foreign policy segment and gave kudos to the President in the way he has been piloting the affairs of the country.

He stated this in an interview with The Guardian Newspaper at his Hilltop Presidential Mansion in Abeokuta on Friday.

“I don’t know about what is your direction or wrong direction. But what I know is that President Buhari has not disappointed me. From what I know of him and what he has done, he has not disappointed me.

“You can come to whatever conclusion you want to. In my book I said, and that is not running him down; I said he is not strong on the economy and he is not. In fact, I also said he is not strong on foreign affairs, although he has somewhat improved on foreign affairs.

“But in the areas we know he is strong, he is doing his best. He is doing his best in fighting insurgency; he is trying his best in trying to fight corruption. So where you are facing is entirely unto you. You may be facing east or west or north,” he was quoted to have said.

On the issue of youth empowerment, the former President expressed dismay at the absence of commensurate opportunities for the teeming population of young people, pointing out that quite unlike during his own time when there was only one university, there are more than 150 universities in the country.

“I pity the youths, they have more facilities than in my time, but they lack opportunities. What we need is to create more opportunities,” he added, recalling that when he left secondary school, he got employment offers from five establishments, including a teaching job.

The former President also clarified his position on the issue of zoning of the presidency to the Southeast in 2019, pointing out that it was merely a passing allusion to the underlying factors that give rise to agitations leading to the Southern Kaduna crisis.

He stated: “The Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) Abeokuta chapter, came to meet me about the situation in Southern Kaduna. Before then, I had been briefed by the governor (of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai), Bishop (Matthew Hassan) Kukah, General (Martin Luther) Agwai (retd), who hail from the area.

“So I gave them my own understanding of the situation. I said the Southern Kaduna issue is historical, cultural, religious and political. That if you want to resolve the issue, you now take all these issues together. And I said, the problem is that when we fail to attend to what is important at the time that we should attend to it and then it boomerangs on our face, we don’t have anybody to blame.

“I said here in Ogun State, we have a bit of Southern Kaduna problem. I said since Ogun State was created, we have had four elected governors. We have three senatorial districts, East, West and Central; it (the governorship) has rotated between East and Central.

And I said the West has not produced the governor, I don’t know when you will get there, but if you don’t get there when you should get there and the West decides to go into agitation, you have yourself to blame,” Obasanjo added.

THE Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, has blamed the current economic recession on the massive corruption and looting of the economy by the previous administration.

He also stressed the determination of the present administration to lay a new foundation for the country in the face of the threatening security challenges in the North-east.

Lawal made these submissions after his conferment with a Fellowship of the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, at its 5th convocation ceremony.

He said: “What has held us down as a nation is corruption. Corruption in government at all levels has totally destroyed our nation. It is evident in key sectors like educational system, healthcare delivery, infrastructural development and provision of social services. Massive corruption has crippled our economy and dwarfed our individual potentials, including limiting the enterprising and intellectual capacity of our people”.

Speaking further on the state of the economy, he added: “This administration has introduced diversification policy and in the shortest possible time, results will be coming in like we are doing in the area of rice and wheat production. On the youth, the government of PMB is doing everything possible to create sustainable jobs as 30,000 jobs are already being created through one of its programmes.”

Host Governor, Rochas Okorocha, in his own speech at the event, said “This is not the time to weep or complain in the struggle to nationhood. It is a time to comply.

“President Buhari is building a strong foundation for sustainable growth of the nation. Whoever that is waiting for Buhari to build sky scrapers and historic tunnels may be wasting time, as his job is to lay a solid foundation so that successive governments will have a good foundation to build upon.”

The highlight of the event was the conferment of the chairmanship of the Governing Council of the Institution on Sir Emeka Offor. The Governor charged Offor to take the school to an enviable height, while also commending the outgoing chairman, Prince Charles Amadi, for a work well done.

THE Federal Government yesterday reversed the sack letters issued to two directors at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Changing the original number of those earlier sacked, from nine to seven.



The two recalled directors are Alhaji Adamu Abdullahi, Director of Consumer Protection; and Captain Ayodele Sasegbon, Director of General Aviation.



The development was confirmed by the General Manager, Public Affairs at the NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye saying: “The sack of the two was done in error. As it stands now, the two directors have returned to their former positions.”

Machineries were setup by the affected directors to reverse their disengagements. The machineries had earlier been announced by the Director-General of the NCAA, Captain Muhtar Usman, at a meeting with all the directors at the headquarters of the agency, at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

While the sack letters to the two were said to have been “issued in error,” the federal government’s recall of the two directors were said to be unconnected with the machineries.



Following the reversal, the two have been instructed to return to their former seats by tomorrow, Monday.

Those who remained sacked by the government are Engineer Benedict Adeyileka (Director of Airworthiness, and one-time acting Director-General); Mr. Justus Wariya (Director of Air Transport Regulation); Mr. Austin-Amadi Ifeanyi (Director of Human Resources); and Capt Abdullahi Sidi (Director of Operations and Training).

Others are Alhaji Salawu Ozigi (Director of Finance and Accounts), Dr. Joyce Nkemakolam (Director of Aerodrome and Airspace Standards), Barrister Aba Ejembi (Director of Administration) and Mr. Emmanuel Ogunbami (Director of Licensing).

FastShipping:
Another agent of hate and division.

You and I aware of this false claim because of this other Muslim Northerner who brought it to the attention of the law enforcement. People like you are mentally sick to now group every other Northerners in the same category as the hateful imam spreading lies that Buhari was poisoned.

THE present anti-corruption war of the Buhari-led Federal Government will amount to not if the former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke is not brought back on the Nigerian soil to help in the recovery of hundreds of billions of funds allegedly linked her.


Alison-Madueke who has since been battling with cancer and fraud investigations which started in 2013 by detectives at the International Corruption Unit, ICU, of the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, UK NCA, which in 2015 arrested her, has reportedly succumbed to multilateral pressures from security agencies and entered into secret talks with the Federal Government on how to return some billions allegedly linked to her.The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC had recently through a federal high court forfeiture order obtained in Lagos confiscated about N35billion cash from some proxy bank accounts linked to the former oil minister.

Though she has, however, denied ownership of the huge fund, the EFCC has continued their search for hidden assets of Diezani.

With her shield crashing from all sides, Diezani has reportedly set up a legal team which have begun the process of surrendering huge funds allegedly in her care in exchange for some respite.

The details of the deal, Daily Sun reports, has however, remained sketchy and shrouded in secrecy as at the time of filing this report.
Though the former Minister of Petroleum could not be reached for comments, a source close to her who is not authorised to speak to the press said: “It is unfortunate that no one is interested in the truth and no one is interested in playing by the rule when it comes to the persecution and demonisation of Mrs. Madueke.



“The EFCC has been in the fore front in promoting the growing industry of lies against her. All she is suffering started with the allegation of a missing $50 billion. The whistle blower then was the former CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi, now Emir of Kano. When confronted to substantiate his outlandish claim, he backed down on the allegation, though the damage has been done. An audit review instituted by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation and conducted by Price Water Cooppers Accounting firm to audit the account of NNPC exonerated Mrs. Madueke, as there was no iota of truth in the allegation of missing $50 billion. The Senate Committee led by Senator Markarfi also found no truth in the allegation. Yet no one is interested in the truth.”

Sometime, last year, Al Jazeera Television Network released a video documentary, where it claimed the anti graft agency, EFCC, seized a house worth $18 million, which, it claimed, allegedly belonged to Diezani Madueke. The EFCC also claimed jewelries worth $2 million were recovered from the same house.

“Investigation and inquiry into the claims by the EFCC showed that the house in question was not owned by Diezani. EFCC characteristically never bothered to substantiate the claim. Is the EFCC ignorant of the real owner of the property? Of course, they know who owns the property, but must drag Diezani’s name into it to grab media attention and serve an agenda.

“Similar to the above was another claim by EFCC, where it said it uncovered Mrs. Madueke’s hidden estate in Bayelsa State and Banana Island, Lagos. There was nothing hidden about the estate in Bayelsa which was a family house to the Maduekes in her native Bayelsa State. As a serving minister, she publicly declared the property as required by law, as part of her assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau. The question is: can an asset declared by a public officer before a government agency turn around to become a hidden asset?

“In another related development, the EFCC claimed it recovered a whopping $700m from the private home of Mrs. Madueke.

“By every stretch of imagination $700m is a lot of money. For an agency that love to hug the media spotlight like the ant hugs sugar, would it not have made good viewing to put videos or pictures of the alleged $700m for the world to see, just as in the recent cases of the INEC officials and the former group MD of the NNPC? Where is the $700m? Why is the CBN which rightly should be holding custody of such an amount of money not saying anything to collaborate EFCC claims?

“It is obvious Mrs. Madueke is a victim of political persecution as there are forces, individuals and groups who are not happy at the firmness with which she handled the affairs of the NNPC as it wasn’t favorable to their interest.

“Perhaps, her biggest crime was implementing the Nigerian Local Content Act which provided opportunity for other Nigerians to become key players in the oil sector. Before her time as Oil Minister, 85 per cent or more of the people that transact oil business either as product importers or crude oil sales and lifting are either foreigners or people from a particular section of the country. She became a product of hate by this group, not because she was incompetent or a thief looting Nigeria, but because to them, it’s no longer business as usual.



“Almost everything being said about this lady are lies, lies and lies. Sooner than later Nigerians will know the truth.”

When also contacted, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed neither confirmed nor denied the process.

According to him, “I think the Attorney General is working very hard on the efforts to recoup some of our looted funds; all of them. And I think sometimes too negotiations might not be out of place. In a situation where you have hundreds of millions of dollars locked down, (because people who have looted the funds have admitted the funds are looted, but are joining hands with the host country where they are hiding to say that ‘yes we looted the funds but unless you agree to give us part of it, we would continue to block the repatriation of such funds.’ in such a situation composite agreements and negotiations might be the option and I think the office of the Attorney General is busy doing something. You see because at the end of the day, for us, the primary thing is to get this money back into the country.”

When asked if recovery of the loot drive would make the Federal Government abandon the extradition processes already initiated against the ex-officials on the run, the minister said: “I don’t think the government would give up any of the options. No, no, no, no, even when you have been declared wanted, there are protocols and procedures.

“But, I think we are also not ruling out the option of negotiation if that would bring our money back faster, because in many parts of the world too, you do exactly that option.”

When asked to reconfirm if indeed such talks are ongoing, the minister said: “It is because I know; frankly speaking, it is because I know that such talks are ongoing, but I won’t be free to tell you with who and who.

“But I can tell you that we have a lot of funds held up today because some foreign countries have joined these people. I know at least five, six cases today where one particular lawyer, one lawyer, the same lawyer, he’s the one who’s insisting that unless he takes 40 per cent of the recovered money, he would continue to block it in the country.”

Asked to put a figure to the money government was making efforts to recover from these former officials, Alhaji Mohammed sounded evasive. “In some cases as much as 100milion dollars, 300 million dollars, in some cases as much as 80 million dollars,” he stated, adding that part of the money was stolen by people who were not members of the Jonathan administration.

THE Naira on Friday sustained its gains against the dollar as liquidity boost by the Central Bank of Nigeria had forced a crash in the price of the greenback.



The News Agency of Nigeria reports in Lagos that the Naira exchanged at N460 to a dollar at the parallel market, gaining 40 points from N500 it recorded on Thursday.

NAN also reports that the Pound Sterling and the Euro traded at N575 and N480 respectively.

At the Bureau De Change window, the Naira closed at N399 to a dollar at the CBN controlled price, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro exchanged at N610 and N520 respectively.

Trading at the interbank window saw the Naira closed at N305.50 to a dollar.

Traders at the market expected the Naira to sell for less than N400 to a dollar if the boost in liquidity by the CBN was sustained.

Meanwhile, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, the President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, said currency speculators were expected to lose billions of Naira to the new forex policy.

Gwadabe said speculators were already overwhelmed by the policy as they were taken by surprise by the move of the apex bank.

NAN reports that the new CBN policy directing banks to sell forex for school fees, medicals and other allowances was already impacting positively at the market.

[NAN]

ridbay:
Domainking server is off again..Oga ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

​A Federal High Court in Abuja Division has turned down an application by former PDP’s spokesman, Olisah Metuh, to compel Sambo Dasuki , a former National Security Adviser, NSA, to testify in his ongoing trial.





Mr. Metuh is facing trial for alleged diversion of N400 million he allegedly received from the office of the former NSA.

The trial judge, Okon Abang, said his application lacked merit and that Mr. Dasuki was not a “compelable witness.”

Mr. Metuh sought to get the court to compel the State Security Service, SSS, to present Mr. Dasuki as a witness in court.

Mr. Dasuki has been in SSS custody despite being granted bail by various courts.



The court also declined Mr. Metuh’s request to allow him go to the United Kingdom for eight weeks of medical treatment.

Lalasticlala

Chikelue2000:
Good news for our big aunties

AN expert in fertility medicine, Dr Abayomi Ajayi, has stated that age and menopause were not barriers to ensure that through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), a woman can have a baby.

https://i2.wp.com/www.socialtimesng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/stetoscope.jpg

Dr Ajayi, a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and the Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos spoke at an open forum to discuss various advanced treatments for fertility issues in Ibadan.

Ajayi stated that medical science had advanced greatly to help couples faced with infertility, adding that many patients are suffering in silence because they refused to speak up and seek appropriate experts.



The expert, while remarking that infertility was not a death sentence, said incidence of infertility was on the rise in Nigeria.

With a hospital based survey putting infertility at 31.1 per cent, an occurrence far below what is in the community, he stated that due to stigma many couples are afraid to seek conventional medical assistance for infertility but turn to traditional healers.

Ajayi, noting that infertility was a medical problem rather than a social problem, listed reasons for increasing cases of infertility in to include increasing incidence of sexually transmitted infections, increasing age, irregular menses, obesity and lifestyle issues like smoking.

“In women, even in Africa, women are starting family late. But with increasing age, fertility declines. That is why a woman at 32 years that is not ready to raise a family should freeze her eggs. She must be doing something and not leave it to chances.

“Sedentary lifestyle is a norm and it predisposes to obesity. Obesity affects fertility of men and women. Also, poor quality sperm and some surgeries like fibroid surgeries in women can also create a challenge for conception.

“But in men, the commonest cause of infertility is derangement of sperm and low sperm count while in females, it is blocked fallopian tubes,” he declared.

However, he said people should not assume that everyone has a reproductive system that is efficient, adding “if 100 couples that are certified okay decided to get pregnant, in about six months, about 57 couples will get pregnant while 75 couples will achieve pregnancy in a year. But by two years, 95 couples would achieve pregnancy.”

The expert noted that IVF and other advanced treatments for infertility were natural since they were all aimed at helping the couple circumvent whatever may be the challenge to ensuring conception.



However, he explained that IVF was not a magic bullet for a reproduction that is not efficient because its success rate diminishes with age.

Ajayi, while saying that early intervention is key to correcting infertility, advised couples with infertility to have sex at least two to three times a week as well as seeking health counsellor to overcome any challenges they face in ensuring they have regular sex.