Ha ha. but I trust EFCC to quickly arrest them outside the court premises oh! I think our agencies should quite the TV and media trials. They should be more diligent -do rigorous investigations and come up with hard core evidence.

Intendy:
The equity price of STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC was adjusted today 4th of April 2017 for a dividend of N0.05 as declared by the board of directors. The last close price was N18.00, hence the ex-div price N17.95. Please be guided accordingly.

What is the staying power of this stock giving 5 kobo dividend?

uyplus:
Bm

1M cash!

Celebration of the book and of those who make books happen has its origin in Catalonia, Spain, where booksellers chose April 23, 1923 to honour an author, Miguel de Cervantes, who died on that day. In 1995, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) adopted that date as the International Day of the Book.

April 23 is also the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, one of the world’s leading writers, whose books are read all over the world. So UNESCO observes that day as the world Book Day every year. However, in the United Kingdom and most of its former colonial territories the Book Day is marked on the first Thursday in March. This is to avoid a clash with Easter and school holidays that many countries observe around April 23.

Why are we talking about books in the middle of a recession or compression or depression? Because within the covers of books you can find solutions to most problems. That is the utilitarian value of knowledge buried within the slim or stout volumes of books.

Books have other values apart from profit. They offer pleasure to those who choose to worship at their temple. Francis Bacon, that famous English philosopher and statesman, said that “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man and writing an exact man.” Another philosopher, Horace Mann, said that “a house without books is like a room without windows.” The truth is that whether we read for profit or for pleasure, the reward is unquantifiable. ln our early school life as kids we learn to read, then in our lives as adults we read to learn (something new). So reading by kids or adults is a journey in self-discovery.

Many men in Nigeria today do not read much else apart from their cheque-books. There is nothing wrong with worrying about your bottom-line but reading a book, a good book, can even improve your bottom-line. Many women in Nigeria do not read much else apart from their cook-books. There is nothing wrong with that. But delving into the bowels of other books can drastically improve your culinary life and your other lives. So it is the responsibility of literate parents to help stimulate their children’s appetite for books and their kids will grow up making books their friends.

Reading books sharpens the intellect, expands one’s knowledge and improves the reader’s ability to think, to write well, and to gain confidence. As human beings we have very little control over our affairs. Many other people intersect our lives – friends, enemies, relations, school mates, colleagues – for good or for ill. When things happen to us we react either negatively or positively. Most times we have little or no control at all over what happened.

But there is something we can control: our mind-set. It is our mind-set that determines how we are able to respond to the things that need our response. That mind-set gets better through reading; it gets worse through failure to read. Reading festoons you with knowledge and self-confidence, which in turn expands your span of control over your environment.

That mind-set can be improved in an extraordinary way by reading. Reading expands the options available to you and your capacity to shape events around you.It used to be said of black Americans by white Americans that if there is a secret you don’t want them to know (Black Americans aka known as African Americans) bury it in a book. The remark was regarded by the Blacks as street yabis but it prompted them to take matters of the mind seriously. Without having any empirical evidence we can say that reading is in retreat in Nigeria today. Our children’s results in their secondary, JAMB and NECO examinations are awful especially in English. Many of the children cannot write readable letters and cannot speak acceptable English. It might be because of the influence of the digital age where children spend inordinately long time playing games and looking for friendship and pornographic platforms while some people believe that the struggle to make ends meet is such a big burden that makes reading seems like a distraction. Some others think that the frequent changes in the school curriculum or the low investment in education are the culprits. But whatever we finger as culprits the truth is that if we do not reverse the trend we may become progressively illiterate.

A few years ago, President Goodluck Jonathan launched a Bring Back the Book project and it was attended by such prominent men of the book as Wole Soyinka the Nobel Laureate and Odia Ofeimum of the Poet Lied fame. But everything ended there. It was just festivity without fertility. No book policy emerged and till this day we don’t have a national book policy.

The business of book publishing in this part of the world is undertaken by people who love books and are rich in ideas but who may end up in the poverty dub. Yes, books are now sold online and offline. But go to many bookshops and discover what they sell. Religious books, good. School text books, good. Books for general reading not too good. The book sellers then try to spice up their business with the sale of chewing gum, kola nut, bitter kola, akara and moi-moi, and pure water, just to make ends meet. Go to our public libraries and destroy your sight. They are just like our public toilets – not of much use because they are virtually unusable.

In my journalism life I have had the chance to sample life as an inmate of some of the prisons and I can tell you that our prisons are anti-book facilities. In prisons abroad you can stay there and study for your PhD and become a brand new man when you step out of the prison gate on discharge. In Nigeria, prisons have an immense capacity to harden you. You are not allowed to read anything other than the Bible or the Koran.

I don’t know if the policy was apparently designed as a mental torture mechanism. My friend, Dr. Ola Balogun, writer, singer, dancer, arts collector and jazzist, would never know how much pleasure he gave me when he smuggled a book into Ikoyi prison for me in 1983.

Nor will my other friend, Odia Ofeimun, be able to truly fathom the depth of my joy when he gave me a book at my 40th birthday. I too, love to give book gifts. I brought a book with me to the 50th birthday anniversary of one of my journalist- friends. One of the guests asked me why I was bringing a book to the event. I said “as a gift to the celebrant ” and he said “what sort of gift is that?” His profession? Journalism. I was sorry for him but the celebrant was happy with me.

I was very pleasantly surprised when the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo handed out book gifts to ministers of the Federal Republic last year as new year gifts. Why the surprise? No Nigerian leader does that. They can give you hampers containing biscuits, sugar, milk, tomtom, wine, toilet paper and cake. I was even more enthused by YO’s choice of author, Malcolm Gladswell, the seminal author of the globally acclaimed Tipping Point. In all his books, there are nuggets and nuggets of immeasurable wisdom, that are research-based.

It would be nice to see individuals and companies give book hampers as New Year presents, birthday and wedding presents. At Valentine lovers can improve their love life by giving not only flowers that wither away after a while or perfumes that get exhausted but also a book. That will add something to love the love of books because books can last forever. Perfumes and flowers can’t.

Tourism is becoming a big deal in Nigeria today. Many states are now jumping on to the tourism bandwagon. Can they add also a mini book fair to their offering – books on our culture, proverbs, idioms, dance, ethnic food, fashion and fads? .

When we started Newswatch magazine in 1985 we established and supported Newswatch reading clubs in some secondary schools. The kids were quite as enthusiastic as we were. I believe many companies can help these children by setting aside part of their profit for such a noble purpose. When you read you are doing a deep dive into living well, into discovering a treasure island, into refurbishing your mind and into scaling up your reservoirs of wisdom.Books, particularly good books, give unquantifiable relief to the everyday-ness of life.
https://guardian.ng/opinion/without-windows/

Actually the trio of Governor Ortom, Senator Akume and Minister Audu Ogbeh who are the APC leaders in Benue, should rigorously and urgently engage the APC-led Federal Government who Benue State voted for in 2015, to return that goodwill by ending the gruesome massacre and criminal madness. Benue people voted APC not so much for the popularity of these individuals, but in protest against the failed PDP in the State at the time. The State Government needs to deliver or risk losing that goodwill, if they have not significantly lost it already.
That said, these murderers perpetrating these killings are actually our enemies (yours and mine, even if you will respond to my post by insulting me!). They have killed in virtually every region of the country and they have attacked every tribe including those who insult each other on Nairaland. It is not about any one tribe or particular political party, these guys have chased people from the farms thereby inducing food shortage and contributing to recession/hunger, rendered people homeless, created orphans, widows and widowers. They are enemies of the State and threats to our collective well being. All should condemn their brazen acts of criminality and challenge government at the highest level to be more responsive and decisive. They are worse than Boko Haram and militants combined. They are terrorists, saboteurs, kidnappers, arsonists, murderers, rapists and lawless criminals.

fallout of Dinogate: some ABU students and alumni have been roaming the internet with the good news of ABU's greatness.

I have often advocated that misbehaving Nigerian public officials should be dragged to the Eagle Square and flogged publicly. Anybody talking about any University in Nigeria today and the words "great", "excellent", and "exceptional" appear in his sentences should be taken to the Eagle Square and shot.

Many Nigerians, home and abroad, are in denial about the gravity of the situation with our Universities. When I mention the 17th century, they think I am deploying hyperbole for effect. In many instances, I am being sadly and tragically literal.

A problem whose gravity cannot be acknowledged cannot be solved. And those who still think that so-and-so University in Nigeria is great or exceptional or excellent will never allow us to take the full measure of the situation.

There is a reason Wole Soyinka once advocated a one-year closure of our Universities and the declaration of a state of emergency in that sector. He wasn't being mean.

Take something as simple as a website - the first proof of a University's location in the 21st-century. No Nigerian University today has a 100% functional website. The best you can hope to get is a website that is 80% functional - and this is in the most extraordinary of cases.

There is even a state University in 21st-century Nigeria that has no website at all. I mean it: no website. The only reason I am not naming the said University - for now - is that I have sent a memo to the VC through back channels and I am still waiting for what he has to say.

But that is a state University. What about our "elite" Universities? Go to their websites and it is a tragic tale of broken links, nonexistent Urls and other assorted evidence of 17th-century identity. You want proof? Okay, come with me:

Try to visit the website of the Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan here and report back to me:

http://socsc.ui.edu.ng/cgi-sys/defaultwebpage.cgi

This is the social sciences in Nigeria's Premier University. There are more horror stories from UI's website but let us move on. How about you go to UNILAG and try to locate some Departments in the Faculty of Arts here:

http://arts.unilag.edu.ng/

Look for the "Departments" link. There is a drop down for the following departments: creative arts, English, European Languages, etc. How about you click on each of the Departments? Of the six Departments listed, only three have content in their websites. And the only content they have is a welcome message! This is the faculty of Arts in Unilag! There are more horror stories from the website of Unilag.

The horror stories from the websites of UI and Unilag are matched by similar stories from the websites of OAU, UNN, and ABU. And these are the "elite" Universities. Where you can find faculty listings, you cannot find their research or courses or seminars.

Are you interested major international funder who wants to make an endowment to ABU for scholarship on Northern Nigerian writing? Perhaps you have $5 million dollars, and you are thinking seriously about ABU, especially the Department of English, Faculty of Arts. Before you even make contact at all with ABU, you have to do due diligence. You have to do your homework. In 21st century culture, it means getting your research assistant to look at the current research interests in the Department of English at ABU. It is a cold winter day and your research assistant wants to do the assignment quickly. He goes to the website of the Department of English and clicks on "Research" here:

http://english.abu.edu.ng/research.html

Tough luck. Even Nigeria's most expensive private Universities do not fare better. Somebody will be a product of this sort of thing and be chest beating that one University is better than the rest or better than others. I keep telling people: whether you are UI or Unilag or OAU or UNN, stop disturbing with tales of your superiority to folks from LAUTECH, Niger Delta University, Tatari Ali University, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, etc. All na wash. All na the same unacceptable and intolerable 17th-century backwardness.

I don't make any distinction between Universities in Nigeria. Every University in Nigeria needs to be in the intensive care unit. No exception.

If we don't have the courage to acknowledge this terrible situation, how are we going to fix it? Nigeria can be at the forefront of the advancement of knowledge and civilization if only we would have the courage to accept this situation and fix it.

As terrible as the picture is, just imagine the strides that many of our courageous colleagues who are teaching in Nigerian Universities are making globally. It is from this same rottenly underdeveloped University context, with no facilities and zero resources, that they gallivant the world in conferences, seminars, symposia and conquer. It is from this same context that they win the most prestigious fellowships in the world. Just imagine what they would do if we were to bring our Universities to the 21st-century.

So when you here yeye ABU students and alumni saying that despite Dino, ABU is this and that, tell them to shut up or else we shall frog march them to the Eagle Square and...

Dino is nothing but a 21st-Century crook produced by a 17th-Century University.

I said it. Arrest me!
http://saharareporters.com/2017/03/22/dino-21st-century-crook-17th-century-university-pius-adesanmi

It is 7.30 pm. I am still at the Port Harcourt Airport. I have been here since 4.30 pm. I finished my business in town earlier than planned. So I headed to the Airport for my 6.30 pm flight. I was the first person to be checked in and immediately headed for the boarding gate to wait for my 6.30pm flight, which is supposed to be the last flight of the day for Air Peace. It is now 7.30 pm, an hour past when my flight should have taken off, I am still sitting at the Airport.

There has been no single word from Air Peace on what has happened to the 6.30 pm flight. I am not certain how much longer I have to wait for the flight. It is the boredom of the endless wait that made me bring out my laptop to write about my experience sitting here and just waiting for Air Peace.

It is 7.41 pm and they just announced the arrival of Lufthansa from Frankfurt. That plane must have been closer to Germany than Nigeria; just about the same time I left BusinessDay office in Port Harcourt for the Airport. They are here and I am still waiting for Air Peace.

A lady has just come to stretch out on the long chair a few metres from me. She has turned her long head tie to some form of emergency covering so that she can sleep. Like me, she has been waiting for quite some time and has decided to have a nap. She is now rearranging the chairs so that she can sleep a bit more comfortably.

Another lady is with a one year four month old baby. She arrived at the airport not too long after me. I know because I saw her come in with her baby. I overhead her saying she is also travelling on Air Peace. The baby has been running around the airport. She has fallen down twice and the mother has had to pick her up and console her. I can see she is tired as she carries her baby walking around the departure lounge trying to console the crying and uncomfortable baby.

Some good news. The cable TV just came back on in the only decent restaurant at the Port Harcourt airport. It has been rebooting for the past two hours apparently because rain was falling in some part of town even though it was not yet raining at the airport.

It is 7.51 pm and there is an announcement involving Air Peace. No it is not that the flight is here. A passenger on Air Peace is being asked to contact the counter for an urgent message. I am wondering if passengers are being called one by one to tell them that Air Peace is not coming in today because there was still no word on when the flight would be coming in.

Now my laptop’s battery is about to go down. My two phones are also less than 10 per cent charged. They are going to die soon too.

7.54 pm, Air France passengers are being asked to check in. There is still no sign of Air Peace yet or any indication of when it is coming in. I am thinking that Air France would properly get to its destination before Air Peace gets to Port Harcourt.

7.56 pm. The first announcement that Air France passengers should start boarding was wrong, the announcer says. The plane is just arriving. So, I wonder, who passed on the wrong information to the announcer?

I over hear a passenger saying that the Aero flight that was supposed to come at 4 pm is yet to arrive. It is 7.57 pm. He says he has been here since 3 pm. He is saying that he wished Nigerian roads were good, he would have preferred to just fuel his car and go by road.

It is 8 pm. The arrival of Aero Contractors is announced. You could feel the relief among passengers waiting for the flight. My phone rings. It is my wife asking if she should leave dinner for me. I tell her not to worry, that I already had my dinner at the airport.

8.05 pm. Boarding announcement for Aero Contractors is announced. A young lady asks if the boarding announcement is for Air Peace. She is disappointed when she is told it is not. I hear the lady sleeping on the “make shift bed of chairs” complaining to her travel companion that mosquitoes are biting her. I hear another person looking for the owner of a phone that has been left charging. Everyone seems to be looking for a charging point for his or her phone or laptop.

It is 8.07 pm, still no sign of Air Peace. Boarding announcement is made for Medview, another flight that has been delayed for at least 45 minutes.

Now the departure lounge is getting empty. It is just Air Peace passengers left. I hear someone ask why Air Peace would have the problems of Arik when they do not have the size of Arik yet. It is 8.12 pm and still no sign of Air Peace and there has been no announcement of when it is coming in.

At about 8.35 pm, without any announcements, passengers start running to board an Air Peace aircraft. Apparently, two air peace aircrafts have been on ground. I did hear anyone announce their arrival or that Air Peace passengers should start boarding.

Nonetheless, I ran with the other passengers towards the make shift boarding gate, only to be told at the gate that the only passengers on the 2 pm flight were boarding.

That left those of us waiting for the 6.30 pm to start wondering when we will be boarding if passengers on the 2 pm flight were just board at almost 9 pm. Some passengers were already asking that the flight should be cancelled. But that would have meant that those of us not resident in Port Harcourt would have had to go and search for a hotel at about 9 pm to stay in. At about 9.25 pm, we were eventually called to board our flight. It has been more than three hours of uncertainty. The pilot apologised on behalf of Air Peace for the delayed flight but that was three hours late.

Cancelled and delayed flights have become a culture for domestic flights in Nigeria. The question that comes to my mind is: whether this is a symptom of poor regulation or even lack of regulatory capacity in the sector? The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) apparently has no capacity to check this trend. In what other areas are they lacking capacity? The government should not wait for the planes to start falling from the sky before dealing with the issues.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/stranded-port-harcourt-waiting-air-peace/

I am compelled to comment on this! However great this guy is performing in the Customs service, we are still in a democracy! The person who nominated him, emerged through a democratic process and is under oath to defend the constitution. Irrespective of whatever politics involved or any suspicions we may have, the Senate can request an explanation from him. I am not holding brief for the Senate but I think political nominees or appointees should realize their limits and be more guarded. We are not in a Banana republic! Even if all Senators are thieves' which I doubt, he is an appointee. The National Assembly can amend the Customs Act for instance, to disallow appointment of a non-career Customs officer as CG. If that happens, will he insist on holding office? It's like someone who loses election saying, I am convinced that I am the best and so I must continue in office? We can't descend to that level. Impunity is not just corruption. The first letter from the Customs said he cant come because he was to have a management meeting? Haba my people! The next one said he is bereaved? No na. I fully support that everyone should pay duties but my brothers and sisters, I doubt if Customs have a very credible/accurate database to retroactively check all vehicles imported over the years. Before you know it, corruption will surround verififcation. I think the issue needs more stakeholder engagement, planning and sensitization if not you will see chaos on our roads including open clashes with customs officials. It may be well intended but the implementation modality and capability needs to be interrogated!

I am compelled to comment on this! However great this guy is fighting corruption (and there are those who feel otherwise) we are still in a democracy! The person who nominated him, emerged through a democratic process and is under oath to defend the constitution. Irrespective of whatever politics involved or any suspicions we may have, the Senate relied on a report from an institution that reports to the President, to refuse his confirmation. It is for the President to request explanation from the DGSSS and I don't see why that should be complicated or take time. This guy CANNOT confirm himself and sorry, there must be one other Nigerian amongst the millions of us that can fight this menace of corruption. I am not holding brief for the Senate but I think political nominees or appointees should realize their limits and be more guarded. Same scenario is playing out with the Customs. We are not in a Banana republic! It's like someone who loses election saying, I am convinced that I am the best and so I must continue in office? We can't descend to that level. Impunity is not just corruption. If a court of competent jurisdiction discharges and acquits a certified and known thief, the only option available is to appeal to a higher court. We cannot say, well we know you are a thief so we defy the law and say rot in Prison or get killed if you are a thief. It is painful but some things cannot be selectively discretional if not we will get back to a Hobbesian state of nature.

Still available for how much joor? Let's close this out ASAP!

Please all should note that this is definitely not from Pastor WF Kumuyi. Some guy probably cooked it up and has been circulating it even on WhatsApp. Pastor Kumuyi's stance is to "preach the word" and "speak the word only". This is not his style but it any case, before you comment, are you saved? Are you born again? Have you made peace with your maker through repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternity is real and near! Unless ye repent, ye shall likewise perish.

Do you have extremely clean 2010-1013 Toyota Corolla in Abj?

Do you have extremely clean 2010-1013 Toyota Corolla in Abj?

Do you have extremely clean 2010-1013 Toyota Corolla in Abj?

The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and owners/residents of various housing estates in the area council, at the weekend, failed to reach an agreement on the conditions for payment of tenement rates to the council.
Speaking during an interaction between AMAC officials and residents/owners housing estate in AMAC, the vice chairman of the council, Hon. Lawrence Onuchukwu had told the gathering that the meeting was meant to carry them along as the council prepares to commence the collection of tenements rate from estates owners.

Onuchukwu said that the owners/residents of various housing estates within AMAC are critical stakeholders in the implementation of policies and programmes of the council, adding that it was the reason for that the interaction, which is to enable them reach a common ground on the collection of tenement rate.
While appealing to the estate owners to key into the new policy of payment for tenement rate in AMAC, the vice chairman also maintained that it is the right of the council to collect tenement rate from occupants of the estates, as stipulated in the Constitution.
“We are here to discuss with the estate owners on the issue of tenement rates payment. The issue of tenement has been with the estate owners and AMAC. Let me remind ourselves that it is the right of the council to collect tenement rates,” he said.
He therefore promised that as soon as the council starts collecting tenement rate from the various estate owners/residents, AMAC will equally commence addressing the various challenges facing the estates.
However in her reaction, chairman, Value View Estate, Apo-Dutse, Mrs. Folashade Ilorin told the gathering that initially her estate had no access roads, but through the efforts of residents of the area, access roads were constructed.
Ilorin wondered why AMAC should be asking residents of the estate to pay for tenement even when the council is yet to put in place any infrastructure in the estate.

Chairman, EFAB Estate, Mbora, Kayode Adebayo in his contribution, called on AMAC to first of all ensure that people living in housing estates within the council live better lives, before asking them to pay for tenement rate.




Adebayo pointed out that AMAC has never made any impact on lives of people living in the estates, especially in the areas of provision of water, electricity, roads, sanitation or even security.

He stated that it is barbaric for any agency of government to insist on collection of revenue from where it never invested anything, adding that the council should be more concerned about provision of infrastructure in the estates.
http://www.leadership.ng/news/576978/amac-estate-owners-disagree-over-tenement-rate-payment

The Federal Government’s ban on helicopter services on the Kaduna-Abuja route yesterday threw the aviation sector into disarray as investors and operators began to count losses.

The losses, running into billions as at yesterday, were due to several helicopters idling away in Lagos and Abuja while air operators failed in their commitments to passengers that had booked on both shuttle and charter services.

The Guardian learnt that foreign investors and their local partners who have invested millions of dollars and deployed for the botched services are currently considering immediate withdrawal of their helicopters from Nigeria.

According to industry sources, the development may precipitate the end of quality investment in helicopter services and contributions of the aviation sector to the troubled economy at large. As long as the ban stays while the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) lasts, the government may have made access to the seat of government (Abuja) by the rest of the world much more difficult.

Helicopter service operators in the country had expected and prepared for a boom time on account of the temporary closure of the NAIA for its runway’s repair.

The operators had deployed both charter and shuttle service helicopters for different categories of people on various routes (Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Minna) inwards Abuja.

The Guardian last week reported that the costs of the shuttle services ranged from N100,000 to N200,000 per head, depending on the boarding location and time of booking.

A direct helicopter shuttle service from Lagos to Abuja went for between N150,000 to N200,000 per head. A similar flight on Kaduna-Abuja or Minna-Abuja route cost between N50,000 and N100,000.

The market was living up to investors’ expectations when the Federal Government issued a memo, imposing the ban on chopper services in and around Abuja airport.

Sources yesterday confirmed that none of the operators has been able to carry out scheduled services since Friday, when President Muhammadu Buhari flew in from London after his medical holiday.

The chief executive officer of one of the airlines was moved to tears when he said: “This is not what we planned for at all. They have just ruined business for all of us. Helicopters worth $20 million are just sitting down doing nothing, while operators continue to incur the cost of parking, crew and maintenance.

“What kind of country is this? And what manner of leaders are we having? If you don’t call this a devilish act, then I don’t know what else to call it.”

It was learnt that the airline of our informant has been cancelling scheduled flights, both shuttle and chartered, and refunding money to customers who paid up front.

Another operator described the ban as overzealousness on the part of government “that is just bent on scaring investors away while mouthing their invitation to Nigeria.”

The Guardian learnt that operators have been in talks with the Federal Government to reverse the order, but with little response yet from the authorities.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Munguno, on Sunday banned chopper services in and around Abuja citing security concerns.

The NSA gave a directive banning helicopter shuttle services on the Abuja- Kaduna route through a memo in which he said, “In view of the closure of the airport, air travelers will be required to travel by road/train to Abuja from Kaduna International Airport. This will undoubtedly cause constraints on the movement of some passengers who will aim to travel using other means, notably the use of commercial ferry helicopters.

“Please be reminded that the airspace over the Federal Capital Territory Abuja is controlled and only security flights or those with the requisite security clearance from the presidency are granted overhead clearance for obvious security reasons.

“Consequently, you are to note and ensure that no charter or commercial helicopter ferry flights are allowed to fly within Abuja airspace.”

The Chairman of the Aviation Round Table (ART), the think-tank group of the aviation industry in Nigeria, Gbanga Olowo, said the ban was another classic case of how government’s policy flip-flops and harsh environment have consistently ruined air travel business in Nigeria.

According to Olowo, the poor state of the industry is 70 per cent fault of the government and the remaining, that of the operators.
http://guardian.ng/news/billions-lost-to-helicopter-ban-on-kaduna-abuja-route/

This car sweet oh! I wish I could...... On a lighter note, without the hike in exchange rate, how much would have been the price?

The Nigerian military has disclosed plans to change the Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studiesm, NAITES, to a military university.

The school will now be known as the Nigerian Army University of Technology and Environmental Studies, NAUTES, when the plan is fully implemented, making it the second military university in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Defense Academy, NDA, in Kaduna is currently the only military university in Nigeria.

The rector of the technology and environmental institute, Clement Ojo, told PREMIUM TIMES that the change will take full effect when the committee that was set up to effect the transition submits its report and it is approved by the convening authority.

“The committee is to submit some essential documents to the National Universities Commission, NUC. When that is done, the school will then reflects the new designation,” Mr. Ojo, a brigadier general, said.

On the initial relocation of the school from Makurdi, Benue State to Biu in Borno State, the rector noted that the school has only partly moved to Biu, Borno State.

“The remaining movement will be gradual depending on availability of structures to accommodate all students. The Rector and other administrative staff have however moved fully”, Mr. Ojo added.

The army had earlier disclosed the commencement of the 2016/2017 academic session in Biu, after relocation from Benue.

The Borno State government had allocated 5000 hectares of land for the setting up of the school.

The NUC Director of Information, Public relations, Ibrahim Yakasai, also told PREMIUM TIMES that the army informed the commission of the intention to turn the school into a university.

“They came to us and we have given them a check list of what it requires to make the school a university. So if they go and do that and the government is ready to fund them, why won’t the school be a university?
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/225713-nigerian-army-name-second-military-university.html

Kaymaxine:


Simply means changing body parts(bumper,grills,exhauste,headlamps,tail lights,steering etc) to an upgraded model.

Thanks a lot.

It is not true that the Jonathan administration rejected the offer of British armed forces to help in rescuing the abducted Chibok girls, the United Kingdom government has said.

On Sunday, The Observer, a UK newspaper, said Britain was ready to rescue the Chibok girls after they conducted air reconnaissance over northern Nigeria for several months in a mission named Operation Turus, but the Jonathan administration declined.

“The girls were located in the first few weeks of the RAF mission. We offered to rescue them, but the Nigerian government declined,” a source involved in Operation Turus was quoted as saying.

But the former president denied it, saying the story was “concocted” by those “who have been playing politics with the issue of the abducted girls.”

“We are not surprised that this kind of concocted story is coming out at this point in time, as it appears that some people who have obviously been playing politics with the issue of the Chibok girls will stop at nothing to further their interest,” former president Goodluck Jonathan said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the British high commission in Abuja said the report that Jonathan turned down its offer to rescue the girls “was false.”

According to THISDAY, Mathew Rycroft, the ambassador, said he was briefed on the matter and the allegations were not true.

“The British High Commissioner briefed me on that today (Monday) and said that the allegations are not true,” Rycroft said.

In a statement further released by the commission read: “UK worked with the US and France to provide a range of military and intelligence support to the Nigerian government in their search (for the Chibok girls), and in fact, a wider effort to address the longer term challenge of terrorism.

“But importantly, we won’t comment on specific additional details, which is a matter for the Nigerian government and the military.”
https://www.thecable.ng/uk-ambassador-jonathans-govt-didnt-refuse-our-help-to-rescue-chibok-girls

Pardon me but just for my learning. I see cars described for example as 2009, upgraded to 2011. What does this mean as in "upgraded"? Anyone with ideas please? Thanks.

Tragedy struck yesterday morning as one Lambert Osegwe died during a sex romp with a prostitute at a brothel in Anara, Isiala Mbano Council Area of Imo State.

Sunday Sun reliably gathered from a source that the deceased who it was alleged usually patronised brothels in the area to buy used condoms containing sperms from the prostitutes had on Saturday morning visited one of the prostitutes simply identified as Onyinyechi to buy the used condoms.




According to the source, Osegwe was offered free sex by the commercial sex worker during which he met his untimely death. The deceased, it was gathered got stuck during the exercise.

The source further revealed that people were attracted to the scene by the distress call of the prostitute.

But narrating the incident to Sunday Sun, Onyinyechi, the commercial sex worker who denied using charms said that the deceased who usually comes to buy used condoms containing sperms from the commercial sex workers had as usual come to make enquiries if he could get used condoms.

“I did not use charms on him. Lambert had come to enquire if I had any used condom with sperms because he usually comes to ask and I don’t know what he uses them for .But yesterday when he came here, he demanded for free sex and offered it to him.

She added, “it was in the process that he suddenly died and his penis was stuck inside me and I had to raise the alarm which attracted the people to come to my rescue before they pulled him off me. I did not use anything on him because this is my business.” Meanwhile, the suspect has been arrested while the remains of the deceased was deposited at St. Kizito Mortuary at Amaraku in Isiala Mbano
http://sunnewsonline.com/man-accused-of-buying-used-condoms-from-prostitutes-dies-during-free-sex/

LockDown69:

So I heard, but it was indeed a suicide attack, sadly

Thanks bro

LockDown69:
that was no bomb explosion but a fuel tanker explosion.

Really? Happy to hear if true.

Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers attacked some residents of a community in Apo district of Abuja.

One of the residents, Ebere Emeka, said the attack occurred within Pigba Sama area of Apo.

Ebere said the police arrived the area to repel the attack.

Another resident, who gave his name as Chimezie, also confirmed several gun shots within the area.

‎The Abuja police spokesperson, Anjuguri Mamza, could not be reached as he did not respond to calls to his phone.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/225113-breaking-armed-men-attack-abuja-community.html

A report of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on the December 10, 2016 rerun legislative elections in Rivers State has indicted security operatives who participated in the poll.

The report of the administrative enquiry into the rerun election, set up by the Commission, detailed how security operatives engaged in snatching of electoral materials, intimidation of voters and deliberately refusal to accompany electoral officers to their duty posts.

Security operatives were accused of having actively participated in electoral offences. Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike had written a petition against security agencies.

With the INEC report, he has been vindicated.

The INEC report said: “As part of preparations for the elections, the entire 23 Electoral Officers (EOs) in the state were replaced with new ones from Plateau, Anambra and Oyo states. They all reported in Rivers State on November 28, 2016 and were posted accordingly to the local government areas.

“Reposting of EOs was rather late, making it difficult for them to understand the environment and prepare adequately for the elections…

“One of the low points of the Rivers rerun elections of December 10, 2016 was the flagrant intervention of security operatives in the process. This was widely identified by staff of the Commission and independent observers alike, as one major factor that led to the failure of the process in some local government areas. There were too many security agencies involved in the process, outside the framework of the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

“It was not clear whether many of them were acting as part of their various organisations or as groups and individuals serving political interests. Most importantly, many of them showed profound political partisanship.

“Ironically, security operatives, who were expected to protect the process, turned on it. There were reported cases of wilful obstruction of the process by security operatives, including snatching of materials and intimidating voters. In other cases, they refused to accompany and protect men and materials for elections.

“But, the most mind-boggling were cases of hostage-taking, hijack of materials and physical attacks on INEC officials perpetrated by security operatives. Of singular note was a certain policeman named Akin Fakorede, who ostensibly is a commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), in Rivers .

“Fakorede first tried to lure INEC staff to travel with him from Port Harcourt to Emohua LGA, under the pretext of enabling them to collate results.

“But, for the intervention of National Commissioners, we suspect that he would have put our staff in harm’s way. When he failed in his initial bid, he stalked the INEC officials to the collation centre in Port Harcourt and physically assaulted Dr. C. Odekpe and Mrs. Mary Tunkayo. In fact, Dr. Odekpe ended up with a gash on his head and both spent days at the Air Force hospital in Port Harcourt.

“The security situation was worsened in some areas by the activities of political thugs and militants. Etche, Akoku-Toru and Emohua are examples of areas where both the security operatives and the militants caused serious mayhem…”

On alleged partisanship of INEC staff, the report said “there were very credible allegations that members of staff at the INEC office in Port Harcourt were split between the two main political parties in the state, namely, the ruling PDP and the APC.

The report stated: “It was clear that confidential information, including documents, was routinely leaked to political parties from the INEC office.

“The REC, Administrative Secretary and several EOs, in their depositions to this committee, confirmed these widespread accusations of partisanship. Among other things, this created a deep crisis of confidence that affected administration of election.”

Meanwhile, INEC said it was yet to receive the official report of the police investigative panel on the December 10, 2016, legislative rerun elections in Rivers.

The commission’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The panel’s report, submitted to police authorities on February 7, 2017, indicted 23 electoral officers for allegedly collecting monetary inducements to rig the elections.

Out of over N360 million said to have been received by the INEC personnel, the panel publicly displayed N111 million which it recovered from the officials who participated in the polls.
http://sunnewsonline.com/rivers-rerun-inec-panel-indicts-security/

It's appalling the way mankind has been so debased, depraved, degraded and deluded that murder is so brazenly stated and we are competing over who can suggest the best and fastest way to murder a child?

Luke 13:1-9New King James Version (NKJV)

Repent or Perish

13 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

A medical doctor at the Department of Family Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Monday, told an Ikeja Division of the Lagos High Court how a Muslim cleric, Akeem Ibrahim, shaved the pubic hair of a teenager, applied concoction on her, and digitally penetrated her vagina.

Shodipo Olanrewaju, a gynaecologist and a witness in an ongoing sexual assault case, said the teenager (names withheld) was admitted to the hospital and tests conducted on her.

“Findings revealed that she had a shaved pubic hair which the accused perpetrator shaved and went away (with),” said Mr. Olanrewaju.

“She also had hyperaemia which is an inflammatory process, there was redness and pains and those were keeping in history of digital penetration and these were contained in the report prepared by the team of doctors at the Centre due to the sensitivity of the case we receive dated 14th October, 2014.”

Digital penetration is the act of using one or more fingers to penetrate the vagina.

Earlier, in her testimony, the teenager, whose specific age was not mentioned at the court, said she was approached by Mr. Ibrahim, who lived in her compound, and told her he saw a vision that he would marry her.

She said the suspect invited her to his house, undressed her and prepared a concoction which he applied on all parts of her body and digitally penetrated her vagina.

“He later asked me to go and warned me not to tell anyone,” she added.
When the teenager’s medical report was presented before Justice S.S. Ogunsanya as an exhibit, counsel to the defendant, Obuagbaka Worer, questioned the authenticity of the document saying the witness was not the maker of the document.

Mr. Worer argued that the report must be certified before it could be tendered.

Responding, Arun Adebayo, the prosecution counsel, said there was nothing wrong with the medical report.

“The document is in its original form and true which my learned friend has a copy served,” Mr. Adebayo said.

“The maker of the document, Olaniyi Morenike, is no longer in the employment of the state government and has relocated and Section 83 of the Evidence Act settles this. We therefore urge the court to discountenance the objection of my learned friend.

In her ruling, Mrs. Ogunsanya said, “I have listened to the arguments of the two counsels and counsel to the prosecution sought to tender a medical report as evidence and counsel to the defendant objected to the evidence as the witness was not the maker of the document and since it’s a public document it should be properly certified.

“I have looked at the document and the document satisfies the Evidence Act, I therefore admit this evidence as Exhibit P1.”

The case was later adjourned to April 11, 2017, for continuation of trial.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/224047-muslim-cleric-shaved-pubic-hair-digitally-penetrated-teenager-gynaecologist.html

Eibams60:
has it been accredited? am tired of fake school sha

Yes it has.

To be honest, I have always wondered why there's little publicity about this school and glad someone brought it up. It's a good one that options are increasing. I am a product of a first generation university and I know there are still good public schools but the challenges are increasing and issues of funding/management have become a draw back for most. Sorry, this one costs money and someone asked how the founder got funds since he was a politician previously. I certainly cant say but seems the school also took facility from the likes of Abbey Building Society and the Board of Trustees suggests it's not a one man-owned business. Either way, I admire Senator Datti's passion for education and I think his family pedigree is respectful.

No price?