A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has struck a Boko Haram terrorist base at Tagoshe/Mandara Mountain general area about 10km Southwest of Gwoza in Northern Borno.
Jet
In a statement signed by the Air Force spokesman, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, the strike was ordered after an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) tip-off that remnants of the fleeing terrorists were gathered at the location.
He added that the follow up battle damage assessment confirmed the air strike was successful as shown by the enclosed classified footage of the operation.
There is a direct connection between swearing and emotional arousal. Although this may seem obvious, new findings cast new light on opinions around whether swearing may be considered to be a socially acceptable way of expressing emotion.
Keele University psychologist Dr Richard Stephens has published a new research paper which explores how experiencing emotion impacts on people swearing.
Stephens has in the past published research showing that swearing helps people to cope with pain, but now his new study focuses on how a person's emotions can affect the fluency of swearing.
The new research, funded by a British Psychological Society Undergraduate Research Assistantship, investigated how swearing and emotion are linked. During the study psychology student Amy Zile asked volunteers to play a first person shooter video game with the aim of causing a heightened emotive response. A golf video game was used for comparison purposes.
After playing the game volunteers were asked how many different swear words they could think of in a minute, known as the Swearing Fluency Task, a procedure developed by psychologists in the US. The volunteers who played the first person shooter game had a raised state of aggression and swore more in the Swearing Fluency Task compared with the golf video game.
The findings show there is a direct connection between swearing and emotional arousal. Although this may seem obvious, this research confirms such a link objectively. The findings cast new light on opinions around whether swearing may be considered to be a socially acceptable way of expressing emotion.
In an article published in The Conversation Dr Stephens said: "We appear to have established a two-way relation between swearing and emotion. Not only can swearing provoke an emotional response [as shown in the swearing and pain research] but raised emotional arousal has been shown to facilitate swearing, or at least one aspect of it, swearing fluency.
"These psychology studies demonstrate that there is more to swearing than routine offense-causing or a lack of linguistic hygiene. Language is a sophisticated toolkit and swearing is a useful component.
"When I am giving talks on the psychology of swearing I usually end with transcripts of the final utterances of fatal air-crash pilots, captured on the black box flight recorder because, unsurprisingly, many of these feature swearing. I use it to emphasise an important point: that swearing must be important given its prominence in matters of life and death."
Ignore your bad back at your own risk. Despite being a common problem across the world, scientists warn it could have grave consequences. New research suggests that sufferers are actually 13 per cent more likely to die early from any cause. And the findings could pose a significant threat, with painkillers recently found to be ineffective in treating the condition.
The findings could pose a significant threat, with painkillers recently found to be ineffective in treating the condition, experts say.
Few studies have examined the potential reduced life expectancy associated with spinal pain in an ageing population. But researchers from the University of Sydney assessed the link between death rates and spinal pain in 4,390 twins over the age of 70.
A report in the European Journal of Pain by Study author Dr Paulo Ferreria noted that it is a significant finding as many people think that back pain is not life-threatening.
"These findings warrant further investigation because while there is a clear link between back pain and mortality we don't know yet why this is so.
"Spinal pain may be part of a pattern of poor health and poor functional ability, which increases mortality risk in the older population.
"Policy makers should be aware that back pain is a serious issue – it is an indicator of people's poor health and should be screened for, particularly in the elderly."
New research suggests that sufferers of back pain are actually 13 per cent more likely to die early from any cause
Back pain should be recognised as an important co-morbidity that is likely to impact people's longevity and quality of life."
Back pain, ranked as the highest contributor to disability in the world, normally improves within a few weeks or months.
It is believed to affect four in five people at some point in their lifetime, with most cases being caused by lifting heavy objects or bending awkwardly.
But half see a recurrence of the problem within a year, and for some people back pain can last for years or come back in waves.
In the past most patients with back pain were prescribed some form of painkiller.
But recent research shows there are actually no effective drugs for the problem, and the only way to treat it is through stretching and exercises.
Studies have shown paracetamol or ibuprofen is ineffective against back pain, and more powerful opioid painkillers are both ineffective and highly dangerous.
Common over-the-counter drugs only provide any form of relief to one in six patients, Australian scientists discovered.
In fact, adults taking the cheap pills are actually three times more likely to suffer from stomach ulcers.
When I first received the news of Olaide’s convocation ceremony a couple of weeks ago, I was besides myself with joy. My happiness was not for Olaide, really. After spending five years for a four year course and all that had gone down in the past, I couldn’t really say I was enthusiastic about the news. Relief was more like it. “Finally, her poor mother can have some peace”, I concluded.
Raising Olaide had been a huge task, and aunty, as I call her may be said to have achieved an extraordinary feat by many standards. Over the last 20 years or so that I have known the family, I’ve had cause to listen to stories of Olaide’s many escapades, counselled her on many occasions and even told her poor mother off for failing to take what I described as ‘tough decisions’ that would set her daughter straight.
But aunty has her set style of reasoning, her polygamous marriage and uncaring husband her bane, like an albatross around her neck. She would always insist that her decisions were the best giving her circumstances and the goals she was determined to achieve, which was that Olaide must be a university graduate, no matter the cost. And these costs were dire, no mincing words. For Olaide was and still is a handful. I just had to join aunty in this great celebration of her daughter’s third class degree.
As I sat down watching her prance around the various tents, giggling and chatting up friends happily, oblivious of her poor grade, I could only feel sorry for her mother. For, I sometimes wonder who really has a problem here, the mother or the daughter? After the photo sessions, we sat down to eat and I was not surprised at the lavish display on offer. After all, it was all for Olaide. I asked aunty if she was happy and without looking me in the eye, she said yes. She’d achieved her goal and her two younger sons would have no excuse but to aspire to do better than their sister. Then, our discussion took us down memory lane, en route the torturous journey to moulding Olaide into a presentable woman.
Aunty, whose husband was our landlord several years back, was a civil servant and she also ran a little shop where she sold all sorts of things including soft drinks and beer, on and off licence. She was the exact opposite of her cantankerous husband who had two other wives living on the property and some others living at other locations in and out of Lagos, and which also did not stop his roving eyes from wondering.
Once, he’d had the misfortune of looking my way and my handling of the matter probably endeared his wife to me. We became close and she shared all sorts of problems with me, especially Olaide’s which in fact was her only problem from my observation. Her only flaw was that she never took to advise, and would always convince you to see things her way. At the end, there was no love lost between Olaide and I, as I was convinced that her mother was over pampering her over a flimsy excuse.
It all began when Olaide was in Junior Secondary School. Though a very wayward girl, she still had some pretence of innocence when it suited her.
In JSS2, her mother had walked into my apartment shaking like a leaf. Olaide had been impregnated by one of her customers and she was going to terminate it. I told her not to as she was going to launch her into a more wayward and carefree life style. She must be forced to have the baby to serve as a deterrent and reminder of her actions. She would enrol back into school after the baby. But aunty would hear none of such. She was only concerned about the humiliation among her co-wives, the inability of Olaide to complete secondary school, her disgrace among her siblings and some other flimsy excuses. Thus, the pregnancy was terminated and Olaide’s tantrums took a bigger dimension.
A few weeks after resumption for the third term in JSS2, her mother received a letter asking her to see the principal.
There, she was informed that her daughter had been on suspension for the past two weeks for leading a riot of sort, and that on resumption, she was supposed to come with her parents. But Olaide had showed up alone and told them that her mother had died the previous year and her father had travelled. She did not know that one of her teachers who knew her house and her mother had told the principal that it was a lie. Seeing no way out, she had brought the letter home. Yet, Olaide had been leaving the house for school every day for the whole two weeks.
How would you feel if your child were to tell people that you were dead? That day, I told aunty that she was breeding a monster but I guess she did not believe me. Anyway, the matter was settled and they were asked to pay some levies for the damages done to the school property before she could resume classes .
At the end of that year, Laide was asked to repeat the class. Indeed, she was one of the lucky few as many of them had been advised to withdraw. The school principal announced that the school had been chosen as one of the few to be upgraded into special schools by the government and they wanted only really intelligent and disciplined students. The students were being pruned across board.
Olaide could do better she said, as she had fallen short by just one subject. She only had to be more serious with her studies. When she was very angry and kept cursing some of the teachers, I suspected that something was wrong . The following month she missed her period again, this time in a most shocking circumstance. One of her male teachers was responsible.
The story had it that the teacher had told her of the impending doom to be released by the school authority and the need for her to pass his subject which she had failed already. He was willing to help her change the marks but she had to sleep with him. Aunty wept helplessly as she told me the story. She insisted that had her marriage been monogamous and she had the full support of her husband, she would have taken to my advice. I'd thought such a thing was possible only in higher institutions, not secondary schools. But as luck would have it, her periods came while aunty was making plans for the abortion.
Whenever one tried to advise aunty, she would insist that she was not supporting Olaide but setting her back on track. She withdrew her from the school because of that teacher, she never confronted him nor reported him just so she could save her face. The teacher would never own up to his actions, she’d insisted, adding that she would not allow him to derail her plans for Olaide.
For all her support, it was not as if Olaide appreciated or even understood what it was all about. In fact, she saw her mother more as a disturbance and then a heap dump than any other thing. But aunty would always say, “she may not appreciate what I'm doing for her now, but I know that in future, when she sits down and reflects on all that has happened, she will know what I've been through to make her whatever she becomes”.
One would expect a good father to ask why his daughter had to change schools, but not aunty’s husband, according to her. A mother must ensure that she protects her children to the best of her ability, she would tell me. Her husband according to her, had lost focus because of his many women. All the concoctions they were giving to him had twisted his brains and he didn’t know what his priorities should be any longer.
Everything went well in the first year in her new school, then in JSS3, aunty discovered she was pregnant again just as they were about to sit for the School Certificate Examination. I wasn't really surprised when she refused to have it removed. She informed her mother that she was keeping it since she was almost through with her education and that the boy was going to marry her.
The boy like many young Ibo boys, was into some kind of business and was doing fine. He was showering money and attention on her and this formed the basis for Olaide’s belief that she was in love and ready for marriage. Finally, aunty had to confide in one of her nieces whom Olaide seemed to respect a lot and they finally convinced her to have an abortion.
Prior to the procedure, she told me that a colleague in the office who had a problem child like Olaide had told her what to do once the pregnancy was terminated, an IUD must be inserted. I was surprised. Can young girls have IUD installed? Would it not encourage her to be even more carefree? But aunty insisted she was sailing with it. And it did save her the headaches of unwanted pregnancies.
We moved out of their house shortly after this but still kept very much in touch. As expected, Olaide failed that year's examination and had to retake some papers before she made it. Today, we are all happy to see her graduate, even if with a third class. That is all her mother wanted. A university degree! As we sat side by side, staring at nothing in particular, I could see her from the corner of my eye.
Was she happy or relieved, I could not tell. But her husband to whom she wanted to prove a point, was not at the ceremony. He’d failed her once again. Many things raced through my mind. Aunty was very religious, never missing church and was even an elder but I bet most of the congregants might never be able to guess what she had done to achieve her goal. What of the pregnancies and abortions? Did she not see them as sins? Was Olaide still wearing the IUD after all these years? What if all these have a negative effect on her reproductive system in the future? Who was to blame, aunty or Olaide? And for the first time in many years, I felt pity for her rather than my usual resentment. Everyone must pay a price for what they desperately desire. Yours is just different from mine.
The Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports says the interest of Africa and sub-regional neighbours will determine Nigeria's position in matters regarding the upcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) elections.
In a statement on Friday in Abuja, the ministry said Nigeria was going to support what was good for its football only.
Journalists report that the statement was signed by Nneka Ikem-Anibeze, Special Assistant (Media) to Youths and Sports Minister Solomon Dalung.
The statement said the minister was dismayed by press statements and interviews on the issue by some officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) committing Nigeria to supporting a candidate.
CAF
Newsmen report that NFF President Amaju Pinnick had been quoted as saying Nigeria was not going to support incumbent CAF President Issa Hayatou.
Pinnick, who is now a candidate for a position on the CAF Executive Committee, had said Nigeria would support Ahmad Ahmad of Madagascar for the Presidency.
"The press statements are very personal to the NFF President and do not represent the position of the people and the government of Nigeria.
"Elections into CAF have a long tradition and Nigeria as a major actor has always taken a position that will not only promote unity and international integration but also take into consideration the interest of Africa and and its sub-regional neighbours.
"As it is today, Nigeria has not taken a stand on the candidature of anybody contesting the Presidency and should not be misrepresented by anybody,'' the statement quoted Dalung as saying.
Dalung was further quoted as saying those aspiring into various CAF positions now are doing so as individuals.
"They are advised not to use the name or image of Nigeria to boost their own political fortunes.
"We will support what is good for football but we will exercise our rights through the laid-down democratic process as guaranteed by the rules of the game.
"We are appealing to all candidates to go about seeking their support free of rancour and acrimony, but they should take the interest of the region into consideration,'' he said.
The Federal Government has approved N120 million as intervention fund for the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, to assist the hospital in upgrading its facilities.
Dr Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of State for Health, disclosed this on Friday in Asaba during his official tour of the hospital. Ehanire said the fund would go a long way in improving the lot of the hospital.
"The Federal Ministry of Health and the National Health Scheme have put together an intervention fund to the tune of N120 million for the FMC Asaba to assist the hospital.
"The FMC is expected to use the fund according to its work plan in upgrading the hospital and to enable it render improved services to the public," he said.
The minister said his visit to the hospital was to access its facilities and working conditions at the hospital and see ways the federal government can assist in improving repositioning of the FMC for better service delivery.
He noted that paucity of funds was a major challenge facing every sector of the nation's economy, attributing the challenge to the huge drop in oil revenue in the global market.
Ehanire said: "There is challenge everywhere in the country and this is because of the drop in global oil price which has our revenue to crash drastically.
"We are also aware that the restiveness in the Niger Delta has hampered our production capacity, causing the nation huge loss."
The minister however noted that the FMC is facing so much pressure in service delivery, due to the failure of primary health centres across the country to discharge their responsibilities to the public.
He said the FMC was primarily established to undertake tertiary health service delivery, but regrettably, the hospital has been saddled with treatment of minor primary health cases.
"The Federal Medical Centres are not supposed to be treating cases of catarrh and cough; these minor ailments should be handled by the primary health centres.
"But because our primary healthcare centres are not functioning well as they are supposed to do, many of these cases now come to the FMC," Ehanire noted.
He said that the federal government would revitalise and reposition primary health centres in all political wards across the nation to discharge their primary responsibilities to the public.
Earlier, the acting Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the FMC Asaba, Dr Victor Osiatuma, highlighted some of the achievements of the hospital, including the improvement from a 30-bed facility at inception to 274 beds.
He also said the hospital has achieved remarkable improvement by the Residency Training programme which it commenced in 2010 with the accreditation of the Family Medicine department.
On challenges facing the FMC, Osiatuma pointed out that the incessant strike actions in the FMC was hampering efficient service delivery, and called for government action plan to address the challenge.
"These incessant strike actions have not helped the image of the health sector and patient attendance in the hospitals. Many of the agitations of the health sector are already in the public domain.
"It is our view that government should quickly come out with definite guidelines/measures, even if temporary, which will be of uniform application to all the hospitals in the country," Osiatuma said.
Newsmen report that highpoint of the minister's visit was the inauguration of the newly-built Accident and Emergency department and the newly-renovated Utility block, which accommodates the Physiotherapy department.
Mr Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police, says the force will henceforth recruit no fewer than 10,000 personnel annually to enhance its operations.
Idris disclosed this in Sokoto on Friday when he addressed officers and men of Zone 10 of the force in Sokoto, comprising:Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara state commands.
He said, ''The yearly recruitment will be based on local government basis to reflect federal character and equity.
" The communities will be engaged meaningfully in the exercise in tune with the principles of democratic policing."
Idris also promised that the police would continue to accord top priority to training, retraining, promotion, welfare, housing, logistics and other operational needs of its personnel to boost their productivity.
Mr. Ibrahim Idris beaming with smiles following his confirmation as the substantive IGP by the Council of State on Wednesday, September 7, 2016. With him are his officers
The police boss, who also promised to urgently renovate the existing facilities and barracks across the nation, said most of the barracks were ''in a sorry state.''
Idris further said that the police management was partnering with the National Assembly to source for more funds for the force.
" The police is largely underfunded, hence, Nigeria is under policed, and I am working to redress the ugly trend."
The police boss also said that the force would soon set up a school to train officers attached to the border patrol units to enable them combat cross-border crimes such as cattle rustling, armed robbery, human trafficking and other acts of banditry.
" We will also soon reopen the Mobile Police Training School in Gwoza, Borno, establish a marine school in Bayelsa, among others," he said.
Idris reiterated the ban on check points across the country but told the personnel to maintain visibility policing, but stressing that ''bail is still free.''
" We should continue to be of good conduct to earn and sustain the confidence as well as respect of the public we are supposed to be serving diligently."
He described zone 10 command as " one of the most peaceful commands " in the country and urged its officers and men to sustain the tempo.
The Assistant Inspector-General of police, (AIG) in charge of the zone 10, Mr Yakubu Usman, had earlier commended Idris for his humility, diligence and commitment to move the Police forward.
Usman noted that the general security situation in the zone had remained peaceful in spite some attempts to disturb the peace.
An Islamic State car bomb killed over 50 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by rebels, a day after jihadist group was driven from its stronghold within the area, a war monitor said.
The blast which occurred in the village of Sousian, hit a security checkpoint controlled by rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the war based in Britain, said more than 50 people died including over 30 civilians. Two rebels contacted by Reuters put the total death toll at least 40.
One of the two, a fighter with the Sultan Murad Brigade near al-Bab, said: "it was done on a checkpoint, there were a lot of families there gathered and waiting to get back to al-Bab''. "Therefore, we have many civilian casualties."
The Turkey-backed rebels drove Islamic State from the town of al-Bab on Thursday, following weeks of street battles near where Ankara wants to establish a safe zone for civilians.
Turkey's military said that Syrian rebels had taken full control of all of al-Bab, and that work to clear mines and unexploded ordnance was under way.
Sousian is behind rebel lines about 8 km northwest of al-Bab, around which Ankara has long supported the formation of a security zone it says would help to stem a wave of migration via Turkey into Europe.
A second blast took place 2km south of Sousian later, but it was unclear whether it was from a vehicle bomb or a planted device such as a mine.
There were reports of casualties, but no immediate details, the Observatory said.
Caroline Wozniacki reached her second final in as many weeks on Friday as she beat Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-4 at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Denmark’s former world number one, currently 15th, took just 90 minutes to beat her Latvian opponent and move into the title match at the Aviation club.
Wozniacki lost to Czech Karolina Pliskova in the Doha final last weekend.
Caroline Wozniacki
“It’s been a pretty good couple of weeks for me, I’m very happy with how I have been playing. Very happy how I have managed to get through these two weeks,” Wozniacki said.
“It’s been very tiring mentally. The fact that I have just been staying in there and keep grinding, I’m kind of proud of that.
“She definitely was a tricky opponent. I knew going into it that she was going to be difficult. She mixes the pace up. She really tries to break your rhythm. I was really pleased with how I was playing. I tried to stay aggressive and tried to mix it up, as well.”
She will face the winner of the second semi-final between top seed and world number two Angelique Kerber and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
Winning Saturday’s final would take Germany’s Kerber back to the top of the world rankings that she held after winning the US Open in September until Serena Williams wrested it back in claiming Australian Open glory last month.
U.S President Donald Trump says his aim is to serve the U.S. and not the rest of the world, doubling down on his "America First'' message in remarks to a conservative conference.
"This is the U.S of America I'm representing; I'm not representing the globe.
US President, Donald Trump
"I'm representing your country," Trump tells the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.
Trump vowed to toss out multilateral trade deals, bolster U.S industry and increase military spending as he remakes the Republican Party in his image with a focus on the "American worker."
Trump stresses a common allegiance of all Americans to their country, pointing to the "same red blood of great patriots'' flowing through the veins of all citizens.
The Nigerian Community in South Africa says no member was hurt or shops looted during anti-immigrant protest in that country on Friday.
Mr Ikechukwu Anyene, President, Nigeria Union, told newsmen on telephone from Pretoria, South Africa, that they did not receive report on attack against any Nigerian.
"The union monitored the protests at Pretoria West, Pretoria East and Pretoria Central. " Nigerians in these areas adopted protective measures and avoided any confrontation with South Africans. " They stayed safe and looked after their homes and businesses. We have not recorded any incident on attack against our people," he said.
Xenophobia
Anyene said, however, that shops belonging to Pakistani`s, Somalis and Ethiopians in Pretoria West were attacked during the protest. " Owners of the shops resisted the crowd before the police intervened and stopped further attacks," he said.
The President also said that on Thursday night, there was massive looting of shops at Atteridgeville area of Pretoria and could not ascertain if Nigerians were affected.
Anyene said the Police did well in responding to attacks against non-citizens. " The police did a good job today. They did not allow any looting," he said.
The President said the union was still monitoring the situation and was in constant touch with the Nigerian mission. " We are monitoring the situation as the anti-immigrant protest continues. We are also in regular contact with the High Commission and Consulate.
The Russian military on Friday said a planned mini-Reichstag intended for kids to storm at a Moscow Park would serve as a symbol of victory over Nazism. The military rejected German's criticism of the Berlin parliamentary building replica.
"The criticism from German politicians forces you to question what beliefs they may actually have about the makers of the Third Reich,'' Russian Defence Ministry's spokesman, General Konshenkov said.
Soviet forces stormed the Reichstag at the end of World War II in 1945, at times engaging in combat room by room.
The Soviet Union lost more than 20 million people during the war, and the Allied victory remained a profound source of national pride in Russia.
A German government Spokeswoman had earlier said that the plan to construct the replica was "surprising and speaks for itself.''
"Germany would not build such a replica,'' German Foreign Ministry Spokesman Martin Schaefer said at a news conference.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said two days prior that the replica would be built in the military-themed Patriot Park specifically, so that young patriots could recreate the siege.
The park, in the Moscow suburb Kubinka, was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2015 at a time of heightened patriotism and military rhetoric in the country.
The African Union Commission agricultural stakeholders have assured the Federal Government of economic growth if Malabo declaration initiative is implemented in Nigeria.
The stakeholders gave the assurance on Friday in Abuja at the workshop on the National Agricultural Investment Plan (NAIP) for Nigeria.
Prof. Adeolu Ayanwale, a facilitator called for adoption of an inclusive process involving all relevant stakeholders to develop strategies and technologies to achieve NAIP objectives.
According to him, provision of incentives for constructive engagement of private sectors, civil society groups and establishment of needed capacities will go a long way to achieve it.
Ayanwale said that one of the cardinal objectives of the workshop was to establish a roadmap toward the domestication of the Malabo commitments.
He said the workshop would also deliberate on ways of implementation of the AUC NAIP plan in Nigeria.
Agric Farm
According to him, there will be a definite working document plan for NAIP which other partners can relate with and Nigerian government can work with to have timeframe of the plan.
"The programme emphasises the inclusiveness of the private sectors, if any country is to meet the objectives of the Malabo declaration," he said.
On the economic benefits of the programme, Ayanwale explained that the Malabo initiative emphasised at least 10 per cent of the members-state budget to be committed into agriculture.
He said that such commitment would drive the economy and increase the country's GDP by six per cent annually.
Also speaking, Mr Mohammed Tukur, representative of Traditional Livestock Organisation of West Africa, said Nigeria would be able to operate in line with global document after the workshop. "We will now have a global document that is aligned with Nigeria's agricultural policy," he said.
Mr Temitope Oluwo, representative of Nigeria Agro-Business Groups, expressed happiness on the programme.
"I am delighted because the workshop is agric-based and is going to promote investment in the sector particularly, under the Malabo declaration." he said.
Newsmen report that the theme for the workshop is: "Domesticating Malabo Commitments into the Green Alternative/Agriculture Promotion Policy and its Investment Plan.
President Donald Trump's campaign promise for a one trillion dollars infrastructure programme will be in focus when U.S. governors gather on Friday in Washington, D.C.
Some states making wish lists of projects ranging from a bullet train to statewide broadband internet service.
The winter meeting of the National Governors Association running through Monday is expected to showcase rare bipartisan agreement on the need for more federal help in upgrading roads, bridges and airports, said Scott Pattison, the group's executive director.
"There's just this pent-up demand to deal with, whether it's a crack in a dam, a bridge, whatever it is," Pattison said in a telephone interview.
Although there is little movement on Capitol Hill to make Trump's infrastructure vow a reality, governors have sent the White House a list of 428 projects they say are ready to go with some extra federal spending.
US President Donald Trump
The National Governors Association has not released the list but checks with some states hinted at the projects.
Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown has asked for 120 billion dollars, saying that since the state made up 12 per cent of the U.S. economy it deserves 12 per cent of Trump's one trillion dollars package.
"We're not talking about a few million, we're talking about tens of billions," Brown said of the infrastructure proposal this month as he sought federal aid to deal with a leaking dam and flooding.
Among California's big-ticket items is construction of a high-speed rail system linking San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Colorado and Minnesota want help building statewide broadband systems, with Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat, saying his state needs 150 million dollars for its broadband grid.
Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback's top priority is 122 million dollars for interstate highway repairs. South Carolina and Virginia want federal aid to deepen ports, among other projects.
In a letter to Trump, Republican Governor Henry McMaster said South Carolina also needed help replacing roads and bridges.
"An appropriation of $5 billion from your infrastructure plan will help us bridge this economic gap," he wrote.
Pattison said governors wanted a "toolbox" of financing options, including municipal bonds, cash, public-private partnerships and federal matching funds. The governors are scheduled to meet with Trump on Sunday evening and again on Monday morning.
One of the speakers at the governors' conference, Leo Hindery, a managing partner at New York's InterMedia Partners, will tell state executives that creating a federal infrastructure bank is the only way to fund the hundreds of billions of dollars needed for public works.
The United States has long been criticised for its lagging public works spending. The American Society of Civil Engineers has graded U.S. infrastructure at D+ and estimated the country needs to invest $3.6 trillion by 2020.
During his campaign, Trump said he wanted action on infrastructure in his first 100 days as president. That now seems unlikely. He also talked about creating a tax credit to encourage private sector investment.
Trump's plans to create an infrastructure council have yet to get started. Republican lawmakers have said they expect to get White House infrastructure proposals but have given no details or timing.
By Soni Daniel Justice S.M Shuaibu of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, Friday, ordered the forfeiture of the 17 vehicles discovered at the home of the former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Custom Service, Abdullahi Dikko Inde, to the Federal Governemnt.
The order was sequel to an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission seeking among others, the forfeiture of the vehicles to the Nigerian Government, pending the conclusion of investigation and determination of the case.
In his ruling, Justice Shuaibu held that "the seventeen (17) vehicles which are now in the custody of the applicant ( EFCC) and as properly described and listed in the schedule marked exhibit EFCC 2 attached to the affidavit in support of the application are hereby forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria in the interim pending conclusion of the investigation ".
Operatives of the Commission had on February 20 stormed the warehouse of the former Customs boss on Nnamdi Azikwe Street, Kaduna and discovered seventeen exotic vehicles worth hundreds of millions of Naira, suspected to be proceeds of crime.
A total of 44 students from various faculties were on Friday asked to withdraw from the Federal University of Technology, Minna over poor academic performance and examination malpractice.
The university's spokesperson, Mrs Lydian Ledgu, said in a statement in Minna that the affected students have been ordered to vacate the campus.
She said that 22 students were advised to withdraw due to poor academic performance while the 22 others were expelled for their involvement in examination malpractices.
"The university authority will not tolerate any act that will tarnish its highly earned academic standard,'' Ledgu said.
She advised students of the institution to take their academic work seriously and shun all vices that could lead to their expulsion.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that its subsidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), was not responsible for the pipeline explosion which occurred on Thursday in Rivers.
A statement by Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, said the explosion occurred at the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) pipeline in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers.
It said IDSL's crew, engaged in acquiring seismic data for a Shell Oil Mining Lease, observed approved safe distance standards and as such could not be the cause of the blast.
"Our activities involve the use of seismic explosives of size 2kg and detonators. The drilled and exploded depth is 45 metres. At this depth the effect on the surface cannot affect any structure.
"The suspected gas leakage on the gas pipeline between Eveku and Rumodogo communities in Mohave Local Government Area of Rivers on Feb. 22 was not caused and cannot be caused by NNPC, IDSL seismic operations. "Our closest activity around the incident area on Thursday was 798 metres away from the pipeline.
"As a responsible corporate body, IDSL's crew on operation in Mohave Local Government Area observed, to the letter, DPR's regulations governing such activities," Ughamadu said.
According to him, the regulation says that a minimum distance of 25 metres from tarmac roads and 50 metres from houses should be observed.
Apart from this, the minimum requirements of 100 metres away from the pipelines, and a minimum distance of 200 metres from well heads or oil wells were maintained, Ughamadu said.
He said that relevant authorities in Rivers have been informed of the incident.
The Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has congratulated Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu on his swearing in as the sixth democratically elected Governor of Ondo State.
In a letter issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Turaki Hassan, the speaker described the new governor as "a learned colleague, whose dedication, commitment, determination and dogged spirit eventually earned him victory at the polls."
According to Hassan, Dogara also expresses confidence in Akeredolu's ability to deliver dividends of democracy to the people of Ondo state.
The speaker commended the people for electing an All Progressives Congress (APC) as their governor.
Yakubu-Dogara
"Gov. Akeredolu is not just a thorough bred professional and respected senior advocate, he has always been genuinely passionate about the plight of the people.
"I have good reason to believe that this will translate to fruitful and people- oriented leadership."
"Choosing APC at the polls is a wise step by the good people of Ondo as well as a vote of confidence on the party's ideology and policies, and the APC Federal Government.
"I am confident that the governor will progressively justify this trust and support as the days go by,'' the speaker said.
Dogara also prayed God to grant the governor the wisdom, strength and good health to excel in the task.
Akeredolu,who was born on 21 July 1956 in Owo, Ondo state is a product of Government School, Owo, Aquinas College, Akure,Loyola College, Ibadan and Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro.
He studied Law at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), graduated in 1977 and was called to Bar in 1978.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, has assured inmates at Owssiomo Leprosarium Centre of enrollment into socio-intervention programme of the Federal Government.
Ehanire gave this assurance when he visited the centre located in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo on Friday.
The minister, who interacted with the inmates, assured them of continuous government support which would include their enrolment into the intervention scheme.
"The intervention programme was put in place by the Federal Government to give succour to the poor and vulnerable persons in the country.
"The programme has commenced in other states, we are encouraging the state to come up with a social register so that the less privileged can benefit from the scheme,'' he said.
The minister visited the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba and inspected facilities at the Leprosarium inside the centre.
Osagie Ehanire
He also visited the residence of `Daughters of Charity', a non-governmental organisation inside the centre, and commended them for their support in rehabilitation of the patients.
The Permanent Secretary of Edo Ministry of Health, Dr Peter Ugbodaga, commended the minister, saying that it was the first time the Centre was being visited by a minister.
Ugbodaga said that the Centre was established in 1930 to cater for persons with leprosy.
He said that the state government provides feeding and also gives N5,000 monthly stipends to the inmates, which include patient undergoing treatment and those cured from the disease.
Ugbodaga solicited for more collaboration between the state and the Federal Government in the provision of drugs on a regular basis and provision of more services.
Also, Dr Osagie Igbinigie, the doctor in charge of the Leprosarium Hospital, commended the minister for the visit to the place which currently houses 48 inmates.
He, however, called on the minister to provide Leprosy Reaction Drugs for patients who were reacting to the conventional leprosy drugs.
Igbinigie also appealed for the rehabilitation of roads leading to the Centre.
Mr John Idumange, the General Manager, Radio Bayelsa "Glory FM", on Friday confirmed that he flogged four union leaders of the station in self-defence.
Idumange told newsmen on Friday in Yenagoa that the incident happened on Monday after the unions shut down the FM station operated by the state government.
The Radio Bayelsa Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Radio Television and Theatre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU) had alleged that Idumange was running the station outside public service rules.
Idumange, who explained the details of the incident to journalists, alleged that the unions in the station were working against his reforms aimed at repositioning the broadcast outfit.
"At about 7.20 p.m on Monday, the day RATTAWU and NUJ embarked on strike, I heard voices near my window. "So I went out to see what was happening. I saw four persons, one of them a lady.
"I could recognise Tonye Yemoleigha, one of the union leaders, who was on white shirt. I asked why they were there after chasing away all the workers," he said.
According to him, "Tonye stood up and asked if the compound belonged to me. At that point I discovered he was ready for a fight but I did not bulge.
"He brought his hands near my eyes so I blocked it. I had learnt Karate years back. One of them threw a chair at me and they all rushed to fight me. I had to fight back in self-defence. "They could have beaten me up but my Karate skills rescued me," he said.
Idumange, who was appointed on Dec. 6, 2016, claimed that he recently uncovered a N5.7 million fraud and redeployed some staff.
"The transferred workers have been meeting with them at NUJ Centre, they benefitted from the corruption and are fighting back," Idumange said.
Reacting, Mr Tonye Yemoleigha, the NUJ Chairman in Radio Bayelsa, said that the unions had reported the incident at Ekeki Police Division.
"Four of us, myself and three staff were flogged by Idumange himself. The report that it was thugs is inaccurate. It was the general manager himself that attacked and beat us up.
"We have reported the matter to the Ekeki Police Division and sought medical attention at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. "Workers have been constantly intimidated and threatened for no just cause.
"Mr John Angese, Bayelsa Council Chairman of NUJ who is a staff of Radio Bayelsa, has also been threatened with a sack. "We are all being victimised for insi
Journalists performing their duty
sting that the General Manager complies with Public Service Rules.
"We have been under siege since he was appointed on Dec. 6, 2016. We are not opposed to repositioning the station which is in our interest, but we want the procedure to follow due process," Yemoleigha said.
Newsmen report that after the station went off air, the management mobilised armed security men and few employees who rebuffed the strike and reopened the station. Yemoleigha said that workers of the station were not opposed to staff redeployment.
"But we are insisting that the unions should also be part of the process to ensure that the best hands are not sacrificed on the altar of nepotism, sentiment or witch-hunt.
"We are also aware of the alleged N5 million payroll fraud which Idumange claimed to have uncovered which has been referred to the Police for investigation.
"Ordinarily, in line with established procedures, an investigative panel should have been instituted to look into the matter and come up with a report with which management would act.
"All these are expressly spelt out in the Public Service Rules; however, we are also requesting for a copy of the police report after their investigation," Yemoleigha said.
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