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
"You are completely responsible for everything you are and for everything you become and achieve" Life is an awesome privilege that presents to us the greatest gift that shapes the outcome of our destinies. This greatest gift that life presents to us is the mold that super-imposes our life's experiences and structures our existence. From the beginning of time humans have either employed or deployed this gift consciously or unconsciously in order to determine the quality of life.
Employing this treasured gift entails handing over the wheel of our lives to the cruel hands of people, habits, circumstances and conditioning. But deploying this gift makes us in charge of our lives and brings us into full alignment with principles governing success. This treasured gift is the power to choose and this gift hinges on the principle of responsibility.
As Dwight D. Eisenhower rightly states, "The history of freeman is never written by chance but by choice-their choice"16. As human existence progressed from the Hunter and Gatherer Age to the Agricultural Age transforming into the Industrial Age emerging into the Information/Knowledge Worker Age and unveiling into the Creative age; rather unfortunately through these ages till now humans for the most part of it have employed rather than deployed this gift and treaded upon the pathway of irresponsibility.
Irresponsibility is the bane of human existence that strangles the quality of our lives and exposes us to the whim and caprice of fate. People who behave irresponsibly believe that forces outside of themselves shape who they are, what they are and where they are. They hand over the wheel of their lives to "luck" and circumstances.
They are professionals in playing the blame game, complaining, criticizing and making excuses because they have shunned taking responsibility of what they had done or neglected to do. Lending them a helping hand only heightens the level of irresponsibility because they would not let go of that hand no matter how long since they are too dependent mentally, emotionally and even financially. Blame never affirms; it assaults. Blame never restores; it wounds. Blames never solves; it complicates. Blame never unites; it separates. Blame never smiles; it frowns. Blame never forgives; it rejects. Blame never builds; it destroys.
JOHN HAGEE Irresponsibility showcases itself in myriads of ways. Irresponsible people have strangled their conscience and live lives dictated by their impulse and self-driven luster. They believe they can behave as they like, utter anything that comes to their head. They do not respect the feelings, thoughts and the standpoint of others. Hence, so long as it pleases them, they can hurt others through their words and actions without caring.
Immorality, unreliability and untrustworthy character are the trademark of irresponsibility. They submit their lives to unbridled passion and emotion rooted in lust. They live in the pleasure of the moment and engulfed in short-sightedness they put their future at stake.
Irresponsible people are pessimistic and negative as they feel helpless about their lives. Their potentials become dormant and atrophy through disuse. Hence in the midst of abundance, they languish in poverty, in the midst of hope, they embrace despair and in the midst of opportunities, they grumble about the hands of fate.
Irresponsible people are flighty; they feel unable to confront challenges. And without challenges there can be no progress. What make success thick are the challenges we face and subdue. Irresponsible people are highly changeable; they are crowd-driven rather than value-driven. They are unstable, tossed to and fro by the vagaries of their choices.
In the sum total, irresponsibility is a low-common priced life that abandons taking responsibility for behaviours, decisions or situations that surround one.
At the root of most of our societal and individual problems lies the syndrome of irresponsibility.
Divorce rates are soaring by the day, corruption and greed which is synonymous with the poverty-rise becomes a "normal" expectation. Hospitals are filled with patients who are victims of habits that stems from irresponsibility, the joy of living becomes eluded and success fades into the darkness of irresponsibility.
Jack Canfield observed, "For every reason why it's not possible, there are hundreds of people who have faced the same circumstances and succeeded. Lots of people overcome these so-called limiting factors, so it can't be the limiting factors that limit you. It is not the external conditions and circumstances that stop you-it is you! We stop ourselves! We think limiting thoughts and engage in self-defeating behaviours.
We defend our self-destructive habits (such as drinking and smoking) with indefensible logic. We ignore useful feedback, fail to continuously educate ourselves and learn new skills, waste time on the trivial aspects of our lives, engage in idle gossip, eat unhealthy food, fail to exercise, spend more money than we make, fail to invest in our future, avoid necessary conflict, fail to tell the truth, don't ask for what we want-and then wonder why our lives don't work".18
Until we become accountable, our lives will not count. Until we brace up and take personal responsibility for our lives, decisions and actions, we will become handicapped in the dungeon of failure.
Irresponsibility is a mental deadly "disease" that kills gradually but surely and becoming responsible is its cure.
THE WHOLE WORLD STINGS! WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? "If something doesn't turn out as planned, you will ask yourself, "How did I create that? What was I thinking? What were my beliefs? What did I say or not say? What did I do or not do to create that result? How did I get the other person to act that way? What do I need to do differently next time to get the result I want?"
JACK CANFIELD. Once upon a time, there lived a grandpa who visited his grandchildren. It was habitual for grandpa to take a nap each afternoon. One day, the kids decided to be funny; they put Limburger cheese in his moustache. After a short time he awoke from his sleep and exclaimed, "Why, this room stinks." He got up and went to the kitchen and discovered that the kitchen smelled too. Desperately in search for fresh air grandpa decided to go outdoors but he soon discovered that outdoors was no better.
Surprised and disgusted, he proclaimed, "The whole world stings".
Grandpa desired a change from the circumstance he was facing and as long as he thought that the source of his problem was external he still remained in his condition blaming the world for his frustrating experience. Here's the rub, it is not the condition of our lives that needs to be changed but rather we are the ones that needs to be changed.
If we can change ourselves; we will automatically change the condition of our lives but if we desire outward changes without first seeking an inward change we will remain in the mess we are in. And you cannot effect an inward change until you take absolute responsibility for your life. Playing the blame game and complaining only secures your position in the stagnant domain of life.
One of the life-changing truths in the course of destiny is to know and understand that the major help that you need to succeed and be all that you were created to be emanates from within you. The world does not owe us anything but rather we owe the world everything for the space we occupy in it. The reality is; the life you are presently living is the life you have created.
Your life is a product of your thoughts, feelings and behavior or actions based on the choices you make. The world within us must change for the world around us to change. We have the responsibility to make things happen. Many people are not in control of their lives anymore; they are being driven by their feelings rather than values; they are determined by their condition and conditioning rather than by conscious choice.
You are responsible for your choices, decision and actions. Many people are not living a consciously designed life but rather they are living out the script handed over to them by their parents, associates, and other peoples' agenda. In life, you either live out your consciously designed script or live out a default script; you either act on life or life acts on you; you either stem the tide or go with the flow. We are not determined by conditioning or condition or our environment rather we are determined by our choices.
You are responsible for the fulfillment of your desires. If you want things to change and your circumstance to improve; then you must be in –charge and change and improve yourself. If it's to be; it's up to you. No one is coming to solve your problems. In fact no one is interested in your success as much as you do. Rather than feel helpless; take charge through your mind and be solution driven rather than problem conscious.
You are responsible for your beliefs and values. Beliefs create reality and values govern human behaviour. We must deliberately select our beliefs and values and choose empowering ones that will shape our destinies positively.
Prioritizing our time is a responsibility that is exclusively ours. Time is irreplaceable as life itself. To take responsibility for our time is to differentiate between what is urgent and what is important and not spend time on the trivial aspect of life but rather to invest our time on things that will lead to growth and have long term value.
Association could be an accelerator of destiny but it could also be an inhibitor of destiny. Everybody cannot be your friend because many people are going in a different direction from yours. The responsibility lies on you to choose your companions wisely and not having them choose you.
You are responsible for how you deal with people. You are responsible for your behaviour. Taking absolute responsibility for your attitude towards others irrespective of their attitude towards you is a choice.
You must be responsible for what you do about your feelings. Immature people act according to the dictates of their impulse. They do not subject their feelings or emotions to sound judgment. Maturity takes responsibility and filters the feelings and emotions through reason, judgment and conscience. Most people go through life with the baggage of resentment, anger, guilt, envy, jealousy; they relive past hurts and pains; justifying and rationalizing the reasons for their unhappiness and failure; complaining about the past and present and hence perpetuate failure into their future.
The trend can be reversed by eliminating the justification; rationalization; blaming and complaining mode which could be achieved by putting an end to thinking about, talking about and rehearsing negative event and emotions attached to it. The law of emotion states, "A stronger emotion will dominate and override a weaker emotion, and whichever emotion you concentrate on grows and becomes stronger".
You are responsible for your happiness because happiness is a choice we make; nobody can make you miserable without your consent. Responsible people do not blame, complain, justify and pity themselves for their state of life. But rather, they take responsibility for their emotions, happiness, life and well being. Therefore, whether the world stings or not is dependent on our choice to assume 100 percent responsibility for our lives in order to change the course of our destiny.
“Several” Bastia fans racially abused Nice forward Mario Balotelli with monkey chants while one admitted it and faces a France-wide stadium ban, the Corsican club said on Wednesday.
The Italian said he suffered racist abuse throughout Friday’s 1-1 Ligue 1 draw at Bastia, where the coach of title-chasers Nice was also pelted with stones.
“So is racism legal in France? Or only in Bastia? Football is an amazing sport… those people like Bastia supporters make it horrible! A real shame,” an angry Balotelli wrote on Instagram in the aftermath.
The local public prosecutor’s office confirmed it had launched a preliminary investigation for “incitement of racial hatred”.
The French league is also looking into the allegations and Bastia said a long-time supporter of the club had owned up after Corsican media published images to find those behind the racial abuse.
Bastia said it had cancelled the fan’s season ticket and banned him from entering their stadium. They also said a legal case for a nationwide stadium ban had been launched.
The man, whose name was not released, “regretted his attitude and was conscious of the repercussions”, a Bastia statement said.
“Several individuals made monkey noises towards Balotelli,” Bastia said, denouncing it as “stupid and unacceptable behaviour”.
Top Guider and first initiator of the popular ponzi scheme, mavrodi mondial moneybox, MMM, Mr. Chuddy Ugorji has reportedly fled the country with his wife, Amaka to the Philippines.
Indications suggest that Mr. Chuddy fled because perhaps he knows MMM might not be able to pay its participants again.
This is coming days after over 2 million participants of the scheme are still not able to get the money they invested in the scheme even after it claimed to have resumed full time.
Sergey Mavrodi of inventor MMM
Recall that the ponzi scheme had blocked the access to requesting for financial assistance, Getting Help (GH) during the yuletide seasons. After a month's blockade of the access, known as Mavros, the ponzi scheme announced it had unfrozen the Mavros for its participants to begin withdrawals. However, up till the filling of this report, many are yet to get their money back, which totals to millions.
However, Chuddy's relocation came barely 24 hours after he released a new set of conditions for the payment of some three million Nigerian investors wherein those with little investments are to be paid first before those who invested heavily.
He had given the participant, called Mavrodians, the impression that the Ponzi scheme has started paying the outstanding mavro (money) but it has turned out to be not entirely true.
The ratings agency Fitch downgraded the outlook on Nigeria’s long-term debt on Wednesday, as the West African country experiences “the most challenging economic situation in its history,” according to its president, Muhammadu Buhari.
Fitch said in a statement that it had revised the outlook on Nigeria’s long-term ratings “to negative from stable.”
“Tight foreign exchange liquidity and low oil production contributed to Nigeria’s first recession since 1994,” the statement said.
Nigeria is experiencing its worst economic crisis in years following a collapse in global oil prices which form the bulk of its government revenue.
“The economy contracted through the first three quarters of 2016” and Fitch estimated a contraction of around 1.5 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 as a whole.
“We expect a limited economic recovery in 2017, with growth of 1.5 percent, well below the 2011-15 annual growth average of 4.8 percent,” the ratings agency continued.
Falling global oil prices and repeated attacks on crude infrastructure in Nigeria’s south severely hit the country’s economy in 2016, hammering the naira currency against the dollar.
Nigeria, which gets over 70 percent of its revenue from oil, is now suffering from a debilitating shortage of foreign exchange, hitting imports and overseas investment.
While the official rate is around 305 naira to the dollar, many Nigerian businesses are being forced to buy dollars on the black market, where the rate is upwards of 490 to the dollar.
Fitch said that Nigeria would continue to suffer low growth if foreign exchange continued to be in short supply and if the government could not narrow the fiscal deficit.
Nigeria's leading record label, Tinny Entertainment, has officially announced the signing of two new acts, afro-beat singer, Dapo Tuburna, and Bella, a young female rapper.
The new acts joined the label's foremost act, Ycee, who has been an outstanding artiste in the industry. "Dapo Tuburna is doing something different from many young musicians, he has a unique afro-beat sound that appeals to today's trend and he definitely has what it takes to sustain it. Bella on the other hand is a skillful rapper who pays attention to detail in her songs. Both artistes have the qualities and potentials that we seek for in artistes as a record label" says Arokodare Tinny Timilehin, CEO and Founder of Tinny Entertainment.
With the signing of the new acts, Tinny Entertainment has continued with its aim of creating opportunities for talented individuals. Born Oladapo Olajide, Dapo Tuburna is an afro-beat musician whose influence can be traced to the likes of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Damian Marley, Femi Kuti and 2baba. Mabel Oine Alubo, better known as Bella, is a rapper who grew up in Jos and is influenced by the likes of Angel Haze, Drake and Klunem Slizzle.
She has a mix tape titled 'Bella the EP' to her credit and is set to add more to it by getting signed to the label. "With the success we have made with Ycee, we see the need at this period to put out more talents; we are dynamic and can absorb artistes of different genres who make good music. We feel this is the right time to do that because we believe our newly signed artistes will bring a lot of accolades to the label and give Nigerians more good music" Mr. Arokodare concluded.
ABUJA-Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has described the rumored death of President Muhammadu Buhari as a “silly thing.”
He said that it was inappropriate for Nigerians to wake up and start spreading rumors of death about their president.
Mohammed who spoke from promptings by State House Correspondents at the end of Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting in Abuja on Wednesday said that there were more pertinent issues to discuss rather than indulging in irrelevances.
He said: “I don’t want to lend my voice to a very silly thing. I will not join this debate. I think there are more serious issues of state to discuss than this issue.
“It’s only in this part of the world that you wake up in the morning and you say the president of the country is dead. I will not join that kind of debate at all.”
It will be recalled that president Buhari left the shores of Nigeria for United Kingdom on Thursday last week on a medical vacation and transmitted the power of his office to his Vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo through a letter he wrote to the National Assembly.
Since then, the atmosphere of the country had been awash with speculations of his death, disregarding the presidency’s explanation that the president is alive and well.
By Levinus Nwabughiogu ABUJA-Presidency has vehemently rejected the speculation making the rounds that Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo was being held hostage and pressured to resign his office by Nigerian governors.
Vice President OsinbajoThe insinuation has been rife following the rumoured death of President Muhammadu Buhari who took leave to see his doctors for medical attention in London, United Kingdom last week.
Reacting to the matter in a tacit statement titled “State of the Nation,” the Special Adviser to the president on Political Affairs in the office of the Vice President, Femi Ojudu in Abuja on Wednesday said there was no truth in the matter, saying it was entirely false.
He said that Osinbajo was busy yesterday attending to visitors after presiding over the Federal Executive Council, FEC.
Ojudu stated: “I have read many ridiculous stories saying the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is being held hostage by some governors who are trying to compel him to resign.
“I have equally received several calls regarding this. The story is simply not true. It is a fabrication. Don’t be a purveyor of fake news .
“The Vice President is behind his desk carrying out his task. The Federal Executive Council presided over by him has just ended and he has been busy receiving visitors and holding meetings.”
Meanwhile, Vanguard observed that it was only Governor of Jigawa state, Badaru Abubakar that visited the acting president as at the time of filing this report.
***Warns against unjust allocation of resources By Joseph Erunke ABUJA-FORMER governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Wednesday, took a swipe at the Federal Government’s economic policy, asking for immediate review to save the country of sliding into depression.
This was even as he warned against what he called “lack of true federalism”, saying “unjust allocation of resources makes a fertile ground for extremism.”
Senator Tinubu, who insisted that the current economic policy of the government had not done the country any good, pointedly told President Muhammadu Buhari to realign trade policy with the country’s need to create a meaningful industrial base and more potent agricultural sector.
” We can no longer allow cheap imports to preclude the development of industries and sectors strategic to our enduring economic future, “he opined.
Speaking at the National Defence College, Abuja, where he featured as a guest speaker, on a public lecture with the titled:” Strategic Leadership: My Political Experience’ Tinubu took a swipe at the President's monetary policy, arguing that, as a strategic partner in the formation of the government, it was incumbent on the leaders to “speak truth to power.”
At the occasion where he also donated the sum of N10 million to the National Defence College as part of his contribution to enriching the strategic development of the college, Tinubu said though the government had made appreciable achievements in the security sector,especially the defeat of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East , it was necessary “to move closer to the overarching vision.”
“We now have to shift primary focus to the economic front.
“The desired economic restructuring will require a change in economic mindset and strategy. We must avoid the nostrums of mainstream orthodoxy that say government deficits are always bad,” he warned.
The politician added: “In the situation we face, deficit spending is essential to bolster aggregate demand and direct funds to projects that build infrastructure and bolster employment.
“We must better harmonize monetary policy with fiscal policy. It undercuts our goals if monetary policy is unduly tight at a time fiscal policy begets deficit spending.
“We must also realign trade policy with our need to create a meaningful industrial base and more potent agricultural sector. We can no longer allow cheap imports to preclude the development of industries and sectors strategic to our enduring economic future.”
“Not a single soul has been prosecuted, let alone jailed for the genocide in Southern Kaduna and you are blaming someone for preaching self defense? You are INSANE. Yes, INSANE”- Olufemi Korode, Twitter, 24th January 2016.
Can anyone dispute the fact that Mr. Korode is right? Are those that say that Christians should not defend themselves or complain when they are being slaughtered not completely insane?
The truth is that had it not been for the fact that eight more innocent and defenceless people were butchered by Fulani militants in Samaru Kataf, Southern Kaduna on 17th January, that six young students of the College of Education, Gidan Waya, Southern Kaduna were massacred on 23rd January and that twenty innocent souls, including women and children, were slaughtered by the same pack of beastly savages in the village of Ohimini in Benue state on that same day I may not have written this piece.
Yet I am constrained to do so because the animals in human flesh and Islamist demons that are on the rampage in Kaduna state and indeed all over the country have not satisfied their lust for Christian blood and their carnage persists. As a matter of fact the cancer is spreading.
When you add the thirty four that were murdered in the last few days to the 808 innocent souls that were killed by the same creatures on Christmas eve and Christmas day you cannot come to any other conclusion than the fact that this is genocide and that it is time to resist it.
Unfortunately some do not wish to hear that. They would prefer the people of Southern Kaduna to continue to be the sacrificial lambs that they have always been. Permit me to share just one example of their mindset here.
In reaction to the suggestion that the people of Southern Kaduna ought to defend themselves from mass murder and genocide given the fact that the state government has refused to protect them, Mallam Uba Sani, a four foot dwarf and the political advisor to Kaduna state’s dimunitive Midget-in-Chief, Governor Nasir El Rufai, wrote the following in Thisday and a number of other newspapers:
”The greatest challenge to peace in Kaduna State now is the antics of political jobbers and opportunists who have gone as low as spreading hate speeches; telling communities in Kaduna State to "defend themselves."
This, of course, is an unmistakable call on the people of Kaduna State to procure arms and ammunitions and start killing themselves. This is not just very low but extremely dangerous. This call on the citizenry to take the laws into their own hands totally undermines all on-going efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna State.”
These are strong words from the dwarf who appears to be expressing the frustration, angst and cold rage of his employer, the Chief Midget.
Instead of showing remorse for their woeful failures and begging for forgiveness for the oceans of innocent blood that has been shed under their watch, the government of Kaduna State is lashing out at those of us that have called them out and that are deeply concerned about the annihilation and decimation of human life and sheer carnage that is taking place in Southern Kaduna.
The dwarf pours scorn on the suggestion that a man should protect his family, loved ones and home from cold-blooded murderers who are attempting to maim and kill them.
He is suggesting that the people of Southern Kaduna should keep quiet, fold their arms and happily welcome, with a warm smile, those that have come to rape their wives, slaughter their children, burn their homes, wipe out their faith and possess their land. Is that how to make Kaduna great again?
Is that how to get back to the glorious days of Abubakar ‘Dangiwa’ Umar, Ahmed Makarfi and Patrick Yakowa when Kaduna state was presided over by men of substance and character.
Is that the way to get back to the days when Kaduna state was blessed with kind and compassiomate governors who were balanced, mature, sensitive, caring, gentle, cosmopolitan, inclusive and fair to all regardless of faith, tribe or ethnic nationality?
Is that how to get back to the peaceful days of Kaduna when those of us that play polo used to look forward to going there to play a few chukkas at the annual Kaduna Polo tournament?
Is that how to get back to the days when Kaduna was one of the best places to live in or visit in the country?
I doubt it very much. The truth is that nothing could be more insensitive, irresponsible, callous and utterly absurd than the dwarf’s counsel and suggestion.
If that is the kind of advice that the midget has been getting from his aides and advisors ever since he was elected as governor one needs to look no further to know why he has failed so woefully.
Under his watch Kaduna state has become more divided than it has ever been in its entire history and the pungent smell and rotten stench of fresh human blood and fly-infested bloated corpses fills the air.
That is the shameful legacy that the midget and his dwarf are desperately trying to white-wash and defend.
Instead of going on their knees and begging God, the Christian community, the Shiite Muslims and the Nigerian people for forgiveness for what can, at best, be described as their irresponsible, incompetent and criminally negligent behaviour and, at worse, their willfull and premeditated attempt to wipe out, exterminate and cleanse the land of the entire Christian community and every ethnic and religious minority group in Southern Kaduna and Zaria, they are throwing bricks at their perceived enemies and flying into childish tantrums.
The dwarf spoke of “political jobbers” and “oppprtunists”. One wonders just who they are? Again one wonders precisely what the “ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace in Kaduna” that he mentioned are given the fact that his boss the midget does not appear to give a damn about the fact that thousands of innocent and defenceless people, including women and children, have been butchered during his watch and right under his nose.
At the end of 2015 over 1000 Shiite Muslims were slaughtered in cold blood and buried in mass graves by the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna state. Many Shiites have accused the midget of covertly playing a sordid and questionable role in the whole affair and when one hears the facts one cannot blame them.
For example is it true that it was he that fingered Sheik Ibrahim El Zak Zaky, the Shiite leader, by phoning him and ascertaining his whereabouts for the military before they tracked him down, shelled, shot and murdered hundreds of his people in the sanctity of their homes and proceeded to shoot him and his gentle Yoruba wife in the eye and stomach before whisking them both away.
Since that time they have kept both husband and wife incommunicado and in detention despite court orders to release them. One wonders what efforts the midget has made to get them out?
One wonders why he, a Sunni Muslim, hates the Shiite so much? One wonders why he has been tormenting, arresting, persecuting, outlawing, proscribing and locking them up ever since their leaders arrest even though they have never sought to harm or attack anyone?
Another example of the sheer depravity of this man was provided approximately one month ago over the Christmas holiday.
On Christmas eve and Christmas day alone, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), no less that 808 Christians were killed by the midget’s friends and brothers, the Fulani militia (aka herdsmen), in Southern Kaduna.
The midget and his government provided security and enforced a curfew in the Muslim areas of the state but they refused to do the same for Southern Kaduna which is Christian. Consequently the Fulani militia not only struck but they struck very hard indeed leaving nothing but death and destruction in their path.
Evidently the Chief Midget and his government are more interested in insulting, undermining, discrediting and threatening with arrest its critics and those that have expressed outrage about what the people of Southern Kaduna have been subjected to under his watch than in protecting and saving innocent Christian lives.
One wonders why he hates Christians so much to the extent that the only hospital in the relevant Christian community was shut down by his government on the days that the attacks took place in order to ensure that the wounded could not be treated and that as many Christians suffered casualties and died as possible.
Is the midget not vicariously liable and criminally culpable for those deaths even if he did not take part in the attacks himself? What is the source of and reason for his hatred for our Christian brothers and sisters? Are they not human beings as well? Are they not worthy of life? Do they not deserve to be protected?
These questions must be answered whether they like it or not. Yet instead of doing so they are spewing out more and more garbage by the day.
For example in his essay the midget’s dwarf went even further by saying that “a Yoruba ex- Minister who should know better” and who is “being sponsored” held a series of meetings in his Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna where they planned how to effect “a violent attack on others” in Kaduna state.
Though he did not have the courage to mention the name of that Yoruba ex-Minister it is obvious that the dwarf was referring to yours truly.
As a rule I do not respond to hired help and the aides of public office holders no matter how short they are because they are too small for me. This is especially so when they are stunted not just in physical growth but also in mental capacity.
When the midget himself dares to open his mouth and talk rubbish I will give him the full measure of my pen and tongue but I cannot bring myself to the very low level of joining issues with a frustrated dwarf or any of the other hired guns of an embittered and drowning midget.
What I will say to the dwarf however is this. If it was me that he was accusing of having meetings in my Abuja home with various delegations from Southern Kaduna he is absolutely right.
I have many friends in and from Southern Kaduna from both the Shiite Muslim and Christian community who deemed it necessary to pay me a visit in Abuja over the Christmas holidays and tell me about the genocide that they were being subjected to by the Fulani Janjaweed terrorists and military forces, with the full support and knowledge of the midget-in-chief.
I was proud to host them and I will continue to do so whether the little dwarf and his paymaster likes it or not.
I should also mention the fact that at no time did I discuss any violent attack on the Fulani or anyone else in Kaduna state with any of them though I told them plainly that if the government failed in its duty to protect them they must go ahead and defend themselves. That is my view and it will always be my view and I will continue to share it with whoever I deem fit.
For this counsel I have no apology. If it gives the midget governnor and his little dwarf sleepless nights that the people of Southern Kaduna will no longer sit back and allow their loved ones to be slaughtered by their Fulani friends and kinsmen that is their problem. For all I care they can go and hug a transformer or jump in the lagoon. (TO BE CONTINUED).
A top member of the repressive Gambian regime under ousted president Yahya Jammeh has requested refugee protection in Switzerland, Bern's police chief confirmed Wednesday.
Former interior minister Ousman Sonko has been staying in an asylum centre in Bern since November, police chief Hans-Juerg Kaeser said.
Sonko was a key figure of Jammeh's repressive rule, and he ordered the detention and torture of government critics, Gambian opposition politician Alhasana Jobarteh and human rights lawyer Yankuba Darboe told Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
Sonko apparently fell out with Jammeh already before the president was voted out of office in early December.
Jammeh, who ruled the small West African nation for 22 years with an iron fist, had refused to step down.
He finally left for Equatorial Guinea on Saturday, after weeks of pressure from regional leaders.
The Federal Ministry of Health says it has presented essential medicine and vehicles valued at N4.334 billion to Borno State under the Health and Nutrition Emergency Response Initiative Programme.
A statement by Mr Olajide Oshundun, the Assistant Director, Media and Public Relations of the ministry said the presentation was part of the fulfilment of government's promise to support the people of North East.
Oshundun said the handing over of the items coincided with the graduation of 325 volunteered health workers trained by the Federal Ministry of Health in Maiduguri.
He explained that personnel would be deployed to the 25 local government areas of the state that were seriously affected by the activities of Boko Haram insurgency.
Isaac-Adewole
Oshundun quoted the minister of health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, as praising the initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari in providing adequate health care services for Nigerians with the support of the development partners.
He called on the officials of Borno State Ministry of Health and volunteers, to ensure judicious use of the items for the benefit of the people at no cost to them.
"The items should not be sold or found in the market, anyone caught doing that would face the wrath of the law,'' he added.
Oshundun also quoted Gov. Kasim Shettima as promising to put in place structure that would ensure that the items were solely used for the people.
He said the governor thanked the Armed Forces for restoring peace to the state.
On the accidental bombing by the Nigerian Air Force, the governor described it as an act of God, adding that the people had put the incident behind them.
U.S. pop star Madonna has filed for the adoption of two more children from Malawi, a Spokesman for the southern African country's Judiciary on Wednesday said.
"I can indeed confirm that Madonna is interested in adopting two more children from Malawi. Her local lawyers are working on the initial adoption process,'' Mlenga Mvula said.
Madonna's four children already include two from Malawi, David Banda and Mercy James.
Mvula declined to disclose the names of the children that Madonna was interested in adopting, saying that some issues governing an adoption process were kept confidential to protect the children's interests.
Madonna
The spokesman said that a court in the capital Lilongwe, the current guardians of the children and the government would all be involved.
"One cannot predict the outcome of the process. It is the court which will have a final say on whether Madonna should adopt two more children from Malawi or not,'' he added.
Madonna has created a non-governmental organization, Raising Malawi, to support orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi.
She has also sponsored schools and hospitals in the country.
In 2014, President Peter Mutharika appointed her as Malawi's ambassador for child welfare.
Mutharika's predecessor Joyce Banda, however, had a stormy relationship with the singer, whom she accused of having bad manners and of expecting an exaggerated gratitude from Malawians.
Mr Chao Xiaoliang, Consul-General of the People's Republic of China in Lagos, on Wednesday said that thousands of Chinese were leaving Nigeria for the Chinese New Year celebration.
Chao stated this in Lagos that the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, was an official public holiday for all Chinese nationals to reunite.
According to him, the Chinese New Year is a memorable celebration that any Chinese, irrespective of location and engagement, cannot afford to miss.
"Already, many Chinese in Nigeria, like all other Chinese all over the world, have started leaving Nigeria for their different places in China for the 2017 Chinese New Year.
"For the past 3,000 years, Chinese nationals, wherever they are, are expected to return home to celebrate this enjoyable New Year with their families and friends.
"It is a period for all Chinese to celebrate a year of hard work,have a good rest, relax with family, as well as wish for a lucky and prosperous New Year,'' he said.
Chao also said that some Chinese business owners, who wanted to use the New Year Celebration to celebrate their business successes with their Chinese employees in Nigeria, had started arriving.
The Envoy said that the celebration would usually commence with the decoration of every Chinese street and buildings with red, as the red colour was the main New Year Celebration colour.
Chao also said that it was common practice during the celebration, to see red lanterns hung in streets and red couplets pasted on doors, as symbols of the year's prosperity.
He said that the celebration would include the families' New Year Eve dinner, known as Reunion Dinner,'' the presentation of red envelopes with money as gifts, the setting off fireworks, wearing of new clothes.
"Let me say that this period is really a period for us Chinese to enjoy ourselves, because we have been working all through the year.
"Every Chinese, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or other religious believers, must usually create time to reunite with their families and friends during the New Year celebration,'' Chao said.
The consul-general, who recalled with nostalgia, how his father on this occasion used to give him and his siblings money in red envelopes, congratulated Chinese nationals in Nigeria for the celebration.
Chao also congratulated Nigerians for making it into this year, adding that Nigerians and Chinese nationals would continue to strengthen cultural relations between them in the New Year.
Physically- challenged Innocent Ntia has appealed to Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom to fulfill the promise of automatic employment.
Wheel chair bound Ntia made the appeal at the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Uyo on Wednesday.
He said the governor promised to offer him automatic employment during the first anniversary of the Family Empowerment and Youth Re-orientation Programme (FEYReP)
He said "FEYReP is Mrs Martha Emmanuel's pet project aimed at improving the lives of the youths in the state.
"I was privileged to be a beneficiary of their programme and was given a wheel chair on June 2, 2016 in one of FEYReP's projects tagged: "Right to Rise."
Ntia, who is a 2010 graduate of Policy Studies/Administration of University of Calabar, said the governor made the promise on Sept. 24, 2016 during the first anniversary of FEYReP.
Gov Emmanuel Udom
"After my presentation, the governor ordered the Head of Service, Mrs Ekereobong Akpan, to announce an automatic employment for me.
"The governor made the offer after I had told him I am a 2010 graduate of Policy Studies Administration from the University of Calabar and a Diploma holder in Local Government Administration in 2005.
"When the Head of Service made the pronouncement, she ordered my credentials and other data to be collected that I will be invited immediately for documentation", Ntia said.
"I have not heard anything from him since the promise. As I speak with you, I am just coming from the office of the HoS; I was told that Wednesday was not visitors' day.''
Ntia attributed his condition to accident he had on April 3, 2013 while on a church mission to Edo State, adding that he had been on wheel chair since then.
"My wife left me after the accident in 2013. Life has not been easy since then and appealed to the governor to use his good offices to help him out of the difficult situation.
Africa’s leading engineering firm, Kresta Laurel, has been named among the three best performers on Major Projects in 2016 at the on-going 2017 KONE Conference holding in Dubai, UAE.
Kresta Laurel Limited was also named as one of the seven certified KONE Service Partners while the company was also re-certified as an authorized KONE distributor in Nigeria. 36 KONE distributors covering 57 countries were present at the conference.
Kresta Laurel is the brain behind most of the prestigious buildings in Nigeria such as UNION Bank, UBA, First Bank, SHELL Petroleum, Chevron and Bank of Industry Headquarters in Lagos. Other buildings using the technologically advanced KONE Elevators installed by Kresta Laurel Limited are the Central Bank Headquarters, Julius Berger Plc Headquarters, United Nations Country Office, ECOWAS Headquarters, National Assembly and the Petroleum Trust Development Fund Headquarters all in Abuja among many others across the country.
Founded in 1990 by Engr. Gbenga Daniel, the company grained prominence as the foremost elevator, escalator, crane and electromechanical firm in Nigeria. In 2010 it was awarded with the African Order of Merit in Cranes, Escalators & Elevator Technology by the Institute of Government Research and Leadership Technology, in 2013, Kresta Laurel won CFI.co Customer Satisfaction Award and the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System certified in 2014.
The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) says it has completed preparation for commercialisation of three of its research findings.
The FMST Minister, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, made this known in an interview in Abuja.
Onu said that the ministry had recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with May and Baker Nigeria Plc on commercialisation of some nutraceutical and therapeutic food products.
Nutraceuticals is a broad term used to describe any product derived from food sources with extra health benefits, in addition to the basic nutritional value found in foods.
Therapeutic is a medical treatment of any kind, the results of which are judged to be desirable and beneficial.
According to him, two of the technologies developed by Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), an institute under the ministry are currently of interest to the management of May and Baker Nigeria Plc.
Onu
Onu said that nutraceutical and therapeutic food products were developed under the institute's Health and Nutrition Research Programme.
"The products have been evaluated and found to be potent in eliminating or reducing the effect of health and nutrition challenges confronting the Africa continent.
"May and Baker Nigeria Plc is chosen based on its integrity and effort to promote health sector globally, " he said.
Onu revealed that the nutraceutical product, a food supplement, had been fully analysed scientifically, tested and found potent for managing sickle cell anaemia.
He said that detailed scientific studies had been carried out on the product.
The minister said the product would help in alleviating pains of over 40 million people among the black race suffering from sickle cell disease.
He said that the Ready-to-Use Therapeutical Food basically from indigenous raw materials would be useful for treating Severe Acute Malnutrition.
Onu said that the third MoU that was signed was meant to provide a strategic guide for the collaboration between the FMST, Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi and Nasco Foods Ltd., Jos.
He said that the MoU was on commercial production of High Nutrient Density Biscuit.
"The initiative was also an innovation of FIIRO for the National School Feeding Programme in the spirit of the Public-Private Partnership promoted by the Federal Government of Nigeria,'' he said.
By Abdulwahab Abdulah & Ikechukwu Nnochiri ABUJA — THE Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday, said it was perturbed that standard of justice administered in the country had fallen.
NBA, which is the umbrella body of lawyers in the country, maintained that the challenges confronting the legal profession, such as regulation, must be tackled urgently to ensure the protection of public interest.
Meanwhile, some lawyers, yesterday, agreed with the NBA, saying combating the challenges was long over due. The association, through its National President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, yesterday, inaugurated a 23-man Legal Profession Regulation Review Committee.
The committee, which has 11 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, as members, is headed by Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN. It said: "We are concerned that for too long the relevant and appropriate authority failed or neglected to address the issues of regulatory gaps and challenges that are daily militating against the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria.
"It is one thing to identify what the challenges are; it is another to tackle the challenges head on with a view to providing solutions. The NBA has decided to tackle these challenges. The NBA is now more determined to play a major role in ensuring a better regulated legal profession in Nigeria.
"We believe that the first step is to provide a platform to discuss and interrogate the current regulatory regime and come up with recommendations on the way forward. "There is no doubt that the legal profession in Nigeria is facing a plethora of challenges and we must move quickly to address these challenges, if we are to maintain high standards and remain relevant in the increasingly globalized legal services industry."
Addressing the challenges, long over due — Lawyers Commenting on the committee, a Lagos lawyer, Nnaemeka Boniface and the Executive Director, Free Advocacy Group, Omodara Sulaiman, described it as a step in the right direction.
Boniface said: "The decision of the NBA to put the committee up is well over due. There is no doubt that the standard of the justice delivery system has fallen. However, the issue goes beyond the NBA, it is something that needs to be attended to by all critical stakeholders including the Bench and even the lawmakers.
"The association can only jump start our rediscovery process but it has to involve other stakeholders to achieve excellenct result. I agree that urgent step has to be taken."
Sulaiman, also a lawyer, said: "For the NBA to decide to do this is almost belated. The reason is not far-fetched. If you look at the entire system, some of the leading figures in the legal profession contributed to the fallen standard.
"What do I mean? Majority of the practitioners know the right thing but they will chose to the opposite. Some of them are those that consult judges while they are supposed to be preparing for their cases.
“Why won't the standard not fall? So, all hands must be on deck to achieve success and improve the practice of law in Nigeria."
By Michael Eboh ABUJA— THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, said General Electric, GE, is proposing to invest in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.
NNPC, in a statement in Abuja, disclosed that GE made its intentions known in its presentation to the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr. Maikanti Baru, and his team. GE stated that its teams of partners, including its consortium involving the Engineering, Procurement and Construction, EPC, partners, off-takers, traders and some financiers would be engaged in the initiative.
Leading a high powered delegation to the NNPC Towers, Jeff Immelt, GE Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said: "We were involved in the tenders that started last year which was subsequently withdrawn but our commitment to bringing the refineries on-stream is still very deep and we are very serious about it."
Immelt also pledged GE's readiness to work with the NNPC to make production in the off-shore fields profitable for the benefit of both companies and other stakeholders, expressing the hope to consolidate on its existing working relationship with the corporation to expand the prevailing power business and help NNPC achieve its vision of becoming the leading power company in Nigeria.
Welcoming the GE team to the NNPC, Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr. Maikanti Baru, expressed delight in the interest GE had to intervene in some vital operational areas of the Corporation.
By Mike Ebonugwo, Prince Osuagwu, Emmanuel Elebeke, Princewill Ekwujuru & Favour Ulebor LAGOS —THE Federal Government has questioned the shooting of the Sunday’s relaunch of Big Brother Naija in South Africa, provoking mixed reactions. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has directed the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the reported shooting of the ongoing reality show in South Africa.
The minister, yesterday, directed the NBC to determine whether MultiChoice, by shooting the show in South Africa, has breached the Nigerian Broadcasting Code in any way, as well as the issue of possible deceit, since the viewing public was never told that the event would be staged outside Nigeria.
He, however, warned that “as a country of laws, only the outcome of the investigation will determine our next line of action.” Mohammed appealed to concerned Nigerians, who he said had bombarded his office with calls, complaining about the alleged anomaly (of shooting outside the country a show meant for Nigerians), to remain calm while the NBC investigates the issue and submits its findings.
Nigerians react Many Nigerians have condemned the decision of the organisers to take the show outside the shores of the country, claiming that it was nothing short of capital flight for a company that makes 90 percent of its revenue from Nigeria.
However, it was not all criticisms for the company as some Nigerians contended that the government should not bother itself with business decisions of a private company but rather put infrastructure that would attract investors to the country.
Reacting to the matter, veteran actor and director, Bimbo Manuel, said someone needs to explain what informed the decision of the company to take the filming of the reality show out of the country.
"Is it for technical reasons, shortage of competent hands, political or economic reasons? I am not for any punitive measure against anyone involved in the process but to listen, study and understand whatever reasons they give and use it to grow our local industry. We may consider deterrents but uninformed reactions will not help the industry," he said.
A foremost film producers in the country and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Association of Movie Producers, Chief Eddie Ugbomah, described the choice of shooting the reality show in South Africa as an insult on Nigerians.
"I have been shouting following the ugly activities of South African companies in Nigeria in the past eight years. The reality TV show, which they organised about three months ago, called Nigeria Voice was shot in South Africa, but they made us to believe that it was shot in Nigeria. This is an insult on the country," Ugbomah remarked.
Govt should should fine solution to current recession But popular film director, Lancelot Imasuen, was indifferent to the matter. He said: "It's absolute nonsense. Do they even realise that Multichoice is a private business concern? Are they not paying tax? Do you know what it cost to run a production office daily as a result of the darkness we found ourselves in Nigeria?"
Also, founder and president of Leadership Watch, a non-governmental organisation, Dr Martins Iwuanyanwu, queried the priority of government's action in this regard. According to him, "the Federal Government should concern itself with more pertinent issues of governance than why MultiChoice should choose South Africa as a location to shoot its programme.”
Mr Muyiwa Akintunde,Chief Executive Officer and Lead Consultant at Leap Communications, shares the same sentiment, while describing the decision as a populist move by government to distract the attention of Nigerians from more pressing issues bothering the country.
But Dr Sunny Awhefeada, Head, Department of English and Literary Studies, Delta State University, endorsed government’s decision to probe Multi-Choice. According to him, "I pitch my tent with the Federal Government in its decision. Big Brother Nigeria is a Nigerian project which is expected to project our people, culture and other relevant attributes. So, why do the shooting in South Africa? We have the population, we have the market. So, taking it to South Africa does not make economic or cultural sense.”
It’ll enable us achieve high production —MultiChoice However, in its response, MultiChoice, the organisers of the Big Brother Naija Reality TV show said hosting the show in South Africa would enable it achieve high production and meet timelines.
A statement by Caroline Oghuma on behalf of the company, explained that the shooting of the show in South Africa would enable it use its fully equipped house.
