Nigeria Comedian: Nigeria Is The Best Place To Come From On Earth (Video)

The Best Comedian of The Year So Far Have Said It All That Nigeria Is The Best Place, And Best Country To Come From, That She Is Proud To Be a Nigeria.  She Has Described The Various Places And Different Ethnic Groups In Nigerian That Make It Fun and The Best Place To Come From. So Guys If You  Are Not a Nigeria Start Thinking Of Becoming One or What do you think?
See video below......

Post by Naija Gbedu.

Abuja court sentences Lebanese to life imprisonment for terrorism

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Talal Ahmad Roda, one of the three Lebanese men arrested in May 2013 in connection with illegal possessions of weapon, to life imprisonment. Mr Roda was arrested after a large cache of arms was found in a bunker during a raid on his residence. He was found guilty of all 5 counts of illegal possession of weapons and conspiracy.

Two other men, Mustapha Fawaz, the owner Amigo Supermarket in Abuja and Abdallah Tahini, who were also charged with possession of illegal weapons, were set free by the court.

Sylva, New PDP members in Bayelsa defect to APC

There are strong indications that a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva and his loyalists in the New Peoples Democratic Party, have finally dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress.

Sylva, who was denied a second term ticket by the PDP, was said to have taken the decision as a last resort to return to political relevance. The former governor was conspicuous in all the gatherings of the New PDP that culminated in the merger of the splinter group, including five PDP governors with the APC on Tuesday.

He also posed for pictures along with the defecting members of the PDP after the merger was concluded in Abuja.

A source close to Sylva, but craving anonymity, said the former governor had toed the path of his leaders in the  New PDP.

The source said, “His fate is known. You know he was a principal member of the  New PDP and he was involved in all the meetings and negotiations before the merger.

“He contributed in midwifing the process. If the  New PDP has joined the APC and ceases to exist, it means he has also joined the APC. He cannot back out of the decision of the New PDP.

“Also, you remember that PDP dumped Sylva and denied him despite all the sacrifices he made for the party including his contributions to the election of President Goodluck Jonathan. So, if Sylva and other like-minded people decided to dump the party for APC, his action is justified.”

He also said what could have constituted an obstacle to Sylva’s defection to APC had been removed.

The source said, “You know Sylva has a case in the Court of Appeal against his unlawful denial by PDP to contest for a second term. That would have been a hindrance for him to follow the decision of the  New PDP.

“But after due consultations with his legal team, his lawyers said the coast was clear for him since what was happening now had no bearing on the case. All the papers for the matter had been filed by the parties and this new development cannot affect the case.”

It was gathered that the new development had caused some ripples in the state chapter of the PDP with fears that some known political office holders in the state could defect to APC with Sylva.

FG gives ASUU one-week ultimatum to end strike

The Federal Government has directed all federal university vice-chancellors   to reopen their institutions  for academic and allied activities. The government also declared that lecturers who fail to resume on or before December 4, would lose their jobs. The Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, stated this at a news conference  in Abuja on Thursday. The development which elicited mixed reactions, has consequently put the President Goodluck Jonathan-ASUU leaders truce meeting in  jeopardy.

 The meeting had raised the hopes of students and parents on the  resolution of the crisis but an accident on November 12,  in which a former President of ASUU, Prof Festus  Iyayi, lost his life, cast  gloom on the calling off of the strike.

Iyayi and some   members of the University of Benin chapter of the union were on their way  to the  Bayero University,  Kano for  a meeting where the outcome of the meeting with Jonathan was to be tabled before the NEC members’ for consideration.

Due to Iyayi’s death, ASUU  called off  the meeting  but  reconvened penultimate Thursday in Kano   where it harmonised its members’ position on the   offer by government.

The  union, as part of its conditions for calling off the strike,  demanded  the payment of its members’ salary arrears and a commitment on   the part of the government to  review  the agreement in 2014.

They also requested the release of the N200bn promised for this year as a condition for suspending  the strike.

ASUU had in a  letter issued after  its NEC  meeting on November 22,  demanded the following:

- that the N200bn agreed upon as 2013 revitalisation fund for public universities should  be deposited with the CBN  and disbursed to the benefiting universities within two weeks;

-  that the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement in 2014 be included in the final document as agreed at the discussion with the President;

- that a non-victimisation clause, which is normally captured in all interactions of this nature, be included in the final document; and

- that a new memorandum of understanding shall be validly endorsed; signed by a representative of government, preferably the Attorney-General of the Federation, and a representative of ASUU, with the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress as a witness.

The letter dated November 25, 2013 which was addressed to President Jonathan through Wike was obtained by The PUNCH on Thursday. (See the letter at the end of  this story).

But as students, parents and other stakeholders  awaited the government’s decision on the demands, Wike warned ASUU members  to  resume  on December  4 or be sacked.

To clearly indicate government’s  seriousness, the supervising Minister of Education  advised the vice-chancellors to advertise the positions of those who failed  to resume.

He said, “Vice-chancellors should ensure that staff who resume for work are provided with the enabling environment for academic and allied activities.

“Any academic employee who fails to resume on or before   December 4, 2013 automatically ceases to be an employee of the institution.

“Vice-chancellors are also directed to advertise vacancies (internal and external) in their institutions.

“The National Universities Commission is hereby directed to monitor the compliance of these directives by the various institutions.”

Wike said the government took the decision in the best interest of the country.

He  recalled  the meetings with the ASUU  leadership, including one with  Vice-President Namadi Sambo   where the contentious issues of earned academic allowances and funding for the revitalisation of the universities were discussed .

  Wike, who expressed surprise that ASUU returned to the government with “unacceptable new conditions”, said, “Government does not operate that way.”

He said  Jonathan’s gesture was more than sufficient to guarantee the commitment of government to address all issues resolved at the meeting with the union.

The government was also not comfortable with the union’s request that the AGF should sign the MOU  and that there should be a renegotiation of the agreement in 2014.

Wike said, “To start with, the agreement you (ASUU) said the Federal Government should comply with, was it the AGF  that signed it? It  was signed by the Federal Ministry of Education led by the Permanent Secretary. The AGF  was not even part of the negotiation.

“We have made every effort to see that   students go back to  their schools. Each time government made frantic effort, you would hear one reason or the other(from ASUU). For us, we cannot continue to see this thing happens. We will continue to make sure that we stick to  all we have agreed to do.

“If you cannot believe Mr. President, then who would you discuss with again? Mr. President cannot sit down for 13 hours having a discussion and at the end of the day the only thing you can do is to attach some new conditions.

“I don’t think that is acceptable to us. All we have promised them, we are going to do; we won’t go back. But bringing new conditions, we don’t think it is favourable. We don’t think it is for the good of this country.”

To pacify the lecturers, Wike said  the government had increased their  initial N30bn  earned academic allowance by extra N10bn.

He said the  government also offered N200bn  for the next six years as funding to the universities with a request for  them  to draw their priority list  based on  the need assessment report on universities.

 “We all agreed. ASUU said we should put the resolution down. That was done and signed by the permanent secretary,” he said.

The supervising  minister said the government had reviewed the entire situation and came to the conclusion  that the continuation of the strike  was an attempt by ASUU to sabotage all efforts to address the issues.

“As a responsible government, we cannot allow the continuous closure of our public universities for this length of time as this poses danger to the education system, the future of our youths and national development”, he added.

Asked if the decision to compel the lecturers to resume work  had no legal implication, Wike replied, “Leave legal implication for us. We have weighed all options and I  think government has done all it is supposed to do.

“The Federal Government has met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the 2009 Agreement. We appeal to all stakeholders to appreciate the position of the government which is in the best interest of our dear country.”

- FG’s threat’ll fail –ASUU

But ASUU’s   National Treasurer, Dr. Ademola, Aremu,   said  the ultimatum to  the university teachers   had shown that the  government  was  not committed to implementing any of the resolutions it reached with the union.

  Aremu expressed   shock that the government could have such a plan when  there was a shortfall of 60,000 lecturers in the nation’s universities .

 He added that the threat would not hinder the union’s determination to ensure that  the  universities were  well funded.

The ASUU   chief added,   “It is a pity if the Federal Government is not willing to perfect the resolutions reached with the union. This is why we find it difficult to trust our leaders by their words.

“How can someone be threatening to sack lecturers when universities are already short-staffed by almost 60,000. We are not in a military era. The military tried it and failed. This one will fail again. They can re-open the schools. ASUU did not shut the universities. It was their  management that ordered the students to go back home.

“With the latest action, the government has shown that it is  not committed to all it has  been saying. We are saying that since we agreed at the meeting that N200bn is for 2012 and 2013 revitalisation, the government should deposit same in the Central Bank of Nigeria .

“ We are already in November and December is around the corner. If they don’t do that now, when do they want to do it?

“We are saying  that  a non-victimisation clause should be included as agreed while the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement should be included as agreed with the President.”

He flayed  Wike for  alleging that  ASUU  was making outrageous demands from the government.

“Government should address the issue we sent to them in the letter and we are not demanding extra kobo. Under the military,  the threat to sack lecturers   did not work. What the current government has done  is another long path to make the strike linger  than necessary,” Aremu added.

- SSANU  warns  of  strike

But as Wike and the ASUU national treasurer  were  talking tough in Abuja and Ibadan, the Senior Staff Association of Universities was also threatening to embark on strike over the possible implementation of the NEEDS Assessment Report.

 SSANU   expressed the  fear that the  government could be forced to reduce workforce in the universities if  the report was implemented.

The Chairman of the Western Zone of  the association, Alfred Jimoh,   warned at a news conference in Ibadan, Oyo State,     that any attempt by the  government  to do so could lead to another strike in the education sector.

He said the report was targeting members of the association by the claim that the system was top-heavy.

Jimoh said non-teaching  members of staff of the universities had not enjoyed what their colleagues in the academics had  profited from.

He added,  “It has been a common knowledge that the non-teaching staff of public universities constitute endangered species of the very hostile environment, in which they found themselves. With my position in the association  and the privileged information at my disposal, I will like to say that the adjective “endangered species” is even mild to describe the precarious situation of the non-teaching staff of the universities.

“As it were, the elite members of the university community, the teaching members of  staff have finally gone for the broke, by goading the government to empanel a one-sided committee, comprising their members only, to conduct a NEEDS Assessment of the Nigerian public universities and produce a pre-determined report with a damming and damaging recommendation on the non-teaching staff of the university system.”

Jimoh said the report among other things, claimed that the numerical strength of the non-teaching  members of staff constituted the major conduit that drained the scarce financial resources  of the universities.

“We frown on this as the report fails to match up the numerical strength of the various categories of members of  staff with the quantum of fund being expended on them in terms of salaries, wages and training finances

Protest: Soldiers, police bar Buhari, Tinubu, others from INEC office

A combined team of security operatives including soldiers and riot policemen on Thursday stopped the leaders of the All Progressives Congress from gaining entrance to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja.

The leaders were on a peaceful protest march against the commission’s handling of the November 16 Anambra State governorship election and other forms of electoral irregularities in the country.

As early as 8.30 am, members of the party across the states had converged on its new secretariat in Wuse 2 in the Federal Capital Territory where a strategic meeting which lasted over three hours was held ostensibly to map out ways to go about the planned protest.

Although none of the rebel governors was present, the APC leaders took to the streets and embarked on a walk protest to INEC’s office in Maitama Distict.

They however met a stiff resistance from stern-looking security operatives from a combined team of the police, army, State Security Services  and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

An Armoured Personnel Carrier with Registration Number NPF 6359 C measuring about 40 feet long was used to barricade the entrance to the commission’s office, while the driver of the truck (a police officer, with the rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police) was pelted with sachets of pure water by the APC youths.

But despite this resistance, the party members stole the show and left their message.

Those in attendance at the protest march included the party’s national leader and a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; a former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd);  ex- Governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo;  a former member of the House of Representatives and Executive Secretary of Anti-Corruption Network, Otunba Dino Melaye; and former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba.

Others are a former Governor of Zamfara State, Senator Sani Yerima; a former national Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; Senator Oluremi Tinubu; a member of the House of Representatives, Ms. Abike Dabiri; Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajiabiamila; Mr. Pally Iriase, among others.

In their separate speeches, Akande, Tinubu; Onu and Buhari demanded the sacking of INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega with immediate effect because of his roles in the Oguta election in Imo State and the recent Delta State senatorial election.

In his speech, Tinubu said the party leadership came “to serve warning signal to INEC.”

He said, “As an institution,  INEC does not represent the interest of Nigeria. They are all compromised electoral officers. They have committed criminal offences by rigging elections in Nigeria. The electoral commissioners represent 90 per cent of card-carrying members of PDP. We are calling for the dissolution of INEC immediately.

“With the amendment of the electoral law, they have never complied with the Uwais report. They rig, after rigging, because we condone them; they are used in sharing the election, and for the promotion of corruption. We are rejecting in totality the predetermined result of the rigging in Anambra State, the Delta State Senatorial election and the Oguta House House of Assembly election. They thought they would keep us lamenting. No, we are no more in lamentation.”

Tinubu also told the police to beware. “If the Nigeria Police have become the armed wing of the PDP, let us know. That is the way you are behaving. If the Nigerian Army is now demonstrating their patriotic sense to only one party, they should serve us notice and let us know.  This nonsense must stop. APC will stop the rigging.  From now on, you must rig and roast. God bless Nigeria.”

According to Buhari, APC’s letter to INEC was the party’s demand to the institution to “do away with the election in Anambra State that was conducted and calling for the cancellation of the election totally and fixing of another day for the election.”

For Akande, the letter was APC’s protest against the rigging of Anambra State election.

He said, “We are against the rigging of Delta State senatorial election. We are against the rigging of Oguta House of Assembly election. And our coming is to ask Nigerians to support us to stop rigging in Nigeria. There is poverty in Nigeria because of fraud.

Onu said, “The APC will put an end to this. We need free and fair elections in our county. Why is PDP afraid of free and fair elections? Why are they afraid of the people?”

The APC in its letter to INEC chairman signed by Akande stated that prior to the date for the Anambra State governorship election, “the ominous signs of an election that was pre-determined to favour specific interests against the wish of the electorate were already clear.”

The APC therefore demanded “an outright cancellation of the Anambra election, having been marred by serious irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.”

The party also called on INEC to, among others, “discard the present fake multiple voter registers and produce one authentic voter register that will not disenfranchise any voter and be published 30 days before any election can take place in Anambra State.”

Creating a better business environment

ON the surface, Nigeria’s business environment is showing promising signs of improvement. Foreign Direct Investment (N3.2 trillion in the last three years) is flowing in as the country has become one of the most open countries to foreign equity ownership. Yet, look closer; the business climate is as flabby and feeble as ever. This at least, is the verdict of the World Bank report entitled, Doing Business 2014. It ranks Nigeria’s operating terrain at 147 out of the 189 countries ranked, a decline from the 138th position of 2013.  What is wrong?

Long before the World Bank once more confirmed Nigeria’s lowly ranking late last month as an unpleasant place to do business, it has been glaring to investors that the country has a very difficult operating environment. In a country where electricity, access to finance and transport still constitute main obstacles to running a business, unemployment rate of 23 per cent, which rises to 50 per cent among youths, is an inescapable return.

Start with electricity. Nigeria ranks 185th out of 189 countries in “Getting Electricity.” The atrocious power situation is a fact of life in Nigeria, with total generating capacity fluctuating between 4,000 megawatts and 4,300MW, with the shortfall adding significantly to the cost of products and services. This is unacceptable in a country that boasts a population of 170 million and requires a minimum 15,000MW. Although the Federal Government has just taken the right decision by finally partly privatising the power sector, poor electricity supply remains the main hindrance to doing business in Nigeria.

As a result, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said “at least 800 companies closed shop between 2009 and 2011, due to the harsh operating business environment.” Expressing frustration with the situation, NACCIMA rightly added, “The manufacturing industry as a whole operates on more than 70 per cent of energy it generates, using generators; and operating these generators greatly increases the cost of manufacturing goods.” This explains why FDI into Nigeria has been so poor in the productive sectors.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said Nigeria achieved its highest FDI inflow of $9.92 billion in 2005, but this dropped to $6.1 billion in 2010. Although Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stated that Nigeria attracted an FDI of $20 billion (or maximum of $7 billion per year) in the last three years, it is a trifle when compared with the annual global FDI figure of $1.24 trillion in 2010. Moreover, oil and gas, which typically employs less than other productive sectors, accounted for a large chunk.

In spite of the fact that it is now easier to register a business outfit with the Corporate Affairs Commission, the World Bank study puts Nigeria in the 122nd position for 2014 for “Starting a Business.” With land speculators hanging around everywhere and state and local government officials routinely demanding bribes to process files, it is easy to see why the country ranked so poorly. Other factors responsible for the unpleasant business milieu are difficulty in getting construction permits (151 out of 189); multiple taxation (170); registering property (185); and enforcing contracts (136). With kidnapping and armed robbery rife in the South, and the Boko Haram terror campaign in the North, insecurity is also a major drawback to doing business in the country. Things have got to change!

There are enormous challenges confronting us today as a nation, so says the Institute of Directors Nigeria. This should be of grave concern to Jonathan and his cabinet. Nigeria, mislabelled the “giant of Africa,” should do everything to attain the position of smaller African nations like Rwanda (32); South Africa (41); Tunisia (51); and Ghana (67) by reversing the negative indices with the right policies. The frustrating penchant for policy reversals, which is a disincentive to FDI, must stop. An example is the delay Manitoba, a Canadian firm, experienced in taking over the Transmission Company of Nigeria in spite of the fact that a management agreement had been signed between the firm and the Federal Government, as well as the recent sudden increase in import tariffs on cars.

The World Bank advises that for the economy to grow and create the much-needed jobs, FDI is critical, especially in railways, power, oil and gas, mining and road infrastructure. President Goodluck Jonathan’s main task is to reform the key areas of the economy such as agriculture, and make sure that the ongoing power sector reform process is followed through transparently and properly regulated like when the Nigerian Communications Commission superintended the liberalisation of the telecommunication sector in 2001. Nigeria should ease the pains of doing business by emulating countries like China, India, Brazil and Indonesia, who have converted their huge populations into an advantage that has helped launch them as major players in the global economy.

The government clearly still has plenty to do. Without playing politics with the report, Jonathan’s economic team has to dispassionately examine the critical issues raised in the report and proffer a way out of the mess. The major culprits responsible for the country’s harsh business climate are well known. As the economy’s minders are aware, it is private capital, both local and foreign, that can drive the economy. The real challenge will be how to tame the corruption dragon that has short-changed effective infrastructure development and shut out clean investors from the country’s crooked business milieu.

This is the way to reverse our poor rating in the area of doing business: having a liberalised, private-sector driven economy, while also cutting waste in government, firmly addressing endemic corruption and investing massively in infrastructure.

Fake drug traffickers deserve life jail

COUNTERFEIT drug traffickers and food dealers who indulge in fakery are mass murderers. They are treated as such in developed countries of the world. But in Nigeria, weak regulation and corruption have conspired to encourage a boom in the illicit trade. This has endangered many lives and killed not a few.

The alarming rate of the deadly trade recently prompted the House of Representatives to begin the process of amending Sections 3 and 10 of the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods Act, 2004, with a view to prescribing life imprisonment for those caught in the act, or be made to pay a fine not exceeding N10 million. The extant law is not deterrent enough. Tightening the noose on these merchants of death has, therefore, become necessary and should be speedily done.

Reports indicate that the racket is worth more than $75 million in the Nigerian market, and the felons are becoming more sophisticated, devising new methods and adopting global strategies to keep themselves off the radar of law enforcement agents. The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Paul Orhii, admits that the phenomenon is the “biggest challenge” facing the agency. He stresses that stringent sanctions against the traffickers will provide additional impetus to the crusade against the vice.

 An apt picture of the lethal result of counterfeit drug is the My Pikin syrup saga, which resulted in the deaths of about 80 children in 2008. The medication, which was used for treating sore gums in teething babies, was contaminated with engine coolant, diethylene glycol. Of the three suspects linked with the disaster, two were sentenced to seven years jail term each, while the third accused died while facing trial.

A former DG of NAFDAC, Dora Akunyili, had raised our national consciousness about the dangers of drug counterfeiting by the zest with which she fought the battle, especially against dealers at Onitsha market in Anambra State. She almost lost her life in the process. But NAFDAC’s passion for the war has waned considerably after Akunyili’s exit. However, NAFDAC under Orhii has introduced the use of cutting-edge technologies in dealing with the challenge. Some drugs are now Mobile Authentication Service Enabled, with a unique 10-digit PIN. The panel is scratched and the buyer texts the 10-digit number to 38353 for an immediate reply that confirms the authenticity, or otherwise, of the drug. Many pharmaceutical companies should be made to embrace this technology because of its effectiveness in addressing this challenge.

So pervasive is drug imitation in the country that doubts about the efficacy of many drugs on sale is prevalent. Researchers’ test of 13 brands of artesunate-amodiaquine combinations purchased from pharmacies in Lagos in 2012 revealed that 85 per cent failed to meet US Pharmacopea (a reference work of approved medicines) specifications for one of the actives.  The finding, which was published in African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, noted, “It is a Herculean task to monitor every single batch of every single brand in these poor countries due to lack of quality control infrastructure and limited manpower in the relevant agencies in these countries.”

While the legislative response is imperative in tackling the issue, both NAFDAC and the Federal Government need to do more by taking appropriate steps to stop these fake drugs and their mindless importers at the countries of origin. Asia is the leading global corridor, with India and China as the most notorious for the business. The illegal market accounts for about 30 per cent of drugs consumed globally. A vice-president at Deloitte’s, the global audit and consultancy group, Terry Hisey, says the annual global worth of the illicit market ranges between $50 billion and $200 billion. Consequently, awareness of its fatal upshot is pushing many countries in the developed world to tighten their pharmaceutical regulations.

One of such countries is the United States of America, which recently fined a leading Indian drug maker $500 million after it was found guilty of misrepresenting clinical generic drug data and selling adulterated drugs to the US. Ironically, China, one of the major culprits, has revised its laws too, in a manner that makes more counterfeit drugs manufacturers open to criminal prosecution. There, prison term is mandatory; and in some circumstances, offenders get the death penalty. This was the case with the two men found culpable for the poisonous milk powder that killed at least six babies and sickened about 300,000 others in 2008.

Nigeria should adopt the Chinese approach and do away with monetary penalty as an alternative to jail term. As a money-spinning business, fines can easily be paid, and thus, becomes an incentive to violators to continue with their illegality. The diplomatic tool could also be handy for our country in dealing with this menace. China and India dominate our economic ties with them; therefore, any threat or protest from the Federal Government will strike the right chord. Drug traffickers are, indeed, mass murders. No effort should be spared in protecting Nigerians from these common felons.

‘Plan to expel Oyinlola won’t work’

Suspended National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has said that the recommendations of the Umaru Dikko Committee to suspend him and three others will not stand.

Oyinlola said in a statement by his Principal Secretary, Mr. Femi Adelegan, that  “nobody can build something on nothing; and falsehood on truth.”

Oyinlola asserted that the Disciplinary Committee did not exist by virtue of the fact that its composition was not ratified by the National Executive Committee of the PDP which he said was statutorily empowered to approve the composition of the body.

He said, ‘’They really worked to the answer and with a great speed in their feverish ambition of getting rid of Oyinlola before the hearing of his suit at an Abuja Federal High Court, challenging the validity of illegalities.”

The statement  argued that no sane or decent person would be surprised at the recommendations “of the illegally constituted disciplinary committee, which from the outset, shouldered a heavy burden of legitimacy, integrity, lack of respect for fair play, principles of natural justice and the Rule of Law.”

He said it was patently clear, that the Dikko Committee acted under questionable circumstances as if the PDP was a mere mechanical contraption that could be manipulated without respect for laid down rules and regulations.

The statement added that the pronouncement of the Dikko Committee was a comical show of the absurd that could only erode whatever remained of the credibility of anybody who decided to circumvent regulations and rebuff a law court.

Female pupils sweep laurels at WAEC awards

A pupil from  Osun State leads other girls in the harvest of laurels at this year’s West African Examination Council awards. The Seventeen-year-old Folafoluwa Oginni has emerged the overall best pupil in the May/June 2012 West African Senior School Certificate Examination. She led two other girls to lift the prestigious West African Examinations Council National Distinction/Merit awards.

The Council honoured them during its Nigeria National Committee 51st Annual General Meeting held in Owerri, Imo State on Thursday.

Oginni scored Grade 1 in all her eight subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

By the feat, the Osogbo, Osun State-born lad has become the current holder of WAEC’s national distinction/merit award. The Council instituted the award in 1984 to encourage academic excellence.

Oginni, who attended Our Lady and St. Francis Catholic College, Isale-aro, Osogbo, with examination number 4303013/087, also had Grade 1 in Economics, Government, Literature-in-English, Biology, Christian Religious Knowledge and Yoruba Language. She has a cumulative score of 653.9318.

Born on December 13, 1995, she attended Folorunsho Memorial Nursery and Primary School, Oyan, Odo-Otin Local Government Area between 1999 and 2000 as well as St. Clare’s Nursery and Primary School, Isale-aro, Osogbo between 2001 and 2006.

With two books -The Joy and Agony of Reaping (2005) and the Despised Corner Piece (2008) – already to her credit, the youngster in 2009 came first in the Junior Category of International Digest Competition entitled “Raising IT champions for 2020.”

She also took the first position in the Caremi Essay Competition to mark the 2010 World Mental Health Day.

The young lad, whose feat has made OSCCO to become the 2012 winner of the Omo N’Oba Erediauwa trophy for producing the best female WASSCE candidate, won the second position in the junior category of the NAFDAC Consumer Safety Club Schools Competition in 2009.

She also came second in the competition in 2011 at the SSS category as well as third in the senior category of the International Digest 2010 contest.

Oginni is at present studying Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

On the Council’s second placed National Distinction/Merit award chart is 18-year-old, Oluwakemi Olalude.

Olalude, who garnered a cumulative score point of 649.3797, also obtained Grade 1 in all her eight subjects.

The Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja pupil with examination number 4020617/114, scored Grade 1 in English Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Agricultural Science and the Christian Religious Knowledge.

She had her primary education at Plateau Private School, Jos between 1998 and 2006.

Hitherto, she emerged the LJC’s overall best graduating pupil for the 2005/2006 academic session, carting away prizes in French Language, Social Studies, Mathematics, Music and Vocational Aptitude.

All through her stay at LJC, she was on the college Honours Rolls having maintained an average of above 85 per cent in her subjects. She also won the LJC’s academic award for the best graduating female student of 2012 set.

The youngster, who represented LJC in the 2009 Mathematics Olympiad Competition while in Junior Secondary School Three, scored 11 distinctions and one credit in the Junior Secondary Certificate Examination in the same year.

 Currently studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Ibadan, the youngster born on May 8, 1995 had also emerged the best in a Mathematics competition organised by the Nigerian-Turkish International College for states in Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba.

The third placed position went to Anambra State-born Chinelo Ibekwe. She also obtained Grade 1 in eight subjects, scoring a cumulative point of 647.9675.

She had her pre-primary and primary education at Home Science Primary School, and St. Saviours British Primary School, all in Ikoyi, Lagos, respectively.

Ibekwe, who attended Louisville Girls High School, Ijebu-Itele, Ogun State, scored Grade 1 in English Language, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography and Agricultural Science.

Born on April 17, 1996, the Nimo, Anambra State pupil in 2009 emerged the second best JSCE candidate with 11A’s and 1C. She also obtained the third best International General Certificate of Secondary Education result  in2012, scoring four stars and 2A’s.

The youngster, who received an award in 2012 for being a voluntary student tutor, again in 2011 and 2012 got an award for outstanding achievement in the American Mathematics contest.

She is at present studying Chemical Engineering at the University of Mississippi, United States.

To be considered for the 29-year-old distinction award, a candidate must obtain Grade 1 in at least seven subjects, including English Language, Mathematics, one of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and one subject from any of the three sub-categories of core subjects.

In addition, the candidate must obtain a minimum of Grade 6 in at least one subject from each of the core subject sub-categories.

Candidates are considered under the Merit awards only if enough participants do not qualify for the distinction awards. The eligibility criteria for the Merit awards are the same as those of Distinction awards, except that a candidate must obtain a grade not lower than 2 in English Language.

The results of candidates eligible for an award should have been obtained at the first attempt and at the same sitting. The grades would also have been obtained without any hint of impropriety.

The first National Distinction/Merit awards were presented in Abeokuta, Ogun State in 1985 to the winners in the Nov/Dec. 1984 SC/GCE, with Abdulkadir Sarki-Abba, a pupil of Government Science School, Dawakin-Tofa, Kano State receiving the excellence award.

Since the first presentation, findings by our correspondent showed that pupils from Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos, have won the prestigious award 10 times. By this accomplishment, the school has become the highest-winning institution as well as the highest recipient of the Oba Erediauwa trophy for presenting the best female candidates.

Suleja Academy, Suleja is the second highest-winning institution, picking the prize four times in 1992, 1994, 1997 and 2009, while International School, Ibadan, Oyo State has won it three times in 1987, 2000 and 2004.

Meanwhile, Queen’s College, Yaba has also won the Council’s Augustus Oyediran prize six times, while Loyola Jesuit College, Wuse, Abuja has won it five times in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008.

Suleja Academy, Niger State has won it four times in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997.

The Oyediran trophy is given to the school that has the best aggregate determined on the results of its best 50 candidates in English Language, Mathematics and one science subject.

Result details

Oginni

English Language                 1

Mathematics                          1

Biology                                     1

Economics                              1

Literature in English           1

Government                           1

Christian Religious Knowlegde   1

Yoruba Language                 1

Olalude

English Language                    1

Mathematics                             1

Biology                                        1

Chemistry                                  1

Physics                                        1

Geography                                 1

Christian Religious Knowlegde  1

Agricultural Science             1

Ibekwe

English Language        1

Mathematics                 1

Biology                            1

Chemistry                      1

Physics                            1

Geography                     1

Further Mathematics  1

Agricultural Science   1

Asari-Dokubo Release From Prison

LEADER of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, who was arrested on Tuesday in Cotonou, Benin Republic has been released.

Dokubo was allegedly released around 1am on Thursday after intervention by President Goodluck Jonathan.

His lawyer, Festus Keyamo, confirmed his release.

Meanwhile the Presidency on Thursday described as “blackmail and mischief” media reports that President Jonathan sent a presidential jet to convey Asari-Dokubo to Abuja from Benin Republic where he was initially detained.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, in an interview with State House correspondents said the report was an attempt by some people to package lies as the truth hoping that gullible people would believe them.

Abati said since an aircraft was not a ghost, the movement of any aircraft would be documented adding that “and if it lands anywhere, people will see it.”

He said, “There is no truth in the report that a presidential jet was used to convey Asari Dokubo. Again, what we see here is an attempt by some people to just tell lies and try to package lies as the truth.”

Heartless: Governor Adams Oshiomhole Told a Poor Widow To Go And Die (Photo & Video)

This video below show how a poor widow was pleading the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole to spare her road side business but the governor turned deaf ears commanding his guys to size the poor widow's business. even after enough pleading and crying to the governor he still turn deaf ears, instead he said the poor widow should go and die. see video below.......

Police quiz vice principal, student over Osun school attack

Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Mrs. Dorothy Gimba, on Tuesday interrogated the Vice Principal of Baptist High School, Ejigbo, and a female student of the school over Monday’s attack by some Muslim youths. Some youths had attacked the school on Monday and injured the Principal, Mr. Layi Oguntola, based on the allegation that the principal turned back some Muslim female students of the school for wearing hijab on their uniforms.

A police source told journalists that the CP invited the female student and the VP of the school to the state police headquarters, Osogbo, on Tuesday afternoon.

The source said that the CP interrogated the two and were allowed to go after the session.

The source said, “The female student who was said to have been sent away from the school for wearing hijab was invited. The Vice Principal of the school also came and some religious leaders came with their lawyer.

“The girl and the vice principal were asked some questions and after that they were allowed to go.”

The source added that one person had also been arrested in connection with the attack.

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has appealed to the people of the state not to read any religious meaning to the school reclassification embarked upon by his administration.

Osun State  Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, who spoke in an interview with our correspondent on the development, said that the governor was not happy with the incident.

He said, “All parties affected in this matter should be tolerant. That is the bottom line. We are one in the state and we should not allow anything to divide us.

“The governor means well with the reclassification. It was aimed at reforming the education sector, which was in rot before he assumed office. There was no religious undertone to it as some are claiming.”

Osun principal leaves hospital, denies removing pupil’s hijab

The Principal of Baptist High School, Ejigbo, Osun State, Mr. Layi Oguntola, who was beaten up by some Muslim youths in his office on Monday for allegedly sending away an hijab-wearing pupil, has been discharged from the hospital.

Oguntola had been on admission at the Baptist Medical Centre since Monday when the youths that stormed the school descended on him till Wednesday when he left the hospital.

The principal, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, denied removing hijab from the head of Romoke, the female student at the centre of the crisis.

He said, “The girl did not wear any hijab nor put any hijab in her bag. What she put in her bag is not even my concern except the content is harmful. I did not search her bag; I didn’t send her away from school.

“She was unruly and I caned her. I gave her a punishment to serve but to my surprise, while I was still there she ignored me and was demanding for doughnut from two of her friends.

“I saw this as disrespect and I caned her.  This happened on Wednesday, November 20. The following day her mother came to my office and lambasted me. She promised to cause trouble in the school.

“On Monday, about 250 Muslims youths came to the school and headed straight to my office. They attacked me and turned my office upside down. I was admitted in the hospital. I have been discharged; I am okay partially.”

Meanwhile, Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salaam, has condemned the attack on the principal.

The Speaker, in a statement by his Press Secretary, Mr. Goke Butika, said, “The issue has nothing to do with the school reclassification exercise, but improper way of settling scores with the leadership of the school by some aggrieved persons.

“We should be mindful  of enemies of progress who only want to subvert the school reclassification exercise that has started yielding positive result  by attributing personal scores between  some aggrieved persons and the leadership of the school to the exercise.”

Nursing mother stabs husband to death Over Fried Rice

The police in Lagos have arrested a 33-year-old woman, Biola Gbadamosi, for allegedly murdering her husband, Jamiu, in the Ikorodu area of the state.

According to the police, the suspect, who is a nursing mother, stabbed her husband with a knife during an argument over rice. learnt that the suspect and her husband, who is a Vehicle Inspection Officer, had a history of domestic violence prior to the incident. Biola, who spoke to our correspondent while fighting back tears, said she had no intention of killing her husband, adding that she only stabbed him once on the thigh.

She said, “Jamiu and I dated for four years, but when I got pregnant this year, we did introduction and I started living with him in Idi Iroko, Ikorodu. However, when I was three months pregnant, he started beating me.

“Most times, he takes alcoholic drink and he comes back home drunk and starts beating me for flimsy reasons. He even had a kidney ailment.

“One day, he came home drunk, accused me of infidelity and started beating me. He said he had been told that I was going to poison his food, but I continued to endure. I, however, reported the beatings to his mother and siblings.”

The suspect said after being delivered of a baby in August, she usually went to her family’s house in Somolu from where she would take her baby for post-natal.

She said on September 7, 2013, she returned home with her baby only to have a fight with her husband hours later.

She said, “While I was about leaving my parents’ home, my husband called to say that he was broke and I should make money available for the weekend. When I got home, I started cooking fried rice but my husband, who was drunk, said he did not like it. I jokingly called him a bush man and an argument  ensued.

“While we were arguing, a neighbour, who sells drinks, came into our flat to collect money that we owed her. I was grating carrots with a knife when my husband slapped me and said I must leave his house that night.

“I used the knife I was holding to strike him on the thigh and he started bleeding profusely. The neigbours and I took him to a hospital. At the hospital, I was told that my husband’s injury was not deep, so neighbours said I should take my baby home.”

The suspect told that the next morning; the landlord informed her that her husband died at midnight.

“The matter was reported at the Owutu Police Division and I was arrested,” she said.

The suspect, who claimed to be an Ordinary National Diploma degree holder from Ibadan Polytechnic, insisted that her husband’s killing was not deliberate.

While pleading with the police to show her mercy, she said, “My little baby, Oluwaseyifunmi, is with my husband’s family and I fear that my child will never get to know me if I am sent to prison. My breasts are still filled with milk and no baby to suckle them.”

When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident, the landlord, Theophilus Kalejaiye, said the couple had a history of violence.

Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone, said the matter had been transferred to the State  Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba for further investigation.

If Jonathan has a drinking problem-Abati

The Presidency is not going to confirm whether President Goodluck Jonathan is a tippler or not; this is never going to happen. What is sure is this: the President’s aides will shrilly deny that their boss takes more than a glass of red wine, now and then.

This week, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, launched a visceral attack against purveyors of Jonathan’s alleged habit. It was his second strike. The first time, Abati practically swore that all the intoxicants in Aso Rock were “Red Wine”. This instance, in response to a media report that posited that Jonathan’s recent ill-health in London was the end-stage of a binge indulged in during his 56th birthday bash, Abati fired off an unnecessary diatribe, even threatening legal action.

By now, Abati should know that if one does not wish to be ever carpeted, the solution is to aspire to nothingness. One should never do two things: Never, ever write and do not be President. Insults –public and private — roll with such undertakings. The earlier one shrugs it off with the classic speck-on-my-shoulder pose, and faces the job one is assigned by the public to do, the better for everyone.

Abati’s response was too much Turenchi; enough to make one wonder if there was no truth to the report in the first place.  The Yoruba say when an elder repeatedly states, “it does not matter,” it means there is a matter somewhere.

The matter of Jonathan’s tippling habit did not start via reports of a “Jonathan-hating” media. I have interacted with associates that have also interacted with Jonathan at close range and they say, indeed, he has a blooming relationship with a certain brand of wine. The point, however, must be made that what constitutes overdrinking, is to an extent, subjective, especially when ethnic stereotyping impacts the manner we sum certain predilections executed by people who have been marked with such a behaviour.

Stereotypes are part of every cultural fabric that we cannot easily do away with. This makes determined habits take on a higher resonance when carried out by a member of a group we associate with particular labels. For instance, an Akwa Ibom/Cross River woman has to contend with the clichéd musings of indomitable coital dexterity in a way a Yoruba woman would not. An average Igbo man bears the burden of an image of an inordinate capitalist, driven to accumulate material wealth by any means necessary. The Yoruba is considered slick while the northerner (all grouped into the “Aboki” trope) is an oaf, a terrorist or a sick mind that covets prepubescent girls.

Please note, stereotypes are not always devoid of reality but the problem is that they turn into self-fulfilling prophecies. They lock a people into defined cultural traits without considering individual divergences. Anyone who does not conform to stereotypes is not seen for their humanity but as acting out of type.

In the case of Jonathan, a man from the Niger Delta, he is easily tagged a tippler because that is part of the stereotype of folk from riverine homelands. But do they actually drink more than the rest of Nigeria? We can ask breweries to give us consumption data but that will not go far enough. The issue is not so much about how they drink but what they are said to drink. Moonshines — a.k.a. Ogogoro, Sapele Water, Wuru — is the stimulant associated with them. The crudeness of this local brew — with its high ethanol concentration — is superimposed on Niger Deltans to give a distorted picture of a crude classless people who not only lack the refinement of high culture but are, also, on a self-destruct mission.

At the outset of Jonathan’s Presidency, his opponent evoked this ethnic slurring when they called him the “son of a drunken fisherman.”

The question, for me, is if Jonathan’s “Red Wine” weakness –if he truly has one — is a problem. One side of it is that it is a character flaw that reminds us that even presidents are human. Boris Yeltsin was a notorious drunk yet, as a president, the sum total of his presidency cannot be summed-up as failed. A little off-centre on the intoxication prism is the 35th president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula left office with the highest rating of any political leader, ever.

Before Abati picks up his pen — again, he should be glad that it is not a charge of mental illness that was levelled against his principal. Both the 16th and 35th presidents of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who were famously celebrated last week, had bouts of manic depression. Same obtained for the United Kingdom’s war time prime minister, Winston Churchill.

If Jonathan has a drinking problem, he would not be the first – or last — president in the world to battle the bottle. Aso Rock’s huff-and-puff is uncalled for because it only fuels the open-ended rumour. It’s one of those stories –like Sani Abacha’s death by Indian prostitutes or, Umaru Yar’Adua’s failed kidneys — that no official rebuttal can ever displace.

The flip side of any president’s drinking problem is that it would affect his handling of state issues. Yeltsin, when inebriated to his eyeballs, was a one-man comedy troupe. Come to think of it, a man who primes his own body to self-destruct could eventually put the country on auto-destruct in a fit of bacchanal orgy. It would have been a whole different story if Jonathan’s administration is not as rudderless as it appears now.

That is the part of the tippling tales that concerns me.

If he has a drinking problem, then, we need to know how it affects his judgment on national issues. Is his indecisiveness on the question of corruption, for instance, a problem of an ethanol-addled mind? When he said he was not going to mention the names of those who are corrupt because he does not want to be attacked, was it him talking or it was a bottle’d inspiration? Besides, if we separated the drink from the man, are we going to have a better person and a leader? In other words, can alcoholism actually be blamed for the Jonathan administration’s shortcomings? And if abstinence won’t make him a more effective leader, why are we even talking about it at all?

Ex-PDP govs, APC seal power-sharing deal

The  New  Peoples Democratic Party   said on Wednesday that it had signed a  Memorandum of Understanding  with the All Progressives Congress.

When  and where  the MOU  was signed as well as its content   were  not made  public by the National Publicity Secretary of the New PDP, Chukwemeka Eze, in a text message he sent to one of our correspondents. however  learnt  in Abuja that both sides agreed that the five PDP governors who defected to the APC on Tuesday, would control the structures of the party(APC) in their states.

The five  governors, also known as rebel governors,  are  Muritala Nyako(Adamawa), Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano),  Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rotimi  Amaechi (Rivers),  and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto).

It was also gathered that the rebel governors and leaders of the New PDP  would play active roles in the emergence of the APC presidential candidate in 2015.

Both parties, investigations revealed,  also decided that the New PDP members would be actively involved in the APC convention.

A source in the APC  said that both sides agreed that the party would face some challenges in Sokoto and Kano states.

In Sokoto, an APC chieftain, Attahiru Bafarawa, is an arch rival of     Wamakko.

Both sides were said to have agreed that  a committee of elders should be set up to reconcile them.

In Kano,  a  former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, would reconcile  an ex- governor of the state, Ibrahim Shekarau and his successor,   Kwakwanso.

Our source said, “We have agreed that the New PDP governors would control the APC structures in their states. For Kano and Sokoto,  we will reconcile  the governors and their predecessors.”

When contacted, Eze  said the meeting  at  the Kano Governor’s  residence in Abuja on Tuesday,  was a sign that the  New PDP and the APC  had agreed to merge.

Eze had earlier  said  on Wednesday  that   the APC and New PDP would on Tuesday next week sign   the  MOU , which would contain their  power-sharing arrangement.

But he later corrected himself in a text message   to one of  our correspondents, saying he had been directed to inform the media that the agreement had been signed.

He said, “Please, I have just been corrected by our National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar  Baraje that the MOU has been signed and  that the merger has been effected. So, my former statement should be ignored.”

Eze also said that members of the New PDP would attend a  peace meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday.

It was gathered that some of the aggrieved governors were not  keen on  being present at the Sunday meeting.

While the leadership of the New PDP  said it had asked  the rebel  governors to honour the invitation, some of them (governors)  said they would  not attend .

But  Eze said the  New PDP  leadership had encouraged its members to attend.

According to him, by virtue of the fact that aggrieved members of the  PDP are Nigerians and  Jonathan, the  President, they will honour his invitation  to the meeting.

He said, “We have respect for the office of the President (it is not about Jonathan as an individual).

“We have asked our governors to attend the meeting with the President, if he invites them.

“That we have an understanding with the APC at the moment does not mean that Jonathan is our enemy.

“He is still our father.  He is still our President. It is not a meeting that anybody will stay away from, and we will attend.

“By Sunday, we are to meet with Mr. President. We will listen to him and  by Monday, we will be holding a meeting.”

The governors, however, differed on  the issue.

The Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, who  had on Tuesday insisted on remaining in the PDP,   expressed willingness to attend the meeting. But his counterparts in Kano, Adamawa, Sokoto and Rivers were non-committal.

When contacted,  the spokesman for Aliyu, Mr. Danladi Ndayabo, simply said, “Yes, His Excellency will be in attendance.”

His colleague in Kano, Baba Dantiye sent a text message which reads, “I will check his dairy and revert.”

But Nyako, who spoke through his Director of Press and Public Affairs,  said, “Has the President honoured the previous meeting he called? That question (will Nyako attend the meeting) is more appropriate for the President.”

On his part, Amaechi  said he would not be a  part of the meeting.

The governor, in a text message to one of our correspondents, said,   “no”!.

Also, the Chief of Staff Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, tolthat he (Amaechi) travelled out of the country.

Okocha said the governor would be speaking at  the Committee of  the House of Commons in England on peace and security in the Niger Delta  .

 “The governor is not in town. He travelled out of the country. Though I have not seen the invitation, based on the reason I have given, the governor will not be able to attend the meeting with the President.”

The Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, is still outside the country and may not return before the meeting.

However, the Presidency said despite the defection  of  the five aggrieved governors, Jonathan   was still favourably disposed to meeting them.

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents .

Gulak said as the leader of the country, Jonathan was open to all Nigerians irrespective of their political leanings.

The presidential aide said, “Despite the fact that they have announced their decisions to join the APC, the President can still meet with them whenever they request it.

“Even if the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola  Tinubu, writes the President,  seeking  to meet him on politics and national issues, Dr. Jonathan  will oblige him and listen to him.

“Since they have shown their desire to still meet the President, he will meet with them.

“You know that even the meeting that was supposed to hold last Sunday was initiated by them. They wrote the President, seeking resumption of the peace talks that were  suspended ahead of Muslim and Christian pilgrimages.”

Gulak did not however say  whether the President would reconsider his stand on some of the conditions given by the governors in view of the latest development.

I joined APC to protect Rivers people – Amaechi

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has said that he joined the All Progressive Congress in order to protect the people of his state.

Amaechi said Rivers had suffered neglect under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

He also said that he made up his mind to leave the Peoples Democratic Party for the APC because the     issues raised by G-7 governors were not resolved by Jonathan and the PDP.

The governor, who spoke with newsmen at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Tuesday, described the decision to join the opposition party as good for the country’s democracy.

He explained that the PDP was giving the impression that they (G-7 governors) were begging to come back to the ruling party, maintaining that issues that led to the crisis in the PDP were not resolved.

“Yes, we have joined APC after the meeting we had with Buhari, Tinubu and the interim Chairman of APC. The governors met on Monday and decided that we must meet with the APC leadership.

“When we met with the APC leadership, it was important we took a position and the position we took is for the good of our democracy and to ensure that Nigeria moves forward.

“Rivers State must know that for me to have taken that decision, I had looked at the general interests of Rivers people. I was not elected to lead Nigeria; I was elected to lead Rivers State and I had looked at the interests of Rivers people and have seen that these interests were not protected in PDP.

“I have seen the fact that we are losing our oil wells in Etche, in the Kalabari areas and that the more they continue to pilfer these oil wells, the more we will continue to lose our wealth.”

He, however, pointed out that despite his defection to the APC, he still held the President in high esteem and had no personal quarrel with him.

He said, “The President and I have no personal quarrel. It is important we put that in perspective. All the issues were issues that affect Rivers people, they were issues that affect Nigerians and I am a Nigerian, I have to address those issues.

“He is my President and I respect him. I respect his office, respect him as a person and respect the fact that he is older, but then as an elected governor of Rivers State, I have the responsibility to lead Rivers State.”

Meanwhile, the PDP in Rivers State has called on its members not to join Amaechi in the APC.

Chairman of Rivers PDP, Mr. Felix Obuah, urged members of the party not to be swayed by Amaechi’s promise of SURE-P empowerment scheme to join him (Amaechi) in APC.

Obuah, who threatened to sanction any of state PDP members found to be involved in anti-party activities, cautioned that the party would not hesitate to wield the big stick against members working against its success in the state.

The state PDP chairman spoke with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Wednesday during a party’s rally in response to Amaechi’s defection to the APC.

Iyayi’s kinsmen demand N50bn compensation from Kogi gov

The Onojie of Ugbegunland, hometown of former President of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Professor. Festus Iyayi, in Edo State, HRM, Samuel Obade I, and his people, are demanding a compensation of N50 billion to be paid to the immediate family of the late professor by the Kogi State governor, Captain Idris Wada.
The community in a letter dated November 13, to the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, Abuja, on the death of its son in an automobile accident with the governor’s security details, called for a thorough investigation for Nigerians to know the actual cause of Iyayi’s death.


This came as eminent Nigerians, including the supervising Minister of Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, continued to lament the untimely and tragic death of Professor Festus Iyayi

Also, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, described late Professor Iyayi as “a man who gave his all in the struggle and led by example.”

Shocking:Naija Lady Bites Off Man's Pénis In Ibadan

Ibadan - It was a terrible sight on Sunday evening as a middle aged woman, identified as Kemi, bit off the manhood of her neighbour around the Inalende area of Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria. Kemi was said to have resorted to biting, according to an eyewitness, after she was thoroughly beating by the man, identified simply as Rasheed. Speaking on what made her cut off a man's manhood with her teeth, Kemi said: “He reported me and my friend to my friend’s mother in-law after she arrived at our house and thereafter started to beat me and when nobody rescued me from him, I bit him but I do not know it was his pénis.”

It was gathered that issues on how to settle a misunderstanding between Rasheed’s wife and another woman degenerated into a violent fight. It was during the process of partisan interference that Kemi angrily tore the man's dress, held his manhood and bit it off Mr Rasheed's manhood live.

Aside from the manhood which was bitten off, she also inflicted a big sore on the man’s abdomen. Rasheed was later rescued and rushed to a nearby hospital in the area for medical attention while Kemi was handed over to men of the Nigeria Police Force in the nearby police station.

Kemi, a mother of two, further said they had not been on speaking terms since she relocated to the area in June and Rasheed’s wife had not been greeting her and her friend. “My friend, Adijat, has not been greeting and talking with Rasheed’s wife, I know that was why he decided to engage me in a fight,” she added.

Unfortunately, Kemi is going to prison as the police is already in the process of arraigning her in court.

Wonder bank chief arraigned for alleged N60m fraud

A wonder bank operator, Daniel Ngadda, has been arraigned along with his company, Adags Universal Trading Limited, before Justice J. Y Tukur of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Apo, Abuja.

Ngadda was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on six counts of fraud, breach of trust and obtaining N55.7m, and $20,000 by false pretence.

The accused, who was the Managing Director of the firm, was alleged to have used the complainant, Jasini Bello, who was his employee, to dupe his victims by asking them to invest in his company with a promise of earning 50 per cent interest monthly on their investment for a period of one year.

The charges read in part, “That you, Mr. Daniel Ngadda, the Managing Director of Adags Universal Trading Limited, sometime in 2008 at Abuja, within Abuja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, obtained N21.8m through one Jasini Bello, Minso Gadzama and Bala Usman on behalf of others, on the pretext that you were going to invest the said amount and pay the contributors interest of 50 per cent of the capital invested monthly, which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud  Related Offence Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.”

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

 The case was adjourned till December 4, 2013 for hearing on bail application, while the accused was remanded in Kuje prison.

Lagos NDLEA arrests 420 drug suspects, convicts 69

The Lagos State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it has arrested 420 suspected drug traffickers in the past 10 months.

The agency added that within the same period, 69 persons had been convicted for drug related charges.

In a statement on Tuesday by the NDLEA Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, the agency said other cases were still pending in court.

NDLEA Lagos Commander, Mr. Aliyu Sule, described drug abuse in Lagos as alarming.

Sule said, “Between January and October, the command arrested 420 drug traffickers comprising 387 males and 33 females. A total of 8,300.277kg of drugs were also seized. The drugs include 8,186.320kg of cannabis, psychotropic substances 73.450kg, methamphetamine 34.016kg, heroin 4.688kg and cocaine 1.803kg.”

He also commended the Nigerian Army for  collaboration with the agency.

He added, “Within the period under review, we have had two successful joint operations with the military. The first raid carried out in June 2013, led to the seizure of 3,166.15kg and the arrests of 47 suspects. Another raid in November led to the arrest of 15 suspects with 680.266kg of narcotic drugs mostly cannabis.”

 NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, called for the assistance of the government and private sector in finding a lasting solution to the drug abuse problem.

He said, “We need the support of the government and private sector in the construction of an ultra-modern rehabilitation centre in Lagos.

“This is needed to effectively address the problem of drug abuse in the state.

N5.6bn pension fraud: Ex-Oyo HOS, others denied bail

An Oyo State High Court on Tuesday, ruled against the bail applications filed by the former Head of Service in the state, Mrs. Kudirat Adeleke, and 11 others, who are standing trial for alleged N5.6bn pension fraud.

Justice Bolaji Yusuf, who gave the ruling during the Tuesday sitting in Ibadan, said counsel for the 12 accused persons could not convince the court to rule in their clients’ favour.

The accused Adeleke, Muili Aderemi, Iyabo Giwa, Adesina Ayoade, Oguntayo Banji, Adebiyi Olasunmbo, Muili Adedamola, Adeduntan Johnson, Johnson Bosede, Kareem Rasheed, Olujimi Adebayo and Adewale Kehinde are all standing trial for the embezzlement of pension fund totalling N5.6bn, which belongs to teachers in the state.

The 12 accused persons were first arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on November 7 for 213 counts of conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence and forgery.

The prosecution alleged that the accused persons withdrew the sums in bits from accounts belonging to the Oyo State Local Government Staff Pension Board between September 2010 and March 2011. They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Some of them sought bail on health grounds.

While reviewing the documents presented to the court to argue the bail applications, the judge held that all the accused persons, who wanted to be granted bail on health ground, did not give any convincing evidence to prove that they were suffering from poor health.

The judge said although one of the accused, Aderemi, was suffering from hypertension, EFCC had confirmed in its affidavit that he was given proper medical attention while in its custody.

“The applicant has failed to place cogent and convincing materials before the court to prove that he is suffering from ill-health,” she said.

Denying the former HOS bail, the judge said the letter attached to the application did not reveal any serious health failure.

Yusuf said the letter only stated that the applicant was in the UK for a cosmetic operation, which was contrary to what her lawyer, Richard Ogunwole, had told the court.

The judge said coupled with the promise of EFCC to take proper care of the accused, Oyo State Government also promised to attend to their medical needs when needed.

The judge said the severity of the offence was enough to tempt the accused persons to want to jump bail. The next hearing of the case comes up on December 12 and 13.