PRESIDENT JONATHAN, OKONJI IWEALA & ALLISON MADUEKE ARE INVOLVED IN THE BIGGEST FRAUD EVER IN NIGERIA

President Goodluck Jonathan and two of his top ministers may be attempting a cover-up on what clearly competes as Nigeria’s biggest fraud ever, involving the illegal diversion, or theft, of over N8 trillion crude oil sales proceeds.

In a frantic and unusual memo to the president on September 25, 2013, Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi detailed how government-owned oil firm, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, had systematically diverted the huge sum, being sales proceeds between January 2012 and July 2013.

The CBN governor said for all crude oil sales within the period, the NNPC paid only 24 percent proceeds into the federation account, and diverted or stole the remaining 76 percent-totalling N8 trillion.

As the CBN calculated, the NNPC sold at least 594 million barrels of oil within the period, and should have paid N10.3 trillion (USD65.3 billion) into the federation account. But the corporation paid only N2.5 trillion (USD15.5 billion), Mr. Sanusi said, citing documentation from pre-shipment inspectors.

The whereabouts of the huge balance is unknown.

The weight of the differential is clearer if evaluated against the fact that the tiny percentage remitted by the NNPC managed to finance the nation in that period, raising the question of how much the total would then have achieved for a country unable to pay its university lecturers who have been on strike for five months.

SHOCKING LETTER FROM CBN GOV. TO PRES. JONATHAN REVEALS THAT NNPC HAS STOLEN $50BN CRUDE OIL EARNINGS

CBN GOVERNOR - SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (CON), Governor, Central Bank Of Nigeria, alarmed at the unbridled theft of crude oil earnings by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and cronies of President Goodluck Jonathan wrote and hand delivered the letter  reproduced below to the president  on September, 25  2013.

H.E. Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

President and Commander-in-Chief

Federal Republic of Nigeria

State House

Abuja

Your Excellency,

Subjects:

Non-Repatriation to the Federation Account by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of $49.8 Billion representing 76% of the value of crude oil liftings in 2012 and 2013, failure of NNPC to pay N22billion Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) Levy & Other Related matters

I am constrained to formally write your Excellency, documenting serious concerns of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the continued failure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to repatriate significant proportions of the proceeds of crude oil shipments it made in gross violation of the law. Sources of Federation Account Revenues include proceeds from Export of Nigeria’s crude oil by the NNPC, Petroleum Profits Taxes, and Penalties for gas flaring, oil exploration licenses and concession block allocations, etc.

FOUR KINGS IN TEN YEARS - IS THE DEJI STOOL CURSED?????

BY the time the 47th Deji of Akureland ascend the throne, maybe next year subject to his choice enjoying  popular acceptance, the ancient town would have produced four traditional rulers   within a span of 10years.

Indeed tongues are presently wagging over this ugly development in the ancient town.

The prevailing feeling that the stool seemed jinxed started after the late Oba Adebobajo Adesida joined his ancestors 13 years ago, triggering   hot dispute over the choice of his successor.

The selection of Prince Adegbola Adelabu met stiff rejection from notable indigenes of the town, even after he had completed all the traditional rites, except the last and the most important. After much dilly-dallying and political maneuvering the kingmakers, who had earlier unanimously endorsed Prince Adegbola, beat a retreat and opted for a fresh selection process just to do away with Prince Adelabu.

The Prince Adelabu saga engendered a   six years of interregnum as he laid claim to the throne, while his adversaries vowed that he could only be the next Oba of the town over their dead bodies. They eventually had their say and way as another Prince from the Osupa Ruling House,  residing in the United Kingdom, was drafted into the contest.

Prince Oluwadare Adepoju Adesina, however, was accepted by all the kingmakers and the leaders of the town and thereafter crowned the 45th Deji. He reigned for five years before he was deposed for what many called youthful exuberance and lack of respect for the kingmakers. Oba Adesina engaged his wife Bolanle in a street fight, an action that was described as a desecration of the traditional stool in Yoruba land. This disgraceful act amongst other sins made him to lose the coveted seat and was subsequently dethroned. He has since jetted back to the UK.

WOOLWICH MURDER - HORRIFIC ACCOUNT OF HOW BRITISH-NIGERIAN ADEBOLAJO & HIS PARTNER KILLED LEE RIGBY (BRITISH SOLDIER)

Woolwich 'murderer' Michael Adebolajo today admitted killing Lee Rigby in a 'military attack' and  described his attempts to decapitate him at the Old Bailey today.

The 28-year-old's account of knocking down the Fusilier and trying to cut off his head led to Drummer Rigby's widow running from the court.

He and Michael Adebowale, 22, are accused of murdering Fusilier Rigby by running him down with a car and then hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives near Woolwich Barracks in south east London on May 22.

He told the court: ' 

AFTER I STRUCK THE NECK, I USED ANOTHER OF THE KNIVES I HAD SHARPENED TO TRY AND REMOVE THE HEAD, BUT I WAS UNSUCCESSFUL IN THIS ATTEMPT.

Late Rigby

The barrister asked: 'That's because together you had agreed to kill someone. Do you agree?'

Again, Adebolajo replied: 'Yes.'

He went on: 'We planned a military attack which obviously involved, sadly - it's not something enjoyable, something fantastic - the death of a soldier. It's a military attack.'

KENYAN FAN COMMITS SUICIDE OVER MANCHESTER UNITED'S LOSS TO NEWCASTLE

A Kenyan football fan unable to cope with Manchester United’s loss to Newcastle United committed suicide over the weekend, a senior Kenyan police official said on Monday.

John Macharia, 28, plunged to his death from a multi-storey apartment block in Nairobi after David Moyes’ men suffered a second home defeat in four days, denting the champions’ chance of retaining their Premier League title.

'Macharia jumped from seventh floor of an apartment at Pipeline Estate after realising that his team Manchester United lost 1-0 to Newcastle at Old Trafford and committed suicide,' Nairobi’s County Police Commander Benson Kibui told Reuters.

Newcastle’s first win at Old Trafford since February 1972 means the champions are now 13 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal. 

Kibui urged soccer-obsessed Kenyan fans to support local teams rather than foreign clubs who do not have a link to the east African nation that is best known in the sporting world for producing middle and long-distance champion runners.

'The football fans should enjoy the matches... but they should not commit suicide since life is very precious,' Kibui added.

DEFIANT ASUU REFUSES TO RETURN TO CLASS AS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S EXTENDED DEADLINE EXPIRES

Striking lecturers in the nation’s public universities on Monday made good their decision not to return to work as directed by the Federal Government.

The striking teachers also refused to sign the attendance registers in their respective institutions as ordered by the government. They said they were only waiting for the sack letters the Federal Government threatened to give them if they did not return to work.

In many of the universities visited, only administrative offices opened for business while the lecture rooms were empty. Particularly, lecturers’ offices remained shut.

Among some of the universities visited by our correspondents were the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Calabar, Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, and the University of Uyo. Others are Obafemi Awolwo University, Ile-Ife, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.

The Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had urged the striking lecturers to return to work or on before December 9 or risk being sacked. But the leadership of ASUU had remained unfazed by the FG’s directive and threat. They accused the government of insincerity in the resolution of the face-off. At the NAU, Awka on Monday, though some of the lecturers were on campus, they did not teach. The institution’s Faculty of Social Sciences, for instance, had its classrooms and laboratories shut.

The hostels were opened but students had yet to return to the campus.

At UI, only a few lecturers were on the campus. They neither taught nor signed the attendance register.

The institution’s chapter of ASUU earlier in the day had sent a message to its members, urging them to be calm and resolute in their demands.

The National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr. Ademola Aremu, said they would have wasted their time and effort if they caved in and returned to work under threat.

He said, “How can you call off a strike when there is nothing to show for it? The government is not qualified to call off the strike. Our union is awaiting the government to state all it has done in black and white. However, it is a serious insult on us for the government to be harassing us with sacking threat. We are not casual workers or labourers. Our research work has been ongoing.”

Also, at UNICAL and at the Cross River University of Science and Technology, students and their teachers stayed away from the schools. The UNICAL ASUU Chairman, Dr. James Okpiliya, insisted that the Federal Government must meet the lecturers’ demands before the strike could be suspended.

Lecturers also shunned work at OAU even though  a few of the students were on the campus. One of our correspondents observed that many of the students who returned to campus were those residing within Ife and its environs.

The Chairman of ASUU at the university, Prof. Adegbola Akinola, who spoke to one of our correspondents, said that the strike was still on.

He said, “Our union did not close the universities, what we did was to withdraw teaching services and they will remain withdrawn until the government properly documents the agreement reached with us on November 4, 2013.”

Lectures did not also hold at ABU. The two campuses of the institution at Samaru and Kongo had only a negligible human presence as of Monday. Lecturers’ offices and lecture halls were shut, just as the students did not show up as directed by the government.

ASUU Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Kabir-Aliyu, told journalists that they had yet to call off the action.

The UNIJOS ASUU chapter Chairman, Dr. David Jangkam, said striking teachers in the university were just waiting for their sack letters from the Federal Government.

Jangkam said, “We are waiting for their sack letters. Any government that is toying with education is not worth its salt. We expect firm commitment in solving the issues, but if the government is playing to the gallery, it is very unfortunate.”

There were no studies too at UNIUYO, UNIJOS, FUNAAB, LASU and UNILAG as lecturers boycotted classes.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, urged the striking teachers to call off the industrial action.

The President, who spoke at the All Nigerian Judges Conference organised by the National Judicial Council in Abuja, on Monday, said the industrial action would prevent the country from achieving the Vision 2020 target of becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020.

Although the Federal Government had recently threatened to sack the lecturers for going on strike, Jonathan noted that ASUU had the right to embark on the industrial action.

He said, “This administration recognises and respects the right of workers, including the right to embark on industrial action to press home their demand and have taken concrete steps to address the grievances of ASUU.

“I therefore use this occasion to call on ASUU to call off its strike.”

“With this Nigeria’s quest to become one of the world’s 20th  largest economies by the year 2020 cannot be achieved in an atmosphere of industrial disharmony.

“Nigeria’s geopolitical history has been characterised by incessant labour dispute and industrial action.

“While views may differ on the utility of industrial action as a means of advancing the collective interest of workers in the polity, it is an unassailable fact that labour and industrial harmony is sine qua non to the socio-economic development of any nation, Nigeria inclusive.”

PRESIDENT JONATHAN IS ENCOURAGING CORRUPTION - TAMBUWAL (SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPS)

The Speaker of  the House of  Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, on Monday came  hard on  President  Goodluck Jonathan when he said the President's “body language” did not indicate that  he had the political will  to stem  corruption in the country.  He also decried  Jonathan’s penchant for setting up committees to probe corruption allegations and what he termed “the culture of undue secrecy surrounding the operation of government.”

Tambuwal listed the oil subsidy and  Security and Exchange Commission scandals, the Pension scam as well as the Oduaghate, to  buttress his allegation of  Jonathan’s perceived  paying of lip service to the war against graft. The speaker  also  came hard on  the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission  accusing it of being corrupt.

He was reacting to issues raised during the question and answer session at an event organised by the Nigerian Bar Association to mark the 2013 International Anti-corruption Day in Abuja.

But the Presidency  said  it was unfortunate that a man occupying a high office  as the speaker could  judge the President by body language.

Tambuwal  had said, “The Executive, by  constituting committees to investigate what ordinarily would have been investigated by the EFCC, the ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission) and the  Code of Conduct Bureau, is engaged in a duplication of effort.

“We ( the National Assembly) do our own; we have been mandated by the  1999 Constitution to do it. They ( the anti-corruption agencies) have been established by law to do what they do.

“The Executive has no business in establishing their own.  They (the Executive) should just refer  corruption issues, if they mean business, to the EFCC.

 “Let the Executive have the will of referring these matters, from the office of Mr. President, to the EFCC and see what will happen.

“By the action of setting up different committees for straightforward  cases, the President’s body language doesn’t tend to support the fight against corruption.”

Turning to  a representative of the EFCC  Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, at the event , he said the agency had turned a blind eye to  several fraud allegations  that  the National Assembly had  investigated.

He said, “Let us start with the anti-corruption agencies. I am happy that EFCC is here because they are also corrupt. Let us start by asking them what happens to the  grants they receive from donor agencies which are neither budgeted nor accounted for? That is corruption.

 “This is why we have asked the House Committee on  EFCC to look into some of these issues and report back.

“The EFCC said it had started implementing the report on the  probe of the fuel subsidy regime. Let me say it here today(Monday) that what EFCC said it was implementing was not the House report which exposed the enormous fraud in the system, but the one by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

   “The last the House heard from you on the subsidy report was when you requested me, the Speaker,  to ask  some   members of the House to come and help you do your work. You  also asked for explanations on some of the recommendations.

 “I said no, it is not part of our job. We have done our bit; go  and do yours.

 “What has happened to all the exposed  corruption cases?  Of course, the   pension scam is there. “There are  also the   recent and obvious fraud in the aviation sector and  that of the   SEC  where trillions of naira from private investors were suspected to have been mismanaged.

“When we commenced investigation into the SEC  matter, what became of paramount interest  to the EFCC was an  allegation that one of our members collected $4,000 as estacode to travel but failed to do so.

“Our members were immediately rushed to court for prosecution. Meanwhile, the top government officer that was found culpable in the main fraud for which the National Assembly called for public hearing, nothing has happened to her till date.

“I  have not  heard or read anywhere that she was invited by the EFCC or that any member of SEC was even invited.

“We at the National Assembly, for the sake of probity and accountability, agreed that budgetary allocation to SEC  should be suspended, only for us to hear  that the Finance ministry, the Budget Office and the Accountant- General of the Federation’s office found a leeway of funding SEC through service-wide vote.

 “Coming to what happened in the aviation industry recently, do we need an angel to report to the  EFCC that something happened there? No we don’t.

“What  we have is that the National Security Adviser, who should have  been more seriously interested and concerned about the security situation in this country, is being given an assignment to investigate what is clearly obvious.

“We all belong to this country and  so people should stop taking us for granted.”

  Tambuwal also explained his disagreement with the Presidency over the Bureau of Public Procurement.

He said   that  Jonathan  had failed to  set up a council for the BPP, as stipulated by the law.

According to him, the President should stop using the Federal Executive Council as a clearing house for the award of contracts.

Tambuwal said, “When I raised in my budget speech and advised Mr. President to stop using the Executive Council as a clearing house for the award of contracts, so many people attacked   my person, saying  that I was disrespectful to the office of the President.

“The fact of the matter is that the position of the law, that is the BPP  Act, is that there should be a council to be established by the President.

“That position of the law is not being respected and that is the reason we kept in abeyance, the amendment proposed to the law by the President.”

The Speaker  also  accused the Executive of selective compliance with  the resolutions of the National Assembly.

He said, “When we came up with the doctrine of necessity,   we gave the then Vice-President (Jonathan) the  power  to act as President. That  was   promptly implemented and he was sworn in as Acting President.

“But when we go to other areas, they(Executive) said it is mere advice, which they can implement or do whatever they like with.

“For now, without sounding defeatist, our resolutions are not being respected.”

But the Speaker stressed that the National Assembly was  working on a law that would make it compulsory for the Executive to comply with all its resolutions.

Tambuwal denied insinuations that the lawmakers were  guilty of padding the budget.

He also faulted the calls that a member of the House,  Farouk Lawan,  should have been suspended after he was accused of collecting bribe from a businessman, Femi Otedola.

Earlier, in  his speech titled, “The Role of the Legislature in Curbing the Corruption Pandemic in Nigeria,” Tambuwal had  stressed that Nigeria would have made significant progress in the fight against corruption if the government and its agencies had enforced the anti-corruption laws enacted by the National Assembly.

The Speaker called on Nigerians to insist on the prosecution and sanctioning of persons indicted by the legislature or by any agency concerned with the fight against corruption.

The Presidency  however   said it was unfortunate that   Tambuwwal, could be judging the President by body language.

 The  Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, in an interview with one of our correspondents, wondered whether the Speaker  had become a sorcerer that could read Jonathan’s body language.

Abati said by virtue of his position, the Speaker should make efforts to focus on government’s anti-corruption efforts rather than body language.

He  said, “Is he (Tambuwwal) now a sorcerer that he now goes about reading people’s body language? He should make efforts to focus more on the efforts of the administration in fighting corruption and comment on what he knows.

“This  administration is not going to fight corruption on the basis of mere speculation, or the politics being played by some people.

“Since his argument is based on body language, I think it is unfortunate that a man that is occupying such a high office is talking about body language whereas he is in a position to know the truth and defend both his party and the government.

“He should make the effort to know that the government is investigating various matters and working on them, and that President Jonathan will not condone any act of proven corruption.

“Besides, the Executive  is not in a position to dictate to the judiciary and other independent institutions. There is a process.

“Corruption is not fought without due process being observed and he who is occupying a serious position should know a lot about it rather than acting the sorcerer and interpreting body language all over the place.

“It is not the executive that prosecutes people who may have been indicted. The fight against corruption is ultimately a collective responsibility.”

The NBA President, Okey Wali (SAN),  had also  expressed regrets that “in spite of all the efforts against graft, Nigeria is still rated very low in its fight against corruption.”

Wali lamented  that besides “scandals and all sorts of stories, not much has come out” of probes conducted by the National Assembly into alleged corruption in some public institutions such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

The NBA President  condemned corruption in the judiciary, noting that some judges were lacking in moral and ethical qualities.

He said,  “Before, Nigerian judges made their marks all over the world.  Most judges still have their education but the morality and ethical aspects have been expunged from their life experiences.

“There is a general feeling that high-profile cases never make it through the Nigerian court system.

“Serious crimes carry a slap on the wrist and petty sentencing, while petty criminals get maximum  penalties.

“Compare corruption punishment in Ghana, South Africa, and China to Nigeria and one sees why Nigeria will remain an object of mockery in the international community.”

 But  the Chairman of the CCB, Sam Saba, said the level of corruption in the country was exaggerated.

He said, “I am one of those who believe that we exaggerate corruption in this country.  There is no day you will pick up a newspaper without finding corruption on the front page or in the middle spread,”  he said.

The CCB boss faulted the proposed law that would allow public officials to open and maintain foreign accounts.

Source: Punch

FORMER GOLDMAN SACHS BANKER JAILED 5 YEARS FOR LAUNDERING FUNDS FOR "CONVICT JAMES IBORI"

Ellias Preko, a Ghanaian national and former Goldman Sachs banker,  was on Monday sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment following the guilty verdict passed on him by a British jury at the Southwark Crown Court.

Preko was found guilty on two counts of money laundering and forgery for aiding the convicted former governor of Delta State, James Ibori in some deals for which the ex-banker created several shell companies that aided Ibori in laundering at least $5 million believed to belong to Delta State. Ibori and Preko, a Ghanaian national had first met in 1997 He left Goldman Sachs in 2001

The former Governor was handed a 13-year jail term in 2012. Ibori’s wife, mistress, as well as his lawyer have all been in trouble with the law over roles played in the money laundering saga.

PHOTONEWS - DR SID & SIMI OSOMO'S INTRODUCTION CEREMONY

Dr. SID (Mavin Records) and Barr Simi Osomo's introduction ceremony took place at Ikoyi yesterday.

Donjazzy, Tiwa and a host of other celebs attended the event.

Congrats to them.

SAM SODJE ARRESTED FOR MATCH FIXING

Police in the UK have now arrested six people in connection with a second investigation into football spot-fixing following allegations that a player rigged a Championship game in return for cash.The National Crime Agency (NCA) acted after ex-Premier League footballer Sam Sodje was filmed bragging that he can arrange for professional footballers to get yellow cards or even sent off in return for cash.

The Sun on Sunday handed over information on Sodje, gathered over a period of four months by an undercover reporter posing as a middleman for a betting syndicate based in the Far East.

In the video, 34-year-old Nigerian defender Sodje brags that he can arrange for a player to get themselves booked for a £30,000 pay-out, and that he could guarantee certain events in play in return for money. Fraudsters can capitalise on this through in-game betting, where they put large bets on incidents like red and yellow cards, penalties and even corner kicks.

In the video recorded by an undercover reporter from the Sun on Sunday , Sodje claimed he fixed it for an ex-Premier League player, who now plays in the Championship, to get a yellow card and can even organise similar such events in Premier League games - for a much greater price because of the huge fines for players at that level.

Sodje, who played for Portsmouth and also in the top flight at Reading, even said he was preparing to fix matches at next year's World Cup in Brazil. An NCA spokeswoman said: 'An active NCA investigation is now underway and we are working closely with the Football Association and the Gambling Commission.

TORTURE OF PEPPER SELLERS IN LAGOS - UPDATE

Some of you must have watched the video of the GRUESOME TORTURE of a woman who allegedly stole pepper in Ejigbo area of Lagos. The men who committed the act are yet to be arrested but investigation is still ongoing.

Violence against women must stop now!!!!!!!!

Read the response of the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council of Lagos, Kehinde Bamigbetan on this issue....

I promised an update in 24 hours: This incident took place in the central market, Iyana Ejigbo, Ejigbo LCDA in February 2013. The pepper sellers normally leave their goods in their stalls. They returned the next day to discover that their goods were being stolen. They reported this to the vigilante they hired to secure the market. About 6am, the two women were allegedly caught stealing pepper. They were a wife and her step-daughter. They lived near the market with the husband. The husband is said to be a wine tapper. After the barbaric torture, both confessed to stealing the pepper and were let go. However, a few members of the vigilante feared that the case may spread. And informed the leadership of the vigilante group. Those involved were allegedly penalized and the gang disbanded. The scene was then converted to shops and rented out. I have reviewed these with the DPO and both of us are bothered by the impact of the time lag of over nine months on investigation. This may also explain the initial denials by the stakeholders. We are working on getting the wine tapper to trace his wife and daughter involved. If he has not relocated from Ejigbo, then we have a good chance of retrieving information and tracking the story.

NIKKI LAOYE STEPS OUT IN REVEALING OUTFIT

The usually conservative Gospel Songwriter/Musician stepped out in this beautiful and revealing dress for her performance at the recent launch of the new popular TV network, EbonyLife TV.

I see u Nikki..............

PATIENCE JONATHAN ADVOCATES STIFF PUNISHMENT FOR RAPISTS

First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has canvassed for strong punishments with legal backing to deter perpetrators of sexual violence against women. Dame Jonathan spoke in Paris, France at an advocacy meeting on sexual violence against women organised by the First Lady of France, Ms. Valerie Trierweiler, on the sideline of the Elysee Summit for Peace and Security in Africa holding in Paris, France.

The Nigerian First Lady appealed to over 50 spouses of world leaders who attended the summit to effectively explore their positions in mobilising support against sexual violence and other abuses against women. She however contended that conflict related to sexual abuse should not be regarded as unavoidable or acceptable consequences of war because of their devastating consequences against the dignity of womanhood.

Further, Dame Jonathan advised leaders and policy makers to ensure promotion of girl-child education, women empowerment and gender equality as critical steps to stop sexual violence against women.

While calling on member states of the United Nations, especially, African leaders, to reassert their commitment to the effective implementation of UN Resolutions on women, the First Lady specifically advocated commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1325, which called for greater protection of women from gender based violence.

She emphasised the need for strategic collaboration and the inclusion of men in the global response to the problem of rape saying, “behind every rape, there is a man.”

The high point of the advocacy meeting on sexual violence against women was the play of a film on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the participants who also listened to eye witness accounts of the situation in Libya and the Central African Republic.

The special Representative of UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence and Conflict, Ms. Zainab Bangura, and some of the First Ladies in attendance took, turn to speak at the meeting in support of the global call to end sexual violence against women.

POLICE EXECUTE FIVE FARMERS IN EDO STATE AS NOPRIN CALLS FOR INVESTIIGATION

The Network on Police Reform In Nigeria (NOPRIN) has called for a thorough investigation to ascertain the actual circumstances and truth surrounding the killing of Samuel Imaikop and four others by policemen of the Edo State Police Command on November 24.

In a preliminary report today on the incident, the group stressed that the investigation must include an autopsy and a Coroner’s inquiry to ascertain how and why the five men were killed, and that there must be legal consequences, including redress and accountability for the murder.

The NOPRIN report said that Samuel Imaikop, a farmer from Nsital LGA of Akwa Ibom State, was shot dead at a police checkpoint on the Benin Bye-Pass at about 9am on that day along with four men he had hired to work on his farm. 

“The dead bodies of the five men were dumped at the back of a white police Hillux van and driven to the Edo Sate Police Headquarters on Sapele Road, Benin City,” the report said. “The late Samuel’s Nissan bus was driven by a policeman following behind the police van to the Edo State Police Headquarters.”

THE GOVERNOR, THE WIDOW AND THE BURDEN OF POVERTY - BY SOLA OLUMEHNSE

If Governor Adams Oshiomhole doubted the power of social media and the Internet before he came face to face recently with a widow who would change his life, I am sure he no longer does.  In the past couple of weeks, he has been insulted and called all kinds of names.

The governor deserved the flak.  As the camera starts to roll on an infamous footage that travelled worldwide in just two days, he is seen standing in the middle of a tumult.  The location turns out to be Mission Road in Benin City, one of the key streets he has been trying to keep clear. 

And there, right before the powerful governor like a scene out of the Bible, is a woman on her knees.  The world now knows her to be Joy Ifije. 

At that moment, she is nameless, faceless, and—it would seem—powerless.  On her knees, partly surrounded by her belongings, she is begging the governor for mercy, explaining that she is a poor widow.  

As governor, the former labour leader has toiled in the past few years to redefine the face of the state capital.  Ruined by decade after decade of misrule, poor planning and neglect, Benin City became an overpopulated open market.

In stepped Comrade Oshiomhole in his khaki shorts, his short sleeves already rolled up from his days as a labour combatant, determined to build a modern city.  The reality is that you cannot build a modern street when people are sitting all over it, a lesson he has continued to teach and to preach. 

ASUU STRIKE CONTINUES

Striking University lecturers on Sunday insisted  that they would not return to the classrooms  on Monday (today) despite the ultimatum issued by the Federal Government.

They accused the Federal Government of insincerity in its bid to resolve its dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The Federal Government had through the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie,  deferred its earlier ultimatum to the lecturers to resume work on Monday (today) or risk being sacked. The shift  was to enable them to participate in the burial of Prof. Festus Iyayi, a former president of ASUU on Saturday.

Before this , the Supervising  Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had advised  the striking lecturers to return to work on or before December 4 or face dismissal.

THE GOOD AND BAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA

We have long left the era of going to post a letter at the post office and having to wait endlessly for the letter to be delivered and for the response to come back via the same route. Today, one can stay in the comfort of his or her room in Nigeria and chat with someone in the USA without any delayed feedback.

About a decade ago, Nigerians paid much to surf the Internet at cybercafes, to check vital information on websites as well as to read and respond to mails in their mail boxes. Then, social media was almost unheard of in this part of the world. The most common thing then was to go to cybercafe cafe to check a personal mail box or to Google a project or an assignment.

The story is no longer the same today. Social media networks and the growth of internet service providers have birthed a whole new virtual world for all to get excited about. Youths do not need to throng cybercafes as much as they used to, as almost everyone now has the enabling device to go online from the comfort of their homes.

Research shows that nine out of ten youths (aged 18 – 35) in cities own a mobile device that enables them access the Internet. The time spent on the Internet by this target audience is mostly on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

The benefits of such virtual chat apps and the ease of social media has, however, been two fold. For some, it has caused their pitfall as they have spent too much precious time on it, resulting in negative impacts on their academics, businesses, relationships and so on. In some extreme cases, people get defrauded, bullied, and cajoled into devious relationships that could lead to death.

REASONS PEOPLE COMMIT SUICIDE

When we hear that a person has committed suicide, most of us do not understand why. To most people who have never contemplated such an action, it is confusing why anyone would give up on living and choose such a route as a way out.

For those who have, at some point or the other in their lives, contemplated suicide, they wonder why the person, who has committed suicide could not just hold on like they did.

Some people cannot, for the life of them, understand why someone would go to such extreme because life is difficult and everybody has issues. It is not uncommon to find people saying that people who commit suicide are selfish and self-centred.

There are different things that make people suicidal but some are easier to fix than others. For example, people who have medical issues such as thyroid problems, brain-related diseases and reactions to medication, might experience suicidal thoughts due to their medical condition. Such factors are easier to deal with because they have more direct diagnoses and treatments.

HOW LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT IS IMPRISONING UNDERAGE CHILDREN

Premium Times is popular for investigative journalism. In this report, Activists insist the Lagos state government is incarcerating underaged children over minor offences; the state says it’s untrue.

Read below.............

On a hot, windy Thursday afternoon in May, three gaunt looking men in oversized clothes stood in a dock, a few metres away from a magistrate inside a tiny court room that serves as the Special Court in Alausa, Lagos. Outside the room, crime suspects – the young and the elderly – and their lawyers discussed freely as the former awaited their turn in the dock.

Inside the court, the three men, their arms folded before then, stared at the bench as the magistrate carefully read out her judgment: “…You are hereby sentenced to 390 days in prison.” That day, over 100 persons were sentenced to various prison terms for minor environmental offences by the Lagos State Special Offences Court, a court established to prosecute environmental offenders and other related offences in the state. But the presence of 12 underage children among the convicts has raised concerns about what human rights lawyers say is a continuous dispatch of children to prisons where criminals are kept, by the Lagos State government, contrary to the dictates of the Child Rights Act.

The state government had, however, insisted that no underage person was convicted. “If they are not minors, let us see them. Present them to the press. We have the facts and we know they are minors,” said Joshua Olufemi of Light Behind Bars, a non governmental organization that fights for the rights of children. Section 221 of the Child Rights Act says that ‘No child shall be ordered to be imprisoned; subjected to corporal punishment; or subjected to death penalty or have the death penalty recorded against him.”

SEE THE FINAL PORTRAIT OF NELSON MANDELA

MANDELA WITH GREAT GRANDSON LEWANIKA

This is the last known portrait of Nelson Mandela which captures him sitting in his favourite arm-chair and holding hands with with his three-year-old great-grandson Lewanika.

Ndaba Mandela, the boy's father took the picture in May 2013 before the Great Madiba was hospitalized.

May his soul rest in peace.