CAF dismisses Egyptian ref who officiated Nigeria vs Zambia match

The 36 year old Egyptian referee who
officiated the match between the
Super Eagles of Nigeria and
Chipolopo of Zambia on Friday
January 25th, has been dismissed
from the on-going 2013 Africa Cup of
Nations as a result of poor officiating.
Ghead Grisha awarded a
controversial penalty to Zambia in the
85th minute which enabled them
draw level in the group C match.
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF
immediately sent a protest letter to
the Confederation of African Football,
CAF, asking the football governing
body to look into the questionable
call by Grisha.
A top official of CAF said today that
Grisha 'has been sent home. He will
have no further action at this Cup of
Nations. His decisions did not tally
with best practices of the refereeing
profession and we would not allow
anyone to start re-writing the rules of
the game here'

Nigeria 2- 0 Ethiopia : Moses is the saviour as Super Eagles book confrontation with Cote d 'Ivoire

Nigeria's Super
Eagles finally
booked their
Africa Cup of
Nations quarter-
final place with a
2-0 victory against
the Walya
Antelopes of
Ethiopia on
Tuesday in
Rustenburg. Victor Moses was the hero of
the day as he won and converted the two
penalties that won the game.
The kickoff was taken by the white-clad
Super Eagles and they swooped on the
Ethiopians, who appeared cagey in the
opening minutes. Efe Ambrose had the
chance to repeat his Liberia heroics, but
his header went wide.
Another chance came soon after that with
Victor Moses’ free kick deflecting into the
hands of the Ethiopian goalkeeper.
Ikechukwu Uche went through on goal in
the fourth minute but keeper Sisay made
a diving stop at the feet of the striker.
Ethiopia showed their first intent in the
15th minute when star striker Said
Saluhdin headed wide. The Ethiopians
were playing the classic counter attack,
leaving the midfield to the Eagles. The
Walya Antelopes had the better of corner
kicks in the first half with four, but could
not make any count.
In the 24th minute, a good passing move
from the Eagles saw Uche pass to
Elderson Echiejile, who skied his shot. He
also had another chance in the 34th
minute off a corner kick from Moses, but
the goalkeeper parried.
Said caught the Eagles defence napping in
the 29th minute but his shot squirmed off
his boots into Vincent Enyeama’s grateful
gloves. The first half ended dourly as the
game settled into a game of cat and
mouse with the Ethiopians waiting to
catch the Eagles on the counter or
through set pieces.
The second half started with the
Ethiopians on the front foot as Estifinos
shot from 30 yards, but the effort was
tame.
With 25 minutes gone in the second half,
Sunday Mba got a yellow card for a lunge.
Afterwards Fegor Ogude collected his
second yellow card of the first round to
rule him out of the quarter-final.
Redemption finally came for the Eagles in
the 78th minute when Moses was scythed
down in the box for the penalty which he
took and calmly rolled to the left side of
Sisay for the Eagles to take the lead.
Three minutes later, Enyeama made a
great save off a Seid header that seemed
destined to be the equaliser. Mikel Obi
was given a yellow card for a foul on the
edge of the box and on the break away;
Moses rounded Sisay, who brought him
down for another penalty kick.
Ethiopia had to convert Adnan into an
emergency goal keeper to face Moses who
kicked to the makeshift keeper’s right to
record his second goal of the game and
of the tournament.
Five Nigerian players were a caution away
from missing the quarter final but only
Ogude will now miss the confrontation
with the Didier Drogba led Cote d’Ivoire
on Sunday in Rustenburg.

Breaking News: Nigeria are through after Moses late show

Couple Killed By Bus While Having Sex In The Car On The Highway

Chime’s handlers haven’t learnt from Yar’Adua — Opposition

Nigerian Political Parties, Mr. Osita
Okechukwu, speaks on the absence of the
Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime from
the state and its implications
Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, has
been away for over four months, what’s
your take on this?
Let me start by saying that my sympathy
goes to Governor Chime because as human
beings we are all prone to be sick at one
point or the other. Just as we are born one
day, we shall all die one day. But one has
never believed the lies being dished out by
his supporters. In a country where power is
do-or-die, no one can imagine that
someone will deliberately embark on an
accumulated leave for months in this clime.
But the government has maintained that
the governor is on accumulated leave,
therefore anything to the contrary is the
figment of the imagination of the
detractors.
For some of us who have no foresight, we
normally rely on hindsight and in this
instance, one would have thought that the
governor’s handlers could have drawn
lessons from the late president Umaru
Yar’Adua’s experience.
What do you mean by the late president
Yar’Adua’s experience?
What I’m saying is that the controversy
generated by the late Yar’Adua sickness in
his last days could have been avoided if
lessons were drawn from it. Which means
that immediately the doctors recommended
Governor Chime for medical treatment
abroad, a public announcement could have
been made notifying the people of the state
that their beloved governor. This could
have saved the regime all the speculation
over whether he handed over or not. It still
baffles one that a lawyer of Chime’s
standing failed to avail himself of Section
190 of the 1999 Constitution.
It seems you are one of those who still
doubt the veracity of government’s position
that the Deputy Governor, Sunday
Onyebuchi, was handed over to and is truly
an acting governor?
Yes, I am one of those who doubt the
veracity of the statement. I challenge the
Enugu State government to publish the
written declaration from Governor Chime to
the Speaker of the House. And I’m not
aware that the House of Assembly has
passed a resolution mandating Onyebuchi
to act. And if he has been handed over to,
why can’t he perform the statutory
functions of an acting governor?
But he has presented the 2013 budget and
has been attending meetings in Abuja?
Has he been sworn in?
But Onyebuchi has been performing the
role of governor?
The governor is a father-figure and symbol
of the state, a governor determines the fate
of a man condemned by the court.
What do you mean by that?
I mean that Onyebuchi must first, by a
resolution of the House, be mandated to
act and consequently be sworn in as
stipulated in the 1999 Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended,
before he can sign the scroll to confirm the
execution or save the life of a man
condemned to death by the court of law in
the state, for whatever offence. Has Deputy
Governor Onyebuchi carried out routine
functions like allocation of land or award of
new contracts? One doubts even if he has
conducted state executive council meetings.
What is the CNPP’s interest on Chime’s
absence from the state?
CNPP has no particular interest in the
matter, except that in the absence of an
independent parliament, CNPP steps in to
plot the democratic route. Therefore ours
is to join the league of patriots who want to
save our democracy by referring the
rubber-stamp House to the relevant
sections of the constitution, which the
members of the state House of Assembly
swore to protect and defend.
If the agitation of CNNP is genuine, why is
it that its national secretary, Willy Ezeugwu,
who is a member of the Save Enugu Group
is now more identified with the group than
he was with the CNPP?
Ezeugwu has every right under democracy
to join any group of his choice. CNPP did
not go into the arena for any pecuniary
interest. All we are saying is that since the
intendment of the constitution is to avoid
vacuum, we insist that as long as the House
has not mandated the deputy governor to
act by a resolution, and the Chief Judge of
the state has not sworn in Deputy Governor
Onyebuchi as acting Governor, he is not
acting. That’s the truth of the matter. He
has not signed the dotted lines of the
Enugu State Register.
Why do you think the deputy governor has
not been sworn in?
I’m neither a soothsayer nor a marabout.
However, I can say that nobody has shown
us the copy of the so called hand-over note
from Governor Chime to start with or the
mandatory resolution of the House. This is
the first hurdle in spite of all the state
government’s propaganda.
One might be tempted to say that you are
speaking as one who is in opposition, in
this instance as the governorship candidate
of the opposition – Congress for
Progressive Change in 2011 in Enugu State.
Far from it, recall that I didn’t go to the
Election Petition Tribunal to contest the
governorship result. I reasoned that one of
the primary functions of elections is to test
or assess the performance of an incumbent
and if that is the case, it means that the
Enugu State electorate is happy with his
performance. All I warned the good people
of the state of was that it will be difficult
for Chime to maintain the momentum he
had in the first term. For most people
reach their peak in terms of project
execution in the first term. Don’t forget
that without being immodest, I have not
embarked on baseless accusation of even
my even foes, let alone Chime who comes
from the same clan with me. All we are
saying is that his handlers failed to harvest
the salient sections of the constitution for
public good.
What are the relevant sections you are
referring to?
As I said before, one doubts if Governor
Chime ever transmitted a letter to the
House. Whether he did or not, Section 190
(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria as amended provides
that, “In the event that the governor is
unable or fails to transmit the written
declaration mentioned in subsection (1) of
this section within 21 days, the House of
Assembly shall, by a resolution made by a
simple majority of vote of the House,
mandate the deputy governor as acting
governor, until the governor transmits a
letter to the speaker that he is now
available to resume his functions as
governor.” Has the simple provision of the
constitution been adhered to?
Our position is that the constitution has
made the controversy over Chime’s
predicament avoidable, except for the
ineptitude and greed of his handlers.
Otherwise, the intendment of the
constitution is that a governor and his
deputy are the same coin, having come
from the same political party. Therefore,
the observance of the Section 190 could
have been in practice rather than in
breach. This is the practice, you cannot
probate and aprobate.
Would you agree that even in the absence
of Chime, the pace of work in the state has
not slowed down?
One has not carried out any survey to
determine the extent of work done and one
has no knowledge whether any group of
quantity surveyors has done that, so it
remains in the region of speculation, which
is the sordid outcome of a mismanaged
political project.
What if Chime returns this week, what
would be the reaction of the CNPP?
We shall thank God and celebrate with the
people of the state and Nigeria. As I said
earlier, Chime is beloved by our people, it
is only this unnecessary crisis that fouled
the atmosphere.

Outrage over govs’ visit to Chime

civil society groups have slammed the
Nigeria Governors’ Forum for sending a
delegation to visit Governor Sullivan Chime
of Enugu State, who is reportedly receiving
treatment for an undisclosed illness, in
London.
According to them, the governors are
helping Chime to perpetuate has hold on
power by all means.
Chime has been away from the country for
over four months and with the nature of
his illness shrouded in secrecy, there have
been questions about his fitness to govern
the state.
Last week, after months of questions and
criticisms of the governor’s health and the
manner in which his absence was being
handled, a group picture of Chime with
governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom,
Gabriel Suswam of Benue, and Rotimi
Amaechi of Rivers states, said to have been
taken in London, went viral on the Internet
and in newspapers.
However, in a statement in Lagos on
Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary,
Ahaji Lai Mohammed, the ACN criticised the
Nigeria Governors’ Forum for the
“choreographed visit”, saying it was
designed to reinforce the line being
peddled by Chime’s supporters rather than
keep the people of the state informed of
the true situation.
While the Chairman, Coalition Against
Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran,
accused the governors of hypocrisy, Falana
said it was a mere solidarity visit which
failed to satisfy constitutional provisions.
For his part, the Secretary, Joint Action
Force, Mr. Abiodun Aremu, who agreed
that it was a solidarity visit, said the
governors went with the hope that the visit
would be reciprocated if such a fate befell
them in the future.
According to the ACN, the poor handling of
Chime’s reported illness fits into the
growing pattern of shrouding the health
problems of elected officials in secrecy.
It said, “There is no doubt that that the
reason behind all the shenanigans is the
desperation by public office holders to
hold on to power at all costs, even when it
is clear that their health has failed to such
a level that they are better off stepping
down so they can attend to their health
problems.”
The party explained that its main concern
was that the conspiracy of silence being
perpetrated by the state governors who
were reported to have taken ill and
abandoned their duty posts, as well as their
supporters especially the NGF, did not
serve the interest of the country’s
democracy.
It added, ‘’In the case of Governor Chime,
how can a man who is purportedly on
vacation disappear for over 135 days and
the people who voted him into office are
not expected to ask questions?
“Does the constitution provide for such a
long ‘vacation’ without consequences? Is
Governor Chime’s deputy, whom he
reportedly handed over to, given enough
latitude to adequately preside over the
affairs of the state? If not, how has this
affected governance in the state?
“And to what extent have the people of the
state been denied the dividends of
democracy by this unnecessary
controversy?”
According to Falana, the right thing to do is
for the House of Assembly of Enugu State –
and other states where governors have
been absent – to constitute a five-man
panel of medical experts who will
determine the governor’s fitness to
continue to govern.
He said, “It is that panel that will submit a
report after examining the governors
involved to determine whether they are fit
to remain in office. It is not (determined
following) a mere visit by non-qualified
medical personnel. That does not satisfy
the provisions of the constitution.”
While calling on the governors to condemn
the situation in the state and call for the
deputy governor to be sworn in, Adeniran
stressed that the secrecy surrounding the
governor’s health was being motivated by
President Goodluck Jonathan, who had also
refused to disclose details about his wife’s
health.
He said, “People should be able to disclose
their state of health, especially when they
are at the helm of affair in any political
entity. The present President doesn’t also
help matters by the way he handles the
condition of his wife’s health.”
Where the House of Assembly fails to do
the right thing, Aremu said it was up to the
people “to rise in unison and demand for a
leadership that can serve them”.
The ACN, which also accused the governors
of frittering away taxpayers’ money on the
trip to London and creating more
controversy by releasing a picture instead
of providing needed details about Chime’s
condition, urged public office-holders to be
more open about their illness and, if
necessary, cede full power to those
constitutionally empowered to take over.
“It is time we stopped this practice that
only serves the purpose of those who are
hell bent on clinging to power, not
considering the interest of the people who
voted them into office,’’ it said.

Jonathan is not a reckless spender –FG

The Federal Government on Sunday blasted
a former Vice-President (Africa), World
Bank, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, for alleging that
the Umaru Yar’Adua and President
Goodluck Jonathan administrations
squandered foreign reserves of about
$67bn, describing the statement as factually
incorrect and outlandish.
Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku,
made the Federal Government’s position
known at a press conference in Abuja.
Maku was at the briefing with the Special
Adviser to the President on Performance
Monitoring, Prof. Sylvester Monye; Chief
Economic Adviser to the President, Prof.
Nwanze Okedigbo; and the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Public Affairs,
Dr. Doyin Okupe.
Ezekwesili had on Thursday at the
convocation lecture of the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, said the two
administrations needed to tell Nigerians
how they spent the $45bn left in the
foreign reserves account and $22bn in the
Excess Crude Account by the former
President Olusegun Obasanjo
administration.
Ezekwesili, who was Minister of Solid
Minerals and Education under Obasanjo,
said Nigerians had lost dignity because of
ravaging poverty arising from poor choices
of the elite, corruption and lack of
investment in education.
Noting that the country had enjoyed five
cycles of oil boom, she decried the failure
to convert oil income to renewable assets
through training of human capital,
development of other sectors and
investment in foreign assets as other
resource-rich countries did with their oil
income.
But Maku said the former minister’s
statement betrayed “a surprisingly limited
understanding of government finances.”
He said Ezekwesili’s statement was more
curious considering the fact that she had
held senior positions in government and
World Bank.
Maku said, “The statement by the former
World Bank vice-president that the
governments of Presidents Musa Yar’Adua
and Goodluck Jonathan have squandered
$67bn in reserves (including $45 bn in
external reserves and $22 bn in the Excess
Crude Account) left by the Obasanjo
administration at the end of the May 2007
is factually incorrect.
“At the end of May 2007, Nigeria’s gross
reserves stood at $43.13bn-comprising
external reserves of $31.5bn, $9.43bn in
the Excess Crude Account and $2.18bn in
the Federal Government’s savings.
“These figures can be independently
verified from the CBN’s records. The figure
of $67bn alleged in her statement is
therefore clearly fictitious.”
Maku explained that since Obasanjo left
office, the reserves had experienced
fluctuations rising from $43.13bn in May
2007 and peaking at $62bn in September
2008 during the Yar’adua/Jonathan
administration when oil prices peaked at
$147 per barrel.
He added that the reserves fell
subsequently to $31.7bn in September
2011, a situation which he attributed to the
global financial crisis, which according to
him, caused the CBN interventions in the
currency market to defend the value of the
naira.
The minister explained that the Excess
crude savings were also used to stimulate
the economy at the height of the global
financial crisis to the tune of about $1bn,
representing 0.5 per cent of the nation’s
2009 Gross Domestic Product.
He recalled that Nigeria was one of the few
countries in the world that did not seek
assistance from international financial
institutions.
Maku added that the fiscal stimulus used to
shore up the economy during the period
was shared by all the three tiers of
government, including commitments of
about $5.5bn made under the Obasanjo
administration for power projects.
He said, “On the issue of reserves, it is
fallacious to say that the nation’s external
reserves were dipped into or misapplied by
the Federal Government. It is important to
note that the Federal Government cannot
dip its hands into external reserves.
“Like in other countries, the management of
external reserves is one of the statutory
mandates of the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
The minister cited Section 2(c) of the CBN
Act (2007) that states that the bank shall
maintain external reserves to safeguard the
international value of the legal tender
currency.
He insisted that no President since the
democratic dispensation had contravened
the Act.
Maku explained that other uses of the
reserves were to settle both public and
private sector foreign currency obligations
of Nigeria, including the importation of
goods such as equipment for power sector.
He said whenever a ministry or agency
needed to incur approved expenditure in
foreign currency, it must provide the naira
equivalent to the CBN before the bank sells
the required foreign currency.
This, he said, Ezekwesili, as a former World
Bank Vice-President for Africa must have
known.
The minister said while no one was
disputing that Nigeria still faced challenges
most of which were built up over a long
time, Nigerians needed to acknowledge the
achievements of the present administration
in the aftermath of difficult but necessary
macroeconomic and structural reforms
being implemented.
He said the Jonathan administration was
focused on promoting a stable, non-
inflationary and inclusive economic
environment for Nigeria to ensure that
Nigerians could live better and more
fulfilled lives.
Maku said the administration had restored
macroeconomic stability against the
backdrop of global economic uncertainty,
slow growth in the United States and high
unemployment and unsustainable debt in
Europe.
While saying that Nigeria’s economy grew
by about 6.4 per cent in the first three
quarters of 2012, the minister added that it
was set to continue at a similar pace in
2013 according to independent forecasts.
He said the government had reduced the
country’s fiscal deficit to only 2.17 per cent
of GDP in the 2013 budget while
rebalancing its spending in favour of
capital expenditure.
These achievements, he added, had already
received endorsement from international
rating agencies.
Maku said at a time when many advanced
and emerging markets were being
downgraded, Fitch and S&P had upgraded
the nation’s sovereign country ratings.
He added that the inclusion of Nigeria’s
sovereign bonds in the emerging market
bond indices of JP Morgan and Barclays
also testified to the growing confidence of
the international investment community in
the economy.
Also, Special Adviser to President Goodluck
Jonathan on Political Affairs, Mr. Ahmed
Gulak, accused the Olusegun Obasanjo
Administration of wasting $16bn on power
supply.
Gulak was reacting to Ezekwesili’s
statement.,
However, an aide of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, who asked not to be
named, said, “He (Gulak) must be ignorant.
Everybody knows that former President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s power project had led
to the improvement of power supply in the
country.”
Gulak, in an interview with one of our
correspondents in Abuja, claimed that the
Olusegun Obasanjo administration, where
Ezekwesili served as a minister, spent
$16bn on power, with no improvement.
Gulak, who insisted that Nigerians had yet
to benefit from the huge investment,
accused Ezekwesili of castigating the
Jonathan administration because she was
left out of  the government.
He  queried, “When Ezekwesili was there in
government what did she do?
Was it not under the Obasanjo
Administration where she served that we
spent $16bn on power. Did we get the
power? I’m asking?”
“You see these people are making all these
statements because they are out of
government. What she has said is not true,
it is unfortunate, it is pathetic, because it is
incorrect.”

El-Rufai In trouble over Jesus Christ, Mary comment

Former FCT minister, Mallam Nasir El-
Rufai has come under heavy
attack on social media for his tweet on
Sunday in his attempt to
defend the former Education minister,
Mrs Oby Ezekwesili and to
deride the Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration.
The ex-minister, in his tweet posted on
January 27, 2013, made a
joke about Jesus and Mary Magdalene in
a sarcasm aimed at
Information minister, Labaran Maku, Dr
Doyin Okupe and Dr Ruben
Abati.
His controversial tweet reads: “If Jesus
criticizes Jonathan’s govt,
Maku/Abati/Okupe will say he slept with
MaryMadgalene.”
Meanwhile, Christians and other
Nigerians have been attacking the
ex-minister describing the comments as
offensive and attack on
Christians.
“@Easyaffection: @elrufai Sir with all
due respect. I get u point in dis
joke. But why Jesus? It’s not
funny.”….ask @zebbook….
One Dr Thomas Agande in a statement on
Sunday titled “ El Rufai
Defiles Jesus Christ on Twitter said He
went overboard when, on his
Twitter page, today January 27, 2013, said
our Lord Jesus Christ
had sex with Mary Magdalene. We see
this as a very insensitive,
irresponsible, and a offensive thing to
say about Christ, and an
attack on the sensibilities of Christians
globally.
El-Rufai betrayed his lack of respect for
our Lord Jesus Christ and
obvious hatred for Christians. How else
can one explain his
effrontery and buffoonery when he
seemingly jokingly twitted that
Christ had sex with Mary Magdalene.
El-Rufai who aspires rule a multi
religious nation, should have been
circumspect in his use of words when
referring to the sacred.
It is on record that less offensive things
have been said about the
Prophet Mohammed which led to loss of
Christian lives.”
‘it is insensitive and an attack on
christians collective sensibilities
wrote zeebook.
Jane austin wrote “ This is so
irresponsible and insensitive . If
Christians should make such reference to
Prophet Mohammed we
would be counting dead bodies in the
north. We Christians are
peace loving and will definitely ignore
him but he must be told he is
an IDIOT for saying such”
Dr Agande added “The former minister
has just told Nigerians that
he lacks the decency to rule a multi
religious nation, if he should
display such disrespect for the sacred
and thinks it is funny. His
Tweet shows he is not a decent man. He
has disregarded the
collective sensibilities of Christians all
over the world by this very
offensive reference to our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
Source: AfricanExaminer

Teenage Girl Gang-Raped And Impregnated By Her Teachers

Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook

10. Facebook’s Terms Of Service are
completely one-sided
Let’s start with the basics. Facebook’s
Terms Of Service state that not only do they
own your data (section 2.1), but if you
don’t keep it up to date and accurate
(section 4.6), they can terminate your
account (section 14). You could argue that
the terms are just protecting Facebook’s
interests, and are not in practice enforced,
but in the context of their other activities,
this defense is pretty weak. As you’ll see,
there’s no reason to give them the benefit
of the doubt. Essentially, they see their
customers as unpaid employees for crowd-
sourcing ad-targeting data.
9. Facebook’s CEO has a documented
history of unethical behavior
From the very beginning of Facebook’s
existence, there are questions about
Zuckerberg’s ethics. According to
BusinessInsider.com, he used Facebook
user data to guess email passwords and
read personal email in order to discredit
his rivals. These allegations, albeit
unproven and somewhat dated,
nonetheless raise troubling questions
about the ethics of the CEO of the world’s
largest social network. They’re particularly
compelling given that Facebook chose to
fork over $65M to settle a related lawsuit
alleging that Zuckerberg had actually stolen
the idea for Facebook.
8. Facebook has flat out declared war on
privacy
Founder and CEO of Facebook, in defense
of Facebook’s privacy changes last January:
“People have really gotten comfortable not
only sharing more information and
different kinds, but more openly and with
more people. That social norm is just
something that has evolved over time.”
More recently, in introducing the Open
Graph API: “… the default is now social.”
Essentially, this means Facebook not only
wants to know everything about you, and
own that data, but to make it available to
everybody. Which would not, by itself,
necessarily be unethical, except that …
7. Facebook is pulling a classic bait-and-
switch
At the same time that they’re telling
developers how to access your data with
new APIs, they are relatively quiet about
explaining the implications of that to
members. What this amounts to is a bait-
and-switch. Facebook gets you to share
information that you might not otherwise
share, and then they make it publicly
available. Since they are in the business of
monetizing information about you for
advertising purposes, this amounts to
tricking their users into giving advertisers
information about themselves. This is why
Facebook is so much worse than Twitter in
this regard: Twitter has made only the
simplest (and thus, more credible) privacy
claims and their customers know up front
that all their tweets are public. It’s also why
the FTC is getting involved, and people are
suing them (and winning).
Check out this excellent timeline from the
EFF documenting the changes to Facebook’s
privacy policy.
6. Facebook is a bully
When Pete Warden demonstrated just how
this bait-and-switch works (by crawling all
the data that Facebook’s privacy settings
changes had inadvertently made public)
they sued him. Keep in mind, this
happened just before they announced the
Open Graph API and stated that the
“default is now social.” So why sue an
independent software developer and
fledgling entrepreneur for making data
publicly available when you’re actually
already planning to do that yourself? Their
real agenda is pretty clear: they don’t want
their membership to know how much data
is really available. It’s one thing to talk to
developers about how great all this sharing
is going to be; quite another to actually see
what that means in the form of files anyone
can download and load into MatLab.
5. Even your private data is shared with
applications
At this point, all your data is shared with
applications that you install. Which means
now you’re not only trusting Facebook, but
the application developers, too, many of
whom are too small to worry much about
keeping your data secure. And some of
whom might be even more ethically
challenged than Facebook. In practice, what
this means is that all your data – all of it –
must be effectively considered public,
unless you simply never use any Facebook
applications at all. Coupled with the
OpenGraph API, you are no longer trusting
Facebook, but the Facebook ecosystem.
4. Facebook is not technically competent
enough to be trusted
Even if we weren’t talking about ethical
issues here, I can’t trust Facebook’s
technical competence to make sure my data
isn’t hijacked. For example, their recent
introduction of their “Like” button makes it
rather easy for spammers to gain access to
my feed and spam my social network. Or
how about this gem for harvesting profile
data? These are just the latest of a series of
Keystone Kops mistakes, such as
accidentally making users’ profiles
completely public, or the cross-site
scripting hole that took them over two
weeks to fix. They either don’t care too
much about your privacy or don’t really
have very good engineers, or perhaps both.
3. Facebook makes it incredibly difficult to
truly delete your account
It’s one thing to make data public or even
mislead users about doing so; but where I
really draw the line is that, once you decide
you’ve had enough, it’s pretty tricky to
really delete your account. They make no
promises about deleting your data and
every application you’ve used may keep it
as well. On top of that, account deletion is
incredibly (and intentionally) confusing.
When you go to your account settings,
you’re given an option to deactivate your
account, which turns out not to be the
same thing as deleting it. Deactivating
means you can still be tagged in photos
and be spammed by Facebook (you actually
have to opt out of getting emails as part of
the deactivation, an incredibly easy detail
to overlook, since you think you’re deleting
your account). Finally, the moment you log
back in, you’re back like nothing ever
happened! In fact, it’s really not much
different from not logging in for awhile. To
actually delete your account, you have to
find a link buried in the on-line help (by
“buried” I mean it takes five clicks to get
there). Or you can just click here. Basically,
Facebook is trying to trick their users into
allowing them to keep their data even after
they’ve “deleted” their account.
2. Facebook doesn’t (really) support the
Open Web
The so-called Open Graph API is named so
as to disguise its fundamentally closed
nature. It’s bad enough that the idea here
is that we all pitch in and make it easier
than ever to help Facebook collect more
data about you. It’s bad enough that most
consumers will have no idea that this data
is basically public. It’s bad enough that
they claim to own this data and are aiming
to be the one source for accessing it. But
then they are disingenuous enough to call
it “open,” when, in fact, it is completely
proprietary to Facebook. You can’t use this
feature unless you’re on Facebook. A truly
open implementation would work with
whichever social network we prefer, and it
would look something like OpenLike.
Similarly, they implement just enough of
OpenID to claim they support it, while
aggressively promoting a proprietary
alternative, Facebook Connect.
1. The Facebook application itself sucks
Between the farms and the mafia wars and
the “top news” (which always guesses
wrong – is that configurable somehow?)
and the myriad privacy settings and the
annoying ads (with all that data about me,
the best they can apparently do is promote
dating sites, because, uh, I’m single) and
the thousands upon thousands of crappy
applications, Facebook is almost completely
useless to me at this point. Yes, I could
probably customize it better, but the
navigation is ridiculous, so I don’t bother.
(And, yet, somehow, I can’t even change
colors or apply themes or do anything to
make my page look personalized.) Let’s not
even get into how slowly your feed page
loads. Basically, at this point, Facebook is
more annoying than anything else.
Facebook is clearly determined to add every
feature of every competing social network
in an attempt to take over the Web (this is a
never-ending quest that goes back to AOL
and those damn CDs that were practically
falling out of the sky). While Twitter isn’t
the most usable thing in the world, at least
they’ve tried to stay focused and aren’t
trying to be everything to everyone.
I often hear people talking about Facebook
as though they were some sort of
monopoly or public trust. Well, they aren’t.
They owe us nothing. They can do whatever
they want, within the bounds of the laws.
(And keep in mind, even those criteria are
pretty murky when it comes to social
networking.) But that doesn’t mean we
have to actually put up with them.
Furthermore, their long-term success is by
no means guaranteed – have we all
forgotten MySpace? Oh, right, we have.
Regardless of the hype, the fact remains
that Sergei Brin or Bill Gates or Warren
Buffett could personally acquire a majority
stake in Facebook without even straining
their bank account. And Facebook’s
revenue remains more or less a rounding
error for more established tech companies.
Click to viewWhile social networking is a fun
new application category enjoying
remarkable growth, Facebook isn’t the only
game in town. I don’t like their application
nor how they do business and so I’ve made
my choice to use other providers. And so
can you.

On a lighter note

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City
and asks for the Loan officer.
She says she’s going to Europe on business
for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.
The bank officer says the bank will need
some kind of security for the loan, so the
blonde hands over the keys to a new
Mercedes Benz SL 500.
The car is parked on the street in front of the
bank, she has the title and everything checks
out.
The bank agrees to accept the car collateral
for the loan.
The bank’s president and its officers all
enjoy a good laugh at the blond for using a
$110,000 Benz as collateral against a $5,000
loan.
An employee of the bank then proceeds to
drive the Benz into the bank’s underground
garage and parks it there.
Two weeks later, the blonde returns, repays
the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to
$15.41.
The loan officer says, “Miss, we are very
happy to have had your business, and this
transaction has worked out very nicely, but
we are a little puzzled.
While you were away, we checked you out
and found that you are a multimillionaire.
What puzzles us is, why would you bother to
borrow $5,000?”
The blonde replies, “Where else in New York
City can I park my Car for two weeks for only
$15.41 and expect it to be there when I
return?”
Finally… a smart blonde joke.

PDP crisis: I’ve forgiven all – Bamanga

chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party,
(PDP) Alhaji Bamanga Tukur responds to
questions relating to the crisis within the
party saying he has forgiven all, including
PDP governors. Excerpts:
When exactly are we having a chairman for
the party board of trustees?
Well, on the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), it
bothers everybody, but it isn’t executive at
all. It is an advisory body: it is supposed to
be collection of people, who are custodians
of the conscience of the party, advising the
party, how to get it right when the party is
going wrong. So, it is going to come very
soon.
PDP governors have been clamoring for
NEC meeting; what is the party doing to
fulfill that constitutional requirement of
NEC every quarter?
Yes, the NEC meeting will be convened. Our
job is to follow our constitution to the
letter. Sure, the NEC will be convened. My
job is to ensure adherence to what the
party constitution says. So, there is no fear
and I have always emphasised that the
party is supreme. The party is above
everybody, from the president, down to the
councilor; they are all under that umbrella.
PDP is an institution is above governors,
president, and the chairman of the party.
There are fears that some governors may
be victimized over their role in the recent
crisis within your party..?
No, all my governors are my people. Let me
tell you, we have no intention to victimize
anybody. How can you even victimize your
people? They are all commanders on the
field. Every governor is my right
commander in the field, therefore, I want
to strengthen them and I want to help
them, no more, no less. It is just people
making stories out of nothing so that they
can talk about it. I am in good terms with
my governors, all of them; I like them to
carry everybody along in their states and to
follow my 12 point agenda.
What about the ten members of the PDP
NWC that took decision on the Adamawa
impasse, behind you, whom you described
as having betrayed you. Have you forgiven
them also?
I am a father!  Once you are looking
forward, you don’t look back again.  We are
one. We all can make mistakes.
What is your take on the ongoing merger
talks between ANPP, CPC and ACN; don’t
you see it as a threat to your party in 2015,
especially with this crisis you are having?
No, if we do the right things for the people,
after all, we didn’t stop anybody going into
any party, but today we are the party in
government.
I will continue asking people because we
have to be fair and just and fulfill what we
promised and people will follow us,
because we mean what we say and we
deliver what we promised, and we agree to
do what our people want us to do.

Fashola running a secret govt– CACOL

Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders has
faulted the Lagos State Governor, Mr.
Babatunde Fashola, for barring political
office holders in the state from granting
interviews or speaking to journalists on
behalf of his government.
The Executive President of the group,
Debo Adeniran, in a statement on
Tuesday by his Media Officer, Abimbola
Adegoke, accused the governor of
running “a secret government.”
Fashola, in a circular by the Head of
Service, Mr. Adesegun Ogunlewe, on
Monday, said barring of political office
holders and civil servants from speaking
to journalists was to sanitise the flow of
information between the government
and people.
Adeniran, however, noted that the step
taken by the Lagos State Government was
equivalent to suppression of public
information and denying the public and
civil servants their fundamental human
rights.
He said, “How can a governor, who rode
on the wings of democracy and the rule
of law, a supposed expert at law for that
matter, order public servants not to grant
interviews or issue press releases
without the concurrence of the Ministry
of Information?
“If Fashola does not have anything to
hide, he should rescind his decision on
this issue. He is responsible and
accountable to every Lagosian and the
Nigerian masses as a whole.
“Lagosians are entitled to the true
position of situation all the time. Why
should the Information Ministry censor
the information to be passed to the
general public? Has the Lagos
government ceased to be accountable to
the people that put them there? Why
should they run the government like cult
group? It is only cult groups that operate
in secret.’’
He however called on the Lagos State
House of Assembly to address the issue
to curb the excess of the governor.

EAGLES VS ZAMBIA ‘LL BE A CLASSIC

Football Association of Zambia (FAZ)
President Kalusha Bwalya said he was
happy with the team’s performance against
Ethiopia and that a win for Zambia will
eventually comeagainst Nigeria on Friday
albeit he has labelled the match a classic.
“I thought I saw a good Zambia team. We
had a lot of possession and control of the
match. We had the better chances but we
missed the finer-touch in front of goal,”
Kalusha said.
“A win will come. Ethiopia kept coming at
us, got one chance and levelled the score.
We have accepted the result and should
look forward to next match on Friday
against Nigeria. It will be a classic.”
Nigeria conceded a stoppage time equaliser
against Burkina Faso, a result that left all
four teams in Group C level on one point
each from their opening matches.

PRESIDENT JONATHAN WRITES SUPER EAGLES

Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan has
urged the Eagles to win in South Africa as
part of the country’s 100 years celebrations.
“The Africa Cup of Nations has always
been an exciting and important sports
event for us in Nigeria and other African
countries. However, this edition of 2013
even holds a greater significance for us as
a nation,” read the letter to the team
personally signed by President Jonathan.
“Next year 2014, our dear country will be
one hundred years old. As we look back
and celebrate our achievements as a
strong, united nation, we cannot
understate the role that sports, especially
football played in our national life.
“Football remains one enduring unifying
factor in our country which transcends our
diversity. A successful outing at the Africa
Cup of Nations will offer a great
opportunity to further inspire pride, faith
and hope in a re-energised new Nigeria in
the course of our centennial celebrations”.

Reaction trails attack of Emir of Kano Convoy

Attackers are cowards - Sultan
The Sultan of Sokoto condemned the
attack in strong terms, describing it as a
cowardly act.
In a statement signed by JNI’s secretary-
general, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, and
made available to journalists in Kaduna,
the Sultan commiserated with Kano State
Government, Kano Emirate Council and
people of the state over the wicked attack
on the Emir.
“We condemn, in the strongest terms,
this dastardly act that led to loss of
innocent lives, and again reiterate our
earlier calls to governments at all levels
to give security of life and property of
citizens the utmost priority it deserves.
“We call on all Muslims to intensify
prayers to Almighty Allah to bring to an
end the security challenges facing our
country. While praying for the repose of
the souls of the deceased, we call on
authorities concerned to carry out a
thorough investigation in order to
unmask and arrest the perpetrators of
this heinous crime,” he said.
Mark: attack, violent assault on
traditional institution
Senate President David Mark yesterday in
Abuja condemned Saturday’s attack on
the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero.
In a statement issued by his Special
Adviser (Media), Mr Kola Ologbondiyan,
Mark described the attack as “a violent
assault on our respected traditional
institution’’.
The Senate president urged security
agencies to rise to the challenge by
fishing out the perpetrators.
He also appealed to well-meaning
individuals with information on the
hideouts of perpetrators of attacks in the
country to make such available to the
security agencies.
The Senate president, however, urged
those behind the devious acts to embrace
peace in the interest of the nation.
Attack an alert call – IBB
Former military president, General
Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), has
also condemned the attack on the Emir of
Kano, describing it as frightening.
In a statement issued by IBB, he said it
was disturbing that threats to security
had refused to die down, and called on
government to change tactics in its
attempt to contain terror attacks in the
country.
“The attack on the Emir of Kano which
reportedly left four people dead is a
wake-up call to all of us. What could be
the motive? What does anyone stand to
gain by attempting to kill an Emir that is
nearing eighty? The Emir of Kano stands
out as one traditional ruler who does not
seek favours from those in government
and outside it, and who over the years
has been able to live an exemplary life to
the admiration of all. His record of
achievements, the stability and candour
he has brought to bear on the throne are
virtues that will live for posterity. May
Allah continue to grant him good health
for today and the future.
“It is against this backdrop that I find it
condemnable for anyone to attempt the
Emir’s life. I wish to advise the federal
government to exploit the option of
dialogue with members of the insurgent
groups in order to arrest this prevailing
drift in our national security.
“The use of force has proven to be
inadequate and ineffective to checkmate
this ugly trend. We must therefore put
hands together to find a more rewarding
and meaningful end to this security
concern. Dialogue is my number one
preference in this regard,” he said.
Northern governors condemn attack
The Northern States Governors Forum
(NSGF) has also condemned the attack on
the Kano monarch.
The chairman of NSGF and Governor of
Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, who
gave the position of the forum yesterday
in Minna, expressed  sadness over the
incident, describing it as a brazen act of
terrorism and the height of insecurity in
the country.
He said it was unfortunate that the
incident happened at a time when the
search for a lasting solution to the
increasing cases of security challenges in
the country was being pursued by the
forum and all well meaning Nigerians.
The governor, in a statement signed by
his deputy press secretary, Bala Bitrus,
lambasted the attackers, describing them
as faceless persons who are bent on
instilling fear and creating a general state
of apprehension across the country in
order to achieve their selfish motives.
It’s a sacrilegious act – PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on
its part described the attack as a
sacrilegious assault on respected
traditional institution.
The national publicity secretary of the
party, Chief Olisa Metuh, while
commiserating with the families of those
who lost their lives in the attack, said the
party was deeply saddened by the wave
of attacks. He urged those behind the
dastardly acts to have a change of heart.
Attack mindless – Kalu
Former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji
Uzor Kanu, has described the motive and
those behind the attack as mindless.
Kalu, in a statement yesterday in reaction
to Saturday’s attack on Alhaji Bayero’s
convoy, said the attack also amounted to
disrespect for the traditional institution.
Kalu, in the statement signed by his
special adviser, Oyekunle Oyewunmi,
called on the relevant authorities to bring
those behind the attack to book.
Lagos speaker calls for state police
Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly,
Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji has condemned
in strong terms, the gun attack which
resulted in the death of the Emir’s driver
and some of his personal guards.
This was contained in a press statement
signed by Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, his Chief
Press Secretary yesterday.
The speaker and other members of the
House commiserated with the Emir and
his family.
“Though it is sad and highly unfortunate
that you lost your driver and a number
of your guards in the brutal attack on
your convoy, we however thank the
Almighty Allah for saving your precious
life  on the occasion. “We also pray that
may the Almighty Allah continue to
protect you, while we pray that He grants
all the departed ones Fidau Aljanah”, he
said.

4 Arrested Over Attack On Emir’s Convoy

Four suspects have been arrested in
connection with the attack on the convoy
of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero,
it emerged yesterday.
The deputy governor of Kano State,
Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, also confirmed
the arrest to AFP yesterday but declined
to give numbers.
This comes as the Sultan of Sokoto and
President-General of the Jama’atu Nasril
Islam (JNI), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III ,
condemned the attack, describing the
attackers as cowards.
The Senate President, David Mark, the
Northern Governors’ Forum, and the
Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) were
also among those who condemned the
attack yesterday.
Kano State deputy governor Abdullahi
Ganduje said some suspects have been
arrested over the attack but he declined
to say how many.
But a security source said on condition of
anonymity that four suspected members
of Boko Haram sect have been arrested,
claiming that one of them had allegedly
confessed to participating in the attack on
the emir’s convoy.
Meanwhile, the death toll in an attack by
gunmen on the convoy of the Emir of
Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, has risen to
five, the police said yesterday.
“The interim chairman of Kura Local
Government Area and his driver were
also killed by some gunmen who
pursued them from the scene of the
attack on Emir Ado Bayero,” Kano police
spokesman Magaji Majia also told AFP.
Kano State Governor Musa Rabiu
Kwankwaso had earlier told AFP that
three people in the emir’s convoy were
killed in the Saturday attack.
The unknown gunmen opened fire on
the emir and his convoy as they were
returning from a Qur’anic graduation
ceremony in Kano city.
The politician, Salisu Abdullahi Kura,
and his driver had left the convoy in the
confusion that followed the attack but
were trailed by the gunmen in a cab and
shot dead in a nearby street, Majia said.
The 82-year-old Bayero, who was not
hurt in the attack, flew out of the country
to the United Kingdom yesterday along
with his two sons injured in the attack,
an official in his palace said.
“The emir left for London around 1:15
pm to cool off after the traumatising
event of yesterday,” said the official.
Security was tightened yesterday in Kano,
following the attack. Armed soldiers and
policemen patrolled the streets and
intensified their search on vehicles at
checkpoints in the city.

‘Why Nigeria may lose war against same-sex marriage’

Wounded Emir of Kano, two sons flown to London

Attack on Emir of Kano: IBB Calls for Change of Tactics, Dialogue

January 24 Declared Public Holiday In Nigeria

Photo: Nigerian Couple Hold Wedding Reception In The Middle Of A Pool

Nigerian Monarch Makes History As The First Black Person To Buy The 2014 Bentley

The Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom in Ondo state
and chairman of Obat Oil, Oba Fredrick
Obateru Akinruntan, made history last week
as the first black person to buy the 2014
model of Bentley. The Oba didn’t just buy
it, it was specially customized for him,
according to sources close to him.
The new ride, which arrived in Nigeria a
few weeks back, has Olugbo as its plate
number
Oba Akinruntan also has a custom built
2012 Rolls Royce similar to that of Queen
Elizabeth II.

10 Brain Damaging Habits To Avoid

According to World Health Organization
there are brain habits that will damage the
brain severely and needs to be avoided.
1. No Breakfast – People who do not take
breakfast are going to have a lower blood
sugar level. This leads to an insufficient
supply of nutrients to the brain causing
brain degeneration.
2. Overreacting – It causes hardening of the
brain arteries, leading to a decrease in
mental power.
3. Smoking – It causes multiple brain
shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer
disease.
4. High Sugar consumption – Too much
sugar will interrupt the absorption of
proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition
and may interfere with brain development.
5. Air Pollution – The brain is the largest
oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling
polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen
to the brain, bringing about a decrease in
brain efficiency.
6. Sleep Deprivation – Sleep allows our brain
to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will
accelerate the death of brain cells.
7. Head covered while sleeping – Sleeping
with the head covered increases the
concentration of carbon dioxide and
decrease concentration of oxygen that may
lead to brain damaging effects.
8. Working your brain during illness –
Working hard or studying with sickness may
lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the
brain.
9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts – Thinking
is the best way to train our brain, lacking in
brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain
shrinkage.
10. Talking Rarely – Intellectual
conversations will promote the efficiency of
the brain.

10 Brain Damaging Habits To Avoid

According to World Health Organization
there are brain habits that will damage the
brain severely and needs to be avoided.
1. No Breakfast – People who do not take
breakfast are going to have a lower blood
sugar level. This leads to an insufficient
supply of nutrients to the brain causing
brain degeneration.
2. Overreacting – It causes hardening of the
brain arteries, leading to a decrease in
mental power.
3. Smoking – It causes multiple brain
shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer
disease.
4. High Sugar consumption – Too much
sugar will interrupt the absorption of
proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition
and may interfere with brain development.
5. Air Pollution – The brain is the largest
oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling
polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen
to the brain, bringing about a decrease in
brain efficiency.
6. Sleep Deprivation – Sleep allows our brain
to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will
accelerate the death of brain cells.
7. Head covered while sleeping – Sleeping
with the head covered increases the
concentration of carbon dioxide and
decrease concentration of oxygen that may
lead to brain damaging effects.
8. Working your brain during illness –
Working hard or studying with sickness may
lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the
brain.
9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts – Thinking
is the best way to train our brain, lacking in
brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain
shrinkage.
10. Talking Rarely – Intellectual
conversations will promote the efficiency of
the brain.

Banks To Sack More Workers

The banking industry may yet again send
scores of its workers to the job market this
year following rising cost of running their
business, analysts have said.
The rising overhead cost is mostly a fallout
of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
directives to deposit money banks (DMBs)
to reduce charges on turnover (COT) from
N5 per N1,000 to N3 and the removal of
the N100 charged by banks for withdrawal
of money through automated teller
machines (ATMs).
Part of the fallout is that most banks now
keep one ATM operational at a time in a
bid to save cost. Most banks that have
three or more ATMs have one or more out
of operations as the weight of servicing
becomes heavier with the removal of N100
charges.
LEADERSHIP investigations revealed that
the banks are not happy about the
development, but have little choice over the
decisions of the regulatory body.
The banks are particularly sore that the
decision of not charging fees for usage of
their ATMs negates the very principle of
banking. According to them, put plainly,
banks are usually in the business of buying
and selling money.
The area of disagreement is that a
customer of bank A uses the ATM of bank A
to collect money from a bank B’s ATM for
free. The issue, according to them, is that
though the banking halls are actually being
decongested, money they got from
depositors at a cost is being collected by
customers of other banks at no cost at all.
The problem, analysts said, is two-pronged.
The first one, according to them, is that as
banks deploy more ATM machines and
bank customers gleefully use ATM more
because it is at no cost, and frees the
banking halls, as such, bank cashiers have
their jobs hanging in the balance, unless
they are deployed to other areas where
they will be more productive.
Banks’ staff’s fate remains hanging
delicately when the other problem is looked
at. This is because by the time banks spend
more money deploying ATMs, servicing
them, providing power 24 hours a week to
keep them running, the cost will be
unbearable, and as such the staff will just
have to pay the price.
Bismarck Rewane, chief executive of
Financial Derivatives Company (FDC)
Limited, said if you can now draw money
from any ATM of any bank, it means the
number of customers using the ATMs will
increase; therefore the number of
customers using cashiers would also
reduce.
According to him, if there are fewer
customers for cashiers to attend to, the
bank will have no choice than recoup the
funds spent on acquiring ATMs by letting
some cashiers and other staff go.
“There is going to be a cut-back in the
number of cashiers because if a cashier
attends to 2,000 customers in a day and
now because of the increased use of the
ATMs, the cahier is attending to 500
customers, the bank is definitely going to
restructure and either let go of the cashier
or transfer him to another department
where he would be more profitable,” said
Rewane.
Okechukwu Unegbu, former president of
the Chartered Institute of Bankers Nigeria
(CIBN), said unless the banks have agreed
at the Bankers Committee level, it is
unimaginable that a customer of bank A
collects money from bank B through the
ATM.
He said that, in other climes, when one
uses the credit card of another bank to
collect money from another bank, charges
are applied.
Unegbu nonetheless said banks could be
cutting down on overheads through hidden
charges. He wondered what the meaning of
a so-called management fee charged by
banks means.
He added that some of the banks were yet
to revert to N3 per every N1,000 as COT.
Instead, they still collect N5, he said.

PDP comes under fire over George’s BoT appointment

The Peoples Democratic Party has come
under criticisms for appointing an ex-
convict, Chief Bode George, into a panel to
reorganise its Board of Trustees.
A Lagos High Court convicted George in
2009 for fraud after he served as Chairman
of the Board of the Nigerian Ports
Authority. He spent two years in prison.
Legal practitioners as well as civil rights
groups, Anti-Corruption Network and
Coalition against Corrupt Leaders, on
Sunday, condemned the PDP’s action,
saying the party had no respect for the
public.
Executive Secretary of ACN and former
member of the House of Representatives,
Mr. Dino Melaye, and the Chairman of
CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said the PDP’s
decision was akin to legalising corruption.
Melaye said, “Almost everybody in the party
(PDP) is an ex-convict, only time will tell.
The party is about corruption, so
corruption and corrupt persons mean
nothing to them. He (Bode George) is still
carrying our national honours and so you
can see.”
Adeniran said, “Nobody is expected to
associate with a corrupt convict that has
not been discharged of the burden of guilt
because such people will not do anything
to discourage similar crimes.
“He is not going to discourage people of
doubting integrity from assuming office as
a political leader. By implication, such
characters will infest others with the
criminal virus because he exemplifies
corruption. And since like begets like,
whatever decision taken by any committee
he is a member can only be seen as lacking
in integrity.”
But two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Rotimi
Jacobs and Yusuf Ali, who spoke to our
correspondents, differed on the issue.
Jacobs, who is a counsel for the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, while
condemning the development, said it was
an indication that the PDP was not sincere
in its anti-corruption war.
He said, “Is that how the PDP will be
fighting corruption? Is that how the ruling
party will fight corruption? For a party that
is supposed to be fighting corruption, it is
a very sad development. It is the shame of
a nation.”
But, Ali noted that despite his conviction,
George had the right to belong to, and
participate in the activities of a political
party.
He added that the appointment was a PDP
affair, and that the party was not the
Federal Government.
Ali said, “The party is not the government.
We should not equate the party with the
government. Since he belongs to the party,
he can function within the party.
“Even conviction cannot stop somebody
from belonging to a group or a trade
union. If he belongs to a group, he can
take part in the activities of the group. It is
different from taking public office.”
Meanwhile, a member of the PDP BoT, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said the
President suggested George’s name at the
meeting where the decision was taken.
The source said, “The President suggested
his name. You know this is politics; the
President is losing followership in the
South-West and other zones, so the best
he thinks he can do is to look for those
who can work with him.
“If he thinks an ex-convict is the best
person to reorganise his party, so be it.
“Don’t forget that he said recently that
another ex-convict, Chief Diepreye
Alamieseigha is his benefactor.
“Ironically, both George and Alamieseigha
were convicted for corruption. He has the
right to choose his friends.”
When contacted, the Secretary of the Board,
Senator Wali Jibrin, declined to speak on
the matter.
Asked whether the appointment would not
send a wrong signal about the country’s
fight against corruption, he said, “I don’t
know anything about that.”
Culled: Vanguard

NITEL Manager, 16 Others Arrested Over Alleged N50m Cables Theft

The police in Lagos have arrested a NITEL
Manager and 16 others for allegedly
stealing NITEL cables worth N50 million
from its warehouse in Victoria Island,
Lagos.
A very reliable source at Victoria Island
Police Station, who disclosed this on
Monday to the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN), said that the suspects were arrested
at about 12:30a.m. on Sunday at NITEL
Warehouse, Saka Tinubu, Victoria Island,
Lagos.
“We have been on surveillance for about
two months for the suspects– after we got
intelligence report about their activities.
“The ring leader, one Safui, had promised
one of the police officers in the station N2
million, so as to assist them to steal the
cables.
“Some officers were posted to keep watch
over the facilities.
“They (suspects) came in with a disguised
truck, with NITEL stickers, so as to suggest
that they were NITEL staff.
“They were about driving out when our
men swooped on them. A NITEL Warehouse
Manager, one other NITEL staff and 15
others, were arrested on the spot.
“The truck and the cables are currently kept
at the police station,” the source told NAN.
The police source said that the suspects
attempted to bribe the police officers with
N700,000, after their arrest.
“The suspected ring -leader also threatened
to use his influence to post the officers
from the station to other areas if they did
not co-operate with him,’’ the source
added. (NAN)

Imo State Traditional Ruler Converts To Islam, Gives Reasons

Chief Sylvester O. Dimunah, the vice
chairman of the Council of Village Heads
in Imo State, has been converted to
Islam.
The traditional ruler, whose name is
Musa Dimunah now, said that the
truthful nature of the religion, is the
reason why he made the switch. He
revealed that the good character of
Malam Ibrahim Biobonlomije, the former
secretary of the council and the
executive secretary of Justice Mamman
Nasir Islamic Centre for Peace and
Research influenced his decision to
embrace Islam.
“I did not accept Islam, I only revert to
the religion that our forefathers practice
and the universal religion of humanity.
I’m impressed by the good nature of
Muslims’ love for everybody and hatred
for none apart from the way they revere
Allah and all the Prophets without
discrimination,” he said.
“I am also impressed by the brotherhood
and mutual respect for each other and
other members of the community.”
He however insisted there was no
pressure to change his name, after he
became a Muslim.

Nigeriens Nabbed With N15m Stashed Under Car Seats

Why would anyone hide over N15 million
cash under the seats and footmats of their
car moreso, when they are foreign
nationals?
That is what happened when three
nationals of Niger Republic were nabbed by
the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as they
attempted to enter the country. Apparently
aware that the trunk of the car would be
searched at the various checkpoints, the
smart alecs neatly stashed the cash where
they thought was hardly checked by
security agents.
Comptroller of Customs in-charge of
Katsina/Kaduna Area Command, Yusuf
Umar, who paraded the suspects identified
as Abdulrasheed Usman (22), his brother
Salisu (21), and Bishir Abdullahi (30),
before newsmen in Katsina at the weekend,
confirmed that nothing was found in the
boot of the suspects’ car, a Honda
Academy, with Nigerian registration
number, ABUJA ABJ 602 AE, when they were
intercepted at Makera checkpoint on Jibia –
Katsina road.
Mr. Umar further stated that the suspects,
who could be financial agents of a Bureau
De Change operator, took a bush path into
Nigeria to evade scanning machines of the
Customs Service at Jibia international
border.
According to him, the Nigeriens erred when
they failed to declare the cash on them
which is in disregard of the provisions of
Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011,
which states that transportation of cash or
negotiable instruments in excess of
USD10,000 or its equivalent by individuals
in or out of the country shall be declared
to the Nigeria Customs. Also, according to
Mr. Umar, the suspects contravened the
Customs and Excise Management Act
(CEMA) of 2004 and the Foreign Exchange
(Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act by failing to declare the said amount to
officers of the Customs.
“The claim of these suspects in this case
that they are financial agents to Yaura BDP
of Wapa, Kano, makes them liable. Who is
Yaura BDP, Wapa? Our investigation is
ongoing to ascertain the depth of
involvement and occupational identity of
the suspects.
“The alibi of collecting the money in Jibiya
while not travelling with a Nigerian
companion cannot hold water. It is my
sincere belief that the Nigeria Customs
Service and other relevant sister agencies
will get to the root of this matter so as to
ascertain the purpose for the movement of
this money,” the Comptroller said in a
prepared statement made available to
reporters

Nigeriens Nabbed With N15m Stashed Under Car Seats

Why would anyone hide over N15 million
cash under the seats and footmats of their
car moreso, when they are foreign
nationals?
That is what happened when three
nationals of Niger Republic were nabbed by
the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as they
attempted to enter the country. Apparently
aware that the trunk of the car would be
searched at the various checkpoints, the
smart alecs neatly stashed the cash where
they thought was hardly checked by
security agents.
Comptroller of Customs in-charge of
Katsina/Kaduna Area Command, Yusuf
Umar, who paraded the suspects identified
as Abdulrasheed Usman (22), his brother
Salisu (21), and Bishir Abdullahi (30),
before newsmen in Katsina at the weekend,
confirmed that nothing was found in the
boot of the suspects’ car, a Honda
Academy, with Nigerian registration
number, ABUJA ABJ 602 AE, when they were
intercepted at Makera checkpoint on Jibia –
Katsina road.
Mr. Umar further stated that the suspects,
who could be financial agents of a Bureau
De Change operator, took a bush path into
Nigeria to evade scanning machines of the
Customs Service at Jibia international
border.
According to him, the Nigeriens erred when
they failed to declare the cash on them
which is in disregard of the provisions of
Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011,
which states that transportation of cash or
negotiable instruments in excess of
USD10,000 or its equivalent by individuals
in or out of the country shall be declared
to the Nigeria Customs. Also, according to
Mr. Umar, the suspects contravened the
Customs and Excise Management Act
(CEMA) of 2004 and the Foreign Exchange
(Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act by failing to declare the said amount to
officers of the Customs.
“The claim of these suspects in this case
that they are financial agents to Yaura BDP
of Wapa, Kano, makes them liable. Who is
Yaura BDP, Wapa? Our investigation is
ongoing to ascertain the depth of
involvement and occupational identity of
the suspects.
“The alibi of collecting the money in Jibiya
while not travelling with a Nigerian
companion cannot hold water. It is my
sincere belief that the Nigeria Customs
Service and other relevant sister agencies
will get to the root of this matter so as to
ascertain the purpose for the movement of
this money,” the Comptroller said in a
prepared statement made available to
reporters

Emenike scores winner in Nigeria's friendly

The Super Eagles continued its build-up for
the AFCON 2013 Nations Cup in South
Africa later this month with an amazing
display of attacking football to overwhelm
Dutch side, Sparta Rotterdam 1-0, in Faro,
Portugal on Saturday afternoon.
The game which was played at the Browns
Sports and Leisure Club, where the Eagles
are presently camped for the SA 2013
championship started on a cautious note
for both sides, but it was the Eagles which
featured Skipper Joseph Yobo pairing
youthful Kenneth Omeruo, who was
impressive in the heart of the defence, that
seized the initiative just five minutes into
the encounter.
A combination of Efe Ambrose and Ahmed
Musa found Nosa Igiebor at the edge of the
box, but he blasted wide. In the 10
th minute, Mikel Obi combined beautifully
with Igiebor to free Emenike, but his shot
was again wasted. Mikel again did a
yeoman’s job in the 14th minute to send
Emenike clear and he promptly tucked the
ball into the net but Dutch referee for the
game Wim Bronsvoort ruled it offside.
From then on, it was one way traffic as the
Eagles seized control of the game but
Igiebor, Moses, Emenike and Musa
somehow managed not to score and the
half thus ended goalless, to the chagrin of
Stephen Keshi, who thought his wards
should have at least been two goals up by
then.
The Eagles continued from where they
stopped in the second stanza and in the
55thminute, Ambrose Efe combined
beautifully with Musa, who dribbled his
way into the vital area before laying the ball
for bulky Emenike to riffle home, for what
turned out the only goal of the encounter.
After the goal Keshi made eight changes to
his team with Ejike Uzoenyi coming in for
Victor Moses, Gabriel Reuben for Mikel, Ike
Uche for Emenike, Sunday Mba for Nosa
Igiebor, Brown Ideye for Musa, Ogenyi
Onazi for Yobo, Nwankwo Obiorah for
Ogude Fegor and goalkeeper Chigozie
Agbim for Vincent Enyeama.
The Dutch side did threaten a couple of
times through dangerman, Donovan
Deekman spotting number 11 jersey, but it
was dealt with by Enyeama and later by
Agbim. Infact, they took only one straight
shot at goal that was easily picked up by
Enyeama at the start of the second half.
The Eagles continued their dominant play
even with the changes but Ideye, Uche,
Reuben and Mba failed to increase the
tally, to keep the scoreline at only 1-0, after
90minutes.

Saboteurs leaking official secrets to Boko Haram – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan said some
‘saboteurs’ in his administration are
leaking official security secrets to the Boko
Haram sect.
Speaking yesterday at a special
interdenominational church service held to
mark this year’s Armed Forces
Remembrance Day at the National Christian
Centre, Abuja, Jonathan called on those
sabotaging government’s efforts at
containing the menace of terrorism in parts
of the country to desist in the interest of
the nation.
He said, “the saboteurs in government
condoning terrorism by Boko Haram, you
do not love this nation. Those of you who
leak secrets to Boko Haram do not love this
nation. It is a crime not to love this nation.
“My question to our Armed Forces and
other security outfits is what, what are you
building? Will what you are building build
or destroy the nation? You are supposed to
build the nation wherever you go to serve.”
The president insisted that the unity of
Nigeria cannot be compromised saying that
only insane couple opt for divorce after a
century staying together as one.
Jonathan said though some politicians now
use the issue of secession as political
weapon, the country will ‘never’ break up.
He said “Some people talk about
disintegration of Nigeria, now even at
political levels some people take it as
weapon of enteritis when they want to
discuss politics. But my conviction and I
believe that of most people here and those
listening to us is that Nigeria will continue
to remain a united nation.
“Nigeria will not disintegrate. Anybody who
is doing research on sociology, psychology
or political science, know Nigeria will
remain one. In 2014 we will celebrate our
centenary, 100 years in existence,” he said.
The first scripture reading was taken from
the book of Romans 12:9-21by the Minister
of State for Defence, Olusola Obada. The
second scripture reading was taken from
the book of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, by
Jonathan.
In attendance were; First Lady Dame
Patience Jonathan and the president’s
mother Eunice Jonathan, Senate President
David Mark, Deputy Senate President Ike
Ekweremadu, Deputy Speaker of the House
of Representatives Emeka Ihidioha,
Secretary to the Government of the
Federation Anyim Pius Anyim and several
other top government officials.

Boko Haram leader caught in former Rep’s house

Another breakthrough came the way of
security agents in their confrontation
with members of the dreaded Jamaatu
Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad,
otherwise known as Boko Haram, with
the arrest of one of  the sect’s suspected
leaders, Hassan Pagi BUKAR, in the
residence of a 2003-2007 member of the
House of Representatives (names
withheld).
The Boko Haram alleged leader was,
according to sources, arrested along with
the security guard of the erstwhile
lawmaker.
Although the one-time member of the
House of Reps was said to have been
briefly arrested and interrogated, he has
since been  a daily guest of the security
agency that effected the arrest.
The arrest was reportedly  made in the
Gwarimpa area of the Federal Capital
territory, FCT, Abuja.
Sunday Vanguard  learnt, last night, that
the arrest and interrogation of Bukar had
started yielding results.
For instance, the suspect reportedly
disclosed,  upon interrogation, that his
brief as a sect member was to “carry out
robbery activities by dispossessing
members of the public of their cars”.
The security guard in the former House
of the Reps member’s residence  (who
was described as a mere gateman) was
said to have been “employed from
Sokoto”.
During further interrogation of Bukar,
Sunday Vanguard was made to
understand that the suspect disclosed
that the cars used for suicide bombings
by the sect were stolen vehicles.
One of the very indicting statements of
Bukar, the  source said, “was that he
implicated the former Rep by saying that
he also buys some of the cars from him
(Bukar) when they are stolen”

STUPIDITY DEFINED

STUPIDITY is when you have a LAND ROVER
plus a LAND CRUISER and u still have a
LANDLORD....... u deserve to be landed a
dirty slap

TUC Boss Wants Obasanjo To Lead Negotiation With Boko Haram

President of Trade Union Congress of
Nigeria, TUC, Mr. Peter Esele,
yesterday, said former President,
Olusegun Obasanjo should be
appointed by President Goodluck
Jonathan to lead the negotiation with
extremist Islamist group, Boko Haram.
Obasanjo in a CNN interview on Tuesday,
had said that the President Goodluck
Jonathan’s administration had not been
reaching out enough to Boko Haram, and
canvassed what he described as a “carrot-
and-stick” way to address the sect’s
menace.

Police detains Gov Lamido’s son for crushing man to death

KANO -The police in Kano has detained
Mr Aminu Sule, the eldest  son of Jigawa
State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido for
allegedly crushing to death a middle aged
man along BUK road by Rumfa College,
Kano.
Eye witness account confided in
Vanguard that the incident occurred at
about 8.55pm adding that the victim died
on the spot.
Aminu Sule who is been prosecuted by
the EFCC for alleged money laundering is
been detained alongside his SUV sport
car at Kwali police station in Kano.
The source further explained that “for
the timely intervention of the police on
patrol, Aminu would have been killed by
the mob.
Confirming the incident, Kano Police
Public Relations Officer, PPRC, ASP
Magaji Musa Majia stated that the driver
of the accident vehicle has been
identified as Aminu Sule.
Majia stated that the police has equally
identified the relation of the victim,
stating that the body was taken to a
government hospital for doctor’s
confirmation.

THE WORD FOR TODAY

YOBO EYES KANU'S RECORD

 

Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo is set to equal Kanu Nwankwo's record of six Africa Cup of Nations appearances.

Yobo, who has already overtaken Kanu as Nigeria's most capped player with a record 89 appearances, has featured in the tournament on five occasions from 2002 to 2010, during which he managed to scoop four bronze medals.
But the 32-year-old centre-back has not set his mind on winning the Nations Cup trophy this time, in what might be his final appearance in the tournament for Nigeria.
“It’s not going to be easy [to win the trophy],” he says. “But we will give it our best shot. We therefore urge Nigerians to keep praying for us and believe in this team.”
Yobo will lead Nigeria in their warm-up match against Nations Cup debutants Cape Verde on Wednesday.

TODAY IN HISTORY