BUGI CITY

It is disheartening that no one has been convicted or held responsible for the genocide that happened recently in Southern part of Kaduna.

President Buhari decided to remain mute on the killings after many days but was quick to condemn the Boko Haram attack on University of Madiguiri Mosque that happened today. Time will tell very soon if he is our president or president of some group of people.

El-Rufai has showed to be a leader with no sense of responsibility with his comments and the ways he has been handling the Southern Kaduna killings. I cannot be more disappointed in him.

My View On Generality of Islam:

I have known Islam to be a religion of peace. I have muslim friends and families and many muslims contributed to who and what I am today. Those hiding under radical Islam to commit murder and various crime are wrong stereotype of Islam and we must all rise up to fight them and speak against them either you are a Muslim or a Christian.

Every life is valuable and shouldn't be taken at every slightest sight of provocation. I expect many muslims to condemn the killings and preach peace but majority have decided to keep quiet even the educated ones who I believe know better and should stand with justice and what is right. Posterity will judge us all.

On Self-Defence:

Since Kaduna State government has decided not to protect the minority Christians in the south who have been victims of radical Islam killers, it is time they start protecting themselves. This is not the time to be speaking in tongue or turn the other cheek. You must all protect yourself by all means possibe. Self-defence should be the goal now. You don't need to wait for one idiot who value a cow more than human being to approach you before you fight back. Carry gun, carry knife and do whatever it takes to defend yourselves.

On Recent Bishop Oyedepo Outburst:

I dare to stand with Bishop Oyedepo and I salute his courage and I hope other christian leaders will follow suit soon. The church cannot be keeping quiet when innocent Christians are being murdered by herdsmen and radical islamists. Probably the reason why many Christian leaders have been keeping quiet is because none of their family have been a victim.

We the church must arise to defend ourselves. Enough of speaking in tongue and praying, let back up our prayers with actions. I support self-defence in the face of unprovocative killings.

Evils persist in any society when goodmen do nothing!
#yestoreligioustolerance
#notounprovocativekillings

"ITS HIGH TIME THESE KILLINGS CAME TO AN END"

INTRODUCTION

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful
O you who believe, be consistent in standing firm for Allah, as witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do. (Quran 5: 8)

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) wishes to use this medium to express, once again, its sadness over the recent dastardly acts of brigandage and heinous crimes perpetrated by elements who have sold their hearts and soul to evil in Southern Kaduna. The NSCIA is particularly seized by these events not only because these faceless elements succeeded in wrecking such destruction of lives and properties but equally because such horrendous actions were hitherto deemed to be possible only in the jungle. Even then, the Council is concerned that whereas acts of killings in the jungle are said to be premised on the simple principle -'eat or be eaten', the kind of killings that this nation has witnessed recently in Southern Kaduna and in other parts of the country where criminality has become fashionable is such that even the animals in the wild would be ashamed to engage in.

Further, the NSCIA is compelled to issue this new statement having realized the ease with which the event in Southern Kaduna is being exploited by shameless political jobbers and over-night religious zealots and critics as an opportunity to gain cheap popularity and political relevance. We are equally concerned that as it is common in this nation, the opportunity offered by the unfortunate event in Southern Kaduna for this nation to correct existing anomalies in the system run the risk of being lost, no thanks to fetishized analyses of issues involved and the laundry of extremely jejune and simplistic argument that the event in Southern Kaduna is all about Christians in the region, not Nigeria as a whole. The NSCIA is concerned that when the "part begins to see itself as the whole", those imbued with intellection must quickly intervene. Such intervention, however, must show fidelity to history; it must separate myth from reality; it must equally distill between the grain and the chaff. It is in service of the above arguments that NSCIA proposes the following issues for resolution and attention of the Federal and Kaduna State Governments:

1. Who Owns Southern Kaduna?
The NSCIA is concerned that whereas the earliest instance when parts of Southern Kaduna probably entered into historical record was in 1810 when Mallam Usman Yabo, the son of Sarkin Kabin Yabo, Muhammadu Mayijo, established what later came to be known as the Jama'a Emirate in Southern Kaduna, there appears to be conscious efforts on the side of elements within and outside Kaduna State to reconstruct history in order to give the impression that at no instance had there been a contact between Islam and that part of Nigeria. This approach to Kaduna history, which largely feeds on amnesia, is partly responsible for the incidence of conflicts that this nation has continued to witness in the region. It has led to violent transactions in identity politics and the assumption among the citizenry in the State that "Southern Kaduna belongs to "Us" not "them". In other words, the conflict in Southern Kaduna is nothing but contest for space and place or contestations over history and geography. While some citizens in the area see the whole of Southern Kaduna as belonging to Nigeria and by extension to all Nigerians, no matter their ethnic or religious persuasion and affiliations, others, backed by an extremely powerful clique and buoyed by an extremely partial section of the media, have continued to see the area as belonging to a particular ethnic and religious group. Thus while Nigeria as a nation constantly strives for national integration, a particular group in Southern Kaduna holds that cultural puritanism and one which would preserve their slippery assumptions of historical and primordial superiority and ownership over the area is an end for which no means, in the Machiavellian manner, is too Sacred to be deployed in order to achieve their irredentist and narcissistic objective. These assumptions, the NSCIA holds, operate at the core of the violence that Kaduna State has been witnessing over time.

2. Is the "Genocide" of 2016 not reminiscent of the ones before it?
Perceptive observers of socio-political trends in the north would equally observe that before 26 December, 2016, Southern Kaduna had played host to orgies of violent ethno-religious conflicts in which lives of innocent Nigerians have been lost. In other words, as it was on the 26th of December 2016, so it was in April, 2011 consequent upon the general elections in the country. Again, as it was in April, 2011, so had it been since 1981 when that part of the country began to achieve notoriety as the bastion of inter-ethnic and inter-religious intolerance and conflicts. The point as issue is this: any attempt at solving the problems in Southern Kaduna without due attention being given to previous occurrences in the area would amount taking the tree for the forest.

3. Is Southern Kaduna Nigeria's Achilles Hill?
Perhaps the above question could be cast in another way: why is it that of all the states in northern Nigeria with substantial presence of Muslims and Christians, it is always Southern Kaduna that has continued to witness these incessant orgies of violence? This question is urgent and important because perceptive observers of conflict trends in the northern parts of the country would likely argue that Southern Kaduna appears to be Nigeria's Augean Stable. The reason for this argument is this: In large parts of the north, in places like, for example, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa where Christians are in the minority, the ratio of inter-religious and inter-tribal conflicts in these areas could be put at 1:10. But in Southern Kaduna where Muslims are said to be in the minority, the rate at which violent conflicts constantly break out among Christians and Muslims is in the ratio of 9:10. Thus the question needs be asked: Is there a particular agenda that drives these conflicts? Besides that, and this is the most unfortunate, each time the said conflicts break out in the area, the media would be awash with ribald commentaries and extremely inane arguments that whatever was happening in the area was part of an orchestrated attempt by Muslims to "Islamize" the country. Since falsehood sells faster than truthfulness, it is this type of news that most media houses would then begin to repeat ad nauseam. Little or no attention is usually paid to dig into the reasons for the conflicts nor to properly listen to the pain and wailing of the victims of such crises.

4. Is Southern Kaduna Nigeria's Theatre of Impunity?
The NSCIA is of the strong opinion that the event of 26 December 2016 called attention, once again, to the evil effect of impunity in our nation's socio-political and cultural reality. In other words, it is arguable to say that Southern Kaduna would not have become a theatre of the absurd that it turned out to be last December had the Nigerian government, at the Federal and State levels, made efforts at punishing those responsible for previous hara-kiri, acts of criminality and brigandage in the area. Put differently, since 1981 when the first acts of violence broke out between the so-called 'settlers' and 'indigenes' in the state, successive governments in Kaduna state have failed to bring the perpetrators of the various heinous acts to justice. For example, despite the graphic (video) evidence which the perpetrators of the massacre in Zonkwa in 2011 released to the world and in spite of their indictment by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the genocide of that year, no punitive measure was taken either by the Kaduna State government or the Federal Government against the perpetrators of the said crime. Thus the question "who were those who perpetrated the massacre of 26 December, 2016 in Southern Kaduna" would gain strength if we ask the additional question: "why is it that we failed to deal with those who perpetrated similar atrocities in the past?"

5. Is Southern Kaduna the Sacrificial Lamb in the Hands of the Political Elites?
Again, the NSCIA is of the view that any attempt at solving the Southern Kaduna problem would be incomplete and invalid if the role of the political class in promoting and fanning embers of hatred and violence is not accounted for. Recent experience has shown that the Nigerian political class, like its counterparts in other parts of the world, is like hyenas: they profit from and feed on the tragedies of helpless members of the masses. They are the ones who sow seeds of discord and hatred in the minds of the ignorant populace; they are the ones who procure weapons of violence for the poor and thereafter encourage the latter to visit his neighbour with violence at the dead of the night. It is the political class that has cornered the commonwealth and unjustly appropriated unto itself what belongs to the citizenry. What they have bequeathed to the populace instead are tell-tale signs of unemployment, poverty, inequality and underdevelopment. It is these valences that, in part, drive the genocide we see in this country on a daily basis.

6. Observations
a. the NSCIA delightfully notes the right intervention of the Federal  and Kaduna State governments in providing permanent security presence in the region of Southern Kaduna, in forestalling future occurrence of such acts of insanity and anomie. It therefore, urges the governments to ensure full actualization of the set plan.

b. the NSCIA applauds the commendable efforts of the Kaduna State government in arresting and naming the alleged masterminds of this horrific killings. It also urges the governments to desist from the previous practice whereby, such culprits were usually allowed to go scot-free without letting justice take its full course.

7. Recommendations
While the above represents only perspectival analyses of the dialectics in the issues that are inherent in what the media have termed the genocide in Southern Kaduna, the NSCIA strongly recommends as follows:

a. that the Federal and Kaduna state governments approach the conflict in Southern Kaduna holistically with a view to preventing similar occurrences in the future.

b. That machinery be put in place to determine the causes, scope and victims of the conflict and that punishment be meted out to deserving perpetrators according to the law.

c. that adequate compensation and rehabilitation should be given not only to those who suffered human and material losses during the event of 26 December 2016, but equally to those who experienced similar losses during the massacre of April 2011.

d. that constructive peace-building efforts be embarked upon by the Kaduna State government with a view to putting an end to the notions of indigenes and settlers among the citizenry in Southern Kaduna.

e. that the Kaduna State government should tap into some of the recommendations of the 2013 National Conference with a view to implementing aspects of the resolutions of the Conference with regards to the establishment of grazing reserve areas.

f. that the National Orientation Agency (NOA) should be mandated to embark on national campaign that would promote national integration, peace-building and give full effect to constitutional provisions that guarantee the survival of all citizens of Nigeria anywhere in the country no matter their ethnic or religious affiliations.

g. that the Kaduna State government should uphold, at all times, equity and justice in political and social representation. In other words, the state government should put into full effect the plurality of Kaduna State in all matters possible such that appointments into public offices, recruitment into Civil Service, Military and other security institutions, and location of development projects should reflect the above diversities.

h. that Kaduna State government should constitute a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with fair representation of all stakeholders to work towards ensuring lasting peace in Southern Kaduna.

i. that Media practitioners in the country should uphold the eternal ethical standards in journalism which give pride of place to objectivity and honesty in news gathering and disapproves of sensationalism and falsehood.

j. that while all Nigerians should commend the Nigerian Armed Forces for their gallantry and sense of duty in combating the menace of the Boko Haram in the North-East, the task of ridding the nation of weaponry and illegal arms and ammunition remains an engaging and an urgent task. When citizens, no matter their orientation and education, begin to have unmitigated access to instruments of violence, then we can imagine how quickly our nation would descend into the abyss of insanity and anomie.

8. Conclusion
The NSCIA believes that no nation can thrive where injustice and hatred for the other, be he the religious or ethnic, are given free rein. It is based on this eternal truth that the Council calls on all Nigerians to avoid all actions that would escalate the situation in Southern Kaduna. While the Council calls on the Federal and Kaduna State governments to take all necessary steps that would bring lasting peace to Southern Kaduna and other parts of the country where there are conflicts, it, once again, commiserates with all those who have suffered untold loss of lives and properties in the event of 26 December, 2016. The Council prays that may the Almighty grant the nation as a whole the courage to learn from the unfortunate event in order to chart a better cause for and in the future.

Signed
Ustaz Christian Isa Okonkwo,
Director of Administration,
NSCIA.

Reigners Bible Church International, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital collapses

About three persons have been confirmed dead in the incident which happened at about 12 noon on Saturday.

A source revealed that the founder of the church, Apostle Akan Weeks was supposed to be ordained Bishop on the day of the incident.

high profile citizens of the state present at the event including the Governor were believed to have been trapped before help finally came...

The governor is believed to be in good shape as he was rushed to the government house immediately

Trending News about A dead body was found on Wednesday in the wheel well of a Nigerian plane after it landed in South Africa, the airline said in a statement.

The body was found on a plane operated by Arik Air, one of Nigeria’s largest airlines, that had departed from the country’s commercial hub of Lagos and landed at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport Tuesday evening.

“The lifeless body of a stowaway was on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 found in the main wheel well of one of Arik Air’s A330-200 aircraft,” Arik Air spokesman Adebanji Ola said in a statement.

Guardian news

The Lagos State Government on Thursday said it would commence its `Rent to Own and Rental Housing schemes’ with 12 housing estates on December 8.

Gbolahan Lawal, the Commissioner for Housing, said at a news conference in Alausa that the policy was in response to the yearnings of residents for affordable and decent housing.

He said that the `Rent to Own’ policy would target low income earners in both formal and informal sectors, while the `Rental Housing’ policy would cover the working class.

According to him, the `Rent to Own’ policy will also cover those with regular income, with the rent deducted from source.

He said that the government would kick-start the project with over 1,000 units out of the 3,192 units earmarked in the first phase.

Lawal said the first phase of the project would be sited in the following areas: Epe, Agbowa, Ojokoro, Alimosho, Igbogbo, Igando, Iponri, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Ajara and Badagry.

He said that five per cent value of the housing unit would be paid as commitment fee on the Rent to Own Policy, while the balance would be spread for 10 years.

On the Rental Housing policy, Lawal said that rent would be collected on monthly basis, and tenants were required to pay one month deposit, according to the prevailing rent in each location.

According to him, rented apartments are not transferable.

Mr. Lawal said that applicants must be primarily residents in the state and would be required to submit a copy of their Lagos State Residents Registration Card.

He said that applicants must be first time home buyers, must be 21 years old and above, as well as be tax compliant, among others.

The commissioner urged members of the public to make enquiries online on www.lagoshoms.gov.ng or visit the ministry.

He assured that the selection process for both policies would be credible, fair and transparent. (NAN)

Source

President Buhari in his virement letter to the national Assembly request for extra funds to cater for NYSC programme. In his letter, he wrote “The provision for NYSC in the 2016 budget is inadequate to cater for the number of corpers to be mobilised this year. In fact, an additional N8.5bn is required to cover the backlog of 129, 469 corps members who are currently due for call-up, but would otherwise be left out till next year due to funding constraints.”
“Similarly, the provision for meal subsidy for unity colleges is inadequate for the number of students in the schools.”

Buhari thus requested urgent release of fund from the special intervention fund to fund these items.



At last; there seems to be hope for the mobilization of the Batch B 2016 corp members

Prince Eheneden Erediauwa, becomes the 39th Oba of Benin kingdom. Erediauwa is ascending the 836-year-old throne of his ancestors which is the oldest and one of the most revered in Nigeria

Like every other Oba before him, he has chosen a name unique only to him and which henceforth all the children would answer.



The Oba was born in 1953 he was educated severally in Nigeria and UK. He holds a B.A in Economics and Sociology which he received from the university of Wales and a member of the Nigerian Institute of International affair. Some of the dignitaries already seated are VP Osinbajo Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, Olugbo of Ugboland in Ondo Akinrutan Obateru, Esama of Benin Kingdom Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Eniitan Ogunwusi and Emir of Zazzau Alhaji Dr. Shehu Idris. Also present is minister of state for petroleum Dr. Ibe Kachikw

Popular Tommy Strawn in the '90s television series "Martin"died at 52 as a result of aneurysm an excessive localized swelling of the wall of an artery. TMZ broke the story. He passed away on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, was on life support at an Atlanta hospital after suffering a ruptured aneurysm on Sunday.  

Celebs to social media sending their condolences to his families and friends

Jihadist group Boko Haram has freed 21 of more than 200 girls it kidnapped in April 2014 in the northern Nigerian town of Chibok, after mediation by Switzerland and the International Red Cross, officials said on Thursday.Nigeria's government said, in the first mass release of any of the more than 200 girls and women kidnapped from their school two years ago.

The 21 were freed before dawn in the northeastern Nigerian town of Banki, near the border with Cameroon, a source close to the negotiations said on condition of Some of the 21 freed girls appear Thursday in Banki, Nigeria, in a photo obtained exclusively by CNN.
Some of the 21 freed girls appear Thursday in Banki, Nigeria, in a photo obtained exclusively by CNN.
They are said to have been among the 276 girls and women, ages 16 to 18, that Boko Haram militants herded from bed in the middle of the night at a boarding school in Chibok in April 2014 -- a kidnapping that spurred global outrage.
A child born to one of the girls and believed by medical personnel to be about 20 months old also was released, according to the Nigerian president's office.
As many as 57 girls escaped almost immediately in 2014, and one was found this spring. Just under 200 remain unaccounted for after their release.

The aggressive manner in which Alhaji Aliko Dangote is investing in local rice production and the effort of government in enhancing the domestic production of rice, Nigeria may soon return to the international market as a net-exporter of rice. Years ago, Nigeria was among the top rice producers until an aversion for home-grown rice sets in. This has turned Nigeria to the second largest importer of rice in the world, buying at least five million metric tons per year from exporting countries like China and Thailand. Yet Nigeria’s fertile land and rich agro-climatic conditions could easily produce rice to feed the entire country and generate surplus for the region Rice remains an integral part of the average Nigerian’s diet. As such, there is no surprise that the country import is heavy on this food crop. The FGN’s estimates show demand at 6.3 million metric tons per year (mmt/y) while domestic supply is estimated at 2.3 mmt. According to the FGN’s Agriculture Promotion Policy, rice import still exceed $1 billion per annum. It was gathered that the CBN’s policy, which focused on limiting the importation of 41 items (rice inclusive) led to a 300,000 metric ton decline in rice import in first quarter, 2016.
 The inclusion of rice on the list of 41 items excluded from accessing foreign exchange (FOREX) from the official window as well as the general issues with sourcing of FOREX has led to a drop in rice supply to the domestic market and a spike in prices. Considering that the FGN’s set minimum wage currently stands at N18,000 per month, a bag of rice currently priced at between N18,000 to N19,000 per bag is almost not affordable to the average household. Despite the ban on rice imports through land borders, there has been increased smuggling.

The Nigeria Customs Service has recorded a pick-up in seizures since January 2016. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has expressed its commitment to improving rice productivity. Local rice production has been projected to hit 2.7 mmt in 2017. On the public- private partnership sphere, Dangote inaugurated its 8,000-hectare rice out-growers’ scheme in Hadejia, Jigawa state early this year, when he distributed rice seedlings to farmers. The scheme is said to help reduce the level of Nigeria’s imports and potentially provide direct and indirect jobs to about 10, 000 Nigerians.

 Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) to invest $1 billion on establishment of fully integrated rice production and processing operations across Nigeria. Farmlands in Edo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, and Niger states totalling 150,000 hectares have been penciled down for the commercial production of rice paddy. Rice is one of the viable investments in agriculture, as a high yield crop, the return on investment for rice farming is high and it takes just four months to plant and harvest rice. Starting with 20,000 hectares of rice cultivation under scheme known as outgrowers, to be expanded to cover 800, 000 hectares over the next three years, the president of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said time is now to turn to agriculture to save the nation’s economy. The business mogul commenced the scheme with the distribution of treated rice seedling for planting to some 5,000 farmers expected to participate in the scheme. He explained, “We are committed to the development of outgrower scheme by providing local, value added products and services that meet the basic needs of the populace. To this end, the Dangote Rice Farm, will run an initial pilot in Hago-Fadama, Kafin Hausa and Auyo areas which would see Dangote Rice developing small hold farmers by providing quality inputs, certified seeds, fertilizers, agro-chemicals and petrol improved agricultural practices and technology to increase yield and produce quality rice paddy which would also be bought back from them by Dangote Rice Limited.

The Outgrower programme in Jigawa state is expected to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs to the host communities.” Aside the outgrowers aspect of the investment, he explained, Dangote Rice is planning to plant approximately 150,000ha of long grain white rice and produce near one million tons of high quality par boiled white rice for sale into the Nigerian market. “Our internal policy within Dangote Rice is to procure 30 per cent of our rice production from local farmers who will be developed into outgrower groups. These outgrowers will be simultaneously developed alongside our commercial farming operations.” he said.

 The business mogul justified his investment in rice cultivation pointing out that the situation the country has found itself needs a reversal, saying “Nigeria spends nearly $1.8 billion per annum importing approximately 3.2 million MT of rice to feed its population. These are dollars that could be used on more impactful social development interventions if they were not needed for food imports.” During the rice seedling distribution by the company, the minister of state for Agriculture, Senator Heneiken Lokpobiri lauded the initiative of Dangote, saying intervention in the government efforts at providing food security for the citizenry, creating jobs and reducing dependency on food importation are being boosted. While expressing the government readiness to provide all the needed support to make the Dangote Rice Outgrowers Scheme a success, the minister said the government is putting in place a strategy that will make farmers have greater access to farm implements to help them produce with ease.

Also, the special adviser to Dangote on Rice and Coordinator of the Outgrowers Scheme, Mr. Lulu Carlos explained that 6.1 mmt of rice is consumed annually but not more than 2.6 million metric tons are produced locally leaving the rest to importation. Lulu said, “We are happy to start today the partnership with the first Outgrowers bloc of 200 hectares, shared among eight communities.” He pointed out that the same project was applied by Brazil, which transformed the country from a net importer of rice in the year 2000 to a net exporter in the year of 2009, saying “This was achieved through a big outgrower scheme in the rice region, which, today involves thousands of independent farmers responsible for 80 per cent of the 12 million tons locally produced rice and a small number of large commercial farms supplying the remaining 20 per cent.” Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Badaru Muhammed Abubakar thanked the Dangote Rice Limited for choosing Jigawa as the pilot state for the project. He pledged the readiness of his administration to provide all necessary support to the project. With the federal government rice production scheme, stakeholders have expressed hope that the scheme will stop the massive importation of rice in Nigeria, in the next three years.

 Apart from large entities like Dangote, there has been increased participation by small holder rice farmers. However, access to credit still remains a challenge. There are other areas within the rice value chain which are largely untapped, they include processing, storage, packaging and distribution. Insufficient supply chain integration was highlighted as a core issue within the rice segment by the federal government. While the supply deficit is huge, closing the gap could be accelerated through increased private sector participation. However the onus is on the government to create an enabling environment. Excluding the job creation potential, this would also ease pressure on the country’s import bill.
Source naija247news.

For hours on Friday night, the political world waited for the rarest of expressions from Donald J. Trump — a heartfelt apology. What viewers got was anything but.

 During a 90-second videotaped appearance, Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, offered a strikingly brief articulation of regret for a decade-old audiotape in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitals and said he could have his way with women because of his fame. 

But his real message, which appeared early Saturday, was one of defiance. He described the controversy that upended the Republican Party for most of Friday as a mere “distraction,” and said that his vulgar remarks captured on the tape were nothing compared with the way Bill and Hillary Clinton had mistreated women.  

If anything, Mr. Trump’s videotaped statement was a truncated version of a speech that he had given countless times. And it did not reflect the several hours of conference calls and strategy meetings among his top aides, who were at first stunned and then nearly paralyzed by the revelation of the tape, which they worried would be fatal to his White House hopes.

 “That took 10 hours?” an incredulous Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist, asked on CNN immediately after the statement. Hillary Clinton has an 83% chance of winning the presidency. Clinton Trump 2016 Election Forecast » Updated Sun., Oct. 9 at 7:19 PM ET With his brow furrowed and his face a tight scowl, Mr. Trump sat hunched in a chair inside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, with the glittering nighttime New York City skyline behind him.

 “I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not,” said Mr. Trump, a 70-year-old real estate developer and former reality television star. Then came the apologetic part. “I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more-than-a-decade-old video are one of them,

” Mr. Trump said of the hot-mike recording of him bragging to Billy Bush, then the host of NBC’s “Access Hollywood,” about his groping and uninvited kissing of women. See video
Source NYtimes

 Ex-Cameroon defender taken to hospital after cerebral aneurysm
The former Liverpool, West Ham United and Cameroon defender Rigobert Song is reportedly fighting for his life after being rushed to hospital in Yaounde.

The 40-year-old is the uncle of former Arsenal, West Ham United and Charlton Athletic midfielder Alex.

Song, currently head coach of Chad’s senior national team, is in a critical condition after suffering from cerebral aneurysm.

The family member also said the 40-year-old was "unconscious" when he was taken to Yaounde Central Hospital.

On Monday, the hospital's Emergency Centre director said Song will be flown to France for further treatment.

Song played 137 times for his country and had spells with English clubs Liverpool and West Ham.

He has been working as a coach for Cameroon's football federation following his departure as Chad coach.

Former Cameroon team-mate Samuel Eto'o tweeted in French: "I wish you courage and a speedy recovery big brother."

<iframe src='//players.brightcove.net/624246174001/82f79524-152c-485f-bcb0-09197a216c87_default/index.html?videoId=5144797056001' allowfullscreen frameborder=0></iframe>

If you are in London, you can participate in the independence celebrations at these various venues... courtesy IBtimes

Organisers said: "Saturday we celebrate with the whole of #Nigeria on their 56th National Independence Day courtesy of @luxafrique at the world's most exclusive and renowned locations in the world, The House of Commons."
For tickets, more information and to contact the organisers, click here.



You can as well checkout: 

A group of heavily armed kidnappers Thursday night abducted Margaret Emefiele, the wife of Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

Sahara Reporter reports that Mrs. Emefiele was kidnapped along the Benin-Agbor Road.

The Eagle Online quoted a police source as saying that four other women and a driver were kidnapped along with Mrs. Emefiele.

It was gathered that the abductors have since made contact with the family, demanding for a ransom of N100 million.

The source said: “Though for their security I will not disclose those with the wife of the Governor (Godwin Emefiele), I can tell you that five other persons were kidnapped along with her.

“They are her driver and four other women with whom she was travelling.”

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team has deployed a team of police men alongside other crack detectives of the Nigeria Police to rescue the victims

Edo State, residents have trooped out in their numbers to decide who takes over the baton of leadership in the state for another four years. Wednesday, September 28, 2016 is finally here and the election is taking place in 18 local government areas of Edo State in South-south Nigeria. Voting is ongoing at the polling centre in Agbado Primary School in Benin City. INEC National Commissioner, Mrs Amina Zakari, said that the process has gone based on expectation with security agents are doing their work and the people of Edo State are doing what is expected of them. The poll got off to a smooth start in some polling centres at Esan West Local Government Area with good turnouts of electorates. While voting takes place in an orderly manner, polling officers at the central primary school in Esan West say the entire process has been going on smoothly with little or no incidents with the card readers. Election is going on peacefully. The turnout of voters is massive with the presence of heavily-armed security operatives at the premises of the election venue. Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security operatives and voters arrived the polling centre as early as 07:00am. vangard news paper reported that a female police officer who was caught by an agent of the APC while collecting money from a chieftain of the PDP at unit 28, ward 7 in Ikpoba Okhai LGA was arrested by APC supporters who handed her over to the police. About 9 local government have release results; but The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cried out saying the results for nine local government areas in the governorship election in Edo state are already out. Overall, APC, PDP, ACP and ACPN agents have so far expressed satisfaction at the on-going governorship elections in Edo state. The governorship election in Edo has recorded an impressive turnout with voters arriving at polling stations in large numbers across the state

The Dangote Industries Limited 17 billion-dollar refinery project will create over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs by the first quarter of 2019, the Chief Operating Officer, Mr Olakunle Alake, has said. Alake made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday, adding that the refinery, petrochemicals and fertiliser plants were in one location. He said the project would be the single largest stream in the world. 

“The refinery and fertiliser projects will create job opportunities for the communities and Nigerians when it becomes operational. “The refinery will have a refining capacity of about 650,000 barrels of crude a day,’’ he said. Alake said the project would force down the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in the country and save money spent on importation. He said that projects such as these would optimise government revenue and wean Nigeria from relying solely on oil. According to him, the best way to diversify Nigeria’s economy is through agriculture and the fertiliser plant is in line with that goal. The chief operating officer said that the 98 per cent of basic engineering on the fertiliser plant had been executed, while the construction had progressed by 30 per cent. “ By the time we finish our gas pipeline it will be able to generate about 12,000mw which can be exported to other African countries. “We will have the capacity to store four billion litres of products and load 2,680 trucks per day. “The project will aid the country with about 7.5 billion dollars forex savings on importation. 

“It will also generate five billion dollars forex earnings from savings and another 5.5 billion dollars export earnings,’’ he said. Alake gave assurance that there would be markets for the refined products, saying that only three countries in Africa had effective and functional refineries, while others imported. Alake said the projects would help the country save five billion dollars on oil importation when it became operational in 2019. 

“By the time we complete this project, there will be opportunity to take on agriculture and say bye to poverty because there will be jobs; no sector has more job potential than agriculture. “Though the project is an ambitious one but when completed it will give Nigeria a new economic direction in its quest for economic diversification.’’ He said excess products would be exported to give Nigeria the much needed foreign exchange. 

“That is when diversification starts,’’ he said. Alake said, however, that access to foreign exchange posed serious challenges to the projects. “We aim to complete the projects within the time frame to assist in easing the forex problem. “We appeal to the Federal Government to support these private initiatives by providing funding for the projects. “However, government through the Bank of Industry schemes has given us a credit facility of N50 billion to develop the fertiliser plant. “We have also gotten another N75 billion approval for the refinery, which we have not yet accessed,’’ Alake said. Read more at: 

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