Fayose tells Buhari to withdraw 2016 budget, calls it a national embarrassment

Audacious Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to save the country of the national embarrassment being caused by the 2016 Budget that he presented to the National Assembly by formally withdrawing the budget and re-presenting it.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday, by his Special Assistant on Pubic Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said “the President should admit that there were avoidable errors in the budget and since he is human and not immune to errors, he should simply do the needful by presenting a new and credible budget to the National Assembly.”

                   Buhari                                        Fayose

The People's Governor described revelation by the Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, that the proposal drawn up by the ministry and submitted to the budget office had been doctored and that “foreign” appropriations, different from what was submitted, had been sneaked in, as the height of national embarrassment.

While addressing the Senate Committee on Health during its budget defence session on Monday, Prof Adewole had stunned the Senators when he said; “We have to look into the details of the budget and re-submit it to the committee. This was not what we submitted. We’ll submit another one. We don’t want anything foreign to creep into that budget. What we submitted is not there.”

The minister went further to say that in the revised budget as re-submitted, N15.7 billion for capital allocation was moved to other areas and that there was nothing allocated to public health and family health.

In his reaction, Governor Fayose said: “Last week, we were told that the Senate discovered a sum of N10 billion questionably smuggled into the budget of the Ministry of Education for an allegedly questionable subhead.

“Also, we were told of the existence of a budget mafia in the Presidency that was said to be responsible for the embarrassing allocations in the Budget.

“Before now, we were told that a total of N3.87 billion was allocated for capital projects at the State House Clinic alone, over N700 million more than capital allocation to all the 16 federal teaching hospitals combined.

“Now, a whole minister has come out to say that budgetary provision for his ministry was forged!

“If under a President that says he is fighting corruption, the budget of the country got missing and we are now being told that the budget being considered by the National Assembly has been forged, one cannot but be afraid that there is possibility of Nigeria being forged one day, after the original must have gone missing.”

Google plans to train 100,000 Nigerian students in 5 years

Google plans to train 100,000 Nigerian students in 5 years

Renowned Global search engine, Google yesterday disclosed that it would train no fewer than 100,000 Nigerian students across the nation in the next five years to stay safer online.




Speaking yesterday at the Queens College Yaba, Lagos to commemorate the 2016 Safer Internet Day held simultaneously across the globe, Titi Akinsanmi, Google’s Policy & Government Relations Manager said that the search engine will continue educate internet users on how best to stay safer online.

Akinsanmi said, “a safe internet is undoubtedly good for everyone. We all use the internet, so it is important for government, the organised private sector and civil societies to continue to collaborate to develop and promote strong policies aimed at improving the safety of users while on the Web. As the online safety landscape continues to evolve, key stakeholders need to employ smarter tools that will ensure the online environment remains safe for everyone”.

“We will be working with the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) and HomeVida, to train over 10,000 Nigerian students via the Web Rangers face-to-face training sessions and via the newly launched online portal at www.saferinternet.org.ng” Akinsanmi added.

As part of events commemorating the day, Google announced the launch of the Web Rangers program in Nigeria. The program which currently runs in 10 countries provides workshops which aims to train young people to become ‘online safety ambassadors’ who will help raise awareness of online safety with their peers and in their schools.

For the second year running, the 2016 edition of Safer Internet Day was organised in Nigeria by Google in partnership with the National Film and Videos Censors Board and Home Vida.

This year’s edition with the theme “Play Your Part for a Better Internet”, was held at Queens College Yaba, Lagos in an interactive programme for Nigerian students to commemorate Safer Internet Day.
As part of the activities for this year, a training session and movie screening was conducted for 250 students and presentation of a paper on Safety Online.

Discussions were also held with policy makers including the National Film and Video Censors Board; Nigerian Communications Commission; the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Internet Registration Association.

Google also announced the launch of its Security Checkup tool which gives Google account owners a quick way to control their security settings, manage recovery phone numbers and control what devices are connected to their accounts. Google account owners who complete the Security Checkup by February 11th will get 2GB of extra Google Drive storage.

Since 2004, Safer Internet Day (SID) has been celebrated on the second day of the second week of the second month of the year. SID seeks to promote safer and more responsible use of online technologies,now including mobile Internet.

Fraudster Arrested at Lagos Domestic Airport

 

 Here is an account of a fraudster who was apprehended at the local wing of the Muritala Mohammed Airport-MM2 today, February 9.

The fraudster (name with held) came into the FCMB branch at the airport claiming that his ATM wasn’t working, hence the need to collect money over the counter using a cheque. He wanted to withdraw the sum of N8.5 million.
 
In accordance with cash withdrawal of such an amount, the Customer Service Manager contacted the man’s branch about the withdrawal and was told not to let the fraudster out of the bank as there was already an incident of fraud on the account the money was to be withdrawn.





The CSM then asked him to come upstairs to get the money, but the fraudster sensing danger took to his heels.
Unfortunately for him, members of the airport taxi park and some mobile police men were alerted so they went after him and he was caught.
It was also gathered that the man’s name had been circulated before now for fraudulent activities.

President Obama unveils $4.1 trillion election-tinged budget

U.S President, Barack Obama unveiled the last budget of his presidency Tuesday, a record $4.1 trillion plan that is dead-on-arrival in Congress but could shape the 2016 White House race.

 Legislatively, the future looks bleak for Obama’s 2017 fiscal plan, which covers spending on everything from cybersecurity to the environment.

 

It includes big-ticket investments in America’s creaking infrastructure — to the tune of $320 billion over the next decade — and ramps up research into clean energy technologies and cancer.

But Republicans who control Congress have already vowed to draft their own plan, “rather than spend time on a proposal that,” according to House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, “will double down on the same failed policies.”

Adding insult to White House injury, spending announcements that would have made waves in the first year of Obama’s administration are likely to quickly dissolve into saturation coverage of the New Hampshire presidential primary, which also takes place Tuesday.

Still, the budget provides Obama with one of his few remaining opportunities to fashion national and Democratic party priorities.

Obama said the budget was a statement of intent, saying it would invest in innovation and strengthen national security.

“The budget that we are releasing today reflects my priorities and the priorities that I believe will help advance security and prosperity in America for many years to come,” he said.

It is chock-full of measures designed to wean the United States off fossil fuels, including a $10-a-barrel levy on crude.

A “computer science for all” program would give schools $4 billion to teach a “new basic skill” and help modernize workforce skills.

Looking farther afield, the proposal will include $7.5 billion — a 50 percent increase from the previous year — to fund the campaign against the Islamic State group.

That includes $1.8 billion to pay for over 45,000 more GPS-guided smart bombs.

The budget would also invest more than $19 billion in cybersecurity, a 35 percent jump designed, Obama said, to tackle the issue “in a more aggressive way.”

“Cyber threats pose a danger not only to our national security, but also our financial security and the privacy of millions of Americans,” Obama said.

An additional $4.3 billion would be spent on “countering Russian aggression and support European allies.”

President Buhari’s body language has failed – Dr Fasehun

President Buhari’s body language has failed – Dr Fasehun

 

 

Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun, has bemoaned the present state of the nation under President Muhammadu Buhari, saying Nigerians are not getting the reward for voting the president and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) into office.

Speaking in an interview, Fasehun who said Buhari’s body language has failed, said he (Buhari) was able to instill fear into Nigerians during his rule as Head of state because of the fear Nigerians have for the military.
“Nigerians who cheered the president before the elections are now jeering him because things have gone from bad to worse.

“I think Buhari’s body language is no longer working. He was lucky to have ruled this nation as a soldier and every Nigerian fears the military government. His own military government was particularly dictatorial so we thought maybe now as a civilian president he will bring in good governance and probably change. But some of us believe leopards don’t change their spots and this is what we are getting”

“We thought Buhari will come in and make everybody smile. That was why Nigerians cheered him when he was coming in but now we are jeering. Things have to change for the better. Nigerians must have food on their table, they must be able to pay their house rents. They will have stable electricity to illuminate their environments, school fees will be paid easily, minimum wage will be paid and so on”.

“But tell me, which of these things I have mentioned have we experienced since Buhari came into office? It may sound like criticizing him but we are actually telling him that so far, not so good”.

“He still has more than three years to go so there is plenty of time for him to change. I am happy that the leaders of this country that have spines are telling those in government that this is not what Nigerians expected”.

“We all know things were bad. We didn’t expect things to be worse. Some Nigerians are jubilating because the dollar has appreciated to almost N300. That clearly shows that there is no improvement in our situation”
Also speaking on the loots recovered by the Buhari administration so far, Fasehun said Nigerians deserve to know how much has been recovered so far and the monies are being spent.

“Daily, we hear that people are returning billions as a result of plea bargaining but Nigerians are not seeing the effect of that money. I believe he will do better if he shows us where this money is being paid and how the money is being spent” he said.

Ooni Of Ife Is a son of the Oba Of Benin - Oba of Benin

Ooni Of Ife Is a son of the Oba Of Benin - Oba of Benin

 

 

A statement was credited to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo that the Oba of Benin is the third in the ranking of kings in the South-West region, the Palace of the Oba of Benin has dismissed this as untrue.

The Esogban of Benin and Odionwere of the Kingdom (traditional head), Chief David Edebiri, yesterday, made this disclosure, adding that the Ooni of Ife was a son of the Oba of Benin, and the stool of the Oba of Benin could not be compared with that of any Yoruba King.

Esogban,who is third in command in the palace of the Oba of Benin, said: “We wanted to discard this report as something that was not necessary at all. We do not see how the Alake of Egbaland suddenly woke up to think that the Oba of Benin is also a Yoruba Oba. There is no basis for such classification; Oba of Benin has nothing to do with the Yoruba Obas. It is simply unnecessary, unless they simply want to stir up an unnecessary controversy.

“We are not in Yorubaland. To be frank, it is because many of them are not willing to come up with the truth, the word Oba is alien to Yoruba monarchy; it is not part of their title from time immemorial. For instance, the one they call the Oba of Lagos, these are recent adaptations. In the 50s, there was no Oba of Lagos, what we had was the Eleko of Eko.

That is the title of the King there. In Ibadan, you have the Olu Ibadan. You come to Abeokuta, you have the Alake of Egbaland. You come to Oyo, you have the Alaafin of Oyo. In Ilesha, you have the Owa-Obokun of IIesha. So no Yoruba monarch had as part of his titles the word Oba except the Oba of Benin.

“That word Oba is indigenous to Benin. It is only in recent times you find everybody bearing Oba. When the Western Regional conference of traditional rulers took place in Benin City in 1942, go and check the attendance, there was no other monarch in the whole of the Western Region then that bore the title of Oba, except the Oba of Benin. So it is an unnecessary excursion, an unnecessary attempt to turn history upside down by the Alake by classifying the Oba of Benin as third in the hierarchy of kings. Our own traditional history says that the Ooni of Ife was a Benin Prince who wandered from here to Ife, settled there and became the ruler there. That is the position, if they don’t know, they should send people here; we will teach them.

“We will show them landmarks. So this is unnecessary misrepresentation of history. Maybe the Alake wanted to mention a different place and not Benin. The monarchical rulership in this part of the world started from Benin during the era of the Ogisos. It was the son of the last Ogiso, Owodo, that wandered from here to Ife and he became a ruler there, carrying everything about the Benin monarchical system to that place. There is no basis for such classification. The Ooni of Ife by historical facts, is a son of the Oba of Benin, so they are not in the same class. The Oba of Benin is the only one that answers Oba, the rest don’t. But today, we hear Oba here and there, they are all recent adaptations. I am saying categorically that the word Oba is indigenous to Benin and not to Yoruba nation.”

Source: http://www.thewhistler.ng/story/ooni-of-ife-is-oba-of-benin-s-son-oba-of-benin-to-yorubas

Why I Won't Be Part Of Buhari's Corruption Fight - Gov Wike

Why I Won't Be Part Of Buhari's Corruption Fight - Gov Wike

 

 

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has claimed that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was biased in its fight against corruption, stressing that he would rather fight corruption his own way than support the anti-graft campaign of the current administration.

The Governor made this assertion on Sunday during a thanksgiving service in celebration of his victory at the Supreme Court.

According to him, “We would not support the fight against corruption. People took our money from the state, and we wrote to the police asking them to go and make a statement; nothing has come out of it.
“We won’t take anybody to the EFCC because I know what would happen. We know how to fight our own way. We won’t support that war against corruption that they are doing.”

Wike, who disclosed that he would have given up if the verdict did not end in his favour, noted that bloodshed was prevented in the state through the ruling of the apex court, asserting that, “blood would have flown if the election was going to hold again.”

Hear him, “So, I called some people, including the chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, that I was not going to run again. They said why and I explained that if I did, many people would die.

“I pray that my enemy should continue to have permanent high blood pressure. I wouldn’t pray that God will heal them. My own has come down now, and for several months it was high. It is time for their own to rise.”

Buhari Has Failed To Boost Morale Of Nigeria’s Military – The Economist

Buhari Has Failed To Boost Morale Of Nigeria’s Military – The Economist

 

 

 

I can't stop laughing...! Change indeed has come to stay. Contrary to claims by the Federal Government that it has boosted the morale of troops on the frontlines of the battle against Boko Haram, The Economist magazine says President Muhammadu Buhari was yet to impact meaningfully on the confidence of the military.

The influential magazine based in the UK said the audacious attacks of Boko Haram on the village of Dalori, barely 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital exposes the underbelly of an ill-motivated and barely equipped military.

Buhari, a retired Major General, had promised to tackle the insurgency and terrorists’ attacks within the first two months of his regime.

Reporting on the Dalori attack, the Economist said: “The first is that it seems to have been so well organised. One security expert with links to Nigeria’s intelligence services says that more than a hundred militants may have been involved in the raid. And it was brutal, even by the bloody standards already set by the jihadists. Locals reported hearing children screaming as they were incinerated in their burning homes.

“The army’s response, by contrast, was particularly feeble. The jihadists have taken to using hit-and-run tactics—raiding rural settlements for food, money and human chattel—since they were rebuffed in their efforts to take and hold territory in early in 2015. Defending scattered villages against such attacks is difficult. But Dalori—which is located 5km (3 miles) from Maiduguri, a state capital and the military’s headquarters—was an audacious choice of target. It seems likely that the militants drove there from their remote hideouts over roads patrolled by soldiers and vigilantes. Yet they were not stopped. In

Maiduguri townspeople said they could see houses burning. Yet soldiers based in Maiduguri allowed Boko Haram to pillage Dalori for hours before driving them out.”

It further added that “complaints about ammunition shortages, despite efforts to equip the soldiers better, could explain the slow response. So too could poor communications and inadequate training.

“They don’t attack. They just wait for something terrible to happen,” the security professional says. Another point of concern is the army’s alleged involvement in war crimes and abuses of human rights—hardly the sorts of things likely to engender trust among local villagers whose support is needed.
Such worries were brought to a head when the government recently reinstated Ahmadu Mohammed, a major-general accused by Amnesty International, an international human rights pressure group, of involvement in the deaths of more than 8,000 detainees held by the security services.

He retired in 2014 for unrelated reasons, but his return, without an inquiry, shows a “monumental failure of the government to stamp out impunity,” Amnesty said.

Nigeria’s forces are in an unenviable position. They face an uprising in the south-east, militants in the oil-producing Niger delta and sectarian clashes in the centre. Meanwhile, falling oil prices are putting pressure on military spending, says John Campbell, former American ambassador to Nigeria. A regional response could help, but soldiers belonging to a “multinational joint task force”—to which Nigeria has allocated millions of dollars—barely communicate with one another. Mr Buhari thinks that Boko Haram is “technically defeated” because it holds little in the way of land. Yet it has been weakened in the past, only to regroup. Without a more proactive response from the army, it will do so again.

Ciara Sues Future for $15 MILLION! Calls her a bad mother

 

Ciara and Future's war just got more heated -- she's suing him for allegedly blasting her mothering skills and attacking her relationship with Russell Wilson.

In the suit ... obtained by TMZ, Ciara calls out Future for a radio interview in which he discussed a now infamous photo of Wilson pushing Ciara and Future's son in his stroller. Future said, "She probably set him [Russell] up. You letting them catch that photo. Leave my son out of all the publicity stunts."

Ciara points out several other interviews, but she's also pissed about her baby daddy's Twitter rant in January when Future said, "This bitch got control problems ... I gotta go through lawyers to see baby future ... the f***ery for 15k a month."

In the suit, Ciara says she goes out of her way to make sure Future sees their son -- and says they've had at least 19 visitations (some spanning several days) since December 2014.

Just last week TMZ got video of Future and his son in L.A. while Ciara was on vacay with Wilson. We thought it was a sign they were settling their differences, but that's clearly not the case.

Ciara believes Future's comments were said with malice. She's suing for slander and libel, wants all his nasty tweets deleted, and wants him blocked from saying anything about private family matters regarding baby Future ... in the future.

Is tennis star Serena Williams a lesbian?

Is tennis star Serena Williams a lesbian?

 

 

The Tennis star who is currently on vacation with friends showed off her toned body in a swimsuit.

 

 

 

 

 

Gov. Ambode receives President of Germany, Mr Joachim Gauck at State House, Ikeja

Gov. Ambode receives President of Germany, Mr Joachim Gauck at State House, Ikeja

 

 

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode alongside his wife, Bolanle, jointly presented a gift to the President, Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Joachim Gauck (left) and his wife, Gerhild (2nd right), when the German President paid the governor a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Ikeja, on Monday, February 8, 2016. See more photos below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, detained by EFCC

Former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, detained by EFCC

 

 

Former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh was yesterday detained by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after quizzing him for about eight-hours. Badeh is being investigated in connection with the ongoing $2.1 billion arms deal scandal. Badeh arrived the commission's headquarters in Abuja at about 9am and did not leave the premises even after the close of work.

A source at EFCC who spoke on condition of anonymity said

“He is having audience with one of the panels we raised to interact with those military chiefs invited. We confronted Badeh with some documents, including letters to the ex-NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), demanding the procurement of some military equipment. We are not likely to release him on bail now because his interrogation may take a while. You know, he was central to the control of the Armed Forces. Before being the CDS, he was also a Chief of Air Staff. Some of these equipment were bought under him”.

American Rapper DMX hospitalised, suffered Asthma attack

American Rapper DMX hospitalised, suffered Asthma attack

 

 

Do you remember DMX in the 90s? His music did excel but...the 45 year old rapper suffered an asthma attack outside his room at the Ramada Yonkers in New York yesterday evening and was rushed to the hospital, where he is currently receiving treatment.

TMZ reports that DMX was outside his room at the Ramada Yonkers on Monday evening when he started complaining of shortness of breath and pain in his chest.

The rapper who has a history of asthma collapsed to the floor before his entourage could get him his inhaler. An mbulance was called, and X was transported to a nearby hospital ... where he's currently receiving breathing treatments.