Michelle Obama brief Visit to UK

Michelle Obama, USA First Lady and her children, Sasha and Malia, spent two days in London to highlight her campaign to bring girls in the world's most impoverished communities into education.

During her brief visit Mrs Obama enjoyed tea with Prince Harry and had an affectionate reunion with David and Samantha Cameron on the steps of Downing Street.

After touching down in London on Monday evening, the famous family boarded Air Force One this morning to make their way back to The White House.

"That is why President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be championing our efforts to help adolescent girls around the globe attend and complete school through the initiative, which will build upon the public engagement campaign the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched last summer” said the first Lady.

Dangote Commissions $500M Cement plant in Ethiopia

Dangote Cement Plc has commissioned a 2.5 million metric tonnes per annual (mmtpa) cement plant worth N94.5 billion ($480 million) in Ethiopia as the company is set to invest N3.15 trillion ($16 billion) between 2015 and 2018 in its new and existing cement plants in furtherance of its expansion plan in Africa.

President/chief executive officer of the Dangote group, Aliko Dangote made this known at the commissioning ceremony of the Dangote Cement Plant in Mugher District, Ethiopia, yesterday. He said that Dangote Cement is setting up new cement plants and terminals across 16 African countries, including Ethiopia, saying, “This is in line with our long term vision to become one of the world’s biggest cement producers.”

Texas orthodontic Medicaid Scam uncovered

Texas paid $191,410,707 for unallowable orthodontic services from 2008 through 2010, one of the largest scandals in the history of the Texas Medicaid program according to a federal investigation. As many as 90 percent of those procedures were against state rules, federal investigators found. Federal investigators based in Dallas checked random claims submitted by Texas dentists over a 33-month period from 2008 to 2010.

One in 10 claims that were approved for payment by the state did not have proper documentation.

Eight in 10 claims approved by the state were improper, even though they did include requisite documents. Only one dentist — Dr. Jerry Felkner — was involved in examining all the dental claims submitted statewide in a program that served as many as 80,000 children per year at its peak.

My thought: Really wondered why everybody on the streets seemed to be wearing braces.

Source: wfaa.com 

Flood and fire kill over 90 in Ghana

Flooding in Ghana's capital swept stored fuel into a nearby fire, setting off a huge explosion at a gas station that killed over 90 people and set alight neighboring buildings, authorities said Thursday. The blast took place as dozens of people sought shelter at the gas station and in nearby shops in central Accra to escape the torrential rains. The disaster raised anew concerns over the city's inadequate infrastructure.

TV footage showed corpses being piled into the back of a pickup truck and other charred bodies trapped amid the debris. Floodwaters around the site hampered rescue and recovery efforts. Officials at the nearby 37 Military Hospital said its morgue had reached capacity. President John Dramani Mahama visited the scene on Thursday, calling the death toll "catastrophic" and offering condolences to families of the victims.

The flooding "caused the diesel and petrol to flow away from the gas station and a fire from a nearby house led to the explosion," said Billy Anaglate, spokesman for Ghana's national fire service. In addition to the dead at the gas station, local media reported that many drowned in various parts of the city following two days of torrential rains. The combined death toll from the explosion and flooding is expected to rise. Anaglate said precise figures were not available at midday Thursday.

The explosion is likely to intensify criticism of the government's failure to improve the infrastructure. Though the downpours this week have been especially bad, heavy rains in June are not unusual yet drainage systems in Accra remain inadequate. The area where the blast occurred is a heavily trafficked section of central Accra with several banks and other offices in addition to residences. Multiple bus terminals connect the area to the rest of the city.

Throughout Accra, drivers caught in the flooding abandoned their cars on the road. The Education Ministry instructed all children who were not already at school Thursday morning to stay home.

Source: AP/abc

Iphie Aggrey-fynn, Rhythm 93.7FM personality Killed

Armed Robbers shot at a vehicle that was conveying Iphie Aggrey-fynn and she was killed in the process.  She had just visited her parents in Aba, Abia State Nigeria and was returning to Port Harcourt on the notorious Aba-Port harcourt expressway when the incident occurred. Her soul Rest in peace. 

Woman fired for trying to help crying child

A school kitchen manager and married mother of two from Colorado was fired last week for offering hungry elementary school students free lunches when they could not afford to pay for them. Until Friday, Della Curry, 35, had supervised food preparation at Dakota Valley Elementary School in Aurora.

The school staffer has revealed this week that she was let go for feeding hungry children in violation of district rules. But students whose families do not meet the district's strict income parameters receive no more than a single slice of cheese on a hamburger bun and a small carton of milk, according to Ms Curry.

The former school kitchen manager, who has two young children of her own, said she often paid for kids’ lunch out of her own pocket to keep them nourished.

source: dailymail

Sepp Blatter resigns as FIFA president

Sepp Blatter has sensationally announced his intention to resign as the head of FIFA after a 17-year career that has ended in infamy. In an astonishing announcement at FIFA HQ in Zurich this evening, Blatter revealed that he will call an emergency congress of FIFA executives to vote in his replacement.

While no timetable has yet been set for the election, officials have said it could take place any time between December this year and March next year. Blatter will continue in his role until then. At an earlier  press conference, Blatter said: 'I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the forty years in which my life has been inextricably bound to FIFA and the great sport of football. I cherish FIFA more than anything and I want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football.

Coscharis Motors hosts Ford Ranger Odyssey special event

The second tough and reliable Ford Ranger Odyssey in-market special event held on the grounds  of the ultra-modern Coscharis Motors facility on the Lekki Peninsula axis in Lagos. Coscharis Group Managing Director Mr. Josiah Samuel described Ford Ranger Odyssey as an extremely tough adventurous expedition and not a’race or rally’. The Odyssey is designed to test participants 4x4 driving and mechanical skills, endurance, stamina, perseverance and resilience against the worst that nature has to offer.

L-R: Moyosore Fawole, 1st Runner-Up; Ugochukwu Onuiri, Winner; John Amadi, 2nd Runner-Up; All of the 2015 Ranger Odyssey In-Market Competition organized by Coscharis Motors

L-R: Justin Ngini, Assistant General Manager, Ford, Coscharis Motors; Ugochukwu Onuiri, Winner; Moyosore Fawole, 1st Runner-Up; John Amadi, 2nd Runner-Up; Abiona Babarinde, General Manager Marketing & Corporate Services, Coscharis Motors; During the 2015 Ranger Odyssey In-Market Competition organized by Coscharis Motors

READ MORE HERE 

Senator Elect Kashamu Arrested in Lagos

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian drug agents on Saturday arrested a senator-elect wanted by the United States in a nearly 20-year-old heroin deal that was allegedly the basis for the TV hit "Orange Is The New Black."

Buruji Kashamu is under house arrest at his Lagos home, spokesman Ofoyeju Mitchell of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency told The Associated Press. He said Kashamu, 56, will appear in court Monday to start extradition proceedings to the United States. Kashamu had already been suing a Nigerian court to prevent attempts to extradite him. Kashamu had become a powerful politician and financier of President Goodluck Jonathan's party. Jonathan and his party both lost in the March election but Kashamu was elected a senator in balloting opponents said was rigged.

READ MORE

Baltimore on Fire

The historically relevant city of Baltimore in the USA is literally on fire as a result of protests fueled by the recent death of Freddie Gray. Gray died in police custody under circumstances that remain unclear. His death has sparked ongoing protests in Baltimore and raised long-simmering tensions between police and residents. Chaos and violence erupted on the streets of Baltimore late Monday as protesters clashed with police, several of whom were injured.

"This afternoon, a group of outrageous criminals attacked our officers. Right now, we have seven officers that have serious injuries, including broken bones, and one officer who is unconscious,

Video showed police in riot gear taking cover behind an armored vehicle, as protesters pelted them with rocks. At one point, it looked like officers used tear gas. The Baltimore Police Department said it had heard reports of protesters setting small items on fire, and footage showed a cruiser in flames.

Video also showed people looting local stores, and an area CVS Pharmacy was set on fire after it was ransacked. Thick dark smoke filled the streets.

Chimamanda Adichie: On The Oba Of Lagos

A few days ago, the Oba of Lagos threatened Igbo leaders. If they did not vote for his governorship candidate in Lagos, he said, they would be thrown into the lagoon. His entire speech was a flagrant performance of disregard. His words said, in effect: I think so little of you that I don’t have to cajole you but will just threaten you and, by the way, your safety in Lagos is not assured, it is negotiable.

There have been condemnations of the Oba’s words. Sadly, many of the condemnations from non-Igbo people have come with the ugly impatience of expressions like ‘move on,’ and ‘don’t be over-emotional’ and ‘calm down.’ These take away the power, even the sincerity, of the condemnations. It is highhanded and offensive to tell an aggrieved person how to feel, or how quickly to forgive, just as an apology becomes a non-apology when it comes with ‘now get over it.’

Other condemnations of the Oba’s words have been couched in dismissive or diminishing language such as ‘The Oba can’t really do anything, he isn’t actually going to kill anyone. He was joking. He was just being a loudmouth.’ Or – the basest yet – ‘we are all prejudiced.’ It is dishonest to respond to a specific act of prejudice by ignoring that act and instead stressing the generic and the general.  It is similar to responding to a specific crime by saying ‘we are all capable of crime.’ Indeed we are. But responses such as these are diversionary tactics. They dismiss the specific act, diminish its importance, and ultimately aim at silencing the legitimate fears of people.

We are indeed all prejudiced, but that is not an appropriate response to an issue this serious. The Oba is not an ordinary citizen. He is a traditional ruler in a part of a country where traditional rulers command considerable influence – the reluctance on the part of many to directly chastise the Oba speaks to his power. The Oba’s words matter. He is not a singular voice; he represents traditional authority. The Oba’s words matter because they are enough to incite violence in a political setting already fraught with uncertainty. The Oba’s words matter even more in the event that Ambode loses the governorship election, because it would then be easy to scapegoat Igbo people and hold them punishable.

Nigerians who consider themselves enlightened might dismiss the Oba’s words as illogical. But the scapegoating of groups – which has a long history all over the world – has never been about logic. The Oba’s words matter because they bring worrying echoes of the early 1960s in Nigeria, when Igbo people were scapegoated for political reasons. Chinua Achebe, when he finally accepted that Lagos, the city he called home, was unsafe for him because he was Igbo, saw crowds at the motor park taunting Igbo people as they boarded buses: ‘Go, Igbo, go so that garri will be cheaper in Lagos!’

Of course Igbo people were not responsible for the cost of garri. But they were perceived as people who were responsible for a coup and who were ‘taking over’ and who, consequently, could be held responsible for everything bad. Any group of people would understandably be troubled by a threat such as the Oba’s, but the Igbo, because of their history in Nigeria, have been particularly troubled. And it is a recent history. There are people alive today who were publicly attacked in cosmopolitan Lagos in the 1960s because they were Igbo. Even people who were merely light-skinned were at risk of violence in Lagos markets, because to be light-skinned was to be mistaken for Igbo.

Almost every Nigerian ethnic group has a grouse of some sort with the Nigerian state. The Nigerian state has, by turns, been violent, unfair, neglectful, of different parts of the country. Almost every ethnic group has derogatory stereotypes attached to it by other ethnic groups. But it is disingenuous to suggest that the experience of every ethnic group has been the same. Anti-Igbo violence began under the British colonial government, with complex roots and manifestations. But the end result is a certain psychic difference in the relationship of Igbo people to the Nigerian state. To be Igbo in Nigeria is constantly to be suspect; your national patriotism is never taken as the norm, you are continually expected to prove it.

All groups are conditioned by their specific histories. Perhaps another ethnic group would have reacted with less concern to the Oba’s threat, because that ethnic group would not be conditioned by a history of being targets of violence, as the Igbo have been. Many responses to the Oba’s threat have mentioned the ‘welcoming’ nature of Lagos, and have made comparisons between Lagos and southeastern towns like Onitsha. It is valid to debate the ethnic diversity of different parts of Nigeria, to compare, for example, Ibadan and Enugu, Ado-Ekiti and Aba, and to debate who moves where, and who feels comfortable living where and why that is. But it is odd to pretend that Lagos is like any other city in Nigeria. It is not. 

The political history of Lagos and its development as the first national capital set it apart. Lagos is Nigeria’s metropolis. There are ethnic Igbo people whose entire lives have been spent in Lagos, who have little or no ties to the southeast, who speak Yoruba better than Igbo. Should they, too, be reminded to be ‘grateful’ each time an election draws near?

No law-abiding Nigerian should be expected to show gratitude for living peacefully in any part of Nigeria. Landlords in Lagos should not, as still happens too often, be able to refuse to rent their property to Igbo people. The Oba’s words were disturbing, but its context is even more disturbing: The anti-Igbo rhetoric that has been part of the political discourse since the presidential election results.  Accusatory and derogatory language – using words like ‘brainwashed,’ ‘tribalistic voting’ – has been used to describe President Jonathan’s overwhelming win in the southeast. All democracies have regions that vote in large numbers for one side, and even though parts of Northern Nigeria showed voting patterns similar to the Southeast, the opprobrium has been reserved for the Southeast.

But the rhetoric is about more than mere voting. It is really about citizenship. To be so entitled as to question the legitimacy of a people’s choice in a democratic election is not only a sign of disrespect but is also a questioning of the full citizenship of those people.

What does it mean to be a Nigerian citizen? When Igbo people are urged to be ‘grateful’ for being in Lagos, do they somehow have less of a right as citizens to live where they live? Every Nigerian should be able to live in any part of Nigeria. The only expectation for a Nigerian citizen living in any part of Nigeria is to be law-abiding. Not to be ‘grateful.’ Not to be expected to pay back some sort of unspoken favour by toeing a particular political line. Nigerian citizens can vote for whomever they choose, and should never be expected to justify or apologize for their choice.

Only by feeling a collective sense of ownership of Nigeria can we start to forge a nation. A nation is an idea. Nigeria is still in progress. To make this a nation, we must collectively agree on what citizenship means: all Nigerians must matter equally.

By Chimamanda Adichie

Sorted by Andrea Achudume

Eyewitness account of Boko Haram atrocities

Joseph, 26, had one and a half years left to spend in school when Boko Haram struck on April 4, 2014, and the school has remained shut since then. He said, “I was in the school hostel on that day when around 4am, we heard gunshots and bombings on the campus. Five students were killed in the attack; two of them, Musa and Zainab were my course mates.

“At least, half of the school structures were destroyed by Boko Haram. So, the Provost of the college shut down the school and asked everyone to leave because of the insecurity.” However, Joseph didn’t have to be told to leave as news of the Provost’s directive met him on his way to Gubla, his hometown.

“First, we trekked from Bama to Gwoza Local Government Area, which is about 30 km because there were no vehicles on the roads. It was at Gwoza that I was able to get a vehicle to take me to Gubla for N1,000, four times the normal fare,” he recalled. Three months later, while waiting for his school to resume normal activities, tragedy struck at Chakama, an adjoining village to Gubla. Forty-five persons were killed in the attack on a Catholic church in the community, including more than 10 of Joseph’s relations.

He said, “They came to Chakama and killed 45 people; I had 17 relations that were killed in the attack. I saw all the bodies and I was one of those who buried the bodies. They beheaded the men and put their heads on their chests. They wanted to spare the women but I understand the women that were killed were trying to defend their husbands.

“They blocked the church entrance and asked the worshippers to come out one after the other. Some of the worshippers managed to escape through the windows, including two of my relatives.” Shortly after the attack on the church, Joseph said the terrorists attacked Gubla too, killing four persons. It was the incident that forced Joseph to completely flee the region.

He continued: “Two weeks later, they attacked Gubla with about 15 cars and many more motorcycles. They killed four fish sellers; Yisa Dinga, Simparara, Yohanna Madaki and Ambudama. They called them pagans; they don’t like non-Muslims. They would ask questions and know if one is a Muslim or not.

“They had a shoot-out with soldiers and many of us ran to the bush. We heard that a sergeant named Alli was killed along with a boy, who climbed a tree to escape the attack. One of them saw him and shot him. “After that incident, we stopped sleeping in the village for about two months. We hid in the bush between 4pm and 6am and returned to the village in the morning. Usually, they (Boko Haram) attacked around 4am or between 7pm and 9pm. It was then that we started moving to states outside the region. Some went to Delta, some to Imo and I came to Lagos.”

As a student, Joseph had been in the business of selling motorcycles in his community and had therefore been to Lagos a few times to buy motorcycles for his customers in his community. “Some of us escaped to Mildu in the bush, then we trekked to Michika and from there, I hitchhiked to Yola,” he said.

In the aftermath of the attack, Joseph realised he had been separated from his family members – his mother, four brothers and two sisters. He said, “Later, I found one of my younger brothers, Ijakirayu, in Yola. So I took the risk to return to Mildu to look for my mother and others. But I was only able to find two brothers and one sister. Till now, I don’t know where three of my family members are.”

Joseph, who hopes to return to school someday when the crisis is over, says he eagerly follows news reports to track the whereabouts of his missing family members: mother, Cecilia, 42; sister, Jumai, 18; and brother, Danjuma, five. One of Joseph’s two relatives who survived the Boko Haram attack on Chakawa church was Jacob Bulus, 23.

Bulus was attending a Sunday service with about 150 other members when the church was attacked by the insurgents. He said, “When I heard gunshots, I lay down on the ground. After a while, I found an opening in the church building and I took off. Some of them followed me and I heard gunshots around me. I ran into the bush until I got to a sugarcane farm. The Boko Haram members that came were in camouflage but wore head ties.”

Bulus’ elder brother, Luka; his wife, Ladi, and their two children have since been missing. “I’ve been listening to the radio for news of our areas – Gubla, Chakawa and Mildu – but I’ve not been getting anything on them. But recently, I heard that soldiers have taken control of Gulak,” he said.

curled from the Punch

The Nigerian President: Blue or Red States

Africa practice head and Analyst Philippe de Pontet that while Jonathan was a favorite in the March 28 election, representing a victory for the country’s Christian south, the electoral map is tilting to Buhari in swing regions in the southwest and middle of the country. Buhari would be a technocrat, and investors could expect business-oriented policies, de Pontet writes, but Eurasia Group remains neutral on Nigeria for the long term, given downside risks to oil production and challenges to policy implementation. READ MORE

source: Barrons

Multiple Explosions Maim in Bornu State

Three bombings rocked separate targets in northeast Nigeria’s largest city of Maiduguri on Saturday, killing at least 33 people, witnesses and a local official told AFP, in violence blamed on Boko Haram The first attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber at the Baga fish market at roughly 11:20 am (1020 GMT), said Abubakar Gamandi, the head of the fisherman’s union in Borno State, of which Maiduguri is the capital.

“A female suicide bomber exploded as soon as she stepped out of a motorised rickshaw,” said Gamandi, who was at the scene. “Eighteen people were killed.” That account was supported by a nurse at the Maiduguri General Hospital, where many of the victims were taken. About an hour later a bomb blast hit the popular Monday Market, killing another 15 people, according to Gamandi and the nurse, who requested anonymity. It was not immediately clear whether the second attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

“For now, we have at least 33 dead bodies from the two incidents…the toll may change because we are expecting more casualties,” said Gamandi. The first two attacks were confirmed by Borno’s Justice Commissioner Kaka Shehu, but he declined to provide casualties figures until rescue workers had completed their searches.

Shortly after 1:00 pm Shehu phoned AFP in Maiduguri to confirm a third bombing at the busy Borno Express bus terminal, but details, including on casualties, were not immediately available.

“We condemn these acts in their entirety and we extend our condolences to the victims,” Shehu said. “The terrorists are angry with the way they were sacked from towns and villages and are now venting their anger,” he added.

Shehu was referring to an ongoing offensive against Boko Haram in Borno state being waged by Nigeria and Chad, with support from Cameroon and Niger.

The four-nation offensive has claimed major successes over the insurgents since the start of last month, and analysts have said that Boko Haram would likely step up bombings on civilian targets in response.

Source: PMNEWS

Eleven months old TRIPLETS need urgent care.

Eleven months old TRIPLETS need urgent care. Their mother died after giving birth to them and they are being raised by their Aunty who CANNOT COPE but had to take up these added responsibilities because of our African culture "Onyeaghala nwanneya. 

The BABIES are sick and malnourished. Show love by lending a hand. This call is on behalf of a friend; Jane Ekwonye. SAVE A LIFE.

For inquiry; +234 805 805 6869, +1 903 309 1172. info@trendyafrica.com

Three Nigerians Charged for VAT fraud in UK

Saheed Oyeneye, 35, Rasaq Omotunde, 38, and Oluwakemi Adesaogun, 38, all from south east London, set up hundreds of bogus online HMRC accounts to ‘get rich quick’ off the public purse. The Nigerian-born adopted false identities of hundreds of unsuspecting victims, mirroring the tactic employed by the assassin in The Day of the Jackal, as part of his plot to shoot French president Charles de Gaulle. They also adopted the identities of sports personalities, including cricketers and rugby union stars, by scouring the internet for their personal details and cobbling together a fake profile.

The three men also targeted thousands of members of the public as they attempted to swindle £1m, Southwark Crown Court was told. In total, the gang managed to pocket around £250,000, which was banked across hundreds of accounts which had been set up under false names. But the trio were rumbled early on by HMRC and did not pay out more than three-quarters of the money.

When their homes were searched, investigators discovered the personal details of more than 200 dead children were stored on computers, the court heard.  Oyeneye, from Hither Green, Omotunde, from Sydenham and Adesaogun, from Woolwich, all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud.

Today, Judge Stephen Robbins jailed Oyeneye for five and a half years, Omotunde for six years and Adesaogun for five years.

source: Dailymail

American Missionary Kidnapped in Nigeria

LAGOS, Feb 24 - An American woman working as a Christian missionary in Nigeria was kidnapped overnight, the website of the Free Methodist Church and a security source said on Tuesday.

"Early this morning we received a report that Rev. Phyllis Sortor, our missionary in Nigeria, was abducted from the Hope Academy compound in Emiworo, Kogi State, Nigeria by several persons," the church said.

Nigeria is one of the world's worst country's for kidnapping, a major criminal enterprise that makes millions of dollars a year. Criminal gangs have kidnapped scores of expatriates in southern and central Nigeria over the years. Central Kogi state has also had low level activity by Islamist militants linked to insurgent group Boko Haram, security sources say.

A U.S. State Department official said authorities had heard the reports but could not make further comments in the interest of privacy.

 (Reuters)

Owners of Oil Blocks In Nigeria

It’s more news the North wants GEJ out of the way, so their licenses can be renewed cos most of them are expiring from 2016 upwards. Monumental injustice is being perpetrated to the people of Niger Delta on whose soil the oil was found.

These people constitutes the main opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan today. Please Read on:

(1) This oil block business is so lucrative that Danjuma’s Sapetro divested of its investment in Akpo condensate for $1billion dollars. This business is second to none in Nigeria. That is why any attempt to investigate the activities in this sector will always be futile. The money is so much that they give bribes in millions of dollars. A birthday gift or child naming gift from an oil block owner to a government official could be as paltry as $2million dollars, and if the official’s father died, the condolence gift could reach mere $3 million dollars. When they want to bribe legislators, it is in millions of dollars and any ongoing investigation ends within weeks. They are so confident that with excess money they can buy up Nigeria and they are succeeding

(2) OML 110 with high yield OBE oil fields was given Cavendish Petroleum owned by Alhaji Mai Daribe, the Borno Patriarch in 1996 by Sanni Abacha. OBE oil field has estimated over 500 million barrels of oil. In layman’s language and using average benchmark of $100 dollars per barrel, translates to $50 billion dollars worth of oil reserve. When you remove the taxes, royalties and sundry duties worth about 60% of the reserve payable over time you get about $20billion dollars worth of oil in the hands of a family.

(3) OPL 246 was awarded to SAPETRO, a company owned by General Theophilus Danjuma, by Sanni Abacha in 1998. Akpo condensate exports about 300,000 barrels of crude daily.

(4) NOML 112 and OML 117 were awarded to AMNI International Petroleum Development Company owned by Colonel Sanni Bello in 1999. Sanni Bello is an inlaw to Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State of Nigeria.

(5) OML 115, OLDWOK Field and EBOK field was awarded to Alhaji Mohammed Indimi from Niger State. Indimi is an inlaw to former Military President Ibrahim Babangida.

(6) OML 215 is operated by Nor East Petroleum Limited owned by Alhaji Saleh Mohammed Gambo.

(7) OML 108 is operated by Express Petroleum Company Limited is owned by Alhaji Aminu Dantata.

(8) cool OML II3 allocated to Yinka Folawiyo Pet Ltd is owned by Alhaji W.I. folawiyo.

(9)ASUOKPU/UMUTU marginal oil fields is operated by Seplat Petroleum. Seplat is owned by Prince Nasiru Ado Bayero, cousin to the Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi. This oil field has the capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil daily. This translates to $30million dollars daily at average benchmark of $100 dollars per barrel. Deducting all sundry taxes, royalties etc , this field can yield $12billion dollars daily for the owners .

(10)Intel owned by Atiku, Yarádua and Ado Bayero has substantial stakes in Nigeria’s oil exploration industry both in Nigeria and Principe and Sao Tome.

(11) AMNI owns two oil blocks OML 112 and OML 117 which it runs Afren plc and Vitol has substantial stakes in oil blocks. Afren plc is operating EBOK oil fields in OML 67. Vitol lifts 300,000 barrels of Nigerian oil daily. Rilwanu Lukman, former OPEC Chairman has stakes in all these named three companies.

(12) OPL 245 was awarded to Malabu Oil& Gas Company by Sanni Abacha. Dan Etete, Abacha’s oil minister owns Malabu Oil. In 2000, Vice President Atiku Abubakar convinced Obasanjo to revoke OPL 245 given to Malabu Oil. Etete had earlier rejected Atiku’s demand for substantial stakes in the high yield OPL 245 and it attracted the venom of Ota Majesty who revoked the licence. However, in 2006, Obasanjo had mercy on Dan Etete and gave him back his oil block worth over $20 billion dollars.

(13) OPL 289 and OPL 233 was awarded during Obasanjo era to Peter Odili fronts, Cleanwater Consortium, consisting of Clenwater Refinery and RivGas Petroleum and Gas Company. Odili’s brother in law, Okey Ezenwa manages the consortium as Vice Chairman.

(14) OPL 286 is managed by Focus Energy in partnership with BG Group, a British oil concern. Andy Uba has stakes in Focus Energy and his modus operandi is such that you can never see his name in any listings yet he controls OPL and OML through proxies

(15)OPL 291 was awarded to Starcrest Energy Nigeria Limited, owned by Emeka Offor by Obasanjo . Immediately after the award, Starcrest sold the oil block to Addax Petroleum Development Company Limited (ADDAX) Addax paid Sir Emeka Offor a farming fee of $35million dollars and still paid the signature bonus to the government. Emeka Offor still retains stake in ADDAX operations in Nigeria.

(16) Mike Adenuga’s Conoil is the oldest indigenous oil exploration industry in Nigeria. Conoil has six oil blocks and exports above 200,000 barrels of crude daily.

(17)The oil block national cake sharing fiesta could take twists according to the mood of the Commander-in –Chief at the particular time. In 2006, Obasanjo revoked OPL 246 which Abacha gave to Danjuma because he refused to support the tenure elongation bid of the Ota Majesty. In 2000, Obasanjo had earlier revoked OPL 241 given to Dan Etete under the advice Atiku. However, when the Obasanjo-Atiku faceoff started, the Ota Majesty made a u-turn and handed back the oil block to Etete.

(18)During the time of Late President Yarádua , a panel headed by Olusegun Ogunjana was set up to investigate the level of transparency in the award of oil blocks. The panel recommended that 25 oil blocks awarded by the Obasanjo be revoked because the manner they were obtained failed to meet the best practices in the industry. Sadiq Mahmood, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum endorsed the report to then president with all its recommendations. As a result of the report Yarádua revoked eleven oil blocks.

(19) In April 2011 Mike Adenuga attempted to buy Shell’s OML 30 for $1.2 billion dollars. The Minister for Petroleum and Nigeria’s most powerful woman refused the sale of the OML30 to Adenuga citing national interest. This block was later sold to Heritage Oil for $800 million dollars eleven months later.

(20) In the name of competitive bidding, which Obasanjo introduced in 2005, Officials bring companies overnight and through processes best described as secretive and voodooist they award blocks to party faithful, fronts and phoney companies. They collect gratifications running into hundreds of millions of dollars which is paid into offshore account and the nation loses billions of dollars of revenue to private pockets.

During the third term agenda, Obasanjo was deceived that the allocation of oil block to party faithfuls is to fund the third term agenda. With the failure of the third term, the beneficiaries went home with their fortunes and thanked God or Allah for buttering their bread. Senator Andy Uba co ordinate the award of the last rounds of oil block by Obasanjo in 2005 and 2007. The then minister of petroleum, Edwin Daukoru was a mere errand boy who took instructions from the presidential aide

The process of sharing Nigeria’s oil block national cake is as fraudulent now as when Ibrahim Babangida started the process of discretionary allocation of oil blocks to indigenous firms. Discretionary allocation of oil blocks entails that a president can reward a mistress who performs wonderfully with an oil block with capacity for cumulative yield of over $20 billion dollars without recourse to any process outside of manhood attachments.

Babangida, Abacha, Abdulsalami and Obasanjo awarded discretionary oil blocks to friends, associates, family members, party chieftains, security chiefs and all categories of bootlickers, spokespersons and cult members without any laid down procedures. The recipients of such oil blocks will get funds from ever willing offshore financiers and partners to graciously settle the benefactors, the awarders, facilitators and the Commander-in-Chief through fronts. These settlements mostly paid into foreign accounts runs into hundreds of millions of dollars according to the potential yield of the block.

Culled from How Babangida, Abubakar, Abacha, Obasanjo Shared Nigeria’s Oil Blocks – Written by Obinna Akukwe

Nigeria Postpones Elections by Six Weeks

Nigeria's electoral commission will postpone Feb. 14 presidential and legislative elections for six weeks to give a new multinational force time to secure northeastern areas under the sway of Boko Haram, an official close to the commission told The Associated Press on Saturday. Millions could be disenfranchised if the voting went ahead while the Islamic extremists hold a large swath of the northeast and commit mayhem that has driven 1.5 million people from their homes.

The Nigerian official, who is knowledgeable of the discussions, said the Independent National Electoral Commission will announce the postponement later Saturday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Officials in President Goodluck Jonathan's administration have supported postponing the Feb. 14 vote. Any delay is opposed by an opposition coalition fielding former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, though the opposition stands to take most votes in the northeast.

Supporters of both sides are threatening violence if their candidate does not win. Some 800 people were killed in riots in the mainly Muslim north after Buhari, a Muslim, lost 2011 elections to Jonathan, a Christian from the south. Analysts say the vote is too close to call, the most tightly contested election since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999.

STATUS REPORT

*Over 45million PVCs collected *Non-guarantee of security *Training manual not ready *Presiding Officers yet to be trained

*700,000 ad hoc staff not recruited yet *PVCs still being printed abroad *RECs yet to print Voter Register *Printers for Register still in Abuja

*No full complement of ballot boxes *Fake printing ink sent to states from headquarters rejected *Many states yet to get balance of Card Readers

The presidential and National Assembly elections, earlier slated for Saturday, February 14, 2015, will now hold on Saturday, March 28, 2015.

The governorship and state legislative elections will hold on April 11, 2015.

This shift in dates was announced yesterday by Professor Attahiru Jega, National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

He made the announcement at a world press conference, invoking the provisions of the following in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended: Section 76(2), Section 116(2), Section 132(2) Section 178(2).

He also quoted Section 25 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

The Commission Chairman explained that INEC was prepared but the security challenge and the need not to deploy men and materials when the security agencies had issued an advisory.

Source:AP

Ugandan Clergy and family found murdered in Houston

A Houston priest, his wife and their young son were found dead in their apartment Monday, victims of a homicide that has shaken the city's Episcopal community as police search for the killer, and a motive. The Rev. Israel Ahimbisibwe, 52, a towering and highly educated clergyman from Uganda, served as a chaplain at the University of Houston and pastored part-time at a small church, where members said they grew worried after he didn't show up to lead their Sunday afternoon services. 

They went to his apartment, and when no one answered, they contacted the building's management, who called authorities. Ahimbisibwe's congregation, the Church of the Redeemer, confirmed that the he'd been killed, along with his wife, Dorcus, and 5-year-old son, Jay. Ahimbisibwe and his wife also had two adult sons, Emmanuel and Issac, who were not living at the apartment at the time. One reportedly attends boarding school in California and the other had recently announced he was joining the Marines.

In Houston's tight-knit Episcopal community, Ahimbisibwe was known as a soft-spoken but charismatic workhorse who often held several un-glamorous part-time jobs simultaneously. He was passionate and animated, but he spoke with an accent that was sometimes difficult for older parishioners to understand. That became an issue at the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, where he led Sunday morning services and taught bible classes.

Source: NBCNEWS

ISIS burns captured Jordanian pilot alive

Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq have released a video they claim shows Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh being burned alive while locked in a cage. The footage, which is titled 'Healing the Believers Chests' appears to show the captured airman wearing an orange jumpsuit as a trail of petrol leading up to the cage is seen being set alight. Flames are seen quickly spreading to the cage where they engulf the helpless pilot.

READ MORE

Teenage girl plans to marry Dad

A young girl who is planning her upcoming wedding may have some trouble getting her mother to attend the ceremony - as she is marrying her father. The unnamed 18-year-old is revealing all the details of her two year relationship with her father in an interview with Science of Us, from how they fell in love and the first time they had sex to what their plans are for the future. And one of those plans she is very certain of - the two will have children. READ MORE 

Breaking News: Another hostage situation in Paris

A gunman claiming to be armed with a Kalashnikov and grenades has taken two people hostage at post office in a Paris suburb.

READ MORE

Twelve people including cartoonists slaughtered in France

At least 100,000 people gathered across France tonight to back an anti-Islamist newspaper whose offices were devastated by a deadly terrorist attack. Suspected Al Qaeda militants massacred 12 people in Paris today - and among those slaughtered was a police officer as he begged for mercy.

Tonight, thousands of people went to Republique Square near the scene to honour the victims, 

holding signs reading 'Je suis Charlie' - 'I am Charlie'. 

It came as a massive manhunt was launched to find the masked attackers, who earlier burst into the Charlie Hebdo offices brandishing Kalashnikovs. Clad all in black with hoods and speaking French, the militants forced one of the cartoonists - at the office with her young daughter - to open the door. Witnesses said the gunmen shouted 'we are from the Al Qaeda in Yemen', and 'Allahu akbar!' - Arabic for 'God is great' - as they stalked the building.

READ MORE