ONE WORD

…. Customs, CBN Reacts Despite concrete and visible interventions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via the Anchors Borrowers Programme (ABP) on the rice sub-sector of the Nigerian economy, over seventy percent (70%) of rice in Nigeria markets are foreign or imported. Smuggled rice seized by Ogun Command In a three-week survey on the rice market across the six geopolitical zones in the country, Economic Confidential team observed that foreign rice such as Mama Gold, Royal Stallion, Rice Master, Caprice, Falcon Rice and Basmati are sold alongside Nigerian rice namely: Umza and Fursa Crown from Kano, Mama Happy from Niger, Labana Rice from Kebbi, Olam Rice from Nasarawa, Abakaliki Rice from Ebonyi, Ofada Rice from Ogun State, Swomen Dama from Plateau, Lake Rice of Lagos/Kebbi States among others. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the CBN have reacted to the latest report. Stakeholders in the rice subsector, namely, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Rice Millers Assoc

Eric Holder, 29 years old from Los Angeles, is not only the suspect police identified in the Nipsey Hussle murder, but is also today's Donkey of the Day. Rumor is that Nipsey didn't want Eric Holder around his store anymore since he's a known informant and hater, causing the man to snap. source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/04/footage-of-nipsey-hussle-death-captured.html

ASUU strike The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Taraba State University chapter, on Wednesday  resumed indefinite strike to press home its demands. ASUU strike The union had embarked on a strike in 2018 but suspended it when the Taraba government promised to meet its demands which included the payment of earned academic allowances from 2014 till date, and the provision of required infrastructure to enhance teaching and learning. Dr Samuel Shikaa, the branch Chairman, and Dr Atando Agbu, the Secretary, in a statement shortly after the Executive Council Meeting with national officials in Jalingo, said that the teachers would remain at home until the demands were met. The union said that the law establishing the university, which specified adequate funding for the institution, had been abandoned by the state government. “Law no 4 of 2008 specified that five per  cent of the state allocation, five per cent of the Local Government allocation and two per ce

Apprehension has gripped students of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, following the death of three colleagues. Three students of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, have been confirmed dead, while one is still unconscious after allegedly overdosing on drugs. It was gathered that four students were found onTuesday at Sunshine Castle Hostel, Umuchima at ihiagwa Community, Owerri North LGA, Imo state. They had been reportedly taking a mixture of tramadol, codeine, vodka and India hemp. Two reportedly died instantly whle the only lady amongst them and another male student were found unconcious and immediately moved to Federal Medical Centre Owerri and placed on life support there. The male student later died at the hospital, leaving only the lady unconscious. Reports claim all four of them were found naked, one was with a bathing soap in his hand, the other lying on top of the lady. The room was filled with bottles of codeine, packets of

Fighting broke out in Uganda’s parliament between lawmakers over proposals to remove the age limit of 75 years for the Ugandan presidency in Kampala, Wednesday. Lawmakers for and against the proposal took to fighting with chairs and microphone stands. One female lawmaker was carried away after collapsing. source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/04/uganda-parliament-descends-into-brawl.html

A 22-year-old Chika Alex-Chukwuezie has committed suicide in Ubaekwem community in Ihiala Local government area of Anambra state. The deceased of Umuanasa clan, reportedly hung on a family mango tree for yet- to- be ascertained reason. The Nation gathered the deceased until his death was an active youth in the Umuezekwe political ward of Ihiala LGA. A family member, who preferred anonymity, said the act might not be unconnected to spiritual liberation defect due to the reoccurring suicide incidents that plague the family. He said: “He was a single unemployed young man who had completed his SSS exams, with the hope to excel in business after schooling. “One of his uncles also committed suicide at youthful age decades ago. Read Also: Our members never burnt police station in Anambra – IPOB “The family had to subject itself to spiritual cleansing to avert recurrence of the unfortunate incident.” The Nation further learnt the body of the deceased has been thrown into the

*Court asks prosecution to be diligent Proceedings resumed on Wednesday in the trial of Senator Ademola Adeleke and four others before a Federal High Court in Abuja over their alleged involvement in examination malpractices. The prosecution called two witnesses – Emmanuel Odesola and Adigun Akintayo – who said they acted as supervisor and invigilator during the June/July 2017 National Examination Council (NECO) examination in Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Ojo-Aro, Osun State. Odesola (a teacher, who was a supervisor during the examination) and Akintayo (a teacher and invigilator during the exam) said they only saw Sirkiru Adeleke (the Senator’s brother), who is listed as the 2nd respondent, in the examination hall. The witnesses also said they did not experience any incident of examination malpractices. They said, of the five defendants, they only saw the second defendant (Sikiru Adeleke), the principal and registrar of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School during the exam

By Afe Babalola Last week I identified some of the problems which adversely affected the smooth conduct of the last general elections. I stated how electoral violence contributed to voter apathy and how the huge number of political parties may actually not be good for the country’s democracy. As I stated last week, many of the identified problems can be addressed through amendments to the Constitution and the Electoral Act. CHANGE in process of collation and  transmission of results At the moment, the Electoral Act provides for collation and announcement of results at the unit, ward, local government, state and federal levels, depending on the particular election in question. For example, while the collation in the presidential election will go the whole hog, collation at an election to elect a governor will terminate at the state level. Unfortunately, as collation and transmission of results at these levels is largely manual, involving inputing of results from one result shee

United States President Donald Trump’s move against telecommunication giant Huawei has suffered a major setback.  European nations are considering using Huawei in building fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless networks. The Donald Trump administration’s had earlier run an aggressive campaign to prevent countries from using Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications equipment in their next-generation wireless networks. Trump had argued that Huawei and other Chinese telecom companies are a significant security threat. But other countries say that the threat can be managed, in addition to Huawei’s denial of the claim. A Washington Post report said Trump’s move stumbled because some of America’s closest allies rejected it. European countries divided Top European countries are currently divided over the ban. Britain, Germany, India and the United Arab Emirates are among the countries signaling they are unlikely to back the American effort to entirely ban Huawei from building th

Air travel remains one of the safest and fastest means of transportation in the world especially when it comes to long journey. Even though it’s safe and fast, there are very slim chances of survival if a crash should occur. According to experts, plane crashes always occur either during takeoff or landing. There are airports where the runways are not smooth, straight and big enough for aircrafts to easily land and hence are considered to be dangerous. These types of airports require highly skillful pilots to land aircrafts. 10. Lukla Airport in Nepal: Tenzing–Hillary Airport, also known as Lukla Airport, is a small airport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu, Solukhumbu District.The airport serves as the main airport for those visiting Mountain Everest.If you are the adventurous type and have ever fantasized of heading to Mountain Everest, be prepared to land in this airport. This airport has been rated as the most dangerous airport in the world for over 20 years. How the airp

Justice Oathman Musa of an Abuja High Court sitting in Bwari Area Council of Abuja on Tuesday nullified the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the September 2018 Governorship Election in Osun State.    Adeleke, who represents Osun West Senatorial District at the National Assembly was the PDP’s candidate in the 2018 governorship election in Osun state. Two Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb, had in 2018 barely few days to the governorship election in Osun State had dragged Adeleke to court, accusing him of not possessing the requisite educational qualification (secondary school certificate) to contest for the office of governor.  They prayed the court for an order to disqualify Adeleke from participating in the Sept 22 governorship election in the state on the grounds that he does not possess the requisite educational qualification.  Delivering judgment in the suit Tuesday, Ju

Names of the five Nigerians arrested for robbery in DubaiThe Federal Government has condemned the action of five Nigerians arrested for alleged robbery of Dh 2.3 million Dinars in Sharjah area of Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE). The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa said this in a statement to NAN by her media aide, Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun, on Tuesday in Abuja. The five Nigerians had on Sunday allegedly stormed a money exchange centre in Sharjah and fled with 2.3 million Dinars before they were arrested by the Dubai Police. The five suspects who were on visitors visas to Dubai include Chimuanya Ozoh, Benjamin Ajah, Kingsley Ngoka, Tochukwu Alisi and Chile Ndunagu. According to the police, the men barged into the exchange and smashed the glass barrier between the customers and the staff, stole the money in multiple currencies and fled. The presidential aide said the action of the five Nigerians was condemnable.

Switzerland is a central European country. It measures just 220 km north-to-south and 350 km east-to-west. 82% of journeys by public transport in this tiny landlocked nation are by train. Every long-distance, double-decker InterCity train in Switzerland includes a Ticki Park family coach. This effectively serves as a playground on wheels on its upper deck. The lower deck provides storage space for luggage and pushchairs. The coaches are decorated with colourful, child-friendly motifs and equipped with board games to help kids pass the time when traveling. Making facilities clean and family-friendly is a key part of the appeal. But so is ease and convenience. Despite the relatively large number of public transport companies, customers can board public transport at more than 25,000 stops, and travel as far as they need to on just one ticket; all tickets are valid on all services, nationwide. See photos of the interior of some family-friendly trains in Switzerland.

Global humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has raised an alarm that over 30,000 people are in acute need of shelter, water, food, and medical care, among others in Monguno Local Government Area of Bono State. The organisation said this in a statement on Tuesday by its Field Communication Officer in Borno, Abdulkareem Yakubu. According to it, the affected people were forced to flee to the town following renewed clashes that erupted in parts of the state in December 2018. It added that the immediate humanitarian needs of the people were not being addressed adequately. MSF said there was an urgent need for better coordination between the Nigerian government, United Nations and non-governmental organisations in scaling up the aid response in Monguno, so as to avoid a catastrophic situation with the onset of the rainy season expected in May. It stated that the residents have been caught up in a cycle of violence, displacement, and

Manchester United’s top four hopes suffered a big blow on Tuesday night, after they were beaten 2-1 by Wolves. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought his team to the Molineaux, hoping to climb back into Champions League places. United took the lead through Scott McTominay’s first goal for the club, but the hosts fought back and levelled through Diogo Jota before the break. Ashley Young saw red, before Chris Smalling put the ball into his own goal. The Red Devils remain fifth on the table with 61 points. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/04/epl-solskjaers-top-four-ambitions-in.html

President Muhammadu Buhari has regretted the recent unfortunate action of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives from the Lagos State Police Command, which led to the avoidable death of Mr. Kolade Johnson. In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, the President commiserated deeply with the family of the deceased. He acknowledged the genuine outrage regarding the activities of SARS and reassured the public that swift actions have already been taken. “Suspects are in custody and an orderly room trial is set to commence immediately, following which indicted officers will be prosecuted in court. “Government will not tolerate in any way the brutalization of Nigerians or the violation of their rights. Any officer of the law enforcement agencies or any other government functionary caught in this act will certainly be visited with the full weight of the law.” Recall that following directives from the Presidency in 2018 to overhaul the ma

Unity Bank Plc has grown its balance sheet by 50.8 per cent from N156.51 billion in 2017 to N235.98 billion last year. The audited financial statements presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) also showed gross earnings of N37.33 billion in the period under review. Similarly, Profit Before Tax (PBT) moved in a positive trajectory to close at N1.41 billion, with the lender recording a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N1.27 billion, shaking off the negative position it posted the previous year. The bank’s performance was supported by some fundamentals derived from corporate action to clean up its books by eliminating all the legacy non-performing loans, which resulted to full de-risking of balance sheet, enabling a new lease of life. Other performance indices showed significant growth across key financial metrics, with net operating income for the year ended December 31, 2018 growing by 112 per cent to N21.63 billion from N10.22 billion in the corresponding period of 2017. Non

Channels Television has won the AITEO-Nigeria Football Federation award for the second consecutive year, for promoting football at the grassroots. The Channels International Kids Cup, a corporate social responsibility programme of the TV station, started in 2009 as a Lagos state competition and has evolved into an international event featuring participants from the Benin Republic and Ghana. The tournament received the development award at the maiden edition of the NFF awards for constantly improving on the objective of discovering and nurturing young talents under the age of 13 in primary schools. Meanwhile, Super Eagles’ stand-in captain Ahmed Musa and Super Falcons’ opposite number Onome Ebi took the big gongs at the second edition of the awards that held in Lagos on Monday night. Among the winners were Super Falcons’ coach Thomas Dennerby, Super Eagles’ ace winger Samuel Chukwueze and Enugu Rangers’ coach Olugbenga Ogunbote. The project started only last year, but, like

Francis Uzoho was shown a straight red card as Anorthosis Famagusta cruised to a 3-0 win over Alki Oroklini in Monday's Cypriot First Division fixture. The Nigeria goalkeeper who returned to the Great Lady's starting XI after a controversial debut in the Cypriot top-flight was shown a straight red card in the 23rd minute after an altercation with the visiting fans. Goals from Vincent Bessat, Michal Duris and Danijel Pranjic gave Jurgen Streppel's side the crucial three points as they lead the relegation playoffs round. Uzoho joined the Stadio Antonis Papadopoulos outfit on a short-term loan from Deportivo La Coruna in January and has only played two games so far. His debut appearance in Cyprus was questioned to be illegal after submission of unauthorised paperwork and he was punished with one-game ban and a fine of €1,000 but it was later overturned after the goalkeeper's appeal. The Super Eagles first-choice shot-stopper is apparently struggling between th

According to Punch Metro, the Presidency said on Tuesday that the execution of a Nigerian woman over drug-related offence on Monday in Saudi Arabia was pathetic and tragic. The Nigerian woman was among four persons executed by the Saudi authorities on Monday, according to that country’s Interior Ministry. The others were two Pakistani men and a Yemeni man. Saudi Arabia has executed 53 people this year alone over such offences. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who expressed the feeling of the Nigerian Government, recalled that the woman became the 8th Nigerian to die in similar circumstances. The SSA, who spoke with State House correspondents in Abuja, disclosed that 20 others were still on the death row, besides 12 more already sentenced to jail. She noted that the government was saddened by the fact that in some instances, the unfortunate Nigerians were the victims of drug cartels working with some airline workers. Dab

President Muhammadu Buhari has refused assent to the bill seeking for $1 billion for the completion of Ajaokuta Steel Company. The rejected bill with seven others were forwarded to him by the National Assembly in February this year. In separate letters read on the floor of the Senate Tuesday by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Buhari cited several reasons ranging from infractions on extant laws, duplication of responsibilities of existing agencies, to financial constraints for refusing assents on the bills. The President in his refusal to sign the Ajaokuta Completion Fund Bill as stated in a letter dated March 19, 2018, said appropriating $1billion from the Excess Crude Account ( ECA) as requested for in the bill by the federal lawmakers is not the best strategic option for Nigeria at this time of budgetary constraints. He said: ” The Nation cannot afford to commit such an amount in the midst of competing priorities with long term social and economic impact that the fund

Bruce Campbell, a retired 64-year-old  American engineer, has always had a creative vision. In 1999, Campbell purchased a Boeing 727 aircraft from Olympic Airways, based at Athens Airport, USA. He bought the aircraft for a whopping sum of $100,000. After acquiring it, he had to transport the massive aircraft to a forest in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he already owned a 10-acre piece of land that cost him $23,000. Transporting the plane from Athens, Greece, to Oregon proved to be the most daunting task. Transporting the aircraft cost him about $120,000. There, he turned the otherwise scrap of a plane into a beautiful upcycled masterpiece. Campbell believes that airplanes can have so much potential outside of their intended use. This was how this man used a good dose of imagination, an old plane and a large plot of land to create one of the most unique houses in the world. See photos of the airplane home of Bruce Campbell in the deep forest of Hillsboro, Oregon, USA.