Nigerian Eye

Does President Buhari read his speeches before delivering them?

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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has come under fire from critics after admitting part of his recent “Change Begins With Me” speech was copied from US President Barack Obama’s 2008 victory speech. 
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Buhari announced the social initiative earlier this month urging Nigerians to stop bribing and littering in a programme that continues his “war against indiscipline” launched while serving as military ruler in the 1980’s. 
 
“We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our country for so long,” Buhari said at a ceremony held in the nation’s capital of Abuja. 
 
The presidency was forced to issue a statement late Friday night acknowledging that the line was lifted from Obama. 
 
“It was observed that the similarities between a paragraph in President Obama’s 2008 victory speech…are too close to be passed as coincidence,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement, adding that an “overzealous” speech writer will face “appropriate sanction”. 
 
Critics questioned whether Buhari was reading his speeches before delivering them, and worried that the flub was tarnishing Nigeria’s image abroad as international leaders prepare to meet in New York this week for the UN General Assembly. 
 
“The president and his aides just have to do better,” opposition party member Adeyanju Deji said in a Twitter post. 
 
“We plead guys, stop embarrassing our great nation.” This isn’t the first time that Buhari’s team has borrowed from American campaigns. 
 
Another one of the president’s lines has been “make Nigeria great again” a copy of “make America great again”, the slogan used by US presidential candidate Donald Trump and before him by Ronald Reagan.

Latest-News Does President Buhari read his speeches before delivering them?

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has come under fire from critics after admitting part of his recent “Change Begins With Me” speech was ...

Former beauty queen Omowunmi Akinnifesi robbed in Lagos

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Ex Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Omowunmi Akinnifesi has shared a nasty experience when some valuable items were stolen from her car while attending a wedding. 
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Instead of brooding alone like many would, the fashionista used the incident to advise her Instagram followers on a need to stay vigilant about where they pack their vehicles while engaging in an outdoor activity. 
 
In a post which she shared on Sunday, September 18, 2016, she wrote: 
 
"Smashed car windows. So I went for a wedding yesterday. When I came out my back window was smashed and all the things in my car where stolen." 
 "My bags, wallet with ATM cards, National ID, drivers license and much more. I could not contain myself." 
 "So please if you are going for a wedding or party around the Landmark events center strip, there are about 4 event centers there i.e Landmark, Queens Park, D-Venue and The Dorchester." 
 "If you are not parking inside the compound make sure you have NOTHING in your car. I've heard so much about this and I can't believe it has now happened to me." 
 "BTW I kept the bags under the chair but they smashed the car and raised the chairs. That area has too many area boys. I'm warning you cos I love you. #lagosliving #theives #robbers." 
 Watch a video showing the crime scene</div>
   <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DwB5PBxG_qE" width="600"></iframe></div>

Latest-News Former beauty queen Omowunmi Akinnifesi robbed in Lagos

Ex Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Omowunmi Akinnifesi has shared a nasty experience when some valuabl...

JAMB cautions universities against rejecting applicants

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned universities from rejecting any applicant based on sudden change of admission guidelines. 
 
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The Registrar, Professor   Is-haq O. Oloyede, said during the extra-ordinary technical committee meeting on 2016 admissions to first choice institutions at Baze University, Abuja, that the sudden change of admission criteria by some institutions would not be accepted and that such changes must be announced in future admission exercises. 
 
 
“JAMB will not accept whatever is done arbitrarily and I hope those that are here will make adjustment. They must be able to explain why somebody with high score was not taken. 
 
I have a particular school where the person who scored the highest marks was not taken and the reason was because the university changed its rules. You cannot change the rules when the game is on. You have to wait until 2017 to publish the new rules; you cannot have a particular rule and changed to another,” he said. 
 
 He said universities had  the right to devise criteria for admission but that the criteria must be reasonable, explicit and must have been published in the 2016 admission brochure. 
He said the first batch of the admission lists was out on Friday. 
 
He said it was illegal for any institution to admit candidates above its carrying capacity, adding that institutions that were yet to update their requirements for the 2017 brochure should urgently do so.

Latest-News JAMB cautions universities against rejecting applicants

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned universities from rejecting any applicant based on sudden change of admissio...

Charmian Carr actress from the movie "Sound of Music" passes on

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Charmian Carr, beloved by fans for her role as the rebellious daughter, Liesl Von Trapp, in the Academy Award-winning film "The Sound of Music," has died at the age of 73, her family said on Sunday. 
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Carr died on Saturday of complications from a rare form of dementia in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, the family said in a statement. 
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charmian Carr as Liesl Von Trapp in the movie Sound of Music</td>
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Carr was in her early 20s when she played Liesl, the eldest of the seven children of stern widower Captain Von Trapp, played by Christopher Plummer, in the 1965 musical starring Julie Andrews. 
 
Her romantic dance scene with screen boyfriend Rolfe in a gazebo during a thunderstorm while singing "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" was considered one of the movie's most charming scenes. 
 
After "The Sound of Music," Carr appeared in the TV musical "Evening Primrose" with Anthony Perkins but then stepped back from acting to start an interior design business and raise a family. 
 
But her enthusiasm for "The Sound of Music" remained undiminished and in 2000, she started hosting sing-alongs of the movie across the United States, which drew thousands of fans dressed as their favorite characters.</div>

Latest-News Charmian Carr actress from the movie "Sound of Music" passes on

Charmian Carr, beloved by fans for her role as the rebellious daughter, Liesl Von Trapp, in the Academy Award-winning film "The Sound...

AWCON 2016: Super Falcons Draw Ghana, Mali, Kenya

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Latest-News AWCON 2016: Super Falcons Draw Ghana, Mali, Kenya

Nigeria’s Super Falcons have been drawn against arch-rivals Ghana, Mali and Kenya in Group B of the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations....

Solid Star declares women as his source of inspiration

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One in a million croon Solidstar, has revealed that women are part of the motivation that spurs him to write good music. 
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While speaking to about his inspiration as an artiste, he said, "I get my inspiration from women; I like being around them but they are just my friends." 
 "I love to hear what they are saying about themselves." 
 "So, I get inspired by the words, and I just put one or two of their words into my lyrics and come out with whatever I see around me." 
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<div>Concerning how he has been able to manage them, the singer explained that he has learnt how to handle women in a bid to stay scandal free.</div>
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<div>"I have to learn how to control my female fans because I don’t like scandals. So, whenever I come across them, I treat them good."</div>
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<div>"I make them feel at home. As I said, I always love being around women. I love ladies."</div>
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Latest-News Solid Star declares women as his source of inspiration

One in a million croon Solidstar, has revealed that women are part of the motivation that spurs him to write good music. While speaking...

Why fresh graduates shouldn’t rush back to university for Masters’ degree – Nigerian lawyer

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A Nigerian lawyer, Oluwakemi Makun, has advised young Nigerians who have just completed their first degree not to be in a hurry to do masters. 
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There is an additional advantage for a young graduate to first gain some work experience, know his strength and weakness, before deciding on area of interest and the type of education that would fit into his career choice, says Mrs. Makun, an expert in corporate and commercial law, and the principal of an Abuja law firm, Allianz Solicitors. 
 
Mrs. Makun, who spoke from Abuja after finishing top of her class, with a cum laude and four distinctions, at the Executive MBA programme of the Business School Netherlands, Abuja, said she draws example from her personal experience. 
 
Mrs. Makun and 72 other Nigerians who completed the programme in the country, in September, received their certificates at a ceremony at The Hague, Netherlands. 
 
“If I had gone for my masters immediately after graduating from the University, I probably would not have made any sense of it. Studying at this stage in my life makes more sense to me because I already know what I want and what I need,” said Makun who has about 13 years of experience in legal practice, and is also a part time businesswoman. 
 
“As a lawyer, I should have gone for LLM, but over the years, I developed an interest in commercial law, business advisory, and development,” she said. “An MBA is just right for me.” 
 
Makun said she was “one woman riot squad” before enrolling for the MBA. She was using her car as a mobile law chambers, she said. 
“Determined to succeed by applying the right techniques to accomplish my goals, I knew I needed to be a master of the art of learning and knowing how to go about business development and management.” 
 
Today, Makun says, she and her business have been transformed. She now has an office and has employed a few staff. She said her thinking has been changed positively, and that she now has all that is needed for her to compete in the industry. 
 
“The programme was quite challenging for me, given that I had no business or management background I asked the most stupid questions in class because it was a strange area for me,” she said of her experience in the MBA programme. 
 
“I guess those ‘stupid questions’ paid off eventually. 
 
“I deprived myself of some unnecessary leisure such as watching TV because I had to read up all my books and articles. Being a mum, I also had to manage my primary duties with my study. I got a grip during my fourth module, by which time I had gotten used to it. You have to be determined.” 
 
She advised young people to be diligent and committed to whatever they are doing, for positive result would start showing before long. “Failure is not an excuse to give up your dream. It is just an indication that you have done something wrong that needs to be fixed at the drawing board,” she said. 
She also has an advice for business owners and managers. 
 
“This period (of economic recession) is a blessing in disguise. Owners and managers of businesses can leverage on the situation in Nigeria to explore onshore outsourcing in place of offshore, patronize locally made products more, (and) avoid credits.”

Latest-News Why fresh graduates shouldn’t rush back to university for Masters’ degree – Nigerian lawyer

A Nigerian lawyer, Oluwakemi Makun, has advised young Nigerians who have just completed their first degree not to be in a hurry to do maste...

Budget Padding: Jibrin has mental problem, ignore him - Whip of the House of Reps

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The Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa, has dismissed the former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin, as a psychiatric case who should be ignored. 
 
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Doguwa said this in a text message he sent to our correspondent on Sunday. 
 
He was responding to inquiries about a letter written by Jibrin to all 360 members of the House. 
 
Jibrin had in the letter dated September 16, 2016, demanded the resignation of the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, the Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun, the Chief Whip, Alhassan Doguwa and the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor. 
 
He accused them of budget fraud, corruption and abuse of office among other allegations. 
 
The embattled former appropriations committee chairman urged his colleagues to ask the accused to step aside to allow for a thorough investigation. 
 
He argued that they could not serve as judges in their own case. 
 
Jibrin said among other things, “Speaker Dogara, acting in concert with the three other principal officers and as against my advice, inserted wasteful and fraudulent projects for their constituencies worth about N20 billion in a House where some members’ constituencies barely had nothing in the budget. 
 
“I complained to Speaker Dogara that the chairmen of about 10 out of the 96 standing committees of the House had inserted over 2,000 projects worth about N284 billion without the knowledge of their committee members. But my complaint was ignored because the Speaker was acting in concert with them. So is it Hon Abdulmumin that inserted 2,000 projects worth N284bn in the budget?” 
 
In response, Doguwa said, “It is now high time Nigerians and indeed our press disregarded and ignored any statement or communication coming from Abdulmumin Jibrin, the sacked Appropriation Committee Chairman. 
 
“He has already lost moral conscience. He has now realised that he is fighting a lost battle with no single reasonable member behind him. 
 
“We as a leadership have succeeded in consolidating our support base in the House, with over 300 respected members willingly signing the vote of confidence roll.” 
 
In response to a question on whether or not the issue will feature when the House resumes on Tuesday, Doguwa said, “When we resume on Tuesday, the House will not even waste its valuable time discussing Jibrin’s issue. 
 
“We would rather continue with more important legislative issues that would impact positively on our economy and the people we represent. 
 
“I, therefore, on behalf of the leadership of the House wish to call on all our well-meaning members to disregard the so called letters sent to them by Abdulmimin Jibrin, whom we have all condemned and believed has lost his common sense. 
 
“He is just a psychiatric case that everyone must condemn. Members must remain focused and never allow themselves to get distracted by the nuisance Jibrin.”

Latest-News Budget Padding: Jibrin has mental problem, ignore him - Whip of the House of Reps

The Majority Whip of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa, has dismissed the former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriati...

5 measures taken by FG to pull Nigeria out of recession

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The Federal Government of Nigeria has started taking some measures with the aim of pulling the country out of its worst recession in close to thirty years. 
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Below is a list of 5 things the federal government is doing in its battle to pull the Nigerian economy out of recession: 
<ul style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #141414; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 1em 0px 1em 3em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The recent injection of N374 billion ($1bn) into the economy. N420 billion has been spent so far.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Payment of capital expenditures</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Provision of subsidised loans to one million traders</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">An Emergency Spending Bill, to shorten the process of spending money (through award of contracts) is ready for the National Assembly</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc outside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Foreign portfolio investors have injected $1 billion in the last two and half months.</li>
</ul>

Latest-News 5 measures taken by FG to pull Nigeria out of recession

The Federal Government of Nigeria has started taking some measures with the aim of pulling the country out of its worst recession in close ...

Budget padding: Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin allegedly has £1.558m in UK bank

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The National Youth Council of Nigeria on Sunday said it had traced £1.558m (N825m) to a United Kingdom account allegedly owned by the embattled former chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin. 
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The Head of the Anti-corruption unit of the NYCN, Ifeanyi Okonkwo, said this in an e-mail he sent to The Punch in Abuja. 
 
When contacted on the telephone, Mr. Ikenga Ugochinyere, who identified himself as the President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, said, “The statement came from our anti-corruption unit. Like you can see from the documents attached, we received the information from a reliable source in the UK.” 
 
Okonkwo said the operation of the accounts contravened existing Nigerian laws on the conduct of elected and appointed public officers. 
 
The group said documents it obtained from the UK revealed that Jibrin allegedly “owns and operates the said account domiciled in ING Bank Channels Island, United Kingdom.” 
 
“Jibrin opened the account with his address at 453 Crank brook Road, Ilford Essex IG2 6EW. 
 
“Details of the account statement obtained by some lawyers in the UK show that Jibrin has a total £1.558m (approximately N825m) in the account between June 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016.” 
 
The group claimed that Jibrin withdrew the sum of £623.44 pounds within the one month period bringing the balance in the account to £1.376, 193.84 British pounds. 
 
“Jibrin’s ownership of foreign account contravenes the provisions of the 1999 Constitution which bars public officers from owning and operating foreign account,” the group added. 
 
Attempts to get a reaction from Jibrin were unsuccessful. He neither picked nor returned any of the calls put through to him.

Latest-News Budget padding: Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin allegedly has £1.558m in UK bank

The National Youth Council of Nigeria on Sunday said it had traced £1.558m (N825m) to a United Kingdom account allegedly owned by the embat...

Ojay Wright apologises for lashing out at critics

10:08 Unknown 0

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Ojay, the musician son of Bukky Wright has come out to apologise to fans who criticized him and his mother for piercing his nose. 
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Though now in an apologetic mode, the singer feels his fans were wrong to have attributed his nose piercing to a lack of home training. 
 
Ojay stated this in interview with Punch News' Saturday Beats, admitting that he should have employed a virtue of patience when he was dealing with his critics. 
 
He said, “Well, I think it’s wrong to insinuate that I lack home training because I have a nose piercing." 
 "They aren’t even related issues, but I apologise to my fans for the way I lashed back at the critics. I should have exercised more patience."</div>

Latest-News Ojay Wright apologises for lashing out at critics

Ojay, the musician son of Bukky Wright has come out to apologise to fans who criticized him and his mother for piercing his nose. Thou...

Presidency to install anti-plagiarism software on speech-writers' computers

09:53 Unknown 0

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The Presidency has decided to install anti-plagiarism software on the computer of its speechwriters to prevent further embarrassment of the country. 
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“One of the measures will be to install plagiarism detection software to check speeches before they are delivered by the president,” someone familiar with the matter said. 
 
It's believed that other measures to counter plagiarism will also be put in place. 
 
Recently, it was discovered that part of the address President Muhammadu Buhari read to launch the "Change Begin With me Campaign" was lifted from American President Barack Obama's election victory speech years ago. 
 
The presidency had apologized for the incident and promised to punish the officer responsible for the gaffe.

Latest-News Presidency to install anti-plagiarism software on speech-writers' computers

The Presidency has decided to install anti-plagiarism software on the computer of its speechwriters to prevent further embarrassment of the...

POWER DROPS: 10 power plants shut, 1,041MW lost

09:38 Unknown 0

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The nation’s power generation fell by over 1,000 megawatts as four power plants were down on Saturday, bringing the total number of plants not generating electricity at the moment to 10. 
 
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The nation recorded a total system collapse on Friday, September 16, 2016, the 17th time this year, industry data obtained by on Sunday showed. 
 
The total power generation stood at 2,555.7MW as of 6am on Saturday, down from 3,596.2MW the previous day, worsening the outage being experienced by households and businesses across the country 
 
Electricity from the nation’s biggest power station, Egbin, located in Lagos, hit a record low of 246MW on Saturday from 425MW on Friday, while output from the Shiroro Power Station in Niger State, one of the nation’s hydropower plants, hit a high of 600MW. 
 
The plants that were shut down after the collapse included Olorunsogo I and Olorunsogo II in Ogun State; Omotosho II in Ondo State; and Ihovbor located in Edo State, with installed capacities of 294MW, 500MW, 500MW and 225MW respectively. 
 
Olorunsogo II and Omotosho II, which were built under the National Integrated Power Project, had on Friday generated 171MW and 83.5MW, while Olorunsogo I and Ihovbor produced 148.1MW and 165.6MW, respectively. 
 
The units GT1 and 3 of Olorunsogo II were said to be untied after the system collapse of September 16; while GT2 and ST2 were out due to gas constraints; GT4 out due to water leakage on the generator cooler; and ST1 out on maintenance. 
 
Omotosho II’s units GT2, GT3 and GT4 were said to be out due to gas constraints, while the GT1 was not yet tied after the system collapse. 
 
Five of Omotosho I’s units, namely GT1, 3, 5, 7 and 8, were not yet tied after the system collapse; GT2 and 4 out due to gas constraints, and GT6 out on vibration trouble. 
 
Ihovbor’s units GT1 and 3 were not yet tied after the system collapse; GT2 shut down due to oil leakage from the auxiliary compartment, and GT4 out due to unit transformer problem. 
 
The system collapse also affected the Jebba Hydro Power Station as two of its units, 2G4 and 5, were said to be still untied as of Saturday, with its output falling to 277MW from 408MW on Friday. 
 
Units GT2, 5, 7 and 8 of Omotosho I and GT2 of Alaoji II in Abia State are also not yet tied. 
 
Other plants that did not generate any megawatts of electricity on Saturday were Sapele I, Afam IV&V, Afam VI, AES, ASCO and Rivers IPP. 
 
The national grid has recorded 22 collapses this year – 17 total and five partial. 
 
The country generates most of its electricity from gas-fired plants, while output from hydropower plants makes up about 30 per cent of total generation. 
 
In what was a big blow to electricity generation in the country, Shell’s Forcados export terminal was hit mid-February, forcing the oil major to declare force majeure on the export of the crude oil grade. 
 
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had recently said, “The nation has lost over 1,500MW of power supply to the damage as gas supply from Forcados, which is Nigeria’s major artery, accounts for 40 to 50 per cent of gas production.” 
 
The Transmission Company of Nigeria on February 2, 2016 announced that the nation had achieved its peak generation of 5,074.70MW. 
 
But the feat was short-lived as generation dropped below the 4,000MW mark later that month, plunging to a record low of 1,400MW on May 17, according to the TCN.

Latest-News POWER DROPS: 10 power plants shut, 1,041MW lost

The nation’s power generation fell by over 1,000 megawatts as four power plants were down on Saturday, bringing the total number of plant...

Economic recession: Government made wrong policy choices - Utomi

09:23 Unknown 0

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A former candidate, Prof Pat Utomi, has said the current economic crisis would have been avoided by the Federal Government, if proper policy choices were made, noting that the crash in oil prices was not enough to have resulted in recession. 
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He noted that if government had borrowed money against its assets, devalued early and applied intelligent leadership, Nigeria would not have been at a crossroad now. 
 
Utomi, who said this, yesterday, in Lagos at the 2016 Men Summit convened by the Catholic Men Organisation of the Holy Family Catholic Church, FESTAC Town, said the collapse in oil prices ought not to have plunged the country into crisis, if the authorities had acted rightly. 
 
He also took a retrospective look at most factors that led to recession in Nigeria and submitted that the attitude of the present government, in the face of the dwindling oil prices, scared investors away from the country. 
 
His words: ‘’There is what we call the big man hamburger quotient which economists use to evaluate exchange rate. Macdonald hamburger in London is exactly the way it is in New York. 
 
How many naira will it take to produce this hamburger in Lagos and how many pounds will it exactly cost to produce it in London? This is what is called the big man hamburger quotient. 
 
“At that time, the difference in Nigeria’s nominal exchange rate was there and because the major revenue was oil, whose prices had gone down, all that an intelligent leadership needed to do was to borrow against some assets, ensure they continue to fund things, use strong determination to make sure people don’t buy more than what they don’t need because that is part of what happened and ensure that there is confidence in the system so that people will know that the people in charge know what they are doing. 
 
“That would have made people to start transacting normally. But they said how can we devalue? We will not devalue, people who have money and who wanted to bring in money felt that these people are about to make decision that might jeopardise our money tomorrow. 
 
So they didn’t bring it. Even oil companies were not bringing back their receipts and Nigerians who were exporting were not bringing back, so there was a major crisis. Instead of the thing devaluing by 6 percent, it went down to what we are seeing. So it is self-inflicted and quality of leadership.’’ 
 
Responding to a question on the fate that befell defunct Bank PHB, Utomi said:’’ A country where justice is abused. The Yardaus wanted to steal the bank, they got CBN to devalue the bank so they can get their foreign partners and take over the bank. That was what happened. Regulatory functions are well abused in Nigeria and it is still going on.’’ 
<div> </div>

Latest-News Economic recession: Government made wrong policy choices - Utomi

A former candidate, Prof Pat Utomi, has said the current economic crisis would have been avoided by the Federal Government, if proper polic...

Maiduguri is more secure than even Lagos or Abuja - Borno Governor

09:23 Unknown 0

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Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, said he abandoned the use of bulletproof cars as an act of sympathy with the suffering masses who had no means of self protection from terrorists. 
 
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Shettima stated this on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Maiduguri, Borno State. 
 
He said the action was also aimed at showing that the terrorists had no super-natural powers. 
 
“We have to dare the terrorists; I have bulletproof cars, but I do not use them; I want to be exposed to the elements as the ordinary people do,” Shettima said. 
 
He said the bulletproof cars were only kept for the use of visitors who might be afraid to use ordinary cars. 
 
“We have so many bulletproof cars but we only use them for our guests. 
 
“Sometimes I drive myself round the town to see things for myself,” Shettima said. 
 
He said with the gradual return of peace in the state, his government would unfold a developmental agenda soon. 
 
“By the grace of God, we are poised for a great change. Believe me, in the next couple of months, you will see changes in the fortunes of the people of the state,” Shettima said. 
 
He said the recent successes recorded by the military against Boko Haram terrorists had made the state capital a safe haven for all Nigerians 
 
He said, “Maiduguri is more secure than even Lagos or Abuja. 
 
“There are two million people living in Maiduguri; we celebrated Sallah without any incident.” 
 
He said the government would take advantage of the Boko Haram crisis to ensure better welfare for the people. 
 
“This crisis has accorded us the opportunity to merge small settlements and provide better infrastructure to uplift the living standard of the people. 
 
“This is more especially for those living in remote communities,” Shettima said.

Latest-News Maiduguri is more secure than even Lagos or Abuja - Borno Governor

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, said he abandoned the use of bulletproof cars as an act of sympathy with the suffering masses who ...

Buhari, VP, ministers, lawmakers, others earn N9.18bn yearly

09:23 Unknown 0

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Twelve months after the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission pledged to give the nation reviewed salaries and allowances for political office holders, lawmakers and key government officials still cart home about N9.18bn annually in salaries and allowances. 
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Investigation show that while RMAFC had completed work on the review of the emoluments of political office holders about November 2015, the new emoluments have not seen the light of the day due to the politics involved in the process. 
 
As a result, key political office holders still earn the full packages they earned before the decision to reduce the earnings of political and judicial office holders. 
 
 
 
The annualised salary and allowances of the president is N14,058,820, while that of the vice-president is N12,126,290. 
 
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had announced their decision to take only 50 per cent of the salary and allowances approved for them, meaning that they take home N7,029,410 and N6,063,145 respectively. 
 
However, most of the allowances and entitlements of the President and Vice-President are not monetised but fully provided by the state. 
 
Apart from salary, the regular allowances that are monetised for the President are only hardship allowance, N1,757,350.50 per annum; and consistency allowance, N8,786,762.50 per annum. 
 
For the Vice-President, the hardship allowance is N1,515,786.25 per annum, while the consistency allowance is N7, 578,931.25 per annum. 
 
The irregular allowances for the President are the severance allowance – 300 per cent of the annual salary or N10,544,115 – and leave allowance – 10 per cent of the annual salary or N351,470.50. 
 
The irregular allowances of the Vice-President are the severance allowance – 300 per cent of the annual salary or N9, 094,717.50 – and leave allowance – 10 per cent of the annual salary or N303,157.25. 
 
Other allowances that the President and the Vice-President are supposed to enjoy which are not provided in monetary terms include motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance, special assistants, and personal assistants. 
 
Others are domestic staff, entertainment, utilities, security and newspapers/periodical allowances. 
 
These irregular allowances include accommodation, furniture, duty tour, estacode, medical, and severance/gratuity. 
 
For a senator, the salary and allowances add up to N20,669,280 per annum. Those of a member of the House of Representatives add up to N17,271,347.75. 
 
There are 109 senators and 360 representatives. With the exception of the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and his deputy whose allowances are provided by the state, lawmakers get a total of N8,397,965,454.5. 
 
For a minister, the salary and allowances add up to N14,705,164 while those of presidential aide add up to N14,085,843.75. The Head of Service and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation are on the same salaries and allowances. 
 
There are 36 ministers and 15 presidential aides. Their annual emoluments add up to N770,083,888.25. 
 
RMAFC had in June 2015 set in motion the process for the downward review of the existing salaries and allowances of political, public and judicial office holders when it set up a committee chaired by Mr. Abdullahi Inde. 
 
At the inauguration, returning Chairman of RMAFC, Mr. Elias Mbam, had urged the committee to be conscious of the prevailing economic situation and the need to reduce cost of governance so as to free more funds for development. 
 
The current remuneration of public office holders is guided by the Remuneration Act of 2008. A review became imperative following dwindling government revenues occasioned by falling prices in the international oil market. 
 
However, investigation showed that when Mbam left the commission following the completion of his first tenure in November 2015, the acting Chairman of RMAFC, Mr. Umar Gana, made a number of attempts to present the new packages to President Buhari but failed. 
 
“The acting chairman could not get the green light from the Villa to present the remuneration package to the President,” an authoritative source told our correspondent. 
 
“That is why the new salary structure has been stalled. The law requires that the President must get the recommendation from RMAFC who would table it before the Federal Executive Council for ratification. Then, it is presented to the National Assembly.” 
 
The current allowances of lawmakers are in categories. Some are tagged regular allowances while others are tagged irregular allowances. 
 
Regular allowances are those that are paid on monthly basis along with the monthly salaries while irregular allowances are paid at other frequencies ranging from annual to once in four years. 
 
There are also other allowances not included in this calculation that are paid not at any fixed periods but as many times as they occur in the year. 
 
The allowances are calculated as percentages of the annual salaries. While some are higher than the annual salaries; others are lower. 
 
Basically, both senators and Reps are paid the same percentages of their salaries as allowances except in constituency allowance where senators are paid 250 per cent while Reps are 100 per cent. 
 
Vehicle maintenance and fuelling alliance is 75 per cent; domestic staff, 75 per cent; entertainment, 30 per cent; utilities, 30 per cent; wardrobe, 25 per cent; newspapers, 15 per cent; house maintenance, five per cent; and personal assistants, 25 per cent. 
 
The irregular allowances include housing allowance, 200 per cent of their annual salaries; furniture allowance, 300 per cent; recess allowance, 10 per cent and severance allowance, 300 per cent. 
 
Housing allowance is paid once a year. Furniture allowance is paid once in four years and recess allowance is paid when the lawmakers are on recess and they go on recess four times in a year. Severance allowance is at the end of the four-year tenure. 
 
There are other allowances that the lawmakers are not paid directly but provided and paid for by the government. These are special assistants, security and legislative aides. What this means is that those engaged in these capacities are paid directly by the government as the allowances cannot be claimed by political office holders. These allowances apply to senators and Reps. 
 
Medical expenses are also borne by the government when they have need for the services. 
 
The lawmakers are also entitled to tour duty allowance, estacode (when they travel).For a senator, the tour duty allowance is N37, 000 per night; the estacode is $950 per night. 
 
For a member of the House of Representatives, the tour duty allowance is N35, 000 per night; while estacode is $900 per night. 
 
Ministers and presidential aides also enjoy similar allowances. 
 
Experts, however, are not worried by the official earnings of political office holders but by the unofficial ones. Lawmakers, for instance, are said to get some quarterly payment.

Latest-News Buhari, VP, ministers, lawmakers, others earn N9.18bn yearly

Twelve months after the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission pledged to give the nation reviewed salaries and allowances ...

Graduate impersonates Bishop Kukah, defrauds Oyedepo, Dantata, others

09:23 Unknown 0

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A graduate of Political Science, Jehu Kwasu, has narrated how he impersonated the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah and defrauded prominent Nigerians of millions of naira. 
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Kwasu said his victims included Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church Worldwide, who he claimed gave him N500,000; the Chairman, Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, N1m; Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, N500,000; businessman, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, N2m. 
 
He allegedly collected the sums for Internally Displaced Persons. 
 
 
 He said, “I collected N500,000 from Otudeko, CEO, Honeywell: From Admiral Kanu, I got N500,000. I also got N500,000 from Bishop Oyedepo and N2m from Dantata. I also got money from Gen. Wushishi and others. 
 
“I opened a Guaranty Trust Bank account in Bishop Kukah’s name. I registered a SIM card in my name, but used Bishop Kukah’s picture on my True Caller account, so that when I call, his picture would appear (on the recipient’s phone.)” 
 
Kwasu, who is serving a two-month sentence in the Keffi Prison, admitted on Friday in Abuja that he realised over N5.7m. 
 
Police sources said only N1.7m was found in his bank account, adding that the suspect spent most of the money he made on girls and hard drugs. 
 
It was gathered that Kwasu, the son of late Anglican Bishop, James Kwasu, also exploited his father’s name, to extort money from the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, when the latter was the Speaker, House of Representatives. 
 
The 25-year old explained that he defrauded his victims by soliciting money on phone to cater to IDPs in the country. 
 
The cleric’s son stated that he obtained a passport with the name, Mathew Hassah Kukah Jehu, and also opened an account with the GTB in the same name. 
 
He said, “I called people on the telephone and told them I was Bishop Kukah. I used his picture on my True Caller account, so that when I called people, they would think he was the one talking with them. 
 
“I also obtained a passport in Bishop Kukah’s name which I used to open an account with GTB. The money I realised was paid into the account and I used an Automated Teller Machine card to withdraw it.” 
 
PUNCH Metro gathered that Kukah was alerted to the scam by some people close to him. 
 
The cleric was said to have petitioned the police, which asked the bank to place a “no debit order” on the account. 
 
Following his inability to withdraw from the account, Kwasu was said to have visited the bank to complain, where he was arrested. 
 
Findings indicate that Kwasu had earlier been arrested and remanded in prison for impersonating Bishop Steven Akobe of the Anglican Diocese of Kabba, Kogi State, but was granted bail. 
 
The police said Kwasu had also attempted to extort money from Senator David Mark, claiming to be Akobe. 
 
“Mark said I should come for some money, so I sent my girlfriend. But she was arrested and I was taken to court and sentenced to two months imprisonment or N9,000 fine,” Kwasu stated. 
 
It was gathered that the suspect, who had two female siblings, sold his deceased parents’ house in Kaduna for N10m and lavished the money on girls and a profligate lifestyle. 
 
The Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Mustafa, stated that Kwasu was arrested by the men of his command, after Kukah complained about his activities. 
 
The CP said, “We received a petition from Bishop Kukah alleging that the boy had been impersonating him and extorting money from prominent people. So, my men went to work and were able to track the suspect and arrest him.  He is a habitual criminal and I would like to advise the public against responding to emails or phone calls from unknown persons requesting financial support for one cause or the other.” 
 
Mustafa also called on the public to report every suspicious phone call and email to the police for investigation.

Latest-News Graduate impersonates Bishop Kukah, defrauds Oyedepo, Dantata, others

A graduate of Political Science, Jehu Kwasu, has narrated how he impersonated the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah a...

ISIS claims responsibility for mall attack in the US

09:08 Unknown 0

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The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for a knife rampage, which left nine people injured, at a mall in the US state of Minnesota. 
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Police and witnesses said the man, wearing a private security company uniform, made a reference to Allah and asked someone if he was a Muslim before striking. 
 
An ISIS-affiliated news outlet claimed that the attacker was “a soldier of the Islamic State.” 
 
“He carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of countries belonging to the crusader coalition,” read a statement from the organisation’s Amaq news agency. 
 
The attacker was shot dead by a police officer. 
 
“An armed suspect entered the Crossroads Mall. That individual made some references to Allah, and we have confirmed that he asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them,” Blair Anderson, a senior police officer, told reporters. 
 
Anderson later told CNN that: “We still don’t have anything substantive that would suggest anything more than what we know already, which is this was a lone attacker… And right now, we’re trying to get to the bottom of his motivations.” 
 
St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said three people remain hospitalised, including one person who is in a life-threatening condition. 
 
Among the injured were a 15-year-old girl, a 50-year-old woman and seven men ages 20 to 53. 
 
Ashley Bayne, an employee of JCPenney at the mall, was visiting a coworker at the time of the incident. 
 
“All of sudden chaos just broke out,” she told CNN’s Nick Valencia on Sunday. “There was a bunch of people running into the JCPenney mall entrance, and they were just screaming that someone was going around the mall stabbing people, and that there was blood everywhere. It was just honestly a really scary experience.” 
 
Bayne said she ran out to the parking lot and took off in her car. 
 
The stabbings occurred in multiple locations inside the mall, including the common area and in several stores. The mall has security teams on site but they are not armed. 
 
While the attacker was not identified, authorities said he had had three previous encounters with police. 
 
Anderson said most of the encounters were for minor traffic violation. 
 
Twenty-nine people were injured in two separate bomb attacks in New York. 
 
Extremist groups, which have carried out coordinated assault across Europe, has repeatedly threatened to attack the US.

Latest-News ISIS claims responsibility for mall attack in the US

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for a knife rampage, which left nine people injured, at a mall in the...

Hijab Controversy: Obey court order, Muslims warn Lagos schools

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As Lagos schools resume today, the Lagos State Area Unit of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, has warned Tutor-Generals/Permanent Secretaries, principals and teachers, to adhere to the Appeal Court judgement granting the right to wear hijab in public schools in the state. 
 
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This came two months after the Court of Appeal granted the right to wear hijab in all public primary and secondary schools in Lagos State, interpreting that sections 38 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) guarantees the fundamental human right of wearing hijab. 
 
Also, the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools, ANCOPSS, has asked members not to direct students to remove or seize hijab. 
 
Amir of the MSSN, Lagos State, Mr. Saheed Ashafa, who gave the warning, yesterday, in a statement, insisted that students should neither be punished, harassed nor victimised for wearing hijab within and outside the school premises. 
 
He stated that: “Though, we do not expect any teacher to act to the contrary, if they do, we urge our members to ensure that they resist removing the hijab with their own hands. They should ensure that the teacher or overzealous principal do it themselves. And after any of the education stakeholders does that, he or she should be prepared for legal and mass actions.” Reminding the stakeholders that the right to wear hijab has been granted in Lagos State-owned public schools, Ashafa said: “It will not be fair for any tutor-general, principal or teacher to order any student to remove their hijab; such action amount to committing contempt of court. 
 
The statement read: “A situation where a principal or teacher will be seen punishing, threatening, assaulting or harassing a student for wearing hijab, after the judiciary has granted it, will amount to not only contempt of court but a betrayal of literacy, ridiculing of education and an abuse of reasoning. 
 
“We plead that all the stakeholders in education should be law abiding and practicalise what they have been teaching us as students. We commend our teachers for their efforts from inception and hope that as students’ resume, they will not demonstrate to us how to disobey the constitution and judiciary.”

Latest-News Hijab Controversy: Obey court order, Muslims warn Lagos schools

As Lagos schools resume today, the Lagos State Area Unit of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, has warned Tutor-Generals/Permanen...

The Bible’s Cause and Effect Theology, By Femi Aribisala

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Why do plagues occur? According to 2 Samuel 24, plagues occur if we conduct a census. It says God punished Israel severely with a plague because David imprudently conducted a census of the nation. Some 70,000 Israelites were killed as a result. 
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How do we stop a plague? Plagues can be stopped by offering a sacrifice. David stopped the plague by offering a sacrifice at the threshing floor. (2 Samuel 24:18-25). 
 
Simplistic Analysis 
 
In 2 Chronicles 21:10, we are told the Edomites revolted against Judah’s rule because Jehoram had forsaken the Lord? But can this really be the reason why the Edomites rebelled? Did the Edomites even know or care that Jehoram had forsaken the Lord? Are there not more cogent “actual” reasons why the Edomites rebelled? Even from a theological perspective, is it not simplistic to insist bad things automatically happen in this life to those who forsake the Lord? 
 
Let us use this dogma in understanding contemporary history. Why did the terrorists attack the “twin towers” of the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001? They did because George Bush forsook the Lord. Why did they not attack a similarly prominent building in France at the time? It must be because Jacques Chirac, then president of France, did not forsake the Lord. 
 
Surely there are more cogent social and political reasons why the terrorists attacked the twin towers in New York. Similarly, there must be more cogent reasons why the Edomites rebelled against Judah under Jehoram. 
 
The bible’s presentation is naïve and cannot be historically accurate. Moreover, according to Jesus, it cannot be theologically accurate either. Jesus dealt with this kind of nonsense masquerading as religious dogma when he was asked if a man was blind from birth because of his sins or those of his parents. He told his disciples the presumption that bad things happen because of our sins is a fallacy. (John 9:1-3; see also Luke 13:1-5). 
 
foraminifera 
 
This means if we base our faith on some of the precepts of the bible, we can be misled. If we are not careful, the bible can easily make us superstitious. It is imperative therefore to recognise that our faith should be based on the word of Jesus. It is Jesus and not the bible that is the infallible word of God. 
 
False Doctrine 
 
The bible says Jehoram’s sin was in marrying Ahab’s daughter; leading to the rebellion of the Edomites. (2 Kings 8:18). Therefore, we have this great biblical lesson: “A man who marries the daughter of an evil man will come to ruin.” Better still, we can create a proverb out of this: “A wise king marries the daughter of a righteous man.” “The king who marries the daughter of an evil man brings disaster upon his kingdom.” This becomes a spiritual object lesson derived from bible “history.” 
 
But then the same bible goes to great lengths to contradict this simplistic view of history and theology. It does this most eloquently in the book of Job. 
 
For illustration, Proverbs makes a categorical statement that the whirlwind is fashioned to destroy the wicked: “The fear of the wicked will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted. When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.” (Proverbs 10:24-25). This is presumed to be the word of God by those Christians who insist everything in the bible is true. 
 
But this same doctrine is contradicted by the experience of righteous Job whose children were killed by a whirlwind. (Job 1:18-20). Job had been taught, like most Christians still are today, that bad things only happen to bad people. Therefore, he spends his time questioning God. He complains that he has lived a righteous life and yet is rewarded with adversity. 
 
Moreover, Job’s friends torment him with the classical but bankrupt biblical principle that bad things don’t happen to good people. They ask: “Whoever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off?” (Job 4:7-9). Job ends up by using himself as evidence that the ways of God are mysterious and that in this world there is no watertight correlation between cause and effect. He notes that God “destroys the blameless and the wicked” (Job 9:22), and concludes that God’s providence follows no logical or discernible pattern. 
 
Biblical Self-critique 
 
In effect, the inclusion of Job in the bible serves as a critique of the bible. It also serves as an indictment of those who hold the simplistic theological dogma that is often presented as wisdom in the Old Testament: 
 
God offers Job no explanation for bringing adversity upon him. He simply makes him understand that his wisdom and judgment cannot be questioned by mere mortals. He asks Job: “Where were you when the foundations of the earth were laid?” “What do you know, and what do you really understand?” The solution to Job’s problem is to trust God whatever the situation or the circumstance. 
 
The ways of God cannot be neatly programmed by the application of the wisdom tradition of Judaism prevalent in the bible. That tradition is too simplistic and dogmatic. It is not possible to understand God’s actions and inactions using such doctrines. But through faith in God and humble acceptance of his providence, God rescues Job from the hollowness of the wisdom tradition. He then descends in judgement upon his friends who used their ignorance to condemn him. 
 
This is similar to Jesus’ admonition of the Pharisees: “If you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). 
 
Naïve Proverbs 
 
In short, we can use the bible to critique the bible without diminishing our faith. The bible is full of simplistic statements masquerading as God-given theological doctrines. Many of them are naïve and palpably false. Here is one example: “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.” (Psalms 37:25). But are the righteous never forsaken? 
 
Here is a contradiction, penned also by David and validated on the cross by Jesus: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus was righteous, nevertheless, he was forsaken on the cross. 
 
There are a host of others in Proverbs. “The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry.” (Proverbs 10:3). This is false. “Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.” (Proverbs 13:21). Observe that Jeremiah has a completely different point of view. He asks: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?” (Jeremiah 12:1). 
 
We don’t only get these false “truisms” in the Old Testament. Paul’s epistles is also full of them. Only one example here should suffice: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13). 
 
Think about this so-called scripture for a minute. You will immediately realise it is not true as a general rule. Therefore, it cannot be the word of God.

Latest-News The Bible’s Cause and Effect Theology, By Femi Aribisala

Why do plagues occur? According to 2 Samuel 24, plagues occur if we conduct a census. It says God punished Israel severely with a plague ...

IPOB declares September 23 'public holiday'

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The Indigenous People of Biafra has declared September 23 (Friday) as the day all supporters of Biafra will sit at home without going anywhere or doing any work. 
 
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KANU</td>
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This, it said, would be a protest against the continued detention of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government. 
 
It enjoined the Igbo and all those who believe in the Biafra ideology all over the country to shut down their businesses and stay at home 
 
It ordered IPOB members outside the country to stage open protests in their areas on that day. 
 
In a press statement from the group’s Spokesperson, Emma Powerful, made available to our correspondent in Awka, Anambra State, it said, “The IPOB worldwide protest will take place in all the countries across the globe, except in Biafra land and Nigeria where church services will be held.” 
 
The statement added, “Every IPOB member and other Biafrans living in Nigeria and Biafra land will stay in their homes on that day. 
 
“We also ask that all markets, schools, banks, transport companies and manufacturing companies to close on that day in solidarity with the overall objectives of the Biafran restoration process, irrespective of your persuasion or affiliation. 
 
“We call on Okada riders, Keke drivers, bus drivers, owners of luxurious buses and drivers, the 911 drivers and owners, the National Union of Road Transport Workers and National Association of Transport Owners to withdraw their vehicles from roads on that day in solidarity with IPOB worldwide for the release of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and for the total liberation of the Biafra people. 
 
“We also advise every Biafran to switch off their communication devices, especially mobile phones, on that day from 8am to 4pm in solidarity. 
 
“This will let the world know including communication companies that Biafrans are serious towards the release of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and the restoration of the ancient and sacred sovereignty of God’s nation, Biafra.” 
 
It maintained that “only IPOB members in Biafra land and Nigeria are exempted from street protests on this occasion”, noting that, “Any country where there are IPOB family units that doesn’t participate in this global event will be shut down.”

Latest-News IPOB declares September 23 'public holiday'

The Indigenous People of Biafra has declared September 23 (Friday) as the day all supporters of Biafra will sit at home without going anyw...

EDO 2016: My governrorship ambition not for personal gains – Obaseki

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The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the Edo State governorship election, Godwin Obaseki, has dismissed the speculation that his desire to govern the state is to serve his personal interest. 
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Obaseki said this on Sunday at the birthday ceremony of the Senior Pastor of Royal World Ministry, Benin, Pastor Rex Omosefe. 
 
He explained that governance was about public service by working devotedly for the good of the people. 
 
According to him, no matter the religion a person professes, one cannot truly claim to serve God if he fails to do all that is within his power to improve the lives of the citizens. 
 
Obaseki said, “This is the primary reason I am in the race to be governor today – to use everything that God has given me: my time, creativity, vast network and energy, to improve the lives of our people and to better our state. 
 
“I am offering myself not for personal gains – because I have been richly blessed by God – but out of a deep sense of duty to God and a genuine desire to serve the people of Edo State.” 
 
The APC candidate also reiterated his vision to make the state an economic hub with his wealth of experience in financial management. 
 
He noted that though the state was affected by the economic recession, it required a focused and experienced governor to harness its natural resources. 
 
“For over 30 years as an investment management expert, I have helped many companies and institutions to create wealth and jobs and with your continued prayers and support, we will transform Edo State into one of the sub-nationals in Nigeria,” he added. 
 
But the Osagie Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation alleged that it did not believe that Obaseki had a personal interest other than that of the governor. 
 
The Director of Media and State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chris Nehikhare, in a statement said, “I do not really think he has an ambition. 
 
“I think that the ambition is being forced on him by the state governor. So, his gain is for the governor really.

Latest-News EDO 2016: My governrorship ambition not for personal gains – Obaseki

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the Edo State governorship election, Godwin Obaseki, has dismissed the speculation that ...

Looters should be barred from politics - Maitama Sule

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A former Minister of National Guidance, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, has said public officers convicted of looting public funds should be barred from partaking in partisan politics and holding public office. 
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Sule told the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Sunday that the ban should be backed by law of the National Assembly. 
 
“But this will be possible when there is a law to back it and we hope the law will be enacted soon to support the idea,” he said. 
 
In their reactions to the ex-minister’s recommendation, however, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, and the President, Campaign for Democracy, Bako Abdul-Usman, described the elder statesman’s call as an illusion, saying such action would be hard to carry out. 
 
He noted that the fear of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by public officers was now the beginning of wisdom. 
 
“The EFCC has done extremely well in the discharge of its responsibilities so far as there are a lot of recovered funds. 
 
“But the biggest challenge for the EFCC is that it can investigate but it does not have the power to spend money and utilise it for other purposes,” he said. 
 
Sule, who is also a former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, also called for an enabling law for the government to utilise the recovered funds to improve the living standard of Nigerians, especially the common man. 
 
He suggested the revitalisation of education, agriculture and power sectors in order to give the nation’s moribund industries a new lease of life using the recovered funds. 
 
The elder statesman commended President Muhammadu Buhari for tackling insurgency, especially in the North-East. 
 
“We have to thank God Almighty for the peace that has since been restored to the country and we will continue to pray for its sustenance. 
 
“No meaningful development can be achieved in any country without peace and even the ‘most die-hard cynics’ know that President Buhari has done well in terms of restoration of peace to the country,” he said. 
 
Sule urged Nigerians to continue to support and show understanding to the government in its determination to restore sanity to the country. 
 
Odumakin, however, stated that the country should first be restructured before such a suggestion could be considered. 
 
He added, “To confirm somebody a looter, a court has to pronounce him so. We have fought corruption for 16 months now without a single conviction, so who are you barring? We have to put the country on a new structure that does not aid corruption so we can use the stick against those who are committed to crooked means. 
 
“As it is now, corruption is the order of the day and it won’t go away by media propaganda. We have to deal with the architecture of corruption, which compels nearly all those in public office to play by its rule.” 
 
Abdul-Usman, who described Sule’s call as an illusion, said it would be asking for too much to ask the current crop of the National Assembly members, whom he referred to as being more corrupt than the executive arm of government, to pass such a law. 
 
He said, “Who will make the law for such people? Is it the legislators who are more corrupt than the executive arm in our country? I think this call should be viewed as a wish-list or an illusion. 
 
“The constitution has to be amended. Consequently, if the legislature should uphold such view, it is like making a law to hang themselves. The enforcement is within the judiciary, who in recent times passes two different judgments on same case. 
 
“The call is timely but it is a mirage in our democratic society for now with the calibre of ex-governors in the National Assembly.” 
 
But a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, who agreed that convicted looters should be barred from politics and from holding public office, however, said before this could be done, the 1999 Constitution should be amended. 
 
He said, “That will mean amending the 1999 Constitution, which provides that only a person who has been duly tried and convicted of criminal offence, relating to a breach of trust or other criminal offence in the last three years before the election, shall be barred from contesting such election. 
 
“I agree that looters of our common patrimony should be barred from public office but that must be after a proper trial of the accused person because our criminal justice system is accusatorial and not inquisitorial.”

Latest-News Looters should be barred from politics - Maitama Sule

A former Minister of National Guidance, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, has said public officers convicted of looting public funds should be ba...

How Nigeria squandered $62 Billion foreign reserves - Emefiele

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele and some media chiefs at the weekend met to discuss the economy, recession and how the misapplication of the country’s foreign reserves. The apex bank chief spoke on the measures being put in place to revamp the economy. 
 
Details below. 
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Nigeria is in a recession, the first in decades. Things are bad and the people are suffering. How did we get there? 
 
I must apologise that this is happening to our people. But I must confess that what is happening today is as a result of a global crisis. Global crisis in the sense that we have seen commodity prices dropping, we’ve seen geo-political tension, all around the world. 
 
But I think when you want to address the issue of how we got here, it is important for us to go back into history, to remind ourselves that there was a time in this country when this country survived only on revenues from agricultural produce. 
 
At that time, I’m talking about the 50s and the 60s and indeed up to the early 90s, Nigeria was the largest producer and exporter of palm produce in the world. Unfortunately, we abandoned these sectors because we found oil. I wish what we did at that time was to hold on to our potential in the agricultural sector. If we had held on to our potential in the agricultural sector, in the same vein held on to the potential (oil) that we found, our story would have been different today. 
 
 
 
Unfortunately, what happened was that because we found oil, we let our guards down in the agricultural sector. And I’ll give you an example, this for me is a case of a country that unfortunately didn’t plan properly. Norway, a country with a population of less than five million people, produces agricultural produce, particularly fish. It exports fish today. Norway also produces crude oil, to the extent that today, it has one of the highest investments in the Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF). Norway, indeed, has $873 billion in its (SWF). Notwithstanding having such a huge amount, Norway also takes very seriously the output from fish production, to the extent that the country survives on the revenue that it generates from fish export. 
 
What does the country do with revenue from crude? It invests it. And at every point, the country is about to use the funds from crude oil. It only uses it for infrastructure purposes. That is a country that has planned for its people. Soon after we introduced the foreign exchange (forex) restriction on the importation of fish, the country’s farmers started complaining to the extent that the Parliament in Norway has met twice to see to how to ameliorate the adverse impacts of not being able to export fish to Nigeria on its farmers. Indeed, the country has sent several trade delegations to Nigeria to encourage us to lift the restriction so that they can export fish to Nigeria and we in turn pay them our hard-earned dollars which we do not have at this time. What we should all realise is that, by allowing the import of goods that can be produced locally in Nigeria, we export wealth and jobs to those countries and import poverty in return. 
 
But, unfortunately we didn’t plan this way for our people and that’s why we are where we are today. And I’ll give you a few examples again. In September 2008, Nigeria’s foreign reserve stood at $62 billion. What did we do with $62 billion? At a time the crude oil price was about N120 per barrel. What did the country do? 
 
What we could have done was to save the money. If we couldn’t save the money, invest it in infrastructure, invest it in industry that would grow productivity and the wealth of our people. But what did we do? The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at thattime went about licensing class ‘A’, class ‘B’, class ‘C’ Bureaux de Change (BDCs). 
 
To class ‘A’ BDCs, the CBN was allocating $1 million per week; to class ‘B’ BDCs, it was allocating $750, 000 per week and to class ‘C’ BDCs, it was allocating $500,000 per week to the extent that between 2005 when the apex bank started selling dollar cash and January 2016, when we stopped it, the CBN had sold dollar cash of up to $66 billion to BDCs. In 11 years, CBN allocated $66 billion, averaging $6 billion per year. If this didn’t happen, we would, comfortably, be having well over $90 billion in our reserve account today and we will not be struggling to pay our bills. 
 
If we had thought of other ways to utilise our reserves in 2008 when it was as high as $62 billion, perhaps certainly, we would not be where we are. 
 
How do you expect the recession to be over with prices going up and manufacturers lacking raw materials? 
 
Let me say this, I must confess that I wasn’t optimistic that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will come initially, but with what we have seen in three months, almost $1 billion had come. I feel that there will be more inflow into the system and more and more people will have foreign exchange to do their businesses. That will improve the industrial capacity. The rate may be high now, but there’s high possibility that with more availability of forex, the rate will come down. I am very optimistic that a lot of positive things will happen. 
 
Now in terms of short run, I have talked about encouraging inflows to come in. I have talked about how the fiscal authority is trying to push in liquidity to stimulate consumption, demand consumption expenditure and of course, when consumer consumption is stimulated, demand for goods will go up and if these demand goes up, the industrial capacity, then you will see the activities. If we maintain a steady course in the way we are going, and if all those who have forex repartriate them, more and more people will have forex to do their business. That will improve industrial capacity. The rates may be high now, but there is the possibility that as we receive more and more foreign exchange, the rate will come down. I am really optimistic that this will happen. 
 
What’s your view to calls on government to embark on assets stripping? 
 
You will recall that as at April last year, I had an interview with Financial Times of London. That was even before the present government came on board. I had opined that there was need for the government to scale down or sell off some of its investments in oil and gas, particularly in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) as at that time when the price of oil was around $50-$55 per barrel. We actually commissioned some consultants that conducted the study and at the end of that study, we were told if we sell 10 per cent to 15 per cent of our holdings in the oil and gas sector, we could realise up to $40 billion. Unfortunately, the markets have become soft. Now, if we choose to do that now, we could still get $10-$15 billion or maybe $20 billion. If we have that kind of liquidity, it will be easy for us to really stimulate spending and also to turn the economy around. That proposal is still on the table because I have also heard that some of our colleagues in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) have talked about it, and a lot of people too. If we take that option, I am optimistic that we will be able to stimulate the economy and earn foreign currency that we can really use to jumpstart and stimulate the economy. 
 
Don’t forget that even in the U.S., when the economic crisis started, the U.S. government stimulated the economy with about $900 billion and subsequently injected $85 billion monthly for an extended period of time. 
 
In Japan and Europe with low rate of inflation, in fact they have negative interest rate. Anytime they want to stimulate the economy by liquidity, if you push the inflation it will not affect prices. 
 
We are trying to fight inflation to remain at a point where it will not be too high and become injurious to our people. 
 Don’t you think the absence of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in some of the parastatals will render ineffective government’s desire to fasttrack spending even with a bill to shorten the procurement process in place? 
 
Unfortunately, I don’t agree with you because we have cabinet members and most of these agencies are headed by ministers and we have people who are working in acting capacity. There are other people who are there as executive directors and I do know that once we are able to shorten the procurement process, the absence of CEOs will not hamper spending. 
 
You are talking about more spending and the fiscal side is bent on generating more revenue from taxation. How do you align the monetary with the fiscal to attain a common purpose? 
 
Let me assure you that both the monetary and fiscal are working together and that is why you could see a situation where today, even where we have revenue shortage or deficit, the monetary authority is trying to bridge the gap. We said that we can give you a bridge to go ahead and spend when you obtain the foreign loan or when your revenue improves, you can repay the bridge that we have created for you in order to stimulate spending. That is a practical case of collaboration between the monetary and fiscal authorities. 
 
Now, when you talk about increases in taxes, there has been a lot of proposals presented to the Federal Government. For instance, that the Value AddedTax (VAT) should go up. And I must confess that taxes in Nigeria, particularly the VAT, is among the lowest in the world. In spite of that, the government has been very reluctant to increase the VAT rate because it really understands the suffering and the yearning of the people. 
 
But what the government has admitted, which you and I also know, is that there are so many people side-tracking and avoiding payment of VAT taxes, thereby hampering the implementation of the VAT regime. However, the government is working to widen the scope horizontally, so as to capture more people into the tax net. That is what I’m aware the government is doing. 
 You have explained how external shocks contributed to the recession in Nigeria but you have not addressed the issue of internal problems arising from the delay in putting in place the necessary structural adjustments which may have slowed down the economy right from the onset of this recession. For instance, marketers are talking about stopping the importation of fuel because of the impact of the fall in the value of the naira. Also there’s need for a rethink about the Treasury Single Account (TSA) that’s currently being sterilised in the CBN, of which some of the money could be used to spend our way out of recession. What’s your take? 
 
I’ll take the TSA issue first. As far as I’m concerned, TSA is a programme that several governments in the past have tried to implement but unfortunately they did not have the will to do so. And I will give you an example. Is it fair that the government allows Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to release its money to the banks and those banks don’t pay any interests to the government. At best, they pay one or two per cent, but at the same time when government wants to borrow by selling Treasury Bills, government goes back to these banks and these banks use the liquidity that the government gave through the MDAs and pass back to the Federal Government at 12, 13 or 14 per cent. This is a colossal waste of resources on the part of government. So, the people’s belief that because TSA is sitting in the CBN, therefore it’s part of what is causing the crunch. It is not true. When the government was going to withdraw the TSA, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also looked at its own ways of injecting some funds into the system through the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) that was held, so that the money cycles back into the CBN and the government gets its money back. So, I do not agree that the TSA is a major issue here. 
 
On the necessary structural adjustments, again, it is unfair to blame this government for not taking decision on structural adjustments and I will tell you this. Normally, when you have an adjustment in currency worldwide, those adjustments must be followed with structural reforms. Just as the President talked about in 1984. After that we went into Structural Adjustment Progremme (SAP). The SAP was meant to build structural adjustments or structural reforms. But when the crude price started to improve, everybody abandoned the structural reforms and that was why we could not effectively diversify the economy. 
 
There was a government that came at that time and said, let’s pursue green revolution, and another government said everybody should go to the farm. But immediately crude prices started going up, everybody abandoned green revolution, everybody abandoned going back to the farm. And that’s why we are saying now that, yes, an adjustment is going on, adjustment in the currency has happened, there is a need for us to follow through with some structural reforms that would lead to diversifying the economy. 
 
For instance, we have somebody who has decided to invest in a refinery with a capacity for 650,000 barrels per day. The same person has decided to invest in petrochemical and fertilizer. These three projects alone will cost nothing less than $11 billion. And these three products take nothing less than 35 per cent of our import bill. What happens by the end of 2017 to 2018 when we stop the importation of these products? You will see that we are able to conserve our reserves because the demand for foreign exchange for these items will reduce. 
 
So, I’m saying that the structural adjustment will work. After what the government is pushing, that we must diversify the economy and that items that we are importing and which can be produced locally, we must see to it that they are produced here. That is why government has continued to support the restriction on forex for items, like rice fish and tomatoes. 
 
You also talked about petroleum products pricing. Petroleum pricing is something the citizens have taken passionately. I think Nigerians love and trust Mr President that is why despite the increase in the prices, Nigerians accepted it. Why, because they found out that because of shortage of forex, marketers stopped importing the product. The NNPC was saddled entirely with the responsibility of importing petroleum products. Of course, it became so bad and embarrassing to the citizenry to the point that elsewhere, people were buying fuel at N86, while others were buying it for as high as N150 a liter and at N200 in different parts of the country. The people began to agitate that if I could buy at N200 or N150, well, just make it available. That informed the decision to increase the pump price from N86 to N145 per liter so that the people can move around to conduct their businesses. Hence, at that rate, it will be possible for them to source their forex at a price not less than N280 to the dollar. 
 
The TSA issue appears to be a case in which you have got everybody in through one door and no none is coming out. How will the government avert this looming petrol crisis? 
 
I am telling you that with the arrangement put in place; and I mean the agreement between the CBN and the NNPC to make the dollar available to the importers of petroleum products, all the International Oil Companies (IOCs) selling dollars have been directed to channel the dollars to fuel marketers. This is a mechanism created by CBN and the NNPC. At the time this programme started, we’re told that they could procure forex at N280 to the dollar and the price should not be more than N145 per litre. In working out the effective price of N145, the template provide for nothing less than N30 per litre margin for the marketer. You can quote me on this. That template is available. By making N30 per litre available to the marketer, what this does is that even if the marketer does not find the product at N280 to the dollar and he finds it at a price close to N300 to the dollar or N305 or even N310, that marketer will still make a profit even though it could be a reduced margin. 
 
That is the template that is currently in place and I am optimistic that it will work. Based on this arrangement between the CBN and the NNPC, we will see to it that IOCs are not compelled to sell at a fixed rate, we will see to it that they sell at the average of the interbank rate of the previous day which means where the marginal rate is N305, and some are selling at N310 or N315, the rate will then be between N305 and N310. If the marketer procures forex at an average of N305 and N310, they will still make a profit and sell that petroleum product at not more than N145 per litre. 
 
I want to know what you are looking at in the short-term and on the bridge funding arrangement to stimulate the economy. Again you once talked about the need to sell some assets in the oil industry and just yesterday (September 16), Alhaji Aliko Dangote also spoke to CNBC about selling some of the assets the government is holding on to in order to raise money. But the impression one is getting is that government is not looking at that advice. How true is this impression? 
 
What I am saying is this; the government can stimulate demand by spending to fund it’s budget and we, as the monetary authority, have told the fiscal side that if the need arises to the point where they need a bridge fund, we will provide that. We are not there yet and I would imagine that should not bother you at this time. The government is working to stimulate the economy by spending. That’s why as you heard the minister of Finance talking about the fact that N420 billion and another N370 billion to N400 billion is being made available this week. This is certainly an attempt to stimulate the economy through spending. The most important thing now is that we need to stimulate the economy and the fiscal authority is alive to its responsibilities in achieving this objective. 
 
On the sale of assets in oil industry, you will recall that on April 1, last year, 2015, I granted an interview to Financial Times of London where I suggested that in order to raise money to fund its capital expenditure, the government needed to sell between 10 per cent to 15 per cent of its oil and gas assets. At that time, the oil price was about N50/N55 per barrel and our consultants did the numbers and told us that we could raise between $25 to $35 billion. I would imagine that that option is still on the table because more people even in the cabinet have made the same suggestion and if it happens, that will be fine, including the option to buy back the assets at some premium if it contemplates buying back when the crude prices move up and the assets value also move up. You know that in government, there are those against and those in favour. The argument in favour of selling the assets has gained a lot of credence recently.

Latest-News How Nigeria squandered $62 Billion foreign reserves - Emefiele

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele and some media chiefs at the weekend met to discuss the economy, recession and how ...

Buhari spent less than N20 million on ear treatment – Presidency

08:25 Unknown 0

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The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, says President Muhammadu Buhari spent less than £50,000 (N20.5m) on the treatment of an ear infection in the United Kingdom. 
 
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Shehu said this in a Facebook post on Sunday night while responding to an allegation by Prof. Farooq Kperogi that Buhari spent £6m during his treatment in June. 
 
The President’s spokesman said Buhari’s government believed in accountability and curbing wast 
 
Shehu said the Presidency had approved over £50,000 for the President’s treatment but Buhari rejected it. 
 
He said, “The disclosure on Prof. Farooq Kperogi’s wall that President Muhammadu Buhari’s ear treatment in the United Kingdom cost a whopping £6m must have shocked many of the respected scholar’s followers. 
 
“I’m prepared to share documents with Farooq, one of the brightest ever produced from the Bayero University Kano that the whole treatment, including a follow-up visit by a specialist to Nigeria didn’t cost £50,000. 
 
“For the records, the administration advanced a higher sum, but the President’s doctor returned the balance to the treasury. 
 
“Indeed, it’s a New Day, and President Buhari’s change mantra is real. Let no one confuse my fellow countrymen and women.” 
 
Shehu made an indirect jibe at Dame Patience Jonathan – wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan – who claimed that the $15m found in some company accounts was for her medical treatment. 
 
He added that President Buhari would have rejected the bill if the doctor had charged him £6m. 
 
He added, “The story reads like an incredible tale by moonlight that belongs to a different era, which fortunately is now history. That’s when a fortunate lady saved $15m for medical treatment! 
 
“But was it possible that the account of this balanced journalism teacher was hacked? I will give him the benefit of the doubt. 
 
“Given the austere President we have, Muhammadu Buhari would not have approved this amount if he was shown a £6m bill. I won’t be surprised if the President may have asked if the fat bill was for the purchase of a brand new pair of ears!”

Latest-News Buhari spent less than N20 million on ear treatment – Presidency

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, says President Muhammadu Buhari spent less than ...

Five things we learnt in the Premier League

08:08 Unknown 0

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Premier League leaders Manchester City continue to impress under Pep Guardiola, but Jose Mourinho has problems at Manchester United after a third consecutive defeat in all competitions. 
 
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Here are five things we learnt this weekend: 
 
Pogba emblematic of Man United’s problems 
 
As the standard-bearers of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United revolution, it was instructive to note the differing reactions of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba to their embarrassing 3-1 loss at Watford. After a chastening afternoon that saw United suffer their third successive defeat, Ibrahimovic could barely disguise his disgust as he grimaced and cursed at the final whistle. Pogba, in contrast, did not look unduly bothered by United’s troubles as he strolled off following another tepid personal display. To date, Pogba has not come close to justifying the world-record 89 million pounds ($115.7 million, 103.7 million euros) fee United paid to sign him from Juventus. He seems misused in a deep-lying role and produced just one moment of note, rattling the crossbar with a 25-yard shot. If United are to challenge for their first English title since 2013, Mourinho must get much more from Pogba, as well as making sure Ibrahimovic’s competitive streak rubs off on the rest of the team. 
 
De Bruyne plugs Aguero gap for Man City 
 
Manchester City have been without striker Sergio Aguero for their last two league games, but they have not missed him thanks to the superb form of attacking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgium international scored one goal and helped make another in last weekend’s 2-1 win at Manchester United and was equally influential in the 4-0 victory over Bournemouth. He opened the scoring by cleverly stroking a free-kick beneath the jumping defensive wall and had a hand in all of City’s other goals. “Maybe Messi can sit alone at the table. But that table aside, Kevin can stay there,” said City manager Pep Guardiola. “He sees absolutely everything.” 
 
Things are happening at Everton 
 
 
Everton beat Middlesbrough 3-1, giving them their best start to an English top-flight season since 1978 and leaving them two points behind Manchester City in second place. Manager Ronald Koeman has hit the ground running since succeeding Roberto Martinez as manager and new signings Ashley Williams, Idrissa Gueye and Yannick Bolasie are bedding in quickly. “(Koeman) has kept things pretty simple,” said midfielder Gareth Barry, who marked his 600th Premier League appearance with Everton’s equaliser. “We’ve taken on board the manager’s instructions this season and the team is playing with confidence.” 
 
The big teams need fear Liverpool 
 
Liverpool have wasted no time flexing their muscles this season, beating Arsenal, Leicester City — last season’s top two — and 2015 champions Chelsea in their first five games. Friday’s 2-1 win at Chelsea was another lesson in asphyxiating intensity and breathless endeavour. Dejan Lovren’s volley and Jordan Henderson’s superb long-range curler put the visitors in control and although Diego Costa reduced the arrears, the margin of victory was misleading — Liverpool were never in trouble. Jurgen Klopp’s side look a match for any team in the division, but as their 2-0 loss at Burnley demonstrated, they can struggle when opponents sit back and force them to take the initiative. It may be matches such as next weekend’s home fixture with Hull City, rather than the glamour games in which they have already excelled, that dictate whether Liverpool can go the distance. 
 
Stoke aren’t very Stoke anymore 
 
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes was applauded for introducing a slicker playing style at the club last season, with talented forwards Xherdan Shaqiri, Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic delighting neutrals. They finished ninth, but have made a dreadful start to the current campaign and were left bottom of the table after losing 4-1 at Crystal Palace. Palace’s first three goals all stemmed from set-pieces — exactly the kind of goal Stoke were renowned for not conceding under Hughes’s no-nonsense predecessor Tony Pulis. 
 
AFP