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- Some Interesting Facts About Nigeria | Mr Olumide's Blog
- Tips On Being A Good Mother | Mr Olumide's Blog
- WE CANNOT PROSECUTE GOV YAHAYA BELLO BUT…… | Mr Olumide's Blog
- CROOKS NOW WINNING CORRUPTION WAR SAYS NUHU RIBADU | Mr Olumide's Blog
- I can’t afford food to eat,only water – Muhammad Ali’s son cries out | Mr Olumide's Blog
- WHY WE RECALLED SUSPENDED JUDGES- NJC | Mr Olumide's Blog
- We need the Travel Ban- Donald Trump reacts to London bridge terror attack | Mr Olumide's Blog
- Saudi-bound female pilgrim arrested for swallowing 32 wraps of cocaine (Photo) | Mr Olumide's Blog
- Buhari recovering very fast, will, be back soon –First Lady tells Nigerians | Mr Olumide's Blog
- Mugabe ,93 begins nationwide election campaign after 37 years as president | Mr Olumide's Blog
- Interesting Ways To Be a Great Father | Mr Olumide's Blog
- 9 people including 3 terrorists killed in London bridge terror attack | Mr Olumide's Blog
- I know how to give men a good time and they always come back for more-Afrocandy | Mr Olumide's Blog
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- Single again- Eva Alordiah announces split with fiance Caesar | Mr Olumide's Blog
- 5 SURPRISING SIGNS OF INTELLIGENCE | Mr Olumide's Blog
- IF NOT FOR GOD, A TERRORIST WOULD HAVE OVERRUN BENUE | Mr Olumide's Blog
- EDO GUBER CASE: IZE-IYAMU OBASEKI ENDS CASE IN APPEAL.COURT, AWAITS RULING | Mr Olumide's Blog
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| Some Interesting Facts About Nigeria | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 03:42 AM PDT  Nigeria is a country located in West Africa. Find here important facts about Nigeria, including capital city, currency, flag, language, tradition, population, symbols, largest cities, government, history , economy… Where is Nigeria? Nigeria, officially called the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country located in West Africa. What is the capital of Nigeria? What is the largest city in Nigeria? What countries border Nigeria? How big is Nigeria? What are the main ethnic groups in Nigeria? What are the administrative divisions of Nigeria? Who are the political leaders of Nigeria? What is the official language of Nigeria? What is the religion of Nigeria? What is the economy of Nigeria like? Manufactured products like leather, textiles, t-shirts, plastics and processed food enhance the economy of the country. Agriculture is also important, employing almost sixty percent of Nigerians. Cocoa, sugar cane, yams, maize, palm oil, groundnuts, coconuts, citrus fruits, pearl millet, and cassava are the major agricultural products. However, health care, education, and general living conditions in Nigeria are poor, and these pose a serious threat to the otherwise advancing country. When is the national day of Nigeria celebrated?
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| Tips On Being A Good Mother | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 02:12 AM PDT  Every mother has struggled with the question of whether she is doing a good enough job. It's only natural to worry about our children, and whenever one of them does something wrong, we ask ourselves if we did anything to cause the behavior. However, it's important to remember that God gave you your children for a reason. He obviously thought you could do the job. So how do you conquer these inner uncertainties and become a good mother? Release the inner critic. No mother should ever compare herself to any other parent. Just like children, no two mothers are alike, and each parenting style has its own place. God knew exactly what kind of parenting your child would need, and he matched each child to the right parents. We are always our own worst critic, and it is far too easy to compare ourselves to Susie Homemaker or Cathy Corporate. However, you can bet that Susie and Cathy are probably comparing themselves to you and also asking why they can't be more like you. Your best is good enough. We all strive to do our best, but the problem begins when we feel like our best isn't good enough. No matter what we do, we might feel that our efforts come up short, but just think for a minute about how your son or daughter sees it, especially while they're young. Do you think they will see that mom never had the money to buy them the Halloween costume they wanted? No, instead they will remember the fun times they had helping you make their costumes, even if those costumes never turned out exactly right. Take better care of yourself so that your best is possible. Self-care is an important part of being a mother. A mom who doesn't take care of herself is unable to take care of her children. For example, a mom who is extremely sick and doesn't take the time to go to the doctor may become weaker and weaker until she can't even get up to get her child food. On the other hand, if she went to the doctor and got some antibiotics, the illness would not have been so bad and it would all have been over in a couple of days. The same is true of healthy mothers. A mother who never takes time out for herself will feel stressed and unloved. When she feels stressed and unloved, she is unable to love others, especially her children. Less is more. Children, especially when they are young, enjoy the simple things in life. Kids may not remember the elaborate lengths you went through to throw them the perfect birthday party. They won't remember the big pile of presents, but they will remember that one small special gift you bought. A child's focus is scattered onto so many things all at once, but these small moments you create will shine a bright light in your child's memories. Communication is the key. Regardless of how much your child does or doesn't talk to you, communication is about much more than the number of words that come out of your child's mouth. It's about being actively involved in their interests. Spend some time listening to your son's music or sit and play video games with him sometimes. Just realize that knowing what interests your child has will give you an insight into him that you never would be able to have otherwise, even if you try to spark a conversation with him. Establish this type of communication early so that by the time your daughter is a teenager, it doesn't seem strange that mom is checking out her music or asking to meet her friends. Date your kids individually. Every child needs to feel important, and one of the best ways to make your children important is to spend time with each of them individually. Sure, family time is important, but make sure that you have some time set aside for each child, and use this time to communicate and learn about their interests. Change what you believe. Sometimes being a mother is about stretching our beliefs. We are all raised with a very specific set of believes that create the foundation of who we are, but sometimes the world changes and things are thrown off-kilter. Every mother has images of her perfect child, tall or short, lanky or muscled, athletic or smart. But what happens when your child doesn't fit your expectations? You have to be able to change what you believed about your child so that you don't end up forcing him to be what he isn't. Do less well. Often we feel like we have to be Super Mom, wear boots and a cape, and fly around to do everything. We think we have to have the house perfectly clean at all times, help our kids with their homework, research and deliver a presentation that wows our client over the dinner hour, and still have a hot, homemade meal on the dinner table at home. Of course in reality it's pretty hard to do all of this at the same time, so just choose one thing you can focus on and do it very well. Maybe you're not a very good cook, but you have a knack for research and presentations. Just focus on your work presentation and help your kids do homework afterward over a late dinner from the local takeout. Allow your kids to fail. No parent should ever run around behind their child fixing all of their mistakes. Of course it's important to be there if your child makes a big mistake and to make sure he knows that he can turn to you. But sometimes it is necessary to let him fail. If his girlfriend breaks up with him because he spent too much time playing video games and not enough time with her, let him figure out on his own what he did wrong. It's ok to clue him in, but don't fix it for him. He will never learn how to live life and fix problems himself if mom is always there to make corrections. [written by Mia Redrick]
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| WE CANNOT PROSECUTE GOV YAHAYA BELLO BUT…… | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 01:27 AM PDT  Recently, INEC commenced the continuous voter registration exercise nationwide. How important is the ongoing exercise to the electoral process? It is important to stress the phrase, 'continuous voter registration' because the credibility of any election is directly related to the credibility of the voter register. In turn, the credibility of the voter register is dependent, among others, on two factors. One, citizens must have access to the register of voters. Secondly, the register must be continuously updated. The electoral act requires the commission to do a continuous voter registration exercise; meaning that it should be non-stop. As citizens attain the age of 18, they should have access to the registration centres. And those who could not register in the previous exercise should be able to do so. We have had continuous voter registration exercises in the past. What makes the one you are currently undertaking different? This is the very first time the commission is conducting a continuous voter registration exercise in the true sense of it. In the past, the exercise was tied to particular elections. With every election in this country until 2011, there was a new register of voters, so continuous was interpreted to mean intermittent, either fresh voter registration for elections or the register was updated for one week close to elections, but not continuously throughout the year. So for the first time, we said we would implement the provisions of the Electoral Act by conducting a continuous voter registration exercise. The exercise started nationwide on April 27 but at our local government offices. The Electoral Act doesn't state where the voter registration exercise should start, but we know that for the citizens to be granted access to their register, then it should be taken very close to where they live, meaning that we should take the registration to the doorsteps of the citizens as much as possible. First of all, I underscored the fact that the continuous registration of voters is a legal process. Part 111, Section 9-24 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) provide for the registration of citizens as voters, including criteria for eligibility, responsibilities of the electoral commission and sanctions for violations by both citizens and the umpire. Therefore, INEC's responsibility is to ensure that, as much as practicable, citizens have easy access to the registration centres, taking cognizance of population, diversity, literacy level, income. So, in my presentation to the FEC, I made it clear that to be able to do so, we considered three options based on the financial layout. The closest to the citizens is at the polling unit, so we thought that we could start the registration exercise at that level. But what are the requirements for doing the exercise at that level? The Electoral Act states that we should register citizens who have turned 18 and provide an opportunity for citizens who had issues with their previous registration to clarify them. This may be in quite a number of ways, including those who registered but could not collect their PVCs, or those who registered and have their PVCs but the commission did not provide them, or those who have damaged their PVCs. To achieve that, we needed at least five registration officers per center; two would handle the machines while others would handle all the matters arising from the previous exercise. At present, Nigeria has 119, 973 polling units nationwide, and to be able to do so, we require a minimum of five members of staff in each polling unit. Also, we always make provision for 5 per cent in case some are unable to turn up, and issues like that. We realised that at the polling unit level, the INEC requires 629, 858 staff members, in addition to at least two security personnel per polling unit. On that basis, we require 239,946 security personnel. If we are going to pay them or the ad-hoc staff the sum of N2,000 per day; N1000 as honoraria, N500 for transport and N500 for feeding per day, the commission would require N1.2billion per day in allowance. For security, if we pay them N500 per day for feeding, we would require N119, 973 million per day. In addition, you have what we call variable cost; that is the cost of consumables like ink, paper, forms, and then, we need to do publicity. For these activities, we require N4.1 billion. For data processing and publicity, we require N129 million for takeoff. Then we have what we call the one-off cost; we have to buy direct data capturing machines (DDCs) equal to the number of polling units and for the exercise at that level. Given the number of polling units we have, we require 125, 972 DDC machines at N1million per set. A set means the computer, the printer, the fingerprint scanner, the webcam and other accessories. We need power generators for each of the polling units at the unit cost of N300, 000 per generator, and that will come to N2.6 billion. So the total cost for the take-off of the exercise at polling unit level is N137.4 billion. The total budgetary provision this year for INEC for continuous voter registration is only N1.2 billion. So clearly, the financial layout for deploying all-year-round at the polling unit level is prohibitive. We looked at the second option, which is to register citizens at the ward level. At present, we have 8, 809 wards nationwide, and we need 46,247 staff to deploy at that level. At N2,000 per day, that will come to N92.4 million in allowances. For security personnel we need 17,618 staff, and at N500 per day we need N8, 809,000. For the variable cost, we need N437.1 million, and for the one-off cost -the DDC machines, power generators and training, we require 17,618 machines. At N1 million per machine, that would be N17.6 billion. So the cost at RA level, just for the takeoff, is N21 billion, and based on the budgetary provision for this year, that one is also impossible. So we looked at the third option, which is to start at the local government level. There are 774 local government areas nationwide, so we calculated the amount we require per quarter for the first three months of the exercise and it came to N463.2 million for the entire quarter at that level. This is because we require 464 staff members, and we have INEC workers, so they will work at the local government level without us having to pay them anything because they earn monthly salaries. We are also going use the same security men that secure our offices, so there is no cost in that respect. But we have cost for consumables and power generators. We have the machines from the last exercise, so we don't require additional machines. That now came down to N463.2 million. That is why we have chosen to start at the local government level, continuously on quarterly basis. This will continue until close to the next general election as provided by the Electoral Act. What are the challenges you have encountered so far? First of all, let me point out that before the commencement of the exercise, we discussed with all the relevant stakeholders. We had a meeting with the political parties, the media and civil society organisations, including security agencies. There are challenges, even with the preferred option. The local governments are not close to many of the communities. Some of the local government headquarters are separated by considerable distance, so it becomes difficult for some of the prospective registrants to access the centres. Secondly, the machines we are using were the machines the commission purchased between 2010 and 2011. They are seven years old. The average lifespan of a computer is four years, so they are very slow and epileptic. The registrants are complaining that sometimes it takes a long time to get registered. Thirdly, we have the issue of power. Most of the local governments are not connected to the national grid, so the computers operate basically on generators. We are also grappling with the problem of difficult terrains. Some of the places we deployed resources to are not easily accessible, so it becomes difficult for people to come from relatively inaccessible places to the local government headquarters for registration. In some of the places, we have infrastructure problems. Our offices have been blown off, either by acts of thuggery or insurgency in some parts of the country, such that you have to hire canopies, tables and chairs for the purpose of the registration exercise. Then there is the challenge of awareness. Because Nigerians are used to the registration taking place as elections approach, many people might have assumed that this is a fresh registration. So, some of them who registered before are coming to register again. We need to get this message across, that this is not a fresh registration. Anybody who registered before the 2015 general elections needs not register again. It is only for those who have not registered. So we need to step up on our publicity issues. We also have overcrowded centres. Some of the centres are located in urban areas with large populations, so it takes quite some time to register. We recognise these challenges and decided that instead of suspending the process, we should address them and continue for the first six weeks, after which we would convene a meeting of all our field staff to do a mid-quarter review of the exercise. Accordingly, we are doing the mid-quarter review on Wednesday this week in Kaduna. We are going to have a whole day retreat, at which we will harvest all the issues, the complaints, challenges from the field and chart a way forward. With the challenges you highlighted, what do you think is the way forward? We hope that in the first and second quarters of next year, we would have the resources to deploy to the ward level nationwide. After the mid-term review we will be able to look at how we would move further. During a visit to the Chief of Air Staff, you requested for assistance to enable you airlift materials to some local government areas in Borno State. How successful would you say the exercise has been in areas affected by insurgency? It has been very successful, in the sense that it does not apply to all the local government areas of Borno State. Initially, we thought only five local government areas were affected, but now, it is six. We approached the air force to help us airlift our staff and personnel to those places where the internally displaced persons have returned, but the retreating insurgents are mining the roads, so it is unsafe to drive there. The Air Force has been air lifting our staff to those places, but not every day. When they airlift, we do the registration for a period of one or two weeks and they go and bring them back. The Air Force is also helping us with supplies like paper, ink, computer toners, and faulty printers if we need replacement. The Army also helped to escort our staff to the local government areas that are accessible by road and to provide a measure of security at the polling units because a large number of people congregate in a particular place and they may be easy target. So far, the exercise is good in Borno. Aside Borno State, how would you assess the exercise generally? The exercise has been going on as well as it can at the local government level. The good thing is that we haven't had incidents of disruption. The numbers are increasing by the week, but not as high as what we would have recorded if we had devolved to lower levels like the wards and polling units. But it is going on pretty well despite the issues and challenges I earlier highlighted. It is not going to end this week or next; it is a continuous exercise. It was alleged that Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State engaged in double registration; can you throw more light on this? We have already issued a statement on the incident and there is nothing more to add at the moment. Our Kogi office is investigating the role of our staff in the matter. The commission is awaiting the outcome of the investigation for further action. But is there any likelihood that he would face prosecution at the end of his tenure? This is not something one can comment on because it is dependent on whenever his tenure ends. For now, this is the action we have taken. Our constraint is that we cannot prosecute a serving governor. Let me reiterate that it is illegal to register more than once. Apart from the Kogi State governor, have you had other cases of multiple registrations? No, we haven't. But at the end of the exercise we are going to have what we call d-duplication, where we would compare the data coming from the field with what we already have. It is only when we do this that we can authoritatively say some people have registered more than once. This one was detected because he is a high profile personality and it was on the internet. When are you going to display the preliminary voters register for public scrutiny at the registration centres as statutorily required for claims and objections? As part of the programme for this exercise, we said we would do the registration for three months; that is one quarter continuously. But the Electoral Act provides for a display of those registered between 5 and 14 days for claims and objections. We have dedicated the last week of each quarter for the display before we do the d-duplication and print the PVCs. So it is going to be on a quarterly basis. The last week of each quarter will be dedicated to claims and objections. How are you handling the issue of internally displaced persons, considering that some of them were registered, but because of insurgency they lost their PVCs? We have advised our staff in places where you have displaced persons not to register them again. First, they should go with the register and tick those whose names are already on the register but have lost their PVCs. All we need to do is to reprint their PVCs because they are already in our database. They are doing that in a number of places, particularly Borno, Yobe and parts of Adamawa. How many Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected by registered voters? Unfortunately, we still have about 7.8 million PVCs uncollected.
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| CROOKS NOW WINNING CORRUPTION WAR SAYS NUHU RIBADU | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 01:27 AM PDT  A former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, said yesterday that Nigerians must collectively fight the war against corruption because "the crooks are now winning the battle". Ribadu said this yesterday while fielding questions from journalists after the 12th annual public symposium organized by the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN), Abuja chapter. The former EFCC boss chaired the symposium themed "Anti-Corruption: The Role of Media as a Change Agent". The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who gave a positive assessment of the ongoing battle against corruption, stated that the war could still be improved upon. "What is going on today is reinvigoration, a change that put it (corruption) as number one priority of government. I want to salute those who are responsible for that. I totally agree. "And I appeal to all Nigerians to please, for God's sake, let's think about our country, let's make our own people the winner even if it means for once. The crooks have been winning. Those who are stealing our own money have been winning. Let's turn it around and make Nigerians winners," said Ribadu, who was asked to rate the current fight against corruption. He added, "it's going on very well. It can be better. But you also know and agree that things have changed. If you know the volume or the amount of money that we say today we have recovered, money stolen from individuals and groups, the money is with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). That tells you the story of what is going on today. We can do better.
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| I can’t afford food to eat,only water – Muhammad Ali’s son cries out | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 01:27 AM PDT  Muhammad Ali's only biological son claims he is facing homelessness a year after his father's death. He accuses other family members of stopping him getting an equal share of the boxing legend's £62million fortune. Muhammad Ali Junior, 45 , says he has only received three "measly payments" of £2,000 in the last two months and is sleeping on a friend's floor in Florida, just days away from living on the streets because he can't afford to pay any rent. Ali Jnr said an equal slice of the inheritance had been agreed at a meeting in California with his seven sisters, adopted brother Asaad, and the will executor – Ali's fourth wife of 30 years, Lonnie, 59. But his son told Daily Mirror: 
Asked if he was scared of facing life on the streets, he said:
He said he has begged other family members for help. For the last 20 years, Ali Jnr says he has been ostracised by the family, having little contact with his famous father. He lived on Chicago's notorious gangland south side with his wife Shaakira and daughters Ameera and Shakera, struggling to make ends meet cleaning people's yards and doing odd jobs. But his marriage fell apart just a month after his famous father died, amid accusations that he ran out on his wife.He insists she dumped him and forced him out of their marital home.  After attending a family meeting over the will last July, Ali Jnr says he got a phone call from Shaakira saying she had moved in with her parents because the water and electricity had been cut off. He says he then made his way to Miami and stayed with his mother, Ali's first wife, Khalilah, 66. But for now he is sleeping on a friend's floor in Fort Lauderdale. Ali Jnr told Daily Mirror :
Daily Mirror
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| WHY WE RECALLED SUSPENDED JUDGES- NJC | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 01:12 AM PDT  The decision to recall the six judges that were suspended following raids on their houses last year by personnel of the Department of Security Service (DSS) was hinged on the lack of a case against them, the National Judicial Council (NJC) said yesterday. The council announced the reinstatement of the six and other judges after its 82nd meeting held on May 31 and June 1, 2017 in Abuja. According to a statement signed by NJC's Director of Information, Soji Oye, the meeting had considered the cases of eight judicial officers who were directed to recuse themselves from duties on the request of the Attorney-General of the Federation, pending the outcome of investigations against them. The NJC noted that out of the six, only Justice N. S. Ngwuta of the Supreme Court, Justice A. F. A. Ademola of the Federal High Court and Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court had been charged to court. "The trial of Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola has been concluded and he has been discharged and acquitted of the charges filed against him. "In view of the foregoing, Council decided that the various heads of court should direct the following judicial officers to resume their judicial duties with effect from Wednesday June 7, 2017, as there are already a backlog of cases in their various courts for the past eight months: Hon. Justice John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Uwani Abba Aji of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Hydiazira A. Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola of the Federal High Court, who has been discharged and acquitted, Hon. Justice Musa H. Kurya of the Federal High Court, and Hon. Justice Agbadu James Fishim of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria. The NJC said it asked the judges to recuse themselves with effect from November 2, 2016 on the request of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) pending the outcome of investigations in order "to maintain the integrity and sanctity of the judiciary and sustain public confidence." Also, the NJC issued a serious warning to Justice M. N. Esowe of the National Industrial Court, while Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the Rivers State High Court of Justice, Justice Bassey Frank Etuk of the Akwa-Ibom State High Court, were placed on NJC 'watch list' for different offences based on petitions against them. The NJC however, discontinued the probe of Justice T. U. Uzokwe, Chief Judge, Abia State; Justice Okoroafor of the Abia State High Court and Justice Jude Okeke of the FCT High Court. The homes of the suspended judges were in the midnight of October 8, 2017 raided by the DSS, where the sum of N271.7million in both local and foreign currencies were allegedly recovered. The DSS said the raids were conducted after a series of "sting operations" targeting judges of Supreme, Appeal and High Courts who were being watched for "corruption and other acts professional misconduct." "We have been monitoring the expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the judges, as well as complaints from the concerned public over judgements obtained fraudulently," an official of the service, Garba Abdullahi, had said. The development threw the country's judiciary into chaos, with lawyers expressing divergent views. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which mounted pressure on the NJC to suspend all judges indicted by the DSS last year during the Democracy Day celebration on May 29, called for the recall of the judges who were not facing trial. "In the wake of the arrest and detention of certain judicial officers by the DSS, the NBA had taken the view that the judges affected should recuse themselves from judicial functions until investigations and outcome of those investigations were determined. We note that nearly eight months after those investigations were launched, there are some of the judges who have not been prosecuted or charged before any court of law," said the president of the NBA, A.B. Mahmoud (SAN). "This situation is completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable. The NBA calls on the government to terminate the investigations against those judges to enable them resume their work as judicial officers," he added. Constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has described the recall of the judges as the right thing to do, maintaining that it was late in coming. "The state should actually apologise to the judges for the public odium, embarrassment, obloquy, and shame their arrest, detention and media trial impacted on them," he said. Also speaking, a Evidence Law expert, Sabastine Hon (SAN), lauded the NJC for the recall of the judges. "The decision of the NJC to lift the suspension of the justices and judges accused of corruption is a most welcome development," he said. "No country treats its citizens the way those judicial officers were treated; and the NJC just woke up to its constitutional and moral responsibility – by taking this bold step," he added.
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| We need the Travel Ban- Donald Trump reacts to London bridge terror attack | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 12:57 AM PDT | ||
| Saudi-bound female pilgrim arrested for swallowing 32 wraps of cocaine (Photo) | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 12:57 AM PDT  A 54- year- old single mother of four children was arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos . She was going on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia with substances that tested positive for cocaine. The suspect who hails from Kwara State was apprehended during the outward screening of passengers on a Qatar Airline flight to Saudi Arabia.. The suspect who hawks tea and bread to earn a living in Lagos explained that poverty led her into drug trafficking. According to her
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| Buhari recovering very fast, will, be back soon –First Lady tells Nigerians | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 12:57 AM PDT  First Lady Aisha Buhari gave some good news yesterday from London about her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari. She said he's recovering fast from his ailment and will soon return. Aisha who is currently in London to be with the President, gave the update on the President's health in a message to the 23rd Annual Ramadan Lecture of Ansar-ud-deen Society of Nigeria (ADS) held in Abuja. The First Lady, was represented at the lecture by her Senior Special Assistant on Administration, Dr. Hajo Sani.
The message sparked shouts of Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!! Allahu Akbar!!!(God is great) by the Muslim faithful.
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| Mugabe ,93 begins nationwide election campaign after 37 years as president | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 12:57 AM PDT  The 93-year-old Zimbabwean President, Mr. Robert Mugabe, has launched a nationwide 10-venue speaking tour aimed at drumming up support ahead of elections next year when he plans to seek office again. Mugabe, who appeared in better health than at some recent public appearances, spoke for an hour and a half at a rally outside Harare attended by several thousand ZANU-PF supporters."President Robert Mugabe is our sole candidate for 2018. We declare you our life president," Kelvin Mutsvairo, a provincial youth party leader, said in his speech. Mugabe has ruled since independence in 1980, and ZANU-PF are often accused of election rigging and voter intimidation.
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| Interesting Ways To Be a Great Father | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 12:42 AM PDT  Things That Will Help You Don't worry about being a great dad. Being a great dad isn't about holding the baby just right, or knowing how to burp her, or being a willing participant at imaginary tea parties. Being a good dad starts with being a good husband. It starts with getting involved in the entire prenatal process; so if you really want to be a good dad, make darn sure you're a good husband, because great husbands become great dads. Try to live your normal pre-child life as soon as possible. A lot of first-time parents totally freak out when they have an infant, and they don't leave their house for two years because they're afraid of what might happen to "the baby." It's a baby — not nitroglycerin. After a couple of weeks, go out and start to return to as much of you and your wife's normal routine as possible. Remember — babies are small and travel surprisingly easily (especially with all the high-tech travel gear you'll find at Super Baby Warehouse Megastore). Take your baby out to breakfast with you, take them on trips, shopping, on airplanes, and just about everywhere you used to go before the baby arrived (okay, don't take the baby to raves — but you get the idea). Once you realize that you're out there, doing regular things with the little one going along just fine, you'll realize that although some things are certainly different now, you can still do most of the things you used to do. When you start doing regular things, it will take a lot of stress off you both, and give you time to feel like a couple again, not two people tied to the house 24 hours a day, which can be incredibly stressful in and of itself. Give the mommy some time for herself. Look, I'd be lying if I told you that in an infant's life, the dad is as important as the mom. When it comes to caring for an infant, and instinctively knowing what to do with a newborn baby, women have the market cornered, and being a mommy is a much harder job than being a daddy. That's why it's so important that you give the mommy as many breaks as you can. She needs time for herself, but she's so wrapped up in being a mom, she probably won't stop long enough to care for herself. The best thing you can do is make her take breaks. Watch the baby for a while as she naps, then have your wife go visit her girlfriend, or if her mom lives nearby, have her take some time and visit her. Even if she just wants to go to the mall, or see a movie with her friends, you've got to make time for her to do this. She needs it (more than even she knows) and it gives you some wonderful time with your newborn. An important part of being a great dad is being a great husband, and a great husband makes sure his wife doesn't get burned out being a mommy 24 hours a day. Get up with Mom for late-night feedings. I gotta tell ya, this is a tough one, but you'll be glad you did it (when it's over, not during). When it comes to dining, newborn babies think they're on a cruise ship, and at midnight and 2 a.m. they fully expect (and demand) a buffet. When our little guy started crying for food at two in the morning, my wife had to get up because she was breastfeeding, but I got up right along with her. I sat there and kept her company, we shared stories about our day, marveled at how cute our baby was, etc., until it was time to burp the little guy, then she'd pass him over to me and I'd burp him. I have to say, I really enjoyed the burping because even though my wife could surely have burped him herself, this way I was at least helping in the process and that felt good. Plus, I was getting to hold my little buddy and the burping helped him too. It sounds corny, but these late-night feedings were really a time of great closeness for my wife and me as we sat there in the dim light, fighting to stay awake through the feeding, and we both look back on it with great fondness, even though it was incredibly tiring. I remember one night — it was like four in the morning — and we were up trying to change our son's diaper, and he was just screaming at the top of his mini-lungs and kicking his little hands and feet. He was beet red and just as pissed as he could be. I held this screaming little baby out away from my body so my eardrums didn't explode, and I looked over at my wife, and we were both so exhausted that we simultaneously burst into hysterical laughter. He didn't find it funny, but he paused long enough for us to change his diaper. We kept giggling for 20 minutes until we put him down in his crib, and then we literally fell into bed. Was it hard getting up numerous times a night? Yup. Would I have wanted to do it alone, all by myself? Nope. I don't imagine my wife would want to either, and that's why I was there. Be a great dad, and be there with her for all the feedings. I promise you, it'll kick your butt some nights, but you'll survive, and you'll look back with fond memories. Hey, I said having a kid was wonderful. I didn't say it was easy. Be affectionate with your baby, especially as they get older. Kids need love, but they don't understand the word "love" on any level. You might as well use the term "phalanges" with them because, to an infant, it means the same thing — nothing. So holding your baby and telling her, "Daddy loves you," is pretty much meaningless. But you know what kids do understand — a loving touch. Hugging them, snuggling them, and kissing them makes them feel loved. It's a basic way humans communicate love, but some fathers feel awkward showing love in this way. Get over it. A kid needs to feel loved, always, and you have within your power a guaranteed way to make them know they're loved. A kid that knows they're loved is a happy kid — the kind of kid that runs and jumps into your arms when they see you. You will never, never regret being affectionate with your child, because you will be able to send a "you're loved" message right to your kid's heart anytime with just a simple peck on the forehead, a quick hug before school, or even just tousling their hair as they walk by. A dad's loving touch is amazingly powerful; it sends a message to your child that words can't always convey. By the way, high-fiving doesn't count. It's a celebration — not a sign of affection. Enjoy yourself. It all goes by too quickly. My son is 7 now, and if you asked me if it feels like seven years since he was born, I'd have to tell you it feels more like two. Maybe two and a half. The time you have with your kids absolutely flies by, so really take the time to enjoy it. Take time out of work to be with them. Call in sick one day and take them to the amusement park. Pick up your kid from school and go hit a bucket of balls with them, or volunteer to be the coach of their soccer team. Believe me, you won't wind up on your deathbed saying, "I wish I'd spent more time at the office." You'll say, "I wish I'd spent more time with my daughter." Learn what kids want most from their dad. I heard a good friend of mine, Dave, once reveal what kids really want most from their dads. They don't care what kind of job you have, or how many awards or accolades you've garnered in your industry, or what kind of degree you have. What they want most is your time. They want to be with you. They want your attention, your ear, your opinion, your focus — they just want to be around their dad. They need "dad time" and they want you around as much as possible. I remember Dave mentioning that as long as he was at home, even if he was asleep on the couch, his kids were happy because "dad was there." They just want you with them, around them, and basically being "there." Now, what happens if you (dad) aren't around enough? Problems start. They start doing things to get your attention, and not all of them are as well thought out as you'd hope. A kid whose dad spends a lot of time with him will generally stay out of trouble — a kid who constantly needs to do things to get dad's attention generally won't. All right, now that you know what they want, what's in it for you (besides the fact that it will save you untold bail money)? Every minute you spend with them rubs off on them. Every story, every moral, every hug, every kiss, every time you discipline them, every time you wipe away their tears, every time you buy them popcorn at the movies, every time they see you show compassion to someone less fortunate — it all rubs off. Your kindness, your wisdom, your examples, your lame jokes. They all rub off. [written by Scott Kelby]
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| 9 people including 3 terrorists killed in London bridge terror attack | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 12:12 AM PDT  Six people have now been confirmed killed and at least 48 injured in a terror incident in London in which three male attackers were also shot dead by police. A white van hit pedestrians on London Bridge at about 22:00 BST on Saturday before three men got out and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market. Armed officers shot the suspects within eight minutes of the first call.One picture (above) showed two suspected assailants, one with cannisters strapped to his body, on the ground. The injured were taken to five hospitals. More than 80 medics were sent to the scene. One of the injured is an officer from British Transport Police who was stabbed after responding to the incident. His condition is serious, but not life-threatening. A bomb disposal team was called to Borough Market and local residents told to leave their homes. Commissioner Mark Rowley said:
He said it was currently believed there were only three attackers involved.
BBC
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| I know how to give men a good time and they always come back for more-Afrocandy | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 04 Jun 2017 12:12 AM PDT Judith Mazagwu is not the regular Nollywood actress. Known more by her moniker, Afrocandy, she is ready to go the extra mile to captivate her audience. The US-based actress has featured in a lot of soft-porn movies that have attracted criticism from Nigerians but she doesn't seem to mind. In some of the videos which went viral on the Internet some years ago, Afrocandy was seen having sex with her co-actor. Even though the mother of two children denied that it was pornography, simply because it had a storyline, she didn't deny that she was the one in the video. She actually confessed that she enjoyed making the movie and would even act more.  Afrocandy has revealed acting pornography is her talent and men always come back for more because she knows how to give them a good time.Speaking to Punch's Sunday Scoop,the mother of two said
On her teenage children's reactions to seeing their mum in that manner, she said,
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| See the nude maternity shoot that has tongues wagging | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 11:57 PM PDT | ||
| Single again- Eva Alordiah announces split with fiance Caesar | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 11:57 PM PDT  Barely a week after denying their engagement was over, rapper Eva Alordiah seems to have changed her mind.She alluded to the fact,she was not ready for the other side but also shared a cryptic hashtag #youcanhavehimsister ..Was infidelity involved?
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| 5 SURPRISING SIGNS OF INTELLIGENCE | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 11:42 PM PDT  Unfortunately, we very often belittle ourselves and fail to recognize how intelligent we are. Jumia Travel shares 5 surprising signs that confirm intelligence. You Have a Good Sense of Humour You Had a Reading Habit as a Child You're Musically Inclined You're Internet Savvy
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| IF NOT FOR GOD, A TERRORIST WOULD HAVE OVERRUN BENUE | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 11:27 PM PDT VANGUARD NEWSA Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc Search for: HOMENEWS SPORTSMORE HOME By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor and Kenneth Ehigiator … .MILITANT LEADER ON THE LOOSE ….Were it not for God, Gana would have overrun Benue – Gov Ortom Governor Samuel Ortom, who is facing raging security challenges unleashed on Benue State by herdsmen and a local militia, allegedly led by a fugitive, Gana, is full of praises to God and security agencies for warding-off the malevolent elements attacking his state. He confesses that if God had not been on the side of the state, the local militia, whom he suspects has ties to Boko Haram terrorists, would have overrun Benue. He also explains why his administration had to enact a Bill seeking to end open grazing in the state. In this interview, Ortom insists that the law does not intend to force herdsmen out of Benue but merely seeks to provide a conducive atmosphere for farmers and herdsmen to do their business without fear of intimidation and insecurity. Excerpts: After nearly two years as governor, what can you point out as your achievements? I want to say the journey has been very rough with a lot of challenges but we are on. There have been security challenges, economic challenges and the social vices triggered by youth restiveness and high unemployment rate. However, despite the challenges, we are determined to add value to the lives of the people and move them to the next level, because we believe that the essence of government is to have the political will to manage challenges and defend its citizens. Already, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, because today in Benue, one can see new structures springing up in all the local government areas of the state. So far, we have been able to award contracts for more than 740 classroom blocks in our primary schools. We were able to provide instructional materials for the primary schools too. Some of the jobs are on-going though we were caught up with inflation somewhere down the line because of due process. That notwithstanding, we have over 200 of the classrooms completed while 300 others are on-going. We have made tremendous progress with Benue State University, which is the main industry today with a student population of over 30,000. We have graduated four different batches including 152 medical doctors, and we have got the university back on its feet. What has the state done to take advantage of the enormous agricultural potentials there? We have placed agriculture on our front-burner, pushing everyone in the state into farming. We are set to launch the cropping season in the next few weeks with the provision of fertilizers. The good thing this year, is that we are also providing about 60 tractors to support mechanized farming. The intention is to regain the unique place God placed us as the food basket of Nigeria by remaining focused and producing enough for consumption and export. We have gone ahead to give our civil servants an opportunity to go into farming and agriculture. Every cropping season, like we always do, we declare three months of work free days for those who are on non-essential services in the state to go back to the farm. We believe that it adds value when we do. We did last year and this year it will be more. During harvest time, we are going to do the same thing. Just one day with a Saturday and the workers resume work on Monday. The story is very encouraging as the workers have discovered that government does not have the capacity to give jobs at the local government, the state and the federal levels. One thing we have taught our people to do is to use what we have instead of lamenting. The land is there and it is fertile and the rains come in handy and the harvest has always been good. Whether in grains, tubers or citrus or livestock, you can make a lot of business. That is what we are trying to do to reorganize our people to take comparative advantage where we have it stand out as the food hub of Nigeria. What gave rise to the Anti-grazing Bill that is generating concerns in the state? Some accuse the state of trying to use the new law to drive away herdsmen. What does the law seek to achieve? There is no ulterior motive behind the Anti-grazing Bill recently passed by the state House of Assembly. If not for anything, it is to create a win-win situation for herdsmen and farmers to do their business without fear of intimidation and harassment. Land in Benue is a limited resource and there is no way you can marry agriculture and grazing and that is why we have decided that the way forward is to ranch. When you ranch your cattle, you restrict them in a manner that they do not go into somebody else's land and cause destruction, which has been the main cause of conflict in the state. I know that my people like meat, they eat a lot of it, they appreciate it, they are ready to work hard and sell their farm produce and buy the meat if the people agree to ranch. The problem has been herdsmen are not willing to ranch their cattle and each time they go to graze, no matter how hard they attempt to control their cattle – since they are animals and not human beings, they derail and cause damage to farm produce. This has been creating nightmares for my administration because Benue is sitting on the green belt of Nigeria because of the two rivers that we have been opportune to have: River Benue and River Katsina Ala. Of course, you know that herdsmen, always want to have the green area to graze on and drink water; so, no matter the challenge or resistance, they are not willing to bow. It has been a very big challenge but we have been coping. Before now, we had done everything under the sun through the State Security Council on some of these challenges and we have succeeded to a large extent but there are still pockets of problems here and there, arising from herdsmen attacking farmers when their herds derail and destroy farms. Unfortunately, if you complain, the next thing is that you are attacked. We even had cases where our farmers or some restive youths go to attack herdsmen or their cattle, thereby creating problem in the state over time. One other thing is that criminal elements are also involved in attacks under the guise of herdsmen. I initiated an amnesty programme to retrieve weapons from youths especially those who had been using them for criminal activities. And they came in their numbers and surrendered. Some were sincere, some were not. Some have today been turned into good citizens and are working with us but some were just pretending and had to go back. So some of these incidences you hear about in Benue about attacks on herdsmen is not really from those communities where those things are done; they travel kilometers away to attack cattle, rustle them and take them away to sell. My dilemma is that, when these herdsmen come for retaliation, instead of trailing those who attacked their cattle, they go to the villages and attack anyone in sight and end up killing innocent citizens especially old men, children and women. One of the strategies we adopted was to constitute committees at the state, local government and kindred levels and these committees comprise of security chiefs, farmers, the youth and government officials. They take complaints from people who are attacked or whose farms are infringed upon so that we now take responsibility from there. I have persistently told our people that there is no need attacking herdsmen and that even when they provoke you, it is better to report to us so that we can take care of it. Once we know about an attack and if we cannot hold anybody responsible, we will pay compensation for the loss. My government is ready to take responsibility and we have been doing this. We have situations where herdsmen destroyed crops and they were held and made to pay, we had situations where some youths went and killed some cattle, we held them and made them to pay and where they were not found, government took responsibility. Since the land is no longer there, we have to regulate herdsmen's activities, we are not sending them away from our state, and we are not sending any Fulani man away from the state as is being campaigned against us. The Bill is only aimed at regulating the activities of herdsmen and they are free to breed their cattle in Benue but must do it in a civilized manner and the civilized manner is to ranch their cattle in accordance with global best practice. But when you don't allow people go to their farms, you create insecurity because it is said that the mind that is idle becomes the devil's workshop. When these youths are not able to go to the farm, they sit and begin to imagine how they are going to attack, rustle cattle and make cheap money. For us, we are saying that we must ranch and people must seek permission to do that ranching. All these things that I am saying I have been practicing them. I have been a farmer for more than 30 years. I am into livestock, I am into grains, I am into citrus. I understand the pains one goes through in breeding, I understand the pains of a Fulani man when his cattle are hacked down, I understand the pains of a farmer who labours and gets loans from the local or commercial banks to buy fertilizer, pays for equipment and farms and, in the end, the cattle will come and destroy everything. How has your administration been coping with rising insecurity which has claimed many lives particularly in three local government areas of the state? I want to say that only the Almighty God has been helping us in Benue. We also want to thank the Federal Government for standing solidly behind us to ward off the activities of the evil-minded elements, who want to scare us. The man called Gana is linked with Boko Haram terrorists to destroy and maim people in Benue. He initially accepted our amnesty and pleaded with us to allow him to bring in others under his control. He surrendered 87 guns that day and extended his amnesty for another one month. To rehabilitate the boys, we gave him contract to do for the state. But he was not sincere as he went back into crime. He was accused of killing my Special Adviser in charge of Security and, having been fingered for the crime and having been declared wanted by the security agencies, he became even more deadly in his bid to overrun the state. If we had not identified this man as a suspected terrorist, he would have overrun us because of his large followership in the state. He is believed to be very powerful and people are afraid to talk about him because of his assumed spiritual powers. We are closing-in on him and we have arrested some of his closest associates. We believe that his episode will soon become a thing of the past. What is really the issue between you and Rivers State governor, Mr Nyesom Wike? I don't want to talk about Wike anymore because I am a Christian. I have no issues with him anymore. Both of us were ministers under the past administration and we know ourselves. That is all I will say about the issue of that governor. How do you react to the health of Mr. President, who has gone back to London for medical attention a few months after returning to the country? I want to say this with all seriousness. Buhari remains the medicine for Nigeria (headache). Despite his age, he is willing to add value, instil discipline and drive away corruption from Nigeria. Before him, nobody was bold enough to confront corruption. It is good for Nigerians to pray for him. In Benue, we have declared three days fasting for his quick recovery so that he can come back and continue to work for us. We have no business with poverty but indiscipline and corruption have kept us down. We need Buhari to take us to the Promised Land. You have been accused of always travelling abroad. What do you go for outside Nigeria? It is not true that I travel often outside Nigeria. Those who have taken note of my movement will confirm that I have not made many trips outside Nigeria. If I have made any trip outside Nigeria since coming into office, it was for official reason and to bring in investors to invest in my state, which is in dire need of industrialisation particularly in the area of agriculture, where my state has comparative advantage. I'm always at home but I have been making contacts with investors to invest in Benue.
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| EDO GUBER CASE: IZE-IYAMU OBASEKI ENDS CASE IN APPEAL.COURT, AWAITS RULING | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 11:12 PM PDT By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin-City Legal fireworks dominated the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the September 28, 2016 governorship election in Edo State, Ize-Iyamu, at the Appeal Court in Benin-City, last week. The five-man panel of judges was led by Justice M.B Dongban-Mensem. Other members are Justices S. Tom Yakub, M.O. Bolaji-Yusuf, U.A. Ogakwu and Mohammed Mustapha. Ize-Iyamu is asking the appellate court to upturn the ruling of the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal, which, on Friday April 14, 2017, upheld the election of Governor Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The court was jam packed with senior lawyers leading the onslaught from both sides. Wole Olanipekun (SAN) led the Obaseki team, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) led that of the INEC while Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and Yusuf Ali led the teams of the APC and Ize-Iyamu/PDP respectively. Obaseki and his deputy, Comrade Philip Shaibu, were in court optimistic that they have the mandate of the people, while Ize-Iyamu and his running mate, John Yakubu, were hoping for a judicial miracle. The appellate court commenced proceedings by first dealing with the notice by Ize-Iyamu pursuant to Order 6 Rule 1, Court of Appeal Rules, 2016, and Section 36(1) of the Constitution for the correction/amendment of the lower court's record of his evidence-in-chief. Ize-Iyamu and Obasek He prayed for a leave of court to rely and use the evidence of the first appellant as recorded by Justice Gilbert Ngele (Member 1) of the trial tribunal instead of that of the tribunal's Chairman, Justice Ahmed Badamasi. The appellant also sought an order affirming the record of his evidence by Ngele, made on January 30, as the correct record of his evidence-in-chief at the lower court. Raising five grounds for the application to the appellate court contained an incorrect rendition of Ize-Iyamu's evidence by Badamasi, the appellant prayed for a leave of court to correct the said record of appeal and use the supplementary record of appeal they transmitted to the court. But that motion drew the ire of Olanipekun, Fagbemi and Ikpeazu, counsel to Obaseki, APC and INEC respectively. Olanipekun said the motion was academic and lacked substance, adding that what Ize-Iyamu wanted the court to allow was not comprehensible. According to him, Section 285 (4) of the Constitution indicates that the quorum of the lower tribunal consisted of the Chairman and one member, wondering why the appellant wanted to substitute the recording of the Chairman. Citing Section 41 (3) of the Electoral Act, he said oral evidence was forbidden except in cases where a witness was adopting his written position. The counsel averred that it was trite law for the appellant to request a substitution of the record of the Chairman of the Tribunal with that of Ngele, adding that the appellate court was bound by the proceedings written by Badamasi. His words: "The appellant has not moved any application and it is a misconception to submit the motions have been served on the respective judges. The justices, having delivered their judgements, how were they served? Where and when? With due respect to my Lordships, this court does not have jurisdiction to countenance or grant the applicants their request that the record of the evidence-in-chief of the first appellant be amended. Section 41 (3) of the Electoral Act forbids oral evidence…The appellants themselves, submitted in their main brief (page 35, paragraph 10.40) that no oral evidence is allowed after adoption of witnesses statements on oath. Briefs have been presented, notices argued. There was no grounds of appeal challenging the record. So, where would his Lordships situate the motion if granted? I submit that the application is academic and lacking in substance. The appeal is empty and of no legal value. What they want the record for is not stated. It is hanging in the air". INEC Counsel, Ikpeazu, took his turn, citing the case of Ngige vs Obi, which held that there was no way the record of proceeding by the Chairman would be substituted with that of a member, arguing that the members jottings were side notes. Counsel to APC, Fagbemi, concurred with the arguments of both counsel, urging the court to dismiss the application. Having heard the arguments, the five-man panel called for an hour break before ruling on the matter. On resumption of proceedings, Justice Dongban-Mensem held: "Having listened to the arguments canvassed by the lead counsel of the appellants and respondents, I hold that no exceptional circumstance has been shown to warrant the amendment of the record of the Tribunal as taken by the Chairman. I hereby dismiss this application". The ruling elicited jubilation from supporters of the APC inside the court. The court now entered into the substantive appeal filed by Ize-Iyamu. The appellant, in his appeal, argued that the decision of the Badamasi-led tribunal, which upheld Obaseki as governor lacked merit. Raising 41 grounds for appeal and nine issues for determination, he prayed the court to determine whether the trial tribunal was correct in its approach in considering and dismissing their case considering the defence of the respondents. Ize-Iyamu prayed the court to allow the appeal, upturn the judgment of the tribunal and grant the main reliefs sought pursuant to Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act. The appellant posited that the lower court unjustifiably destroyed, discredited, disbelieved and dismissed their case before considering the case put forward by the respondents before it. According to him, the tribunal wrongly discredited and disbelieved the testimonies of prosecution witnesses but believed and acted on the testimony of the respondents' witnesses, adding that the lower court did not properly evaluate the oral and documentary evidence placed at its disposal, which led to its erroneous conclusion to dismiss the petition. "The decision of the trial court was perverse, having erroneously ignored necessary materials while taking irrelevant and extraneous matters into consideration to reach its decision. It is in the interest of justice to allow this appeal." Olanipekun punctured the argument, urging the court to dismiss the appeal on the grounds that it lacked merit, noting that the crux of the petition, which was alleged non-compliance, was abandoned at the trial by the petitioner. He recalled that the petitioners raised three issues for determination viz: whether the lower court did not come to the right decision in holding that the orchestrated complaints mounted against Obaseki's return on the issue of how the voters' register were ticked was of no moment. "Whether the painstaking manner the lower court reviewed the presentation of the parties and came to its conclusion and findings can rightly be faulted, and whether the findings and conclusions of the lower court can be assailed", the counsel said. He said: "Therefore, the point being made is that the appellants have claimed before this court and the lower Tribunal that their case on non-compliance with the Electoral Act was made to ground the return of the first appellant (Ize-Iyamu). The entire case of the appellant is that there was irregularities and non compliance in certain polling units and wards complained of in the petition and when the elections in those areas are annulled, the computation based on the remainder of results for valid election would show that they are winners. Can this court nullify election in the affected areas complained of to ground the return of first appellant as having majority of lawful votes in the unaffected areas without a relief for nullification of the election being sought by the appellants in their notice of appeal? The obvious answer to this question is no, since this honourable court would lack jurisdiction to tamper with the results of the election without a relief for nullification of the election being sought and having not sought that relief, this court would also be without jurisdiction to grant the main relief in the notice of appeal for the return of the first appellant." The counsel to the respondent continued: "With respect to the appellants, their presentation both at the lower Tribunal and at the Court of Appeal is confusing and convulated. They have only central relief before this honourable court which is also ungrantable for diverse reasons including but not limited to the fact that: "Declaration of a petitioner as being validly elected in an election is not made as a matter of course, but is subject to constitutional, stator abs evidential imperatives, including evidence that the mandatory provision of Section 179 (2) of the Constitution regarding the number of votes scored in each local government area and that the prescribed geographical spread has been met and satisfied. There is no scintilla of evidence supplied by the appellants as to their meeting these constitutional requirements, and in the entire gamut of their brief, there is also no percentage the votes represent. From the pleadings of the appellants in their petition, which the respondent admitted, respondent polled 319,483 votes as against 253,173 voted polled by the first appellant. Thus, it would be illegal and illogical for the appellants to seek for the return of the first appellant as having been validly elected as governor. The client is not making any case for the return of the first appellant based on their having polled majority of lawful votes cast at the election, but basically, according to them, because the trial Tribunal unjustifiably destroyed, discredited, disbelieved and dismissed the appellants' case… The appellants made a half-hearted attempt to draw a table based on an abandoned/inconclusive ballot recount exercise falsely claiming that they own majority of lawful votes case. They have abandoned that line of presentation, finding fault with the Tribunal's judgment as the basis for trot return, rather than victory at the polls. Appellants have abandoned their brief altogether. On the premise of the foregoing, we urge the court to resolve this issue in favour of the respondents and against the appellants. Your Lordships are urged to uphold the preliminary objection, and on it alone, strike out this appeal; in the alternative, dismiss the appeal in its entirety." After hearing the arguments, Dongban-Mensem reserved judgment indefinitely. The court also reserved ruling on the cross appeal filed by Obaseki and the APC which faulted the lower tribunal for allowing the counting of ballot papers during the trial. Asked if his client will head to the Supreme Court to contest the motion that was dismissed by the Appeal Court, Ali said: "We will wait for our clients. Lawyers just don't act on their own. We work based on instructions and we have not had time to have meeting with our clients, may be after these proceedings. As a lawyer you win some you lose some. My attitude is that we have done our best, the court has done its own side. The ultimate of what happens lies with our client. I have no need to doubt the good faith of the court". On his part, Olanipekun said: "The ruling speaks for itself; a motion was brought, the Court of Appeal dismissed it, we went into the main appeal and it has been argued. The court has adjourned for judgment, let us await the judgment of the court". The appellate court is expected to deliver its judgment on the matter before the end of June 2017. Read more at: http://ift.tt/2rx0roU
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| Posted: 03 Jun 2017 10:27 PM PDT
A disgruntled man slammed a cup full of live bedbugs on a counter Friday afternoon inside Augusta City Center,Kansas,USA because he was denied benefits.
The bugs started moving around and spreading out into the office while also prompting the building's abrupt closure for the rest of the day, Kennebec Journal reported City said action was taken to try to contain and recapture all 100 or so bugs. City Center, which houses the city's municipal offices, closed shortly after the incident; and later Friday, a pest control contractor was in the building, spraying to try to kill any remaining bedbugs. Bridgeo said Augusta police were called immediately and located the man. Bridgeo said he signed a criminal complaint and trespass orders against him and he anticipated the man, whose identity was not immediately available Friday afternoon, would be charged with a crime.
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| Lady no 9-Scott Disick cosies up to topless model in London | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 10:12 PM PDT  Scott Disick may have changed cities, but he hasn't changed his ways as he enjoyed a night out in London on Saturday with a group of friends and a ninth woman – believed to be 21-year-old Australian model, Ruairi Luke. About 3.30AM, he invited two gorgeous women and a male friend back to an apartment before they stripped off and enjoyed a topless session on the balcony.   
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| HUMILITY HAS FOUGHT MANY BATTLES FOR ME SAYS TUFACE IDIBIA | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 09:42 PM PDT Tofarati Ige Innocent Ujah Idibia, aka 2face, is known all over the world as a singer. Many of his successful songs have broken records, so it's not surprising that he is regarded as one of the greatest African music artistes of his time. Apart from his music prowess, there is one other attribute that stands him out and makes people to speak well of him. That's his humility! Despite his superstar status, the African Queen crooner always has a smile on his face. And unlike many other entertainers who may never achieve half of what he has even in 10 lifetimes, 2face always obliges his fans whenever they approach him for pictures, autographs, handshakes and hugs. Little wonder that despite the scandals he has had in his career, his acceptability has not been affected. He is still one of the most loved artistes on the continent. Sunday Scoop ran into him recently and he said, "Humility is not an act or make-believe. It is who I am and what you see is what you get. I don't need to 'form' for anybody. I believe in myself and I believe that anybody who truly likes me would accept me as I am. Anyway, it is even better to be true to yourself because it would save you a lot of headaches. Sometimes, I read what some people write about me and I feel emotionally touched. Some people are ready to stake whatever they have to defend me; even if they don't know whether I'm guilty or not. It's not just about the music but maybe from the interactions they may have had with me. My humility has fought a lot of battles and I will always remain grateful to God and my fans." Copyright PUNCH.
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| KEMI OLUNLOYO’S CONTINUED DETENTION UNACCEPTABLE SAYS CPJ | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 09:27 PM PDT The West Africa Representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Mr. Peter Nkanga, in this interview with TOBI AWORINDE, denounces the continued detention of a blogger, Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, after over 78 days What is responsible for Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo's continued stay in prison? What has happened and the assertions I'm making are based on my interactions with her lawyers. Since the beginning of this dilemma, she has had three lawyers. What they told me is that the police took her from Ibadan (Oyo State) to Port Harcourt (Rivers State), where she was charged alongside another publisher of a local tabloid that republished what she had published. The letter that's causing all this havoc has to do with the Salvation Ministries pastor. So, the police charged her and this other journalist, Samuel Welson, at a magistrates' court. Then, both of them were granted bail on March 30. Immediately they were granted bail, the police rearrested both of them and charged them at the High Court for cybercrimes. They were rearrested at the court? Yes, they were arrested at the court. So, while they went to the Federal High Court to charge them, they (the police) decided to strike out the publisher who had republished the case and pursue Kemi (alone) at the Federal High Court. So, as I am speaking to you, Kemi has two cases: one at the magistrates' court and another one at the Federal High Court. Isn't that wrong? They are two different charges. They brought cybercrimes charges against her at the magistrates' court. The magistrates' court doesn't have the jurisdiction to try cybercrimes. So, they charged her at the Federal High Court under cybercrimes, but meanwhile, at the magistrates' court, they charged her under the Criminal Code. So, she has two cases, like I've explained. Meanwhile, the publisher only has one case, that is, the one at the magistrates' court. Now, let's fast-forward. With Kemi being tried for cybercrimes at the Federal High Court, she was granted bail, but the bail conditions were high, so she couldn't meet them. But eventually, as of May 11, she has met the conditions of the Federal High Court and this is according to her lawyers. In fact, one of her lawyers was telling me how he went to court on May 10, if I recall (correctly), and it was for her to sign the undertaking because how it works, from what I understand, is, after she has met all the conditions, she's meant to sign an undertaking that she will not jump bail. Can you take us through the conditions? I don't have them on hand because I don't have my computer, but it's online, if you Google the bail conditions. I believe it is about N1m and sureties who must have tax clearance. It has been documented. But she met the bail conditions, all of them, including the sureties and the money, according to her lawyers, who have been on her case. On May 11, she signed the undertaking and that undertaking was submitted to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court, Rivers State. The process is that the Rivers State DCR is now supposed to pass across a memo to the judge, saying, 'Okay, we have confirmed all the conditions that this particular suspect has presented, and therefore, now, judge, you can sign a release order.' But since Thursday, May 11, they have not released her. That is over three weeks that she has met all her conditions. Premium Times did a report today (Friday), where they spoke with the DCR and the DCR was trying to absolve herself, saying that they are still trying to confirm the conditions of the bail. For us, the Committee to Protect Journalists, that is unacceptable. How can a suspect who has met bail conditions for three weeks still be in prison because of some judicial bureaucracy, negligence or lacuna? It's unacceptable. So, if it's going to take the judiciary or the DCR one year, are you saying that for that one year, this lady should remain in prison custody? How many days after did Nnamdi Kanu meet very stringent bail conditions? Why didn't they say they were verifying those ones for three weeks? All the other governors and other people get released immediately after they are granted bail. Why three weeks? Is the issue of Omololu-Olunloyo getting arrested in Ibadan and being taken to Port Harcourt being challenged in any way? There are some things that you can always challenge. For example, these three weeks that she's been in detention, from my interactions with people, they should have already filed a suit at the high court challenging that illegal detention. But in terms of whether it is right or wrong for them to have taken her from Ibadan to Port Harcourt, one of the things I know, from other instances where people have been picked up from one state to another state, is that — like the police coming from Rivers State, for example — if they are going to Ibadan to pick her up, they must first of all liaise with the police in Ibadan. So, the police in Ibadan will be aware of the purpose for which they are picking her up, and then if there is an agreement, or at least an approval, they can then take her to Port Harcourt. I'm not sure if that was done because I'm not a lawyer. I'm not the one that's supposed to be challenging the legality of what they did in terms of picking her up. But what I am very comfortable to challenge is, first of all, we don't believe in criminal defamation. We believe that every form of defamation should only be civil. No journalist should be locked up for whatever he or she says. And if anybody has any grievance, there are other ways to seek redress — right of withdrawal and otherwise, but the last resort is to go to the court for civil damages. So, we're totally against imprisoning a journalist for expressing their opinion. Two, we are totally against her continued incarceration because, let's not forget, she was granted bail at the magistrates' court, which she met, and she has been granted bail at the Federal High Court. So, the issue now is, why is the judiciary seemingly being used as an arm of government of repression, whereby a journalist has remained in detention for over 78 days since March 13, when she was arrested in Ibadan? That is totally unacceptable. Let me tell you what those lawyers told me before I did my report about why she's being detained. They told me that the DCR said she had several case files in front of her and Kemi's case file came under, so she would have to treat all the other case files before it reaches Kemi's turn. So, she's not going to expedite action on her release. So, if the judiciary is overburdened and they don't have enough staff, is that why the suspect, a journalist or any other Nigerian citizen, should be held to ransom? It's wrong. You have raised some concerns in relation to the representation she's receiving. Is there any other lawyer you are petitioning to take up the case? No, CPJ doesn't do that. What the CPJ does is defend journalists' rights to report without fear of reprisal. We only freely defend journalists. We don't do lawyers; that's not our calling. We cannot look for lawyers for the people and we don't engage lawyers for journalists. We just condemn (injustice) and look for means of advocacy. Through our advocacy, we can contact people who might be willing to take it up. But we don't engage them. This is not our responsibility. The lawyers that Kemi is using are her lawyers that she got independently. So, what happens now? What will you do to help her regain her freedom? What we do is exactly what we are doing right now: keep her case in the limelight, keep people like yourselves engaged to report the truth about such situations. We keep making advocacy with authorities to say, 'This is not right. Release her.' We keep condemning the acts of criminal defamation in our statutory books. It should not be, in this day and age; journalists should not be imprisoned for what they say or write or for critical reports that might not be to the taste of one or two powerful individuals. That's what we do — advocacy to ensure that journalists have the right to report without fear of attacks, and if those attacks occur, we keep on denouncing such attacks and calling on those authorities or those responsible to do the right thing. Do you want to call the attention of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo or the Ministry of Justice? I spoke with the Attorney General of Rivers State. I called him on a Friday, a working day, and the Attorney General, who is the Commissioner for Justice in Rivers State, told me that he had closed for the day and that he would not speak to me. So, what I would simply say is that our authorities, the government, should understand that an attack on a journalist is not necessarily an attack on the individual, but an attack on the society's right to be informed. It's an attack on the (right to) freedom of expression, which is one on the things that the constitution guarantees. It's an attack on the people's right to have a say on issues that are of interest to them and that is wrong. I will definitely say that is wrong and in Kemi's matter, now I'm calling on the judiciary that it should never be a situation whereby because of, maybe, the inability or inefficiency of the judiciary to function adequately and properly, ordinary citizens — most especially journalists, who have a public obligation to the society — are kept in detention. Three weeks and counting is totally unacceptable
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| HOW MY PHYSIOTHERAPIST TORTURED MY 4-YR OLD WITH SON CEREBRAL PALSY | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 08:57 PM PDT How my 4-yr-old daughter with cerebral palsy was tortured by her physiotherapist —Mother Punch Newspapers / / 5 hours ago A mother and author of 'Diary of a Special Needs Mum,' Mrs. Bukola Ayinde, tells ARUKAINO UMUKORO about her pains on finding out that her four-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy was physically abused by her physiotherapist When was your daughter born and how did you feel when the doctor first told you she had cerebral palsy? I had my daughter, Oluwalonimi, on a Sunday morning, in December, 2012. It was an emergency Caesarean operation. The doctor said I had gestational hypertension and severe pre-eclampsia. The operation was successful; my daughter cried at birth and she was fine. Nimmy, as we fondly call her, weighed 1.2kg at birth and she was born premature at 31 weeks. She had to be placed in an incubator. She spent her first six weeks in an incubator. She was doing well until she had an apneic episode, which is a disorder that causes one to stop breathing briefly. Thereby she suffered loss of oxygen to the brain. At that moment I didn't realise there was any danger in what happened. By the time she left the hospital, she weighed 2.2kg and she was feeding through a feeding bottle. When my daughter was four months, I complained that she wasn't able to hold her head properly. The doctors said that being a premature baby, she may have delayed milestones, and they told me to be patient. My husband's aunt saw my daughter and insisted I take her back for a proper medical checkup. An MRI scan was carried out on her brain and the result came back as normal. We were hopeful that she would catch up with her milestones, but the doctors diagnosed cerebral palsy and treated her in that line. That was where the journey began. How have you been coping with raising a child with special needs? I spoke with two pediatricians who said there was no cure and that I should stick to physiotherapy. I bought books and I read everything I could lay my hands on. We started taking her for physiotherapy at Physical Therapy Centre, Lagos. I came across a book written by a special needs mum. Based on her story, I got in touch with her child's therapist. The lady recommended I take Nimmy to a specialised school in Lagos. Nimmy was there for six weeks. Then I read another book about a woman who took her son to a school for children with cerebral palsy in Hungary. I contacted the school and registered her for their summer programme. This programme was for a month, but it was very impactful. What led to your introduction to the physiotherapist whom you said maltreated your daughter? When we got back to Nigeria, we knew we couldn't afford to keep Nimmy in the school in Hungary, because the one-month trip was very expensive. We also knew that going once a year will not help her condition. Someone then introduced me to a therapist who helped the way she could, but she told me I needed to get a very good physiotherapist. Coincidentally, I read about a special needs mum who shared her son's success story in a church's magazine. I got in touch with the church; I collected the woman's telephone number and told her I needed a very good physiotherapist. She recommended Bisola Abayomi Ojo. I told my daughter's therapist that someone recommended Bisola to me. She said she knew Bisola and that she was very good at her job. She said I should convince my husband to suspend going to Hungary for two years and dedicate that money to paying Bisola. She assured me that I would see a great improvement with Nimmy. However, she told me the reason she had not referred Bisola to me earlier was because Bisola refused to work with a child with special needs that she had referred to her. She said Bisola didn't want to work with her because they had earlier had a fallout while working together with a client's child. By that time, I had worked with several therapists and I knew that when one had more than one therapist working with a child, there was bound to be some form of misunderstanding. So I didn't let that bother me. I spoke with my speech therapist, who also mentioned she also had a fallout when he and Bisola worked together with a client's child. Bisola started working with Nimmy in 2014. She was dedicated to her job. She was the first therapist that gave us a monthly report about our daughter. She would educate us about feeding, nurturing and overall wellbeing. Were there any time before the CCTV footage discovery in 2016 that you felt something was not right with how she was handling your daughter? No. The therapy started at home and she never showed any sign of aggressiveness. In fact, you could describe her as sweet girl. I became an ardent supporter and a friend. Before we made any decision about Nimmy, we would ask for Bisola's opinion. Early in 2016, I started noticing that my daughter was withdrawn, she stopped smiling. I was told by her caregiver that she was not responding in school and she had stopped attempting to answer questions. There were times we would get to school in the morning and she would start crying. She couldn't express herself. Apart from her sounds, numbers and colours, she couldn't say anything more. We had to read her body language to understand her needs. As a toddler, Nimmy was always smiling and playful, but gradually she had become non-responsive. Also, early that year, my husband and I decided we couldn't afford to pay Bisola three times a week anymore. So, we told her we were going to reduce it to two times a week. She requested that we give her one more month to work with Nimmy before we reduced the number of sessions. Bisola used to have therapy sessions with my daughter in her school. In June 2016, Nimmy's proprietress at Supreme House Montessori School requested that my husband and I come for a meeting in the school. When we got to the school, she told us that Bisola had manhandled our daughter. At the back of my mind, I felt it was all exaggerated, but when I watched the CCTV footage, I was sad; I didn't know how to express my feelings. We watched an hour session where Bisola tortured our daughter. It was heart-breaking to see my daughter treated by a health worker in such a barbaric act. I watched my daughter as she fell down several times hitting her head on the tiles. There were times she hit her head on the edge of the wooden bed before falling to the ground. Her physiotherapist slapped her three times; the third time with her cell phone. She left her head hanging upside for five minutes. She twisted my daughter's hands several times; at a point she sat on her hands, at another point she tied her hands behind her head. I watched as my daughter fell from her chair while her neck was stuck in between the space at the vertical back rest and the flat wood used for sitting down. I watched on as this lady typed on her phone 90 per cent of the time, only taking some time off to torture my daughter. She took out time to take her selfie, up to five times. After we watched the recording, my heart bled. My husband could not control his tears. He was bent over in agony. I watched him cry and I envied him. I envied him because he could cry, but I could not; I was numb. I am sure the proprietress looked at me and thought to herself that, "This woman is strange, she couldn't even cry." What were the thoughts going through your mind after you saw the CCTV footage and what did you do? I have to say this, a special needs mum is a broken woman. There is nothing that tears a woman apart than seeing her child helpless and considered challenged and there is little that she can do. On a daily basis, it takes away one's energy, self-esteem and, if one is not careful, one's sanity. I kept asking myself, what if the proprietress was not at her desk and her eyes did not go to the TV at that time? This could have gone on for a long time without us knowing what was happening to Nimmy. I got home and kept thinking, where did I go wrong? I asked the nanny that follows my daughter to school why Bisola was alone with Nimmy. She said Bisola asked her to step out of the room that my daughter was not cooperating because the nanny was there. My husband and I took Nimmy to see Prof. Afolabi Lesi, a paediatric neurologist at the University of Lagos. He told us he was worried about the number of times she hit her head, but it was too late for an MRI. An MRI should have been done around the period the abuse was done to determine if there was any damage to the brain. Bisola was due to travel for her Mandela Washington programme two days later, but I did not know her house address and I knew that because she had a valid US Visa, if I had alerted her at that time, she would run. We kept quiet and allowed her to finish her programme and come back to the country. The truth was we didn't really know how to handle the matter. When you confronted her with the CCTV footage, what was her reaction? My husband and I decided she should come over to our house with her husband for a meeting. She said she couldn't come with her husband because they had issues. I asked her to come with her family member, but she said she had none in Nigeria. I then asked her to come with her pastor. She replied that she was a Catholic and she couldn't come with a priest. Finally, I asked her to come with a friend; but she said her only friend had relocated to the US last year. She asked if she could come alone. We told her that wasn't possible. It became obvious she was playing games with us and we decided to report the matter to the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board of Nigeria. When I showed the Registrar, Mrs. Akanle, the video, she was very disturbed. She immediately requested that we arrest Bisola. When we arrived at the first police station at Shogunle, we were told we should go to the nearest police station to her house. The Divisional Police Officer, being a woman, was enraged when she watched the video. She gave us some of her officers to follow us to Bisola's house. When Bisola discovered that there were police officers at her house, she locked herself up for more than three hours. She called me on the phone pleading. When she refused to open the iron barricade to her house, I got scared; I thought she was going to harm herself. I called her and said I wasn't going to press charges, that she should come out of the house. Finally, she came out when her husband got back from work. By the time we got to the police station, it was already night time and I was tired. I had been on my feet for hours. The DPO wanted to lock her up for the weekend; but both husband and wife started begging. The husband said he would stand in for her to come in every morning. Why did you decide to share your story almost a year after it first happened? People have asked me why I took so long to come out and talk about it, and why I dropped the charges. I had to make a quick decision. My daughter was at home with two nannies that I knew I could no longer work with. I had to go home and sit down with my daughter. That was why I dropped the charges. So I handed her (Bisola) over to the Registrar of Medical Rehabilitation Therapist Board. What did the board do about the case? A panel was set up and Bisola said she had suffered from depression and ill health. It was decided that her practicing license be withdrawn for three months. She was to work in two general hospitals without pay and also undergo a psychiatric evaluation. A few weeks later I was told she had taken permission to travel to the US to seek medical attention. I was told not to worry because she couldn't practice anywhere in the world without a referral from their office. A few months later, I met with a disability management advocate who watched the CCTV recording. She was the one who informed me that Bisola was actually doing a master's degree programme. When I went back to Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board, I realised they had not been in touch with her since she left for medical treatment. The matter had gone cold. But they said they would get in touch with her. But, after I had waited for almost two months for something to be done, and I didn't hear from them, I knew I had to go to the press and tell my story because that was the only way we could find her. How have you been coping since that unfortunate incident? I withdrew my daughter from school. I took all her Individualised Education Programmes and drew up a new one for her. I asked my friends who had children within her age bracket to give me their children's curriculum; I drew up a timetable for my daughter and I started home schooling her. I employed an educated lady to work with her. I also employed a school teacher to come in three times a week. Gradually, with love and attention, my daughter blossomed again. I must say, I have a very supportive husband who loves his children dearly. This year, we were encouraged to put her back in school. She goes to school three times a week and she is doing well. I am working on storybooks that teach children about disability and also the importance of showing empathy to children with disability. I pray this becomes a subject that would be taught in schools. People should not demonise disability, it is not a curse; it is a medical condition. Let's show some love. Copyright PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng.com
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| Posted: 03 Jun 2017 08:57 PM PDT Peter Dada There are strong indications that another round of crisis will break out in the All Progressives Congress as members of the party have insisted that the Ondo State Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, should be removed. The embattled chairman was purportedly suspended by the party's state executive committee last Thursday, following his alleged lackadaisical attitude towards party activities. This was contained in a statement by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Abayomi Adesanya. According to the statement, a three-man fact-finding disciplinary committee was set up to investigate Kekemeke. Following that, the executive committee appointed the Deputy Chairman of the party, Ade Adetimehin, as acting chairman. Reacting to the development, Kekemeke said he remained the chairman, while describing the action of the executive committee as scandalous. The embattled chairman in a statement issued on Friday said, "Sincerely, I wish I did not have to react to this remote-controlled, illegal and morally reprehensible conduct of some rancorous elements in the state executive, who had on many occasions travelled this ignoble path without success." A source in the party told SUNDAY PUNCH that Kekemeke's status in the party had caused rancour among the party members and leadership with some insisting he should be replaced. "Kekemeke will be removed because he has shown that he has nothing to do with Akeredolu's government. How can a party chairman separate himself from the state government controlled by his party? That means that he should not be trusted again," he said. Adetimehin, however, said concerning the alleged crisis, "We have no crisis in our party. Anything that happens in our party is a family affair and would be settled internally." Meanwhile, the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, on Friday said his administration will present the 2017 budget to the Ondo State House of Assembly within the next two weeks. Former Governor Olusegun Mimiko was unable to present the budget before his tenure ended due to a crisis that rocked the state's legislature. Copyright PUNCH.
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| BOKO HARAM KILLS 21 IN BORNO | Mr Olumide's Blog Posted: 03 Jun 2017 08:42 PM PDT At least 21 persons have been reportedly killed in two separate Boko Haram attacks in villages near Chibok in Borno State. Chibok Hassan, a Chibok resident, told TheCable that attacks happened on Sunday and Wednesday. According to Hassan, the insurgents first struck at Kaya, a village 27 km from Chibok, causing residents to desert their homes. He said, "There is no single soul remaining there (Kaya). The Boko Haram members came in the evening with their motorcycles, bicycles and started firing at everyone in sight. "They burnt many houses. Those who were fortunate ran away, but those who couldn't escape were attacked. All the villagers have moved out of the village. "People did not hear about the killings because the village is not accessible. It is located inside the bush." Hassan said two days after the incident, the attackers returned to a village close to Gumsri, a Borno community, where 14 persons were allegedly killed. "Within two days, they returned and attacked the next village close to Gumsri which acts as a sort of roadblock between us and Boko Haram. "As it is, all the villagers in those communities have ran away, they have packed their belongings and come to Chibok. So many attacks and innocent lives have been lost in Damboa LGA but it is usually not reported. "For us in Chibok, we are living in fear because that it is the only place that has been a roadblock against them. Some people that cannot withstand the situation are even moving to Maiduguri which is safer for them," he added. On whether there are no soldiers on the ground during the attacks, he said the soldiers around found it difficult to get to the place of the attacks "because of the far distance from where they are to the village." "Even with the presence of a brigade, the problem the security people face here is that mostly, the communities attacked are under Damboa council but the soldiers are closer to Chibok," he added. The military spokesperson, Sani Usman, did not confirm the report, as calls made to his telephone were not answered and he did not also reply the text message sent. Copyright PUNCH.
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My head feels wobbly.
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