Thursday 19 November 2015

105 soldiers reportedly go missing after Boko Haram attack

105 soldiers of the 157 Battalion are reportedly missing, following an attack from Boko Haram insurgents at Gudunbali, Borno State, on Wednesday, November 18.
Premium Times reports that military sources revealed that the soldiers and their commanding officer went missing after the onslaught.
The report further stated that the insurgents captured a T-72 tank and several artillery weapons from the unit.
Eight vehicles and a truck loaded with 60,000 rounds of AA ammunition and three artillery pieces, were also stolen by the insurgents.
A military source was quoted to have said: “Gudunbali was attacked this morning and some weapons were captured from the battalion. Two officers and 105 soldiers are still missing.”
“They captured a T-72 tank from the unit and some artillery weapons were also captured. The commanding Officer (CO) of the battalion is yet to be seen but no one has been confirmed dead yet.”

Ex-Permanent Secretary in EFCC custody over N500m SURE-P fraud

The former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Nkechi Ejele, is the latest guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Ejele was interrogated on Thursday, by the EFCC for her role in the alleged N500 million misapplication of funds meant for the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
The SURE-P funds was appropriated to the Ministry between 2013 and 2014.
Ejele was one of the permanent secretaries that was sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari last week.
Premium Times reports that Ejele arrived the headquarters of the agency at about 10am for interrogation.
She is expected to be admitted to administrative bail pending when she would be formally charged for the alleged offence.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Facebook activates “SAFETY CHECK” feature in Nigeria following Yola bombing

Facebook is trying to contribute their ‘e-quota’ to safety management and responses during tragedies and, no thanks to the untamed bouts of insurgence in Nigeria, we’ve marked the rooster.
Facebook has activated its “Safety Check” feature for the first time in Nigeria, after a bombing likely carried out by Boko Haram killed more than 30 late on Tuesday, in Yola.
“We’ve activated Safety Check again after the bombing in Nigeria this evening,” co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on the site.
Facebook yola
The social network had come under criticism from those caught up in last Thursday’s blasts in Beirut that they were not offered the service but those in Friday’s Paris attacks were.
The tool allows users to check whether friends are safe after attacks or natural disasters such as earthquakes.
Zuckerberg said at the weekend the feature would be used more widely in the future.
Tuesday night’s bombing at a crowded lorry park in Yola, northeast Nigeria, was the first attack this month and left at least 32 dead and some 80 others injured.
The explosion was another typical hallmark of Boko Haram supposed Islamists, who have repeatedly hit civilian “soft targets” in their six years of insurgency.
About 17,000 people have been reportedly killed and also about 2.6 million citizens have been made homeless by the violence in that period, with suicide and bomb attacks an almost daily occurrence in the Northern Nigeria.
SOURCE: vivanaija

Diezani Alison-Madueke’s plea for mercy

Diezani-696x451Finally, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s Petroleum Resources minister until six months ago, seeks to be understood by Nigerians. The former highflying minister, one of the most influential in the Goodluck Jonathan administration, seems to be begging Nigerians for forgiveness, or at least for some slack in their criticism (or is it hatred of her guts?). Of course, Madueke did not actually ask Nigerians to forgive her. Those are not her exact words, but the intention is quite clear in the series of conversations she has had in the last couple of weeks with celebrity journalist, Dele Momodu. She seems to have come to a belated realisation of thatAchebean warning to all misguided leaders that nobody wins a war against their own people.
Nigerians have in the last several months been treated to salacious tales of the former minister’s attempt to escape the law, even when there was no pending indictment against her or before her actual arrest in the United Kingdom. But the story out there was that she had been faking ill-health, specifically a life-threatening battle with cancer of the breast. This was after all attempts by her, the rumour mill had it, to have an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari were allegedly rebuffed by the then president-elect. Jonathan was hardly out of office before Madueke bade the government goodbye, leaving for the United Kingdom. She was suddenly away from the public gaze. For a woman who appeared to relish the spotlight, her absence was immediately obvious. Shortly after would the cancer rumour surface. Nobody had any proof of this or further news of her until she was suddenly flung back into the spotlight by news of her arrest in the UK.
Aggrieved Nigerians felt vindicated that they had been proven right about their long held view that Mrs. Alison-Madueke had corruptly enriched herself during her time in office. This while hundreds of millions of her country people suffered abjectly as a direct consequence of the looting unleashed on the Nigerian treasury by she and her ilk. Although a public officer she lived and conducted herself like royalty on Nigeria’s bill. She travelled by chartered flight with family members, Nigerians heard. A lot was said of and about her but she appeared to scorn the rabble rousing she must have taken complaints and allegations against her for. She simply had no time for Nigerians, not even to ‘set the record straight’ as some of her colleagues in the public eye would say.
All of this until her infamous arrest in the UK, followed by lurid tales of extravagant living. But as an alibi, the Madueke family employed the services of a lawyer to state their side of the story. It seemed then that her thick skin was beginning to soften up. Having denied all the allegations swirling about her, her attorney then let it out that her presence in the UK was to attend to her health that was being ravaged by cancer. Now it was official. While this ‘official’ revelation appeared to win her some sympathy, the vast majority of Nigerians were definitely not sold on the cancer story. It appeared to them a sob-tale directed at winning sympathy for one of those who didn’t care if they lived or died. There was no touch of remorse in Mrs. Madueke’s rebuttal of the allegations Nigerians had made against her. She appeared to want their sympathy while trying to show that she had been right and they all had been wrong all along. Her alibi would not wash for many. But it appeared to have opened a window through which she could speak with the world.
It is in an apparent attempt to build on this that the Dele Momodu angle entered the picture. In the first part of that encounter between the journalist and the ex-minister that took place in a London hideaway, the latter was portrayed as a reluctant interviewee whose minders would rather not see hold the interview. The whole encounter was made to look like a chance occurrence rather than the scripted plot it is turning out to be. Momodu succeeded in getting Nigerians to believe, even if they didn’t accept, that Madueke was indeed an ailing woman. His description of her appearance contrasted radically from what Nigerians knew of the woman. Yet, it looked like she would leave everything at the point in which her meeting with Momodu ended in London without any further desire to convince anyone.
It seems thereafter that Mrs. Madueke was convinced of the positive effect of that bit of her story Momodu tantalised the world with. It won sympathy for her surely, even if some of it sounded quite tongue-in-cheek. And so she went for an encore. Her surrogates put a call through to Momodu fixing a meeting. This time they agreed to what amounts to a more involved interview even if, according to Momodu, no recording device was permitted. Her shrivelled looks that Momodu only described in the first interview is now accompanied with at least one graphic image that has gone ‘viral’, to borrow Momodu’s own words about the social media impact of the first interview.
She debunked all allegations of corruption and alleged romance with Jonathan and her cat and mouse relationship with Patience. Truly, no one who knew Alison-Madueke would not feel some pity for her. She is indeed a mere shadow of her vivacious self.
Her new look is a resounding rebuke of any primitive acquisition of wealth. It is a sad reminder of the vanity that is all material possession, including the wanton fixation on so-called good looks or beauty. Ultimately what matters in life are those little things that money can only pretend to buy: the love of those who matter to us including those we serve as public office holders, good health and the peace of mind that comes with all of these.   Mrs. Diezani sees now that the opinion, if not the love, of the ordinary people matter.
For too long she and a few like her in power treated the voice of the people with little or no respect. For too long, she saw no purpose in showing herself amenable to public opinion. All of that makes her latest desire to be seen in a better light look a bit too belated. Many are already fixed in their opinions. And justifiably so. As they argue, if Mrs. Madueke wants their sympathy she first must give back to Nigerians what they believe she has taken. Her alibi is neither here nor there for as long as many see her as a beneficiary of the inhuman Nigerian system that has no respect for the ordinary people.
What Nigerians want is justice, not the death of Mrs. Madueke.
SOURCE: Vangaurdonline

Tuesday 17 November 2015

Being a woman is difficult, I never thought it would come to this – Transgender, Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner

Retired American athlete, Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner who has successfully transformed from male to female has said ‘she’ never thought being a woman would come to a situation where the hardest part is trying to figure out what to wear.
The 66-year-old reality TV personality at the recently concluded annual ‘Glamour Women of the Year Awards’, told Buzzfeed that it was incredibly inspiring being a woman.

While it is generally believed that most women will tell you that some of the most difficult things about being female is childbirth, pregnancy, menopause and period pains, the transgender, who has been a woman for a mere six months says the most difficult thing about being a woman is finding something to wear.
Caitlyn said, “The hardest part about being a woman is figuring out what to wear. It’s always that way; I never thought it would come to this.

“I had really no sense of style. Everyone around me in my family had the sense of style.
“I learned as much as I possibly could, but, it’s more than that. I’m kind of at this point in my life where I’m trying to figure this womanhood thing out.
“It is more than hair, makeup, clothes, and all that kind of stuff. There’s an element here that I’m still kind of searching for.
“And I think that’ll take a while. Because I think as far as gender, we’re all on a journey. We’re all learning and growing about ourselves. And I feel the same way too,” she added.

SOURCE: dailypostng

Thursday 12 November 2015

Supreme Court halts Saraki’s trial

FILE PHOTO: Senate President Bukola Saraki entering the chamber

The Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of the trial of the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
Mr. Saraki is facing a 13-count corruption charge at the tribunal. He denies the allegation of false asset declaration and graft.
Two High Courts and a Court of Appeal had earlier rejected his request to quash the charges.
Before doing doing so, the court of appeal halted the case briefly to allow it take a decision.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court also said the corruption case against Mr. Saraki “should tarry a while” pending the conclusion of an appeal he brought before it.
The Supreme Court assured it would consider the matter speedily.
SOURCE: Premiumtimesng

Celebrating Diwali

Fireworks lifght the nights sky near the Neasden Temple in Gibbons Park, Neasden, north west London, to mark Diwali festival.

Diwali, the festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains in India and around the world, is dedicated to the triumph of goodness over evil and knowledge over ignorance. It honours the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, and the legend of Rama and Sita. Festivities include decorating houses and public spaces with thousands of lights, candles and colourful designs. Fireworks, family gathering and gift giving also form part of the celebrations. We take a look at the best pictures of Diwali around the world.

Significance of Diwali
Every day of Diwali represents the conquest of good over evil. The word Diwali is made of two words; deep (lamp or diyas) andavali (row), which means a line or a row of lamps.  During the festival of Diwali lamps are lit in every home and workplace. That is why this festival is also known as the ‘Festival of Lights’.

So how to celebrate Diwali in a spiritually correct way?
 When we shop for new clothes we can buy clothes like sārī for ladies and kurtā-pyjāmā or dhoti for men, long skirts for girls andkurta-pyjama for boys. Wearing such sāttvik clothes helps to imbibe more positivity.
Giving gifts to friends and families is a new trend, which is unnecessary. However if we still wish to gift then we can choose gifts like items used for ritualistic worship, books on Spirituality, etc. When we indulge in such practices there are expectations from each other.
Rather than ordering commercially, if possible we can try to make sweets, snacks or food at home, using pure ghee and fresh products. Thus we can ensure purity in the food we consume.
If we wish to have a get-together we can organise a pūjā rather than a party.
On the three days of Diwali starting Narak Chaturdashi we can wake up at dawn and have a bath with oil massage (abhyangasnā). Such a bath increases our Sattva component by 0.00001% compared to regular bath on other days. By applying ubtan the sensitivity of the body to absorb Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness) increases.
Music like bhajans or shlokas can be played rather than playing noisy music which spreads Raja-Tama vibrations and pollutes the atmosphere.
Flowers like marigold can be used to make a garland along with mango leaves and hung at the main door.
Rangolī with sattvik designs can be drawn outside the door. Drawing rangoli designs like lotus, swāstik, conch, etc help to attract positive vibrations.
If we wish to celebrate Diwali as a community we can organise a rangoli competition, bhajan singing, etc. rather than games like lotto, food stalls, jewellery stalls, etc.
We can devote time to prayers and chanting during the days of Diwali as it will help us to absorb the Divine Consciousness(Chaitanya) present in the atmosphere.
The lady of the house should do aukshan (waving of lit lamps) for the other members of the family.
Nowadays many people light wax candles as they are easier to handle. However do you know that wax does not emit positive vibrations ? At twilight we can light oil lamps made of clay rather than acrylic or glass to illuminate our homes. We can avoid artificial lighting like relay of electric bulbs or lanterns in the shape of a Star or Chinese lanterns
We can discourage children from lighting fire-crackers as they are a waste of money and the smoke that is emitted pollutes the atmosphere and can be hazardous to health.

Conclusion
 We pray that you will be able to experience the joy of this Diwali by celebrating it in a spiritually correct way, deriving maximum benefit of the Divine Consciousness (Chaitanya). 

SOURCE:Telegraph.co.uk