We Almost Broke Up In 2005 –Midnight Crew

This year marks the 15th year that ace gospel group, Midnight Crew, was formed. In a celebratory mood, the group takes a trip down memory lane and remembers how they almost broke up about four years after it was formed unknown to them that God had a lot in stock for them.

The spokesperson for the group, Mike Abdul, shared the story of how the group was almost disbanded.

He said, “Sometime in 2005, we felt that we had spent four years together and things were looking tight and difficult for us. We decided that we should do something about it by letting everybody go. We called a meeting which was meant to disband the group but as God would have it, we found ourselves praying and after the prayer session, we did not discuss about disbanding the group but making it better. God helped us. Imagine if we had disbanded Midnight Crew in 2005, we did not know that we were going to receive a song that would make the whole nation proud in 2008. Igwe was released seven years after we formed Midnight Crew.”

SOURCE: Nigerianmonitor

Nigeria Loses 100kg Of Gold Daily To Illegal Miners – Kayode Fayemi

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi, has challenged security agencies in the country to come up with technology that could be deployed to track the use of explosives for which permits were given in the country.

The minister who disclosed that part of his tasks as minister in charge of solid minerals development is to sign explosives permits for use in quarries and mining sites, said it is important to also track their use as part of efforts to curtail activities of insurgent groups and violent crimes in the country.

Mr. Fayemi who spoke as a guest lecturer at the National Defence College, Abuja on Friday, said there should be a technological approach to tracking the use of explosives by those who sought and obtained permit for its use so that it does not end up in the hands of those who would use it for criminal purposes.

The Minister also assured the gathering that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is committed to ensuring that the Ajaokuta Steel company works, in order to boost the country’s technological development.

“This will also help us in the areas of arms and ammunitions. And the defence industry will also benefit from this when we get it right”, he added.

The Minister who spoke on “Solid Minerals and National Development in Nigeria”, lamented that the country was losing a lot to illegal mining activities, being carried out by some citizens aided by some foreigners.

He said the ministry was collaborating with relevant security agencies to ensure that the ugly trend is stopped.

Specifically, he pointed out that about 100 kilogramme of gold leaves the country everyday without any record, adding that there is need to deploy technology, build capacity of staff of the ministry and get the required assistance from the security agencies to check the situation.

He disclosed that part of the efforts of the ministry is to also educate security agents on how to identify these minerals.

“Many of them do not recognise these minerals. So, in most cases they do not know the value of what the person is taking out illegally.

“so we are partnering with security agencies, the customs, immigration, police, civil defence, to assist us.

“Once we get the regulatory frame work right and create a conducive environment for investment to thrive, we shall witness huge investment in the sector, create wealth and employment opportunities,” he added.

SOURCE: Nigerianmonito

South Africa court orders Zuma to repay house costs

South African President Jacob Zuma failed to "uphold, defend and respect" the constitution when he ignored the order of an anti-corruption watchdog to repay some of the $16m spent to upgrade his private home, the Constitutional Court has ruled.

After delivering a stinging rebuke to the scandal-plagued leader on Thursday, the court gave Zuma 105 days to repay the "reasonable cost" of non-security-related upgrades to his sprawling rural residence at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.

The unanimous ruling by the 11-judge court is the latest twist in a six-year saga over Nkandla that now adds financial damage to the political wounds it has already inflicted on Zuma.

After the ruling, the top six leaders of Zuma's ruling African National Congress said they would meet to discuss the outcome of the case, a party spokeswoman said.

The decision was a vindication of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, a constitutionally mandated watchdog who was described by chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng as a "Biblical David" fighting against the Goliath of corruption.

On Thursday, Madonsela said early estimates indicated Zuma might have to repay the government at least $680,000. 

The uncompromising nature of the verdict - Mogoeng described it as a "profound lesson" for South Africa's young democracy - piles more pressure on Zuma, already feeling the heat from a string of scandals.

Standing outside the court in downtown Johannesburg, opposition leader Mmusi Maimane told reporters Zuma should be removed from office and said he would table a parliamentary motion to have him impeached.

Zuma, a 73-year-old Zulu traditionalist, has been under fire since December, when his abrupt sacking of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene sent the rand into a tailspin.

Judicial independence

The rand firmed to a near-four month high against the dollar as Mogoeng delivered his ruling.

The African National Congress' majority in parliament is likely to give political cover against any attempt to impeach Zuma, but the ruling may embolden opponents within the ruling party to challenge him.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ayesha Kajee, a political analyst, said the ruling signalled "the beginning of the end" for the president "but not quite his deathbed yet".

Kajee also said the opposition did not have "sufficient numbers in parliament to impeach" Zuma, who she said still enjoyed support from rural voters. 

But for many South Africans, Kajee said the court's decision was a "sigh of relief that the judiciary is still independent in this country". 

The 2014 report on the upgrades to Zuma's residence made clear that he should pay for anything not security-related, in particular the cattle enclosure, amphitheatre, visitor centre, chicken run and swimming pool.

Zuma refused to comply, ordering parallel investigations by the public works and police ministries that largely exonerated him, based on declarations that included calling the swimming pool a fire-fighting reservoir.

In her report, Madonsela said the Treasury and police should work out the "reasonable cost" of the final cost of the five items she deemed non-essential.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera

How the FBI Cracked the iPhone Encryption and Averted a Legal Showdown With Apple

An urgent meeting inside FBI headquarters little more than a week ago is what convinced federal law enforcement officials that they may be able to abandon a brewing legal fight with tech giant Apple, sources told ABC News today.

In the days after the December 2015 massacre in San Bernardino, California, which killed 14 people and wounded 22 others, the iPhone left behind by one of the shooters, Syed Farook, was secretly flown to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, sources said.

The FBI had been unable to review the phone’s contents due to a security feature that -- after 10 failed attempts to enter the 4-digit access code -- would render the phone’s files forever inaccessible.

By last month, the FBI was at an impasse with Apple, which fought a court order telling the company to help authorities bypass the security feature. Apple maintained the U.S. government was asking it to create a "backdoor" into its devices that would endanger the privacy of hundreds of millions of iPhone users around the world.

"It is in our view the software equivalent of cancer," Apple CEO Tim Cook recently told "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir.

But the FBI insisted it had a responsibility to access any data potentially relevant to the deadly terror attack in San Bernardino.

“I don’t know whether there is evidence of the identity of another terrorist on the phone, or nothing at all. But we ought to be fired in the FBI if we didn’t pursue that lead,” FBI Director James Comey told a House panel in February.

As the legal battle played out, the FBI appealed to cyber experts around the world for help.

“We’ve talked to anybody who will talk with us about it, and I welcome additional suggestions,” Comey said during a House hearing four weeks ago.

In response, countless companies and hackers -- including what one source familiar with matter called many “whackadoodles” -- came forward claiming to have a way into Farook’s phone, sources said.

But nothing appeared viable. That is, until a company that the FBI has yet to identify came forward about two weeks ago. After initial contacts with the FBI, company officials flew to Washington to lay out their solution, sources told ABC News.

On Sunday, March 20, in a meeting at FBI headquarters, company officials demonstrated their technology on another iPhone. Convinced it would work, the FBI greenlighted applying it to Farook’s phone, sources said.

This past weekend -- just days ago -- the attempt was made, and "the FBI has now successfully retrieved the data stored on" the phone, according to the Justice Department.

Forensic examiners are now attempting to exploit potential evidence from the phone. It’s unclear if anything of investigative value has been found yet.

The FBI has refused to identify the company that offered the solution, with one source citing a “mutual agreement.” Nevertheless, Apple did not play a part in finding the solution, company officials said.

As for whether the solution might be shared with Apple, it’s a decision that will be made through consultation with multiple federal agencies, sources said.

One federal law enforcement source said it’s important to emphasize that the ultimate solution identified in this case was not found despite the lawsuit filed against Apple, but because of it.

The solution was “generated as a result of the media attention,” the source said.

At the same time, the source said federal authorities believe the end to the current litigation should not end the national discussion about balancing the interests of security and privacy.

“Our need for public safety and our need for privacy are crashing into each other, and we have to sort that out as a people,” Comey said recently. “This world some people imagine where nobody can look at your stuff is a world that will have public safety costs.”

SOURCE:abcnews.go.com

Kidnapped Army Colonel Found Dead In Kaduna

The kidnapped senior Army officer serving at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry Jaji in Kaduna State, Colonel Samaila Inusa, has been found dead.

A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, said “the Nigerian Army wishes to regrettably inform the public that Colonel Samaila Inusa who was kidnapped on Sunday 27th March 2016, was found dead today (Tuesday) at about 6.00pm.

https://twitter.com/HQNigerianArmy/status/714881041048215556/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

RCE:

Foreign exchange risk is now a major component of airfares on Nigerian routes, the country managers of top foreign airlines have revealed.

Investigations have revealed that the airlines operating on international routes in the country had increased airfares by as much as 100 per cent as a result of the development.

Foreign airlines are also stating that they may have no choice than to sack about 2,000 Nigerian Airline workers over their inability to source enough forex for their operations

A survey of all the major Nigerian routes flown by the foreign airlines in the country showed that the cost of return tickets had been increased by between 80 per cent and 120 per cent of the previous fares, depending on the carrier, time of booking and the season.

The survey cuts across Nigeria-North America routes, Nigeria-South Africa route, and Nigeria-Europe routes. Airfares on the Lagos-London, Abuja-London, Lagos-New York, Lagos-Atlanta, Lagos-Houston, and Lagos-Johannesburg routes were examined.

Findings also showed that local airlines operating international flights, especially Arik Air and MedView Airlines, had increased their airfares.

For instance, airfares on the Lagos-London and Abuja-London routes now cost an average of N380,000 for the economy class seat, as against the average of N200,000 a year ago on the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways. This represents an increase of 111 per cent.

Similarly, on Air France, an economic ticket on the Lagos/Abuja-London routes now goes for about N360,000, while Lufthansa German Airlines charges N380,000. These represent an increase of 80 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively, when compared with an average fare of N200,000 on the routes a year ago.

A Business Class ticket now goes for as high as N3m as against the N1.5m a year ago on the Lagos-London route.

On the Lagos-Atlanta and Lagos-Houston routes, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, which used to fly Economy Class passengers for between N270,000 and N330,000 some 12 months ago, now render the same service at an average fare of N600,000, depending on the time of booking. This represents an increase of about 100 per cent.

South Africa Airways and Arik Air, which used to fly the Lagos-Johannesburg routes for between N100,000 and N120,000 for the economy class, now fly the route for between N180,000 and N220,000, depending on the time of booking and the season.

The Lagos-Paris route, which used to go for N180,000 on the average, now goes for around N400,000. This represents an increase of 120 per cent.

Operators link the increment in fares to the scarcity of foreign exchange to attend to the operational needs of the carriers and the erosion in the value of the ticket sales proceeds, which are now stuck in banks due to lack of forex to repatriate the funds.

Late last year, the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had unveiled a fiscal policy, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, restricting access to foreign exchange and funds transfer out of the country.

While this has had advantages for some sectors of the economy, foreign airline operators have complained of their inability to repatriate revenue to their operational bases as a result of the new policy.

An official of one the airlines told our correspondent that the carrier had close to N90bn as accumulated earnings in banks, which it had been unable to repatriate.

He said that the airline industry relied heavily on cash to meet its commitments, adding that it was sad that the government was not seeing things this way.

With huge airline revenue in the vaults of the banks, some of the operators nursed fears of being exposed to risks should the pressure on the naira lead to the devaluation of the currency, which could erode the value of the funds by about 35 per cent to 45 per cent.

Following the difficulty in repatriating earnings from Nigeria, some of the airlines initially began restricting cheap fares on the Nigerian routes in the last quarter of last year, leading to an indirect hike in fares.

At the time, the effect was felt more on second tier routes from Lagos-London-Atlanta, Lagos-London-New York, Lagos-London-Miami, Lagos-London-São Paulo, Lagos-London-Houston; or Lagos-Frankfurt-New York, Lagos-Frankfurt-Chicago, Lagos-Frankfurt-Los Angeles, and Lagos-Frankfurt-Shanghai.

Citing Nigeria’s slowing economy amid forex scarcity, some international airlines are now contemplating reducing flights to the country or operating smaller capacity aircraft as a short-term measure.

However, following complaints by the airlines, representatives of the International Air Transport Association are said to have pleaded with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emiefele, to intervene in the matter and make dollars available to them.

But the move has yet to yield any positive results.

The foreign airlines also reportedly met with the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, and urged him to look into their case.

A spokesperson for one of the airlines noted that the difficulty in repatriating revenues was affecting aircraft leases and fuelling, stating that the earnings were partly being used for fuel and renewing aircraft leases.

While the situation persists, the effect on air travellers and other businesses that depend so much on air travel has been immense.

A manager with a transport and logistic firm, Mr. Emmanuel Iruobe , said the company had incurred more costs than were provided for in the execution of most contracts this year.

Iruobe urged the government to look into the situation with a view to resolving it in the interest of Nigerians.

On their part, stakeholders in the travel industry under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies have faulted the astronomical cost of air tickets by the airlines, especially the foreign carriers.

Describing the situation where taxes that go to the airlines are higher than base fares as unacceptable, the group has petitioned the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Aviation, to caution the foreign airlines over the alleged sharp practices.

The Publicity Secretary, NANTA, Mrs. Ngozi Ngoka, opined that the cumulative effect of taxes and surcharges by airlines also generated a final price to the passenger that could be as much as double the advertised airfare for a short-haul flight.

Another stakeholder, who is the Chief Executive Officer, Gadshire Travels, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, berated the airlines, describing the excuse of forex scarcity and multiple taxes given to increase fares as untenable.

According to him, the arbitrary increment and gap between what is charged in Nigeria and other African countries on the same routes are due to the failure of regulatory authorities to perform their duties.

Reacting to the development, the Central Bank of Nigeria has said that the seeming blackmail by foreign airlines over their demand for foreign exchange would not fly.

According to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, scarcity of forex is being professionally managed by the monetary authorities in such a way that priority is given to the sectors that drive growth in the economy, especially manufacturing industries which is public knowledge.

Also reacting to threats by foreign airlines to sack about 2,000 workers over their inability to source enough forex for their operations, CBN’s spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, said the CBN had been selling forex to airlines through the Deposit Money Banks, DMBs, but that it should be recognised that there were other competing demands for the same forex from other sectors.

He said:  “That claim is not true.  CBN has been selling forex to the airlines through their banks. We are going through a period of forex scarcity. Part of our strategy has been  to identify key sectors and industries that will drive growth and curtail excessive forex demand. Airlines have been buying through their banks at the interbank rate.

“I am sure if you go through the published statements of sale by the banks, you will find this. What is not possible now, however, is for CBN to meet the   demand by some of these airlines. But look at the advertised their airfares.

SOURCE: shosilva.com

Nigerian Senate passes 2016 budget

The Senate has passed the N6.08 trillion budget for 2016, with an unprecedented reduction in the budget’s total.

President Muhammadu Buhari presented a N6.08 trillion proposal in December 2015.

The Senate passed N6,060,677,358,227 trillion budget after considering its conference report on the budget.

It was the first time since 1999 that the National Assembly would approve a figure lower than proposed by the executive, John Enoh, who heads the senate finance committee, said.

He said that reflected the “mood of the country and the world” and showed “discipline” of the part of the National Assembly.

Presenting a report on the budget, Danjuma Goje, Chairman senate committee on appropriation, said that the budget was “full of controversy”, but that the senate would not want to delay its passage by adding more controversies to it.

He said that there were lapses in the budget, but that the committee had to work around them. He said that the delay in the passage of the budget had already been given a political hue, hence Nigerians would blame the legislature for any further delay.

President Muhammadu Buhari presented a record N6.07 trillion budget in December but asked for its withdrawal a month later to make changes after a further drop in oil prices.

The total budget has not changed but the deficit has risen to 3 trillion naira ($15 billion) from 2.2 trillion.

The senate, based on the recommendation of the committee, adopted $38 per barrel crude oil benchmark for the budget, as proposed by the federal government. It also adopted a foreign exchange rate of N197 per dollar as proposed by the government.

The senate, however, reduced the total budget sum from N6.07trn to N6.06trn: N351bn for statutory transfers, N1.4trn for debt service, N2.6trn for recurrent expenditure, and N1.5trn as capital expenditure.

Also, the upper legislative chamber observed that the budget was not presented in time to the national assembly, which effected its passage.

It urged the federal government to submit the budget subsequently in strict compliance with the Fiscal Policy Act, and advised that there should be proper consultation between the budget office and the ministries, departments and agencies.

The senate also asked the government to diversify its revenue base, and to shore up capital expenditure and reduce recurrent expenditure.

Nigeria has held talks with the World Bank and has looked at borrowing from the African Development Bank and China Exim Bank to plug the budget gap as oil trades around $30 a barrel, down from over $100 in 2014.
SHORT BREAK DOWN OF 2016 BUDGET
Power, housing and works………. #433.4b
Transportation………………. ‪#‎202b‬
Interior……………… #53.1b
Special intervention programs………‪#‎300b‬
Defence…………. #137.6b
Education…….. #369.6b
Health…….#221.7b

SOURCE: Lensng