“The government is serious about ending corruption” Osinbajo made the comment on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, at the foundation laying ceremony of 2000 affordable housing units in Kaduna State.

 

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is serious about fighting corruption.

Osinbajo made the comment on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, at the foundation laying ceremony of 2000 affordable housing units in Kaduna State.

“The government is serious about ending corruption, and Nigeria can be great if we stop corruption, the government will stop at nothing to ensure that stolen monies are returned and looters brought to book,” Osinbajo said.

“The country has the resources for all to live reasonably a decent life and we owe our country with the opportunity to do well, the whole country is waiting for the promised change and by the grace of God we will deliver,” he added.

Osinbajo had earlier said that there would be no sacred cows in Buhari’s fight against corruption. 

Biafra Drags Nigeria To US Court, Gets Hearing Date

A top ranking Biafran leader has revealed plans to drag Nigeria before a United States of America (USA) court for legal battle.
READ ALSO: IPOB Warns Abia Not To Drag It Into State Politics
The leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity with Biafra Media Forum as posted on the website of Radio Biafra, described the forthcoming legal battle between Biafra and Nigeria in a New York court as the first international legal battle between the duo. He said the case is expected to come up for hearing tomorrow, January 14, 2016.
He said: “Now, with their own hands, Nigerians have set the stage for Nigeria’s first international legal battle with Biafra, and we are ready to meet them in court. There, the world will begin to hear things that will shock them about the “illegal structure” called Nigeria, which they are still keeping as a country.”

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Biafran protesters demanding Nnamdi Kanu’s freedom in the US

According to him, the case will provide a solid ground to expose the underbelly of the expired and illegal contraption called Nigeria.
He revealed that one of the motives of the Nigerian government, under Muhammadu Buhari, in keeping Nnamdi Kanu, the Biafran leader in detention, was to keep him away from leading the group to the USA court.
The leader explained that the case became necessary because Buhari had set up an agent to distract Biafrans in the USA who had promised to demonstrate against him whenever he visited the country. It is alleged that the Nigerian President has been scared stiff of Biafran demonstrators, having been confronted by them in his past, where they completely humiliated him.
“So when he finally visited the USA in July last year, the Biafrans did demonstrate and the agent his government sent did not disappoint. In fact, the agent appeared and tried to cause confusion amongst the demonstrators. But it backfired.
“It happened that while Buhari was inside the White House meeting with Barack Obama, the USA President and his officials; Biafrans were outside the building demonstrating. They were singing Biafran solidarity songs, flying Biafran flags, and taunting Buhari for his unfitting leadership of an expired country. As they sang and danced, they displayed placards showing the Nigerian ruler as a pedophile, an illiterate, a murderer, a terrorist and a dictator.
“It was at this point that the agent appeared and started taking pictures of them. Undaunted the Biafrans sang and danced away to the delight of onlookers. They told the agent that they were not bothered because all they wanted was freedom for Biafra and for Nigeria to leave Biafra alone.
“The agent continued taking his pictures, boasting in the process that he would make sure the Nigerian government dealt ruthlessly with them. He boasted further that he was sending the pictures right away to the country’s secret service, the State Security Services (SSS). He promised them that the SSS would see to it that they were deported to Nigeria to face Buhari,” the leader said.
The unnamed IPOB leader said the demonstration continued as they warned the cameraman to stop taking their pictures, but he remained adamant and in a reaction, the Biafrans apprehended him and seized his camera. He said the cameraman went to call law enforcement agents, alleging that the Biafrans had robbed him of his camera.
He said: “The law officers arrested everybody and took them to the station. At the station, the officers found the unsolicited pictures in his camera, and started asking him rigorously questions. When he realized that the case was turning against him, he sneaked out of the station and escaped. But unfortunately for him, the law enforcers already had his particulars and so charged the case to court.”
He further alleged that the reason why Buhari visit to the US was not fruit is because he was preoccupied with finding ways of avoiding the encounter with the Biafran agitators, hence he did not have time to prepare properly for the visit.
The IPOB leader said it is on record that at the end of Buhari’s visit, a White House official was quoted to have hinted that the USA leadership was disappointed with the visit.
The White House official told some journalists that: “May be we are not reading from the same script, but the overall message by Barack is that they should get themselves together then get back to us.”
The Biafra leader also alleged that the White House was disappointed that Buhari’s contingent had no presentation about working with USA to salvage their crumbly economy. Another US official said: “We are just being polite about this because your President doesn’t seem to understand a whole lot about government.”
READ ALSO: Suspect Confesses To Installing Radio Biafra Transmitter
According to the IPOB leader, Americans could not comprehend how a president whose country’s currency exchange was worsening in value would visit an important country like the United States without an economic team.
A Biafran who spoke on the impending legal battle between Biafra and Nigeria in the USA, said: “it is payback time for Nigeria. The promise we are making to Nigerians is that their country will be many more steps closer to its grave after this court case.”
Recent reports about Nnamdi Kanu, the Director of Radio Biafra revealed that the Department of State Security Services (DSS) plans to transfer him to the cell where Boko Haram suspects are kept. Nigerian government refused to allow Kanu leave detention even after he was granted bail by a competent court of law.
Meanwhile, the prayer, fasting and election into the offices of the Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) have been postponed indefinitely  by the leader of the group, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, after he had announced a catholic priest Rev. Fr. Samuel Aniebonam as the chairman of Biafra Independent National Electoral Commission (B-INEC).

WORLD: Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe Reportedly In Critical Condition After Heart Attack

A UK newspaper has reported that Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has suffered a heart attack while on holiday and under critical condition.

According to the The Daily Star, rumours of Mugabe suffering a heart attack are circulating.

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He was said to be on holiday with family and friends when he took ill, the website reported.

While unconfirmed, the website further reports that high level meetings are being held regarding the statesman's health in the home country.

 

Factory uses discarded sponge to make pillows

 
RIYADH: Inspection teams of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) has shut down a second factory in south Jeddah for using recycled and polluted sponges to manufacture mattresses and pillows.
Last week,the ministry closed a similar factory producing substandard mattresses and pillows in Jeddah where 10,000 such goods were confiscated from a warehouse. Simultaneously, a truck that was distributing these items in Yanbu was impounded. The sponges were collected from waste containers across the city and the products were marketed on highways to evade inspectors.
During the raid, inspectors found that workers used to fill pillow packs with recycled sponges and polyester products collected from waste containers. They would then cover them with plastic bags carrying Turkish and American brand names. The counterfeit trademarks found on the mattresses include “Sleep Jowhar,” “Star Dream” and “Super Mark.”
The counterfeit goods were seized because they posed health risks to consumers, while those responsible were summoned by the ministry for investigation and legal proceedings.
During the inspection process, MCI inspectors also seized a truck loaded with 300 mattresses to be distributed in the market. The total seizures included 500 mattresses ready for sale, as well as 350 old ones, besides machinery used for sewing the mattresses and fabrics.
The raids came as part of MCI inspection rounds implemented by the ministry on warehouses and commercial institutions to verify their regular operations, ensure the absence of fraud and manipulation practices on consumers and to eradicate the supply of counterfeit and substandard products in the market.
The ministry said in a statement it will not hesitate to impose legal penalties on offenders and those involved in fraud, which puts the health and safety of consumers at risk. It called on consumers to lodged complaints or observations through the toll free number 1900, or through the application of a commercial notification.

The True Story Behind NBC DG, Emeka MBA’s Travails

Emerging facts indicate that Emeka Mba, the Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) who was arrested and is currently being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may be the victim of a high stakes conspiracy by vested interests who lost out in the bid for the 700MHz spectrum band in which MTN Nigeria Limited emerged winner.
It would be recalled that Mr. Mba, a respected broadcast industry expert won the African Broadcast Regulator for his “untiring effort in repositioning the broadcast sector and effectively piloting the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in broadcasting.”
The NBC under the leadership of Mr. Mba has been the subject of many sponsored media attacks by people over licensing bid for spectrum sales.
Many industry players are worried about the negative repercussions of his sudden detention given the delicate stage at which the digitisation process is at and the progress being made to boost the agency’s contribution to the national coffers.
Sources within NBC have robustly defended the NBC management under Mba over allegations that it concealed N15 billion, part of the N34 billion realized from the sale of the 700MHz spectrum band to MTN against the presidential directive that it be transferred to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The sources have revealed that that the money was fully committed to awarded contracts way before the Presidential TSA directive and provided at a guaranty by a Commercial Bank with the aim of supporting manufacturers of set-up boxes to aid the digitization process.
According to the sources, the NBC had rightly declared and remitted the remaining part of the money to the TSA.
Said the source: “The funds were meant to guarantee the manufacturer of set-up boxes, and had been deposited in the commercial bank before the TSA policy. I cannot confirm to you if it has been disbursed from the bank but I can confirm that the remaining part of the money has been transferred to the TSA. As I speak to you, NBC is strapped for funds and some of our activities have been hindered.
“Also, the NBC wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, informing him of the sale,” the source said.
Some analysts have said that the petition and his subsequent arrest and detention may be part of a plan by vested interests to  tarnish his image, force his removal as DG, NBC and install their cronies at the Commission so as to oversee the multi-billion budget digitization process.
Investigations have confirmed that NBC has disbursed funds from the account to some set-up box manufacturing companies for the digital switchover in accordance to their contractual agreements.

50 Most Memorable Super Bowl Moments, No. 19: Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/50-most-memorable-super-bowl-moments--no--19--janet-jackson-s-wardrobe-malfunction-065159169.html

By Jay Busbee January 12, 2016 1:51 AM Shutdown Corner

As the NFL approaches its highly anticipated golden anniversary Super Bowl, Yahoo Sports takes a look back at some of the most memorable moments in the game's history.

In our rankings, the moments go beyond the great scores and plays. We also take a look at entertainment performances, scandals/controversies and other events associated with corresponding Super Bowls.

Here's a look at moment No. 19:

Wardrobe Malfunction

The reaction was instant and universal: Did you see that? Did that just happen? And in half a second, Justin Timberlake changed the face of the Super Bowl halftime show – indeed, changed all of popular culture – for years to come. That half-second, of course, was the infamous Janet Jackson Wardrobe Malfunction of Super Bowl XXXVIII, marking the moment when a halftime show became a centerpiece, when shrill debate about the coarsening of popular culture spread far wider than any story about the game itself. (The New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers, and if you knew that without looking, congratulations and seek help.)
To set the stage – pardon the pun – this was a 2004 performance by Jackson, one of the 1990s most popular performers and one of a growing line of huge names performing at halftime of the Super Bowl. The days of "Up With People" and Carol Channing were long gone; the entertainment industry had decided to stake its claim to a share of the most popular show on television.
During the show, Jackson performed a sequence of her greatest hits, then brought on stage Timberlake – who rose to popularity as a member of *NSYNC – to sing Timberlake's "Rock Your Body." The song isn't exactly a church hymn; Jackson and Timberlake performed ever-more-salacious moves as the song moved toward its climax. Then, right about the time that parents decided it was time to send the kids to bed, the song wrapped up with the line "gonna have you naked by the end of this song." Timberlake reached over, pulled off a piece of Jackson's bustier, and exposed her breast for an instant. Jackson appeared shocked, and the performance ended immediately thereafter. But the blowback was immediate and unrelenting.
Jackson's people said that the tearaway chunk of the bustier was supposed to reveal Jackson's bra, hence the creation of the Orwellian term "wardrobe malfunction." MTV, which had staged the show, released a statement throwing Jackson and Timberlake under the bus: "The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance. MTV regrets this incident occurred and we apologize to anyone who was offended by it."

That did nothing to calm an enraged CBS, which immediately banned MTV from any further halftime performances. The FCC hit CBS with a $550,000 fine, and while CBS appealed the fine, it would take more than eight years for the case to come to a final close. The case traveled all the way to the Supreme Court, and eventually ended with courts ruling in CBS' favor and voiding the fine.

So what real impact did the Wardrobe Malfunction have? While the Internet was already a societal force, social media wasn't yet a viable means of communication. When millions of people sought out the video, they searched Jackson's name more than any term in Internet history, and in so doing helped foster the creation of a comprehensive site dedicated exclusively to video: a little outlet known as YouTube.

The resulting outcry led to crackdowns on, and cancellations of, perceived "crude" television and radio shows, as executives feared gargantuan federal fines for their violations as well. But even at the time, many commentators thought the outcry over a brief exposure was overblown, an opportunity for grandstanding in the guise of "protecting public morality." Indeed, a decade after the incident, then-FCC chairman Michael Powell admitted that the reaction was overblown, and that he himself had contributed to that: "I think we've been removed from this long enough for me to tell you that I had to put my best version of outrage on that I could put on. Part of it was surreal, right? Look, I think it was dumb to happen, and they knew the rules and were flirting with them, and my job is to enforce the rules, but, you know, really? This is what we're gonna do?"

Today, when the most popular program on television shows human beings being devoured alive, the idea of a single nipple flash causing such an outcry seems positively quaint. But the NFL is so dedicated to protecting the perceived family-friendliness of its halftime show – which, to be fair, is the most-viewed entertainment program every year – that it selects deliberately inoffensive performers and cracks down harshly on any violators. (The rapper M.I.A. was hit with a multi-million-dollar lawsuit after flipping the bird during Madonna's performance a few years after Jackson.)

Jackson's career never really recovered after the Wardrobe Malfunction, which is a shame, particularly given the fact that Timberlake – who, let us not forget, was directly responsible for the "malfunction" – has seen his star grow exponentially larger.

It'll be a long time before we see anything like the Wardrobe Malfunction on a Super Bowl halftime show. When we do, it'll likely be part of the performance, and your grandchildren will think you're old and out-of-touch if you're surprised.

Nigerians React To The Very CHEAP Phones Dangote And Otedola Are Using

Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola are billionaires, see the type of phones they are using. See photo below:

Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola

…Mobilises Contractors With 30 Percent Payment …Project To Be Completed In Six Months

…Mobilises Contractors With 30 Percent Payment
…Project To Be Completed In Six Months

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday announced the flagging off of 114 roads to be constructed in the 57 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the State, just as it assured that more roads will be accommodated in the next phase of the project.

The project, which is being fully funded by the State Government, will be constructed two per each LGAs and LCDAs, and is expected to be completed within six months.

Speaking at a joint press briefing addressed by the State’s Ministries of Information and Strategy, Local Government and Community Affairs and the Conference of Executive Secretaries of LGAs and LCDAs, the government disclosed that the project would commence simultaneously in all the Councils within the next seven days.

Giving a background to the project, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde said the mission for the actualization of the project started in October 2015 when Governor Akinwumi Ambode met with the Executive Secretaries of all the 57 Councils in the State, and agreed with them on the need to massively embark on rehabilitation and construction of inner roads across the State.

Ayorinde said the project was designed to complement the massive road construction and rehabilitation going on in the State which culminated in the repair of 300 roads in just seven months, adding that same was in sync with the determination of the current administration to make Lagos work for all.

While corroborating Ayorinde, Chairman of Conference 57, the umbrella body of Executive Secretaries of LGAs and LCDAs in the State, Hon. Kolade Alabi recalled that upon assumption of office, Governor Ambode directed the Council bosses to submit a list of two inner roads in each of the Councils for construction in the first phase of the initiative through open competitive bidding.

Alabi said that in executing the project, a unique model of bottom up infrastructural development and inclusive governance style was adopted, which eventually culminated in the active participation of all the relevant stakeholders in the list of the roads selected for the project.

He said stakeholders such as the Community Development Associations (CDAs) and others were involved in the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the project, adding that a transparent process was also adopted in the appointment of contractors that would execute the project.

He said the project was initially designed to gulp N19 billion, but the cost was reduced to N17.5 billion after a transparent bidding process, adding that the contractors have been directed to engage the locals, especially artisans and experts, so as to boost the fight against unemployment and poverty.

Alabi, who is also the Executive Secretary of Bariga LCDA, further disclosed that the 114 roads will be of best standard with walkways, street lights and drainage, adding that contractors have already been mobilized with payment of 30 percent of the total cost.

The remaining cost of the project, according to Alabi, would be released as work progress on the project.

“This is no doubt unprecedented in the history of not just Lagos State, but in the entire nation with all modesty. I salute Governor Ambode’s vision, sense of commitment and dedication to grassroots development. It is indeed taking Lagos to the next level and the benefits as well as the gains of this project on the socio-economic lives of Lagosians cannot be over-emphasised,” Alabi said.

Also speaking, Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Hon. Muslim Folami said the project was in fulfillment of the campaign promise made to the people by the Governor.

Folami said that the next phase will commence after the completion of the first phase, assuring that Governor Ambode would not relent until all the inner roads in the State are fully rehabilitated.