Outrage over Oyakhilome’s marriage sermon

Tobi Aworinde

The General Overseer of Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, has come under strong criticism from Nigerians on social media over his religious views on gender equality.

A Facebook post on the official page of the church’s online ministry, last Sunday, cited an excerpt of the clergyman’s message titled ‘Who is a husband and what is his role?’, in which husbands were defined as “masters” as opposed to “male partners.”

Oyakhilome’s ex-wife, Anita, had on February 8, finalised her divorce from the pastor and dropped his last name for “Obhodaghe.”

Her lawyers confirmed the divorce earlier this year, following months of speculation that there was trouble in their marriage.

Anita, who had cited irreconcilable differences while filing for divorce, also severed ties with the church.

But Oyakhilome, in his message on Facebook, said the reason for most problems in Christian marriages was a refusal of God’s definition of marriage by women.

He said, “They believe they are equal partners. (But) ‘husband’ does not mean the male partner in a marriage, husband means master.

“The Bible says the man is the head of the woman (1 Corinthians 11:3) so when you marry him, you come under his authority. You are not authority sharers, even though you are both heirs to the kingdom of God.”

According to the pastor, when one decides not to subject oneself to that authority, one becomes a rebel.

“God is not going to accept what you are doing because you are not functioning correctly. Why did God make the woman? If most women had fathers bold enough to talk to them, they would be very successful in their marriage and they would be very happy people.

“Most women have never been taught by their parents, their fathers particularly and that’s their biggest problem because they don’t know who a man is. They think he is another woman,” he said.

The message went viral on many platforms.

Oyakhilome’s stance received backlash from some Nigerians, who expressed their disagreement in the comments section of the post.

Blessing Meteke said, “Unfortunately, this is the type of preaching that millions of Nigerians listen to. ‘Making a woman was not God’s original plan. When a husband is angry, the wife is the victim.’

“This is what men adhere to and they make their wives and daughters-in-law slaves in their own homes. Misogyny has eaten deep into several Nigerians and they use the Bible as a cover-up. This is not only disheartening but exasperating.”

Babalola Olusegun added, “Can the pastor explain Genesis 1:27, because looking at the passage, God put women in His plan even before creating them. The man should remember that the woman is removed from his ribs, which means the man is not complete without the woman.”

Jane Onyejiaka also said, “Some points in this sermon are flawed, with all due respect. I will never teach my sons that a woman is an afterthought. God doesn’t do things for doing sake. Anyway, he is a pastor, not God. I always sieve what I read and I take the good and leave the rest.”

Similarly, Ekaette Essien said, “I didn’t see any advice for men here. Making a successful home should not be a one-sided thing. It should not rest on the shoulder of only the women. A man who loves his wife will surely earn respect from such a wife.

“If you are a boss-type husband, surely rebellion awaits you. Let’s be real, please. Even God who created us does not act like a boss to us. He loves us; that’s why His children have to obey and respect Him.”



PUNCH

Obaseki doesn’t know the full meaning of APC –Ize-Iyamu

The Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, tells BAYO AKINLOYE that the All Progressives Congress may have a hand in the postponed September 10 poll

How did you receive news of the postponement of Edo State governorship poll?

I am very sad that the Edo State governorship election slated for September 10 was postponed. We were prepared for the election. We were confident of winning but all of a sudden we got the news that the poll had been postponed with the authorities citing security challenges. The nature of the challenges we were not told; a new date for the poll had been fixed. It’s a long postponement with the election scheduled to hold on a week day and we were not even consulted. We see this development as a conspiracy by those who are scared (of losing in the poll) and are playing for time. But as law-abiding citizens, anything they want to do, we’ll be ready.

Similar thing happened during the Peoples Democratic Party rule with ex-President Goodluck Jonathan presiding over the country; the general elections were postponed. Don’t you think you should give the current government the benefit of the doubt?

I am sure you know that the reasons given then for the postponement of the polls were not in doubt – insurgency in the North-East was the main reason. The government wanted to ensure that the region was safe enough for people to exercise their civic right. So, the reason was clearly defined and we all knew what happened afterwards: the All Progressives Congress did very well (in that region). If you remove the votes recorded for the party in the North-East I doubt if the APC would have won the presidential election. Whether we like it or not those reasons were valid and the results were clear. But in Edo’s case, what are the reasons for postponing the governorship poll?  What are the security challenges? The President (Muhammadu Buhari) was in Edo and two days after it was announced that election could no longer hold due to security challenges. But what are the security challenges? Policemen drafted from their formations to provide security during the poll were already on their way before the election was postponed. They were ordered to go back to their formations. If there had been security challenges would they have been drafted to Edo in the first place?

The truth is this: we are not accusing the president of complicity in this matter. But the postponement made us curious that the governor of the state (Adams Oshiomhole), who is the chief security officer, didn’t raise his voice when it was announced that the election had been postponed due to security challenges. Is that not an indictment on his government? A man who collects N500m monthly for security vote didn’t say a word about security challenges in the state being the reason for the poll postponement. Isn’t that an irony? There was no protest; there was no condemnation. Isn’t it strange for somebody like Oshiomhole not to protest and condemn such declaration?

But what if he’s privy to a security report that you and I are not aware of?

If he’s privy to a security report, is it not his responsibility to tell Edo people what is at stake? Does he want the people to live in fear? If there are security challenges shouldn’t we all know about it? When ex-President Jonathan decided to postpone the elections last year he gave us reasons. Where are the security challenges? Why is he keeping us in the dark?

But you are also on the ground; do you see any trace of security threat in the state?

 I can assure you that the state is peaceful. Edo does not have a history of militant activities. We believe that the poll postponement was instigated by those who knew that they would lose the election if it had held on Saturday, September 10. They have been able to reach out to those in authorities to assist them in postponing the election. And you wonder why an election that is supposed to be held on a weekend is now slated for a weekday. Why? Isn’t that an attempt to disenfranchise many people in the state? It’s only a student who’s ill-prepared for an exam that won’t show eagerness when the time arrives for the exam.

Was there any agreement between political parties contesting in the poll and INEC in arriving at the new date – September 28, which is a Wednesday?

They didn’t speak to us about it. There was never a discussion about that date. We were never consulted. Just like you heard (about the postponement), so did we. It is curious that the slated rescheduled to a time when the new Oba of Benin would be coronated. Whatever their plan is to scuttle the people’s aspiration will not succeed.

So, are you and your party going to petition INEC about this?

Why did they choose September 28? I would think they should have chosen the nearest weekend (September 17 or 24). Even the governor said it in an interview on TV that he would have preferred an earlier date. We also agree (with him). INEC decided to choose September 28 knowing that the terminal date for the governorship election is October 12, which is few weeks to the swearing-in of whoever wins the election.

What do you make of the Nigeria Police’s statement that their security alert was only advisory – that INEC could have gone ahead with the poll if it wanted to?

The truth is that if you (the Nigeria Police) want to advise INEC about the security situation in Edo State, should the commission hear about your advice on TV? The INEC national chairman (Prof. Mahmood Yakubu) was in Benin in a meeting with various senior officers of the police and the Department of State Services and said everything was ready for the election; only to come out of that meeting to hear that the DSS and the police have advised INEC to postpone the election. And the man confessed to us that he just heard about the announcement and he was shocked and confused. That advice should have been followed up with concrete evidence of what is at stake. One thing is obvious: there were desperate efforts to scuttle the election. We are aware that in some quarters yesterday (Thursday) there were jubilations because the poll was postponed.

And you don’t think the President was involved in this alleged scheming?

Let me tell you what I think about the president; he’s a president who believes in a free and fair election and the outcome is not relevant to him. I also heard that when the INEC chairman heard about the security alert, he called the President and the President told him he wasn’t informed (about any security breach) and that INEC could go on with the election. But INEC couldn’t go ahead because the security agencies wouldn’t give them security cover.  Even though he’s the President of the country, a cabal around him can decide to misuse its privileged position.

In financial terms, how much has the postponement cost you and your party?

That is why I said it is (poll postponement) a conspiracy to deliberately frustrate us. Coincidentally, some days ago, I met a couple of senior editors and told them about a ‘Plan B’ of the APC to look for how to reschedule the election if they were not sure they would win. If you ask your colleagues they will attest to the fact that I told them. But we are not the only one who has wasted money; the Federal Government had released a lot of money to ensure that the poll was held on Saturday. One can only imagine the amount of money that would have been wasted due to the postponement. Yet, nobody is telling us the nature of the security threat.

There is no love lost between you and Edo State incumbent governor. What went wrong with the rosy relationship both of you once had?

I left him when I saw the insincerity, the hypocrisy, corruption and a lack of direction. The truth is that he has desecrated that office. You’ll be shocked by the type of language he uses since election campaign kicked off. He is not the one contesting for the governorship poll but in the last few months, governance in the state has been suspended. If he goes to rallies he speaks for two hours and the APC governorship candidate speaks for two minutes. He (Oshiomhole) should know that I am not contesting against him – he’s an outgoing governor. I have no problem with him, though I don’t think he’s done well in the state.

Having expressed displeasure over Oshiomhole’s eight-year rule in Edo, will you probe his administration if you are elected as the next governor of the state?

You see, when you use the word ‘probe,’ it connotes the idea that one is being vindictive. If you ask me what will I do (if I succeed him), I’ll say I will study his handover note. He has a duty to prepare such a note before he leaves office. If there are grey areas in the note, we’ll invite him to shed light on those areas. We are not going to probe his administration. I am not coming into government with a vindictive mindset. We only believe that Edo people must get their due and every government must be accountable to the people.

With Oshiomhole allegedly speaking for two hours and Obaseki speaking for merely two minutes at rallies, shouldn’t Edo people be worried that the APC candidate may just be a puppet if he becomes the state governor?

His actions have made him more and more unattractive. Edo people are sophisticated; they are enlightened. They want to hear the man who is seeking for their votes. So, when they see a governorship candidate who cannot speak for himself, they are shocked. People in the state have called me to say, ‘Pastor, you’re the only one we can hear his voice. We’re going to support you.’ Even within the APC I can tell you that I enjoy overwhelming support. They cannot toy with the inevitable; election must be conducted and there must be a swearing-in on November 12 – and, by the grace of God I’ll emerge as the new governor.

Do you then think the APC governorship candidate is fit to rule the state?

It is left for Edo people to decide on that but quite honestly he has not done well for himself. He was invited to three debates but for some strange reasons he did not attend; other candidates came, he didn’t come. And, when he eventually turned up for a debate, his performance was obvious. At an interactive session with INEC, he couldn’t even pronounce well the name of his party: instead of saying ‘All Progressives Congress,’ he said, ‘All Peoples Congress.’ Apparently, he has given a good account of himself – a candidate who does not know the name of his party cannot be entrusted to rule Edo State.




PUNCH

Edo: INEC Loses N100m, To Reconfigure 6,677 Card Readers

Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja

Two days after cancelling the Edo State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission has started counting its losses.

The commission said that it lost over N100m to the election, which was cancelled because of the security advice given to it by both the Department of State Services and the police.

The election, which was scheduled to hold today (Saturday) in the state, had now been rescheduled to September 28.

Both the DSS and the police had claimed that there were plans by extremists and insurgents to disrupt the election and also cause mayhem across the country between September 12 and 13.

They had, therefore, called on the commission to consider the possibility of shifting the election to enable them to deal with the issue of security problems.

Before the cancellation of the election, our correspondent gathered that the commission had deployed 18,511 personnel in the state.

The state, which is made up of 18 local government areas, has 1,925,105 registered voters. It also has 192 registration areas, 2,627 polling units, and 4,011 voting points.

For the botched election, the commission has deployed one returning officer, 18 local government area collation officers, 192 registration area collation officers, 263 supervisory presiding officers and 2,627 presiding officers.

It also deployed 12,036, assistant presiding officers I, II and III, 2,530 assistant presiding officers, 728 reserve APOs, 19 LGA supervisors and one reserve and 97 RA cluster supervisors and 1 reserve (2RAs/Supervisor) at the national headquarters.

INEC’s Deputy Director in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang, told our correspondent in an interview in Abuja on Saturday, that the cost of not conducting the election on Saturday was enormous.

He said this was because the commission had fully mobilised for the exercise and was fully prepared for the exercise.

Dazang added that all the officers mobilised for the exercise had been asked to return to their various units and offices, adding that only the ad hoc workers, who were recruited from the state, were asked to stay behind.

Before the election was cancelled, he said the commission had booked hotels, paid for feeding and made other payments needed for the comfort of the personnel to enable them perform their duties.

He regretted that all the money was likely going to be lost.

He said, “Also, we had moblised (before the cancellation). The cost implication of shifting the election would be huge. We are talking of more than N100m on the part of the commission.

“This is different from what the developmental partners have invested, the non-government organisations, media and others. The politicians have also invested in this election.

“For example, most of our personnel have returned to the headquarters, except the ad hoc workers who will stay back. Money paid to hotel is one of the cost we are losing. We have budgeted and paid for them. How do we get refund for most of these?”

Also, speaking with our correspondent, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity at the commission, Mr. Oluwole Ozasse-Uzi, said that the commission would have to reconfigure the card readers, which he said were specifically configured for the cancelled election.

He said shifting the election meant that the card readers would have to be reconfigured.

He said that the commission decided to postpone the election irrespective of cost implication because security agencies were part of the electoral process.

He said, “The card readers were configured for September 10. They have to be re-configured again. We have more than 6,000 card readers because there is at least one for each polling booth and unit. We also have some as back up. We get our funding from the government. We lost money running into millions of naira.

“We can’t do the election alone. The security agencies are part of us because they are to secure the materials and the people- the voters. We could have gone ahead, but if we did that and things went wrong, what will people say?

“We lost people in an attempt to conduct election in Rivers State. If we had proceeded, we would have been seen as an irresponsible organisation.

“We had only distributed non-sensitive materials such as erasers, pens, posters, bags, papers and ink but sensitive materials such as ballot papers and result sheets had not been distributed.”

Asked if the election could be shifted again, he said there were words of assurance from the security agencies that things would normalise before September 28.

Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, has said the commission would re-train its ad hoc staff for the postponed governorship election.

According to him, what was spent so far on the postponed election included the allowances paid for the training of 18,000 personnel.

Oyekanmi, in an electronic mail exclusively sent to Saturday PUNCH on Friday, said, “They (ad hoc staff) have yet to be paid for the election duty. Now, they will have to be re-trained; a sort of refresher programme for the re-scheduled election.

“INEC cannot afford to put over 18,000 persons in hotels. The NYSC members were only paid training allowances. The commission’s staff members are resident in the state, except for a few that came from Abuja.

“While it is true that the commission will bear some costs as a result of the re-scheduling, it will not be in the form of keeping anybody in hotels for two weeks. Some staff members, who came to Edo from the headquarters, will return to Abuja, while all those residents in Edo State will also return to their homes.”

In a related development, stakeholders in the botched election in Edo State have also started counting their losses.

It was learnt that while the major political parties would incur additional expenses on campaigns, many of the observers left the state early on Friday in order to reduce the cost of staying behind.

An observer and the Convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo, said, “Some are staying and some are leaving. Of course, a lot of people will not stay for another two weeks. Quite a lot of observers are leaving; we have a few people who are continuing to observe the situation. Some of them are based in Edo State, so they will be keeping an eye on what is going on.

“As you know, the election has to be observed. It becomes even more important now to observe it because we do not know why it was postponed. We rejected the reason given for the postponement.”

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Godwin Obaseki, told one of our correspondents that the impact of the shift on his campaign could not be quantified.

Obaseki explained that the timing and mode of communication adopted by the security agencies could have been better handled, having regards to the hard work and huge resources deployed towards the election by all concerned.

“But clearly, it has not helped me at all because we have used resources. Our followers are very disappointed; that is where we find ourselves, so we just have to prepare for September 28,” he said.

He, however, noted that given the nature of the advice, the exercise was not worth a drop of anybody’s blood.



Punch

Edo KOWA Candidate, Osadolor Withdraws, Blames INEC.

The candidate of KOWA Party in the Edo State governorship election, Thompson Osadolor, has withdrawn from the race.

Osadolor, who confirmed this to our correspondent on Saturday, explained that his decision to withdraw from the election followed the impact of the shift on his campaign.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had on Thursday postponed the poll after the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Security suggested a shift due to security threats.
But the KOWA candidate, who condemned the postponement, lamented that the failure of INEC to hold the election on September 10 ‘destabilised’ his campaign.

He said, “I am not satisfied with the postponement of the election. They (INEC) knew that we would win the election; that was why they postponed the election.

“Having done that, they have destabilised us. That is one of the reasons we withdrew.‎”

Osadolor, however, endorsed the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and urged KOWA supporters to channel their votes to the major opposition party.

According to him, PDP was a better alternative because of the similarities between the manifestos of the two parties.

Osadolor explained, “Because of the postponement of the election, I met with my campaign team; we decided to harness our campaign with that of the PDP.

“Our manifesto and that of the PDP are very similar and I think we will be able to work together. We reached an agreement with the PDP that we are going to run an inclusive government.‎

“PDP did not make any financial commitment to us. We do not have any financial agreement,” he added.




Punch

Former Enugu Governor, Sullivan Chime Not Dead

Contrary to earlier rumour, the immediate past Governor of Enugu State, Barrister Sullivan Chime, is still very much alive.
There was anxiety across the country Saturday morning following unconfirmed reports that Chime died at an Indian Hospital.
The rumour of Chime’s purported death was reportedly amplified at 6:10 p.m. on Saturday by a WhatsApp broadcast:
“Breaking! Former Governor of Enugu State, Barrister Sullivan Chime, is dead.”
However, when DAILY POST contacted one of Chime’s ex-aide, he laughed off the rumour, describing it as antics of wicked people.
“There is no such thing; he is hale and hearty; this rumour is from the pit of hell”, he said pleading anonymity.
DAILY POST equally reached out to some sources at the Enugu Government House, who equally maintained that the death rumour was untrue.
“Chime is enjoying himself at Udi, his home town”, one of them.






Source

Zuckerberg’s Non-verbal Message To Nigerian Entrepreneurs

Babatunde Fajimi, kairosbsng@gmail.com, 07080511600

Nigerian entrepreneurs can learn from the recent low-key business visit of Mark Zuckerberg.

Mark Zuckerberg, the tech entrepreneur and young billionaire is a fairy tale of how a college student became the founder and manager of Facebook (from its forerunner, Facemash), one of the most influential websites in the world.

He was in Nigeria the previous week. He went around Yaba, Victoria Island and Lekki in Lagos, the economic heartbeat; and later Abuja, symbol of power of Nigeria.

He met with young technologists, social entrepreneurs, technology companies, investors, Nollywood stars and government functionaries. He talked, walked, jogged and shared meals with everyday people. His humility, simplicity and fraternity with people belie his $54.5bn worth and are a sharp contrast to the pictures of rich people in this clime.

With his visit and lifestyle, Zuckerberg communicated non-verbal messages to Nigerian entrepreneurs, to challenge their world-view about enterprise and sustainable wealth creation.

Cultures are inter-related in post-literate world. Capacity development and learning are global tools. Global citizens are progressives who think globally and act locally. They draw inspirations from ideologies that work from any part of the world and contextualise them in their environment.

Work hard to succeed
Most people are superstitious. They expect the divine to interrupt nature and transform paupers overnight into millionaires through petitions and supplications. Unfortunately, superstitions and luck do not make people successful in business enterprise.

The founding fathers of America laid its foundation on the puritan ethics of honesty, responsibility, hard work and self-control. The divine is impartial. Saint or sinner, the laws of nature guarantee success to individuals who work purposefully and patiently hard to create wealth.

Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak worked hard when they started Apple in the former’s parents’ garage. Then he was 20 and in 10 years; Apple grew into a $2bn company with over 4,000 employees.

Adapt, change and thrive
Nothing is static in life. Everything changes. Yesterday, it was yearbook. Today, it is Facebook.

Some ingenious entrepreneurs are already interrogating present products and technologies and negotiating a future of possibilities.

Entrepreneurs cannot afford to be idle in boom times or depressed in recession. Sessions come, seasons go! There had been boom in this economy. There is recession today. It is cyclical, it will not last forever.

Entrepreneurs should be learners, who question their challenges and rethinking their environment. The society is always evolving and entrepreneurs should be open to exploring new and better ways of engaging their target markets. They should stay hungry and always strive for excellence.

Gain mastery of lifestyle
The undoing of the typical Nigerian entrepreneurs is the quest to upgrade their lifestyle when they start making money. They want to live larger than life. They become afflicted with the incurable disease of ‘bigmanism’ once they start making money.

The cocoa farmers of the South West in the 1980s made money during economic prosperity, married more wives, spent lavishly on ceremonies and funerals and bought brand new Peugeot 504 to announce their new-found wealth.

The trend subsists till date. Entrepreneurs want to live as celebrities when they make more money and ironically crash before they build any meaningful brand in the marketplace.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart stores in America, told his story in his autobiography titled, ‘Sam Walton: Made in America’, that he drove his old pickup truck for years, wore a Wal-Mart ball cap and got his hair cut at the barbershop, off the town square.

Expenditure has a way of rising up to income. Entrepreneurs should maintain moderate lifestyle and keep their expenses lower than the average even when their fortunes grow. This is the way of Spartan lifestyle for entrepreneurs who want to build sustainable legacy for posterity.

People matter always
Entrepreneurs have the tendency to make friends with their equals: they dine with the high and mighty in the society. They seldom care about their employees or feel the pulse of the society where they do their business.

Yes, entrepreneurs need to be in the good books of government and fraternise with powerful people. But, more importantly, people, matter always. People – employees and customers are equally important stakeholders in the business enterprise equation. They can only be neglected to the peril of ignorant entrepreneurs.

Smart entrepreneurs surround themselves with intelligent and talented employees, youthful and enthusiastic consumers. They are comfortable around mentors, coaches and people who inspire them to innovativeness and greatness.

Building businesses in capitalism is about profit- making but profit-making is practicable and sustainable when the motive is wrapped around the love for people; the desire to create solutions and products to make their lives easy and better.

Zuckerberg is back in America
Zuckerberg was here. He promised to come again when another opportunity comes. The opportunity he desires is always with us. Nigerian entrepreneurs can find their acres of diamonds here faster than anywhere in the world. With or without recession, dreamers, potential entrepreneurs and start-ups should not stop thinking about tomorrow.

http://naijanewsline.com/2016/09/09/zuckerbergs-non-verbal-message-to-nigerian-entrepreneurs/

GM recalls 4.3m faulty cars, trucks

General Motors issued a recall notice Friday for 4.3 million cars and trucks worldwide due to a dangerous electronic fault that could prevent airbag deployment in an accident.

GM said that in certain driving conditions, the vehicle’s airbag sensing and diagnostic module software could automatically begin a diagnostic test that, if running during an accident, could prevent front-seat airbags and seatbelt pretensioners from deploying.

GM learned of the fault from a May 17, 2016 accident of a 2014 Silverado truck in which the airbag and tensioners did not activate.

The recall covers a wide range of sedans, sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks from the 2014-2017 model years: Buick LaCrosse and Encore; Chevrolet SS, Spark EV, Corvette, Trax, Caprice, Tahoe, Suburban and Silverado; GMC Sierra and Yukon; and Cadillac Escalade.

The recall covers 3.6 million vehicles in the United States and 640,000 sold in other countries.

AFP





Punch

Amancio Ortega Overtakes Bill Gates As The Richest Man In The World.

Amancio Ortega, the Spanish retail genius who started Zara, passed Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world on Wednesday. Shares of Ortega’s business Inditex, parent company to Zara, Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear, ticked up 2.5% Wednesday, boosting his personal fortune by $1.7 billion. That lifted Ortega’s net worth from $77.8 billion to $79.5 billion. Gates is worth an estimated $78.5 billion.

The son of a railway worker from La Coruña, Spain, Ortega is as reclusive as he is rich. He started his career as a store clerk in his hometown before opening his own business. Beginning with less than $100, he and his wife Rosalia Mera began making lingerie, pajamas and nightgowns in their living room.

In 1975, the couple (who eventually divorced) decided to open a store named Zara. Eight years later, Ortega had expanded to nine locations around Spain. In 1984, he opened a 10,000 square foot logistics hub.
Unlike most retailers, Inditex hardly relies on advertising. Ortega has instead devoted most of his resources into turning his company into the most efficient retailing operation in the world. When companies like Gap and H&M were taking five months to design, make, distribute and sell new products in the early 2000s, Zara was doing it in three weeks. That meant Ortega’s companies could keep up with the whims of shoppers much more easily than its competitors — and also had to spend less on warehousing.

Ortega took the business public in 2001 and debuted on the Forbes billionaires list the same year, with a net worth of $6.6 billion. By then, Gates was already the richest man in the world, with a fortune of $58.7 billion.

From 2001 to 2002, as most billionaires struggled to hold onto their riches amid the dot-com crash, Ortega gained an additional $2.5 billion and became the world’s 25th-richest man. He repeated the trick seven years later, when the world plunged into crisis. From 2009 to 2013, while the Spanish economy was reeling, Ortega personally gained $39 billion.

Ortega briefly took the title of world’s richest man for the first time in October 2015, when Inditex shares hit an all-time high and boosted Ortega’s net worth to $80 billion. But the stock quickly dipped, and Gates once again claimed the throne. The two billionaires will likely continue to exchange the title as the stock prices of their holdings continue to bounce up and down.
Gates has donated nearly $31 billion in stock and cash to his foundation over his lifetime. If the Microsoft cofounder were not such a prolific philanthropist, neither Ortega nor anyone else on Earth would be anywhere close to as rich as Gates.


Forbes.

Operation Zero Potholes Working In Anambra State

Governor of Anambra state's initiative that involve youths working on fixing pothole across roads all over Anambra state is in full swing.

http://www./forum/general-discussion/operation-zero-potholes-working-anambra-pics

EFCC Driver And Policeman Burgle Badeh's Sealed Mansion

A driver in the employ of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nasiru Isa, has been arrested for allegedly breaking into one of the sealed mansions owned by the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh (retd.).

It will be recalled that the EFCC had, in January, sealed off over five landed properties belonging to Badeh before arraigning him on 10-count charge bordering on money laundering and theft.

The EFCC said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, that the suspect belonged to a criminal syndicate that specialises in breaking into properties sealed off by the EFCC.

According to the anti-graft agency, a policeman identified as Corporal Aliyu Ismaila is also a member of the syndicate.

Other suspects include: Abubakar Jibrin, Abdulsalam Ado, Ibrahim Babangida, Reuben Dauda, Hassan Aliyu, Sani Yusuf and Murtala Mohammed.

The EFCC said on August 30, 2016, the suspects, including the armed policeman, subdued the security guard at the property and attempted to break into the main building but fled on sighting some EFCC operatives.

The statement read in part, “On August 30, 2016, operatives of the EFCC, as part of monitoring activities on the sealed property, had gone to the site to execute a search.

“However, members of the syndicate took to their heels on sighting the operatives of the anti-graft agency. A carpenter, Yakubu Muhammad, who was hired by the syndicate, was left behind and was subsequently arrested by the operatives.

“The carpenter, who has been cooperating with operatives, confessed that he was not in the know of the illicit activity, as he was only brought in by the syndicate to assist with the use of his carpentry tools to break into the property.”

According to the EFCC, investigations revealed that shortly after the property was sealed, some individuals moved about 12 bags believed to contain items linked to money laundering offence, into the property.

The statement added, “Investigations revealed that one of those in the know about the goods was the brains behind the scheming to steal them. The syndicate decided they would need to subdue the security man at the property, which would mean they would need to involve security personnel in the syndicate.

“Subsequently, Isa was contacted. To further beef up the security aspect of the crime, he also contacted his friend, Ismaila, who came for the ‘operation’ fully armed. In perpetrating the crime, Dauda had posed to be a senior official of the EFCC, while Jibrin posed as an Intelligence Police officer in the Inspector General’s office.

“However, on August 30, 2016, they were caught in the act of breaking into the property, having successfully overpowered the security guard at the entrance of the property.”



Punch

Edo poll: Oshiomhole accuses S’South govs of hiring militants

The Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has accused some governors in the South-South of importing militants to rig the September 28 governorship election in the state.

Oshiomhole, who spoke when he received the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, at the Government House on Friday, said about 8,000 militants from some South-South states had been registered for the poll.

He said the decision to bring in militants to the state “in order make peaceful election impossible” was because the governors were unable find local thugs to help them perpetrate violence.

He said, “In line with my tradition, I have always tried to speak out on any matter that I am worried about. I first raised this alarm on the eve of INEC Continuing Voters Registration exercise, an exercise that has been designed to register those who have become 18 between the last registration and the current one.

“But these criminals who are determined to perpetrate violence and deny us the beauty of a peaceful election, unable to find local participants have chosen to import these militants with the support of two or so of my brothers. When I say brothers, I mean brother governors. It does not matter if I disagree with them. They are my brothers.”‎

But the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party described the governor’s allegation as not only false but an indictment on the security agencies.

The state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said, “It is unfortunate that we have an outgoing governor of the state who has decided to state a lie just to achieve his political purpose. We know very well that what the governor was telling the IG is not true.

“For me, he was indicting the security agencies right in front of the IG because if you can bring in 8,000 people from outside Edo State and they all found their way into Edo State without the security agencies ‎watching their movement, it means that nobody is safe in Edo State and it is a big indictment on the security agencies.”

The IGP has, however, restated the commitment of the police towards a credible election.

He said, “This governorship election, I think is the first, apart from the Rivers election which has been postponed that we are going to carry out. So, we are very serious about this election.

“The men (policemen deployed in the state for the election) are going to report about three days to the election date and this will enable them to take care of most of the flash points in the state. We expect that on election day we are not going to record any problem.”



Punch

Nearly 1.5m in Saudi for first post-stampede hajj

Nearly 1.5 million pilgrims have converged on western Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj where new measures aim to prevent a recurrence of last year’s stampede which killed around 2,300.

The stampede legacy has contributed to renewed tensions between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, which is not sending pilgrims for the first time in nearly three decades.

While the main rites of the six-day event begin on Saturday, pilgrims have already been swirling around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, a procession that continues day and night.

It is one of the first rites of the pilgrimage, which is among the largest religious gatherings in the world.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which capable Muslims must perform at least once, marking the spiritual peak of their lives.

Rich and poor alike come dressed in the same white garments.

“We don’t come here with fear in our hearts,” said Naouri Abdelkarim, 50, of Casablanca, Morocco.

Death can come at any time, pilgrims say, and for Lawan Nasir, 45, that meant there was no reason to avoid the hajj even though he lost a cousin in last year’s stampede.

“The pains have not dulled a bit,” but it would be “silly” to stay away, the Nigerian told AFP.

In one of several safety measures implemented after the stampede, access to the Kaaba is suspended during prayers, and the walk around it is stopped to avoid overcrowding.

The Kaaba is a black cubic structure that Muslims across the globe face while they pray.

Security has also been reinforced around Islam’s holiest site, where officers in red berets and camouflage uniforms man green plastic barricades to control the crowd.

During the main weekly Friday prayers, the white-clad throng made the area around the Kaaba resemble a snow-dusted field from above.

Worshippers overflowed into surrounding streets shut to allow access for hundreds of thousands of people as a helicopter monitored the scene.

Pilgrims have also been told to follow the rules.

“They said not to stray from our group, not to linger when buses arrive and depart, and to properly respect the designated routes,” said Rasha Mohammed, 36, of Alexandria, Egypt.

With temperatures of 43 Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) as they marched, some pilgrims seemed faint. They carried water and tried to help each other under the unyielding sun.

– ‘Absence of transparency’ –

The kingdom has begun issuing pilgrims with identification bracelets, after some foreign officials expressed concern about difficulties in identifying the stampede dead.

Each bracelet carries a bar code readable by smartphone. It holds data including the pilgrim’s identity, nationality, and place of lodging in Mecca, the vice secretary of the ministry of hajj and umrah, Issa Rawas, told AFP.

He said: “The aim is to equip all pilgrims” from abroad, who are expected to number more than 1.4 million, according to the latest official figures.

The rest of the numbers will be made up of people from inside Saudi Arabia.

Zakou Bakar, 50, a pilgrim from Niger, said the bracelet was reassuring.

“If I die or if there are problems — of course we hope not — but if it does happen I know I will be identified,” he told AFP.

Despite the Saudi steps, the head of Iran’s Hajj Organisation, Said Ohadi, on Friday asked how the kingdom could invite the world’s Muslims and not allow questions about the security measures to be raised.

Absent from this year’s hajj are tens of thousands of Iranians after talks between Tehran and Riyadh on logistics and security fell apart in May.

Thousands of people in Tehran on Friday protested their country’s absence from the pilgrimage.

Iran said 464 nationals died in last year’s crush, the highest number of fatalities reported by any country.

Jane Kinninmont, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, a London think tank, said the stampede exposed “clearly some big organisational failings, to say the least”.

There was also “an absence of real transparency” about what went wrong, she said.

Saudi Arabia has an economic stake in ensuring pilgrims’ comfort and safety.

As part of efforts to diversify its oil-dependent economy, the kingdom wants to foster a year-round religious tourism sector relying on millions who perform the umrah, or lesser pilgrimage



Punch

Jummai Alhassan Meets Parents Of Chibok Girls.

Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, Minister, Women Affairs And Social Development met with the parents of the abducted Chibok Girls in Maiduguri led by Chairman of the LGA Hon Yaga Yakarawa.

See photos below

Source

Abandoned Nine-month-old Baby Crawling On Lagos Road Found

Residents of Shodipo Crescent in the Ikeja Government Reserved Area of Lagos State were shocked on Wednesday to find an abandoned baby boy crawling on the road.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the nine-month-old baby, whose name had yet to be ascertained, was seen crawling by residents, who quickly alerted some policemen on patrol in the area.

Our correspondents gathered that the child was picked up by the policemen and brought to the Lagos State Police Command headquarters, Ikeja.

The baby was thereafter taken for a checkup.

It was gathered that the nine-month-old was believed to have crawled out of his parents’ apartment, although no resident in the area had showed up for the baby boy.

A police source told PUNCH Metro that the child would remain in the police custody until his family showed up with concrete proofs of relationship.

She said, “We found the boy on Shodipo Crescent in the Ikeja GRA. He is about nine months old. He was found crawling on the road. Some residents thereafter alerted some policemen on patrol.

“The police team rescued the baby. So far, nobody has come up to claim the baby. He must have left the custody of his parents or guardian and that is how some children fall into the hands of kidnappers and ritual killers. He is still with us at the command headquarters.”

In a related development, an Indian national was rescued from some gunmen on Wednesday by the police who wanted to abduct him in the Epe area of Lagos State.

Our correspondents gathered that the Indian national, whose name was not disclosed by the police “to protect him”, was working at a construction site near a waterway, when the abductors came in a speedboat and took him away.

A police source told one of the correspondents that there was an exchange of gunfire between some police operatives and the gunmen, who were forced to abandon the Indian on the water, while they fled.

He said, “The Indian was a contractor at a construction site in the Epe area. Some kidnappers had emerged from the waters and abducted the Indian at gunpoint. They were taking him away when some police operatives engaged them in a gun battle.

“Although none of the abductors was arrested, the police were able to rescue the Indian.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, confirmed the baby, and the Indian’s rescue, saying investigations were ongoing into the cases.

He said, “We appeal to members of the public to take a good care of their children and wards while trying to make ends meet. So far, nobody has come forward to claim the abandoned baby.

“Also, the rescued Indian has been debriefed by the police, and investigation is ongoing.”


http://punchng.com/abandoned-nine-month-old-baby-found-crawling-road/

Does Nigeria know where she is going?

Fola Ojo, willieojo@yahoo.com

If you do not know where you come from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where you’re going. And if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably going wrong.”

 The above is the submission of a notable English author, Terry Pratchett, in his award-winning comic fantasy novel, “I Shall Wear Midnight”.

My biological mother of the blessed memory also drew similar words from her own pouch of wisdom: “If you don’t know where you are going, you should know where you are coming from”, mum would always say. I wrapped the edifying message in these words around my life loins growing up in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Life is a journey. Those who crafted the words above hope to challenge us all to be wary of how we walk in the slippery terrain of life as a journey. There are millions of people; some of them you probably know, some may be your loved ones who don’t know where they are headed. Hordes of human beings are walking around unsure if they are coming, going, or standing still. I have met people who have no clue about what they want out oflife. I have stumbled on a few who don’t even have a clue that they don’t have a clue. Those who are not cognisant of the appropriate steps to take usually detour from their God-given destinations. Many have been blown away by whirlwinds into the world beyond without fulfilling their destinies. The horse that drags the chariots of defeat, destruction, and demise in life is essentially man’s inability to reason out what he really wants out of life. Someday and somehow, life will teach the individual hard lessons if he continues strutting down that precarious path.

I was taking a walk in a Hartford, Wisconsin park the other day when the ministering angel assigned to Nigeria started to bother me with questions about Nigeria. I still don’t know why. Why must this angel harass me daily about concerns in Nigeria? I don’t live there! Then, the gazillion naira question: Does Nigeria know where she is heading?  If a nation has no clue where she is heading, knows not what to do when she ought to, or refuses to do what she knows is right to do, that country is only playing to win the gold in the Super Olympic Games of failure.

Ask Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance, and she’ll tell you that these times may truly be confusing, but Nigeria knows where she is headed. “How are we going to get ourselves out of this recession? We must make sure that we diversify our economy. There are too many of us to keep on relying on oil”. Kemi is right about diversification.

Although it’s been reported that Nigeria’s non-oil sector declined by 0.38 per cent in real terms in the Second Quarter of 2016, agriculture sector has grown by 13.24 per cent. This was higher than the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015. An indisputably solid framework left by Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the last administration is enhancing a spurt in that area. Maybe, the government is doing what it’s supposed to do. Nominal GDP growth in manufacturing in the Second Quarter of 2016 was recorded at negative 1.02 per cent, 1.09 per cent points lower than the 0.07 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2015. Maybe, the promises of investing heavily in capital projects and the manufacturing sector will truly jumpstart the economy. But does Nigeria really know where she is heading, or we are just playing “eeny-meeny-miny-moe” with the economy?

Ask the woman selling tomatoes in Dugbe Market in Ibadan what she thinks about the over 200 per cent increase in the price of tomatoes. She’ll tell you that the government does not know where it’s going. When the price of cement suddenly jumped from N1,300 to N2,400, anybody’s reassuring words that all will be well will not sit down well with those who need to purchase cement for construction works. They’ll tell you that the government is clueless and confused.

Not even the words of President Muhammadu Buhari recently in Edo will settle it for doubters who are growing daily in numbers: “… we are going to get out of this our economic doldrums and we are almost out of our insecurity problems and we are going to make Nigeria great again. We are going to be very proud of our country and our size and our resources will not be for nothing”.

Getting out of this painful season is our prayers. But, how long will the reshuffle of ideas and diversification of the economy begin to produce results not just in numbers, but in real, tangible sense of it? Adeosun gave the answer: “…I think that we have a long way to go”. Wow! That’s too caustic for a family who is about to eat its last meal and die. But, it’s true.We have a long way to go. And Nigeria is not alone. Although production of crude oil represents just three per cent of Canada’s GDP, It’s also been reported that the sharp fall in oil prices now threatens to put Canada to “move from leader to laggard”. In the rich nations’ category, France and Italy also are in deep struggles with higher unemployment rates. The mess is all over the place. Recession is an abscess in any nation’s guts. A country in recession however can be granted an exemption only if it knows where it is heading.

That President Buhari is now between the rock and a hard place is an understatement. He probably wishes that he’s able to switch on the engine of the economy, turn everything around in a jiffy, and put his enemies to shame.  But, alas, what’s on the ground is too complicated and intricate. An average citizen of any nation will not respond to promises and the throwing-around of arbitrary placating and mollifying figures.

In the ears of a hungry man or woman, these are considered jargons. They want to feel the uptick in their pocket books and on the dinner table. That is the dilemma that this administration has to deal with right now.

Most Nigerians do not know what GDP means; but they know that the total and combined monetary value of road infrastructure contracts that have been awarded in Nigeria over many years should have eliminated potholes and bumpy, rough rides on all Nigerian highways and byways. But what do we have? Potholes and valleys in all 774 local government areas! Most Nigerians may not know what cost-put inflation is; but they know that funds for infrastructural development had always been kept in a treasury full of holes. Most Nigerians may not understand all the economic terminologies hauled from Adeosun’s London library, but they know the price of garri; and they know when it is spiking and without reach.

Does Nigeria know where she is going? I think so. Those who have been privileged to lead have a clear idea where Nigeria ought to be. Many of them have traversed every nook and cranny of this world. They have experienced how good governments run. They know what accountability looks like; and they know the colour of transparency. They know that when things work, they do for all; and when situations go awry, everybody mourns. Yes; they should know where they are going.

But right now, my friends, I sense that they may be having a lot of difficulties figuring out how to get there. I hope I am wrong. May Nigeria succeed; may God bless the land.


Punch

UK House Of Commons Debate On Chibok Girls, Vows To Keep Up The Pressure.

Members of the United Kingdom's House of Commons, today held a debate centered on the missing Chibok school girls. According to some of the parliamentarians, they were moved to tears during the debate and vowed that the House would keep up its pressure to see that the girls that have been in Boko Haram captivity for over 2 years now are rescued.

Watch the debate video http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/3f80ee36-45ac-4ef5-89d9-b03b26b47183?in=13:30:40&out=13:45:53

Hotel workers kill boss, disappear with CCTV, car.

Samson Folarin

The Niger State Police Command has started investigations into the killing of the owner of Deploo Hotel and Suites, Mr. Lucky Okonkwo, who was murdered in his hotel in Suleja, Niger State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that 59-year-old Lucky was stabbed to death on Friday by a three-man gang, suspected to be workers at the hotel, shortly after he returned from a trip to Kaduna.

He was said to be at the hotel for the purpose of supervision.

It was learnt that after killing the victim, the suspects took away the Closed Circuit Television decoder of the hotel, the victim’s phones and fled in his Peugeot 406 saloon car.

They also took away a file containing certain information about the hotel.

The security men at the hotel, who were the prime suspects, were reported to have fled immediately the incident happened and had since been unreachable on their telephone lines.

They were identified as Frank Anavukko, Victor Anerah and Emmanuel Adeh.

Our correspondent was told that the incident was discovered on Saturday morning by a housekeeper who saw a pool of blood streaming out from the victim’s office.

The matter was reported at the Madalla Police Division and some of the hotel workers were arrested.

Lucky, an indigene of Delta State, was said to be the immediate past Vice-President of the Nigerian Association of Technology Engineering, North-West zone.

The victim’s first son, Paul, told PUNCH Metro that his father was killed around 7pm.

He explained that workers at the hotel claimed not to have known when his father was murdered.

He said, “He just returned from a trip and around 7pm of that day, he went to his office. When his workers didn’t see him and they discovered he was not reachable on his telephone lines, they called my mum the following day.

“She rushed down to the hotel and met him in a pool of blood. The workers claimed they didn’t know when it happened.  They said they only saw three people going into his office and the same set of people driving out in his car. They said they also saw those people with the CCTV decoder and when they queried them, they said, ‘Oga asked us to go and repair it’.

“Aside from the CCTV and the car, those men also left with his money and other valuables. We don’t really know the motivation for the murder.”

Paul said the family reported the case to the police at the Madalla division, adding that some of the workers on duty at the time had been arrested.

He urged the police to speed up investigations and bring the perpetrators of the crime to book.

A source told PUNCH Metro that the father of five struggled with his assailants before he was overpowered and killed.

He said, “The man was a retired PHCN worker. He was killed on Friday night. On Saturday morning, a man cleaning the hotel saw a pool of blood coming out of his office and raised the alarm. At the scene, there was a knife with which he was killed. There were also signs of struggle as the office table was broken. He had a deep knife cut in his palm, probably while he was holding the knife from piercing into him. They drove away his grey colour Peugeot 406 saloon car, with number plate KUJ-424 BB. They also made away with a file containing some information about the hotel.”

It was gathered that the case had already been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Minna.

A source said the fleeing hotel guards were the prime suspects.

He said, “One of them is already in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. How can something happen on Friday and in less than 24 hours, you have already disappeared to Port Harcourt if not that you are culpable?”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Niger State Police Command, Elkana Bala, said the police were closing in on the suspects, adding that information available to the police showed Lucky was killed by his workers.

He said, “He was suspected to have been murdered by his workers; he was not killed by outsiders. After the incident, those male workers ran away with his Peugeot 406. We are trailing them. The SCIID, Homicide section, has commenced full investigations into the matter.”


Punch.

Sports Betting: Man In Uyo Hangs Himself Over N22,000 Loss

A man in his early 30s, Mr. Uchenna, hanged himself in his room along Abak road in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital, after losing N22,000 to sports betting.

Our correspondent gathered that Uchenna was a perpetual sports gambler with Naija Bet and that he took the said sum he lost from his boss in the hope that he would replace it when he wins.

Uchenna’s roommate, ýIfiok, said the deceased had been lamenting after losing the money and got himself into a terrible state of mind.

“I went out to buy something from Plaza (the city center) and on getting back I found that everywhere was locked. I knew Uchenna hasn’t gone out and I wondered what must have made him to lock up himself. I tried to open the door for several minutes without success until I had to force it open. I then found him hanging from the ceiling fan in our room and his eyes had popped out,” Ifiok said.

A neighbour who spoke to our correspondent, Uto Udobia, decried the high rate of sports betting which has become prevalent among the youths and even elders.

She called on government and other regulatory agencies to check the sports betting activities, stressing that it is pure gambling and it is already fuelling crime among the youths and also derailing their career.

Source

Man Steals N214,000 Church Tithe In Lagos And He Gets 6 Month Jail Term

A 28-year-old man, Elochukwu Nnoruga, is to spend six months in jail for stealing N214, 000 tithe belonging to St Patrick Catholic Church, Idumaigbo, Lagos.

Magistrate Ade Adefulire of the Tinubu Magistrate’s Court in Lagos, who gave the sentence on Thursday, ruled that the convict would spend the six months in Ikoyi Prison and gave him no option of fine.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Nnoruga was arraigned on Aug. 17, on suspicion that he stole the amount from the Church’s tithe box.

Nnoruga promptly pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of theft.

In his judgment, the magistrate expressed disgust that people could steal from the house of God.

“It is a pity that people do not see the house of God as sacred anymore.

“This judgment should serve as a lesson to the public, if you choose crime instead of hard work, the hand of the law will always catch up with you.

“Nnoruga, you are hereby sentenced to six months imprisonment without an option of fine,” he declared.

The prosecutor, Mr Ben Ekundayo, had told the court that the convict committed the offence on Aug. 14, at about 2 p.m., at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Idumaigbo, Lagos.

Ekundayo said that the convict stole N214, 000 from the tithe box after Church service.

He said that the offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. (NAN)



Source

Russian Daldykan River Turns Blood-Red Sparking Biblical Plague Fears

A river outside Russia’s Arctic city of Norilsk has inexplicably turned blood-red, puzzling locals and prompting authorities to launch an investigation into the cause of the anomaly.

The Daldykan River near Norilsk in Siberia lost its natural color on Tuesday, as locals posted jaw-dropping images of the crimson river on social media.

Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology confirmed that it had received reports of river pollution “with an unidentified chemical substance,” saying there could have been an accident at the Norilsk Nickel plant, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium.

The plant’s administration denied these allegations, however, RIA Novosti news agency reports.

“As of today, the polar division of the [Norilsk Nickel] company cannot confirm any leakage or accidental discharge of industrial waste into the Daldykan River, which could have affected the river’s state,” the company said in a press release.

Nonetheless, it has been decided that the plant will temporarily lower its operational capacity and monitor the state of the environment around the facility and in the affected area of the river. The company also provided an aerial photo said to be shot on the same day and showing the water was of regular color.

Surprisingly, the plant’s press service told the news agency that the river’s color right now is actually its natural one.

Local emergencies service said they had not received any complaints about the river and have therefore not addressed the issue.

A state of emergency has not been declared, according to Norilsk mayor’s office, as the river does not contribute to the city’s water supply.

Locals have been more inquisitive, however, and have enthusiastically suggested reasons for the color change, with some asking whether a new episode of The Crimson Rivers was being filmed in the area, while others have suggested that it’s high time to go fishing, as all of the fish could now pass for salmon. Others blame the mining plant, which locals call by the female name Nadezhda (Russian for Hope), saying it is having its time of the month.

Some noted that it’s not the first time they have come across such a strange phenomenon, saying that this effect occurs when the river washes out subsurface rock formations, which mostly consist of nickel and copper.

Nairaland.

Source

Change First Before Asking For The Change We Promised - Buhari Tells Nigerians.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that before Nigerians demand to see the changes he promised them during the 2015 election, they must first change their own attitude by shunning corruption and other social vices.

He adds that change is not about economic or social progress, but it is in terms of citizens’ personal behaviour.

Buhari said this while delivering a speech at the inauguration of the national re-orientation campaign tagged, ‘Change Begins With Me’ in Abuja on Thursday.

The President acknowledged that Nigeria is currently passing through a challenging period where hardly anything works normally.

He lamented that honesty, hard work and godliness had given way to all kinds of manifestations of lawlessness and degeneration in our national life.

Buhari said, “Our citizens must realise that the change they want to see begins with them, and that personal and social reforms are not a theoretic exercise. If you have not seen the change in you, you cannot see it in others or even the larger society.

“In other words, before you ask ‘Where is the change they promised us?’, you must first ask, ‘How far have I changed my ways? What have I done to be part of the change for the greater good of society?’

The President said his government had done well in the fight against corruption, adding that the fresh campaign was a way of getting Nigerians to join in the struggle.

He added, “The campaign we are about to launch today is all about the need for us to see change, not merely in terms of our economic, social progress but in terms of our personal behaviour on how we conduct ourselves, engage our neighbours, friends and generally how we relate with the larger society in a positive and definitive way and manner that promotes our common good and common destiny, change at home, change in work place, change at traffic junction, change at traffic lights, etc.”

He said the value system of the nation had been eroded and that was why students would prefer to embrace cultism rather than face their studies. He said it was for the same reason youths were vandalising oil pipelines thus robbing the nation of much-needed resources.

Buhari said the disintegration of social values encouraged impunity and corruption in the public sector which ultimately led to the current economic recession.


Source

Deputy Gov, Clark mourn Tompolo father’s death

Ovie Okpare, Warri

Niger Delta leaders including Ijaw National Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Thursday condoled with the people of Gbaramatu Kingdom over the demise of Chief Thomas Ekpemupolo, the father of the embattled ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, otherwise called Tompolo.

 Tompolo’s father died on Wednesday at a private hospital in Warri, Delta State, owing to an injury he sustained during the military invasion of his residence in May, 2016, in Kurutie, Warri South-West Local Government Area of the state.

Clark, a former Federal Commissioner of Information, described the late Ekpemupolo as a man of peace, whose patriotism to the Ijaw ethnic nationality remained unquestionable.

 He appealed to the people of Gbaramatu Kingdom to remain calm and be peaceful, following the incident.  He added that Tompolo father’s death was the people’s sacrifice for peace in the Niger Delta.

 While commiserating with the deceased family, he called on the Federal Government to immediately withdraw troops from the region, especially now that the militants had agreed to a ceasefire agreement with the Federal Government.

Clark said, “It is a painful loss to the Ijaw nation, considering the manner he (Tompolo’s father) died. He was a very quiet and peaceful man. He was a patriotic Ijaw man. We’ll greatly miss him. I’m using the medium to call Gbaramatu people to remain calm in the face of what has happened.”

 Also grieved by Tompolo’s father’s death is the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro. He described his death as a great loss to the Ijaw nation.

 In a condolence statement sent to our correspondent, Otuaro condoled with HRM Oboro-Gbaraun II, the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom and Ekpemupolo’s family, urging them to be “comforted in the Lord.”



Punch

Nigeria In Recession Because Of Hurried Implementation Of TSA – Ben Murray Bruce

The lawmaker representing Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, has reasoned that the “hurried implementation” of the Treasury Single Account, TSA, may be one of the reasons the country is in economic recession.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the entertainment entrepreneur regretted that everything is politicised in Nigeria, adding that the country’s current interest rate is ridiculous for a country in recession.

His tweets read: “Nobody locks up money in a vault in a recession. In fact, the hurried implementation of TSA may be part of the reason we are in a recession.”

“We must make it easier, not more difficult, for business to obtain credit.”

“Now that we have found ourselves in a recession, we must do the commonsensical thing to do and spend our way out of the recession.”

“We politicize everything in Nigeria. It is our undoing because the economy should bow to politics, politics should not bow to the economy!”


Source

Basketmouth's Security Guard Arrested For Fleeing During Robbery Attack

Police in Lagos yesterday arrested and detained a security man guarding the home of the ace comedian, Bright Okpocha, otherwise known as Basketmouth.

Robbers had in the early hours of the day stormed Basketmouth’s house at Lekki area of Lagos. The bandits were said to have collected his phones, two I-pads, shoes, jewellery and bags.

They also removed the CCTV while going. He was robbed barely one hour after he returned from the club. It was gathered that his security guard bolted after he realised that bandits had invaded their home.

A police source said: “He came home about 1:30a.m. and by 2:15a.m., the robbers came. It appeared his home has a central door. He left the door open for his security guard to carry out one or two duties.

It was through that door they came into his home.” But the security guard was arrested because he fled and did not alert the residents or the police.

Attempts to get Basketmouth were abortive as his phone was switched off.

The police source, however, said Basketmouth has asked the police to release the security guard because he and his wife trusted the man. It was learnt that police reached Basketmouth’s home about five minutes after they were alerted.

“But the robbers had long gone before we were alerted. When asked why Basketmouth did not call police earlier, he said he did not want a shootout.”

His friend, another ace comedian, Bovi Ugboma popularly called Bovi, however, blew the story open on his Instagram. According to Bovi, Basketmouth and family were robbed at their home, but are safe and unhurt.

Bovi said that his friend was robbed between the hours of 2a.m. and 4a.m. He added that the robbery was reported at the nearest police station. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Dolapo Badmus, confirmed the incident. She added: “The Commissioner of Police has directed that the case be transferred for further investigations.”



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Train Crushes Man's Leg And Hand While Listening To Music In Lagos.

A man, simply identified as Prince, who was allegedly listening to music with ear piece while attempting to cross the rail lines escaped death by the whiskers as a moving train crushed his leg and hand, at Ajayi Farm bus-stop, opposite Adegbola street, in Ikeja area of Lagos State, yesterday morning.

It was gathered that the victim was crossing the railway but unknown to him a train was moving closer to him. Some sympathisers at the scene said the noise of the moving cars along the Oshodi Iyana- Ipaja expressway would not allow a passerby to hear the sound of a moving train.


An eye witness claiming to be the sister of the victim, told bossnewspapers that the man was already on the rail line with two other friends before noticing the oncoming the metropolis train. However, his inability to hear the blaring horns of the train because of the ear piece on both ears made him fall victim to the train which chopped off his ankle in the bargain.

The sister of the victim claimed that there was no reason the man should not have heard or seen the train even as passers-by were shouting to him. She philosophically added that it was obvious ‘the rail was in need of blood’.


A sympathiser, Clifford Anyanwu disclosed to Leadership that before the victim could notice that a train was close by, it was too late.

“Though the man tried to escape from the railway, the devil was already there to avert his escape. His trousers hooked a protruding iron in the rail which made the train to meet him and crushed one of his legs and one of his hands. The man wept profusely and even some women were crying for him. Many prayed that he survives the tragedy,” he said

It was gathered that the driver of the train which was moving towards Oshodi area did not hoot its horn from afar to alert people that such heavy vehicle was approaching.

Another eyewitness, who identified himself simply as Mama Adesua said,

“They were two who tried to cross the railway. One noticed that the train was coming and quickly crossed while the other (the victim) did not and has paid dearly for it. All efforts he made to escape proved abortive because he was under tension and the rail iron has held his trouser, causing the train to crush his leg and hand. I and other women were crying like babies when we saw the helpless man in the pool of his blood.”

It was gathered that policemen attached to Man Centre police station were at the scene and they assisted alongside some sympathisers to rush the victim and his severed ankle to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.



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IGP Bans BBOG Protests In Abuja And Its Environs, Deploys Anti-Riot Police

Anti-Riot Police Prevent #BBOG Protesters From Holding Meeting In Abuja

The clampdown order issued by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on the #BringBackOurGirls advocacy group, more anti-riot police officers have been deployed to the Unity Fountain in Abuja in an effort to prevent the activists from holding a meeting.

A large number of combat ready police officers were spotted at the fountain on Thursday morning.

The police chief on Tuesday said that the #BBOG protest constitutes a threat to public peace and order and therefore banned all forms of rally and procession in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs.

According to FCT Police spokesperson Anjuguri Manzah, the command has observed with concern the disregard for the rule of law by some individuals or group of persons with the FCT.

“These indiscriminate actions which are carried out in disorderly and sometimes riotous manner create unwarranted tension and apprehension among law abiding citizens and in the process obstruct legitimate business activities,” Mr. Manzah said.

He also said the command is making it clear that it will continue to be professional in discharging its constitutionally assigned roles in accordance with international best practices, especially as it relates to the fundamental rights of citizens.

“However, the command will not fold its arms and watch some individuals or groups of persons tamper with the existing peaceful atmosphere in the Federal Capital Territory.

“The Command hereby advises any person or group of persons who wish to embark on any demonstration to notify the Commissioner of Police in the FCT in writing and secure approval,” Mr. Manzah added.

#BBOG on Tuesday presented a signed copy of a police permit to the FCT Deputy Commissioner of Police, M.D Garba, that authorized the group to hold the rally, but was ignored as he kept mute. Protesters then stormed the barricade set up by police to prevent them from embarking on their protest.

The group had planned to have a sit-out today at 5:00 p.m. in Abuja.



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Four UNILAG Students Jailed For Cult Activities

Four undergraduate UNILAG students, identified as Raheem Yusuf , 21 , Adedoyin Adeyemi Abraham , 24, Olanrewaju Idowu, 36 , and Safraini Oluyemi Peters, 24 , we're sent to jail by a magistrate court on the accusation of there alleged involvement in cult activities within the school premises .

The students were arrested by the state police command for allegedly being members of a secret cult known as Aloral Bucania.The police during the arraignment of the students yesterday the police informed the court that on the 4th of August at about 9am in Room 318 , Biobaku Hall of residence in the institution , the suspects had hacked out plans to carry out some cult activities that would have caused the breach of public peace .

Acting on a tipoff, the students were arrested by the police and arraigned on a two count charge bordering on conspiracy to cause a breach of public peace and belonging to an unlawful and secret society .
They were docked before Chief Magistrate Oluwayemisi Adelaja on Charge No : D/ 45 / 2016. When the charges were read , they all pleaded not guilty . The Chief Magistrate , Oluwayemisi Adelaja granted the defendants N 200 , 000 bail with two sureties each in the like sum.

She ruled that the sureties must possess evidence of three years ’ tax payment to the Lagos State government, affidavit of livelihood and be residents of the state . She ruled that the students be remanded in prison custody until their bail conditions have been met .
The case was adjourned till September 26th for trial.



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