He should get an Airbus to help Aviation in naija !adv.ertisem.entclick for NollyWood videos on utube4naija AndyUba Airways !
Though Andy Uba has no bank account in his name, huhuonline.com can disclose that the former special assistant (domestic affair) to President Obasanjo just took delivery of a N49 billion private jet. To conceal the entire transaction from law enforcement and media huhuonline learnt that Andy Uba instructed that the jet be delivered to his bossom friend Sayoe Dantata.
Andy Uba for eight years was the go to guy, he reigned supreme in Aso villa as the un elected defacto vice-president under President Olusegun Obasanjo, he determined who, where and when people could see the former president. His influence was monumental, thus revered. Many cabinet ministers had to submit their official memo for him to peruse prior to submitting to President Obasanjo for approval.
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Andy Uba, hired as personal assistance domestic, with job description such as ensure that tuition fees of Obasanjo many children are paid as at when due, also doubled as President Obasanjo`s official pimp, as he was noted for driving his government assigned pimpmobile to the homes and offices of female minister to chauffeur them .
Recall that Farida Waziri led Economic and Financial Crime Commission commenced what has been viewed largely as a clampdown on politicians believed to have close ties with ex-president Obasanjo. This huhuonline .com learnt is Andy Uba `s worst nightmare. Sources close to him told our correspondent that trepidation has become his stock in trade, alleged to be one of the richest men in Nigeria; Andy Uba has no bank account to his name in Nigeria.
Andy Uba huhuonline 9jabooks media partner learnt is now Persona non grata (PNG) with President Yar`dua, our impeccable sources within the villa told that since the election tribunal bribery saga, which was widely reported in the media, President Umaru Yar`dua has refused to have an audience with the embattled governor in waiting.
we gathered that the bribe money which was leaked to the media, was a major source of embarrassment for President Yar`dua, and it appears he is taking it personal, which is a complete departure from his mantra ?I don?t see what people do to me but what they do for me? . Andy Uba sources within the presidency disclosed provided the funds. But conception theorist has it that the funds actually came from Forbes list billionaire Aliko Dangote, who is not a favorite of the Yar`dua administration.
Aliko Dangote a monopolist by nature, abhor competition, under President Obasanjo, his fortune ascended, notable was Dan sugar. But since the advent of the Yar`dua administration, Dangote group has lost its monopoly, particularly in cement and sugar. Thus provision of funds for bribery and subsequent leak to the media was a calculated attempt to mortify Umaru Yar`dua led government, however, his friend Andy Uba took the fall for fear of the after effect of reprisal. Recall Andy Uba does business by proxies.
Andy Uba Emergence in the power game
But for Atiku`s greed, Andy Uba probably would have remained just a pimp for Obasanjo. To be continued
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They have been quite an uproar at Dr. Reuben Abati's write up days back with Eldee and Banky W responding.They made really strong ponits that I think Dr. Reuben should note.What I think? Banky and Eldee said it all. Take a peep at http://www.questionmarkmag.com/?p=811
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Posted by Chika Ilonwa on June 24, 2009 at 12:57am
Worldwide today more than 30 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS, a figure larger than the combined populations of Australia, Ireland, and Paraguay. Estimates indicate that Africa has 21 million of these victims. According to United Nations figures, by the turn of the century, that number could soar to 40 million people. One UN report says that the disease rivals the greatest epidemics of history. Of the world's sexually active adults aged 15 to 49, 1 in 100 has already been infected with HIV. Of these, only 1 in 10 realizes that he or she is infected. In some parts of Africa, 25 percent of the adults are infected.Since the beginning of the epidemic in 1981, an estimated 11.7 million people have died of AIDS. It is estimated that in 1997 alone, about 2.3 million people perished. Nevertheless, there are fresh reasons for optimism in the battle against AIDS. During the past few years, there has been a drop in new AIDS cases in wealthy nations. In addition, promising drugs hold out hope of better health and prolonged life.How can you protect yourself against AIDS? What are the latest developments in treatment and vaccines? Will the disease ever be vanquished? These questions will be answered by you and only you alone.
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Posted by Chika Ilonwa on June 24, 2009 at 12:37am
Many believe that human activities are a major cause of global warming, which may have catastrophic consequences for the climate and the environment. For example, large-scale melting of land-based ice and the expansion of the oceans as water warms could cause sea levels to rise drastically. Low-lying islands such as Tuvalu could disappear, as could large parts of the Netherlands and Florida, to name just two other areas. Millions of people could be displaced from such places as Shanghai and Calcutta, as well as parts of Bangladesh.Even here in Lagos the situation is very terrible that atimes I wonder if people notice what is going on. The heat is fierce that I dont put on cream again because if I do I will regret it.At the same time, rising temperatures could intensify storms, floods, and droughts. In the Himalayas, disappearing glaciers—from areas that feed seven river systems—could cause shortages of freshwater for 40 percent of the world’s population. Also at risk are thousands of species of animals, including polar bears, whose hunting grounds are largely on the ice. Indeed, reports already indicate that many bears are losing weight and some are even starving.Rising temperatures may also foster the spread of disease by enabling mosquitoes, ticks, and other disease-carrying organisms, including fungi, to spread farther afield. “The dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons,” says the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “The effects may be less dramatic in the short term . . . , but over the next three to four decades climate change could cause irremediable harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival.” Adding an even more ominous note, some scientists believe that changes attributed to global warming are occurring faster than they had expected.What are we to make of these predictions? Is life on earth really at a crossroads? Skeptics of global warming say that such dire predictions are groundless. Others are not sure. So, what is the truth? Is earth’s future—and ours—in peril?
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Three weeks ago, gunmen attacked the Aninri Divisional Police Station, Enugu State, killed two policemen and injured three others including a female police officer.
The gunmen did not only leave a tale of sorrow at the station but went ahead to set fire on all police patrol vans sighted within the vicinity at the time of their operation, which was reportedly executed in commando style.
It was learnt that the gunmen stormed Aninri Police Station in exotic vehicles including a jeep and unleashed their superior firepower on policemen, who were on duty as of the time of the attack.
Two of the policemen were caught by the bullets and they died instantly while others including the female police officer escaped with bullet wounds.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Eneh, narrowly escaped from the gunmen.
The gang, after setting the police patrol vehicles at the station on fire, escaped. However, a source linked the shooting at Aninri Police Station to a disagreement between two rival groups in Mpu community, the home of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
It was learnt that a self-acclaimed witch doctor in one group allegedly charmed a young man belonging to the rival group. In reprisal, the other group took laws into their hands and killed the said witch doctor.
Following the killing, the police moved into Mpu town and rounded up some young men, believed to have participated in the killing and who it was gathered, were loyalists of some politicians in the area.
Even as controversy over the killing was raging, a report came to the police station that robbers were operating in a nearby community. The police reportedly swung into action and gave the robbers a hot pursuit but the bandits abandoned their operational vehicles at a point in the same Mpu community and escaped.
When the policemen could not get the robbers, they forcefully arrested some youths of the community and took them to the station.
The arrest of the youths reportedly stirred up the shooting at the police station that led to the death of the two policemen.
However Amaraizu said that only one policeman died in the Mpu incident. The police spokesperson told Daily Independent on phone that the manhunt for the perpetrators was ongoing.
About the same period, Enugu State Focal Person of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Uche Ani, was also abducted from his Enugu residence by suspected kidnappers.
It was gathered that Ani who rode on his official Land Cruiser jeep, was returning to his residence at No 38 Igbariam Street, Achalla Layout, Enugu, when he was waylaid by the kidnappers, who operated on a 604 Peugeot vehicle.
The incident occurred around 9.pm.
Just as the victim parked in front of his gate, the hoodlums parked their car beside his jeep, swiftly alighted and ordered him to come down from the jeep at gun point.
As Ani came down from the vehicle, he was reportedly beaten up and forced into the Peugoet car before the vehicle sped off.
Ani regained his freedom after spending a week in the den of his abductors.
Daily Independent gathered that he has re-united with his family but the details of his release were yet to be disclosed by Police.
The UNDP official added to the long list of those who had fallen victim to kidnappers in Enugu in the past six months.
Other notable victims include Francis Edemobi, younger brother of Minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyili; South East Regional Manager of Guarantee Trust Bank, Kingsley Osuala; son of Ifeanyi Ononiba, an Enugu-based hotelier and Ngozi Ngene, the wife of chairman of Enugu South Local Government Area, Sam Ngene.
Apart from Ononiba, who allegedly paid N5 million ransom to secure his son's freedom, police lived up to expectation in most other cases, setting the victims free and apprehending suspected kidnappers.
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Universities, federal and state, are in for another wandering in the wilderness, having been grounded on Monday as lecturers began an indefinite strike over the failure of the Federal Government to sign an agreement reached between them and Abuja's representatives.
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Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President, Ukachukwu Awuzie, said reports confirmed that all members complied.
He recalled in a telephone interview that it took two and a half years for the government team, led by industrialist Gamaliel Onosode, and the ASUU to reach a fresh agreement, which the ASUU has signed but is being ignored by the government.
He accused the government of pushing the union to the wall and into a strike, despite the 30 months of negotiation and another six months' wait for Abuja to sign and implement the pact.
Lecturers at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) joined the strike, as well as those of the Lagos State University (LASU), where candidates for the post University Matriculation Examination (post UME) were not allowed to enter the campus.
UNILAG lecturer and ASUU South West Co-ordinator, Yomi Akinyeye, said member-universities have no option than to fall into line.
The message got to Senators, who slammed President Umaru Yar'Adua for failing to implement agreements the government has with the ASUU.
Senate Spokesman, Ayogu Eze, said it is proper and responsible that such pacts should be honoured if they have been signed.
"The government may not have all the resources," he stressed, "but it can say 'we will give you this tomorrow; next tomorrow we give you this, one week after we give you this.'"
He urged the government to call the lecturers to a roundtable and honour any agreement already signed, because this is a government that is committed to due process and the rule of law.
"Due process is when you reach an agreement, you follow the agreement; when you make a promise, you follow (up on) your promise.
"Our take in the Senate is that the educational sector is so crucial to the foundation of this country that we cannot toy with it and we want to urge the lecturers to exercise some restraint once more while we talk to the executive to find a way to meet their aspirations based on the resources available to it."
Awuzie recounted that the government and the ASUU negotiating teams searched for a minimum point from which the university system could reverse the brain drain and ensure a large pool of scholars who would help to reposition Nigeria.
He maintained that Nigerian universities need urgent intervention from the government to fulfill their potential, stressing that the agreement, if implemented, could transform them into some of the best in the world, and facilitate the country becoming a leading economy in the world.
He canvassed that education should continue to be funded by the treasury because of its importance to national development.
Before the telephone interview, Awuzie had told a press conference in Akure that four major issues negotiated by the government and the ASUU included sufficient funding of university education, lecturers' condition of service, university autonomy, and greater accessibility to university education.
"The two teams agreed that, to begin the process of repositioning the university system as envisaged, a required minimum of funds should be provided for public universities, federal and state, without compromising the goals and integrity of universities."
He said the negotiating teams agreed that if Nigeria is to get where it ought to be in world education ranking, a minimum 26 per cent of annual federal and state budgets should be allocated to education.
He also disclosed that the teams agreed on and proposed an amendment to Education Tax Fund Act to make it an effective intervention to rehabilitate, restore, and reposition the tertiary institutions in order to develop a knowledge-based society.
"We arrived at an agreement on conditions of service that could motivate scholars sufficiently to stay in our country and teach, do research and community service, assuming that a good degree of patriotism would make up for the differences that might obtain in African countries that raid Nigeria for academics."
Awuzie said the failure of Abuja to sign the agreement has resulted in the loss of over 20,000 lecturers who have relocated to other Africa countries and Europe for greener pastures.
"We keep hearing of actions that are entirely foreign to the collective bargaining process; the government setting up a Technical Committee on an agreement without reference to the negotiating team, a Ministerial Committee set up with terms of reference that would entirely nullify the essence of the negotiated agreement.
"Our members have come to the conclusion that over two and a half years of patience is enough. They feel betrayed, duped, and do not want to suffer any more psychological or moral trauma."
Members of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) joined the strike at the University of Ibadan (UI).
The NASU said its own would last for seven days for now; but that of the ASUU is "total and indefinite," insisted local ASUU Chairman, Ademola Aremu, who recalled that the lecturers staged a warning strike about a month ago to sensitise both Abuja and the public.
Second semester examination could not begin on Monday as scheduled.
Aremu explained that there ''is nothing new in the agitation of the ASUU aside the request for the signing of the agreement it reached with the government as far back as last year, and until the government signs it, the strike will continue.
"Painful as it is, there is nothing we can do to avert it as the demands contained in the agreement are for the future of university education in the country."
Members of the NASU were more confrontational, as they prevented vehicles from entering or leaving the UI campus, at which entrance they spread mats.
However, UI chapter NASU Chairman, Olusola Fatoki, denied that his colleagues blockaded the roads, arguing that they spread mats at the gate to pray to God to touch the hearts of the people in power in Abuja.
"Prayer can be offered anywhere, and this is an abnormal situation which calls for an abnormal approach. That is why our decision to pray on the road should not be seen as out of place.
"We are having a government that has remained insensitive and irresponsive, and we believe that it is only prayer that can change its heart of stone," he added.
Fatoki explained that the NASU has no problem with UI authorities as its demands could only be met by the government.
"There is nothing anyone can do, it is a national matter."
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UI Public Relations Officer, Adejoke Akinpelu, lamented that the academic calendar will be adversely affected, and ''we can only hope that the government would accede to the (unions') requests as soon as possible.''
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by Danladi Usuman
News Adapted from Wikipedia, Daily Sun & http://www.9jawiki.com The Encycleopedia Nig.er.ian.ica
Obviously as a Gift on Father's Day Mohammed has decided to continue where is father stopped .
Mohammed Abacha, the eldest son of the former Nigeria Head of State, late General Sani Abacha, is set to join one of the existing political parties in the country, a declaration that would symbolically mark the beginning of the family’s quest to return public life. The Abachas had abruptly been cut off the national leadership scene when their patriarch, Gen. Abacha, suddenly died some 11 years ago, while still serving as the Military Head of State.
Mohammed Abacha before we forget
In 1999, Mohammed Abacha was arrested and charged with the murder of Kudirat Abiola (wife of MKO Abiola) and the attempted murder of Alex Ibru (head of Guardian Newspaper - an opposition newspaper).
In 2002 same moHommed Abacha was ultimately acquitted and released by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
a supposed secret admirer of the abacha Family from the long standing Military relationship with Abacha the elder This was after an agreement was reached between the government and the Abacha family that they would hand over the balance of funds embezzled during his father's rule, Which obviously The balance of that HUGE amount of Stolen funds Mohammed wants to use As the Comeback Kid of A DESPOT !
The Audacity of the Plan shows he his his fathers Son .Decisively Stupid and Ruthless.
Musa Umar Kazaure of The Weekly Trust said that the move was politically motivated.[3] The prison did not immediately release Mohammed Abacha after Obasanjo acquitted him.
ON April 18, 2005 Justice Amina Adamu Augie of the Court of Appeal in Abuja said that Mohammed Abacha would undergo a trial at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory due to offenses related to the stealing of public funds. Mohammed Abacha filed an appeal to fight the judgment.[4]
As of 2008 he is married with two children, a son named after his father and a daughter. ( SO BE CERTAIN HE LOVES HIS FATHER LIKE ANY GOOD SON BUT IS HE A GOOD PERSON OR GOING TO BE A GOOD LEADER ?)
This is the question mark The people in KANO and the REST of Nigeria have to Answer
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A very credible source told 9jabook sources in Kano that Alhaji Mohammed Abacha, when he eventually steps out into the political fray in the days ahead, is most likely going to pitch his tent with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) adding that so far, discussions between him and some of the stakeholders of the party, both in Kano State and in Abuja, have reached an advanced stage.
It is speculated that the younger Abacha, upon his admission into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would immediately set his eyes on the Kano State Government House, hoping to emerge as the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP and eventually, the governor of the state by 2011. Incidentally, the Abacha Abachas are believed to have had a long-standing romance with the All Nigerian Peoples Party Party (ANPP), especially in Kano, where the party, at some stage, even road on the seeming popularity of the Abachas with the common Kano folks. It is still not clear what brought about the u-turn to PDP.
A new power equation
At the helm of the coordination of the highly guarded proposal is Alhaji Umar Gano Bayero (not directly related to the emirate). Alhaji Bayero, a former gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress in the 2007 polls is a close confidant of the family and one of the associates of the former governor of the old Kano State, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi.
His central role in the entire project has since led to the belief that, should the proposal work out as projected, Alhaji Abacha might not be joining the Kwankwaso’s faction of the party, which sources told the 9jabook is frightened by the prospect of this new factor to the political balance of the party in the state and yet hopeful, the young man might join the faction in the end.
Already, a proposal for the formation of an eight- man Central Working Committee that would manage this ambition is in the offing. Sources said the names of the members of the committee were carefully selected to represent the seriousness of the new deal, adding however that their initial meeting, which should have taken place by now, was placed on suspension pending the fresh registration exercise of the party in the state which is billed for next week. It was also gathered that the meeting was caused to slow down with a view to allowing the CWC have a glimpse of the nature of the party’s congresses and the shape of the incoming executive of the state.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) offers the young Abacha a number of benefits, including the fact that it is the party in government at the national level and a party that stands an average chance to win the next gubernatorial election in the state, if the right candidate and the right leadership is put to work,” said the source.
The source opined that a character from the Abacha’s family would invariably excite the top notchers of the PDP in the country, arguing that Alhaji Mohammed Abacha fits into the kind of personality the party and those sympathetic to the interest of president Yar Adua need to balance the power equation in the party in the state.
2011 guber in the mix
In reference to the 2011 battle in the state and for the survival of the president, the source added: “You see Alhaji Mohammed is very, very rich. PDP and indeed, Yar’Adua would be interested in such a person who can spend his own money for the sake of the party. This is typical of the Yar’Adua we now know, that is, getting others to do his work for him while staying aloof and watching from a distance”
A number of investigations carried out by the 9jabook in Kano State recently confirmed that the relationship between the family of the former head of state and the incumbent President, Alhaji Umar Yar Adua, has been on the upward swing since the president was sworn into power, some two years ago. It was discovered that the pressure mounted on several fronts against the Abachas by the previous administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has been gradually relaxed for the family, if not totally suspended.
Notably among them is the easing on the tight security around the matron of the family, Hajia Mariam Abacha, who, it was gathered, has since had an ease in the restrictions placed on her movement. A security source told the 9jabook that she can now travel to any part of the world so long as she can get their visa. This new development is a sharp contrast from the restricted nature of her freedom during the eight-year rule of the past administration.
It is also on record that the former First Lady was one of the very first few jubilant Nigerians to rush to the Yar’Aduas in Kastina to celebrate their son’s election as the president of the country and on that occasion, she was well received by the then incoming First Lady, Hajia Turia Yar’Adua.
A burning ambition
9jabook also was gathered from another competent source that this is definitely not the first time that Alhaji Mohammed Abacha had plotted to join the politics of the state, adding that much as he was not in a hurry to stage a come back given the hostile climate against his family under Obasanjo, he had always kept an eye on the political development of the state, waiting for the right time to strike.
The source, a long time relation of the Abachas, recalled that the last time Mohammed had tried his hand on this long nurtured pet project, was some two and a half years ago, when the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) had tried to wreck the ambition of some serving governors, including the second term ambition of the governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.
The source stated emphatically that the Abacha son, sensing that the coast was clear, immediately flew to the Eastern part of the country to try to persuade the Chairman of the All Nigerian Peoples Party, Chief Edwin Umezeoke, to consider him for the gubernatorial ticket of the party in state in the event the incumbent governor was barred by the authorities. He observed that the move suffered a major set back when a court ruled against the barring of the governors by the EFCC.
On the chances of the young man in a complex political terrain like Kano State, the source noted that it is one thing to want to declare oneself for political service and another game all together when one is inside the political fray with all its ups and downs. He added that for now, many people are urging on Mohammed Abacha to join politics and based on this, it seems he is a popular choice of the people. He, however, expressed pains that some of these persons singing his praise worthiness are not singing it out of genuine concerns but are simply out to milk his purse.
DO YOU WANT AN ABACHA BACK IN POWER IN KANO ? obviosuly most kano people do
He stated that in the political equation of Kano state, the family of the Abachas, no doubt, enjoy some form of love and respect, despite their demonization by a section of the media in the country, but he feared that Mohammed Abacha might be his own undoing, given that he is seen as a character that does not mingle with others outside his class of select friends, adding that he rarely steps out to visit people when they are bereaved and is hardly available for other kinds of social engagements in the community. This character trait, he stated, means a lot to the people of the north and Muslims generally. Efforts to reach out Alhaji Mohammed Abacha for comment were unsuccessful.
Babangidas ,Obasanjo,, Over to your Sons & Daughters
SOON ALL THE GOVERNORS OF NIGERIA WILL BE THE SONS OF FORMER PRESIDENTS AND THEN ALL WE NEED IS THEIR KING ?
Dan Usman writes from Kano City
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OVER 170 America-bound Nigerian travellers were yesterday stranded at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport as the Delta Air plane they were billed to travel on to the United States (U.S.) developed a technical fault leading to the cancellation of the flight.
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One of the aggrieved passengers was said to have contacted the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to step into their case.
The Director-General of the agency, Dr. Harold Demuren was said to have ordered the airline to provide adequate accommodation for the stranded passengers till the airline solved its problems as stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Demurun told The Guardian that the NCAA was on top of the situation, stressing that the passengers had been checked into hotels.
According to him, "It is true that the Delta Airline aircraft developed a technical problem today (yesterday), but we are on top of the problem. All the passengers have been checked into hotels in line with standard recommended practice."
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The carrier recently changed to B777 aircraft from the former B767 model, which the Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, recently described as old.
By the time of filing this report, it was not certain if the airline had contacted its headquarters in the U.S. for the problem to be rectified or for another aircraft to be sent.
Those who could not wait for the airline's alternative were said to have asked for a refund, while others expressed sadness over the issue.
One of the passengers who gave her name simply as Ronke said she was making an alternative arrangement on some other European airlines to take her to her destination.
However, the alternative might not yield fruit, as most of the European carriers are fully booked because of the summer.
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I am Nigeria. I have millions of acres of arable land and billions of cubic litres of water, but I cannot feed myself. So I spend $1 billion to import rice and another $2 billion to import milk. I produce rice, but don’t eat it. I have 60 million cattle but no milk. I am hungry, please re-brand me.I drive the latest cars in the world but have no roads. I lose family and friends everyday on roads for which funds have been looted. I lose my young, my old, and my most brainy and productive people to the potholes, craters and crevasses they travel on everyday. I am in permanent mourning, please re-brand me.My school has no teacher and my classroom has no roof. I take lecture notes through the window and live with 15 others in a single room. All my professors have gone abroad, and the rest are awaiting visas. I am a university graduate, but I am illiterate. I want a future, please re-brand me.Malaria, typhoid and many other preventable diseases send me to hospitals which have no doctors, no medicines and no power. So my wife gives birth with candle light and surgery is performed by quacks. All the nurses have gone abroad and the rest are waiting to go also. I have the highest m aternal and infant mortality rates in the world and future generations are dying before me. I am hopeless, hapless and helpless, please re-brand me.I wanted change so I stood all day long to cast my vote. But even before I could vote, the results had been announced. When I dared to speak out, silence was enthroned by bullets. My rulers are my oppressors, and my policemen are my terrors. I am ruled by men in mufti, but I am not a democracy. I have no verve, no vote, no voice, please re-brand me.I have 50 million youths with no jobs, no present and no future. So my sons in the North have become street urchins and his brothers in the South have become militants. My nephews die of thirst in the Sahara and his cousins drown in the waters of the Mediterranean. My daughters walk the streets of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, while her sisters parade the streets of Rome and Amsterdam. I am inconsolable, please re-brand me.My people cannot sleep at night and cannot relax by day. They cannot use ATM machines, nor use cheques. My children sleep through staccato of AK 47s see through the mist of tear gas. The leaders have looted everything on the ground and below. They walk the land with haughty strides and fly the skies with private jets. They have stolen the future of generations yet unborn and have money they cannot spend in several lifetimes, but their brothers die of hunger. I want justice, please re-brand me.I can produce anything, but import ev erything. So my toothpick is made in China; my toothpaste is made in South Africa; my salt is made in Ghana; my butter is made in Ireland; my milk is made in Holland; my shoe is made in Italy; my vegetable oil is made in Malaysia; my biscuit is made in Indonesia; my chocolate is made in Turkey and my table water made in France. My taste is far-flung and foreign, please re-brand me.My people are cancerous from the greed of their friends who bleach palm oil with chemicals; my children died because they drank ‘My Pikin’ with NAFDAC numbers; my poor die because kerosene explodes in their faces; my land is dead because all the trees have been cut down; flood kills my people yearly because the drainages are clogged; my fishes are dead because the oil companies dump waste in my rivers; my communities are vanishing into the huge yawns of gully erosion, and nothing is being done. My livelihood is in jeopardy, and I am in the uttermost depths of despondence, please re-brand me.I have genuine leather but choose to eat it. So I spend a billion dollars to import fake leather. I have four refineries, but prefer to import fuel, so I waste more billions to import petrol. I have no security in my country, but would rather send troops to keep the peace in another man’s land. I have 160 dams, but can not get water to drink, so I buy ‘pure’ water that roils my innards. I have a million children waiting to enter universities, but my ivory dun geons can only take a tenth. I have no power, but choose to flare gas, so my people have learnt to see in the dark and stare at the glare of naked flares. I have no direction, please re-brand me.My people pray to God every morning and every night, but commit every crime known to man because re-branded identities will never alter the tunes of inbred rhythms. Just as the drums of heritage heralds the frenzied jingles, remember - the Nigerian soul can only be Nigerian - fighting free from the cold embrace of a government that has no spring, no sense, no shame. So we watch the possessed, frenzied dance, drenched in silent tears as freedom is locked up in democracy’s empty cellars. I need guidance, please re-brand me.But then, why can I not simply be me, without being re-branded? Or does my complexion cloud the color of my character? Does my location limit the lengths my liberty? Does the spirit of my conviction shackle my soul? Does my mien maim the mine of my mind? And is this life worth re-branding? I am not yet born, please re-brand me.ssuleiman@gmail. com
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WASHINGTON – Lamenting his first teenage cigarette, President Barack Obama ruefully admitted on Monday that he's spent his adult life fighting the habit. Then he signed the nation's toughest anti-smoking law, aiming to keep thousands of other teens from getting hooked.Obama praised the historic legislation, which gives the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented authority to regulate what goes into tobacco products, to make public the ingredients and to prohibit marketing campaigns geared toward children.But he didn't say how his own struggle was coming since he moved into the White House. And aides were no more forthcoming.As senator, candidate and now president, Obama has veered between frank and cagey about his personal battle with smoking.He promised his wife, Michelle, more than two years ago that he would quit if she let him seek the White House.He has often acknowledged since that he has "fallen off the wagon." But he hardly ever provides specifics. And though White House aides pack nicotine gum in their jackets to help him resist, they also refuse to give a clear answer to the question of whether the president still sneaks a smoke now and again."I hate it," Michelle Obama told CBS' "60 Minutes" during the presidential campaign's early days. "That's why he doesn't do it anymore, I'm proud to say. I outed him — I'm the one who outed him on the smoking. That was one of my prerequisites for, you know, entering this race is that, you know, he couldn't be a smoking president."Well, not exactly.During Obama's two-year White House bid, he was known to occasionally bum a cigarette from a staff member — while also making sure to emphasize his efforts to stop for good and his progress from his onetime five-smoke-a-day average.During Monday's bill signing, Obama focused on how the new law would help keep future generations of kids away from the dangerous habit. The president mentioned his own experience very briefly — just 30 words.Almost 90 percent of people who smoke began at 18 or younger, he said."I know. I was one of these teenagers," he said. "And so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you for a long time."And then he went back to the merits of the bill and the shortcomings of the tobacco industry, which he accused of targeting young people. One key provision in the new law bans candy-flavored cigarettes and the use of other flavored smokes that might appeal to teenagers. Ads aimed at young people also are banned.Aides refused to elaborate on his own situation.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he hadn't asked Obama about his smoking and made plain that he didn't plan to. The presidential spokesman stuck to vague language that left the impression Obama still occasionally falls off the wagon, but he did not say so directly."I don't, honestly, see the need to get a whole lot more specific than the fact that it's a continuing struggle," Gibbs said. "He struggles with it every day."Still, it's not as if Obama was ever even a pack-a-day puffer."I've never been a heavy smoker," Obama told The Chicago Tribune in 2007. "I've quit periodically over the last several years. I've got an ironclad demand from my wife that in the stresses of the campaign I don't succumb. I've been chewing Nicorette strenuously."
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Aliko Dangote, Oando in N29 Billion oil refining scandalInordinate ambition to maintain permanent membership on the list of world billionaires is what is being blamed for alleged connivance of Lagos businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and other notable oil moguls like Mr. Wale Tinubu and Mr. Jite Koloko to cripple Nigeria’s oil refining capacity through elaborate bribery scheme which earned them a staggering N29 Billion profit. According to our source investigations, an honest approval said to have been given by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to three leading indigenous oil companies owned by Dangote, Tinubu and Koloko was said to have become the lunch pad for wide spread bribery of officials of Nigeria National Petroleum (NNPC) leading to tampering with the nations oil refining capacity.our source was told that Obasanjo saw enough justification in a proposal allegedly drawn by MRS Oil group and submitted by its owner, Dangote. Obasanjo during his presidency allegedly allowed exclusive refining contract for Dangote to handle and supply Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) believed to be crucial in petrochemical industrial dye for Nigeria’s once bumming textile manufacturing holdings.Aliko DangoteIt was said that no sooner had Dangote got approval for the critical and juicy downstream supplies of the product, he was said to have acted in concept with the two other beneficiaries of the contract to purportedly bribe relevant NNPC operatives. Needed sizeable diesel meant for national consumption was diverted and used to mix HPO in other to get LFPO and also to practically shut down the installed domestic refining components.Sources who elected anonymity said “Aliko Dangote in cahoots with owners of Oando group, ensured that the oil refineries in Nigeria operate epileptically. This they achieved by making sure that an important element of the refinery, the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit, which s breaks down the heavy hydrocarbon molecules that make up crude oil act malfunction all the year round.In the process, all the refineries in the country are limited to producing just heavy fuel oils such as LPFO and HPFO which are the first bye-products from the fractional distillation (refining) process. Continuing the source said had NNPC not being the heavily induced, they would have ensured that the fluid crackers in all its refineries were functioning”our source checks revealed that Obasanjo had intended that Dangote would make the LPFO available internally at ?8:30K per liter this did not happen. All the products were taken outside Nigeria and sold at $250 per tonne. While Dangote and co smiled to the banks Nigerians groaned under pains of unavailable refined petroleum products. Because the important product was not available for textile operations, factories were closed and workers were sacked. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, the former group managing director of NNPC, admitted as much two Fridays ago when he told the ad-hoc committee investigating the operations of the corporation that companies like MRS Oil and Gas, Noel Energy, Haske Enterprises and Ocean & Oil Limited (the company that acquired the now defunct Unipetrol and Agip before rebranding into the Oando Group), have all been beneficiaries of the regime.Since NNPC officials were allegedly bribed by Dangote and his associates that have now been identified as a "dangerous cartel," the fluid crackers in the refineries were removed to create the impression that the refineries have been completely grounded. They therefore export Nigerian crude and make huge foreign currencies.An oil industry insider explained that Dangote and the others realized huge dividends of close to N29 Billion and that Nigerian law makers and the President must act with dispatch and honesty to make them refund nothing less than N25 Billion. The Insider who preferred anonymity because of recent notoriety of Aliko Dangote "as chemical Ali" said that Dangote and his friends remain the worst threats to the economic stability of Nigeria and they must be stopped.
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As you are reading this, one of Nigeria's funniest men, Francis Agoda, popularly known as I Go Die by his teeming fans, is back from Obama's country where he had been amusing his fans with his rib-cracking jokes courtesy of Point Gate.advertisement CLICK TO WATCH NOLLYWOOD MOVIES NOW !Point Gate, a Swiss/American entertainment outfit, has shelled out a whopping sum of $185,000 to enable I Go die share his jokes round the world.Code named I Go die Standing, Breaking The Diamond, the tour will take him round major countries in Europe and cities in the U.S.The African American Event Manager of Point Gate, Miller Allen, said "the concept of the show is to fight against violence, racism, human trafficking, drug trafficking/addiction as well as promoting the rich cultural heritage of Africa," and that the choice of I Go die is due to the fact that most African Americans, Europeans and mixed breed requested for him because of his massive fan base and pedigree as one of Africa's best comedians. Also because of his beautifully packaged and detailed documentary project, 'Peace In Sight', which incidentally buttresses the objectives of the tour.The tour which started on April 19 in Budapest, Hungary saw I Go Die and his friends, I Go Save and Maleke moving to Italy with performances in Padova, Brescia, Torino, Florence, Modina, Firenze and Perigia where his fans requested for encore.I Go Die took a break after the Vienna, Austria show held on May 24 to honour the governors of Akwa Ibom and Benue states as part of activities marking the 10th anniversary of democracy in Nigeria. He also entertained in Bayelsa State at the Gbarain Ekpeciama Festival (new yam festival). While his stellar outing at Glo Laffta Fiesta held in Lagos on June 7 is still the talk of the town.The Europe leg tour is due to flag off in Antwerp, Belgium, Isen, Munich, Frankfort, Berlin and Cologne in Germany, Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. In Switzerland, he will tour Zurich and Bern, Warsaw and Krakow in Poland, Anthens and Thessaloniki in Greece, Adaublin and Cork in Ireland, London and Canada.In the United States of America (U.S.), there will be shows in New York, California, Dallas, Virginia, Las Vegas, Florida, Houston, Chicago, Washington where the tour will move to Africa before finally touching down in Nigeria for more shows in Abuja, Benin and Lagos.I Go die started his comedy career at the age of 13 by presenting mock news on Delta Television Warri. He came to limelight after a successful performance at Opa Williams' Nite of A Thousand Laughs in year 2000 and this automatically shot him into the league of respected performers.He has won numerous awards within and outside Nigeria. Among which are, National Comedy Award for best comedian in Nigeria, Best Niger Delta Comedian, Creativity Art in Africa for Africa's best comedian, London Movie Award for best comedian in Africa, TV People Golden Entertainment Award, New York, for best creative comedian in Africa, NIDOE-Spain Meritorious Award by the Nigerian ambassador to Spain for the uplift of Nigerian culture, Julius Gold International Award as Africa's best comedian presented by legendary musician Sir. Dr. Victor UwaifoHe has also performed in all successful shows in Nigeria and abroad like Nite of Thousand Laughs, Made in Warri (Nigeria and London), Crack Ya Ribs, Laugh and Jams, Rhythm Unplugged, Calabar Carnival, Balyesa Peace Concert, Africa Kings of Comedy (USA), Laugh with Africa (Spain), Africa Kings of Comedy (Switzerland), Black and White Tour (Belgium), Open Heart (Italy), Black Reunion Tour (Asia), Nigeria Reunion Tour (USA), Coming Home (Greece), MTV Award. Name it, he has won the award or has been nominated for it.advertisement CLICK TO WATCH NOLLYWOOD MOVIES NOW !I Go die also has his own comedy show tagged "I Go die Standing" which made its debut in Warri in 2006. He has equally closed and opened shows for some of the world biggest stars like Game, Janet Jackson, Akon, Usher, DMX, Ja Rule, Eve, Boys 11 Men, Nelly and the hilarious Chris Rock. He also featured in a movie entitled "Last Crime" shot in Germany alongside star actress, Jenifer Brown.A victim of the 1999 Warri crisis in which he narrowly escaped death, he believes that there is life outside gun. Owing to the present hostility in Niger Delta, he did a 10-minute documentary entitled "Peace in Sight" which has since been showing on local and international channels. This documentary is aimed at educating the youth to shun violence and embrace peace. This is also the gospel he has been preaching in his ongoing world tour.
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Everywhere where video cassettes are sold either by the roadsides or in shops in the market places. Pornographic videos are openly displayed without qualms at different locations that include Obalende, Mushin, Agege, Ikeja, Ojota and Ojuelegba, just to mention a few. Scenes of indecent relationships between men and women in video cassettes adorn the streets of Lagos. Therefore, without any fault of theirs school children while returning from their various schools gathered and take a glance at such scenes. Other children, whose parents are not so fortunate to send them to schools for formal education so engaged in various forms of hawking. They do not have to go far to watch such movies as pornographies are thrown at their very faces. Since the authorities that are supposed to protect the younger ones from some of these awful scenes seem to pretend to be too busy even when it is obvious that they are only busy to satisfy their personal desires, the younger ones keep themselves busy feeding their eyes with the mess known as blue films.
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No doubt, in an era when most television stations transmit certain programmes that ought to be transmitted at night in broad day light, open display of pornographic pictures in open places can only further arouse the curiosity of the innocent younger ones to not only see but also to put into practice some of what they have observed this time not in secret but right under the very nose of the adults. As it is, the younger ones, especially those who do not have access to the Internet, need not log into such sites to watch what they must have heard from friends.
There have been series of complaints regarding increase in juvenile delinquency. There has equally been reported increase in cases of prostitution across the state and country. The unabashed displays of pornographies in public places do not only tell well of the people but can as well aid some of these abnormalities in the society. Investigations revealed that children in their school uniforms and those hawking besiege Obalende under bridge at the slightest chance to view pornographic materials on display, all in the name of selling video cassettes. Unfortunately, the adults that are supposed to scold them are also caught in the same web.
The same thing applies in Oshodi-Oke and other places where pornographies are flaunted for public view. Some of the children caught in the act, when asked why they were watching only smiled without giving any reason. Shortly afterwards, they started vamoosing one after the other. Surprisingly, it was gathered that most of the pornographic videos are pirated in Alaba International Market, one of the black spots of piracy in the state. Unfortunately, while the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) and other stakeholders are giving piracy the serious attention it deserves, no special focus is given this particular area.
But the Lagos State Government has placed part of the task on parents and guardians as well as the media.
The government specifically canvassed for the support of members of the society at large as on its part intensifies campaign on reckless exposure of under age children to pornographic materials.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele noted that one of the primary essence of Governor Babatunde Fashola's Executive Order on the proscription of sales, broadcast and display of pornographic materials in open places was to protect young children from being exposed to pornography. He described the practice as inimical to the development of children.
Bamidele stated that while the state government is curbing the indecent exposure of pornographic materials in various bus stops and other public places, parents and guardians need to monitor the kind of materials their wards are exposed to daily.
"The society at large need to complement government efforts towards ensuring that young children have positive developmental progression to adulthood so that they can become responsible leaders of tomorrow," Bamidele stated.
He stated that if government could proscribe the sales, broadcast and open display of pornographic materials on the streets of the metropolis, parents, teachers and other social agents must complement governments efforts.
"Media houses owe it as a responsibility to the society to refrain from broadcasting and publishing pornographic substances. Owners of cyber cafes equally need to put under close scrutiny sites young children visit while browsing," he said.
Bamidele emphasised that more of the efforts to curb exposure of pornographic materials fall within the purview of parents, adding that certain contents of programmes uploaded on cellular phones and foreign films are another avenues where children are exposed to pornography.
For instance, Mrs. Margaret Femi narrated how her 13-year old son hid a pornographic video in his school bag. When asked how he got it, she said the boy revealed how some of his mates watched pornographies when their parents are not around. "My son said that he and his classmates bought from a video seller. I was so aghast that at first I was lost and did not even know how to handle the situation. Initially, I made the mistake of beating him, but I discovered that really made him to hide many things from me, so I employed the discourse approach. It was only then he revealed the extent they have gone," she explained.
Another woman, Mrs. Mary Apko, a primary school teacher, told our correspondent how she also caught some of her pupils with pornographic videos. On further inquiry, she stated that they got them from video sellers. According her, the pupils also told her and her colleagues how they look at pornographic pictures displayed by the roadsides and video shops. Though appropriate disciplinary actions were taken against them, she expressed reservations as to whether the pupils would not go back to get such videos again. She called for more stringent measures to control sale of pornographic tapes across the state, stressing that talking and admonishment by the teachers and parents would be more or less useless if the sales of pornographic videos are not regulated.
"Teachers and parents will continue to play their part, but in the present situation whereby pornographic video cassettes are displayed openly, it is bound to slow down the progress. Government must restrict their sale, thank God that Lagos Government is making the efforts now," she noted.
Scenarios such as these are daily occurrences in some homes, especially where parents keep such videos improperly, but many parents would rather shield their wards from exposure for one reason or the other.
Speaking on the negative impact of pornographic videos openly displayed in attempt by their sellers to woo customers, Chairman of a Non-Governmental Organisation, Mr. Jude Owonikoro, faulted the current mode of cajoling customers to buy their products. For him, the mere fact that a person deals in the sale of cassettes and video tapes automatically translates to the fact that such a person may have such videos and thus he does not need to display them before the eyes of everybody to sell them.
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"It is wrong for people to display pornographic video cassettes in the open like it is being done across Lagos. It is sad that nobody is saying anything while our children are exposed to these pornographies right before our very eyes," he stated.
A cross section of Lagosians also expressed support for the government to take necessary measures to curb the practice. Religious bodies should equally play their roles to save young generation from the danger. "It is a very bad practice and all hands must be deck to stop it from destroying our young ones," stated a concerned Lagosian at Obalende.
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102 Nigerians arrested in Libya
BENIN—ADDITIONAL 102 Nigerians, forty five of them from Edo state, were arrested weekend by the Libyan authorities while trying to travel to Europe with fake documents.
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The weekend arrest would increase the number of Edo state natives in Libyan under ground prison to almost two thousand.
It would be recalled that over one thousand five hundred natives of Edo state have been languishing in an under ground jail in Libya since March this year for committing the same offence.
The Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomohle on Foreign Matters/Diaspora, Mr. Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma, had last week expressed frustrations over the attitude of the Libyan officials towards the efforts being made by both the state government and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in seeking the release of the Nigerians.
One of the prisoners from Edo state, Charles Erawuyi, who spoke to Vanguard on telephone, disclosed that additional 102 Nigerians were arrested weekend and that forty-five of them are from Edo state.
He added: “The problem we are having too is that the officials in the Nigerian Embassy here are making matters worse for us. What they do is to collect money individually from our relations before they will go and ask for the release of anyone instead of seeking for the release of all of us like the Kenyan Government and others did.
“They will ask for up to one fifty to two hundred dollars and most of us cannot afford it.
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It will be noted that the continous email interswitch sc.am is still going around and it is until recently that the company put up an alert on its website after many people had been sca..mmed by these emails.
Interswitch should go a step further and carry out a mass campaign to encourage Electronic money and deter these fraudSTARS.Their refusal to do this is based on avoiding mass hysteria over the safety of ATM usage.
Apart from the scourge of armed robbers at Remote ATMS other issues still abound .Many banks have refused to refund customers whose Bank Cards have been cloned by criminals and used .These deposits abraod are usually covered by insurance companies and this is essential for ATM usage to continue .
Our Advice is Avoid The ATM during this period if you can do without it .
The Article below is Adapted fron Sunday Tribune by Akin Osunlaja 9jabook IT Correspondent .
The current upsurge and nefarious activities of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fraudsters is threatening electronic payment system in the nation’s banking sector with users threatening massive dumping of the cards if the unwholesome act is not checked.
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A comprehensive investigations carried out by Sunday Tribune across the country revealed that two of every five ATM card users lately, have become victims of one form of fraud or the other and ironically the sector’s regulator, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), service provider, Interswitch, law enforcement agents and banks are helpless as they have not been able to proffer any solution.
Only recently, the CBN admitted that hundreds of millions of naira was lost to ATM-related theft last year alone. Every week, hundreds of bank customers across major cities are finding their deposits or a substantial part of it stolen by faceless crooks.
The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) also confirmed recently that ATM fraud is on the increase in Nigeria.
Findings by Sunday Tribune showed that the activities of the fraudsters cut across all the banks having ATM facilities. Consequently, a cross section of the users told Sunday Tribune that the technology should be scrapped if the activities of the scammers cannot be curtailed.
In most of the banks visited, security men that were supposed to watch out for criminals coming into the banking halls now take affected ATM victims through complaints procedures. The queues seen in banks nowadays are that of ATM complainants and in most cases, the issues are never resolved.
The list of affected victims is endless. Mr. Christian Obed, a media practitioner was cash trapped in midst of an assignment and had to rushed to a nearby branch of the bank where his account is domiciled to make withdrawal via the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). To his consternation, his account read zero balance. Further enquiries from the counter did not prove otherwise. He was faced with reality that his hard earned life savings of N154, 000 had gone with the wind courtesy yet to be identified fraudsters.
On her part, a woman who simply gave her name as Mrs Ngozi was caught weeping profusely in front of a bank on Allen Avenue, Ikeja told Sunday Tribune that she had come to make withdrawal at the ATM to send to her daughter in the university who had sent a distress call, but to her surprise, her account had been emptied. Efforts to get the bank officials to answer her had proved abortive.
It is not all about duping, the issues ranged from cards trapped inside the machine to PIN rejection.
It is all tales of woes from duped Nigerians. Many had lost their entire savings to hackers. These fraudulent activities which started like a play has assumed a dangerous dimension, threatening the entire e-payment system in the banking industry and the attendant benefits to the economy.
The ATM technology which was introduced barely three years ago has been beneficial to users until the latest developments. Customers now have access to their accounts at all times. It was indeed one of the key benefits of consolidation in the banking sector.
Ironically, it has been a game of buck passing and blame shifting. The customers are saying the act cannot be perpetrated without the connivance of bank officials, while bankers are maintaining that until a customer mortgages his or her Personal Identification Number (PIN), the act cannot be perpetrated.
Apart from siphoning money from accounts, Sunday Tribune discovered that the criminals in some cases alter the normal transaction processes such as crediting the wrong figure and making do with the balance from the difference between the original payment and the exaggerated one. This is said to be common among bank staff. Another way is through stolen ATM card. The pin would then be changed to siphon the money in it long before the victim could notice and alert his bank.
The fraudsters have also taken the war to internet. They open websites where they tell unsuspecting card users to disclose their PIN cards. In one e-mail, the fraudsters wrote: “”Currently INTERSWITCH is updating our ATM/CASH CARD machine database for all the cards to be in a more secured web so that if it is mistakenly stolen, the criminals will not be able to use it to make purchases in the websites which have been the major way of utilizing the cards they steal.
According to the Group Managing Director of Skye Bank, Mr. Akinsola Akinfemiwa, the only way fraudster could defraud a customer is when the Personal Identification Number (PIN) is compromised.
According to him, a customer ought to protect the PIN from easy access, stressing that the advantages of the card was quite enormous.
“My advice is that users of ATM should protect their PIN from easy access. The Nigerian rich man syndrome of sending drivers or house helps to withdraw money from the ATM is not the best. Once, the PIN is disclosed, it provides for easy access for fraudsters to perpetrate their acts,” he said.
Speaking in the same light, the Group Managing Director, Wema Bank, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi, noted that the first major step is for the users to take precaution on who has access to their PIN, stressing that once the PIN is disclosed, fraud is inevitable.
Mr. Mitchelle Elegbe, Managing Director of Interswitch refused to comment on the latest developments. But a source close to the company told Sunday Tribune that they were doing all that is possible to forestall the activities of fraudsters.
A school teacher, Mr. Sumbo Adefarasin noted that the genesis should be traced to Nigerians abroad, stating that those who were involved in credit scam abroad are the ones plying their trade in the country presently.
An ex-banker also attributed the proliferation of the cards responsible, stating that some banks made it compulsory for customers withdrawing less than N60, 000 to use the ATM channel.
On his part, Mr. Roland Obe, Intercontinental Bank’s Group Executive (Card Services), said it is important to view ATM fraud cases from several perspectives, adding that prior to April this year what Nigerian banks were issuing were magnetic stripe cards, called magstripe card which could easily be cloned.
He noted that the card is susceptible to cloning because all information are copied on a black stripe at the back of the card and this loophole is what fraudsters have capitalize to defraud innocent, greedy, ignorant Nigerians, stressing that no fraudster can use the cloned card without the PIN of the authentic cardholder.
“So, what they do now is to on a daily basis send different types of text messages informing the cardholder that he or she has won one prize from one MTN or Glo Promo and before you can claim your prize you need to provide your ATM card number and PIN number, the gullible will supply this information the fraudster quickly use it to clone a new card with which he takes control of the account and being to make withdrawals from the account linked to that PIN and card,” he said.
Obe further explained that the new card that is called Verve card, is compliant with a set of standards and compliances that a typical financial institution that is issuing and acquiring electronic payment transactions must adapt its operating system, for the financial institution to be able to secure its cardholders and payment systems.
He called on the Economic and Financial Crimes’ Commission (EFCC) to set up a department that takes care of cyber financial crimes, adding that it is important to have a regulation that guides registration of websites in the country.
“There is no absolute solution to ATM fraud but it can be minimised, the reason is simply because both work with PIN number, once you compromise your PIN in anyway knowingly or unknowingly the account has lost its security component. It’s like your normal cheque book once somebody else can sign your signature your account has lost a very important aspect of its security.
What do you do? You change it, at the slightest evidence of compromise of your PIN just change it or else the fraudster may change it before you have the opportunity to report and change it, that is why it is very important that you guard you PIN number like your life. Never use your birth date as your PIN number it’s very easy to hack your account when you use your birth date as your PIN,” he advised.
Other dos and donts :
NEVER GET AN ATM CARD IF YOU DONT NEED IT AND IF YOU NEED IT MAKE SURE YOU GET IT FROM THE RIGHT BANK !
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Popular musician, Tuface’s record label, Hypertek, has been shut down, costing him a whopping N40 millionTuface Idibia has hit a turn for the worst in his music career after his album ‘Unstoppable’ flopped. It was gathered that, incompetent staff, who were factors in causing the album to fail, have had their services terminated since the closure of his label, Hypertek.Tuface ploughed N40 million into his label which should have driven him to success. However, ‘Unstoppable’ was an album with great potential and full of hit tracks. Critics said that the poor promotional efforts behind the album led to its’ failure.Previously, the artiste was signed with Kennis Music, releasing two successful albums that were promoted using a wide variety of propaganda tactics to push the albums to his target audiences.Hypertek had shown signs of trouble when their only signed act, Da Natives, split up last year. At the time this was disguised through the well-known term ’spin’ and ’spin doctors’ employed, who covered up the split by stating the two that made up Da Natives, Hycenth Idibia and John Agon, would release separate albums under the label.Trouble at his label was reinforced when Tuface returned to Now Muzik, apparently for a management deal but the move was not unconnected with the drive to put his career back on the right path.Since the record label has been officially closed, even if it is for the time being, previous about the move back to Kennis Music are getting stronger.
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now and then, tales that Cossy Orjiakor acted in pornography alongside a dog make the rounds. But when the stories emerged again recently, the young woman with the inflatable chest was not only shattered but members of her family were greatly disturbed and distorted.
Cossy's name no doubt rings a bell in the social, entertainment and corporate world for different reasons. This is not because of her wealth or talent, or lack of it, but because of the way she let her massive breasts hang out without a care in the world.
She is, however, quick to justify her often risqu» appearance: "People should understand that I'm an actress and I am meant to be dedicated to my career just like a doctor or lawyer. I would keep playing roles that might require me to be sexy or reveal some parts of my body. I am simply an entertainer and that is what I do for a living.
"I used to be a dancer but few people know that. I was one of the dancers in Shan George's music video and I also sing. Aside that, I am someone with an open and free mind. If I'm called to do any scene that might look somehow, I would take up the role because it's simply make-believe and that's what many people still don't want to accept.
"Unlike what many have decided to believe about me, I am a good person. Most people don't know me and all they do is just choose to believe and judge me because of my profession and what they get to hear about me. But those that are close to me know that I'm a different person. I'm only an entertainer doing what I know and enjoy doing.
"I don't sleep around like many people believe and I'm not any of those things which people paint me to be."
Naturally, we sought her reaction to reports that she was paid $10,000 for a sex scene with a dog in a movie. She obviously expected the question.
"I am still stunned myself and I'm still going to sue the writer of the false story because I never slept with a dog neither did I pose nude with a dog on a set," was her immediate answer.
She continued: "I sincerely don't know where this is coming from because I have started tracing it and I believe I would definitely get to the root of this.
"What I can specifically say about the whole thing is that I acted in a film entitled Itohan sometime between 2001 and 2002 with director Chico Ejiro while the producer of the film is Lucky Ewa. The film is about a prostitute who eventually regretted her trade but died of AIDS. She even slept with a dog in the film. I played the role of the lady, but only acted like a prostitute with clothes on. That was it.
"Shots were taken during the shooting, and I guess that is where they got the pictures that are being circulated. I have called the producers of the flick and they denied giving out the pictures."
She also have words about the producers of the film: "I learnt that Chico Ejiro is saying he can't remember shooting the flick with me in it. It was on the set of that film that his wife just hated my sight and I didn't know why but there was nothing I could do because I was only doing my job and I was a greenhorn then.
"I was later told at the location that she doesn't like my sight because Chico Ejiro loves ladies with big boobs.
"I don't know why they are all making lies out of what is not, it was just a scene playing with a dog and nothing like having sex with a dog or posing nude with the dog. I only acted for one year before I was banned in 2002 when people stopped giving me roles.
"For the records, I don't mess around with people I work with and neither do I just jump into people's bed like it is believed by many. I have never dated any film producer or journalist and I don't know why someone is just out to malign me for no just cause."
When contacted, Chico Ejiro simply said: "I was hired to work on the set of Itohan just like Cossy was hired. I didn't hire her, I 'm not the producer of the movie, the producer is a man called Lucky Ewa and he was the one that hired us for our services. Rachael Oniga, Saheed Balogun, Bukky Wright, Shan George were all on the same set and she should just direct her complaints to the man that hired us both and not me or whosoever is in possession of her pictures. Cossy should just understand this and stop calling my name or attracting undue attention to me."
Confident of her showbiz talent among other things, the young with the squeaky voice, whose whose main acting credential is her breasts, believes that she is just being persecuted for reasons unknown to her.
"I don't know why I am the target of everybody. Before now, I used to think that some of the female folks might not like me or get envious of me because of my boobs, but over time I have come to believe that no one has any reason to dislike me because of my body part.
"Envious ladies don't need to hate me any more because they can also get themselves large boobs or buy them as it is now being made easy. But why some men would now decided to use the fact that my boobs are big and I act to tarnish my image is something I don't just understand," she said.
Cossy still insists that she is a complete entertainer who dances, sings and acts.
"I'm a complete entertainer unlike what many believe. I sing, act and also dance but people would continue to say that I'm not a good actress. All I tell them is that if I'm not a good actress, why are things going well for me?
"If I'm not as good like they claim, why are people talking and going nuts about something I did seven years ago? Why is it that everyone wants to write about me even when some of these things are false?
"My music career would soon become another thing people would talk about because my album is ready. It was delayed as a result of this incident. It's been ready for months and I just decided to keep it low for now, but very soon, I would start promotions because I already have a video for one of the songs."
She told our reporter "I live in my house in Lekki with my family, I also have landed property in Abuja and Aba, so why would I stoop so low to want to have sex with a dog in a film for a paltry sum of $10,000?" Cossy asked.
Counting her earthly treasures, Cossy posted the message to the Internet during the week: "I have landed property of N20million, a house in Lekki, Lagos, 1.2 hecter of land in Kuje, Abuja, a plot in Maraba and a special plate number jeep. So why would I sleep with dog for an equivalent of N1.8million?"
The Anambra-born tease, who claims she prefers shopping to sex, told Klieglights, "my mum and my siblings are so worried because the thing is really getting at the entire family.
"My mother was in the church when the priest was talking about it and everybody was looking at her but she didn't understand until I told her about it and it made her feel so bad leaving the family disturbed and stressed."
We are she has offered to give N10,000 to anybody who can give her original copies of the pictures making the round.
"To be candid, I sincerely wish to see the naked pictures with the dog if truly it would be provided because I know that this is all false," she told our reporter.
Where could this come from if she sincerely feels it's some set of people who are after her?
"I don't know. Like I said, I don't know who the enemy is and who is friend. I have my suspicions and I just want to do my findings before I conclude on what step to take next. But this is just taking it far. Those behind it have taken it too far this time around," Cossy concluded.
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Shoppers were amazed to see the title detailing the gruesome crimes of the Austrian billed as a suitable present.
In The Crimes of Josef Fritzl, the true depravity of the man who locked up his daughter Elisabeth in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her - murdering one of them - is detailed.
Yet at the Tesco store in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, it is seen fit as a good way to toast Father's Day.
And amazingly the chain has defended its decision to stock it in the promotion.
One female shopper, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Am I alone in feeling appalled to see a book entitled The Crimes of Josef Fritzl on display as a suggested gift for Father's Day? "It's hardly an appropriate Father's Day gift, I would have thought."
But Tesco has hit back at the complaints, saying it would smack of censorship to remove certain books because some people found them offensive.
A spokesman said: "It's a book about a true crime and fathers and people in general are interested in things like this, books about the war, serial killers etc.
"It's not a vulgar or grotesque book. It's a serious book about a very serious crime.
"It would be touching on censorship if we removed it. Where would we draw the line? Would you like us to go through every DVD we sell removing those that some may find offensive?
"Tesco are comfortable selling this book. Crime fiction and non-fiction are very popular. This was a high-profile case that occurred in recent times.
"I wouldn't be comfortable buying it as a Father's Day gift, but I wouldn't want to tell other people not to. No-one is being forced to buy it."
However, the supermarket chain later changed its policy.
“It was never our intention to cause offence to any of our customers. It was placed there by mistake and has been removed," a spokesman said.
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Father's Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting, and to honour and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, special dinners to fathers, and family-oriented activities.
The first observance of Father's Day is believed to have been held on July 5, 1908 in a church located in Fairmont, West Virginia, by Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia at the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South of Fairmont.[1] [2] The church still exists under the name of Central United Methodist Church.
Sonora Smart Dodd of Washington thought independently of the holiday one Sunday in 1909 while listening to a Mother's Day sermon at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church at Spokane,[3] and she arranged a tribute for her father on June 19, 1910. She was the first to solicit the idea of having an official Father's Day observance to honor all fathers.
It took many years to make the holiday official. In spite of support from the YWCA, the YMCA and churches, it ran the risk of disappearing from the calendar.[4] Where Mother's Day was met with enthusiasm, Father's Day was met with laughter.[4] The holiday was gathering attention slowly, but for the wrong reasons. It was the target of much satire, parody and derision, including jokes from the local newspaper Spokesman-Review.[4] Many people saw it as just the first step in filling the calendar with mindless promotions like "Grandparents' Day", "Professional Secretaries' Day", etc., all the way down to "National Clean Your Desk Day."[4]
A bill was introduced in 1913,[5] US President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea in 1924,[citation needed] and a national committee was formed in the 1930s by trade groups in order to legitimize the holiday.[6] It was made a federal holiday when President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation in 1966.
In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries, most often on November 19.
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Meet the 10-year-old baby Beyonce who melted the hearts of the Britain's Got Talent judgesPint-sized pop star Natalie Okri wowed Britain's Got Talent judges tonight - with her near perfect rendition of Alicia Keys' No One.The 10-year-old from south London told the panel she has been singing since the age of four.She said: 'I sing at home and I sometimes even sing when I am having my dinner.'I want to be a singer and a diva and I definitely want to be like Beyonce.'By the end of her performance little Natalie had the judges - which tonight saw Kelly Brook rejoin the panel for the Manchester leg of auditions - virtually eating out of her hand.Piers Morgan said: 'You are a very very little girl with a very very big voice, I loved it.'Amanda Holden called her performance: 'Just knockout brilliant.'While the normally cynical Simon Cowell gushed: 'I think you are totally and utterly adorable.'
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