9jabook,Lagos 9geria :

Chile has been hit by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake which shook central part of the South American country early Saturday, according to reports from the U.S. Geological Survey.

It struck at 3:34 a.m., that is, 7:34a.m. WAT.

The quake's epicenter was near Concepcion, Chile’s second largest city, about 212 miles (341 kilometers) from the capital of Santiago.

A Tsunami warning has also been issued for Chile and Peru. Concepcion has a population of about 200,000.

There have been reports of major damages, deaths and power outages. The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that jolted Chile early Saturday packed roughly 500 times the wallop of the seismic disaster that struck Haiti last month. But the damage and deaths in Chile, still being tallied, will probably be much less devastating.

The Nigerian Football Federation has given him a semi final target at the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Lagerback was a Swedish football manager and former player. He is best known asthe former manager of the Sweden national team. He managed the Swedishnational team from 1998 until 2009 leading Sweden in five consecutivechampionships, the first time in Swedish history. He resigned asmanager in 2009 after Sweden's failure to qualify for the 2010 WorldCup in South Africa.

Turai Yar’Adua, the wife of Nigeria’s President, may have garnered a reputation as the viciously ambitious woman with a drive to occupy the number one position, her husband’s; but lurking within the shadows of the Yar’Adua-Saudi Arabian debacle is a man who may indeed be playing a more pivotal role than Mrs. Yar’Adua.

Yusuf Tilde, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the president, is believed by security sources to be the strongest force and influence in the national drama which began long before Nigeria’s ailing president succumbed to a devastating illness that caused him to be holed up in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Saudi Arabia for three months.

Mr. Tilde, unknown to many Nigerians, is not new to the business of executive decision making. Having established a league of formidable security officials in the presidency, a large number of whom who are loyal to Mr. Yar’Adua, Mr. Tilde was able to ensure that his boss remained in control and, for more than 70 days, had the Executive Council of the Federation (FEC) and legislators supporting the plans of Mr. Yar’Adua’s supporters - notoriously called the cabal - of which he is one.

Before leaving for Jeddah with his boss, the CSO, according to sources in the presidency who spoke on conditions of anonymity, was already carrying out presidential functions such as treating files, endorsing documents, and granting presidential approvals on behalf of the president whose failing health had begun to hamper his productivity.

Mr. Tilde, who has been described as ‘conservative but reasonably intelligent with good writing skills’ was surreptitiously handling affairs for Mr. Yar’Adua and had become one of the president’s most trusted aides.

The emergence of Tilde

The Bauchi-born CSO’s entrance into the presidency was not without some irregularities. Mr. Tilde took over his current position from the more cosmopolitan and broad-minded Bello Charanchi, a former State Director of the State Security Service (SSS) who spent a few weeks as Mr. Yar’Adua’s CSO before he was ousted.

“Yar’Adua’s kitchen cabinet felt that Charanchi was too professional and independent minded. They felt they could not encircle and control the president through him. Very quickly, they plotted for his exit and brought in a more pliable person,” a source said to NEXT.

According to our sources, succumbing to the call for a new CSO, the president’s only request was that the new person be ‘Muslim’. Mr. Tilde met this requirement and more; he had served as a state director of the SSS in three states, Adamawa, Katsina, and Kano.

While Mr. Tilde is thought to be very intelligent, his superiors at the SSS allegedly found his performance in his posting in Kano less than satisfactory, hence the redeployment to the Headquarters from where he was picked for his current assignment.

Mr. Yar’Adua’s kitchen cabinet, however, forwarded Mr. Tilde’s name to the president’s deputy Chief of Staff (COS), Moddibbo Aliyu, in the early days of his presidency, who made a special request to the SSS for the deployment of Mr. Tilde.

“Tilde became the first CSO who was beholden directly to the presidency. He was not interviewed by the director of the SSS for the new posting. Instead, he was interviewed by the Chief of Staff to the president. They side stepped the director of the SSS and asked for Tilde,” a source in the presidency said.

Growing Bigger

Mr. Tilde proved himself a Yar’Adua faithful. His hard work and commitment to his boss was phenomenal.

“In the early months, he [Tilde] would go through files for the president. He used to write comments on plain sheets after reviewing the files. The president would then copy his work. But in the later months, he [Tilde] wrote all the presidential reviews and had the president merely sign them. It is not uncommon for Tilde to work from 9pm to 5am,” our source said.

Some members of the executive council soon became aware of Mr. Tilde’s new powerful role and ‘began to accord him presidential respect’.

According to sources, ‘there was hardly any minister who could defy his orders’.

“There seemed to be a parallel between the Tilde Chief Security office and the Al-Mustapha Chief Security office,” a source said, comparing the CSO’s influence to that wielded by his contemporary in the Sani Abacha regime.

Mr. Tilde, presidency sources claimed, got every one who seemed to be in competition with him out of the way. The CSO also expressed a preference for ‘a unified security corridor’. According to sources, Mr. Tilde sought an arrangement that would allow the existence of only one CSO in the presidency. This process eventually led to the elimination of many Jonathan-loyalists.

“It was possible for him to do this because he worked with all major villa [Aso Rock] security officials, which he had himself planted, most of them Muslim northerners. The most prominent being Dahiru Dodo.”

Mr. Dodo, who is generally described as a very ‘wily fellow that is gifted in being street wise’, serves as the administrative officer for the president.

Returning to Nigeria

Since his return to Nigeria with his boss, who is still believed to be critically ill, Mr. Tilde has continued his covert activities. He, allegedly, continues to play a pivotal role in the current quest to keep the critically ill president in power.

Having successfully orchestrated the grand plan that brought in Mr. Yar’Adua stealthily into Nigeria on Wednesday, Mr. Tilde continues to map out ways to secure the presidential seat for his boss.

This past weekend, he had his hands full trying to convey the caravan intensive care unit set up in Katsina relocated to Abuja where the president will be transferred to because the one in the Villa malfunctioned and is generating a huge embarrassment for the first family.

Since his return to Nigeria, Mr. Yar Adua continues to lie lonesome in his sterile ambulance because there is no facility that can accommodate him in his degenerative state.

AMIDST the controversies trailing the dramatic return of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came reports that the government of the Islamic kingdom was responsible for his untimely return.

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Nigerian Tribune was informed by a very competent security source that the government of the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) embarked on a subtle 'blackmail diplomacy' against Saudi Arabia, a development which, according to the source, almost put the Islamic Kingdom in the 'dock'.

The source also gave an insight into how the air ambulance, which brought in the ailing president, was acquired. A frontline construction giant and a former governor from one of the South-South states were said to have brokered the deal that provided the air ambulance.

The multimillion dollar air ambulance was provided by a medical firm in Los Angeles, California, in the United States, after the said construction giant contacted some highly-placed officials of its home government to intervene on its behalf.

According to him, the intelligence community in the country was in the know of the planned return of the sick president, but that the information was not fully shared with the acting president, Goodkuck Jonathan, until very late.

"People still do not understand the undercurrents of this dramatic return. Left for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it would not have allowed the president to leave its soil without fully recovering from his ailment, but then, here is a situation that has put it as a collaborator in the whole saga.

"It got to an extent that the US government and the European Union had to engage in a subtle blackmail diplomacy with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia that it had not done too well as regards the secrecy surrounding the health of the Nigerian president since he arrived in the Kingdom for treatment.

"Of course, we know that if the government of Saudi wanted to be off the dock, it had a duty to correctly advise those very close to the president to quickly take him home rather than attracting unnecessary international attention to the respected kingdom known for its close ties with the United States.

"It was a very simple thing they did: allow the president stop subject to see him or take him to your country and maintain the secrecy of his sickness because the situation was already drawing Saudi Arabia to the international arena as part of Nigeria's political impasse until Jonathan was made the acting president two weeks ago.

The source said this was not the first time the Saudi authorities had tried to make close allies of the president see the need to allow people to see him.

"The first time they attempted to bring the ailing president into Nigeria, the man collapsed and they had to go back to the drawing board; but this time round, the construction giant and the former governor played key roles in approaching a Los Angeles-based medical firm for the air ambulance," the source said.

It will be recalled that Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, had, last week, threatened to drag the government of Saudi Arabia before international adjucation bodies for its alleged role in the Yar'Adua health saga..

If you think her entry into professional music was a gamble and Gba – her debut album, a fluke, think again. Nollywood’s beauty and screen diva, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde has decided to reiterate her commitment to music by releasing a thirteen-track album tentatively titled ‘Feel Alright’.

This follow up album is coming after five years of musical silence (her debut album was released 2005).The sexy mother of four, has teamed up with a group of professionals including, singer and guitarist Harrisong- who doubles as her voice coach, producer DelB and singer cum producer Paul PlayDairo, to produce, mix and master her sophomore album which consists songs divisible into the Pop and Rock genres.

And unlike Gba which was targeted at commercial success, Omosexy says ‘Feel Alright’ is a different kind of project.

“The songs (in her new album) are not the type that’ll become popular easily. They are songs deliberately written to send out particular messages. The focus is not to get attention”, she said in a telephone chat. Ask her who writes her songs and she says, “I write them myself except for the parts where I featured other persons”

Some of the tracks contained in the coming album are Feel Alright, Get Busy, Harmony, Through the Fire and Barren Land. Barren Land was specially written for the United Nations to address food crisis in affected countries.

Already the lead track titled Feel Alright is receiving air play and a second single will be joining it on radio in the first week in March, says the actress turned singer and songwriter.

Rights to her debut album were sold to Sound Factory- a music-oriented company which operates in Nigeria and the United Kingdom- for a sum she wouldn’t disclose but ‘enough to reward my hard work’. It was a three-year agreement. The album, according to the singer ‘was one of the best deals in 20005’ and sold ‘over a million copies’.

Omotola does not plan to sell out her new work. Now she’s interested in the music business and how it works especially in Nigeria. As it is now, the singer is talking to certain international music companies and a few Nigerian fellas on the commercial details of the new album, she further revealed. Feel Alright is expected to drop in May, ‘by God’s grace’.

Many unsuspecting Nigerians believe that Mr. President is now in Nigeria after his medical sojourn in Saudi Arabia, but intelligence sources have revealed that he is still in Saudi Arabia receiving treatment. Has anybody actually seen the President in Nigeria? All we saw at the airport were two aircraft that landed and an ambulance zooming away into the city centre, thereby creating an impression albeit false that a recuperating President had landed!

There are many unanswered questions in the purported arrival of Mr. President. The basic rule of the thumb (as any experienced spy or secret agent knows) during an extraction assignment or covert operation, anything that would draw unwarranted attention to the task is jettisoned. If the primary task was to sneak Mr. President into the country what was the purpose of deploying truck loads of soldiers around Abuja (attracting attention) when one truck load would have been more than adequate. Why would you ensure that the ambulance with lights flashings was made noticeable when the two aircraft were kept in the dark and out of the sight of journalist at the airport?

Was it an impossible task to switch off the siren lights of the ambulance or was it a deliberate act to convey the false impression that Mr. President was in the ambulance?

It was stated in the news that the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and ADC to Mr. President sauntered into the executives chamber of the Federal Executive Council (FEC)to exchange pleasantries with their friends and some ministers. This to me is strange when they ought to be around the vicinity where Mr. President was recuperating (if he was actually around) but instead the TWO of them chose (or were ordered) to make an appearance at the chambers to create the false impression that Mr. President will preside over the meeting of FEC .Some monkey business was definitely afoot!

Mr. President arrived and he was met on arrival by some serving Governors from the northern part of the country instead of the Acting President and service chiefs. Who better to assist and protect an ailing President than his trusted (?) vice and service chiefs, unless it was a grand charade put up for the benefit of the gullible public?

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is quite happy with this pretense because the diplomatic pressure placed on them by the international community that they were hiding the Nigerian President will automatically melt away and they can continue with the treatment of Mr. President unhindered without the vexatious motley of Nigerians coming to Saudi Arabia to seek the whereabouts of Mr. President and also to waste tax payers money.

By the way who leaked the purported arrival of Mr. President to the press and guaranteed the arrival prime time. Former Nigerian Presidents have arrived into the country before at odd hours to avoid the press and succeeded why was this different? I would have thought Aso Rock was built equipped with a helipad, could they not have airlifted Mr. President from the airport to Aso Rock if they truly wanted to avoid publicity?

The next few days will definitely be revealing. Nigerians…”SHINE YA EYES”

By Imohimi Uduigwome Airenevboise, Re written for 9jabook by Paul EFCC Adams

The return of Umaru Yar’Adua in a vegetative

state, with the reality of his not being able to ever function as president, has set two of his daughters, Zainab and Nafisatu, both married to sitting governors ,at war path over whose husband will be vice president to Acting President Goodluck Jonathan. The former is married to Kebbi State Governor, Saidu Usman Dakingari, while the later is fourth wife to Bauchi Governor, Isa Yuguda.

Sources close to the Yar’Adua family told pointblanknews.com Thursday night that since reality has dawned on their mother, Turai, is set to anoint either Yuguda or Dakingari as a VP candidate that would protect the interest of the family.

It was however learnt that Turai is more disposed to Yuguda considering his role during the drama. He was in Saudi Arabia, and was later in the US to, aside from be by his wife’s side that recently gave birth, he was also scouting for a hospital that could provide better service for his father-in-law. As for Dakingari, he is seen by turai as laid back, but our source said that his wife, Zainab, is the apple of Turai’s eye.

Both Yuguda and Dakingari are among those on the list of PDP hopefuls for the coveted office of vice president

Pointblanknews.com further gathered that in the last few days Turai has been speaking with her kids, and some top brass of the PDP concerning who works with Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan as VP She has told the PDP she would submit a name soon, but the disagreement between Zainab and Nafisatu is delaying the move..

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According to our sources, the sisters have for a while now been campaigning for their husbands. Turai who is close to feisty Zainab, wants them to agree within themselves as per who she should anoint for the PDP, but the sisters are yet to agree.

Said our source” it has been fight to finish between them. They cannot agree on who they should present to the mother. Turai although is close to Zainab, cannot take sides so she wants them to sort it out. This arose when, Turai realized it is over for her husband, so to protect the family’s interest, she wants a son-in-law to step in”

Media reports claiming that Mallams Nasir El-Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu are set to rebuff government's invitation to join in nation-building have recently been circulating the rumour mills and have been brought to the attention of these preeminent gentlemen.
We the undersigned, acting not on the instructions of these patriots who have enviable and proven track-records of service to the Father-land and whom are committed to the task of re-engineering this country into its rightful place of leadership and prominence in the continent and within the community of nations; hereby state unequivocally that Mallams El-Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu are willing to support the efforts of His Excellency, The Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to set our nation on its proper course, give hope and pride once again to the polity and deliver on the promise to our people.

Both the former FCT Minister and the former EFCC Chairman are willing to put the uncomplimentary events of the past behind, dissociate themselves from these rumours and are available to support the task of nation-building in any way possible.

We are unable to ignore the alleged assassination a few days ago of Danjuma Mohammed, a former EFCC investigator. Being aware that some elements continue to work relentlessly to rule this nation by proxy through intimidation and acts of terrorism, we urge all fair-minded Nigerians to disregard the afore referred rumours and chalk them up to the machinations of persons who are desperate to keep the nation under their thumbs and in perpetual slavery to their selfish ambitions and aggrandizement. Those statements emanated neither from Nasir El-Rufai nor Nuhu Ribadu.

Nigerians are not intimidated. We are not terrorized. May the gentle soul of the departed rest in peace.

G5 – Olowo

Amina

Roz

Mukaddas

Salihu

A breakdown of the figure shows that while 338 staff were upgraded upon confirmation, 392 others had their appointments confirmed after meeting the bank’s performance parameters. The Bank’s management said it remains committed to bolstering staff performance through sundry reward schemes and training opportunities that will be extended to all categories of staff. "Our workforce rank among the best in the industry and we are happy to acknowledge and celebrate their expertise and dedication to the cause of making Oceanic a leading brand which offers top-of-the-range banking services."

Describing the Bank’s workforce as the "bedrock of the Oceanic recovery plan", the bank’s management said its workers’ resourcefulness and resilience have been instrumental to stabilizing the bank and repositioning it for superior performance and profitability. "We have implicit faith in the professional abilities of our staff and have mapped out continuing capacity building programmes that will make them even more motivated to always delight our customers."

John Aboh, Managing director/Chief Executive Officer, Oceanic Bank International plc, said there are plans to formally recognize and reward outstanding members of staff in the Bank’s upcoming Special Thanks and Recognition Scheme (STARS) event. "Our over-riding desire is to inspire excellence, professionalism, good corporate governance, transparency, and the ‘can-do’ spirit in our workforce. We will continue to empower our staff to excel and surpass the targets that will ensure better services and returns to all our stakeholders."

On the bank’s business development drive, he noted that Oceanic was recording consistent growth in liquidity through robust marketing, deposit mobilization, and renewed focus on retail and transaction banking products.

The Oceanic Bank boss added that the Bank’s superior service delivery platforms and retail products were part of unfolding deliberate and far-reaching strategies aimed at generating value for its stakeholders on all classes of transactions.

"The desire to create value for our customers and shareholders is a passion that is shared by the management and staff of Oceanic Bank. Our quest to ensure all our stakeholders experience peace is a promise that we are committed to fulfilling in all our transactions."

It would be recalled that in a bid to cater for the needs of existing and prospective customers, the Bank had since commenced the migration of existing account types to new product platforms.

The new products include Platinum Accounts, Gold Accounts, Silver Accounts and Easy Savings. As the names suggest, at each level, the customer is offered financial and non financial benefits which increase in value, such as balance linked interest and commission rates; number of free transactions in each month; loans and overdrafts; best value health, life and professional indemnity insurance and discounts at merchant partners, among others.

INTRODUCTION: We wish to draw your attention to the grossly and blatantly desecration of the sanctity of good governance and accountability by the award of fraudulent contracts by the governor of Edo State Adams Oshiomhole, to his cronies and obtaining loans on behalf of the State government for unspecified purposes. This act has now gone to a point of crescendo that we feel that unless something is done, the State debt profile may put us in a perpetual state of debt repayment for generations to come.

We feel these are breaches of the Nigerian Constitution and Code of Conduct. Following this mischievous and orchestrated virus of corruption infested in our government today, we have deemed it necessary to avail all stakeholders and indeed the entire people of Edo State of the implications of Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s financial recklessness.

1). In November 12^th2008 when Adams Oshiomhole took over the reign of government from Senator Oseirhemen Osunbor, he met a debt profile of 4.4 Billion Naira (this was confirmed by Oshiomhole’s State Commissioner of Finance before the State House of Assembly in his budget defense).

2). In December 2009, the State debt profile rose astronomically to 18.8 Billion Naira (also confirmed by his Finance Commissioner at the budget defense before the State House of Assembly).

3). Added to this, Oshiomhole’s government secured new loans on behalf of the State government for other unspecified reasons between January 2010 to date as follows:

a). From the Sky Bank he has obtained a loan of 5 Billion Naira

b). From the United Bank of Africa (UBA), he obtained another loan of 5 Billion Naira.

c). From Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), he obtained yet another loan of 2.2 Billion Naira.

d). Let me also inform you that as at the time of this my interactive section with you, Governor Oshiomhole has concluded negotiations to obtain another loan of 2.9 Billion Naira from the First Bank of Nigeria.

Other information available to us, is that the State government has over 10 Billion naira debt owned to various contractors who has appropriate certificates for payment.

What is worrisome in this scenario is governor Oshiomhole’s penchant for taking loans without due regard to the State finances and the implications of such loans to the present and future generations.

In line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s reforms to bring sanity in our banking sector, we use this opportunity to call on the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, as a matter of urgency to examine the fiscal policy of the State, as it is now clear that the debts being incurred by Adams Oshiomhole’s government can no longer be serviced by our statutory allocations and the IGR just as we feel the banking sector may further be endangered by the State’s indebtedness. We therefore challenge Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s government to disclose and make public our financial state of affairs in the spirit of accountability and the oath of office he swore when he assumed the office as the governor of the State.

CONTRACT AWARDS:

We have also observed with dismay the manner and ways the administration of governor Adams Oshiomhole award contracts in the State. Most of the contracts recently flagged off were never advertised nor due process followed as some of them are not even captured in the 2010 budget. Examples are the Anegbete-Ekperi road and the Ewohimi-Igueben road.

In other to promote corruption and over invoicing of the contracts, the governor has cleverly refused to state the distances of the roads and the contractors handling the projects. We also call on the governor to make public the details of these contracts awarded.

1). 2.7 Billion naira was said to have been spent on Auchi erosion control. As I speak with you now, the money has been fully paid and there is no single work done.

2). Adams Oshiomhole gave over 20 million Naira to some traditional rulers in Edo South senatorial district to request for a constitutional position of Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly. This is the taxpayers’ money.

3). During the briefing before the State House of Assembly, the Commissioner for Environment claimed to have spent over N4 Billion Naira on ordinary designing of erosion control in Benin City and its environ. The said design project was never advertised.

4). The Commissioner of Environment also told the State House of Assembly that the government had expended over 250 million Naira to remove sand from the gutter and disilting. Yet everywhere you go, no gutter is found disilted.

CONTRACTS AWARDED TO RELATIONS:

Today in Edo State, we live in unprecedented times.

1). On the 11^thAugust 2009, Adams Oshiomhole awarded a contract to his in-law’s company, Source – EM Global Services. The company was engaged to supply two (2) New Dando Watertec 24 Mobile Borehole Drilling Rigs, complete with tools and accessories to Edo State government at a cost of three hundred and seventy one million, nine hundred and forty four thousand Naira (N371, 944,000) only. This was to be supplied within three months from the day mobilization fees were paid.

2). On the 28^thAugust 2009, the sum of two hundred and twenty six million, five hundred and thirty thousand Naira, eighty hundred and ninety (N226, 530, 890) which was 70% of the contract sum was paid to this his in-law’s company (with payment voucher Head 455, sub head 5 on month of August, 2009 P.V. No 2). The contract was signed by the then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Mrs. C. Edo-Osagie for the State government.

We wish to inform the public that, six months after the mobilization has been paid, the contractor had neither supplied the items nor refunded the money collected. The specified three months to deliver the items as agreed upon in the contract had long expired. Information available to us is that the contractor has absconded...

Granted that this said contract was highly inflated as our contact with the manufacturers revealed, we wish to call on governor Oshiomhole to call on his in-law to refund the Edo State Tax payers money and the contract should be terminated. Those who seek equity must come with clean hands.

Thank you.

Chief Dan Osi Orbih