“We Shouldn’t Be Mislead By Kashamu’s Antics,” NDLEA Spokesman

Ofoyeju Mitchell, the Head of Public Affairs for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has denied Buruji Kashamu’s allegations of flagrant violation of his fundamental human rights.

“We shouldn’t be mislead by whatever antics they’re trying to put off. There is absolutely no room for such drama.”

“What is important is we’ve placed him under house arrest. He has the right to interact with family and his attorneys. He only has to appear in court on Monday”

“The intention is to get him to court on Monday. We just wanted to be double sure that he will be in court on Monday.”

“We are doing everything in our power to ensure Kashamu’s rights are protected. He had access to his attorneys and movement in the house”.

Nigeria’s Biggest Problem Is Corruption--Hubpages

Corruption is at the root of many of Nigeria’s problems. Corruption takes many forms and infiltrates all political institutions and economic sectors.

The ruling government is not performing its functions as promised, and officials are too busy enriching their pockets to govern effectively. In 2013, Transparency International deemed Nigeria one of the most corrupt nations in the world, ranking as 144th in Corruption Perception Index out of the 177 countries measured. Mathematically, it shows that Nigeria was the 33rd most corrupt country in 2013. In the year 2012, a Gallup poll found that 94% of Nigerians thought corruption was widespread in their government. The spoils of political corruption—billions of US dollars—are stashed in foreign bank accounts. The Abacha administration in the 1990s notoriously looted upwards of $3 billion. Since then, government institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and President Goodluck Jonathan have vowed to eradicate corruption. Even so, as recently as 2013, the Central Bank of Nigeria reported the 76% of the country’s crude oil revenue intended for the Bank was unaccounted for.

The most currently released result on the level of corruption in Nigeria has improved when compared to that of 2013 and other years. In the 2014 result on corruption ranking, Nigeria is ranked 136 out 174 surveyed countries. This implies that Nigeria is the 38th most corrupt nation in 2014. The result was published by Transparency international on Wednesday, 3rd December, 2014. The result shows that President Goodluck Jonathan administration is making impact to bring down the corruption level in Nigeria.

Election-rigging is not unheard of in Nigeria. The citizens of Nigeria are tired of coming out to cast their votes on election day only to feel their votes haven’t been counted. A Foreign Affairs investigation of the 2007 elections counted around 700 election-related violent acts in the year leading up to the elections, including two assassinations. International observers in 2007 reported rampant theft of ballot boxes, and while in 2011 the situation improved, ballot-rigging was still rampant. During elections, Nigerians and international watchdog groups tell stories of thugs hired by candidates to hijack the ballot boxes and intimidate voters. Many of these thugs are disaffected and unemployed youth.

Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) on 2nd October, 2014, reported that European Union (EU) Committed 15 Million Euros (€15,000,000) in the country’s 2015 election. How will the money be utilized? Will the money be solely used for what it is meant for? Only God knows what those who are ruling the election body will use it for what it is made for or embezzle it as corruption in the country is experienced more in public sector.

Corruption doesn’t only exist in government, but is pervasive in society. For example, what happens in some companies with a male CEOs when a woman applies for a job? Unless they already know them, some of the CEOs demands special and sexual favors from young women seeking employment and at times do not hire them in the end. Those at the top adopt an attitude of “if I do no not already know you, I’m not going to hire you,” and exploit their power—this is just one illustration. Those who do not have connections to top officials or executives remain jobless, even if they’re university graduates with top marks. Gender and education will be discussed later, but this is a concrete example of how systemic corruption perpetuates a host of problems in Nigeria.

The press is hamstrung in its efforts to report corruption and election-rigging. Some have been paid off by the governments they report on, a practice which produces weak news and must be stopped. In 2013 the Committee to Protect Journalists, an American NGO which evaluates press freedom around the world, added Nigeria to their impunity list, a list of of countries where journalists are routinely harassed and murdered with little to no recourse.

Though President Jonathan’s administration is working hard to see that election-rigging in Nigeria is eliminated, much more needs to be done. Seminars should be organised for Nigerian youths to be taught the dangers of working as thugs for politicians. This is where importance of youth empowerment comes to play. Television channels in the country should be used to educate the nation about corruption and how to stop it. Political candidates found guilty of election-rigging should be punished more frequently and harshly. If convicting corrupt politicians becomes normal others will learn, and with time, election-rigging in Nigeria can be made a thing of the past.
It is true that Nigeria is blessed with crude oil (petroleum) but the question is on how correct is the volumes that are exported out of the country. For instance a head in one oil servicing company in the country may export about one thousand barrels of crude oil from the country and went back and gave a report to the government that he exported five hundred barrels. What happens to the remaining five hundred? The money goes into his personal account-corruption in the higher order.

Corruption is also rampant among Nigerian businessmen and woman. How many have bought any electronic product with a particular capacity and the product gives him or her result of what is written on it? In Nigeria, many populations of those who deal in electronic products buy products of particular lower capacity and use their own manufactured stickers to high the capacity on the products. For instance, a businessman may buy a Tiger generator of 4.5h.p (horsepower) and change the capacity to 6.5h.p to sell at higher price. In other business sectors, some sell inferior products to costumers to make high profits. There had been lots of cases of misunderstanding in the country’s market places between sellers and buyers because of inferior products sold to the buyers.

Jonathan Likely To Take Over PDP

Olisa Metuh, Publicity Secretary,PDP

 

In a telephone conversation a few minutes ago with a Sahara Reporters correspondent, Olisa Metuh, Publicity Secretarty of the PDP commented on Tony Anenih's exit from the PDP. His comments indicated that Anenih's exit was to give Goodluck Jonathan an opportunity to take over the leadership of the PDP. However, he maintained a skeptical tone when he was directly asked to reveal the reason behind Anenih's exit.

Senator-Elect Kashamu Threatens Suicide As NDLEA Lays Siege To His Lagos Home

Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Saturday laid siege to the Lagos home of senator-elect Buruji Kashamu who is wanted by prosecutors in the US to face drug smuggling charges.In a telephone conversation with a correspondent of SaharaReporters, a distraught Mr. Kashamu threatened to kill himself rather than surrender himself to what he views as an unjust attempt to extradite him to the US.

US authorities have named Mr. Kashamu as a major drug supplier in a high-profile drug case that has spun off the hit TV series “Orange is the New Black.”Mr. Kashamu has however claimed that the alleged drug kingpin is his brother.

How the Power of No Saved My Life--James Altucher

The first girl I dated after separating from my wife asked me what my net worth was on our first date.

I was honest and I told her. She said, “that’s not enough.”

I asked her what her ex was worth but she said, “why do people always ask that.”

Her ex was well known, 20 years older than her (maybe 30), and probably worth over $100 million according to the newspaper.

But there’s a saying (it’s a saying because one person has told it to me but I repeat it everywhere as if I had made it up): “You never know what someone is worth until they declare bankruptcy.”

I felt bad about not having enough so I told her some things I was working on.
“None of that stuff ever works out,” she said.

And she was right. None of that particular stuff worked out. But I didn’t know it then. I wouldn’t know it for years.

Another time I asked her, “how come you never introduce me to your friends?”

And she said, “Because you’re too crazy.”

Which made a lot of sense. I do NOT introduce my crazy friends to my normal friends. One of her friends was running for Senate or Governor or something. That would’ve created a lot of problems if he was seen hanging out with a crazy person. But I could’ve maybe offered to be Vice-President if he ever made it that far.

I don’t know.

Sometimes you give a carrot but they take the whole stick.

One time she said to me, “my people can destroy your people.”

Which I doubt. My people at that time were largely zombies. In the movies you often see the Governor or the Head of the Joint Chiefs totally powerless against the Zombie army.

But I couldn’t tell her that and reveal my true identity.

I said, “Maybe.” We were in a Mexican restaurant, which I considered neutral territory considering as how my DNA tests showed I have some Canadian blood in me.

We broke up. I’d like to think I broke up with her if it wasn’t for that one conversation where she called me and said, “I’m not ready for you. I need time. Maybe A LOT of time.”

And then I broke up with her.

I was in a Borders bookstore at that moment and she was at President Obama’s first inauguration, and I still had a Blackberry.

Those big buttons that required the slightest of pushes. We were texting. I remember typing out, “b…r…e..k” and then backspacing. You know the drill. I miss my Blackberry.

How things have changed.

Back then just a smidgen of Chinese food could cause enlightenment. People were having orgasms over politics and the country was heading towards the Apocalypse.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days when nothing semeed to matter except being lonely, eating hot dogs for breakfast, being scared of going broke, being forced to move rooms every 29 days by NYC law since I lived in a since shut-down hotel, and wandering around bookstores looking for women to hit on.

But then I gave up.

I started saying “No” to people who weren’t right for me. I started saying “No” to everything I didn’t want to do.

I started saying “No” to mindless meetings, mindless events, mindless people who were bad for me, mindless food or alcohol, mindless anger and regret. Mindless TV and news.

I started saying “No” to colonoscopies and other things related to painful medical experiments. I listed all the things I could say “No” to and I still do.

When you have a tiny tiny piece of shit in the soup it doesn’t matter how much more water you pour in and how many more spices you put on top. There’s shit in the soup.

I had been saying YES to the wrong things for 20 years.

Within six months my life was completely different. I met Claudia. I moved out of hotels. I was working on ideas that actually made money. And I needed fewer and fewer things to make me happy.

That’s the Power of No. That’s true minimalism.

Every six months since then my life has changed. Even in the past few days, remarkable things have happened.

When you start just saying “No” to the bad things, the “Yes” compounds every day. It compounds automatically, the way interest does in a non-US bank.

When she asked me what my net worth was I could’ve just said, “No” and got up and not wasted three months of my life. But as easy as that sounds, I didn’t know how to do it.

Now I do. Now I’m free. I dumped the old soup. Now I can finally drink from the soup I just cooked.

Crews Battle Brush Fire In La Tuna Canyon

Firefighters were battling a brush fire Wednesday near the 210 Freeway in the the Sunland-Tujunga area.

The three-acre fire was reported around 1:45 p.m in the 9300 block of La Tuna Canyon, according to an LAFD spokesperson.

No damage or injuries were reported.

School lets out early after large fight at Modesto’s Davis High School--Deke Farrow

The school day ended early on Wednesday after a large fight broke out at Davis High School in Modesto.

Modesto police oversaw a controlled release of students at about 1 p.m.

Authorities responded to the report at lunchtime at the school at Rumble and Tully roads, said Modesto police spokeswoman Heather Graves.

Two students were being treated for minor injuries, police said. A couple of other students were detained by officers. No weapons were involved.

Modesto City Schools spokesperson Becky Fortuna said there were multiple students involved in a fight.

One injury assessed was at the school, but nobody was taken to a hospital and nobody had yet been taken into custody.

Because the campus was at lunch, it was pretty packed, Graves said.

At 12:30 p.m., police were questioning students. About a half-hour later, officers were overseeing a supervised release of students as the school day came to an early end.

We will have more information on this story as information develops.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article21491280.html#storylink=cpy

PDP National Chairman Mu’azu resigns, Secondus takes over

The Deputy National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Uche Secondus, has taken over as the acting National Chairman of the party.

 

This followed the resignation of the party Chairman, Adamu Muazu.

 

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh,  confirmed this to journalists at the Wadata Plaza secretariat of the party, commended Muazu for his services to the PDP and love for the nation.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.  ― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart  

Apple Gets Mixed Ruling in First Samsung Appeal

Apple Inc. got a mixed ruling in its first patent-infringement case against Samsung Electronics Inc. over mobile phones.

Samsung infringed Apple’s design patents, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said. It didn’t violate Apple’s trade dress, so the $930 million judgment must be adjusted. The opinion was posted Monday on the court’s website.

Florida Mom Arrested After Refusing To Have Her Son Circumcized

For about three months a Florida mother,Heather Hironimus  has been hiding to avoid a court-mandated circumcision of her  4-year-old son. She was arrested recently and has been taken into custody.

31-year old Hironimus went missing with her son after a judge compelled her to turn the child over to his father, Dennis Nebus, and have him undergo the procedure.The couple were never married but had signed a parenting agreement in court in which Hironimus had initially agreed to their son being circumcised. However, she later changed her mind, setting off a drawn-out court battle with Nebus.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: A Guy With Dead Emotions

Boston bomber

 A US jury on Friday sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death by lethal injection. A recent poll conducted last month showed that 15 percent of city residents wanted  Dzhokhar executed. However, many thought life in prison would be a fate worse than death, especially for someone as young as Dzhokhar  who is 21.

After 14 hours of deliberations, the jury concluded that he showed no remorse. This was quite shocking for a young guy of his age. Indeed his emotions were dead. Victims sobbed as the sentence was read, but Dzhokhar showed no emotion. Carmen Ortiz, a US  reacted over the Dzhokhar's dead emotions: " Dzhokhar  Tsarnaev will pay for his crimes with his life".

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has to overcome while trying to succeed.--Booker T. Washington

Mohammed Morsi sentenced to death

An Egypt court has sentenced former President Mohamed Morsi to death over a mass prison break in 2011.

Morsi is already serving a 20-year prison term for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters while in power.

The court ruled on Saturday that the sentencing of Morsi and 105 others will be referred to the Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in Egypt, for confirmation.

He was deposed by the military in July 2013 following mass street protests against his rule.

Suspected Boko Haram militants attack Nigeria's Maiduguri

Suspected Boko Haram militants attacked Nigeria's northern city of Maiduguri in Borno state on Wednesday. Heavy shooting  which started around 6:45 p.m. (1745 GMT) caused residents to flee their homes.

9 people treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in Rockville

Photo: Brian Hopkins

Nine people were evaluated for carbon monoxide poisoning at a construction site in Rockville Monday afternoon. 

The cause of the poisoning yet unknown.

Lagos Carnival Man

The man below yesterday caught the attention of several persons at the 2015 Lagos Carnival staged  at the historical Tafawa Balewa Square.

Akwa Ibom Election Fraud Exposed By INEC Card Readers

Akwa Ibom governor Elect, Emmanuel Udom and outgoing Gov. Godswill Akpabio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The massive rigging of election results during the April 11 governorship election in Akwa Ibom has been  exposed by the examination of card readers used in that polling exercise.

 

The card readers show that only 437,128 voters were accredited during the April 11th election, but electoral commissioner fraudulently awarded the “winner” of the election, Udom Emmanuel of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), 996,071.

 

A source at INEC claimed that the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state simply colluded with Governor Goodwill Akpabio and the PDP machinery in Akwa Ibom State to massively rig the polls. The source said the reality on the ground at the election could not justify the huge number of votes allocated the to the PDP candidate in the governorship election.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nyeson Wike In Trouble!

The Rivers State governor-elect, Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears to be in real trouble following a recent document released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the April 11 gubernatorial poll in the state.

 

The result of the polls announced by the Returning Officer (RO) for Rivers State, Osasere Orumwense, on April 13, Wike was awarded 1,029,102 votes, representing 87.77 per cent of 1,228,614, being the conjured number of total accredited voters.

 

However, according to a 94-page INEC endorsed document exclusively obtained by Premium Times, the total number of accredited voters for the April 11 guber election in Rivers state was 292, 878. There is now indeed a clear proof the Rivers State gubernatorial election was massively rigged by the PDP.

What This Business Owner Did to Get His Team Out of a Sales Rut--Jason Daley

Brian Brady was doing everything he could to motivate the 30 salespeople he employs at his six Wireless Zone franchises in Virginia. Every few months he’d run sales contests and put up prizes like cruise vacations, iPads and gift cards. But no matter how lavish the rewards or how much excitement he tried to generate, the contests failed to result in significant extra sales. 

“You always have your overachievers, then your middle-of-the-road sales guys, then the bottom tier,” Brady says. “The contests always had the same results, with the top salespeople winning. I had to start handicapping people, and the people at the top felt they were being punished for being good. The people at the lower end never paid attention to the contests because they felt like they’d never win.”

Searching for a solution, Brady found FantasySalesTeam, an online platform that helps businesses run fantasy-sports-inspired sales contests. Each employee chooses a team and trades or updates the roster of salespeople each week. The format gives lower-producing salespeople a chance at the top prize and motivates employees to push each other and cheer each other on. After running his fantasy-football competition late last year, Brady saw sales increase 176 percent.
We talked to him about how some friendly competition got Wireless Zone out of a sales rut. 

What was the impact of the competition?

Things were drastically different right away. FantasySalesTeam is a fairly expensive platform, and it took some convincing for me to buy into it. They said I would see improvement from day one, which is what everyone says. But I honestly did.

How so?

The No. 1 thing is that we have this sales goal assigned to us by Verizon, and we were struggling with it. I didn’t think we’d make it by the end of the year. But we crushed that goal in a month. It completely turned our sales process upside down.

How does the contest work?

We assigned different people to different positions. Our top salespeople were the quarterbacks, the next tier was running backs and wide receivers, people at the bottom were kickers and so on. Each employee drafted a team who scored points by selling products and meeting certain metrics. It allowed even new people the ability to win. 

Because the salespeople were tracking each other, they kind of rode each other and would say things like, “I’ve got you as my quarterback, but you haven’t sold any tablets. Come on, man!” It created these internal competitions. And if someone noticed other people were dropping him from their rosters, it would motivate him to pick up the pace. 

Who won?

The guy who won the top prize was a middle-of-the-road salesman, but he really kept track of the stats and changed his roster every week. He won a trip to Las Vegas. The top salesperson overall won the MVP award, an iPad Air. 

Wouldn’t it be easier to give cash bonuses?

As long as I’ve been in retail, I’ve noticed that it’s easier to motivate people with things other than money. As soon as you put extra cash in someone’s paycheck, it seems to lose its luster. It goes into their checking account, and they never really see it. But if you give them a gift card or American Express points or a trip, it’s something they wouldn’t buy otherwise, and they respond. It doesn’t make sense, but when I was in sales I responded to those things, too.

Has the contest had any lasting impact?

For the most part things have gone back to normal, except that we learned how to sell a complicated product: the Verizon Edge plan. The sales team didn’t want to learn about it initially because it was difficult to sell and explain. So during the contest I put a lot of extra points on it, and for five or six weeks they were really pushing it. Now selling it is second nature. 

Do you plan to do another FantasySalesTeam contest?

Definitely, but next time we’re going to be baseball players.

Buhari Gets On A Bus

Photo credit: @Oaktvonline on Instagram

Nigeria's President-elect, Maj. Gen  Muhammadu Buhari has continually surprised Nigerians with acts that signal a true change. He was recently caught on camera on a bus in Abuja. This appears to show the humility in him and has given quite a number of Nigerians that he will not be far from the reach of Nigerians.

Maoists kill 1 hostage, release rest in Chhattisgarh--Rashmi Drolia

One villager among those held on hostage was killed by CPI (Maoists) in Sukma district.

About 300 villagers were rounded up by Maoists hours before PM Modi's visit to Dantewada allegedly in protest against continuing construction of a bridge at Marenga village.
Maoists had possibly taken villagers to forests for a meeting to boycott development work in the region.
IG Bastar range SRP Kalluri said, "Maoists had held jan adalat at Gaadem and Munga forests in Sukma district after taking villagers on hostage.
One villager of Marenga called Sadaram Nag has been killed by Maoists during Jan Adalat. Other villagers were released and were returning with the body.

"Sadaram was working as 'munshi' at construction of bridge on Baru river. He was progressive in nature and pro development oriented. However, nature of killing is not known till now." IG added.
Jan Adalat usually is convened with villagers amid tight Maoist dominance with heavy weapons surrounding the locals. Villagers fear and mostly surrender before their policies to withdraw their support from any development related work in the region.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

When God puts love and compassion in your heart toward someone, He’s offering you an opportunity to make a difference in that person’s life. You must learn to follow that love. Don’t ignore it. Act on it. Somebody needs what you have.  
― Joel Osteen

Could This Be The World's Longest Tongue?

Picture: Bridgette Pacholka / Barcroft USA

18-year-old Adrianne Lewis, from Michigan  believes she’s the owner of the world’s longest tongue. Measurements show her tongue is 4 inches long when fully stretched out, and the current record holder Nick Stoeberl’s is just 3.9 inches.

Picture: Bridgette Pacholka / Barcroft USA

Her mother Julianne said Adrianne's grandfather and grandmother both had long tongues. Also the mother confirmed that she has a very long tongue. This appears to be hereditary in their family.

 

The claim of her mother was confirmed by Adrianne when she said: "I feel as though I may have inherited it, but I think with time and me being the weird kid that I was and always sticking out my tongue, it could have stretched it"

 

 

 Adrianne has been showing the world how long her tongue is via a series of Youtube videos called  ‘Long tongue Lewis’.

Syngenta Rejects $45 Billion Takeover Offer From Monsanto

Photo:Noah Friedman-Rudovsky

 The world’s largest maker of agrochemicals, Syngenta AG rejected a 41.7 billion Swiss-franc ($45 billion) takeover offer from Monsanto Co. because it undervalued the company and a merger would have “significant” execution risks.

“Monsanto’s proposal does not reflect the outstanding growth prospects of Syngenta’s integrated strategy and the significant future value potential of the company’s crop-focused innovation and market leading positions,” Chairman Michel Demare said. “While Syngenta’s valuation is currently affected by short-term currency and commodity price movements, the business outlook is strong.

“The offer fundamentally undervalues Syngenta’s prospects and underestimates the significant execution risks, including regulatory and public scrutiny at multiple levels in many countries”.

Russia, China agree to launch $2 bln agriculture investment fund

Russia and China have agreed to launch a $2 billion investment fund targeting agricultural projects in the two countries, a spokeswoman for the Russian Direct Investment Fund said on Friday.

The deal was signed  before talks were due to start between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is visiting Moscow for the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

There’s nothing quite as frightening as someone who knows they are right. 
― Michael Faraday

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.― Napoleon Hill

Manny Pacquiao faces possible perjury charge

Filipino to Manny Pacquiao has shown  to the world that he has a questionable integrity when he  answered ‘no’ on a pre-fight questionnaire which asked whether he had an injury. But barely an hour after the contest had ended, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum said his fighter had been hampered by an 'old' injury to his right shoulder.

Name of New Royal Baby Announced as HRH Princess Charlotte of Cambridge