The Gambia: ECOWAS Leaders Meet On Saturday To Break Impasse

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The Presidency said yesterday the discussion by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to persuade The Gambia’s President, Yahya Jammeh, to respect the wish of the people will continue in Abuja on Saturday.

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement, said the current Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, disclosed that discussions on The Gambian impasse would continue, as ECOWAS leaders would meet in Abuja on Saturday.

According to the statement, the coalition of seven political parties that produced Adama Barrow, the President-elect, said they earnestly look up to President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy his vast experience, alongside other African leaders, to resolve the political logjam in the tiny West African country.

Adesina quoted Hamad Bah, one of the coalition members, who spoke with the media during the high-level ECOWAS /AU/UN Joint Mission to The Gambia, who said, “We need the experience of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in many ways. Like President Jammeh, he is a former military officer, so, he knows how the military thinks, and would be able to talk to him appropriately.

Reacting to the logjam, Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has described Buhari’s involvement in the meeting as an aberration.

The governor said former President Goodluck

Jonathan, President John Mahama of Ghana and others who have lost elections and conceded defeat were in the best position to intervene in The Gambia’s election impasse.

According to his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said, “with what happened in Rivers State last weekend, it is certain that votes of Nigerians will no longer be allowed to count as the All Progressives Congress (APC) cabal has now assumed the role of INEC, allocating votes to their party and using security agents to force their will on the people.”

Fayose asked; “Did President Buhari face Jammeh and advise him to accept defeat the way he (Buhari) conceded defeat in 2003, 2007 and 2011.”

Credit:

http://sunnewsonline.com/the-gambia-ecowas-leaders-meet-on-saturday-to-break-impasse/

TIME Announces 2016 Person Of The Year, Meet The 11 Finalists

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The shortlist of candidates for the 2016 Person of the Year—TIME’s annual selection of the person who most influenced the news, for better or for worse—was revealed Monday morning on NBC’s Today.

In alphabetical order, the 11 candidates chosen by TIME magazine’s editors are:

Simone Biles

Making her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, the talented 19-year-old gymnast earned four gold medals and one bronze, leading her “Final Five” team to victory and affirming her status as the best in the world.

Hillary Clinton

The former First Lady, New York Senator and Secretary of State became the first woman to receive the U.S. presidential nomination of a major political party, going on to lose the election but win the popular vote—the culmination of a hard-fought, divisive presidential race.

CRISPR Scientists

These scientists have developed a groundbreaking new technology that can edit DNA, a technique that has the potential to transform science and the human experience, as it could be used to find and remove mutations responsible for incurable diseases.

Recep Tayyip Erdo?an

After an attempted military coup failed in July, the Turkish president has tightened control over the country, arresting political opponents, firing thousands of state employees and shutting down news organizations.

Nigel Farage

As head of the U.K. Independence Party, Farage was a face of the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, positioning the referendum as the start of a global populist wave against the political establishment.

The Flint Whistleblowers

Local residents, along with civil-engineering professor Marc Edwards and local pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, blew the whistle on the lead-poisoned water in Flint, Mich., drawing national attention to an environmental crisis that still has yet to be fully resolved.

Beyoncé Knowles

With a headline-worthy Super Bowl halftime performance, a world tour and a powerful second visual album, Lemonade, Beyoncé continued to surprise and provoke a global audience, using her platform to speak out about racial injustice, police violence and feminism.

Narendra Modi

At the head of a powerful government, the Indian Prime Minister has guided his country’s economy into position as the “emerging-market world’s most positive story.” Late in the year, however, he also stoked concern when he unexpectedly banned 500- and 1,000-rupee bills—a move that aimed to curb untaxed wealth but now threatens to slow the country’s economic growth.

Vladimir Putin

The Russian president made headlines this year with his country’s intervention in Syria and evidence showing that Russian operatives were responsible for the hack of Democratic National Committee servers.

Donald Trump

After campaigning as an anti-establishment, populist candidate, Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States—a stunning end to a presidential bid that repeatedly broke with political precedent.

Mark Zuckerberg

In the year that Facebook surpassed the 1 billion mobile daily users mark, the social-media titan has an unprecedented global reach. The CEO has also faced pressure to take responsibility for the site’s role in spreading fake or misleading news, amid criticism that those stories influenced the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

The 2016 Person of the Year will be unveiled on Today on Wednesday morning, when the news will also be shared on Time.com.

Credit:

http://time.com/4589502/person-of-the-year-2016-shortlist/

Meet Woman With Two Husbands Under Same Roof

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Jack Chako, a Zimbabwean woman has been trending on internet after she declared her love for two men who she refers to as her husband.

She is reportedly living under the same roof with the two men whom she has sex with.

According to Zimbabwe Daily Newspaper, she is living a reality and not some movie script as Jack said the men have different strengths, which complement each other.

Also, the reports states that, this might be as a result of the unconfirmed fact that there are more women in the country than men as Fifty-two percent of the population according to the report are women compared to 48 percent of men.

Below is an excerpt from the report:

“For more than a decade, Jack Chako (38) of Bolon Farm in Raffingora has been living happily with her two husbands, Michael Hwita and Liford Chimoto, with whom she shares one bed.

Chako is the head of the family and always eats from the same plate with her two husbands, and during meals, she picks up meat first as the head, followed by the senior husband Chimoto then the junior husband Hwita, in that chronological order.

“We are a happy family, I live with my two husbands and we love one another. My two husbands are best friends and they are always together,” boasted Chako.

She says the two men have different roles and between the two is a senior husband and his junior. And according to her, Chimoto is the elder husband hence the senior while Hwita is the junior.

Chako brazenly claims that she “married” the second husband Hwita because Chimoto “is elderly and increasingly becoming weak in bed”.

“I love both men. They have different strengths. Chimoto fetches a lot of firewood and cleans up the house well but he is weak in bed and weak when it comes to fending for the family. The reason why I married a second husband is that Chimoto was starving me sexually.

“Hwita is also technically minded. He repairs a lot of broken goods, including cell phones and cobbles shoes too, making him bring some cash home. His biggest strength is he is excellent and strong in bed.”

“To be honest, in terms of conjugal rights I favour Hwita. He gets me there. I only do it with Chimoto as a token. At times, I feel pity for Chimoto and give him token conjugal rights and he appreciates that. The rule is no one gets out of the room, because he is not on duty. Whoever is not on duty, just watches us at it,” narrated Chako.

She maintains that she was in charge and his two husbands are now used to sleeping side by side in one bed.

“They don’t mind and they both appreciate each other for the different roles each play to the family,” she said

Chako — a mother of five, three children from a previous marriage and two from this polyandrous affair — says all the two children she has in this set up are from Hwita.

She claims she used some concoction to pacify his two men.

PMB, Yari Meet Over Killings In Zamfara

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday met behind closed doors with Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja over the recent killings and abductions in his state.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Yari disclosed that he came to brief the president about the security situation in his state which has reached alarming proportions.

He said, “As you are aware, some villages in Zamfara State have been under attacks by bandits and the President has carried out his constitutional responsibility by sending security men to the state.

“So I am here to brief him on the security situation in the state. The operation is ongoing and is going on successfully. I am rushing back there to visit the troops in order to boast their morale.

“I will be with them throughout the week. In this kind of situation, you have to be with the people in order to show them that you are concerned as a leader.

“I believe the security agencies are doing their best and we will continue as government to give them the support needed to make the operation successful.

He expressed hope that the military will remain there for longer time adding that the state is ready to take care of their logistics.

“The problem we have is that the state is surrounded by forests. The military men there are currently in about six camps. We hope they will stay there for a while.

“We thank God that the 40 people are back with their families. We have retrieved them from their abductors and we have returned them to their families without any injury. We also did not pay any ransom,” he added.

Credit:

http://leadership.ng/news/561775/pmb-yari-meet-over-killings-in-zamfara

Buhari, Saraki meet for the third time in a week.

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met with Senate President, Bukola Saraki at the Presidential Villa for the third time in a week.

Both leaders had met last week Friday as well as on Wednesday after the President met with members of the South East Caucus in the Senate led by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and Eyinnaya Abaribe.

Recall that the Senate had recently rejected Buahri’s $29.9bn loan request due to its “emptiness”.

The upper chamber had also rejected the 2017 to 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) forwarded by President Buhari for approval.

The Senate President, at the end of last week Friday’s meeting, had told State House correspondents that the issue of the $29.9 billion loan was work in progress.

Japan’s Abe To Meet Trump Next Week

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to meet US president-elect Donald Trump next week in New York, officials said Thursday, after phone talks between the two following the billionaire’s shock election win.

Abe and Trump spoke for about 20 minutes and tentatively set a date of November 17 for the meeting, just before Abe goes to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, a Japanese foreign ministry official told AFP.

During his election campaign, Trump raised eyebrows in Japan by calling on the country to pay more to support the cost of stationing US forces.

He even suggested that Japan might want to become a nuclear power to counter unpredictable neighbour North Korea, which has repeatedly conducted nuclear and ballistic missile tests to international condemnations and prompting UN sanctions.

That statement shocked many in Japan, the only country in the world to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.

Trump has also rejected the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal pushed by President Barack Obama and which Abe hopes his parliament will ratify soon.

Abe congratulated Trump soon after his victory on Wednesday, vowing that the countries would maintain their close relationship, calling them “unshakeable allies”.

During their phone talks, Abe “talked about the importance of the bilateral relationship and the Japan-US alliance”, which he stressed underpins the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, the foreign ministry official said.

In response, Trump said he hoped to strengthen the US-Japan relationship further, the official said.

Trump also said he appreciated Abe’s economic policy and looked forward to working with him, she said.

She declined to elaborate on what else they discussed.

Credit:

http://guardian.ng/news/japans-abe-to-meet-trump-next-week/

Meet Nigerian Candidates In Today’s U.S. General Elections

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Staff Reporter

328

Americans in Franklin, New Jersey, will vote for Charles Ejike Onyejiaka, a fellow citizen and a transplant from Imo State, Nigeria, as the U.S. general election unfolds today.

Mr. Onyejiaka, a democrat, is the incumbent in a two-way race for Ward 3 Councilman seat in Franklin. He was one of three men presented to Franklin Town Council as fill-in candidates for the unexpired term of Phil Kramer, former Ward 3 Councilman, who became Mayor of Franklin last January.

Mr. Onyejiaka beat Alex Kharazi and Azim Uddin, also democrats and immigrants, to succeed Kramer. Today, he is contesting against Beverly Briggs-Lawson, a Republican, in the general election.

Mr. Onyejiaka is one of four Americans of Nigerian descent whose names are on ballots in grassroots elections at township and county levels this year. The others are George Chidi, Rasheed ‘BJ’ Dawodu and April Ademiluyi. All four are product of currents of civic engagement by hundreds of immigrants and first generation Americans who maintain their ties to Nigeria even as they live relatively comfortable lives in the United States.

The rising crescendo of political engagement by Nigerian-Americans is, in some ways, personified by the emergence of Nigerian-American Public Affairs Committee or NAPAC-USA, a self-described “political and social welfare think tank where the intellectual and numerical assets of Nigerians and Nigerian-Americans could be harnessed to invigorate our active participation in American political and civic life”.

The organization originated from the exertion of an intense, voluntary, electioneering campaign by some Nigerian-Americans on behalf of a Democratic candidate in California’s 36th District during the 2011 special election.
Spurred by the impact of their collective energy, the volunteers decided to create a permanent front which, with an eye on the 2012 general election, was organized as a political action committee named Nigerian-American Political Action Committee or NAPAC.

NAPAC and NAPAC-USA are legally registered entities now, the former as a 501 (c) 3 public welfare foundation and the latter as a 501 (c) 4 non-partisan membership advocacy group. NAPAC Foundation exists for the sole purpose of fostering and carrying “out the vision and objectives of NAPAC-USA and its state PACs”. Under American law, a PAC or political action committee can raise and spend unlimited amount of money on behalf of a political candidate or to support an issue.

NAPAC Foundation is yet to accumulate the billion dollar war chest some super PACs are famous for, but it did raise $50,000 for the Obama re-election Campaign because of what the group describe as “our excitement that someone with African roots had the historic opportunity to seek and was actually elected to the highest office of the land”.

Its campaign contribution in this election circle has not been disclosed but there is cause to believe that NAPAC has become the veritable gathering place for Nigerian-American activists across the United States, be they aspirants for political office or community advocates.

Of the four Americans of Nigerian descent running for office this year, only Onyejiaka seems to have no contact with the organization. Chidi and Dawodu attended NAPAC Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, this past September where they mingled with professionals, entrepreneurs and activists from as many as ten states and from cities as far as Los Angeles, New York, Detroit and Baltimore. They had the honor of being the only nominees for electoral positions this year but not the distinction of being the only break-out politicians at the convention.

Also present was Tinuade Pena, a first generation American who spent part of her formative years in Lagos. An engineer and business owner, Ms. Pena is also a U.S. Army sergeant and long-time resident of Florida’s Royal Palm Beach. She was a Democratic candidate for District 86 of the Florida House of Representatives this year but lost to a fellow veteran during the primary election in August.

George Chidi is also a veteran and, the son of George Njoku Chidi, a native of Umuoye in Imo State. The younger George is running for a seat on the Board of Commissioners in DeKalb County, Georgia. His story reads almost like that of Barack Obama. His dad arrived Massachusetts in 1970 on a student visa, met his mum who is a Caucasian of Polish descent.

They got married and, unlike Obama’s dad, the older George stayed in the United States. George junior was an active duty soldier in the 25th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army for five years and, he has been a journalist and civic leader for twenty years.

Of the four Nigerian-Americans running for office, he seems to have the deepest connection to his constituents and the widest name recognition among Americans and Nigerian-Americans alike. He defeated eight other aspirants to become the Democratic nominee for this general election which he is strongly favored to win. He is very supportive of the Nigerian immigrant community, he is a known face at their social events and an active promoter of worthy causes, including the candidacy of Rasheed Bolaji (or ‘BJ’) Dawodu.

Mr. Dawodu, a Democrat, is running against Republican Kristie King for the position of Tax Commissioner in Fayette County, Georgia. A small business owner and seasoned financial management professional, Dawodu relocated to the United States from his native Lagos (Isale Eko) more than 20 years ago. He worked extensively in the public sector before going into private practice, his bid for office of the Tax Commissioner is actively supported by Fayette Chamber of Commerce and his immigrant constituency.

April Ademiluyi is the only female American of Nigerian descent contesting in the general election and she is contesting for a judicial not administrative position. She is a candidate for the Seventh Circuit Court in Prince George’s County, Maryland. April is a first generation American with roots in the Ademiluyi royal family in Ife.

Election into Circuit Courts is non-partisan, candidates participate in as many party primaries as they choose but they have to win at least one primary to get on the ballot. Ms. Ademiluyi won the Libertarian Party primary.

Prince George’s county is reputed to be home to some of the richest Nigerians in the United States, there have been some local fund raising gatherings to support April’s candidacy. She also got a boost from NAPAC president, Mr. Segun Adeyina who came from Georgia to campaign for her.

Township and county level elections usually do not attract polling agencies so it is not easy to track the progress of these candidates. One thing that can be said for all of them is, if elected, their constituencies will get top-tier professionals and more in each of them.

Charles Onyejiaka has a degree in Electronics Engineering from Thomas Edison State University, he is also something of a veteran public servant with experience dating back to Nigeria’s Second Republic.

Born in Nkwerre, Mr. Onyejiaka grew up in a family of public servants whose record of civic engagement reached its zenith during Nigeria’s Second Republic when Sam Mbakwe was governor of Imo State. His uncle served as a commissioner while an aunt worked as special assistant in the governor’s office. Charles has followed the footsteps of his Nigerian family in his new country.

In 2015, he mobilized voter turn-out in numbers that proved good enough to give Democrats their first mayoral victory in Franklin Township. He is prominent member of the local Catholic community and has served on the Township Planning Board.

George Chidi has a bachelor degree in Journalism, MBA from Georgia Tech and was chief executive officer of a firm that markets competitive intelligence for corporate clients.

Rasheed Dawodu has degrees in accounting, law, public finance and is a certified fraud examiner. He has worked for Fortune 500 firms including General Electric and Georgia Pacific.

April Ademiluyi has a first degree was in Chemical Engineering, law degree from an Ivy League university and has been recognized by Congressional leaders for working with families facing foreclosure.

Credit:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/214729-meet-nigerian-candidates-in-todays-u-s-general-elections.html

Meet The Baby Who Was Born Twice

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Margaret Boemer went for a routine ultrasound 16 weeks into her pregnancy with her third child. She quickly found out that things were far from routine.

“They saw something on the scan, and the doctor came in and told us that there was something seriously wrong with our baby and that she had a sacrococcygeal teratoma,” the Plano, Texas, mom said in an interview shared by Texas Children’s Hospital. “And it was very shocking and scary, because we didn’t know what that long word meant or what diagnosis that would bring.”

Sacrococcygeal teratoma is a tumor that develops before birth and grows from a baby’s coccyx, the tailbone.

“This is the most common tumor we see in a newborn,” said Dr. Darrell Cass, co-director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center and associate professor of surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College Medicine. “Even though it’s the most common we see, it’s still pretty rare.”

Found more often in girls than boys, this tumor occurs in one out of every 35,000 births.

Unfortunately, this was not the first bad news of Boemer’s pregnancy. Originally, she had been pregnant with twins, but lost one of the babies before her second trimester.

It was a shock at 16 weeks to learn of her daughter’s rare birth defect.

“Some of these tumors can be very well-tolerated, so the fetus has it and can get born with it and we can take it out after the baby’s born,” said Cass. “But about half of the time, they cause problems for the fetus and it’s usually causing problems because of a blood flow problem.”

Cass explained that the tumor is trying to grow by sucking blood flow from the baby, yet the baby is also trying to grow, too “so it becomes a competition.”

“And in some instances, the tumor wins and the heart just can’t keep up and the heart goes into failure and the baby dies,” said Cass.

With a large tumor stealing the blood supply, Boemer’s fetus was becoming more ill each day, doctors explained to the expectant mother. Something had to be done.

Although other doctors had advised her to terminate the pregnancy, Cass and his team told her about another possibility: fetal surgery. This option, though, would not be an easy road. Even worse, her baby’s chances of survival would be grim.

“LynLee didn’t have much of a chance,” Boemer said. “At 23 weeks, the tumor was shutting her heart down and causing her to go into cardiac failure, so it was a choice of allowing the tumor to take over her body or giving her a chance at life.

“It was an easy decision for us: We wanted to give her life.”

Meet The Iraqi Housewife Who ‘Cooked The Heads’ Of ISIS Fighters, Tops ISIS’ Most Wanted List

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Staff Reporter

“Shut up and stay still,” the woman in black fatigues and a black headscarf snapped over her shoulder at the armed men behind her as she sat down for an interview.

Immediately they went quiet, each adjusting his weapon and standing up straight as if he’d been called to attention.

This is a woman who commands respect, I thought. She keeps a Beretta 9-millimeter pistol in a holster under her left arm. The area around the trigger was silver where the paint had worn off.

The woman in question, 39-year-old Wahida Mohamed — better known as Um Hanadi — leads a force of around 70 men in the area of Shirqat, a town 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Mosul, Iraq. She and her men, part of a tribal militia, recently helped government forces drive ISIS out of the town.

In the man’s world that is rural Iraq, female fighters are a rarity. Um Hanadi is not new to this.

“I began fighting the terrorists in 2004, working with Iraqi security forces and the coalition,” she says. As a result, she attracted the wrath of what eventually became al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which later morphed into ISIS.

“I received threats from the top leadership of ISIS, including from Abu Bakr (al-Baghdadi) himself,” she says, referring to ISIS’s self-declared caliph.

“But I refused.”

“I’m at the top of their most wanted list,” she brags, “even more than the Prime Minister.”

Sheriff, Makarfi Meet, Vow To End PDP Crises

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Factional leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senators Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi, met in Abuja on Tuesday and declared their intention to end the perennial crises in the party.

The meeting, which was held at an undisclosed venue in Abuja, was said to have been attended by some members from the two factions.

At the end of the meeting, representatives of each faction jointly addressed a press conference where they said their leaders were working together to reposition the party.

While the Secretary of the National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ben Obi represented Makarfi, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, represented Sheriff at the briefing.

The short briefing was held at a neutral venue away from each faction’s offices.

In the joint statement, which was read by Ojougboh and corroborated by Obi, the two leaders said that their meeting was without prejudice to all outstanding matters in court.

The statement said, “This is without prejudice to all outstanding matters in court. At a meeting held this morning between the two of us, a holistic review of the state of affairs of our great party, PDP, was deliberated upon.

“In reviewing the crisis that has engulfed our party since the loss of the 2015 general elections after 15 years of uninterrupted leadership at the centre, it became obvious to both of us as principal actors that it is time to heal the wounds and bring about a united, focused and constructive opposition party that can bring sanity to our democratic process.”

http://punchng.com/pdp-sheriff-makarfi-met-vow-end-crises/

Top Diplomats From U.S., Japan, South Korea To Meet Over North Korea

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Staff Reporter

564

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in New York on Sunday to discuss responses to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The three countries are pushing for tough new U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea after the isolated country on Friday conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test.

The blast was in defiance of U.N. sanctions that were tightened in March.

China, the North’s chief ally, backed the March resolution but is more resistant to harsh new sanctions this time after the United States and South Korea decided to deploy a sophisticated anti-missile system in the South, which China adamantly opposes.

South Korea said Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his counterparts Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet during the annual U.N. General Assembly to discuss putting further pressure on North Korea.

The United States wants China to do more, with U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter last week singling out the role he said China should play in curbing its neighbour.

Trump To Visit Mexico Wednesday, Meet Its President

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Donald Trump announced he would travel to Mexico on Wednesday to meet its president, just hours ahead of giving a much-anticipated speech in Arizona on immigration.

The Republican presidential nominee’s surprise trip south of the border comes as debate about his hardline immigration policies is reaching fever pitch.

Although his visit holds potential political peril, Trump could seize control of the campaign narrative at a crucial time, showing a willingness to engage diplomatically on a sensitive issue at the heart of his campaign.

“I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow,” Trump posted on Twitter Tuesday.

Mexico’s presidential office confirmed the visit, posting its own tweet in Spanish to say the billionaire New York real estate tycoon “has accepted the invitation and will meet tomorrow privately with the President @EPN.”

Pena Nieto’s office said in a statement that he had sent invitations to Trump as well as his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Her campaign has announced no plans for a visit, with an aide on Tuesday saying Clinton “looks forward to talking with President Pena Nieto again at the appropriate time.”

http://guardian.ng/news/trump-to-visit-mexico-wednesday-meet-its-president/

Buhari, Alaafin Meet Over Avengers, Boko Haram

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday was in a closed meeting with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Alaafin of Oyo said discussions at the meeting bordered on problems facing the country, including militancy in the Niger Delta and insurgency in the North.

According to him, Buhari requested traditional rulers to convey their advice on problems in the country in writing.

He said: “As a Nigerian and one of the topmost traditional rulers in the country, I sent a memorandum to the President, which he acknowledged, and he asked me to come and endorse those things I have written.

“I think it is time for me to use the proper channel to reach the President for suggestions and advice. Where he deserves commendation, I should also do that.

“Especially as it concerns the multi-dimensional problems Nigeria is facing; the Avengers and the bombing of oil installations, MEND and Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.

“One major diplomatic point the President scored was the visit of the United States (U.S.) Secretary of State, John Kerry. America does not usually send top officers for such visits, if they have not used certain parameters to gauge the country’s performance.

“I have met with the President and offered some suggestions. We are losing huge resources to the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers. Coming close to that is the infiltration of the militants in Lagos and Ikorodu, where in the last three weeks, 10 landlords were massacred.”

Buhari, Alaafin meet over Avengers, Boko Haram

Budget Scandal: Abdulmumin To Meet Presidential Arms Committee Aug 31

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The sacked Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumin, has received an invitation from the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption to brief the committee on the allegations of corruption levelled against the House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and three principal officers.

Abdulmumin revealed this on his twitter handle Tuesday.

“In another victory for my journey to ensure that justice is served on Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa, Ogor and nine other members, I have received official invitation from the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), to make a comprehensive presentation to the committee on the allegations I raised against the Speaker and others, and discuss strategies on how to achieve results. The letter was signed by Executive Secretary of the Committee, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye,” the tweets read.

7 Of The Best Places To Meet Your Future Partner

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Staff Reporter

1. Don’t skip work happy hour

Even if you’ve already determined that you will never date any of your coworkers, join in on every office happy hour you can. You never know who may bring an outside friend along or where you could end up after the happy hour is over. Chances are most of your work friends are pretty cool people so you can rely on them to broaden your network of potential partners.

2. Volunteer your time

If you’ve already scoured everyone at work, the gym, and any mutual friends, it may be time to switch things up a bit. Volunteer for an organization you care about or with election season coming up, sign up on a campaign. By broadening your perspective, you’ll meet a whole different group of people and even if you don’t meet that special someone, you’ll walk away with new friends and an impressive line on your resume.

3. Take a class

Remember what it was like to be in college, surrounded by people your age? If you’re still in college, take advantage of it. If not, sign up for a college class and enjoy going back in time to the days of group projects and cute lab partners. To start, your choice in class will give you something in common with the other students. Then, you can bond over your rambling professor, the final exam, or that girl in the front row who sleeps through every class. Take it to the next level and see if any of the Business Insider’s list of colleges where you’re most likely to meet you future spouse are near you.

4. Look to the gym

If fitness is important to you, then where better to meet a future partner than at the gym? If you’re always in the weight room, switch things up and take a kickboxing class, do some cardio, or visit the racquetball courts. Just by changing up your workout, you’ll be exposed to a whole different group of gym-goers. If you and your love interest visit the gym at similar hours, it will be easy to arrange a half-date before or after a workout. Grab a smoothie, a post-workout snack, or try a yoga class together.

5. Attend more events

This is one area where social media saves the day. You know those annoying public event invites you’re constantly getting on Facebook? Rather than ignoring them, RSVP and go. At first glance, a book reading may not be your cup of tea, but it will expose you to an entirely new group of people, which may bring you face to face with someone you wouldn’t have otherwise met. If you can drag a friend along, it will make the whole situation a little more comfortable, but don’t be scared to go at it alone. When you fly solo, it not only makes you more likely to talk to new people, but it will also be easier for others to approach you.

6. Join a team

If you ever played high school or college sports, you probably remember the bond you shared with your teammates. Recreate this connection and have fun doing it by joining a co-ed intramural team. Not only will you meet people who are interested in the same activity, but after games there’s a good chance the team will go to a nearby bar to grab a drink. Use this time to get to know any of teammates that caught your eye. Depending on where you live, there are even some leagues that are specific to singles. If sports aren’t your thing, research local trivia nights and ask if anyone’s looking to add on a player.

7. Hit the park

Is it a warm, sunny day? If so, you can bet people are packing up their picnic baskets and heading to the park. Grab a soccer ball or a frisbee, bring along your dog (or borrow one), and join the masses. Take a few laps around the area to check things out and pray that your pup is cute enough to garner some attention. If not, grab the ball or frisbee and ask someone if they want to play. The worst they can do is say no, but chances are you’ll not only meet potential romantic interests but some new friends too.

Credit: CheetSheet

Osinbajo, Governors Meet Over Economy

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The National Economic Council (NEC) met at the Council Chambers of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting is being presided over by the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Governors in attendance include those of Ogun, Kano, Akwa Ibom, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Abia, Katsina, Kogi, among others.

The meeting is expected to review the state of the economy.

Credit: DailyTrust

Dickson, Bayelsa Doctors Meet To Avert Strike

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa has met with officials of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in the state to avert impending strike by medical practitioners over backlog of five month salary arrears.

The NMA in Bayelsa had on June 6 issued a 21-day strike notice which lapsed on Monday.

The strike notice, dated June 6, was for the three affiliates of NMA in the state.

Dr Israel Jeremaih, the state Chairman of NMA, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Yenagoa that the association met with Dickson on Monday over the strike notice.

Jeremaih said that the NMA executives in Bayelsa had scheduled a congress at the association’s secretariat in Yenagoa to review the ‘offer’ made by the governor and take a decision on the strike.

“Yes, we (leadership) met with Bayelsa Governor on Monday and had discussions, and we shall table the deliberations before NMA congress which will decide on the next line of action,” Jeremaih said.

The NMA noted that the non-payment of salary in Bayelsa since January 2016 had taken a negative toll on the health sector as residents could no longer afford to seek medical attention and compelled to either patronise quacks or resort to self-medication.

Credit: Guardian

Governors, BoT, Sheriff, Makarfi Meet Over PDP Crisis

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would meet today in Abuja with aggrieved members to find a lasting solution to the crisis within the party.

Stakeholders expected at the meeting at the Ondo Governor’s Lodge in Abuja are, the PDP Governors’ Forum, National Assembly Caucus, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, the Makarfi-led care taker committee and the former National Chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff.

Disclosing this yesterday, the Director General of PDP Governors’ Forum, Osaro Onaiwu, said that the agenda of the meeting is to resolve the crisis rocking the party.

He added that decision would also be taken on the forthcoming Edo State gubernatorial election.Onaiwu said: “The leaders of the party, the Governors’ Forum, National Assembly Caucus, BoT, Makarfi group and Sheriff group will meet tomorrow (today) to address the issue in the party. We want to resolve the crisis in the party once and for all. We want to find lasting solution to it. All parties involved are invited for this meeting. The forthcoming Edo election will also be addressed.”

Credit: Guardian

Renewed Militancy: Ijaw Youth Groups To Meet In Warri

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Ijaw youths and other youth groups in the Niger Delta region are set to meet in Warri, Delta State, next Thursday in response to the renewed militancy in the region.

The meeting, which is at the instance of the foremost Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, will review the renewed militant activities in the region and take a common position.

The IYC in 2009 under the leadership of Dr. Chris Ekiyor midwived the presidential amnesty programme for ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region which brought peace to the region.

According to a statement signed by IYC spokesman, Eric Omare, the conference of all Ijaw and other Niger Delta youth groups is expected to be graced by leading Niger Delta activists such as Tony Uranta; Ann-Kio Briggs and Dr. Bello Oboko as guest speakers.

Also expected to attend the conference, Omare disclosed, are representatives of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and all ethnic nationalities youth groups and organisations in the Niger Delta.

“The conference would mark the conclusion of the month long remembrance activities of late Niger Delta hero, Major Jasper Adaka Boro with the theme: ‘The Ideals of Adaka Boro and Renewed Militancy in the Niger Delta Region: The way forward”, he said.

The conference which is slated for May 26, 2016, at Bay Hotel (former Wellington Hotel), Warri, is expected to come out with a communiqué on the common position of the youths of the Niger Delta region on the renewed insurgency and attack on oil facilities.

Saraki, Dogara, Others Meet To Decide On Budget

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Staff Reporter

The leadership of the National Assembly held a crucial meeting on Monday night to take a final stance on the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold his assent to the controversial 2016 budget.

Investigation showed that the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, would chair the meeting to be held at his Abuja residence.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu; the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yussuff Lasun, and other principal officers of the Senate and the House would attend the meeting.

The budget of N6.06tn had been passed by the National Assembly on March 23.

With just days to April 23, a date the budget would have been with Buhari for 30 days, it was still unclear last night if the President had returned it to the legislature stating reasons why he would not sign it as provided under Section 59 of the 1999 Constitution.

But some legislative officials said that the aim of the meeting was for the leadership of both chambers to take a position in anticipation that Buhari would return the document with explanatory notes on the “grey areas.”

“The meeting may not necessarily be about overriding the President’s veto. There isn’t a veto per se because Buhari has not said so officially.

“It is to look at the areas where the executive has already complained of distortions in the budget so that both houses will agree on what to do when a formal letter comes from the Presidency,” one of the officials said at 7.55pm.

Findings indicated that the meeting was billed to start around 9pm.

Credit: Punch

Messi Hopes To Meet Afghan Boy In Plastic Jersey

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Staff Reporter

Barcelona star Lionel Messi is hoping to arrange a meeting with an Afghan boy who shot to fame after pictures of him dressed in a striped plastic bag jersey went viral, Kabul’s football federation said Monday.

Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi idolises the Argentine soccer star but a jersey of his favourite player is beyond the means of his poor family in the volatile province of Ghazni near Kabul.

His elder brother Homayoun, 15, made him the blue-and-white-striped plastic shirt with Messi’s named scrawled in marker pen and posted the photos of Murtaza wearing it on Facebook in mid-January.

Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father, told AFP on Saturday that the footballer was aware of the photos that made waves on social media and “wants to do something” for his young fan.

The Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) on Monday said Messi was keen to meet Murtaza as soon as possible, though no date or venue has so far been finalised.

“Messi has been in communication with the federation to set up a meeting with the young boy,” AFF spokesman Sayed Ali Kazemi told AFP.

“We are working to see whether Messi will come to Afghanistan or the five-year-old will travel to Spain or they will meet in a third country.”

Credit: Vanguard

Zaria Killings: Senate Panel To Meet Zakzaky, Buratai

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Members of the Senate adhoc committee on Zaria killings would meet with the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai.

The Senate had on Wednesday set up a 16-man committee with Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC Yobe North) as chairman with the mandate of investigating the killings.

It was gathered that members of committee after their maiden meeting resolved to meet with all parties especially the army chief and the Islamic scholar.

A source closed to the committee said the two personalities would be quizzed on the roles they played in the fracas. “The committee would hear from Buratai, Zakzaky and his key followers on the issue. A date has not been fixed for this but the committee is working to round up their assignment in two weeks,” the source said.

The source said the committee members, have been barred from speaking on the matter, “going by the sensitive of matter, the members of the panel have been barred from speaking on the matter.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the chairman of the committee yielded no result as he neither picked nor replied to the SMS sent to his mobile phone.

Senators on the committee include Shaaba Lafiagi, Jonah Jang, George Akume, Jeremiah Useni, Monsurat Sunmonu, Shehu Sani, David Umaru, Godswill Akpabio, Abu Ibrahim, Stella Oduha, Bayero Nafada among others.

Credit: DailyTrust

Northern Governors To Meet Over Zaria Killings

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Governors of the 19 northern states under the auspices of the Northern States Governors Forum, have summoned an emergency meeting to discuss recent happenings in the region, particularly the recent fracas between the Nigerian Army and members of Shi’ites group, which led to the deaths of many persons in Zaria, Kaduna State.

The governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, who doubles as chairman of the forum, announced Wednesday night that the 19 governors would be holding an emergency meeting on Saturday in Kaduna.

Mr. Shettima’s spokesperson, Isa Gusau, said the decision to hold the meeting followed consultations between the governors on Wednesday night after reviewing recent developments in parts of northern Nigeria.

He said the northern governors were worried by the situation and hence their resolve to wade into the matter.

“The governors call on citizens and all parties associated with the incident in Zaria to be calm and exercise restraint, assuring that far reaching steps will be taken to guarantee restoration of normalcy in a sustained manner.

“The governors call on citizens to go about their activities peacefully and in obedience to lawful provisions,” Mr. Gusau said.

Mr. Gusau also said governors across the 19 states would at all times take measures that will promote peace and public safety as well as justice and fairness to all citizens in line with constitutional provisions.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Igbo Leaders To Meet Buhari Over Biafra Agitation, Igbo Marginalization

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The meeting of Igbo leaders summoned yesterday by the South East Governors’ Forum, SEGF, to discuss the security implications of the agitations by members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, ended in Enugu with the leaders resolving to set up a delegation of Igbo elders to meet President Muhammadu Buhari on the marginalisation of Igbo in the country.

They also agreed to dialogue with members of the MASSOB and IPOB groups with a view to ending the protests now rocking the old Eastern region.

Governors in attendance at the meeting included Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, (Enugu), Dave Umuahi (Ebonyi), Dr. Nkem Okeke (Deputy Governor, Anambra State) and Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.

Others were the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, former Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, former Minister of Information, Chief Nnaia Nwodo and former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara among others.

A four-point communique read by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, at the end of the meeting on behalf of his colleagues read, “We agreed that south-east governors should set up a committee to immediately address the impasse on Ohanaeze leadership. After a compassionate review of the recent MASSOB/IPOB agitations in the country, it was resolved that a committee be set up to dialogue with MASSOB,IPOB as well as the Federal Government with a view to finding a lasting solution to the issue.”

“The elders also examined other issues including poor state of infrastructural facilities in the south-east, marginalization in federal appointments and other socio-economic issues that impact on the economic development of the south-east and resolved to support the decision of south-east governors to set up an economic council and urged them to interface with the Federal Government on remedial measures. A delegation of elders of the south-east was mandated to meet with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Credit: Vanguard

Governors Lament Mounting Wage Bill, Plan To Meet Buhari Again

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Nigeria’s Governors say they will seek more solutions to the inability of some states to pay its workers and meet other responsibilities.

The decision was reached at a meeting of the governors held in Abuja, which began at about 8:00pm local time on Wednesday.

At least 22 governors or their representatives were present at the Governors Forum seen as crucial, as some governors are still owing some worker salaries of several months.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, the governors said that they discussed sustainability of the wage bill of some states, which had been affected greatly by the dwindling revenue and allocation to states.

Credit: ChannelsTV

Meet The Woman Taking On Boko Haram

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Hafsat Mohammed uses hope to counter hate, but the activist knows the threats she faces are all too real.

On a long, barren road in northeastern Nigeria, Hafsat Mohammed, squeezed into a public minibus, saw the gunmen materialise from the bush like a mirage.

The 33-year-old was on her way to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State and the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, when two Hilux pickups swerved onto the road ahead.

The minibus stopped. Men in combat fatigues and balaclavas emerged from the first pickup and aimed their guns at the windshield. They ordered the passengers out onto the hot tarmac. The second pickup sped off towards a nearby village.

The men beat the passengers with their guns, jeering and calling them names as they did so.

A former radio journalist-turned-civil society activist, Mohammed wasn’t usually afraid to speak up; she thought she might shout or scream, but, instead, she found herself mute.

“I was praying in my mind,” she recalls. “I did not dare pray out loud.”

Then they opened fire.

Mohammed remembers how the dead body of a woman fell on top of her and how she lay there, beneath it.

She heard the screams of two women as they were forced into the pickup. Then the gunmen were gone, leaving tyre marks behind in the dirt.

They had killed five passengers, but Mohammed was unharmed. She and the other survivors, including the driver, got back into the minibus and drove off.

I first met Mohammed in January 2014, just weeks after the attack. She was back at her office in a nondescript high-rise in Kaduna city, the old political capital of the north, gearing up for initiatives to tackle religious intolerance in Nigerian schools.

For the past year, she had been working at the grassroots, community-led Interfaith Mediation Centre, founded by a Muslim imam and a Christian pastor to address interreligious violence.

In sentences often punctuated by a loud, raucous laugh, Mohammed spoke about her work and the attack.

“It motivated me to go back to the northeast,” she said. “It was something that kept on bothering me: ‘What do you do to conquer this [violence]’?”

Her answer to that question has been to try to counter violent extremism by engaging young people at the grassroots level, getting them to imagine a different future and their individual ambitions for it.

“I was in that bus and I saw hell,” the mother of two reflected. “But it motivates me to work for peace.”

Credit: Reuters

Davido Eager To Meet Abubakar, Vows To Sponsor His University Education

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Ace Nigerian artist, Davido, has struck people’s heart by showing compassion towards a little boy named Abubakar.

Davido recently launched a social media hunt to find the boy and put him through school and now it seems like he has found the young child and expressed eagerness to meet him.

He also vowed to see him through school till he graduates from the University… and that isvery heart warming.

See IG post below:

https://instagram.com/p/9BHFQzKUJ8/?taken-by=davidoofficial

Buhari, Abdusalami Meet In Aso Rock

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari and former military Head of State Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar met yesterday in a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Abdusalami arrived at the State House at 3.30p.m for the meeting, which lasted for about 30 minutes.

He declined to speak with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting.

Credit: thenationonlineng

Buhari, Kukah Meet At Aso Rock

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met briefly with the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Kukah, who was part of the National Peace Committee delegation that visited the President earlier this month, is believed to be against the government’s move to probe corrupt ex-public officials.

He resisted attempts by State House correspondents to question him on mission to the seat of power.

Kukah, who was almost running from the President’s office to the Council Chamber area, simply told reporter “I have a plane to catch by now”

Credit: dailytimes

Defence Chiefs From Nigeria, Cameroon, Others Meet in Chad Over Boko Haram

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Nigeria’s defence chief of staff, Gabriel Olonisakin, is currently in Chad Republic to discuss the deployment of 8, 700 strong Multi National Joint Task Force, MNJTF, to confront Boko Haram.

The defence headquarters said in a statement that the Chiefs of Defence Staff from the Lake Chad Basin Commission member countries met in N’Djamena to discuss operational plans against the terrorist group.

The meeting, the defence headquarters said, is focused on finalising details of deployment of a joint force to fight Boko Haram which has sworn allegiance to ISIS and has killed hundreds of people through suicide bombings in the last three months.

“General Olonisakin has been working round the clock towards actualising the presidential directive to end Boko Haram terrorists activities within three months,” Rabe Abubakar, defence spokesperson said in the statement.

Read More: premiumtimesng

Why Buhari Has Refused To Meet Saraki

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Staff Reporter

President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to meet one-on-one with Senator Bukola Saraki two weeks after the latter connived with top officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win the post of Senate President in a move that both stunned and angered the hierarchy of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

SaharaReporters learned that Senator Saraki had made several overtures to get a private meeting with Mr. Buhari, to no avail. One source revealed that Mr. Saraki’s latest attempt was to follow the president to his hometown of Daura in Katsina State to take in the commencement of the Islamic Ramadan period. The president reportedly rebuffed the move.

Following President Buhari’s rebuff, Mr. Saraki reportedly arranged a quiet visit to Vice President Yemi Osibanjo to apologize for an insulting remark he had made in the heat of his high-stakes maneuver to win the leadership of the Senate by striking an alliance with the PDP. Top APC officials claimed that Mr. Saraki had turned down an invitation by VP Osibanjo to discuss his contentious pursuit of the Senate Presidency by stating contemptuously that “a mere commissioner” could not summon him to a meeting. Mr. Osibanjo, a former commissioner in Lagos State, had sought to meet with Senator Saraki in order to resolve a crisis that arose from the latter’s scheme to outmaneuver his party, the APC.

Read More: saharareporters

Meet The King With 100 Wives

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Staff Reporter

Abumbi II, the 11th fon, or king, of Bafut, Cameroon, has close to 100 wives. They weren’t all his to start. According to local tradition, when a fon dies, his successor inherits all his wives and then marries his own queens.

“The queens have a great role to play in the fondom,” notes Prince Nickson, also of Bafut, noting that it is up to these women behind the man to shape him in his kingly role.

“Behind every successful man must be a very successful, staunch woman,” says Abumbi’s third wife, Queen Constance.

“Our tradition has it that when you are king, the elderly wives remain to hand down the tradition to the younger wives, and also to teach the king the tradition because the king had been a prince, not a king.”

Read More: cnn

Buhari’s Govt., Fuel Marketers Meet Finally; Agree To End Petrol Scarcity

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Staff Reporter

The Muhammadu Buhari administration finally met fuel marketers Friday to resolve a lingering fuel crisis that continued a week after the new president was sworn into office.

At the end of the meeting with the marketers and other operators in the oil and gas sector, all sides agreed to work speedily to end the shortage that has hit the hardest in Abuja and Lagos.
Oil marketers said they have dispatched 700 trucks of petrol to Abuja as part of efforts to end the scarcity.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, signed by Taiye Haruna, permanent secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the marketers agreed to begin to deliver fuel products to all parts of the country immediately.

The statement said the meeting was tagged “Queue must go stakeholders’ platform”.
It said that the Petroleum Products Marketing Company in conjunction with marketers, major and independent, have agreed to increase the level of supply to all retail outlets nationwide with immediate effect.

It also stated that the meeting also directed marketers to move 700 trucks of petrol to Abuja with immediate effect.

It noted that one of the major constraints to distribution was the logjam at Apapa –Oshodi expressway in Lagos. “We have agreed to work with the Lagos State Government, Petrol Tanker Drivers (PTD) and NARTO to clear the logjam at Apapa,” the communique stated.

“Currently we have over 2,000 trucks on that road waiting to take fuel at the depot. Trucks are at Apapa to load products but could not get product but we fashioned out modality to clear the logjam in conjunction with other stakeholders,” it stated.

The communiqué said the measure would enable the marketers start loading and moving products out of the depot to the hinterland. “We have enough stocks that can last for 23 days; also we agreed to set up the committee of stakeholders to monitor the loading and delivering of products nationwide. We have also agreed that efforts will be made to clear this long before the end of June,” the communiqué declared.

It further stated that the Petroleum Equalization Fund would track all the trucks from Apapa using the Aquila project to avoid diversion of the products. “DPR is to ensure that products are delivered and selling of proceeds should not be more than N87 per litre. Government will not relent in their efforts to ensure that the challenge becomes a thing of the past.

“All stakeholders have agreed to clear the queue before the end of next week,” it stated.
According to the communiqué, it was also agreed that a task force comprising all operators be set up to look into the distribution of petrol nationwide.

The meeting was attended by the Executive Secretary, Major Marketers Association of Nigeria, Femi Olawore, and Lawson Obasi, leader of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

The Executive Secretary Depot & Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Femi Adewole; the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), George Osahon, also attended the meeting.

The others were Executive Secretary, PEF, Asabe Ahmed; the Executive Secretary Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPRA) Farouk Hamed, and a representative of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), David Ige, who is the Group Executive Director, Gas and Power.
Credit NAN

Meet Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, The Meaning Behind The Royal Baby’s Name

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Staff Reporter

And the princess has a name. The daughter of Kate Middleton and Prince William is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, according to an announcement by Kensington Palace.

“This name is fitting for the princess because it’s historically significant but it’s also personal to the duke and duchess of Cambridge,” Linda Rosenkrantz, co-founder of Nameberry, tells Yahoo Parenting. “Charlotte is the feminine version of Charles, the father of Prince William and is a version of Carole, the name of Kate’s mother. Charlotte is also the middle name of Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister.”What’s more, Elizabeth is the name of the current Queen of England and Prince William’s grandmother. And Diana — an unexpected choice given Prince William’s late mother’s rocky history with the royal family — is a beautiful tribute.

For months leading up to the birth, the Internet was abuzz with baby name predictions. British bookmakers William Hill were seeing pink and placing odds that the child would be named Alice at 4/1. “As it stands, over 70 percent of William Hill customers believe the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will have a baby girl, with Alice the current favorite name ahead of Elizabeth which is 9/2,” spokesman Rupert Adams told People in March. A fitting choice, as Alice was also the name of Queen Victoria’s second daughter (who breastfed her baby — a shocking act at the time) and the name of Queen Elizabeth II’s aunt Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester who died in 2014 at age 102, according to Nameberry.

Read More: yahoo