Kogi flood victims are getting the best treatment – Deputy Governor

Contrary to the allegation leveled against the Kogi State Government by flood victims from various relief camps in the state, the State Government has issued a statement in Lokoja on Monday denying all allegations claiming the victims were getting the best attention from the state government.
In the statement issued by the Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi, through his Press Secretary, Michael Abu, said the the victims were being accommodated in the 83 camps and were getting the best treatment
He added that the State Government had completed verifications to ascertain the number of those affected genuinely and the requirements for re-settlement.
Awoniyi noted that the state is the most organised in handling victims of flood.
According to a report by the United Nations,UN, it was stressed that the state government had high record of donations received for the victims.
Mr. Awoniyi however assured that some of the victims would have their houses rebuilt, while others would be provided land and financial supports but also noted that only those genuinely affected would be compensated.
“The government is already in the process of building houses for those affected,” he said.
DailyPost reported that Kogi State is one of the most affected by the floods; with a particular local government, Ibaji, virtually submerged in waters. It is one of the states promised N500 million assistance by the
Federal Government.
DailyPost

Ribadu report: We did not insult presidency – ACN

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has refuted insulting President Goodluck Jonathan and his office over the presentation of the report of Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force led by Nuhu Ribadu.
The party in a statement issued yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it meant no harm in its criticism.
It said: ‘’Oronsaye’s incredibly audacious statement, that ‘the President has asked us to submit the report….and so what?’ should have elicited the reaction which the presidency issued to ACN’s statement, if indeed the presidency was concerned about insults,’’ it said.
ACN claimed that the presidency is trying to blackmail the opposition by now accusing it of insulting the President, for merely stating the obvious.
The party noted that the only reason Oronsaye and Otti could have acted in such manner with the President seated right there, was if they were indeed programmed to perform the role of spoilers by discrediting the report.
“President Jonathan is a democratically-elected President, not an oracle who cannot and must not be criticised. Therefore, we at the ACN will continue to offer a constructive criticism of his administration, true to our role of providing responsible opposition.
“We stand by our statement and will not be cowed by this old, cheap trick of labelling constructive criticism as an insult,” ACN said, challenging the presidency to deny the facts contained in the party’s earlier statement on the issue.
‘’Let’s restate the facts, for the avoidance of doubt: One, Oronsaye and Otti were already serving on the task force before they were given the plum Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) jobs. Two, the Federal Government could have waited for them to complete their assignment before giving them suspicious appointments, if only to avoid possible conflict of interest or any perception of such.
“Three, the men could have resigned their membership of the task force after they got themselves the NNPC jobs. And four, they could have written a minority report when they disagreed with the conclusion of the task force, instead of choosing the presentation venue to discredit the report.”
ACN said the presidential spokesman Reuben Abati, should have addressed the facts instead of calling of names.
“His snout now deeply inserted in the nectar of office, criticisms have turned to insults in his eyes,” the party added.
DailyPost

“I’m not running for Presidency in 2015″ – Governor Amaechi

Contrary to the ongoing rumours that Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi is planning to contest the 2015 presidency, the jet-crazed Governor has debunked the hearsay, asserting that he’s not nursing any presidential ambition for now.
Amaechi told newsmen during an interactive session in Port Harcourt on Monday that his interest is to see the state move to a greater height.
He asserted that he’s not aware of his posters and those of his Jigawa State counterpart pasted in some parts of the Northern states.
He said, “I have no ambition for 2015.The future of Rivers people does not depend on 2015. I have never attended any meeting anywhere about 2015.
“It is absolutely a non-issue. In the North, there are pictures of Sule Lamido and I, but I don’t have anything to do with 2015.”
Speaking on the boundary dispute between Rivers and neighbouring Bayelsa, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum Chairman said the battle for Rivers State oil wells is aimed at “emasculating the people of the state”.
The Governor alleged that there were also moves to give 46 oil wells belonging to Rivers to Abia State.
Hear him, “This worries me. I join you to ask that question; what is my sin? The court said they made a mistake, but that mistake has not been corrected.
“They gave our oil wells to Bayelsa, now they want to take another 71 oil wells. I leave the people of Rivers State to take their destiny in their own hands. The President is behind us and we must support him on this.”
DailyPost

He who drives a (Dangote) truck…

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by Gbenga Olorunpomi
He who drives a truck…
As a kid, I loved road trips. My dad was the type who made sure we visited the village from our home in Kaduna at least once a year, so travelling was a big deal in my family. Mummy would pack food for us all, but we always stopped for more at Jamata, close to Lokoja, Kogi State, on our way to the interior parts of the state. The high points of the trips for me were seeing if the face on the Zuma Rock in Abuja would blink at me (I swear it did once) and counting the seconds off as we drove fast over the Muritala Mohammed Bridge. Those were the days…
However, even back then, my dad was always wary of trucks drivers on the roads. “They are not well,” he always said. Each time he had to overtake one, he would take his time. And just when he was finishing the manoeuvre, he often muttered ‘Oloshi’ under his breath before biting into a hitherto abandoned banana. He would then go on to blame transporters for using their trucks to damage all the interstate roads in the country and bribing government officials to ensure that Nigerian rail lines are never revived. How he kept his temper while giving the police their customary twenty naira I will never know.
I never understood his hatred for truck drivers until I was much older. Even then, the tales about them just got uglier. There were stories of truckers getting to their rendezvous and asking each other, ‘How many grasshoppers (people) did you crush this time? ’ Some people even swore that certain trucks moved faster when a generous slush of whiskey was added to the tank. I even heard truck drivers never died in road accidents as they had supernatural powers with which they ‘disappeared’ just before a collision.
Bad as their rap is, these guys provide a vital service. Without them, most people would never get the goods they need. They may be rude to you on the highways and deny you the chance to overtake them, but they are breadwinners too. And if Aliko Dangote is to be believed six Ph.D, 704 Masters and over 8,460 Bachelor degree holders won’t mind to join this profession.
Now, I have watched with much amusement the commentary that has overtaken the social media space when the news broke that more than two-thirds of the 13, 000 applications for the truck driving jobs were submitted by graduates. Some were all too ready to blame the government for not providing enough jobs; others blame Dangote for having the guts to want graduates as drivers. “We are doomed!” was fairly common amongst the tweets I saw.
What I found particularly funny was not many asked if those applicants had made themselves employable for office jobs or had the skill-set required to succeed in an emerging economy like ours. No one asked what career plans they had or if they had hopes and dreams at all. They never asked if they saw this job as a temporary thing or wanted to build a business around it in the future. All we saw was the negatives and that is just symptomatic of what we have turned social media into; the Whining Post.
Since the news broke that food scarcity might be an issue in Nigeria, due to the terrible floods that befell us this year, I’m yet to see anyone say how they will take advantage of this to make money. Social media is becoming a big thing, not many are seeking the training to use it to promote their businesses cheaply. Thousands are off to waste one year ‘serving their country’ but they will return just as unskilled as they were before they went into the university.
Now, that is something worth muttering about. Just don’t call me ‘Oloshi’ after reading this; I’m no truck driver.
YNaija.com

Police reveals hot spots for ritualists in Lagos, Anambra, Rivers, etc. – See full list

ATTACHED IS AN ALERT FROM THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE.PLEASE BE-CAREFUL AND TELL OTHER LOVE ONES.
“Quote
Good day all,
The Nigerian police has advised all to avoid the following places as they have been identified as hot spots for Ritual Killings:
1. Ota, Ogun State
2. Lambe, Ogun State
3. Ikorodu,Lagos State
4. Mowe, Ogun State
5. The Bridge linking Abiola Garden with Otedola Estate, Lagos.
6. Isheri Olowo-Ira under Bridge, Lagos
7. Toyota Bus Stop on Apapa/Oshodi Expressway, Lagos (Clifford Oji’s former location)
8. Waterfront River Niger area Of Onitsha, Anambra State
9. Isiala-Ngwa, Abia state
10, Igwurita, Muruokoro, Port Harcourt, Rivers state
11. Ilorin-Oro Road, Kwara state
12. Lokoja-Abuja Expressway, Kogi state
13. Kaduna Eastern By-Pass, Kaduna state
14. The Bank of River Kaduna, Kaduna state
15. Kaduna/Abuja Expressway, Kaduna state
16. Abuja Motor Park,Kaduna
17. Kawo Motor Park, Kaduna
18. The Railway tracks, Kaduna
These are police emergency numbers in Lagos, please:
POLICE CONTROL ROOM 1 – 07055350249 and 07035068242.
RRS CONTROL ROOM 2, Alausa – 08065154338 and 07055462708
CONTROL ROOM 3 SHQ; – 08079279349 and 08063299264 and 767 toll free line.
If you by mistake fall victim quickly send an sms/pre-text message to all or any of these numbers.
Make sure you drive at the middle of express road at all times. If anyone tells you that your car is sparking or there is fire or smoke coming out from your car bonnet, please do not listen just drive on. That is their new tactics.
Pls kindly advice your loved ones accordingly.
  DailyPost

I don’t want to die – Rev. King runs to Appeals Court

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by Isi Esene
Reverend King, the general overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, yesterday took his case to the Appeal Court after being convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 by Justice Joseph Oyewole of Ikeja High court.
Reverend King, also known as, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, was arraigned in September 2006 on charges of murder and attempted murder before the High Court.
At the Appeal Court, Ezeugo’s Counsel, Olalekan Ojo, prayed the Court to set aside Justice Oyewole’s judgement while the Lagos State government, represented by Solicitor-General, Lawal Pedro (SAN), urged the court to uphold the trial judge’s verdict.
“We urge your Lordships to dismiss this appeal,” Pedro said.
During Ezeugo’s trial, the prosecuting counsel reportedly argued that he caused the death of a church member simply identified as Uzoh.
But Ojo, counsel to the convict, had disagreed, claiming that Ezeugo was not guilty of the crime and was not present when the incident happened. He also argued that the deceased had in two statements she made after the incident and before her death, stated that she got burnt in a generator accident and that the cleric was not responsible for her injuries, yet they were not admitted in evidence.
The lawyer said that Justice Oyewole’s refusal to admit the exhibits tendered before him led to a great miscarriage of justice, thus the verdict of a death sentence should be reconsidered.
YNaija.com

Is Maurice Iwu in America? Voting machine caught changing Obama votes to Romney

by Hauwa Gambo

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A Pennsylvania electronic voting machine has been taken out of service after being captured on video changing a vote for President Obama into one for Mitt Romney, NBC News has confirmed.
The video was first posted on Youtube by user “centralpavoter.” It shows a voter’s finger repeatedly pressing the button for Obama, but a check mark coming up next to Romney’s name:
NBC News confirmed that the machine has been taken off line.
Underneath the video, the user gave an account of what happened:
My wife and I went to the voting booths this morning before work. There were 4 older ladies running the show and 3 voting booths that are similar to a science fair project in how they fold up. They had an oval VOTE logo on top center and a cartridge slot on the left that the volunteers used to start your ballot.
I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more carefully, and still got Romney. Being a software developer, I immediately went into troubleshoot mode. I first thought the calibration was off and tried selecting Jill Stein to actually highlight Obama. Nope. Jill Stein was selected just fine. Next I deselected her and started at the top of Romney’s name and started tapping very closely together to find the ‘active areas’. From the top of Romney’s button down to the bottom of the black checkbox beside Obama’s name was all active for Romney. From the bottom of that same checkbox to the bottom of the Obama button (basically a small white sliver) is what let me choose Obama. Stein’s button was fine. All other buttons worked fine.
I asked the voters on either side of me if they had any problems and they reported they did not. I then called over a volunteer to have a look at it. She him hawed for a bit then calmly said “It’s nothing to worry about, everything will be OK.” and went back to what she was doing. I then recorded this video.
There is a lot of speculation that the footage is edited. I’m not a video guy, but if it’s possible to prove whether a video has been altered or not, I will GLADLY provide the raw footage to anyone who is willing to do so. The jumping frames are a result of the shitty camera app on my Android phone, nothing more.
YNaija.com