Photos: Obasanjo Foundation Launch Attracts Jonathan, 3 Other African Leaders In London

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday pulled a major coup as the launch of his charity organisation christened Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation in London, attracted President Goodluck Jonathan and three other African leaders.
The former president said the foundation “will focus on helping to assuage the numerous problems facing Africa”.
President John Mahama of Ghana, Boni Yayi of Benin Republic and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia were the other African leaders present at the Obasanjo Foundation launch. Also, about 1000 other guests from different parts of the world were also in London for the launch.
The Foundation would focus on five major areas – girl child education, youth unemployment, preventing non- communicable diseases, food and human security. The foundation, is expected to start with Malawi or Mali.
Other dignitaries at the launch which held at Grosvenor Hotel, included Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Governors Adams Oshiomhole and Henry Seriake Dickson of Edo and Bayelsa States respectively, Chukwuma Soludo, Oby Ezekwezili, Senator Grace Bent, Alao Akala and Timi Alaibe.

 InformationNigeria

PHOTOSPEAK: Our top pictures from the AFCON 2013 final

By Phillip Eta

The 19-year wait is over.

Nigeria lifts the trophy after 19 years

Stephen Keshi and Mikel Obi share a high five

Mikel and Kanu celebrate

Mikel Obi, Joseph Yobo and Austine Ejide

DailyPost

Lazy Three-Year-Old Cambodian Still Unemployed

Heng Sen, a boy from a small village in Cambodia who is almost three years old and still unemployed, is now considered one of the laziest children in the entire country.

Our newspaper has learned that while nearly all other children from the same village his age and even younger are already working full-time jobs, Heng Sen is just lounging around the house doing absolutely nothing.
“I don’t know what to do about him, he is so lazy,” said Chantou Sen, Heng’s mother.
“He’s behaving so immaturely, like some kind of a baby,” Ms. Sen added. While her other three children are earning their way through life and contributing to the family’s income, Ms. Sen explained that Heng is still living in his own fantasy world, playing, and dreaming about what he is going to be when he grows up.

“I would like to be a doctor, or maybe a scuba diver, or even an astronaut, but I still haven’t decided for sure,” said Heng. In further discussions with journalists, the three-year old explained that he’s not lazy as everyone says he is, but that he’s still just searching for a job in which he will feel comfortable and also enjoy doing.
“It’s not easy to find a good job you know. I don’t want to just meaninglessly slave around, I want to slave around doing something I find interesting,” the child stated.
Heng said that he spends most of his time searching through wanted ads because there’s nobody to play with outside because everyone’s at work.
InformationNigeria

The States People Are Fleeing In 2013: Forbes

By Jenna Goudreau

Long-term shifts in the U.S. economy coupled with the recent recession means Americans are more likely to pack up and move for employment-related reasons. Although the total number of residential moves is down, new data shows a clear pattern of the states that people are fleeing the fastest.
Moving company United Van Lines released its 36th annual study of customer migration patterns, analyzing a total of 125,000 moves across the 48 continental states in 2012. The study provides an up-to-date, representative snapshot of overarching moving patterns in the U.S., and reveals a mass exodus from the Northeast.
(Click through to see the entire list at Forbes)
At No. 1, New Jersey has the highest ratio of people moving out compared to those moving in. Of the 6,300 total moves tracked in the state last year, 62% were outbound.
“New Jersey has been suffering from deindustrialization for some time now, as manufacturing moved from the Northeast to the South and West,” says economist Michael Stoll, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. “And because it’s tied to New York, the high housing costs may also be pushing people out.”
In fact, most of the top-10 states people are leaving are located in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions, including Illinois (60%), New York (58%), Michigan (58%), Maine (56%), Connecticut (56%) and Wisconsin (55%). According to Stoll, this reflects a consistent trend of migration from the Frost Belt to the Sun Belt states based on a combination of causes.
The economy has been a major push factor for residents in the Frost Belt, particularly those in hard-hit areas like Michigan. “They had a terrific excess of people as a result of the collapse of the economy,” says Stoll. Detroit, the state’s largest city, has the highest metropolitan unemployment rate in the U.S. At 20%, it more than doubles the national average.

More from Forbes:
-- America's Fastest Growing Cities
-- The Happiest And Unhappiest Cities To Work In Right Now
-- The Worst Cities For Job Seekers
At the same time, Stoll says local employment trends combined with high costs of living causes many displaced workers to look for greener pastures. New York City, for example, consistently ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the nation. If you’ve lost your job, shelling out the median $4,000 monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is likely no longer feasible or attractive.
The Northeast and Midwest also feature a comparatively high concentration of residents over 65, says Stoll, who tend to retire to states that are warmer and less expensive. That’s why southern and western states are some of the most popular places to move to. According to the study, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Arizona feature some of the highest ratios of people moving in.
Meanwhile, the most popular destination for relocation is Washington, D.C. “It’s a high-cost area,” says Stoll, “but it features good economic opportunities. It has a maturing high-tech sector and many Federal government jobs, which are more stable in recessions.” Furthermore, D.C. attracts highly educated professionals, and Stoll says college-educated young people between the ages of 18 to 35 are the most likely to move.
One big surprise from the study is Oregon, which is the second most popular state with 61% inbound migration. Although it’s not the typical temperate climate of a retirement spot, Stoll believes hipster city Portland may be attracting both older individuals and young people with its mix of economic growth, cutting edge urban planning and scenic landscape.
HuffingtonPost

Another Illegal Cement Factory Uncovered By Police

Barely one week after the discovery of illegal cement factory at Zango in Ogaminana in Adavi local government area of Kogi state, another illegal cement factory has been discovered by the police command in Aku village along Lokoja-Okene road.
The factory which was located in the bush about 600 meters from main road is being used for repackaging of adulterated cement.
The state commissioner of police, Mr Mohammed Katsina who conducted ChannelsTV round the factory, said the second illegal cement factory was uncovered through the intelligence report of the security personnel who had placed surveillance in the area.
Katsina explained that the syndicate who buys Dangote cement in large quantity will divert the trucks into the bush were the original cement are mixed up with sand before they will be re-bagged for the public to buy.
Adebayo said that he came from Osun state, adding that he was linked up with Baba Ayo who brought them to the factory and trained them.
He pointed out that they were paid N30 per bag, stating that the can only afford to re-bag 40 bags per day and he informed that the business was about re-bagging of cement.
Items found at the store of the big factory are one generating set to generate power, about 25 bags of re-bagged cement with fake Dangote bags, several fake empty bags with inscription of Portland cement, Dangote Cement, Gboko Plant, Funnels and other useful materials.
Naij

Only APC can oust PDP – Utomi

By Ameh Comrade Godwin

Frontline professor of political economy and management, Pat Utomi, has expressed happiness over the coming together of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) that produced a new alliance, All Progressives Congress (APC).
Utomi said this while speaking as guest speaker during the 5th Founder’s Day, annual lecture and awards of Bible Society of Nigeria.
According to the former presidential candidate, the idea is a good one, adding that it would create a credible alternative platform for the electorate.
According to Utoni, APC is for the betterment of the Nigerian democratic system and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the alliance would serve as a clear alternative that will confront the ruling party.

Hear him: “It will be better for our country if we have a clear alternative even for the good of PDP because any organization that does not have alternative suffers greatly and does not know that it is digging its own grave. At least, if there is an alternative challenging an organisation, it will enable such organisation to think straight and do things differently for the common good of all and the whole country will benefit from that. It is a welcome idea and it is my prayer that this will be the beginning of real democracy”.
While delivering his lecture under the theme, “Selfless service: Key to achieve sustainable national economic growth and development,” the professor called on every Nigerian to be agents of change in their respective environment, to generate to the larger society.
He also enjoined Christians to flee from living chameleon life, but live according to biblical injunction and be desirous of living purpose driven life.
“There should not be difference between the Christian on Sunday and that of Monday, there should be unity of life because if a Christian is unable to live the same way he or she lives on Sunday, there is something wrong with such Christian. We need to be prayerful and careful about the things
DailyPost

McCain Goes After Conservative Opponents Of Immigration Reform: ‘What Do You Want To Do?’

By Igor Volsky

During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) responded to critics of the bipartisan immigration principles developed by eight senators and pushed back against conservatives who argue that undocumented immigrants should not be granted a legal status until the borders are completely secure.
Under the bipartisan agreement, unauthorized immigrants who pass a background check can qualify for probationary status as soon as reform becomes law, but can only achieve permanent legal status (and eventual citizenship) once the borders are certified as secure by the Department of Homeland Security. McCain explained that the principles he helped develop are fair and would require immigrants to pay substantial fines and back taxes if they want to attain legal status:

CHRIS WALLACE (HOST): Under your plan, though [undocumented immigrants] wouldn’t get the path to citizenship until you got the border enforcement certification, they would almost immediately gate what is called “probationary legal status” which means they can continue to live in this country legally. Some of your critics on the right are saying that is amnesty.
McCAIN: Well, I don’t think it is amnesty to start with. Second of all, what do you want to do with them? That is the question in response and third of all, it is a tough path to citizenship, you have to pay back tax and learn English and have to have a clear record and get to the back of the line behind to the people who have come here legally or waiting legally. So, i just reject that.

Conservative pundits like Laura Ingraham and Charles Krauthammer, and conservative members of the House have led the charge in demanding that the borders be secured before unauthorized immigrants can come out of the shadows and work legally. However, as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — on of the leaders of the group of eigh — explained, doing so would only encourage a rush of immigration, as more will try to come into the country under the deadline.
TP