Cabinet Reshuffle: Jonathan Decides Ministers’ Fate This Week

Ministers, who have been living in anxiety since news broke of imminent minor cabinet reshuffle by President Goodluck Jonathan may learn their fate this week when the President returns from his overseas trip.
The President, who left Abuja last Tuesday for engagements in London, Paris and Egypt, is expected back in the country on Monday (today) evening.
Since the President sent the names of Prof. Chinedu Nebo and Alhaji Taminu Turaki to the Senate for confirmations as ministers, there have been fears among ministers that Jonathan might reshuffle his cabinet.
While Nebo was appointed from Enugu State to replace former Minister of Power, Prof. Berth Nnaji in the Federal Executive Council, Jonathan picked Turaki from Kebbi State to replace a former Minister of Defence, Dr. Haliru Bello.
Indications that cabinet reshuffle was imminent further emerged when the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, assigned portfolios to the new ministers after their inauguration.
While Nebo was assigned the Ministry of Power, Turaki was assigned to the Special Duties Ministry, leaving the Ministry of Defence still without a substantive minister.
A source in the Presidency told our correspondent on Sunday that with the assignment of portfolios to the new ministers, all states of the federation were fully represented in the FEC as required by the constitution.
The source added that with the position of the Minister of Defence still vacant, it is clear that the President would redeploy some ministers.
He said, “The constitution stipulates that all states of the federation should have representatives in the Federal Executive Council.
“With the exit of Bello and Nnaji in 2012, the President decided to fill those van acids so that their states would not be short-changed so to say.
“With the assumption of duties of Nebo and Turaki now, the FEC now has a full complement of representatives of all the states and those appointed based on geo-political appointments.
“Despite this, the position of the Minister of Defence is still vacant. That tells you that some ministers may have to swap positions.”
It is believed that Jonathan may move a minister to the Ministry of Defence and upgrade the Minister of State in the ministry.
Lately, names of the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade (retd.); Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Muhammed; and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, are been mentioned as likely new Minister of Power.
Although there are also speculation that Jonathan was considering upgrading the Minister or State, Defence, Mrs. Olusola Obada who, has been in charge of the ministry since Bello’s exit, an insider said many people who had the ears of the President are against a female Minister of Defence.
They were said to have argued that a female minister at this time of security challenge in the country would be counter-productive.
Insiders said all the permutations would probably be laid to rest this week when the President returns from his foreign trip.
Though the ministers thought Jonathan would announce the reshuffle last week Wednesday, the weekly FEC meeting, which did not hold, shattered that hope.
It is now expected that the President may announce the changes latest by Wednesday when the next FEC is expected to hold.
Naij

Buhari Led War Against Obasanjo’s Third Term – El-Rufai

A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, has said that ex-Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, spearheaded the war against the third term project of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He added that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar merely claimed the victory for the truncation of the project.
El-Rufai, who disclosed these in his book, “The Accidental Public Servant,” said that Buhari fought third term ambition of Obasanjo without taking the credit.
He listed others, who also fought the Obasanjo’s third term dream as Dr. Usman Bugaje; Farouk Aliyu, Bala Na’Allah and Femi Gbajabiamila.
El-Rufai said, “In the House of Representatives, the most vocal and articulate opponents of the third term bid, who rallied around Dr. Usman Bugaje (Peoples Democratic Party), included Aliyu, Na’Allah of the All Nigeria Peoples Party and Gbajabiamila of the then Alliance for Democracy.
“They all did a great job, they were courageous and took risks to openly oppose the third term project, while others like Atiku claimed victory.”
He explained that between 2003 and the time the third term debate started, Obasanjo and Buhari were not on talking terms.
The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory said that he intervened and appealed to Buhari to be talking with Obasanjo.
El-Rufai said that he told Buhari during a visit that he should be talking with Obasanjo.
He said that he told Buhari, “You are a former President (Buhari); he (Obasanjo) is the current President. You were his petroleum minister (when he was a head of state). You were very close and enjoyed mutual respect. You should be talking,” he wrote in the book.
The former minister said after his intervention, a delegation representing Buhari had an initial meeting with Obasanjo at the Banquet Hall, near the State House in Abuja.
According to him, the delegation comprised Dr. Mahmood Tukur; Adamu Fika (Wazirin Fika) and Dr. Sulaiman Kumo.
He stated, “I learnt from Obasanjo that the trio led by Fika reportedly told him that his third term project would be defeated.
“At this point, I was not looking like a successful emissary in Obasanjo’s eyes, but my job was done.
“Merely by reaching out, we had succeeded in recruiting Buhari to spearhead the guerrilla warfare that helped end the ‘constitutional amendment’ debates in the National Assembly.”
Explaining the role of the former head of state, el-Rufai said, “Buhari remained available to engage with Obasanjo while making repeated trips to Abuja to visit legislators in their houses or calling them, making a pitch for them not to support the third term attempt.”
The former minister stated that Buhari had argued that the United States Constitution, which Nigeria’s was modelled after, started without a term limit provision but that US citizens later realised that term limit was necessary and hence it was added to the US constitution.
Buhari’s second argument, El-Rufai added, was that if the Nigerian constitution was amended to pave way for Obasanjo’s third term bid, nothing would stop him from further tenure elongation.
He said, “Buhari had considerable moral authority and was completely disinterested in the outcome of the third term debate, so having him available and physically in Abuja to oppose it helped a lot in defeating Obasanjo, Tony Anenih, Ahmadu Ali, Ojo Maduekwe, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, Dalhatu Tafida and other third term protagonists.
“What was impressive about Buhari was that he did this quietly and effectively without the desire to claim any credit.”
El-Rufai also disclosed that as part of the third term project, a public communications management group was formed.
El-Rufai said the group budgeted N1.2bn for public relations.
He said, “Circulated at one of the meetings was a public relations budget for media spending to the tune of N1.2bn that was drawn up in support of the third term project.”
El-Rufai stated that when he asked how the money would be sourced, he was told that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Federal Capital Territory would provide it.
He said, “I had no intention of using FCT’s security budget for such an endeavour. I was therefore relieved when one of the newspapers in vehement opposition to the third term project obtained the budget and it was front page news a few days later.”
When contacted, Atiku’s spokesman, Mallam Garuba Shehu, said, “We thank God that El-Rufai is not the only Nigerian that witnessed the third term project. The facts cannot be changed to suit his current political need.”
He said that the former minister’s book was a tissue of lies.
Naij

Study Finds Men Live Longer With Plenty of Beer, Fried Foods and if Conversations Kept Short

The Institute of Men’s Health recently completed a study of the Male behavioral and dietary habits and came with remarkable conclusions. The study which took place over a six year period, had one thousand men participating, each of whom had two weeks off in controlled environments.

The study, first tried with test rodents, placed the men for the first week in a controlled environment. The participants were not allowed any alcohol, had to eat, what is generally considered healthy food, exercise, have lengthy conversation, sit up straight and wear designer clothes that matched. After one week the men were sullen, angry and depressed.
Even the laboratory rats showed a considerable change in mood. However, the second week was quite different. The men drank beer, ate fried foods, walked, but only as far as the refrigerator.Conversation not about football or women’s anatomy, were kept to less than 10 seconds.
The male attention span is believed to be about 8 seconds, study concluded. After a week of this, many of the men tried to schedule their next vacation at the Institute.
Although their quarters were so messy, that the Institute has asked for assistance from the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild it, they were happy and healthy, and their blood pressure noticeably lower.
The Institute’s CEO, Dr. Carol Vovis, stated that the “study, although inconclusive, does demand further investigation“ Vovis further added, “that even the rats look nice when their clothes match.”
Naij

Facebook Sued Over ‘Like’ Button

Facebook is facing legal action over its use of the “like” button and other features of the social network.

It is being sued by a patent-holding company acting on behalf of a dead Dutch programmer called Joannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer.

Rembrandt Social Media said Facebook’s success was based, in part, on using two of Mr Van Der Meer’s patents without permission.

Facebook said it had no comment to make on the lawsuit or its claims.

BBC reports that a lawsuit has been filed in a federal court in Virginia by Rembrandt Social Media.

“We believe Rembrandt’s patents represent an important foundation of social media as we know it, and we expect a judge and jury to reach the same conclusion based on the evidence,” said lawyer Tom Melsheimer from legal firm Fish and Richardson, which represents the patent holder.

Rembrandt now owns patents for technologies Mr Van Der Meer used to build a fledgling social network, called Surfbook, before his death in 2004.

Mr Van Der Meer was granted the patents in 1998, five years before Facebook first appeared.

Surfbook was a social diary that let people share information with friends and family and approve some data using a “like” button, according to legal papers filed by Fish and Richardson.

The papers also say Facebook is aware of the patents as it has cited them in its own applications to patent some social networking technologies.

Also cited in the same legal claim was another social media company called Add This.

Naij

Vietnamese 6-Year-Old Promoted To Manager Position In Nike Shoe Factory

Ho Shi Fua, a 6-year-old Vietnamese kid from a small village near the Mekong Delta, was just promoted to a manager’s position in the Nike shoe factory for his good work ethic and extraordinary relations with other employees, sources say.
The kid has been with the company since he was 3 years old, and began his career in the Nike shoe factory in a division used for lacing sneakers. After just 2 months working in that position, he was promoted to supervisor, overseeing a team that attached logos to sneakers and put items into boxes.
“When I first started working for Nike, I never even dreamed of becoming such a huge success! I needed the money, my family and I were barely managing to survive, and Nike seemed like the only choice out there for making a buck or two,” Fua said.
When asked why he gave the promotion to young Fua, executive director for Nike Vietnam Steve Rogers said, “if you’re not an expert in your field, you can’t gain respect from your colleagues as their leader, and Fua has demonstrated on several past occasions that he is truly a master of his craft.”
Mr. Rogers added that Fua still holds the record for fastest lacing and boxing of Air Force 1 sneakers in company history, and that in his opinion, that kind of special skill shouldn’t be wasted on trivial jobs.
The staff’s favorite employee said he feels truly honored by the promotion, and intends to use the significant pay raise to feed his entire village, and eventually, after some skillful saving, treat himself to a pair of sweet Nikes.
Naij

Assange Leaks Prince Harry Nude Photos From Balcony Of Ecuadorian Embassy

On the eve of the Royal Palace’s move to ban publication of nude photos of members of the Royal Family, Julian Assange stood on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy and again took a stand for freedom of speech by defiantly holding up several photos of a naked and inebriated Prince Harry in Vegas.
Assange reiterated his views on the subordinate position of the press in relation to the British “regime”. “In an era of suppressed civil liberties, when being silent is the … oh, who am I kidding? I’m making these images available because his bottom should be seen by everybody.
Why are the Royals hiding it from the public? It’s a good piece of ass,” Mr. Assange said. The leaked photos in question were taken during the Prince’s trip to Las Vegas this weekend, during which he was photographed naked and rubbing his junk against the backsides of several women.
“A package of photos was forwarded to all of the so-called ‘free media’ outlets in the country, who in return, one by one, succumbed to the demands of the British Royal Family. If you have power over media, you have power, period. The British people should think about who is running their country, and they should think about whether their intentions are to protect freedoms or to strip them away.
Today it’s Prince Harry’s naked ass, tomorrow it’s invading France,” the WikiLeaks founder added. According to sources, one UK Marine was arrested while secretly delivering the leaked photos to Assange, who said that “the sacrifice this young man made should be an inspiration to naked celeb photo fans all over the world”.
Naij

'It Was My Fault, I'm Sorry' - Gang Rape Victim Blames Herself For Horrific Attack

The victim of the New Delhi bus rape apologised to her friend who was beaten in the same attack, as she lay in intensive care.

The 23-year-old student suffered horrific internal injuries in the gang-rape on December 16 and died 13 days later.
The attack, in which her male friend was badly beaten with an iron bar, sparked mass protests on the streets of India and calls for greater protection of women and children.
Last week, her 28-year-old companion described how the student said sorry for wanting to return home from their cinema trip. She said if she had stayed out later they would have been spared.
The man, a software engineer, said after leaving the cinema they stopped to look at some Christmas decorations but she wanted to leave after getting a call from her mother.
He  told The Sunday Times: 'She said this [attack] would not have happened if we had stayed.'
However, he said he blames himself for not being able to save his friend.
'I said that I was the one who felt guilty and that I would probably feel guilty about not being able to save her for my whole life,' he said.
Although they were not a couple, the software engineer said he loved her as 'more than friends' but said they were not lovers.
Both belonged to different castes - he the Brahmin caste and she the agrarian Kurmi caste - but he said he was planning to convince his parents that they should get married.
The couple last saw one another on Christmas Day but tubes in her mouth prevented her speaking.
Four days later she died at a hospital in Singapore. He said he was unable to comprehend the news when he saw it in the media. Last week, he gave evidence at the trial of five men accused of rape, kidnap and murder.
He later described to the newspaper the events that led to the fatal attack. The student rang her friend to ask him to the cinema and they watched Life of Pi in 3D.
She told him how happy she was that day, he said. When they left they could not find an auto rickshaw and a passenger urged them to ride a bus - but it was a trap he still has trouble comprehending.
Six men on board asked why they were out together so late. They then beat the engineer with an iron bar and brutally raped and beat the student.
He still walks with a limp. The engineer said he heard her cries for help but could not move because of his injuries.
He told the Sunday Times: 'That voice is always playing in my mind.'
His faith in humanity was shaken even further as after being thrown onto the street, drivers slowed to look at the bloodied couple but did not try to help.
They were eventually spotted by a patrol vehicle and admitted to hospital.
Within days six men had been arrested and thousands of residents - mostly women - hold candlelit vigils denouncing the rape.
Protests took a more violent turn as demonstrators clashes with police.
In the 13 days after the attack, her condition worsened and despite being flown to Singapore for treatment she died on December 29.
Five men accused of the brutal rape and killing of the woman have pleaded not guilty at court. A sixth defendant will be tried in a youth court.
Naij