I Won’t Tolerate Killings Of Security Agents Again - President Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday warned that his administration would no longer tolerate a situation where security operatives are killed at will in any part of the country.

He also vowed not to withdraw soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force deployed in troubled parts of the country until normalcy returns to the affected areas.

 

Jonathan spoke at a town hall meeting  in Maiduguri as he concluded his working visit to Borno State which has remained in the centre of activities of members of the fundamental Islamic sect, Boko Haram, that have been responsible for bombing campaigns in the northern part of the country.

 

He said, “I cannot preside over this country as a president and security officers are killed. These people leave their families, stay on the road and the bush so that we will sleep and I will not want to hear that one of them is killed.

 

“So nobody should make an analogy that one soldier killed. We have admonished the soldiers not to kill innocent civilians but we will not allow and I will not celebrate the death of one security officer anywhere in this country whether it is in Bayelsa State, whether it is in Niger Delta, whether it is in Anambra State, whether it is in the South East, whether it is the South West, whether it is in North West, whether it is in North Central, anywhere. We will not, and I repeat, we will not accommodate it.”

 

Jonathan took a swipe at some politicians in the state whom he accused of playing to the gallery on the issue of insecurity in the state.

Naij.Com

WOW!!!! Oprah Máking Out With Terrence Howard

The above picture is from Terrence Howard and Oprah Winfrey's movie titled 'The Butler' which would be released later on this year. Gosh they looked so high, had never imagine Oprah in a love scene and especially looking like this makes me speechless.

 

Even Terrence admitted that she’s very beautiful and to be able to make out with her in the movie was wonderful.

 

Guys have you ever thought of Oprah Winfrey...?

 

 

Source: chizys-spyware.blogspot.com

Sanusi Bows Out from CBN Next Year

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the highly controversial, but influential governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has said he will stand down a governor of the bank when his current five-year tenure expires in 2014.
Mallam Sanusi, who has seen the rebirth of the troubled banking sector following forced capitalization, mergers and acquisition with a resultant resurgence in the financial industry said the job was too tasking.
Speaking in a interview with the London based Banker magazine, Mallam Sanusi stated that the CBN job he believes he has completed his assignment at the apex bank and would not been seeking a further tenure.
 “I will not be offering my services for a second term. The job is extremely demanding. I don’t think it’s something that I would like to do for 10 years. I also think I have certain skills and a temperament that are suitable for a certain phase. I’m a crisis central banker. I came at a time of crisis.
“I consider my job to have been to fix the crisis and restore stability, and to make sure we did that in such a way that no bank failed, no depositor or creditor lost money and fiscal costs (were minimized), which is why we tried to get the banks themselves to bear the costs.”
To reduce the cost to the government of its intervention, all banks are being charged an annual levy by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amcon), a state-owned bad bank created in 2010 to buy up toxic assets. Law-makers are working on an amendment to the Amcon Act, which will make such payments legally binding.
Mallam Sanusi, a former Risk-manager at First Bank plc, also has commendable words for Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance minister, who he credits with prudent fiscal management of the Nigerian economy.
 “From the time Ms Okonjo-Iweala came on board, there has been significant improvement. We (the central bank and finance ministry) have been speaking the same language. And you can see the results.
“With our monetary and fiscal policies, we have provided macroeconomic stability. But stability is not an end in itself. We need to take advantage of it and push forward with structural reforms. If we can do that, then we could easily reach double-digit growth and make it sustainable.”
 NigeriaCommunicationsWeek

How Kano residents groan under ‘achaba’ ban

 by Ibrahim Musa Giginyu, Haruna Yaya Gimba |& Clement Oloyede

Female students on a bicycle, coping with Kano’s transportation problem

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It is a little over two months now that the ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles popularly known as ‘okada’ or ‘acaba’ within the city centre of Kano, was imposed. This decision is being seen and interpreted differently by different individuals. Some believe the ban was belated, others are of the view that the government has been too harsh with ban.

For Aminu Abdullahi a father of four, the ban on motorcycle has   greatly affected the schooling of his children as a result of the ban, saying since the ban hardly could he afford the transport fare of his children to school.
“If security issues are being attached to the ban, why should it affect  parents taking their children or wives on motorcycles? I have two children   I    take to school on my motorcycle; I used to take  them along with me on my way to work and on my way back home I will take them along. This has been my daily routine from Monday to Friday, I have planned it this way to reduce the cost of transportation. And ever since the ban on motorcycle my whole plan was dashed out. I cannot afford the exorbitant fares of tricycle (Adaidaita Sahu). At times my children miss classes for two to three days in a week and this is affecting their school activities greatly,” he said.
“For a man earning as low as N27,000 a month, how do you expect me to pay N2,000 every week just to transport my two children to school? I have made up my mind to transfer my kids to a nearby school though the services rendered there is of low standard,” concluded Abdullahi.
For Musa Iro a low income earner working with a private firm in the city, the ban on commercial motorcycle has negatively affected his child schooling. Before the ban, commercial motorcycle has been his son’s major means of transportation to school. With the ban, Iro claimed that he and his son walk half the distance before he could board the tricycle that will take his son to school.
“I always look forward to Fridays, because it means I and my son will have a rest for two days. And I dreaded Mondays because it means another long five days of walking to school. Had it been I have a choice I could have opted for a nearby school, but the issue here is that those schools near us are not up to standard and if things continued this way, it means we are doomed; our children’s education will be crippled,” he said.
The ban also is taking its toll on those who once used the means to assist their relations.. Some motorcycle owners in Rijiyar Zaki, an outskirt of Kano metropolis said the banning of carrying two people has exposed them to hardship.
Mr. Hassan Felix a carpenter whose shop is located in Tal’udu area said before the banning he used to commute to his place of together with his two younger brothers who also work in the shop.
“I recently bought the motorcycle to ease the transport difficulties we encounter when going to work, especially after we close  from work in the evening,” he said, adding that, “now I have to give them N200 daily as transport fare excluding feeding allowance. So the development affected my income greatly.”
In part, Malam Aliyu Ibrahim another motorcycle owner in Rijiyar Zaki said the banning affected him greatly. He said he and his wife teach in the same school, as such they went to work together on his motorcycle.
“I used to take my wife to her place of work in a secondary school at Goron Dutse, which happens to be close to my place of work, but since the banning I am left with no choice than to allow her enter commercial vehicles,” he said.
Also narrating her ordeal, the wife Malama Fatima Aliyu said since the banning she no longer reaches her place   on time. “Sometime I reach after first period a development that my employers are not happy with,” she said.
“I am appealing to government to consider revising the ban to at least allow carrying women and children especially students,” She added.
Mrs. Grace Francis, a pharmacist, told Weekly Trust that “tThe ban of bikes has really been affecting me. I now have to trek to and fro my working place every day. Getting tricycle that is heading your way is sometimes difficult. And when you eventually do, they won’t want to drop you at your door post which those achabas always do.”
She implored the government to make these tricycles readily available to meet the masses’ demands and also impose a standardized pricing system because the fare charged by most of the tricycle operators is alarming.
Prior to the suspension of both commercial and private motorcycles in Kano by the government   in January, there had been much debate on the role of bikes in the persistent gun attacks blamed on bike-riding shooters across the state.
Many people believe that barring bikes from operating in the state could help reduce the frequency of attacks while others argue that apart from bikes, gunmen also use other means of transportation like cars and tricycles to launch their attacks.
The state was at the onset so skeptical on   outright ban on ‘Acaba’. Just some few days after the state Commissioner for Information   Professor Farouk Umar Jibrin made it public that the Kano State government will not wipe commercial motorcycling being a source of income for millions of youths in the state, the state government took many by surprise when it announced the ban on commercial motorcycles. The attack on Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero by bike-riding gunmen, who killed   six persons and wounded several others including Bayero’s two sons, is seen as the reason that hastily prompted the government to swiftly impose the ban. 
The government buses and taxes are grossly inadequate, even though some private individuals have waded in to save the situation. This reality has an adverse effect on social and economic intercourse, which the authorities of the state government should try to urgently address.
It is true that many people had lost their limbs and worse still, their lives to the reckless Okada riders. However, the ban has already put a strain on Kano residents who are finding it difficult to commute to their various destinations due to   inadequate public transport facilities.
Achaba, according to the analysts was introduced in the 1990s one of the means of self-sustaning means of livelihood after the industrial glut in Kano and other major cities in the north. The closure of the companies led to massive job losses that affected millions of youths across the region.
Moreover, the politicians took it to be another means via which they can mar of make their supporter’s lives. They distribute motorcycles before and after elections as a means of empowering their supporters and their allies. Within a short time, the Okada became an institution to reckon with not only in Kano State but also in all major cities of the federation.

WeeklyTrust

37-Year-Old Worker Arrested After Stealing N13 Million Worth Of Recharge Cards

A 37-year old worker, Lukman Aminu, has been arraigned before the Ijesha tedo Magistrate’s Court, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, for allegedly stealing  his company’s recharge cards worth N13.4 million.
Aminu was accused of conspiring with Tunde Martins, who is now on the run, to steal Etisalat, Airtel and Globacom recharge cards belonging to the company.
Aminu was allegedly caught by the company’s accountant when he could not pay the money for the recharge cards as at when due.
It was learnt that the case was reported to the police at Ijeshatedo division and  Aminu and  Martins were arrested. But Martins fled when he was granted bail.
Aminu was charged with stealing under the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State.
When Aminu was arraigned in court, he pleaded not guilty.
Narrating what happened, Aminu said he was the company’s representative at Airways branch in Lagos and sold the cards on credict to Martins but he failed to pay him.

Aminu admitted that the company warned them not sell on credit, but sold on credit to Martins because he was his good customer.
He said the company complicated the issue when it declared the recharge cards stolen.
The presiding Magistrate, Mrs A O Gbajumo, granted him bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in ike sum.
The matter was adjourned till 29 April.
Meanwhile, Martins’ surety, Nurani Olanrewaju, has been arrested and charged to court for perversion of justice for failing to produce Martins for prosecution as he promised.
Olanrewaju lamented that Martins, who is his in-law, refused to show up despite all his efforts to contact him.
PM NEWS

Tina Turner Vogue Germany Cover, Singer's First Time Gracing Glossy (PHOTO)

The Huffington Post  |  By Julee Wilson  

The cover says it all: "Simply The Best!" Which is why we can't believe this April 2013 issue of Vogue magazine marks Tina Turner's first time gracing the glossy. Finally!
The legendary singer is seen rocking her signature honey blonde-highlighted hair, a silky navy blouse and what appears to be a black skirt for Vogue's German edition, which was shot by Claudia Knoepfel and Stefan Indlekofer and styled by Nicola Knels. We would have loved to see Tina's showstopping legs framed by some fringe, but maybe she's flaunting them for the editorial feature inside the issue.
SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO
And let's talk about the fact Tina is 73 years old and looks like she just stepped on the stage at the "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1970 to perform "Proud Mary." Fashionista.com points out that the age-defying beauty might be the oldest Vogue cover star ever--snagging the title from Meryl Streep who covered American Vogue last year at the age of 62.
Either way, we're just thrilled to see the Queen of Rock-n-Roll in all her glory. Although, it's a bit embarrassing that an international Vogue publication is celebrating one of our homeland icons, who's career spans over a half a century and could out dress most of the cover stars we've seen. What gives, American Vogue? Let's not let this happen again. Thanks!
Here's a look at Tina's fierce Vogue Germany cover and her extraordinary style evolution in the slideshow below. Work it, lady!

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Panic grips PDP over govs’ threat to join APC

The Peoples Democratic Party has begun desperate moves to prevent governors elected on its platform as well as its members from carrying out their threat to defect to the newly formed All Progressives Congress.
This follows indications that no fewer than 12 PDP governors as well as many of the party’s members in the national and state assemblies and its 36 state chapters were being wooed by APC chieftains.
Some of the governors had told PDP leaders last week that they would leave the fold in protest at the disdain which President Goodluck Jonathan and the party leadership had shown for them.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the PDP had moved to stop a mass defection by embarking on a sudden reconciliation drive, to stop estranged members from defecting to the APC.
The three major political parties that merged to form the APC are the Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change.
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, is also involved in APC.
The panic within the ruling party was responsible for the hurried formation of the PDP Governors Forum, which came few days after the opposition governors announced the formation of the Progressive Governors Forum.
Findings by our correspondent showed that the leadership of the party was not comfortable with the coming together of the opposition parties.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, lent credence to this state of panic in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday morning, when he said the opposition should not expect his party to sleep when it (opposition) was busy strategising.
“So, you expect our party to go to sleep when others are planning ahead? That is not possible,” he said.
It was on this basis that governors elected on the platform of the party met with leaders of the party from South-West PDP in Abuja on Thursday evening, asking them to sheath their swords and come together in the interest of the party.
Four of the governors spoke the minds of their colleagues at a meeting they had with the party leaders at the Katsina Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja.
The governors are Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Gabriel Suswan (Benue), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Martin Elechi (Ebonyi).
These governors are members of the PDPGF Reconciliatory Committee put together to resolve the crises rocking the party in the South-West. The other member of the committee, Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, did not attend the meeting.
He was said to be in President’s Goodluck Jonathan’s entourage to Borno and Yobe states.
Shema, who is the chairman of the committee, said, “We are to reconcile all the factions. I want you to come to the table with open hands. God has blessed this party by putting it at the helm of affairs of the country since 1999.
“We need to work together and resolve the crises and that is why we are here.”
Elechi said, “We won’t impose our decision on you. We will allow you to take decisions in the interest of the party. Just let peace reign in the party in the zone.”
Also speaking, Suswam said, “We will listen to you state by state. Then take the zone together. We will want you to be sincere with us.”
Uduaghan said, “The party is not happy with the problems facing the party in the zone. That is why we are here. Please, allow peace to reign and open your heats to us so that we can solve the problems.”
A member of the party from Ekiti State, Ayo Arise, had told the committee that those in attendance were not quarrelling. He said those who were against the group from his state were not invited to the meeting.
But Shema said that would be taken care of later, adding that he was aware of the existence of factions in the party’s state chapters.
Among those at the meeting were a former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Oni; Chief Bode Mustapha, Chief  Oyewole Fasawe, Chief Dipo Odujinrin, Dare Bejide, Akin Omole, Dele Adelakun and Dapo Anisulowo.
The Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, is expected to lead a reconciliatory team to meet with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and a former Minister of Defence, Lt.Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.).
Tukur, who confirmed the reconciliation efforts, said they were part of his strategies to keep the party together.
“Reconciliation was part of my agenda for the party when I was contesting for the chairmanship. It is time for me to show that I want our party members to unite,” he said.
Meanwhile, in what appears to be a desperate move to prepare the ground for his declaration for a second term, Jonathan is reportedly offering to give the position of vice-president to the three northern APC governors.
The three northern APC governors are Kashim Shettima (Borno); Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe); and Tanko al-Makura (Nasarawa).
An APC source told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Thursday that the President was disposed to offering the slot of vice-president to “one of us” in a power-sharing arrangement.
According to the source, the President was weighing the option against a possible backlash from PDP members, who are also nursing the idea of replacing Vice-President Namadi Sambo.
The source said, “I believe the President and his people are also being careful because it is too early to lay bare all his plans when he is yet to fully take control of his party, and make a public pronouncement as to whether or not he is running in 2015.”
Sambo was said to have run into troubled waters after he reportedly held a secret meeting with Obasanjo in Kaduna.
The source said, “It is not coming to us as a surprise because we had a similar situation during the 2011 elections.
“What we do not know is whether this offer is just a bait to divide us or a genuine attempt to give Nigeria a new direction. They have tried to woo some of us to join the PDP as a pre-condition for this to happen. But the general thinking is that why settle to play second fiddle when your chances of getting the grand prize are higher?”
CPC National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, said he was not surprised at the President’s alleged move.
He said, “It is a huge joke.You will recall that what started throwing spanners in their works was in 2003 when then President (Obasanjo) wanted to change his deputy. That was when their house started to roll in commotion; that was when commotion set into their household.
“It is not surprising that this President is also following after that dictate; but mark my words, this is the beginning of the end of the PDP. It is a house totally in disorder, it is a house conceived in deceit and all its transactions are in deceit.”
Speaking in a similar vein, ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “The time for the All Progressives Congress has come; the antics of one or two or three people within the group cannot affect the fate of APC. You see, the APC is about rescuing Nigeria and the way and manner that Nigerians have received the yet to be formed APC is signalling that APC is not a platform for food-is-ready politicians before whom he (the President) might try to dangle as many carrots as possible.
“I don’t think that we are perturbed about that, we are not going to lose a night’s sleep over that kind of politics.”
Calls to the mobile phones of the Political Adviser to the President, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, indicated that his phone was switched off. The Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, did not pick calls to his mobile phone and neither did he respond to a text message sent to him.

THE PUNCH