Change is constant.Nigeria and the world need to change and adopt positive leadership approach to achieve the needed development. we are poised to build young ones who will imbibe the culture of true leadership and peace development.
The president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, is to drop the title ‘General’ from his name after he is sworn in on May 29,2015.
His media team disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, May 17, in Abuja.
The
statement signed by, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari’s director of media and
publicity, also released the official portraits of the president-elect
and his vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
The one paragraph statement reads: “From
May 29, 2015, the president-elect and vice-president-elect are to be
respectively known and addressed as Muhammadu Buhari, President,
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria and
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The official portrait of the president-elect Muhammadu Buhari
The official portrait of the vice president-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo
It
is worth mentioning, that Nigerian supported Buhari’s decision to drop
‘General’ title but suggested replacing it with other handles. “We
Africans we have respect for our elders. So if they removed the General
from his name. Then we will call him as Baba Muhammad Buhari,”Umaru Danlami Adamu wrote. “Correction
to Mallam Shehu Umar. The General’s name wouldn’t suppose to be
Muhammadu Buhari alone, it deserves to be Mallam or Alhaji Muhammadu
Buhari,”Abubakr Madaki suggested. “An anticipated clarification. We as his fans will start right away. We are suggesting AMB (Alh Muhammadu Buhari)”,Muhammad Tanko Baba wrote. “I like simplicity. How many of the British or American presidents use those empty titles or didn’t they go to school?” Adetokunbo Bishop Adeeko wandered. “Once a General, always a General, you can’t drop General’s title just like that,”David Ayele insisted.
Earlier this week Chief Timipre Sylva, the head of the All Progressives Congress transition committee ,gave new details on the swearing-in ceremony
of the president-elect. He stated that Buhari’s inauguration would not
be flamboyant quoting the dwindling economy as the reason for the
decision.
1. NNPC:
Records
speak for itself, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
doesn’t even know the amount of crude oil it imports daily. There are
possibly over 100 different means which the NNPC uses to siphon
government revenue. From fraudulent subsidy payments to intentional
delay of imported products to incur and accumulate demurrage with
shopping companies. They’re mostly responsible for the over $600 billion
dollars alleged by the EFCC to have been stolen from Nigeria since
1999. 2. NPA:
Working for the Nigeria Ports
Authority (NPA) can even be more rewarding than working for the NNPC.
Thousands of illegal deals worth millions of Naira are settled under the
table at the ports on a daily basis. Government ends up not recording
most of these criminal deals. So many criminal waivers, unrecorded
imports, direct cash settlements rather than legal payment channels,
undercharges, auction sales etc. 3. Customs:
Nigerian
customs officials attached to courier agencies target goods coming in
from overseas. Once your package arrives, you’d be expecting the normal
courier charge and taxes, then you hear the bad news; Nigeria customs is
holding your package. They’ll usually give you a fictitious extra bill,
citing some flimsy reasons and stipulated policies and conditions which
cannot be found anywhere on their website. Instead of allowing the
goods get to your local courier office, they’ll rather invite you to
Lagos and that’s when you get desperate because you don’t want to travel
all the way to Lagos to collect a package. So you decide to negotiate
and pay. Mode of payment is usually their private accounts or other
means which will not be eventually traced back to them, not government’s
purse. Sometimes also, their charges are genuine, but settled through
private channels, So government gets little or nothing from the illegal
transaction.
Their illegal 0perations with ‘The Immigration Service’
at Nigeria’s borders also ensure that Cars and other goods are imported
into Nigeria illegally with taxes and charges that are never documented
or paid into government’s purse. 4. FIRS:
The
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is another criminal organisation
in Nigeria.They target multinationals and big companies. The richest
among them work in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and other cities with
numerous big companies. They help you evade tax in so many different
ways (evading and avoiding tax are different things, one is criminal,
the other is legal) and collect huge rewards for their excellent
criminal maneuvers. Hundreds of billions or possibly trillions therefore
go unrecovered annually. 5. NIMASA:
The Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is a regulatory body
saddled with various maritime related responsibilities including;
administration and regulation of shipping licenses, carrying out aerial
and coastal surveillance, control and prevention of maritime pollution,
providing maritime security. About 40% of Nigeria’s income is budgeted
for this agency to develop maritime infrastructure and fund the
operations of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria. NIMASA has been involved
with various levels of fraud on many occasions running into Trillions of
naira.
Nigerian student Ufot Ekong has broken a 50 year
record in Japan after graduating with a first class degree and best
overall student from Tokai University in Tokyo Japan.
Ufot Ekong and his awards
The talented student graduated from the university with a first class degree in robotics and electrical engineering.
This is the first time a Nigerian could achieve such success since 1965, Nigerian Bulletin reports.
It
was also gathered that Ufot won Japanese language award for foreigners
and solved a mathematical equation that could not be solved 30 years ago
in his first semester.
Utof is receiving his award
Asides
from studying hard and paying himself for the education, Ufot works at
Nissan. He has already made two patented products. Recently, he
developed an electric car that could go as fast as 128 kilometers per
hour.
Ufot’s mum and electric car
Asides from being a Saxophone master, the young Nigerian speaks English, Yoruba, French, Japanese.
Undoubtedly, bright future is waiting for Ufot Ekong, who made the nation proud.
While we can all agree that nobody is perfect, there are
actually a few things that would adversely affect a relationship if a
man chooses to partner with a woman with some not-so-great attributes.
VICTORS presents you with the 10 kinds of woman a man should think twice about making a wife.
1. The Bitter Woman:
You know that woman that always seems to be angry at the menfolk all
the time? Perhaps she has had her heart broken one too many times, but
this woman is always bashing on men and talking about how they are
no-good or useless. A man might not want to settle down with someone so
bitter as it is guaranteed that when the opportunity arises, she would
hurl hurtful insults and intense, hateful words his way due to all her
unresolved anger. 2. The Selfish Woman: If you
want a happy home and a partner that wants your happiness as well as
hers, then you should steer clear of the selfish woman. A wo
man who is
determined to make sure she always comes first would not be able to
build a cheerful and loving home with you. 3. The Materialistic Woman:
A woman obsessed with material things would certainly not make the best
wife. If all she cares about are material possession over family, faith
and spiritual fulfillment, then she will not make the best partner. 4. The Flirty Woman:
Are you attracted to that woman that always seems to flirt with one
person or another? She flirts like a butterfly from one man to another
and makes all men feel like she is interested in them. Well, beware,
because a habit like that might be hard to break after marriage and you
would not want to start hearing that your wife has had flirty
conversations with all the men in the neighbourhood. 5. The Party Freak:
She is invited to every party and attends them all. She is always
dressed in the most flashy clothes and is the ultimate party girl. She
lives for the next big gathering and cannot say no to an invitation.
Such woman might not be the type to settle down in a marriage. 6. The Spoilt-Brat:
A woman who grew up having everything handed to her and has never had
the experience of actually working for something is unlikely to make the
best wife. No matter how much you might be willing to provide her with
the kind of lifestyle she grew up with, remember, marriage comes with
kids and kids require sacrifice. If she has never had to work or make
sacrifices for anything in her life, it is unlikely that she would start
now. 7. The Attention Seeker: While some women
naturally like attention, when it becomes an obsession, then it is not a
good idea. A good husband makes sure he has time for his wife, but this
cannot happen 100percent of the time so a good wife should understand
that. 8. The Gossip: Does she always seem to
never mind her own business? Is she always focused on what someone else
is doing or how someone else is living their life? Then you do not need
this kind of woman as a wife. A man needs someone that would build a
home with him and this requires some focus on her own plans and her own
life. If she is too busy minding someone else’s business, then you are
fighting a losing battle. 9. The Commitment-Phobe:
A woman who finds it difficult to commit to anything (school, jobs,
family, friendship, etc) would also not be able to commit to a marriage.
If she seems to lose interest in everything quickly and is always
looking for the next thing to jump into, then you would have a hard time
keeping her focused in her marriage. 10. The Disrespectful Woman:
If she seems to always be disrespectful and rude (even if it is to
people she considers beneath her standards) then you need to think twice
about marrying her. Respect for a fellow human being is a very
important attribute in who we choose to spend the rest of our lives with
so it is definitely not something that should be taken lightly.
The new study says Africa could become a major exporter if leaders show political will
A new book claims Africa could feed itself within a generation, and become a major agricultural exporter.
The
book, The New Harvest, by Harvard University professor Calestous Juma,
calls on African leaders to make agricultural expansion central to all
decision-making.
Improvements in infrastructure, mechanization and GM crops could vastly increase production, he claims.
The findings are being presented to African leaders in Tanzania today.
The
presidents of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are holding
an informal summit to discuss African food security and climate change.
Speaking
to the BBC ahead of the meeting, Professor Juma said African leaders
had to recognize that "agriculture and economy for Africa are one and
the same".
"It is the responsibility of an African president to modernize the economy and that means essentially starting with the modernization of agriculture," he said.
Stagnation
Global food production has rocketed in recent decades
but has stagnated in many parts of Africa, despite the continent having
"abundant" arable land and labour, says Professor Juma.
He
estimates that while food production has grown globally by 145% over the
past 40 years, African food production has fallen by 10% since 1960,
which he attributes to low investment.
While 70% of Africans
may be engaged in farming, those who are undernourished on the continent
has risen by 100 million to 250 million since 1990, he estimates.
The professor's blueprint calls for the expansion of basic infrastructure, including new road, irrigation and energy schemes.
Farms
should be mechanized, storage and processing facilities built, while
biotechnology and GM crops should be used where they can bring benefits.
But what was needed above all else was the political will at the highest level.
"You
can modernize agriculture in an area by simply building roads, so that
you can send in seed and move out produce," he told the BBC. "The
ministers for roads are not interested in connecting rural areas, they
are mostly interested in connecting urban areas. It's going to take a
president to go in and say I want a link between agricultural
transportation and then it will happen."
He believes there is great scope to expand crops traditionally grown in Africa, such as millet, sorghum, cassava or yams.
He
sees areas where farmers will need to adapt to tackle a changing
climate - cereal farmers may switch into livestock, he says, while
others may chose more radical options.
"Tree crops like
breadfruit, which is from the Pacific, could be introduced in Africa
because trees are more resistant to climate change."
He also
envisages genetic modification playing a growing role in African
agriculture, with GM cotton and GM maize, which are already being grown
on the continent, just the start of things to come.
"You need to
be able to breed new crops and adapt them to local conditions... and
that is going to force more African countries to think about new
genomics techniques."
Kitchen sink
George
Mukkath, director of programmes at the charity Farm Africa, welcomed
the study, but said with many African states investing less than 10% of
their GDP in agriculture, politicians had to "put their money where
their mouths are".
"It's what we've been shouting about for
several years," he said. "African productivity is low. If there's an
investment then African farmers are very capable of producing enough
food not only to feed themselves but also for the export market."
But
Dr Steve Wiggins, a research fellow at a British think-tank, the
Overseas Development Institute, said that modest practical changes were
preferable to long wish-lists.
"It's perfectly possible to get
Africa on a much higher growth rate but I wouldn't have such a long list
of things to do, particularly if I thought it was going to bring about all
government investment," he said. "To make a difference, you don't need
to throw the kitchen sink at the problem."
He also warned that
Africa's urban centres could not be ignored, not least because they
provide important markets for African farmers.
The UAE
Central Bank this week passed a new rule barring Nigerians who do not work in
their country from operating accounts in any of their local or foreign banks.
It was
said that this is to avoid money laundering by Nigerian politicians who they
claim has become widespread.
Now, they
have supposedly closed accounts of all Nigerians not working in the UAE and
delivered them cheques equal to the sum they have in their accounts.
All
account holders reportedly have 5-working days to take their money.
If their
intention is actually to stop money laundry, then good. My fear is that it
could be another way to start telling Nigerians to go .
Sweet potatoes offer an abundance of benefits, everything from
antioxidants to anti-inflammatory agents. They also have vitamins A, C
and E, which can help you maintain a lovely complexion and beautiful
hair.
If
you’re looking for an all round anti aging wonder food then walnuts
have a good claim to be somewhere near the top of your list.
In fact – anyone looking to improve nutritional health through a
small change in diet should take a good look at the humble walnut.
And it really is a small change in diet that’s all you need to get the anti aging boost from walnuts.
Just one ounce of walnuts daily – equivalent to around 7 shelled
walnuts or 14 walnut halves can give you the health benefits described.
- See more at: http://www.simplyantiaging.com/3535/anti-aging-walnuts/#sthash.xLeZar0l.dpuf
If
you’re looking for an all round anti aging wonder food then walnuts
have a good claim to be somewhere near the top of your list.
In fact – anyone looking to improve nutritional health through a
small change in diet should take a good look at the humble walnut.
And it really is a small change in diet that’s all you need to get the anti aging boost from walnuts.
Just one ounce of walnuts daily – equivalent to around 7 shelled
walnuts or 14 walnut halves can give you the health benefits described.
- See more at: http://www.simplyantiaging.com/3535/anti-aging-walnuts/#sthash.xLeZar0l.dpu
If
you’re looking for an all round anti aging wonder food then walnuts
have a good claim to be somewhere near the top of your list.
In fact – anyone looking to improve nutritional health through a
small change in diet should take a good look at the humble walnut.
And it really is a small change in diet that’s all you need to get the anti aging boost from walnuts.
Just one ounce of walnuts daily – equivalent to around 7 shelled
walnuts or 14 walnut halves can give you the health benefits described.
- See more at: http://www.simplyantiaging.com/3535/anti-aging-walnuts/#sthash.xLeZar0l.dpuf
If
you’re looking for an all round anti aging wonder food then walnuts
have a good claim to be somewhere near the top of your list.
In fact – anyone looking to improve nutritional health through a
small change in diet should take a good look at the humble walnut.
And it really is a small change in diet that’s all you need to get the anti aging boost from walnuts.
Just one ounce of walnuts daily – equivalent to around 7 shelled
walnuts or 14 walnut halves can give you the health benefits described.
- See more at: http://www.simplyantiaging.com/3535/anti-aging-walnuts/#sthash.xLeZar0l.dpuf
If
you’re looking for an all round anti aging wonder food then walnuts
have a good claim to be somewhere near the top of your list.
In fact – anyone looking to improve nutritional health through a
small change in diet should take a good look at the humble walnut.
And it really is a small change in diet that’s all you need to get the anti aging boost from walnuts.
Just one ounce of walnuts daily – equivalent to around 7 shelled
walnuts or 14 walnut halves can give you the health benefits described.
- See more at: http://www.simplyantiaging.com/3535/anti-aging-walnuts/#sthash.xLeZar0l.dpuf
2. Kiwi
The strong antioxidant compounds in this little green fruit firm the
skin and delay the formation of fine lines and wrinkles. This is mostly
due to their high Vitamin C and E content which help reduce skin damage
due to free radicals.
3. Watermelon
Due to its high content of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants,
watermelon is another delicious way to keep your skin nourished and
prevent wrinkles or skin discoloration that comes with aging skin.
4. Avocado
Avocado is rich in Vitamin E and the B-complex vitamins, both
wonderfully nourishing for your skin while the potassium it contains
help keep it moisturized and hydrated. It also contains a compound
called glutathione, which assists in the anti-aging process.
5. Papaya
Whether eaten or used topically, papaya can work wonders on your skin.
It is a natural complexion toner and fights the formation of wrinkles
while its Vitamins A, C and E will nourish the skin.
6. Apple
Applied topically, apple residue is great for the skin: its enzymatic
actions help the skin to retain healthy water levels and keeps it fresh
and healthy; apple cider vinegar as well makes an excellent natural
toner.
7. Banana
Youthful elasticity of the skin will be greatly helped by the high
levels of Vitamin C and B-6, while its manganese and antioxidant
contents prevent premature aging. It is also a wonderful natural
moisturizer for the skin if applied topically.
8. Berries
Berries have some of the highest concentrations of antioxidants out of
any fruit and this, along with their high levels of Vitamin C, help
maintain the collagen that keeps your skin looking firm and
wrinkle-free.
9. Grapes
Grapes are a rich source of both manganese and Vitamin C. Together,
these compounds can prevent damage due to ultraviolet radiation while
their antioxidant properties fight against the aging process.
10. Sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes offer an abundance of benefits, everything from
antioxidants to anti-inflammatory agents. They also have vitamins A, C
and E, which can help you maintain a lovely complexion and beautiful
hair.
11. Chocolate
12. Walnut
IF YOU THINK OF YOUTHFULNESS THEN EAT THESE FRUITS REGULARLY AND I BET YOU,YOU SURE WILL REMAIN FOREVER YOUNG.
