Abbeystepho's Gists: February 2017

Friday, February 24, 2017

FUT Minna expels 44 students

FUT Minna: 44 students expelled

Forty-four students from various faculties were on Friday asked to withdraw from the Federal University of Technology, Minna over poor academic performance and examination malpractice.

The university’s spokesperson, Mrs Lydian Ledgu, said in Minna that the affected students have been ordered to vacate the campus.

Antonio Guterres

A UN fund set up for Haiti’s cholera victims is failing to draw support, with only two percent of the needed $400 million raised so far, according to a letter by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Guterres asked member-states in the letter sent this week to notify the United Nations by March 6 whether they intend to pledge aid to Haiti, where more than 9,000 people died of cholera in a 2010 epidemic.

The United Nations is hoping to raise $400 million over two years to reduce the current cholera caseload of 30,000 to 10,000 by the end of 2018 and provide clean water and sanitation.

Aftermath of an attack in Southern Kaduna: Police commissioner says reports exaggerated

The Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Mr Agyole Abeh on Friday said the crisis in Southern Kaduna has been largely exaggerated and used as a propaganda by those benefitting from it.

Abeh said in Kafanchan while giving update on the security situation in the area, that some community leaders in the area were compounding the issues due to selfish interest.

He, however, said the police and other security agencies were on top of the situation, and doing everything to calm it.

In a bid to soothing the use of social media, Mavin Records founder, Don Jazzy and technology company Tsaboin on Friday launched Flobyt, a free WiFi service for Nigerians residing in Lagos.

According to Dele Odufuye, Tsaboin MD/CEO, the Wifi service can be accessed in locations like eateries, parks, taxis, buses, restaurants, and cafés.

The abandoned heroin at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos

Drug smugglers have abandoned 6.155 kg of heroin at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

The banned drug which originated from Pakistan was left unclaimed on the conveyor belt at the arrival hall during the inward screening of passengers on Etihad Airways flight, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said.

NDLEA commander at the airport, Ahmadu Garba said that the abandoned heroin was hidden inside a bag of clothes.

The naira recorded a significant gain against the United States dollar on the parallel market on Thursday, three days after the Central Bank of Nigeria adjusted its foreign exchange policy.

Specifically, the local currency jumped from N505/dollar recorded on Wednesday to N495/dollar on Thursday, as the new policy measure continued to reverberate across the forex market.

The CBN had on Monday made adjustments to its forex policy aimed at boosting forex supply to enable commercial banks to

Solomon Soyebi of INEC. Twitter Photo.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has resolved to discipline 25 personnel indicted in the December 10 Rivers state re-run elections.

INEC said that the indicted members of staff of the commission were going to be prosecuted by the police for their alleged role in the re-run.

A statement by Mt. Solomon Soyebi, INEC National Commissioner, said that internal disciplinary measures would be taken against the members of staff

It appears that Nollywood actor, Uche Maduagwu, is better known for his activity on social media than for his roles in the movies. The man is currently carving a niche for himself as the fastest rising critic of the film industry in Nigeria.

On Thursday, Maduagwu swung his searchlight on the activities of female Nollywood practitioners and came up with the conclusion that more of the so-called star actresses in the industry are increasingly desperate to sleep with producers in return for lead roles in movies.

Nigerian groups vow to fight Trump travel ban

Nigerian groups vow to help compatriots over Trump travel ban

The Nigerian community says it is prepared to legally defend any Nigerian traveller coming to the US if targeted by immigration officials hiding under President Donald Trump’s new travel ban on Friday.

Already, the Nigerian Lawyers Association and the Organisation for the Advancement of Nigeria (OAN), two influential Nigerian community associations in the U.S., have embarked on sensitisation of Nigerians who have relatives travelling to the U.S.

On Monday, the groups organised two sessions of

Senator Stella Oduah. Twitter photo

Sen. Stella Oduah has described as untrue allegations that she was indebted to Sterling Bank and other commercial banks in Nigeria.

On Wednesday, a Lagos Federal High Court restrained Sen. Oduah and Sea Petroleum from making withdrawals from 21 accounts in some commercial banks.

However Oduah in an interview said that she had resigned from the company, Sea Petroleum which was alleged to be indebted to banks.

Aids agencies distributes food to drought ravaged Ethiopia. Twitter photo.

The United Nations has released $18.5 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in financial support to Ethiopia currently ravaged by drought.

The money is specifically to assist people suffering from malnutrition and severe water shortages in Ethiopia’s Somali region – the worst drought-stricken part of the country, APA said.

The financial support was announced on Tuesday by UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien who paid a visit to Ethiopia.

Protest against Xenophobia in South Africa

Nigeria`s Consul General in South Africa, Amb. Uche Ajulu-Okeke while visiting Nigerian victims of Xenophobia, has described the recent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians and other foreigners in that country as unfortunate.

Ajulu-Okeke, who visited affected homes and businesses, told our correspondent on telephone from Johannesburg, South Africa, that Nigerians suffered heavy losses.

“ The Consulate General of Nigeria in South Africa went on a fact finding and direct field assessment of the xenophobic attack sites.

Some Americans protesting Trump’s revocation of transgender bathroom rights

President Donald Trump has revoked the rights given to transgender students in public schools to use any bathroom of their choice.

With this move, Trump reversed a lamdmark decision of former President Barack Obama.

Obama had instructed public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms matching their chosen gender identity, threatening to withhold funding for schools that did not comply.

The decision is right. First, I want to believe that for that step to be taken, the NYSC management must have considered certain information available to it, especially with regard to the issue of security. There were reports of people that were killed during the last election in Rivers State.

Some of these people were youths from different parts of the country and their safety and security should be of paramount importance to all.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest efforts to adjust the exchange rate policy have baffled investors who say the moves fall short of the currency devaluation they had hoped for and will not lure money back into the economy.

The CBN this week effectively devalued the naira for private individuals by offering them dollars at a rate of 366 naira, instead of the official 305 rate which it has held since last summer at the behest of President Muhammadu Buhari.

EFCC recovers 17 vehicles from ex-Customs boss

Former Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered 17 “exotic vehicles’’ in a warehouse belonging to a former Comptroller-General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko Inde.

Mr Wilson Uwujaren, Head, Media and Publicity of the commission, said on Wednesday in Abuja that the vehicles were recovered from Inde’s residence located at Nnamdi Azikwe Street, Kaduna.

The recovery was sequel to an intelligence report the commission received that stolen money and properties suspected to be proceeds of crime were being warehoused at the former customs boss’ premises, he said.

Nigerian Senate at Plenary

The Senate has given Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs), until Feb. 22 and 23 to defend their 2017 budget proposals.

The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, who gave the ultimatum at plenary on Wednesday, decried the non-challant attitude of some ministers and heads of agencies towards budget defence.

He expressed concern that few persons would hold the country to ransom for refusal to defend their budgets.

PDP Secretariat, Abuja

Nigeria’s ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) has said it was not behind the crises rocking the country’s main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

PDP is currently bedevilled by a leadership crisis that has fractured the once political behemoth that ruled the West African nation between 1999 and 2015 into two factions. A faction is now blaming APC for deliberately trying to undermine oppositions.

But the spokesman for APC said his party did not have a hand in the matter.

Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo, address supporters after his victory on Wednesday (AFP Photo/MUSTAFA HAJI ABDINUR)

Somalia’s new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed sought to downplay soaring expectations of his new administration at his inauguration Wednesday, warning it would take decades to fix the nation’s many ills.

“Our government is facing so many challenges and even though I will be doing my best, I also want to make clear for the Somali public that due to limited resources regarding economy and forces of security, what we could do is going to be limited,” he said.

The president, widely known by his nickname Farmajo, officially took office last week, however his inauguration was held Wednesday in the presence of several regional leaders.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday said it planned to rehabilitate, revamp and upgrade all the refineries so that there would be no more product import by 2019.

Dr Bello Rabiu, NNPC Chief Operating Officer, (Upstream), said this during a panel discussion session at the West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC) organised by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) in Lagos.

NAN reports that the session had the topic: “How Nigerian and West African Market can Better Compete in a Weak and Disruptive Oil Market’’.

High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeriam, Amb. Lulu Mnguni

High Commissioner of South Africa to Nigeriam, Amb. Lulu Mnguni, has said that the attacks on Nigerians negated all the values that that country symbolises, especially the respect for human life, human rights and human dignity standing firmly against racism, xenophobia and sexism.

Mnguni who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, condemned the recent attacks on Nigerians saying they were a poor representation of South Africa’s values.

He also said that the South African government had taken measures to ensure that these attacks perceived as hate crimes against Nigerians and other foreign nationals were stopped.

Nigeria’s domestic carrier, Air Peace, has taken delivery of its 12th aircraft, a 114-capacity Boeing 737-500.

Air Peace Chief Operating Officer, Mrs Oluwatoyin Olajide, told newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos that the aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at about 2.15pm on Tuesday.

She said the arrival of the aircraft would greatly boost the airline’s expansion drive especially as it had commenced its daily Lagos-Accra-Lagos flight operations on February 16.

Mimiko appoints rector for Rufus Giwa Polytechnic

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State has confirmed the appointment of Mr Idowu Ologunagba, as the substantive rector of the state-owned Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo.

The Secretary to the State Government, Aderotimi Adelola, in a statement said Ologunagba’s appointment was with immediate effect.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola

The Presidency on Wednesday said there was no truth in the reports that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kola Awodein, gave Justice Niyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, currently standing trial for alleged corruption, N500,000.00 at the behest of President Muhammadu Buhari during the certificate issue affecting the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, recalled that Buhari challenged the elections of

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni

Five of the seven victims abducted at a farm in Igbodu community, Epe, Lagos State, have reportedly regained freedom.

This is just as the kidnappers and operatives of the state police command patrolling the area engaged in a gun duel.

Five farmers and two members of the Oodua People’s Congress were seized by the assailants last Tuesday. They had demanded N5m ransom.

UEFA Champions League last 16, first leg results on Tuesday:

At Leverkusen, Germany

Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 2 (Bellarabi 48, Savic 68-og) Atletico Madrid (ESP) 4 (Saul Niguez 47, Griezmann 25, Gameiro 59-pen, Torres 86)

At Manchester, England

Manchester City (ENG) 5 (Sterling 26, Aguero 58, 71, Stones

Spokesperson , U.S. Department of State, Mark Toner

The U.S. Department of State has blamed the leadership of South Sudan for the famine currently plaquing the conflict-torn country.

The department’s Spokesperson, Mr Mark Toner, in a statement described the famine as “man-made”.

Toner expressed grave concerns by Monday’s declaration of famine in parts of South Sudan and lamented over the significant scale of humanitarian need throughout the country.

Gov. El-Rufai: slams curfew after fresh killings

The Kaduna state government has imposed a 24-hour curfew in two local councils south of the state, after clashes killed at least 21 people.

Gunmen shot dead at least 14 villagers and destroyed property in an attack on the Kaura village of Takad in southern Kaduna state on Monday, said Enock Andong, a local community leader. There was another attack in Jema’a in which seven persons died.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt: Backs two state solution for Israel-Palestine

The leaders of Egypt and Jordan have reaffirmed their continued support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested abandoning it.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah discussed the issue and coordination of their positions on the Middle East peace process at a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday, a statement from Sisi’s office said.

Whistleblower leads Nigeria to N8.4 billion account

A whistleblower has led the Nigerian government to a suspicious bank account, with no signatories, but where N8.4 billion was secretly kept.

A report today said some of the money has been converted into dollars and wired abroad but the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed an ex parte motion to place it under temporary assets forfeiture.

According to TheNation newspaper, a telecommunications company has gone to court, claiming ownership of the money,

Reps decry N60m grass-cutting proposal

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives on Tuesday decried the N60 million provided by the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI) in the 2017 Budget for weeding in communities ravaged by insurgency.

The amount is for contracts to “cut shrubs, grasses and trees” along Maiduguri-Bama road.

The house’s Committee on Internally Displaced Persons picked out the figure when the PCNI appeared before it to defend its N45 billion budget for humanitarian assistance, rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced villagers.

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 18: Marchers pass rose pedals outside a wedding chapel during the Immigrants Make America Great March to protest actions being taken by the Trump administration on February 18, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Protesters are calling for an end to stepped up ICE raids and deportations, and that health care be provided for documented and undocumented people. David McNew/Getty Images/AFP. PHOTO: DAVID MCNEW / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

The Department of Homeland Security issued tough new orders Tuesday to begin a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigrants, putting nearly all of the country’s 11 million undocumented foreigners in their cross-hairs.

Two memos issued by DHS Secretary John Kelly order border patrol and immigration officers to deport as quickly as possible any illegal immigrants they find, with only a few exceptions, principally children.

Benue First Lady Eunice Ortom

Wife of the Benue State Governor, Mrs. Eunice Ortom, has appealed to Tor Tiv-elect, Prof. James Ayatse, to review bride-prices in Tiv land, to enable young men get married “when due”.

Ortom made the appeal on Tuesday, when she paid a courtesy visit to the Tor Tiv-elect in Makurdi.

She decried the high demands made on young men seeking to marry Tiv daughters, and described the situation as “very discouraging”.

Gov. Nasir El-rufai reshuffles his cabinet

Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has reshuffled the state’s cabinet, according to a statement by Samuel Aruwan, the governor’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity on Tuesday in Kaduna.

Aruwan stated that the reshuffle included the swapping of commissioners, nomination of new commissioners, appointment of new permanent secretaries and some retirements.

The governor’s aide noted that El-Rufai announced the changes during the state executive council meeting and

Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed receiving a letter from Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, requesting the confirmation of Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

Senate President Bukola Saraki, read the letter on resumption of plenary after a four-week suspension of sitting.

The Senate had on Feb. 19, adjourned plenary to enable standing committees attend to 2017 budget defence of

ThinTallTony and his wife Laraba Audi Offiong

Female housemates bewareFlirty ThinTallTony on Big Brother Naija TV Reality Show has a wife. He also has two kids.

His wife, Laraba Audi Offiong went public today with his dossier. She told the world that ThinTallTony is hers and hers alone.

This came Hours after ThinTallTony told Bisola on #BBNaija, that he’s single “by God’s grace”.?

Duro Olowu. Zimbio photo.

Popular UK -based Nigerian designer, Duro Olowu, has showcased his latest Autumn/Winter designs at this year’s London Fashion Week (LFW).

The fashion week which commenced on Feb. 16 is set to close on Tuesday (February 21).

The collections released by Vogue.co.uk , are colourful and energetic ready to wear clothes.

Femi Kuti doing what he knows best. Face2FaceAfrica photo.

Afrobeat legend, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, is taking time off music for a humanitarian work in the Internally Displaced Persons camps (IDP’s) in Adamawa State.

Kuti, tweeted on his twitter handle on Tuesday, @femiakuti, “Off to Adamawa to continue my humanitarian work with the IRC in the IDP camps.’’

He embarked on similar visit in January to Maiduguri.

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo said it was strategising to produce a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction in the near future.

The President of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Anambra, Mr Damian Okeke-Ogene, on Tuesday in Awka said the Chief Nnia Nwodo-led executive of the body would address the problems of the Igbos and pursue its agenda, including producing a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction.

File photo

Majority of men and women who are sexually active hardly consider the fact that they may be carrying certain sexually transmitted infections!

Yet, experts are saying that anyone who has engaged in unprotective sex is exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, even if the ‘carelessness’ is just once!

Indeed, physicians say that the more sexually active you are, the more necessary it is for you to get tested regularly, while you must be

The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has advised Nigerians to emulate her husband by never giving up on their dreams and aspirations.

She said her husband became Nigeria’s president in 2015 due to his doggedness, persistence and compassion for the masses.

She said this in Abeokuta on Tuesday in Abeokuta during the launch of a book titled, “Buhari vs Yar’Adua: Facing the future,” written by a Special Assistant on

Shema, three others granted N1bn bail each

A Katsina State High Court on Tuesday granted a former governor of the state, Ibrahim Shema and three others N1 billion bail and one reliable surety each.

Others standing trial with the governor are former Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Sani Makana, former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government Affairs, Lawal Safana and former ALGON Chairman, Lawal Dankaba.
The accused persons are standing trial for alleged conspiracy, forgery and diversion of public funds amounting to N11 billion.

A model of the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge

The Lagos State Government has said that the construction of Fourth Mainland Bridge would still begin this year.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

The commissioner, however, did not mention any specific time of the year for the commencement of the project.

I will recommend partial privatisation; that is Public-Private Partnership. Railway falls under major public infrastructural projects providing social services for its users. The PPP arrangement for the railway can be based on non-equity; that is on a principal-agent relationship where the principal will be the public agency and the agent will be the operator. This arrangement will allow for risk transfer, better management, reduction of pressure on public treasury and value for money.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, met with former President Goodluck Jonathan at the ex-President’s residence in Abuja on Monday.

The meeting, which held behind closed doors, was also attended by Sheriff’s Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh; Acting National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Bernard Mikko; and the National Youth Leader, Mr. Demis Alonge-Niyi.

OAU Ife: N1.9b coming from TETFund

The Buhari administration has approved the Tertiary Trust Fund (TETFund), 2016 intervention budget of N213.4billion, the highest ever to be distributed to the tertiary schools.

Dr Abdullahi Baffa, the Executive Secretary, TETFund, disclosed this at a news briefing in Abuja on Monday.

Giving a breakdown of the budget, he said each of the 40 federal universities and 34 state universities will receive the sum of N1.94billion.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika: down with acute bronchitis

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria is ill again, suffering from acute bronchitis.

His new illness made him to cancel a scheduled meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

According to Algeria’s state news agency APS, Merkel was due to visit Algeria on Monday as part of a trip to North Africa.

Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger State not happy with the utilisation of bailout funds by LGAs

Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger State has inaugurated a seven-man committee to ascertain how the 12 local governments used N4.4 billion bailout fund meant for the payment of salary arrears.

The committee, headed by Mr Daniel Clifford, a former Permanent Secretary, is particularly expected to find out why the local government authority were still owing salaries, in spite of the bailout fund given by the state government.

Neymar Jnr: to face trial for corruption

Brazilian player Neymar, his former club and Barcelona FC will stand trial in Spain on corruption charges over his transfer in 2013 from Brazilian team Santos, after losing a final appeal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case relates to a complaint from Brazilian investment group DIS, which owned 40 per cent of Neymar’s transfer rights.

The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai

Army general, police commissioner relocate to quell trouble

Afresh crisis has erupted in Southern Kaduna, despite the presence of security agents as armed Fulani herdsmen launched attacks on four communities killing no less than 21 people.

Many houses have also been reportedly set ablaze in the incident ,which began on Sunday and lasted till yesterday afternoon.The Kaduna State government, while reacting to the fresh crisis said that the Garrison Commander of the

#LSBAfrica: Denrele takes over from Dbanj

Denrele Edun is the new host for Lip Sync Battle Africa, he excitedly gushed out this information to his fans. Denrele took over officially from Dbanj who was the season one host. Now that Dbanj’s contract is over, Denrele is now in the big picture.

The popular Tv show is to continue without Dbanj who also co-hosted with South African actress, Pearl Thusi. As the season two of Lip Sync Battle Africa premieres on MTV Base come April 6, 2017.

Yemi Kale, NBS Boss

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) data reflected that 11,703,709 applications were received between 2010 and 2016.

A report on, “ JAMB Admitted Candidates by State and Gender within Faculty’’, released by NBS in Abuja on Monday said that 2,674,485 students were admitted across the 36 states and the FCT between 2010 and 2015.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Nigeria’s domestic carrier, Air Peace, has taken delivery of its 12th aircraft, a 114-capacity Boeing 737-500.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Monday, February 20, 2017