smellgist.com: 2016-06-05

Saturday, 11 June 2016

Of Corruption And Federalism By Akin Osuntokun

In balancing the books for the outcome of the last presidential election, three factors stood out to be counted — corruption, security and ethno-regional parochialism. Of the three, hoisting the banner of corruption and national security is politically correct and valorised across national and international boundaries, and it is, to this extent, rich in propaganda and publicity value. Fighting corruption and securing national borders is a universal political value to which every society is expected to uniformly pledge allegiance and subscription. It serves, in equal measure, to confer legitimacy and otherwise delegitimise political platforms and regimes.

Today marks the first anniversary of the Eighth National Assembly (NASS) inaugurated this time last year. It is an opportunity for self-assessment and introspection by the 109 members of the Senate and the 360 members of the House of Representatives as well as an auspicious occasion for an assessment of the legislative arm of government by Nigerians and indeed the international community.

What Niger Deltans don’t want to hear is that their own leaders are largely responsible for the problems facing the region. And what the government certainly does not want to hear is that restructuring could solve the problem.

As in most conflicts, truth is the first casualty.

In the early stages of the resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta – around the 1990s – the romantic tale was that the country’s dominant rulers, mostly northerners, had plundered the region’s oil to develop “their country”, with its capital in Abuja. It didn’t matter that in most elections held in the country for decades – credible or not – most of the core Niger Delta states had voted massively for the same conservative, “northern oppressors.”

Although generally dreaded, death is part of life and human beings, the world over, celebrate its occurrence with great poetry. In Africa, the celebration of death is given high premium among other social events with lots of pomp and ceremony. Dirges are sung to celebrate the burial ceremony of people of high personage in Africa.
Birth is also celebrated but it seems human beings celebrate death more than birth. They regard the end of man as more superior and of greater significance than the beginning. In Christian theology, the death of Jesus Christ is accorded more significance than His birth, though both are critical tenets of Christianity.

I have tried as much as possible to be patient with the present President Muhammadu Buhari administration. The administration has equally urged Nigerians to be patient and give it time. And so like many Nigerians, I have held on, hopeful that the dividends of democracy would soon be ours.
To give this administration an opportunity to walk its talk as a government of change and for it to live up to its pre-election promises that it would do better than its predecessor.

Some of us were not totally convinced that there would be much difference, with the new administration, we only gave the benefit of the doubt because of the person of the president. One year on, nothing has happened to dispel this skepticism. It is becoming difficult not to speak out.

I hear that Nigerian doctors are very unhappy about President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to seek medical treatment for a persistent ear infection in London. According to a report I’ve just read in the Political Economist online publication, Dr Osahon Enabulele, the Vice President of the Commonwealth Medical Association, has described this decision as “a national shame”, given that Nigeria has a National Ear Centre and more than 250 ear, nose and throat, ENT, specialists.

“Have you eaten today? If not, let me show you this new restaurant. Good food, the service girls specially attractive, the Madam herself is quite friendly.”

“What are you proposing: the food, the service girls or the Madam? Sorry to disappoint you, I am fasting.”

“When did you become a Muslim?”

“Is it only Muslims that fast? Fasting is good for everyone’s spirit and system.”
“Forget about that. Come and have a good bite. I am the one paying anyway, so what’s your problem?”
“This man, are you living in Mars? You mean you don’t know that this is Ramadan and that some people have made it risky for non-Muslims to go and eat? I don’t want to risk my life. Even when you are not fasting or you are a Christian, the best thing to say during this season is to insist that you are also fasting.”
“This is Nigeria, man. I know many Muslims who are not fasting.”
“This is Nigeria, man. Do you know a Nigerian called Francis Emmanuel?”

“Why should I know him? Does he or she know me?”

As player and coach, Stephen Okechuckwu Keshi (1962-2016), who died in the early hours of June 8, left formidable records.

He was the first and only Nigerian to win the African Nations Cup (AFCON) as a player (Tunisia, 1994), and coach (South Africa, 2013). In all of Africa, Keshi was only second to Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, in recording this feat.

He captained Nigeria’s first-ever national team to qualify for the World Cup, at USA ‘94. But that was after leading that team to win AFCON, for the first time on foreign soil, in Tunisia ‘94. That would be a second win, however, after the first home triumph, in Lagos, 1980.

The pursuit of personal interest is in our nature. Every man for himself; everyone for his pocket, the craze for primitive accumulation is unending. Capitalism best expresses it. The best that’s done in civilised settings is mitigate on the weaker members of the society the impact of our desire to selfishly acquire. It’s done through measures that redistribute perks. This doesn’t appear to seep into the conduct of international relations. On the global stage, it’s self-interest all the way. Here, power informs relations and those who wield it appropriate more of anything. We aggregate and package this as national interest. In its rawest form though, national interest is the self-interest of a group of people within the entity called nation. Against this background, three issues trending on the global stage fascinate me at the moment. They make me wonder if Nigeria is aware that if it isn’t selfish hardly will it take steps and do what’s needed to be a force on the international stage. For something is definitely the opium of nations that determinedly assert themselves and are thereby reckoned with on the global stage – the pursuit of self-interest.

The Ancient of Days is one of the very many names people of faith all over the world call the Creator of mankind. From age to age, God is the One who has an exclusive and divine oversight on the ageing process of all created beings. From Ghana to Guyana, from Gabon to Gibraltar, He is ageless, and He towers over every tongue.

It was more than a sloganeering for Americans when they engrafted, “In God we Trust” on their coins in 1864; and then on the paper currencies in 1957. They meant it. But not even the most pious nation can claim a sole “ownership” of the Supreme Being. He is God by Himself. From Kenya to Kiribati; from Korea to Kuwait, the mysterious Creator rules over all tribes; and yet not identified by tribal marks.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, now at the starting line of a general election race, traded shots across the capital Friday in dueling addresses before two very different D.C. audiences — each warning the other would take the country backward.

Trump headlined the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” summit while Clinton addressed a Planned Parenthood national conference.

Trump, looking to solidify his standing with evangelical Christians, offered assurances Friday that he would “restore respect for people of faith” — and stressed the “sanctity and dignity of life.”

If there was any doubt he wanted to throw Clinton’s Planned Parenthood speech into sharp relief, he took on his presumptive rival later in his remarks. Trump warned Clinton would “appoint radical judges,” eliminate the Second Amendment, “restrict religious freedom with government mandates,” and “push for federal funding of abortion on demand up until the moment of birth.”

Google’s search function is once again in the spotlight for connecting Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler.

Typing “When was Hitler born” into the search engine Friday generated some of the expected information on the Nazi dictator, but also a Donald Trump image and link. Trump’s image appeared alongside that of Hitler’s wife, Eva Braun, and Charlie Chaplin, who famously satirized the Nazi leader in his 1940 movie “The Great Dictator.”

The unusual search result caught the attention and sparked debate on the online forum Reddit, and has spread across the internet. Google told FoxNews.com that it was looking into why Trump’s image would appear alongside Hitler’s. The search giant subsequently removed the image of Trump from the search result.

Google said that the image will be removed from the search result until it can clarify why it appears.

Some Trump critics have compared the presumptive Republican presidential candidate to Hitler, which could be influencing Google’s search algorithms. And there’s certainly no shortage of Trump references online. A “Trump Hitler” Google search Friday generated 25.7 million results. A “Trump Clinton” search, meanwhile, returned 199 million results.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, was on Friday hosted by the indigenes of Ile-Ife, Osun State, resident in the United States.

The monarch, with his entourage, was received at the J.F. Kennedy Airport, New York, by leaders of Ife indigenes and other Nigerians in the US on Thursday.

A New York City Senator, Kevin Parker, and the Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, said the city had secured a proclamation to declare Monday, June 13, 2016 as Yoruba Day.

They said the action was to honour the monarch.

According to a statement, the Ooni has also been billed to visit President Barack Obama at the White House, where he will receive an award.

The statement added that a number of programmes had been scheduled to honour the traditional ruler while in the country.

The much-touted Federal Government’s national Home-Grown School Feeding Programme launched in Abuja on Thursday may suffer a setback as many state governments complain of lack of financial resources to embark on the project, investigation bySaturday PUNCH has revealed.

The school meal programme is one of the cardinal campaign promises of the ruling All Progressives Congress. While the Federal Government provides sixty percent of funds for the scheme, state governments are expected to provide the remaining forty per cent as counterpart funding.

The programme, expected to be of benefit to about 5.5 million primary school pupils in the first year of its operation, is part of the N500bn social investment plans of the Federal Government.

The British High Commission has undertaken an assessment of some airports in Nigeria with the aim of determining areas of possible assistance to the Federal Government.

The Head of Aviation Security at the British High Commission, Jankie Milies, who led a delegation to the office of the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, disclosed this during a meeting with the minister.

A statement issued by the Deputy Director of Press and Public Relations at the aviation ministry, Mr. James Odaudu, stated that the assessment of the airports was conducted with assistance from relevant agencies.

Odaudu was, however, silent on the agencies that rendered the assistance.

Millies, according to the statement, told the aviation minister that her team discovered some challenges in cargo handling at airports after the assessment.

She said the team had one more round of assessment to do before turning in their full report that would culminate in further discussions.

BARELY three weeks after, Jafaru Sougie, the man who allegedly murdered his wife, Rose, in Oshodi, a Lagos suburb, is dead.

The 48-year-old man died on Friday morning at the Police Hospital, Ikeja, where he has been on admission since May 26.

He was alleged to have swallowed a poisonous substance in an attempt to commit suicide after he allegedly slit his wife’s throat.

It was gathered that the man whom the police had doubted his mental state, never recovered from effect of the harmful substance he ingested.

It was learnt that none of his relatives showed up while he was in custody.

His only brother who visited him in the hospital was said to have disappeared after he was told that money would be needed for his treatment.

The House of Representatives yesterday rejected an agreement reached between the Federal Government and MTN that the telecoms giant should pay a reduced fine of N330 billion ($1.7bn) as against the N1.04 trillion ($5.2bn) originally slammed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)..

The NCC had on October 20 last year imposed $5.2 billion on the company for allegedly undermining efforts by the Nigerian government to tackle security challenges and the war on terror and allied crimes, as the telecoms operator allegedly refused to deactivate unregistered mobile phone lines on its network.

Both NCC and MTN had confirmed the development in separate statements yesterday

The Director of Public Affairs of NCC, Mr Tony Ojobo, said in Abuja that MTN would pay the fine in six tranches over the next three years.

THERE is a Yoruba adage that says that the bird does not, by happenstance, perch on the rooftop if not to listen to the rhythm coming from within the house. Put succinctly, the perching of the bird in any setting is not always an ordinary adventure; it could be something deeper than what the common mind can fathom. Therefore, the Knucklehead bird perches on President Muhammadu Buhari’s Aso Rock rooftop, to observe not only his body language but also to decode the words coming forth. In these hard times, common sense compels one to weigh every action and inaction of those in corridors of power in order to aggregate the exact direction of the ship of state.

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has been in and out of the news lately. Regrettably, it has been more of bad news than good news.

From the sad news of Oluchi Anekwe, the 300 level first class undergraduate student of the department of accounting who was electrocuted to death by a high tension cable to the Student Union protest against the lack of basic amenities on campus, the 300 level student simply identified as Jacobs who died after reportedly taking a poisonous substance, and the perceived ineptitude of the university management in handling some of these crises. The only positive from the school was the sterling performance of Daniel Dada Ayodele, who graduated with 5.0 CGPA.

After a brief pause from the headlines and twitter, news frittered in of 17 missing Unilag girls. The circumstances surrounding their mysterious disappearance leaves so many questions. What happened? Twenty girls were supposed to go to Lekki for a party with an 80k thanks for coming but they apparently ended up in a White House in the middle of nowhere and only 3 came back crying that they barely escaped with their lives!

Unbelievable Facs

Kogi as constitutional laboratory By Segun Ayobolu

After a waiting period of intense suspense, the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal in successive judgements beginning on Monday dismissed the petitions against the election of Governor Yahaya Bello by Mr James Abiodun Faleke of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Captain Idris Wada (Rtd) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs. Zainab Usman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Labour Party respectively. In each instance, the Tribunal found the petitions deficient and unmeritorious and thus declared Yahaya Bello duly elected as governor of the state.

Easily the most anticipated of the petitions was that of Honourable James Abiodun Faleke, who was the running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, who died after the collation but shortly before the formal announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the outcome of the November 21, 2015 poll. Before Audu’s demise, the Returning Officer for the election, Professor Emmanuel Kuchi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, had declared the victory of the APC in 16 of the 21 local governments with a total of 240, 867 votes while the incumbent governor, Captain Idris Wada, of the PDP scored 199, 514 votes emerging victorious in five Local Government Areas.

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently on a 10-day medical vacation. This is the second time Buhari will be proceeding on vacation this year, having earlier embarked on a six-day vacation between February 5 and 10.

In the two instances, Buhari wrote to the National Assembly as required by law and asked that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo should perform the duties of the President. Simply put, Osinbajo was named the Acting President.

The truth of the matter is that Osinbajo is not new to the roles of the President. He may not sit on the President’s seat or occupy his office but he is used to carrying out presidential roles as delegated to him by the President. Lately, tongues have been wagging on the manner in which Buhari had been sending Osinbajo to places where he had hitherto been scheduled to be. One of such cases was when he shelved his scheduled two-day official visit to Lagos State at the last minute and sent Osinbajo to represent him. The Presidency had attributed the development to what it called “scheduling difficulties.”

Seek Daily(NBC)

Saturday, June 11

1 Peter 5:7-11

FAITHFUL PLANNING

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7, NIV

A Pastor organized a retreat for his church workers towards the end of a particular year in order to review the church's program for the year and plan for the following year. Having led them through a particular part of Henry Blackabay's "Experiencing God," the church, which was recording low income, got a soar because the group trusted more in the Lord and decided to plan faith budget and call all members to faithful giving. Their planning yielded tremendous success.

What Does It Mean to Throw Away Your Life?

BOLA ADEOYE — JUNE 11, 2016

“Give yourselves to God ... surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes” (Romans 6:13 TEV).

Surrendering to Jesus means laying down every area of your life. God wants you to learn to be a giver in life, not a taker. Jesus said, “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live” (Mark 8:35 TLB).

As I was saying when we began this university education question last week, I am fully persuaded that the time has come for our leaders at all levels, to renew their minds about some critical factors that will determine the future of Nigeria. Certainly, what we will do with education funding is one of them. First, there is no need for education summit anywhere before an emergency can be declared and funds massively deployed to re-equip all our schools, retrain our teachers and dignify teaching with good conditions of service.

We are in a world of business and governance system where the quality of servants at all levels determines the quality of output and global competiveness. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has in its website where it profiles country and global competiveness in its yearly index on competiveness. The WEF notes that education quality is the only known tool for country and global competiveness. They always advise Switzerland and Singapore that lead the global index pack regularly to even scale up despite the fact that they are leaders.

In a way, the Hanoi ceremony of three weeks ago could be said to share a parallel with just any of the legend’s own epic duels that went the distance in the rope square. As visiting President Barack Obama happily announced the lifting of a 50-year arms embargo on Vietnam, it could as well be the declaration by an overly excited umpire in shimmering tuxedo of the scorecard after a fistic explosion before a delirious crowd inside a tense coliseum.

While diplomats on both the American and Vietnamese sides could be pardoned for basking in the effulgence of that electrifying moment that has hopefully finally brought a closure to a bitter memory between Uncle Sam and the South-east Asian nation, the ultimate moral garland undoubtedly belonged to just one man: Muhammed Ali.

By 7.am, on Tuesday, June 7, a long line of Nigerians, young and old, gathered at the front gates of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Area B command, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos. These were prospective travellers seeking E-passport for their various travels. Despite the gloomy and cloudy morning, the sea of heads continued to add up every second as more people arrived to a chaotic and disorganised but brutal environment. Soon, the sky opened up and the morning rain showers scattered on these future sojourners. “Oga, na so the place dey full every day o,” explained one of the vendors that hovered around the compound hawking inflated price goods.

The Immigration office gates opened and visitors were allowed to enter the main premises after being issued name tags. The office was dark: normal work had not started; members of staff walked or stood around as visitors were ordered to settle into a long line. There was no electricity to begin its daily activities. Officers explained to a disillusioned crowd that “We no get light. Una go wait make PHCN bring light”. Voices from the crowd asked the Immigration officers to crank a standby generator to substitute for electricity, one of the officers said that its generator had broken down.

Adidas is making the world a better place, as they have partnered with a sustainable company called Parlay for the Oceans to make an exclusive, one of a kind shoe made from recycled plastic.

play
Adidas x Parlay limited edition shoes
(wired )

Alessandrio Michele: Creative director inspires new way to wear Gucci, menswear

For my luxury lovers, regardless of the economy,Gucci creative director, Alessandro Michele, is inspiring men with some new ways and styles ofwearing his pieces and menswear pieces in general.

play
New way to wear Gucci, menswear
(gq )

Religious and political leaders of many stripes joined the sports world and tens of thousands of ordinary mourners on Friday to bid farewell toMuhammad Ali, the boxing champion who jolted America with his showmanship and won worldwide admiration as a man of principle.

Amodu Shuaibu, former footballer and Nigeria'sSuper Eagles current caretaker coach has passed away at the age of 58, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) reports.

The NFF announced the sad news via their official Twitter account on Saturday, June 11, 2016.

Dimitri Payet was France's hero as his stunning late strike earned the hosts a deserved 2-1 victory over Romania in their Euro 2016 opener on Friday.

Les Bleus were staring down the barrel of a frustrating draw in the Group A contest at the Stade de France with Bogdan Stancu's penalty cancelling out Olivier Giroud's 57th-minute opener.

But with the clock winding down, West Ham star Payet - France's outstanding player on the night - curled in a brilliant left-footed effort from 25 yards to seal all three points.

Nigerian music star, Abolore Alapomeji, better known by his stage

name as 9ice, says he is confused about the concept of change by

the ruling All progressives Congress, APC.

Tonto Dikeh is popular for her role in movies like"My Life, My Damage," "Dirty Secret," "Before the Rain," "Missing Child" among others.

Today, June 9 is the actress' birthday. Check out 12 simple facts every true fan should know about actress.

1. Born on June 9, 1985, Tonto Charity Dikeh-Churchil hails from Ikwere in Rivers State.

Davido’s baby mama and Dele Momodu’s niece, Sophia Momodu is a year older today!

Sophia Momodu (Instagram)

To mark her birthday, the entrepreneur shared some stunning new photos of herself.

Sophia can be seen donning a blue pantyhose and a denim jacket smiling, hugging a life size doll while staring at the camera.

The wake keep service for Nollywood actress,Henrietta Kosoko held yesterday, June 9, 2016 atLTV 8, Agidingbi, Ikeja.

play

Henrietta Kosoko's burial ceremony

(Instagram)

The U.S. President, Barack Obama on Thursday endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

Obama made this known in a video he posted to Clinton's website after she secured the Democratic Party's nomination within the week.

"I'm with her, I am fired up and I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary", Obama said in the video.

He had been reluctant to jump into the race until the party's nomination was settled.

ISIS: Libyan forces fight terror group in Sirte, predict city to fall soon

Forces aligned with Libya's unity government battled Islamic State on Thursday in the militant group's stronghold of Sirte, but faced resistance from snipers as they edged towards the city centre.

Brigades mainly composed of fighters from the western city of Misrata have advanced rapidly, driving the militants back along the coastal road west of Sirte before seizing strategic points on the edge of the city.

A court in Vietnam's Mekong Delta has sentenced three women, including a woman and her daughter to 33 years in prison for trafficking a girl to Malaysia as a commercial sex worker.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang, 30, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while her 62-year-old mother Vo Thi Beo received 10 years, both for trafficking a 15-year-old girl to Malaysia to work as a prostitute.

"Their 40-year-old accomplice Pham Thi Hanh was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the same offence.

"All of them admitted their crime at the trial,’’ Tong Thi Phung, the court's secretary, told newsmen.

A defence lawyer for a British business executive who was charged on Friday with the murder of aKenyan woman has denied a previous account which suggested she had died while taking "selfies with a gun" that accidentally went off.

Another lawyer, Evans Monari, who is no longer defending businessman Richard Alden, 52, gave the "selfies" account on Monday when the Briton was remanded in custody pending further investigations into the death of Grace Wangeci, 42.

The National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes (NANP), has been thrown after the sudden death of its vociferous President, Jessica Elvis, according to a statement by the body.

The lady who just won a highly contested election where she defeated the likes of Madam Efoyo Felix and Tamar Tion, reportedly died after battling heart disease in a hospital in Benin, Edo State, where she comes from.

Worried by the influx of commercial sex workersinto the country, especially those from West African countries, especially Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic and Burkina Faso, members of the National Association of Nigerian Prostitutes (NANP), led by new President, Tamar Tion, has vowed to sanitize their industry and chase out the foreigners who have taken over a large chunk of their clients.

In a statement signed by Tion and her Secretary General, Sandra Efosa, the Nigerian prostitutesare not happy that while they struggle to make ends meet, the foreigners have also compounded their problem by trooping into the country and taking over their trade.

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