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Tag: David Lawal

  • Boko Haram: Army chief unveils vision

    Boko Haram: Army chief unveils vision

    Major Gen Tukur Yusufu Buratai, Chief of Army Staff has on Tuesday unveiled vision for the Nigerian Army in the fight against insurgency in the country.

    The Army chief was quoted by the Nigerian Army Headquarters through Twitter, describing the vision as one that includes: “To have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles”.

    Find Post and replies below:

     

  • Facts about ‘Alhaji Gay’

    Facts about ‘Alhaji Gay’

    Razak Adetunji Adeniyi, popularly known as ‘Alhaji Gay’ has been reportedly killed by unidentified individuals.

    Alhaji Gay, as he is fondly called, who is usually connected with hunting internet fraudsters (Yahoo boys) with an identity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was on Monday stabbed to death.

    In spite of his success in arresting the fraudsters on different accounts, the EFCC has denied any connection between the late Alhaji and the commission.

    Following the announcement of his death, his name began to trend on twitter with different tweets ranging from questions about who he was to who could be responsible for his death, why everyone began to talk about him and why some people are rejoicing over his death.

     

    See below:

     

     

  • World’s largest African shirt on Mandela unveiled

    World’s largest African shirt on Mandela unveiled

    As the world prepares for the Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July 2015, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Lagos in collaboration with Femi Arts Warehouse, has commenced a week-long exhibition of arguably the world’s largest Africa shirt, ‘Dansiki’ with hand-finished quotes of Nelson Mandela.

    Some of the quotes on the shirt included, ‘Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though everyone is listening’; ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, it is inspiring others to move beyond it’; ‘Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished’; and ‘There are a few misfortunes in this world that you cannot turn into a personal triumph, if you have the iron will and the necessary skill’; among others.

    Mounted on the Nelson Mandela’s effigy, the larger-than-life African shirt called ‘Dansiki’ in Yoruba Language of South-West Nigeria, and which measures 12 feet wide and 16 feet in length, is to edify the ideals, thoughts, philosophy and values of Nelson Mandela. His words on Marble, a few of which were inscribed all over the shirt, formed a veritable educational tool for students and people of all ages.

    The exhibition which opened on Wednesday 15 July 2015 at the premises of UNIC Lagos, will end on Wednesday, 23 July 2015.

    Already, students, NGOs, media, and other members of the public have visited the exhibition ground where the National Information Officer, Oluseyi Soremekun, acting as the Curator, shared the message of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and explained the rationale behind the exhibition.

    The Secretary General had in his message, called on people around the world to make a difference in the communities where they live and work by taking time to serve others.

    ‘The theme behind the Day – “Take action, Inspire change” – highlights the importance of working together to build a peaceful, sustainable and equitable world,’ he added, ‘Let us all continue, each day, to draw inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s life-long example and his call to never cease working to build a better world for all.’

  • NFF unveils Oliseh as Super Eagles Coach

    NFF unveils Oliseh as Super Eagles Coach

    The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has on Wednesday unveiled Nigeria’s ex-international, Sunday Oliseh as the head coach of the Nigerian Super Eagles.

    The NFF reached the decision after it moved to pacify the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Al Hassan Yakmut and solicited support for the unveiling of Sunday Oliseh as the new coach of the Super Eagles.

    The NSC had queried the procedure used in hiring the new Super Eagles’ coach and his Belgian assistant, Jean Francois Losciuto claiming it needs to follow the Procurement Act. Oliseh is taking over from Stephen Keshi, former Super Eagles defender.

    Keshi is one of only two people, along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player and a coach.

  • Obaji nominated for 2015 African Achievers Award

    Obaji nominated for 2015 African Achievers Award

    Nigerian education and children’s rights activist, Philip Obaji has been nominated for an African Achievers Award 2015.

    In short-listing Obaji, the organizers recognized the activists continued effort towards the development of Africa.

    Obaji, who was recently named a Global Partnership for Education champion and founder of 1 GAME Campaign, is known for his activism for rights to education for Children, especially in north-eastern Nigeria, where the Islamist group, Boko Haram forbids western education and has targeted schools, education campaigners, teachers and students among others.

    The African Achievers Awards is recognized by FORBES as one of the most prestigious honours in the African continent.

    The awards ceremony is aimed at recognizing excellent individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves while contributing to the growth and development of Africa.

    The focus is to motivate all African leaders, including prospective leaders and the youth by recognizing individuals and organizations that have contributed remarkably to the development of Africa.

    The first African Achievers Awards, held on October 21, 2011, was presented to Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu in recognition for his fight for Human Right, Justice and Peace during his 80th Birthday celebration hosted by Kings College, London.

    Similarly, the 2012, 2013, and 2014 events were held in London, Nairobi, and Accra respectively.

    Former President of Malawi, Joyce Banda, and the late former President of Ghana, John Atta-Mills, are among previous winners of the Award in different categories.

    This year’s event is billed for July 25 at Sandston Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.

  • Malala launches school to mark 18 birthday

    Malala launches school to mark 18 birthday

    Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace laureate, Malala Yousafzai, on Sunday launched a Secondary school to mark her 18th birthday.

    Malala inaugurated the school as a way of supporting Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, near Syria’s border.

    The Nobel Laureate, who survived a Taliban gunshot to the head in 2012 as she returned home from school on a bus with her classmates in northern Pakistan, has since become a female education activist.

    The newly inaugurated school has the capacity to serve more than 200 Syrian girls between ages 14 and 18, according to the Malala Fund, known as Yousafzai’s nonprofit organization, dedicated to supporting the school.

    Malala schoolAccording to information made available on the fund’s online platform, “The new curriculum will enable students to receive their baccalaureate or vocational degrees through the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education or the Syrian equivalent.

    “Students unable to commit to the four-year baccalaureate training will participate in skills courses intended to help them find work and generate their own incomes.”

    Today’s school opening in Lebanon follows Yousafzai’s appearance at a Summit on Education in Oslo about a week ago, where she noted that her birthday was approaching: “My life of being a child will come to an end,” she had said while promising to continue to fight for the rights of children: “I think there’s no limit of age … to speak of children’s rights.

    “My father has been doing it as a teacher and I will continue to do it as a woman. As an adult, you can be the voice of children,” the Pakistani activist said.

    “I am honored to mark my 18th birthday with the brave and inspiring girls of Syria. I am here on behalf of the 28 million children who are kept from the classroom because of armed conflict. Their courage and dedication to continue their schooling in difficult conditions inspires people around the world and it is our duty to stand by them.

    “On this day, I have a message for the leaders of this country, this region and the world — you are failing the Syrian people, especially Syria’s children. This is a heartbreaking tragedy — the world’s worst refugee crisis in decades,” Malala said during the inauguration.

  • 2016 Polls: PDP re-brands, fields young candidates

    2016 Polls: PDP re-brands, fields young candidates

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) having ruled Nigeria for 16 years and now the opposition party is considering fielding young candidates for the forthcoming elections in selected states.

    The PDP is considering young gubernatorial candidates for Bayelsa and Kogi states in its desire to re-brand the party by involving young people as the new faces of the party.

    Describing the party as one that is bleeding at the moment and in need of redemption is not an overstatement.

    Furthermore, there is no denial that majority of Nigerians have lost hope in the party after its 16 years tenure with a history of broken promises and haphazard performance.

    Some Nigerians now see the party as that of looters and old crooks not to be trusted. The massive onslaught against the party by the current ruling party, All Progressive Congress, (APC) is another factor responsible for the poor perception about the PDP.

    The APC is a party of young and vibrant ideas as exemplified by their involvement of young people in their presidential and generation election campaign. The APC recognizes the place of every Nigerian youth and were greatly rewarded by the youths as majority of them mobilized for ‘Change’ during the last general elections.

    The PDP National Working Committee and the Board of Trustees has woken up to the painful reality that Nigerians will no longer trust the same old politicians within its fold and as such they must evolve new ways to communicate, reach-out and get the support of the Nigerian people, and as such have decided to strategically position young people with good names to become the new faces of the party.

    It was gathered that the former president Goodluck Jonathan has also advised the party to consider fielding younger candidates in forthcoming elections of Bayelsa and Kogi and ensure they make provisions for some influential and brilliant young people in the BOT and the NWC at the next year’s Extraordinary Congress Election when new officials of the party are to be elected.

    Many elders within the party have now accepted the fact that they need to give the younger ones within the party some major roles and advised the party to zone at least 5 positions of the NWC to young people and another 5 to the BOT, following the appointments of Rinsola Abiola, Ismaeel Ahmed and Jasper Azuatalam, 3 young people into BOT of the APC in furtherance to giving young people a strong voice within the party.

    The NWC on its part has agreed to allow the younger generations take over Party Registration and Membership drive as they believe the youths within the party can get millions of Nigerians to once again have confidence in the party and join the party.

    They have also agreed that young people within the party should setup a robust online platform to include Online Membership Registration.

    One of the greatest challenges the PDP has always had is the issue of imposition of candidates on the party which makes it impossible for young party members to secure party tickets or even have the courage to contest for elective positions.

    With the new development within the party, more young people will be able to contest for elective positions within the party. The immediate beneficiaries of this new policy of the party might be two young men within the party who are contesting to become governors of their respective states, Moses Siloko Siasia who is contesting to be governor of Bayelsa State and Mohammed Ali running to be governor of Kogi State.

    Profile of both Persons:

    Moses Siloko Siasia, from Sagabama LGA, a 35year old young leading light of Nigeria was named as one of the 200 Young African Economic Leaders for Tomorrow by Choiseul, renowned French Institute in their 2014 ranking.

    Parisian institute describes Siasia as a young African leader who is reshaping the continent’s economic scene. It said men like Siasia embody the vigour and renewal of an entire continent and carry the hopes of an entire generation.

    Mr. Moses Siloko Siasia is the Chairman of Mosilo Group, with huge investments in Engineering, Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Agro Processing and Project Management. The Group is a wholly owned indigenous Company with strategic partnership with some of the world’s leading technical Companies. The Group has employed over 400 young people and has continued to up the ante in human capacity development locally, with offices in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and United States.

    He is the Chairman/Founder of the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, a non-governmental organisation made up of primarily young, dynamic and upwardly mobile individuals with innovative ideas that is aiding Nigeria’s development. Siasia conceived the NYPF as a platform for the development of young professionals in Nigeria through quality educational programs, national and global networking and leadership opportunities, the group has united over 7million young professionals globally with presence in 15 countries. A lawyer by profession, he is running under the platform of the PDP and has attracted lots of grassroots support most especially from youths and women.

    Mohammed Ali (39years old), from Dekinah Local Government Area of Kogi, is the immediate past LGA Chairman of Dekinah.

    The governor dissolved the LGA suddenly to frustrate his political ambitions. He has the support of many LGA Chairmen in the state. He was the Secretary National Association of Kogi State Students NAKOS 2002-2004, then became the President of NAKOS from 2004-2005.

    Ali became Special Adviser, Student Affairs to former governor Ibrahim Idris, then Liasion Officer 1 of Dekinah LGA and later elected substantive Chairman of the LGA. When he was Chairman of the LGA, he was elected as the Chairman of the Northern Local Government Forum which compromises of 419 LG Chairmen. He coordinated the 419 LGAs for Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidential Campaign for 2015. Now he is aspiring to govern Kogi State. He is a graduate of Bayero University, kano. He is an Economist. Has a Masters Degree in Economics with option of Petroleum and Energy Economics.

    A new generational leader, he has the support and network of all youth within the age bracket of 30-45years old in all the 21 LGAs of the state.

    Since he declared his intention to run for governor in the state, the PDP that was almost dying in the state has come back to life because the younger generation see his declaration as an opportunity for them. Many who have lost hope in the party have started to once again believe in her.

     

     

  • Build continent-wide policy – UN conference tells Africa

    Build continent-wide policy – UN conference tells Africa

    The Economic Development in Africa Report 2015 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that better leveraging of services trade in Africa could yield major employment and growth benefits.

    The report subtitled “Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Services Trade for Growth and Development” argued that the ongoing negotiations towards a continental free trade agreement offer a unique opportunity to align national and regional policies on services trade to that end.

    Officially launched in Lagos Nigeria, the report also argues that building continent-wide policy coherence in financial services would boost economic productivity and help reduce poverty.

    “Africa must bridge the policy disconnect of services trade in order to unlock the sector’s potential for the continent’s growth and economic transformation.

    “Furthermore, the impact of a continent-wide free trade area will only be meaningful for Africa if services are opened up in parallel with trade in goods. This is because services, such as transport and storage services, are necessary components of trade in goods,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said.

    According to the report, the establishment of a continental free trade agreement, most recently on the agenda at an African Union summit in June 2015, is in itself a unique opportunity for African countries to align their existing national, regional and global policies on services trade.

    It also found that many national development plans mention services trade as a vehicle for development but fail to link it to existing regional plans or regulation on services in the context of their regional economic communities.

    For example, several countries such as Burkina Faso have become leading exporters of cultural services, and Kenya and Senegal of business process outsourcing, but these sectors are not integrated with the countries’ commitments made at the World Trade Organization.

    Another major area identified by the report where African Governments need to make efforts in aligning the existing national, regional and multilateral regulatory frameworks, is in the financial services sector.

    The report argues, for example, that it is important for African countries to extensively examine how to align their domestic financial sector regulation with existing regional regulation, as some regional economic communities already have some protocols in place covering aspects of financial sector integration and/or investment at the regional level. This is the case of the Arab Maghreb Union, the East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern African Development Community.

    These protocols envisage the free movement of capital in their respective subregions and will need to be adequately reflected in national policy and regulation so that financial market integration becomes a reality.

    At national level, the report recommends that services trade be adequately mainstreamed into national development plans. This requires that a policy formulation exercise be informed by country-wide consultations with all the major stakeholders.

    At regional level, the report notes that greater coherence could be achieved if a pan-African mechanism is established to allow for the continuous consultation and coordination of a regional agenda and concerns relating to services trade that arise within the regional economic communities and the African Union.

  • “Nigerian foods mean different things to different people”

    “Nigerian foods mean different things to different people”

     

    [dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen it comes to diet, it’s all relative. Food is just as important to one person as it is to another. Yet, what makes food important to each individual cannot be detached from individual cultures and a culinary tradition that seems disgusting to one society may be revered by another.

    For Nigerians, there may be the temptation to travel with extra baggage of local food stuffs, the likes of gari, groundnut or kuli-kuli, palm oil or groundnut oil, egusi (melon), kilishi, ogbono, etcetera. Meanwhile, immigration officers may not allow you travel with them making it difficult altogether.

    It is worthy of mention here that an estimated one million Nigerians and Nigerian-Americans live, study, and work in the United States; while on the other hand, over 25,000 Americans live and work in Nigeria. Therefore, it is not an overstatement to call Nigeria a consistently pro-America nation.

    Unfortunately, these millions of Nigerians often face a problem that most Americans don’t: and that is grocery shopping.  Nigerians prefer eating their cuisine to others available in the US, but Nigerian staples are hard to find.

    Of course there are African stores that cater for multiple African nationalities. Yet even these stores have struggled to support the increasing demand for special Nigerian products.

    Similarly, these stores are on the outskirts of major cities as against the 65% of Nigerians living in other cities for which the stores’ locations are inconvenient.

    Nigerians who live outside of metro areas have to travel hours for their groceries, often to discover that the items they were looking for are out of stock.

    To this extent, the need for an online grocery store with the ability to deliver Nigerian delicacies at the doorstep of Nigerians in America cannot be overemphasized.

    NigerianFoods.com is a platform that inspires and enables people to cook, eat, share and learn about Nigerian cuisine.  It honors tradition but is unabashedly modern.

    Interestingly, Nigerianfoods.com has succeeded in delivering local Nigerian ingredients and foodstuffs to 47 of 50 states in the United States of America (USA) including Puerto Rico as at June 2015.

    Stressing the importance of Nigerian online grocery store to Nigerian-Americans and American locals, Ian Cohan-Shapiro, co-founder Nigerianfoods.com said: “We arrived at providing this service when my school mate at the University, Tosin had to travel several kilometres in search of egusi and eba. Then we agreed on establishing a platform to meet that need for other people who might feel like him.”

    To confirm that, Tosin Osibodu, co-founder and CEO said: “The idea for NigerianFoods.com came when I was studying in New Hampshire and craving Egusi soup. Finding the ingredients I wanted was impossible – I had to resort to bringing extra suitcases full of ingredients from my trips back to Nigeria.”

    According to Cohan-Shapiro, the publicity for Nigerian food stuffs has not been enough and that constitutes the reason why Nigerian recipes are not well known across the world.

    “I have been in Nigeria for a year and half now and my best meal is moi-moi and pepper soup. I like both because they are entirely new to me and I find them interesting.

    “Nigerian foods mean different things to different people. Pepper soup helps me quench cold and it is just perfect for me. I enjoy moi-moi and already mentioned it to my mum who initially had difficulties preparing it but with our practical videos on cooking, she has tried her hands on it a couple of times except that I am yet to taste and certify her moi-moi,” he said.

    The platform was established to deliver the widest selection of Nigerian ingredients in the US (over 180 products), so Nigerians in the US can enjoy the taste of home without hassle.

    It carries egusi seeds, suya seasoning, kilishi and hundreds of other Nigerian special delicacies. Through rich content – videos, food articles and recipes – the platform also provides new ways for Nigerians to engage with their food and identity.

    The online grocery store, headquartered in Lagos-Nigeria, definitely has plans to grow its staff strength but currently has 11 employees across Canada, Indonesia and the United States. “I am the minority in the team,” Cohan-Shapiro enthused.

    The American also added that his presence became necessary when an European called for inquiry, expecting to hear a Nigerian voice but heard a voice close to his from the other end.

    “I picked the call and said hello, how may we help you today. Instead of the caller to answer my question, he was quiet for a while and then asked me a question instead.

    “How come I am not hearing a Nigerian speak for Nigerianfood.com and I replied him because all and sundry needs to be served without the stress of intonation or language barrier. And he was amazed.”

    Furthermore, besides meeting the needs of diasporans, Nigerianfoods.com also has the potential to assist young women and men who have difficulties in preparing certain Nigerian delicacies.

    “We have different practical videos on the platform with clearly indicates steps and procedures for preparing each recipe desired. We do not have all Nigerian recipe yet but you would be amazed at our collections within these 6 months of our operations.

    “We observed that the identity around food is not singular and there are diverse audiences for Nigerian delicacies. Imagine how we combine Chicken Suya Tacos – to suit the appetite of a Nigerian who visits Mexico where Tacos is commonly found,” Cohan-Shapiro said.

    For Osibodu, the group endeavours to meet the need of these diverse audiences who crave Nigerian delicacies while appearing really Nigerian.

    The company hires locally and supports exports of local agricultural products thereby contributing to the revenue of the Nigerian Export-Import.

  • APC diaspora commends Buhari on bailout package

    APC diaspora commends Buhari on bailout package

    The All Progressive Congress, APC Scandinavia on Thursday commended President Muhammad Buhari for the approval of the inclusive relief packages as a bailout for the states of the federation.

    Speaking through the National Coordinator, Ayoola Lawal in a statement, APC Scandinavia described the package as one that will enable the three tiers of government to clear all salaries owed in arrears to hardworking Nigerian workers across the nation.

    Lawal further stressed that the bailout, if properly managed, will enable the states and the local councils meet their payroll responsibilities further.

    “The packages will not only go a long way in ameliorating the financial sufferings of Nigerian workers across the nation, who have without monthly payment of their salaries for several months but also alleviate the psychological pain associated with working without the ability to meet basic needs.

    “The packages include sharing of dividend paid to the Federation Account by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG), a debt relief program designed by the Debt Management Office which will help states restructure their commercial loans which is currently put at over N660 Billion, and extend the lifespan of such loans while reducing their debt-servicing expenditures.

    The National Coordinator further suggested a Central Bank-packaged special intervention fund that will offer financing to the states, ranging from N250 Billion to N300 Billion. “The CBN package be a soft loan available to states for the purposes of paying the backlog of salaries.

    “Any individual or opposition party that thinks Nigerians are gullible to beg them to come to power in 2019 after several years of looting the collective wealth of the nation and psychological torture of the Nigeria people is a jerk.

    “We in APC Scandinavia are very proud and delighted that President Buhari is showing Nigerians and the International Communities that he is a man of his words and a clear pointer that Nigerians made the right choice of voting the right party to govern them.

    “The promises made by APC and the President during the election campaigns are not the usual mantra of the past political elites of PDP. The promises are genuinely crafted out of justifiable demands and needs of an average Nigerian and a nation in dare need of real and authentic leadership,” he said.

    he therefore called for apositive change in all areas of governance, sustainable growth and development in the entire country which is devoid of political affiliations.

    “Civil servants will again see dignity in their labour and contributions to the national growth after several months of unpaid salaries and eroding pride as a civil servant.

    “We implore the governors to manage properly the packages and maximize the opportunities to deliver better governance to their constituencies,” he urged reiterating the need for Nigerians home and abroad to continue their supports, constructive criticism and prayer for the President Buhari led administration, the NASS, the governors and the APC leadership.

    This is maintained will help the ruling party to further deliver on their promises for a better Nigeria. “Welcome, all to a New Nigeria of our dream,” he summed.