First ladies’ impunity should stop — Falana

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Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, in this interview with LEKE BAIYEWU, says the office of the First Lady is illegal and the roles of president/governors’ wives should be limited

W hat does the Nigerian constitution say about the office of the First Lady and what are the roles assigned to the occupant?

The post of the First Lady is not a creation of the constitution. In other words, there is no mention or reference to the post in the constitution or any other statute in the land. So, the question of assigning responsibilities to the office does not arise. In the first and second republics, there was no office of the First Lady. Even under successive military regimes up to the Muhammadu Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon era, the post was unknown. It was under the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida junta that the wife of the military president created the post, albeit illegally. There was no decree to back it up.

Unemployment giving me sleepless nights — Okonjo-Iweala

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The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the spate of unemployment in the country is giving her sleepless nights.

Okonjo-Iweala said this while inspecting an ultramodern Information and Communications Technology factory of Omatek Nigeria Plc in Lagos on Friday.

She said, 

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics, each year, about 1.8m young Nigerians enter into our labour market and we need to ensure that our economy provides jobs for them.

“In fact, some people ask, ‘What keeps you awake at night, with regard to this economy?’ I say it is the issue of job creation. And I know this is what keeps Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) awake at night as well.

“That is why we have responded to the challenge of creating jobs by trying to transform several sectors of the economy; from agriculture, where we’re expecting to create 3.5m jobs and where the progress of reaching our goal of feeding this country is already well advanced.”

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We’re searching for Fashola’s successor – ACN (Tinubu to impose his wife on Lagos?)

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The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has refuted speculations that Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the wife of the National Leader of the Party, Bola Tinubu, has been chosen to succeed Governor Babatunde Fashola as Lagos governor.  The speculations, which have become a subject for debate on the Internet, has it that Tinubu has decided to impose his wife on the state, by  ensuring that she emerges as the candidate of the ACN in the 2015 governorship election.

But the Publicity Secretary of Lagos ACN, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, told SUNDAY PUNCH that it was mere fabrication, saying the Senator was not interested in governing the state. “No, it’s not true. There is no element of truth in that. It is a figment of the imagination of the people who are propagating the idea. The woman is not interested in that. There’s nothing like that. We see it as a rumour of the marketplace. It’s all noise and no substance. She is satisfied with where she is in the Senate,” he said.

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Q&A: 10 UNBELIEVABLE Things That Can Spoil Your Fast - Hnmnm

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well this is to all friend that will be fasting shortl...check it out
THINGS WHICH SPOIL FAST

Q. 1: Will fast be spoilt by chewing "Paan" or tobacco?
A. Fast is spoilt by every that thing which is eaten or drunk and so is the case with the chewing of "Paan" (betel leaf) or tobacco even though its spittle is spewed, for, its tiny pieces definitely reach up to the throat. Similarly, putting such thing in the mouth that melts like sugar will also spoil the fast if the fasting man swallows the spittle so sweetened.

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Jungle Justice: Brazilian Referee Beheaded by Fans for Killing Player

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There were absolutely horrific scenes at an amateur football match in Brazil when spectators lynched a referee and put his head on a stake after he had killed a player.  The barely believable incident happened in Maranhao, Brazil, last Sunday.  According to reports in Brazil, referee Otavio Jordao da Silva (20) fatally stabbed footballer Josenir dos Santos Abreu (30) during a heated moment of a match, reports Eurosport.

Santos Abreu is believed to have argued and then struck the referee after being unhappy with a decision.  It is believed the referee was carrying a knife throughout the match and fatally stabbed the player in retaliation.
Santos Abreu was rushed to hospital but died from injuries on the way.

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Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 Crashes At San Francisco Airport

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An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Seoul crashed while landing on Saturday at San Francisco International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.  It was not clear whether there were any injuries, CNN said. The FAA said it did not know how many people were onboard the plane.  Images from television station KTVU in San Francisco showed extensive fire damage to the airplane, which had lost its tail and one of its wings in the crash. Fire engines were on scene and the fire, which had burned through the cabin’s roof, appeared to be out.

ElBaradei picked as new Egypt PM: anti-Morsi movement

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Liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been chosen as Egypt's new prime minister, the Tamarod campaign behind the protests that toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi said on Saturday after talks with the country's interim president.

A military source confirmed to AFP that the former UN nuclear watchdog chief was to be sworn in as premier later on Saturday, three days after the army overthrew Morsi. The official MENA news agency said ElBaradei was in talks with interim leader Adly Mansour.

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If Care’s Not Taken, Nigeria’ll Go The Way Of Egypt, I Refused to Give Up - Muhammadu Buhari

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Three time Presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari(rtd), has warned political leaders in the country to take a cue from what happened in Egypt a few days ago.

Egyptian President, Mr. Mohammed Morsi, was on Thursday overthrown by the country’s military after days of protest near the Presidential Palace.

Speaking at the public presentation of two books by Malam Nuhu Ramalan, Head of Political Science Department of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria, the former Head of State said:
“I encourage young men to buy the books to know their history. Although I know history would keep on repeating itself, as it (has) just been in Egypt. Nigeria would not be an exception, and by the way we are going only God knows where we are going to end up, but I hope we would end up well”.

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Voodoo man manhandled by Angry youths over suspected killer charms

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An herbalist, Ndem Asuquo renown for being a specialist in preparing killer charms for his clients, recently cheated death as he was seriously battered in Creek Town, Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State by angry youths.  Eye witness account had it that the voodoo man was manhandled by youths of the area while allegedly preparing a fetish concoction to kill the youth leader of the town, purportedly for one of his clients, identified as Bassey Nyong who was forced out of office by the youths.  Bassey who lost the fight to retain the youth’s leadership seat of the town, enlisted the services of the herbalist, renowned for preparing killer charms.

suicide bomber ‘kills 12’ inside police station

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At least 12 people have been killed and five wounded in a suicide attack at a police station in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, officials say. Most of the victims are thought to be police officers who were having lunch at the time the attacker struck.  The station in Tirin Kot is used by police guarding the road to Kandahar. A senior intelligence official told the BBC that the assailant had managed to gain entry to the dining hall because he was wearing a police uniform.

It was not clear if the bomber was a member of the police force, but Mohammed Khpalwak said it was a clear breach of security that would be investigated. Five people were also injured in the incident.  Some of the casualties were said to be friends and relatives of the police officers who had joined them for lunch. Afghan police have consistently been targeted by the Taliban, and this attack comes shortly after Nato handed over security responsibility to local Afghan forces.

In a separate incident yesterday, two children were killed by a roadside bomb in the Chora district, officials said. They were thought to be aged 10 or 11.

'World's biggest cocaine dealer' deported to Italy

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An Italian mafia capo alleged to be the biggest cocaine trafficker in the world will be deported to Italy on Saturday, a day after being arrested in a Colombian shopping mall, prosecutors said.

Roberto Pannunzi was detained in Bogota with a fake Venezuelan identity card in a joint operation by Colombian police together with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

"He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world," said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.

"He is the only one who can organise purchases and sales of cocaine shipments of 3,000 kilos (6,600 pounds) and up," he said.

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Gunmen kill 42 in school attack in Nigeria: Medical Worker

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Gunmen believed to be Islamists from Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgent group killed 42 people, mostly students, in an overnight attack on a secondary school in restive Yobe state, a medical worker and residents said Saturday.

"We received 42 dead bodies of students and other staff of Government Secondary School (in) Mamudo last night. Some of them had gunshot wounds while many of them had burns and ruptured tissues," Haliru Aliyu of the Potiskum General Hospital told AFP.

Mamudo is some five kilometres from Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe State which has been a flashpoint in the Boko Haram insurgency in recent months.

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US: new missile test fails - Pentagon

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A test of the only U.S. defense against long-range ballistic missiles failed on Friday, the third consecutive failure involving the interceptor system managed by Boeing Co, the Defense Department said.

"Program officials will conduct an extensive review to determine the cause or causes of any anomalies which may have prevented a successful intercept," it said in a statement.

The military has tested the so-called ground-based midcourse defense system 16 times. It has succeeded eight times, with the last intercept in December 2008.

The Pentagon said this week that the test would not affect its decision to bolster the U.S. missile defense system. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the move in March following threats by North Korea.

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9-11: advanced knowledge, MOSSAD, CIA and the PNAC

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The world’s mass media have recently publicized the case of Susan Lindauer, a former CIA operative who was arrested under the Patriot Act after she attempted to testify about 9-11 and U.S. Government foreknowledge and involvement in the attacks of 9-11-2001. The U.S. Government sent 5 FBI agents to her home and arrested her and then attempted to administer psychotropic drugs to her and hold her without trial or hearing.

Since 9-11 the mass media, in particular in the U.S. has almost never publicized the plights of the thousands of voices who have had evidence which runs contrary to the official version of 9-11. The voices which have come out against the official narrative of 9-11 have included structural engineers, respected scientists, military personnel, professors, eyewitnesses, reporters, bloggers and countless in what can be loosely termed the 9-11 truth movement.

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Married man Gets death sentence for keeping six women as $-èx slaves [PHOTO]

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Li Hao, 35, a former government employee of central China, was sentenced to death after being convicted of murder, ráp-e and prostitution, after forcing women to act as s-èx slaves in a dungeon he dug by himself. Hao, imprisoned six women in an underground cell, used them as s-èx slaves for between three and 21 months and killed two of them.

The court heard that Hao, held the six women and forced them into prostitution and had them make pôrnographic videos which he then uploaded to the internet and benefited from the profit.  Hao is a married and has an eight-month-old son. He was working as a clerk for Luoyang’s technology supervision bureau when he was arrested. 
Police discovered the dungeon after his most recent victim, who Hao held as a salve for three months, escaped while being taken out to work as a prostitute.

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Boko Haram: Tension in Ibadan over slain traders

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The gloom and anger that pervaded the camp of traders at the popular Bodija Market in Ibadan over last week’s killing of 10 of their colleagues by the Boko Haram sect in Mugunu, Borno State, is giving way to tension in the city.

 

The arrival of the slain traders’ bodies in Ibadan on Tuesday stirred a torrent of tears and trauma among residents. Since then, Hausa traders in the city have been lying low. Findings by newsmen showed that there had been low turnout of Hausa hawkers at Mokola roundabout, Agodi-Gate Bus stop, Ojoo, Challenge, Beere and Molete areas, where they had hitherto been very visible.
 

At Sabo, the part of the city dominated by Hausa people, most of the bureau de change operators, car dealers and other Hausa traders in the area confined themselves to the safety of their homes.
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Amaechi free to quit PDP – Presidency

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The Presidency on Friday said Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, was free to resign from the Peoples Democratic Party, if he was no longer ready to respect President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the party.

 

PDP leaders in Rivers State led by Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, and a former governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili, had met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, where they tabled the governor’s alleged offences.

At the meeting, Jonathan said disregard for party rules by public officers elected on the party’s platform should not be tolerated.

The governor is currently under suspension for alleged disobedience of the Rivers State PDP’s directive to reinstate the chairman and executive of Obio/Akpor Local Government. He was also suspended for running for a second term as chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, against the party’s directive.

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Gov. Amaechi Update: Odili Joins Jonathan To Fight Amaechi

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It is clear that the BIG enemy that PDP wants to bring down at all cost is Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

But one man that observed is now part of the anti-Amaechi group of “hungry” politicians is Peter Odili, who lost his bid to become Nigeria’s President and also lost out in the battle of who to be made Vice President to late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Odili is back! This time he is joining President Goodluck Jonathan to fight Amaech. But since he had once claimed to have reconciled with Amaechi many would have thought that he would at least remain neutral in the unfolding political battle between Rivers State and Abuja politicians.

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Obi bags Best Governor Award, empowers 5,000 youths

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Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, yesterday bagged the best performing governor on the eradication of polio in the southeast from Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation at a massively attended ceremony at the Women’s Development Centre in Awka.

Speaking while presenting the award to Gov Obi which went with a cash prize of N120 million, the minister of state for health, Dr Mohammed Pate said the award was not by chance as Gov Obi had distinguished himself in the health sector which he observed had resulted in the provision of ambulances to hospitals,
accreditation of schools of midwifery and the wonderful partnership with the Church and described the Anambra example as a total package, noting that the state had remained polio-free in the past five years.

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State Gov in trouble over illegal importation of weapons

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Zamfara State Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari Abubakar has been accused of purchasing guns and ammunition for the purpose of arming vigilance groups. Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Senator Sha’aba Lafiagi made the allegation in the Senate yeterday during a debate on a motion entitled: “The plan of the Zamfara State Governor to arm vigilance groups in the state with rifles.”

The upper chamber was, however, divided as some Senators supported the governor’s efforts to secure the state while others argued that the matter should not be narrowed down to Zamfara, but to other states facing similar security challenges.

However, the Senate, in its resolution, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to deploy more security personnel in Zamfara and other states facing similar security challenges. Senator Basheer Garba Mohammed, alongside 46 other Senators, sponsored the motion.

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