DPR attributes scarcity of petrol in Akwa Ibom to strike by tanker drivers

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The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Eket Field office, Akwa Ibom has attributed the scarcity of petrol in the state to the strike by tanker drivers.

Mr Bassey Nkanga, the Controller of DPR in charge of Akwa Ibom and Cross River, stated this while speaking with newsmen in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom on Saturday.

He explained that the development followed a misunderstanding between the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the state and the tankers drivers.
Nkanga said the tanker drivers had already protested over the arrest of one of their colleagues by NSCDC for alleged loading of adulterated products.

The controller, however, said that the DPR had been making effort to settle the crisis between both parties. “I wonder why the parties are not considering the plight of the people before taking any action,’’ he said.

According to Nkanga, the independent marketers are beginning to take advantage of the problem to make brisk business. He said that more than 200 trucks loaded with the product were parked along the road, but the drivers had refused to enter the city, thereby making life difficult for the people.

Also speaking, Mr Essien Esema, the Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Udom Emmanuel on Petroleum Matters, said the tanker drivers had no reason to embark on any form of strike over the matter.

Esema expressed displeasure with the development, saying that it was not proper for the people to hold the state to ransom at any slight provocation.
He appealed to the people to have a change of attitude for the interest of people of the public.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this is the second time the NSCDC and tanker drivers are having issues. Following the incident, petrol now sells for N170 per litre in the area.

NAN checks also revealed that most of the filling stations don’t open to customers until late in the night to dispense their products.

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JAMB receives 11. 7m applications in 6 years – NBS (Read full details)

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Candidates at a post-UME centre

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.

“In 2010, a total of 1,513,940 applications were received while 423,531 students were admitted.

“This shows that 28 per cent of students who applied for admission were admitted across the 36 states and the FCT in the year under review.

“Adamawa and Niger States admitted 38 per cent of students who applied for admission in 2010.

“Both states received 14,483 and 16,556 applications while 5,678 and 6,278 students were admitted, respectively,’’ it stated.

Similarly, the report stated that 1,636,356 applications were received while 417,341 students were admitted in 2011.

“This simply means that 26 per cent of students who applied for admission were admitted across the 36 states and the FCT in 2011,“it said.

The report said Yobe with 7,879 applications and 3,185 admissions had 40 per cent of students who applied for admission admitted.

NBS report stated that 1,632,835 applications were received in 2012, while 447,176 admissions were granted in 2012, representing 27 per cent of applications for admissions during the year.

“Yobe with 9,064 applications and 4,138 admissions has the highest percentage of applications for admissions with 46 per cent recorded.

“The lowest percentages of applications for admissions were recorded in 2013 and 2014 with 24 per cent and 25 per cent of applications for admissions recorded, respectively during the period under review.

“Yobe with 11,222 applications and 4,084 admissions has the highest percentage of applications for admissions with 36 per cent recorded in 2013.

“ Jigawa with 16,214 applications and 6,169 admissions has the highest percentage of applications for admissions with 38 per cent recorded in 2014,’’ the report stated.

According to the report, the highest percentage of applications for admissions are recorded in 2015 with 30 per cent of applications for admissions recorded.

“Yobe with 17,461 applications and 9,703 admissions has the highest percentage of applications for admissions in the year with 56 per cent recorded,’’ it said.

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Nel Movement – “Agbara” ft. Deola Edge [Mp3 + Lyrics]

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Songs of NEL movement is a gospel and inspirational outreav led by Horla Nel. The movement is about bringing people together in love and unity with the Savior of life. Agbara is their first Official single to be released and it features Deola Edge.

Download and enjoy below…

DOWNLOAD

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Burkina Faso’s ex-leader expected to be tried in March…Read full details

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PHOTO:AFP

Ousted Burkina Faso president Blaise Compaore will likely go on trial in March for his part in the violent crackdown on the 2014 popular uprising that overthrew him, the supreme court prosecutor told AFP Wednesday.

Other members of his former government will also face justice including the ex-prime minister Luc Adolphe Tiao, prosecutor Armand Ouedraogo said.

Compaore, who lives in Ivory Coast, was defence minister as well as president at the time of the insurrection but is only being prosecuted for his role as the former.

“Of the 34 members of (Compaore’s) government, seven will be tried in absentia,” Ouedraogo added.

Compaore lost power after 27 years following a popular uprising in October 2014 against his attempts to change the constitution to remain in office.

Thirty-three people were killed during the crackdown on the demonstration, according to official sources. However the Compaore regime is being prosecuted for just 7 deaths and the wounding of 82 people in the capital.

“They are not being prosecuted for all the deaths related to the popular uprising because not all protesters died from bullet wounds and they were not all in Ouagadougou,” Ouedraogo said.

Only Tiao was jailed for a couple of months before being freed. The other ministers have been banned from leaving the country.

All of those on trial face the death penalty and should they be found guilty Burkina Faso will call for the extradition of those outside the country to face their sentences at home.

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State discovers non-existing schools, health centres on payroll (Read full details)

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Adamawa Government has discovered some non-existent schools and healthcare centres in the state, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

A member of the state Committee for the Payment of Outstanding Salary Liabilities, Mr Bala Sanga, disclosed this on Wednesday at a meeting of the committee.

Sanga, who is the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, said that field intelligence being conducted on local government payroll indicated some schools and health centres in local government areas were non existent.

“There are lots of schools and health centres that do not exist,” Sanga said.

Sanga who did not give the number of such non existent schools and health centre so far discovered and ghost workers involved in the on-going exercise, said there were a lot of abnormalities regarding salaries that needed to be addressed for the state to sanitise the system and save money.

“Just for schools, we have about 500 names that should not be on payroll.”

Sanga also explained that 2,180 names inserted in the payrolls were also discovered in January payroll for local governments. The Auditor General of Local Government, Alhaji Usman Maiha, lamented that there were cases of dead workers still existing on the payroll.

“In one local government, I have report of 18 dead people in payroll and there are cases of people collecting double salaries,” Maiha said.

The Chairman of the committee for the payment of outstanding salary liabilities, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abba-Jimeta, said that the committee had so far received N4.8 billion out of which it had utilised N4.7 billion in settling some arrears owed local government workers, teachers, primary healthcare workers and political office holders.

The committee is responsible for settling salary arrears from the N12. 6 billion Paris Club refund being expected by the state government.

Abba-Jimeta said that the government also approved N32 million for arrears of Development Area Administrators while N1 billion was set aside as arrears of state and local government pensioners. The committee chairman also announced that the state government had resolved to use 50 per cent of N12. 6 billion of the refund for the state’s projects.

He explained that the Memorandum of Understanding between states and Federal Government regarding the refund was that 50 per cent would go for salary arrears and the remaining for projects.

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The Pogbas, brothers turned sibling rivals…See full details

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St Etienne's French forward Florentin Pogba. AFP PHOTO/PHILIPPE DESMAZES

A family football story born on the pitches of Paris’s eastern suburbs arrives at Old Trafford on Thursday as brothers Paul and Florentin Pogba face off in the Europa League.

“The day has come,” says elder brother Florentin, a defender with Saint-Etienne. “We’re going to face each other on the pitch, rather than on our neighbourhood mini-pitch.”

The two Pogbas’ lives have veered in different directions since their childhood scraps on a synthetic pitch in Roissy-en-Brie, 24 kilometres (15 miles) from the centre of the French capital.

Paul, 23 and capped 44 times by France, is the world’s most expensive footballer following his return to Manchester United from Juventus for a fee of £89.3 million ($111 million, 105.2 million euros).

Florentin, 26, opted to represent Guinea at international level and has an estimated transfer value of three million euros according to the respected Transfermarkt website.

United are the richest club in the world. Saint-Etienne are not even the richest club in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, where Lyon are the local powerhouse.

“Even if United are a great club, anything is possible in football,” Florentin told the UEFA website this week. “The fact they’re better than us on paper doesn’t matter.”

Florentin has become accustomed to watching his little brother win from afar and the chances are he will have an opportunity to do so up close in Thursday’s last 32 first leg.

Saint-Etienne may be fifth in Ligue 1 and United sixth in the Premier League, but Jose Mourinho’s star-studded team have gone 16 league games without defeat.

It will be up to Florentin and his team-mates to try to prevent United settling into a rhythm that is often set by Paul’s driving runs and passes to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Florentin has not been a regular starter this season, but in recent weeks Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier has found a place for him at left-back.

With Paul playing in central midfield, their paths may not cross too often, but with both players comfortably over six feet tall (183 centimetres), any clashes could be seismic.

– ‘He goes mad’ –
“If he arrives at full pelt and I have to tackle him, I will,” Florentin told French television show Telefoot.

“I’m not going to knock him out — he’s my brother — but if I have to commit a foul, I’ll do it.”

For Pogba Jnr., the game represents another opportunity to prove himself as a big-game player.

A guaranteed starter, he has played a leading role in United’s current resurgence, but remains without a league goal or assist in 2017.

“In terms of being the world’s most expensive player, I think he has put that to one side because it’s more an issue for the media,” says Florentin, whose twin brother, Mathias, plays for Sparta Rotterdam.

“He’s just playing his football, even though everything he does gets three or four times more attention, good or bad. He can handle all of that because of the mental strength he has had since his youth.

“He is quite irritable though. He doesn’t like to lose. His head starts buzzing when he loses. I learnt to lose and I would say that you’re not losing, but learning. But for him, when he loses, he goes mad.”

United’s other France international, Anthony Martial, knows defeat will be hard to take for whichever brother ends up on the losing side.

“They are well known for being big jokers and mickey-takers, but once they are on the field, it will be like two warriors who are going all-out to win the game,” Martial told the United website.

“If one beats the other, he’ll immediately start giving out loads of stick so they’ll be desperate to do all they can to win!”

Florentin adds: “My parents will have mixed feelings because whatever happens there will be one winner and one loser. However, there are two winners because this game will be an unforgettable occasion.”

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Russian runner banned, loses Olympic gold for doping…See full details

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The ban was back-dated to start on August 24, 2015. CAS said all prizes won between July 26, 2010 and August 19, 2013, are forfeited.

The international sports tribunal on Friday stripped Russian runner Mariya Savinova-Farnosova of the London Olympics 800 metres gold medal and banned her for four years for doping.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said there was “clear evidence” that Savinova was involved in doping from the eve of the European Championship in Barcelona in 2010 until the 2013 world championships in Moscow — including for the 2012 London Games.

The ban was back-dated to start on August 24, 2015. CAS said all prizes won between July 26, 2010 and August 19, 2013, are forfeited.

The CAS acted as the main tribunal in the case as the Russian athletics federation is suspended by the world body, the International Association of Athletics Federations because of its doping controversy.

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Le Pen rallies supporters for French presidential launch

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French far-right party Front national (FN) MP Marion Marechal-Le Pen (C) gestures as she delivers a speech during a two-day political rally to kick off the presidential campaign of the FN presidential candidate on February 4, 2017 in Lyon. PHOTO: JEFF PACHOUD / AFP

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen gives a major speech Sunday to formally launch her presidential bid with a programme featuring many of the themes that propelled Donald Trump to the White House.

Le Pen, who leads the National Front (FN), on Saturday published a list of 144 “commitments” built around putting France first, reclaiming sovereignty from the European Union, and clamping down on immigration.

The 48-year-old is convinced that Trump and the Brexit vote in Britain point to the return of nationalism, while recent domestic events in France’s unpredictable election race could also help her.

“People are waking up. They see Brexit, they see Trump and they’re saying to themselves: ‘It’s worth going to vote’,” her party’s influential deputy leader Florian Philippot said on Sunday ahead of Le Pen’s speech in the east-central city of Lyon.

The French presidential race has been jolted after long-time conservative frontrunner Francois Fillon became embroiled in revelations his wife drew hundreds of thousands of euros in salary as his parliamentary assistant amid suspicions she never actually worked.

And an incident at the Louvre museum on Friday, where a man with two machetes was shot after attacking a group of soldiers, has shifted the focus onto Le Pen’s preferred subjects of security, Islam and immigration.

Polls have shown for months that she will win enough votes on April 23 to reach the second round runoff on May 7, but they also currently show that a mainstream candidate will beat her at that stage.

“French people on the whole share our vision of the country, the themes which are ours: the patriotism on which our project is built, and then the defence of our civilisation,” she said on Saturday.

France was “undoubtedly at a crossroads where tomorrow we might not recognise our country any more”, she said.

She will address supporters at 1400 GMT in the city where she once compared the sight of Muslims praying in the street to the Nazi occupation.

Sources in her party say up to 10,000 people are expected, although the room was only half full on the first day of the rally on Saturday.

– Nepotism claims –

The election had long been seen as a two-horse race between Le Pen and Fillon, but his expenses scandal has further boosted the chances of 39-year-old centrist independent Emmanuel Macron.

“On paper, Macron has the strongest chance of winning,” one of Le Pen’s advisors conceded on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A former economy minister under unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande, Macron is also running as a candidate outside the political establishment and has founded his own movement, En Marche (On The Move).

Benefiting from being a fresh face in a familiar field of characters, the pro-European moderate packed out a 8,000-place venue also in Lyon on Saturday and had thousands more watching on a big screen outside.

Macron said Le Pen “did not speak in the name of the people” and he took aim at nepotism in the FN, which was founded by her father, anti-Semitic former paratrooper Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Marine’s 27-year-old niece, the hardline Marion Marechal-Le Pen, is also a senior figure in the party.

– Tough on crime and the EU –

Among the key proposals in Le Pen’s “commitments” to the nation is a pledge to hold a referendum soon after taking power on whether France should remain in the European Union.

She favours a radically overhauled EU which would repatriate almost all powers over economic policy, currencies and border control to member states.

She also proposes “zero tolerance” of crime, 15,000 extra police, imposing higher taxes on foreign workers and imports, as well as freeing small firms from red tape.

On economic policy, she wants to lower the retirement age and increase some welfare payments in an agenda designed to appeal to hard-pressed areas suffering from job losses.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lbHUdy

FG explains role of task force on food prices (Read full details)

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Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo(right) in a meeting with the Food Security Task Force members at the Presidential Villa yesterday

The Federal Government has said that the inter-ministerial task force set up to address causes for the continuous increase in food prices was not meant to discourage farmers in the country.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, told newsmen in Abuja on Saturday that it was aimed at balancing and equalising food prices across the country.

Ogbeh, who was reacting to some media reports that the idea was anti-farmers, said it was rather intended to ease the transportation of agricultural goods from one place to another, given that high cost of transportation is a major cause of price increases.

“There is no attempt by the government to regulate prices because it cannot work.

“What government is worried about is the high cost of transporting commodities in some parts of the country and the lack of availability in some parts while there are surplus in some other parts.”

He said the federal government was exploring the possibility of creating centres to enhance movement of the items from areas of production to other areas where they are needed as a way of drastically reducing their eventual prices.

“Where there is a surplus of yams, the trains will move them down to other parts,’’ the minister said.

Ogbeh, also a member of the committee, expressed concern over some illegal checkpoints and revenue collectors along transportation routes for food items, saying this also had its impact on the price of food items.

According to him, the illegal payments made by transporters and producers add to the prices of the produce, and are the major causes of the high cost of the items.

He expressed concern over the dilapidating nature of roads across the country, which, in the absence of rail, had become the major source of moving items, which was worsened by the operation of many illegal checkpoints.

“It will take a trailer a week to move from Yola to Lagos because these illegal citizens close the road and say they are collecting revenue. It is an illegal activity.

“We have written to state governors, we have told police.

“This means that the government will give these framers some certain level of support but it is definitely not an attempt to regulate prices. We cannot and if we try to do that, then we will discourage the producers,’’ Ogbeh said.

He assured farmers and producers that the committee was currently working assiduously to achieve its mandate in their interest and that of Nigerians.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government, on February 1, during its Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting set up the committee, mandating it to present a report within one week.

Aside Ogbeh, other members of the committee are the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu and Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.

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FG explains role of task force on food prices

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Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo(right) in a meeting with the Food Security Task Force members at the Presidential Villa yesterday

The Federal Government has said that the inter-ministerial task force set up to address causes for the continuous increase in food prices was not meant to discourage farmers in the country.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, told newsmen in Abuja on Saturday that it was aimed at balancing and equalising food prices across the country.

Ogbeh, who was reacting to some media reports that the idea was anti-farmers, said it was rather intended to ease the transportation of agricultural goods from one place to another, given that high cost of transportation is a major cause of price increases.

“There is no attempt by the government to regulate prices because it cannot work.

“What government is worried about is the high cost of transporting commodities in some parts of the country and the lack of availability in some parts while there are surplus in some other parts.”

He said the federal government was exploring the possibility of creating centres to enhance movement of the items from areas of production to other areas where they are needed as a way of drastically reducing their eventual prices.

“Where there is a surplus of yams, the trains will move them down to other parts,’’ the minister said.

Ogbeh, also a member of the committee, expressed concern over some illegal checkpoints and revenue collectors along transportation routes for food items, saying this also had its impact on the price of food items.

According to him, the illegal payments made by transporters and producers add to the prices of the produce, and are the major causes of the high cost of the items.

He expressed concern over the dilapidating nature of roads across the country, which, in the absence of rail, had become the major source of moving items, which was worsened by the operation of many illegal checkpoints.

“It will take a trailer a week to move from Yola to Lagos because these illegal citizens close the road and say they are collecting revenue. It is an illegal activity.

“We have written to state governors, we have told police.

“This means that the government will give these framers some certain level of support but it is definitely not an attempt to regulate prices. We cannot and if we try to do that, then we will discourage the producers,’’ Ogbeh said.

He assured farmers and producers that the committee was currently working assiduously to achieve its mandate in their interest and that of Nigerians.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government, on February 1, during its Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting set up the committee, mandating it to present a report within one week.

Aside Ogbeh, other members of the committee are the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu and Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kstNkV

Apple to start building iPhones in India

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Apple is to start making iPhones in India this year, a local government official said Friday. PHOTO: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Apple is to start making iPhones in India this year, a local government official said Friday, as the company seeks to tap into a booming middle class while sales in China slow.

Karnataka’s IT minister said Apple had agreed to assemble its hugely popular phones in the southern state, whose capital Bangalore is India’s technology hub.

Apple, which has not commented on the minister’s statement, remains a relatively small player in India, where sales of its smartphones lag those of rival Samsung.

But chief executive Tim Cook said this week it would “invest significantly” in the country of 1.25 billion people.

“We have an understanding with Apple and we expect them to start manufacturing in Karnataka by the end of April,” state minister of information technology and biotechnology Priyank Kharge told AFP. He said the new operation would likely assemble iPhones for the domestic market.

Apple has only a two percent share of the Indian market, well behind rival Samsung on 23 percent, according to research firm Canalys. By pricing itself exclusively at the luxury end, Apple has distinguished its brand from Samsung which has both low-cost and high-end phones.

Last year Apple had 48 percent of the premium sector in which phones sell for $450 and above.

It applied to open Apple Stores in India last year, but was reportedly rebuffed because of a diktat that states foreign retailers must source 30 percent of their products locally.

New Delhi has since relaxed the rules, giving companies up to eight years to meet the sourcing requirements, as part of a push to attract foreign investment and create jobs.

It is not clear whether the Karnataka plans would help it clear that hurdle but experts said manufacturing locally would reduce the company’s costs and enable it to lower prices.

“They’re eager to be here because they’ve identified India as a strategic focus market,” said Jaideep Mehta of research firm IDC.

“They had a fantastic 2016 in India and shipped more two million devices to India, and now they’re looking to ultimately manufacture here as that gives them more flexibility to respond to market changes.”

Apple currently sells through third-party retailers in India, which accounts for only around one percent of global iPhone sales.

Experts say India’s giant population and low number of smartphone owners relative to its size mean it is a huge potential market.

Last year Cook visited India on a charm offensive and was pictured using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gold iPhone to launch the premier’s new app.

Analysts said that if confirmed the move would be a coup for India’s government, which has been trying to persuade foreign companies to manufacture in the country.

Reports in Indian media said Wistron Corp, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, was lined up to assemble iPhones at a plant on the outskirts of tech hub Bangalore.

Apple outsources all its manufacturing globally.

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