Kaduna warns against reprisal attacks

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herdsmen

• Police parade suspected killers of herdsmen in Southern Kaduna
• Ortom accuses FG of slow response to situation in Benue

To forestall another crisis after the incident in Southern Kaduna, the state government has warned the citizens against inciting statements, documents and video clips that could lead to reprisal attacks due to the ethic clash in some parts of the country.

The warning was issued yesterday after members of the State Security Council met and vowed to deal with those circulating inciting documents and video materials to cause further crisis in the state.

A statement by the spokesperson to the governor, Samuel Aruwan, said: “Residents of Kaduna have been urged to do their best to uphold peace in the state. Citizens should remain calm and firmly reject any attempt to drag them into violent events happening elsewhere in the country.”

He added: “The State Security Council specifically warns those trying to incite unnecessary tension because of events elsewhere in the country. Such persons should desist from circulating videos and images with provocative commentaries and calls to citizens for reprisal attack.

“Already, the unfortunate incidents in those parts of the country have been taken care of, so the government would not watch enemies of peace manipulating the situation to cause problems in Kaduna.”

Meanwhile, the state Police Command has paraded three suspects for allegedly killing two Fulani herdsmen in March at Unguwa Luka in the southern part of the state.

The state Police Commissioner, Agyole Abeh while briefing journalists yesterday said the three suspects had confessed to their involvement in the crime.

One of the suspects, Danjuma Sanni said: “I and my brother went to the farm in search of birds and we saw a Fulani man. Immediately he saw us he brandished his cutlass and my brother engaged him in a fight until he lost control of the cutlass. After seizing the cutlass we used it to machete him until he died and we buried him.”

Still on the activities of herders, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has expressed displeasure over alleged “slow response” of the Federal Government to the incessant killing of farmers in the state by armed herdsmen.

The governor spoke yesterday in Ugba, Logo local council of the state while visiting areas ravaged by herdsmen.

Ortom urged the Federal Government to intervene quickly by assisting the state to end the killings.

And in Delta, the police command has denied a recent report in one of the national dailies which stated that helicopter delivered supplies to herdsmen in the state.

A statement yesterday by Mr. Andrew Aniamaka, the spokesman of the command in Asaba described the claim as false, baseless and misleading.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2nyBzK2

Trouble sees itself in South Africa

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<img class="size-full wp-image-118696 alignleft" src="http://ift.tt/2l8hPif&quot; alt="" width="600" height="338" srcset="http://ift.tt/2l8hPif 600w,http://ift.tt/2maL2qe 640w,http://ift.tt/2l89afx 320w,http://ift.tt/2maHOmQ 531w,http://ift.tt/2l890F5 1062w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"https://cdn.gdn.ng/, S.A.F. Specific foreigners are mentioned: Nigerians, Zimbabweans and Pakistanis. The claim of the creator of the party is that with South African unemployment at 34% all new jobs created go to these foreigners. In addition these foreigners are not only criminals dealing drugs and turning South Africa girls to prostitutes, they also hijack buildings and become slum landlords. And when asked if South Africa did not owe these Africans moral support for the historic support they provided during the struggle, the creator of the party said he never heard of these South African exiles committing crimes where they sought refuge. With all this clarity on his mind and in the public domain, the party held a public rally in Pretoria on Friday, February 24, 2017. The rally visited sensitive political points including the ministry of Home Affairs. This is the ministry, claims the creator of South Africa First, which grants asylum status to these foreigners.

The countries where nationalists, for want of any other political label and an unwillingness to call the South African creator of SAF an alt-conservative, have arisen, these same reasons have been drummed up for their action. But in none of them exist unresolved internal political and economic historical conflicts. In the United States of America the low level civil war is a thing of recent. Asa result, political institutions are already kicking in to assert the rightness of due process. In the United Kingdom, it is really impossible to imagine a British nationalism that would not be thrown into chaos by Irish nationalism, Scottish nationalism, Welsh nationalism and English nationalism. So, Great Britain might exit the European Union while Scotland, Northern Ireland and London stays inside the union. Very little will change here except the collective European agenda of keeping foreigners from war zones out of Europe, union or no union. The creator of SAF claims that there are no wars in Nigeria, in Zimbabwe and in other African countries like DRC and Mozambique. Is this true?

The South African difference is that there are unresolved political and economic historical issues. After over three hundred years of internal, settler colonisation, the like of which did not exist in the rest of Africa, freedom came without resolving the political and economic historical problems that led to the struggle of the Africans in the first place. There is the matter of land. Neither the emotional nor the economic aspects were resolved. The emotional aspect cries for resolution. To own and hold a plot of land in my place of birth! How and why is this impossible? The economic aspect seems insoluble until you speak to the EFF. When freedom came in 1994, these issues were not thrashed out between the newly liberated citizens of the new South Africa black and white. Into the mix arrived the season of migration to South Africa. Remember that whatever infrastructure existed, was created for the 10% of the population of the country. Come 27 April 1994, that infrastructure must now deliver to 100% plus the new arrivals from the rest of Africa. These African refugees, being Africans moved to the townships where South African blacks like them eke out a living of sorts on the edge of white abundance.

Statistics are not available to show the number of foreigners who have sought refuge in South Africa, whether as economic refugees or people fleeing from war, mayhem and general political chaos in their own countries. A new addition to the list comes from a Nigerian who arrived in India and claimed he was seeking refuge from Nigeria’s darkness and lack of electricity. People have arrived in South Africa from every conceivable country in the world. They include Europeans fleeing from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the affected Eastern European countries. They include people from Asia including India. An Indian family is defending itself against the accusation of taking over the state through its relationship with the president of the country. The people who have arrived in South Africa since 1994 include people from North and South America and Canada. Many of these new arrivals are qualified certified economic performers capable of adding value to South African lives. Many are also known criminals. The newly flourishing genre of crime writing mentions the Mafia of Italy, the Triads of China and The Japanese Gangs in their narratives. Crime is paying just as crime writing is paying. Among those arriving in South Africa are people from Ghana and Nigeria, young people from the two Congos and people from North Africa.

All these new arrivals can be split into two groups, a white group and a black group. A possible third group of Asians confuse and maybe assigned to the local coloured communities. Not much noise is made about the white arrivals from Poland, from Ukraine, from Georgia and the broken countries of Eastern Europe. Just like the period of white privilege and apartheid rule, the coming into South Africa by white people was usually welcome because the boost the white population. What is not welcome is the arrival of black people. Instead of being seen as positive, they are seen as leaking pipes draining away the little that black people have.

Years ago, on refugee day, the then mayor of Cape Town invited me, not Trouble, to speak to the refugees. My address was short and to the point of the relevance and positive nature of black arrival in South Africa. We all must join the South African Black in their struggle for more freedoms in the land of their birth. Economic freedom and freedom from discrimination. These are the struggles of South Africans. These must be the struggle that other Africans must join, not fight a civil war with their brothers and sisters.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mF7XON

A man’s gift…

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That whatever ‘gift’ most men give to a woman that is neither their wife nor related to them in any way is not for nothing, and they expect to be rewarded accordingly (deep down)-I have learned!

At a bar sometime back, a man caused a scene a few hours before mid-night…a man that every member of the live band that was on the entertainment stand suddenly focused on because he was ‘spraying’ them heavily with money. He just removes the rubber band on a bundle and scatters the cash on a particular female singer. When that one could not get enough of his ‘goodness’-she went to sit on his laps, as she was singing…only going back to the stage with more money in her hand. When our man was ready to take his leave, he signaled to the female singer to accompany him to his destination.

The lady probably explained that she couldn’t leave -as the band still had more guests to entertain. Our man could not believe her audacity (?) and he flared up, some of the things he said to her in a raised voice were ‘’do you know how much I have wasted on your useless band because of you? You can’t tell me stories now-no, no, no. I won’t take that from you. This is not the first time you are giving me such excuses.’’

All the ‘’chairman, calm down’’ from the management and bouncers at the bar could not make him lower his voice until he was whisked away…to the relief of the lady, who was very embarrassed or so-she seemed.

That actually reminded me of a man that I met some years back, who despite being told that I was not ready for a relationship at the time, still insisted that he just wanted to be a ‘friend’. He started by throwing ‘favours’ my way; whatever I looked at twice got delivered at my doorstep the next day. But the only request I made of him, which was to assist me settle the cost of an international certification examination that I wanted so much to write at the time, was greeted with: ‘’When are you coming to see me?’’

Nobody explained to me that it was time for me to go declare the dividends of the awoof that was threatening to ‘run my belly.’ I also learned to put my ‘long throat’ in check-for good. He never contacted me again- after I failed to ‘visit’ to ‘thank’ him…neither did I ask anything from him again.

To the men…as much as you can, please learn to define the ‘rules of engagement’ under which you are dispensing ‘whatever’ favour to a lady. It is not every lady that is actually taken in by that disposition of being quick with favours.

So, it becomes insulting for a lady that did not ask you for the ‘favour’ that you are rather quick with, or the cash that you are spending left, right and center, to get a ‘’when are you coming to see me’’ attitude from you. Did she beg you?

To the ladies, please ensure that you understand the implied MOU (memorandum of understanding) before you take a penny or even make any request from a “non-relative” male.

If he expects some ‘dividends’ for his efforts and you can’t play ball…please do not lead him on and please, please…leave his money alone!Making a man feel like a mugu (fool) is enough to make most of them feel murderous.

It actually pays to rein in your ‘long throat’-if you are not ready to deliver the dividends of his strings-attached generosity to him. “Free lunch” is fast dwindling in the affairs of men and women of this age.

Even in some supposed matters of the heart, the implied code is …”if it’s going to be about my body, your cash has to talk.” And vice versa. Or what most of us have come to know as “money for hand-back for ground.”

Pathetic, right?
That’s how much we have reduced love…which should actually reflect nothing but selflessness and goodness from the heart.

You know some ‘goodness’ screams ‘motive on board’?
A lady once told me that when she was in a relationship with the last man she dated before she met her husband, he seemed to know her needs without her asking. Somewhere along the line, it became obvious that they were ill-suited for marriage and came to an amicable resolution for each person to try his/her luck elsewhere while still remaining good friends. But it just seemed that all his care towards her left with the “intimate” part of the relationship because the few times she made an effort to ask for favours…the response she got was a cold “I will think about it.’’

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

Army flags off new Brigade in Bayelsa

Ideye hits China today

Rangers ambush ABS

Mikel opts out of Eagles friendlies in London

Assemblies of God crisis: I remain GS —Rev Emeka

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By Dennis Agbo & Chinedu  Adonu

ENUGU—Despite the Supreme Court striking out his appeal against his rival, Rev. Chidi Okoroafor, Rev. Paul Emeka has maintained that he remains the General Superintendent, GS, of Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria.

This came as the GS of the church, Reverend Chidi Okoroafor, said the three-year leadership crisis that engulfed the church should not have been taken to court, but resolved internally.

Rev Okoroafor at a briefing at EVANGEL University, Enugu following the recent Supreme Court ruling which he said affirmed his leadership of the embattled church, said: “In the first place, Assemblies of God by biblical standards and our constitution should not have gone to court to settle an internal matter.

“However, ethics demands that when one takes you to court, you must necessarily answer to show your regards for this quintessential arm of government, the judiciary. This is exactly what happened.

“When our former leader, Rev Paul Emeka, unfortunately took the church to court instead of resorting to our internal administrative set up capable of resolving any issue, the church responded accordingly. ”

I remain GS—Rev Emeka

But at a different briefing in Enugu, Emeka maintained that in as much as the Supreme Court struck out his case based on two technical grounds, the apex court neither pronounced him removed from the position nor  declared Okoroafor as the head of the church.

Emeka, however, said he had almost completed processes of re-filing the matter at the High Court to follow due procedure of application and service.

Emeka said: “The judgment of the court has never said I am not the General Superintendent nor did it say Chidi you are the General Superintendent.”

 

 

 

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Senate urges FG to rename Benin Airport after Oba Erediauwa

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By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—THE Senate, yesterday, asked the Federal Government to immortalize the late Oba of Benin, Oba Erediauwa, by renaming the Benin Airport, Oba Erediauwa Airport.

The Senate also urged the Federal Government to “prevail on the relevant Ministry, Department or Agency vested with the duty of effecting the resolution of this motion to so do.”

The resolutions of the upper Chamber, yesterday, were sequel to a motion by Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo South), entitled  “Befittingly renaming the Federal Airport, Benin City, after the late Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa, Oba of Benin Kingdom.”

In the motion, Senator Urhoghide’s two prayers were unanimously taken by the senators, just as he noted that the motion became imperative because of the late Oba Erediauwa’s selfless service to Bini Kingdom and Nigeria in general during his lifetime.

Urhoghide’s motion read: “Late Oba Erediauwa, as young Prince Solomon Akenzua, joined the Colonial Civil Service upon completion of a Law degree from Cambridge University. He worked extensively in the then Eastern Region as an Assistant District Officer serving as a judge in land cases as well as an administrator in the district which duties he discharged creditably. In 1965, he transferred to the Federal Civil Service, Lagos, and rose to the rank of Permanent Secretary, a position he also performed in meritoriously.

“In 1968, he became the substantive Federal Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power and Steel which he helped immensely to stabilize for optimum performance. In his capacity as a federal officer, he worked closely and tirelessly with the former military heads of state, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and General Yakubu Gowon.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Senate urges FG to rename Benin Airport after Oba Erediauwa appeared first on Vanguard News.

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Reps to debate alleged dumping of suspected toxic waste in Koko today

N15.1m ransom paid for Iba monarch’s freedom, witness tells court

NBC to shut down broadcast stations over N5bn debt

Screening of commissioner nominees tears Akoko Edo APC apart

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By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN—CRISIS is brewing in the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akoko Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, following allegations of unlawful and unilateral nomination of candidates for the position of commissioner  and constitution of a committee to screen them without following due process levelled against the chairman of the party in the council, Mr Jeffery Obasanmi, by leaders of the party.

It will be recalled that the leadership of the party in the state had directed the 18 local government chairmen of the party to liaise with other leaders to submit five commissioner nominees from each council to Governor Godwin Obaseki after they must have been screened by the party leaders at the council level.

However, 10 ward leaders of the party rose from a meeting, yesterday, passing a vote of no confidence in the chairman and mandated the vice chairman of the party to take over the running of the party.

Some of those who signed the petition against the chairman include Ashorfor Sylvester,  Afolabi Daudu,  Gbenga Martins, Mrs Victoria Balogun and six others.

The Chief Whip of the state House of Assembly and member representing the area in the Assembly, Mr Kabiru Adjoto, who reacted to the vote of no confidence, said, “The entire leadership in Akoko Edo has rejected the chairman. He constituted an illegal committee to screen unqualified people as commissioner nominees.”

 

The post Screening of commissioner nominees tears Akoko Edo APC apart appeared first on Vanguard News.

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NPC reassures enumerators of adequate security in Kogi

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National Population Commission

The National Population Commission (NPC) has reassured its enumerators for the third phase of the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in Ijumu Local Government of Kogi State of adequate security protection during the exercise.

This is coming against the backdrop of incessant kidnapping activities in recent times in the state. The NPC federal commissioner for the state, Alhaji Muhammad Akubo Aikoye said the third phase of the EAD would commence on 20th February 2017 to end on the 10th of March, 2017 in Ijumu Local Government.

The commissioner, who gave the assurance yesterday during a press briefing at the state headquarters in Lokoja yesterday, said they have made contacts with all security outfits for adequate security coverage. He called on all to take the exercise seriously since it is the fulcrum on which the entire census architecture rests.

He warned those preparing for malpractices in the EAD that will enable them to gain advantage to shelve their plans, as the 2018 census would be biometric-based, which will capture finger prints and facial impression of persons during the exercise.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kSMH3L

CWG to offer infosys finacle on cloud to Nigerian banks

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CWG, the largest Systems Integration Company in Sub-Saharan Africa, has announced that they will offer the Infosys Finacle banking solution as a managed service on cloud.

This offering will enable Nigerian banks to leverage Finacle’s industry-leading solution suite, along with other enterprise-class applications hosted on a private cloud.

CWG Plc is offering Finacle on private cloud, hosted on Huawei hardware and powered by Intel X86 chipset. The new solution will enable banking running Finacle to optimize infrastructure and technology management costs, while assuring agility and flexibility to scale operations rapidly

With this new offering, hosted on a private cloud, Finacle becomes the first comprehensive banking platforms to be available as a managed service on cloud in Nigeria.

More so, banks can use this offering for hosting their development, training and testing (SIT/UAT) environment on the cloud. An option to move the production environments on cloud is marked for future availability

The offering will as well help optimize operating expenditure by ensuring optimum infrastructure utilization, and substantial reductions in infrastructure and application management cost

With the cloud deployment, banks can easily integrate new innovations from Finacle on an ongoing basis, and minimize the costs and efforts of implementation

James Agada, chief executive officer, CWG, said: “Banks understand that technology is critical for simplifying banking to create sustainable business growth. But many are burdened with disparate host systems added piecemeal, over time, and developed on aging technology. These legacy systems are simply not equipped to readily respond to change. A pain-free approach to banking transformation, with an adaptive solution at the core, will prove invaluable for banks looking to gear themselves for tomorrow. We are happy to offer Finacle on Cloud, as an adaptive solution to give banks the leverage to innovate and transform.”

Venkatramana Gosavi, senior vice president and head growth markets, Infosys Finacle said: “Increasingly banks will need to adopt flexible cloud deployment strategies, so that they can manage the growing banking transactions load from digital age channels, even while reining in technology management costs. The cloud play is a game changer to improve cost efficiency and agility. We are happy to see CWG take the lead in helping Nigerian financial institutions of all sizes, begin their cloud journey with confidence, with the benefit of the proven Finacle solution”.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lo3z5M

Is a 2% VAT increase necessary in South Africa?

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South Africa's currency

While higher taxes on corporates and the super-rich may be popular ideas, they could in fact be detrimental to the economy. Consumers may still be treasury’s best hope.

It is no secret that Treasury is under substantial pressure to find a way of bringing in the necessary funds. Tax Consultant for Mazars, Tertius Troost says that with Treasury’s stated goal to raise R43 billion over the next two years, the long-term effects of every possible tax change needs serious consideration.

“Some of the most popular tax changes that have been discussed in the media include measures like new tax brackets for high-net-worth individuals and increases in corporate tax, which may in fact negatively affect the economy in the long-run. At the same time, the tax increases that seem to affect the average consumer the most, just may be the most viable option,” Troost says.

As Troost points out, there is currently a global trend towards lower tax rates, with countries like the UK and the United States proposing to cut corporate tax to below 15%. “Reducing the corporate tax rate, encourages growth and increases jobs, which translates to increased revenue collection from individuals.”

“Unfortunately, South Africa is unable to follow this global trend as a result of its vast budget deficit. Any upward adjustments of these rates would result in South Africa becoming less competitive internationally which will decrease foreign investment that is vital to the country. Luckily, I believe that Treasury also sees this issue,” he states.

A new, so-called super tax bracket may also not be a permanent solution. “South Africa has imposed super tax brackets in the past and these have had some success historically.”

“It is a decision that Treasury should not make lightly. Individual income tax is the simplest source of revenue to adjust but it was already raised two years ago. It will be difficult to justify any increase since they are not able to show an improvement in curbing wasteful expenditure and combatting corruption,” he says.

“Once again, Treasury will need to balance its need to raise gross tax revenue in the short term with the need to encourage increased investment and growth in the country. Raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals may actually drive them to emigrate to more tax favourable jurisdictions, which means taking their money out of the country,” he adds.

According to Troost, an increase in VAT will be the most equitable change that Treasury can impose. “It is the fairest and quickest way to increase revenue and it has remained unchanged for quite some time. It is also widely known that South Africa’s VAT rate is low when compared to other African countries, which is why we believe there is scope to increase.”

“Of course, this is a tax that affects all classes of consumers, which is why Treasury would probably encounter pushback if they plan on increasing it. Its effect on the poor also has political implications. An increase in VAT will need to include amendments to exclude more products consumed by the lowest income classes.”

“Tactically I believe that Treasury’s best move would be to announce a 2% increase in VAT and to adjust that number down to 1% after the initial pushback from consumers,” Troost concludes.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2ld6hIN

How to win over a know-it-all customer

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I wish I could take the credit for all of the strategies I share in Winning at Work and in my books.  But the truth is that I learn far more from the people around me than I could ever teach. A few years ago, when I was working in South Africa, I witnessed a virtual clinic on how to deal with a Know-It-All customer. It was a wonderful thing to watch, and I thought it would be worth sharing.

The customer was, to say the least, obnoxious. He went on and on about how much the store was ripping people off, that he used to be in the manufacturing business and knew what the real value of the goods were. He quoted facts, figures, gross margins and manufacturing costs. He was loud and persistent, and didn’t appear to have any point to his rant other than to impress upon everyone in the store how Very Clever he was.

The young salesman, Chris, handled the situation beautifully. Instead of becoming irritated or defensive as many of us would, he simply stood by the know-it-all customer and listened intently, making strong eye contact, nodding his head and smiling. When the customer had finished his tirade, Chris gave him a broad smile and said, “Thank you. I really learned something today!” The customer beamed, and walked away feeling that he had accomplished something.

Ten minutes later the customer returned with a question, and a completely different attitude. He was warm, and in good humor – returning to the store to speak with his new friend. A new loyal customer from the ashes of a customer from hell. It was a clinic on the value of strong, active listening skills, patience, and a positive attitude!

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

Carlos Santana praises Beyonce after critique

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Carlos Santana

Guitar legend Carlos Santana has voiced regret and praised Beyonce after he suggested that she deserved to lose to Adele for the Album of the Year Grammy.

Santana, in an interview with the Australian Associated Press, said that Adele won because “she can sing, sing.”

“With all respect to our sister Beyonce, Beyonce is very beautiful to look at and it’s more like modeling kind of music — music to model a dress. She’s not a singer, singer, with all respect to her,” he was quoted as saying.

As for Adele, “she doesn’t bring all the dancers and props, she can just stand there and she just stood there and sang the song and that’s it, and this is why she wins.”

He was referring to Adele’s performance at Sunday’s Grammys, where the English singer took the stage twice — including a tribute to George Michael that she started over — while Beyonce put on an elaborate, abstract performance with New Age themes of matriarchy.

Santana, who was speaking ahead of a tour of Australia and other Asia-Pacific destinations, later clarified that he meant to praise Adele but not to denigrate Beyonce.

“My comment about Beyonce was regretfully taken out of context. I have the utmost respect for her as an artist and a person,” he wrote on Facebook.

“She deserves all the accolades that come her way. I wish Beyonce and her family all the best.”

Adele herself said Beyonce deserved to win the top Grammy for “Lemonade,” a celebration of African American women that she intertwined with a film.

Beyonce has won 22 Grammys but never Album of the Year despite three nominations, with some of her supporters feeling she has been sidelined due to racial bias.

Santana, himself a trailblazer as a Mexican American rocker, won Album of the Year with his band in 2000 for “Supernatural.”

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lT7PXs

‘Akeredolu’s government will make Ondo technology hub’

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Chief Rotimi Akeredolu

Plans are underway to make Akure, Ondo State capital, the technology hub of West Africa, by creating the needed ambiance for enthusiasts of technical know-how to thrive in the city.

Babajide Akeredolu, an ICT guru and a son of governor-elect of the state, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), dropped the hint at a meeting organised by “Akure TechUp”, a growing community of technology start-ups.

He said that technology apart from evolving solutions to myriads of contemporary challenges has the potential to engage thousands of young people and make them solution providers.

Akeredolu who is the secretary, Education and Technology sub-committee of the Strategic Development and Policy Implementation Committee set up for the incoming government of the state, assured that young people will be given a sense of belonging when the father takes over.

“Any government seeking to make impact on the lives of young people must look in the direction of ICT which is not only a veritable employment generation avenue, but also capable of making them innovators. I want to commend the “Akure TechUp” for this pioneering move, which deserves the needed government support,“ he stated.

Coordinators of the growing technology community, Joel Ogunsola and Aboluwarin Kitan David, disclosed that programmes like Emerge West Africa Hackathon, Pitch West and West Africa Tech Summit have been lined up to create an enabling environment for technology start-ups to thrive in the State.

Ogunsola stressed the importance of building a community that will work together to create solutions as well as provide employment opportunities and in turn lead to economic growth.

He said: “Akure Tech up is to bring together relevant stakeholders in the industry, leverage on the peaceful atmosphere and considerate cost of living to raise technology giants. We are exploring all avenues of partnership with the government and private sector in making this a reality.”

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

Report blames pilot for NAF aircraft crash in Kaduna

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Nigeria Air Force

The investigative panel set up by the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, to unravel the circumstances that led to the crash of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Dornier 228 aircraft in Kaduna in 2015 has blamed the mishap on human error on the part of the pilot.

It stated that the manufacturers insisted the engine was in good condition before the crash.

An Abuja bound NAF aircraft numbered NAF030 crashed into a house at Ribadu Cantonment on August 29, 2015 after take-off from the Kaduna military airfield, killing all passengers aboard.

Abubakar had aborted a trip to Port Harcourt, Rivers State to visit the site of the crash and immediately set up a committee to unravel the cause of the mishap.

Presenting the report yesterday in Abuja, Chairman of the panel and NAF’s Director of Safety, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Sampson Akpasa, said contrary to the earlier speculations that the crash resulted from engine failure, it was actually caused by human error of the pilot as a report from the manufacturers indicated that the engines were in good flying condition.

“We shipped the engine to Honeywell Aerospace in Arizona USA, manufacturers of the aircraft, where two board members confirmed that both engines and fuel were good,” he said.

He attributed the crash to a special disorientation on the part of the pilot, a condition where a pilot can lose concentration in the course of flying and go off course.

Giving an update on the bombing of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Rann recently, he said the incident was still being investigated and that the panel has been given additional time to enable them to finish the work.

He noted that some other crashes like the Augusta 101 helicopter in Makurdi and F-7Ni in Yola are still being investigated. But “NAF will continue to build capacity by training personnel and getting the best of equipment,” he said.

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