Airlines at Kaduna airport insist on cash payment

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The new look of Kaduna International Airport on Tuesday (7/2/17) in preparation for smooth take-off of flight operations as Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja closes temporary for repairs.<br />

Passengers stranded, lack access to ATM, PoS, BDC

Air passengers plying the Kaduna International Airport (KIA) are facing fresh hurdles as airlines operating at the aerodrome are insisting on only cash transactions.

The newly refurbished airport, which also serves as an alternative to the closed Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, is currentlyoperat without Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of Sale (PoS) and Bureau de Change (BDC) outlets to serve international passengers especially.

Some passengers without cash to buy tickets or prior booking arrangements are left stranded at the airport. The development is coming at a time the Federal Government is working to ensure a seamless transition, as the airport is the only route to connect the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which is the seat of the government. Besides, the cash-only syndrome runs contrary to the cashless policy of the economy.

The Guardian learnt that a family of six was among those stranded at the weekend and unable to travel.A traveller, Samson Akinsiku said it was shocking to find airlines rejecting debit cards, and saying there was no PoS.

“There are three of the airlines heading to Lagos almost at the same time, which is good anyway. To buy ticket became the problem. The first said its PoS was not working, the other two said they did not even have at all. And this is supposed to be an international airport?

“I didn’t know how big the shit was until I asked for an ATM and they said there was none around, except if I go to town some 10 to 20kilomatres away,” he said.

Another traveller, Emmanuel, also expressed concerns on services rendered by airlines officials at the airport, who insisted on closing the counter by 4:00 p.m.

Emmanuel, who travelled by rail from Abuja yesterday to catch a Lagos flight, was shocked to find the airline’s counter closed by 4:30p.m. When he insisted on flying, since the aircraft was still on ground and seats available, he was given a bill of N28,000 instead of N16,000 promo fare. Emmanuel got a hand-written boarding pass in exchange for the N28,000.

When asked why the airline had no PoS and the counter closed early, an Arik Air official said it was the norm around there.“That is how we operate here. We don’t use PoS. You either bring your money or forget it,” the official fired back.

The Communications Manager for Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa said the development was unusual and they were doing everything possible to go cashless in Kaduna by today or tomorrow.

“We have been on this for a while. But it is the banks that kept delaying us. We pushed them all through last week to put the necessary things in place. We know its importance to making passengers have seamless travel experience and we will stop at nothing to have the PoS option working. If not tomorrow (today), then Tuesday latest,” he said.

The Spokesperson of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Henrietta Yakubu, also confirmed that the banks were in the process of beginning operations at the airport, to support transactions, whether cash or cashless.

Yakubu assured that the likes of Zenith, Guaranteed Trust Bank (GTB) and First Bank were due to begin operations and open ATM facilities this week.
It was also learnt yesterday that the Nigeria International Trade and Investment Conference (NITIC) 2017 scheduled to hold this month in Abuja has been postponed.

The organisers, Africa International Trade and Development Trust, said the postponement was due to ongoing repairs on the runway of the Abuja airport.

The conference with the theme “Multiple Frontiers: Moving Away From Oil” is aimed at bringing local and international stakeholders together to discuss international trade and investment in the non-oil sector, focusing on agribusiness, manufacturing and financial services.

The event endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development initially scheduled to hold this month at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja would now take place in June at the same venue.

The spokesperson for the organisers, Sand Mba Kalu said: “Efforts to convince registered participants and embassies to use the Kaduna International Airport were not successful. We have talked to several of them but they seemed not interested in coming through Kaduna airport. So, the only option was to postpone the event to June when renovation work at the Abuja airport runway would have been completed.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations Aviation School Project has commenced the training of all Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel in Nigeria.The training, The Guardian learnt, is to effectively mitigate the threat posed to civil aviation by terrorist organisations around the world. It will also provide a key element for a robust national aviation security policy to meet global standards in infrastructure, safety and security.

The initiative would enhance the capacity within the UN system to help interested member states to implement the multiple dimension of countering terrorism.

The 120-day event tagged: ‘’Train the Trainer’’ is simultaneously ongoing in Lagos and Abuja.The UN-initiated programme comprises 34 aviation security personnel from both Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). While NCAA has four, FAAN which provides security surveillance at all the airports has 30 participants.

The Spokesperson of the NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, confirmed that a total of 25 countries were considered and Nigeria was chosen for the pilot training.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mhzr8y

Developer unveils 200-unit Goshen Garden City in Edo

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Goshen Garden City

Efforts to propagate the concept of affordable housing could manifest early successes this year, if a new initiative being worked out by a private developer in Benin, Edo State is anything to go by.

The new initiative is christened Goshen Garden City, and sits on 32 hectares of land at Amufi area of Ikpoba-Okha Local Council Area, Benin, off Benin-Agbor Expressway. The buildings will harbour 325 homes, consisting of 200 unit-bungalows of three-bedroom each and 125 unit-duplexes of five-bedroom each, the residential estate.

Promoted by a real estate development firm, Messrs Prucriz Property and Investment Limited, the estate also includes a site and services scheme, about two and a half kilometres from the NNPC Depot and Benin Bye-pass. The estate has global certificate of occupancy and built by a consortium of engineers with proven track records in the building industry.

Currently, 21 units of the bungalows have been fully completed and ready for occupation, five units at roofing stage while 14 units are under construction. Facilities in the estate include well-tarred road network, healthcare complex, shopping mall, water supply, sewage treatment plants, police station\CCTV, recreational centre, and standby 33 KVA power generator for uninterrupted power supply and 24 hours security.

The company’s Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ebbihi, , said the first set of residents in the estate will move in this June. “We are offering opportunity to subscribers to live in a serene and secure environment now and in the foreseeable future.”

Ebbihi explained that each unit is built on 450 square metres, and each unit is expected to have a low fence apartment from the perimeter fencing. He revealed that the first set of residents would take possession of their houses in June.

He said the firm is partnering with Delta Trust Mortgage Bank for the funding of the project. There is mortgage facility for those who want to facilitate their purchases through mortgage repayment plan, and arrangement for instalment payment. Each of the bungalows has a price tag of N10 million.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2mYGxn6

Elon Musk: tech dreamer reaching for sun, moon and stars

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PHOTO: Pinterest

Sending tourists for a trip around the moon is the latest big idea launched by Elon Musk, a Silicon Valley star known for turning his passions into visionary enterprises.

Musk has become one of the United States’ best-known innovators. He was a founder of payments company PayPal, electric carmaker Tesla Motors and SpaceX, maker and launcher of rockets and spacecraft.

SpaceX recently announced that two private citizens have paid money to be sent around the Moon in what would mark the farthest humans have ever traveled to deep space since the 1970s.

In a sector where entrepreneurs often speak of “moonshots,” Musk is one of the biggest dreamers.

The 45-year-old South Africa-born entrepreneur has channeled a dot-com fortune into a series of ambitious ventures.

Besides being the head of SpaceX and Tesla, Musk is the chairman of SolarCity, a solar panel installer recently bought by Tesla.

He also operates his own foundation focusing on education, clean energy and child health.

And he drafted a paper detailing the feasibility of an ultra-fast “Hyperloop” rail transport system that would transport people at near supersonic speeds, then made it freely available to enterprises willing to pursue the project.

– ‘Doesn’t sit around’ –

“He is a visionary who has some key passions which he pursues with vigor,” Jackdaw Research chief analyst Jan Dawson said of Musk.

“He doesn’t sit around and wait for people to do something about them; he goes out and does it himself.”

Musk’s penchant for rocketing after his passions may appear to spread him thin, but he has built a record of success.

Musk appears strong on painting big ideas in broad strokes and then enlisting people skilled at tending to the nuts-and-bolts work needed to follow through, say observers.

“He doesn’t seem to be able to focus,” analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said.

“He just likes coming up with the ideas and is good at picking other people who can deal with the plumbing — that is why he is able to do a lot of stuff.”

And while some may wonder whether hubris or realism reigns in Musk’s moves, his businesses have gained value, with the jury still out on the wisdom of the Tesla acquisition of SolarCity.

“He can certainly sell his ideas,” Enderle said.

“The fact his businesses have held together so long indicates he is not a con man.”

– Fighting against evil –

Musk more than a year ago took part in creating a nonprofit research company devoted to developing artificial intelligence that will help people and not hurt them.

Musk found himself in the middle of a technology world controversy by holding firm that AI could turn on humanity and be its ruin instead of a salvation.

Technology giants including Google, Apple and Microsoft have been investing in making machines smarter, contending the goal is to improve lives.

“If we create some digital super-intelligence that exceeds us in every way by a lot, it is very important that it be benign,” Musk said at a conference in California.

He reasoned that even a benign situation with ultra-intelligent AI would put people so far beneath the machine they would be “like a house cat.”

“I don’t love the idea of being a house cat,” Musk said, envisioning the creation of neural lacing that magnifies people’s brain power by linking them directly to computing capabilities.

– Living in a game –

Some of his ideas have prompted questions about whether Musk is a visionary or mad scientist. He has raised eyebrows with a theory that the world as it is known may be a computer simulation.

“I’ve had so many simulation discussions it’s crazy,” Musk said while fielding a question on the topic at the conference.

He maintained that “the odds that we are in base reality is one in billions.”

Musk lives in Los Angeles and holds US, Canadian and South African citizenship.

He moved to Canada in his late teens and then to the United States, earning bachelor’s degrees in physics and business from the University of Pennsylvania.

After graduating, Musk abandoned plans to pursue further studies at Stanford University and started Zip2, a company that made online publishing software for the media industry.

He banked his first millions before the age of 30 when he sold Zip2 to US computer maker Compaq for more than $300 million in 1999.

Musk’s next company, X.com, eventually merged with PayPal, the online payments firm bought by Internet auction giant eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.

Forbes estimates Musk’s current net worth at $13.4 billion.

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

Uber’s Greyball under scrutiny for blocking government stings

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Uber Technologies Inc

An Uber Technologies Inc. program used to counteract government officials attempting to conduct “sting” operations is drawing scrutiny amid a flurry of scandals plaguing the ride-hailing company.

Uber said the effort is meant to enforce violations of its terms of service agreement that customers accept when they sign up to use the app. The company said its prevention program, known as Violation of Terms of Service or Greyball, can be used to block officials.

“This program denies ride requests to fraudulent users who are violating our terms of service—whether that’s people aiming to physically harm drivers, competitors looking to disrupt our operations, or opponents who collude with officials on secret ‘stings’ meant to entrap drivers,” Uber said in a statement.

The tool allows the San Francisco-based company to show enforcement officers worldwide a fake version of its application in an effort to make it more difficult for authorities to apprehend potentially lawbreaking Uber drivers, according to the New York Times, which reported on Greyball earlier Friday.

The program has been in place for years. Bloomberg Businessweek reported in 2015 on Uber’s contentious battle with officials in Portland, including that the company turned off the accounts of city staff during a sting operation.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2n1fMdP

Aregbesola greets Adeboye at 75 (Read full details)

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Rauf Aregbesola, Governor State of Osun.

Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has congratulated The General Overseer of The ‎Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)‎, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on the occasion of his 75th birthday.
‎
Aregbesola in a statement signed by the Director of Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon noted that Adeboye is a truly inspiring leader who has dedicated his life to humanity and service in the vineyard of the Lord.

The governor also commended the General Overseer of RCCG for his spiritual and prayerful support to the nation’s leadership at all levels.He said: “You have lived a truly inspiring life of dedicated service in the vineyard of the Lord. Rising above the limitations of a background of deprivation to thrive in academics before going into full time ministry, the phenomenal growth of the RCCG, all clearly testify to God’s hands upon your life and your productive leadership qualities.

“In these critical times in Nigeria’s developmental history, we need, more than ever before, to seek the face of the Lord. Your readiness at all times to offer spiritual and prayerful support to the nation’s leadership at all levels deserves special commendation.”

Aregbesola, who prayed for longer life for Adeboye, added: “On behalf of my family and the good people of Osun, I wish you a happy birthday and many more fruitful years ahead.”

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SpaceX poised to launch cargo from historic NASA pad

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Space X's Falcon 9 rocket is prepared for a launch to the International Space Station February 17, 2017 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on LC39A, one of the renovated Space Shuttle launch pads that SpaceX leases from NASA. The Falcon 9 with a Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to be launched February 18.<br />BRUCE WEAVER / AFP

An unmanned SpaceX spaceship carrying food and equipment to the astronauts living at the International Space Station is poised to blast off from a historic NASA launch pad on Saturday.

The launch of the Dragon cargo ship is scheduled for 10:01 am (1501 GMT) from Cape Canaveral’s launchpad 39A, which was built and used for the US space agency’s pioneering missions to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s.

It was also the blastoff point for sending American space shuttles into orbit, until the shuttle program came to an end in 2011.

SpaceX, headed by billionaire internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, managed to negotiate a lease with NASA for the launchpad in 2013, beating out its competitor Blue Origin, which is headed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

By the time the launch pad is completely outfitted for sending astronauts to space in 2018, the company will have spent over $100 million to outfit it for modern day spaceflights, said SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell.

“I wouldn’t say we saved a bunch of money here,” she told reporters, but added that the launchpad’s singular place in American space lore made the price tag worthwhile.

“My heart is pounding to come out here today,” she told an outdoor press conference near the launchpad, recalling how she watched the Apollo 11 mission’s July 1969 lunar landing on television with her father as a child.

“I can tell you it is an extra special launch tomorrow, for sure. Maybe extra nerve-wracking,” she added.

– Helium leak –

SpaceX has endured two costly disasters in the past two years — a launchpad blast that destroyed a rocket and its satellite payload in September, and a June 2015 explosion after liftoff that obliterated a Dragon cargo ship packed with goods bound for the space station.

The Hawthorne, California-based company has already made one successful return to flight in January of this year, from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

Saturday’s planned launch was left somewhat in question, after SpaceX discovered a “very small” leak in the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on Friday, Musk tweeted.

“I believe we found it,” Shotwell said, adding the problem involved a helium leak and that engineers were still working to figure out the root cause.

“As far as I know right now, we are going to proceed with the count.”

If Saturday’s launch — meant to carry 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of gear into orbit — is delayed, another opportunity opens up Sunday morning.

The weather forecast for Saturday’s attempt was 70 percent favorable, officials said Friday.

– Landing attempt –

Following the launch, SpaceX plans to try landing the booster on solid ground at a different part of Cape Canaveral.

If successful, the upright touchdown of the Falcon 9’s first stage would mark the third time SpaceX has managed to stick a landing on solid ground.

Other such landings have taken place on floating ocean platforms, as the company perfects its techniques of powering costly rocket parts back to land instead of jettisoning them in the ocean after a single use.

The Dragon will spend two days in orbit before arriving at the space station early Monday.

The cargo resupply mission, known as CRS-10, is the 10th of up to 20 planned trips to the space station as part of a contract between SpaceX and NASA.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2lt0alU

Michael Flynn resigns as Trump’s national security advisor…Read full details

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(FILES): This file photo taken on February 01, 2017 shows US National Security Advisor Mike Flynn speaking during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2017. The White House announced February 13, 2017 that Michael Flynn has resigned as President Donald Trump's national security advisor, amid escalating controversy over his contacts with Moscow.  AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM

Donald Trump’s national security advisor Michael Flynn resigned amid controversy over his contacts with the Russian government Monday, a stunning first departure from the new president’s inner circle less than a month after his inauguration.

The White House said Trump had accepted Flynn’s resignation amid allegations the retired three-star general discussed US sanctions strategy with Russia’s ambassador Sergey Kislyak before taking office.

Flynn — who once headed US military intelligence — insisted he was honoured to have served the American people in such a “distinguished” manner.

But he admitted that he “inadvertently briefed” the now Vice President Mike Pence with  “incomplete information” about his calls with Kislyak.

Pence had publicly defended Flynn, saying he did not discuss sanctions, putting his own credibility into question.

“Regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador. I have sincerely apologised to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology,” read Flynn’s letter, a copy of which was released by the White House.

The White House said Trump has named retired lieutenant general Joseph Kellogg, who was serving as a director on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to be interim national security advisor.

Flynn’s resignation so early in an American administration is unprecedented, and comes after details of his calls with the Russian diplomat were made public — upping the pressure on Trump to take action.

Several US media outlets in Monday reported that top Trump advisors were warned about Flynn’s contacts with the Russians early this year.

Questions will now be raised about who knew about the calls and why Trump did not move earlier to replace Flynn.

Ahead of Flynn’s resignation White House spokesman Sean Spicer insisted Trump was not consulted about Flynn discussing sanctions, nor did he task his top national security aide to do so.

Asked if Trump was aware Flynn would raise sanctions with the Russian envoy, Spicer said: “No, absolutely not. No way.”

Blackmail?
A former head of defence intelligence, Flynn’s encounters with Russian President Vladimir Putin had already drawn criticism.

US media reported on Monday that the Justice Department had warned the White House that Flynn had misled senior administration officials about the contents of his talks with Kislyak and that it could make him vulnerable to Russian blackmail.

The message was delivered in the last days of Barack Obama’s administration by then-acting attorney general Sally Yates — who Trump sacked after she instructed Justice Department lawyers not to defend his contested travel ban.

CNN said then director of national intelligence James Clapper and John Brennan, the CIA chief at the time, agreed the White House should be alerted about the concerns.

In the hours before his resignation, some Trump aides suggested that Flynn has the full support of the president.

Until now, Flynn had been an instrumental player in Trump’s inner circle.

He was an early supporter of Trump’s improbable bid for the presidency and has encouraged tougher policies on Iran and a softer policy on Russia.

That was a sharp break with the Obama administration, which introduced a wave of sanctions against Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and what US intelligence says were its attempts to sway the 2016 election in Trump’s favour.

Washington and Moscow had also clashed over alleged war crimes in Syria, where Russia is accused of aiding the bombing of hospitals and other civilian targets. Despite this, Flynn had argued for rapprochement.

A few of Trump’s fellow Republicans had joined their Democratic foes in urging Flynn to resign over a situation that had become a major embarrassment for the ruling party.

“It is his duty to be fully transparent and forthright in his actions — anything less is unacceptable,” Representative Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican, said in a statement.

“If in fact he purposely misled the president, he should step down immediately.”

Flynn’s resignation took place just over three weeks into Trump’s presidency and days before his first official talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussions in which the president’s national security advisor would normally have a key role.

The Justice Department and Congress are both investigating possible links between Trump campaign advisors and Moscow, and US intelligence has concluded that Putin personally directed an operation to interfere in the US election.

On December 29, the Obama administration sanctioned four Russian individuals and five entities and expelled 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation.

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