Sanga Local Governmemt Council Under 24-Hour Curfew

Emmanuel Adamu, the Chairman of Sanga Local Government Council of Kaduna State on Wednesday imposed a 24-hour curfew to check the wave of killings and rising tension in the area.

This was made known in a statement issued in Kafachan this afternoon. He said that the curfew was imposed to curb further loss of lives as well as restore normalcy.

According to NAN, the chairman confirmed that more lives were lost before 6p.m. on Tuesday, a development which further increased the tension in the area.

It would be recalled that no fewer than 38 persons were killed on Monday night in Kabamu and Ankpong villages in Sanga LGA in an attack launched by unknown gunmen. 

Adamu, who pleaded with residents to remain calm assured them that the security agencies were on top of the situation.

Related: Gunmen Kill 3 Policemen, 1 Civilian In Fresh Kaduna Attack

World Cup: Nigeria plots Argentina’s fall to end jinx

                           Eagles will battle the Argentines in their final group match.

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When the Super Eagles file out at the Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, it will be with an objective to make certain their qualification into the Round of 16 at the ongoing World Cup in Brazil.

The Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, made this objective clear to his players.

“We have come a long way. We have won one match, got a draw from another. Our chances are brighter now in the group.

“We shall go out there to put up a fight of our lives. In terms of technical preparation for the game, we are ready,’’ Ben Alaiya, Media Officer of the Super Eagles, quoted Keshi as saying.

The President of Nigeria Football Association, NFA, Aminu Maigari, on his part urged the Eagles to go all out against Argentina on Wednesday to ensure the qualification of the team into the Round of 16.

He said he would be delighted with a favourable outcome as the match-day would coincide on his birthday.

“My birthday is on the day we are playing Argentina, and I will feel special if we defeat the Argentines.

“But more than that, a place in the Round of 16 will bring joy to the Nigerian delegation here in Brazil as well as to our people back home.

“We have so many reasons to go all out on Wednesday for victory.

“The Argentines have always beaten us at the FIFA World Cup, though narrowly each time. We also need to show our true strength as the champions of Africa,” Mr. Maigari said.

Nigeria met Argentina first at USA ’94 World Cup.

The Eagles also lost to Argentina at the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup and 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Nigeria lost 1-2 to Argentina in Boston, USA on June 25, 1994, and was again piped 1-0 courtesy of a Gabriel Batistuta goal in Ibaraki, Japan on June 2, 2002.

When both sides met in South Africa four years ago, an early goal by Gabriel Heinze condemned the Eagles to a 1-0 defeat.

However, at the Olympic Games, the story was not the same. In Atlanta ’96 in the U.S., Nigeria defeated the Argentines to win the Olympic Games gold medal, a victory that left the Argentines flustered for many years.

Argentina U-23 team evened-up the Olympic record with 1-0 victory over Nigeria at the final of the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

There was also the 4-1 defeat the Eagles handed down to Argentina in a friendly in Abuja on June 1, 2011.

The victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cuiaba, Brazil had taken the reigning African champions to second place in the pool with four points.

The Eagles must still avoid defeat against the two-time world champions in Porto Alegre to be certain of a place in the knockout stages.

The Media Committee Chairman of NFA, Emeka Inyama, said that the board was impressed with the sterling performance of the Super Eagles and had promptly released the winning bonuses of the team.

“The team deserved all the accolades from well-meaning Nigerians over the impressive outing so far,’’ Inyama said.

He said the association had since ensured prompt meeting of their own obligations, so as to motivate the team to go all out to seek the round of 16 ticket.

He said they had urged the players to approach the last group match with the seriousness it deserved.

“We believe that now that the team had risen to the occasion and performed creditably, they should continue and make it into the round of 16.

“The Argentines are beatable, we have beaten them once at the Olympic Games – the 1996 Games in Atlanta,’’ Inyama said.

He said that the team could be beaten again.

The city, Porto Alegre, which will host the all-important game, is a city with history.

The stadium, located on reclaimed land on the banks of the River Guaiba, the Estadio Beira-Rio, is the home of International, arch-rivals to their Porto Alegre neighbours Gremio.

The venue has hosted four Copa Libertadores finals and is reputed to be largest football ground in the south of Brazil, nicknamed the “Gigante do Beira-Rio” (The Giant of Beira-Rio).

The facility was officially known as the Estadio Jose Pinheiro Borda and was opened in 1969.

It took nearly a decade to build with inter-fans lending a helping hand in its construction by donating bricks, cement and iron.

So anxious were some supporters to see the ground built that they would even leave games at the club’s existing ground, Estadio dos Eucaliptos, whenever the team was losing and head to the Beira-Rio to cheer the builders on.

World Cup: Suarez bites again as Italy crash out

                   Uruguay and Costa Rica qualify from Group D

Controversial Uruguayan striker, Luis Suarez, exhibited his bad side once more as he appeared to have bitten Italian defender, Giorgio Chiellini, during his side’s 1-0 win over Italy in their final group game on Tuesday at the Arenes das Dunas.

Though Suarez escaped the eye of the referee, it is yet to be seen if the Liverpool forward will be slammed with another heavy ban as his action taints his country’s progress into the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup.

This would be the third biting incident involving Suarez.The first came in November 2010 when Suarez, playing for Ajax, bit PSV’s Otman Bakkal on the shoulder during a 0–0 draw. Ajax suspended him for two games and fined him an undisclosed amount, but the Dutch League body increased Suárez’s suspension to seven league matches.

Also at the end of the 2012-13 season, playing with Liverpool in the Premier League, Suarez bit Chelsea defender, Branislav Ivanovic, on the arm. That earned him a 10-match suspension. He has since claimed to have stopped such acts.

Uruguay join Costa Rica in the Round of 16 from Group D as England could only manage a draw against the surprise group leaders.

Court to rule on ex-PDP chairman, Ogbulafor’s corruption trial July 24

Mr. Ogbulafor allegedly used his position as head of NEIC to verify several forged documents.

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Justice Ishaq Bello of the Abuja High Court on Wednesday reserved judgment till July 24 in a case filed by an anti-graft agency against former Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Vincent Ogbulafor and two others.

Mr. Ogbulafor, also former Minister of Special Duties, along with Emeka Ebilah and Jude Nwokoro, are facing a 17-count charge of conspiracy and award of fictitious contracts worth N107 million.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, alleged that Mr. Ogbulafor, as Minister of State for Special Duties in 2001, connived with the others to float three fictitious companies with which they allegedly perpetrated the fraud.

They were alleged to have used Henrichiko Nig. Ltd, DHL Consultants and Chekwas Industries, to siphon N82.6 million; N11.5 million and N6.2 million, respectively, in 2001.

Mr. Ogbulafor was specifically alleged to have used his position as head of National Economic Intelligence Committee, NEIC, set up to verify debts owed local contractors, to okay as genuine, several forged documents.

He was alleged to have relied on the forged documents to certify that the three fake companies successfully executed jobs worth N104 million.

Mr. Ogbulafor was also alleged to have collected kickbacks of N2 million and N28 million from Mr. Ebilah.

The offences levelled against the accused persons are said to have contravened Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000.

Mr. Ogbulafor had admitted recommending the second accused to former President Olusegun Obasanjo for membership of the NEIC in July 2010.

However, he denied appointing Mr. Ebilah as the secretary of the committee after its reconstitution.
Mr. Ogbulafor told the court that he was directed to reconstitute NEIC by Mr. Obasanjo in July 2001.

(NAN)

No plan to demolish Abuja auto parts market – Official

Work is in progress on permanent site in Wasa.”
The auto parts sellers in Abuja have been assured that there is no plan to demolish their present shops in Apo District of the territory.

The Head of Public Relations, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Grace Zamani, gave the assurance while addressing the traders who staged pre-emptive protest on Tuesday.

She said the protest was not necessary.

She assured the traders that the land allocated to them in Wasa was going through due process.

“The problem has to do with communication. Work is in progress on the land in Wasa and we will hand it over to you when we conclude. Meanwhile, there is no plan to demolish the present site until you are properly relocated,” she said.

The spokesperson for the traders, Chime Ife, said that the protest was due to threat
by the Department to Development Control to demolish the market.

He said the traders had applied for an alternative space for the market which was granted but had not been handed over to them.

“They demolished our shops in Apo in 2006 and we had to move to a temporary site in the area. In 2011, we applied for an alternative land for our trade which was granted by the Minister while we remained in a temporary site in Apo. But a few weeks ago, they came to our temporary site without handing over the permanent site to us, that is why we are protesting,” he said.

(NAN)

Don calls for regionalisation of Nigeria’s security agencies

“APC is offering nothing different from PDP to Nigerians.”

A Professor of Political Science at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Aloysius-Michael Okolie, Saturday, called for the regionalisation of Nigeria’s security system.

Speaking as the guest lecturer at the third Zik’s Leadership Lecture Series/Luncheon organised by the Department of Political Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Unizik, Mr. Okolie said that Nigeria was already threatened by insecurity prior to the advent of Boko Haram; but it has been heightened by the terrorist group.

Mr. Okolie, whose presentation was titled, “Politics of Securitisation and Securitisation of Politics in Nigeria: The Boko Haram Experience,” explained that Boko Haram started as a political outfit but threw off the control of their political patrons.

Mr. Okolie noted that the sect mostly carried out their activities in states controlled by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and blamed the governors and elders of those states for failing to reveal the criminals among them to the security agencies.

According to him, every community knows the bad eggs among them and those states could not deny such.

On the other hand, he noted that there was nothing different between the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the APC was yet to offer anything different from what the PDP was offering Nigerians.

The professor also said he wondered why the president refused to declare a full state of emergency in the affected states as doing so would definitely amount to the “securitisation of politics.”

Mr. Okolie said that Boko Haram was not the only security threat to Nigeria, listing favouritism and the abuse of due process as other threats the country’s social and economic security.

Using the academic environment as an example, the university don said that 70 per cent of professors were undeserving of their positions. According to him, those that have the knowledge are often seen as security threats and denied promotions to professorship to the advantage of unqualified persons. He described the sort of occurrences as a threat to social and educational security and the reason why political scientists reject Nigerian political appointments.

“Political Scientists don’t go into Nigerian politics because they can easily see today and tomorrow. They know that touts within the government can’t tolerate them and that they will be definitely sacked because they cannot accept to be unnecessarily controlled or influenced by anybody,” he said.
Rejecting the Biafran movement, Mr. Okolie said that Igbos should be ready to face major crises if Biafra secedes because the Igbos are too selfish and greedy.

He pointed out that the Igbos fail to utilise little opportunities given to them by the government to benefit themselves and wondered how they could then manage themselves if given Biafra.

Using the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as an example, Mr. Okolie alleged that various promotions were denied to those that merited them until a Hausa man became the sole administrator of the institution.

The don concluded by urging the federal government to encourage regionalisation of the nation’s security in such a way that security recruits of various regions must be indigenes of their various areas of assignment. According to him, indigenes would be in a better position to locate and destroy bad eggs in their communities.

In his address, the Head of Political Science Department of Unizik, Makodi Biereenu-Nnabugwu, disclosed that the lecture was highly necessary considering the current insecurity in the country. He promised that the department would sustain the annual lecture.

The president of the National Association of Political Science Students, NAPSS, Unizik chapter, Emeka Omaliko, expressed his satisfaction with the successful organisation of the event and thanked the head of the department for his support.

Other highlights of the event included musical performances and the presentation of awards to some personalities. The awards recipients included Ebele Ejiofor, Effective Representation Award; Silas Ejeabocha, Outstanding Leadership Excellence Award; and Ignatius Ngini, Selfless Leadership Service Award.

In their remarks, the award recipients thanked the Unizik Political Science Department for the honour and pledged to put in more efforts.

Mr. Ejiofor, who is a member of the Anambra State House of Assembly, described the award as an encouragement to serve his constituency better. Mr. Ejeabocha, the speaker of Anaocha Local Council, expressing joy over the award, called on politicians to be leaders of thought. Mr. Ngini, the immediate past president of NAPSS, Unizik chapter, said that he served NAPSS with deep sense of humility and statesmanship. He described the challenges he encountered as the association’s president as instruments of shaping his idea of leadership for a better tomorrow and thanked the department for the honour.

The event which took place at Whyte View Hotel, Ifite Awka, was witnessed by students, academics, public servants and the press.

Functional Social Networking for Nigerian journalists, Abuja – LIVE UPDATES

The United Bank for Africa, Everything Journalism, and The Journalism Clinic are hosting the Abuja edition of its one-day social media summit for journalists — ‘Functional Social Networking for Nigerian journalists’.

The summit aims at boosting the capacity of Nigerian journalists to maximize the use of social media for news gathering, building online communities, and engaging with their audiences.

A team of speakers – media professionals and scholars -will attempt to answer four questions during the summit: Does One Platform Suit All? What Does It Profit Us? What Can You Teach Me About Social Media? And Ethics: Why It Matters in Social Networking?
 
We are serving you live updates as the event unfolds.

Liveblog

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13.03

The Nation Newspaper Online Strategy

Mr. Otufodurin said the content going to website is different from the one going to the print content.
He said the online Editor is in charge of Headlines, Captions, comments, photographs, facebook, twitter etc.

He said Any Senior Editorial staff that is computer literate and digital savvy can be online editor. He however said only interested not frustrated Senior staff should be posted.

He said not many senior level or even middle level traditional journalists fit this role. Online Editors must think Global and write as such on their stories.

He also said Online Editors should be Online friendly. He said stories should be edited to catch the attention of the average reader.

Headlines, he said should also tell the story because not many people eventually read the full story."Apply inverted pyramid style as much as possible" he said.

He also said online Editors should be as brief as possible and vary content presentations.
He said beyond breaking news related content should be generated. Online Editors must think outside the box for story ideas, he said.

He advised that links specially related to stories should be included in stories and Hashtags of trending topics should also be followed diligently.

He said online editing is about speed and accuracy." When in doubt, check out and hold on until you are sure" he said.

He said Online Editor is not a one man department and must be adequately staffed.

12.49
Online Editing: Tips, Tools and Take-Aways By Lekan Otufodurin, Managing Editor, Online, The Nation Mr. Otufodurin advised Journalists in Nigeria to overlook the prevailing challenges they face and make progress. He also advised Journalists to be functionally active in the Social Media because it is also a channel for professional progress. "If you apply for a fellowship today, they will ask for your Social Media Accounts, if you don't have, they will not consider you," he said. He said an online editor is in charge of editing the web line content of a typical media organization. "we are in age now in which the competition is not between The Punch and Vanguard but with medium such as Premium Times, the Cable and SharaReporters,"He said.

 

12.44
Many participants complained about the quality of Internet service in Nigeria as an inhibition to Journalism.

Tony Ochogbo, the Director Public Affairs at NCC, responded as at April this year, Nigeria had 129.3 million active lines, 63 on the internet, number 10 in the world and 1 in Africa.

He said progress has been made and that telecom is an ecosystem that has power as a critical factor. He said spectrum level cannot be expected to operate at 100% when power is not always available.
He said most of the products highlighted by UBA this morning would not have been possible just three years ago.

He said all ATM's that people go to withdraw money from use telephone lines and all the bill payments made from the comfort of people's houses is as a result of progress made in the telecom industry.

He said no service provider got the approval to set up a base station in Abuja in the last two years.
He said the NCC has recently advertised for Infrastructure companies to come on stream to provide the necessary infrastructure for telecom companies.

 

12.30

Crowdsourcing: What an Investigative Journalist can do with it by Yemi Adamolekun, Executive Director, Enough Is Enough.

Ms. Adamolekun began by giving EIE's experience in crowd-sourcing-The 2011 Social Media tracking Center and Citizens solutions to end terrorism. She said there no news platform in Nigeria that actively engage audience in Nigeria like the social media. She said in the 2011 post election violence was picked up by the Social Media before any traditional one. She said 164,349 SM contents were tracked in 2011 elections. On ending terrorism she said over a 1000 tweets calling for an end to terrorism were sent in two days after girls were abducted in Chibok.

 

12.10
A presentation on Banking on the Internet – THE UBA STORY - followed Dr. Anderson's. The presenter said e-banking is just about digital banking he said the era of persons needing to go to the bank branch to carry out simple transactions is fading. "You can sit in your seating room to do your banking." He also said any customer using internet banking enjoys a lot of benefit, including security,(not having to ferry cash around), bill payments and comfort. He said the UBA has developed a mobile banking platform that any customer can carry out all basic transactions with their phones. He said anyone not using mobile banking is losing a lot.

 

11.36
Earlier, when the chairman of the event, Richard Ikiebe, gave a short remark

11.35
The next speaker is a Medical Doctor, Anderson Uvie-Emegbo. He will speak on SOCIAL MEDIA: 10 QUESTIONS THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY MUST ANSWER. Dr. Anderson is a leading Pan African Digital Management Consultant, International Faculty, Strathmore Business School, Kenya and Adjunct Faculty, School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University. He tweets @andyemegbo and his personal website is www.andyemegbo.com He said his presentation will dwell on travel because travel and Social Media has a strong relationship. He said all the negativity being expressed about the Social Media actually happens offline and is only relayed on the platform. Dr. Anderson is now playing three short videos for participants.

11.27

A Participant, Ijeoma, observed that Mr. Awofesu failed to highlight the negative impacts of Social Media such as the relay of wrong information leading to negative consequences. Another participant from NCC, Tony Ajegbo, also said many people using Social Media are often not knowledgeable about the topics they discuss on the platforms. He said Bloggers have a responsibility to properly educate their followers. "It is time to look at depth, knowledge and capacity and not just to blog" he said. A female participant said she is attending the event so as to be counseled on how to embrace SM and also find the time for it. Kingsley another participant said there is a form of campaign between those who take advantage of the SM for information dissemination and the average Journalist. Mr. Awofesu, responding to some of the questions, said part of the problem has to do with the way they Youth, for instance, appreciate Social Media as compared to the elite. "What the youth go for in the Social Media is ridiculous." He said most serious issues hardly excite the average youth but "post something trashy and see how it goes viral." "If you understand what your readership wants, you have a responsibility to give it to them, I am not saying that is ideal" he said. He advised the lady without time for SM to just pick on the most relevant platform and give it few hours a day. Garba Shehu, a social commentator, argued that mainstream media has Social Responsibility to maintain a certain moral standard. "The Social Media strongly encourages half naked women but we don't allow that" he said. "Chairman of the occasion said mainstream media should know that the audience have moved and they either need to move with them or remain irrelevant.

11.19
A presentation by Pelu Awofeso on Social Media 101 followed Mr. Adeniyi's. Mr. Awofeso Pelu Awofeso, Travel journalist, is currently promoting @TravelNextDoor (www.travelnextdoor.com), a domestic tourism project exclusively driven by social-media. He said Social Media is on a Bullet Train - that journalists need to catch up with - and the world is on Information Over drive. He argued that stories have longer life spans and effective feedback online than in Print. He described Social Media as a good place to hang out with a billion of the 6 billion people in the world - 900 million persons on facebook, 200m on twitter and 155m on Linkedln. In his vieww, Social Media is about Building a Community and sharing and bonding with it. He said the primary aim of every SM user is to build a community to promote certain goals and ideals, he said. "Time is gone where people hoard information" he said. He said if people are not sharing your stories, it is like you are not writing. Most importantly he said Social Media is about Customer Service where corporate bodies respond to their customers effectively to raise their profile. He said if Journalists continue to shy away from the Social Media, they can be pushed away by street Journalists.

11.11
At the end of his presentation, a participant asked Mr. Adeniyi his view on the regulation of the Social Media in Nigeria. "Even in China who are trying desperately to do that it is not working, so i don't subscribe to what they are trying to do here," he responded.

10.40
Former spokesperson of President Umaru Yar'adua, Segun Adeniyi and Chairman of the Editorial Board of Thisday presented the first paper titled "I am A social Media Alien." Adeniyi has never been in any Social Media Platform. He said he is already too busy reading and replying emails and does not need to add to his trouble. He also said he saw no reason on engaging people he does not even know. "Every morning my firsts job is to delete all these junk mails," he said. He said many persons take advantage of social media to abuse each other and display their private lives. He said misses nothing by being out of the Social Media. "Once I write my column, i don't look back and don't read whatever comments followed." There are also millions of other people like me, some of them, celebrities are not in the Social Media. Mr. Adeniyi listed some celebrities who abhor the Social Media because it is an invasion on their privacy. "As Bradd Knows I barely even know how to turn on the Computer" -Adeniyi quoting Angelina Jolie's lack of media tech knowledge.

10.28
Chairman of the event, Richard Ikiebe of Pan African University in Lagos, addressed the summit shortly after the UBA representative. He said his university is working with Google to train Nigerian Journalists on Social Media for a possible period of three months. He also argued that online piracy can be reduced if it is challenged.

10.23
Representative of UBA CEO making a brief remark said Lagos event was a success and hoped Abuja will be same. He said UBA is involved in the programme because they traditional support the Media and also stated that the bank is one of the few to appreciate online media at its early stage. He said UBA is also one of the very first Banks to embrace Social Media and they are ranked among the top three in the use of Social Media today. "Our social media strategy aims at engaging us with our customers" he said. "Digital is the future of the media." He said forums such as this is important to curb the rise of 'online pirates'. According to Nigerian Communication Commission, 66 million Nigerians use the internet.

10.04
Guests and participants are trickling in. Already in the House are Olusegun Adeniyi, Chido Onumah, Garba Shehu, Yushau Shuaib, Taiwo Obe and several Journalists