Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Over Three Million Nigerians In US, Canada – Carrington

A former Ambassador of United States to Nigeria, Mr. Walter Carrington, has said no fewer than three million Nigerians live and work in US and Canada.

He stated that Nigerians abroad excelled in their sectors of the US society.

According to him, Nigerians are the most accomplished immigrant group in the US, said the former envoy, while speaking on Monday at the 29th convocation lecture of the University of Ilorin.

The lecture was titled, ‘On the dawn of Nigeria’s second century: challenges to a new generation’.

He, however, stated that he found out that Nigerians in the Diaspora do not want to come back home for fear of corruption and growing insecurity.

The envoy noted that the country was blessed with great human and material resources.

He said Nigeria had an unmatched pool of human resources, adding that no country in Africa had such a richness of human capital.

President Jonathan To Depart For Pilgrimage To Israel This Week

The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Kennedy Opara at the weekend announced that President Goodluck Jonathan will this week depart Nigeria for Israel with 19 state governors and some cabinet members as part of the 2013 Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

President Jonathan who flagged off the 2013 pilgrimage to the Holy land in Abuja on Saturday night also evaluated the history of pilgrimage in Nigeria and submitted that the hitherto spiritual exercise had lost its real essence, saying many Nigerians saw it as a leeway to engage in commercial activities.

He lamented that even at a time when Nigerians were supposed to draw closer to God, they had continued to negate the spiritual essence of the trip, urging Nigerians to use pilgrimages as avenues to seek divine intervention in the affairs of the country.

“In recent times, pilgrimage has lost its essence because many people have commercialised it. The current situation in the country demands that we all join hands to fight terrorism. We must not allow terrorism to derail us from delivering the dividends of democracy.

“We are fighting a serious battle but we are not alone. Christ is with us and so we must put on the whole armour of faith,” he said.

The president was represented by Senate President, David Mark at the event. President Jonathan is the first sitting Nigerian leader to embark on the Christian pilgrimage.

President Jonathan is also expected to sign a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), with Israeli authorities while in the Holy land.

Federal Govt (PDP1) marks PDP2's new headquarters for demolition

According to new reports, the Federal Govt, aka old PDP has marked the official headquarters of the new PDP in Abuja for demolition.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Senator Bala Mohammed, has ordered the Development Control of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, to demolish the official Secretariat of the Baraje-led new PDP situated at 4, Oyi River Crescent, off Babangida Way, Maitama in Abuja.
The building (pictured above) was marked for demolition on October 11 about a month and a half after the new place was locked up by heavily armed policemen.

Lol. Wetin concern us...na to just siddon dey look. So according to new reports, the Federal Govt, aka old PDP has marked the official headquarters of the new PDP in Abuja for demolition.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Senator Bala Mohammed, has ordered the Development Control of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, to demolish the official Secretariat of the Baraje-led new PDP situated at 4, Oyi River Crescent, off Babangida Way, Maitama in Abuja.

The building (pictured above) was marked for demolition on October 11 about a month and a half after the new place was locked up by heavily armed policemen.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

CHEKI CARS

FG plans electricity subsidy for indigent Nigerians

Abuja – The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, said plans had reached advanced stage to subsidise cost of electricity for poor Nigerians under the Power Sector Roadmap.

Maku said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the second edition of the monthly briefing by the Ministry of Information on the performance of the economy.

He allayed fears that many Nigerians, especially those in rural areas, cannot afford the cost of electricity under private investors.

According to Maku, the Federal Government has guaranteed that all Nigerians, irrespective of their social status, will have unhindered access to electricity when private investors eventually take over the power sector.

Maku said the planned subsidy and other programmes were all geared toward long term sustainability and genuine transformation of the sector.

“ We have put in place all other support institutions to ensure the efficient functioning of the electricity market.

Maku said the planned subsidy and other programmes were all geared toward long term sustainability and genuine transformation of the sector.

“ We have put in place all other support institutions to ensure the efficient functioning of the electricity market.

“The payment of severance package to PHCN staff is to be concluded by the end of October and physical handover to the new owners thereafter.’’

Maku said the successes recorded so far and the projected growth in the sector represented the ingenuity of the transformation to turn deficit into opportunities for investments in the power sector.

He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the President, noting that the benefits of the planning and investments in the sector in the past few years would soon begin to yield results.

Panic, confusion in Imo community as school boys launch rocket ( Culled from The Vanguard Nigeria Newspaper)

September 27, 2013 is a day residents of the sleepy rural community of Umuchima, Ubaha, Okigwe Local Government Area of the state will not forget in a hurry. On this fateful day, a very unusual but deafening noise suddenly rented the air, accompanied by a rare spectacle that threw all and sundry into panic as they scampered into safety. The strange sound was later traced to the family home of a visually-impaired pensioner, Mr. Augustine Eke.

What further heightened people’s anxiety was when they also noticed a thick smoke coming from the hapless man’s compound. They had every reason to believe that Boko Haram insurgents had invaded the community. News quickly spread that a rocket had landed in Eke’s compound. They were right but it was not coming from Boko Haram!

Indeed it later turned out that there really was no cause for alarm as the rocket was nothing but a practical expression of the technological talents of an ex-student of Federal Government College, Okigwe, Gideon Chiadikobi Emenike and his friend, Chibuisi Nwafor. The duo fabricated and launched a rocket that travelled over five kilometres into the sky before crash landing.

247 Naija Story