Val Mario's Blog: March 2016

Thursday, March 24, 2016

APC heavy weights bicker, as party picks candidate for 2019 presidency

Members of the National Caucus of the All Progressives Congress, APC, are set to clash with other factions within the party, following a latest decision on who would be the party’s flag bearer in the 2019 presidential election.

The National Caucus members declared on Tuesday, March 22, their support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 ambition, maintaining that there was no vacancy in Aso Villa. Vanguard has confirmed.

Revealed: How National Assembly covered massive fraud in 2016 budget

The National Assembly on Wednesday, March 23, passed the controversial 2016 budget, leaving many Nigerians perplexed as to what has been deducted or added in the fiscal year appropriation.

The Chairman on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, had revealed that not less than N17 billion was subtracted from the budget. However, many believe the earlier reports which indicate that the Senate’s committee and sub-committee had uncovered huge budgetary paddling, running into almost a trillion naira.

Jamb CBT: Calling a Spade a Spade!

There has been a great deal of complaints about the 2016 CBT. The complaints being that quite a few students did not pass the exams as expected. We live in a country where, unfortunately, students and their parents alike want the easy way out of everything:
a) They would prefer handouts to copying notes.
b) They would prefer reading short notes to reading the full novel for an exam.

This photo has been making the rounds this morning and shows Lara, the wife of Edo state governor greeting an Edo chief who is bowing down to her..

He is being slammed for bowing down to a woman and many feel it's because of her skin..Some say if she were Nigerian,he would never bow down to her.Others call it a sacrilege..

Nigerians should please bear with us on fuel scarcity – Kachikwu

ABUJA — At a time Nigerians are expecting respite from the pangs of the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, has dashed their hopes, stating that the current queues at gas stations would persist till late May. The minister, who doubles as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, added that he was not a magician to make the queues disappear overnight.

A certain church paraded a hermaphrodite and labelled him a witchcraft agent ...According to Facebook user ,John Kennedy who shared the pics,

He was arrested by the Holy Spirit in a crusade. Wish craft agent, he's a man. Please guys be very careful with the type of girl or woman you call or sleep with , some are not real women, nor girls,but men"

Ahmad Salkika is a journalist who has written extensively on Boko Haram and their attacks in the North East.

LIB

Fayose Reveals Plans By Buhari To Declare State Of Emergency In Rivers, Ekiti

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, on Monday, dared President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State over the bloody election re-run that took place over the weekend.

“You want to declare state of emergency, declare it and we will tell you that the state of emergency will not work too. This country belongs to all of us,” the Ekiti governor said shortly after the economic retreat organised by the National Economic Council inside the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

FOREX crisis: Food, beverage sector to sack 3 million workers

ORGANISED Labour, yesterday, raised alarm that the food, beverage and tobacco sector of the nation’s economy was on the verge of shutting down and that over three million jobs were at risk due to the inability of companies to source foreign exchange to import raw material for operations. Already, leading companies in the sector, such as Nigerian Flour Mills, Nigerian Breweries Limited, Guinness Plc, Nigerian Bottling Company, 7-UP Bottling Company Plc, Friesland Campina Wamco Plc, among others, have written to labour for discussions on retrenchment of workers.

More trying times for Ibinabo Fiberesima who is currently facing a five year jail term ,as the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos yesterday, stripped her off her position as the president of Actors Guild of Nigeria.

According toa statement issued by the National Secretary of AGN, Femi Durojaiye, Emeka Ike takes over as the new president..The statement reads..

The hacking group Anonymous issued a declaration against ISIS that it will increase its cyber attacks on the terror group after the terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium. The group released its so-called 'Op Brussels' yesterday in which it vowed to continue 'hacking their websites, shutting down their Twitter accounts and stealing their Bitcoins'.

The President of Living Faith Church worldwide aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has tasked the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on the need to be more sensitive to issues that affect ordinary Nigerians, saying “things had not been working well”.

Desperate migrant sets himself on fire at refugee camp

A desperate refugee was filmed setting himself on fire in protest at European border closures.
The man can be seen running, with his sweatshirt and jeans ablaze, through the sprawling encampment at Idomeni near Greece's border with Macedonia border.

The flames were put out by other refugees and the young man was taken to hospital.Greek police said his injuries were not life-threatening.

misspetitenaija

Boko Haram Killing Farmers, Trying To Establish New Base In Taraba, Lawmaker Raises Alarm

Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Emmanuel Bwacha, at the weekend raised the alarm over silent killings going on in Taraba State.

Bwacha who represents Taraba South Senatorial District said that the silent killings were being perpetrated by dislodged Boko Haram insurgents who moved from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.

The insurgents, he said, were working to establish a new base in Taraba State having been dislodged from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.

Criminal gangs nicknamed "albino hunters" and armed with machetes, knives and axes are striking fear into people living with albinism in Malawi, abducting and often killing their victims in broad daylight and in the dead of night, prompting police to announce a shoot-to-kill policy.

Cameroon to execute 89 Boko Haram members

Cameroon has sentenced 89 members of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram to death, local media report.

If you think a canine wedding is bizarre then consider that it was no puppy affair with over 5000 guests in attendance complete with all the trappings of a traditional Hindu wedding. The unusual ceremony was held in the village of Parawa, in the northern-Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The groom, Shagun, and his bitch, Shaguniya, were dressed in children's clothes and said their vows on a purpose-built podium to raucous cheers from the crowd.

Ibinabo-Fiberesima-sworn-in-as-AGN-president1

Biola Giwa-Adeyemi, sister of the doctor killed in an accident caused by Nollywood actress, Ibinabo Fiberesima, says she should be made to face the law.

Biola, on Wednesday, shared an article which she labeled ‘Ibinabo Fiberersima Vs Lagos State’, in which she said the actress fled the scene of the accident without checking for any survivors, took her license plate and registration out of the car.

Enugu herbalist marries 18-year-old girl as 57th wife

Emeka,first son,Franca one of the wives and Onuwa

A 69 year old herbalist, Chief Simon Odo, who married an 18 year old girl, Chidinma, as his 57th wife last November has said that he would not marry again, having had a fair of women in his life.

Chidinma was married from Okutu, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. Odo, also known variously as Onuwa, King Solomon of Africa or King of Satan was however married to 68 women but some of them had earlier died.

Today, an individual purporting to be a representative of the hacker group Anonymous posted a disturbing Twitter video that threatened to expose 'very dirty secrets' of U.S Presidential candidate Ted Cruz including information about Cruz ‘visiting prostitutes!’

25 people were reportedly killed while 17 others were seriously injured after a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber attacked a Muslim praying ground in Umurari village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Borno state this morning. The dead bodies have been evacuated from the scene while those injured have been taken to the government hospital for treatment. Security officers are working to restore calm to the area.

LIB

Monday, March 14, 2016

Revoke your anti-preaching bill or die- Pastor Suleiman tells El Rufai

Few days after Kaduna state governor, Nasir El Rufai, forwarded a bill to the state House of Assembly, stating that religious leaders in the state will have to obtain a one year license to preach in the state, an Edo state based pastor and the Senior Pastor of Omega Fire Ministries (OFM), Apostle Johnson Suleiman, called on the governor to revoke the bill now or die.

According to Suleiman, El Rufai has no right to regulate the activities of religious leaders when he has not regulated the activities of traditionalist in the state. He said before he, El Rufai, became governor, they were men of God and that they will still remain men of God when he leaves office.

"I want to warn the governor of Kaduna state. Many times I have read in the papers how he abused Jesus and Christians came after him. He said that they are joking that Nothing can happen. I am talking to you, Kaduna Governor. Listen, I am not against sanitizing a state but you say people should get licence for preaching; it is not applicable in Nigeria. Even a herbalist does not get a license for practicing herbalism. When you say license for preaching, then you are standing against the constitution that says freedom of worship. I have no problem, we can test powers now. There are certain laws that cannot happen in this country. Not when Nigeria is under God. If need be, over this matter, heaven will intervene. I am saying this specifically to the executive governor of Kaduna, revoke this law or die!"he said

Read what the bill is about below...

The Religious Regulation Bill, designed to replace the Religious Regulation Edict of 1984, is geared towards regulating Christianity and Islam as it seeks to create an inter-faith Ministerial Committee to be appointed by the governor and exercise control over Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN. Highpoints of the bill include:
*The ministerial committee shall issue licenses to religious bodies.
*Without such licenses, you cannot preach.
*No external preacher can preach in Kaduna without a permit.
*The committee has the power to refuse to issue licenses No criteria are given as to what will qualify one to have a license issued to him or for one to be denied a license.

The bill empowers JNI and CAN to keep records of churches and mosques including data of preachers. The law criminalizes the use of religious CDs, flash drive and other communication gadgets except in churches, mosques or other places of worship or personal houses. The implication is that you cannot listen to Christian tapes in your car or at any place except your house and in a church.

If you preach without a license, you are guilty of an offence punishable by two years imprisonment. If you hold any Christian gathering even in a church and use loud speaker (microphone) after 8.00 p.m, you are guilty of an offence punishable with two years imprisonment.

If you listen to a message in your car, you are guilty of an offence punishable by two years imprisonment. If you hold a crusade or any programme or any other kind of programme and use a loudspeaker at the said programme as long as it is not a church, you are guilty of an offence punishable by two years imprisonment.

The bill criminalizes the abuse of religious books and makes it punishable by two years imprisonment. (It does not define what ‘abuse of religious books’ mean. It criminalizes the use of derogatory terms in describing any religion and makes it punishable by two years imprisonment. It does not define what ‘use of derogatory terms in describing any religion’ means.)

Every preacher will have to obtain one year license (renewable every year) or risk two years imprisonment. If you invite any external preacher (i.e. preacher from outside Kaduna State), such a person must be licensed for the duration of his/her stay and the body issuing the license has the right to reject the external preacher if it feels he is not qualified to preach in the state.

LIB

Malia Obama gives sister Sasha thumps up for getting the attention of handsome actor, Ryan Reynolds

Sasha Obama, 15, got a thumps up from big sister Malia, 17, after spotting her speaking with handsome actor, Ryan Reynolds at a state dinner in honor of new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday at the White House. It was the first time the two girls would attend a state dinner in their father's presidency. More photos after the cut...

LIB

You are a liar-Malawi President slams TB Joshua over 'death prophesy'

Malawian President Peter Mutharika on Saturday, fired back at Pastor T.B Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), over an alleged prophecy that he would die before April 1, Malawi state television reported yesterday.Speaking at a rally in the capital Lilongwe,he said

“I’m told there is a man in Nigeria called Joshua and he is saying that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Peter Mutharika will die before April 1,”“Let me tell you, Joshua… you will fail. What you did in 2012 ( Joshua reportedly predicted the death of a president of an unnamed southern African country. Mutharika’s brother, Bingu, who was president at the time, died within the predicted time frame) will not happen again this year,”

.Mutharika did not say when or where Joshua made the latest prophesy.

But Mutharika asked why TB Joshua didn't foresee the collapse of a guesthouse in Lagos in September 2014, which left 116 people dead

“Why did he not foretell this tragedy?“This all shows that he is a liar. He just wants to raise money,”

misspetitenaija

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Senate probes NNPC unbundling, says action of Buhari is illegal

ABUJA- THE Senate has begun the process into the probe of the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC In a point of Order by Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye on the floor of the Senate today, he drew the attention of other Senators to the unbundling of the nation’s agency in charge of the oil and gas sector in the country.

A Sitting Governor May Die Next, Apostle Suleman Warns

Apostle Johnson Suleman has urged Nigerians to offer prayers for themselves and public office holders, following the death of the Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi, SAN, in a fatal car accident along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway on Sunday.

Iran tests more ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel

Dubai – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) test-fired two ballistic missiles on Wednesday morning that it said were designed to be able to hit Israel, defying a threat of new sanctions from the U.S. The launches followed the test-firing of several missiles on Tuesday as part of a major military exercise that the IRGC says is intended to show Iran’s deterrent power and ability to confront any threat.

The Federal Road Safety Corps has commenced thorough investigation of the ghastly auto crash which claimed the lives of the Minister of State for Labour, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN), his wife, Blessing and son, Joshua.

The FRSC has specifically interrogated the driver of the SUV on his hospital bed in the National Hospital, Abuja, and security personnel attached to him.

The Assistant Director, Information and Protocol, National Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Tayo Haastrup, stated this in an interview with THE PUNCH on Tuesday night.

BREAKING NEWS: Fuel Crisis Looms As NNPC Shuts Down Nationwide Over ‘Unbundling [PHOTOS]

Oil workers have shut down the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) nationwide following Tuesday’s unbundling of the corporation. Members of staff and management of the corporation arrived their various offices on Wednesday morning to discover that they could not gain entrance following the total strike.

The immediate impact of the strike will be nationwide fuel scarcity as products will not be lifted by NUPENG. It is not expected to affect the crude oil export yet except the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) joins in solidarity. Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources who doubles as the NNPC group managing director, had announced the creation of seven independent units on Tuesday, namely downstream, gas and power, refineries, ventures, corporate planning and services, and finance and accounts.

Ahead of tonight's Chelsea's must win Champions League clash with PSG, PSG has released a set of movie poster mock-ups to tease Chelsea and unease them. In one of the posters Zlatan Ibrahimovic is pictured as 'Parisian Sniper' with more Teaser pictures tweeted by the club's official Twitter handle. PSG carry a 2-1 first leg win into today's match in London. More photos after the cut...

LIB

Friday, March 4, 2016

Donald Trump assures America he has a big eggplant during detroit presidential debate

At the Fox News republican presidential debate yesterday, Donald Trump suggested he has a big eggplant after another presidential candidate Marco Rubio insinuated he is a small man below the belt, and that he deserved to be attacked personally because of how much he attacks others.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has directed the state’s Human Rights Commission to wade into the alleged abduction of a 14-year-old Miss Patience Paul, on August 12, 2015,Vanguard reports.
The governor’s directive came against the backdrop of reports of forcible abduction of the Benue-born girl, who was alleged to be held in the palace of the Sultan.

Senate Leader. Ali Ndume, was a guest on Channels TV this morning where he spoke on the controversial N4.7 billion reportedly meant for the purchase of new cars for each senator to carry out their oversight function. Ndume queried why Senators are expected to pack themselves in a coastal bus when carrying out their duties when Ministers and Local Government Chairmen have official cars. According to Ndume, Senators have not taken delivery of the cars as the budget has not been passed.

Abductors demand N200m to free Lagos schoolgirls

Tofunmi

The kidnappers of three girls from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary (BMJS) have demanded N200 million ransom.

Timilehin Olisa, Tofunmi Popoolaniyan and Deborah Akinayo, all SS2 students, were snatched away from their classroom at about 9:30pm on Monday during prep.

Timilehin, it was learnt, is the daughter of Ven. Victor Ayo Olusa, the Executive Secretary of the Lagos Anglican School Management Board.

The Nigeria Army Council has recommended the release and reinstatement of Brigadier General Enitan Ransome-Kuti who has been under house arrest at an army barrack in Abuja.

Inmates at the Kuje prison are in shock that the former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro is now one of them.Many of them were excited and curious to know what led to his detention,the Nation reports.

According to a source, the inmates were amazed to see Moro in prison custody barely one year after he visited the facility as the interior minister.

THE END IS NIGH AS ARSENAL FANS TURN THEIR BACKS ON WENGER'S FLOPS

Getty

The Gunners suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat by Swansea at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday and a season that promised so much is pretty much in tatters

Arsene Wenger has experienced plenty of low points since Arsenal last won the Premier League title almost 12 years ago.

PMB’s failure to bring change will lead to disaster – Expert

The local currency, Naira, in the last few months has been on a steady decline, with the disparity between rates at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and that of the parallel market widening day by day.

The Managing Director, MD, Willlands Engineering Limited, Ebere Williams Nweaze, has disclosed that if President Muhammadu Buhari fails to deliver on his change agenda, such inaction will amount to a disaster.

Yesterday, Leonardo broke the internet with his first Oscar win ,however, people could not ignore the bond he shares with his Titanic co-star,Kate Winslet ...They way they look at each other, their reaction to their Oscar wins look the same.

Very interesting read. Read below...

“We have all summoned courage. They have deceived us to take our inheritance. We are going to get our inheritance back. I want to say one thing: they have started again. I want to reveal one secret here. They have started subtle moves to make Nigeria an Islamic nation. But God will not allow it.

This was done in 1984 but it failed. I cannot run away. I am Ayo Fayose. If you hit me, you hit trouble. If I hit you, you will be in trouble. Nigeria is a free nation and this nation will not be taken for an Islamic nation.Today, I decree the return of a PDP government in 2019"- Governor Ayo Fayose, Port Harcourt, 26th February, 2016.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Friday, March 18, 2016

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Monday, March 14, 2016

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Friday, March 4, 2016

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Tuesday, March 1, 2016