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[ad_1] Words by Arjun Walia Gratitude is a funny thing. In some parts of the world, somebody who gets a clean drink of water, some food, or a worn out pair of shoes can be extremely grateful. Meanwhile, somebody else who has all the necessities they need to live can be found complaining about something. […]
via Scientists Show How Gratitude Alters Our Heart And Brain Structure —
The young daughter of ex-Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has died after a battle with cancer.
Nine-year-old Xana had been fighting osteosarcoma (bone cancer) for “five intense months,” Enrique said as he announced her death.
In a tribute on social media on Thursday, the former football manager said his daughter will be remembered “every day of our lives.”
Enrique, who also managed the Spanish national team, wrote:
“We will miss you lots but we will remember you every day of our lives, with the hope that in the future we’ll meet each other again. You’ll be the star that guides our family.
“Rest dear Xana.”
Enrique thanked those who sent well wishes over recent months for their “discretion and understanding”.
He also thanked the medical team who treated his daughter “for their dedication and treatment”.
Among those to pay tribute to Xana was Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who wrote on Twitter:
“There are no words that that can go along with this pain.
“My heartfelt wishes to Luis Enrique and all his family, after the loss of his little Xana.”
Enrique’s former club Barcelona wrote:
“Our condolences and all our sympathy for @luisenrique21 and his family at this very difficult time. RIP Xana.”
Enrique, who played for Barcelona and Real Madrid during his player career, stepped down as Spain’s manager in June.
The Spanish Football Federation said he had left the role due to a “personal matter”.
SOURCE:
To my son Cade on his recent graduation: I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I haven’t prepared you for the future that’s ahead of you. For the years when I will no longer be around. For the lessons I attempted but just couldn’t teach you. For the many ways that I failed miserably as […]
– Joshua Beckford, named one of the smartest kids on the planet, is coming to Lagos, Nigeria
– The genius plans to raise fund and build a school in Kaduna state
– At six, Beckford emerged the youngest person with autism to be accepted to Oxford University where he studied philosophy and history.
One of the world smartest boys Joshua Beckford is set to visit Nigeria.
Beckford was named as one of the most intelligent children in the world as he graduated from the prestigious Oxford University at age 14.
The genius is expected to visit Nigeria where he is to raise fund for the building of a school project in Kaduna state.
The chairman Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, among other Nigerians tweeted and retweet the coming of Beckford to Nigeria.
“This is Joshua,who became the youngest to study in Oxford University at age 6 and graduated age 14 from the department of History and Philosophy. He will be in Lagos for the fundraising of his school building project in Kaduna. He is regarded as one of the world’s smartest human.”
Despite being diagnosed with high functioning autism, Beckford was reported to be an early starter. As a 10 months old baby he could read, write and understand the alphabet. At two, he could read fluently and by the time he clocked three, Beckford could speak Japanese.
Legit.ng reported earlier that Joshua Beckford, at age six when most kids are still learning to read, write and count, was intellectually ready to attend one of the best universities in the world, Oxford University.
The brilliant youngster studied philosophy and history, courses designed for gifted kids between the ages of eight and 13, Beckford completed both with distinctions.
SOURCE:
NEW YORK — Isabel Toledo, the Cuban American designer who was revered by other designers for her ability to combine precisely geometric construction with extreme grace — but who was known to most of the public as the designer of the dress Michelle Obama wore in the 2009 inaugural parade — died Monday at a hospital in Manhattan. She was 59.
The cause was breast cancer, her husband, artist Ruben Toledo, said.
Uninterested in the limelight or in logos, Mrs. Toledo was a rarity in the modern fashion world. Devoted to fashion as a craft and an expression of self, and embedded in the downtown New York art scene, she was a throwback to a time before the designer became the creative director. She toiled away in a picturesque loft in midtown Manhattan with Ruben Toledo, her partner since high school, dipping into the worlds of art, dance, and theater for the sheer joy of aesthetic collaboration.
Called a genius by Valerie Steele, curator of the museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and a cult hero by Kim Hastreiter, a founder of Paper magazine, Mrs. Toledo has been compared to designers Charles James and Geoffrey Beene because of her obsession with construction. She described her own work as “romantic mathematics.”
“I’m not supposed to say I’m not a fashion person, but I’m not. I just, I love design,” she told CNN in 2012. “Design is so different than fashion. That’s why design lasts forever. It’s like an engineer. I love to engineer a garment.”
Mrs. Toledo was the recipient of a National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt museum in 2005, was nominated for a Tony for the costumes for the musical “After Midnight” in 2014, and twice appeared on the International Best-Dressed List.
In 2009, the museum at FIT staged a solo retrospective of her work. But she was never snobby about her vocation, delighting in the idea that her work might find a wider audience through her position as creative director of Anne Klein from 2006 to 2007 and her collections for Lane Bryant, created at a time when the fashion world still largely ignored the plus-size consumer.
“Fashion is every woman’s language, every woman’s tool,” she told Interview magazine in 2014 when her Lane Bryant collections made their debut. “My ideal happens to be diversity. I love difference. I love change. I love experimentation and eccentricities.” She also embodied her own ideals: Her favorite workout was twisting with a hula hoop.
Maria Isabel Izquierdo was born April 9, 1960, in Camajuani, Cuba, to Felix and Bertha Izquierdo. She began sewing at age 8 because, she told CNN, “I couldn’t find anything I loved.”
She emigrated with her parents and two sisters to the United States, and in 1968 the family settled in West New York, N.J., where she met Ruben Toledo. She was 14, and he was 13. His family was also from Cuba; they were in the same Spanish class in school.
She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and later transferred to Parsons School of Design. She left in 1979 before graduation to intern for Diana Vreeland at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
She and Ruben Toledo — who were seldom apart, and who seemed to have the kind of transcendent love story reserved for Hollywood movies — married in 1984. He survives her, along with two sisters, Mary Santos and Anna Bertha Izquierdo.
Also in 1984, Mrs. Toledo introduced her own line, made largely in the couple’s loft. Its first appearance was at a Danceteria happening, thanks to artist Joey Arias, a good friend, who ran the events. Though she became an official part of New York Fashion Week in 1985 and her pieces were soon picked up by Barneys New York, Colette in Paris, Joyce in Hong Kong, and Ikram in Chicago, among others, she never lost her affinity for the raw edge.
She also remained at the head of an independent company.
“Isabel was a pure, uncorrupted fashion designer,” said Ikram Goldman, founder of Ikram, who introduced Michelle Obama to Mrs. Toledo’s work. “She designed spectacular, innovative pieces that flattered every curve of a woman’s body, and she never conformed to or accepted the ‘fashion system.’ ”
Though that choice may have hurt Mrs. Toledo’s business in later years, as fashion globalized and commodified — she stopped showing on the runway around the turn of the millennium when the cost became prohibitive — it also allowed her to follow her own muse.
By 2009, when Obama chose a dress and matching coat made by Mrs. Toledo to wear for her husband’s historic inauguration — a dress that was widely heralded as a triumph, and that helped frame the first lady’s signature use of her position to promote smaller American designers and celebrate the melting pot of America — it seemed the world had finally recognized Mrs. Toledo’s gift.
In 2012, she published her autobiography, “Roots of Style: Weaving Together Life, Love, and Fashion.” The illustrations were by Ruben Toledo, of course.
“She was often marginalized by the trend-loving fashion business, but she never looked sideways,” Hastreiter, founder of Paper magazine, wrote in an e-mail. But, she said, “her rare gift of combining great design for all women . . . with flawless craft and astounding original creative beauty” meant that “Isabel Toledo will be in the history books.”
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A former governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo, has reportedly escaped being kidnapped on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
The incident happened on Tuesday evening, according to one of his aides, Ibrahim Y. Tanko, who posted a video of the incident on his Twitter handle @MrYTanko.
The video was recorded by the ex-governor’s security aides, Tanko said; adding that Dankwambo was travelling to Abuja when the incident happened.
“Time was around 4:35pm on Tuesday and His Excellency was travelling in a convoy to Abuja.
“The kidnappers blocked the Abuja-Kaduna express road, but the security men in our convoy gave them a chase.
“The hoodlums still managed to abduct about seven people, though,” the aide narrated.
Another aide who wished to remain anonymous told journalists that Dankwambo’s convoy ran into the kidnappers while they operated on the highway, and that his security details fired into the air and dispersed the criminals.
He disclosed that the bandits killed three persons in the process.
Other road users who witnessed the incident also said that the gunmen mounted a barricade around Olam Farm, where they carried out the kidnap and killed some travellers who ran into them.
“The gunmen blocked the expressway and shot at passing drivers.
“They kidnapped many people and ran into the forest with them,” the eyewitness, a commercial bus driver said.
He added that there were three dead bodies on the road, while fleeing drivers and other road users left their vehicles on the road.
The encounter lasted about 30 minutes, the driver said, adding that it was a narrow escape for him and his passengers.
“I was among the drivers that narrowly escaped the attack while driving with my passengers from Abuja to Kaduna,” the driver, who identified himself as Sani, added.
See the video posted by one of the ex-governor’s aides on the incident:
KD-Abuja road is still a danger zone. kidnappers blocked the road and were in the process of kidnapping passengers when Former Gombe Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo’s convoy arrived the scene but they went away with seven people. A video from one of his security. pic.twitter.com/DFtysYmqz1
— Ibrahim Y. Tanko (@MrYTanko) August 27, 2019
SOURCE:
Nigerian hurdler, Tobi Amusan, has broken a 20-year-old record previously held by another Nigerian, Gloria Alozie, in the 100m women’s hurdles event at the African Games in Rabat.
Amusan set the new record in a time of 12.68secs. In the 1999 edition of the Games, Alozie clocked 12.74secs to set the now broken record.
While addressing journalists, Amusan described the contest as rough.
Amusan, who would not be part of the relay race, said she will now face the Diamond League, although she has a couple of meets before that.
Also, Nigeria won gold in 4x100m women’s relay with Joy Udoh-Gabriel, Mercy Ntia-Obong, Bukola Adekunle and Rosemary Chukwuma clocking 44.16secs. South Africa emerged second in 44.61secs; Kenya, third in 45.44secs.
Despite fielding Africa’s fastest athlete in 100m, Raymond Ekevwo, Nigeria lost to Ghana in the men’s 4x100m.
While the Ghanaians ran a season’s best of 38.30secs to win gold, Nigeria’s Ekevwo, Divine Oduduru, Emmanuel Arowolo and Usheoritse Itsekiri, finished line in 38.59secs to win silver.
South Africa won the bronze with a time of 38.80secs.
Also, Kelechi Nwanaga threw a distance of 55.88m to win gold in the women’s javelin event.
Favor Ofili set a new 51.68secs SB to win the 400m silver medal and qualify for the World Championships in Doha.
SOURCE:
The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has described the rape allegation against Biodun Fatoyionbo, pastor of the Commonwealth of Assembly (COZA) church, by Busola Dakolo, photographer and wife of Timi Dakolo, as a ‘Jerusalem-Jericho road’ story, throwing its wait behind the embattled clergyman.
The Coalition of Public Interests Lawyers and Advocates (COPA) on Monday urged Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA) Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, to surrender himself for investigation having stepped down from the pulpit as senior pastor of the church.
via Not Enough To Step Down, You Must Be Investigated, Lawyers Tell COZA Pastor — CHECKPOINTCHARLEY
Detectives on Tuesday grilled the founder and Senior Pastor of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, for over eight hours over the rape allegations levelled against him by wife a popular musician, Busola Dakolo.
Dakolo had alleged that the cleric raped her 20 years ago when she was a teenager in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Fatoyinbo was questioned at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Garki Area 10, Abuja, by a team of detectives led by Assistant Comissioner of Police, Adaku Anya.
Our correspondent gathered that the pastor was granted an administrative bail around 9pm.
Apart from the COZA pastor, detectives also questioned the COZA pastor in Port Harcourt, Wole Soetan, and his counterpart in Lagos, Folarin Ogunsola.
The force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, confirmed that Fatoyinbo was still at the FCID as of 79.40pm when this report was filed.
He said,
Mba disclosed that many witnesses had been questioned, adding that the investigation would soon be concluded.
Fatoyinbo’s interrogation is coming weeks after he shunned an invitation extended to him by the police.
The pastor had also shunned a panel set up by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria to investigate the rape allegations, stating that he was advised by his lawyers not to appear before the panel.
The cleric in a statement last Friday, however, said he could appear before the panel after the police investigations.
SOURCE:
Below is the testimony of one of our customer that patronized HERITAGE PURE NATURAL HONEY few months ago.
She attested to the quality of the products and it’s effectiveness as an alternative to cough syrup.
Thanks for patronising our product.
28th of August 2019.
It is never too late.
You can be part of us soon.
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08106651625
The recent happenings around us and the current realities at our disposal made my line of thought to be fixed on upgrading the mindset of many of us.
This has made my recent write up to be along this path of thinking.
Our minds is the seat of thought that we are all blessed with which becomes a reality at the end.
In other not to digress from the main subject of this topic,I will like to ask us one simple question?
The question is:
Do you have a mind that crave for all?
Many have given excuses in support of the recent waves of criminalized and vices that are committed by many Nigerians in and out of the country as a result of economic woes the entire country is passing through.
However,the recent FBI enlistment of 80 Nigerians committing monetarily fraud made me to ask myself a question this morning which bother on the fact that these people committed this crime in the USA of America.
The question is:
How can people who have the opportunity of residing in a country which is known as a land of opportunity across the entire world put their hands into crime?
When I look into it deeply, I realized that irrespective of the geographical location, religious affiliation, tribal lineage and social class, many people are blessed with a mind that is insatiable.
An insatiable mindset will build an insatiable orientation that crave for all.It is a mind that can never be satisfied with what he or she has.
It is a mind that believed that everything must be available all the time.
This is a kind of mindset that keeps many people on their toes all the time to look for ways to make more at the expense of everything that is around.
They don’t care about whose ox is gored as long as their needs and wants are met even to the extent of killing, maiming and shedding of blood.
They destroy anything that would stand on their way in order for their lavish lifestyle to be satisfied.
This is the kind of mindset that is making the entire African Nation to be less developed than other nations of the world.
It must be noted that such mindset is anti-progressive and anti-developmental.
It cuts across many institutions and corporate organization.
A situation whereby whatever belongs to your staff is being trapped upon by you or the Caucasus built by you shows how desperate, selfish and anti-human you are.
The worst of this mindset is that it doesn’t give respect to any organizational system at all.
This is the reason why our so called places of worship are even worse off in terms of corruption and embezzlement of funds or whatever belongs to the church and the needy.
Then, how can you stay above the tide of this mentality:
1.Your value should not be premised on what you have or your material possessions.
2.Develop a matured mentality that will choke your extreme crave for being in possession of all.
3.Endeavour to belong to the right company of people, associates, relatives, colleagues and friends.
4.Develop a mentality of satisfaction and contentment.
5.Always tell yourself that covetousness is against the will of God.
6.Refrain from being desperate in achieving your aim and objectives.
7.Always put others first in your drive to achieve more.
8.Endeavour that your drive to achieve more place value on human accompany with the recognition of human dignity and respect for the sanctity of human life.
9.Always know that nobody cuts corner in achieving a feat without regretting such feat.
10.Always a place a demand on yourself that you will always do the right thing no matter how tight or impossible situation on ground might be.
Anyone who see reasons in any of the aforementioned points will be free from the mindset that crave for all.
©Mlstcommunications 2019.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the family, friends and fans of former Super Falcons striker Ifeanyi Chiejine who died recently.
The death of the 36-year-old former Confluence Queens of Lokoja star came as a huge shock to all Nigerian football lovers considering her age and achievements.
She was the youngest female player to play at the FIFA Women’s World Cup when she made her debut in 1999 at the age of 16.
In a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adeshina, President Buhari prayed that God should give the family of Ifeanyi the fortitude to bear the loss.
President Buhari also commended Ifeanyi’s patriotism in playing for the country at three World Cup tournaments and two Olympic finals.
Earlier, Legit.ng had reported how Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) announced the shocking demise of former Super Falcons forward Ifeanyi Chiejine who died after a brief illness.
According to the statement by the Nigeria’s Football governing body, the former striker died on Wednesday, August 21.
But the details of her untimely death was not revealed by the Nigeria’s Football body.
SOURCE:
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ‘s Royal Wedding was a stunning historical occasion enjoyed by people around the world.
The Queen and the rest of the Royal Family looked in their element as they celebrated with the happy couple at Windsor Castle.
But according to a report it was a very different story shortly afterwards, and the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex faced disappointment when the Monarch rejected a request they made about their home.
According to the Sunday Times , the couple asked the Queen if they could live at Windsor Castle.
The report, written by Rosa Nikkah states:
“The couple are understood to have set their hearts at first on Windsor Castle, and are believed to have asked the Queen if living quarters could be made available after their marriage.”
But Harry’s granny said no and gave them Frogmore Cottage instead, which they have since spent an astounding £2.4million of taxpayers’ money refurbishing.
Hugo Vickers told the Express why the Queen may have decided to deny their request, saying it might not have been “entirely appropriate”.
He writes:
“There are empty bedrooms and suites in the private apartments within Windsor Castle which the Sussexes may have had their eye on, or perhaps some former living quarters in the castle grounds converted into other things.
“But I can see how it might not be entirely appropriate to have a young family living there.”
When they were dating Meghan moved into Prince Harry’s small two-bedroom cottage at Kensington Palace, which is just a few doors up from the Cambridge family.
However shortly before the birth of Archie Harrison the couple moved into their new home, later than expected due to delays with the renovation work.
List most things royal, most of the details about their new home have been kept secret – but there are a few things we do know.
The couple enlisted the help of designer Vicky Charles, who is behind the decor at their favourite hangouts Soho House, to turn the building into their dream home.
It’s understood to be filled with all the latest tech and it’s likely that they are able to control many different things from their phones.
A source told royal expert Katie Nicholl :
“They are going all out with the refurbishment of the house, and as Harry loves his gadgets, it’s going to be very cool.
“They’ll be able to control everything from their smart phones.”
It’s understood that one the couple are also had a £50,000 eco boiler installed, which means they will have access to hot water at all times.
Frogmore Cottage is just 200 metres from the Long Walk – which is open to the public – so there is obviously a lot of security, which is also funded by the taxpayer.
Other entrances to the grounds are further from their new home – some just 500 metres away – but are further from open scrutiny, leading to fears they could be easily accessed.
It’s likely that they will have built a separate annex for their Private Protection Officers who will guard them 24 hours a day.
A source close to the operation say planners have also discussed including as state of the art panic room.
Speaking before the move Ken Wharfe, former royal protection officer to Princess of Wales and the royal family, said:
“The costs of building and security arrangements could even balloon to £5million in the first year.
“There will have to be major reviews of the security surrounding that property because it is exposed on virtually every side.
“Whatever happens it will be a dramatic rise to the taxpayer which could have been avoided had they decided to stay at Kensington Palace.”
SOURCE:
.com/en-xl/europe/europe-life-arts/queen-rejected-meghan-markles-only-wish-after-wedding-as-it-wasnt-appropriate/ar-AAGoyiL?li=BBQbcGp&ocid=spartanntp
By: Brian Evans Over the past 36 hours, the Mainstream Media has inundated the television, radio, and all broadcast airwaves with discussions of the terrorist attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left more than 49 people dead and scores of others wounded. They have pushed the envelope in order to evoke a […]
A 46-year-old Man, Thomas Wollo was killed and beheaded together with his 7-year-old son Nggwe Thomas on Sunday night by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Tafigana village of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. The killing of Wollo and his son close to their home in Tafigana village, Bassa LGA, while they were returning from […]
Twenty three (23) Nigerians convicted for possessing narcotic and psychotropic substances in Saudi Arabia will be executed soon.
The laws of Saudi Arabia states that persons who commits such offences shall be executed.
They were arrested between 2016 and 2017 at King Abdul-Aziz International Airport, Jeddah and Prince Muhammad bin Abdu- Aziz International Airport, Madinah having concealed the banned substances in their rectums, the Saudi document revealed.
The impending execution follows the execution of Kudirat Afolabi for drug trafficking and Saheed Sobade, another Nigerian, reportedly nabbed with 1,183 grams of cocaine powder in Jeddah.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government of Nigeria has condemned the execution of its nationals.
The convicted Nigerians are:
Adeniyi Adebayo Zikri
Tunde Ibrahim
Jimoh Idhola Lawal
Lolo Babatunde
Sulaiman Tunde
Idris Adewuumi Adepoju
Abdul Raimi Awela Ajibola
Yusuf Makeen Ajiboye
Adam Idris Abubakar
Saka Zakaria
Biola Lawal
Isa Abubakar Adam
Ibrahim Chiroma
Hafis Amosu
Aliu Muhammad
Funmilayo Omoyemi Bishi
Mistura Yekini
Amina Ajoke Alobi
Kuburat Ibrahim
Alaja Olufunke Alalaoe Abdulqadir
Fawsat Balagun Alabi
Aisha Muhammad Amira
Adebayo Zakariya
The Nigerian Army is concluding arrangements to move its soldiers, who may be indicted by the Defence Headquarters’ Joint Investigative Panel’s report, to the 3 Division headquarters, Jos, Plateau State, for a possible General Court Martial.
The DHQ joint panel, headed by Rear Admiral Ibikunle Olaiya, which investigated the killing of three policemen and one civilian by some soldiers in Ibi, Taraba State, is expected to submit its report to the Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, on Monday (today).
Our correspondent had reported on Saturday that the seven-man panel’s report could indict some army personnel who would then be court-martialled and likely face dismissal, “going by their level of culpability.”
The DHQ panel concluded its work on Friday after sitting for three days at the Defence Intelligence Agency, Abuja, during which it grilled soldiers, policemen, civilians and the suspected kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Wadume.
Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that the army was “anxiously awaiting the outcome and recommendations” of the panel’s report and the 3 Division in Jos would receive any indicted personnel for the military court trial.
The police had last Monday re-arrested the Taraba kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Wadume, at a hideout in the Layin Mai Allo Hotoro area of Kano State, who made confessions implicating the officer and soldiers in Ibi.
A top military source confirmed to our correspondent on Sunday that soldiers at the Ibi Unit, who are suspected to be indicted by the panel report, would be moved to the 3 Division in Jos.
Other sources noted that the 3 Division, Jos, being the headquarters of the 23 Brigade in Yola, Adamawa State, was expected to conduct a GCM for the personnel once the outcome of the DHQ panel had been made public.
A competent DHQ source said, ‘
“The captain, Balarabe Tijjani, is back in detention in one of the military facilities after he was cross-examined by the panel. Depending on the outcome of the panel’s report, he and other soldiers will be moved to the 3 Division in Jos, Plateau State, which is the mother of the 23 Brigade and Ibi Unit.
“We don’t know the recommendations of the panel yet, but the army is expected to make further inquiries on the matter and prepare the personnel for a General Court Martial. In fact, that is ongoing already.”
Residents of Borno state have written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, informing the country’s leader that Boko Haram insurgency has not been defeated.
The residents, who said they have lost confidence in the military over the lingering insurgency, said the present crop of soldiers on the frontline are not ready to fight, The Cable reports.
Legit.ng gathers that in the letter which was signed by Hassan Boguma, the military was accused of not doing enough in the fight against insurgency.
The letter read:
“The attempts by Boko Haram to intimidate and attack communities in the state and the actions of our soldiers in the frontline has made us lose confidence in the recent military’s performance in protecting not only the vulnerable citizens but even the territorial boundaries of the nation.”
According to the residents, Boko Haram insurgents now attack “without any countermeasures or even a response to distress calls from the locals”.
The letter added:
“You are either fed with false information, or raising hopes of technical defeat of the BH which is far from the truth.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigerian Army on Sunday, August 25, said it had deployed new strategies to counter resurgence of Boko Haram terrorists’ attacks in some communities in Born state.
Major General Olusegun Adeniyi, the theater commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, made this known when he led a team of journalists on a visit to Magumeri, Gubio and Benisheik, headquarters of Magumeri, Gubio and Kaga local government areas of the state.
Adeniyi addressed the troops at the 5 Brigade Battalion and interacted with members of Gubio community during the visit.
EU is to reform air traffic management (ATM) in order to provide safer and more environmentally friendly operations. In 1999, the Council and the European Parliament created the concept of a single European sky (SES), to bring in those much needed efficiency measures. Whilst there have been some improvements in ATM, we are currently on […]
I could remember and recollect vividly how I have free and undisturbed access to latest music records in my developmental age courtesy of my parents business then in Ilesa.
In Ilesa then,there were few music record stores and my parents has one of the best then.
The business involved dubbing of music with the usage of turn-tables,loud-speakers and other dubbing engines to copy music from a record into what is called cassettes then.
It also involved the sales of records directly to would be customers.
If you resident in Ilesa in the 80s and 90s,you should remember Aletile records store at Ereja Square,Gloria records Store at Ereguru,Odion records Store at Ereguru,Owaround records store at Orinkinran.These are the popular record store in Ilesa then of which Gloria records store at Ereguru belongs to my dad then.
It was this business that made me to have free flowing access to music directly.
Many oldies, highlife,Fuji,Apala,Awurebe,Juju and foreign music by Bob Marley are some of the music I can remember.
One of the music releases then that stuck to my mind when it was sent to me is the one by Barrister then which is about his 40th birthday.I could remember that King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey made music about their 40th birthday which was a hit then.
I could remember then that I am always inquisitive and a little bothered about the speciality of 40th birthday and all I hope for in my mind is that one day I will be 40 years old.
It was a forlorn hope then that looked like eternity.
I never knew then that one day it will be a reality and I will be celebrating and happy just the way Barrister, Ebenezer Obey and King Sunny Ade were high to heaven then.
Just in a space of time,I could see the reality of what I hoped for in the land of the living.
Many waters has passed underneath the bridge,many of my mates have gone yonder and many people have lost hope of a greater future.
By God’s mercy,I have been able to stand firmly on my feet,I have been able to fulfill part of the deal I have with divinity and nature.
God has been faithful into me in making today a reality.
It looks like yesterday that I was announced and introduced into this world but today God had been the one who kept me up to this moment.
It is a double Celebration in Fadeyi’s family as my dad,uncle,friend and pal also shared thesame day with me.I thank God for the life of Mr.SA Fadeyi FCA for how far God has taken him to be a blessing unto his generation.As old as he his,he is young at heart.
All I can wish you is strength to remain alive and be a blessing unto your generation.
I appreciate my family, my mum, my sisters and brothers, my niece’s, nephews, cousins and in-laws.
Special appreciation also goes to all my friends–real and virtual friends scattered across the length and breadth of the world.
Never to forget my daughter and my wife.
They make my world worthy and meaningful in all ramifications.
Kudos to my beloved, the secret of what I am becoming in life.
I promised to spend my life celebrating and appreciating you because having a good wife or a good partner in the world of today deserves Celebration.
Since yesterday, I am overwhelmed seen series of comments on my Timeline.
I appreciate you all.
It is my 40th birthday.
Let’s raise the roof and pop champagne.
AD MULTO ANNOS!!!
DEO GRATIAS!!!
©Mlstcommunications 2019.
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PSA 23:1-2 BOOKS
https://bible.com/bible/31/psa.23.1-2.BOOKS
Not quite long,I was in a popular fast food outlet in Ogba known as Tantalizer to pick up cake.
Immediately, I was about entering, the door was left opened ajar with no security personnel around, so I used my hand to open the door.
When I entered, I have to tread softly looking around to be cocksure if I am in the right place.
When I got to one of the female attendant, in order to douse my doubt, I asked the female attendant if truly they provide on spot cake but she answered in the affirmative.
I waited for few minutes in order to get a fresh one.
While I was waiting, I was overwhelmed by waves of memory that made me to ask so many questions.
My questions boil down to the fact that Tantalizer and some other fast foods have become shadow of their old self.
I could recollect and remember in the early year 2000 when Tantalizer and Mr Biggs were the household name in the fast food service sector in Nigeria then and they are the Eldorado that will knew then in Nigeria.
They are places many look up to as a source of relaxation centre then.
Suddenly,they started expanding.While Mr Biggs was taking the lead then, Tantalizer ensured that they give Me.Biggs stiff competition then by ensuring that they site any of their outlet like few metres away to anywhere Mr.Biggs is.
The icing on the cake was when Mr Biggs started expanding to the extent that around 2003 and 2004 when I got back to Ilesa from school and I was told that Mr.Biggs is now somewhere in Ilesa–Imo to be precise.
I couldn’t believe my eyes having such in my place of residence then.
The expansion was good and a welcome idea but on what business model or idea was it based on?
Suddenly, clients and customers started complaining about variation in the service being rendered by one Mr Biggs outlet in differential to another one.
In the course if this complains,we heard that UAC as a company started using a kind of business model called Franchising.
To the best of my knowledge,franchising entails the sales of business name to would be interested parties or partners involving the partner or parties running and managing any of the outlet desired by the parties done in conformity and in accordance to laid down consensual agreement.
This was the beginning of days of woes and wanton destruction of what we knew Mr Biggs for until many of the outlets became nothing but a shadow of what is known for even the one at Ilesa was shut down when it got to a point that they were unable to power the outlet whenever there is power outage.
Though,I don’t have information about Tantalizer been franchised too but what I saw today made me to think along that part.It has also become what Mr Biggs is.
The two leaders in the fast food service sector in Nigeria have gone yonder within a decade of existence and expansion.
This is what I noticed recently in the course of the last public holiday while I was in a meeting with some of my colleagues in one of Domino’s outlet in Egbeda, I spent my time observing the quality of their service and I realized that in a couple of years, Domino too might fizzle out.
Even the one in Abule-Egba too is becoming a shadow gradually.
It is appalling why the kind of business model used in running the day to day activities of many corporate organization in Nigeria is not sustainable, though the economic woes if the country also contribute a large extent to this.
In spite of the low economic ebb of our country, a paranomic observation of the kind of lifestyle adopted by many business executives is against what can sustain a business established in an already toxic environment.
The largesse and excesses of many of the business executives is beyond what can make a business to survive which call for a situation whereby our so called managers and executive managers should be prudent and frugal in the kind of lifestyles adopted by them.
Nigeria as a country needs sustainable business model not business model that favours the top class executives alone leaving the lower cadre staff at the mercy of surviving with stipends at the end of the month.
It is high time we think of business model and adopt business idea that can weather the storm of economic woes to the point whereby such business can outlive those who started it and might end up becoming an heirloom just like McDonald’s,Coca- Cola and other multinationals that are standing firm for decades.
It is never the numbers of business outlets that matters or the drive for expansion that matters but the strength to manage the resources on ground at a particular point in time.
It is better to manage the little you have than having much but mismanaging it.
©Mlstcommunications 2019.
Your functionality and performance in life is based on the quality of your knowledge.
There is no doubt about it that many cultures and the overall human existence believed in the existence of demons,witches,wizards and all sorts of existence in the dark world.
Ephesians 6 verse 12 buttresses this believe and understanding which has made many Christians to believe in their existence and influence on the surface of the heart.
This made many religious gathering to have their contents and contexts been about winning and having victory over these demonic existence believed to be in control of the terrestrial and celestial existence.
Are they real?
No doubt about it,they are real and they are all out been commissioned to influence the destiny of men.
Now,this is my drift.
As I was in the laundry washing clothes just now,a content along this line of thought popped into my mind and I had a different view about what principalities and powers are.
Then,what are they?
Do you know that you might be your own principalities and power?
Do you know that the system been operated in your environment, Society,places of work, families and homes might be principalities and powers?
Do you know that your behaviour, attitude and characters might be the principalities and powers you need to contest with?
Do you know that your views about a subject matter or a particular endeavour might be your principalities and powers?
Do you know that your confession and overall expression might be your principalities and powers?
Do you know that lack of wisdom, knowledge and understanding might be your principalities and powers?
Life has taught me that the solutions to any challenge remains unattainable till you have the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of what could trigger the solution.
You are where you are today due to what you know and you will remain there till you know what you should know that have the potential to move you forward.
While many of us spend a large percentage of our time and season binding the devil,we should remember that we might be the devil that needs to be in chain.
A simple understanding of what attitudinal and behavioural change are all about might be enough to change your prospects and your fortunes.
While you as a Christian is busy running from pillar to post and from one mountain to another,you should remember that other people are not praying about what you are bothered about.
They just align themselves with the basic principles of life that ends up attracting their solutions.
Whenever you keep praying and fasting over an issue for a long time, endeavour to appraise and check yourself if you are not the source of the problem.
If you are the source of the problem, you will be the solution to it.
Every Christian should be careful of hypocrisy in their approach to spirituality.
God does not want irresponsible children.
God is bound to fulfill His part of the convenient and God expected you to fulfill your own part.
The taxonomy of the principalities and powers you are praying against might not be in the devil’s manifest ,the taxonomy might be you as a person.
There is hope for you if you can be truthful with yourself by:
1.Being objective in your views to issues around you.
2.Engaging in continuous and constant self appraisal.
3.Live a life of continuous self development.
4.Be attentive to advise and detailed instructions.
5.Be willing to live your comfort zone.
6.Be comfortable with the right company.
7.Be choosy, classic and selective in mingling with people.
8.Build the right environment for yourself.
9.Be hopeful and be positive.
10.Be on the look out for opportunities.
If you can engage some of this, you might end up living your life above the stronghold of self afflicted principalities and powers that has no connection with the devil.
Be warned.
Don’t be a victim of self afflicted battle.
The senator representing Kogi West senatorial district at the Senate, Dino Melaye, has been sacked by the National Assembly election petition tribunal.
Vanguard reports that Melaye, who was a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared winner of the February 23 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Dissatisfied by the declaration, Senator Smart Adeyemi, who was the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), approached the tribunal to challenge Melaye’s victory, citing irregularities over-voting and non compliance with the electoral acts.
The three man panel led by Justice A. O. Chijioke in a unanimous judgment on Friday, August 23, accepted Adeyemi’s ground and ordered for reelection into the senatorial axis.
Reacting to the tribunal’s judgement, Melaye who is contesting in the upcoming governorship election in Kogi state said there was no cause for alarm over his sack, adding that his mandate would not be taken from him.
Legit.ng reported that the embattled senator said that even if the ruling was in his favour, it would have been appealed. He insisted that there would be fresh senatorial election in the district and that he would be Kogi’s next governor. According to him, he who laughs last laughs long.
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The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have announced the shocking demise of former Super Falcons forward Ifeanyi Chiejine who died after a brief illness.
According to the statement by the Nigeria’s Football governing body, the former Confluence Queens of Lokoja striker died on Wednesday, August 21.
But the details of her untimely death was not revealed by the Nigeria’s Football body.
During Chiejine’s active playing days, she captained the first set of the U19 National Women’s team to the first U19 (Now U20) FIFA World Cup in 2002.
She was also the youngest female player to play at the FIFA Women’s World Cup when she made her debut in 1999 at the age of 16.
Before her tragic death, Chiejine was playing for SSVSM-Kairat Almaty in the Kazakhstani Championship.
Previously, Legit.ng had reported how ex-Nigerian star and Goodland Rangers FC head coach Ajuma Ottache was reported dead.
Before her death, she was the only woman managing a man’s club in the Nigerian Nationwide League before passing on Saturday, November 10, 2018.
She was said to have been battling a rare muscular disease which resurfaced while on national assignment during Flamingos last qualifying matches in Benin city.
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Former Ghana and Nottingham Forest forward Junior Agogo has passed away in a London hospital at the age of 40.
Although the cause of his death is yet to be known, Agogo suffered from a stroke in 2015 and had to battle public stigma during his recovery.
The ex-Ghana international had several stints across England, USA, Egypt and his last competitive outing was at Hibernian back in 2012.
He was a standout player for Ghana at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil where he scored three goals in six outings as the Black Stars settled for third-place.
His notable contribution during the continental competition was his late match-winning effort that gave Ghana a 2-1 win over arch-rivals Nigeria.
Agogo made his international debut for the West African country in 2006 and he went on to score 12 goals in 27 international appearances.
Prior to his death, the former Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol Rovers attacker went into the fitness training business in England.
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Sudan was taking further steps in its transition towards civilian rule Wednesday with the swearing in of a new sovereign council and the appointment of a prime minister.
The body replaces the Transitional Military Council (TMC) that took charge after months of deadly street protests brought down longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April.
The first steps of the transition after the mass celebrations that marked the August 17 adoption of a transitional constitution proved difficult however.
The names of the joint civilian-military sovereign council’s 11 members were eventually announced late Tuesday after differences within the opposition camp held up the process for two days.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who already headed the TMC, was sworn in as the chairman of the new sovereign council shortly after 11:00 am (0900 GMT), state news agency SUNA reported.
He will be Sudan’s head of state for the first 21 months of the 39-month transition period, until a civilian takes over for the remainder.
The council’s 10 other members are expected to be sworn in later Wednesday and Abdalla Hamdok, who was chosen by the opposition last week to be prime minister, is also due to take office.
The sovereign council includes two women, including a member of Sudan’s Christian minority, and it will oversee the formation of a government and of a legislative body.
End of isolation?
The transition’s key documents were signed on Saturday at a ceremony attended by a host of foreign dignitaries, signalling that Sudan could be on its way to shedding its pariah status.
Sudan’s new rulers are expected to push for the lifting of the suspension from the African Union that followed a deadly crackdown on a sit-in in June.
The ruling council will also seek to have the country removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his role in massacres in the Darfur region, where a rebellion broke out in 2003.
He appeared in court on Monday — but only on charges of corruption for the opening of a trial in which an investigator said the deposed leader admitted to receiving millions in cash from Saudi Arabia.
Pictures of the 75-year-old autocrat sitting in a cage during the hearing instantly became a symbol of his Islamist military regime’s downfall.
The sight of their former tormentor in the dock was overwhelmingly welcomed by the Sudanese but many warned the graft trial should not distract from the more serious indictments he faces before the ICC.
“The evidence he committed genocide should come forward… Many civilians inside and outside Sudan have died because of him and he should face justice,” one resident, Alhaj Adam, told AFP.
It’s the economy…
Sudan’s transitional authorities would need to ratify the ICC’s Rome Statute to allow for the transfer of the former military ruler to The Hague.
Amidst the euphoria celebrating the promise of civilian rule, unease was palpable within the protest camp that brought about one of the most significant moments in Sudan’s modern history.
One reason is the omnipresence in the transition of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a member of the sovereign council and a paramilitary commander whose forces are blamed for the deadly repression of the protests.
His Rapid Support Forces sprang out of the Janjaweed militia notorious for alleged crimes in Darfur.
Pacifying a country still plagued by deadly unrest in the regions of Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile will be one of the most urgent tasks of Sudan’s transitional institutions.
The other daunting challenge that awaits the fragile civilian-military alliance is the rescue of an economy that has all but collapsed in recent years.
It was the sudden tripling of bread prices in December 2018 that sparked the wave of protests fatal to Bashir’s regime.
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Following the arrest of notorious kidnapper Hamisu Bala Wadume, residents of Hotoro Layin Mai Allo and Yandodo Hotorol in Nassarawa local government area of Kano state claimed they were unaware that the suspected criminal was arrested in their neighbourhood, The Nation reports.
Wadume was trailed to his hide out in Hotoro Layin Mai Allo, where he was arrested by police operatives and consequently taken to the force headquarters in Abuja for questioning.
The news outlet reports that many residents said they were unaware of his presence and arrest by security operatives.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Nigeria Police Force disclosed that suspected kidnap kingpin in Taraba state, Hamisu Bala Wadume, was re-arrested by its operatives.
This was disclosed on Tuesday, August 20, by the police spokesperson Frank Mba.
He said Wadume was re-arrested in his hideout at Layin Mai Allo Hotoro area of Kano state in the late hours of Monday, August 19.
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At a point in time when I rushed into the news of award given to Obinwanne Okeke being one of the most influential youth in Africa at an age below 30,I was swayed into deep thought asking myself many unanswerable personal questions to the point of beating myself up.
His story challenged me and I was caught up in a kind of regret somehow.
Few days ago,while I was blogging and I saw his face and his story of arrest by FBI in the United States,I wondered and pondered about my shallowness at a point to the point of asking God for forgiveness.
This is how many of us have been dealing with the situation of things around us by engaging in a rat race of virtual display of comfort and convenience on all social media platforms.
Some of us even ask God questions blaming God for our inability to have become a person of influence and achievements.
Little did some of us understand that many of the so called men and women of influence that we tag as mentors live a dirty life with skeleton in their cupboard.
The likes of R.Kelly and another American Billionaire that committed suicide in the Prison who was a close ally of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump arrested for having carnal knowledge of minors who is a convicted paedophile known as Jeffrey Epstein is a pointer to the fact that some of us needs to apply brake in our motion or movement to have mentors.
All around us,we have many motivation speakers that uses sugar coated tongues to deceive us siting examples of people who had made it without delving into how such wealth are accumulated.
At a point in time, it is in the mouth of many motivation speakers that the richest man in Africa started small but one needs to question how can a man started small with an initial capital outlay of #500 thousand in 1978?
This is a lot of money then and it is only a wealthy purse that can invest such into a business then.
So,it is an abberration and a distortion of fact and figures for anyone to tell you that Dangote started small so that you will not be caught up in the web of deception designed by our motivational speakers.
Accumulation of wealth demands time and perseverance but anyone seen getting it within a few space of time needs to be investigated, just as Invictus was investigated by FBI and the skeleton in his cupboard popped out for us to know that he is a criminal.
He is a criminal that has been celebrated and sold to us as the face of the next generation fleets of billionaire but we are disappointed seeing a young guy spending the productive part of his life cooling off in prison.
Not that it is impossible for someone at a younger age to hit the class of the wealthy a younger age but questions about such wealth are asked in a sane clime whereby the sanctity of humanity is respected and referenced.
Not like Nigerian Society whereby all we care about is wealth that has no basis.
With the recent happenings, one needs to be careful and watchful in making assumptions about the status quo of people in our society.
There is an increase in fake lifestyles and virtual lifestyles are being promoted on all social media platforms continuously.
You should never be caught up in the display of fakery.
You should remember that contentment is a great gain.
Be careful about your choice of mentors.
There are many criminals around us now.
Beware.
Don’t listening to the voice of deception.
Can you answer this question?
Former Super Eagles hard-as-nails defender Taribo West has sensationally revealed how he and his national teammates sneaked women – both local and foreign – into camp during national assignments.
The former AC Milan centre-back turned pastor on retirement from football said it was rampant during his era as a footballer but added he could only talk about it because he was now a born-again Christian.
“Sometimes we (the players) will import ladies from other countries and keep them in different hotels. As the competition progressed, more ladies would keep coming and going. It’s something we all did but my teammates won’t talk about it. I can talk about it now because I’ve given my life to Christ,” Taribo told Sports Extra.
“We normally kept the girls in different locations, but once everyone was asleep, around 2am, we would bring them into our hotel rooms. It happened in every tournament we competed in, from the Africa Cup of Nations to the World Cup.
“We had a teammate who the other players waited for to bring in his girl first, because he always had fine women. Once we saw the shape and height of his girl, we would call our own boys to go out and negotiate for girls more beautiful than this player’s own. It was more like a competition for women amongst us then.
“We had crazy guys in the team but there was discipline, that’s why we had to sneak the ladies into camp.”
Globally-acclaimed for his various unusual and colourful hairstyles during his playing days, Taribo featured for French side Auxerre before going on to play for both Milan clubs, Inter and AC.
He also appeared in the top leagues of England (Derby County) and Germany (Kaiserslautern).
Internationally, Taribo won gold at the 1996 Olympic Games with the U-23 side. At senior level, he had 42 caps for Nigeria between 1994 and 2005, played at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations.
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A former deputy president of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, was attacked by an irate mob in the European country of Germany.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ekweremadu, a federal lawmaker representing the Enugu West Senator District in southeastern Nigeria, was almost lynched by a mob suspected to be members of the proscribed separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra.
Legit.ng notes that a video went viral on Saturday, August 17, showing Ekweremadu being dragged roughly out of a hall by the irate mob who also stoned him with different objects they could find.
In the video seen by our correspondent, the senator quickly jumped into a waiting hatch-backed style silver car which zoomed off quickly before the mob could close in on him.
NAN reports that Ekweremadu was violently questioned in the video over his alleged conspiracy with the Federal Government to proscribe the IPOB in the South East and killing several of its followers.
The national news agency reports that Enweremadu confirmed the attack in a statement released by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu in Abuja, saying he had immediately reported the incidence to the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar.
He explained:
“I attended the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organised by Ndi-Igbo Germany in Nurnberg today where I was billed to give a keynote address along with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who, however could not make it eventually.
I was given a resounding welcome by Ndigbo in Germany and everything went smoothly until some men, who identified themselves as IPOB members stormed the venue and began to complain about the killings in the South East, stressing that there would be no Igbo event at the venue.
“I tried to engage them, but when they became unruly, I had to leave the venue. The organisers also invited the police and I was accompanied out of the venue.
“Much as I am disappointed in their conduct, especially as I am one of the persons, who have spoken up on justice for Ndigbo, the Python Dance, judicial killings in Igbo land and elsewhere both on the floor of the Senate and in my written and personal engagements with the Presidency and the media as well as rallied the South East Senate Caucus to secure Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe taking him on bail to douse tension in the South East, I nevertheless do not hold this to heart against them, for they know not what they do.
“I have received thousands of solidarity calls and messages from well meaning Ndigbo. I want to assure them that I am hail and hearty. I have also spoken with the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar.”
Recall that Legit.ng reported that Ekweremadu lost the bid to be deputy president of the 9th senate after losing to Senator Ovie Omo-Agege in an internal election on the floor of the Red Chamber.
Omo-Agege, representing Delta central senatorial district, emerged the deputy president of the 9th Senate to replace Ekweremadu who was deputy immediate past president of the 8th senate Bukola Saraki.
Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress emerged victorious after defeating his challenger, Ekweremadu Peoples Democratic Party in the elections held on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.
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President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday ordered the military to identify and kill bandits carrying out attacks across the country.
The President said he was disturbed that bandits not only kill, but also maim and extort their victims.
Buhari gave the orders in Katsina State while addressing 15 officers and 160 soldiers of the 17th Army Brigade and Nigerian Air Force 213 Operational Base.
Speaking at the Musa Yar’Adua Airport, Katsina, Buhari told the men working under the code name, “Operation Hadarin Daji,” to live up to the primary reason the operation was set up.
He said,
“This group was formed by the military to secure this geopolitical zone (North-West) from the activities of bandits. Fundamentally, it is your responsibility to secure the country.
“As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I believe you are capable of doing it. I don’t think you should spare any bandit. Identify and eliminate them. Pursue them anywhere you can find them and eliminate them.
“Nigeria deserves peace. The rainy season is good and we are already achieving food security, but we need peace. The money saved from food importation will be used to purchase arms for operations.”
Buhari told the troops the Federal Government would provide for their needs for them to focus on the assignment.
“We will give you all the right equipment so that you can deal with them with despatch. I appreciate all your efforts, but you can do more. I don’t want any bandit spared,” a State House statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, quoted Buhari as telling the troops.
The President reminded the troops that the longer they delayed in eliminating bandits, the longer they would stay on the battlefield.
After meeting the troops, the President, who was in company with the Katsina State Governor, Mr Aminu Masari, returned to Abuja.
The President had travelled out of Abuja to his home town, Daura, on August 8, to observe the Eid-el-Kabir holidays.
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An amazing group of five Nigerian girls, called Brain Squad, are contesting at an international tech competition, Technovation Awards, for creating an educational app.
The members of the group are Ayomikun Ariyo, Ivana Mordi, Jadesola Kassim, Munachiso Chigbo and Pandora Onyedire, Tech Next reports.
The name of the resourceful app is called Handsout, which is designed to provide a platform for people to donate money and other helpful materials to less-privileged children in the country.
The group reportedly said that what inspired the making of the app is connected with the collapse of a primary school building earlier in the year in Lagos.
Brain Squad added that with the app, the surviving kids from the tragic incident can be given hope.
“On 16th of March 2019 the tragic news of a building which had a primary school within at Itafaji Lagos collapsed. Many children died and others were injured.
“The community was thrown into morning and the surviving children can’t understand why friends and relatives had to die. They need hope,” they said.
It should be noted that, according to UNICEF, over 10 million children are out of school, showing how kids from low privileged class risk dropping out of school.
The girl-tech group believes primary education should be free for all kids, and as such is partnering with a financial institution in the country to raise funds.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that another of young girls named Team Save-A-Group was received by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo after they won a $10,000 app award in the United States.
The girls defeated teams from USA, Spain, Turkey, Uzbekistan and China to win the 2018 Technovation world pitch junior division.
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If Jeffrey Epstein actually had hundreds of millions of dollars at his disposal, the fight over who gets that money just got more complicated for his victims.
Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell early Saturday morning from an apparent suicide, a month after his arrest by the federal government on sex-trafficking charges. Epstein lived a lavish lifestyle with mansions in New York and Florida and a Caribbean island he owned. A recent filing in his criminal case suggested he is worth $559 million.
But the line to get that money could be very long. Even before he was charged in the most recent criminal case, Epstein had settled civil lawsuits with women who claim he had abused them, and was facing the prospect of more suits. Two of the lawyers who represent women who allege they were abused as girls by Epstein say they’d been allowing the criminal case to proceed before filing civil suits against Epstein.
Now that Epstein is dead, prosecutors are likely to drop the criminal charges against him as early as this week. That means civil cases will proceed. And the list of accusers is likely to grow now that he is dead, legal experts said.
Epstein was not married and does not appear to have any children. But he does have a brother, who would also have a claim to Epstein’s estate. Here’s what know about Epstein’s millions and who could get it.
How rich was Jeffrey Epstein
It was often reported over the years that Epstein was a billionaire, but there is little evidence that has was anything more than very, very rich. Epstein owned a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that is valued at more than $50 million.
He also had a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, with a price tag of around $12 million, a ranch in New Mexico valued at just over $17 million and an apartment in Paris worth an estimated $8.6 million. The Carribean island, Little St. James, was recently assessed at nearly $64 million.
The New York Times has reported that Epstein made more than $200 million during his a decade-plus relationship working as a financial adviser for the retail tycoon Les Wexner, the CEO of L Brands. But it’s not clear if the price of the Manhattan townhouse, which was transferred to Epstein from Wexner in 2011, is part of that sum.
What’s more, Wexner last week wrote in a letter to his foundation that Epstein improperly took “vast sums” of money from him in the mid-2000s and said Epstein in late 2007 and early 2008 repaid some of Wexner’s money with a $46 million donation to a charity linked to Wexner’s wife. It is not clear if Wexner could bring a suit against Epstein’s estate.
Epstein also appears to have provided other wealthy individuals with tax and estate planning advice, including Leon Black, the billionaire chairman of private equity shop Apollo Global Management. It’s not clear how much Black paid for the advice, but in 2015 a charity controlled by Black made a $10 million donation to a charity run by Epstein, according to Bloomberg News.
As part of Epstein’s criminal proceedings, he filed a financial statement saying he had $559 million in assets. But the filing listed no debt, and provided little detail other than saying he had nearly $200 million in hedge fund and private equity investments. Given the number of people looking to sue him, it’s likely Epstein would have wanted to understate his assets.
Will Epstein’s victims claim parts of his fortune?
While the government can’t bring a criminal case against a dead person, civil cases are allowed to be filed or proceed against a person’s estate. But Epstein’s death potentially introduces a new hurdle, legal experts said.
Verdicts in criminal cases are admissible in a civil case, and a guilty verdict is very good evidence of wrongdoing. Federal prosecutors said they amassed considerable amounts of evidence against Epstein. Still, his victims will have to establish his guilt on their own.
The good news is that the burden of proof is a lower bar in a civil case. One must prove the evidence shows it is likely that the defendant committed the offense. The “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard only applies in a criminal case.
The other good news is creditors, and that would include anyone suing Epstein’s estate, generally have a right to Epstein’s money before it goes to family members or anyone named in his will — if he even had one, which is not yet clear. Legal experts say the order of who has the right to an estate is established by each state individually. The order in New York is that the government gets to settle any tax liens first, and then comes creditors, and then named beneficiaries.
Epstein’s legal residence was in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and it is likely that his executor, if one is named in a will, would try to claim that residence as the jurisdiction for any claims against Epstein’s estate. “I don’t think it will be offered for probate in New York,” said Herbert Nass, an estate lawyer in New York City. “I wouldn’t.” Nass said, describing the U.S. Virgin Islands as a “less formal legal domicile” for estate cases.
How long could it take until Epstein’s estate is resolved?
Short answer: Years and years. The first step is finding out who is in charge. If Epstein had a will, it would name the executor. If he didn’t, then the job would go to his closest next of kin, his brother, Mark Epstein.
But Epstein reportedly abused at least dozens of women, potentially creating a legal bill that is larger than what is in the estate. For that reason, Epstein’s brother could take a pass on administering the money, especially if acting as executor could expose him to any liability, said Bruce Steiner, an estate lawyer in New York City.
If Mark Epstein declined to be executor, one of Epstein’s creditors, namely one of his victims, could apply to be an executor of the will, Nass said. As an alternative, the court could also assign a public administrator. But that is the law in New York, the experts said. Estate law in the U.S. Virgin Islands is less clear.
The bigger issue could be finding all of Epstein’s assets. After all, he sold wealthy people advice on tax shelters. His 2008 conviction in Florida for sex crimes found that most of his wealth was split between multiple corporations and offshore accounts. Unraveling all that, especially without Epstein, will take time.
That’s been true with other high-profile estate cases: In 2017, nine years after the death of real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley, her children and others were still fighting over her will, which included $12 million for her dog, Trouble. The Maltese, which died in 2011, ended up getting only $2 million.
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he wants a “full probe” into the death of Jeffrey Epstein, a former friend of Trump who is believed to have hanged himself in his New York City federal jail cell last weekend.
Trump also told reporters, “I have no idea” if former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were involved in Epstein’s death on Saturday.
Conspiracy theorists have suggested, without any evidence at all, that the Clintons were somehow to blame for Epstein’s death. Trump on Saturday had retweeted one of those conspiracy promoters.
Trump additionally said President Clinton, another ex-friend of Epstein, may have visited Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Island, which would not be “very good.”
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NEW YORK (AP) — The warden at the federal jail where Jeffrey Epstein took his own life over the weekend was removed Tuesday and two guards who were supposed to be watching the financier were placed on leave while federal authorities investigate the death.
The move by the Justice Department came amid mounting evidence that the chronically understaffed Metropolitan Correctional Center may have bungled its responsibility to keep the 66-year-old Epstein from harming himself while he awaited trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls.
Epstein was taken off a suicide watch last month for reasons that have not been explained, and was supposed to have been checked on by a guard every 30 minutes. But investigators learned those checks weren’t done for several hours before he was found Saturday morning, according to a person familiar with the case who was not authorized to discuss it and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Guards on the unit are now suspected of falsifying log entries to show they were making the checks, according to another person familiar with the probe.
In the past, guards at both federal and state prisons have faced criminal charges over false entries in duty logs that were discovered after something went wrong with a prisoner.
Surveillance video reviewed after the death showed guards never made some of the checks noted in the log, according to the person, who also was’t authorized to disclose information and spoke to The Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
Attorney General William Barr ordered warden Lamine N’Diaye temporarily assigned to the Bureau of Prisons’ regional office while the FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general investigate. The two guards were not identified.
While the exact manner of Epstein’s death has not been officially announced, another person familiar with operations at the jail said the financier was discovered in his cell with a bedsheet around his neck. That person likewise spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason.
Under the jail’s protocol, Epstein would not have been given a bedsheet had he been on suicide watch. He was placed on suicide watch last month after he was found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck, but he was later returned to the jail’s special housing unit for inmates needing close supervision.
The Bureau of Prisons sent a team of prison psychologists, known as a suicide reconstruction team, to the jail on Tuesday, a Justice Department official said. They are expected to reconstruct the scene, analyze why Epstein took his own life and look at how it happened, the official said. The official couldn’t discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen was being briefed by the FBI every three hours on the progress of their investigation.
On Monday, Barr said that he was “frankly angry to learn of the MCC’s failure to adequately secure this prisoner,” adding: “We will get to the bottom of what happened and there will be accountability.”
The warden of an institution in upstate New York has been named the acting warden at the jail.
Eric Young, president of the union council that represents prison guards, said that such reassignments are routinely done to “protect the integrity of investigations until any formal action, if any, is warranted.”
Jose Rojas, a union leader and teacher at a federal prison in Florida, said N’Diaye should be home without pay instead of being reassigned. He said it appears to him that the Bureau of Prisons is “protecting him and putting the blame on officers.”
“I put this on the warden,” he said. “If he would have had common sense and followed policy, we wouldn’t be here discussing this.”
More details began to emerge Tuesday about the guards who were supposed to be supervising Epstein and the conditions under which they were working.
The guards on Epstein’s unit the night of his apparent suicide were working overtime shifts to make up for staffing shortages, two people familiar with the matter said. One of the guards, who had a different job in the jail and did not regularly perform correctional officer duties, was working a fifth straight day of overtime and the other guard was working mandatory overtime, the people said.
Although the one guard doesn’t currently regularly work as a correctional officer, he had previously been one for seven years and specifically requested to work overtime shifts to make more money, one of the people said.
The prison has been pressing non-custodial staff into working as correctional officers because staffing levels are less than 70 percent of what they should be, union officials said.
The Bureau of Prisons considers all employees “correctional workers” and trains them in “basic correctional duties to secure the facility in the event of a disturbance and to provide inmate supervision,” according to a 2012 Government Accountability Office report on overcrowding.
All new employees are sent to a training academy in Georgia for a three-week “Introduction to Correctional Techniques” course that covers firearms, self-defense, policies and procedures.
They must also pass a physical-abilities test that measures their “ability to perform the essential functions of a correctional worker,” such as detecting movement, climbing ladders and using handcuffs.
Epstein was being held without bail on federal sex trafficking charges that could have brought 45 years in prison.
Federal prosecutors in New York are pursuing a parallel investigation into whether any of his associates will face charges for assisting him in what authorities say was his rampant sexual abuse of girls as young as 14.
According to police reports, FBI records and court documents, Epstein had a team of recruiters and other assistants who knew of his penchant for girls and lined up victims for him.
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An autopsy on disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein — who was found dead in his jail cell — has concluded that he committed suicide by hanging, a coroner said Friday, answering one of the questions surrounding his death.
The ruling comes six days after the 66-year-old, who was accused of trafficking girls as young as 14 for sex, was discovered dead in New York’s high-security Metropolitan Correctional Center.
New York’s chief medical examiner Barbara Sampson said in a statement emailed to AFP that “after careful review of all investigative information, including complete autopsy findings” it was determined that Epstein killed himself.
The New York Times cited officials as saying that Epstein had used a bedsheet to hang himself.
The report came a day after US media reported that preliminary findings from the post-mortem examination had found broken bones in Epstein’s neck.
The Washington Post and The New York Times quoted sources familiar with the autopsy report as saying Epstein had broken the hyoid bone near his Adam’s apple.
Epstein, a multi-millionaire who once counted Britain’s Prince Andrew and US President Donald Trump as friends, was charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
According to prosecutors, Epstein sexually exploited dozens of teenagers at his homes in Manhattan and Florida between 2002 and 2005.
He denied the charges but faced up to 45 years in jail if found guilty.
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating how America’s most high-profile remand prisoner managed to take his own life just weeks after an earlier reported suicide attempt.
The warden of the Metropolitan Correctional Center where Epstein was housed has been temporarily reassigned and two guards put on administrative leave pending an investigation.
They guards were reportedly asleep when they should have been checking on Epstein.
Epstein’s death came a day after a court released documents in which an alleged victim said he used her as a “sex slave” and that she was forced to have sex with well-known politicians and businessmen.
Virginia Giuffre has alleged she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew, former US Senator and architect of the Northern Irish peace deal George Mitchell, ex-New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and American celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz.
Lawsuits
They have all strenuously denied the allegations.
Prosecutors have pledged to pursue cases against anyone else involved in Epstein’s alleged crimes and earlier this week FBI agents raided his private island in the Caribbean.
Several women have also come forward seeking damages.
On Wednesday, Jennifer Araoz filed a lawsuit against Epstein’s estate, his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and three other female accomplices.
Araoz said she was raped by Epstein as a 15-year-old. She said Maxwell, a British socialite and daughter of the late fraudster and media mogul Robert Maxwell, enabled his crimes.
Maxwell’s whereabouts are unknown but she was recently photographed at a restaurant in Los Angeles, according to US reports.
On Friday two other women filed a $100 million lawsuit against Epstein’s estate.
They were working as hostesses in a Manhattan restaurant in 2004 when a woman described as a “recruiter” for Epstein approached them, they said.
The recruiter allegedly offered the pair hundreds of dollars each to go to Epstein’s home and give him a massage, assuring them there would be no sexual contact, according to the lawsuit.
Two days later they went to Epstein’s luxurious mansion near Central Park. Once they were in the massage room, the eight-page lawsuit said, Epstein was sexually aggressive towards them before giving them several hundred dollars.
Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 of paying young girls for massages but served just 13 months in jail under a secret plea deal struck with the then state prosecutor.
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Jay-Z is about to have more skin in the NFL game than originally anticipated — he’s reportedly about to become part owner of an NFL team.
Earlier this week it was announced that Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation had partnered with the NFL for live entertainment programming. However, TMZ Sports is reporting that the rapper will have a much bigger role with the league.
Jay is going to have a “significant ownership interest” in an NFL team, TMZ reported on Friday, although it’s not known what team that will be.
“It is going to happen in the near future,” a source told the website. “He’s a huge fan, already has a sports business and wants to continue to be a change agent for the NFL.”
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has apprehended a Nigerian serial entrepreneur identified as Obinwanne (Invictus Obi) Okeke.
Legit.ng gathers that Okeke, who was listed among Forbes 100 Most Influential Young Africans 2018, was arrested by the FBI over $12m fraud.
The FBI did a thorough investigation on the criminal activities of the Nigerian entrepreneur, which led to his arrest by the law enforcement agency.
Social media has been agog with the report of the arrest, as some Nigerians condemned the fraudulent act of the entrepreneur, while others called on the Nigerian security agencies to learn from the FBI.
Okeke was alongside three others, nominated for the most prestigious award for African businessmen/entrepreneurs, the All African Business Leaders Award for Young Business Leader (West Africa).
Obi has investment in real estate development, energy and construction. His company, Invictus Group, operates in three African countries, which include Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia.
In his reaction to the arrest, the head of the Presidency Office of Digital Engagement, Tolu Ogunlesi, advised aspiring fraudsters to have a change of mind, saying if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) does not arrest them, the FBI will.
He tweetd:
“If you’re a practicing or aspiring Yahoo Boy, please read this affidavit well. If EFCC doesn’t get you, FBI will. They’ve both ramped up their clampdown on computer and wire fraud.”
Below are other reactions:
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos zonal office, arrested the proprietor of a Yahoo Yahoo training school in Lagos, Frank Chinedu.
Chinedu, 22, according to the anti-graft agency, was arrested alongside eight students of the unnamed training centre located at 14, Animashaun street, Progressive Estate, Ojodu Berger, Lagos, while receiving lectures in internet fraud activities.
The suspected internet fraudsters were arrested under cover on May 22, 2019, following intelligence reports received by the commission about their involvement in alleged criminal activities.
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www.Mlst.blog 