CBN Reacts To Reports That They Are Illegally Recruiting Children Of Top Politicians Alone.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has reacted to the public outcry of an illegal recruitment exercise allegedly carried out by the apex bank. Sahara Reporters on Tuesday March 15th, reported that the bank employed the children of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, IGP Solomon Arase and others to some key positions in the bank.

The list of beneficiaries of the CBN’s secret job recruitment includes a daughter of former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, a son of Mamman Daura, a nephew of President Buhari and one of the closest members of the president’s inner circle, a son of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, a daughter of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’aba, also daughter of of the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, a son of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Abdurahman Danbazzau and at least 86 others.

This report has sparked up public outcry as many believe that the bank should have publicized the job openings for many other people to to apply.

However in an interview with Premium Times yesterday March 16th, the CBN’s acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor said the bank did nothing illegal or wrong in hiring without advertising.
“In the last two years, we have had cause to recruit specialists, and what the law says is that if we are going for that kind of recruitment we should apply for waiver, so that we can do targeted recruitment" He said the bank obtained waiver from the Federal Character Commission. “The other issue is that there are states that are not well represented (in the CBN), and in this case we focus on those states to recruits people of certain classes that we used to cover the shortfall in those states,”he said

Kebbi State Governor's Wife Comes To The Aid Of 10-Year-Old Girl Whose 22-Year-Old Mother Is Mentally-Challenged

Dr Zainab Atiku Bagudu, wife of Kebbi State Governor on Tuesday, March 15, came to the aid of 10-year-old Sidika Bako whose mother, aged 22, is mentally challenged, following a report she received on the girl's poor poor condition. The woman's husband who also resides in Birnin Kebbi reportedly abandoned them after she developed mental illness. Below is the report by Sabatu A. Yakubu & Haruna A. Atiku ...



"Improving social well-being of the general public, including physically and mentally challenged persons is one of the key social services expected of a well-meaning government. Kebbi State Government has been working seriously on putting a system in place which will put to an end the menace of drug abuse, reducing the burden of mentally retarded or challenged persons and improved health services through various interventions, including rehabilitating and providing psychosocial support services in social rehabilitation centres, improving educational systems, upgrading educational institutions, supporting and equipping hospitals, among others.

The Wife of the Kebbi State Governor on Tuesday 15th of March 2016 has extended such social support to a young girl and her mentally challenged mother. Dr Zainab Atiku Bagudu came to their aid following a report she received on the condition of both Sidika Bako aged 10 years and the mother aged 22 years. It is believed that the father of the girl also reside in Birnin Kebbi, but abandoned them following the mental illness developed by the mother. What caught the attention of the Government House Housekeeper, Hajiya Hajara Nagode was the mothers persistent backing of the 10 year old girl, which is weird. She immediately informed the Governors wife of the situation, who immediately came to their rescue. It was gathered that the both mother and the girl were residing in the mothers family house along with her brother in Birnin Kebbi, but medical attention could not be sought for her due to financial challenge. They usually go out in search of alms and even trek from Birnin Kebbi to Sokoto, but it was learnt that they always sleep at home. Dr Bagudu immediately directed that the girl be taken to a safer residence in Birnin Kebbi, and has taken full responsibility of young Sidika’s education. Infact, enrolment of the girl into school has already started. The Governor’s Wife further ordered for providing immediate medical attention to the mother, and has also taken full responsibility of the medical bills. The woman is presently in Physiatric and Rehabilitation Center, Jega LGA of the State. The hospital officials disclosed that the woman is responding well to treatment and may likely be back to her senses in about six weeks."

Court Jails Impersonator Of Former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan 2 Years

Justice Lateef Lawal Akapo of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja yesterday March 16th, convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment an impersonator of a former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan. The convict, Joseph Onoja, was arraigned on an initial 4-count charge bordering on conspiracy to defraud, impersonation, forgery and using false document.

At the point of arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to the charges but later changed his plea to”guilty” to an amended one count charge.. Justice Akapo convicted him on the one-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and sentenced him accordingly.

The convict was sentenced to 2 years Imprisonment and the sentence will run from the day of his conviction. Gabriel was arrested by operatives of the EFCC, sometime in 2014 following a petition that he impersonated Suswan. He had attempted to extort money from some foreigners under the pretence of giving them contract.

Woman Delivers 6 Still Born Babies In Benue

 A woman gave birth to still born sextuplets in Benue state. According to Benueinfo.com, the wife of a former vigilante group leader delivered  the six still born babies at a private clinic yesterday in Tse-Agberagba, Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State. The pregnancy was about four months old.

NEMA Officials Donate Blood To IDPs Admitted At Hospital In Yola

Official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday donated blood to the internally displaced persons (IDP's) who are currently admitted to Federal Medical Centre Yola, Adamawa State.

Woman Shares Pictues Of Her Battered Face After Her Husband Beat Her Blue Black

Ja 'Kara Palmore, a US based woman shared these pictures of her face swollen up after her husband of a year beat her blue back following a disagreement. She wrote
"I decided to snap a pic of my face today... Not for sympathy because I don't need it! As ugly as I may feel right now, I know that the feeling is only temporary and after having a few conversations with my family and friends I was forced to remember who and whose I am!

The beauty in my face was altered but NOT in my heart!!! Yes I am still angry because the man that I trusted with my life and my heart was determined to KILL ME!!! My spirit and heart was BROKEN but the more that I think about it the more that I feel led to share my story! I will be married for a year on the 28th of this month and the man that I chose to spend the rest of my life with was not who I thought he was! Do I love him? Absolutely and because I love him I was blinded by the signs that he had already given me! When someone shows you who they are BELIEVE them! I wanted to see the good in him, I wanted to help him shake whatever it was that had a hold on his mind but a person has to first want that for themselves! As hard as it is I have to forgive that man regardless of what he did to me! I refuse to allow this situation to hinder my growth and all the blessings that are in store for me! I trust that God will get me THROUGH this situation and I will come out on top! I AM AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE and NO one should EVER have to go through what I went through! If you are in an abusive relationship GET OUT OF IT... Trust GOD!!! And ‪#‎LIVE‬".

Read This Nice Compostion A Fan Posted As A Comment Under Peter Okoye Video On IG.

Peter Okoye released some videos of him playing the guitar and singing on IG. Some fans and trolls took to his page to leave comments. A fan commented with this beautiful composition. READ the comment below.

Another fan also insulted Paul but Peter was quick to defend his brother. Read other  messages below.

FG Permits SON To Jail Substandard Product Dealers For 10yrs Without The Option Of A Fine

The Federal Government has given authorization to Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to imprison dealers who sell substandard products. They said SON has the authorization to jail defectors for ten years. SON has since started with Tyre dealers. They have given a 24 hours ultimatum to tyre dealers all over the country to destroy every fake tyre in their stock or face 10 years imprisonment without any option of a fine.
Acting Director General of SON, Dr. Paul Angya, gave the ultimatum at a stakeholder’s forum for tyre dealers in Lagos, stating. He said fake tyres have been the leading cause of several deaths in the country based on a recent report by the Road Safety Commission. Adding that out of 8,986 accidents recorded in 2015, 722 were due to tyre bursts, which has led to the death of 446 persons
He said:
“Our new Act 2015 empowered us to jail promoters of sub-standard product up to 10 years and we will not relent to jail any culprit. ‘’We are going to stamp out corruption among the tyre dealers, “we are going to set up a taskforce and we will not sleep until we confirm that accidents in the country are not traced to substandard tyres again.”
“We are ready to eliminate importation of sub-standard products into Nigeria, because of this we have reached out to other government agencies to ensure that we work together and stop smugglers of fake products into the country.
“If you have fake tyre in your shop make sure you disposed them in the next 24 hours, thereafter our team will visit you and we will charge you for murderer. “To eliminate corruption from SON, we are going to introduce e-payment, e-invoice and e-receipt to stamp out corruption from the system,”
He said the organization is also working on improving the standard of products that are sold to consumers.
Adding:
“To ease our work and improve quality of goods and products in Nigeria, we are working to improve expansion of SON facilities across the country so that people in Sokoto will not travel to Maiduguri to text their products”
“What many of our farmers do before they can take their products to abroad is to first take it to Ghana laboratory for text, once the goods pass through text in Ghana the products will send to abroad in the name of Ghana and Ghana government will take the glory.”



Vanguard

INEC Recruits Over 25,000 Officials For Electoral Re-run In Rivers State

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has recruited the services of 24,930 adhoc staff, 379 collation officers and 37 returning officers for the Rivers state electoral re-runs.



INEC is conducting a re-run election in three senatorial districts, 12 federal constituencies and 22 state constituencies on Saturday, March 19, in compliance with the appeal tribunal which nullified the polls which took place previously.
The Nigeria Police has also deployed over 6,000 personnel to the State ahead of the re-run election to avoid any disorderliness and ensure the election is free and fair.

FG To Provide 3 million Jobs In The Next 3 years - Osinbajo

In a Facebook message posted on his wall this evening, VP Yemi Osinbajo said the Federal Government will provide 3 million jobs in the next three years starting from this year. He said the jobs will be provided in the Technology, Wholesale & Retail, Construction and Agro-allied sectors of the Nigerian economy. He also stated that this year alone, over 700,000 private sector jobs will be created, majority of which will be in the Agro-allied sector. Read what he wrote after the cut..


President Muhammadu Buhari and I are accountable to the Nigerian people.
The central focus of President Buhari's administration is the creation of jobs. Every proposed policy begins with "how many jobs can this policy create?"
Today, I received the Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan on job creation and youth employment in Nigeria jointly packaged by the Job creation Unit of the Presidency, and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG.
Three million jobs would be created in the country within three years starting in 2016 especially in Technology, Wholesale & Retail, Construction and Agro-allied sectors of the Nigerian economy.
This year alone, over 700,000 private sector jobs will be created, majority of which will be in the Agro-allied sector.
This private sector-led job creation plan is different from the direct government jobs planned by the Buhari presidency which includes the 500,000 teaching jobs for unemployed graduates.
We are not unaware that this process of job creation is slow but President Muhammadu Buhari's administration is addressing the constraints of regulatory and institutional delays in the business sector.
The Job Creation Unit was constituted at the behest of President Buhari to initiate the job creation plan. The National Economic Summit Group, private sector players, validated the plan and will be working together with the government to implement the job creation plans.
Together, we will get this right.
Together, Nigeria will prevail.

James Ocholi's Children At Their Father's Service Of Songs Today

The service of songs for former Minister of state for Labor, James Ocholi, held at the National Christian Centre, Abuja today March 16th. The former Minister, his wife, Blessing and son Joshua all perished in a fatal accident along the Kaduna-Abuja road on March 6th. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, Minister of Labor and Employment Chris Ngige and others were in attendance...

President Buhari Receives DG Of International Atomic Energy Agency At The Statehouse

President Buhari on today received the Director-General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mr Y. Amano at the Statehouse. In the group photo taken after the meeting were the Minister of Health Isaac Adewole, Minister of Works, Power and Housing Babatunde Fashola, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Science and Technology Chris Ngige, and Minister of Solid Minerals Kayode Fayemi.

2016 Budget To Be Laid Before The Senate Tomorrow.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Abdullahi Sabi, says the 2016 budget will be laid before the Senate tomorrow for deliberation after which the decision for it to be passed will be taken. Sabi said this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja today March 16th.


"I want to assure Nigerians that the 2016 budget will be laid in the senate chamber as promised by the chairman of the appropriation committee. With that the other processes that will take place, we will surely ensure that we meet up with the time as promised. So I  want to put to rest any suspicion. Tomorrow, we are laying the budget which tells you that all the work that has to be done is done. Yes we told you that it should be passed by tomorrow, we will discuss it take clause by clause and give it that loud voice to say it’s ready. When you set a target, it is to allow you work hard to achieve the budget. By laying the budget is as good as passing the budget. I think we have done very well to get the budget laid by tomorrow. We drive the key policies of this government. To ensure there are job creations, small and medium enterprises will be empowered etc. When a budget is laid, the other things are just mere processes.‎”he said

Nigerian Beauty Queen In The UK, Escapes Death After Horrible Allegic Reaction To Eyedrops

Maria Adejokun, who was the second runner up at the Miss Teen Africa UK contest 6 years ago, has narraed the ordeal she passed through five years ago after she tried using an eye drop prescribed by a doctor in the UK for her itchy eyes. In an interview with UK Daily Mail, Maria who has undergone several surgeries to correct the skin deformity she suffered, said the next morning after she used the eye drops, she woke up with lumps all over her body.

As her condition began to deteriorate she was rushed to hospital. Her skin began to shed and she was put into a medically induced coma.
'Unknown to me, I had a rare, deadly allergy to eye drops which caused by skin to peel off from head to toe. When I was in the intensive care unit, crying in pain, all I thought of was coming home.'

Her mother, Remi Adejokun, said the severe reaction left her daughter in such a terrible state she 'looked like Freddy Krueger' from the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street.
 'I hate to say that, but there were so many blisters - her skin was just tearing off and her lips were very swollen. I looked at her and I was so scared she was going to burst open. I saw death knocking at my daughter's door, all because of eye drops. I was crazy, beyond the worried stage and near to losing my mind. After a week I thought there was no hope - but then as she lay on the bed, unable to talk, I said "Marian, you've just made it to university, that's your dream" and she moved her toe. Realising she could hear me I started to sing our favourite songs to her.

Instead of crying all the time I went to the intensive care unit and danced.' Maria lost so must skin she had to be wrapped in a foil sheet and still has to be fed through a hole in her throat. 'Everywhere was swollen. My nose was huge and my eyes were so red you could take a spoon and scrape out the blood.'she said

Specialist skin experts who examined her had told her mother that she will not be able to survive the reaction but miraculously, Maria pulled through. Today, she says the terrible experience has made her stronger.
'When I was in the intensive care unit, crying in pain, all I thought of was coming home. I've overcome a lot of in my life. Losing my skin because of an eye drop is just another obstacle I've made it through. I am so happy to be alive and share my unique story. No matter what the struggles are, you have to believe in yourself - and have a positive attitude towards life"she said
Maria has since gone on to complete a degree in early childhood studies at the University of Roehampton and has written two books, My Life Is Not My Own and ReachOut2All.

Good News To Lagosians..! Lagos Is Now Among The Mega City, Alongside Beijing, NewYork & Paris

 Lagos is now ranked among the mega city in the whole world alongside Paris, Beijing and New York. Governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode confirms this on his Twitter page.
See his Tweet below: