Wednesday, 15 July 2015
Kylie Jenner agrees with the rest of us...she grew up too fast!
Governor Nasir El-Rufai sacks 20 Permanent Secretaries
“In line with its resolve to cut the cost of running government, the Kaduna State Government has announced the retirement of 20 permanent secretaries. This decision follows the streamlining of ministries in the state from 19 to a leaner 13, as part of efforts to free up resources to be used for providing schools, hospitals, roads and other public goods.
The government, which had at inception declared its determination to cut costs, drive efficiency and improve service delivery, is continuing the restructuring of its agencies. To ensure that the number of permanent secretaries is properly aligned with the new structure, there will be only 13 permanent secretaries for the 13 ministries." the statement read
Saraki’s tweet on service chiefs stirs controversy
Senate President, Bukola Saraki
A controversial message posted on
the Twitter handle of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday
night, sparked a serious controversy which forced his media team to make
clarifications that further provoked critical reactions from Nigerians,
on Tuesday.
Saraki, in his tweet, said that
President Muhammadu Buhari did not require the approval of the Senate to
nominate the country’s service chiefs.
He specifically said it was not the business of the Senate to approve the appointment of service chiefs.
Saraki was reacting to the President’s
statement on Monday that the newly-appointed service chiefs would
function in acting capacity pending the Senate’s approval.
He noted that the upper chamber could only approve the appointments of ministers and heads of Federal Government agencies.
The Senate President wrote, “Appointment
of service chiefs is an exclusive function of Mr. President. Senate can
only approve ministerial, parastatals etc.”
But while reacting to the controversy
generated by the statement, Saraki’s media team said those who made
comments on the social media over the issue actually misinterpreted
Saraki’s message.
The statement read in part, “The
attention of the Media Office of the Senate President has been drawn to a
story making the rounds to the effect that the Senate does not need to
screen or confirm the new service chiefs appointed by President
Muhammadu Buhari.
“However, we want to make it abundantly
clear that based on inquiries made from the Senate President, Dr. Bukola
Saraki, on whether the Senate was consulted before the appointment of
the new service chiefs was announced, he had in response tweeted that
the appointment of service chiefs is the exclusive function of the
President as stipulated by the constitution.
“Let it be known that his comment is now
being misinterpreted to say the Senate will neither screen nor confirm
the new service chiefs. This is far from the truth.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Saraki has
said his comment is without prejudice to the extant laws and court
pronouncements on the issue and that the Senate will do the needful when
the list of the new service chiefs is sent to it by Mr. President.”
Van Persie joins Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce have confirmed that Robin van Persie has joined the club from Manchester United.
The two clubs had agreed a fee for the
31-year-old striker last week while Van Persie passed a medical in
London and signed a three-year deal, according to Soccernet.
Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildiram had
claimed the deal was done on Saturday and Van Persie was mobbed by
supporters when he arrived at Istanbul airport on Sunday before his
unveiling on Tuesday.
The Netherlands captain has been reunited with his former United teammate Nani, who signed for Fenerbahce last week, in Turkey.
Van Persie cost United £24m when he
joined from Arsenal in 2012 but had just one year left on his contract
and Fenerbahce reportedly only paid £4.7m to sign him.
The
2012 PFA Player of the Year and Footballer of the Year won the Premier
League’s Golden Boot in successive seasons in his first year at Old
Trafford.
Awori indigenes storm Tinubu’s residence in protest
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
Some
Awori indigenes have stormed the Lagos residence of the National Leader
of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to protest what
they described as the marginalisation of their people in the appointment
of public officials.
The protesters said none of the Awori
indigenes from their communities had been appointed into public office
in the last 16 years despite their support for the Lagos State
Government and Tinubu.
The group, on Sunday, urged Tinubu and the APC-led government in the state to address their complaint.
One of the leaders of the Awori, Chief
Lateef Balogun, said, “I am the Ashipa of Agboyi. We have been
supporting Asiwaju Tinubu since he was elected as the Lagos State
governor on the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy. We have
always done our best to ensure that his party wins elections in the
state, but what we get in return is marginalisation.
“We
are here today to complain over the marginalisation of our people in
all levels of government. He created the 37 Local Council Development
Areas for us in 2002, but the Awori were not given any position in the
government. So, we are begging Tinubu to look into the matter.
“We want Awori indigenes to be elected as chairmen of the local council development areas, not outsiders.”
Another leader of the protesters, Chief
Bola Onikoro, alleged that the Awori were being cheated, despite the
fact they have qualified candidates.
He said, “We want peace. We, the Awori
from Kosofe, Agboyi, Ojota and Isheri, want change. What we want now is
that all the local government areas should be headed by our people. Our
people are competent to provide quality leadership in any level of
government.”
The youth leader for Ojota area of the
state, Mr. Adebisi Balogun, said all the prominent positions in the
LCDAs were given to non-indigenes.
A former Lagos State Head of Service, Mr.
Sunny Ajose, who met with the protesters, hailed their peaceful conduct
and assured them that their grievances would be addressed.
Salary cut not enough, PDP tells Buhari
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh
The Peoples Democratic Party has
told President Muhamamdu Buhari and his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,
that cutting their salaries is not the only thing Nigerians are
expecting from them.
Rather, the party said the President and
his party, the All Progressives Congress, must strive to fulfil their
campaign promises.
Moreover, the party described salaries as
mere drop in the ocean of personal allowances and privileges that come
to the President and the Vice-President.
The main opposition party, which had been
ruling Nigerian since 1999 until it was defeated during the last
general elections, also said that the rejection of official cars by the
President would not be enough to convince Nigerians.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said this in a statement he signed in Abuja on Tuesday.
It will be recalled that the President and the vice-president last Friday announced 50 per cent cut in their salaries.
The President also, on Thursday, rejected new bulletproof cars worth over N400m.
While Metuh said that the PDP appreciated
the gestures of the President, he insisted that the APC was over
dramatising the achievements of the Federal Government.
Metuh, therefore, warned Buhari against celebrating what he called “cosmetic governance.”
Metuh said his party believed that there
was the need to bring to the President’s notice certain indices he said
if not properly corrected, were capable of derailing the smooth running
of his (Buhari’s) administration.
He said, “It is incontrovertible that
instead of focusing on the promises you made to Nigerians and on policy
thrusts that will move our economy forward, the ruling party has been
made to be very high on propaganda, deceitful engagement and cosmetic
governance.
“We believe you should extricate yourself
from these agents of propaganda who continue to believe that Nigerians
would be swayed by these cosmetic interventions instead of the real
business of government.
“As the leader of the most populous black
nation in the world, we believe you should not allow your Presidency to
be pushed into the gimmicks of playing to the gallery and attempting to
use the dramatisation of promissory notes and pledges by foreign
interests, false and premature claims of victory against insurgency.
“The dramatisation of salary cut and
rejection of official cars, were done to gain cheap popularity and
create an impression that the government is on course when in actual
fact the new administration has not been able to locate its bearing
since its inauguration in May.
“While we appreciate the symbolic gesture
by Mr. President in ‘cutting’ his N14m annual basic salary by 50 per
cent, it should be noted that Nigerians would not be swayed by the N7m
annual donation and rejection of official cars, and forget their
expectations for the implementation of his long list of campaign
promises for which he was elected into office.”
Former beauty queen Barbara Okereke also bagged a First Class
more pic below.
Son of Gombe state governor also graduated with First Class
The Power of Inspiration - by Femi Fani-Kayode
Dark is the heart that weeps and bleeds. Pure is the spirit that overcomes pain. Free is the soul that activates faith. Pure is the joy that true love brings. Yet most important of all is the power of inspiration. That grace and strength that encouraging words, steeped in knowledge and experience, bring. We can only heal and help those in pain when we ourselves once experienced that pain. We can only shed light in darkness when we ourselves once walked in that darkness.
We can only lift others up
when we ourselves have once been down. Inspirational prose is like
speaking in tongues to the unlettered- they cannot possibly understand
or appreciate it. They know not it’s value and they have no use for it’s
strength. Like Shakespeare once said, to them, ‘’tis caviar to the
general’’.
Yet to refined souls and
sensitive spirits it is everything. It is the shield that protects and
preserves our hearts, thoughts and emotions- it is the very essence of
our being.
To the learned and
enlightened it is like the burning fire, bringing in glory and blessings
and ushering in the marvellous heat of the golden sun.
It inspires, it brings
laughter, it brings tears of joy. It brings hope even to the most
hopeless and it ushers in a rustic and complex form of spiritual
resurrection and rejuvanation. That is why it is wise and good to learn
from our experiences and share it with others.
One short and encouraging
note to a despairing soul may well save a life. One kind smile or a few
words laced in love may well give cause for those who have lost all hope
to think again and give life another chance.
One tiny expression of
compassion or passion and one small gesture of kindness, support and
love to even the most unlovable may change them forever.
A helping hand extended to a
complete stranger may inspire that stranger to have faith in humanity
and to have an encounter with God.
May those that understand
the essence of these words never lose sight of this glaring veracity.
May those who laugh to scorn the power of prose and the beauty of the
word continue to wallow in their abject poverty of the mind and dearth
of knowledge and understanding.
In
all, strive to love, to care for others, to show compassion, to be
merciful, to be kind, to be loving, to be forgiving and most important
of all seek to inspire and bring hope to others.
An encouraging smile to the
weakest and most frightened amongst us at the most unexpected moment
could do it. Or perhaps an unexpected phone call to a long lost friend.
Whatever it takes give
someone joy, particularly the lost, those in pain and the
broken-hearted, that our Lord in heaven, the God of mercy and truth,
may know your worth. This is indeed God's work and it is a glaring
expression of the power of inspiration.
Lol. US vows to pressurize Nigeria to legalize gay marriage.. how?
"As a government, it is one of the highest priorities and strongest values that discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation and gender identity is wrong. We believe human rights should be available to everybody. As a policy, we will continue to press the government of Nigeria, as well as other governments which have provided legislation that discriminate against the LGBT community. This is very much a work in progress, but I think you will agree with me that the law in Nigeria really went far in discriminating against this community but also people who associate with them. So, we will continue to press the government, to press the legislature to change these laws and provide human rights for all Nigerian people regardless of their sexual orientation. With what is happening in the US, you can determine how far we are willing to go. We strongly believe human rights for all people and we are particularly opposed to legislation that actually targets the gay community for discrimination. So we are prepared to push this as a policy, not just in Africa but across the world.”
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