Troops Ambush Boko Haram Terrorists In Borno, Recovers Food Items, Assorted Drugs
The troops neutralized 1 of the terrorists, while others sustained gun shot wounds.They recovered 10 Bicycles, 9 bags of flour, 9 sachets of yeast, 2 bags of groundnut, packets of Maggi, a carton of detergent, 23 bottles of groundnut oil. Others include palm oil, a wrist watch, 50 sachets of salt, assorted drugs, 16 torchlights, 29 packs of cold patch and cash sum of Two thousand, Two hundred and Sixty-Six Naira.
For Francis Abiola Irele – “Olohun-Iyo” By Wole Soyinka
True, numbers diminish, but we are not thereby
Diminished. Memories rack, yet lift
Our spirits off the rack of remembrance. Be it
The echo of a harsh scrape, decades dimmed,
Of a street café chair,
rue des Ecoles, puncturing Peals of laughter, a head thrust sideways,
rue des Ecoles, puncturing Peals of laughter, a head thrust sideways,
by Wole Soyinka Jul 22, 2017
True, numbers diminish, but we are not thereby
Diminished. Memories rack, yet lift
Our spirits off the rack of remembrance. Be it
The echo of a harsh scrape, decades dimmed,
Of a street café chair, rue des Ecoles, puncturing
Peals of laughter, a head thrust sideways,
Quizzical in contestation – these hoarded trivia
Flit in and out of mind, unbidden, contesting
The tyranny of absence.
Earth revolves, nothing is resolved
The hours pass in spurts of sparse fulfillment.
We remain the thoughts we spin, and leave
Lingering over wine vapour, tobacco spirals
Around audacious faces – were we not
The Renaissance generation? Then, Gauloises,
Gitanes vied with filtered cigarillos – it was
That time when smoke-free lives were yet
Unborn. We littered Presence Africaine with stubs
And words of passion, moulders of identity.
Let no one grudge those you leave behind
These keepsakes. Some will speak Negritude,
Others Marxism and aspiring Communes. You were
The cosmopolitan, consummate, straddling proposition isles.
The Muses held you in thrall, deftly you skirted
Dogma traps. A lyric voice, suddenly in full flight
On a Donizetti aria – fittingly we named you
Olohun-iyo – but next breath became a midwife, fixated
On parturition of a new nursery of creativity.
Why this sudden ‘Francis’, I once charged, intrigued.
It swam against the tide of black awakening. Your reply,
A dismissive shrug – The name was stamped on me.
All family history – I merely restored my full identity.
Some enigma lurked, but his was right of reticence.
I simply canonized St. Francis of the Muses,
For saint indeed he was – of letters - bore the stigmata
Invisibly, the scars of honour, earned in defence
Of hallowed space for unfettered intellect.
Freed of those sudden flares of latent scars –
The triumphal march of neo-barbarians at our gates -
You join the absent throng of griots, preceptors,
Their arms wide open to enfold you. Enter.
Suave medium of their grand accord – Damas,
Depestre, Okigbo, Aime Cesaire, Walcott, Sedar Senghor -
You made their lives your own. From rubble of the Tower
Of Babel, smoothed paving stones to float an isthmus - Black
Continent to island beaded Caribbean. You spun
A rainbow of insights over the waters of Dispersal.
Death kicks us in the groin. We cry Foul
An off-shore umpire looks the other way. Our protests
Merely swell the ocean of separation. Blithe spirit, who
Wove bright sashes round the peaks of lyric,
Plunged, pearl diver, to the ocean beds of thought, brought
Parnassus to Idanre, Montparnasse to Olumo - elegance
Of mind the sustaining cord of an unending quest -
Alas, Aburo, that you must set off, too soon for vain desire -
For that famed Diaspora of No Return.
-Wole SOYINKA
Flood Overwhelms Asaba, Destroys Official Documents, Files, Homes
The rain started around 5 pm on Saturday and lasted over three hours. Eyewitnesses said the state secretariat, Delta Broadcasting Service, (DBS), State Security Service Road, Okpanam-Ibusa Road, Junior Staff Quarters Road, State Universal Basic Education Board, (SUBEB), and former legislative quarters, among others, were submerged by the flood.
At the Delta Broadcasting Service, off Okpanam Road, staff who reported for morning duty were seen roaming about outside the main compound as the station remained off air, while office chairs, tables, computers, cameras, tapes, vital documents, records, writing materials and other personal belongings were seen floating on the water.
At the secretariat housing the offices of Establishment, Post Primary Education Board, (PPEB), Fire Service, part of the Ministry of Information, Delta State Rural Development Agency among others, civil servants were seen crowded at the main gate of the secretariat as vital officials files, documents, official records, books, fridges, shelves, photocopiers, computers were also floating on the deep water.
A civil servant accused Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of paying lip service to the incessant flooding in the state capital. The Okowa administration recently claimed that the state government had released N100 million to the contractor handling a construction of diversion drainages to accommodate the flooding on Okpanam Road and other locations during heavy downpours, but several residents said no work has been done.
Reacting to the flooding and destruction of official properties at the state secretariat, some of the civil servants urged Governor Okowa to stop ignoring the flood issue.
"We have lost our official documents, files, our belongings, to the flood. You can see how everything is floating on the water," said one civil servant. He added, "The situation is irresponsible. Is Okowa saying allocation is not coming to the state.? What stopped the governor from tackling this problem since two years?"
Another irate civil servant said he feared that the flood could have destroyed thousands of workers and pensioners' files at the state secretariat.
"Asaba flood is a man-made disaster, not the natural flooding people talk about," said another civil servant. According to him, "For the next one week, no official work can be done here in the state secretariat and DBS. Some of our colleagues who risked it to their offices for a rescue mission could not do anything because they were almost swallowed up by the water. Instead of addressing the flooding in Asaba, Okowa is busy awarding contracts to himself, his brothers, family members, and cronies."
In another development, the Delta State Council of the Radio Television Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU), has challenged Governor Okowa to give priority to the state-owned media organizations, Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS) in Asaba and Warri rather than any other electronic private media in and outside the state.
The union made the demand last Thursday at the end of its executive meeting presided over by the state chairman, Onoriode Mukoro.
The union urged Mr. Okowa to speed up the connection of the 33kva power line for DBS Asaba and Ubulu-uku sub station. They also emphasized the need for interconnectivity between DBS Asaba and Warri in order for the station to bring to Deltans events across the state on a single telecast.
The union also stated it was important that the government provide outside broadcast vans (OB Vans) in order to achieve live broadcasts. They added, "The need for operational vehicles cannot be over emphasized as this will enhance the station's ability to comb the nook and crannies of the state in order to improve content, as well as aesthetics of our television screen, state of the art television cameras, editing facilities and well-designed backdrops for television productions, should be consid
Lagos LG Election: Counting Commences Across Polling Units
The sorting and counting of cast votes for the Lagos state Local Government election have begun across polling units in the state.Voters and party agents are on the ground to ensure their votes are properly counted.Indications across the units suggest the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates are leading in Alimosho and Agege local government area
The sorting and counting of
cast votes for the Lagos state Local Government election have begun
across polling units in the state.
Voters and party agents are on the ground to ensure their votes are properly counted.
Indications across the units suggest the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates are leading in Alimosho and Agege local government area.
Voters and party agents are on the ground to ensure their votes are properly counted.
Indications across the units suggest the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidates are leading in Alimosho and Agege local government area.
Lagos LGA Election officials
These are some unofficial results from polling units already counted in Lags Mainland.
Lagos Mainland LGA ward B Abule Nla
Chairmanship
APC 19
PDP 13
LP 2
ACCORD
nil
Councillorship
APC18
PDP 16
Accord 1
LP nill
Number of votes cast 35
Lagos Mainland unit 010 House 43 Jones street
Chairmanship
Apc 43
Pdp 6
Lp 2
Accord 1
Void 3
Councillorship
APC 39
PDP 11
Lp 2
Void 1
President Muhammadu Buhari and The Descendants Of Shimei By Femi Adesina
There is nothing new under the sun, goes a popular saying. In fact, the more things seem to change, the more they appear the same. From time immemorial, some people have spoken evil of leadership, cast aspersions on them, and generally portrayed themselves as the scum of the earth. No matter how a country loves its leader, there will naturally be those that the Good Book calls "filthy dreamers" who "despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." That is why as spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, I never respond to such people. Their type would always be around.
There is nothing new under
the sun, goes a popular saying. In fact, the more things seem to change,
the more they appear the same. From time immemorial, some people have
spoken evil of leadership, cast aspersions on them, and generally
portrayed themselves as the scum of the earth. No matter how a country
loves its leader, there will naturally be those that the Good Book calls
"filthy dreamers" who "despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities."
That is why as spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, I never respond
to such people. Their type would always be around.
President Buhari has been indisposed since the beginning of the year.
It is human, and presidents, despite their elevated status, remain
human. If there is anybody who considers himself 100 percent healthy, or
who bears what William Shakespeare calls "a charmed life," let that
person stand up to be identified. All mortals are doomed to sickness,
they can recover, and they can die. That is the truth that has been
internalized by millions of people praying for the recovery of our
President. And that is where the shallowness, vacuousness, and
hollowness of people who wish the President dead and carry unfounded
rumors, is on stark display. Filthy dreamers. They speak evil of
dignities and despise dominion. But we forgive them, for they know not
what they do. When President Buhari returns (as God would make him do)
where would they hide their faces? In shame.Now, I started by saying we would always have scumbags around. It is inevitable. They are the descendants of Shimei, the son of Gera, whom I want to introduce to you now.
Who is Shimei? Well, I met him on the pages of the Good Book, and he bears a striking similitude to some people in our country today. The evil wishers, the hate monger, and those who spend their days conjecturing tragedy for leadership.
Absalom, the son of King David, had led an insurrection against his father. And the king of Israel fled, with some of his supporters in tow. As David got to a place called Bahurim, the Holy Bible records that Shimei, the son of Gera, a man of the family of Saul, came out, and started cursing the fleeing king. You don't kick a man that is down, goes a saying, but Shimei not only cursed David, he also threw dust and stones at him. It was a show of shame.
David had succeeded Saul as king of Israel. And Shimei was from the family of Saul (read, People's Democratic Party, PDP). Shimei hadn't forgotten the bloody nose the family of Saul got when the kingship was taken away from them, and given to David. So when the latter got into a time of travail, no pity at all from people still smarting from bloody noses.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), inspired by Muhammadu Buhari, halted the 60-year pipe dream of PDP at the polls in 2015. Has the latter forgotten? No, they won't forget till forever. But so much is the animus, the antipathy towards the President that they wish him dead. While millions of Nigerians are praying, some elements are rejoicing and imagining evil. But they forget: man is not God, and Jehovah always has the final say. The descendants of Shimei need to learn vital lessons from their forebear.
As the base fellow assaulted the fleeing king, Abishai, one of David's mighty men, said:"Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head."(2 Samuel, 16:9). But David restrained him, saying if God had not permitted Shimei, he could not have done what he was doing.
President Buhari has tolerated people who have called him all sorts of names in the past two years. If he didn't move against them directly, he could have allowed many Abishais to move against them, "and take off their heads." But not our President, a reformed democrat, a pious man, who has resolved to leave the people suffused by hatred unto God. And will they get their just desserts one day? As night follows the day, they will. If not from man, they will get it from God. Their forefather, Shimei did. He reaped what he sowed.
After some time, the rebellion led by Absalom was crushed by loyal troops, and David regained the throne. As he headed back into the city, who came to meet the king, with one thousand of his relatives, pleading for mercy? Shimei. The Yorubas say the same mouth that the snail used to abuse the gods, is what it uses to lick the dusts of the earth. Shimei had suddenly become gentle. And humble, too. He fell down before David, and said:"I have sinned. Have mercy on me. Don't remember what I did against you on the day you went out of Jerusalem."
Heh, on a certain day, some people would come to prostrate, begging for mercy, asking President Buhari to forgive and forget. What will the President do? What did David do? Abishai said again to King David:"Let me bring down the head of this man, who cursed, and threw stones at you?"
University Of Ibadan Keeps Mum Over Audit Report
The administration at the University of Ibadan has refused to comment on OS Professional Service financial audit report that revealed a series of acts of financial mismanagement at the institution. Our correspondent made several attempts to obtain a response from officials of the university, but his efforts were rebuffed in a hostile manner. The audit report, which was made public by Saharareporters, exposed how the varsity disregarded fiscal policies in a number of its financial engagements between 2010-2015, the period covered by the audit.
The administration at the
University of Ibadan has refused to comment on OS Professional Service
financial audit report that revealed a series of acts of financial
mismanagement at the institution.
Our correspondent made several attempts to obtain a response from
officials of the university, but his efforts were rebuffed in a hostile
manner.The audit report, which was made public by Saharareporters, exposed how the varsity disregarded fiscal policies in a number of its financial engagements between 2010-2015, the period covered by the audit.
On Friday, July 21, 2017, our correspondent visited the office of the University Bursar, Mr. Micheal Akinade Alatise, on a fact-finding assignment, but he was denied an interview with the bursar. Instead, Mr. Alatise and some other UI officers demanded to know how Saharareporters got the audit report. When our correspondent insisted that he could not divulge his source of such information, the Bursar refused to entertain any further interaction.
“If you cannot tell us where you got the report, then I cannot speak to you on the report,” Mr. Alatise said and walked away.
However, in separate interviews with other senior members of the University, our correspondent learned that one Professor E. Ayoola, a lecturer in the university's Mathematics department, has been appointed to lead an investigative committee that would investigate the report.
According to the OS professional service audit report, Mr. Ayoola, along the Vice Chancellor, Abel Olayinka, and twelve others were interviewed by OS Professional Service auditors.
The report, among many other findings, indicted Professor I. Adewole, the former Vice Chancellor whose tenure fell within the years of the audit. The report also named several other UI officials who failed to provide evidence on how touring advances they received was spent.
Mr. Adewole, who is now the country’s Minister of Health, and three others allegedly received $16, 400 as touring advance which was not properly accounted for.
“Contrary to the accounting manual provisions on Touring Advances which requires accountability for foreign travel funds to be made three months after the trip, we noted that several touring expenses incurred during the period under review lacked the appropriate accountability in form of copies of air tickets boarding passes etc,” the report said.
The audit also concludes that the institution had violated the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy. In addition, the institution to have was yet to link its Unibadan Microfinance Bank Limited to the institution’s Bank Verification Number (BVN).
A member of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said members of staff had been denied access to the monthly cooperative levy deducted from their salary.
He alleged that over N60 million had so far been deducted from salaries as cooperative levy but staff whose salaries were taxed have been denied the benefits of the deduction.
“They have been deducting money for cooperative but when we ask for the cooperative loan, the cooperative would tell us there's no money. We wonder where what they have been deducting from us went," he said.
Very Unattractive Transgender Is Suggesting Kanye West Had Sex With Her
A transgender performer named Amanda Lepore is suggesting in her new
book, that she used to date Kanye West. Below is how NY Post?s Page Six
is reporting the story
After transgender New York nightlife fixture Amanda Lepore dished in her new memoir, Doll Parts, about a relationship with an unnamed rapper, sources have speculated the hip-hop maven in question could be Kanye West.
A New York Times profile this week on voluptuous Lepore says that in the book: ?Ms. Lepore describes having an assignation with a famous rapper whose songs often play in the clubs she frequents. Soon after, she writes, he got married, and ?I couldn?t help but think that his wife had a similar body type to me.???
That sparked buzz that the unnamed rapper was West ? now married to curvy reality queen Kim Kardashian.
Usain Bolt Makes His Signature Pose With Cheerleaders After Winning Monaco Diamond League
"Suffer Head Mo'fuckers" Hushpuppi Throws Shade At Kcee?
Recall that few weeks ago during the social media fight between Hushpuppi and Phyno, Kcee asked the EFCC to investigate Hushpuppi's source of wealth .mm
Netherlands-based Nigerian Woman Who Wants To Become President Reacts To People Mocking Her Spoken English
For The Feud Mongers, See BTS Photos Of Eniola Badmus With Funke Akindele On The Set Of A Video Shoot
Video: Fire Engulfs Popular Kuje Prison In Abuja
According to reports, the fire reportedly started several hours ago and a group calling itself the Prisoners Against Injustice in Nigeria (PAIN) has claimed responsibility for the fire.
The group made the claim in a handwritten statement posted on the prison notice board before it was removed by the prison authorities as the group claimed the attack was meant to draw the attention of the world to the pathetic state of prisons and corruption within prison services.
The group said that in spite of the huge annual budgetary allocation to the Nigeria Prison Service, inmates must buy medicines through prison staff and seek funds to treat serious conditions in healthcare facilities outside the yard. Those who are unable to afford health services are left to their fate, with many dying.
No life was howver lost in the fire but the affected buildings are the moribund Clinic block, Custody 2, which is the congested home to 153 Awaiting Trial Inmates, Convicts block (custody 3) where 322 inmates are crammed into, and Custody 4, another Awaiting Trial block where additional 306 inmates are packed in like sardines
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