Jazz Festival 2016: Angie Stone, Jazz Attack, Mafikizolo and others set to perform

The Cape Town International Jazz Festival sets a stage where living legends of jazz brush shoulders with younger local African artists.
Widely known as ‘Africa’s Grandest Gathering,’ that will take place on 1st & 2nd April 2016 in Cape Town, South Africa, and set to glee more than 37,000 jazz music lovers.
The Cape Town International Jazz Festival sets a stage where living legends of jazz brush shoulders with younger local African artists.
Three-time Grammy-nominated soul songstress Angie Stone will be leading other international stars to the 17th edition of Cape Town International Jazz Festival
The tickets to the exciting show which has gone on sales since Tuesday, 13 October 2015. Will also feature a collection of international

musicians which include;

SWV (USA)

three-time solo bassist award-winner Victor Wooten (USA)

Meshell Ndegeocello (USA)

Amadou & Mariam(Mali)

BADBADNOTGOOD (Canada)

Mark Turner (USA)

Lizz Wright (USA)

Rahul Sharma (India)

George Brooks (USA)

jazz pianist Roberto Solo (Cuba)

It is also going to be a platform to show case shining light on home-grown talent like
three-time SAMA winners Mafikizolo, Tsepo Tshola , Nathi , Vusi Nova , Khuli Chana, Thandi Ntuli and TopDog.
The Organisers, espAfrika of the 17th Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) has promised to make the event an exceptional and unforgettable live music experience.

Source: PulseNG Buzz

LEARNING THE STEPS TO GREATNESS HOMILY FOR THE 29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR (B)

Rev. Fr. Boniface Nkem Anusiem PhD

Once upon a time, a man promised his children who were in primary school that he would buy a bicycle for any of them that would take the first position in their respective classes. The children were excited and they worked had to get at the prize. By the end of the term, they brought their results home. The eldest child and also the only son, who happened to be in a different primary school from others came home with a result indicating a first position!
The result was amazing and at the same time very incredible. This was because the boy in question never came close to the 20 position in the class of 30 children. His father looked at the result closely to see if it bore his name and it was really his name and the position was “1 position”. The man was very glad but doubtful at the same time. He didn’t want to fail in his promise but at the same time he wanted to be sure that his son really came first in the class. He decided to take the boy to the shop to buy a bicycle for him but silently decided to stop at his son’s teacher’s house to ascertain the credibility of the result.
On reaching the teacher’s house, they met him while he was preparing to embark on a journey. The boy’s father was about to say something when the teacher started scolding the little boy for his poor performance of 21 out of 30. The man was shocked! He brought out the result he was holding and handed it over to the teacher. The teacher was shocked too and after a careful examination he discovered that the little boy “doctored” his result by carefully removing the “2” and leaving 1 . What he however failed to do was to change the teacher’s remark which his father did not notice because of his level of literacy and which read “very weak pass work hard to improve!”
The desire to be great seems to be a very central factor in human life. A careful reading of the world history will show that it has being all about the struggle for power, influence, position, supremacy and greatness. From the First World War to the uprising in various nations of the world, the story is the same; the struggle to be and remain in power. Have you ever wondered why some people, tribes and nations of the world attach “Great” to their names? The likes of Alexander the Great, Great Britain, Great Roman Empire, Great Wall of China, etc. The simple answer is that they intend to create standards; an effort to establish inequality, the desire to create superiority as opposed to inferiority. This seems to run throughout the whole gamut of human life, among plants some are more outstanding than others in size, beauty and utility; among animals there is a continuous quest for superiority, and among human beings the discussion continues. Even in the spiritual realm, there are also comparative and superlative attributes for instance God is the Greatest.
The desire to be great starts with us as little children when we engage ourselves in little competitions to know who gets the first position. It could be in race, recitations, dancing and a lot more. In fact, you can only reckon any of your playmates to be greater than you after series of competitions. We grow with this disposition as we mature. Sometimes we focus on competing with others and end up wasting our lives and losing our God-given destiny.
It may not be too surprising for us to discover that the two famous brothers, James and John came to Jesus Christ to make a request. They actually came to our Lord to lobby for positions at his right hand and his left hand in his GLORY . This means that they were sure of a glorious moment. There is a clear indication here that the apostles still didn’t fully understand the identity and mission of Jesus Christ. They were still assuming him to be a political messiah; a worldly king. We remember that this contention for first position and greatness began in Mark (9:33-37) when they were arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest. Jesus did settle the situation for them, but the re-occurrence of this ultimate search for foremost positions by James and John showed that the quest for greatness did not end after our Lord’s instructions.
The two brothers were ambitious and one could admire them for that. But in their quest they were focused on the glory and not the path that would lead to the glory. It was on account of this oversight that our Lord asked them if they will be able to drink the cup he would drink, namely suffering. Their ambition to get to the glorious realm was so strong that they did not express any fear of drinking the cup. They were sure that the cup will come and pass (and may not be as painful as that) but the glory will be established thereafter.
The request that James and John made was a very outstanding and specific one: to sit at the right hand and the left hand of our Lord Jesus Christ in his glory. From their request we can see that they intended to lead the parade. From their request they wanted to make the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ a family affair of the “Zebedees” From their request we deduce selfishness and exclusion. I wonder the position they intended for Mary the Mother of the Lord.
The two brothers were really very ambitious like most people in our contemporary human society where people get into positions based on who-knows-who syndrome. The two brothers wanted to act fast before the rest would out-do them. It may be wrong to assume that they were the only people among the apostles that desired to take important positions in the would-be kingdom of Jesus Christ. Rather they were bold enough to declare their intentions.
The answer our Lord Jesus Christ gave to the two brothers showed that there are ideal steps to greatness. In our technology driven human society, computers and other devices give us shortcuts as options in some operating systems. Consequently most of us have pushed that idea of shortcut to other spheres of life. Today people want to get rich without working for it. People want to rise to great heights without the drudgery of climbing a ladder, people want to get into the Promised Land without passing through the desert, and people want to wear the crown without carrying the cross. Mahatma Gandhi summarized these dispositions in his seven deadly sins of the modern world:
Wealth without Work.
Pleasure without Conscience.
Science without Humanity.
Knowledge without Character.
Politics without Principle.
Commerce without Morality.
Religion without Sacrifice.
It is good to be ambitious but only if our ambition is on eternal values (Matt.6:33; 11:12). Furthermore our ambition must go through some defined step. Human life itself is a product of some defined biological and physiological process. Before conception there is fertilization and before birth there is conception. Before walking, a child must learn how to stand. The same thing is applicable to greatness. One must necessarily pass through some corridors which may not really be all sweet and rosy.
From the Gospel Reading, James and John intended to place themselves where their egos suggested to them. It happens that often we tend to do the things that are reserved for God alone; we tend to take up God’s tasks. God is the person who can appoint us to places where He has divinely willed for us. When in Jeremiah (29: 11) we are told that “God has a plan for us” it means that He has designed a position for us where His plans for us will be realized. Often we can only reach the place God has appointed for us through series of disappointments that would lead us to the appointments.
The First Reading from Isaiah (53:10-11) tells us that it is the will of God that his servant be bruised; experience grief and suffering as the steps that will lead to the salvation of all. If you examine the bible very well, you will discover that God’s appointment to positions of greatness would always follow some steps that may not really appear palatable. Abraham’s rise to the status of father of a great nation took great route spanning up to twenty-five years (Gen.12:2). Joseph’s appointment to greatness came after series of disappointments that started with his brothers (Gen. 37:18).The Promised Land was realized after a long walk of forty years in the desert (Joshua 5:6). After being anointed king, David had to pass through a period of fighting with Goliath and out-doing Saul before he could sit on the throne (1 Sam. 17:45; 19:10). To redeem us our Lord Jesus had to follow the rigorous steps of passion and death.
Wherever you will be in life has been designed by God. If you are connected with him in faith and obedience you will rise to your position. It does not really matter how long it takes you or how tough the road is (the steps to greatness); the point is that you will get there. Many people are not successful in life because they gave themselves positions that God never intended for them. Some people are in the wrong places in life and if you are in the wrong place it will all be wrong for you. To get to the right place, follow God, it may not be an easy road but you will get to your rightful place after all.
I wish you a blessed Sunday and happy week ahead.

Fr. Bonnie
(fatherbonny@hotmail.com)

Sneek Peak At The Interior Of Linda Ikeji’s Banana Island Mansion

It was all over social media yesterday that Popular Blogger, Linda Ikeji acquired a mansion in Banana Island, Ikoyi. She revealed that her mansion is worth well over N450m.
We gathered pictures of the interior of the house.. Check them out below…

EFCC Arrests Godswill Akpabio

The Akwa Ibom state former governor who is currently the Senate minority leader in the 8th Senate, Godswill Akpabio, was at about 5pm on Friday, October 16, arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Premium Times reports.

He was said to have been accompanied by a few aides and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ricky Tarfa. However, the former governor’s aide who is on the basis of anonymity that the senator is currently being interrogated by top officials of the EFCC.

A source at the EFCC confirmed the development of Senator Akpabio’s arrest.
He said: “He was brought in at about 5.20 pm accompanied by a few aides and Mr. Rickey Tarfa.

“It is not yet known whether he will be allowed to go this night. It depends on how the interrogation goes.”
There had been a petition forwarded to the ant-graft commission and President Muhammadu buhari in June by an Abuja-based lawyer and activist, Leo Ekpenyong, over an alleged theft of N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom funds where the senator was a governor. As a result of the petition, the crimes commission had swung into action to investigate the matter.

According to Premium Times report, several other indigenes of the state who have been demanding the investigation of the former governor, were invited by the EFCC to adopt their petitions. The invitation did not exclude Ekpenyong, the key petitioner as he too was summoned to adopt his claim.

The lawyer disclosed that between January and December 2014, the ex-governor colluded with the former government house permanent secretary, Etekamba Umoren, and the former accountant general of the state to steal a whopping N108.1 billion from the state’s treasury.
He said in the petition: “Between January – December 2014, it is on record that the trio of Godswill Akpabio, Mr Etekamba Umoren and Mr Udo Isobara, made illegal but substantial withdrawals of cash from a designated state government-owned account with Zenith Bank with account number: 1010375881 amounting to N22.1 billion.

“It is worthy of note that reasons for such ungodly cash withdrawals against financial regulations and due process laws range between sundry use and unjustifiable expenditures by Godswill Akpabio and his numerous surrogates and proxies.

“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in trenches of N10 million and above by Mr Isobara in a surreptitious manner to conceal their dishonest intention.”

Ekpenyong accused Umoren of having been rewarded with an appointment as government house chief of staff and now secretary to the state government under Udom Emmanuel’s administration owing to his assistance in the alleged stealing.

The legal luminary also accused the former governor of several other fraudulent practices ranging from another withdrawal of N18 billion to the acquisition of a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 5 Okogosi Spring Close, off Katsina-Ala Crescent, Maitama-Abuja, a multi-billion naira mansionette at Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama, Abuja and another multi-billion naira mansion at 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

However, the commissioner of information during the Akpabio’s administration, Aniekan Umana, described the contents of the petition by Mr. Ekpenyong as falsehood taken too far.
Noting that the petition betrayed a lack of understanding of the workings of government, the former commissioner said: “Every sum withdrawn from a government account is tied to a subhead and there must be a budgetary provision. To attribute fraud to withdrawals which had the full sanction of government and was accommodated in the budget is strange, mischievous and untenable. More so, when one understands that there are checks and balances which guide all aspects of government financial administration.”

Stress Less With Relaxology

IN today’s busy world, where people work longer hours and sleep less on weekdays, stress management has become a lifestyle to adopt, in order to stay healthy.
And wellness experts have devised the healing therapy of relaxology at the spa to relieve stress, reduce tension, manage pain and help busy people reach an overall sense of well-being. It helps the body to feel rejuvenated, relaxed and balanced.
The body movement and physical actions are muscles reliant and as we do our day-to-day work, either physical or mental, energy is used up.
Sometimes we are tired such that any other activity that would require the lifting of the arms, legs, hands or even the least of all, the finger, must get out of the way.
In Painfree, edited by the editors of Prevention Magazine, it is noted: “Pain begins when upsets in your body are translated into “pain” by your mind. The upsets often result from a stressful life: too much work, too little exercise, poor diet. If your body are well taken care of, it would be less likely to ache.”
Therefore it is of utmost importance to take care of the body, harmonise it with the mind to be free of pain via a relaxology program that makes possible a complete rest of spirit, soul and body.
In recent times wellness and fitness has become an essential part of our daily lives. The modern way of life demand an efficient body that is ready to function and be stressed: this is the reality of today’s living. Therefore our relaxation, regeneration must be far reaching, include efficient and sufficient massage, treadmills, sauna and steam-bath which are essential methods to a relaxed person.
A right proportion of sauna/ steam-bath, good aerobic/ treadmills and adequate massage, even in the comfort of our homes is now within reach. Auto massage couches are equally available to give an unassisted massage, defray pains and lead us to sleep.

Nigeria’s Makeup Talent Show 2015 set to hold in Port Harcourt!

OGEE 30 limited , an organization designed to promote youth empowerment, announces its first ever make up competition – the Make Up TALENT SHOW 2015. The social enterprise focused on maximizing the social impact of Nigerian youths, partners with beauty companies like Dabota Cosmetics , MUD Cosmetics and Kayge Cosmetics to empower Nigerian youths through this competition.

So are you an aspiring makeup artist, a talented makeup diva or a beauty guru? This is your opportunity to showcase your talent! And bring your Makeup glow to this exciting competition happening in Port Harcourt .

The winner of the competition would walk away with 250,000 naira, a Black Up Product voucher worth 100,000 naira and an IPhone 6 or a Samsung Edge 6 . The first and second runners-up, on the other hand, will go home with 120,000 Naira plus a 70,000 Naira Voucher of House of Tara and 70,000 Naira Cheque plus 70,000 Naira Voucher MUD Cosmetics respectively. The third runner up goes home with 50,000 Naira worth Voucher of Zaron Cosmetic products and 40,000 Naira Voucher of Dabota Cosmetics.

Date : Sunday, 29th November

Time : 1 PM (Red carpet begins)

Venue : Golden Tulip Hotel, Port Harcourt

OGEE 30 Limited disclosed that celebrity make-up artists such as Fati Mamza of Mamza Beauty , Jide of St Ola , Elaine Shabanjo of Shamaya , Mimi Suleman of Mimi’s Makeover, Jojo of Jojo’s Touch and Kay of Kayge Cosmetics, will feature as judges in the competition. OGEE 30 also promises to provide goodie bags from Dabota, Sleek and Kayge cosmetics for all participants in this fun filled, mind-blowing and exciting experience!!You do not want to miss it!

Applicants are required to register to enter the competition with a non-refundable fee of 2,500 naira only! Do not miss this opportunity, as registration closes on the 6th of November, 2015. Register now on www.ogee30.com .

For more information please email us at events@ogee30.com or call +234905407866

2015 MTV EMA: Yemi Alade, Davido, AKA Lose ‘Best African Act’ To Diamond Platnumz

Tanzania pop star, Diamond Platnumz has won the 2015 MTV EMAs ‘Best African Act’. He was up against Nigeria’s Davido and Yemi Alade, South African rapper AKA and Ivorian performer DJ Arafat for the title.
In the battle for the coveted award, fans were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite artiste on the award website and Diamond Platnumz garnered the highest number of votes.
It is not yet uhuru for the Tanzania star at the EMAs as he will go head to head with the best act from India. The two acts are up for the Best Africa/India Act award. Fans of the Tanzanian star can vote for him from now until Saturday, October 24.
In 2005, African Queen crooner, 2Face Idibia made history by becoming the first act to win the Best African Act category. Also, the Kokomaster and No Long Thing singer, D’Banj made history by winning the award twice. He won in it 2007 and 2012 respectively. Other artistes who have won the award include Freshlyground (2006), South African acts LCNVL (2013), and Kenyan group, Sauti Sol (2014).
British singer, Ed Sheeran and Australian actress/model Ruby Rose will be hosting this year’s awards ceremony schedule to hold on Sunday, October 25 at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan, Italy.
The ceremony, which would be broadcast live across the world at 8PM, will see performances from Pharrell Williams, Ed Sheeran & Rudimental, Jess Glynne and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and other stars.

Popular Blogger Linda Ikeji Purchases N450m House In Banana Island

Yes you read that right.
Popular blogger, Linda Ikeji, has reportedly purchased a mansion in Banana Island, Lagos said to be worth about N450 million Naira. Her sister shared pictures of the mansion earlier today on her instagram page, and from the looks of it, the mansion is massive.
The mansion is said to have 6 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, a swimming pool, cinema room, and a 3 rooms boys quarters. Talk about a massive mansion.
Of course Nigerian Twitter has been buzzing majorly since the news broke out with all kinds of reactions.
Some are asking God for the same blessings, some are congratulatory, and of course some are just getting on her for not being married. So typically Nigerian.

Here are some reactions:

-Remember when celebrities used to say Linda Ikeji was "just a blogger" or "a failed model" ... I bet a lot ain't saying that now

-Linda Ikeji, all i can say is congratulations to you girl, hard work surely pays. You made it against all odds, welldone girl.

-Linda ikeji parents are Alive , I don't think the pressure you all are given to her about marriage her family has done half.

-How can a fellow girl be jealous of linda ikeji, since you both do same thing, just dat she opened a blog and you opened your #legs

-Lol see as people carry linda Ikeji matter for head egbami. Mama buy house of 450/500million and u dey beef? Ori gbogbo yin ti daru..

-Linda Ikeji is the Blogger who set the bar for commitment among Nigerian Bloggers. Her success isn't a fluke.

-Linda ikeji is 'feminist' goals man.
Lol who needs a man when you can buy yourself a house in Banana island?
What is a man?

-Wasn’t it just last year that Linda copped a 45 million Naira Range Rover?

#Congratulations

Where Does the Future of Nigerian Football Lie - the Super Eagles or the NPFL?

There are two sides to Nigerian football: one is the national teams, and the other is our clubs and leagues. Both tend to develop in mutually inclusive ways, but for the national teams of any country to achieve their true potential, it is usually the case that the premium division of their leagues must be competitive and successful. This ensures the country’s best talents are seamlessly developed from youth stages to top-flight levels. Properly managed, professional club football can create thousands of plum jobs in a country like Nigeria, and have a significant impact on our economy. Where the national teams are strong, the domestic top-flight is usually vibrant and competitive, but where the elite division is weak, the national teams tend to be unable to have sustainable success. So which is the case in Nigeria?
The Nigerian Professional Football League has been struggling since the turn of the 21st Century as globalisation and satellite television have seen football fans in this country abandon our clubs to follow the richer and more popular European leagues. This trend has weakened our clubs and the competitiveness of our league. It has virtually killed the marketability of our league and clubs, and potentially cost the country tens of thousands of jobs. It has also ensured that we can no longer control the progress of our players and consequently the Super Eagles have been weaker.
In the past week I watched a documentary on Brazilian great, Ronaldinho, and how his career took off. After conquering the world at the U-17 World Cup in 1997, he joined Brazilian club Gremio where he honed his talents from 1998 to 2001 when he moved to PSG in France. The legendary Argentine Diego Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors for five years, from the age of 16, before joining Boca Juniors for an additional season and then moving to Barcelona. More recently 19-year-old Brazilian Kenedy joined English club Chelsea after five years at Fluminense.
Players like Oscar, Sergio Aguero, Ramires, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alexis Sanchez and a host of others, all played at home before making the big leap to Europe’s top leagues. This suggests that, unlike most young Nigerian players today, these players were made by clubs in their domestic leagues not their national youth teams. It also means they continue their football development with little or no disruptions before and after international youth duty. The result is that they usually have developed their styles of play and are more confident in expressing their talent by the time they make the big move overseas. Most of them move straight into the senior teams of clubs in the bigger leagues and find it easier to adapt after gaining reasonable top-flight experience back home.
The situation is really not different in Nigeria, rather our current struggles are directly proportional to the problems of our domestic game. Our most successful products on the international stage have mostly all come from our domestic league. In the 1990s and 2000s when we had players in clubs like Barcelona, Juventus, Arsenal and the like, most of them had their roots in Nigerian clubs. The likes of Austin Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh, Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amuneke, Daniel Amokachi, and more recently Ahmed Musa, had developed the characters of top-flight players locally, before moving to clubs in Europe.
That has changed today. Rising talents are hardly ever channeled through NPFL clubs. These players are usually now products of football academies who basically warehouse them until they either get opportunities with the national youth teams or clubs in far flung countries. It is a worrying trend because these players struggle, after being plucked from Africa before they are mature and put through the new cultures of European clubs and society. The success rate is not encouraging and too many of our brightest talents fall by the way side in the end. Even when they find some success, it is fleeting.
How many of our young talents have survived the European youth teams in the last ten years and gone on to play for top European clubs? We can pick out names like Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success who are in the English and Spanish top-flights, we may add others like Moses Simon and I would give room for six more. For a country reported to be the fifth largest exporter of football talents, that is extremely poor return. Our players, it seems, are leaving our shores too early and too unprepared for life on the international stage.
I have in the past suggested that the League Management Company and the Nigeria Football Federation work together to ensure our players are funneled through the NPFL to the international stage. That way we all win. Our young talents get to develop their football skills at home where their interests will be of primary importance. Special young talents in our clubs, protected by referees, will bring a good number of our fans back. Nigerians would love to see the next big stars who have what it takes to be the next Kanu or the next Okocha. What we have today is a league seen to be full of ‘old’ players - those fans feel are not good enough for export and not good enough for our national teams. Fans do not want to watch those.
I think the LMC-NFF must device a means of discouraging what is basically a ‘human trafficking’ trade by greedy football agents. We actually shortchange ourselves when we sell off our best talents to European clubs without having top-flight experience in Nigeria. Think about it, we never get to enjoy watching our best young footballers slug it out at home these days. We wait and wait for years for them to break into the first teams of clubs in Europe, and God knows how many are broken along the way. Besides, agents and academies would make a lot more money selling the players through Nigerian clubs. Let us take the case of Iheanacho for example. He was reportedly sold for about 350,000 pounds. Of course there will be the add-ons, but so too for the Brazilian Kenedy at Chelsea, arguably no greater talent than Iheanacho – but who was reportedly sold for six and a half million pounds.
What we need to do in Nigeria is to curb age cheating in our football – the NFF has promised to tackle this scourge head on with new plans in the works – and ensure our players are vented through our clubs and not national youth teams. In the past I suggested starting an U-17 youth league for clubs in the NPFL. These youth teams would basically open games for their senior counterparts every match day. Beyond creating a platform for the continued development of these talents, an U-17 league would lead us to self-check solution for age cheating. Nigerian clubs fielding age cheats against themselves will be easily found out. It would also help if the NFF insists that only players from the youth leagues or Nigerian clubs can make the Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles teams.
This would seriously discourage our propensity for churning out gifted, but immature talents for export. A guy like Iheanacho would probably have given Nigerians three years of entertaining football before being sold to a big club in Europe for millions of pounds. That would have been great for the NPFL, for our clubs, our national teams, as well as the player and his agents.
We also need to develop the Nigerian way of playing in modern day football, and that way has to be designed and perfected at home. Today our players leave to different countries before returning to the national teams with different philosophies of the game. It would not help that we have also found a quick-fix solution in scouring the earth for players of dual nationalities to bolster the Super Eagles.
These are players who think and act European but have to play African. I have not seen this tack win any laurels for any nation in Africa yet. Algeria are the best example, with their senior national team known to sometimes field as many as nine or ten foreign-born players. We wait to see how this shapes out, but I am not a fan, unless the player in question is of Messi-esque levels.
The purpose of this article is to put in perspective what our fight should be in the Nigeria as we aim to revive our football. If we want sustainable success we have to adopt ideas that first make our leagues and clubs successful so that we can have an endless conveyor belt rolling out quality talents that can then go the best clubs overseas and return to make the Super Eagles a true world beater.
Economically the NPFL can also attract ten times and over, the investments and sponsorships of the national teams. In the past I used an example from England to illustrate this point. Clubs like Manchester United alone attract better sponsorship than the English national teams. The same would be the case in Nigeria if we can make our leagues and clubs successful.

How Nigeria, others can maximise access to broadband

WITH a World Bank’s findings that a 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration is correlated with a 1.35 per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for developing countries, and a 1.19 per cent increase for developed countries, nations, especially in the emerging markets have been tasked on the need to adopt effective policies and strategies to make broadband available, affordable and accessible.
According to the 2015 Broadband Report, the real power of broadband lies in its potential to improve development outcomes in the developing world on the basis of human rights, social inclusion and poverty eradication. It is now evident that digital inclusion is necessary for sustainable development. ICTs, in particular broadband, are a catalyst for enhancing economic growth, expanding productivity and competition, and aggregating knowledge.
The report noted that the developing world and Least Developed Countries in particular, can benefit from greater integration and use of ICTs. It stressed that the delivery of broadband in urban, as well as rural, regions has become a major political and regulatory objective for many countries.
The 2015 Broadband Report noted that the availability of broadband infrastructure worldwide has been recognized by the United Nations (UN) as an essential prerequisite to the economic development of countries.
It stressed that ICTs are today promoting the achievement of all three pillars of sustainable development defined by the UN’s framework for post-2015 development: social inclusion; economic development; and environmental protection.
As such, for developing economies like Nigeria, which has its broadband penetration at 10 per cent, there are ranges of policy options that are available to maximize access to broadband, and to capitalize on its benefits.
These policy options, according to the report can broadly be divided into supplyside measures and demand-side measures, although some policy measures can promote both – for example, the adoption of a National Broadband Plan promotes development of content and human capacities; monitoring; and tax reductions to reduce overall tariffs and promote affordability.
Examples of supply-side measures include: promoting co-deployment and infrastructure-sharing of telecommunications infrastructure and co-investment to reduce prices; foster co-deployment with access to non-telecommunications infrastructure (addressing key obstacles, such as limits on access and rights of way); ensure sufficient availability of quality spectrum to deploy mobile broadband networks (e.g. via spectrum assignment and trading); focus on expanding network coverage (e.g. via coverage obligations, rather than on spectrum proceeds); develop effective technical standards to achieve economies of scale and enhance quality of services and promote effective and functional wholesale and retail markets to lower prices.
For the demand side, various policy measures, according to the 2015 Broadband report, exist on the demand side. These included ensuring the availability and affordability of broadband enabled devices and services for poor or at-risk households and other vulnerable groups; enabling the development of local and relevant broadband applications and content, including in multiple languages; improving broadband availability mapping to increase consumer awareness about choice of services and service providers; enhancing transparency and control of market information to inform consumers about market prices and their rights to enable them to make informed decisions; undertake communication campaigns to increase trust and security; engage in ICT literacy campaigns and digital skills courses to boost user capacities, awareness and interest and promote effective ICT skills through training and education at all levels, formal and informal, with a special focus on girls and women.

Governor Fayose arrests road safety officer for traffic offence

Governor Ayodele Fayose on Friday arrested an officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps at Ikere Ekiti, for flouting traffic rules.
Mr. Fayose was done with the flag off of the Ado-Ikere-Iju dualisation and the commissioning of the downtown market stall in the town, when he sighted the road safety official driving against traffic at Oke –Ikere area of the town.
The governor immediately stopped his convoy and ordered that the man be arrested, and his car seized.
The road safety operative, identified as a Mr. Alabi, was traveling in a Peugeot 505 car to Ikere Ekiti, but took the wrong lane while trying to avoid the failed part of the road.
The fact that the road safety official was driving in the wrong lane to avoid the bad road on which Mr. Fayose’s convoy travelled angered the governor, one of his aides said.
Mr. Fayose immediately ordered that the seized vehicle be taken to the office of the Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency in Ado Ekiti, with a directive that the driver be booked for all applicable fines.

See The Names Boko Haram Released As Their Sponsors

The Boko Haram sect has cited the stoppage of its monthly financial support for the recent attacks on northern states, claiming that the group was until recently being bankrolled by some northern governors.
The claim by the group came as it also alleged that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in its firing range last September but was spared because of his tolerance of the sharia Islamic code during his presidency.
An unnamed high ranking official of the group alleged that the Ibrahim Shekarau administration in Kano made a monthly N10 million donation to the group while the Bauchi Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda besides financial commitments was also an admirer of the military prowess of the group.
The group has, nevertheless, dismissed any personal grouse with President Goodluck Jonathan, alleging that the problems with the administration were carryovers from what it claimed to be the callousness of the Yar‘Adua administration in waging war against the group.
The allegations were made by a high ranking official of the group to the online publication 247ureports.com.
Mr. Michael Ishola, Chief Press Secretary to the Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, however, debunked the claim as a “very, very strange allegation.”
The newly appointed Special Adviser (Media) to the Kano State Governor, Mallam Halilu Dantiye on his part, claimed ignorance of any monthly payment to the group by the Ibrahim Shekarau administration which the present administration succeeded as he claimed that there was no such issue contained in the handover note.
Noting that the attacks on Kano and Bauchi arose from the stoppage of the financial support to the group by some northern governors, the official in the disclosures to the publication said that the entire northern governors have ongoing relationships with the group.
“Most of them pay us monthly to leave their states alone”.
It was alleged that the Shekarau administration reached an agreement as far back as 2004 to be paying a monthly support of N5 million to the group which was later raised to N10 million sometime in 2009.
The agreement also reportedly included infrastructural support. The support was, however, allegedly stopped at the inception of the Kwankwaso administration in May 2011.
The publication alleged that the Kwankwaso regime also turned against the group dismantling its infrastructure in the state.
“We warned the Governor of the consequences. We concluded on Kano in December 2011,” the source said. Shekarau’s spokesman, Sule Yau did not respond to the allegations yesterday as he did not respond to a text message sent to him. Mallam Dantiye Special Adviser to Governor Kwankwaso claimed ignorance of the alleged support saying that nothing like that was contained in the handover note received from Shekarau.
On Bauchi, the publication reported that Governor Yuguda reached a similar agreement with the leadership of the group for the payment of N10million monthly to the group alongside the provision of training grounds on the many mountains scattered in Bauchi State. The governor it was reported also promised to give them security against arrests by the federal government. The agreement was supposedly reached in June 2008 but mid 2011, the governor reportedly stopped the disbursement of the funds.
Mr. Michael Ishola, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Yuguda also refuted the allegation against Governor Yuguda. “It is a very, very strange allegation, because the Isa Yuguda I know cannot be involved in such an allegation. We in Bauchi have been living in peace. We are not involved in that,” he told Vanguard yesterday.