Photos from Juliet Ibrahim's 30th birthday bash

Juliet Ibrahim who turned a year older yesterday celebrated her birthday in style. More photos from her birthday bash after the cut...

How to know your friends (MUST READ)

No human being can do without friends. We all need people to talk to, who know and understand us better, and whom we can understand well. There are various conceptions today about friendship and the concept itself is broad. Some people consider a friend to be someone who helps them. Others define a friend as someone they are attracted to, whose company they enjoy and with whom they do things together. 

 

Dictionary.com defines a friend as a “person attached to another by affection or regard.” In practical terms however, how do you know whether someone is your friend or you are someone’s friend?
Your friend is someone who knows you. This knowledge is beyond statistics about you such as name, sex and age. Your friend knows you much better than that. He/she knows your likes and dislikes. They can read your mood and tell when you are not happy. They know your past and present, and your hopes for the future.


Your friend is also someone whom you know in the manner described above.
Your friend is someone who trusts you, and whom you trust. Because they know you, your friends understand what you can do. They understand your values and can almost always tell how you will respond to a particular situation. They trust you and do not doubt what you tell them. They believe you mean well and so have confidence that you will not hurt them or deceive them.


Your friend defends your interest. He protects your interest. While growing up as a child, we played with our peers, and sometimes there was a contention involving your friend and someone else. If we were called in to testify, we usually would not say anything until we understood our friend’s interest and how we could protect it.


Your friend keeps your secrets and does not leak them to others. Some of those secrets could be fears or weaknesses. Your friend does not leak them to the public thereby disgracing or embarrassing you.

Your friend shares your feelings. They are able to see your tears, hear your cry and share your pain. They do not look unconcerned when you are in difficulty. Neither do they envy your successes. Instead, they rejoice with you genuinely.


Your friend shares your interests. He protects them most of the time because they are also his interests. The interests could be likes, dislikes, opinions or beliefs. They could also be business, religious, political or health interests. For instance, if I am a politician, my friend is likely to share my political views. Most times therefore, your friend thinks along the same line as yourself.

Types of Friends

Going by what they do together and how they relate to one another, friends can be classified in various ways.

• Political Friends: Friends in this category are held together by political interests. They may not agree on many other issues, but when it comes to politics, they work together and trust each other. 
•  Business Friends: These ones are linked by business interests. They may not necessarily agree on other issues like religion or politics, but they enjoy doing business together.

• Casual Friends: They could be held together by any kind of interests, but the striking feature is that their friendship does not last long or go beyond those interests. They may not know much about each other or even trust each other on other issues.

• Intimate Friends: Friends are usually brought together by an interest, but once the union is formed, they discover more and more reasons to remain together. Sometimes emotions are freely shared and lasting attachment is developed. They can therefore become intimate.

Do you agree? Drop a comment.

EFCC docks six officials of ABU Teaching Hospital for N185m fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned six officials of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria before Justice M. M. Ladan of Kaduna State High Court sitting in Zaria on a 22-count charge bordering on conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, theft, cheating, misappropriation and fraudulent diversion of bank loan
The case was reported to the Commission by one Prof Lawal Khalid, Chief Medical Director of ABUTH, against the management of the Multipurpose Cooperative Society of the Non Academic Staff Union of the institution.
The petitioner alleged that, sometime in 2013, First City Monument Bank, Zaria branch, granted N185 million loan to Multipurpose Cooperative Society of NASU ABUTH Zaria and the fund was later disbursed by the society to the beneficiaries for subsequent repayment in full with interest within 24 months.
The petitioner added that the management of ABUTH guaranteed only the deduction from the beneficiaries’ salary for the monthly repayment and remittance to the society’s account at the bank which will enable FCMB to recover its money.
The petitioner also stated that following complaint of over deduction of repayment by some beneficiaries, an internal investigation was conducted which discovered that N27, 211, 486.66 could not be accounted for.
ABUTH management, the petitioner said, constituted an Ad-hoc committee on the issue, which recommended that the sum of N25, 5387, 798.60 should be recovered from the officials of the society.
The accused officials include Kabuk Dauda, Chairman; Nuruddeen Mohammed, Secretary; Cecilia Jatau, Treasurer; Abdulrazak Garba, and Abdulkadir B Danyaro of Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) ABUTH Multipurpose Co-operative Society, Zaria.

The accused were arrested by the EFCC, and investigation later revealed that, the sum of N3, 995, 104.17 was supposed to be repaid on monthly basis by the management of ABUTH to FCMB, but that the accused conspired to be remitting N4, 834,076, and converted the difference to their personal use.
Count one of the charge read “That you KABUK DAUDA being the Chairman, NURUDDEEN MOHAMMED being the Secretary, CECELIA JATAU being the Treasurer, ABDULRAZAK GARBA and ABDULKADIR DANYARO of Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria (ABUTH) and Olatunbosun Thomas (now at large) sometimes between May, 2013 and March 2014 at Zaria, within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Kaduna State, while being in the management of the NASU Cooperative Society and its Bank account with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) obtained two (2) loan facility of N85, 292, 000.00 (Eighty five million, two hundred and ninety two thousand naira) and N100, 000, 000.00 (one hundred million naira) but with intent to defraud, conspired among yourselves to do an illegal act to wit; Criminal Breach of Trust in the disbursement and pricing of the loan by increasing the interest rates in order to gain a monetary advantage to yourselves and cause lost to the beneficiary members and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 96 of the Penal Code Law and punishable under section 97 of the same law”.
The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution counsel, Samuel Chime, then urged the court to fix a date for hearing.
He also added that all the witnesses for the trial were ready.
Justice Ladan granted bail at N10 million to each of the accused and two reliable sureties for each in like sum with landed property within the jurisdiction of the court.
The case was adjourned to April, 12, 2016 for trial.

Over 500 killed in Agatu “genocide” — Ex-Senate President David Mark

The immediate past president of the Senate, David Mark, has described as barbaric, wicked and inhuman the attacks and destruction of lives and properties in Agatu local government area of Benue state by armed men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
He said: “I’m shocked beyond words at the extent of destruction I have seen here in Agatu today. This is unbelievable. It is unimaginable . Nothing whatsoever justifies this brazen act of destruction meted out on the people of Agatu. My heart bleeds.”
Mr. Mark, who represents the area, and was on assessment tour of the ravaged communities along with some members of the National and state Assembly from his Benue South constituency, urged security operatives to do all that is needed to bring the perpetrators to book.
Mr. Mark said the attacks could not have happened by accident. He said it bore the markings of a planned and orchestrated genocide against his people of Agatu.
Ten communities were razed down while no fewer than 500 lives have been lost to the recent hostilities, Mr. Mark’s office said in a statement.
It said some of the villages visited by the former senate president and his team had been deserted and virtually turned into ghost towns.
“The villages are totally bereft of any social or economic activities. All the primary and post primary schools, health centres , worship centres as well as the police station in the area have been burnt down.

“What is left of a hitherto boisterous Agatu communities of Aila, Akwu, Adagbo, Okokolo, Ugboju, Odugbeho, Ogbaulu, Egba and Obagaji are the debris of the wreckage,” the statement said.
Mr. Mark however told a handful of survivors of the attacks to remain calm and law-abiding no matter the level of provocation just as he assured that the government would intervene to bring succour to them.
Mr. Mark advised the people to take advantage of the proposed public hearing by the joint Senate committee on the crisis to bring the matter to public domain and seek redress.
Last week, Mr. Mark through a community leader and former commissioner in Benue state, John Ngbede, distributed relief materials to the survivors .
Items distributed included mattresses, bags of rice, salt, indomie noodles, clothes as well as toiletries.
Mr. Mark also visited one of the Internally Displaced Persons ( IDP) camps located in Apa local government area where he counselled the victims to remain calm as authorities would do the needful to ameliorate their situation .
Some of the survivors and community leaders including Haruna Bawa from Odugbeho, Yakubu Ameh from Adagbo, Stephen Mathew from Aila and Aduba Abraham from Okokolo in their separate remarks alleged that the Fulani herdsmen invaded their communities shooting and killing every thing on sight .
They pleaded with the state and federal governments to intervene and help rebuild the wrecked villages and rehabilitate the survivors.

Fuel scarcity may linger till end of March – NUPENG

FILE PHOTO: FUEL QUEUE AT A FILLING STATION ON HERBERT MACAULAY WAY IN ABUJA ON MONDAY (16/11/15).

 

 

 

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Friday said the ongoing fuel scarcity in the country might linger till the end of March.
The South-West chairman of the union, Tokunbo Korodo, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Mr. Korodo said that from all indications, loading of petrol at NNPC depots and private depots w
​as slow.
He said if there was no improvement in loading the product by next week, the situation might be worse.
“The pace of loading of fuel at NNPC depots in Mosinmi and Ejigbo is very slow as most tankers drivers that wanted to load, left the depots with nothing.
“Even at private depots where they sell above the ex-depot price, the pace of loading is very slow.
“Presently, we need massive loading of petrol nationwide to get over the present scarcity.

“I am imploring the government to improve on supply of fuel to all depots nationwide so that our tanker drivers can get the product and transport it to filling stations,” he said.
Meanwhile, scarcity of petrol continued as queues of motorists persisted in few filling stations that were selling the product.
At the Mobil filling station in Orile, Lagos, motorists lamented waiting endlessly to buy petrol.
A welder, Samuel Johnson, said that most filling stations were not selling inside jerry cans, adding that this had kept him out of job in the last two weeks.
Mr. Johnson appealed to government to compel attendants at filling stations to be selling to those with jerry cans if they could produce their identity cards.
He said the situation was further worsened because there was no electricity supply in the last two weeks at Orile where he works.
(NAN)

Inlaks Partners With NCC to Provide Faster & More Affordable Internet Services

We should stop celebrating 4G Network when the world is already set to launch into 5G network. . . ICT and Infrastructure Solutions provider, Inlaks, has expressed readiness to partner with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the provision of broadband services to Nigerians in all the 36 states of the federation.The partnership will among others things ensure that most Nigerians have access to faster and more affordable internet services on their mobile and desktop devices.

Inlaks is an IT service provider currently diving into cloud computing which can only work with effective broadband services. Their plan is to upscale the level of broadband that is available in the country. The NCC is prospecting about 1.5Mbits/sec, which is rather too low. Other countries are executing 100Mbits/s, and even up to 2Gbits/sec, and we are talking about 1.5.

If you ask me, this is a good  development.

Source Vanguardngr

The Catholic Church grew faster than the global population in past decade

The number of Catholics has increased at a faster rate than the rest of the population, newly released statistics by the Vatican reveal.

Over the course of nine years, the number of Catholics worldwide has increased by 17.8 percent, compared to the global population, which increased by 17.3 percent.

From 2005-2014, the number of Catholics grew from 1,115,000,000 to 1,272,000,000.

These and other statistics, released by the Vatican on Saturday, are contained within the 2016 Pontifical Yearbook, and the 2014 Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae.

These volumes, compiled by the Central Office of Church Statistics and edited by the Vatican Typography, are set to be released in bookshops within days.

The books also show changes in the Church's life over the course of 2015, according to the March 5 statement.

The greatest increase in Catholics was seen in the African continent at 41 percent, amid an overall population growth of 23.8 percent. This was followed by Asia, with a 20 percent Catholic increase vs. the 9.6 percent population increase, then America which saw an 11.7 percent increase in Catholics compared to 9.6 percent of the population.

In Europe, the number of Catholics increased only by 2 percent compared to the overall population. Oceana, in contrast, saw an increase of Catholics that was just slightly lower than the overall population growth.

The statement also notes a global increase in the number of bishops from 2005-2014, although America and Oceana saw a slightly lower increase than the world average.

There was also a worldwide increase in the number of diocesan and religious priests, mostly in Africa and Asia, although there was a decline in new priests in Europe and Oceana.

While the number of permanent deacons increased in the African continent, the rest of the world saw a decline. Likewise, female religious saw a decline, but an increase in Africa and Asia.

Seminarians for the priesthood increased from 114,439 in 2005 to 116,939 in 2014, peaking in 2011 at 120,616. The number of seminarians was consistently highest in Africa, Asia, and Oceana, while Europe and America saw a decline. 

U.S. General Says Boko Haram Still Holds Territory In Nigeria

Boko Haram still holds territory in northern Nigeria, according to David Rodriguez, commander of the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM).

 
Abubakar Shekau leader of Boko Haram BBC 



 
Mr. Rodriguez’s statement, addressed to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, contradicts President Buhari’s assertion that Boko Haram does not hold any territory. At an energy summit in the UAE, the Nigerian president stated that the Nigerian Armed Forces and Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) had driven the terrorist insurgents from Nigerian territory.
At the Senate hearing, U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine asked Mr. Rodriguez if Boko Haram was growing, but said he knew they no longer held territory in Nigeria.
The commander responded, “Actually sir, Boko Haram does hold some significant territory in northern Nigeria, as do Al-Shabaab in limited areas of Somalia.”
Two weeks before Mr. Rodriguez’s testimony, two policy experts speaking at the U.S. Congress Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade advised the U.S. government to increase military efforts against Boko Haram.
“It is important to remember that Boko Haram has proved resilient to setbacks in the past. The possibility that it will regroup and rebuild should be the source of critical regional and international concern,” said Jennifer Cooke of the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS).
Alice Friend of the Center for New American Security (CNAS) stated that after Boko Haram  founder Mohhamed Yusuf died, “The group seemed to be in full retreat and was inactive for almost a year until Yusuf’s second-in-command, Abubakar bin Mohammad Shekau, released a video and a manifesto announcing his leadership of Boko Haram and threatening revenge on the Nigerian state as well as its Western backers.”
Nevertheless, Dr. Cooke praised the progress made by the Nigerian military and the MJTF, saying, “Many thousands of Boko Haram members, along with a number of its senior leaders, have been killed or captured, and the group no longer appears to have access to the kinds of transport and equipment — tanks, armored vehicles, Toyota Hilux trucks — that it has had in the past.”
Dr. Cooke also pointed out that the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has been silent.
“The group’s media operation — which reportedly received technical assistance from ISIL — has gone largely quiet, and there have been no video appearances by erstwhile leader Abubakar Shekau (or by any of his alleged imposters) since early 2015.”
Similarly, Ms. Friend said that Boko Haram is showing signs of weakness, emphasizing that the group is focusing on kidnapping women and girls and terrorizing public spaces rather than capturing territory.
“Their use of kidnapped women to execute suicide attacks, while tactically advantageous (providing greater access even to secured areas), also suggests a shrunken supply of adult male foot soldiers.”
Despite the organization’s weaknesses, the two policy experts agreed that the U.S. and international community need to take further steps to defeat Boko Haram.
Former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, shared his thoughts with a SaharaReporters correspondent on the progress the Nigerian military has made in the fight against Boko Haram.
Mr. Campbell stated that “we should be careful with how we use terms like ‘hold territory’ because of how many ways it can be interpreted.” He illustrated the complicated nature of holding territory by referencing how the Nigerian military and its allies dislodge Boko Haram from territory, but that when soldiers leave the terrorists later return.
Mr. Campbell did argue that he felt “Boko Haram was very far from being defeated” and that not nearly enough progress has been made by Nigeria and its allies to this end. Part of the challenge, according to him, is how “the media portrays Boko Haram as a terrorist movement like those in the Middle East” but that the administration of Boko Haram is unclear.
“Boko Haram seems to be decentralized with no apparent command and control structure,” according to Mr. Campbell.
Ms. Friend believes that Nigeria would benefit from greater U.S. security assistance programs, while Dr. Cooke advocates that the U.S. exerts more diplomatic pressure on the Chad Basin countries to provide more support to counterterrorist efforts.

Nigerian Army Clears Out Boko Haram Camps, Arrest Logistics Officer

The 7th Army Division has cleared Boko Haram camps killing several terrorists in the last two days, according to the Army spokesman SK Usman. He stated in a press release that in the duration of their operations vehicles, weapons, and other equipment were recovered.

According to Mr. Usman, “the troops of 151 Task Force Battalion have cleared terrorists hideouts in Izza and 8 surrounding other villages. Similarly, troops of 121 Task Force Battalion deployed at Pulka came under attack from suspected Boko Haram terrorists fanning out of Sambisa forest to escape sustained aerial bombardment by the Nigerian Air Force pilots.”
Mr. Usman also noted that the 7th Division Garrison, in cooperation with the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), arrested Ashiru Zamari a suspected logistic officer for the terrorist organization.
Mr. Zamari “has been handed over to the Joint Intelligence Processing Center,” according to Mr. Usman.
The 81st Battalion also “laid an ambush for Boko Haram terrorists at suspected Boko Haram terrorists crossing point from Sambisa forest  near Komala and Musafanari villages,” according to him.
This is the second notable Boko Haram leader to be in military custody in recent days. Abubakar Kime voluntarily turned himself in to military and Civilian JTF in Benisheikh, Borno State according to Mr. Usman.

Gov. Okowa, Basketmouth, Pinnick, Ali Baba, others attend Bovi's mum burial

Comedian Bovi buried his late mum today in Delta state and his friends, colleagues, NFF president Amaju Pinnick and Delta state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa were in attendance. More pics after the cut..

photos from the traditional wedding of Oni of IIfe's new wife

Another outfit worn by the Ooni's new wife Wuraola Zynab Otiti at her traditional wedding in Benin yesterday. More photos after the cut...

MUSIC:Lil Kesh – “Cause Trouble” (Part 2) ft. Wale

YBNL’s dream, Lil Kesh drops the remix to his recently released record Cause Trouble which featured Tinny’s rapper, Ycee.
On this remix he features Maybach’s Nigerian-American rapper, Wale.
Listen below and share your thoughts on the Pheelz produced track.

Lil Kesh – “Cause Trouble” (Part 2) ft. Wale