Perpetrators of Bayelsa poll violence’ll be punished – IG

Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase

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Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, says that perpetrators of the violence that marred the Bayelsa supplementary poll will be punished.

He stated that investigation to apprehend the masterminds had commenced, noting that three people lost their lives during the election.

FG Is Committed To Addressing Housing Deficits – Osinbajo

 

Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government is fully committed to addressing the nation’s housing deficits.
The Vice President also reiterated that the Buhari-led administration would deliver other promises made to Nigerians during the electioneering campaigns last year.

Vice President Osinbajo made the statement while performing the foundation laying ceremony of 2,000 mass houses for low income earners at the Millenium City Estate in Kaduna State, North West, Nigeria, on Tuesday.

Professor Osinbajo said that Nigeria could be great again under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration if all the resources were properly harnessed and corruption was wiped out at all levels of governance.

UN commences vocational training for 496 victims of Boko Haram insurgency

“UNDP feels that it is part of its mandate to ensure that the women and the youth are given skills that can last them through their lifetime

The United Nations says its vocational training for 496 victims of Boko Haram insurgency from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe State will commence on January 25.
Matthew Alao, the Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Analyst of the UN Development Programme, revealed this fact to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.

Alao explained that the UN was sponsoring the Boko Haram victims to acquire vocational skills under the first phase of the UNDP Livelihood Support Scheme for the North East.
He said: “You will recall the impact of the insurgency in the North East and how people have been displaced and idle for a long time.

S’Court decides on Gov Ortom Friday

The Supreme Court has fixed Friday, January 15, 2016 to deliver its judgment in the appeal challenging the election of Benue State governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, on April 11, 2015.

Dr. Tarhemen Tarzoor, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate brought the appeal after the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict of the Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that affirmed Ortom’s election.

A full panel of the apex court presided by Justice Walter Samuel Nkannu Onnoghen, on Monday, heard the appeal and reserved judgment for January 15.

Lead counsel for the appellant, Adebayo Adenikpekun (SAN) told the apex court that their case was anchored on the fact that Ortom who contested on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and was returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the election was not qualified to contest in the election having not being validly nominated by the APC to stand for it.

Adenikpekun said that Section 177 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, when married with the provision of Section 87 of the Electoral Act, gave the appellants locus standi to challenge the outcome of the election even though they were not members of APC.

Joachim MacEbong's Questions To Buhari And Saraki Over 2016 Budget

Editor’s note: Reacting to the breaking news of the allegedly missing 2016 budget details, Naij.com’s Joachim MacEbong muses upon what this development would mean for the images of President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and Bukola Saraki’s Senate — and why such a predicament could happen (as we are led to believe) in the first place.

Since President Buhari’s budget presentation in front of the National Assembly on December 22nd, in which he gave the highlights of the 2016 budget, it was curious that the full budget by line items was not made available, like it is usually done. The wait for the budget entered into the new year, with no word from the presidency, save for a statement that any budget making the rounds was false. In addition, there was also a denial that the president had in fact withdrawn the budget about a week ago, in order to make further cuts.

Two Fake Buhari-security Aides Arrested In Governor Fayose’s Home (Photos)

Two men who disguised as President Buhari’s private security aides have been arrested at the Afao-Ekiti country home of the Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose.

The two men, Benedict Ola Idega and Abdulsalami Leader H., presented themselves as staff of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), with influence over the report of the military panel set up to investigate alleged involvement in partisan politics by some soldiers and officers during the 2014/ 2015 gubernatorial election conducted in some states such as Ekiti, Osun, Rivers and Akwa-Ibom.

The two men

According to reports, the men said that although they have the preliminary report of the military panel but if the governor can cooperate, they can help him manipulate the final report if necessary. This got Governor Fayose suspicious. He informed the state commissioner of Police and director of the State Security Service and the Police commissioner had his men on standby.

Corruption War: An Arms Deal Probe And Its Political Dimension

While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has consistently been crying foul over alleged plot by the federal government to decimate it, last week’s arrest of its spokesman, Olisa Metuh is for the umpteenth time putting the All Progressive Congress (APC) government on collision course with the opposition party, reports JONATHAN NDA -ISAIAH.

There is no doubt that the period we are in now in the most populous country in subsaharan Africa is not the best of times for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). After losing out in the 2015 general elections, hence crisscrossing the political divide from a once powerful ruling party to the opposition camp, the party is currently fighting for survival- something similar to what the late Bob Marley described as the great survival.

Scientists say humans have now brought on an entirely new geologic epoch

A group of 24 geoscientists last week released a bracing assessment, suggesting that humans have altered the Earth so extensively that the consequences will be thoroughly detectable in current and future geological records. They, therefore, suggest that people should consider the Earth to have moved into a new geologic epoch, the “Anthropocene,” sometime circa 1945-1964.

The current era (at least under present definitions), known as the Holocene, began about 11,700 years ago, and was marked by warming and major sea level rise coming out of a major cool period, the Younger Dryas. However, the researchers suggest, changes ranging from growing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to infusions of plastics into marine sediments suggest that we’ve now left the Holocene decisively behind — and that the proof is already being laid down in polar ice cores, deep ocean sediments and future rocks themselves.

How to develop a nation through science and technology – Part One

— Galileo Galilei, Michael Servetus, Henry Odenburg, Gerhard Domagk and Albert Einstein. What do all these people have in common? Some will be quick to say that all of them are scientists. Yes, indeed that would be a correct answer. Howbeit, that is not the answer I am looking for this time around. Apart from the fact that all these people are scientists, there is something else that unites them. They were all persecuted and prosecuted for their discoveries and beliefs in the role of science in our world.

GALILEO GALILEI: One of the most famous scientists in the world. The Italian physicist and astronomer was put on trial and convicted in 1633 for discovering and claiming that the earth revolves around the sun. Today, that discovery is at the very heart of our existence as a modern civilization. Moreover, the civilization and development of our modern age could be credited largely to the works of Galileo Galilei.

MICHAEL SERVETUS: Servetus was arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in Geneva in 1553, for daring to voice his ideas about reforming Christianity. Servetus was a Spanish Physician, credited with discovering pulmonary circulation. But without him and his discovery, we would not have our modern medicine today.

Funding to flow for climate change project

Robert Pickersgill (left), minister of water, land, environment and climate change; and Lt Col Oral Khan, chief technical director in the water ministry, speak to members of the media during a press conference on the outcomes of the COP21 climate change talks in Paris at ministry’s office in New Kingston last December.

 

The Paris Agreement will help increase Jamaica's resilience to climate change by making funding available for the country to undertake works on projects such as sea walls, ports, roads, and bridges.
That is according to Robert Pickersgill, the portfolio minister.

NASA creates new office to detect Near-earth objects

NASA has come up with a new office that will check detection of potential asteroids crashes and ‘planning for planetary defense’. The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), a part of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, will monitor near-earth objects (NEOs), like asteroids and comets.

The new office will have the responsibility and right to warn about the NEO approaches and their potential impacts. The office will also head interagency and intergovernmental response efforts in any chance of potential impact events.

PDCO will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the US Department of Defense. The office will also have the task to supervise all the NASA-funded projects of NEOs. Over 13,500 near-earth objects of varying sizes have been discovered till date. Over 95% of them have been detected since 1998 when NASA-funded surveys have started. Every year, around 1,500 NEOs are detected.

Deformed Mountain Lion Found in Idaho

A hunter tracking down a mountain lion that attacked a dog in the US state of Idaho has stumbled upon a rare deformed big cat. The images of that deformed big cat have now become an Internet sensation.
The deformed mountain lion, which was legally killed by an unidentified hunter, was found to have a set of teeth growing out of the side of his head. Mountain lions are common in Idaho and they usually prey on deer, elk, moose and other wild animals but sometimes attack domesticated pets and livestock.

Why I chose Wolfsburg — Osimhen

Victor Osimhen, the most outstanding player of the victorious 2015 Golden Eaglets squad, has said that he will pursue his professional career at Wolfsburg, a German Bundesliga club.

Osimhen made the disclosure in an interview on Friday in Abuja.
According to him, the Wolfsburg’s coach assurances are morale booster for him and that he prefers playing for the German club to any other club in Europe.

“I just want to clear the air on this; I visited Wolfsburg and I think with the promises the Head Coach of the team made to me when I visited the arena, I think Wolfsburg is my destination.
“As long as I am enjoying myself there, I will be there for some years then, I will move on.’’

African player of year Aubameyang home to hero’s welcome

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the newly-crowned African Player of the Year, received a hero’s homecoming on Friday where he was hailed by thousands of fans as the pride of Gabon.

The 26-year-old Borussia Dortmund star pipped four-time winner Yaya Toure of Manchester City and Ivory Coast to win the prestigious award, an achievement which had fans dreaming of Africa Cup of Nations success on home soil in 2017.
“He has risen through the ranks and this is a just reward,” said Brice Ignegue, the president of the Panthers’ (the national team’s nickname) fan club.

Wolves Felicitate With Etebo Over CAF Award

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side, Warri Wolves, have felicitated with one of their players, Etebo Oghenekaro, following his emergence on Thursday as the Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s Most Promising Talent of the Year, 2015.
Etebo, a member of the National U-23 Team, otherwise called Dream Team VI, scooped the award during the 2015 Glo-CAF Award ceremony held in Abuja, Nigeria.

In a terse statement, Warri Wolves media officer, Azuka said the chairman and the management staff of the club were pleased with the prolific striker for his exalted award.

“The club chairman and the entire management team salute the Warri Wolves’ player for making the club, state and country proud,” the statement read in part.

“The club, therefore, expresses happiness over the growth and rapid development of the player in all aspects of his career and believe the well-deserved award will motivate him to work harder for more laurels for club and country.”

The player announced over the weekend that he is heading off to Europe for a deal with a club.