ALL YOU WANT TO KNOW: Arts and Entertainment, News and Opinion, Politics and Leadership, Brands and Marketing, Tech and Education
Sunday 31 December 2017
Ruth Kadiri, got engaged
It is no longer news that 29-year-old Edo State actress cum producer, Ruth Kadiri, got engaged to her mystery man in Sweden during the week, as she displayed her engagement ring in a post without showing the lucky man whom she allegedly referred to as red cap chief.
Woman gets $284 billion electric bill, wonders whether it's her Christmas lights
You could own all of Netflix. Or purchase 747 Boeing 747s, with change to spare. Or erase the national debts of Venezuela, Nigeria, Peru and Iceland, combined.Or, if you're Mary Horomanski, you could pay for one month's worth of electricity.Horomanski, from Erie, Pennsylvania, was shocked recently when she received an erroneous electric bill displaying an account balance of "284,460,000,000," with a first payment due of $28,176."I opened it up and there it was," she told The Washington Post.Horomanski, 58, began counting the commas ("Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Billions . . . Can most people even count that high?"), then taking her glasses off and putting them on again."It wasn't due until November of 2018," she said. "It was like, well, I guess we have a year to come up with this billion-dollar bill."
What can you buy with $284 billion?
A wordsmith who spins magic, Lesley Nneka Arimah is our 2017 Artist of the Year
Lesley is a great writer,” said Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation, which honored Arimah with its 5 Under 35 award. “She produced a collection of stories that are really hard to pin down. They’re funny and intelligent and fierce in their own way, and they’re unexpected. I love that I picked up that book and I had no idea what I was picking up. And I left a bit in awe of her craft.”
Arimah is at the forefront of a growing number of young authors, primarily immigrants and writers of color — in the Twin Cities, as well as across the country — who are writing some of the most original and interesting fiction and poetry being published today.
For all of these reasons, Twin Cities writer Lesley Nneka Arimah is the Star Tribune’s Artist of the Year for 2017.
Friday 27 May 2016
Reuben Abati: Deregulation and the politics of public policy
This
thing called democracy, particularly the Nigerian brand, never ceases
to throw up new and intriguing lessons about the relationship between
government and the people, and the larger, complex socio-political
environment. I had gone to Lagos on an assignment in the last two days
of the year 2011, when around midnight I received a phone call from
someone close to the corridors of power, informing me that a meeting had
just been concluded in Abuja where a decision had been taken to
deregulate the downstream petroleum sector, and thus, in effect remove
the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol).
I told him I was aware of plans to that
effect, since the President had been holding a series of meetings with
various stakeholders and constituencies on the same subject, but as at
the time I left for Lagos, no final decision had been taken. The fellow
insisted he knew what he was talking about and that in the morning, the
Petroleum Products Pricing Regulation Agency (PPPRA) would make the
announcement. Sometimes in the corridors of power, informal stakeholders
could enjoy faster access and be even more powerful than persons with
formal responsibilities. There are persons and groups whose livelihoods
are so dependent on government and the people in power that even a
whisper at the highest level resonates immediately as an echo in their
ears. I learnt very early never to underestimate such persons.
As it turned out, Nigerians were greeted
with the Happy New Year news of deregulation of the downstream sector
on January 1, 2012 and if you’d remember, hell broke loose. It was the
end of the Nigerian people’s honeymoon with the Jonathan administration,
the beginning of a long nightmare, and an opportunity for the
opposition to launch an unending campaign of blackmail, name-calling and
abuse against the administration. I received an early morning summon to
leave Lagos and return immediately to the Villa.
The Jonathan administration was
definitely not the first to seek to deregulate the downstream sector and
end a regime of subsidy, as a means of ensuring greater transparency,
efficiency and competition. Since 1987, every administration had tried
to manage this aspect of the curse of oil. Nigeria is the sixth largest
producer of oil in OPEC, and the second largest exporter of the product
in Africa, at a time after Libya, at other times, after Angola. But the
big problem has always been making the product available to Nigerians at
home, in an efficient manner and as they say, at an “appropriate” or
“correct” price. The mismanagement of oil resource, which accounts for
about 90% of the country’s exports, is at the heart of corruption in
Nigeria.
Years of inefficiency and graft had
resulted in the collapse of the country’s refineries, from low capacity
utilization to eventual collapse, persistent scarcity of the product,
large scale smuggling, the rise of an oil industry cabal, violence in
the Niger Delta, oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and all the evils of
irresponsible leadership. From being a major exporter of crude oil,
Nigeria soon became a major importer of finished petroleum products, and
as international spot prices were volatile, government provided private
importers of refined products, a subsidy that took care of landing
costs that could have been passed on to the people. But the subsidy
continued to grow out of proportion, becoming a major drain on the
country’s finances – from 1.42% of GDP in 1987, it grew to about 3% of
GDP in 2011.
Every administration sought to check the
resultant crisis through price controls or gradual deregulation. The
people’s counter-argument and the source of the angry protests that
always followed was that Nigerians should not be made to pay heavily for
a God-given resource, and that if the refineries were to function
efficiently and government officials would moderate their greed,
Nigerians would not need to buy petroleum products at the most expensive
rates in OPEC. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), supported by other
groups in civil society, led the protests against every attempt at
deregulation, compelling virtually every administration since 1987, to
review proposed increases in the pump price of fuel in order to pacify
the people. Only Diesel (AGO) and Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) were
successfully deregulated in 2009. By 2011, the regime of PMS subsidy had
become unsustainable. The decision to fully deregulate the downstream
sector in 2012 was the boldest policy move by the Jonathan
administration but it was also the costliest.
The NLC and the Trade Union Congress
(TUC), and their affiliate unions together with civil society groups
took to the streets and shut down the country. The main opposition
party, the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) went into a propaganda
overdrive, throwing every possible mud at the President and the
administration. In Ojota, Lagos, the opposition organized anti-Jonathan
and anti-government rallies. “Paid” and mobilized youths and musicians,
wearing designer T-shirts, voiced expletives, danced, and screamed; in
other parts of the country, the protests resulted in violence and the
death of many. This was the season of the Arab Spring, and those who
launched what became known as the #OcccupyNigeria movement were
convinced that this was the best time to demonstrate the superiority of
people-power over government policies. Everyday in the Villa, at the
time, we agonized over what had become a frightening assault on the
administration. President Jonathan was the country’s first Facebook
President, the first president to use the social media to run an
election campaign, globally he was second only to President Obama in
terms of Facebook followership, but in the face of the 2012 fuel subsidy
protests, that same online advantage became his nemesis.
Young people, excited by the idea of an
“Ojota Spring” deployed online hashtags to tear down the administration.
Government officials also took to the media to explain the deregulation
policy to the people. Ministers were dispatched to their various
political constituencies to explain, communicate and convince, thus:
defending the government became a test of loyalty. In my case, before
going to work in the public sector, I had written an article in 2009, in
which I opposed deregulation and predicted that the government was so
wrong it would soon mislead Nigerians to such a day when we, the people,
would soon start trekking or riding bicycles, no thanks to official
voodoo economics and incompetence. Access to more detailed information
about the extent of the corruption in the oil and gas sector later made
me to review my initial objections to the policy of deregulation.
Nigeria would be doomed if it continued to rob the poor to enrich the
rich and thus through subsidy payments sustain a tradition of theft and
wealth without work.
That article was dredged up nonetheless
and circulated widely and I got called all kinds of names, including
being called a “turn-coat”. It was a trying time for the Jonathan
administration: myths over-shadowed reason. The government was accused
of acting hastily and failing to consult widely. But that was not true.
Weeks before a decision was taken, President Goodluck Jonathan
personally met with state governors, labour leaders, media chiefs, youth
groups, civic and cultural organizations, leaders of thought,
traditional rulers, oil marketers and importers,,. Behind closed doors,
labour leaders and leaders of the ACN did not oppose the deregulation
policy. I recall the union leaders only asking for palliatives and the
ACN submitting a detailed policy implementation paper.
The second myth was that the government
acted on impulse because it was “clueless”. Again, not true. The House
of Representatives had probed the subsidy regime reporting massive fraud
in the downstream sector. The Ministry of Finance and later the
Presidency subsequently set up the Aig-Imoukhuede Technical and
Verification Committees, which made worse revelations about how the
payment of subsidy had become a huge scam. The Ministry of Finance on
the basis of available damning evidence suspended further subsidy
payments and insisted on proper verification of claims, an integrity
check that was resisted by the major oil marketers and their agents.
Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s mother was later kidnapped in the midst
of all that.
Deregulation of the downstream sector
was inevitable then as it is now, because the fuel subsidy regime had
become a cesspool of officially backed corruption. The country could no
longer afford to pay rent to an oil sector cabal feeding fat on the
inefficiency in the sector, putting in their pockets resources that
could be used to develop infrastructure and serve the people. This was
the principled position. But following the January 2012 deregulation,
those who had urged the Federal Government on, including State governors
who always wanted more money, and marketers who spoke about how
deregulation had worked with diesel and telecomm, abandoned the
government to its fate. Opposition leaders who had submitted a blueprint
for implementation, publicly led the protests. The betrayal was
astonishing. The short and long term effects were devastating.
Let us now fast forward to 2016: The
present administration has again, like the Jonathan administration,
announced a removal of subsidy. The pump price of petrol is now
officially N145 per litre. The objectives and the arguments are the same
as in the past. But the context is different. Those who fuelled and
funded the protests of 2012 are either quiet or openly supportive or
apologetic as they now defend the principled position they once
abandoned. The labour unions are factionalised, there is no co-ordinated
protest, the media, the people and the civil society are indifferent,
the government is not under any pressure to convince anyone: same
policy, same issues, but different politics!
My prediction that one day, we will all
ride bicycles or trek to work has now come to pass. But if that is the
sacrifice Nigerians have to make to end the outright brigandage in the
downstream sector, so be it, please. Putting the subsidy thieves to
shame, ending a subsidy regime that encouraged round-tripping, rent
collection, smuggling, instant gratification, theft, insincerity,
blackmail, and cabalism may well become President Buhari’s most
important legacy. This could have been done since 2012, but the
politicians, desperately seeking power and office, failed to put Nigeria
first, and looking back, it seems all the young men and women who died
in that season did so in vain. Politicians must learn not to play
politics with people’s lives for reasons of selfish convenience.
President Buhari must stand firm but let him also take steps to ensure
that local refining is restored and let him keep an eye on those
saboteurs who always manage to find a way around every public policy.
And to all the 2012 hypocrites now turned today’s yes-men: una do well
o.
How to Avoid Vaginal Cuts
How
to Avoid Vaginal Cuts
INTRODUCTION
Vaginal
cuts and tears are a common problem in women who are sexually active. Although usually
not serious, vaginal cuts can be uncomfortable and irksome. The good news,
however, is that vaginal cuts can be prevented. Many women notice vaginal
cuts and tears after sexual intercourse, and most of the time these tears and
abrasions are normal," Vaginal cuts become more noticeable during sex, he
says, because semen can sting when it comes in contact with the open
cuts. Even though minor vaginal cuts may not create long-term health
issues,, they can negatively affect your experience of sex, and make you
uncomfortable. A better course is to learn how to prevent the cuts from
occurring in the first place.
Q:
What are the common causes of Vaginal cuts
A:
When a woman is sexually excited. Her vagina naturally produces fluids
that lubricate the area during sexual activity therefore reducing friction that
can irritate or tear the vaginal skin. if the vagina is not well lubricated,
vaginal dryness can occur which may lead to vaginal cuts.
Q:
The causes of vaginal cuts can be many. Some of them are:
A:
Not enough foreplay. Sexual excitement causes the secretion of vaginal
fluids, and an inadequate amount of foreplay before intercourse can lead to
vaginal dryness, History of abuse. Although this is not the most common
cause of vaginal dryness, a history of sexual abuse can affect a woman’s
relationship to sex. Some sexual positions tend to cause more vaginal tears and
abrasions than others, and use of sex toys can also be a factor. Sex toys are sometimes made of materials that are
irritating to the skin, or they might have sharp or rough edges.
Q:
How do we prevent Vaginal Cuts?
A:
How can vaginal cuts be prevented? Since vaginal dryness is often responsible,
increasing wetness in the vagina during sexual activity is often the best way
to prevent vaginal cuts. Ways to do this include: the use of lubricants. Always
use water based lubricants because oil based lubricants damage condoms which
put you at high risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Try to engage in more
foreplay and vaginal stimulation before intercourse.
Thursday 19 May 2016
ONE OF THE MISSING CHIBOK GIRL IS FOUND
One of the missing Chibok schoolgirls has been found in Nigeria, the first to be rescued since their capture two years ago.
Amina
Ali Nkeki was found carrying a baby by an army-backed vigilante group
on Tuesday in the huge Sambisa Forest, close to the border with
Cameroon.She was with a suspected member of the Boko Haram Islamist group.
In all, 218 girls remain missing after their abduction from a secondary school in north-east Nigeria in April 2014.
The girls were taken by militants from Boko Haram.
Amina, now 19, was reportedly recognised by a civilian fighter of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), a vigilante group set up to help fight Boko Haram, and briefly reunited with her mother.
The Nigerian military named the suspected Boko Haram fighter as Mohammed Hayatu. He said he was Amina's husband.
He has been arrested and taken to the regional capital Maiduguri, along with Amina and her baby, for medical attention, the military said.
Aboku Gaji, leader of the JTF in Chibok:
"The moment this girl was discovered by our vigilantes, she was brought to my house. I instantly recognised her, and insisted we should take her to her parents.
"When we arrived at the house... I asked the mother to come and identify someone. The moment she saw her, she shouted her name: 'Amina, Amina!' She gave her the biggest hug ever, as if they were going to roll on the ground, we had to stabilise them.
The mother called the attention of other relations to come out and see what is happening. The girl started comforting the mother, saying: 'Please Mum, take it easy, relax. I never thought I would ever see you again, wipe your tears. God has made it possible for us to see each other again.'
Afterwards, we had to make them understand that the girl would not be left in their care. She must be handed over to the authority."
Interview with BBC Hausa
Hosea Abana Tsambido, the chairman of the Chibok community in the capital, Abuja, told the BBC that Amina had been found after venturing into the forest to search for firewood.
"She was saying… all the Chibok girls are still there in the Sambisa except six of them that have already died."
Friday 5 February 2016
THE WOMAN WHO LIVES AGAIN
By Richard Hooper
BBC World Service
One year ago a group of gunmen in
Burundi was hired to kill a woman visiting from Australia. But the hit
did not go as planned, leaving her with a chance to turn the tables on
the man who wanted her dead.
"I felt like somebody who had risen again," says Noela Rukundo.She was supposed to be dead. The hired killers had been paid. They had even explained how they would dispose of the body.
But now, waiting outside her house for the last of the mourners to leave, she was ready to face down the man who had put out a contract for her murder.
"When I get out of the car, he saw me straight away. He put his hands on his head and said, 'Is it my eyes? Is it a ghost?'"
"Surprise! I'm still alive!" she replied.
Noela's ordeal began five days earlier, and 7,500 miles away in her native Burundi. She had returned to Africa from her home in Melbourne, Australia, to attend her stepmother's funeral.I had lost the last person who I call 'mother'," she says. "It was very painful. I was so stressed."
By early evening Noela had retreated to her hotel room. As she lay dozing in the stifling city heat of Bujumbura, her phone rang. It was a call from Australia - from Balenga Kalala, her husband and father to her three youngest children.
"He says he'd been trying to get me for the whole day," Noela says. "I said I was going to bed. He told me, 'To bed? Why are you sleeping so early?'
"I say, 'I'm not feeling happy'. And he asks me, 'How's the weather? Is it very, very hot?' He told me to go outside for fresh air."
Noela took his advice.
"I didn't think anything. I just thought that he cared about me, that he was worried about me."
But moments after stepping outside the hotel compound, Noela found herself in danger.
"I opened the gate and I saw a man coming towards me. Then he pointed the gun on me.
"He just told me, 'Don't scream. If you start screaming, I will shoot you. They're going to catch me, but you? You will already be dead.'
"So, I did exactly what he told me."
The gunman motioned Noela towards a waiting car.
"I was sitting between two men. One had a small gun, one had a long gun. And the men say to the driver, 'Pass us a scarf.' Then they cover my face.
"After that, I didn't say anything. They just said to the driver, 'Let's go.'
"I was taken somewhere, 30 to 40 minutes, then I hear the car stop."
Noela was pushed inside a building and tied to a chair.
"One of the kidnappers told his friend, 'Go call the boss.' I can hear doors open but I didn't know if their boss was in a room or if he came from outside.
"They ask me, 'What did you do to this man? Why has this man asked us to kill you?' And then I tell them, 'Which man? Because I don't have any problem with anybody.' They say, 'Your husband!' I say, 'My husband can't kill me, you are lying!' And then they slap me.
"After that the boss says, 'You are very stupid, you are fool. Let me call who has paid us to kill you.'"
The gang's leader made the call.
"We already have her," he triumphantly told his paymaster.
The phone was put on loudspeaker for Noela to hear the reply.
Her husband's voice said: "Kill her."
Just hours earlier, the same voice had consoled her over the death of her stepmother and urged her to take fresh air outside the hotel. Now her husband Balenga Kalala had condemned her to death.
"I heard his voice. I heard him. I felt like my head was going to blow up.
"Then they described for him where they were going to chuck the body."
At that, Noela says she passed out.
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Balenga Kalala had arrived in Australia in 2004 as a refugee, after fleeing a rebel army that had rampaged through his village, killing his wife and young son.
Settling in Melbourne, he soon found steady employment, first in a seafood processing factory and then in a warehouse as a forklift operator.
"He could already speak English," recalls Noela, who also arrived in Australia in 2004. "My social worker was his social worker, and they used him to translate Swahili."
The two fell in love. They set up home in the Kings Park suburb of the city. Noela had five children from a previous relationship and went on to have three more with Kalala.
"I knew he was a violent man," admits Noela. "But I didn't believe he can kill me. I loved this man with all my heart!
"I give him, beautiful and handsome, two boys and one girl. So I don't know why he choose to kill me."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Why Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu won the Lagos Governorship elections
Yemi Olakitan Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was named the victor of Saturday's go...
-
Yemi Olakitan ‘Falling under the anointing,’’ one of the most puzzling concepts in Christianity today has remained popular in many Penteco...
-
John Adedayo B. Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is an English actor known for playing Finn in the Star...