Godwin Etakibuebu: This Nigerian Democracy Is Really Going Crazy

Events of the last few months are throwing interpretation of democracy to another level. It is no more what the great philosophers from the ancient Greece meant it to be. For them, the Greeks, it is government of the people for the people by the people.This application has no meaning in the Nigerian context. Even at what Ibrahim Babangida called “home grown democracy” during his wasteful experimentation with the project called Nigerian for over seven years, the meaning of democracy as we see it today remains a bitter and useless version what the Army Four-Star General from Minna in NigerState practised.

Spying Allegations: Brazilian President Rousseff Blasts US At UN Summit

AFP – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff launched a blistering attack on the United States Tuesday at the United Nations over America’s widespread spying on her country.“The argument that illegal interception of information is allegedly intended to protect nations against terrorism is untenable,” Rousseff told the opening of the UN General Assembly.

Strike Will Improve Education Sector – ASUU

ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Isa FaggeThe President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr Nasir Fagge, said on Tuesday that the current strike by lecturers of public universities in the country was a sacrifice for better things to come.Fagge told Journalists in Lagos that unless the deficits in the education sector, especially the university system, were addressed once and for all, there would be no development.

Ex-pope Benedict Denies Covering Up Sexual Abuse

Former Pope Benedict has denied that he tried to cover up sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests, in his first published comments since he stepped down.Reuters says the comments came in an 11-page letter to Italian author and mathematician Piergiorgio Odifreddi, who had written a book about the problems facing the Roman Catholic Church before the pope resigned in February.

Registration: 21m Lagos Residents To Get ID

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state (right) displaying his residents registration card shortly after undertaking the process of registration during the flag-off ceremony of the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency, LASRRA; with him is the General Manager, LASRRA, Ms. Olayinka Fashola (left).

Photos: President Jonathan and Obama in New York

President Goodluck Jonathan being received by President Barack Obama of the US at the Waldorf Hotel, New York on today Monday September 23rd. More photos after the cut...

Independence: FG Declares Tuesday, October 1 Public Holiday

The federal government has declared Tuesday, October 1 as public holiday in commemoration of the 53rd Independence anniversary.The minister of interior, Comrade Abba Moro urged Nigerians home and abroad to build a more united and virile nation that would be the pride of all Nigerians wherever they lived.

Drama In Court As Accused Refuses To Return To Prison

A mild drama ensued at the Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, on Monday, as an accused refused to go back to prison custody, after hearing in the suit filed against him by the police.The accused, Sunny Mac-Peters, 28, a businessman from Kuchingoro Village, Abuja, told the court that he would not go back to prison custody, until his trial was concluded.

One-legged Notorious Robber Arrested In Delta State

Okue and other gang membersA 21-year-old disabled armed robbery suspect, John Okue, has been arrested by the Delta state police command in a hair saloon in Okwashi-Uku, following a tip off.The disabled robber, who lost one leg to a virus, led the gang of other brutal robbers whose ages ranged from about 17 to 25 years.

No More Paper, Pencil Test By 2015-JAMB

JAMB Registrar Prof. Dibu OjerindeThe Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said on Monday that its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) would be computer-based from 2015.The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, said this in Akure at an advocacy campaign on the advantages of the Computer-Based Test (CBT).

Torrential Rain Paralyses Activities In Ibadan

 

A heavy rain in Ibadan, which started on Sunday evening, has paralysed the activities of the residents of the city. The rain, which has yet to stop on Monday evening, caused the flooding of several bridges across Ibadan.The submerged bridges include the 7up/Elebu bridge in Oluyole Estate, which prevented residents, including pupils and government workers, from leaving their homes.

Gunmen Kill 160, Abducted 10 Women In Zamfara

Gov. Abdulaziz YariGov. Abdulazez Yari of Zamfara on Monday said gunmen had killed 160 people and abducted 10 married women in different villages of the state in the last three months.Yari made the disclosure when he addressed members of the House Assembly on security situation in the state in Gusau.

Contesting For a Second Term Is Not illegal – President Jonatha

President Goodluck Jonathan has said the country’s Constitution gives him the opportunity just like any other Nigerian, the chance to vie for second term in office either as elected president or governor.  He spoke on Sunday midnight during a meeting with Nigerian Professionals in New York, United States.Jonathan, who is yet to publicly declare his ambition on the 2015 presidential election, believed that the administration should be more concerned with delivering dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

BlackBerry cuts staff, discontinues select phones as $1B loss looms

Things have gone from bad to worse and now just flat out disastrous for Canadian handset maker BlackBerry. The once thriving enterprise-minded firm on Friday confirmed rumors that were floating around earlier in the week – the reduction of 40 percent of its workforce, or about 4,500 employees.

BUSTED: Pastor Patronizes Prostitute and He Didn't Know She Attends His Church

Sometimes what you do in secret have a way of bringing you out for ridicule. This is the lesson a man who calls himself Pastor learnt when he decided to throw caution to the wind and succumbed to his lust.The 56yrs old Pastor, who was said to have been seriously embarrassed sometime ago by a man who caught him with his wife, has refused to change his ways. He picked a runs girl around midnight for a good time and took her to a joint where she satisfied him.

Asari Dokubo Speaks Again About The Struggle Ahead

Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari has once again declare his readiness to fight what he called "oppression" of his people.“Most of my address has been translated as hatred against the north, this is far from the truth, because the word hatred has never existed in my dictionary. But I will never shy away from stating the fact, not minding who feels happy or sad about it.

New PDP Accuses Presidency Of Plot To Impeach Mark, Tambuwal

The faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, known as the New PDP, has accused the Presidency of plotting to remove Senate President David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal.The New PDP claimed that the plot to sack Mark and the Speaker was over the visit of its National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje and seven aggrieved PDP governors to the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Ibori Gave Me $15m Bribe In Bag –Ribadu

Desperate to halt a probe into his finances, former Delta State Governor James Ibori tried to bribe anti-corruption boss Nuhu Ribadu in 2007 with $15m in cash in a bag so heavy one man alone could not lift it, Ribadu told a London court on Thursday.Reuters quoted Ribadu as telling the court that he pretended to take the bribe because he wanted the cash as evidence to use against Ibori in a prosecution, but rather than keep the money for himself he had it taken straight to the Central Bank of Nigeria to be kept safe in a vault.

Amaechi, Okonjo-Iweala Disagree On State Of The Economy

Rivers State Governor and the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, declared on Thursday that the Nigerian economy had gone comatose.Amaechi explained that contrary to the rosy picture painted on Wednesday by the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, about the nation’s economy, Nigeria was battling to survive economically.

Nigeria Spends N25bn Annually On Importing Generators

Worried by the epileptic power supply in the country, a pressure group, Good Governance Initiative, GGI, has disclosed that aside from being a dumping ground for power generating sets, Nigerians spent over N25 billion importing same in 2012, the highest in the world.President of the initiative, Mr. Festus Mbisiogu, called