Jet-setting benefits cheat secretly filmed lugging suitcases before luxury holiday

Court hears Kevin McEntee, 64, and his former wife Pauline, claimed they were both significantly disabled and in need of care


Kevin McEntee and his former wife Pauline, pictured while they were on holiday Photo: Department for Work & Pensions /PA

A £70,000 benefits cheat who said he couldn't walk was secretly filmed pulling two suitcases through an airport before jetting away on a luxury holiday to Australia with his wife.

During a 12-year period, fraudster Kevin McEntee, 64, of Birkenhead, Merseyside, enjoyed a lavish lifestyle which included 19 foreign cruises with his former wife Pauline, while claiming that they were both significantly disabled and in need of care.

Kevin McEntee on holiday in Oriana in the Mediterranean on a P&O cruise Photo: Ross Parry / SWNS

In reality, McEntee - who claimed to be housebound and needed a walking frame - was part of a cycle club, riding twice a week while making renewed claims for Disability Living Allowance for himself and wife totalling £68,924.45.

He was jailed for two years after Liverpool Crown Court heard that he had "grossly exaggerated the extent of his difficulties" and had enjoyed as many as three holidays a year around the Mediterranean, Brazil and the Caribbean.

The court heard that some of the trips were taken in the weeks before or after a claim was made.

Surveillance footage of Kevin McEntee at Manchester Airport shows him "moving without apparent difficulty" Photo: Ross Parry / SWNS

He was filmed in 2013 at Manchester Airport "moving without apparent difficulty" and walking for half a mile.

In respect of his claim, McEntee had fraudulently claimed £48,000 from the public purse and more than £20,000 on behalf of his wife.

Kevin McEntee and his former wife Pauline went on luxury holidays Photo: Department for Work & Pensions /PA

He was found guilty of five offences of benefit fraud after trial.

Jailing him, Judge Andrew Menary QC said: "You did so for the simple and dishonest purpose of taking advantage of a benefit to which you knew full well that neither you or your wife was entitled.

"Anyone looking at the forms would have assumed that they were dealing with a couple who were very seriously disabled."

In 2000, unemployed McEntee who been involved in an industrial injury in 1996, claimed that following a heart attack he needed a walking stick, regularly fell and was not able to walk 25 metres.

He said he that needed help bathing, getting out of bed and help cutting up his food.

He was rewarded Disability Living Allowance and had a blue disabled badge for his car.

"The fraud funded an obviously lavish lifestyle. Despite being unemployed for some years, you were able to afford to buy and service an expensive bike and you enjoyed the many cruises and foreign holidays."
Judge Menary

It was not disputed that McEntee had suffered medical complaints including osteoarthritis, cervical spondylosis and depression - but the extent to how it affected his daily activities were "deliberately exaggerated".

Judge Menary accepted that although he had suffered from long-standing and genuine medical problems, they "did not have the profound and substantial impact" on his mobility like he had repeatedly claimed.

The prosecution told the trial that six weeks after suffering a heart attack in 1999, McEntee was able to undertake a Mediterranean cruise.

A further claim in 2002 told how his condition had got "worse" and he could not use a pen to write.

Mr McEntee claimed that he needed help bathing, getting out of bed and help cutting up his food Photo: Department for Work & Pensions /PA

In 2010, he completed the first of his wife's renewal forms stating that she had virtual incontinence and was housebound. A further claim reiterated this.

On a last claim in 2012, he stated that his own condition had deteriorated and walked with a frame - being unable to walk more than three metres and that he was agoraphobic.

Photographs of foreign holidays showed this not to be the case and witnesses described that Pauline was able to line-dance.

In mitigation, Mr Eric Lamb said that the claim had not been fraudulent from the outset and he was of previous good character.

He added that he had been bullied at school and a custodial sentence would be "a shock".

Judge Menary added: "The sad reality is that very little, if any, of this was true and any member of the public who hears or reads about this case and discovers what you and your wife were doing and fully able to do, of the lifestyle you both enjoyed throughout this period would be entitled to feel complete outrage."

The court was told that McEntee had played "a leading role" in the fraud involving his and his wife's claims, but the judge said he could not determine if she had been actively involved.

He added: "The fraud funded an obviously lavish lifestyle. Despite being unemployed for some years, you were able to afford to buy and service an expensive bike and you enjoyed the many cruises and foreign holidays."

The Telegraph

History: BLACKS DURING THE HOLOCAUST

Nazi propaganda photo depicts friendship between an "Aryan" and a black woman. The caption states: "The result! A loss of racial pride." Germany, prewar.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum


The fate of black people from 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany and in German-occupied territories ranged from isolation to persecution, sterilization, medical experimentation, incarceration, brutality, and murder. However, there was no systematic program for their elimination as there was for Jews and other groups.

After World War I, the Allies stripped Germany of its African colonies. The German military stationed in Africa (Schutztruppen), as well as missionaries, colonial bureaucrats, and settlers, returned to Germany and took with them their racist attitudes. Separation of whites and blacks was mandated by the Reichstag (German parliament), which enacted a law against mixed marriages in the African colonies.

Following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the victorious Allies occupied the Rhineland in western Germany. The use of French colonial troops, some of whom were black, in these occupation forces exacerbated anti-black racism in Germany. Racist propaganda against black soldiers depicted them as rapists of German women and carriers of venereal and other diseases. The children of black soldiers and German women were called “Rhineland Bastards.” The Nazis, at the time a small political movement, viewed them as a threat to the purity of the Germanic race. In Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Hitler charged that “the Jews had brought the Negroes into the Rhineland with the clear aim of ruining the hated white race by the necessarily-resulting bastardization.”

African German mulatto children were marginalized in German society, isolated socially and economically, and not allowed to attend university. Racial discrimination prohibited them from seeking most jobs, including service in the military. With the Nazi rise to power they became a target of racial and population policy. By 1937, the Gestapo (German secret state police) had secretly rounded up and forcibly sterilized many of them. Some were subjected to medical experiments; others mysteriously “disappeared.”

The racist nature of Adolf Hitler's regime was disguised briefly during the Olympic Games in Berlin in August 1936, when Hitler allowed 18 African American athletes to compete for the US team. However, permission to compete was granted by the International Olympic Committee and not by the host country.

Adult African Germans were also victims. Both before and after World War I, many Africans came to Germany as students, artisans, entertainers, former soldiers, or low-level colonial officials, such as tax collectors, who had worked for the imperial colonial government. Hilarius (Lari) Gilges, a dancer by profession, was murdered by the SS in 1933, probably because he was black. Gilges' German wife later received restitution from a postwar German government for his murder by the Nazis.

Some African Americans, caught in German-occupied Europe during World War II, also became victims of the Nazi regime. Many, like female jazz artist Valaida Snow, were imprisoned in Axis internment camps for alien nationals. The artist Josef Nassy, living in Belgium, was arrested as an enemy alien and held for seven months in the Beverloo transit camp in German-occupied Belgium. He was later transferred to Germany, where he spent the rest of the war in the Laufen internment camp and its subcamp, Tittmoning, both in Upper Bavaria.

European and American blacks were also interned in the Nazi concentration camp system. Lionel Romney, a sailor in the US Merchant Marine, was imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp. Jean Marcel Nicolas, a Haitian national, was incarcerated in the Buchenwald and Dora-Mittelbau concentration camps in Germany. Jean Voste, an African Belgian, was incarcerated in the Dachau concentration camp. Bayume Mohamed Hussein from Tanganyika (today Tanzania) died in the Sachsenhausen camp, near Berlin.

Black prisoners of war faced illegal incarceration and mistreatment at the hands of the Nazis, who did not uphold the regulations imposed by the Geneva Convention (international agreement on the conduct of war and the treatment of wounded and captured soldiers). Lieutenant Darwin Nichols, an African American pilot, was incarcerated in a Gestapo prison in Butzbach. Black soldiers of the American, French, and British armies were worked to death on construction projects or died as a result of mistreatment in concentration or prisoner-of-war camps. Others were never even incarcerated, but were instead immediately killed by the SS or Gestapo.

Some African American members of the US armed forces were liberators and witnesses to Nazi atrocities. The 761st Tank Battalion (an all-African American tank unit), attached to the 71st Infantry Division, US Third Army, under the command of General George Patton, participated in the liberation of Gunskirchen, a subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp, in May 1945.

Holocaust Encyclopedia

Woman jailed for outrageously loud sex is back in court for banging

Gemma Wale has been fined for noise pollution (Picture: NTI)

A woman who woke her neighbours at 5am for having extremely loud sex has been given another fine for noise pollution.

However, Gemma Wale, 23, was in trouble for a different kind of banging this time – namely slamming doors and throwing objects.

Her old neighbours in Shard End, Birmingham, said she was a living nightmare and her new neighbours in Bordesley Green are likely to agree.

As a result, she has been ordered to pay £350 for noise pollution’

Magistrates heard she harassed neighbours by banging doors, throwing objects, arguing and shouting over the course of six days in January this year.

Wale admitted a charge of harassment and was fined £150 at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Friday and ordered to pay £200 costs.

An ex-boyfriend, from Bordesley Green, Birmingham, who didn’t want to be named, branded her a disgrace.

The 40-year-old said: ‘She is back screaming, shouting and putting off customers. She is making life difficult for everybody.

‘She was given a two-week sentence but she’s been back walking the streets as if she’s lapping up the fame. It’s a disgrace.’

Metro UK

Nigerian blogger accused of defaming Fidelity Bank MD gets bail

Oloketuyi

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has granted bail to Seun Oloketuyi, a blogger, who was remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prison last week for publishing damning details of an alleged illicit affair of Fidelity Bank Managing Director, Nnamdi Okonkwo.

Mr. Oloketuyi was accused of defaming the banker by publishing on his blog, naijahottestgist, a story of an illicit affair between Mr. Okonkwo and one of the bank’s employees.

He was charged, curiously, by the Special Fraud Unit of the police for the violation of Section 24 (1) (b) of the controversial Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act and Section 375 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation, and was ordered by Justice Mohammed Yunusa to be remanded in jail on August 25, 2015 after the judge refused to admit an oral application for his bail by his counsel, A.A Adetunji.

But when the bail application came up for hearing on Tuesday, Muiz Banire, the legal adviser of the All Progress Congress, APC, who had taken over as the lead counsel of the accused, argued that his client was ambushed by the prosecution and was wrongly sent to prison.

He argued that Section 158 of the Administration of Justice Act 2015 mandates that if one is being charged to court he must be aware of the information to enable him prepare.

He said his client, who had been on an administrative bail, was invited by the police for a discussion only for him to be ambushed by the police and dragged to court.

Mr. Banire also added that since his client was accused of a bailable offence, the Administration of Justice Act makes it the responsibility of the prosecutor to convince the judge why he should not be bailed.

“You cannot bring ordinary sheet of paper before your lordship to charge a person to court for a crime,” he said.

Fidelity Bank Managing Director, Nnamdi Okonkwo

“It would be a trial by ambush. The accused is still presumed to be an innocent man and the offence which he has been charged with is a bailable one, it is an entitlement unless the prosecutor proofs otherwise.

“They took the case to the Special fraud Unit of the police, when there is no evidence of fraud or any mention of fraud in charges against him,” he said.

He therefore urged the judge to use his discretion to grant the accused bail.

He said the accused is an entrepreneur with employees, a father with two children and a wife who just gave birth.

He also informed the judge that the mother of the accused, who is hypertensive was in court despite pleas for her not to come. He argued that the accused was a responsible citizen and had suffered enough having spent one week in the notorious prison.

The prosecutor, Olakanmi Omisope, told the court he “vehemently opposed” the bail application.

He described the blogger as a “serial blackmailer”, saying he was handling another case involving the accused. He urged the court to grant accelerated trial of the case instead of granting the accused bail.

After listening to the arguments of the counsel to the accused and the prosecutor, the judge, Mr, Yunusa, granted the accused bail in the sum of N3 million with two surety in like sum.

He ruled that one of the sureties must be a relation of the accused and the other must have a landed property. He also declared that the prosecutor must be involved in the bail process to make sure that the accused fulfil the bail requirements.

Premium Times

Akpabio’s convoy, U.S. embassy’s car collide in Abuja

Former Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday spent hours at the National Hospital in Abuja after a car accident . He was discharged at about 5.10pm, accompanied out of the hospital by Governor Udom Emmanuel and Senator Theodore Orji.

They left in the governor’s official car.

Akpabio, who is also Senate Minority Leader, was said to be on his way to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, to catch a flight when the accident occurred.

He was rushed to the National Hospital in the city, where doctors described his condition as stable.
Akpabio’s car ran into a convoy of a U.S. diplomat.

A Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) personnel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Akpabio may have suffered some injuries in the chest region “due to the way he held his chest after the incident”.

The FRSC operatives also said “from the look of things other occupants of the vehicles in the convoy and Akpabio’s driver did not seem to have sustained any injury”.

The officer said he was at the scene of the accident around 7.30 am near Bolingo Hotels on the Abuja Airport Road in the Central Business District of the Federal Capital territory (FCT).

It was learnt that Akpabio was on his way overseas to visit his family when the accident happened.
One of the early callers at the National Hospital was the Senate Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Biodun Olujimi.

Mrs. Olujimi said she was told by an official at the hospital that the Akwa Ibom North West lawmaker was in a stable condition.

Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel, who was at the hospital, declined comments.
The hospital’s Chief Information Officer Hajia Rabiah Labaran, said Akpabio was brought to the hospital by some FRSC officers.

Labaran said: “He (Akpabio) was brought in this morning after he had a car crash as I learnt. He was brought in from the Bolingo Hotels junction where a vehicle crashed into his own vehicle from behind.

“Luckily enough when they brought him after the preliminary check –up, it was found that he did not have any serious injury.

”He was talking when he was brought in and the medical team that attended to him gave him necessary attention at the trauma unit.

“I learnt that as at this afternoon, (12:30pm), he had been taken to the private wing of the hospital for proper care but there was no serious injury.

“It is something he can get over in a few days. He is recuperating. He was with his driver but the driver did not sustain any injury.”

Last year, Akpabio’s convoy was arrested in Abuja by security operatives for driving against traffic. At the time, Akpabio was governor. The convoy was en route to the Three Arms Zone, the area of Abuja where the administrative offices of the executive, legislative and judicial arms of the federal government are located. The drivers encountered a mild traffic jam close to the Nigeria Police Headquarters and chose the one way.

Reports show that at the time of the incident, the then President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was leaving Aso Rock Villa for the National Executive Council meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Wadata House national secretariat of the party. Security operatives blocked the road as the presidential convoy moved towards Shehu Shagari Way. Other road users halted movement to make way for the presidential convoy, Akpabio’s convoy was unwilling to queue. They made a detour and speed against traffic at a high, blaring siren and swerving from side-to-side.

Heavily armed soldiers and police officers arrested the convoy. The convoy was released with a warning, after the intervention of security operatives attached to the then governor.

The Nation 

One of the Indian women sentenced to be gang-raped speaks of her fear

The sentence meted our on the girls (not pictured) has been met with world-wide condemnation (Picture: NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images)

One of the sisters sentenced to be gang-raped in India has spoken out about her terrifying ordeal.

Meenakshi Kumari, 23, and her 15-year-old sister fled her village after the elders decided they were to be gang-raped as punishment for their brother who ran away with a married woman.

She now lives in fear that someone will come for them and bring them back to the village to face the vile form of ‘justice’.

‘How will we ever return home or to our village? If we ever return they will harm us or rape us. If not today then in the future,’ she said.

She believes their escape will have ‘humiliated’ the un-elected elders, claiming that they will ‘not forget this humiliation. They want their revenge’.

The trouble started because the girls’ brother, 25-year-old Sumit Kumar, is of a lower caste than the woman he ran away with.

The family has appealed to India’s Supreme Court from their hiding place, begging to be saved from the horrific punishment.

Despite the constant fear, Meenakshi says she doesn’t blame her brother for his actions.

‘Loving someone is not wrong,’ she said.

Metro UK

Politics: PDP jittery of election tribunals because it stole people's votes, says APC

Lai Mohammed

All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, asked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to stop denigrating the judiciary by suggesting that tribunal judges handling the various election petitions can be influenced, assuring that the APC-led Federal Government would not micromanage the judiciary.

The party said this in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, explaining that the PDP was throwing wild allegations against the tribunals in Rivers and other states because the party knew it stole the votes in those states.

"The affected states are the cashcows of the PDP, hence the party is so jittery about losing the states, which they know they did not win in the first instance.

"We have confidence in the ability of the tribunals to carry out their duties diligently and without fear or favour. We implore the PDP to be charitable enough to repose the same confidence in the tribunals," it said. 

Football: Manchester United release statement on David De Gea's failed transfer to Real Madrid denying they were at fault

David De Gea in the stands at Manchester United

Real had blamed United earlier today
Manchester United have released a statement on David De Gea's failed transfer to Real Madrid, denying that it was their fault why the deal did not happen.

Real Madrid issued a extraordinary 10-point statement today in which they have accused Manchester United of being at fault, but now United have hit back with their own.

The deal did not go through before last night's Spanish deadline, meaning De Gea remains a United player.

His contract at Old Trafford exprires at the end of the season.


United's statement read:
"Manchester United notes Real Madrid’s statement on the attempt to sign David De Gea and sell Navas to Manchester United. The Club feels compelled to provide some clarification with the following facts.


• Manchester United did not seek contact from Real Madrid for the sale of David. David is a key member of our squad and the club’s preference was not to sell.


• No offer was received for David until yesterday.

• At lunchtime yesterday, Real Madrid made its first offer to buy David. A deal was agreed between the clubs, which included Navas being transferred to Old Trafford. The deals were dependent on each other.

• In the last several hours of the process, with Navas at the Real Madrid training ground, Real Madrid were controlling the documentation processes of David, Navas and Real Madrid. Manchester United was in control only of the documentation of Manchester United.

• Manchester United sent transfer documents for both players to Real Madrid at 2042 BST. David’s documentation was returned by Real Madrid to Manchester United without the signatory page at 2232 BST.

• At 22:40 BST, minutes before the deadline, major changes to the documentation came through to Manchester United which immediately put the deals at risk. • Only at 2255 BST were the documents that are needed to cancel David’s contract received by Manchester United from Real Madrid.

• At this point Navas’ documentation was still not returned by Real Madrid.

• At 2258 BST, the transfer agreement was sent back by Manchester United, uploaded onto TMS and accepted – all before the deadline.

• It is our understanding that the deals couldn’t happen because:

- Real Madrid didn’t upload David’s documents onto TMS in time (Manchester United did)

- Real Madrid didn’t upload David’s documents to the Spanish league in time, per reports it seems some 28 minutes after the deadline

• The fact that Manchester United filed the papers on time was acknowledged by the Football Association, who offered to support that claim in any discussions with FIFA. The Club offered this assistance, as well as its own timestamped documents to Real Madrid but they have chosen not to go down this route.

Manchester United acts appropriately and efficiently in its transfer dealings. The Club is delighted that its fan-favourite double Player of the Year, David de Gea, remains a Manchester United player."

The Independent UK

Oyinlola’s desperation becoming international embarrassment – Soyinka

Prof Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on Tuesday took a swipe at former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, for taking his desperation over the chairmanship of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, CBCIU, to the point of injuring the integrity of Nigeria in the international community.

Soyinka also appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to call Oyinlola to order and stop him from continuing with the alleged culture of impunity by claiming the position of Chairman of the board of the centre, is located in Oshogbo, the Osun State capital, even when the law establishing the centre had eased him out.

According to Soyinka, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos, Oyinlola had not only continued to lay claim to the position of chairman of the board, he has been travelling across the globe, aided by Nigeria’s former representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Dr. Michael Omolewa, soliciting for and receiving donations and funds on behalf of the centre.

Soyinka, who is the chairman of the centre, wondered why Oyinlola could become so desperate to the extent of shunning the amended law setting up the centre.

“One way to summarise the situation of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) at this moment requires no deep elaboration. It goes thus: there is a law, and there are ethics. Wherever these two arbiters of public conducts appear to clash, even ethics must bow to law.

“On the other hand, it is useful to remember also that the sinews that bind civilised society together are strengthened when both -law and ethics -converge, and are harmonised in a public cause.

“To come down to the specifics of CBCIU, I require no convincing that this ideal harmonisation was manifested when the lawmakers of Osun State enacted, in 2012, an amendment to the original CBCIU law that had been signed into law by Governor Oyinlola on 29th December, 2008. The original law, in my view, was profoundly unethical.

“The amendment by the succeeding House of Assembly, signed into law on the 31st day of July, 2012, was clearly designed to inject an ethical corrective into the law,” Soyinka said adding that even lawyers have said the amendment supersedes the original law.

“No court judgement exists that voids a single provision of this law – including the setting up of a new board – or its entirety. It is important that this nation, and the entire world of culture and ethical pursuit understand this.

Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola

“Contrary to whatever has been propagated so assiduously by some parties of interest in various quarters, no court order exists that prevents the Board that was established under the 2012 amendment from exercising its rights and responsibilities. 

“No court order exists that compels the governor or House of Assembly to reisntate the former Board Chairman of 2008.

“No relief has been granted to the ex-governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, that authorises him to present himself to the nation and the world as the substantive chairman of the CBCIU (or ‘Emeritus Chairman’ – among other titles that he has since accorded himself.),” he said adding that this was the position and understanding of the state government’s legal department. 

“If these experts are proven wrong, then the current board will bow out without one second’s delay, led by its current chairman. It will most gladly hand over all CBCIU effects in its possession and even tender a public apology to the ex-governor, his ‘board members’, his campaign team and indeed any other interested parties,” Soyinka added.

The Nobel Laureate emphasised that Section 8 of the amended law creating the CBCIU stated that the Board shall consist of a chairman who shall be the governor or anyone appointed by him for the purpose.

This is contrary to the former law which says the board chairman “shall be Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

“What the amendment legislates is that the CBCIU is a public property, established and maintained with state funds, funded by the state, housed by the state, instituted by elected representatives of the people.

“It is not a private, hereditary property, not even of the most elevated royalty.

He said Oyinlola’s desperation had caused the former governor to make foray into the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, to protest his removal from the position he created for himself to remain perpetually while he was governor.

He also said Oyinlola had been parading some forged court documents to back his claim to the seat and get international recognition adding that he (Soyinka) would not have said anything about it if not for the international dimension the embarrassment has assumed.

As a member of UNESCO’s High Panel for Peace, I was made aware – from numerous sources – that Oyinlola, aided by the former Nigerian representative to UNESCO, Dr. Omolewa, continued to wear out carpets leading to the Africa desk, to numerous offices and national delegations to UNESCO.

“However, I studiously refrained from raising my concerns with the Director-General or indeed any other serving UNESCO official, right up to this press conference – which shall be copied to UNESCO

“Moreover, the Prince continued to make overtures to Governor Aregbesola, and myself, and to leaders in his new political party, pleading that they intervene so that he could be reinstated on the board in any capacity, however subordinate.

“I left that plea to the governor entirely – since it remains his prerogative. I did assure him however that I would not stand in the way.

“I shall reveal here that I went even further – albeit against the grain – but in order to save the nation from international embarrassment through an obsession that I could not yet fully understand – I accommodated Mr. Oyinlola so far as to propose to the governor a special board member, tasked with responsibility for traditional royal cultures.

Simultaneously, however, Oyinlola was in court challenging his rights just as he also made away with files, including every scrap of financial records of the centre, according to Soyinka.

Soyinka said he had been moved to come out against Oyinlola because of the embarrassment he is causing the country.

This 95-year-old yogi says we can all live to be 130

Yep, that’s a 95-year-old. (Picture: yogikazim.com)

Here’s how to live ’til age 130, if you were wondering.

Kazim Gürbüz is a 95-year-old yogi from Turkey, who says everyone can live to 130. You’ve just got to apply your mind.

Kazim credits his long term health and youthful appearance to keeping nice and bendy through daily yoga, sun salutations, and a special superfood-rich diet.

The yoga expert started living his super healthy lifestyle after he broke his back at age 41. He was left paralysed from the waist down, and told he would not walk again.

Kazim doing some stretches. (Picture: yogikazim.com)

But Kazim claims that he managed to cure himself by allowing his friends to crack his bones back into place, and experimenting on himself with yoga and careful stretches.

‘I conducted 63 different experiments on myself,’ Kazim told the Daily Hurriyet. ‘I was born again. Nine months after the experiment, I began to walk.’

But rather than seeing it as a one-off miracle, Kazim believes that his recovery comes down to dedication and mental effort.

‘I am the same as when I was 25-30 years old’ (Picture: yogikazim.com)

‘Man uses his brain power if applied correctly and the brain can regenerate muscles and nervous system,’ he explains. Now fit and healthy at age 95, he says that any person can achieve his lifestyle, even saying that EVERYONE is capable of living to age 130.

He doesn’t do anything too complicated – simply daily yoga, some swimming, and a special meat-free diet including pinto beans, olives, pepper, soup, herbal tea, and a spoonful of honey each day.

It’s paying off. Kazim claims (though we haven’t verified it ourselves) he can perform the knot position for 48 hours, hold his breath for four to five minutes and have three to five orgasms per day. At age 95.

‘We can live to be 130 years old,’ says Kazim. ‘Everyone has the power. [If] they take good care of their bodies, then they will live to age like me.’

Metro UK 

Nigeria has no business with poverty – Buhari

Buhari

President Mohammadu Buhari has said that Nigerians have no business with poverty given the enormous resources which God has endowed the country with.

To this end, he has promised to take appropriate measures to stamp out corruption and reposition Nigeria as a prosperous nation that can adequately cater for its citizens.


The President made the assertion Tuesday at the opening of the 45th Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Abuja.

The President, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia blamed the poverty in the land on mis-governance and lack of transparency.

Meanwhile, former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, has recommended compulsory asset declaration for all principal officers in the executive arm of government as a means of checking the menace of endemic corruption in the country

Politics: Buhari’s appointment based on merit – Oshiomhole

GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has urged Nigerians to encourage the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to confront the problems militating against the nation by appointing persons based on merit and not ethnicity.

Gov Oshiomhole

Oshiomhole stated this while commending the President on the appointments of the Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and others made so far, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Peter Okhiria.

According to Oshiomhole, “The Nigerian nation has come to a point where we have to use the best hands to confront the peculiarity of our problems. It is not all the time we descend to the level of geopolitical balancing; we need to employ unusual methods to solve an unusual problem. The level of decay in the country at present requires very seasoned hands and incorruptible Nigerians that will help translate the APC agenda of change for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“We must not reduce governance to political patronage of bread and butter. The governor congratulates the Chief of Staff, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Comptroller General of Customs, all of who he had very close relationship with and whose credentials stand tall among their compeers. He wishes them well in their new jobs of helping to sanitize a system that has become so rotten and corrupt as a result of manifest incompetence and mismanagement.”

Billionaire, Deinde Fernandez is dead

He was aged 79.


Deinde Fernandez (National Mirror)

Ovation magazine publisher, who is believed to be familiar with Fernandez circle broke the news on Twitter.

“Nigeria, and indeed Africa, has just lost one of its greatest sons; Ambassador Chief Antonio Dehinde Fernandez is gone!,”Momodu wrote.

Born in 1936, Chief Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez is a Nigerian Business magnate, Diplomat and Permanent Representative of Central African Republic to the United Nations. He is one of the richest men in Africa.

Story developing.

Google has totally changed its logo – here’s why

Don’t panic, but one of the first things you look at when you turn on your PC and phone has totally changed.

Google has spruced up its logo in the biggest change in 17 years.

It’s the fifth redesign for the logo – and the biggest, built to take Google from being a desktop PC service into something that works on phones and watches.


The revamped logo is being shown off as a Google Doodle, and features a new font called Product Sans, which looks vaguely primary school-esque.

Do you care that Google has changed its logo?

Yes, a lot

What are you, nuts?


The compact version of the logo, used in the apps, bids farewell to the little blue “g” icon and replaces it with an uppercase “G” colored in blue, red, yellow and green to match the full logo.

‘We think we’ve taken the best of Google (simple, uncluttered, colorful, friendly), and recast it not just for the Google of today, but for the Google of the future,’ says Google.

Metro UK

One Hundred Days Towards A Great Future, By Akeem Soboyede

Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari’s first 100 days in office may not go down in history for this laudable feat of legislative and executive collaboration. There will be many instances of that in the months and years ahead, to be sure. Still, there is a lot to celebrate – 100 days and counting – in an administration whose very emergence restored the hope of millions in their country’s democracy and its institutions.


The “First 100-day” anniversary celebrated by many governments the world over has an origin steeped in misery.


At the time he came into office as President of the United States in 1933, the economy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)’s America was coming apart at its seams. Deep economic malaise had struck in 1929, bringing more than a decade of unbridled prosperity to a screeching halt. The “Roaring 20s” had become the “Great Depression”. Herbert Hoover, the man on whose watch the downturn occurred, lurched from one ill-conceived policy to the other, pouring the proverbial “fire” on the raging economic conflagration consuming his people.


Then came the general elections of November 1932 and the emergence of FDR as President. The man took office on March 9, 1933; by the end of the first 100 days of his administration, in mid-June of that year, he had pushed through about 15 major pieces of legislation in the US Congress. These ultimately laid the foundation for that country’s remarkable economic recovery and stability.


What is known as the “First 100 days” of any government today, with its origins in FDR’s administration, is actually a celebration of what can happen when the legislative arm of a democracy buys into the vision of a hard-charging head of the country’s executive branch.


President Muhammadu Buhari’s first 100 days in office may not go down in history for this laudable feat of legislative and executive collaboration. There will be many instances of that in the months and years ahead, to be sure. Still, there is a lot to celebrate – 100 days and counting – in an administration whose very emergence restored the hope of millions in their country’s democracy and its institutions.


Critics of the Buhari government have sniped that it appears to be content with just “emerging”; that is, from the ruins of the crumbled edifice that was the Peoples Democratic Party-led government, which held sway over Nigeria these past 16 years, with less than sterling results. Many have placed the “Baba-Go-Slow” toga on the president’s head, signposting their preference that he races through governance like a hare, instead of carefully making his way through the known and unknown minefields.


The preference for a new government that hits the ground running very fast is quite understandable. The PDP government from 1999 till this past May hardly restored the hope of Nigerians in meaningful governance that delivers the proverbial “dividends of democracy”. In the PDP scheme of things, there were almost no dividends delivered to citizen-shareholders in the Nigerian enterprise, especially during the last five years that Goodluck Jonathan held sway. Meanwhile, chief executives of the corporation, like the president and members of his party, more than did well for themselves. So well that we are now told many of them became billionaires through shady deals in the all-important oil sector, among similar shenanigans.


This is exactly why the tone of governance set during Buhari’s First 100 days becomes significant and worthy of note – without the acts of raucous “celebration” and self-congratulations that have been the hallmarks of that anniversary for past governments in this country.


The truth is that the first 100 days of any administration is hardly worth celebrating for its own sake; the same was true of FDR and all those laws he managed to ram through the US Congress in about three months. It took many more months, years and even decades for Americans to feel the impact of those laws and the policies that came in their wake, especially with the enduring structures thus created, like the American Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission, not to mention the Social Security administration.


Sure, the general may not have constituted a cabinet within his first 100 days in office; even less flattering, his party frittered away a great amount of goodwill when its members and leadership were locked in a well-publicised battle of wits over allocation of plum positions in the National Assembly. Worse, the insidious insurgency in the country’s North-East continues, with Boko Haram appearing to make a murderous comeback just when it appeared it was being administered its last rites.


But amid the doubts, stoked in large part by the disgraced PDP opposition now revelling in its phoenix-like role as a vocal opposition, who in his or her right mind doubts that the tone of governance has changed for the better in Nigeria, at least at the centre? Who actually believes that the culture of ministerial impunity, where members of the federal cabinet engage in oil bunkering as – it is alleged against certain ministers of the past Jonathan government – will ever rear its ugly head in Nigeria again? Who doubts that when the president finally announces members of his cabinet, those whose names are lucky to be unveiled will realise there is a big difference between the day they heard their names called, and May 28, 2015?


The truth is that the first 100 days of any administration is hardly worth celebrating for its own sake; the same was true of FDR and all those laws he managed to ram through the US Congress in about three months. It took many more months, years and even decades for Americans to feel the impact of those laws and the policies that came in their wake, especially with the enduring structures thus created, like the American Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission, not to mention the Social Security administration.


The same tone of a visionary government set to create enduring, positive attitudes and structures is true of the Buhari government, just as it was for FDR.


The same tone of a visionary government set to create enduring, positive attitudes and structures is true of the Buhari government, just as it was for FDR. Thus, for Buhari and many other purposeful leaders before him, like America’s FDR, it is not and should not be just a matter of “celebrating” or “marking” 100 days.


Instead, the mantra should be “100 Days…and counting”.


The all-pervasive message that corruption will no longer be tolerated, especially in the highest echelons of government, is the most enduring legacy or “structure” any government can “build” in Nigeria today. If maintained, it will become the pedestal upon which this government can and will record the goals it has set out to achieve.


Such goals will surely include routing the Boko Haram insurgency (with resources alloted for the task deployed to their proper ends and not siphoned); closing loopholes in revenue generation and accounting, through which trillions in public funds have been lost over several decades; and instituting other fiscal, economic and social policies that enjoy the confidence of Nigerians, foreign countries, partners and institutions that will be necessary for such reforms, programmes and policies to succeed.


If these and other goals can be achieved by the Buhari government after the end of its tenure, in the next four or eight years, it will surely be said that it is this change of attitude in governance – most significantly an intolerance of corruption – that have made it possible.


Which will certainly make Buhari’s First 100 Days worthy of remembering, even decades into the future.


Soboyede is a journalist and US-trained lawyer.

The Method To Fayose’s Madness, By Tope Fasua

Gov Fayose of Ekiti

The big issue is that our politicians shut themselves in from the people, once elected or selected. Many commentators felt it was an odd thing to do to ‘stoop so low’. Yet Nigeria is where such one-on-one interaction is most desirable. The effect of such interaction is to give hope and confidence to the people and keep them going. Also to get them to support government policies.


I have much cause to be totally irritated by him. In fact, so do many Nigerians. Fayose it was who published a sort of advanced obituary of our beloved president. He used Ekiti’s money to sponsor the wrap-around advert in a number of national newspapers, projecting that the president would be dead in two years. What an abomination! Fayose went ahead to make an example of his own mother, when he revealed that she had been wearing diapers – being incontinent – since she was 70. The old lady is now 74. If that was all, we could have forgiven him, but even as I type, Mr. Ayo Fayose still takes time to take potshots at the president, mocking Buhari’s anti-corruption war, and sometimes, he takes delight in traumatising Nigerians who don’t quite understand what he is on about, as the British would say. How much madder can someone be?


But no matter how much one would like to castigate any individual, at some point you start to run out of ammunition. When you criticise a man’s every move, at some point you must begin to recognise his good sides too. Our people say ‘Omo buruku l’ojo tie’. In other words, even the rascal child comes in very useful on a few occasions. In spite of Fayose’s madness I think he has a very crucial message to tell Nigerians, through his many outside-the-box interactions.


I had cause to take note recently of Fayose’s visit to a local market, on his way back from inspecting some road project in his state. The Governor of Ekiti State, as he is wont to do, went into the market to buy a few ounces of pepper and tomatoes from local market women. He bought some ‘kpomo’ too. Of course he had his cameramen in tow and the pictures soon made it to social media. Many of my friends on social media saw it as showmanship and misgovernance. But I choose this time to see it differently. When Fayose shared half-grown chicken to his constituents few months ago, I felt it was nonsense too. But when a man consistently does things like this, it is important that we take notice; if not for anything but the fact that the electorate is surely taking notice.


There must be a method to Fayose’s madness.

Many who commented referred to Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and asked if Awolowo was seen in the dirty markets of Ibadan. Others went abroad and compared Fayose with the presidents of America and Britain. Others stayed closer home, comparing Fayose with El-Rufai. A popular picture on the internet showed El-Rufai poring pensively over a map of Kaduna, or some proposed development project. Side by side that picture was Fayose’s, holding a piece of ‘kpomo’. Most citizens of Ekiti, especially the ‘modern’ ones who live virtually on the internet, had no kind words for ‘Boda’ Ayo.


I once say a picture of former Governor Shema using one finger to greet cheering Katsinawas. Infrastructure is important, so also is a great vision, and big, articulate grammar. But in this stead called Nigeria, I wager that it is criminal for politicians to constitute themselves into demigods and cease interacting with those whom they pleaded with for votes, just yesterday.


In the first place, I was in Kaduna about three weeks ago, and I may not know a lot about public governance, especially the Nigerian hue. But right at the entrance to that city was a mad man, in the middle of a heap of refuse that he, or someone else gathered there. Posters still litter Kaduna, and Kawo Road was the usual bedlam. Kaduna, like Abuja, was full of people urinating by the roadside, and pockets of filth everywhere. I had thought that the ‘action-men’ we had in government will bring very swift, visible change. But again, what do I know? What is worse, the beggars who El-Rufai gave ultimatum to quit the streets because of terrorism, were still there. Dozens of Almajiri children were everywhere having the time of their lives. To me, the real conversation about reinventing Kaduna State hadn’t started. Even though last week, we saw Governor El-Rufai pushing a wheelbarrow, and participating in the city’s cleanup.


Back to Fayose. It is true that a people need tangible infrastructure. It is true that the mere symbolism of showing up in the market is not enough. But the truth is that hardly is any other Nigerian leader doing what Fayose is doing today. If they were, we would be seeing the pictures everywhere, for they never miss any such photo opportunities. I had cause to call up the pictures of our Vice President, the Honorable Yemi Osinbajo, when he went inside a Lagos market for campaigns. There was also a time he rode in public buses, preaching the gospel of change. I supported it then. I know it will be impossible for him to do so now; well, almost. But what about the other rank and file?


How come no state governor visits their local markets. And where they will, it will be further symbolic and remarkable if they buy one or two things from those selling in the market. I can imagine the elation of those traders if such a big man or woman suddenly showed up in front of their stalls. Some may not believe their eyes. Abroad, such things happen and people pass out, out of pleasant shock and surprise. I certainly wouldn’t mind such a visit if I were a trader.


The big issue is that our politicians shut themselves in from the people, once elected or selected. Many commentators felt it was an odd thing to do to ‘stoop so low’. Yet Nigeria is where such one-on-one interaction is most desirable. The effect of such interaction is to give hope and confidence to the people and keep them going. Also to get them to support government policies. Looked at more deeply, we should note that that segment of our economy is threatened – by big supermarkets and other agents of globalisation. More and more, their margins are being eroded and many are just barely surviving. Our leaders are faced with two choices; either to distance themselves from these people and watch them being crowded out into despair, want and desperation, or to identify with them, encourage them and give them hope; hope that perhaps there is a chance that such businesses may still be sustainable; hope that they are doing something worthwhile and of significance to society; hope that they matter at all.


Again, by visiting his workers and laying the rule on latecoming, Fayose has occupied a space that none of them dared.


Fayose is becoming a master of a game. The other day, I heard he was stuck in traffic going for the inauguration of the State House of Assembly. Being the maverick that he is, he hopped out of the car and rode the next ‘okada’ to the venue, being cheered and hailed all the while. It’s about effort sometimes, and a little humility. Fayose is an extremely rich man, but I don’t think he holds his own people in disdain. I once say a picture of former Governor Shema using one finger to greet cheering Katsinawas. Infrastructure is important, so also is a great vision, and big, articulate grammar. But in this stead called Nigeria, I wager that it is criminal for politicians to constitute themselves into demigods and cease interacting with those whom they pleaded with for votes, just yesterday. The people are watching, and another election day is coming, when they will give appropriate feedback. Or it could be worse. For one day, the frustration of the people of this country may just bubble over, claiming with it any collateral damage. Those who hold the people in disgust, should ‘kontinu’. Apologies Mama Peace!


The latest of Fayose’s forays is still trending on Sahara Reporters as I type. The same man went to the state Secretariat and caught 31 latecomers. He locked them out. Some were seen, in the usual mannerism of Yoruba people, kneeling down and prostrating to him, pleading for forgiveness. SR chose to caption the news as Fayose dehumanising his own people. I wondered whether Nigerians really want change or whether we just love the sounds of our voices. How many of our governors have bothered to visit their state secretariats since the resumed? Most of them prefer sitting in their plush multi-billion, ‘befitting’ state houses, signing off fictitious contracts, usurping local government funds, and paying hundreds of billions to marabouts and fire-spitting pastors for ‘protection’.


Again, by visiting his workers and laying the rule on latecoming, Fayose has occupied a space that none of them dared. Not even Fayemi was shown visiting the state secretariat and catching latecomers. I would love to see the president do the same, as he did in 1983, and as Murtala Muhammad did before him, but maybe old age is catching up.


There is a limit to which we can keep hating someone. Let us ignore the messenger, and face the message. Nigerians need examples, guidance, action, change…and we need all of those and more, immediately!


Tope Fasua, an economist and consultant, is CEO of Global Analytics Consulting.

New iPhone 6S ‘will have even weaker batteries than this year’s model’

Picture Getty

Sadly, the days of iPhones running low on juice and conking out before lunch might be with us for a while yet.

This year’s iPhones might actually have SMALLER batteries than last year’s, due to Apple cramming in a more sensitive Force Touch screen like the one on Apple Watch.


Leaks from within Apple’s supply chain suggest that this year’s iPhone 6S and 6S Plus – the expected product names of the models Apple is to unveil on September 9 – will have smaller batteries, according to cnBeta.


The Chinese news site suggests that the 6S will feature a 1715 mAh battery and the 6s Plus a 2750 mAh battery – a drop of 5.3% and 5.5% respectively.


What impact this will have on usage time remains to be seen – Apple has repeatedly said that its new iOS 9 software will be more energy-efficient than this year’s iOS 8.

Metro UK

Buhari is a President of the North – Fayose

Fayose

*reminds Buhari that this is 2015, not 1984

Ado-Ekiti – Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has said a critical look at President Mohammadu Buhari operation since his emergence in May 29, 2015, portrays him as a president of the Northern Nigeria only.

Fayose, who described such development as tainted in ethnic and tribal colouration, posited that if such steps are not immediately addressed for equity and justice, it could threaten the unity of Nigeria.

Fayose explained that appointments made by President Buhari has showed an agenda for a deliberate “Nothernisation of Nigeria,”

In his words, “appointments made by the President so far negate the principle of federal character and it appears the unity in diversity of Nigeria is being taken for granted by the President.”

According to a statement issued on Monday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said it was wrong for President Buhari to have made 31 major appointments and only seven will come from the South while 24 were from the North.

He asked; “Under Buhari, are people from Southern Nigeria only meant to be hounded and harassed by anti-corruption agencies and the Department of State Security (DSS) while those from the North are meant to enjoy federal government juicy appointments?”

The governor said “apart from lopsided appointments being made by the President, I am worried that construction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway has been slowed down while work has stopped on Lokoja-Abuja roads, which are the major roads linking the Southern part of Nigeria with the North.

“Also, we have been told by the Federal Government that the Second Niger Bridge project has been suspended and one is now beginning to remember how Buhari cancelled the Lagos Metroline Project in 1985 at a loss of over $78 million (then) to the Lagos tax payers.”

Governor Fayose, who maintained that Nigeria can only move forward if there was equity and fairness, said those who made the country’s constitution and enshrined the principle of Federal Character were mindful of the ethnic diversity of the country, adding that President Buhari’s running Nigeria as if he was a Northern Nigeria’s President was not in the interest of the country.

“They said the President made the appointments on merit and I wish to ask whether there are no competent people in the All

Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southern part of Nigeria, especially South-East where no one has been appointed.

“Are they saying Igbo leader like Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, who graduated with a first class honours degree in Chemical Engineering at the

University of Lagos, is not competent to be appointed as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)?

“To my mind, these lopsided appointments skewed in favour of the North is a reminder of President Buhari’s tenure as Military Head of State and I hope the President is not seeing Nigeria of today a that of 1984 because doing so will mean that he has turned himself to a northern president, thereby justifying his notion that those who gave him 97 percent votes must get more benefits than those who gave him five percent votes.”

Jonathan Was a Sectional President But Buhari is a Nigerian President - Shehu Sani Attacks Fayose

Senator Sheu Sanni

Senator Shehu Sani has blasted Governor Ayo Fayose for calling President Muhammadu Buhari "President of Northern Nigeria".

Speaking to THE CABLE, Sani who represents Kaduna Central Senatorial District said Fayose ''belongs to the cesspit''.

''I recognise the fundamental rights of Ekiti state governor to freedom of expression. I unreservedly condemn his divisive, inciting, provocative and mischievous tantrums and invective against President Muhammadu Buhari.

''The Ekiti governor is a relic of the old order; he represents the old Nigeria of waste, of hollow ritual of noise and nuisance. Fayose is a man suffering from political depression in the aftermath of the defeat of his patriarch Goodluck Jonathan. He is a hallucinating man of the ancient, yet to come to terms with the realities of a new dawn and new Nigeria'', Sani said.

''The Ekiti governor is a man on the loose, ready to use stones, sticks and any object to inflict harm and to be noticed. Fayose failed to stop the election of President Muhammadu Buhari by the use of false, misleading and subversive propaganda laced with lies and deceit and now resorts to firing arrows of hate, smear and distortions.''

He described Fayose as “a glorified tout, deficient in morals, character and courteousness”.

''The Ekiti governor’s utterances are unbecoming of a state governor who should symbolise, exemplify and personify national unity and peace. Fayose’s utterances are farts from a rotten road side beans meal. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees all Nigerians the right to freely express their opinion and criticize the operations of Government. The Ekiti governor is simply on a toxic smear campaign against PMB.

''President Muhammadu Buhari is not a ‘northern president': He is a Nigerian president out to correct the wrong of the erstwhile sectional president whom the Fayoses of Nigeria supported and collaborated with.

''Fayose is a weeping and whipping boy of the dead PDP. I call on the APC Governors to appropriately respond to their peer, Fayose and return him to the cesspit pit, where he rightly belongs'', Sani added.

The Cable

Premiership Transfers: From Anthony Martial to Kevin De Bruyne: Every Premier League summer transfer confirmed

Deadline day is now over, marking the end of a transfer window that has seen Premier League clubs spend in excess of £858million.


Anthony Martial joining Manchester United was undoubtedly the deal of the day, but there have been plenty of incomings and outgoings that you may have missed – and that’s just Watford.


So for those of you that are struggling to keep up with this summer’s transfer business, Metro.co.uk have put together a comprehensive guide of all the deals completed by Premier League clubs over the course of the window.


Here we go:


Note: We are continually updating this list as news arrives:


Arsenal
In

Petr Cech (Chelsea, £10m), Donyell Malen (Ajax, free)

Out


Ryo Miyaichi (St Pauli, free), Abou Diaby (Marseille), Carl Jenkinson (West Ham, loan), Yaya Sanogo (Ajax, loan), Wojciech Szczesny (Roma, loan), Serge Gnabry (West Brom, loan), Emiliano Martinez (Wolves, loan), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray, £1.8m), George Dobson (West Ham, undisclosed), Josh Vickers (Swansea, undisclosed), Chuba Akpom (Hull, loan), Wellington Silva (Bolton, loan)

Aston Villa
In


Scott Sinclair (Manchester City, £2.5m), Micah Richards (Manchester City, free), Idrissa Gueye (Lille, undisclosed), Jordan Amavi (Nice, undisclosed), Jordan Ayew (Lorient, undisclosed), Jose Angel Crespo (Cordoba, undisclosed), Jordan Veretout (Nantes, undisclosed), Rudi Gestede (Blackburn, undisclosed), Adama Traore (Barcelona, £7m), Joleon Lescott (West Brom, undisclosed), Matija Sarkic (Anderlecht, undisclosed)

Out


Andreas Weimann (Derby County, £2.75m), Darren Bent (Derby County, free), Enda Stevens (Portsmouth, free), Graham Burke (released), Chris Herd (released), Shay Given (Stoke, free), Antonio Luna (Eibar, free), Ron Vlaar (released), Christian Benteke (Liverpool, £32.5m), Aly Cissokho (Porto, loan), Callum Robinson (Bristol City, loan), Matthew Lowton (Burnley, undisclosed), Nathan Baker (Bristol City, loan)


Bournemouth
In


Artur Boruc (Southampton, free), Josh King (Blackburn, free), Adam Federici (Reading, free), Christian Atsu (Chelsea, loan), Sylvain Distin (Everton, free) Tyrone Mings (Ipswich, £8m), Max Gradel (St Etienne, undisclosed), Lee Tomlin (Middlesbrough, £3m), Filippo Costa (Chievo, loan), Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace, £5m)

Out


Ian Harte (released), Josh McQuoid (released), Joe Partington (released), Mohamed Coulibaly (released), Miles Addison (released), Darryl Flahavan (released), Jayden Stockley (Portsmouth, loan), Brett Pitman (Ipswich, undisclosed), Ian Harte (released), Ryan Fraser (Ipswich, loan), Jayden Stockley (Portsmouth, loan), Stephane Zubar (York City, loan), Harry Cornick (Yeovil, loan)


Chelsea
In


Nathan (Atletico Paraneanse, £4.5m), Asmir Begovic (Stoke, undisclosed), Falcao (Monaco, loan), Baba Rahman (Augsburg, undisclosed), Pedro (Barcelona, £22m), Kenedy (Fluminense, undisclosed), Papy Djilobodji (Nantes, £3m) Danilo Pantic (Partizan, undisclosed)

Out


Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach, £5.8m), Gael Kakuta (Sevilla, undisclosed), Didier Drogba (released), Christian Atsu (Bournemouth, loan), Petr Cech (Arsenal, £10m) Nathan, Izzy Brown, Danilo Pantic, Dominic Solanke (All Vitesse Arnhem, loan), Marco van Ginkel (Stoke, loan) Tomas Kalas (Middlesbrough, loan), Patrick Bamford (Crystal Palace, loan), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid, undisclosed), Oriol Romeu (Southampton, £5m), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus, loan), Marko Marin (Trabzonspor, loan), Nathan Ake (Watford, loan), Victor Moses (West Ham, loan), Josh McEachran (Brentford, £500,000), Mohamed Salah (Roma, loan), Lucas Piazon (Reading, loan), Mario Pasalic (Monaco, loan)


Crystal Palace
In


Yohan Cabaye, (PSG, undisclosed), Patrick Bamford (Chelsea, loan), Connor Wickham (Sunderland, undisclosed), Bakary Sako (Wolves, free), Alex McCarthy (QPR, £3.5m)

Out


Shola Ameobi (released), Lewis Price (released), Owen Garvan (released), Peter Ramage (released), Stephen Dobbie (released), Jerome Thomas (released), Kyle de Silva (released), Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday), Hiram Boateng (Plymouth Argyle, loan), Jerome Binnom-Williams (Burton Albion), Christian Scales (Crawley, loan), Glenn Murray (Bournemouth, £5m)

Cabaye was brought in from PSG (Picture: Getty)


Everton
In


Tom Cleverley (Manchester United, free), Gerard Deulofeu (Barcelona £4.3m), Ramiro Funes Mori (River Plate, £9.5m), Leandro Rodriguez (River Plate Montevideo, £500,000), Mason Holgate (Barnsley, £1m)

Out


Antolin Alcaraz (released), Sylvain Distin (released), Luke Garbutt (Fulham, loan), Chris Long (Burnley, undisclosed), Francisco Junior (Wigan Athletic, loan)


Leicester
In


Christian Fuchs (Schalke, free), Robert Huth (Stoke, undisclosed), Shinji Okazaki (Mainz, undisclosed), N’Golo Kante (Caen, undisclosed), Yohan Benalouane (Atalanta, undisclosed), Gokhan Inler (Napoli, £5.5m), Nathan Dyer (Swansea, loan)

Out


Zoumana Bakayogo (released), Paul Gallagher (released), Conrad Logan (released), Gary Taylor-Fletcher (released), Matthew Upson (MK Dons, free), David Nugent (Middlesbrough, undisclosed), Paul Konchesky (QPR, loan), Chris Wood (Leeds, undisclosed), Esteban Cambiasso (Olympiacos, free), Ben Hamer (Bristol City, loan), Ryan Watson (Northampton Town, loan), Tom Lawrence (Blackburn Rovers, loan)


Liverpool
In


Joe Gomez (Charlton Athletic, £3.5m), James Milner (Manchester City, free), Adam Bogdan (Bolton, free), Danny Ings (Burnley, undisclosed, Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim, £29m), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton, £12.5m), Christian Benteke (Aston Villa, £32.5m)

Out


Steven Gerrard (LA Galaxy, free), Glen Johnson (released), Brad Jones (released), Danny Ward (Aberdeen, loan), Sebastian Coates (Sunderland, undisclosed), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City, £49m), Rickie Lambert (West Brom, £3m), Mario Balotelli (AC Milan, loan) Fabio Borini (Sunderland, £10m), Lazar Markovic (Fenerbahce, loan), Jordan Williams (Swindon Town, loan) Aspas (Sevilla, undisclosed)


Manchester City
In


Enes Unal (Bursaspor, £2m), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool, £49m), Patrick Roberts (Fulham, undisclosed), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa, £8m), Nicolas Otamendi (Valencia, £32.12m), Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg, £55m)

Out


Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa, £2.5m), Matija Nastasic (Schalke, undisclosed), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic, undisclosed), Micah Richards (Aston Villa, free), James Milner (Liverpool, free), John Guidetti (released), Enes Unal (Genk, loan), Stevan Jovetic (Inter Milan, undisclosed), Eden Dzeko (Roma, loan)


Manchester United
In


Memphis Depay (PSV, £25m), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich, £15m), Morgan Schneiderlin (£24m), Matteo Darmian (£12.7m), Sergio Romero (free), Anthony Martial (£36m)

Out


Tom Cleverley (Everton, free), Ben Amos (released), Tom Thorpe (released), Nani (Fenerbahce, £4.25m), Robin van Persie (Fenerbahce, £4.7m), Angel Di Maria (PSG, £44.3m), Javier Hernandez (Bayer Leverkusen, £7m) Adnan Januzaj (Borussia Dortmund, loan), Jonny Evans (West Brom, undisclosed), Tyler Blackett (Celtic, loan), Anders Lindegaard (West Brom, undisclosed), Will Keane (Preston, loan), Reece James (Wigan, undisclosed), Saido Janko (Celtic, undisclosed), Rafael, (Lyon, £2.5m)

Louis van Gaal made Schweinsteiger his fourth signing. (Picture:AP)


Newcastle United
In


Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV, £14.5m), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Anderlecht, £15m), Ivan Toney (Northampton, undisclosed), Chancel Mbemba (Anderlecht, undisclosed), Florent Thauvin (Marseille, undisclosed),Davide Santon (Inter Milan, £2.8m), Olivier Kemen (Lyon, undisclosed), Remie Streete (Port Vale, free), Freddie Woodman (Crawley, loan)

Out


Jak Alnwick (released), Adam Campbell (released), Jonas Gutierrez (released), Ryan Taylor (released), Sammy Ameobi (Cardiff, loan), Mehdi Abeid (Panathinaikos, loan), Remy Cabella (Marseille, loan), Adam Armstrong (Coventry City, loan), Shane Ferguson (Millwall, loan)


Norwich City
In


Graham Dorrans (West Brom, undisclosed), Youssouf Mulumbu (West Brom, free), Robbie Brady (Hull, undisclosed), Jake Kean (Blackburn, free), Andre Wisdom (Liverpool, loan), Dieumerci Mbokani (Dynamo Kiev, loan)

Out


Cameron McGeehan (Luton Town, undisclosed), Javier Garrido (released), Carlos Cuellar (released), Luciano Becchio (released), Mark Bunn (released), Kyle Callan-McFadden (released), Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Real Betis, loan), Jacob Murphy (Coventry, loan), Josh Murphy (MK Dons, loan),Carlton Morris (Hamilton, loan), Sam Kelly (Port Vale, free), Remi Matthews (Burton, loan)


Southampton
In


Cedric Soares (Sporting Lisbon, undisclosed), Maarten Stekelenburg (Fulham, loan), Juanmi (Malaga, £5m), Cuco Martina (FC Twente, £3m), Jordy Clasie (Feyenoord, undisclosed), Steven Caulker (QPR, loan), Oriol Romeu (Chelsea, £5m), Virgil van Dijk (Celtic, £11.5m)

Out


Artur Boruc (Bournemouth, free), Jos Hooiveld (released), Omar Rowe (released) Jake Sinclair (released), Nathiel Clyne (Liverpool, £12.5m), Dani Osvaldo (Released), Sam Gallagher (MK Dons, loan), Jack Stephens (Middlesbrough, loan)


Stoke
In


Joselu (Hannover, £5.9m), Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer Leverkusen, undisclosed), Jakob Haugaard (FC Midtjylland, £600,000), Shay Given (Aston Villa, free), Marco van Ginkel (Chelsea, loan), Moha El Ouriachi (Barcelona, undisclosed), Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona, free), Xherdan Shaqiri (Inter Milan, undisclosed), Sergio Molina (Real Madrid, undisclosed), Glen Johnson (Liverpool, free), Mark Waddington (Blackpool, Tribunal), Dom Telford (Blackpool, Tribunal)

Out


Andy Wilkinson (released), Thomas Sorensen (released), Wilson Palacios (released), Robert Huth (Leicester, undisclosed), Asmir Begovic (Chelsea, undisclosed), Steven Nzonzi (Sevilla, £7m), Jamie Ness (Scunthorpe, free), Morgan Schneiderlin – (Manchester United, £25m), Cody Cropper (MK Dons, free), Jordan Turnbull (Swindon, loan), Emmanuel Mayuka (Metz, undisclosed fee)


Sunderland
In


Sebastian Coates (Liverpool, undisclosed), Younes Kaboul (Spurs, undisclosed), Jeremain Lens (Dynamo Kiev, undisclosed), Yann M’Vila (Rubin Kazan, loan), Fabio Borini (Liverpool, £10m), Ola Toivonen (Rennes, loan), Adam Matthews (Celtic, £2m)

Out


Anthony Reveillere (released), Santiago Vergini (Getafe, loan), Connor Wickham (Crystal Palace, £9m), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna, loan), El Hadji Ba (Charlton, undisclosed), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham, loan), Jordan Pickford (Preston, loan)


Swansea City
In


Franck Tabanou (St Etienne, £3.5m), Andre Ayew (Marseille, free), Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Heerenveen, undisclosed), Eder (Braga, undisclosed), Oliver McBurnie (Bradford City, undisclosed), Josh Vickers (Arsenal, undisclosed), Gerhard Tremmel (free)

Out


Alan Tate (released), David Cornell (released), Rory Donnelly (released), Gerhard Tremmel (released), Modou Barrow (Blackburn, loan), Jazz Richards (Fulham, undisclosed), Nathan Dyer (Leicester, loan), Kenji Gorre (ADO Den Haag, loan), Oliver Davies (Kilmarnock, loan), Alex Samuel (Morton, loan)


Tottenham
In


Kevin Wimmer (Cologne, £4.3m), Kieran Trippier (Burnley, £3.5m), Toby Alderweireld (Atletico, undisclosed), Clinton N’jie (Lyon, £12m), Son Heung-min (Bayer Leverkusen, £22m)

Out


Brad Friedel (retired) Etienne Capoue (Watford, undisclosed), Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande, £10m), Lewis Holtby (Hamburg, £4.6m), Younes Kaboul (Spurs, undisclosed), Benjamin Stambouli (PSG, £6m), Roberto Soldado (Villarreal, £7m), Vlad Chiriches (Napoli, £4.5m), Ryan Fredericks (Bristol City, free), Shaquile Coulthirst (Wigan Athletic, loan)


Son was Spurs’ final big money signing. (Picture: Getty)


Watford
In


Sebastian Prodl (Werder Bremen, free), Giedrius Arlauskis (Steaua Bucharest, free), Matej Vydra (Udinese, undisclosed), Valon Behrami (Hamburg, £3m), Jose Holebas (Roma, undisclosed), Etienne Capoue (Tottenham Hotspur, undisclosed), Allan Nyom (Udinese, undisclosed), Miguel Britos (Napoli, undisclosed), Jose Manuel Jurado (Spartak Moscow, undisclosed), Steven Berghuis (AZ, £4.6m), Alessandro Diamanti (Guangzhou Evergrande, loan), Nathan Ake (Chelsea, loan), Obbi Oularé (Club Brugge, undisclosed)

Out


Marco Motta (released), Luke O’Nien (released), Lewis McGugan (Sheffield Wednesday, undisclosed), Juanfran (Deportivo, loan), Jonathan Bond (Reading, undisclosed), Diego Fabbrini (Middlesbrough, loan), Sean Murray (Wigan Athletic, loan), Miguel Layun (Porto, loan)


West Brom
In


James McClean (Wigan, £1.5m), James Chester (Hull, £8m), Rickie Lambert (Liverpool, £3m), Serge Gnabry (Arsenal, loan), Salomon Rondon (Zenit St Petersburg, £12m), Jonny Evans (Manchester United, undisclosed), Anders Lindegaard (Manchester United, undisclosed)

Out


Graham Dorrans (Norwich City, undisclosed), Chris Baird (Derby County, free), Youssouf Mulumbu (released), Jason Davidson (released), Brown Ideye (Olympiakos, undisclosed), Joleon Lescott (Aston Villa, undisclosed)


West Ham
In


Pedro Obiang (Sampdoria £4.4m), Stephen Hendrie (Hamilton, £1m), Darren Randolph (Birmingham City, free), Dimitri Payet (Marseille, undisclosed), Angelo Ogbonna (£10m, Juventus), Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal, loan), Manuel Lanzini (Al Jazira, loan), Alex Song (Barcelona, free), Victor Moses (Chelsea, loan), George Dobson (Arsenal, undisclosed), Nikica Jelavic (Hull City, undisclosed), Michail Antonio (Nottingham Forest, undisclosed)

Out


Carlton Cole (released), Jussi Jaaskelainen (released), Guy Demel (released), Nene (released), Dan Potts (Luton Town, free), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough, £5.5m), Jussi Jaaskelainen (Wigan, free), Modibo Maiga (Al Nassr, undisclosed), Diego Poyet (MK Dons, loan), Reece Burke (Bradford City, loan), Kevin Nolan (released

Metro UK

Sport: Arsenal fans go into meltdown as Wenger fails to land any players

Supporters vent their fury on Twitter as Gunners fail at every turn in the transfer window


Arsenal fans are going crazy because they haven't signed any players and they're going to have to face a whole new season with Olivier Giroud up front.


supporters were hoping Arsene Wenger might finally bring out the chequebook and make a real marquee signing they could all get excited about, like Real Madrid's Karim Benzema.

But neither of those actually happened, and now it looks like they're not going to sign any strikers at all. In fact:

Now all of this has led to what's known in the trade as a Massive Arsenal Meltdown (MAM).


A MAM is similar in explosive power to a real nuclear meltdown, except it only happens on Twitter and has a lot more stuff about Arsene Wenger and far fewer radioactive isotopes of Uranium.

Nigerians have been fooled yet again! - Etcetera

Etcetera

“I believe if Nigeria does not kill corruption; corruption will kill Nigeria. I pledge to publicly declare my assets and liabilities and encourage my political appointees to also publicly declare their assets and liabilities.” – President Buhari (during his campaign)

Now, the presidency through the presidential spokesman has said the promise of asset declaration wasn’t made by Buhari but his political party. Jeez! These people just think say we be mumu sha… dem think say everybody for naija dey suffer from dyslexia. Shebi na dem preach say Buhari na modest man with just two houses and 150 cattle? They also said Buhari and Osinbajo have declared their assets, and it is deposited with the code of conduct bureau and the only thing needed is just verification by the bureau? How many months does the Code of Conduct Bureau need to verify an asset of two houses and 150 cattle? Nawa ooo!!! Naija una don see una sef? Is this the “change?”

President Buhari’s achievements as a former military Head of State may be many. But he has utterly failed to keep a simple promise core to the rationale for his election into office. And as the campaign promises recede into memory, it is equally clear that this administration may never provide the needed reforms that will address the most worrisome flaws in our democratic system. I have met a lot of Buhari supporters who are finally coming to the realisation that they may have made a very bad decision in the last Presidential election. So many of them no longer seem to know why they believed that a retired military general would perform any better than the career politicians they mistrust.

President Buhari’s bygone promises to run “the most transparent administration in the history of this country” have become a subject of mockery, given how he has failed in a simple task of appointing ministers.

When critics like me attacked his go-slow government, the administration defended itself by claiming the president was only taking his time.

But the problem with this administration is not only about being too slow but it has also left untouched the corrupt individuals, which means that we would continue to live under a government with significant transparency problems, a culture of lobbying that is often tantamount to sanctioned corruption, and an executive branch of government that preaches a change that no one gets to see.

Is it unrealistic to expect ambitious systemic reforms in Nigeria? Yet it remains the case that many people voted for Buhari precisely because he promised to attempt them.

I believe president Buhari can solve a lot of things … but won’t. Whatever he once was or wasn’t, we should accept that Buhari is now a creature of the political establishment. He is captive to its loyalties and prejudices, and committed to safeguarding its interests. I am not arguing that he hasn’t or won’t accomplish anything, but there are whole categories of problems that he won’t try to fix.

“Change” is a mirage sold to us by Buhari and his political party to get our votes. And that’s a shame. Nigerians are unlikely to support a politician making similar promises in the future because Buhari has made them impossible to believe.

Those sending messages to me atmail@etceteralive.com asking me to write on how Buhari’s administration has improved electricity supply in the country should ask themselves how long president Buhari has been in office to put in place the machinery for such a turnaround. Abi rain nor dey fall for una area? Let us wait till the dams are dried up before singing halleluyah.