President Buhari Arrives Home State, Katsina (See Photos)

President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in his home state Katsina yesterday, September 4.


President Buhari visits home state.

Buhari, who arrived at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua International Airport in the evening, was welcomed by the governor of the state, Aminu Bello Masari and a large entourage.

The photos were shared on Facebook by Femi Adesina, the special adviser on media and publicity to the president.

Large crowd welcomes Buhari


President Buhari was received by Katsina state governor

Two days ago Buhari was in Kaduna state where he was received by the deputy governor of the state, Bala Bantex, and members of the State Executive Council and other top government functionaries.

President Buhari arrived Katsina in the evening


Buhari owns a modest apartment in his hometown Daura, Katsina state. His residence is located in the Government Reserved Area, a few metres off Daura-Kwangolam road, nestling the Daura Shagari Low Cost Housing Estate.

Source: Naij.com

Stop criticising Buhari over appointments, Ogbemudia tells Nigerians

Dr Samuel Ogbemudia

By SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN CITY- TWO Time former Governor of old Bendel State and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia, said yesterday that Nigerians will not forgive President Muhammadu Buhari if he fails them, therefore warned Nigerians to stop criticising the President over his recent appointments.

He also described as unnecessary attempts by some Nigerians to access the administration in its one hundred days in office, “when they knew that the man said he met everything in bad shape and in such situation you need to clean up the system so as to start on a good note”.

The elder statesman bared his mind yesterday when he met members of the committee which he set up to oversee the yearly Award of the Best Journalist in Edo state, led by a former General Manager of the Edo State Broadcasting Service (EBS) Pastor (Mrs) Sibi Lawal-Igioh.

According to him, “Nigerians asked him (Buhari) to appoint people who can work with him and he can only appoint people he knows. If he fails by appointing a United Nation they will say it was his fault, they ought to have known. But he is now picking people he has tremendous trust in their ability. So those criticizing him should let him do his work. If at the end of four years he did not perform, then Nigerians have another opportunity to either say carry on or stop.

“All these criticisms, I do not buy them. And the people who are criticising him probably they have never held any government position, they don’t know what is happening there, that all that glitters is not gold”.

On the issue of one hundred days in office, Dr Ogbemudia asserted that “First and foremost, Buhari was elected for four years and in the programme of events which led to the elections, at no time was hundred days mentioned. That they are being done in the past was perhaps a persuasive authority but that does not mean that everybody should keep to it. A programme well thought out to bring Nigeria back to the line of development, the line of security and so on, planning alone takes more than a hundred days.

“ So I expect that when eventually he finished the home work he will come out with something big. When he was elected, Nigerians have very high expectation of his performance and in order not to disappoint Nigerians, he wants to take time to plan his programme so that when eventually he pushes it out they will welcome it.

“ So they can excuse him because the Buhari they knew earlier on is no longer the same Buhari because this is a democracy. He has the National Assembly and the judicial arm now. His powers then is being shared with these two arms now. He cannot join the bandwagon, as a matter of fact that is why he wants to change the evil ways things are done before so that Nigeria will be better” he stated.

Explaining the reason behind his decision to commence a yearly Award for the best Journalist in Edo state, Dr Ogbemudia said, “when you go to Observer (state owned Newspaper), you see reporters who have worked hard over the years but no recognition. So what we want to do is that at the end of the year we will find out which journalist has excelled over the year and give him a plaque and a little money attached.

“What we are going to do is open a fix deposit account so that the interest we make in the deposit can be used for the award even when I am gone. We have journalists who are working hard in this country and I feel we have to start from Edo state first to recognize them” he stated.

Vanguard

Football: Wayne Rooney knows breaking England goalscoring record against San Marino won't silence the critics

Rooney is acutely aware that many believe he is not – and will never be - among the greats


Wayne Rooney stands on the verge of making history Photo: REUTERS

Wayne Rooney stands on the brink of becoming England’s all-time record goal-scorer but, he knows, even then the debate will continue.


The 29-year-old can beat Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 goals for England should he, as is highly possible, score twice against San Marino, the Group E whipping boys of this Euro 2016 qualification campaign here in the foothills of the Appenine Mountains on Saturday evening.

Although it is a great record to take, an incredible height to hit, Rooney knows that many believe he is not – and will never be - among the greats. “It's the same,” the England captain says. “Up to a couple of years ago, people were saying Messi wasn't Maradona because he hadn't won the World Cup.

“In my mind, Messi is a better player than Maradona. But that's how football is. It's about trophies you win. As a team, that's how you're judged. Sir Bobby did that (won the World Cup). Hopefully there's still time for me to be successful like that.”

Whether Rooney can compare himself to Lionel Messi – it was a comparison that felt genuine when he burst on the scene a decade ago – is a moot point. As is whether, with him turning 30 in October, Rooney will remain in the England team for the 2018 World Cup.

But he should be able to lead his country into next summer’s Euros in France, with the European Championships the competition, in 2004, in which he so elementally burst onto the world stage.

San Marino say they will not focus solely on Rooney

Understandably Rooney was asked to work through his memories of his first goal for England, 12 years ago this weekend, becoming the country’s youngest-ever goal-scorer when he struck in the 3-1 away win against Macedonia in a qualifier for those finals.

“I remember the keeper should probably have saved it,” Rooney says, self-deprecatingly. “A longish ball (from David Beckham) in to Emile Heskey, he's nodded it down to me on the edge of the box, and the keeper should have saved it. It's gone in, luckily.”

If Petar Milosevski had made the save that day then it would surely only have delayed, a little longer, the inevitability of Rooney taking Charlton’s record. It will be relief.

“It keeps coming up,” Rooney says. “It'll be nice to finally do it and put it to the back of my mind. In terms of how I've changed, in nearly 13 years, you change in terms of how you play. The position I play in the team... in the last three years I've been more as a striker, where I was more of a Number 10 (before). It's a slightly different role. There have been changes.”

Rooney burst onto the scene as a precocious teenager with Everton

Many changes. Rooney has also been deployed in midfield for his club, Manchester United, and there is a theory, as he struggles for form, that he may simply have forgotten how to play centre-forward.

But with Harry Kane struggling for goals and with Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck injured and Saido Berahino, Charlie Austin and Rickie Lambert overlooked then yet again the burden and the attention, the focus and the expectation, for England falls on Wayne Mark Rooney as it has done ever since he made his mark. His country remains reliant on him.

“I didn't feel I was carrying the expectations,” Rooney counters. “Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, David Beckham... world-class players. I didn't feel, going into a tournament, I've got to win it for England. We had a good team. In 2004 and 2006, we were unlucky not to progress into the latter rounds.”

Nevertheless Rooney is the last man standing because he was the youngest of that generation and because he came through on his own. Indeed it was pointed out to him that of his England under-21 generation only he and James Milner really made it – and Rooney had gained a remarkable 52 caps before Milner secured his debut.

Harry Kane's struggles add to the pressure on Rooney

“I'm confident and it was quite easy for me to be in the youth and under-21s and into the senior team,” he says. “The first few games I was quite nervous, but having the likes of Steven Gerrard in the squad, and moving to United at 18... it's made it a lot easier for me. It wasn't particularly difficult for me to do that.”

But it has been difficult of late. Rooney sits on the edge of this record but he has struggled for goals for United – none in 10 Premier League matches – and while he claims the criticism he has faced has been “overboard” there is an acknowledgement of “frustration”.

“As a striker, you want to score goals,” he says. “That's quite obvious. Because of my past, I'm a team player. Sometimes you want to score but you're not going to in some games. It's not happened in the league this season. Hopefully after these games I'll start scoring again. Six or seven years ago I'd have been frustrated. Now I know the chances and goals will come.”

And even if the goals do come against San Marino, and that record is taken, the debate will continue. Does Rooney, himself, believe he deserves more “respect”?

“It's not something I'm too fussed about,” he says. “As long as my managers, my team-mates understand and respect the job I do for them, the day they turn round and say they don't is the day it'll bother me. In terms of what other people think it doesn't really concern me.”

Rooney is without a Premier League goal for 10 matches

When that record does go the tributes will flow – including one recorded by the Football Association from Charlton, who Rooney is close to and respects greatly, not least because of the bond they share for club and country.

“I speak to Sir Bobby quite a lot,” Rooney says. “He's at all our games. He's someone who is a hero and a legend for both club and country. But we've not spoken about his records.”

The question remains as to whether that “hero and legend” status will ever be conferred on Rooney.

Three memorable Rooney goals for England
1: England 2, Denmark 3 (Oct 11, 2003).

Racing from the halfway line past two markers, Rooney finished with a 20-yard sizzler that flew in off the underside of the crossbar.

2: England 3, Argentina 2 (Nov 12, 2005).

Crowned a starring performance when he supplied the perfect finish to David Beckham's flick.

3: Brazil 2, England 2 (June 2, 2013).

Powered through the Brazil half to strike a 25-yarder in the top corner of the net.

The telegraph 

Video: This 2-Headed Albino Snake Tries To Eat Itself

The snake is worth an estimated $50,000.

Todd Ray must have a lot of cash snaked away.

Why else would he spend $50,000 on a snake, even one that is two-headed and albino?

That's how much the owner of the Venice Beach Freakshow said he paid for "Medusa," a four-year-old double-headed Honduran Milk Snake born in Florida.

"I've wanted her since the day it was born four years ago," Ray told The Huffington Post. "I went back and forth with the owner and the price just kept getting higher."

Ray already holds a Guinness World Record for having the biggest collection of two-headed animals, but he considers "Medusa" the crowning jewel.

"This snake is perfect," he said. "Some other two-headed snakes are beautiful, but they have a kink where the heads become one. Medusa doesn't. It's as if she was meant to have two heads.

VENICE BEACH FREAKSHOW

Medusa is 3 feet long, but she is a handful, according to Ray -- especially at feeding time.

"I flew her in from Florida and, usually, I give them a week before feeding to get them used to their surroundings," he said. "But she was moving around so much I thought she was looking for food."

Ray said with most two-headed snakes, he feeds them one at a time with a playing card between their heads to keep them from biting each other.

"I bring a mouse up to them and both opened their mouths," he said. "Then the right head struck and yanked the mouse right out of my hand.

"Then the left head grabbed the mouse's butt end. I couldn't believe how quickly they were eating. They were going to meet in the middle -- and these types of snakes eat other snakes!"

Ray had to grab a Butcher's knife and cut the mouse in half before the right head swallowed the left.

"Now I know to have two mice ready at the same time and have two more ready," he said.

VENICE BEACH FREAKSHOW

Ray plans to put Medusa on display at the Venice Beach Freakshow starting Saturday, and expects her to be a big draw.

"I really think she is the star -- especially for snakes," he said. "I wouldn't have spent that much money if she wasn't so valuable."

Video

Huffington Post

'Just wait…' Islamic State reveals it has smuggled THOUSANDS of extremists into Europe

GETTY•IGThe Syrian operative claimed more than 4,000 covert ISIS gunmen had been smuggled into the EU

The Syrian operative claimed more than 4,000 covert ISIS gunmen had been smuggled into western nations – hidden amongst innocent refugees.

The ISIS smuggler, who is in his 30s with a trimmed jet-black beard, revealed the ongoing clandestine operation is a complete success.

"Just wait," he smiled.


It’s our dream that there should be a caliphate not only in Syria but in all the world and we will have it soon, God willing

ISIS operative

The Islamic State operative spoke exclusively to BuzzFeed on the condition of anonymity and is believed to be the first to confirm plans to infiltrate western countries.

Islamic State, also referred to as IS and ISIS, is believed to be actively smuggling deadly gunmen across the sparsely-guarded 565-mile Turkish border and on to richer European nations, he revealed.

There are now more than 4,000 covert ISIS gunmen "ready" across the European Union, he claimed.

The operative said the undercover infiltration was the beginning of a larger plot to carry out revenge attacks in the West in retaliation for the US-led coalition airstrikes.

"If someone attacks me," he said "then for sure I will attack them back."

IGMasked Islamic State gunmen march in one of the terror group's propaganda videos

Islamic State extremists are taking advantage of developed nation's generosity towards refugees to infiltrate Europe, he said.

The lethal ISIS gunmen use local smugglers to blend in and travel amongst a huge tide of illegal migrants flooding Europe.

More than 1.5million refugees have fled into Turkey alone – desperate to escape the bloodshed in Syria.

From Turkish port cities like Izmir and Mersin, thousands of refugees venture across the Mediterranean aiming for Italy, he said.

Then the majority make for more welcoming nations like Sweden and Germany, turning themselves over to authorities and appealing for asylum.

"They are going like refugees," he said.

Two Turkish refugee-smugglers backed up the claims made by the ISIS Syrian operative.

One admitted to helping more than ten trained ISIS rebels infiltrate Europe under the guise of asylum seekers.

He said: "I’m sending some fighters who want to go and visit their families.

"Others just go to Europe to be ready."

IGAn Islamic State fighter brandishes the radical group's jet-black flag

IGThe Islamic State group has seized control of huge swathes of Iraq and Syria in the last year

The Syrian operative, a former member of his nation's security forces, said ISIS had ambitious plans ahead.

"It’s our dream that there should be a caliphate not only in Syria but in all the world," he said "and we will have it soon, God willing."

The operative agreed to a meeting at the urging of a former Free Syrian Army gunman who fought alongside him in the war.

The Syrian said he had been granted permission to attend the meeting by his superior in ISIS — a radical referred to by members of the group as an "emir."

"There are some things I’m allowed to tell you and some things I’m not," he said.

During the meeting, the operative said he believed future attacks would only target Western governments – not civilians.

Although details of terror plot are something over which he has little control, he claims.

The revelation comes just days after a spokesperson for Islamic State called on Muslims in the West to carry out terror attacks.

The jihadist told Western followers if they had the opportunity to "shed a drop of blood" in Western countries – then they should do so.

Spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani also praised the recent terror attacks in Australia, Belgium and France.

"We repeat our call to Muslims in Europe, the infidel West, and everywhere to target the Crusaders in their home countries and wherever they find them," he said.

"We will be enemies, in front of God, to any Muslim who can shed a drop of blood of a Crusader and abstains from doing that with a bomb, bullet, knife, car, rock or even a kick or a punch."

A Turkish foreign ministry official said authorities were actively working to clamp down on refugee-smuggling.

He pointed out that since Europe accepts few refugees through legal channels, the demand for smuggling has increased.

"Illegal migration has been an important issue and Turkey is effectively fighting against it," the official, who declined to be named, confirmed.

"Of course the most effective way to put an end to all these problems would be immediate action by the international community to solve the Syrian conflict."

When asked about the smuggling of Islamic State operatives in boats of innocent refugees, the anonymous official said his government was unaware of the plot.

"We do not have that particular intelligence," he said.

"Turkey has been taking very tight measures against [ISIS] with all the capabilities the government has."

Daily Express

Seeking a Fair Distribution of Refugees in Europe

German and European Union leaders have called for European countries to share the burden of absorbing the hundreds of thousands of migrants who have poured into the continent this summer. One plan, which was proposed in May, would have established quotas based on each country’s size and resources. The quotas were rejected in June, but they may be a starting point for any comprehensive solution.

Based on the proportions outlined in the May proposal, here are countries that have already accepted …

Sweden Denmark Netherlands Germany Belgium Italy Bulgaria Cyprus Malta

Fewer than the quota



Finland Estonia Latvia Lithuania Ireland Poland Britain Czech Rep. Slovakia France Hungary Romania Slovenia Croatia Portugal Spain Greece
Source: New York Times analysis. Note: Austria has not disclosed how many people it has granted asylum.

The scope of the May proposal was limited: Distribute 20,000 newly arrived refugees over two years. It was supposed to be a first step in addressing the crisis.

The plan assigned each country a share of refugees based on its economic strength, population, unemployment and asylum applications approved over the last five years. Several member countries, however, opposed the quota system and have approved relatively few asylum applications. A version of the plan without a comprehensive quota system was adopted in July but was widely criticized as insufficient to contain the migration crisis.

Quotas are likely to be part of the European Union’s approach to the issue in the coming weeks. On Thursday, the president of the European Council called for the fair distribution of at least 100,000 refugees.

These charts use the proportions from the May plan to assess which countries have been taking on a higher share of the refugee burden than the proposal would require, and which have not.
If the quotas proposed in May went into effect now:

Nine countries would meet the quota

18 countries would have to accept more applicants

Target proposed in May

Slovakia France Germany Croatia Britain Italy


Share of people granted asylum in Europe, January 2014 to March 2015


Hungary Spain Netherlands Finland Poland Sweden Ireland Portugal Belgium Latvia Romania Denmark Slovenia Czech Republic Bulgaria Lithuania Estonia Malta Luxembourg Greece Cyprus

10%


20%


10%

Sources: Eurostat; European Commission. Note: Austria has not disclosed how many people it has granted asylum.

A country’s population and its gross domestic product account for 80 percent of the formula used to calculate the proposed quotas. The European Commission said that larger populations and economies “are generally considered more able to shoulder greater migration pressures.”

The chart below shows that, of the larger countries with stronger economies, Germany and Sweden have accepted many more asylum seekers than the proposal would require, while France and Britain are behind. Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta stand out as accepting more applicants than the proposal would require despite being smaller and poorer countries.
Population vs. wealth


Accepted proportionally more refugees than proposed


Fewer than proposed



Germany


100,000,000 population

France Poland Britain Spain Italy Netherlands Romania Belgium Greece Portugal Czech Republic Bulgaria

10,000,000

Hungary Sweden Finland Slovakia Croatia Denmark Ireland Lithuania Slovenia Latvia Estonia Cyprus

20%

Circle size shows share of all people people granted asylum in Europe from January 2014 to March 2015


1,000,000

10%

5%

Malta

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

Poorer economies

Richer economies

Gross domestic product per capita

Sources: International Monetary Fund; Eurostat; European Commission. Note: Austria and Luxembourg are not shown.

Additional editing by Jeremy White

Telegraph 

Why do refugees and migrants come to Europe, and what must be done to ease the crisis?

2015 has been a record year for migration levels into Europe via different routes. Academics from King's College London explain why refugees and migrants risk their lives to be on the continent

A Turkish police officer carries the dead body of Aylan Kurdi, 3 off the shores in Bodrum, southern Turkey after a boat carrying refugees sank while reaching the Greek island of Kos. Thousands of refugees and migrants arrived in Athens on September 2, as Greek ministers held talks on the crisis, with Europe struggling to cope with the huge influx fleeing war and repression in the Middle East and Africa. Photo: Nilufer Demir/AFP/Getty Images

After three-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body was found on a Turkish beach on Wednesday, the photographs published online shocked the world and led to greater calls for EU governments to accept more Syrian refugees.

This year there has been record numbers of arrivals and figures show 100,000 reached EU borders in July. In one week in mid-August, 20,843 migrants - virtually all of them fleeing war and persecution in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq - washed up on the shores of Greek islands, making up nearly half of last year's total.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 160,000 migrants have made their way to Greece - nearly four times the 43,500 who arrived in the country during all of 2014, the UN refugee agency said.

But why do refugees and migrants come to Europe? And what can be done to solve the crisis? King's College London academics explain.

Why do refugees come to Europe?

Charles Kirchofer, PhD Candidate, department of war studies

Middle Eastern countries are destinations for refugees, with the UN expecting the number in Jordan alone to exceed one million by the end of this year. That is a substantial burden for a country with a population of only 6.5 million and a per capita GDP of just £3,400 per year. With a population 10 times the size, per capita GDP 8 times as high, and just 170,000 refugees, the UK could certainly do more.

But Jordan is struggling to supply all the refugees within the country with basic services like food, sanitation, and health care. Refugees are thus forced to continue onward to reach a better life, preferably in a rich country in Europe. The UN reports around 1.2 million refugees in Lebanon, with most coming from Syria. The Lebanese government is notoriously ineffectual, unable to supply its own citizens with steady electricity or, since this summer, Beirut with sufficient rubbish collection.

Its ability to care for the masses of refugees, even with the assistance of the UN, is therefore limited. It is thus no wonder many seek placement, through official channels or otherwise, in Europe.

Eugenio Lilli, department of war studies

People fleeing armed conflict in the Middle East migrate to Europe because they see Europe as a place of peace and wealth compared to the violence and despair that characterise their home countries.

However, such a trend should not be overemphasised. For example, in the case of Syria, the data available clearly shows that the great majority of Syrian refugees has so far resettled in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey and not in European countries.



Mapped: Where do migrants apply for asylum in Europe?

Pablo de Orellana, teaching fellow, department of war studies

This is not a crisis of economic migration. The human tragedy in the Mediterranean is the humanitarian fallout of two wars that have no prospect of resolution. In Libya the fall of Muammar Gaddafi has left the country divided and spiralling into increased violence, while in Syria horrifying human rights abuses, particularly of religious and ethnic minorities, are a self-explanatory incentive to flee.

It is now impossible to pretend that these refugees choose to become economic migrants, or that Western policy in Libya and Syria is unrelated.

Dalibor Rohac, research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC

According to Frontex, the largest ethnic group of asylum-seekers that have entered the EU this year are Syrians, followed by Afghanis. The humanitarian catastrophe in Syria has been dramatic and the bulk of the displaced Syrians have so far sought refuge in other Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, or Egypt.

In contrast, some of the wealthier states of the region, most conspicuously Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, have shown very little willingness to let refugees in.

Nick Cowen, PhD candidate, department of political economy

Our best evidence suggests that immigration is usually economically beneficial for host countries. The majority of refugees arriving on European shores are able-bodied and unlikely to be an exception to this general rule. So the best way for Europe to help would be to offer immediate legal residency and access to labour markets. It might be politically expedient to restrict access to some welfare benefits but most migrants will be keen to work regardless.

Eugenio Lilli, department of war studies and founding chairman of King's College US Foreign Policy Research Group

The only way to permanently ease the migrant situation in Europe is to get serious about solving the conflicts that make people flee their home countries in the first place. With regard to Syria, this has not been the case. Conversely, policies implemented by some international and regional actors have only compounded the situation there. Absent this long term solution, the European Commission’s plan for national refugee quotas seems a sensible temporary option.

Dalibor Rohac, research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC

The failure of the EU's response stems from the fact that border protection and asylum processing have been left in the hands of individual Schengen countries. Assisting the refugees and processing asylum requests have become common pool problems, with individual countries not facing the common Schengen border having little incentive to help.

The idea of quotas, which would redistributing the burden more evenly across the Schengen space is laudable but will likely prove incompatible with the continuation of the freedom of movement in the EU. What is needed therefore, is a commonly administered asylum process, run by the EU, not by politicians in member states.

Telegraph

Transport staff ask Buhari to probe Dangote, say he is underpaying for labour

Buhari

By Kingsley Fanwo

Lokoja – Transport staff of the Dangote Cement Company, Obajana, are at loggerheads with the management of the company over poor remuneration, threatening not to resume work until their demands are met.

The workers who barricaded the entrance gate on Friday did not allow some management staff to drive in to the premises.

The workers who chatted with Vanguard at the premises of the company in Obajana,Friday, asked President Muhammed Buhari to beam the anti graft light on the business Czar, Aliko Dangote because he is underpaying for labour, thereby exploiting them for his private gain.

They called on Presidency to implore Alhaji Aloko Dangote to implement workers’ welfare measures and look into demands for salary increment in view of the economic situation which is biting hard on their families.

A worker who simply identified himself as Chizoba said they are the ones doing the work which has rated Dangote as one of the richest in the world.

“We implore the President of Nigeria to advise Alh. Dangote to place the workers’ welfare on the front burners to ensure industrial harmony at the company. We cannot be working for one of the world’s richest men who will in turn, be paying us peanuts as salaries”, he said.

The workers said it was unacceptable for management to be paying them N20,000 naira per month when some of the management staff earn as high as a million naira per month.

They said they cannot be slaves in their own land.

“For more than 5yrs the company had been promising us increment and promotion. ”
Another staff Usman Garuba said they have been working for years in the company and the management kept promising them better welfare packages but have failed.
“The last meeting that we held with the management they promised to implement the salary increase within one week but they have failed.

“We added two days and now another one week has elapsed. We demand that a top management officer from the head office come to address us if not we are going to continue the current strike”.

The workers said they are ready to go to any length to achieve their objective.
“Some of us are taking N25000, some N30000 and some N40000.

They are paying the expatriates N2M monthly. If they don’t need us let them sack us”, Garuba said.

Efforts by our reporters to get the management’s side of the story were rebuffed as they all declined comment on the issue.

Vanguard

Buhari congratulates Idowu-Fearon over his new appointment

Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Nigeria’s Most Reverend Josiah Idowu-Fearon, on his appointment as the Secretary-General of the Consultative Council of the Anglican Communion Worldwide.

In a letter delivered to Dr. Idowu-Fearon in London on Friday on the occasion of his commissioning into the new post, President Buhari said that all Nigerians were proud of his elevation into one of the most important offices in the world of faith.

The President also applauded Bishop Idowu-Fearon’s emergence, after a highly competitive selection process, as the first African to occupy the office.

“With your intellect, with great pastoral zeal and with compassion, you have over the years risen above intolerance and narrow sectarianism, and built inter-faith and ecumenical bridges of understanding among your countrymen.

“We salute your special gift of clearly articulating the essence and beauty of the many bonds that bind us.

“You have lived up to your calling and attained your self-stated goals of creating a culture of respect for differences, a culture of accepting human beings for what they are, and playing down the things that divide them.

“Our nation and the world will certainly be a better place if all men of God approach pastoral work with the same patience, compassion and fidelity to higher principles that you have exhibited in the various offices you have held.

“It is our prayer that, in your new position, God uses you to counsel and move the entire worldwide Anglican Communion in the direction in which you have taken the Anglican Church in Nigeria—towards an intimate knowledge of others, and sincere fellowship with everyone.

“This is the imperative of the moment: it is what the world direly needs today,“wrote President Buhari in the congratulatory letter.

Buhari wished Bishop Idowu-Fearon, God’s guidance and success at his new post in the Anglican Communion Office in London.

The letter was delivered to the Most Reverend Idowu-Fearon by a personal emissary of the President, Mallam Adamu Adamu.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/buhari-congratulates-idowu-fearon-over-his-new-appointment/#sthash.G39dT4x0.dpuf

Queen 'to make rare public speech' on day she overtakes Victoria as longest-reigning monarch

The Queen is expected to address the people of Britain and the Commonwealth in a short speech at a Scottish railway station when she sets her record on September 9

The Queen is about to become our longest-reigning monarch Photo: Getty

The Queen is expected to make a rare public speech thanking her British and Commonwealth subjects for 63 years of support when she becomes our longest-reigning monarch on Wednesday.

Her Majesty, who had originally wanted to spend the landmark day in private, has already bowed to the clamour for a public appearance by agreeing to interrupt her holiday at Balmoral and open a railway in the Borders.

Now she is said to be contemplating going even further by speaking at the end of her journey aboard a steam train, when she would be likely to pay tribute to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, the woman whose record reign she will overtake.

The Queen rarely speaks in public, confining herself to set piece events such as her Christmas message, the State opening of Parliament and speeches at State banquets when she is entertaining or visiting other leaders.

Queen Victoria is about to be surpassed as our longest-reigning monarch Photo: (AP Photo)

But the people of Tweedbank, near Galashiels, are hoping the Queen will mark her historic achievement by addressing the nation from the newly-built railway station where she will end her journey.

The Queen, who had insisted she wanted “no fuss” to be made about her record-breaking day, will board a train at Edinburgh Waverley Station pulled by the steam locomotive Union of South Africa for the two-hour journey.

It will stop at Newtongrange in Midlothian, where the Queen will unveil a plaque, before reaching Tweedbank, where the Queen will officially open the Borders Railway, the longest domestic railway line to be built in the UK in over a century.

She will be greeted by a brass band and will unveil another plaque, at which point she may decide to speak, though it is understood that a final decision will not be made until next week.

The station will be open to the public, who are expected to attend in their thousands to share in the Queen’s achievement. Television crews from all over the world will also be broadcasting the event, and the Queen may decide to use the opportunity to address not only the people of Britain, but of the 53 nations of the Commonwealth, an organisation whose success is her proudest achievement.

Her Majesty has also given permission for 24-hour news TV cameras to broadcast live from the garden of Buckingham Palace for the first time on Wednesday.

Ten television crews, from Britain, the US and the Commonwealth, will be allowed to broadcast from the lawn from the early hours until midnight on September 9, on a day when the Palace will also be open to paying visitors.

After opening the railway the Queen will return to Balmoral where she will skip a generation in her private celebration by spending the evening with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge but not the Prince of Wales.

The Queen will celebrate her big day with the younger generation of the Royal family (Mark Cuthbert)

The Prince has chosen to spend the day at Dumfries House, the stately home he saved for the nation in Ayrshire, being interviewed by Ant and Dec for a documentary on the Prince’s Trust, while the Duchess of Cornwall will be visiting the ITV studios to mark the station’s 60th anniversary, going behind the scenes of the This Morning show.

A spokesman for the Prince said he had a “long-standing engagement” to be at Dumfries House. Sources said he had not kept his diary free on the Queen’s historic day because Buckingham Palace had told members of the Royal family it should be “business as usual” on the day.

The Countess of Wessex will also be working, attending an engagement in London to promote the Diamond Jubilee Trust, meaning the Earl of Wessex will also be in the capital.

Telegraph 

60,000 antelope died in 4 days, and no one knows why

Albert Salemgareyev

It started in late May.

When geoecologist Steffen Zuther and his colleagues arrived in central Kazakhstan to monitor the calving of one herd of saigas, a critically endangered, steppe-dwelling antelope, veterinarians in the area had already reported dead animals on the ground.

"But since there happened to be die-offs of limited extent during the last years, at first we were not really alarmed," Zuther, the international coordinator of the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative, told Live Science.

But within four days, the entire herd -- 60,000 saiga -- had died. As veterinarians and conservationists tried to stem the die-off, they also got word of similar population crashes in other herds across Kazakhstan. By early June, the mass dying was over. [See Images of the Saiga Mass Die-Off]

Now, the researchers have found clues as to how more than half of the country's herd, counted at 257,000 as of 2014, died so rapidly. Bacteria clearly played a role in the saigas' demise. But exactly how these normally harmless microbes could take such a toll is still a mystery, Zuther said.

"The extent of this die-off, and the speed it had, by spreading throughout the whole calving herd and killing all the animals, this has not been observed for any other species," Zuther said. "It's really unheard of."

Crucial steppe players
Saigas play a critical role in the ecosystem of the arid grassland steppe, where the cold winters prevent fallen plant material from decomposing; the grazing of the dog-size, Gonzo-nosed antelopes helps to break down that organic matter, recycling nutrients in the ecosystem and preventing wildfires fueled by too much leaf litter on the ground. The animals also provide tasty meals for the predators of the steppe, Zuther said. [Images: Ancient Beasts of the Arctic]

"Where you find saiga, we recognize also that the other species are much more abundant," Zuther told Live Science.

Saigas, which are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, live in a few herds in Kazakhstan, one small herd in Russia and a herd in Mongolia. The herds congregate with other herds during the cold winters, as well as when they migrate to other parts of Kazakhstan, during the fall and spring. The herds split up to calve their young during the late spring and early summer. The die-off started during the calving period.

Die-offs of saigas, including one that felled 12,000 of the stately creatures last year, have occurred frequently in recent years. But the large expanse of the country affected by last year's die-off meant veterinarians couldn't get to the animals until long after their deaths. The delay hindered any determination of a cause of death, and researchers eventually speculated that an abundance of greenery caused digestion problems, which led to bacterial overgrowth in the animals' guts.

Detailed analysis
This time, field workers were already on the ground, so they were able to take detailed samples of the saigas' environment -- the rocks the animals walked on and the soil they crossed -- as well as the water the animals drank and the vegetation they ate in the months and weeks leading up to the die-off. The scientists also took samples of the ticks and other insects that feed on saiga, hoping to find some triggering cause.

The researchers additionally conducted high-quality necropsies of the animals, and even observed the behavior of some of the animals as they died. The females, which cluster together to calve their young, were hit the hardest. They died first, followed by their calves, which were still too young to eat any vegetation. That sequence suggested that whatever was killing off the animals was being transmitted through the mothers' milk, Zuther said.

Tissue samples revealed that toxins, produced by Pasteurella and possibly Clostridia bacteria, caused extensive bleeding in most of the animals' organs. But Pasteurella is found normally in the bodies of ruminants like the saigas, and it usually doesn't cause harm unless the animals have weakened immune systems.

Genetic analysis so far has only deepened the mystery, as the bacteria found were the garden-variety, disease-causing type.

"There is nothing so special about it. The question is why it developed so rapidly and spread to all the animals," Zuther said.

Mystery endures

A similar mass die-off of 400,000 saigas occurred in 1988, and veterinarians reported similar symptoms. But because that die-off occurred during Soviet times, researchers simply listed Pasteurellosis, the disease caused by Pasteurella, as the cause and performed no other investigation, Zuther added.

So far, the only possible environmental cause was that there was a cold, hard winter followed by a wet spring, with lots of lush vegetation and standing water on the ground that could enable bacteria to spread more easily, Zuther said. That by itself doesn't seem so unusual, though, he said.

Another possibility is that such flash crashes are inevitable responses to some natural variations in the environment, he said. Zuther said he and his colleagues plan to continue their search for a cause of the die-off.

Football: Mathieu Debuchy admits he’s been considering Arsenal exit because of Hector Bellerin

Mathieu Debuchy has been weighing up his options (Picture: Getty)


Mathieu Debuchy admits he’s been considering leaving Arsenal after seeing Hector Bellerin replace him in the starting XI.


The France international saw rookie Bellerin establish himself as a regular last season while he was on the sidelines nursing injury problems.


And despite returning stronger than ever in pre-season, Bellerin kept his place in the team for the Community Shield, which left Debuchy considering his future.


‘It is difficult,’ he told L’Equipe.


‘Even if I had not played a lot last season, in my head I would return to start after my recovery.


‘But, at the Community Shield against Chelsea, Wenger chose him, Bellerin.


‘It was a surprise and a disappointment. Let’s say it crossed my mind (leaving).


‘But I want to be at Arsenal and to take my place.’


Debuchy is currently on international duty with France and will hope a strong showing can help him his battle to usurp Bellerin in the Arsenal team.

Metro UK

Hipster Barbie exists, and she has her very own perfectly filtered Instagram (of course)

‘I just want to go on more adventures, be around good energy, connect with people, learn new things, grow.’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

Barbie: she’s always keeping up with the times.

And if that means getting on Instagram and copying all the hipstery, super *authentic* posts shared by fitness and fashion bloggers, that’s what she’ll do, damnit. And she’ll do it better than everyone else.

Presenting SocalityBarbie, the new Barbie edition for the modern hipster age.

She shares the same kind of stuff as all the people you hate-follow: super picturesque perfectly posed hikes, latte art, and photos of her travels, all while perfectly dressed in a curated – but oh-so-effortless – outfit.

‘Waking up at 10am was so worth it to get that perfect light and fog.’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

The Instagram account’s creator, who prefers to stay anonymous, told metro.co.uk that she was inspired to start the project after seeing the same old stuff over and over again, all over Instagram.

‘I couldn’t help noticing a strong presence of people on instagram who were taking the same “authentic” images.

‘Broken crayons still color.’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

‘It started to become extremely difficult to tell all of their images apart.

‘I wanted to make a point but without putting myself in the images. I thought using a Barbie would be the perfect way to do that.’ 

‘Adventure fuel!’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

SocalityBarbie is now pretty much the ultimate source of Instagram inspiration, with perfectly filtered photos (using hipster app of choice VSCO cam, obvs) of her dream life.

It’s like classic Barbie has grown up, got with the times, and started a whole new life of freedom and cool hats.

‘Could I be any more authentic?’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

Part of that means skipping the classic Ken doll in favour of someone with a bit more edge.

Her perfect man, the account’s creator told us, would be ‘all about man buns [and] beards, and he would probably be a barista/model.’

‘There is no wifi in the forest, but I promise you will find a better connection.’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

Her favourite things right now are ‘photographing her coffee with her Kinfolk magazine and holding up her ice cream in front of pretty walls’.

‘Cuz holding your ice cream up to a wall turns it into art.’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

But life isn’t just plastic. It’s fantastic.

The account does have a greater message, about our carefully curated social media selves.

(Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

‘It’s kind of a bummer what instagram has turned in to. It’s no longer a place where we share real moments anymore.

‘Most of the images you see are well planned out and made too look 100x prettier than they actually are.

‘Great things never come from comfort zones.’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

‘The life thats portrayed through instagram doesn’t look anything like the one they are actually living.’

‘Rough draft. Book coming soon!’ (Picture: Instagram/socalitybarbie)

Metro UK

Buhari’s First Semester Report Card by Etcetera

Etcetera

We often use benchmarks as measures of progress. ‘How is your favourite football team doing at the beginning of this season?’ ‘How many words does your one-year-old son say in a minute?’ And, of course, there’s the time-honoured measure of how well a new president is doing after 100 days in office. In case you hadn’t heard, that benchmark is here for President Buhari.

You may feel it’s a little impertinent for me to issue a report card for President Buhari on his performance during his first 100 days in office. Yes, I’m not his teacher, and he’s not my student.
But what the heck? It’s a free country and everyone else is doing it. So here it goes:

Confidence:- Buhari has brought back confidence in governance. Especially in tough times, the confident presence of a leader begets confidence in those that he or she leads. With his steady demeanour, optimistic outlook and command, Buhari embodies confidence. The number of incompetent heads of parastatals he has sacked so far reflects that sentiment. The percentage of Nigerians who think the country is on the right track is up. Grade: A1

Pace of Governance:– When the pressure is high, leaders need perspective. They need swift action. Buhari is working on so many things all by himself that it’s sometimes hard to keep track of all of them. He has too much on his plate. He should get into perspective and allow others do the job where he can’t. It won’t be a surprise to discover that the president is in charge of his travel itinerary, meeting schedule and other range of issues on his plate. He runs the risk of edging toward a burn out. Well, some argue that the president is keeping a pace that works for him. Grade: F9

Communications:– Effective leadership communication is outcome oriented and audience specific. President Buhari is clearly not an articulate communicator and he doesn’t do enough to shape his message to the audience. Hearing Mr. President pronounce APC leaves you lost and wondering if you heard him correctly. Maybe his media aides should have used this as an excuse to exonerate him from the hundred things he promised to have achieved before his first 100 days in office that has now capped him as a liar. Buhari’s tone of voice usually stays within a fairly narrow range. He could do better here. Grade: F9

Team Player: – There are two major factors on this distinction. The first is to get a great team in place. The second is to get your ego out of the way and allow the team to do their job. Buhari has stumbled here and most people will agree that his failure to appoint ministers in his first 100 days in office has been a setback to governance. Whether you agree with me or not, Buhari can’t be president and ministers all by himself. We need competent hands to man the various ministries. You cannot achieve a lot in three and half months without the support of a team. Good leaders are the keepers of the what, not the masters of the how. Assembling a strong team also helps in establishing an agenda. Buhari needs to realise that he’ll likely never have more momentum than he has now if he doesn’t put a team on the ground. Grade: F9

Accountability and Responsibility: President Buhari has done fairly well with the campaign for government officials to be held accountable for their actions or inactions. He has brought a sense of transparency and has taken some interesting first steps in promoting government accountability. I think this is an area where there is a lot more to do however. For instant, there hasn’t really been a clear explanation yet as to how he is going to tackle corruption and how the country will avoid being ripped apart by government officials in the years to come. Grade: C

Economy: – This has so far been one of the president’s worst subjects. He may be making a grave mistake focusing all his attention on recouping looted funds instead of providing the basic needs of the people. Never in history has this approach successfully led a country out of recession. This might lead to an unhappy ending, and more inflation. The continuous drop of the nation’s currency is stark reminder that we are still in the worst slump in 50 years. Grade: F9

National Security:- Nigerians are still not experiencing any sense of security. People are dying and getting maimed everyday on the streets by hoodlums and touts. Boko Haram insurgents are still using the yet to be found Chibok girls for their bombings. Armed robbers are having a field day carting away properties. The country is still not safe. Grade: F9

Buhari, the elephant of Hindostan

By Ochereome Nnanna

SOME of us must be familiar with the poem: The Six Blind Men of Hindostan by JE Saxe. These curious blind men went to learn about the elephant. They had to “observe” the huge animal by feeling with their palms the part of the body they found themselves touching. The first one touched its side and shrieked: “bless me, the elephant is very like a wall!”


Another one felted around tusk and said the elephant was “very like a spear”. Another touched the ear and said the elephant was like a “fan”. The one that touched the trunk said it was like a “snake”. Another touched its leg around the knee and declared it “very like a tree”. Last of all, the blind man that touched the tail said even the blindest man would know that the elephant was very like a “rope”. Now concluded the poet:

And so these blind men of Hindostan,


Disputed loud and long,


Each with his own opinion


Exceeding stiff and strong,


Though each was partly in the right,


And each was partly wrong.


The blind men of Hindostan were driven by the genuine motive of learning. But some Nigerians, blinded by hope (or justification) of presidential favours lie without shame.


President Muhammadu Buhari has taken nearly 100 days to appoint about thirty inner members of his government. He has appointed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Service Chiefs, his Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Director General of the Directorate of State Services (DSS), “Acting” National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Comptroller General of Customs and that of Immigration, MD of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), MD of the Nigerian Ports of Authority (NPA), Presidential Spokesmen and handymen, GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the lot.


Given the fact that “97%” of these appointees are from the Arewa Muslim North, Buhari has completed the “Northernisation” of the Executive Branch of Government.


He already had in place, his men occupying the high and juicy posts of Head of Service of the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation and Auditor General of the Federation to sew up the Federal Bureaucracy. What remain now are for the Minister of Petroleum Resources (which he has signalled his intention to assign to himself) Minister of Finance and Attorney General of the Federation. Thus the economic and financial resources of the country will be in Arewa hands.


Now, let us also bear in mind that, already, the Federal Legislature (Senate and House of Representatives) reflecting the character and complexion of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is already led by Northerners. On the other hand, the Federal Judiciary (Chief Justice of the Federation, President of the Court of Appeal and Chief Justice of the Federal High Court) is also completely dominated by Arewa. You are left to wonder: where are the other Nigerians? Nigeria has never, at any time in its peace time history, been lumbered into this extreme nepotism and sectional lopsidedness, even in the darkest days of Buhari’s first coming as a military ruler.


Unfortunately, the “blind men” of Nigeria are justifying it! Professor Pat Utomi applauds, and tells Buhari to put only people from his village in the entire government if he likes and there is nothing wrong with it. Festus Keyamo concurs. Last Monday, former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Obong Victor Attah, visited Vanguard and told Nigerians to first ask Buhari why he was doing this before criticising him. He forgot that Buhari already did so when he addressed a press conference while in America. He made it clear he was going to form his government based on a warped “97%5%” formula to ensure that those who voted for him were adequately (some say “parasitically”) rewarded.


APC says the number of appointees so far is “insignificant”, given the vast number offices yet to be filled. They want to deceive the gullible, but when you consider the picture painted above of the entire machinery of the federal government already filled by one section of the country, you will realise that anyone appointed from now henceforth will be like an “observer” among the “owners” of the government. It is the appointments that are yet to be made that are actually insignificant in clout compared to the powers of those already installed in office.


Presidential spokesmen say Buhari appointed “those he knows who have worked with him for years”. He is unfit to be a Nigerian president if he has no associates from outside the North, even as a party leader, retired general former head of state!


The Presidency also says the posts were filled based “purely on merit”. And I ask again, what standard of “merit” was applied which the South East failed so woefully to meet? Did they use the Arabic language or Islamic paradigms to do the evaluation? A section that consistently scores the highest in most entrance exams and tests cannot find the “merit” to get even a seat, while the sections that consistently bring the rear overwhelmingly outperforms the entire South! Some “merit”!


Buhari has made himself a president of the North. He has “Biafranised” the South East. It was only during the civil war that Dr. Ukpabi Asika, the Administrator of the East Central State, was the only Igbo man from the East in the government.


Buhari has brazenly defied the Constitution of the Federal Government of Nigeria 1999. Section 14(3) says: “The Composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity and command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or any of its agencies”.


We warned about candidate Buhari during the campaigns, but most people refused to listen! However, for Buhari, the “honeymoon” is over.

Vanguard