Pat Utomi : Nigeria most miserable nation on earth

Former presidential candidate, Pat Utomi, has described Nigeria as the most miserable place to live on planet earth right now.
Utomi, a professor of political economy, stated this on Thursday when he appeared on Channels TV’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily.
He also said Nigeria ranks low on almost every global development index.

According to him, Nigeria’s seeming unpreparedness for very important events such as the 2019 election thrusts the nation into a state of confusion and disarray.

He said: “Nigeria is the most miserable place to live on planet earth right now. Nigeria is at the bottom of almost everything.”
“We are not surviving. Millions of people are hungry and dying out there. Everywhere in Nigeria is a warzone. If we don’t fix this, we would be dealing with an existential crisis,” he said.

Recall that Utomi had earlier said Nigeria was not making progress as a nation because the government was dominating and suffocating. - Daily Post

129 inmates of Enugu Maximum Prisons to sit for NECO examinations

No fewer than 129 inmates of the Enugu Maximum Security Prison of the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS) will sit for the National Examination Council (NECO) November/December examination.

The NPS Public Relations Officer in Enugu, Mr Chukwuemeka Monday made the disclosure in a statement issued in Enugu on Thursday.

Monday said that the Deputy Controller of Prison, Mr Ibrahim Usman confirmed that the number was the highest since inception of the prison centre for the examination.

The service spokesperson said that the inmates had been well tutored and prepared by best hands to put up a good performance and surpass 2017 performance.

He recalled that 81 inmates performed excellently in the 2017 NECO having passed all their subjects with credit including English and Mathematics. - PM News

Doyin Okupe’s son joins Obasanjo’s son to support Buhari

Ditan Okupe and Festus Keyamo

Ditan Okupe, son of Dr. Doyin Okupe, former senior special assistant to former president Goodluck Jonathan, has declared support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term project.

Dr. Doyin Okupe, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is an ardent supporter of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 presidency.

In a letter he sent to Festus Keyamo, Buhari’s campaign aide, the young Okupe, who is a lawyer, begged to join the campaign team of Buhari to ensure the president’s victory in 2019.

He described Buhari as the best candidate for the top job, adding that everything must be done to prevent the PDP and its cohorts from returning to power next year.

Reacting to his son’s decison to join the Buhari campaign team, Okupe tweeted: ”Ditan okupe is my Son. He is a very brilliant young man. He went to Kings college, Lagos, Burkinham university, UK &did post graduate in law at d London school of economics.We both hv had serious issues in the last 5yrs.This may be his way of getting back at me. I wish him luck.”

Festus Keyamo also tweeted: ”Breaking ranks with their fathers for PMB: Ditan Okupe, 1st son of Atiku’s man, Doyin Okupe, a UK-trained lawyer of 12 yrs post-call in Nig, volunteers to work 4 PMB’s campaign team just like OBJ’s son. Nigerian youths note: Atiku’s salesmen cannot even sell him to their children” - PM News

Paris Saint-Germain admit to racially profiling young players

Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed that their scouts illegally racially profiled young players as part of their recruitment process.

They were asked to list whether the youngsters were French, north African, West Indian or African, allegedly in order to limit the number of black recruits, according to the investigative news website Mediapart, citing documents from the Football Leaks dossier.

Collection of information on an individual’s race, religion or ethnicity is forbidden in France.

Mediapart said the practice was carried out from 2013 until spring this year. PSG confirmed racial profiling took place but said the club’s management was “not aware” of it and that it was done in secret.

In a statement, the club said: “Paris Saint-Germain reaffirms its firm condemnation of all forms of discrimination, racism or ethnic monitoring. Forms with illegal content were used between 2013 and 2018 by the training centre’s department responsible for player scouting outside the Île-de-France region. These forms were introduced at the sole personal initiative of the head of this department.”

Mediapart claims questions over racial profiling at PSG were first raised in March 2014 after a talented 13-year-old player, Yann Gboho, caught the attention of the club’s scouts while playing for FC Rouen in Normandy.

During his evaluation four months earlier, a PSG scout filled in a form in which there were four choices as to the origin of players: French, north African, West Indian and African. The scout allegedly listed Gboho – who was born in the Ivory Coast – as “West Indian”.

The scout, Serge Fournier, reportedly told Mediapart that PSG “didn’t want us to recruit players born in Africa, because you are never sure of their date of birth”. Fournier added the electronic form “should have said ‘white’ instead of ‘French’” as all the players recommended for signing were French.

At a meeting on 14 March 2014, Marc Westerloppe, responsible for recruiting in France outside of Paris at the time, is alleged to have spoken of a “problem with the direction the club is going in”. “We need more diversity. There are too many West Indians and Africans in Paris,” he is reported to have said.

This caused an angry exchange with Pierre Reynaud, in charge of recruitment in the Paris region, who insisted: “It must not be a question of ethnicity but talent.”

A complaint was made to the club’s human resources department, said Mediapart, which resulted in Westerloppe being summoned to a meeting in June 2014 during which he dismissed the accusations as “false, malicious and stupid”. He was not disciplined by the club. Westerloppe now works in youth development at Rennes, where Gboho plays and where PSG’s former sports director Olivier Létang is president.

In their statement PSG said that when made aware of the racial profiling last month they launched an internal investigation to “understand how such practices could have existed and to decide on the necessary measures to be taken”. “As the emergence of the club’s young talents proves, scouting is decided solely on a skills and behavioural basis,” the statement added.

In 2011 Mediapart revealed an alleged attempt by the French Football Federation to limit the number of black and north African players in its youth scheme. - The Guardian

FG: Why we resisted temptation to cancel power sector privatisation

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says the federal government resisted the temptation to cancel the power sector privatisation in order not to send wrong signals to prospective investors.

The minister said this on Thursday in Abuja while answering questions on a programme aired on Radio Nigeria.

The nation’s power sector was privatised in November 2013 as private investors took over now-defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to ensure adequate, regular and stable supply of electricity to the consumer at a reasonable cost

Mohammed said many of the beneficiary companies of the privatisation process were undercapitalised, unequipped lacked the necessary expertise.

He said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari met a very chaotic situation on ground but it is taking pro-active measures to improve on electricity

The minister noted that the federal government has retrieved 690 containers of power equipment out of over 800 containers abandoned at various ports by the previous administration.

“You will remember that about 800 containers of power equipment were abandoned at the ports because the previous administration did not pay the contractors and they abandoned the equipment there,” he said.

“As of today, we have been able to retrieve 690 of the containers.

“When we came in 2015, we found out that many of the beneficiary companies of the privatisation process were undercapitalised, unequipped and they lack the necessary expertise.

“We, however, resisted the temptation of cancelling the privatisation of the GenCos and DisCos in order not to send wrong signal to the investing world.

“What we met on ground was very chaotic because the gas suppliers said they would not supply the GenCos with gas because GenCos were not paying. The GenCos said they would have loved to pay but the DisCos were not paying them.”

To salvage the situation, Mohammed said the federal government then set aside a N7.1 billion payment assurance guarantee fund, which guaranteed that as long as the gas suppliers make the product available and GenCos generate power for distribution, the government would pay them.

He further disclosed that the government had made intervention fund available for the take-off of the 3,050 megawatts Mambilla hydro-electric plant project in early 2019. - TheCable

Police uncover mass grave with 200 bodies

Police in Ethiopia have discovered a mass grave containing the bodies of some 200 people in the eastern part of the country.

The discovery was made during an investigation into Abdi Mohammed, the former President of the Border Region of Somali.

Mohammed is suspected of human rights violations and of being connected to a special police force active in the region that is known to have committed violent acts, state-affiliated broadcaster Fana reported on Thursday.

He is currently in detention.

The bodies will be exhumed during the next 14 days, police said. It is not yet clear where the people were from or what happened to them.

Ethiopian officials fear that hundreds of people were killed during clashes between several ethnic groups in the eastern border regions in early August.

Similarly, former Ethiopian Opposition Leader, Birtukan Midkesa, returned home on Thursday, ending eight years of exile, as reconciliation initiated by Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, deepens.

Midkesa was greeted at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport by senior Ethiopian government officials and hundreds of well-wishers.

Speaking on arrival, Midkesa said she returned after eight years in exile, to support the reform process in Ethiopia and to encourage more women participation in politics.

“Women’s participation in political office and administration is a solution to deep seated patriarchy in Ethiopian society and during my stay in Ethiopia.

“I plan to support women’s political participation to ensure gender equality,” Midkesa said.

Midkesa was a prominent leader of the now defunct Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) opposition group, rising to international profile in the bloody aftermath of the contested May 2005 national elections.

In spite of taking more than 100 seats in the 547-seat Ethiopian parliament, CUD leaders including Midkesa rejected the election outcome, alleging vote rigged by the ruling party Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Bloody clashes between CUD supporters and Ethiopian security forces in the aftermath of the May 2005 national elections left about 200 people dead and Midkesa was jailed in November 2005, accused of trying to overthrow the government.

Midkesa was pardoned and released by the Ethiopian government in July 2007, but she was jailed again in December 2008, accused of breaking her release conditions.

She was again released in October 2010, and shortly after that she went into exile in the U.S., where she has in recent years kept a low profile, until Abiy came to office in April.

Abiy, who took office on April 2, has been calling for all opposition groups, government critics and others in exile to be part of the country’s ongoing reform process.

His administration has also been implementing measures aimed at creating a nationwide reconciliation, including the release of high-level political prisoners, invitation for Ethiopian rebel groups for talks, as well as the decision to normalise relations with neighboring Eritrea.

Various popular Ethiopian rebel groups such as the Patriotic Ginbot 7, Oromo Liberation Front, and the Ogaden National Liberation Front have since declared ceasefire with the government, and their leaders returned from exile over the past couple of months.- PM News

Why additional N176bn is needed for Abuja airport – FG

Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has assured that the new international terminal under construction at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, would be opened for operation in five weeks.

Sirika gave the assurance at the 5th Aviation Stakeholders’ Forum, on Thursday in Abuja.

The terminal is being constructed by the China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC)

The project is funded with 500 million dollars loan from the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) and 100 million dollars counterpart funding from the Nigerian government.

The minister said the new terminal had the capacity to process four million passengers annually.

He said the delay in the completion of the project was caused by some deficiencies discovered in the course of executing the project.

According to him, additional 490 million dollars was required to address the variations.

“The location of the terminal has affected the master plan of the airport and as such we are required to spend additional 490 million dollars which has been approved by FEC.

“There are also additional works to be carried out like the 1,300 capacity multi-storey car park and linking of the new terminal to the train station.

“In four to five weeks time, the terminal will be inaugurated to start operation which will increase the capacity of the airport,” he said. - Daily Post

British Government breaks silence on Shittes, army clashes

The British Government has spoken on the clashes between Nigerian security agencies and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, also known as Shittes.

Speaking through its outgoing High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, the government insisted that both the Shi’ite and security agencies must respect the rule of law in the country.

Arkwright spoke during his last media engagement with journalists in Abuja to wrap up the visit of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

He waa responding to a question on the Shi’ite, security forces’ clashes.

Artwright said, “I don’t give advice to the Nigerian government.

“What I said on the question of the IMN in the past, and I am happy to repeat it, is that the IMN must obey the rule of law by peaceful demonstration and right to demonstrate peacefully, peacefully is the key word there.

“So, of course, it is important for the security forces in Nigeria also to respect the rule of law,” Arkwright said.

“But clearly, these were serious incidence and I do hope that the independent report that concerns the government analysis of that, results to recommendations which the government will follow up. But until that report is out, it is very difficult for me to comment on it,” Arkwright added. - Daily Post 

INEC finally speaks on hacking of its website

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said it was not aware that its online database was penetrated by hackers.

INEC’s Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, stated this on Thursday, while appearing as guest on Channels TV’s flagship programme, Politics Today, which was monitored by DAILY POST in Abuja.

Several civil society groups had alleged that some politicians bent on thwarting the conduct of free and fair general elections in 2019 have recruited foreign actors to hack into INEC’s website and render it porous to enable the uploading of fictitious results from remotes locations.

Reacting, Osaze-Uzzi said INEC would have noticed any penetration of its database, if its online security had been compromised.

He added that though the electoral umpire does not conduct much of its activities online, it still maintained a robust security system.

His words: “I am not aware that our database was hacked by anyone. Certainly, not recently.

“I don’t know where that one (allegation) is coming from. We are the custodians of the database. If it were compromised, we would have known it was hacked.

“But that is not to say there hasn’t been any attempt to penetrate our security. But, I can assure that our security is robust. We take it seriously.

“Don’t forget, there are not too many things we do online yet. We probably would (only) transmit results in real-time.” - Daily Post

34-year-old banker broke into ATM, stole N14m

A former banker, Emmanuel Onuma, has been arrested by operatives of the FCT Police command for allegedly breaking into the Automated Teller Machine gallery of his former bank to steal N14million.

The 34-year-old was said to have carried out the heist at the Garki, Abuja branch of the new generation bank on October 19, 2018.

Parading Onuma alongside other suspects in Abuja on Wednesday, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Operations, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Valentine Olumese, said the ex-banker was dismissed in August for fraudulent activities.

“On November 1, in furtherance of an ongoing investigation, police operatives attached to the Garki Division arrested one Emmanuel Onuma, who broke into the ATM lobby of a bank located in Garki on October 19 at about midnight and stole the sum of N14m,” Olumese stated.

He explained that the suspect confessed that he converted the money to $33,000 in Abuja and Kaduna for ease of movement.

“Upon his arrest, the following amounts of money were recovered from him as exhibits: cash sum of $28,000; N1,650,120 and nine pieces of Ghana cedis. Other exhibits recovered from him include one new SIM card and flight tickets,” the commissioner added.

Onuma, in an interview with journalists, admitted to the crime, stating that he carried out the act because the bank failed to pay his benefits after sacking him.

“I worked with the bank for 11 years and I was not settled; no benefits, no settlement; but there is no justification for doing something wrong,” he stated and declined making further statements. - Daily Post

Shehu Sani: SURE-P, N-Power are handouts for political gain

Shehu Sani, senator representing Kaduna central, says the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) are largesse dispensed for political goals.

The SURE-P was created in 2012 during the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan while the NSIP was created by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce unemployment.

Sani alleged that the programmes are aimed at throwing handouts and crumbs to the masses with the aim of pacifying them and retaining their support for the political establishment and the ruling parties.

According to him, the SURE-P was designed to build the support base of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while N-Power was designed to build that of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He described the programmes as “handouts thrown to the masses to purchase their conscience and loyalty”.

“The ideological basis and reasoning of both the SURE-P and NSIP programmes is to reinforce the iniquities, inequalities and plunder inherent in the prevailing socioeconomic system that institutionalized the class privilege of a few against a many,” he said.

“The SURE-P programme was designed to build up the grassroots support base of the PDP and the N-Power was designed to build the grassroots support base of the APC.

“SURE-P and NSIP are institutionalised state generosities and philanthropy presented as social intervention while actually intended to neutralise mass resistance against social injustice and inequality presided over by the political establishment and the ruling elites.

“SURE-P and N-Power are all hands outs thrown to the poor ‘to purchase their conscience and loyalty’.

“SURE-P was a larcenous bread of corruption and N-Power is a butter of social deceit. Nigeria’s poverty problems can’t be solved by a ration system of throwing peanuts.

“N-Power is a repackaged SURE-P programme that only encourages the culture of social dependency on state handouts.” - TheCable

ASUU Strike: Stop paying lip service to education, students tell govt

The National Association of University Students, NAUS, has urged the Federal Government to desist from paying lip service to the education sector, in the interest of all and for national growth and development.

NAUS Deputy Secretary General, Comrade Isioma Ogochukwu, gave the charge at the NUJ secretariat on Thursday in Benin City.

Ogochukwu spoke against the backdrop of the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over poor funding of the education sector.

He was also reacting to a media report that the Federal Government cannot meet the demands of the striking lecturers at this time.

The Union had on Sunday declared a nationwide strike during its national executive council meeting at the Federal University of Technology, Akure.

It said that Nigerian universities and the entire education sector were poorly funded, and also alleged plans by the Federal Government to increase tuition fees and re-introduce an education bank.

ASUU also hinged its action on non-implementation of an agreement it entered into with the Federal Government in 2009 and non-implementation of a Memorandum of Action in 2017.

Ogochukwu told newsmen in Benin that government must invest in the education sector if truly the youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

“Nigeria as a nation has never allocated up to 15 per cent of its budget to education. So, how can you expect the sector to thrive?, We cannot progress that way.

“If the older generation has enjoyed free and accessible education during their time, it is going to be a crime for us, who are the future generation of Nigeria, to suffer and be faced with poor infrastructure, poor education facilities and incessant strike by our lecturers. This was not the intentions of our founding fathers and we will continue to engage the government constructively to achieve the Nigeria of our own.

“Education is the bedrock of development of any given society. When you pay lip service to education, you are stifling development. Many years ago, we saw people from other countries coming to our universities to study, but we don’t see them anymore.

“So, we need to do something urgently if we are really serious about developing this country. We need to start asking questions.

“Government needs to change their attitude towards the education sector. If they don’t take education serious, what then would they take serious?.

“Nigeria’s educational administrators cannot afford to fold their arms. Action should be taken, if truly the young ones would be leaders of tomorrow. They need to be adequately equipped for the challenges ahead. And it is not as if the leaders are not aware of this or the advantage of a sound education, they only prefer to extend that to their children/wards. They prefer to send their children abroad for education.”

Speaking further, the NAUS Deputy Secretary General noted that the 7.04 per cent allocation to education in the 2018 budget was not good enough.

He declared that for Nigeria to join the comity of Nations in achieving the UNESCO’s 2030 agenda, there must be concerted efforts in increasing funding of education.

Ogochukwu, therefore, demanded an upward review of subsequent budgetary allocation to education to meet the 26 per cent recommended by UNESCO, while calling on the Federal Government to urgently attend to its Memorandum of Understanding with the striking lecturers so as not to allow the strike to fester. - PM News

12 killed in California bar shooting

Twelve people killed in shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputy among the dead, police say.

The suspected gunman is also dead. Police say at least a dozen people injured. Eyewitnesses say shooter opened fire in a packed bar during college night.

Multiple students from Pepperdine University were at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks when a gunman opened fire, it said in a tweet on Thursday.

Pepperdine is a university in Malibu, California; it’s about a half hour drive from the venue.

Pepperdine officials are working with authorities and will provide updates as more information is available. The University offers its deepest condolences and is praying for everyone involved in tonight’s tragic events.

Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean has described the scene of the bar shooting in Thousand Oaks, California as “horrific.”

“It’s a horrific scene in there, there is blood everywhere and the suspect is part of that, and I didn’t want to get that close and disturb the scene and possibly disturb the investigation,” he said, adding that the motive is still unclear.

Dean said investigators had not found any type of assault rifle within the bar.

“Right now as far as we know there was only one handgun, but that could certainly change as we do a more thorough search of the building.”

The suspected gunman in the fatal Thousand Oaks bar shooting has not been identified yet, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said, who added that the FBI are assisting. The suspect was dead when police arrived on the scene.

Dean said, “It’s well too early to know if he took his own life.”

Authorities are investigating initial reports that a smoke bomb was used but continued that they had not found anything to support this yet.

“We have called in our bomb team to go through and a couple of bomb dogs here that are checking the area. But we haven’t found any other explosive device or confirmation there that there was a smoke device.”

Madeline Carr, news editor at the student paper the Pepperdine Graphic, knew some of those who were inside the Borderline Bar & Grill when the shooting started.

She told CNN the bar opens up to anyone over the age of 18 on Wednesdays and described it as a “fun spot for dancing.”

“Pepperdine’s a pretty small community, a pretty sheltered community … so it’s one of these events that it’s hard to rationalize it happening here,” she continued.

Carr said that it was heartbreaking to hear that Sgt. Ron Helus, one of the first police officers to respond to the mass shooting, had died.

“You hear about these shootings and the people that are the first responders and that really lay down their lives to help other people… I think it’s remarkable what these people do and I can’t say enough for individuals like him,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking and I know that the community will definitely be rallying together for the sergeant and the other individuals.” - CNN