Only 4 varsities approved to run e-Learning degree programmes —NUC

The four universities as listed by the commission are the University of Uyo; National Open University of Nigeria; Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and University of Maiduguri.

Director, Information and Public Relations of NUC, Mr Ibrahim Yakasai, however, warned that the commission maintains its stand that online degrees are not accepted in Nigeria at the moment.

He added this ban does not include the four universities earlier mentioned, which have been duly approved by the commission as the pilot institutions for the Nigerian universities e-Learning programme run within the shores of Nigeria.

NUC had blacklisted about 57 illegal universities in Nigeria, with some of them running online degree programmes in affiliation with some foreign universities.

But Yakasai said the Nigerian Universities e-Learning Programme is a legitimate and well thought-out pilot e-Learning initiative. It is a public-private-partnership between NUC, Park Associates e-Learning Group and the four federal universities.

He added that its goal is to provide new opportunities for students to access university education in Nigeria.

He said the students enrolled for the programme could select any of the following undergraduate degree programmes: Economics, Banking & Finance, Accounting, Business Administration and Marketing, for which they have requisite qualifications.

NUC in its weekly bulletin obtained by the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja said: “The Commission wishes to use this medium to allay all fears and doubts concerning the legitimacy or NUC endorsement of the Nigerian Universities e-Learning Programme.

“This is one of the avenues that the National Universities Commission is exploring to increase access to university education without compromising quality.

“Students in the programme are therefore advised to continue to pursue their studies without fear, and prospective applicants are encouraged to enrol.

“Concerned parents, guardians, students and the general public may contact the commission for further clarification on the programme,”

Smart bed - New Technology 2017

The Sleep Number 360 smart bed is designed to keep you comfortable by sensing your movements and automatically adjusting your position to keep you sleeping blissfully.

It works even when there are two people in the bed, can warm your feet to help you fall asleep faster, and even raise you head to stop snoring.

Ford just invested $1 billion in self-driving cars

The race to build a self-driving car keeps getting more intense -- and expensive.

Ford (F) announced Friday afternoon it would invest $1 billion over five years in a previously unheard of startup. Argo AI, led by Google and Uber veterans, will combine with Ford's existing team to develop a fully self-driving car.

It's the latest high-priced investment that a major company has made in self-driving car engineers.

Almost a year ago, General Motors (GM) spent $1 billion to acquire Cruise Automation. And last August, Uber spent $680 million on Otto, a self-driving car startup led by former Google (GOOGL, Tech30) engineers that hadn't even existed a year before.

Related: You car's data may soon be more valuable than the car itself

Argo AI is a startup that hadn't even been publicly announced. And Ford hasn't acquired all of the startup, it's only the majority stockholder. Argo AI engineers will have equity in the company, which should help it attract talent. Other companies have tried similar arrangements amid intense competition for qualified engineers.

When Google spun off its self-driving car project as Waymo in December, CEO John Krafcik said the arrangement would help it to better align incentives for employees.

Argo AI plans to have 200 employees by year's end. They will be split between Silicon Valley, Michigan and Pittsburgh.

Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky spent three years working at Google's self-driving car program. He left in 2016. His cofounder, Peter Rander, spent nearly two years working on Uber's autonomous vehicle team in Pittsburgh.

Experts have long warned that legacy automakers such as Ford risk being disrupted by tech companies like Google. Tech companies have the software expertise that is necessary to build a safe self-driving car.

The doomsday scenario for automakers is to turn into Nokia, which was a global leader in cell phones -- until Apple unveiled the iPhone. Nokia wasn't able to keep up during the smartphone revolution and watched as SiIlicon Valley titans Apple (AAPL, Tech30) and Google sucked up their profits.

Ford is clearly willing to spend a lot of money to avoid such a fate.

CNNMoney (Washington)

Apple CEO Tim Cook calls for "massive campaign" against fake news

Apple CEO Tim Cook wants the tech industry to take action against "fake news" stories that are polluting the web.

"There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic," Cook said in a rare interview.

Speaking with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Cook also said "all of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news."

Other leading tech company CEOs, like Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, have spoken about the problem in recent months. But Cook's comments were much more frank.

According to the Telegraph, he said made-up stories and hoaxes are "killing people's minds."

And he called the "fake news" plague "a big problem in a lot of the world."

The term "fake news" was originally coined to describe online stories that are designed to deceive readers. Often times these stories are shared on Facebook and other social networking sites to generate profits for the creators. Other times the stories are essentially propaganda made up for political purposes.

These kinds of stories received widespread attention before and after the American election. Fictional stories with titles like "Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump for president" won millions of clicks.

It can be very difficult for web surfers to tell the difference between legitimate news sources and fakes.

That's where companies like Apple come in.

In the Telegraph interview -- part of a multi-day European trip -- Cook said "too many of us are just in the complain category right now and haven't figured out what to do."

He urged both technological and intellectual solutions.

"We need the modern version of a public-service announcement campaign. It can be done quickly if there is a will," Cook told the newspaper.

What he described is music to the ears of media literacy advocates.

"It's almost as if a new course is required for the modern kid, for the digital kid," Cook said.

There are scattered efforts in some schools to teach media literacy, with a focus on digital skills, but it is by no means universal.

When asked if Apple would commit to funding a PSA campaign, an Apple spokesman said the company had no further comment on Cook's interview.

The Apple CEO also suggested that tech companies can help weed out fake stories, though he added, "We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech and of the press."

Apple's own Apple News app has been credited with being a relatively reliable place to find information.

The company "reviews publishers who join Apple News," BuzzFeed noted last December.

And the app has a "report-a-concern function where users can flag fake news or hate speech."

Facebook recently started working with fact-checkers to test "warning labels" that show up when users share made-up stories.

Cook, in the newspaper interview, expressed optimism that the "fake news" plague is a "short-term thing -- I don't believe that people want that at the end of the day."

How to really deal with the North Korean nuclear threat

North Korea is a “small country, far-away, about which we know little,” to paraphrase a fateful comment in defense of appeasement from the 1938 crisis over Czechoslovakia. But there is one thing every American needs to know about far-away North Korea: its rulers are on a methodical and relentless quest for the capability to hit New York and Washington with nuclear weapons.

The nuclear campaign that North Korea—formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK-- is planning against the United States is one it intends to win.  

Washington is badly unprepared to meet this threat, because too many of our leaders do not understand the Pyongyang game-plan.

As bizarre and satire-prone as the North Korean regime’s buffoonish-looking Kim Jong-Un and his servile courtiers may be, Pyongyang’s leadership is neither irrational nor suicidal. The rationale behind this confrontation would actually be to achieve a maximum of strategic gain with a minimum of actual destruction and violence.

The basic idea is to force Washington to blink in an escalating crisis on the Korean peninsula—a crisis of Pyongyang’s own making, at a time and under circumstances of Pyongyang’s own choosing.

If America hesitates or climbs down in the face of a future, stage-managed exercise in tactical North Korean aggression, Pyongyang will have undermined the credibility of the U.S. military alliance with South Korea.

The formal end to that alliance, and the exit of American troops from Korea, could quickly follow.

America’s policy toward the DPRK has been an immense success in preserving a ceasefire in the Korean peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953—this is “deterrence.”

But for more than a generation, bipartisan U.S. efforts to keep North Korea from developing nuclear weapons have come to naught. This should not surprise: only the North Korean government can denuclearize—and the existing government has absolutely no interest in making that dream come true.

The Trump Administration needs to do something different.

We need more effective defenses against the DPRK’s means of destruction while simultaneously weakening the regime’s capabilities for both conventional and strategic offense.

This would consist mainly, though not entirely, of military measures. Restoring badly eroded U.S. military capabilities—naval, air, ground forces and an aged strategic arsenal-- is essential.

Likewise more and better missile defense: the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems against ballistic missiles that the U.S. has offered  South Korea and Japan is a good step, and so is moving forward in earnest on missile defense for the USA.

 As for weakening the DPRK’s military economy, the foundation for all its offensive capabilities: we should put Pyongyang back on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list—it never should have been removed in 2008. Sanctions with genuine bite should be implemented—the dysfunctional DPRK economy is uniquely susceptible to them.

The United Nations has already gotten a comprehensive report on North Korea’s grisly human rights record from its Commission of Inquiry on the situation in the DPRK: let governments of conscience now seek international criminal accountability for North Korea’s leadership.

Then there is the China question. It is by no means impossible for America and her allies to pressure the DPRK if China does not cooperate. That said: it is time for Beijing to pay a penalty for its support for the most odious regime on the planet today.

Many in the West talk of “isolating” North Korea as if this were an objective in its own right. But a serious DPRK threat reduction strategy would not do so. The regime is deathly afraid of what it terms “ideological and cultural poisoning.” We could call that foreign media, international information, cultural exchanges and the like. We should be saying: bring on the “poisoning”! 

This brings us to the last agenda item: preparing for a successful reunification in a post-DPRK peninsula. The Kim regime is the North Korean nuclear threat.  That threat will not end until the DPRK disappears.

We cannot tell when, or how, this will occur. But it is not too soon to begin the wide-ranging and painstaking international planning and preparations that will facilitate divided Korea’s long-awaited reunion as a single peninsula, free and whole.

Japan spokesman: Trump criticism of currency policy off base

TOKYO –  Japanese officials have rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Tokyo is seeking to weaken the yen against the U.S. dollar to gain a trade advantage.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said  that Trump's comment, made in a meeting with executives of pharmaceutical companies, "completely misses the mark."

Suga told reporters Japan plans to explain to U.S. officials that the aim of monetary policies that have pulled the yen lower is to spur inflation, not devalue the currency.

Trump accused China and Japan of currency manipulation, saying they play "the devaluation market and we sit there like a bunch of dummies."

After Trump's comments, the dollar weakened sharply against the yen. But by midday Wednesday in Asia, it was at 113.00 yen, slightly above its previous close of 112.94 yen.

Nigeria’s unfairness to the Igbo, a ticking time bomb – Nnia Nwodo

PRESIDENT-GENERAL of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and two-time minister, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, does not want to witness another civil war in the country because of the nasty experience of the first one between 1967-1970. Consequently, he wants all sections of the country to truthfully air their grievances to enable Nigerians fashion a constitution themselves that will give rise to a true federation. Speaking for the Igbo, he said there is urgent need to address age-long maltreatment of the Igbo, which gave rise to agitation for Biafra Republic by Igbo youth, stressing that Nigeria’s unfairness to the Igbo is a ticking time bomb. He spoke to an editorial team of Vanguard in Lagos on Thursday. One month after your election as President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, how has it been? It has been humbling and this is because the result of the election was an overwhelming mandate. 


To be unanimously chosen by your people is a phenomenon and it has been challenging in terms of rising up to accepting the unanimous decision. The expectations are very high because I was elected at a time of extreme national concern for our national cohesion and very strong apprehensions. Nnia Nwodo, President-General of Ohanaeze So I have a work which is humbling and challenging and demands energy more than what a 65 year old man can offer. So I look up to God to find a balance and the energy to handle the job. Concerning the expectations of your people, what are the takeaways from your ongoing consultations across the country? Well, I won’t confine it to my people because I have been consulting beyond my people. I have been receiving calls, letters and congratulatory messages from across the length and breath of this country. Beginning with my constituency, there is an awakening of consciousness already in the existence of Ohanaeze. It will be too immodest to attribute it to myself but our people have an increased resort to Ohanaeze as an instrument for vocalizing their difficulties and in all my interactions, I have vocalized their frustrations with the Nigerian federation. 


They have vocalized their expectations from our country. They have harped on the need for consciousness of its leadership to respond to their yearnings and aspirations. So they have set a benchmark for me.   Among other Nigerians, it is very difficult to draw a common line. The northern Nigerian traditional rulers through the Sultan of Sokoto sent me a congratulatory letter and the Sultan personally called me. Several former heads of states, former vice presidents including Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, which I have met with, I have extended a hand of fellowship to a lot of these people. I am meeting with the Afenifere tomorrow (Friday), the Niger/Delta people have called me on the phone. My friends in the Middle Belt have also congratulated me. 


The South East caucus in the National Assembly has also congratulated me. Virtually all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria have called to congratulate me and various Igbo organisations that have affiliation with Ohanaeze Ndigbo have called to congratulate me. I think all these calls were triggered off by the spontaneous response by the Presidency barely 48 hours after my election in which the President extended his hand of fellowship to me. I have responded to this hand of fellowship in my inaugural address and I presented our misgivings in the public domain. I regret the sickness of Mr. President and I pray to Almighty God for his speedy recovery. Whenever he comes back, I will explore the earliest opportunity to visit him and discuss with him our various problems.

Whistle-blower policy: FG recovers N42bn loot from bank account with fake name

The Federal Government said on Sunday that its whistle-blower policy had started yielding fruits.

It said the policy had so far led to the recovery of over $151m (N46bn) and N8bn in looted funds.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this in a statement.

The minister said the looted funds, which did not include the $9.2m in cash allegedly owned by a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, were recovered from just three sources through whistle-blowers who he said gave actionable information to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami(SAN).

He said that the $9.2m cash and others, were also dividends of the whistle-blower policy.

The minister said that the biggest amount of $136,676,600.51 (N42bn) was recovered from an account in a commercial bank, where he said money was kept under an apparently fake account name.

This, he said, was followed by N7bn and $15m from another person and N1bn from yet another.

Mohammed said, ‘’When we told Nigerians that there was a primitive and mindless looting of the national treasury under the last administration, some people called us liars.

“Well, the whistle-blower policy is barely two months old and Nigerians have started feeling its impact, seeing how a few people squirrelled away public funds.

“It is doubtful if any economy in the world will not feel the impact of such mind-boggling looting of the treasury as was experienced in Nigeria.

‘’Yet, whatever has been recovered so far, including the $9.2m by the EFCC, is just a tip of the iceberg.’’

He appealed to Nigerians with useful information on looted funds to continue to provide the authorities with such information, saying confidentiality would be maintained with regard to the source of the information.

The minister also reminded Nigerians of the financial reward aspect of the policy, saying ‘’If there is a voluntary return of stolen or concealed public funds or assets on the account of the information provided, the whistle-blower may be entitled to between 2.5 per cent (minimum) and 5 per cent (maximum) of the total amount recovered.’’

Meanwhile, some human rights groups – the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and the Campaign for Democracy – have called on the Federal Government to show value for the recovered loot by immediately injecting it into the economy.

The SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said the Federal Government must immediately inject the loot back into the economy so that Nigerians could feel the socio-economic impact.

He said, “We are not just looking at recovery for recovery sake. We want whatsoever is recovered to be pumped immediately into the economy. What will be the benefits of Nigerians from recovered loot? Is it recovery to keep in personal purses or to inject into the economy?

“The critical areas of our economy include building infrastructural facilities and the Federal Government should immediately deploy these funds.

“Another area is that if the loot was recovered as a result of the whistle-blower initiative, the government must keep to its promise. You will recall that when the idea came up, it was promised that if a whistle-blower gives information and it leads to the recovery of sums of money, compensation will be given to the whistle-blower. I hope the government would not go back on that. I think the whistle-blower policy should continue.”

The CD President, Bako Usman, said, “It is very unfortunate that the Federal Government has been recovering loot without meaningful development. Such recovery can take care of some of our debts, provision of social amenities and others. Up till now, we have not seen the value of the recovered loot. The government must work on this.”

Also, the Executive Secretary Anti-corruption Network, Ebenezer Oyetakin, noted that the whistle-blower policy was yielding positive results.

He stated, “I have a concern about what follows the recovery. Is it that we secretly collected back the loot and let go the looters without serving any deterrence, or worse still, we do not want such looters name to be known to the public?

“That will be a gross disservice to the intention of the anti-corruption fight. What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. Everyone who has participated in the disgraceful act of national sabotage, betrayal of trust and blatant thievery of our common patrimony should be exposed.”

Meanwhile, the United States Agency for International Development, has identified inappropriate use of funds as one of the problems affecting national development in Nigeria.

The USAID Senior Planning and Program Adviser (Health Population and Nutrition Office), Celestine Carr, stated this in Abuja during the closing ceremony of a five-day workshop on Health care Financing which was organised by USAID in collaboration with Health Finance and Governance, a non-governmental organisation.

Carr said the USAID was committed to supporting the efforts of the Nigerian government in preventing women and children from falling victims of preventable diseases, by injecting more funds to increase universal health coverage to all citizens.

She said, “One of the challenges that the government has had both in national and state levels is inappropriately use of existing funds. Existing funds can be used in a way that will go a long way if it is used appropriately.

“If funding does dry up (we don’t know if it will, but we are going through a period of economic challenges), we should be able to budget the current funding more appropriately. So, we can access the means and access the drugs and human resources that are needed for Nigerians to be healthy and strong and be able to be more productive.”

The Sokoto State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Shehu Kakale, said allocation of the 15 per cent of the budget to health by both the federal and state governments as proposed by the Abuja Declaration, was the key to achieving national development.

“The 15 per cent will go a long way if the Federal Government and state governments implement it all  across board. It means that more children and more women will be healthier. There will be healthy adults in the workforce and of course the productive workforce of the country will earn more revenue for the country.”

Kakale further called for the operationalisation of the  National Health Act of 2014, which stipulates that one per cent consolidated fund of the country should be dedicated to primary health care.

The commissioner maintained that such action would turn around health care financing and more importantly, the landscape of primary health care which was responsible for about 80 per cent of health products consumed in the country.

The Chief of Party, Health Finance and Governance, Dr. Gafar Alawode, disclosed that universal health coverage could only be achieved through the establishment of State Health Insurance Schemes throughout the country.

“The states should have their own support health insurance; but to achieve that, we need to put in place structures. To that end, we are supporting the states on how best to place the structures for health insurance,” he stressed.

He also called for appropriate use of funds, saying “financing alone is not the problem, even in the little amount of money the states are spending, probably there are better ways of spending the money to achieve better results.”

Arik Air’s take-over: ‘Powerful cabal in the Presidency taking advantage of Buhari’s absence’

THE Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, yesterday, said that over N10 billion will be needed to fix Arik Air to resume full and uninterrupted flight operations to its regular routes across the country and beyond. According to AMCON, the situation is so bad that only nine aircraft of the 30 in Arik Air’s fleet is operational. It said the remaining 21 aircraft had either been grounded or gone for C-check in Europe, among other challenges. Powerful cabal in the Presidency was said to have decided to take advantage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s absence to hatch the plot as efforts to sell the idea of “take-over of ARIK” This is coming as industry sources alleged hidden agenda in Arik Air’s take-over, with the Senate planning to hold a public hearing on the issue. AMCON’s revelation was made public by the new management of Arik Air, headed by the Chief Executive Officer, Capt. Roy Ukpebo Ilegbodu, under the receivership of Mr. Oluseye Opasanya, SAN. The airline was, last Thursday, taken over by the Federal Government, under the auspices of AMCON, as a result of a debt profile of over N300 billion. 

AMCON, in a statement, yesterday, said: “The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, has discovered deep rooted rot at Arik Airlines, which would require over N10 billion to fix before the largest local carrier would resume full and uninterrupted flight operations to its regular routes across the country and beyond. “The situation is so bad that only nine aircraft out of the 30 in the fleet of the airline is operational. 21 of them have either been grounded, gone for C-check in Europe among other forms of challenges. ‘’As if these problems are not enough, the airline does not have money to procure aviation fuel for the nine operational aircraft because no dealer wants to sell aviation fuel to Arik if it is not on cash-and-carry basis. ‘’This also calls for public understanding because flight schedules may be realigned based on the nine aircraft that are available, technically sound and ready for flight operation. “It was also discovered that Arik also owes its technical partners and also in perpetual default in its lease payments and insurance premium, leading to regular and embarrassing squabbles with different business partners, which account for why 21 aircraft are off the fleet for different reasons.

 ‘’All these problems, in addition to huge staff salaries, which have remained unpaid for 11 months; vendors that supply different items to Arik Airlines that are also owed, meant that Nigerians may have to tarry awhile to allow the new management clean up the huge mess at the airline before Arik would finally resume uninterrupted flight.” Capt. Ilegbodu assured at the weekend, that these issues, though daunting, would be gradually resolved to enable Arik Airlines, which carries about 55 per cent of the load in the country, recover the 21 aircraft. He said:  “Once all the aircraft are back to the fleet, Arik Airlines would within the shortest possible time regain its pride of place as a leader among the comity of airlines in Nigeria. ‘’Having settled the insurance cover for the aircraft, which would have expired on February 12 and met with different trade creditors as well as aggrieved staff, Arik will return to full operational capacity within the shortest possible time frame.” Hidden agenda cited in Arik Air’s take-over Meanwhile, the desperation of a powerful cabal in the Presidency to float a national airline by all means may have led to alleged hostile take-over of the privately owned Arik Air. With the suspended management of the company vowing to challenge the action in court, sources said AMCON’s action was to preempt a crucial meeting the suspended management of the airline was scheduled to have with Afreximbank in Cairo, Egypt, this week to unlock a massive capital injection to refinance its operations which had been hampered by forex crisis. Citing the airline’s inability to service its debt portfolio and commitments to service providers, AMCON forcibly took over its operations with the help of truckloads of armed policemen, barely 24 hours after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, invited the chairman of the suspended board, Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide. Justifying its action, AMCON said it considered Arik Air too critical in the aviation sector to be allowed to go under. The powerful cabal in the Presidency was said to have decided to take advantage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s absence to hatch the plot as efforts to sell the idea of “take-over of ARIK” in the past to form the nucleus of “the so-called national career” did not receive a positive response from him. The President reportedly said: 

 “I am not interested in taking anybody’s business.” A source privy to the multinational financial negotiations being pursued by the former management to recapitalise the airline, faulted official claims that the airline was on the brink of collapse before AMCON’s intervention, last week. Said the source, who is a top banker: “Contrary to the bogus claims that Arik Air was owing over N300 billion, I am aware that in the last reconciliation between the suspended management and AMCON, the figure agreed was in the neighbourhood of N90billion.

 “For an airline valued independently at over $4 billion by a world renowned valuer like Deloitte of London, I do not think that the company could be regarded as a bad case with such debt profile. “Some powerful interests are just desperate to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. The agenda is to bring together Arik Air and Aero to form what they call new national carrier and bring in Ethiopian Airways as technical partner. ‘’Can you imagine, going to bring Ethiopia to run a national carrier for Nigeria, the supposed Giant of Africa? If government could run an airline, Nigeria Airways would not have gone under. “The said N90 billion provided by AMCON was to buy back loan provided by Union Bank to acquire two brand new A340 Airbus aircraft being used for international haul by the company. So, it is most unfair to accuse the promoters of Arik of mismanagement when everyone knows that the economy is in distress and even foreign airlines have had to downgrade their operations in the country due to the hostile environment.

 “If AMCON says the suspended management was incompetent, is it not ironic that the same AMCON a few hours later named the Deputy Managing Director of the same management it discredited as new CEO of Aero Contractor? “It is an insult on the intelligence of the Nigerian public. If AMCON itself is a good business manager, how come Aero, which had nine aircraft when AMCON took it over five years ago now has only two aircraft in its fleet? “As a matter of fact, the suspended management was already scheduled to have a meeting with Afreximbank team in Cairo this week to finalize the negotiation of massive capital injection into Arik to enable it refinance its debt to AMCON. “The AFREZIM’s cash was supposed to have come last year alongside additional funds from private placement that the old management wanted to do to raise more funds to reposition the company. But the massive devaluation of naira by the CBN upset all the plans as new financial outlays had to be done to reflect naira’s new value. “Rather than crucify a local investor who is patriotic enough to go into aviation at a time the sector was in disarray and planes were virtually falling off the sky, I think the reasonable and fair thing to do is for government to support such individuals. “Look at what President Donald Trump did last week.

 He called all the CEOs of American Airlines and said he was willing to do anything to assist them to compete favourably against the likes of Emirate and Qatar that are heavily subsidized by their countries. Here, we go for the jugulars of Nigerians who invest in Nigeria.” Already, many aviation stakeholders consider AMCON’s action too high-handed, considering that the suspended management of Arik Air had helped to raise safety standards in the industry in the last decade, apart from facilitating Nigeria’s certification as Category One, thus opening the international routes for Nigeria’s privately owned airlines. Only recently, Arik became the third airline after South African Airways and Ethiopian Airline to be certified in Africa by the influential Israeli secret service, MOSSAD, to fly directly to Tel Aviv. Worried by the negative reactions AMCON’s action has generated both locally and internationally, the Senate Committee on Aviation, it was gathered, has sent invitation to all the stakeholders for a public hearing, this week.

SNG gives Presidency 74-hr ultimatum to disclose Buhari’s health status

ABUJA – The Save Nigeria Group, SNG, Tuesday, issued a 74 hours ultimatum within to the the presidency to furnish it with full information on the health situation of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently believe to be receiving medical attention in London. 

The SNG, which made the request via a letter, entitled “Request for information on President Muhammadu Buhari’s health status” and addressed to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, urged to be availed information urgently in order to reduce tension on state of Mr. President’s health. According to the letter containing the request which was acknowledged to have been received on February 7, 2017 by the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and made available to Vanguard in Abuja, the group warned that it will take all other necessary legitimate and legal steps should the authorities ignore the request.

According to the letter signed by Barrister Benedict Ezeagu, the National Coordinator, SNG, “This ugly development, including denial, conditional admission and restriction of access to President Buhari and the true information on his health status is reminiscence of the late President Yar’Adua’s incident which our revered organisation was at the forefront of its peaceful resolution and this is not good for Nigeria at this critical period of economic downturn , nationwide insecurity, and political strife. “As you may know, the lack of clearness in handling the ‘vacation’ turned ‘medical trip’ of Mr. President has heightened the rumours and speculations about his health, the most frightening of which is that President Muhammadu Buhari had passed on or he has been in coma or on life-supporting machine, and thus increasing the political tension in the country. 

“Since Mr. President is not a private citizen but a public servant whose health bills are currently being paid from the country’s treasury, Nigerians deserves the right to know the true state of his health as obtainable in enlightened republics. “In the light of the foregoing Sir, while we join other Nigerians to pray for Mr. President in line with the request of the Presidency, we herby demand for full information on the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari in exercise of the rights granted us by section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the freedom of information Act and Article 9 of African charter on Human and people’s rights, as this will help dispel these rumours and speculations and reduce the current political tension in the country. “Please sir, take notice that if we are not availed of the requested information within 74 hours of your receipt of this letter, we will have no alternative than to take all other necessary legitimate and legal steps, including approaching the National Assembly to activate relevant sections of the Constitution with regard to the health of a Nigerian president as well as institute court actions and organise peaceful protests among others, to ensure that we are availed of these rights guaranteed Nigerians by the laws. 

Senators clash over Trump attorney general pick

Tensions over confirming President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees erupted late Tuesday in the US Senate, where a lawmaker’s criticism of attorney general pick Jeff Sessions led to the very rare reprimand of a senator.

Senate Democrat Elizabeth Warren was told to sit down for reading a 1986 letter critical of Sessions written by Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The chamber’s Republican leader Mitch McConnell interrupted Warren to accuse her of having “impugned” Sessions, a fellow senator.

“The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama, as warned by the chair,” McConnell said, taking the extraordinary step of invoking Senate Rule 19 that prohibits highly critical remarks against a fellow senator.

“The senator will take her seat,” said the presiding officer, Senator Steven Daines. When Warren challenged the ruling, the Senate voted along party lines to uphold it.

It was a rare and powerful rebuke in the body where decorum is a cherished tradition.

But tensions have soared in the few weeks since Trump took office, particularly over the process of confirming his cabinet nominees.

During debate over education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, Democrats held the Senate floor Monday through the night as a protest against her nomination.

She was eventually confirmed Tuesday, but only when Vice President Mike Pence was brought in to break a 50-50 tie.

Pressure built during debate about Sessions, whose record on civil rights ultimately doomed his nomination to a federal judgeship in the 1980s.

At the time King wrote the Senate Judiciary Committee warning that Sessions used to “intimidate and chill” voters, and that confirming him as a judge would have “a devastating effect” on the US justice system.

“Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters,” she wrote.

Warren, a potential 2020 presidential candidate, was reading the King letter when she was blocked from continuing, a move that astonished Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

With the ruling decided, “I don’t know how we go about doing our duties,” he said. “Are we supposed to simply blind ourselves to derogatory information?”

An exasperated Senator Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican currently in the Senate, called for a more dignified debate of Trump’s nominees.

Senators must treat one another with respect, “or this place is going to devolve into nothing but a jungle,” he said.

A confirmation vote for Sessions as attorney general was expected for Wednesday.

Buhari didn’t give us date of his return —Senate

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the receipt of a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari, informing the legislature of his intention to extend his medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

The upper chamber of the National Assembly however failed to provide details of the letter.

Earlier on Sunday, the Presidency had announced that Buhari’s 10-day vacation to the UK had been extended.

The extension was contained in a three-paragraph statement made available to journalists by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.

 Adesina said the extension was necessary to allow the President complete a series of tests recommended by his doctors and get the results before he could return to Nigeria.

Although he said Buhari had already dispatched a letter to the National Assembly on the extension, he did not specify the duration of the extension.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sabi Abdullahi, while briefing journalists on the letter,  said, “ …You will recall that we received, before we suspended plenary, a letter from Mr. President which was dated 18th January, 2017, where he informed the distinguished senators that he was proceeding on his vacation for 10 days and this is to meet the constitutional provisions…

“In this second letter, he is informing the Senate that he is extending his vacation because in the cause of that routine medical check-up, there were still some tests his doctors still want to run further and so, because of that, he is extending his stay.  This is a constitutional provision and let me say it is within his prerogative to do so and we are in receipt of that letter accordingly.”

The spokesman said the Senate was waiting for the safe return of the President.

When asked if the date of Buhari’s return was stated in the letter or it was indefinite, Abdullahi stated that the letter did not say indefinite “because indefinite is taking the matter out of context.”

He added, “But, then, he said he’s extending (his vacation); that is, beyond the 10 days he had asked for and because the tests that are going to be run are not in his hands (to be determined by him) – it is in the hands of the doctors – he is not giving us a date. But, definitely, he’s extending (his vacation) and I think that is what is important.”

When asked for how many days the legislature would permit the President to remain on vacation, the Senate’s spokesperson said he was not sure if the constitution had a specific duration for a President’s absence from duty.

We’ll no longer import fuel by 2019 – Kachikwu

ABUJA—THE Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday, in Abuja said Nigeria would no longer import fuel by 2019. Kachikwu said this at a public hearing on the review of petroleum pricing template for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) organised by the House of Representatives. 

The minister said that within two years, the Federal Government revived refineries that were non-functional to contribute about eight million out of over 20 million litres of petrol consumed in the country daily.
 He explained that the Federal Government initiated a model which attracted foreign investors to partner with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to repair the country’s refineries within the two-year period. He said: “This has consistently served as a target for this government so that by December 2018, NNPC must be able to deliver on some of the terms given them, one of which is to reduce petroleum importation by 60 per cent.

 “By 2019 we should be able to exit completely the importation of petroleum products in this country. “Cognisant of the fact that Dangote is building one refinery, we expect to have an excess situation then,” he added. He further explained that Nigeria must also have the capacity to stop exporting crude oil. According to him, selling crude is not different from selling agricultural produce in an unprocessed manner. “The world is leaving that, every member of OPEC is leaving that because of the prizing, volume and market challenges, now shifting from selling crude to selling refined petroleum products.

 “That is what this country must do and there is a template we are working on, noting that the ministry intends to create an enabling environment that will promote local refining of crude oil. On the possibility of reducing the fuel pump price, Kachikwu said there was no padding in the petroleum pricing template for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) currently sold at N145 per litre.

 According to him, 71 per cent of the cost is for the production and freight, 18 per cent balance is covered by depot charges and retailers margin. He said: “In other words, the storage tanks, the amount you get by verge of operating a filling station takes another 18 per cent, the output of those is already taking you to roughly about 90 per cent. “The transportation is less than 10 per cent; we probably can do better with some of those because the effect of that to the templating is an insignificant one or two per cent but that is not where the problem is. “The problem is with foreign exchange rate of conversion. There are two key elements in the template, how much you buy it is internationally fixed, it is not a Nigerian issue, the cost of foreign exchange is a monetary policy issue. “So at the time we did the template the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, monetary policy was N245, that was the basis upon which we calculated the pricing, today N305 is the exchange rate.

Negotiation for the release of the remaining abducted Chibok girls is ongoing- Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed says

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has disclosed that negotiations for the release of the yet-to-be released Chibok school girls, is still ongoing and will soon yield results.

Mohammed disclosed this during a briefing after conclusion of the one-day intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, ISR, operation to the Sambisa Forest in Yola, Adamawa State with members of the Bring Back Our Girls group yesterday.

'I view Cristiano Ronaldo as a great player' - Lionel Messi says

5 Time Ballon D'or winner, Lionel Messi, has heaped praise on his rival, four time Ballon D'or Winner and one time FIFA 'Best' winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, saying Ronaldo has achieved many things and he has mutual respect for the Real Madrid man, dispelling the myth that the pair are huge rivals who resent one another. 

Gambia's parliament extends soon to be ex-President, Yahya Jammeh's term by 90 days

Gambia's parliament has extended President Yahya Jammeh's term, which is due to end on Thursday, by an extra 3 months (90 days). This follows Jammeh's sudden and stubborn decision to accept his opponent, President-elect Adama Barrow's victory in the Presidential elections held in December.

The Parliament approved Jammeh's decision to declare a 90-day state of emergency, even though other regional leaders threatened to use military force to oust him if he refuses to hand over power on Thursday. Source: BBC Africa