IYANDA'SBLOG

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There has been only muted reporting of elections which saw huge wins for the pro-democracy movement.

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Maria Exposto says she was tricked into transporting drugs after falling for an online romance scam.

 

A group, Buhari Media Organisation, has said that all those pushing for a third term in office for President Muhammadu Buhari should count him out as his decision not to be involved in such was sacrosanct, final and irreversible.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, on Monday, BMO said that those pushing the agenda should respect the President and stop the campaign.

Akinsiju said that his organisation had believed that Buhari’s declaration would put the matter to rest finally.

The statement reads, "We want to restate that President Muhammadu Buhari is an acclaimed democrat and a man of integrity.

“It is important to acknowledge that Buhari’s major concern is to rebuild the dilapidated infrastructure in the country, eradicate corruption and fight insecurity, thereby bequeathing a country that works for all citizens. 

"As a man of integrity, he will not renege on his promise and neither will he bastardise the Nigerian constitution for personal gains, no matter the pressure.

“Definitely, third term is not on the agenda of the President as it runs contrary to the oath of office he swore to.”

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
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A group, Buhari Media Organisation, has said that all those pushing for a third term in office for President Muhammadu Buhari should count him out as his decision not to be involved in such was sacrosanct, final and irreversible.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, on Monday, BMO said that those pushing the agenda should respect the President and stop the campaign.

Akinsiju said that his organisation had believed that Buhari’s declaration would put the matter to rest finally.

The statement reads, "We want to restate that President Muhammadu Buhari is an acclaimed democrat and a man of integrity.

“It is important to acknowledge that Buhari’s major concern is to rebuild the dilapidated infrastructure in the country, eradicate corruption and fight insecurity, thereby bequeathing a country that works for all citizens. 

"As a man of integrity, he will not renege on his promise and neither will he bastardise the Nigerian constitution for personal gains, no matter the pressure.

“Definitely, third term is not on the agenda of the President as it runs contrary to the oath of office he swore to.”

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
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National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has called on governors on the party’s platform to implement the N30,000 minimum wage and the consequential adjustments. 

Oshiomhole made the plea on Monday in Jos at the Federal Government-Progressives Governors Forum parley in Jos, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. 

He said, “As progressives, let us be the first to pay the new national minimum wage and not just the wage but also the consequential adjustments arising from it.

"Already, there are some proactive progressive governors that have taken steps to address this.

“I plead that you give this a priority because when other governors are fighting whether or not to pay, you will say that progressive governors have paid.

“Where there is will, there will certainly be a way.”

 

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National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has called on governors on the party’s platform to implement the N30,000 minimum wage and the consequential adjustments. 

Oshiomhole made the plea on Monday in Jos at the Federal Government-Progressives Governors Forum parley in Jos, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. 

He said, “As progressives, let us be the first to pay the new national minimum wage and not just the wage but also the consequential adjustments arising from it.

"Already, there are some proactive progressive governors that have taken steps to address this.

“I plead that you give this a priority because when other governors are fighting whether or not to pay, you will say that progressive governors have paid.

“Where there is will, there will certainly be a way.”

 

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A kidney usually weighs between 120-150g, so this was one of the heaviest on record, doctors say.

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Activists have also been detained at anti-government demonstrations, an opposition leader says.

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Westpac bank is accused of 23 million law breaches, including possible links to child exploitation.

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A judge rules White House staff be made to testify before Congress, despite claims of immunity.

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The Chinese e-commerce giant has begun trading in Asia after completing this year's biggest share sale.

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Police say the body is yet to be formally identified, but they believe it is 25-year-old Aslan King.

 

"If the Hate Speech Bill had been in place between 2013 and 2015, Lai Mohammed would not be alive today" – Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.

My dear friend and brother Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe as courageous and truthful as ever, is absolutely right.

I would however, go a step further by adding that President Muhammadu Buhari himself, Bola Tinubu, Nasir el-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomole, Yemi Osinbajo and a good number of other leaders in the Federal Government and/or the ruling party would no longer be with us either if the bill had been in place between 2013 and 2015 because they would all have been hanged for their hateful words and inciting speeches.

Yet that was not the way of the Peoples Democratic Party and neither was it ever even discussed, contrived or contemplated because civilised leaders and enlightened political parties do not seek to kill others for airing their views and neither do they seek to supress dissent or destroy those that oppose them. 

To his eternal credit President Goodluck Jonathan never locked up anyone for what they said, no matter how provocative, and neither did President Olusegun Obasanjo.

These were enlightened, educated, temperate, accommodating and civilised leaders who understood the importance of freedom of speech in a democracy and who were big and strong enough to resist the temptation of becoming unaccountable and sociopathic tyrants whose sole objective was to crush all their detractors, traducers and political enemies.

Sadly those that rule Nigeria today are from a different world and their mindset and disposition are not as reasonable, charitable or kind.

Simply put they are hard-hearted and wicked men with dark, vengeful, bitter, cruel and relentless souls. Not only are they modern-day tyrants but they are also a bunch of psychopathic and psychotic sadists who thrive on instilling fear on their hapless victims and on intimidating and oppressing the people that they seek to lead.

This brings me to the topic of this contribution. It is my view that the Social Media Bill and the Hate Speech Bill are the greatest threats to democracy and freedom of expression in the history of Nigeria.

They can be collectively described as the biblical 'mark of the beast' because their objective is to diminish our humanity, silence our voices and cage our creativity.

The former seeks to cripple freedom of expression on social media whilst the latter seeks to literally murder all of Buhari's political enemies. Permit me to break it down in simple terms.

Under this proposed new law, if you speak against RUGA they will call it hate speech and hang you for it. If you speak against Fulanisation or Islamisation, they will do the same. If you speak against their tyranny, their abuse of power, their violation of court orders or their abysmal record in public office, they will do the same.

If you speak against their persecution of Christians, Southerners, Middle-Belters and members of the opposition, they will do the same. If you speak against their slaughter of IPOB youths and Shia Muslims, they will do the same.

If you speak against their domination and intimidation of the legislature and judiciary and the total breakdown and violation of the doctrine and principle of separation of powers, they will do the same.

If you speak against their control and regulation of the traditional media and the fourth estate of the realm, they will do the same. If you speak against their implementation of an insidious, frightful, ancient and unholy ethnic and religious agenda, they will do the same.

If you speak against the ruling party, its governors, ministers, officials, institutions or leaders, they will do the same. It goes on and on.

If the National Assembly makes the mistake of passing either or both of these two bills, Nigerians will suffer the consequences for many generations to come and human rights, liberty and freedom will be a thing of the past in our country.

I would urge the Nigerian people not to view this matter with their usual levity, indifference, complacency, docility, stoicism and lily-livered cowardice because the whole thing is an insidious attempt to silence their tongues, cage their spirits, capture their souls, break their ability to resist tyranny and evil and finally turn them into a nation of pliant little quislings, slaves and errand boys.

What we are witnessing is the final and greatest manifestation of the fascistic, totalitarian and authoritarian state which, like Hitler's Germany, is creeping up and hiding under the guise of democracy.

Buhari and his friends want Nigeria to be like Stalin's Soviet Union or, better still, like modern-day North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

These are countries where dissent, opposition to government, plurality of views, variety of opinion, individual rights and criticism of government policy and the maximum dictator is forbidden and where total power is concentrated in the hands of just one man. This is the classic Orwellian nightmare and it is unfolding before our very eyes.

If they get away with it and achieve their objectives, Nigeria is finished and within a matter of years we will become the blight of Africa, the pariah of the Third World, the laughing stock of the international community and the world’s largest, most brutal and most savage prison.

What a terrible fate for a people that are so trusting, so innovative, so resourceful, so resilient and so blessed.

Let us go a little deeper.

The leader of the Fulani herdsmen and President of Miyetti Allah, Abdullahi Bodejo, said he and his organisation are in full support of both the Social Media Bill and the Hate Speech Bill and that these proposed laws would allow those he described as "Fulani-haters" to be jailed and hanged.

Now we know, who is behind these bills and what their real intentions are!

These people came to power and installed a rabidly and virulent Fulani nationalist government through hate speech and the social media and now they are terrified of being removed by it.

And of course they are the ones who get to determine and define precisely what hate speech is.

To them, criticising and condemning Buhari, his incompetence, his racism, his religious bigotry and his atrocious governments policies or speaking out against the mass murder and genocide of non-Fulanis all over the country by Fulani herdsmen is "hate speech".

To them, condemning Boko Haram and those that are secretly backing and supporting them is "hate speech". To them, condemning that which is evil, wicked, unwholesome, barbaric and indefensible is "hate speech".

To them, any mention of the President that does not put him in a favourable light or project him as Nigeria's long-awaited messiah, is "hate speech".

As a matter of fact, anyone that refuses to worship and praise Buhari or lick his rectum will ultimately be accused of "hate speech" and hanged and anyone who so much as criticises him on social media or elsewhere will be arrested and jailed.

That is where this man is taking Nigeria and he is using his minions in the National Assembly to achieve it.

He wishes to impose a culture of silence and fear in our nation and he wishes to intimidate and cow our people. To him, we are nothing but conquered slaves and serfs who do not deserve to have a voice.

To him, we are a broken, cowardly, conquered and subjugated people not worthy of life and liberty and who do not deserve to be treated as equals.

To him, we are vermin that must be subdued and put in their place. To him, we do not deserve the privileges, rights and liberties that accrue to other citizens of the world that come from other climes.

To him, we are not worthy of having a voice or a defender. To him, we must bow our heads, bend our knees and tremble in our beds each time he growls.

To him, we must accept subjugation, oppression, injustice and tyranny without expressing dissent or saying a word.

To him, when our people are slaughtered like flies by his Fulani brothers and core Northern Muslim colleagues, we must not complain and we dare not write about it, post about it, tweet about it or even cry about it. 

That is Buhari's shameful vision for Nigeria and that is the kind of society and culture that he is attempting to impose.  And the slavish fool of a senator from Niger State that is proposing these bills is simply doing the President's bidding.

Yet all this is nothing new. We have seen it many times before and it never lasts.

The Boers of South Africa passed a law to stop their victims from condemning ethnic cleansing. The Nazis in Germany passed a law to stop their victims from condemning genocide.

The Fulani in Nigeria are passing a law to stop their victims from condemning mass murder.

Yet hear this: whatever you say and do, we the people will never stop criticising and condemning your unholy agenda, racism, mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing, oppression, Fulanisation, islamisation and tyranny.

In order to have your way and silence us, you will have to hang us all!

Today belongs to you but tomorrow belongs to the people. In God's way and in His own time, He shall rise up and deliver us, just as He rose up and delivered the children of Israel from the tyranny of Pharaoh.

Until then, we challenge you, nay we dare you to do your damnest worse. Christ in us: our hope and glory!

Permit me to end with the following: any senator or House member that supports either of these two bills should bow his or her head in shame and know this: we the people shall never forget or forgive you.

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Femi Fani-Kayode Disable advertisements : 
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It was feared Yujing Zhang was a spy when she was arrested at Donald Trump's Florida resort in March.

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An image of Norbert Schemm sipping a beer with loved ones spurs others to share final goodbye stories.

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The US navy secretary has been forced out after clashing with the White House over a Navy Seal. What happened?

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This summer, Italian club Roma began announcing their transfer signings alongside images of missing children. This is why.

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While Huawei tech is blocked in the US, it is helping build one of the world biggest 5G networks at home.

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How Lebanon's business community views the current anti-government protests.

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Police have released footage showing the moment thieves smashed open a cabinet to steal jewellery considered "priceless".

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This year has seen protests on almost every continent and there are common causes that united them.

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More than 41 million people in the US speak Spanish, but they don't all speak it the same way.

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Nigerian author and Nobel prize winner Prof Wole Soyinka was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014.

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It is feared that diamonds and other jewels have been stolen from a world-famous German collection.

 

The Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has arrested two armed robbery suspects in Shagari Estate.

The suspects, Abbey Kolawole, 40, and Ikenna Eze, 30, were arrested from an uncompleted building at BJ Street inside the estate.

Spokesperson for the police in the state, Bala Elkana, said a locally made pistol with three unexpended cartridges were recovered from them. 

He claimed they were members of an armed robbery gang responsible for series of robberies around Shagari Estate and environs. 

He said the suspects would be charged to court after a full investigation into the matter.

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The police in Ogun State has arrested one Temitope Akinola, 42, for allegedly poisoning her granddaughter.

Akinola, who lives at the Isote area of Sagamu, Ogun State, allegedly killed the two-day-old baby with a popular insecticide.

The police said the woman had made attempts to abort the child during pregnancy stage because she hated the father. 

During police interrogation, Akinola said she did not approve of her daughter's marriage to the father of the child. 

It was learnt that while the mother of the baby went to the bathroom to have her bath, she left the two-day-old baby girl in care of Akinola but upon emerging from the bathroom, she saw the lifeless body of the baby after being poisoned.

Spokesperson for the police in Ogun, Abimbola Oyeyemi, stated that the suspect had admitted to poisoning the “baby with a deadly insecticide.”

He added that the corpse of the baby had been deposited at the morgue of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, for autopsy while the suspect had been transferred to the homicide section of the state criminal investigation and intelligence department for further investigation and prosecution.

“The suspect was arrested following an information received by police in Sagamu after the reported death of the child that the suspect, who has never hidden her hatred for her son in-law and who happened to be the father of the baby, was the only person with the child while the baby’s mother went to take her bath, only for her to come back and meet the lifeless body of the baby.

“The Divisional Police Officer, Sagamu Division, Okiki Agunbiade, a Superintendent of Police, detailed detectives to the scene where the killer grandmother was promptly arrested,” Abimbola disclosed.

 

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The Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps has confirmed the death of one person in a road accident at Onihale area of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Commander of the compliance corps, Temitope Oseni, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, said at least two people were also injured in the accident.

She explained that a truck with no registration number heading to Sango-Ota from Abeokuta, lost control due to a burst tyre.

Oseni said that the vehicle somersaulted twice, resulting in the death of the motor boy, while the driver and one other sustained injuries.

She explained that the motor boy was trying to jump out of the vehicle when he hit his head on the road, which resulted in his death.

“The corpse of the victim has been taken for burial by the family members, while the survivors are receiving treatment in a hospital in Ifo, Ogun,” she said.

The TRACE unit commander said that the vehicle had been towed to Ifo Police Station to ease traffic flow in the area.

She advised motorists to ensure that their vehicles were properly maintained and desist from the use of used tyres to avoid unnecessary loss of lives and property.

 

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The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered the state's Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences to complement ongoing efforts to ensure free traffic flow across the metropolis by removing all impediments on the roads.

Odumosu’s directives came barely days after other state-owned law enforcement agencies in Lagos accepted to collaborate with the police in restoring sanity on roads in the state.

The police boss directives, according to Chairman of the Task Force, Olayinka Egbeyemi, was to clampdown on all violators of the state's environmental laws, especially those impeding the free flow of traffic across Lagos.

He stressed that the directive also empowered the agency to clear all illegal traders, abandoned vehicles, roadside mechanics, miscreants, Okada and other activities constituting environmental nuisance across the state.

Egbeyemi disclosed that the enforcement commenced over the weekend with the removal of illegal traders, vulcanisers, illegal beer parlour, block moulders, okada riders, abandoned/accident vehicles and illegal tricycle operators in Ikeja GRA, Mopol 20 Barracks and Lagos Police Command.

The Task Force boss explained that the directive became imperative as a way of sanitising the environment and ensuring the free flow of traffic for all road users especially during the Yuletide, which the state often experienced a high inflow of vehicles.

He noted that with many ongoing road rehabilitation projects across the state, there was an urgent need to create a free flow of traffic for motorists by clearing all obstructions on Lagos roads.

Egbeyemi stated that over 16 areas have been identified for further enforcement, which would be carried out in collaboration with personnel from Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps and the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps.

According to him, the areas are Igando, Ikorodu, Ajah, Mile 2, Obalende, Oyingbo, Dopemu, Iyana-Ipaja, Agege, Ojota, Idimu, Yaba, Ikate-Elegushi, Apple Junction (Festac), Bogije area and Mushin.

The Chairman, therefore, implored all illegal traders, roadside mechanics, iron benders and owners of abandoned vehicles particularly those ones around police stations to vacate immediately as anyone caught during the enforcement would be severely dealt with in accordance with the law.
 

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A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has consolidated a suit challenging the execution of an award and the Federal Government’s application for enforcement of the Award. 
Justice Ayokunle Faji set down the hearing of the Federal Government’s suit for the enforcement of its arbitral award against two international oil companies - Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Nigeria Limited and Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited till January 22, 2020.

At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, counsel to the FG, Prof Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), notified the court that the government was ready to make its case before the court. He observed that the matters at hand were extremely important and ought to be heard urgently, as the government had been needlessly deprived of revenues that were due to it for over four years.

Recall that sometime in August 2015, the IOCs in question had taken government to arbitration over alleged breaches of contract. 
However, their claim failed and the FG, through Ajogwu obtained a landmark arbitral award to the tune of around $1.7bn against the said IOCs for their failure to remit funds due to the government from crude oil operations on the Brass and Forcados assets. 

Whilst taking cognisance of the submissions of Ajogwu, Justice Faji directed the IOCs to respond to the FG’s court processes for the enforcement of the award (which were served on them since July 2019) and 
thereafter adjourned the matter to January 22, 2020 for hearing.

Efforts by our correspondent to speak the lawyer, who represented Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited and Atlantic Brass Development Limited, proved abortive as she left the court premises immediately after the case was adjourned.
 

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Australian Sarah Hanson-Young said her reputation was damaged by comments from a male opponent.

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Temperatures at the time the two children were discovered was about 31C (88F).