2019: Obtain your PVCs now, Gov Ahmed urges residents

2019: Obtain your PVCs now, Gov Ahmed urges residents

By Demola Akinyemi Ilorin—Ahead of the 2019 general election, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has pleaded with the citizens and residents of the state to troop out en-masse to obtain their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, to enable them elect candidates of their choice.

Governor Ahmed in his remarks at a sallah homage by Emir of Ilorin,  Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, emphasised that “it is the civic responsibility of every eligible citizen to ensure collection of his or her PVC. It’s a right and the only tool to elect people who can deliver on campaign promises.
“Ours is a peaceful and grassroots politics where we allow our people to take decisions on their own and encourage inclusive politics.”

Saudi women on the front line of change

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia —

Navigating daily life in this sprawling metropolis of 7 million people requires a complicated set of calculations for the 50 percent of the population that is female. Will a man be available to drive me to this or that appointment? How will the children get to school? Which door should I use to enter this building? Which line should I join to order my coffee in the mall?

Sometimes, in the course of a day, women will pull on and off their face coverings, headscarves and black-robe abayas a dozen times or more, in a variety of combinations, depending on whether men are present and how well they know them. The penalty for getting it wrong can include social ostracization, humiliation for the woman and her family, unwelcome harassment by men and, until recently, detention and imprisonment.
In small but significant ways, the daily reckonings are becoming easier and the costs of failure are falling. The social reforms unleashed by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are bringing changes to many aspects of life in the conservative kingdom, but none stand to benefit more than women, whose treatment has set Saudi Arabia apart from the rest of the world for decades.

Glimpses of hair are starting to appear beneath headscarves, the lines segregating men from women are beginning to blur, and the government is slowly retreating from its once vigorous intrusion into women’s lives. On June 24, they will be allowed to drive, the most symbolic and practically important of the changes so far.

Political freedoms are definitely not included. The arrest last month of 17 activists, including seven of the most prominent women who had campaigned for the right to drive, sent a clear signal to all Saudis that only the government can bestow freedoms – and the government can take them away. Eight of those detained have since been freed, but nine remain behind bars, including three of the female driving activists.
The arrests probably had less to do with the specific demands the women were making than that they were making demands at all, said Hala al-Dosari, a Saudi activist who has supported the driving campaign and is at Harvard University. Male clerics, bloggers and human rights campaigners critical of the government also have been detained but simply received less publicity, she said.

The Truth Behind How Airplane Toilets Actually Work

There are some things we may never quite understand: how bread turns into toast, what happens to matching socks in the dryer, and how the toilets on airplanes work.
But in the spirit of demystifying the arcane secrets of the universe, we looked into revealing the enigma that is the airplane bathroom.

The modern airplane toilet system was invented by James Kemper in the 1970s. Before then, passengers onboard planes could attend to their duties in a slosh bucket, which would then either decorate the bathroom quarters when the plane hit turbulence or be chucked out the window and land on the unsuspecting earth below.

The Kemper vacuum system first appeared in a Boeing plane in 1982. The system relied on a blue liquid—known as Skykem—a non-stick coating, and vacuum suction.

Instead of Trump’s propaganda, how about a nice ‘truth sandwich’?

Last weekwas a particularly rough one for journalists and truth-seeking citizens.

President Trump declared the news media the nation’s worst enemy. And time after shocking time, his acolytes demeaned or threatened reporters for doing one of their most basic jobs: asking questions of those in power.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a reporter in North Korea that it was “insulting and ridiculous and ludicrous” for him to be asked about details of the verification process for the vaunted denuclearization.

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale suggested taking a CNN reporter’s credentials away after he shouted a question at the president.

It was ugly. Even uglier than usual.

And the president’s anti-media campaign is convincing at least some citizens that journalists have no worth.
Enter George Lakoff. An author, cognitive scientist and linguist who has long studied how propaganda works, he believes it’s long past time for the reality-based news media to stop kowtowing to the emperor.
“Trump needs the media, and the media help him by repeating what he says,” Lakoff said.

That would be okay under normal circumstances, he told me, but “this situation is not normal — you have a sustained attack on the democracy and the news media.”

Unlike those who insist that what the president says is news and therefore must be reported, Lakoff proposes a radical reimagining of how the news media reports on Trump.

Controversy As Post-Eid-el-Fitri Bomb Blast ‘Kills 25, Injures More Than 50’ In Borno

  At least 25 people have been confirmed dead and more than 50 injured in an explosion on Saturday night after the Eid-el-Fitri celebration in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State.

But while security agencies believed the blast was by Boko Haram members, a local source,  who asked not to be named, told SaharaReporters that the military artillery gun wreaked more havoc than the blast itself.

“There was bomb explosion in Shuwari village, not far from Damboa town on Saturday night,” he said. “The military responded by firing artillery gun towards the direction and many civilians were hit.”

However, Borno State Police Commissioner, Damian Chukwu, gave a different account.

“At about quarter to nine, yesterday night, a loud explosion was heard at Abacahri village, along Damboa/Chibok road. The DPO mobilised with our men from the SARS and civilian JTF to the scene and found 20 people dead and 48 others injured,” Chukwu said.

“Some of the bodies were found chattered, indicating that the explosion came from an explosive device.”

Chukwu said further that the Police was yet to confirm if the explosion was as a result of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or a rocket-propelled grenade.

BREAKING NEWS: Makarfi declares for President

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi has finally declared to run in the 2019 presidential election.
Makarfi, the former governor of Kaduna state ,two term senator and  immediate past Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, made the declaration at a press briefing in Kaduna on Sunday.
According to him, “After wide consultations with party men and women as well as other major stakeholders, I have decided to seek the party’s nomination to contest the poll.”
The two time Senator said he was now ready to pick the PDP nomination form ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
He becomes the second member of the PDP to make his intention public after former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Details later  …

Nigerian Navy Intercepts Ship Smuggling Over 2,000 Bags Of Rice

Nigerian Navy has arrested a ship smuggling a large haul of contraband rice into Nigeria from Cameroon.

The vessel carrying 2,860 bags of foreign rice was intercepted over the weekend by Naval personnel on board the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) victory along the Calabar waterway in Cross River State.

The Acting Commander of the NNS victory ship, Captain Babafemi Ajayi while parading the five suspects alongside their seized boat in Calabar, the state capital said the arrests following an intelligence 

“We discovered that the boat was hidden around Calabar channels with this consignments with the intention that when there is darkness, they will use smaller boats to evacuate the products into a warehouse.

“Following the tip off, we positioned our men into that area. Fortunately, we saw the five men when they wanted to carry out the assignment on the boat. They were subsequently arrested. Further entry revealed their warehouse. When we got there, we saw more consignments, those that have already been offloaded.”

Skiibii: I Was Always Broke When I Was With Five Star Music

When Skiibii Mayana announced that he was leaving Five Star Music last year, music lovers wondered how he would survive alone.

Speaking with Sunday Scoop, the singer said he had become a better musician and person since parting ways with his former bosses, Kcee and his brother, E-Money.

“I am hundred per cent a better person since I left Five Star Music. When I was at Five Star, I didn’t think I could shoot a video on my own. But it is a different story now. Apart from music, I can do a lot of things on my own. Now, I can take care of my family and pay salaries. When I was with Five Star, I didn’t always have money; I was a boy. If I went to a show, we would share the money and my percentage couldn’t take care of my responsibilities.”

Admitting that he was yet to do a lot this year, he said he had plans to release four more songs before the year ends. He said,

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry steal the show as they attend the wedding of Princess Diana's niece

 The newly married Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a family wedding yesterday and they looked every bit like the lovestruck couple.

It was the wedding of Harry's cousin, Celia McCorquodale, 29. Celia is the daughter of Princess Diana's sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle co-ordinated in powder blue as they watched Princess Diana's niece tie the knot with George Woodhouse in Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire.
The bride paid tribute to her late aunt Princess Diana by wearing the same tiara Diana wore at her own 1981 wedding. The tiara is a family heirloom that was also worn by all of Diana's sisters on their wedding days.

Sell cocaine if you can’t withstand economic hardship, minister tells traders

A Ghanaian minister, Simon Osei Mensah, has asked petty traders in the Kumasi metropolis to venture into the sale of cocaine if they cannot withstand the economic hardship in the country.

He said traders who are using economic hardship as an excuse to sell at unauthorised places must rethink their decision because persons who break the law will face justice, reports Citinewsroom on Wednesday.

“When we start enforcing the laws, people will be complaining of hardship. If there is hardship, then I will ask that you stop the business and go and sell cocaine for a living,” he added.

Julian Draxler: Mesut Ozil will deliver for Germany at World Cup

Julian Draxler believes Mesut Ozil will be one of the most important players for Germany at the World Cup.

Ozil had an inconsistent season for Arsenal in 2017-18 as the Gunners again finished outside of the top four in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old midfielder, who has played 90 times for the national team, isn’t certain of a starting spot for Germany, but PSG midfielder Draxler believes Ozil is one of squad’s most creative players.

“All the noise about Mesut [Ozil] being subdued and not up to his best is not true and has been way over the top,” Draxler said.

“The debate about his body language has been raging for a couple of years but he is an exceptional player.

All eyes on Neymar as Brazil face Switzerland

Brazil star and world’s most expensive player, Neymar will make his World Cup bow on Sunday as the five-time champions kick off quest for redemption while holders Germany launch their bid for back-to-back titles.

Four years after injury cut short his World Cup, before Brazil suffered a humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany, Neymar is once again spearheading his country’s hopes.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker’s participation at the finals in Russia had been cast into doubt after he suffered a fractured right foot in late February.

However the 26-year-old forward has shown little signs of rust since returning for Brazil, scoring in consecutive friendlies on the eve of the finals.

That could spell trouble for Switzerland as they take on Brazil in Group E on Sunday.

Senator Buruji Kashamu Shares 500 Naira As Dividends Of Democracy

Is this how politician in a Western World operates or serves their people? Where is a BILL passed for the betterment of your people? Is this how constituency allowance or budget should be spend? Could it be stomach infrastructure? Is this how more than 15 millions NAIRA collected every month from the government purse been spent? Do we have sensible people at affair of our dear country. There are loads of questions to ask but not today. In Nigeria Politician's mind they have served giving you half penny from our millions given to them as a salary per month. We are getting there soon

As the 2019 elections approaches, different politicians have come with strategies to win the hearts of the electorates and here is first term senator from Ogun East Senatorial district and 2019 Governorship aspirant Buruji Kashamu doing his "best" to win the heart of the electorate and