Why Does The Western World Keep Portraying Africa As The Worst Thing That Happened To Earth?

The western world keeps using international news agencies like the BBC
and other major news networks to paint a bad picture of Africa. The
worst part of it all is that these countries use situations in which
we are far better than they are to make us look bad before the rest of
the world. A very recent example of such is a news report on BBC that
portrays the whole of West Africa as drug addicts while they are the
ones who record increasing cases of drug addiction and depression
induced suicide across all age groups. These "world powers" will not
try to be sincere with themselves and try to combat the grave issues
of moral degradation among their elite, youth and even their so called
"Men of God" but are actively trying their best to incite the wrath of
God on other morally upright nations. These are just two of thousands
of issues. The most unfortunate and disheartening of all these is
that many Africans and people all over the world are gullible enough
to believe this misinformation from "highly rated" news agencies.
With all this negative information being intentionally spread all over
the world using various media, one begins to wonder if this is just a
holier-than-thou culture among the Europeans and Americans or if all
this negativity is being propagated to prevent perceived economic
competitors in Africa from being able to challenge or displace them
from their revered positions as world powers just as China is
currently doing.

Samsung introduces Galaxy II

Samsung Mobile has just launched its new Galaxy Note II in the US
where the company is fiercly battling with Apple for a share of the US
market that Apple currently dominates. While posting a tweet about 7
hours ago, they only commented on the device's highly sensitive touch
screen capabilities and after reading some comments on the tweets, I
came to the conclusion that Samsung Galaxy are having fun with this
newly introduced device Samsung is using to keep Apple from snatching
its customers.

Alarming Oil Theft Statistics!!!

Despite Nigeria's oil wealth, 90% of its
citizens live on less than $2 per day, a leaked report into Nigeria's oil
and gas industry has revealed the
extent of mismanagement and
corruption that is costing billions of
dollars each year. The report, seen by the BBC,was
commissioned by the oil minister in
the wake of this year's fuel protests to
probe the financial side of the sector. It says $29bn (£18bn) was lost in the
last decade in an apparent price-
fixing scam involving the sale of
natural gas. It also calculated the treasury loses of
$6bn a year because of oil theft. Nigeria is one of the world's biggest
oil producers but most of its people
remain mired in poverty. The Petroleum Revenue Special Task
Force report is one of several
commissioned by the government -
and follows an outcry after a
parliamentary investigation
uncovered a massive multi-billion fuel subsidy scam. That had been set
up after angry
nationwide protests in January when
the government tried to remove a fuel
subsidy. Earlier this week, a campaign was
launched to clean up Nigeria's oil
sector. It was led by Patrick Dele Cole, a
politician from the oil-rich Niger Delta
region, who said that 90% of the
stolen oil was refined in eastern
Europe and Singapore. The BBC's Will Ross in Lagos says this
leaked report exposes the extent of
the rot in Nigeria's oil and gas
industry - all the way from the
awarding of contracts to the sale of
refined products. It is staggering just how much money
the people of Nigeria appear to be
missing out on, he says. Nigeria's Oil Minister Diezani Alison-
Madueke declined to comment on the
specifics of the probe but said a
report compiled from several
committees set up earlier in the year
to investigate the oil and gas sector was in its final stages and would be
presented to the president soon. 'Total overhaul' The Petroleum
Revenue Special Task
Force, headed by former anti-
corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu,
revealed in its report that losses of
revenue to the treasury over
apparent gas price-fixing involved dealings between Total, Eni and Shell
and government officials. The report does not suggest the
companies broke the law but called
for measures to be put in place to
ensure all transactions are more
transparent. It said that oil and gas companies
owe the treasury more than $3bn in
royalties. For the period 2005 to 2011, it said
$566m was owed in signature
bonuses - the fees a company is
supposed to pay up front for the right
to exploit an oil block. The report looked at the issue of
discretionary licences which
companies do not have to bid for. Between 2008 and 2011 it found the
Nigerian government had handed out
seven discretionary licences, from
which $183m in signature bonuses
had not been paid. A Shell spokesman said the company
would not comment as it had not yet
seen the report. Our correspondent says it is well
known that oil theft is a major
problem in Nigeria, but the report
says it may be reaching emergency
levels as 250,000 barrels of crude oil
could be being stolen every day - 10% of annual production. The
leaked report said that small-
scale "pilfering" had been "endemic
since at least the late 1990s", but it
also said it had heard allegations
about thefts from crude export
terminals, tank farms, refinery storage tanks, jetties and ports.
"Submissions to the Task Force
alleged that officials and private
actors disguise theft through
manipulation of meters and shipping
documents," the report said. "Yet there is also evidence that
members of the security forces
condone and, in some cases, profit
from theft. The void in effective
security likewise appears to
increasingly hand over control of coastal and inland waterways to
undesirable elements." The investigation showed that 40% of
refined products - either refined in
Nigeria or imported - currently being
channelled through state-owned
pipelines are lost to theft and
sabotage. Mr Ribadu's investigation calls for a
total overhaul of the industry with an
oil sector transparency law requiring
all companies to report all payments
and publish all contracts and licences. The Task Force also wants a special
financial crimes unit to be established
specifically for the oil and gas sector.
Source: BBC News

Fellow readers, what's your take on this sad and alarming issue of oil
theft in our dear country?

AU Lifts Mali Suspension

The African Union has lifted the
suspension it imposed on Mali after
a military coup in the country in
March.
The body has also endorsed a plan
calling for fresh elections and the
return of law and order, according to
an AU spokesman. AU officials have also been discussing
the logistics of an intervention force
to help Malian authorities recover
areas seized by Islamists in the north. The territory was overrun by militants
in the chaos following the March
coup. The AU's Peace and Security Council
had decided "to lift the suspension of
Mali from the activities of the AU. Mali
is therefore invited to participate in
full," Ramtane Lamamra, AU Peace
and Security Commissioner, told the Reuters news agency. The AU is
also finalising planning for a
deployment of an African-led
international force in Mali, according
to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,
chairwoman of the AU Commission. However, the AU would leave the
"door open" for those rebel groups
that wished to negotiate, she added. Chaotic aftermath The March coup
was carried out by
disaffected soldiers who overthrew
President Amadou Toumani Toure,
claiming his government had not
dealt effectively with a Tuareg
rebellion in the north. In the aftermath of the coup, Islamists
took over several towns in the north,
initially along with Tuareg rebels, but
the alliance subsequently broke
down. Earlier this month, the UN Security
Council passed a resolution paving
the way for military intervention in
Mali and asking African organisations
to formulate a plan for such an
intervention within 45 days. Both Mali's government and the West
African regional body Ecowas have
both expressed readiness for an
international force to intervene, with
Ecowas proposing a force of 3,000. Meanwhile, the US is working with
regional and international partners to
counter what it fears is al-Qaeda's
presence in Mali, Defence Secretary
Leon Panetta told reporters on
Wednesday. "I've made clear… we have to ensure
that al-Qaeda has no place to hide
and that we have to continue to go
after them wherever they try to
develop a command-and-control
capability from which they could conduct attacks," he said. The
Islamist groups who seized
control in northern Mali are suspected
of allowing al-Qaeda infiltration and
of committing human rights abuses in
their rigid application of Islamic law.

Source: BBC News

UEFA Champions league fixtures for Tuesday 23rd October 2012

Today the Champions league continues with eight fixtures featuring at
least three top contenders for the coveted trophy with the match
between Barça and Celtic in top focus of football lovers. Celtic, a
club that has won the European cup twice are hopeful of leaving Camp
Nou with at least one point. Other big matches of the day are
Chelsea's encounter away with Shaktar Donetsk and Man Utd playing
against Braga at home.
A complete table of all the fixtures with match times is listed
below.


UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES

Spartak Moscow v Benfica 18:00
Barcelona v Celtic 20:45 BATE Borisov v Valencia 20:45
Galatasaray v CFR Cluj-
Napoca 20:45
Lille v Bayern
Munich 20:45
Man Utd v Braga 20:45
Nordsjaelland v Juventus 20:45
Shakhtar Donetsk v Chelsea 20:45

All times Nigerian(GMT+1)

Free And Fair Elections: Are They Sustainable?

The people of Ondo State have voted and subsequently chosen the
incumbent Governor to serve them for another four years at the
government house in Akure. There are high expections from the
electorate that he will perform better than he is doing in his current
tenure which runs out in february next year. So far there has been no
news of unlawful conduct during the course of the election except the
case involving the PDP candidate trying to get the sum of One
Millionaire Naira past the security agents, obviously to use it to
bribe the electorate to vote for him as is the norm within the PDP,
but the electorate have had the final say even though he was
successful in his attempt. Many have attributed the success of this
election to the stand of the Nigerian president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan to deliver a free and fair election and many think this is
the beginning of a new era where the electorate choose who leads them
not godfathers, but what many do not know is that when the current
President's tenure expires in 2015 or 2019 if he is re-elected, is if
the next president will allow for a free and fair election. Although
INEC is supposed to be an independent agency, its chairman is still
appointed by the President to whom he or she is accountable
considering the fact that he was appointed and did not rise through
the ranks as is supposed to be with independent agencies. I use this
opportunity to congratulate the "Iroko" as he becomes the first man to
lead the people of Ondo for two consecutive tenures and to put foward
this question: Do you think that Nigeria can sustain its free and fair
electoral process or is this just another short spell that ends with
our President's tenure or when he decides to change his stance?

Are the politicians going to accept INEC's election result when it is published?

As Ondo votes to choose its Helmsman, all the major contestants have
commended the efforts of INEC towards the delivery of a free and fair
election and the security operatives for a peacful conduct of law and
order. With these developments, do we hope for a tenure unmarred by
tribunals and better elections in the future or or will they go back
on their words when the results are released?

Spurs fall 4-2 At Home To Champions League Defenders

Andres Villas-Boas has just lost the first leg of his most important
matches of the season to a strong headed chelsea team that has also
shown why they should be considered a major threat to other Premier
league title contenders by beating Spurs 4-2 away from Stamford Bridge
in a game that had Spurs leading the Blues 2-1 barely ten minutes into
the second half with goals from Cahill (17'), Gallas (47') and Defoe
(54') only for Juan Mata to spoil their fun with a brace in the 66th
and 69th minutes of the game and Sturridge completing Chelsea's
victory with a final goal in the 90 minute of the game. With Chelsea's
victory in this game, is Andres Villa-Boas going to be more determined
to stop elements at Chelsea from defeating him or will this be the
beginning of his misery against the current European champions?

Andre Villa-Boas VS Roman Abramovich As Totenham Battles Chelsea at White Hart Lane

As Chelsea battle Tottenham in a match that can be tagged the biggest
match of the week, Chelsea faces former coach Villa Boas who will
definitely be pushing to prove to Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich that
he made a mistake by sacking him uncerimoniously by winning this match
against a Chelsea team whose most experienced defender has just earned
himself a four match ban for racially abusing a QPR player. Although
Spurs have not won their last five games Chelsea, fans of the club are
optimistic that this match is one that will go down in favour of them
given that they are more in-form than Chelsea and have won their last
four consecutive games and also are going to have the game on their
home ground.

Do you think this match will be a win for Spurs, Chelsea or will it be a draw?

Match time is 1:45 pm Nigerian Time

OTHER FIXTURES TODAY


Fulham vs Aston Villa 15:00
Liverpool vs Reading 15:00
Man Utd vs Stoke 15:00
Swansea vs Wigan 15:00
West Brom vs Man City 15:00
West Ham vs Southampton 15:00
Norwich vs Arsenal 17:30

The Stage Is Set As Ondo Chooses New Helmsman

As Ondo State holds its governorship elections
today, allegations have risen from many corners of planned violence, rigging and
electoral malpractices by those contesting for the office of the Ondo
State governorship seat and the police have subsequently responded by
deploying over 11,000 policemen
to forestall a breakdown of law and
order during the election period which is going to take place
simultaneously across all 18 council areas of the state. The Police
headquarters in Abuja
has also deployed high ranking police officers to monitor and ensure
that the election process is not disrupted by hoodlums in any way. On
the other hand, men of the Nigerian Army deployed to ensure a peaceful
election have been authorised to shoot anyone that tries to disrupt
the elections. Meanwhile, INEC has already begun the distribution of
less sensitive election materials while the more sensitive ones are to
be distributed today in a bid to prevent late arrival of the more
sensitive ones to all council today. The Chairman of
INEC, Prof Attahiru Jega previously said during a visit to the state that all
the votes cast in today's election
will count and that the results will
be announced within 12 hours. He further stated that the Ondo State
elections will be an
improvement on the election that took place in Edo
State. The three major
political parties in this election- the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Labour
Party (LP) and the Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN), are very optimistic of winning the election while
the other ten parties are not serious
about the election as they neither
have posters or offices. They equally expressed
satisfaction in the preparation of
INEC to conduct a free and fair
election and assured that the
election will be peaceful and fair. A total of 1,546,081 voters are
expected to participate in this highly monitored electoral process.
Now I will like readers to answer this questions:
Who do you think will win this election and will this election be
violence free, rigging free, and bloodless considering the order given
to the Army men?.

South West Rejects PHCN Distribution Company

THE bidding conducted by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) for core investors in firms controlled by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) may have run into trouble.
Four states within the jurisdiction of the Benin Distribution Company, under the auspices of the Southern Electrical Distribution Company (SEDC), have faulted the transaction, alleging sharp practices.
But the Director of Communications at BPE, Chukwuma Nwokoh, justified the transaction, saying: “We followed due process, requested for proposal and we did not deviate. We followed the bible of our transaction. They (SEDC) came second but it is only the National Council on Privatisation that will say the final (winner). We recognise that they made investments and it is because of that state governments will benefit from the Federal Government’s 40 per cent equity.”
Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the governors of Delta (Emmanuel Uduaghan), Edo (Adams Oshiomhole) and Ekiti (Kayode Fayemi) on behalf of their counterpart in Ondo State, Segun Mimiko, faulted the biding, arguing that SEDC presented the best bid for the company and that they were alarmed that BPE announced an Indian company, Vigeo Consortium Ltd, as the preferred bidder.
They argued that the four states had invested heavily in the company preparatory to taking it over before the bidding began.
“Our states have invested heavily in power generation, transmission and distribution across the length and breadth of our respective states as we recognise the importance of power as the pre-condition for socio-economic growth and industrialisation of our states. It is in the above vein that we participated and came out as the most technically competent and have the consortium that is most suited to the peculiarities of our region,” they said.
They further argued that it was in recognition of these peculiarities that the states floated the company to ensure smooth transition in the privatisation exercise.
“In our region, you cannot succeed in operating the utility without the participation of the state governments, on ground knowledge and relationships with the different stakeholders such as youths, communities, leadership etc. Our consortium possesses all these and no other does,” they added.
Faulting the choice of Vigeo Consortium Ltd, they said: “Experts have said that Average Technical Commercial and Collection Loss (ATC&C) losses as the single basis for selecting the preferred bidder after qualifying technically is completely flawed. It is neither here nor there. It is simply arithmetic progression statement, which does not in any way demonstrate your ability to succeed post-privatisation. The technical qualification criteria also failed to take into consideration the peculiarities of the various discos, otherwise, why would a company whose current service territory is 500 square kilometres be technically qualified to operate a 57,000 square kilometres service territory in an area like the Niger Delta without any local knowledge of this troubled area at all?’’
They added: “The ATC&C losses posted by some of the bidders like the one in Benin DISCO is completely unrealistic and even the regulators know that. They do not even know the area, yet, they want to do something in five years that they have not been able to achieve in 11 years in an urban 500 square kilometres territory they are currently operating. You can see that these are forgeries to just win the bid and thereafter, our people and states will begin to suffer and the government of the day will suffer the political backlash. Our consortium is led by the industry leader in India covering 4,328 villages and 43 towns, the Gold Shield award winner for 2011 for utility excellence who has posted the biggest loss reduction ever in Asia.’’
Declaring their intention to petition President Goodluck Jonathan about the alleged injustice, the group said: “It is unacceptable. They can’t improve power supply. The process was full of fraud. We are not only going to draw the attention of BPE to it, but will also see the president over this fraudulent transaction.”
Also yesterday, the Federal Government assured that its electricity sector reform agenda was on track, assuring that Nigeria would witness what he described as “tremendous power supply” in the next one year.
Minister of State for Power, Darius Ishaku, said in Abuja yesterday that the government was unrelenting in the implementation of its electricity road map launched last year.
Already, the National Institute of Power Training of Nigeria (NAPTIN) has upgraded its facilities and commenced the training and retraining of existing electricity workers to prepare them for greater productivity post-privatisation.
Ishaku, who spoke at the foundation laying of the N15 billion permanent structure of the National Institute of Power Training of Nigeria (NAPTIN) in Idu, Abuja yesterday, stressed that government was concerned about the need to replace aging electricity workforce and had therefore repositioned NAPTIN to cope with the demands of the post-privatisation era.
 View News From Source

Is this a sign of imminent failure of the newly introduced power distribution system or ......

Welcome To My New Blog!

I welcome everyone to my new blog which is dedicated to delivering the latest top stories from everywhere in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world. I hope you enjoy surfing through this blog.