Keke, Rochas, Rounds-about And Poverty In Heartland

Keke, Okoroch, Rounds-about And Poverty In Heartland

A first time visitor to Owerri, Heartland State capital, will notice two features which have become the city's signpost. Now, hold your horses before they go haywire; the three wheelers (keke) and scores of rounds about that have become the town's constant feature. They seem to be the only eloquent achievement of the moufler-wearing Governor, Rochas Okorocha. Before you come back to a road junction you just passed, a round about has been constructed.
As for keke, don't go there! They aim to out do jeeps, heavy duty trucks, trailers and the like. The operators are ever hell bent on pushing any other road user out of the way with vehemence coupled with verbal abuses should anyone dare call them to order.
In all of this, it is the breeding of debilitating poverty, deprivation and denial of the peoples' rights that one feels. Keke operator is only being kept busy; being given the feeling that he will finish paying his debt occasioned by the hire purchase status of his keke.
But unbeknown to him, as he keeps plying the Owerri streets in his over-loaded and over-flogged keke, the life span depreciates faster; by the time he completes payment, the damned keke is no more and back to square zero.

CAN'T GOV. OKOROCHA DO BETTER THAN KEKE AND CONSTRUCTION OF ROUNDS ABOUT? ARE THERE NO BETTER WAYS OF EMPOWERING OUR YOUTHS RATHER THAN MAKING THEM KEKE OPERATORS?

Ridicule, Odium As 2016 Appropriation Bill Remains Missing

Ridicule, Odium As 2016 Appropriation Bill Remains Missing

The ridicule and odium seems to be on-going. Have the senators found the missing appropriation bill (budget) presented by the president yet?

Senate president, Bukola Saraki

There is nowhere in the world this is known to have happened before and I stand to be corrected. How did Nigeria come to this point? What we hear is double (multiple) speak on such a sensitive matter; it is stolen; it is not missing; SSA to the president replaced it and so on. As this goes on, the legislative work on the document is being delayed. Where does this lead us?

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Alabama Chief Justice Orders Halt To Same-sex Marriage License

Alabama Chief Justice Orders Halt To Same-sex Marriage Licenses

The chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court ordered the state's probate judges on Wednesday not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year legalizing gay marriage.

Gay marriage activists and legal experts assailed the order, arguing last June's landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision afforded same-sex couples the right to marry in all 50 states. In a phone interview with Reuters Chief Justice Roy Moore, who issued the order, said judges were bound by the state Supreme Court's decision last March halting same-sex marriage until that court determines the effect on the state of the national ruling.

A federal judge in Alabama overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage last January. "There is a great confusion out there as to what orders to obey," Moore said. "I’m not causing the confusion, I’m trying to clarify it." Many probate judges were issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples while others refused to do so, he said.

One probate judge, Steven Reed in Montgomery, Alabama, said his office would not heed the administrative order. "Judge Moore's latest charade is just sad and pathetic," Reed posted on Twitter. But the Mobile County probate court said on its website that it would stop issuing marriage licenses to any applicants gay or straight until further notice "to ensure full compliance with all court rulings."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has an ongoing ethics complaint against Moore, said he should be removed from the bench for telling the state's judges to enforce Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage. "It’s a disgrace to his office that he occupies it," said Richard Cohen, president of the Alabama-based law center. Cohen said judges who follow Moore's order risked being held in contempt of court for violating the federal judge's ruling.

In Kentucky last year, County Clerk Kim Davis was jailed for five days after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, making her a focal point in the U.S. gay marriage debate.

"Buhari Shouldn't Push Dasuki To Say All"

Buhari Shouldn’t Push Dasuki To Say All

– Abdulsalam, LP chair

The National chairman of Labour Party, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, in this interview with Vanguard criticised the 2016 Budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the N6.08 trillion proposal as unrealisable. Alhaji Abdulsalam also bares his mind on recent happenings in the country. Excerpts:

What is your reaction to the budget, of N6.08 trillion presented by the President before the National Assembly?  
The budget presented by President Buhari to the National Assembly does not make sufficient meaning to people like us. On what basis did the budget of N6.08trillion come about? Buhari told us that he met an empty treasury, so from what is he basing the budget of N6.08 trillion?
Why is Lai Mohammed crying everyday that Jonathan did this, Jonathan did that? We were aware that Jonathan did this, Jonathan did that and that was why when they called for a change. Nigerians voted for change. But today they keep on hammering on Jonathan and PDP. I think if they don’t have anything to do, if their agenda is not strong enough, we need to address certain issues with regards to Buhari and the APC.
I do not see to which extent this budget will not create additional problem, additional suffering to Nigerian people.

Additional problem

But I want to tell you the fact, it is clear that General Buhari who knows nothing about the economy, has no economic team that can address fundamentally the issue of the enormous economic situation in Nigeria.

He has no economic team?

He has no economic team. First he has no knowledge of economy at all and secondly he has no sound economic team that can fundamentally address the economic situation of Nigeria, else they will take us backward and it will be dangerous and it will terrible.

What is your stance on the fight against corruption?

And the corruption, the fighting of corruption by Buhari and the APC is discriminatory, it is sectional, it is selective and it is unguided because what is the difference between the ways Obasanjo fought corruption, Jonathan fought corruption and Buhari is fighting corruption. In Buhari’s own, the situation is worse because he is fighting them either you didn’t support him or you jailed him when he was in the military or you intercepted him when he was in the military.

So the corruption team by Buhari is not guided by any principle, it is just guided by selfishness, by self aggrandizement; they just want to punish people for the sake for punishing them. Did you ever hear anywhere in the world, where you subject security into this kind of disgracing insult. Buhari has no, if he has, he has no advisers or he doesn’t listen to advice.

What do you say about the evidence so far of the money paid through the office of the NSA, the Arms scandal?
The paid money to the NSA man, also the NSA man said he gave Buhari car, so what are they telling us. And you know the man said if he opens up, he will open up canker worms. So leave that aspect of NSA because it is not good for our image, it is not good for our security; no nation ever subjects its security to this kind of thing. And it is not done with sincerity of purpose, it is for selfishness, you want to create something out of the man.

But is that how security fund in other parts of the world is utilised?
We are hearing from one side, we have not heard from the man. Let the judgment commence openly. Let us hear from the other side, that is just the practicality of the situation.

Was security fund in the past used for campaign?
You see, security vote was never subjected to questioning. You can use security vote for media, you can use security vote for whatever but it has never happened in the history of Nigeria that people are questioned on how security votes are spent.

Let me ask you, is it only security votes that is the problem? What is the situation in NNPC? What is the situation with the state governors who carted our money away?

There is a difference between the security vote and money earmarked for arms to fight insurgency.

That is what I said, that is what you heard from the APC people or PDP people, we want to hear from the man both the former president and Dasuki.

Let’s hear from Dasuki himself in court openly. Did they give you $2.1billion dollars? What did you do with it? Who and who touched it?

Davido vs Babymama: Pop Star Storms NAPTIP Office, Says It's Family Affair

Davido vs Babymama: Popstar Storms NAPTIP Office, Says It’s Family Affair

There are indications that the Hip-Hop star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, and his Babymama, Sophia Momodu,  are already working with the National Agency for the Prohibition in Trafficking of Persons, NAPTIP,  in order to resolve the feud over the custody of their baby, Imade, repots Vanguard.

A source from the agency told Vanguard, yesterday, that the warring parties are cooperating with the agency to end the face-off as soon as possible.

This is coming on the heels of the 23-year-old pop singer’s visit to the Lagos State office of NAPTIP, yesterday. His father, Dr. Deji Adeleke was said to have stormed the NAPTIP office earlier in the week. So also were Dele Momodu and Sophia.

Though the details of Davido’s meeting with the officials of the agency are yet to be ascertained, it was, however, gathered that the pop star arrived the office of NAPTIP at 11:07a.m., yesterday.

When contacted on the telephone, Davido, who was recently hospitalised due to stress, declined to comment on the outcome of his visit to the NAPTIP office, insisting that it was a family affair and a personal problem.

However, speaking on a condition of anonymity, a source from the NAPTIP office, told Vanguard, yesterday, that the agency is still investigating the matter.

“I cannot tell you the outcome of the meeting because the agency is still investigating the matter and the parties involved are cooperating with us. We are talking about the future of a child here, and everything has to be done to protect the child,” the source said.

It will be recalled that Sophia, through her lawyers, yesterday, requested the original copy of the alleged medical report that Davido published during the week from Clina Lancet laboratory.

The singer had alleged that a pathology test was conducted, in which it was determined that his daughter, Imade, was fed with breast milk contaminated with cannabis.

Meanwhile, in a series of tweets, Monday, Sophia, who is also a relation of the publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, challenged both Davido and his family to publish the alleged medical report, stating that she took cannabis which had infected her seven-month old baby.

Davido, last Sunday, rebuffed claims by his estranged lover, Sophia Momodu on the circumstances surrounding the removal of their daughter, Imade, from Sophia’s custody.

In a statement released, yesterday,  by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, the body urged the parties to sheathe their swords and use constructive and private means to find lasting resolution so as to respect and edify the constitutional dignity and fundamental human rights of the little baby.

“We have observed with considerable trepidation and disappointment the media brickbats and unnecessary spat between the highly successful celebrity musical performer known by his stage name of Davido and the high profile publisher and respected columnist/political activist, Chief Dele Momodu, over a child’s custody disagreement involving the musician; his erstwhile female companion, Ms Sophie, who is reportedly the cousin to Dele Momodu over a child, little baby of seven months, called Imade.”