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The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), would be engaging the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on their respective parties plan towards diversifying the Nigeria economy on Thursday, January 15th, 2015, at Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton, Abuja . This is the third edition of CDD's inter-party debate series known as Nigerian Political Parties Discussion Series (NPPDS).

In the statement signed by CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, it was noted that with the recent dwindling price of oil prices in the international market and its concomitant effects on Nigeria's economy, demands for a refocused economic agenda becomes necessary.

"It has been consistently argued that a shift from the hitherto mono-cultural to diversified economy has the potential of addressing the perennial socio-economic challenges; through formulation of integrated economic policies and creation of enabling environment for private-public partnership".

"It is against this backdrop that CDD is organizing the inter-party debate between the PDP and the APC as a platform to inform Nigerians of the programs and plans on this crucial issue," she noted.

The statement further noted that for over five decades, the Nigerian economy has mostly depended on proceeds from the sale of crude oil at the expense of other productive sectors such as solid minerals (tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, bitumen, niobium, lead, zinc etc.), manufacturing and agriculture etc. that hitherto contributed significantly to the economy of Nigeria.

"The country's over-dependence on oil amidst the dwindling state of other productive sectors of her economy has called for concerns. The significant number of youth population in the country has also shifted attention to youth as an untapped resource," she averred.
 
Amidst rising unemployment, poverty and other problems associated with "enclaved" nature of the Nigerian economy, practitioners and experts alike in the lead up to the 2015 general election, are making the issue of diversification of economy part of the election discourse.

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Afrojuju maestro Shina Peters' wife of over 30 years, Sammie Peters, is reportedly down with cancer. Details of her case is however still sketchy but it is reported that she's currently in the US receiving treatment.

The couple met in 1981 and got married traditionally a year later.

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Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who led the country through one of its stormiest political periods, resigned on Wednesday, opening a phase of political uncertainty that will test the strength of the young government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The early end of Mr. Napolitano's unprecedented second term deprives Mr. Renzi of a crucial ally in his battle to push institutional and economic changes for a country that suffers from poor competitiveness and is locked in a triple-dip recession. Mr. Napolitano has often helped prod Italy's quarrelsome parties to support Mr. Renzi's ambitious agenda.

In his traditional end-of-year speech, the Italian president, who will turn 90 in June, said he had decided to end his second mandate ahead of time, due to his age and increasing "signs of fatigue," which made it increasingly difficult for him to fulfill his institutional duties.

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A father of three who was arrested alongside three suspected members of a notorious robbery gang that had been terrorizing Lagos and its environs has confessed to be the gang's armourer.
The 32-year-old suspect, Sunday Ajewole, also disclosed during interrogation at the Special Anti-Robbery Sqaud, Ikeja, Lagos that he usually hid the gang's weapons in an uncompleted building in Ayobo area of state, at the end of each operation.
Preliminary investigation also revealed that Ajewole, a drop out from the Osun State College of Technology, is a member of the Aiye confraternity.
Members of the gang according to the Police, have allegedly participated in several operations ,where vehicles were snatched from their unsuspecting owners at gun point. They were also alleged to have been responsible for some of the bank operations as well attacks on Bureau-de-change operators in Lagos and Ondo states.
Police sources hinted that " the gang robbed a bank in Ondo state recently and a bureau de- change office in Ayobo" .
They however met their waterloo, after the Lagos State Police Command got wind of their hideout somewhere around Gowon estate, consequent upon which the command boss, Kayode Aderanti, detailed operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad,SARS on their trail.
Operatives were said to have stormed a hotel in Gowon estate, Egbeda, where three suspected members of the gang were arrested. Three operational vehicles suspected to have been stolen , were reportedly recovered from them.
Their confessional statement reportedly led the operatives to a social gathering at Ayobo,where Ajewole, said to be spraying money on the celebrate was arrested. A cut -to- size locally made double barrel gun and some live cartridges were reportedly recovered from him.
 
I am now a changed man
In this interview with Crime Alert, the father of three displayed rare boldness as he declared that he had turned a new leaf while in the cell, announcing to the surprise of all that he had been 'anointed' to be a Pastor.
Hear him: " I know I have sinned . But God has forgiven me. Today, I am a changed man . I am not only born again, I am one of the Pastors in the cell! If I come out of this alive, I am going to continue preaching the gospel of God.
Yes! I was once a cultist. But that belongs to the past because God has forgiven me.
"I joined the cult four years ago after my friend, Tunde, initiated me. I was compelled to join because business was no more booming. I own a house in Ayobo, a suburb of Iyana Ipaja,which was built ten years ago, while I was working in a filling station. Three years ago, I sold my golf car and used the proceed to build a shop in front of my house.
"I went into supply of kerosene and diesel in Ayobo area of Lagos. But all of a sudden, things began to fall apart.
"I was arrested because my friend Omoloja, (one of the suspects ) brought a gun to the Aiye confraternity temple in Isefun Ayobo. Omoloja is a land grabber, he is also a member of our cult . When I asked him how he got the gun, he said it was meant for security purpose.
Owing to the fact that I was the third in command, the gun was kept in my possession . I kept it in an uncompleted building. But I never went to any operation with them. My involvement is simply because I kept their weapons".
But other arrested members described his claim as a lie, insisting that he went with them to the Ayobo operation where some Bureau-de-change operators were attacked and cash, both in foreign and local currencies carted away. They also disclosed that three of their weapons were in Ajewole's possession.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police , DSP said investigation into the case was still ongoing , with a view to apprehending other fleeing members of the gang.

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THERE were indications last night that the elaborate meeting on Monday geared towards ending the frosty relationship between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo ended in fiasco.
Vanguard learnt from competent sources at the meeting that President Jonathan and other top leaders of the ruling People's Democratic Party, PDP, who requested for the meeting with Obasanjo, felt disappointed with its outcome and may not push the idea of mending fences with the former leader again.
One of the sources, who was present at the meeting, told Vanguard that Obasanjo merely accepted to allow Jonathan and other PDP chieftains to visit him as a mark of respect to the office of the President and not to make peace with him.
According to the source, Obasanjo deliberately requested two prominent clergymen to be present as witnesses at the meeting to prove the point that it is Jonathan who actually caused disaffection between them by reneging on previous decisions they jointly reached.
It was learned that but for the respect Obasanjo has for the office which he once held, he would not have accepted to  host Jonathan because of his recent provocative utterances against prominent Nigerian statesmen, including him (Obasanjo).
Why the meeting flopped
The source said Obasanjo was irked by last Sunday's statement in which Jonathan referred to  some  elder statesmen behaving as 'motor park touts', a classification, Obasanjo reportedly took in bad faith.
The source said that at the meeting, Obasanjo opened up to those present and the two clergy men he had invited to ask Jonathan whether he had been honest with him and those he had assured he would run for a single term, if they supported him to win the last election.
The source said: "It is true that Obasanjo invited the two clergymen to witness the meeting which he grudgingly accepted to host because of the respect he has for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He did not want to turn the president and his entourage down since they requested to see him in his house as part of their rally in the state.
"But the truth of the matter is that Baba has not shifted grounds on any issue since he feels that Jonathan has not been fair to him by not adhering to any of the previous agreements reached with him.
Motor park touts classification
"What really irked Baba is the reference by Jonathan to some Nigerian elder statesmen as behaving as 'motor park touts' a day before begging him to grant him audience in Abeokuta.
The man really feels insulted by such unfortunate outburst from the president of a country.
"There was no need to enter into any peace deal with Jonathan because similar deals done in the past only resulted in more attacks by him and his aides on Baba only for them to come begging for forgiveness once it is close to election."
Obasanjo and Jonathan with members of the party's Board of Trustees, BoT, met for about three hours in Abeokuta on Monday with a view to settling the differences between the two leaders and to seek his support for the president's re-election, next month.
Obasanjo, who appears upset by the way Jonathan has so far run the country, has often taken to public fora to criticise him, including an open letter entitled "Before it is too late" and a critical book entitled "My Watch" which a court had barred from being circulated.

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The whereabouts of a 38-year-old man, simply identified as Mr. Ojuigo of Upper Sakponba Road in Benin City, remain unknown to family members and friends following a revelation by their nine-year-old house maid, Ada, who accused him of forcing her to engage in MouthAction with him when the wife had gone to work.

Ojuigo, who is said to have lost his job six months ago in one of the new generation banks along Airport road in Benin, got into trouble when the nine-year-old girl revealed to his wife that the husband had on several occasion forced her to perform sex acts with him with a promise to give her money. He also threatened to kill her if she told his wife or any other person.

However, the victim was said to have confided in another girl who lives in the same compound who later told the wife of former banker.

Angered by embarrassment, the wife who is a banker, was said have publicly confronted the husband who stoutly denied the allegations.

She was said to have reported the matter to her in-laws and church elders, but he declined several invitations to appear before them.

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A total number of 68,833,476 voters registered for the February general elections.
Also, over four million Nigerians were involved in multiple registrations across the country and their names have been successfully by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, stated this at the meeting the commission had with the national leadership of all the 23 registered political parties in Abuja on Tuesday evening.
Jega said, "In line with the provisions of the law, the commission has just announced the publications of the register of voters that will be used for the February 2015 general elections.
"The total number of voters registered for the elections is 68,833,476."
Jega said over four million Nigerians were involved in double registration and that because of this, their names had been deleted from the register.
He said 38,774,391 Nigerians had collected their Permanent Voter Cards out of the 54,341,610 that were ready as of Monday last week.
He, however, said the commission had ordered more PVCs and that some of them were already waiting for collection.
Jega said, "The commission has taken delivery of additional PVCs from the contractor, and we are positive that we will have all outstanding cards with us by 28 January, 2015.
"For the avoidance of doubt, possession of PVCs is a strict condition for anyone intending to vote in the 2015 elections."
Asked about the resolutions passed by the House of Representatives, asking the commission to use TVCs, he said he was not aware of such resolution.
He nevertheless said the commission was working with the intent of using only PVCs for the elections.
Jega regretted that many Nigerians refused to collect their PVCs, adding that in order to address this, the commission had directed all resident electoral commissioners to further decentralise the distribution of the cards to the ward level.
The time for the distribution, he added, had also been fixed from 8.30am to 5.30pm, from Monday to Saturday.
He said contrary to the doubt being entertained in some quarters, the electoral umpire would use card readers for the elections.
Jega added, "INEC will use card readers for the elections. Th commission has taken delivery of more than 130,000 units of these card readers, and we are on schedule to receive the remaining quantity before the end of January."
He announced that deployment of the cards to states had commended.
He said there were about 150,000 polling points in the country.

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BY Moses Adeyemi

Messi did not deserve second place, says
Kroos, the Germany international was baffled to see Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer come in only third behind the Argentine forward.

The Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos feels his compatriot Manuel Neuer should have come second in the Ballon d'Or vote behind Cristiano
Ronaldo, rather than Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi.

The Argentina international amassed 15.76 per cent of the votes to narrowly pip the Bayern Munich shot stopper - who collected 15.72% of the votes - to second place, but Kroos feels Messi did not deserve to finish ahead of the World Cup winner.

I thought it would be a close call between Manuel and Cristiano. Neuer was the best goalkeeper by a long way and Cristiano was the
best outfield player. It was between the two of them really.

Manuel would have been a worthy winner, but Cristiano deserved it, too.

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Recently Enugu based Catholic priest,  Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka, caused serious commotion in Nigerian politics especially in the Jonathan's camp when he predicted that doom awaits the country if President Goodluck Jonathan win the February 14 presidential election.

However, another Enugu-based prophet, Anthony Nwoko has added a new dimension to the entire political scenario by predicting that neither Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP) nor Gen. Muhammad Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would be president after next month's election.

Nwoko in 1993, prophesied the end of the military regime of former head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.)

In his words when answering to questions from news men, he said


"I had told IBB in 1993 to leave office and it happened and in 1998, I prophesied that Abacha would leave office mysteriously, and you saw what happened",

"In 2010, I told Nigerians that they should not expect much or any miracle from Jonathan. Now, in this coming election, Jonathan will only serve as John the Baptist and Buhari has not got any heavenly crown to rule and he will not rule this country because he hasn't got that crown.

"Don't take my prophesies for granted because I had also told Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar not to make Obasanjo president and I had also warned Gen. Obasanjo not to make late former President Yar'Adua president and my advice was not heeded and you saw what happened".

The prophet who had had a running battle with the authorities of the Celestial Church of Christ over the church's headship however refused to divulge what would become of the nation since either of the two leading presidential candidates "would not be president by May 29, 2015", noting that God will give the nation a new direction.

When he was asked who he sees winning the presidential post, he said,

"I can see the glory of Nigeria in the South East and I don't agree with Wole Soyinka that Jonathan is Nebuchadnezzar ; Jonathan is a forerunner to the glory of God".
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.

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Former aviation minister sacked in February 2014 for purchasing two BMW cars at a highly-inflated price has failed to make the list of People's Democratic Party senatorial candidates, the list released on Tuesday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows.

Ms. Oduah, after failing to capture the Anambra North Senatorial seat, had used Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Federal Government, to intimidate INEC to get her name into the list. That plan failed, as INEC released the name of John Okechuckwu Emeka as the court-ordered candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) for the seat.

Also removed from the list is Andy Uba, a former domestic aide to President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was replaced with his equally controversial younger brother, Chris Uba as the PDP candidate for Anambra South in the forthcoming general election. Chris Uba, it would be recalled, confessed to having rigged the 2003 gubernatorial election in the state, in favour of Chris Ngige.

Andy Uba and Ms. Oduah had been anointed by President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, to clinch the senatorial slots, but they both lost in last month's state party primaries.

Since that defeat, Ms. Oduah has been conniving with lawyers, some judges and SGF Anyim to impose her name on INEC, in a political no-man's-land where integrity has no meaning.

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