Federal Inland Revenue Service Job Scandal: 349 New Staff Secretly Hired By Tunde Fowler

A  few months after a secret employment exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria was unearthed by us, another government agency has been hit by a similar scandal. This time the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), headed by Mr. Babatunde Fowler, a protege of Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) has been found to have overseen recruitment excercises in violation of Nigeria's rules of public advertisement.

FIRS, under Fowler, recently employed 3489  new staff. The recruitment exercise, we authoritatively gathered, was not preceded by a public advertisement of vacancies to be filled and approval by the Federal Character Commission as the service rules stipulate. The newly employed persons were inducted in Abuja last Wednesday. Fowler, who was appointed last August by President Muhammadu Buhari, had previously been accused of indifference to service rules on employment by secretly hiring 250 new staff. However, his accusers, could not make the charge stick,  as he claimed those hired are not full-time employees but consultants.

The latest findings, however, are accompanied by substantial evidence including the list of new recruits, complete with their states of origin, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, academic qualifications, recommended ranks and proposed duty stations.

The list, exclusively obtained by us, showed that six of the new recruits are of the position of deputy director, while 10 are assistant directors. Thirty-four others are of the rank of deputy manager, while the rest are made up of senior managers, managers, assistant managers and officers. All the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory are represented on the list.  Akwa Ibom State, for example, got six slots, while Gombe has 13. Ondo State is a beneficiary of 13 slots. Lagos State, where Fowler hails from, was awarded 14 slots. 

Katsina got 18, Kano 15 and Borno 23. Rivers State was given 14 slots. But in certain cases, the list does not show the states of origin and education qualifications of some of the new staff, making it difficult to know their states of origin and qualifications.

Wahab Gbadamosi, FIRS acting Director of Information, told a news website last week that relevant agencies of government approved the recruitment.

"Your enquiry on the targeted recruitment at the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS refers. We wish to respond as follows: Please note that requisite agencies of government approved the targeted recruitment by the FIRS. Due Process -in recruiting into a Federal Government agency- was followed; The FIRS is a conscientious, law-abiding institution which adheres to statutory rules and procedures; The FIRS is focused on its duty to collect revenue to fund the national budget and pleads that it should be allowed to concentrate on its 2016 target of N4. 9 trillion,” he was quoted to have responded via email.

Noticeably absent from the mail, however, are whether the vacancies were advertised or not and the names of the relevant agencies that green-lighted the recruitment.

RECRUITMENT SAGA AT CBN AND FIRS

CBN recruited children of the mighty and influential, we made noise on social media and nothing came out of that.

Perhaps taking a cue from CBN, Tunde Fowler of FIRS has been found to have overseen recruitment exercises in violation of Nigeria's rules of public advertisement

FIRS under Fowler recently employed 349 staff,as with the CBN recruitment scandal, the list of employed person reeks of nepotism.

Mean while the rest of us without influential parents are expected to apply for the 23,000 monthly N-Power Job and grateful to the government  that we did.

Guys! Make una no vex, what is the difference between the previous PDP government that Nigerians voted out and this present change APC government

Has anything truly changed?

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on President Goodluck Jonathan

"People say a lot about him (President Goodluck Jonathan) that is not true. For instance, I don’t think that a single act of corruption can be traced to him as an individual. I know that he is the only president in recent years who did not allocate a single oil bloc to anybody, not to talk of himself. And these are the areas where you can tell corruption in its true colour.

He did not allocate oil bloc to himself, family or friends up till now. He also did not give a single marginal field to himself or anybody else even though he is the only president that comes from the Niger Delta where the oil is coming from.

I know for a fact that President Jonathan does not have a single property anywhere abroad or any huge business in Nigeria. He does not own a university and none of his children are schooling abroad. It is therefore so unfair the way he is being painted because of politics."

Fowler of FIRS allegedly on a ‘Secret Deal’ with Jimoh Ibrahim

While crude oil prices continue on their downward trend in the International market thereby placing the economic stance of Nigeria on dicey ebb, the Federal Inland Revenue Service headed by its Chairman Babatunde Fowler seems to be engrossed in tribal sentiments with his kinsman Jimoh Ibrahim that may cost government over N300m in tax.

It would be recalled that Jimoh’s Nicon Luxury Hotel was recently sealed off by the officers from the Federal Inland Revenue Service over unpaid arrears of tax owe government by Jimoh’s chains of businesses in Nigeria. The Field Operations Manager who led the other staff and police to seal off Nicon Luxury hotel described Jimoh as a habitual tax evader that should have long been jailed if Nigeria was a functional country.

It was alleged that Jimoh who was not in the country when the Hotel was sealed off immediately flew in from his base overseas to attend to the issue.  We revealed that Jimoh cashed in on his tribal affiliation with Babatunde Fowler leading to the reopening of the hotel 2 days after.  It was further alleged from a reliable source that Jimoh parted with around N20,000,000 to ‘silence’ the agency who had threaten to seal off all his investments on grounds of tax evasion and avoidance.

The money was said to have exchanged hand in one of the suites in the hotel at odd hours on Friday night preceding the reopening of the hotel on the following Saturday.

We confirmed that the over N300,000,000 tax owe government by Nicon Luxury hotel and other Jimoh’s chains of businesses may be a thing of the past as a deal has been struck by Mr. Fowler led FIRS and Jimoh.  Our source revealed that part of the deal between Mr. Fowler and Jimoh is that Jimoh would avail his hotel facility for use by FIRS.  Such facilities include halls for FIRS functions and rooms for top FIRS management staff for personal or official use.

If would be recalled that the FIRS inductees’ ceremony is currently going on in the same hotel FIRS had most recently sealed off.

‘Jimoh is a master at the game.  He understands the moral void that exists among so-called Nigeria leaders and he cashes in.  Jimoh and his likes will continue to get away with their unpatriotic act as long as sentiments of tribal and regional affiliations are strong among those who are saddled with leadership positions in Nigeria’

Mr. Fowler has been in the news of recent over allegation of tax refund to the tune of N7billion to a construction giant – Julius Berger Plc as excess tax paid by the company to government which many believed was an act deeply conceptualized to fleece government.  Fowler’s recent recruitment exercise was also believed in many quarters to be an exercise that did not follow Federal Character Rules and aimed at employing children and relatives of top APC chieftains.  250 of the names of people employed and 4 staff placed on Directorship level were alleged to have been handed down to him by his godfather –Ahmed Bola Tinubu and all from South West Geopolitical Zone.

NEVER GIVE UP YOUR DREAM

At Age 5, his Father died

At age 16, he quit school

At age 17 he had already lost four jobs

Between 18 and 22, he was a railroad conductor and failed.

He joined the army and washed out there.

He applied for law school but was rejected.

He became an insurance sales man and failed again.

At age 19 he became a father

At age 20, his wife left him taking their child with her, because he couldn’t hold a job.

He became a cook and dishwasher in a small cafe.

He eventually convinced his wife to return home.

At age 65 he retired.

On the 1st day of retirement he received a cheque from the Government for $105.

He felt that the Government was saying that he couldn't provide for himself.

He decided to  commit suicide, it wasn' worth living anymore; he had failed so much.

He sat under a tree writing his will, but instead, he wrote what he would have accomplished with his life. He realized there was much more that he hadn't done. There was one thing he could do better than anyone he knew and that was how to COOK.

so he borrowed $87 against his cheque and bought and fried up some chicken using his recipe, and went door to door to sell them to his neighbors in Kentucky.

Remember at age 65, he was ready to commit suicide but at age 88 Colonel Sanders founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken Empire was a billionaire.

Colonel Sanders (1890-1980) created the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food chain at the age of 66. Pride in his product, high standards, and brilliant marketing help to establish him as an innovator in the fast food industry.

It is Never too Late to start all over. Never give up no matter how hard it gets. Enjoy your day!

You have what it takes to be successful. Go for it and make a difference.

My Opinion On Senator Ali Modu Sheriff - Adelaja Adeoye

First of all,  Senator Sheriff is a bonafide member of our great party PDP and infact he has every right like other party members to visit the party's National Headquarters in Abuja and other branches across Nigeria.

Denying him access is an infringement on his fundamental human right as a party member until he renounced his membership.

Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is a dogged fighter,  a Democrat who in my own opinion should know when to cut the line to avoid bad fall.

The crises rocking the party is needless and should not have snowballed into what we are seeing today if all leaders follows the party's constitution judiciously.

Like i said earlier,  no one should ordinarily stop Senator Sheriff from entering the Secretariat.

However, the ways and manners Senator Sheriff is conducting himself in and around the party Secretariat is unlawful and criminal which the party can charge or call for his arrest if he continues with public disturbance of peace.

Senator Sheriff does more damage to his reputation with his recent actions by trying to foist himself on a well structured and biggest party in Africa as a chairman.  

On the purported claim that he is hanging on court order from Lagos barring the party from holding convention. Nothing of such ever existed.

SAS should not act and conduct himself like an illiterate, he needs to go back and read what our party constitution says about this matter.

Clearly,  Sheriff is fighting a lost battle even before a take off. The highest decision making organ of the party which is National convention never ratified Sheriff,  he was never elected in the first place,  he was merely standing to fill a void pending substantive election as a result of Muazu's resignation.

All those illiterates like Sheriff acting like Zombie should think clearly and critically look at the issues on ground before coming to social media to humiliate themselves with illogical defense for SAS.  

Finally, i remember i did posted on Twitter when Sheriff was appointed as the then acting Chairman, i opposed his emergence,  my arguments was that how can the biggest party in Africa appoint a man with Boko Haram alleged link and stigma as chairman, alot of my fellow PDP youths attacked me and later i was just looking.

PDP is a brand that have diminished in its face value after it lost election,  you cannot plan to up your brand outlook by appointing another bad brand to make it happen.

The argument then was that SAS has money to run the party and Doyin Okupe asked,  how was PDP surviving before Sheriff came...... Story for another day.

It is sad that when Sheriff was appointed,  alot of insinuations propped up like,  he is a mole in the party sent by Buhari his inlaw,  his molly antecedents were analysed in the media but some ignoramus and selfish leaders who wanted to use him in the party never listened until he showed himself really as a big MOLE they back off.

No doubt,  if you put 1+1=2 one will wonder why all the shout of oleeee,  Thief.... barawo on Buruji Kashamu suddenly stopped.

Some leaders don't care what happens to the collective gains and overall interest of all once there own interest is satisfied.

We watched with keen interest how Kashamu began to praise Bola Tinubu,  called him his mentor,  leader and all sort of praisy names.

Now,  same Kashamu peered with Sheriff in this mission of #OperationKillPDP.

Do i need to write further before you get the entire gist and what is happening in PDP?  

News just filtered in today that Senator Sheriff has been invited by the EFCC for questioning over a fraudulent case of N450 Million. We hope its not true anyway.

Also on the claim by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff that his tenure as PDP National Chairman will end in 2018, I have just two questions to ask :

1. Why did he (Sheriff) obtain Nomination Form and was in Port-Harcourt to contest the Chairmanship position when he knew his tenure will end in 2018?

2. Why did he appear before the screening committee at the PDP State Secretariat in Port-Harcourt?

FUTURE PREDICTIONS ON TECHNOLOGY

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide.  Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt. What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years - and most people don't see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on paper film again? Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law. So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time, before it became way superior and got mainstream in only a few short years. It will now happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs. Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution. Welcome to the Exponential Age.

Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.
Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world. Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.

Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected. In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs. Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans. So if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% fewer lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain. Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 time more accurate than human nurses. Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. By 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

Autonomous Cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don't want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car. It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% fewer cars for that. We can transform former parking space into parks. 1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every 100,000 km, with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km. That will save a million lives each year.

Most car companies may become bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels. I spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.

Insurance Companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper. Their car insurance business model will disappear.

Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

Electric cars won’t become mainstream until 2020. Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run on electric. Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact. Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil. The price for solar will drop so much that all coal companies will be out of business by 2025.

With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water. Desalination now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter. We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

Health:  There will be companies that will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breathe into it. It then analyses 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.

3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years. In the same time, it became 100 times faster. All major shoe companies started 3D printing shoes. Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports. The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large number of spare parts they used to have in the past.

At the end of this year, new smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities. You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home. In China, they already 3D printed a complete 6-storey office building. By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.

Business Opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself: "in the future, do you think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner? If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed in to failure in the 21st century.

Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.

Agriculture: There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future. Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all days on their fields. Agroponics will need much less water. The first Petri dish produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow-produced veal in 2018. Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows. Imagine if we don't need that space anymore. There are several startups that will bring insect protein to the market shortly. It contains more protein than meat. It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).

There is an app called "moodies" which can already tell in which mood you are. .  in 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying. Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.

Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.

Longevity: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year. Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it's 80 years. The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year. So we all might live for a long long time, probably way more than 100.

Education: The cheapest smart phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia. Until 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smart phone. That means, everyone has the same access to world class education.

PMB EAR GULPS MILLIONS OF POUNDS

A top source at the Presidency, has claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign medical trip to London has already gulped more than 20 million British pounds.

The total cost of the trip, which includes, aviation fuel, accommodation cost, allowances for aides and medical treatment, amounts to about 50 Million pounds, the source confirmed.

In what many described as reckless expenditure, this is coming at a time when the presidency has earmarked billions of naira for the State House Clinic, in the 2016 budget.

Reacting, a political scientist criticised Buhari, for embarking on a medical trip to the United Kingdom, UK.

He said, that such money that was used for Buhari’s foreign medical trip, could have been used to developed the Nation’s health infrastructures.

Recall, that the trip came against current economic woes, and revenue short falls, which have made it difficult for many State Governors to pay salaries of civil servants.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had earlier announced that Buhari would be travelling to the United Kingdom for vacation and medical treatment, due to an Ear Infection.

Adesina, said that the trip would take 10 days, and that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, would be acting as President.

Speaking on the state of the nation, a political commentator from the University of Jos, Lukeman Saka, said, “this is the government that had been canvassing for the blockage of wastage in the act of governance, now using public funds to fund a foreign medical trip”.

He added, that such development has exposed the ineptitude of the Nation’s leadership towards the growth of health facilities in the country.

Saka added that,”if the Nation’s health facilities have been developed, I don’t think there would be need for President Buhari to abandon all health institutions in the country and therefore travel to the UK, to seek medical attention”.

Saka, further pointed out, “I want to say that, there are many federal medical centers here in Nigeria, and even the one built by the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio. It is a specialist hospital, President Buhari should have used this local hospital, instead of travelling abroad for medical attention.”

“This shows that, our leaders are not ready to patronise our own hospitals. This is uncalled for, this is a serious problem, and this will not improve health care delivery in Nigeria.

“It is high time we learn to encourage ourselves to use our own health facilities, instead of travelling overseas, because the money that would be used for foreign medical trips, could have been used here to move our health institutions forward”.

Saka, therefore advised President Buhari to shun all acts capable of affecting the health development in the country, in the habit of seeking foreign medical trips, moreso, that Nigeria is blessed with well experienced medical personnel that could attend to his ear problem here.

ADEFENWA SPEAKS ABOUT THE LAGOS LCDA/LGA ELECTION

Good evening to all my leaders, Elders, PDP members and all the members of adefenwa campaign organization in Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria and Diaspora. I say a big thank you to you all for your support, campaign and prayers always because without you, my campaign in Ejigbo could not have gone this far.

The LGA/LCDA election is so close to us now more than before because last week the Governor of Lagos state and Lagos State house of Assembly sacked all the Executive secretary of all the 57 LGA/LCDA in Lagos and the house appointed former chief judge of Lagos state, former Chief Judge Philips as the new Lagos state independent electoral commission (LASIEC) boss on last week Friday. But Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode took a drastic approve by installing sole proprietors at the 57 local council development area and local government area(LCDA/LGA) yesterday pending the preparation process for LCDA/LGA election.

So kindly let us stay together in harmony and continue preparing and strategizing because the masses and electorate out there needs us and they are waiting for what the People's Democratic Party want to offer them.

The APC are at the federal government level, they are at the state government level, but we are at the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government level because of our victory of the four electoral position that we won at the 2015 general election. So we can build  and capitalise on this and ensure we come victorious in the LCDA election in Ejigbo.

This is our place, this is our grassroot level, this is our people, this is where our homes are, So by the grace of God, we will win Ejigbo LCDA and PDP will take the people of Ejigbo to greater height with good visions, development and economic development.
Hon. Adefenwa Ibrahim Olayinka (A10)

FUTURE PREDICTIONS ON TECHNOLOGY

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide.  Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt. What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years - and most people don't see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on paper film again? Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law. So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time, before it became way superior and got mainstream in only a few short years. It will now happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs. Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution. Welcome to the Exponential Age.

Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.
Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world. Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.

Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected. In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs. Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans. So if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% fewer lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain. Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 time more accurate than human nurses. Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. By 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

Autonomous Cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don't want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car. It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% fewer cars for that. We can transform former parking space into parks. 1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every 100,000 km, with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km. That will save a million lives each year.

Most car companies may become bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels. I spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.

Insurance Companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper. Their car insurance business model will disappear.

Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

Electric cars won’t become mainstream until 2020. Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run on electric. Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact. Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil. The price for solar will drop so much that all coal companies will be out of business by 2025.

With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water. Desalination now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter. We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

Health:  There will be companies that will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breathe into it. It then analyses 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.

3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years. In the same time, it became 100 times faster. All major shoe companies started 3D printing shoes. Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports. The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large number of spare parts they used to have in the past.

At the end of this year, new smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities. You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home. In China, they already 3D printed a complete 6-storey office building. By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.

Business Opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself: "in the future, do you think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner? If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed in to failure in the 21st century.

Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.

Agriculture: There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future. Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all days on their fields. Agroponics will need much less water. The first Petri dish produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow-produced veal in 2018. Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows. Imagine if we don't need that space anymore. There are several startups that will bring insect protein to the market shortly. It contains more protein than meat. It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).

There is an app called "moodies" which can already tell in which mood you are. .  in 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying. Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.

Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.

Longevity: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year. Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it's 80 years. The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year. So we all might live for a long long time, probably way more than 100.

Education: The cheapest smart phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia. Until 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smart phone. That means, everyone has the same access to world class education.

JUNE 12

Today, memories of the struggle for democracy, MKO Abiola who was a philanthropist during is lifetime and the annulled 1993 general elections comes to the mind of every individual that witnessed or participated in that election. As a nation or country, have we learnt from the past or the events that took place at that time?

Will Nigeria ever learn to be united as it did twenty three(23) years ago? Will there come another time when our national brotherhood will submerge our religious, ethnicity, political and social polarisation? May the souls of the heroes and heroines of democracy continue to find peaceful rest.

So we need to uphold the believe and sacrifices that all our heroes fought and lay down their life for. Therefore we must continue to consolidate our democracy and ensure we turn this country Nigeria to a beautiful and wonderful place by staying united together to build it irrespective of your religion, ethnicity or tribe and class.

FG must fulfil school feeding promise without States’ 40% contribution – Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has insisted that the School Feeding Programme of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government must be done without the proposed 40 per cent counterpart funding from the States, saying; “The Federal Government is already looking for excuse for the impending failure of the programme by asking States to contribute 40 per cent to the scheme.”

The governor, who said the school feeding programme was purely a contract between the APC-led Federal Government and Nigerians, asked; “Were the States consulted before the APC made the promise during the presidential campaign? How can you make a promise and win election on the basis of that promise and now expect States to help you to fulfil the promise? That to me is fraud!”

Governor Fayose said in a statement issued on Sunday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka that Ekiti State and other States in the country deserved to benefit from the programme without assisting the federal government with any 40 per cent counterpart funding.

The governor said the APC-led Federal Government should rather blame itself for failing to do proper study on the practicability of the scheme before promising Nigerians instead of looking for who to blame for not fulfilling the school feeding promise. 

He said; “apart from the fact that Ekiti State lacked the financial wherewithal to provide counterpart fund for such a programme, it is the duty of President Mohammed Buhari and his APC that won election on the basis of their promise to give free meal to school pupils to fulfil the promise without placing any burden on other tiers of government.”

“Nigerians should come to term with the reality that the federal government is already looking for a ready alibi for the impending failure of the school feeding programme.

“The federal government knowns that 80 per cent of the States lack the financial will to be able to contribute the 40 per cent counterpart fund for the programme and by the time the programme eventually fails, Nigerians will be told that it failed because States did not key in to it.

“As for us in Ekiti, we are interested in the programme because Nigeria belongs to all of us. But we won’t contribute any counterpart fund because the programme is solely an electoral promise of the APC and we were never consulted before the promise was made. We don’t even have the capability to make any financial contribution even if it is 10 per cent because our financial condition is such that we can’t even pay workers salary,” Governor Fayose said.

Oil blocks to be allocated to south-south indigenes – Ibe Kachikwu

Ibe Kachikwu, minister of petroleum resources, says President Muhammadu Buhari has not allocated a single oil block since he came into office, but when he eventually starts, south-south indigenes will have their share.

At a town hall meeting in Uyo, capital of Akwa-Ibom state, organised by the ministry of information and culture, a Nigerian asked the minister why oil block allocations favoured the north rather than the south-south, where most oil blocks are located.

Answering, Kachikwu said this was not the doing of President Buhari, emphasising that the president would follow due process in allocation of oil blocks when the time comes.

Kachikwu also disagreed with Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, on the establishment and maintenance of the Maritime University in Akwa-Ibom.

“I disagree with the minister of transport. Any facility in the south-south, we should work towards developing it, I don’t care the circumstance. It is not my business whether land was valued at 19 or 10 million,” he said responding to Amaechi’s claim that land for the university was valued at N13 billion.

“That has nothing to do with development of infrastructure. As far as I know, so much has already gone into that, so much fiscal asset has been developed. We are not going to throw away the baby and the bath water.

“We’ll deal with the issues but the university will be developed. If he (Amaechi) doesn’t want it in Maritime, I will take it in Petroleum.”

“On the issue of negotiations, again I disagree with him. There’s no theatre in the world where conflicts are being resolved through battle. It doesn’t matter who’s right, who’s wrong.

THE SOLE ADMINISTRATORS AND THEIR DESIGNATIONS

The sole proprietors that were sworn in yesterday by the Lagos State governor, Gov. Ambode are as follows:

Gbenga Abiola (Agege LGA),
James Agboola (Orile Agege LCDA),
Fehintola Akabo (Ajeromi Ifelodun LG),
Femi John (Ifelodun LCDA),
Quadri Ganiu (Alimosho LG),
Sola Akande (Agbado Oke-Ode LCDA),
Abiodun Agbaje (Ayobo Ipaja LCDA),
Doyin Salami (Egbe Idimi LCDA),
Ibrahim Adigun (Ejigbo LCDA),
Samuel Ojo (Igando Ikotun LCDA),
Rotimi Ogunwuyi (Mosan Okunola LCDA),
Oki Nurudeen Bamidele (Amuwo Odofin LG),
Habeeb Aileru (Oriade LCDA),
Jide Alao (Apapa LG),
Olumide Olayemi (Apapa Iganmu LCDA),
Jacob Kent (Badagry LG),
Genesis Williams (Badagry West LCDA),
Bolaji Adele Solomon (Olorunda LCDA)
Olu Ogunniyi (Epe LG),
Muyiwa Okesanya (Eredo LCDA),
Babatunde Adetunji (Ikosi Ejirin LCDA),
Abiodun Elegushi (Eti-Osa LG).

Others are:
Ayeni Babatunde (Eti-Osa East LCDA),
Goke Ona-Olawale (Ikoyi Obalende LCDA),
Aderemi Adebowale (Iru-Victoria Island LCDA),
Surakat Adigun (Ibeju-Lekki LG),
Shefiu Oshinnuga (Lekki LCDA),
Babatunde Rajh-Label B.I.Q (Ifako-Ijaiye LG),
Ipaye Adeleke (Ojokoro LCDA),
Biodun Taiwo (Ikeja LG),
Samson Oloyede (Onigbongbo LCDA),
Stella Kokumo (Ojodu LCDA),
Ogunleye Gbolahan (Ikorodu LG),
Bashorun Bolanle (Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA),
Emmanuel Aguda (Ijede LCDA),
Shukura Okeowo (Ikorodu North LCDA),
Segun Anifowoshe (Ikorodu West LCDA),
Olufemi Okedeyi (Imota LCDA),
Animawun Adejumoke (Kosefe LG),
Ilelaboye Rasaq (Agboyi-Ketu LCDA),
Abdul Adewale (Ikosi-Isheri LCDA),
Musa Nasir (Lagos Island LG),
Are Abiola (Lagos Island East LCDA),
Rojaye Olayomi (Lagos Mainland (LG),
Adefuye Bayo (Yaba LCDA),
Yinka Kazeem (Mushin LG),
Adekunle Julius (Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye LCDA),
Wasiu Sanni (Ojo LG),
Isa Jubril (Iba LCDA),
Abiola Esrom (Oto-Awori LCDA),
Adebayo Taoheed (Oshodi/Isolo LG),
Oshikoya Abimbola (Isolo LCDA),
William Lawanson (Somolu LG),
Sanya Osijo (Bariga LCDA),
Sheriff Balogun (Surulere LG),
Yussuf Temitope (Coker/Aguda LCDA)
Samiat Raji (Itire-Ikate LCDA).

The list of all the sole proprietors that was sworn in was released and signed by  Mr. Tunji Bello who is the Secretary to the State Government, Lagos State.

Breaking News: @PDPNigeria Rejects Modu Sheriff, Accuses Him of Working for APC.

Being A Text of Press Conference by the PDP National Caretaker Committee on the Violent Invasion of the National Secretariat by former National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff

Yesterday, Monday 13th June 2016, the former National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, former National Secretary, Prof. Olawole Oladipo and former National Auditor, Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju accompanied by three lorry load of thugs sand bandits invaded the National Secretariat of the PDP as early as 6:00am. When rumours of the planned invasion filtered out on Sunday, we took steps to alert the Police to secure the building and to protect the lives and properties of members.
Up to a point, the Police discharged their responsibilities satisfactorily, however, later on without any justification whatsoever, Ali Modu Sheriff and other renegades were allowed to gain entry into the Secretariat, where they later proceeded to address a press conference. While we are still trying to understand the role of the Police in the entire saga, it is curious that the Police made no arrest of the thugs who openly brandish various dangerous weapons in and around the premises of the Secretariat in full glare of the Police. It is also curious that the Police claimed to be acting on “Order from above” in allowing Sheriff and his cohorts to gain entry into the Secretariat. if we may ask, who is the authority that issued the “order from above”?

What we are however very certain about is that Sheriff and his fellow renegades are being used by the enemies of PDP to destroy the Party and to prevent it from reorganizing itself, so as to provide a credible opposition and alternative platform for the forthcoming Edo State Gubernatorial election and 2019 elections.

The All Progressive Congress, APC, has contracted Sheriff and his cohorts to scuttle the chances of the PDP in the Edo Governorship elections. We have credible intelligence that Sheriff had a meeting on Sunday night with an APC Governor from North West, where it was agreed that he will be given a full security and financial support to exacerbate the crisis in the PDP with the objective of preventing the PDP from presenting a candidate for the Edo State Governorship elections, or in the very least to prevent the PDP from offering a serious challenge to APC whose electoral fortunes has continued to nosedive.
We assure our teeming supporters in Edo State in particular and Nigeria in general that the Party will take all necessary measures to prevent the Party from being hijacked by political merchants. The process for the elections of the PDP Governorship candidate in Edo State commenced yesterday with the peaceful and successful conduct of the Ward congresses for the elections of three Ad-Hoc delegates. We urge Party officials who are involved in the conduct of the remaining exercise to remain focus and dedicated to their responsibilities. We are determined to produce a credible and a strong candidate who by the grace of God will win the Edo Governorship election.

In his press conference yesterday, Senator Sheriff gave the false impressions that he has a court order that empowered him to continue as National Chairman of the PDP. Despite his bravado, he did not display or make available the Court Order to the gentlemen of the press. The truth of the matter is that Senator Sheriff has no court order to back his claims. He and his cohorts continue to shop around to buy any court order at any price, but so far, they have not succeeded, thanks to the vigilance and integrity of the Judiciary.

Senator Ali Sheriff was appointed not elected by the National Executive Committee of our great Party to complete the tenure of Alhaji Adamu Muazu. The tenure of Alhaji Adamu Muazu legally would have ended on the 14th of February, 2016. Senator Ali Sheriff was given an extension of three months by the NEC of our Party to organize a National Convention. The appointment of Senator Sheriff was not ratify by any National Convention of our Party; so, Constitutionally, he has no other mandate which can extend beyond 21st May, 2016.

The case before Honourable Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos, was instituted by Sheriff and others to restrain the PDP from conducting elections into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor. The court did not restrain the PDP from conducting the National Convention. The National Convention is the
supreme organ of the Party under Article 33 (2) of the PDP Constitution. In the exercise of its power under Article 33(5)(b) and (e) of the Constitution, the National Convention removed all National Officers of the Party and setup a Caretaker Committee to plan and organize a National Convention within 90 days.

The National Convention of PDP can only be called by NEC and once that is done, it is only the National Convention that can cancel or postpone its proceedings. No individual or other organs of the Party can postponed or canceled the National Convention. The National Convention therefore took place legally and Constitutionally. The former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus acted for the National Chairman who was absent in accordance with the provision of Article 35(3) (b) of the PDP Constitution.

The Federal High Court in suit N0 FHC/PH/CS524/2016 has endorsed the decisions of the National Convention held in Port Harcourt on the 21st of May, 2016. The Order of the Federal High Court presided over by Justice A. M. Liman is still subsisting and has not elapsed contrary to the insinuation of Senator Ali Sheriff. The Order will subsist until the determination of the Motion on Notice. The Motion on Notice will come on hearing on Thursday. Only three of the members of the defunct National officers are still parading themselves but constitutionally they cannot form a quorum for any legitimate business of the Party. Under Article 29(4) of the PDP Constitution as Amended the quorum of the NWC is two third of the membership drawn from at least two third of the zones in the country. It is therefore very clear that three people cannot make up the National Working Committee (NWC). We also wonder who Sheriff will be Chairman over when he is already rejected by 99.99 percent of the Party.

The entire stakeholders of the Party, including Governors, National Assembly Members, Board of Trustees (BOT) members and others were at the party Secretariat last week Tuesday to usher in National Caretaker Committee. Immediate past members of the National Working Committee except the trio of Sheriff, Oladipo and Adeyanju were also on hand to hand-over to the National Caretaker Committee.

The National Caretaker is not distracted by the activities of the fifth columnist in the Party. We remain very focus on the assignment and the mandate given to us at the National Convention held in Port Harcourt. With the continued support of all Party members, we shall surely deliver on those mandates and together build the Party of our dreams.

Prince Dayo Adeyeye,
Member of National Caretaker Committee in Charge of Publicity