Fashola arrests policeman riding ‘okada’ on express road

Governor Fashola yesterday Thursday November 29th ordered the arrest of a policeman riding a motorcycle on Lagos/Abeokuta expressway.

The governor spotted the policeman when his convoy was passing on the Ikeja section of the expressway. Policemen in the governor’s convoy effected the arrest and immediately whisked him away in their van.



Fashola later told newsmen that the arrest was to serve as a deterrent to those who felt that they were above the law and so could break the state’s laws.

“There is no one above the law in the state. People who are not prepared to obey our laws should leave the state.

“There is no society where laws are not broken, but the state government would continue to increase its enforcement so that there will be high level of compliance”, he said. (PM News)
#...what of those military men...are they gods...to me I believe nobody is above the law...

Have you used invincible umbrella before???

One might say the standard umbrella is already perfectly designed — compact, resistant to all but very strong winds, and it generally keeps your top half dry. The kind of storm in which an umbrella wouldn’t do the job is the kind of storm where nothing other than staying inside would help. A new umbrella design by Je Sung Park and Woo Jung Kwon aims to not only change the umbrella’s core design, but to make it adjustable given the power of a storm.
Called the Air Umbrella, the concept removes the plastic top from the umbrella and replaces it with a wind shield. The design of the Air Umbrella calls for air to be sucked through the bottom, then shot out of the top in a pattern that mimics the standard canopy. Power and canopy size controls reside toward the bottom of the shaft, providing users with the ability to strengthen the force of the air and widen the canopy in order to adjust for heavier rains. Not only would these features protect against storms when a standard umbrella normally may not, but the air curtain has a better chance to survive strong winds than a flimsy nylon covering. Removing the canopy also dispenses with minutes shaking all of the water off before you bring it inside.

It’s worth noting that if the umbrella is designed to shoot rain away from your head through an air pump, it would almost certainly shoot that rain onto surrounding innocent bystanders.
The Air Umbrella is also designed with a simple adjustable handle, so the user can rest their arm at whatever height they desire when holding the umbrella, an option left out of standard umbrellas.
Though still a concept and assuming the wind curtain is actually strong enough, the design has one pretty significant flaw — battery life. If a storm is particularly strong, the highest power output and widest curtain could conceivably drain the battery quickly, while a longer trek through the rain would significantly drain the battery as well. What happens when you trek through the rain , use a significant portion of the battery, then it’s still raining on the way home? It’ll be annoying to have to carry extra batteries or a charger.
Whatever the case with the power supply may be, the umbrella is still only a concept, so whatever kinks could arise are probably already being addressed. The design does seem like a great alternative to an umbrella where the plastic canopy turns inside out at the first gust of wind, we just wish the designers went with the term “Airbrella.”
Souce: WebUrbanist
#this is what I call awesome!

iPhone 5 Now Cleared For Sale On China Unicom’s Network, Too

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The iPhone 5 received its final regulatory approval, the crucial “network access license” from China yesterday, but the original report from the Wall Street Journal only found approval for the China Telecom version of the device. Now, however, Chinese news sources report that the iPhone 5 variant which works with China Unicom has also received network access approval.
That means that the iPhone 5 will likely hit both networks by sometime in mid-December, if Apple sticks to the timeline of putting its device up for sale around 2 to 3 weeks after receiving this final necessary approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China Unicom uses a WCDMA network, and China Telecom uses a CDMA-based network, and now versions for both (codename A1429 and A1442, respectively).
A simultaneous granting of licenses should indicate neither provider will get a head start on the other, despite comments earlier in the month from the chairmen of both companies that seemed to indicate different levels of confidence in being able to launch the iPhone 5 before year’s end. It should also mean Apple will be launching the iPhone 5 to as broad an audience as possible when it debuts the smartphone in December, though subscribers on China’s largest network, China Mobile, will still have to get the device unlocked and off-contract to be able to join in on the fun.
Still, the launch should be impressive. Apple had to actually halt the iPhone 4S launch in China as crowds became unruly when it made it available to China Unicom customers in January. Then, when the 4S went on sale at China Telecom in March, Apple racked up an impressive 200,000 pre-orders for the device. That was China Telecom’s first introduction of the iPhone, making it the largest carrier in the world by subscribers to offer the CDMA version of the iPhone.
#Can't wait to get my hand on those machine...thumps up Apple

Glo donates classrooms, ICT lab to Ijebu School

 

Globacom has restated its commitment to improving the lives of the future leaders of the country as it donated a block of fully-equipped classrooms to Ijebu Muslim School, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, as part of the activities marking the 2012 Ojude Oba festival.

At the commissioning of the block of classrooms and an ICT laboratory on Saturday, October 27, Globacom said they were two of the many projects it designed as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility scheme. Globacom had during the Ojude Oba festival last year promised to deliver the block of classrooms to the school.

According to the Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Globacom, Mrs. Ben Ayede, the company is committed to providing facilities that will assist Nigerian youths to be the best in their endeavour as well as put them at par with their contemporaries across the world.

"We are mindful of the fact that government alone cannot successfully fund a functional educational system. This block of five classrooms is enriched with an IT centre, 50 internet-enabled computers and fully-furnished classrooms with students and teachers' desks and chairs. The facility will make the world indeed a global village for the students and teachers of this great college", she said.

She also said the facilities would empower the students of the college and other scholars to reach the world at the speed of light. "This center is linked to our ultra modern internet facility running on the first privately-owned nationwide fiber optic cable and the international submarine cable, Glo 1", she disclosed.

The state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, applauded Globacom for the donation. The Governor who was represented by his Special Adviser on Education, Dr. Tunji Abimbola, said, "We'll take the photographs of this facility and recommend it as the standard structure for schools in the state". He said Globacom had done what had not been done elsewhere by making provision for disabled students.

"I challenge the students and teachers of this school to put the facility into good use. I also call on others in the private sector to emulate Glo and partner with the state government in providing ultra-modern facilities for our schools", he said.

Senator Amosun said the donation signaled the goodwill and magnanimity of the Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga (GCON), and appealed to other well-meaning indigenes of Ogun State to emulate the business guru.

The Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, who was represented by the Baagbimo of Ijebuland, Chief Fassy Yusuff, praised Dr. Adenuga for the kind gesture which he said showed his level of commitment to the cause of humanity.

He advised business organisations to take a cue from Globacom, adding that successful business ventures must give back to society in order to sustain mutually beneficial relationships.

Halle Berry & Olivier Martinez Planned Gabriel Aubry Beat-Down!

And the Halle Berry family drama has taken a VERY interesting turn!
Thanksgiving cops arrested Halle's baby daddy / bane of her existence, Gabriel Aubry, getting involved in a beat-down with Halle's fiancé, Olivier Martinez.
NOW Gabe claims Berry and her new man provoked him to fighting in an attempt to get him deported, and out of there lives forever. And THAT isn't even the crazy part.
Halle's camps says Gabriel was dropping off Nahla when, out of no where, GABE threw the first punch.
Gabe claims Olivier not only started the fight, he was antagonizing him for days! Mr. Aubry says Oilvier threaten to "beat the sh*t" out of him when they came face-to-face earlier in the week — and insists that on Thanksgiving day "Olivier jumped off the stairs and knocked" him to the ground and "started brutally beating him, screaming that Gabriel cost them $3 million to fight the custody war." (Which Halle lost.)
According Gabe's declaration, Olivier then said:

"We called the cops [and when they get here] you're going to tell them that you're the one who attacked me, or I'm going to kill you."

That's some f*cked up sh*t!
We hope a judge can help sort this dysfunction out before they all kill each other — which shouldn't be a problem for now considering all the parties involved have obtained emergency restraining orders against each other.

Hating Chris Brown Isn’t Racist Until You Make It Racist

Last night, pop singer Chris Brown, who infamously and brutally beat up Rihanna in 2009, launched a verbal, scatological attack on comedy writer Jenny Johnson. Johnson has made it a bit of a hobby to antagonize the 23-year-old Brown, and last night, after she called Brown a "worthless piece of shit" on Twitter, Brown unleashed a barrage of tweets at Johnson to tell her he was going to fart on her and defecate into her eye. As the internet gathered around yet another Chris Brown temper tantrum, Brown, who has hastily deleted offensive tweets in the past, went further than usual, deleting his entire Twitter account and disappointing his legion of fans, Team Breezy.
Four years ago, talk of Chris Brown resulted in universal condemnation of the singer as being a horrible person, what with his awful crime still so prominent in people's minds. But in the ensuing years, Brown's subsequent rash and aggressive behavior has prompted more complex discussions, as well. One that's begun to appear time and again—this time included—is that the widespread revulsion Americans have toward Chris Brown says something about our nation's racial politics. Why is it, for instance, that white people like Jenny Johnson seem to delight in tearing down Chris Brown while giving relative leeway to, say, Charlie Sheen, whose history of domestic violence is far longer than Brown's? It's a good question, and if you're asking it your heart and head are probably in the right place. But it's also off-base for a number of reasons.
Firstly, there's the picture. There is a reason that the U.S. government banned photographs of soldiers' coffins for almost two decades: It's because people hate to read and like pictures. People remember pictures. The police photo of Rihanna's face after Brown attacked her is by far the most publicized image of domestic violence in history. People have heard stories about the horrors Sheen inflicted on his victims, and they've witnessed dramatizations of Ike Turner's cruelty to Tina. But that photo of Rihanna—bloodied, swollen, tear streaked—is not words in a divorce filing or a Hollywood starlet acting out true events. It is an unvarnished, grotesque, and unquestionable reality, and it is the kindling that started the blaze this is the world's hatred for Chris Brown.
Beyond that, there's Brown's continued violent and petulant behavior. If, after beating Rihanna, Brown had accepted the court's punishment and behaved like a decent and kind human being in future public appearances, chances are people would be more inclined to forgive him his crimes. Bill Murray, for example, has been charged with hitting his now ex-wife, Jennifer, in the face and telling her she was "lucky he didn't kill her." But people don't constantly link Murray with those violent allegations because Murray doesn't constantly behave violently. Brown, on the other hand, goes into chair-throwing whirlwinds at a moment's notice, tears apart nightclubs during stupid fistfights, and behaves like a racist goon to have fun. And then, when anyone dares criticize him, Brown doesn't engage with those critiques and learn from them; he lashes out and calls his critics "haters," as if anyone who disagrees with him is just jealous.
Lastly, there's the fact that, in the pop-culture landscape, talking about Chris Brown has become somewhat of a team sport. On the one side are Brown's numerous detractors, some of whom, like Jenny Johnson, appear to really enjoy mocking and haranguing Brown whenever the feeling moves them. On the other side is Team Breezy, a cursory glance at which seems to be composed of young children and teenagers. That many of Brown's supporters appear to be young black women—just like Brown's victim, Rihanna—is a point of particular consternation for people who hate Brown, and the two camps go back and forth in Twitter streams and tumblr posts around the world.
By contrast, Sean Connery, who has said very openly that he thinks it's both acceptable and necessary to slap women around, is old and not possessed of a rabid fan base that takes to the internet to defend the aging sex symbol. Pushing back against and complaining about Team Breezy via the #teambreezy Twitter hashtag is second nature for people like Johnson, who has also made a pet project out of belittling Kim Kardashian. Team Breezy, of course, is only happy to respond in kind. But there is no Team Connery or Team Sheen or Team Josh Brolin or Team Michael Fassbender or Team Any of the Other Many White Male Celebrities Accused of Domestic Violence. As pathetic as it sounds, snarking on Chris Brown and defending Chris Brown have become things people do at their school and work desks before being allowed to go home and watch television.
Add to all of this the headline-making fact that Rihanna appears to be dating Chris Brown again, returning to her abuser as many abuse victims do, and it's obvious why Brown elicits so much more vitriol than do other superfamous violent men—and it has very little to do with his race. Where racism (and classism) does seem to creep into the equation, however, is in how Jenny Johnson and others apparently can't get enough of condescending to Brown and his fans. Consider the way that Johnson points and laughs at Team Breezy's slang, or how she believes calling Brown a "worthless piece of shit" is a high-minded "difference of opinion," while Team Breezy's insults are the crude work of idiots and losers. Then there's the tweet in which Johnson, after sending Brown into a rage, begs of him to "get some help. Seriously," as if calling an obviously troubled and violent man a "worthless piece of shit" was just her way of trying to compel him to get the in-depth and intense professional therapy he so obviously needs. Beyond Johnson there's the people tweeting to Brown that he should kill himself, that Brown is "a worthless nigger," and, somehow, even worse things, things which try to mock Brown while also mocking Brown's beating of Rihanna.
Reporting on Chris Brown's brutality tour as if he's the totem for all domestic abusers is hard not to do when, for a variety of reasons, Chris Brown is almost certainly the most famous domestic abuser of all time. It is not insidious or racist to acknowledge his crimes, nor is it racist to talk about Brown's abuses more often than we talk about those of less famous white men accused of the same thing. But looking at the relish with which some people seem to hurl abuse at Brown, or at his fans' lack of educations and use of street slang, it's hard not to see at least some prejudice there. There are a lot of people in this world who deserve to be called dumb assholes; why does everyone get such a kick out of doing it to Brown?

Last night, pop singer Chris Brown, who infamously and brutally beat up Rihanna in 2009, launched a verbal, scatological attack on comedy writer Jenny Johnson. Johnson has made it a bit of a hobby to antagonize the 23-year-old Brown, and last night, after she called Brown a "worthless piece of shit" on Twitter, Brown unleashed a barrage of tweets at Johnson to tell her he was going to fart on her and defecate into her eye. As the internet gathered around yet another Chris Brown temper tantrum, Brown, who has hastily deleted offensive tweets in the past, went further than usual, deleting his entire Twitter account and disappointing his legion of fans, Team Breezy.
Four years ago, talk of Chris Brown resulted in universal condemnation of the singer as being a horrible person, what with his awful crime still so prominent in people's minds. But in the ensuing years, Brown's subsequent rash and aggressive behavior has prompted more complex discussions, as well. One that's begun to appear time and again—this time included—is that the widespread revulsion Americans have toward Chris Brown says something about our nation's racial politics. Why is it, for instance, that white people like Jenny Johnson seem to delight in tearing down Chris Brown while giving relative leeway to, say, Charlie Sheen, whose history of domestic violence is far longer than Brown's? It's a good question, and if you're asking it your heart and head are probably in the right place. But it's also off-base for a number of reasons.
Firstly, there's the picture. There is a reason that the U.S. government banned photographs of soldiers' coffins for almost two decades: It's because people hate to read and like pictures. People remember pictures. The police photo of Rihanna's face after Brown attacked her is by far the most publicized image of domestic violence in history. People have heard stories about the horrors Sheen inflicted on his victims, and they've witnessed dramatizations of Ike Turner's cruelty to Tina. But that photo of Rihanna—bloodied, swollen, tear streaked—is not words in a divorce filing or a Hollywood starlet acting out true events. It is an unvarnished, grotesque, and unquestionable reality, and it is the kindling that started the blaze this is the world's hatred for Chris Brown.
Beyond that, there's Brown's continued violent and petulant behavior. If, after beating Rihanna, Brown had accepted the court's punishment and behaved like a decent and kind human being in future public appearances, chances are people would be more inclined to forgive him his crimes. Bill Murray, for example, has been charged with hitting his now ex-wife, Jennifer, in the face and telling her she was "lucky he didn't kill her." But people don't constantly link Murray with those violent allegations because Murray doesn't constantly behave violently. Brown, on the other hand, goes into chair-throwing whirlwinds at a moment's notice, tears apart nightclubs during stupid fistfights, and behaves like a racist goon to have fun. And then, when anyone dares criticize him, Brown doesn't engage with those critiques and learn from them; he lashes out and calls his critics "haters," as if anyone who disagrees with him is just jealous.
Lastly, there's the fact that, in the pop-culture landscape, talking about Chris Brown has become somewhat of a team sport. On the one side are Brown's numerous detractors, some of whom, like Jenny Johnson, appear to really enjoy mocking and haranguing Brown whenever the feeling moves them. On the other side is Team Breezy, a cursory glance at which seems to be composed of young children and teenagers. That many of Brown's supporters appear to be young black women—just like Brown's victim, Rihanna—is a point of particular consternation for people who hate Brown, and the two camps go back and forth in Twitter streams and tumblr posts around the world.
By contrast, Sean Connery, who has said very openly that he thinks it's both acceptable and necessary to slap women around, is old and not possessed of a rabid fan base that takes to the internet to defend the aging sex symbol. Pushing back against and complaining about Team Breezy via the #teambreezy Twitter hashtag is second nature for people like Johnson, who has also made a pet project out of belittling Kim Kardashian. Team Breezy, of course, is only happy to respond in kind. But there is no Team Connery or Team Sheen or Team Josh Brolin or Team Michael Fassbender or Team Any of the Other Many White Male Celebrities Accused of Domestic Violence. As pathetic as it sounds, snarking on Chris Brown and defending Chris Brown have become things people do at their school and work desks before being allowed to go home and watch television.
Add to all of this the headline-making fact that Rihanna appears to be dating Chris Brown again, returning to her abuser as many abuse victims do, and it's obvious why Brown elicits so much more vitriol than do other superfamous violent men—and it has very little to do with his race. Where racism (and classism) does seem to creep into the equation, however, is in how Jenny Johnson and others apparently can't get enough of condescending to Brown and his fans. Consider the way that Johnson points and laughs at Team Breezy's slang, or how she believes calling Brown a "worthless piece of shit" is a high-minded "difference of opinion," while Team Breezy's insults are the crude work of idiots and losers. Then there's the tweet in which Johnson, after sending Brown into a rage, begs of him to "get some help. Seriously," as if calling an obviously troubled and violent man a "worthless piece of shit" was just her way of trying to compel him to get the in-depth and intense professional therapy he so obviously needs. Beyond Johnson there's the people tweeting to Brown that he should kill himself, that Brown is "a worthless nigger," and, somehow, even worse things, things which try to mock Brown while also mocking Brown's beating of Rihanna.
Reporting on Chris Brown's brutality tour as if he's the totem for all domestic abusers is hard not to do when, for a variety of reasons, Chris Brown is almost certainly the most famous domestic abuser of all time. It is not insidious or racist to acknowledge his crimes, nor is it racist to talk about Brown's abuses more often than we talk about those of less famous white men accused of the same thing. But looking at the relish with which some people seem to hurl abuse at Brown, or at his fans' lack of educations and use of street slang, it's hard not to see at least some prejudice there. There are a lot of people in this world who deserve to be called dumb assholes; why does everyone get such a kick out of doing it to Brown?

N5trillion Stolen Under President Jonathan - Punch Investigation

Over N5tn in government funds have been stolen through fraud, embezzlement and theft since President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office on May 6, 2010, a SUNDAY PUNCH investigation has found.

Our correspondents arrived at the stolen sum after poring over the reports of the various committees set up by the President to probe some sectors of the economy, particularly oil and gas. SUNDAY PUNCH also relied on disclosures by some senior government officials.

Five trillion naira is the summation of government funds said to have been stolen, according to the Mallam Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Task Force report; the Minister of Trade and Investment’s report on stolen crude; the House of Representatives fuel subsidy report and investigations into the ecological fund, SIM card registration and frequency band spectrum sale.

The Ribadu report on the oil and gas sector put daily crude oil theft at a high 250,000 barrels daily at a cost of $6.3bn (N1.2trn) a year. This puts the total amount lost through oil theft in the two years of Jonathan’s government at over $12.6bn (N2trn).

Oil theft is common in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. In June, a special naval team impounded a French ship, MT Vannessa, at Brass Loading Terminal, Bayelsa State, for allegedly stealing 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the country.

Our sister publication, SATURDAY PUNCH, had reported that the suspects, in their confessional statements, indicted some political office holders, many fuel marketers and some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Department of Petroleum Resources.

In October, Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, in a letter to the President, said 24 million barrels of oil worth $1.6bn (N252bn) was stolen between July and September.

According to Aganga, his signature was forged on the Export Clearance Permit that was used to export the crude oil from Nigeria.

Confirming that oil theft was depleting Nigeria’s resources, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in May, said the government lost a fifth of its oil revenues to theft in April.

Apart from income lost through oil theft, the Ribadu report also said ministers of Petroleum Resources between 2008 and 2011 handed out seven discretionary oil licences and that government lost $183m (N29bn) in signature bonuses via these deals.

The Ribadu panel discovered that three of the oil licences were awarded under the current petroleum minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who took up her position in 2010. Alison-Madueke, however, denied knowledge of the discretionary awards.

Shortly before the Ribadu report, the House of Representatives had raised the alarm that the N2.6trn the Federal Government paid for oil subsidy in 2011 could not be properly accounted for.

The House said, “Fuel subsidy payments amounted to N261.1bn in 2006, N278.8bn in 2007 and N346.7bn in 2008, but, even after the subsidy on diesel had been removed, the ‘subsidy’ payments jumped to N2.58trn in 2011 — more than 900 per cent of the sum appropriated for the year (N245bn).”

A subsequent report by the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments, led by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, revealed that in 2011, 197 subsidy transactions worth N232bn were illegitimate.

These frauds are not limited to the oil industry, as similar probes have shown that almost all sectors are involved.

In July, the House of Representatives Committee on Environment discovered a tree seedling fraud worth N2bn awarded by the Ecological Fund office.

Chairman of the committee on environment, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, said this during an investigative hearing on the mismanagement of ecological funds for the development of tree nurseries and seedlings in the 36 states.

According to her, out of the N3bn approved by the Presidency in 2010, N2bn was released to the contractors and consultants without government getting value.

Minister of Environment Hadiza Mailafia, however, said the contract was awarded by her predecessor.

In the telecommunications sector, the House instituted a probe into the sale of the frequency brand spectrum, which was reportedly sold for less than its value.

The 450MHz frequency, which was valued at over $50m, was allegedly sold for less than $6m (a difference of $44m or N6.9bn) by the Nigeria Communications Commission.

In the same sector, the reps, earlier this year, commenced investigations into the N6.1bn SIM card registration project embarked upon by the NCC in 2011.

The investigation followed the delay in completing the exercise and the request by NCC for additional N1bn for the project in its 2012 budget.

The lawmakers insisted that the NCC had no business embarking on the project since various service providers were already registering their subscribers.

Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Communications, Mr. Usman Bawa, had said, “The NCC has no business with SIM card registration. Apart from that, the service providers have done about 80 per cent of the registration because they started before the NCC. To me, for the regulatory body to be involved in the registration is a duplication of effort, a waste of resources and time.

“Even, the manner with which the bill for the N6.1bn was passed during the Sixth Assembly showed that there was more to it than meets the eyes. From our investigations, from which our report was compiled, our interactions with the NCC contractors for the SIM card registration and the service providers, a lot has been exposed and this was part of the reason why we removed the N1bn that was budgeted for the same SIM card registration in the last budget.”

It would be recalled that the then Minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyili, had, in August, 2010, agreed that the amount budgeted for SIM card registration was exorbitant.

Reacting to the massive frauds that have greeted Jonathan’s tenure, Transparency International, told one of our correspondents that Nigeria would continue to slack in development as long as it keeps paying lip service to the fight against corruption.

It said via electronic mail, “President Jonathan should insist that those accused of corruption are properly investigated and punished if found guilty, irrespective of their positions and connections. The judiciary must be seen as impartial and fair.

“To signal a break with the past, the government should set up an independent investigatory panel to review charges of corruption within government and the private sector. President Jonathan should endorse the panel and commit to ensure it has both the scope and the power to investigate and prosecute.

“This is not just a matter of justice; fighting corruption can affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. The current culture of corruption hurts the majority of Nigerians while the inequality gap widens.”

Also speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, the Director, Centre for Applied Economics, Lagos Business School, Prof. Pat Utomi, said the spate of corruption in the country was unprecedented.

The political economist argued that prosecution and jail terms for corrupt individuals would not be as effective as building a societal institution that would prevent corruption.

A former Vice Chancellor, Crescent University, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, also warned that corruption would spell doom for the country if the trend continued.

He said, “It is unfortunate that the country will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals. There is a need for the masses to hold a three-day protest against corruption to force government to prosecute those indicted for corruption.”

Similarly, Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said, “For Jonathan to fight corruption, he must start with his cabinet. The way Jonathan is going about his campaign against corruption is not the best way to go about it.”

A global audit and financial advisory firm, KPMG, had on Thursday stated that Nigeria accounted for the highest number of fraud cases in Africa in the first half of 2012.

The cost of fraud in the country during the period was put at $1.5bn (N225bn).

Source: PUNCH

Owning a private jet is a necessity, not a luxury" - Pastor Oritsejafor

Oritsejafor and wife

In this interview with Vanguard, CAN president Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor tells the story of how his Canadian-made Bombardier jet was acquired.

"I’m not ashamed to own a plane, I think it is a necessity and not a luxury for some of us deeply involved in the work of God to own planes.

There is a huge gap between spirituality and actual faith in God. There is the belief that the love of money has taken over Christendom, rather than  the preaching of  undiluted gospel of salvation. Why do you think there is a shift towards prosperity?

First of all, as somebody who has preached the gospel for 40 years, I know that the gospel is a total package—it is for the spirit, mind and body. What has happened through the years is that in every dispensation, there is emphasis that becomes stronger than the others and such emphasis does not reduce the format but add to the format.

For example, Martin Luther was the one who searched the scripture to see how the Word of God could change the human being. But as time went on, we started seeing the Baptists. The reason why we call them Baptists is because the founder laid a lot of emphasis on water baptism; that is why today they are being called Baptists, not because they don’t believe that you need to accept Christ and be saved and go to heaven. What happened was that the founder had a revelation and a very deep understanding and conviction in the area of water baptism and he emphasized that.

Again, today, when you give your life to Christ, there is a big emphasis on salvation; that is accepting Christ and walking in the knowledge of Christ. Now, the revelation is progressing; as that went on, there are people who through inspiration and the study of the Word  have more understanding in the area of prosperity and so started emphasizing on prosperity.

The problem is that there are those who preach and their whole understanding is in the area of prosperity. I think that is not good. I believe there should be a balance. I don’t believe you should not preach prosperity, but I don’t think you should preach prosperity and neglect the preaching of salvation, because we are still going to heaven at the end of everything.

This world cannot be a permanent place. If you live very long, according to scripture, probably you will live for 120 years but, at the end of the day, you will still die and go, so where are you going? So it is important to emphasize on salvation, knowing Christ and going to heaven.
Now, what will eventually happen is that, with time, these things will level out and those who place   emphasis on prosperity will realize that prosperity cannot be the main thing. The main thing must still be holy living and going to heaven. So this is basically what is going to happen.


I will say what I have always said that we must emphasize on the area of living for God. That is why Nigeria has problem today. People who go to church, especially those who, one way or the other, are privileged to be in certain positions, forget the basic thing of God, which is the fear of God and all they want is money, they forget about really serving God.

They don’t take God to their work place, they don’t bring God to the positions where God has put them, but I believe that, eventually, these things will level out and the right thing will take its place.


For 40 years, you have been in the pulpit preaching the gospel of God, during which there have been miracles, touching lives and all that. But there are certain things that some people don’t know about you and this has to do with your calling. How did you get the divine call?

I have shared it so many times but I don’t mind repeating it because it is the main thing about my life. My mother prayed to have a male child. She told God that if He gave her a male child, she would give him back to Him. That was my mother’s prayer at the First Baptist Church in Lagos.
That was how she conceived and I was born. I didn’t know this prayer and my mother forgot about the prayer just like any average human being will do.  So I grew up and went my own way and lived my own life and got into a lot of vices, a lot of things that were not right. I have told people that if there is any bad thing that anybody could do in this world, I did it.

Can you elaborate on this?
(Laughs) Well, at my age and at my level in life, these are things that we are not proud of and will not want to give these things  prominence, but I was into so many wrong things. I leave the rest to your imagination. Yes, this was the life I lived.

However, I remember one day, I was walking along Marina in Lagos, very sad, I couldn’t explain why. You know, when you live on the wrong side of life for a while, that  is how you feel. But even the worst human beings you see today on the street, no matter how bad they look, they still have soft spots.

That  night, around 9.00 p.m., I was walking along Marina then, Marina was Marina and not the one you have today. There have been a lot of changes. Tears started rolling down my cheeks and I started praying, well, should I really call it a prayer? It wasn’t a prayer as such.
I said, ‘God, if you are God, do something and change me, I cannot continue with this kind of life’. Three months later, I came home, to Sapele, because my mother was here and one night somebody gave me a handbill inviting me to a crusade.

I just didn’t think I was one of those that should be invited to a crusade because I wasn’t that kind. But I went to the crusade and I heard the Word of God preached by the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa and that turned around my life. For the first time, something touched me. That was when I gave my life to Christ, and my life changed 360 degrees.

It is difficult to comprehend this because the, very next day, I bought a Bible and began to preach. It was like I lost my mind, but I think what must have happened was; remember my mother’s prayer many years back. You may forget, but God doesn’t forget.

I think God just took what belonged to Him, because, the very next day, I started to preach. I went to a market place, people gathered and I started preaching. People gathered because they knew the person I was; certainly, they had gathered to see a mad man but it turned out that I was preaching the Word of God. The very next day, people came out and gave their lives to Christ, and the rest is history.

The issue of succession in Pentecostal churches has gotten to a worrisome dimension. Founders and their followers engage in crises on who takes over when the leaders are out. The development sometimes leads to physical fights and often breakaways as those who feel they contributed to the growth of the churches insist the next persons in leadership must either be the wives, children, brother or direct relatives of the founders. What do you have to say about this?

I think there must never be a stereotype. I don’t believe that the fact that the woman is married to a man therefore she has to take over. A man can be a pastor and the wife may not have the call. We must come to a place where we must believe and accept the fact that if you push a woman into something that God did not call her, that ministry will collapse.

It will die on its own. But the other side of the coin is that it could be that the woman is also called. So if the woman is called, what do you do? Do you say that because she is the founder’s wife, she should not take her place? You can’t say that, that is why I say that there must never be a stereotype.
It depends on the call, it depends  on God’s hands upon who ever. So, it could be the wife, it could be the son, it could be a brother in the church, it could be one of the pastors, it could be a total stranger. Sometimes, when we read the Bible, we don’t want to admit what we read in the Bible because we  already have a mindset.

When you read the Bible, you will discover some interesting things. For example, when Jesus was here on earth, you would always conclude that the leader of the disciples was Peter, because of certain statements, certain things, but if you study very closely, you will find out that Jesus never appointed anybody.

He never appointed anybody to take over from him. So, that is a big point right there. Now, it is interesting that when you go to the book of Acts and study it very closely, you will find out that the only time we see an authentic leader of the church, you discover that the man that became the leader was Jesus’ half brother.

That is a bit strange. You will find out that even Peter submitted himself to James. I am not talking of the James that was one of the disciples. I am talking about  James that was one of Jesus’ brothers; the same mother with Jesus. We know that Mary had other children, after Jesus. One of those children was James and when Jesus was physically alive, none of them believed in him.

They stayed away from him but, after he died, they accepted the gospel that he preached and,  interestingly, one of them, James, became the head of the Church. The Bible tells us that at a point, when there was a problem in the Church and there were two factions—one group was the Peter group and the other group was the Paul group.

Now, there was a contention and it was over whether Christians should accept Christ who was not  a  Jew. Should they circumcise themselves and all that? One group said no and the other said yes. It became a very big problem and it was James who stood up and said: “This is my decision.
You must go to the Gentiles and tell them they don’t have to do this and that. This is what they must do”. You see, that tells you vividly who the leader was. So my point is this, that Peter accepted the leadership of James; obviously, Peter was already a disciple before  James accepted Christ.
But he was humble enough to accept him as his leader. James did not make himself a leader; obviously, they all agreed that he should be the leader. That shows you the level of spirituality. If it is today, how would you interpret it? You will definitely say that the brother of the founder of the Church is now the leader of the Church.

There appears to be part-time and full-time pastors in the Church today, a development that has necessitated people to give conflicting reactions. Is it right to have part-time pastors in the service of God?

Look, I may say some things that are a bit different from what you have known or what you may have heard. I say things because I am convinced and you will have to find a way to digest it. Every Christian is in full-time ministry. Any other job you are doing is the one that is part-time.
If there was enough money, there would have been no need for one to work because our full-time job is to be Christians and win others to Christ. But a church must function and there are many things that must happen—life must go on, people must eat and live; if your wife is pregnant and goes to hospital, you have to pay the bills.

That is why 99 per cent of church members have jobs. If you study the Bible very carefully, you may see something that will shock you. Are you aware that Apostle Paul, everywhere he went to, to start a church, got a job? In fact, he went as far as explaining why, so that the gospel would not be abused or looked down upon; so that people will not think that he was preaching this gospel because he wanted the people’s money.

He was a lawyer by profession, but wherever he went to and couldn’t get a law job, he found something else to do and he was good at tent making. So he would start a tent making business wherever he started a church, he would go out to make tent, sell the tent and have enough money to feed everybody that was with him, and he would take care of himself and everything. So there is nothing wrong with a man who has a job and he is preaching the gospel.

Nigerian pastors are accused of prospering while their congregants continue to suffer in poverty. What is your take on this?
Well, let me begin like this, this is a major issue, especially now that I have just been presented with a gift of a jet. That makes it a major issue. Let me say here that every pastor must be conscious of the people he pastors. It is very important. I can tell you that as a pastor for 40 years now, if you talk to people that are genuinely my members, they will tell you the kind of pastor that am I.
If you watched me today, I was talking about a young man who has been trying to go to a university for three years now. I didn’t know him from Adam. One day, after a service here, one of my pastors brought him to me. As soon as he saw me, he held my legs and began to cry! He showed me all the papers, pleading that he had tried to gain admission to any university here, it never worked.

So he finally got admission to study in Cyprus. I paid his school fees, helped him with ticket and everything he needed, he’s gone. He has since resumed school and is there in Cyprus now. How many people will know that? In the last seven to eight years now, I have paid school fees of over 100 people in different universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

Some of them have graduated and have come here to share their testimonies, excitements and even their parents have come here to thank us. I don’t know them from anywhere. Every December 26, I do a very big thing here. We call it poverty alleviation.
This year, December 26, we will equally do it. Last December 26, I gave out about six brand new cars to people; your denomination means nothing. Whether you are a Muslim or a native doctor means nothing here. What qualifies you is if you are a human being. I gave out 25 tricycles, about 100 sewing machines, and grinding machines.

Some of these people come here to give testimonies; some are now married and have children. There was this young boy, a Moslem from Auchi. This young man, nothing good was coming out of his life, he was rejected, nobody wanted him and one of our pastors took him into a teaching centre and he was sleeping in the teaching centre. They were helping him. This boy had  driver’s  licence, I don’t know how he got it. He had no job and couldn’t do anything.

Last two years, when we were doing the poverty alleviation, he applied.  And they brought out a name which happened to be this boy’s and he won a brand new car. Today, that boy has rented his own house; in fact, his parents who are Muslims came to church on a Sunday and worshipped with me and danced all over the place and, after the service, they came to me and thanked me, saying ‘oh, this boy that you don’t even know from anywhere, you dashed him a car.’

They were very happy. Besides that, many lives have been transformed here. We have changed many lives. We have an orphanage here. As we are talking, an American couple has gotten in touch with me. They want to adopt a child from our orphanage. We have a clinic here that hopefully will develop into a full blown hospital. People go there and pay little something for treatment, but generally on Sundays people are treated free.

These are some of the things we do. Most people don’t know this and I don’t think I am the only pastor doing this. So a lot of people who are saying this against pastors are just being mischievous. They may have their reasons, some of them are bitter about something and they are not telling the full story about what is making them bitter.

But like I said, a good pastor must be concerned about his people. We have buses that we use in carrying people. If I tell you some of the things that we used to do, it will shock you. There is a woman in my church, when she came to this church, she had probably two blouses and a wrapper, no slippers, not even  bathroom slippers.

She had never entered a classroom before. I didn’t even know her. She is from one of these oil bearing communities. There was a time an oil company in their community wanted to do business with them and she was interested but had no money. She came to us for assistance. I don’t think, at that time, she had ever seen N10,000 in her life.

So she went to our micro-finance bank, Mama (my wife) runs it without salary, she and all our directors don’t earn one naira. She went to the bank and said she wanted to borrow money. My wife asked her; `how much do you have in your account’, and she said, I don’t even have an account’.
My wife looked at her, and she called me about it and I said, `look, leave me out of it’. We didn’t even have that kind of money at that time. She asked the woman again, `how much do you have now and the woman said N2,000′. She now advised her to use that money to open an account and she did. Mama now went round to source for the amount.

The short story here is that she got the money, did her business and in less than six months, she paid back the money she collected. As we speak now, she is one of the richest women in Warri. She bought me an incredible car that cost millions of naira some years ago.

Coming to the issue of jet, I had no single idea of how it came about. It is true that people like us have gotten to a point where we need to have means of movement that will help us. You may have heard me speak about my trip to Indonesia, to Jakarta.

In fact,  it wasn’t even Jakarta I was going to, but I had to stay inside an airport in Jakarta for five hours to wait for my flight, to get to the very city I was going. I was only going to preach for two hours there. I flew from Lagos to Dubai and I spent over three hours, changed flight to fly to Jakarta and then stayed five hours at the airport just to catch a flight to where I was going to, where I was to preach for just two hours.

And after everything, I got a flight from that place again to Jakarta, stayed at the airport again for another five hours, then flew into Dubai, stayed again at the airport for another three hours before I flew into Lagos. It took me four days to make a journey to preach for two hours. I’m a human being and I am not getting younger every day.
And locally, it is worse, for instance, the acting General Secretary of CAN lost his father in a place outside Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and I had to be there. I preached in a place in Lagos on a Friday and needed to be back to Warri on a Saturday, but at the end of the day, the plane that would have taken me was no where.

I had to charter a plane for N3.5 million to take me to Uyo, waited for me to finish and then take me back to Warri. Two weeks ago, a young pastor in Port Harcourt built a new church and had been on me all this while to come and dedicate the church and suddenly from no where, there was this flood that cut off the road to Port Harcourt.

There is no road now to Port Harcourt. If you want to go by road now, it takes you up to 12 hours to get to Port Harcourt and I had to preach in Port Harcourt, I had to preach in Lagos, I had to preach in Abuja and other places. Finally, I was able to find my way to Port Harcourt, it was on a Saturday.
I had to get to Warri that Saturday so as to be able to preach the next day, Sunday. Do you know what I had to finally do? I chartered a helicopter that cost me N2 million to drop me in Warri. When they dropped me here, ah, I can’t tell you how I felt that I had to part with that sum. But I had promised the young man and the church and if I had said  no, will it be right? I can go on and on and on.
So, sometimes, my schedule is so complicated. Now, with this plane, it changes everything about my movements. Now, I can move, I can even go and come back home. It is a bit more convenient for me and I suspect that this is one of the reasons a lot of these other preachers have planes.

Does your congregation understand all these engagements?
They do. They feel the pain I go through and they feel painful for not seeing me most of the time. They don’t like it, they are troubled.  I know some people buy planes, I can’t buy plane. I can’t afford it. I don’t have that kind of money, I still don’t know the people that bought this plane, but I know that there is a committee.

I hope you will get to meet with some of the people in that committee, I don’t  know them. My wife is more involved with them.  She (my wife) never talked to me, (about it) and she was acting strange. Well, I don’t want to get involved in this. This is my story about the plane. And I’m not ashamed to own a plane, I think it is a necessity and not a luxury for some of us deeply involved in the work of God to own planes.

  Source: Vanguard

Gunmen attack Sars Police HQ less than 24 hrs after attacking Jaji military base

Wait a minute, so a military base and police headquarters were both successfully attacked in less than 24 hours? For real? Bomb attack at the Jaji Military base yesterday morning killed at least 11 people, then this morning unknown gunmen attacked the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police headquarters in Abuja.

The details of the attack are still sketchy but there are are unconfirmed reports that detainees, including members of Boko Haram, were freed during the shoot out.

Sars headquarters is near several government buildings and security is supposed to be extremely tight in the area. What does this say about the security in Nigeria?

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but we all can guess those behind. Scary!

How to Install or Upgrade to a New RIM BlackBerry Operating System (OS)

 

Research In Motion (RIM) is constantly developing and testing new software and applications for your BlackBerry.  Keeping up to date with the newest operating system (OS) software for your smartphone ensures that you have access to all the latest and greatest features and performance tweaks.  With the official release of BlackBerry OS v4.5 on the horizon—various beta, or test, versions of the software are already bouncing around the Web—we thought this would be a great time for a BlackBerry OS tutorial.
What follows is our step-by-step guide on how to upgrade your BlackBerry's OS, or install a different version, as well as how to prepare beforehand to make the process run as smoothly as possible.
To start a new operating system install, you'll need your BlackBerry, an Internet-connected PC, a USB cable and about an hour and half of free time—50 minutes or an hour for the upgrade process and 30 minutes or catch-up time afterwards.  Mac users beware: RIM doesn't currently offer the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software for Apple computers; however, industrious Mac owners running Parallels and who have a copy of Windows have been able to upgrade their BlackBerrys via Macs, though the process can be a bit clumsy.
If you've got all the necessary tools listed above, the BlackBerry OS install process should be a breeze.  Let's get started.
How to Install or Upgrade to a New BlackBerry Operating System

1) Download New BlackBerry OS Software
First things first, you'll want to download the new BlackBerry OS and save it to your PC.  To determine what OS version you're currently running, click the Options icon on your BlackBerry home screen and select About.  Your OS version will be listed as a series of numbers after a lowercase V (v4.2.2.184) on the first screen. You can also employ the Help Me screen shortcut to determine your current OS version by hitting ALT, SHIFT and the letter H.

Current BlackBerry Operatin System Software Version

To obtain the latest operating system for your BlackBerry device, first check your wireless carrier's website.  This is the best way to get official RIM OS software.  Your carrier may ask you to login to download the software, so you might need to create an online account if you haven't already done so.  Once logged in, locate the system upgrades section, check to see if there's an OS version that's more recent than the one you're currently running, and if so, download and save it to your PC's desktop.

Save the latest BBOS onto your Windows-powered computer

If you decide to download and install an unofficial version of the BlackBerry OS, you should beware that you're doing so at your own risk. Beta operating systems are not officially released for good reason: They're often full of bugs and could potentially void your warranty or worse, render your BlackBerry unusable. (Read, "How to Reload the Operating System on a Nuked BlackBerry," if you ever find yourself with a bricked 'Berry. If you do decide to install unofficial software and it's from a carrier that isn't your own, you should be sure to ditch the software's vendor XML file before beginning installation. To do so, open your PC's Program Files > Common Files > Research In Motion > AppLoader and then delete the Vendor file, which is in XML format.  If you don't delete the other vendor's file, the software won't be able to install the software on your carrier-locked device. You can visit Crackberry.com's OS4.5 Beta forum for discussion and help should you run into issues.
 
2) Download and Install the Latest BlackBerry Desktop Manager Software
Next you should ensure that your PC is running the latest version of the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, which is v4.5. 
To check which version of Desktop Manager you currently have, you should launch the program via Windows Start menu > All Programs > BlackBerry > Desktop Manager. Then click the Help tab on the main screen and choose About BlackBerry Desktop Manager.  The software version will be listed on the General tab.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager version 4.5

If you're not running Desktop Manager v4.5, visit RIM's site and download and install the latest version of the software.

 
3) Prepare for New OS By Noting Apps, Services or Setting That Could be Affected
Installing a New BlackBerry OS will return some of your custom settings to the default options and may require you to log back into and unlock certain applications.  For instance, your font family, font style and size will revert to default settings after the OS install, so you may want to go into Options > Screen/Keyboard settings to make note of your custom settings.
Many third-party apps will also require you to reenter your user name and password, so you may want to make note of which apps require a login and make sure you've access to the necessary information.  For example, your Viigo RSS reader will prompt you for login information the first time you try to use it, as will Facebook for BlackBerry, your Twitter client and the Flickr app.  I also noticed that the color of my jazzy new CrackBerry launcher changed from orange to cyan…
It's a good idea to switch back to an official RIM theme if you're using a third-party option, at least at first, because some features of non-official themes won't work properly on the new OS.
And it's worth noting that applications are meant to run on specific OS version so they may not work at all after you upgrade.  The Freedom Universal Bluetooth Keyboard, which I reviewed for CrackBerry in May, functions along with an application that will only work on BlackBerry OS v4.0 through v4.2.
 
4) Open New BlackBerry OS and Begin Installation
After you've prepared for the changes that come along with a new BlackBerry OS, you'll want to begin the installation process.  First, close all related applications and services on your PC and launch the .exe file.  Choose Run and select the appropriate setup language.
The InstallShield Wizard for BlackBerry will then appear. You should click Next and then on the following screen choose the country in which you're currently located. Accept the terms of service and hit "Next" again.  When the install process is complete, the program will ask you if you want to start the BlackBerry Desktop software.  Fill in the check box next to this option and then hit "Finish."

Install OS4.5 onto your computer

When the Desktop Manager software opens, plug your device into the PC via USB cord.  (If for some reason, the desktop manager software does not launch after a few minutes, go to your Windows Start menu > All Programs > BlackBerry > Desktop Manager.) You'll then see a dialogue box that tells you it's searching for device application updates and a few seconds later another box will appear asking if you want to install the available upgrades. Click Update Now and a summary page will appear detailing the specific applications that will be affected.
From there, hit the Options tab beneath the Data Preservation and Device Backup heading and ensure that the Backup Device Data Automatically During the Installation Process box is checked. Then hit OK.
You can also click on the Advanced tab on the right side of the Desktop Manager screen to add or update applications that weren't included in the default list. For instance, if you deleted your BlackBerry Messenger app in the past but now want it back, you can hit Advanced and fill in the check box next to BlackBerry Messenger and the program will be installed along with your new OS.

Application Loader Updates Page

Finally, you should click Next again, and you'll see an Application Loader summary page that explains how your device will need to be wirelessly activated and registered with your carrier after the new OS is installed—don't fret, this should happen automatically—and provides a brief summary of the installation process.  Hit Finish, grab a frosty beverage and/or good book and sit back and relax while you're new OS is installed. As mentioned above, this may take awhile so don't worry if the progress bar seems to be sticking on the "Connecting to the Device" stage—one of the final steps in the upgrade process. 

Summary Page. Click Finish and let the Update begin!

If you're installing an operating system that's older than your current software, you'll want to download the OS to your PC and launch the .exe file just as described above.  But when you plug your device into your PC after opening the Desktop Manager, the app won't find any updates and you'll have to instigate the install process yourself. To do so, click the Application Loader icon on the Desktop Manager home screen and then click the Start box on the right side of the screen, beneath Update Applications. The software will then search for updates and won't be able to find any.  On the following screen, click the Advanced tab under Device Application Selection, make sure the list of applications on the next screen includes all programs you wish to include in the install and hit Next again. Choose to backup your application data on the following screen and hit Finish to begin the install.
You'll know your new OS is installed successfully when the Desktop Manager's Update Complete screen appears and your device's radio turns back on.  Shortly after the process finishes up, you should receive a message in you inbox to let you know your device is registered with your carrier's network. If you don't receive such a message, resend your device's e-mail service books.  You can send service books in two ways, using either your BlackBerry itself or your carrier's BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) page.  To send service books via BlackBerry, open your E-Mail Settings/Set-Up Internet E-mail icon, log in if prompted, and click Service Books option under the Settings heading. On the following page, send the books by hitting Service Books again.
Close out the Desktop Manager, disconnect your BlackBerry and you're good.

Done - OS Successfully Updated!!!

 
Notes
- If you use any BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) accounts, you likely want to resend your e-mail service books even if you're device was automatically reregistered. This ensures that you're taking advantage of any related tweaks that may have been included in the software update.
- Immediately following your upgrade, you'll be prompted to log back into a number of applications but some you'll need to manually open to enter your account information.  If you have a media card installed, you'll also be asked whether or not you want to turn your BlackBerry's mass storage mode on, regardless of your previous settings. You'll also be asked if you want to run through the BlackBerry Setup Wizard.
- If you're on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) you should check in with an IT representative before attempting to upgrade your smartphone's handheld software, because some IT policies can block or partially block a new OS install.

source: crackberry.com

Setting up the Wii U takes hours, requires the internet

So many updates

The beginning of the setup process for the Wii U is all really standard stuff, especially if you were a Wii user. After you’ve connected all the hardware and charged the GamePad, you’ll be asked to pair the controller to the Wii U. Tap the red buttons on both the console and the controller, type the sync code presented on the TV into the controller, and you’re done. The console goes through all the usual steps: language, country, timezone, and wireless connection.

Once you’re connected to the internet, the Wii U will notice that there is an update to apply before moving forward. Even on a fast connection, this update took nearly 45 minutes to download and install. It’s possible that Nintendo was simply overwhelmed by the volume of users simultaneously requesting this update. If that’s the case, this won’t take quite as long in the future. If this download took so long due to the file size (I’m hearing rumors it’s 5GB), I sincerely hope Nintendo quickly includes it as standard on the next wave of consoles sold. On top of taking 45 minutes, the GamePad screen is left on and active through the entire process. Given the 3-4 hour battery life of the Gamepad, it essentially takes away a quarter of your first gaming session on the console.
After you have completed the system update, you create your account on the console and your Mii is taken to the homescreen. From the looks of it, you can now start playing your Wii U. Unless, of course, you want to put a game in the console or activate your Netflix account. Trying either of these will prompt another system update.
In fact, both the included NintendoLand game and New Super Mario Bros. U required separate software updates. If you have a fast data connection, these only take a couple of minutes a piece. The Netflix update only took 3 or 4 minutes, and afterwards it started and ran great.
All in, the startup process from turning the Wii U on for the first time to actually playing a game was over hour and a half for me. Clearly not the best experience.

Unfinished software

Attempting to open Nintendo TVii, Amazon Instant Video, or YouTube will get you a series of different error messages. Nintendo TVii will tell you that the feature is not available until December, while Amazon Instant and YouTube will just hang as though there’s a software update inbound that will activate these two apps. For now, anyway, that update isn’t coming.
Tucked away in the Messages app is a brief note explaining that the Wii U you just bought isn’t quite done yet. Some of the features that were announced back in September at the Wii U event in NYC will be available sometime soon.
This wouldn’t have been such a body blow if Nintendo hadn’t essentially hidden this fact from everyone until the last possible minute. While it is true that no one explicitly stated that Nintendo TVii would be available at launch, it’s been a heavily marketed feature. Even the sales reps for the Nintendo Midnight Launch event at my local GameStop had no idea. After a thirty minute conversation about how the Wii U functions with TiVo Premiere, my rep was just as shocked as I to learn that the feature wouldn’t be there for a little while.

Final thoughts

The launch of the Wii U could certainly have gone better. The torrent of software updates and the lack of announced features makes the whole launch feel messy and rushed. If you don’t have blazing fast Internet at home, the setup process could take several hours and there’s nothing you can do to stop it once started.
Looking on the bright side, once you have gotten past this initial headache the Wii U is going to offer a great gaming experience to users who have been looking for Nintendo to approach an older audience without compromising on being a family focused console.

Joseph Benjamin, Dare Art Alade, present relief materials to flood victims in Kogi

Stirred by the recent Kogi flood disaster, Joseph Benjamin pioneered a team to deliver relief materials to the state. The “Help Kogi” project was initiated to provide material support to the victims of the flood in Kogi. Last week, the team - made up of Joseph, Darey, Jaywon, Malik, Cordelia Okpei, and MoEazy - was at Kogi State to present the relief materials. They were welcomed by Governor Idris Wada and his deputy, Yomi Awoniyi. 

 

 

 

“It was something that had to be done. I rallied my friends and we gathered resources to offer what we could to the victims of the flood. We hope that beyond what we have provided, that the victims are able to get their life and sustenance back as alleviation measures are in place to tackle the issue” Joseph Benjamin stated. Governor Idris Wada expressed his gratitude to the team, commending their efforts and empathy towards the plight of the state.

Serena Williams goes off on Common on Twitter

  

The tennis champ didn't have her ex boyfriend's number to call or send him a text, so instead she came at him on Twitter for the whole world to see! :-). Common didn't reply. See more tweets after the cut...

 

 

Rest In Peace, Pete Eneh!

 

Wow!!

 

May his soul rest in perfect peace!!

 

Veteran actor Pete Eneh died yesterday at Parklane Hospital, Enugu where he had been receiving treatment for over four months for a leg injury.

 

The actor had one of his legs amputated on the 24th of October at the hospital due to serious infection he got after sustaining an injury that refused to heal because of his diabetic condition.

 

So sad, really.

Apple offers to pay Google $1 per device

The patent wars continue to wage on all around the world. It’s been a little while since Samsung and Apple had their day in court, and while that skirmish is far from over it is now time for Motorola and Apple to enter the courtroom.
Motorola feels that Apple is infringing on several FRAND patents that have to do with how every smartphone in existence connects to WiFi and cellular networks. Since Apple makes smartphones, and Google is looking to use their newly acquired Motorola as a weapon, the two companies are only a few days away from the courtroom. Apple has placed an offer in a filing to the US District Court of $1 per device moving forward, and I have a hard time believing Google/Motorola will accept.
Motorola’s original request in their filing to the courts was for $2.25 per device. Aside from the actual dollar amount, Motorola is interested in licensing based on all Apple devices that infringe on these patents, not just the devices that are released after the court order. Given the popularity of Apple’s mobile devices, even at $1 per device that number is staggering. Apple’s reasoning for offering a dollar seems to stem from the deals they have with other organizations. In the filing, Apple notes that Motorola’s asking price is “orders of magnitude more” than Apple pays for other patent portfolios it requires to meet certain standards.
It seems like the core of the argument to come is entirely based on how much money Apple should be giving Motorola for these patents, and at what point Apple should be responsible for paying. Motorola has an opportunity here to allow the court to order Apple to pay $1 per device moving forward and be done with the case entirely. If Motorola pursues the case and the court issues a per device rate that is higher than Apple’s offer, Apple promises to pursue all possible appeals to avoid paying more than $1. Motorola could end this quickly, or watch as Apple drags this out for what could be years.
It’s unclear how the Google-controlled Motorola plans to address this, but it seems unlikely they would accept an offer that is less than half of what was initially demanded. Next week, when the two companies meet in court in Wisconsin, Motorola will demonstrate that their patents are essential to the functionality of Apple’s devices. Apple’s offer makes it clear they accept Motorola’s patents are valid, so now it’s just a squabble over their value.
Source: Macworld
#...Thats huge...Google will be making it big...

Samsung bets big on flexible displays

It might not be that much longer before you are able to go to the store and buy a smartphone with a flexible, bendable, practically unbreakable display. Samsung is increasing its efforts in the research and development of this emerging technology as competition makes it more difficult to be unique in the current market.
The technology incorporates the use of plastic in the production of an electronic display, rather than glass. This means that if you drop it on the ground, it won’t crack. It also means the display has the ability to be bent and twisted without compromising. The focus right now is assumed to be for smartphones and tablets, but eventually it could be used for all sorts of products.
If you think you’ve heard of this technology before, you’re probably right. Flexible display concepts have been around for years. There have been working prototypes from other companies, not just Samsung. Apple also seems to be working on its own version of the technology.
So, proof-of-concept isn’t the issue. The problem is that it is incredibly difficult to mass produce for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it uses organic LED (OLED), which is still fairly cost-prohibitive. If any company has the infrastructure and expertise to solve that problem, though, it is Samsung. The company did not provide specific details about how much money it is pouring into this project, but its increased focus could mean that it will become ready for scalable manufacturing in the first half of 2013.
The company’s aggressive push to be the first to market is an indication of how competitive the market for mobile technology has become. It is becoming increasingly difficult to offer a product that has a truly distinguishing feature. It’s almost impossible to think of something that could revolutionize the industry at this point, but flexible displays certainly would. There is no timetable yet on when you might be able to go into a store and buy smartphones with unbreakable displays, but they are coming.
source: Wall Street Journal