Celebrities Who Abandon Their Law Degree For The Art

Creativity, the love of the arts, has made these notable Nigerian celebrities who started out studying law to abandon their field of studies for the art. They abandon the sobriety of the gown and wig for the glamorous way of arts.

They decided to drop the regimented life of dressing in black and white, wig and gown to a more relaxed career with flexibility in their dressing. Here are 16 Nigerian lawyers turned celebrities.

 Femi Adebayo:

Actor, film producer and a proprietor of a school of art in Ibadan, Femi was born to an actor father, Otunba Adebayo Salami so for him, acting runs in his vein. But Femi did not rise to the peak of his acting career until in the 2000s. Even though Femi studied law from the University of Ilorin, Kwara and later got Master of Arts (MA) Degree in Theatre Art, he had started acting before he went to the university. After graduation Femi practiced law for some years specializing in estate and property law before acting got a better part of him. Femi is a toast of movie producers in the Yoruba movie genre.

Femi Adebayo

Richard Mofe-Damijo:
Veteran Nollywood actor popularly referred to as RMD had his first degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Benin. After making an indelible impact in the make believe industry as an actor, RMD went back to the University of Lagos in 1997 to earn a degree in Law to fulfil his mother’s life long wish for her son to be a Lawyer. He was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar.

RMD

Tara Durotoye:
She is the boss of House of Tara, a make-up business. Tara started her make-up business while in the Lagos State University studying Law. Tara never practiced Law but she has said that her knowledge of Law has helped her to manage her make-up and beauty business.

Tara Durotoye

Kelechi Amadi-Obi:
Celebrity photographer, Kelechi Amadi-Obi is a qualified Lawyer from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was called to bar in 1993 and set up his studio shortly afterwards. He is the publisher of Mania Magazine.

Kelechi Amadi-Obi

Kemi Adetiba
Kemi started her romance with the entertainment industry as a Law undergraduate when she was working as an On-Air-Personality on Rythym 93.7. After discovering her interest in entertainment, TV host and musical video director, Kemi Adetiba, went on to study Film Making in New York Film Academy. Kemi is the brain behind several great music videos.

Kemi Adetiba

Folake Akindele-Coker
Fashion designer and beautiful daughter of Ibadan billionaire, Chief Akindele, Folake Coker, is a qualified lawyer with a Master degree in Petroleum Law. Folake Coker, the brains behind Tiffany Amber quickly recognised her passion for fashion and traded her wig and gown for scissors and tapes establishing her luxury line Tiffany Amber as far back as 1998.

Folake Coker

Lisa Folawiyo:
She is the creative Director of Jewel by Lisa and originator of embellished ankara prints. Lisa attended the University of Lagos where she obtained a Law degree. She established Jewel by Lisa in 2005 and quickly became a force to reckon with as her creative style captured the attention of the international fashion world. Jewel by Lisa has been rocked by celebrities like Solange Knowles, Kendal Jenner and Catt Sandler of E! etc.

Lisa Folawiyo

Funke Bucknor-Obruthe:
Despite having a musician father, Finke Bucknor-Obruthe studied Law in the University of Lagos but knew their hearts lay elsewhere. Funke worked very briefly with St Matthew Daniel and Balogun law firm after her graduation before the pioneer events coordinating company with her Zapphaire Events company.

Funke Bucknor-Obruthe

Tosyn Bucknor:
On-Air-Personality and sister to Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, Tosyn Bucknor also read Law in the University of Lagos. Tosyn started her romance with the media as an undergraduate with her weekly column in The Guardian newspaper. Asides singing, she currently works as an OAP with Top 90.9fm and also has written scripts for shows like Amstel Malta Box-office season 2&3 and The Apprentice Africa.

Tosyn Bucknor

Sasha P:
Nigeria female rapper, Sasha P, is a graduate of Law from the University of Lagos. She has also delved into fashion designing

Sasha P

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu:
TV personality, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu has been a force to reckon with in the entertainment industry. After obtaining a Law degree from the University of Abuja, Ebuka came into public consciousness as contestant on the reality television show Big Brother Nigeria in 2006. Ebuka has never left the public glare since then. Ebuka does not only have a degree in Law, he also has a Master degree in it.

Ebuka Elendu

Funke Akindele:
For her first it was Mass Communication, a course she abandoned after obtaining an Ordinary National Diploma in it from the Moshood Abiola Polytechnics, Ogun state. She later went to University of Lagos to study Law but before she was done in the university, entertainment has eaten deep into her. Her first appearance on television drama was in ‘You Need to Know’ as a teenager. After graduation, Funke Akindele never tried going to the Law School as she knew what she wanted to be before graduation.

Funke Akindele

Lolo 1 of Wazobia FM
Populaly known as Omotunde Adebowale Davies,Lolo 1 is a graduate of Lagos state Univeristy, Ojo where she studied Law. She practiced the law profession for three years before she left her wig and gown to be an on-air-personality. She roks the airwaves as the Lolo1 on popular Pidgin English speaking radio station, Wazobia FM.

Lolo 1

Lepacious Bose
Bose Osayemi  abandoned the sobriety of the law profession for the excitement of the entertainment industry. Lepacious Bose is one of the few female comedians in the country. Her stage name, Lepacious Bose is a contradiction of her stature but it has really worked for her.

Lepacious Bose

Omawumi Megbele:
Omawumi graduated from the Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo state where studied law in 2005. She worked briefly at her brother’s law firm, O.S Megbele and Associates before she contesting for the Idols West Africa in 2007. Omawumi embraced entertainment through her participating in West African Idols where she emerged as the first runner up and ever since she has embraced music forgetting her wigs and gown.

Omawumi

Falz
For somebody like Falz many were taken aback when he abandoned Law which foe entertainment. This is because Falz, born Folarin Falana is the son of erudite lawyer and social commentator, Femi Falana. Falz studied Law in the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. After Law school Falz worked in his father’s chambers for a while before following his heart desire. Today Falz is sings and has spread his entertainment tentacle to acting.

Falz

                                                                                                                                                   -naij.com

10 Things Ladies Put The Blame On When They Have Lost Their Virginity

When ladies have lost their virginity, there’s high tendency that blame with follow suite; that’s if they will even tell you

Personally, I’m that type that believes that s*x should not in any way be attributed to mistakes since it’s your decision and choice, so why put the blame on something else, so as to bail yourself out 

As a matter of fact, no guy with his right sense of reasoning blames the lost of his virginity on witches and wizards; but when it comes to the female folks, they put the blame on guys, even it was their choices and was done in a conscious state

However, asking for a lady’s virginity status is scum in my own opinion and I barely do that, but the few times I inquired, the responses I got was that they were virgins, and those who were bold enough to say the truth further added a story that touches the heart

Without wasting time, let’s discuss what they put the blame on

1. They blame it on Rape

I think should topic the list. Many ladies (if not all) will tell a story of how their uncle’s brother family cousin betrayed their trust and forced them into s*x

2. He Deceived me

This should also come second. Many ladies will blame the lost of their virginity on their boyfriends who deceived them. You will hear something like ” I thought he actually loved me and I couldn’t but give my virginity to him. *madam abeg park well jawe*

3. He promised to Marry me

In recent time, confused ladies use s*x as a tool to tie down their men, when in fact, these guys may still dump them. Some of them will blame the lost of their virginity on an illusion that he promised to marry them

4. He Pressured me for it

Some of them will blame it on their boyfriends who pressured them to the point that, they couldn’t withstand the pressure and suffocation other than give him what he wanted because they wanted to make him happy

5. It was the Work of the Devil

Which kind devil be this one again ? Devil ke ? Why would one blame the devil for something done in a conscious state?. A lady once told me that she blamed the devil to have becloud her sense of reasoning to indulge in the act, when the devil in question never even knew her from Adam. *madam, abeg no involve devil 4 dis matter jawe*

6. Nobody is above Mistake

In as much as it’s never a mistake losing your virginity as a guy, why should it be attributed to a mistake as a lady?

7. He Drugged me

Haba he drugged you bawo ? Some of them will claim that their boyfriends actually drugged or got them drunk to stupor, and unfortunately for them, when they woke up the next morning and discovered that they had been defiled* Abeg dem force u make you sleep him house?*

8. He threatened me with Break-up

Yes ! Many ladies will claim that their boyfriends threatened them with a break-up and that put them in no choice other than give him. *So na only the guy d tin go make happy not you?*

9. He used indecency movie to lure me into doing it

This sounds like an exaggeration, but I call tell you that many also use this as an excuse

10. My fellow naijaloaded users, please feel free to add yours.

Have fun

Written by: Tosyne2much

                                                                                    -naijaloaded.com

Man returns from mortuary after confirmed dead

•Today, he lives on charity without limbs, wife, kids

By GODWIN TSA

Bola Julius, a 38 years old man is a fashion designer and father of three. But his story is not about his prowess in creating apparels. That’s far from it. His is a touchy and emotional account of his misfortune and adventure into the dark alleys of life.

On December 21, 2010, he was dumped in the mortuary where he slept with the dead by those who picked him from the scene of a ghastly auto accident, on his way to Lagos to buy textile materials for his trade.

Today, those legs that used to dance on the sewing machines are shattered and his wife of many years had since bolted with his children and abandoned him to his fate.

On that ill-fated day, Julius had worked till the afternoon and when he closed his shop to prepare for the trip, he had no premonition of the stragedy that would befall him and change the course of his life.

Accomplished designer

Before the unfortunate incident, he was an accomplished fashion designer with a flourishing workshop by Tantalizers, in Garki, where he made clothes for the high and privileged in the nation’s capital city. Indeed, his design wizardry was renowned and attracted high class clientele in the elite circles including wives of governors, ministers, lawmakers, and other powerful Abuja residents. With perfection, he delivered styles that would have amazed renowned international brands in designing, a feat that made many doubt if his creations were actually from Nigeria.

But that was once upon a time. Today, the story is different. After several months in the hospital, the life of the once popular designer has changed from rich to penury, as he has sold everything including landed properties, sewing machines and his life savings to offset his accumulated hospital bills. Abandoned by his wife and children, Julius is now left alone in his rented apartment at Maraba, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, at the mercy of good neighbours that assist him into the bathroom to take his bath and nature’s call.

Nevertheless, the distraught fashion designer said there is still light at the end of the dark tunnel of his life he wallows in because his creativity is still intact. He could still design clothes well, though at a slower pace, since he could no longer handle manual sewing machines because of the conditions of his legs.

Back from the dead

The story is better told by this victim of circumstances of life.

And he narrated to Abuja Metro that: “It was on December 21, 2010, a peak period of my business with Christmas just approaching. I boarded a luxury bus in the evening at Nyanya, a satellite town at the outskirts of Abuja.

“Once inside the bus, I quickly drifted into a very deep sleep as the vehicle journeyed at night and was oblivious of what was happening around me.  I only woke up in the morning in pains at the General Hospital Owo, Ondo State to discover that the vehicle had been involved in a fatal accident that claimed the lives of all the passengers on board but one. I was among those considered dead and already deposited at the morgue. It was at this point that someone noticed a twitch of my fingers and then a faint movement and quickly transferred me to the emergency ward. I am indeed lucky to be the second person to survive the crash. I actually came back from the dead.”

Eight months in hospital

I was transferred to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, UATH, Gwagwalada, the third day after the crash. I spent the next eight months there and as bills kept mounting, I had no choice but to dispose of my landed property, some sewing machines in addition to the money I had in the bank in order to raise over a million naira. I even lost my shop and all the textile materials of several customers plundered by my apprentice that did not ever think I would survive the accident.

My legs were badly crushed and when medical treatment seemed not to avail much after gulping all my savings and livelihood, I travelled to Osun State for traditional treatment.

Crashed from height

I used to design clothes for some people of high standing in the country – ministers’ wives, some other clients were who were members of the National Assembly. As a matter of fact, I used to sew clothes for the family of the governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson.

Most of my customers thought I was dead and long buried when in fact, it was my leg that is seriously affected and I still want to make the best out of life.

Wife absconds

He told Abuja Metro how Mrs. Seriake Dickson helped to get his wife a job with the Nigerian Civil Defence out of compassion for the family but his wife reciprocated by deserting him when he most needed her.

With cold tears dripping from his eye, Bola said, “my wife, Monisola Julius who had stayed with me since we got married in 2001 and who endured my travail for two years, picked everything in the house

together with our three children; our first daughter is 14 years old and in SS1, the second is a boy that is 12 years old while the last child is only eight years old. She relocated to another place entirely with our three children during my trip to Osun State.

Rude shock

When she told me she was leaving on the phone, I thought it was a joke but I returned to Abuja only two weeks ago to discover it is true.

This heightened my sense of loss and made me to despair of life itself initially.

I am resolved now to pull through by God’s grace and by the help and support of people. My wife’s behaviour changed dramatically when she got the job, which was meant to bring relief to our family. She started coming home late and even left our church and started attending another church despite warnings not to do so. Honestly, I did not see this coming and she rebuffed all efforts to get her back to the path of reason

I will bounce back

I have accepted all that happened as my fate and I am determined to come out this dark path into the light someday, soon. I thank God I still have my creativity intact. I can still design clothes very well.

I have been doing it though at a much slower pace because I can no longer handle manual sewing machine because my legs are no longer functional and I do not have a shop where customers can locate me. It is never my desire to be an invalid relying on charity to survive.

So, I want to use this medium to appeal for help. All I need is a shop in town where I can have constant electricity and use electric sewing machines instead of manual ones and I am sure that some of my old customers will come back and bring many others with them. About N600,000 will pull my business back on track, he solicited.

                                                                                 -sunnewsonline.com/

Nigeria nearly bankrupt under Okonjo’s watch

Those who have  followed the arguments of the governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, since early last year on the running of the nation’s economy and its future will understand why the governor is angry today about the parlous state of the economy.

Oshiomhole

When he declared recently that “this is the time for everybody to answer his or her father’s name”, the governor was not only directing the statement to the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, but also to the 18 local government chairmen in Edo, who he ordered to pay salaries owed to their workers or face the music.

Due to the dwindling allocation from the Federation Account to the state, Oshiomhole stopped over heads in the ministries and the state House of Assembly in the past six months, his office inclusive, and that is the secret his  government has been able to pay its workers till date. And following the inability of the local government chairmen in the state to pay salaries, the governor met with them and directed that they should forfeit security vote and allowances so they can pay. He told them how he had forfeited his own in the past six months so as to pay civil servants and warned that he would not tolerate non-payment of salaries in the councils.

He achieved that with so much sacrifice but his anger is that Nigerians are suffering today due to what he described as  alleged mismanagement of the economy under the watch of Okonjo-Iweala.  The governor started echoing the  economic crunch in the country since  early last year when he predicted that the way  the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and other oil revenue funds were being managed by the then PDP-led Federal Government will have dire consequences for the economy in future.

It is not surprising, therefore, that he, of late,  engaged in war of words with the former minister, who he accused of spending $2.1billion from the ECA without authorization. But, Okonjo-Iweala yelled back at him, describing Oshiomhole’’s allegation as political witch hunt, saying it will fail. According to her, she started publishing monthly updates of allocations to different tiers of government in order to inform Nigerians on government revenues and expenditure.

She insisted that the claim that she spent the said money without approval was not credible given that, details of government receipts and expenditure were public knowledge. But Oshiomhole, a member of the National Economic Council (NEC) set up recently by President Muhammadu Buhari, accused the former minister of being economical with the truth and toying with figures as regards the state of the economy inherited Buhari. He spoke on a television programme, last week.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The governor, who said the Federal Government is broke, explained that it would have been in a worse shape than states if it had not resorted to borrowing to pay wages.  He added that the economy under Okonjo-Iweala as Finance Minister  was so mismanaged that waivers were granted to organizations running into several hundreds of millions of naira. Said he; “With all due respect to  former Minister Okonjo-Iweala, she knows how to play around with statistics.

I have made the point; she keeps opening part of the pages and not the entire book. The logic of transparency is that every minister must publish in full what is accruing to the Federation Account month to month and what is distributed to them. What she has been publishing is that this is what went to the Federal Government, this is what went to state governments and this is what went to local governments.

“What she never published simultaneously is what accrued during the period out of which this was distributed. So we can now know what was collected to what was distributed so we can know what is left in the Excess Crude Account. You can see her changing the goal post. On the authority to spend, Okonjo-Iweala was a member of the National Economic Council, I was a member and I am on record as asking her, `don’t give us verbal reports on matters of the Federation Account, give us written report’, and the power to spend is not vested on Commissioners. Look at the Constitution and tell me which Section gives the Commissioners for Finance the power, all of them, they are unknown to ballot, they are not elected, but the membership of the  NEC is clear, governors chaired by the Vice President representing the President, the CBN and other relevant ministries. How will she avoid this level of accountability?

“The decision to take money from the Excess Crude Account, that power is vested in the National Economic Council. The NEC is an institution created by the Constitution. What she is referring to is her own administrative arrangement. The $2 billion is her last sum because in her last report, she said we had $4.1 billion, she said so orally but it was captured in the minutes only for her to come around again at the last minute to say  X  figure is left. We asked her, `what did you pay for?”

On states which owe salary arrears to their workers, Oshiomhole said: “Every employer of labour has an obligation, a contractual obligation to pay those who work. The Bible says   a labourer is entitled to his wage. Once you have laboured, it has to be paid for and you don’t pay wages because you are rich and you are able to afford it, you pay wages because the people have worked for it. It is not a gift from a kind-hearted employer, it is an obligation, it is a consequence for work.

I think what has happened is that at the peak of the oil boom, prices were high, people made projections about their expected expenditure and budget on the basis of those numbers. Along the line, there was a sharp drop and this sharp drop that people talk about is not just about a drop in terms of price of crude oil because prices have dropped below this level before. What is new is the level of the so-called crude oil theft, a situation in which certain persons, powerful in

the system, pretend not to know what was going on and simply excused the huge lapses in terms of the crude oil theft. So you have a double squeeze of drop in price and escalation in the volume of alleged theft of crude. The combined effect of this is that the total inflow into the Federation Account dropped sharply. This is also compounded by the fact that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the two of them working together, simply refused to transfer to the Federation Account a lot of the money that ought to have accrued. For example, over the past 4 to 5 years, the NLNG had, every year, made huge payment of between $1.5 to $2 billion, which ought to go to the Federation Account. This money was never transferred to the Federation Account, it was unilaterally expended by the Federal Government.

“We were not even informed of the fact that the money was paid and, each time we asked the then Hon. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy what was happening to the proceeds from the NLNG, no explanation was offered, whether in black and white or orally and there are several other federal agencies that made huge sums of money which were illegally and unilaterally spent by the Federal Government, without being allowed to flow into the Federation Account. So when you draw up a budget on the basis of anticipated revenue and there is such a sharp drop in revenue arising from diversion and there is also a drop in price, obviously something will have to give. The federal finances are even worst hit. Over the past 9 months under the past government, the Federal Government could not and had not been able to pay salaries from her legitimate income. What she had been doing, which states could not do;   was to borrow, uses the CBN through

various instruments termed security, etc   and basically draw down the pension funds because they are the ones who have liquidity to patronize the bond market. So if we were to be able to stop the Federal Government from borrowing to pay salaries, it would have defaulted  much earlier than states and the number of months the Federal Government would have been owing would be worse than the worst state in the federation.

“Just look at the budget of the Federal Government over the past four years and you will see the level of deficit finances that was built into it. So in trying to understand the financial crisis, you shouldn’t limit yourself to those who can pay. Even those who purport to pay, look at their source of funding the payment. If you do, you will find out that whereas the Federal Government frees itself to borrow quite recklessly, reckless in the sense that no serious manager goes month after month to borrow for the payment of salaries. I speak on my honor that the Federal Government is just as broke and that they are borrowing using CBN instruments in trillions of naira to pay salaries.

Now part of the problem is talking about taxes and this can be proved in black and white. The Federal Government illegally granted waivers to  organizations running into hundreds of billions of naira that ought to flow into the Federation Account. Now those are taxes. When the minister granted waivers for you to bring cement into the country; granted waiver for you to bring vegetable oil into the country; grants waiver for you to bring vehicles into the country and, when you look at the total sum, sometimes, even VAT is illegally waived. So how do you get taxes? There are two kinds of taxes: Direct and indirect.

Personal Income Tax, which is deducted from our pay before your net gets to you and indirect tax, which is VAT, royalties, import tax where you spend quality of time looking at your tariff policies designed to protect your local industries and discourage importation. All of these are sources of funding for government. We must understand that in other climes, government does not live on rent from oil money. Governments worldwide are run on tax. Now this last government is the worst in terms of granting unexplained huge source of money in the name of waivers. Can you believe that even oil

companies were granted so-called pioneer status? They will set up a small vehicle in the oil sector, give them certain transactions, give them so-called pioneer status so that they are excused from paying taxes.”

Speaking on the strike embarked on by members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in Edo, the governor said: “This is what I call power struggle. I had a meeting with JUSUN executives along with the members of the NBA and they said  we are up-to-date with the payment of salaries and allowances and that they are on strike because the national body asked them to go on strike to press that the judiciary should enjoy what they call “First-Line Charge”. “If you ask the Chief Judge of Edo, he will tell you that the state has never defaulted and we will not default and, as we speak, if they work, they will get their pay. What I have refused to do is to pay them for the number of months that they have been on strike. For what? You stay at home, talking politics, you didn’t work and you want me to pay you. Because they are judicial workers, they are bound by law. They must be seen to respect the various trade dispute laws which say ‘if you don’t work, you don’t get paid’. They say they have a court judgment which says money should be transferred to the head of court. Is it the business of trade unions to fight for their employers? What they are doing is self-help, that the judgment is directing state governments to release money and that the state government, have refused to obey the order. I asked them, ‘when a court issues an order and the order is not obeyed, does the trade union law say the union shall become an agency for enforcement of court orders?’ We are in a democracy. I am a union man and I know the limits. Any other person can submit out of panic, I will do things out of conviction. I don’t reward blackmailers particularly when you choose to be a general purpose vehicle. So they should not expect to sit at home and expect to get paid. The law is very clear, it says ‘when you are on strike, particularly a frivolous strike like this, you don’t get paid.’ You are not

on strike because your allowances have been withheld, you are not on strike because your promotions are delayed, you are on strike because you are dealing with issues on how the three arms of government are supposed to relate. The law is clear, if you walk out of your work on your own, we cannot compel you to work. If you are at home, we cannot use tax-payers’ money, money paid by people who are laboring to work, market women, furniture owners and others in the public service who are doing hard work and I will go and use it to pay judicial workers who stay at home. The law is ‘no work, no pay’. We cannot compel you to work, you also cannot compel me to pay you for not working. If you decide to stay at home for 6months, you also will not be paid for 6 months but if they return to work today, they will be paid tomorrow.”

                                                                                                          -vanguardngr.com

Yusuph Olaniyonu: The Senate beyond the noise

It is just three weeks since the Eight Senate was inaugurated on the proclamation prepared by President Muhammadu Buhari. Since then, a lot has happened within the institution which under normal circumstances should have attracted positive attention from members of the public, including the ardent critic of the nation’s legislature. However, all the developments in that upper chamber of our legislature had been overshadowed by the din emanating from the circumstances in which its leadership emerged.

The quest and hunger for sensationalism and controversy by the press and its audience as well as the deliberate propaganda by a power group in the polity has made it impossible for people to see the Senate beyond the externally propelled and inspired schemings, quarrel and struggle for power that attended the election and selection of its leadership.

After the June 9 inauguration in which Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki was elected Senate President, he has continued to articulate the issues which he believed should be the focus of the eight Senate. The man had talked about the need for the Senate in particular, and the National Assembly, as a whole, to be prepared to support the programmes, policies and projects of President Buhari with enabling laws, motions and moral force necessary for their accomplishment. The President had spoken about addressing the issues of security, unemployment, corruption, development of agriculture and mining as ways to diversify the economy, improving on power and fuel supply, among others.

The Senate President therefore believe there is need for the federal legislature to develop a legislative agenda which will complement the identified direction of the Presidency.

There are two indicators that can give anybody the direction that Saraki is already nudging the Senate. One is the various groups that the Senate President has hosted so far. Another one is the committees that he has set up and the address to the visitors and the committee members.

The Senate President had deliberately opened his office doors to visitors who can be of help to the realisation of his plans. First to visit was the civil society. They visited Senator Saraki exactly a week after his election as Senate President. Their visit was to open discussion with the Senate President on how to create an open, transparent and just process in the affairs of the federal legislature.
In his address to the group under the aegis of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Saraki said the 8th Senate has an agenda to bring the lawmaking process through broader participation. ” We are determined to have a more focused legislative session that will prioritise on bills that will help us deal with revenue leakages, inculcate accountability, reduce impunity and ensure prudence in our public governance through a concerted oversight function”.

He enjoined the civil society to help “galvanize civil support and provide field feedback that will enrich the deliberation and implementation of these agenda”. “We believe that this will further enrich our democratic process, guarantee public buy-in and ultimately empower our people”. The ultimate aim of engaging with the civil society is “to help the government of the day to actualise its policy agenda of reducing unemployment, infrastructure renewal, improvement of the business environment, power generation, justice delivery and agriculture”.

By June 24, the next critical group of visitors were the National Executive Council members of the Nigeria Bar Association led by Mr. Augustine Aleghe (SAN). The Senate President believe there is need for partnership between the bar and the law making institution so that the instrumentality of the law can be used to effect the positive change that APC promised Nigerians in the last general elections. He told the senior lawyers that ” the NBA has been at the forefront of advocating and advancing legal and political reforms in Nigeria (and) the change that our people voted for is in line with the ideals the NBA has consistently advocated over the years : better justice system, accountability, improved business environment , reform of the criminal justice system and the advancement of our people’s rights and opportunities”.

He said the federal legislature under his leadership aim to help the executive plug the loopholes in the revenue mobilization and management systems which have made accountability of public funds very weak, leading to brazen corruption and mismanagement in the system.

From now on, he said the Senate will improve on the budgeting process to make it easier for scrutiny, interrogation and accountability.

Saraki appealed to the NBA to help the Senate to achieve a reform of the justice system to improve justice delivery system, strengthen alternative dispute resolution systems, reduce delay in courts, improve our people’s confidence in its processes and incentive arbitration and remove regulatory bureaucratic bottleneck.

Then, the oil sector operators gathered under the umbrella of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce to discuss with the Senate President. The Senate President used the occasion to articulate the objective of the Eight Senate which included partnering with the government on how to deal with the common challenge of falling price of oil in the international market.

“We are desirous of having an oil industry comparable in structure, systems and output with international best practices…The oil and gas industry in Nigeria needs to evolve . We know the importance of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in making this happen”, the Senate President’s speech directly posed a challenge to the team led by Mrs Elisabeth Proust, the Managing Director of Total Oil.

As he told the OPTS, the Senate President in an earlier speech while receiving the delegation from Shell Production and Development Company led by the MD, Mr. Osagie Okunbor stated that the falling oil price presented a golden opportunity for the oil companies to retool and become much more efficient and proactive.
“It is high time we eliminated gas flaring in the country, deal with oil spills and third party related spills in a manner that is responsible and just to those affected”, he said. He expressed the willingness of the Senate to work with operators in the oil industry to ensure that the PIB is passed into law to stimulate investment in the industry.
“We are open to your suggestions and opinion on how we can move the industry forward so that investment decisions are not tied down. We are determined to ensure that our partnerships endures and we can do our best to promote the growth of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria so that it becomes an index for measuring international best practices, competition, transparency and environmental friendliness”, he said.

In the last three weeks too, Saraki played host to envoys from United States, Britain, China and France, all of whom came to assess the man and listen to his agenda, particularly to judge whether he shares the same goals and objectives with the new President of Nigeria.

However, all the envoys had left fully satisfied that a competent, mature, exposed and intelligent man is heading the new Senate and that there is no cause for alarm in the synergy that will exist between the two critical arms of government in Nigeria that is destined to change for the better.

Incidentally, the Senate President had used all the occasions to also tell his guests about the two committees he inaugurated on June 25 with the aim of markedly defining the road map for the Senate. The Committee on Finance of the Senate is billed to submit its report this week. The report is aimed at opening up the financial process in the Senate for public scrutiny so that members of the public can easily access the facts and figures on the finances of the institution. The plan is to eliminate rumour and exaggeration concerning the budget and funding of the senate. This will encourage accountability, transparency and financial discipline in the Senate.

As for the committee on Legislative Agenda, their duty is to develop a plan of action for the Senate. The primary aim of the plan is to improve on service delivery to the people.. This plan of action becomes the barometer and standard with which members of the public can measure the success or otherwise of the Eight Senate. Thus, the Senate is putting itself up for public scrutiny, judgement and periodic assessment.

Accompanying the Senate President to these sessions were Senators from the two parties who also use the occasion to familiarise themselves with the goals and objectives of the new Senate leadership. One would think that debating some of these plans, goals and objectives emanating form these sessions with degrees will help the legislative institution to grow and serve the purpose for which the members are elected, rather than focusing on the issue of what complexion the leadership has and which camp they belong to or who is sporting their candidacy.

Yusuph Olaniyonu is the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

                                                          -ynaija.com/

BREAKING NEWS: NFF Sacks Super Eagles Coach, Stephen keshi

The Nigeria Football Federation has terminated the appointment of Stephen Keshi as Head Coach of the Senior National Football Team, Super Eagles.

A statement by the NFF Executive Committee on Saturday said this decision was made, “having thoroughly reviewed the reports/findings of the NFF Disciplinary Committee and NFF Technical and Development Committee, as well as having reviewed the actions and inactions of Mr. Stephen Keshi, in the performance of his duties as Super Eagles’ Head Coach, which we found to lack the required commitment to achieve the Federation’s objectives as set out in the Coach’s employment contract.”

The statement went further: “To this end and pursuant to the provisions of Clause 4.3 of the Employment Contract between Mr. Stephen Keshi and the NFF (The Contract) and the various clauses therein, the Nigeria Football Federation has decided to exercise its option to summarily terminate the employment contract of Mr. Stephen Keshi with the Federation with immediate effect.

It added that the termination was “without prejudice to the settlement of any existing and due financial obligations between the NFF and Mr. Keshi.”

NFF 1st Vice President, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, speaking on behalf of the entire Executive Committee of NFF, assured Nigerians that the decision was not taken lightly or with any prejudice, but in the ultimate interest of Nigeria football. He thanked Mr. Keshi for his services to the country and wished him the very best in his future endeavours.

“In the interim, the Super Eagles’ team affairs will be jointly managed by Assistant Coach, Salisu Yusuf and the Technical Directorate of the NFF headed by Coach Shuaibu Amodu, until the Federation names in due course a new Head Coach, who, along with the NFF will chart a new direction for the Super Eagles to ensure credible participation in international competitions and assist in building a sustainable football culture for the country”.

                                                                              -naijajambox.com/

Clinton accuses China of ‘trying to hack into everything’

Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign event in Glen, New Hampshire, on July 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/Darren Mccollester)

Glen (United States) (AFP) – Hillary Clinton accused China of “trying to hack into everything that doesn’t move in America” and stealing government information, in strongly worded comments likely to irk Beijing.

Clinton, a former secretary of state who is making another tilt at the White House in 2016, pulled no punches in remarks to Democratic supporters at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Saturday.

James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, said last month that China was the “leading suspect” in a massive breach affecting personal data of millions of US government employees.

Beijing dismissed the charge as “absurd logic.”

Clinton, the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said: “They’re trying to hack into everything that doesn’t move in America… stealing huge amounts of government information all looking for an advantage.

“Make no mistake, they know they’re in competition — and they’re gonna do everything they can to win.”

The US has in recent years blamed several hacks on Beijing, including some it says were carried out by members of the Chinese military.

Cybersecurity specialists say the breach of data on at least four million current and former US federal employees appeared to be part of a Chinese effort to build a database for espionage.

At the same event, Clinton said that engagement was the best option when it comes to confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have to be much smarter in how we deal with Putin and how we deal with his ambitions,” she said.

“I’ve dealt with him. I know him. He’s not an easy man.

“But I don’t think there is any substitute other than constant engagement.”

Relations between Moscow and Washington are at their lowest ebb since the Cold War over Russia’s actions in neighboring Ukraine. Moscow denies backing pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country.

Despite the tense ties, Putin sent a message earlier to US counterpart Barack Obama to mark Independence Day in the United States, saying that relations between Moscow and Washington were key to ensuring global stability, and calling for dialogue based on “equality and respect.”

Clinton also touched on Iran, which is thrashing out the fine details of a deal with world powers over its nuclear ambitions.

She warned, however, that even if an accord is sealed, “Iran’s aggressiveness will not end.”

“They will continue to be the principle state sponsor of terrorism,” Clinton said.

“They will continue to destabilize governments in the region and beyond.

“They will continue to use their proxies like Hezbollah. And they will continue to be an existential threat to Israel.”

                                                                     -pmnewsnigeria.com