Expect 2million jobs – FG tells youths

The Federal Government says it plans to expose more than two million youths nationwide with innovative products and services to the global market through an online portal, ”Nigeriafy”.

The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr Solomon Dalung, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the launching of the ‘Nigeriafy’ portal with the theme “Youth Innovators are Assets to the Nation”.

The ministry organised the event in collaboration with the George Oni Youth Empowerment Initiative (GOYEI) and in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Mr George Oni, a young entrepreneur and initiator of GOYEI, developed the portal.

Dalung said the ministry was collaborating with GOYEI to demonstrate the commitment of the present administration to boost youth development and empowerment.

The minister, who was represented by Mr Chinyeaka Ohaa, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, said that the portal would also facilitate the creation of 100,000 jobs yearly.

He said that the ministry would also mobilise network of entrepreneurs and innovators, and create a link with the youths, especially those who keyed into the portal.

According to Dalung, the first 12 best innovators that registered on the portal will be assisted with $1,000 each as seed money for their innovation.

The minister lauded Oni’s initiative, saying the ministry will collaborate with other relevant ministries, departments and agencies of government to sustain the initiative.

“The launch of this portal could not have come at a better time when unemployment has become a huge global challenge facing various countries of the world and Nigeria is not exempted.

“If this problem is not tackled, the nation will continue to face increasing waive of frustrated youths with the tendency toward cultism, prostitution, armed robbery, militancy, drug abuse and child trafficking, among others.

“The ministry in line with its mandate will collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure that Nigerian youths are empowered, engaged, promoted and projected to the global world,’’ Dalung said.

The Chairman, House Committee on Youth Development, Rep. Segun Adekola, assured the ministry and GOYEI of the National Assembly’s (NASS) cooperation and collaboration to fulfilling the objectives of the project.

Adekola said that NASS would also provide the necessary legal framework and environment conducive for the initiative to thrive.

“Youth unemployment currently stands at over 50 per cent.

“According to the 2013 survey by the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), most of the capacity programmes aimed at addressing youth unemployment have concentrated more on training.

“There is no tie-in to the other critical connective initiatives such as a platform for the connection of innovators and inventors all over the world,” the chairman said.

Oni said that Nigeriafy was an online social networking platform to connect young people globally, especially Nigerians at home and in diaspora, to enable them contribute to the socio-economic growth of Nigeria.

He said through Nigeriafy, grants and programmes aimed at empowering the youth to build their various enterprises and projects will be provided.

“Nigeriafy will also be a launch pad to showcase the talents, resources and innovations of Nigerians.

“Through this portal, youths will be able to showcase their attributes to the global marketplace and open up our talents to opportunities across the globe,” Oni said.

Source: Dailypost

Arik Air indebtedness: FG gives two weeks for dispute resolution

The Minister of State, Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has given two weeks to managements of all the aviation agencies and Arik Air to resolve all issues relating to indebtedness between them.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs, Ministry of Transportation, Mr James Odaudu, on Thursday in Abuja, following a meeting between the ministry’s authorities and Arik Airline delegation

The statement said that the minister also directed Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Arik Air to report back with a resolution on amounts owed, payment plans and way forward.

According to the statement, the issue of the alleged indebtedness of Arik Air which has led to disagreements with some trade unions within the regulatory agencies was regrettable.

It warned that the government would not condone lawlessness within the industry, urging all airline operators to conform to industry rules and regulations by paying all applicable fees and fines as at when due.

According to the statement, Sirika also told the Arik Air delegation invited to that the well-being of an airline is measured by its ability to pay for services rendered to it.

He said the goal of the present government was to develop an aviation industry founded on the principles of safety and security of the regulators and airline operators.

“The government is also concerned about safety of passengers and their luggage while also putting in place polices that would encourage the growth of domestic airlines.

“I will go beyond my limits to ensure that domestic airlines are encouraged to grow and compete favourably with their foreign counterparts.

“But I will not subvert applicable rules and regulations in favour of any,” the statement quoted the minister as saying.

The minister further said that aviation was the only industry internationally regulated, adding that Nigerian operators must conform to international best practices.

He said that Arik Air and other key players needed to be supported for wider international visibility.

The Chairman of Arik Air, Mr Arumeni Johnson, was said to have decried the frequent disruption of the airline’s operations by trade unions operating at the airports under the guise of its indebtedness to their organisations.

Johnson warned that if the authorities did not stop such practice, it was capable of running down the industry.

He said the airline did not deserve the shabby treatment by the unions as exemplified by the recent picketing of its offices and aircraft at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

“Is it now the duty of the union to seek payment of money owed aviation agencies?

“The union has clearly gone beyond its mandate and we implore the Honourable Minister to intervene.”

The chairman expressed the hope that Sirika, as a thoroughbred aviation professional, would bring his wealth of experience to bear in resolving all the lingering issues between airline operators and industry regulators.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the airline’s flight operations were disrupted by members of several aviation unions on Wednesday morning over alleged N12.4 billion debt owed FAAN.

(NAN)​

Riot In UNIPORT Gets Really Bloody

Riot still ongoing @ uniport due to the memo sent out to parents and students, stating that students who have'not paid their school fees for the session will not write their exams and will lead to the student repeating the entire session, in this hard economy Uniport's school fees is slated @ 45,000 naira for a federal school for that matter.

 attached are pictures from the scene. 

BV Ayisire Juliet

Source: SDK

Indonesian singer performing with king cobra dies after being bitten onstage

An Indonesian singer known for performing with live snakes has died after being bitten by a king cobra onstage.

Irma Bule, 29, is not a household name in the English-speaking world. But in Indonesia, she is known as a singer of dangdut, a pop fusion of folk, South Asian film music, and rock and roll that rose to prominence in the 1980s.

“With its nasal, melismatic vocal style and propulsive hand drum rhythms, dangdut is in many ways a music of the Islamic word,” Jeremy Wallach wrote in “Sonic Modernities in the Malay World,” though “most dangdut songs deal with non-religious, sentimental themes, and the genre is frequently denounced as sinful and morally corrupting by strict Muslims in Indonesia.”

Though once banned by the government, the style is now considered passe — so much so that Bule’s penchant for performing with king cobras (Ophiophagus hannah), reticulated pythons (Python reticulatus) and boa constrictors, as Reptiles Magazine noted, was thought a bit of a “gimmick” that brought a grisly end.

“Dangdut is such an oversaturated musical genre in Indonesia that it’s not surprising how many artists employ gimmicks in their act to stand out from the rest,” Cocunuts Jakarta, one of a network of sites that cover urban areas in Asia, wrote. “Unfortunately, dangdut singer Irma Bule’s deadly gimmick, combined with her dedication to showmanship, led to her untimely death.”

Bule was performing in a village in West Java when she was presented with a king cobra that was supposed to have been defanged. It was not.

“My daughter might not have known that the snake that was given to her for the show was a dangerous cobra,” Bule’s mother, Encum, told an Indonesian outlet quoted by the Daily Mail. (Indonesians sometimes do not have surnames.) “She was told she could wear it, even though its mouth was not closed with duct tape.”

This information proved tragically wrong.

“In the middle of the second song, Irma stepped on the snake’s tail,” Ferlando Octavion Auzura, who witnessed the attack, told an Indonesian news outlet. “The snake then bit Irma in her thigh.”

Cocunuts Jakarta posted a video that purportedly documented the attack:

A bite from a king cobra is, to say the least, very serious. The snakes can grow up to 18 feet long and, as their name implies, are a force to be reckoned with.

“It seems unfairly menacing that a snake that can literally ‘stand up’ and look a full-grown person in the eye would also be among the most venomous on the planet, but that describes the famous king cobra,” according to National Geographic. “… When confronted, they can raise up to one-third of their bodies straight off the ground and still move forward to attack. They will also flare out their iconic hoods and emit a bone-chilling hiss that sounds almost like a growling dog.”

The king cobra’s venom is also beyond deadly, if such a thing is possible.

“Their venom is not the most potent among venomous snakes, but the amount of neurotoxin they can deliver in a single bite — up to two-tenths of a fluid ounce — is enough to kill 20 people, or even an elephant,” National Geographic wrote. “Fortunately, king cobras are shy and will avoid humans whenever possible, but they are fiercely aggressive when cornered.”

This proved true in Bule’s case. Still, the show had to go on. Though a snake handler with antivenom was on hand, the singer continued to perform for 45 minutes before collapsing.

“The effects were felt 45 minutes after the bite,” Ferlando Octavion Auzura. “She vomited, had seizures, and her body seized.”

Bule was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. She is survived by her husband and three young children, as US Weekly, who confirmed the singer’s death, reported. Her death is under investigation by police.

‘I and her family are still trying to find out exactly what went wrong for our youngest child to die like this,” the singer’s mother said, as the Daily Mail noted. “We are waiting for the organizers of the show to tell us.”

Source: MSN NEWS

Nomoreloss Has Been Laid To Rest -Photos.

Nigerian entertainer Nomoreloss who died few weeks ago in Lagos has been laid to rest. The 39 year old singer was buried yesterday at the Ikoyi cemetery. May his soul rest in pace Amen.

RIP Muyiwa!

Photos from TVC

University Of Lagos Brouhaha... - Photos

Na wah!

...the photos tell the whole story....

 

According to report of a unilag student...

"The situation in UNILAG escalated from the protests that we did yesterday. We did protest yesterday for no light and water and today they asked all students to leave the school and Students Union said NO and proceeded to lock the main gate. We had to cross canal and climb fence to leave school because school had become very violent and unsafe. Armed forces were around Attached are pics...''

FCT POLLS: Police Says No Movement Between 7am - 4pm Today...

The commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Wilson Inalegwu, has ordered the restriction of vehicular movement in the nation’s capital between 7 am- 4 pm on Saturday.(Today)

Anjuguri Manzah, FCT command spokesman, said the restriction was to allow for free and fair conduct of the rescheduled chairmanship and councillorship elections.

“This is part of the security measures adopted by the command to ensure safety and security during the elections,” Manzah said in a statement.

The statement said the restriction excluded vehicles on essential duty.

Manzah assured FCT residents that the command had strategically deployed personnel and logistics to provide adequate security during the poll.

He enjoined residents to be vigilant and cooperate with the police and other security agencies by reporting suspicious movements and activities.

Source: SDK