From: AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, Abuja

Following the recent incidence of flooding and mudslides in the town of Regent, in Sierra Leone, the Nigerian government has donated $2 million to the West African country.

Recall that the incident which recorded deaths in hundreds, also left many others wounded, with devastating loss of property.

A statement by the media aide to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Sarah Sanda, said the money was donated in cash, food, medical supplies and other relief materials.

The statement added that a high-level Federal Government delegation led by Onyeama, comprising the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Engr. Mustapha Maihaja, and Hajiya Zainab Sharif of the Federal Ministry of Health, amongst others, were received at the State House in Freetown by President Ernest Bai Koroma.

“Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama who said he was sent by President Buhari, expressed profound sadness on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari and the people of Nigeria for the August 14 tragedy.

“The Minister said the history of the two countries goes far back and the blood of both countries runs through the same veins.

“The Minister also said Nigeria would always stand by Sierra Leone,” the statement said.

The statement added that the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, while thanking President Muhammadu Buhari whom he referred to as a brother, noted that President Buhari was one of the first heads of state to call and sympathise with Sierra Leone when the incident occurred.

The Sierra Leonean president also said Nigeria’s support for Sierra Leone was not new, even as he recalled the support provided during the eleven year civil war, the support during the unprecedented ebola epidemic and presently, during the mudslide and flood disaster.

The Sierra Leonean President also expressed delight over President Buhari’s return to Nigeria after successful medical treatment in the United Kingdom.

The items presented on behalf of President Buhari, according to the statement, were $1m cash, 315 metric tonnes of assorted food and other relief items, including over 4000 medical supplies, all amounting to $1 million.

Onyeama explained that owing to the large volume of relief materials, there was the possibility of sending some by sea.

The statement also said four flights conveying about 60 metric tonnes of relief materials, have been undertaken with another 16 flights planned.

Source: https://www.socializee.net/flooding-mudslides-nigeria-donates-2m-to-sierra-leone/
mynd44 lalasticlala

​Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United will learn their Champions League fate when the draw for the group stage takes place on Thursday evening.

Spread between pots 1 and 3, the five English clubs could easily face some of Europe’s very best teams at this early stage, yet there is a possibility the draw could be also kind to them.

Here’s a run through of the possible best and worst case scenarios they could end up with…

(Despite being weak on paper, Celtic have often raised their game against English clubs in the Champions League in the past and will be one opponent all five will wish to avoid)

Chelsea



Best: Porto, Anderlecht, Maribor

Chelsea have faced both Porto and Maribor in the Champions League with success in the past and so coming up against either again is unlikely to cause concern.

Worst: Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, Qarabag

The thin squad cannot really afford to be stretched much further, and so adding a long return trip to Azerbaijan into the mix for an away game against Qarabag would be one to avoid.

Tottenham Hotspur



Best: Benfica, Sevilla, CSKA Moscow

Tottenham could potentially be matched with CSKA Moscow again, a team they know first-hand to be beatable after winning home and away against the Russians at this stage last season.

Worst: Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Feyenoord

Spurs could find themselves in a group with the reigning champions and the club that just broke the world transfer record to sign Neymar if things really go against them in the draw.

Manchester City



Best: Benfica, Anderlecht, Maribor

If Portuguese champions Benfica are the toughest team Manchester City will face, Pep Guardiola’s team should have every confidence of progressing without much issue.

Worst: Bayern Munich, Roma, Feyenoord

City fans are surely sick to the back teeth of being drawn with Bayern Munich in the group stage and, their obvious quality aside, will be keen on seeing someone new come out of the bag.

Liverpool



Best: Spartak Moscow, Porto, Maribor

A trip to Moscow isn’t ideal, but the Russian champions are the weakest on paper in pot one and it would allow Liverpool to avoid Sevilla from pot 2, victors in the 2016 Europa League final.

Worst: Juventus, Barcelona, RB Leipzig

Barcelona may be weakened, but former Reds star Luis Suarez could easily do serious damage to his old team. There is also the potential embarrassment of being beaten by RB Leipzig.

Manchester United



Best: Monaco, Anderlecht, Maribor

Manchester United have struggled when faced with Benfica in the past, so maybe being in the same group as a Monaco team weakened by a summer of departures might be a better option.

Worst: Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, CSKA Moscow

Mourinho’s team have already been beaten by Real Madrid once this season in the UEFA Super Cup and surely won’t fancy a trip to Moscow after all of last season’s Europa League travelling.

Source: https://www.socializee.net/assessing-best-worst-case-scenarios-for-the-5-english-clubs-ahead-of-champions-league-group-draw/
mynd44 lalasticlala

Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State hosted Chinese citizens the other week. They were representatives of one of the provinces in China. The visit had to do with an agreement signed by both parties. In the process, it was announced that the governor gave some jobs to his visitors. Giving jobs to foreigners isn’t the issue. Giving jobs that Nigerians could easily handle to foreigners is what I have a challenge with. The Cross River State governor signed out a job for a geological survey of his state to the Chinese. Is it that we don’t have geologists who can do this?

I was a secondary school student when I heard of a university course and profession called Geology for the first time. For the fascination it held for me, it was one of the courses I would have contemplated studying if I had been in the sciences. Incidentally, it was almost the same manner Political Science attracted me that I was attracted to Geology. There was this NYSC member in my school who taught us Government. He said he read a course called Political Science. So, I desired to read Political Science. Years later, he said to me that he had said I should not read Political Science but I did. I said it was because I loved the course. But Geology had fascinated me for a stranger reason.

One of my friends in secondary school had an elder brother who was a geologist. He gave us a ride in his car from school one day and that was how I met him for the first time. He was already practising, and was on his way to a site. How did he get me attracted to his profession? He was an avid reader of novels. The James Hardly Chase series, the African Writers Series (publishers of ‘Things Fall Apart’), Pacesetters etc. I was intrigued by a geologist who read novels. As a kid, I had always read every story book I could get. In primary school, I had read all the fiction work in Yoruba written by D.O. Fagunwa before I ever read the smallest English story book from cover to cover. I was taught how to read Yoruba in primary school. These days, it’s posh to not teach indigenous languages in ‘posh’ schools. In secondary school, I had continued this trend of reading everything and I persuaded my friend to bring his brother’s novels for me. I was faithful. He would bring it. I would read, return it, and he would bring another. If I didn’t complete the entire set of books under the African Writers Series and the James Hardly Chase series as of that time, I must be very close.

I recall this story on realising that the Cross River State governor gives our jobs to foreigners. The first thing that struck my mind was that Nigeria had been producing geologists for as long as it had been in existence. But when we have a job geologists can handle, we give it out. What has happened in Cross River State is another sample in a pattern, and I ask myself why we keep doing things the same way but expect a different result. What is so magical about geological mapping that the government has to import some exotic foreigners? I should think geological mapping is something any fresh graduate could handle, let alone eminent Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in this field.

Giving the job to such distinguished professionals isn’t where it stops. There are the younger Nigerian geologists and graduates in related fields who would have been brought on board to gain some field experience. This means funds are retained on our shores. If some technical equipment were needed for this job that we didn’t have, the Cross River State governor could have ordered for them. And if he wanted the guarantee that a white face (or other shades) must be involved, he could have had one Chinese brought it in an advisory capacity. But what we see in this case is that about nine Chinese were imported by the Cross Rivers State Government to handle geological mapping of the state. The number cannot stop there. Trust the Chinese. They would equally import chefs and gardeners, crediting the bill to the Cross River State Government’s account.

There are other angles to this matter. For instance, the question could be asked: Does it mean no geological survey of Cross River State has ever been carried out since its inception? I do not know this detail, but at least I’ve seen how some federal agencies regularly display mineral resources along with the names of the states where they’re obtained. The official claim is that there’s no state in Nigeria that doesn’t have certain quantities of mineral resources. Our officials make the same claim about other natural endowments with regard to what industry should be where, and the kind of agriculture that soil in different parts of the country can support. Also, I’m sure there’s a state agency in Cross River that has the same information. How do the federal and state agencies know what is where if nothing has been done before about geological mapping in Cross River State? What is new in the job that Ayade has contracted the Chinese to do? How much is he paying out in dollars at a time we mention recession?

These questions call attention to the harm we do ourselves as a nation, and it shocks that our leaders who should know lead in this. An agency in Abuja has the information that Ayade is paying to get. An agency in Cross River State also has the information. This meant our resources had been utilised in the past to get it. In the event, this latest contract amounts to duplication and a waste of scarce resources. Moreover, at these concerned agencies there are professionals who’re recruited and paid wages as civil servants to handle such issues. When they retire their huge pension is on our neck as a people to settle. Now that there’s a job for these civil servants to do to justify both their wages and pensions, the Cross River State governor is paying foreigners to do it.

This aspect brings up another angle about our culture of wasting resources. It’s about officials that we pay salaries in government agencies, but we don’t make them work for what they earn. In conversations, I point out that if a Nigerian sees houseflies having a carnival on the meat on the table of a meat seller in the market, there’s an official in a government agency who receives a salary to ensure that those carnivals don’t happen or that the meat seller is sanctioned, but he doesn’t do what he is paid to do. There are laws about the safety of food items and officials are paid to enforce but anyone could see how garri that Nigerians eat is exposed to houseflies and dust beside the road. I was surprised the other day when I saw Environmental Officers (from a federal agency that should enforce hygienic practices in the market place) defending their budget at the National Assembly. So they exist?

Recently, the European Union banned importation of Nigeria’s beans to Europe, insisting our beans contained chemicals that were too dangerous for human consumption. Note that the same is sold to Nigerians. I was at an event where the EU Ambassador to ECOWAS said banning Nigeria’s beans wasn’t just for the safety of European residents alone, but one measure to make our government realise that it’s feeding Nigerians with poison. Yet, there’s a federal ministry with a Quarantine Department (that should guarantee food that’s without poison), fully staffed with all manner of professionals and staff members who draw fantastic salaries and allowances.

On the whole, what has happened in Cross River State further calls attention to one of our leadership challenges – lack of commitment to wholistic approach to policies, how we run government. Our officials say they want to create jobs, but some of their actions are the direct opposite of what they proclaim. It’s baffling that at a time when everyone knows that buying Nigerian products and thereby create jobs are part of the solutions to our current economic challenges, giving jobs to foreigners is what many of our leaders are doing for reasons that only they can explain.

Source: https://www.socializee.net/how-ayade-gives-our-jobs-to-the-chinese-punch-newspapers/
mynd44 lalasticlala

ABUJA-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s health has improved tremendously.

The Speaker and the President of Senate Dr. Bukola Saraki visited the President at Abuja House in London on Thursday.

President Muhammadu Buhari receives Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of House of Representatives Hon. Yakubu Dogara at the Abuja House London on 17th Aug 2017
It will be recalled that President Buhari had been in London where he has been receiving medical attention for over 100 days.

He left the shores of Nigeria on May 7. This was after his first medical trip to the same city this year which lasted about for 51 days; from January 19 to March 10.

Buhari’s absence at his duty post at Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja had sparked off a series of protests with the latest being championed by a popularly Nigerian musicians, Charles Oputa known as Charley Boy.

Tweeting via his verified official Twitter handle @Yakubdogara, the Speaker said he was glad to see that the President’s health status had greatly improved.

He also urged Nigerians to continue to pray and offer thanks for answered prayers and for the safe return of the President.

“Today we visited His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari. I am glad that he is doing well.”

“His health has improved tremendously. I urge all Nigerians to continue to pray and offer thanks to God for answered prayers and for the safe return of Mr. President”, Dogara tweeted.

Source: https://www.socializee.net/buharis-health-has-improved-tremendously-says-dogara/

Kenyan lady, Nkateko Maswanganye,who is the founder of Rockingnheels Dance Workout tied the knot with her Oyinbo man Chris in a colourful event.The event was attended by friends,family members and more.See photos from the wedding below:











Source: https://www.socializee.net/kenyan-lady-and-oyinbo-man-wed-in-a-colourful-eventpics/
mynd44 lalasticlala

Barcelona have sympathised with the victims of a terror attack on the city after a van crashed into dozens of people.

Spanish media said at least 13 persons were killed and several others injured on Thursday in the incident.

The club condoled with the victims of the attack in a tweet.

Deeply saddened by the attack on our city. All our thoughts are with the victims, their families and with the people of Barcelona.

Catalan police had confirmed in a tweet that “there are mortal victims and injured from the crash”, although they didn’t give a specific figure.

Spain’s El Periodico newspaper reported that two armed men were holed up in a bar in Barcelona’s city centre.

El Periodico also reported gunfire in the area, although it did not cite the source of the information.

Source: https://www.socializee.net/barcelona-condole-with-victims-of-terror-attack-%E2%80%A2-channels-television/

mynd44 lalasticlala

Nigerian actress, Olayode Juliana narrated her first sexual experience and how she lost her virginity without the messy part.

“The day finally came. He wanted to move the date because he was expecting some money that he wanted to use to pay for a good hotel, So, he settled for a cheap hotel. I still remember the smell of cigarette that filled the room. I hated the smell of alcohol and cigarette; I still do. We had to wait at the reception for the room to be cleaned and aired. So, we went back into the room, and it happened. It was a painful experience for me.
I cried at different points and he kept apologising, begging me to keep my voice down lest they think he was raping me. He told me to relax and bear the pain. In his words, “do not be a weak woman”.

That got at me because I hated feeling or being treated as weak.I asked for a break. He tutored me some more and tried again until he finally got through. It was not anything like he had told me it would be. I saw no clouds, I made no sounds, I felt nothing special. It was painful all the way, but it was obvious he was satisfied.

When he was done, I checked the bed for blood. I screamed! There was no blood!
He told me that not all virgins saw blood. I was so confused, but chose to believe him anyway. Soon after, he slept, and I was there crying. Why didn’t I see blood? Even if not all virgins see blood, why should I be on that list? How would I tell the story of losing my virginity without blood? Who would believe me that I was actually a virgin?”

In other parts of her debut book, she wrote on how pastor abused her sexually, how her mum is illiterate and how a chat with Mercy Aigbe changed her life

Source: https://www.socializee.net/olayode-juliana-narrates-first-sex-experience-at-age-17/
mynd44 lalasticlala