SIR: “In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up or else all go down as one people” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

I write as a concerned member of the Lagos society, not standing in between but airing my view as an active resident and citizen of the renowned commercial city of Nigeria, one of the largest economies in Africa.

I watched with surprise the address by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, when he took to the media to address the challenges he is facing while trying to reshape the city to world-class standard. No doubt, Ambode, as studied by me, after meeting with him before and after his emergence as governor, is not the talking type, but what could have spurred him to make his recent public address on the perceived infighting remains a question waiting for an answer.



Read more https://rezponder.com/ambode-fashola-soul-lagos/

Don’t be fooled by the Naira biggest black Market gain in a year


The rally, sparked by increased sales of foreign-exchange forwards and looser capital controls, is contingent on the central bank continuing to sell down its reserves. And until it devalues or makes a clear switch to a free-floating currency, Africa’s most-populous country will struggle to lure back foreign investors, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Renaissance Capital.

Forwards suggest more declines to come, investors are shunning naira assets, and a web of alternative exchange rates only adds to the confusion over the currency’s real value.

After sales of $600 million of one- and two-month forwards last week, the naira’s black-market rate rose 13 percent to 460 per dollar from an all-time low of 520. It appreciated another 2.2 percent to 450 on Monday after the central bank sold $100 million of 60-day forwards. That narrowed the gap with the official rate, which the central bank has kept at around 315 since August, to the smallest since September.



Read more https://rezponder.com/dont-fooled-naira-biggest-black-market-gain-year/

The recently released data from the National Bureau of Statistics reflect the slow-down in the economy for most of 2016 but also show that the recession may have bottomed out because of an improving trend in several key sectors.

With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data that translated into an estimated growth rate of -1.51 percent, 4.03% percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 in the Agriculture sector, 1.89 percent growth on a quarter on quarter basis in the manufacturing sector, 7.03 percent growth in Q4 of 2016 in the metal ores sub-sector, the recent bond issue of US$1 billion which was subscribed by almost 8 times and the rise in the foreign reserves from $23.9 billion in October 2016 to $27.8 billion in January 2017 reinforce the speculation that the economic slump might have bottom.



Read more https://rezponder.com/nigeria-economic-recession-may-have-bottomed-out-nbs-data/

Like thousands of other South Sudanese families caught up in famine, Sara Dit and her 10 children are hiding from marauding gunmen in the swamps and islands of the river Nile.

The refuge has a steep price: families cannot farm crops or earn money to buy food. They eat water lily roots and the occasional fish. Dit’s family have not eaten for days.

Last week the United Nations declared that parts of South Sudan are experiencing famine, the first time the world has faced such a catastrophe in six years. Some 5.5 million people, nearly half the population, will not have a reliable source of food by July.

The disaster is largely man-made. Oil-rich South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, plunged into civil war in 2013, after President Salva Kiir fired his deputy Riek Machar. Since then, fighting has fractured the country along ethnic lines, inflation topped 800 percent last year and war and drought have paralysed agriculture



Read more https://rezponder.com/famine-south-sudanese-eat-weeds-and-water-lilies-to-survive/

Listening to Sheikh Aminu Daurawa on BBC this morning expressing reservations about the new law regulating polygamy in Kano, I felt there is the need for wider consultation on the matter by HRH and the committee drafting the proposal.

Sheikh Daurawa is not a person to be ignored. He heads the Hizbah and commands a lot of public opinion and respect. As head of Hizbah, one can say he is among the most informed leaders on matrimonial problems in Kano. He clears thousands of cases yearly. He has seen it, heard it and treated it. More so, he is the quintessential Islamic scholar.

Image result for second wife marriage kano

On the other side, the head of the committee drafting the matrimonial code is of no smaller stature, our dear old friend and learned scholar, Dr. Bashir Aliyu. He has everything needed of knowledge and – allow me to say – piety to head the committee. I listened to the interview he granted the BBC few days ago and surely he is doing just the superb job I expect of him.



Read more https://rezponder.com/second-wife-kano-put-house-order/

One of Lagos’s prominent ruler in Eredo Local development Area, the Omola of Odomola, Alaiyeluwa Oba, Sikiru Taiwo Adewale Odukoya has joined his ancestors at the age of 68, Source told the Rezponder.

The source further said anyone going to Ajah should kindly avoid Epe road as the community has announced that here will curfew around Odomola-Epe road from this evening Wednesday 22nd February till Sunday in line with Yoruba culture on the demise of an Oba.

He hinted the Rezponder that nobody will be allowed to go out of his house and all doors and windows will remain shut for the period.



Read more https://rezponder.com/curfew-declared-in-odomola-epe-as-oba-odukoya-of-odomola-dies/

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has launched a 60-day action plan to improve the business climate, this is a laudable and welcome plan. Nevertheless one is tempted to remind him that to improve the business climate in Africa’s biggest economy struggling with recession, he will have to deal with ease of getting construction permit, access to reliable and affordable electricity, guarantee formal property rights, access to credit and improve allocation, protection of minority investors, elimination of the needless complexity in tax rules, ease of trading between Nigeria and other economies, the enforcement of contract and resolving insolvency related issues.

Globally, Nigeria stands at 138 in the ranking of 190 economies on the ease of starting a business. The rankings for comparator economies and the regional average ranking provide other useful information for assessing how easy it is for an entrepreneur in Nigeria to start a business.



Read more https://rezponder.com/9-things-osinbajo-needs-to-do-as-he-plan-to-improve-business-climate-in-60-days/

The best initiative Nigeria government has ever conceived towards holistic solution to the Niger Delta problems as well as the Oil and Gas industry development after the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), was announced yesterday by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. Many regimes have been reluctant to take needed bold steps in this regards, especially recognising the impact of these illegal refineries, hence retarding advancement of this local technology and skills.

The announcement, though noble, should not be mixed with political intent. It must be taken as a national development concern. One that is directly linked with social, economic and political development of the country. The importance of the oil industry in economic and social existences of the Niger Deltans and macroeconomic stability of the country posit that making this pronouncement timely and necessary.

Read more https://rezponder.com/formalizing-illegal-refineries-best-news-2017/

BRT, LAGBUS Fares Hike: Why Welfare of Lagos Commuters Should Matter

The announcement by the Lagos State Metropolitan Area Transport Agency of approved increase in transport by the operators of the state public transport services, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and LAGBUS was greeted by missed reactions, most noting its bad timing and its resultant adverse impact on the standard of living of residents in the state.

The proposed new fare would mean over 50% increase in the cost of service to commuters whose size and sources of income are already meagre, no thanks to inflation and low business activities across the state. Hence, the ready pitiable state of residents’ welfare in question is getting ready for worse.



Read more https://rezponder.com/brt-lagbus-fares-hike-welfare-lagos-commuters-matter/

Debating whether Buhari is alive or dead is pointless and utterly irresponsible. He is clearly alive and kicking; he is just holidaying in London and receiving high profile visitors and phone calls on behalf of Nigeria. Those who still believe that he is dead at this point are just ‘impossible’.

However, saying President Buhari is hale and Hearty but just resting in Abuja House in London is like pushing it too far. Nonetheless, whatever the case maybe, one should be more concerned about moving Aso Rock from Abuja to London than in debating whether or not Buhari is alive.

Since President Buhari would rather talk to Trump, welcome Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Bisi Akande and NASS leadership and get his media aides to talk big about it on social media rather than Address Nigerians from London the way he did during the campaigns then here are the reasons why Nigerians should condemn all those visiting him at the expense of the taxpayers.



Read more https://rezponder.com/buhari-medical-vacation-reasons-why-all-visits-to-pmb-london-should-stop-now/

A vehement opposition to Valentine’s Day was not only being held by certain individuals but by entire countries or provinces, as well.

Cities and countries around the world have banned the celebration of the romantic holiday, more recently, the capital city of Pakistan. A judge recently banned the celebrations related to the holiday in Islamabad, the Associated Press reported Monday. Valentine’s Day events and observances were said to conflict with Islamic teachings.

A petition that called for a nationwide ban on public celebrations of the holiday was ruled on in the High Court, according to CNN. The ban immediately went into effect, and all promotions related to Valentine’s Day, for print and online, were required to be taken down.



Muslim-majority countries were not typically in favour of the holiday as it promotes imbibing, sexual activity and embraces Western “religious, social and cultural norms.” Indulging in wine, chocolates or flowers could result in “severe punishment” in countries like Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, BBC News reported in 2015.



Read more https://rezponder.com/valentines-day-ban-islamabad-officially-joins-list/

For the record

President Trump encouraged President Buhari to keep up the good work he is doing, and also commended him for the efforts made in rescuing 24 of the Chibok Girls and the strides being taken by the Nigerian military.

President Trump assured the Nigerian President of US readiness to cut a new deal in helping Nigeria in terms of military weapons to combat terrorism.





Read more https://rezponder.com/trump-speaks-to-buhari-on-telephone-commends-and-invites/

“The problems with the power industry is not physical, the power sector is filled with witches and wizards”
Not even going to lie, I have uttered this statement more than once in my short lifetime, at that time I also believed that the problems facing Nigeria’s power sector would never be solved, at least not in my lifetime. It’s mind boggling that a country that is said to have spent $16B on power infrastructure cannot boast of generating and transmitting 5000MW of electricity. When stats like these are flaunted on Newspapers and Breakfast shows, you start to wonder why it seems like there is no end to the tunnel that is the Electricity problem.

In the beginning, we were told that the problem was NEPA (the Government agency that was solely in charge of generating, transmitting and distributing power with its hydra-like problems). The ‘experts’ on television, Newspapers, our parents, our teachers even our politicians all said that NEPA had to be privatised for Nigeria to solve her Power problems. Privatisation the beautiful cure for all Nigerian Problems was pushed by President Olusegun Obasanjo (this process started since 2005) and our prayers were finally answered in 2013. Finally, Nigerians would have light, those were good times, everyone was hopeful. Three and the half years down the line and its pretty obvious that privatisation did not solve the problem, instead it seems post-privatisation Electricity sector is worse than NEPA.

I knew there were huge problems but I hardly understood the specifics and how it affected the value chain, in fact, i didn’t even know the full value chain of the power sector. Most of my discussions were based on the vague and ambiguous information that I lifted from newspapers and blogs. At a point, it seemed like I had too much disjointed information, information that didn’t really help advance my wholistic comprehension. For instance, what’s Forcados? I thought the power sector was privatised, why is TCN still a Federal Government agency? whats NIPP, why are their Power plants different from others? what’s the difference between TCN and DISCO’s? Why is gas so important for power in Nigeria?



Read more https://rezponder.com/nigeria-power-sector-problem-spiritual/

It was a pathetic and shocking revelation when the police panel constituted to investigate the electoral and other offences perpetrated during the re-run election in River State disclosed that the sum of N111 million was recovered from 23 Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials. What is more ridiculous is that the money ‘does not belong’ to Governor Nyesom Wike who was alleged of spending N360 million to bribe INEC staff during the December 10 re-run legislative election and of course it neither belonged to the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) of the state or the National.

Then, one is forced to ask questions such as: where does the money come from? Who owns this money? What do the police stand to gain by making up the discovery of such a staggering amount of money and pinning it on a sitting government? Could the money be fake notes displayed by a desperate Police Force to score cheap point from the APC-led government? Definitely, the money came from a source in Nigeria, but then, where? Does a governor even has access to such a huge sum of money, to the extent that he would have audacity not to account for it?



For those who have followed politics and corruption closely in the country, they will surely have some possible answers to these questions. With the denial and counter-accusations between the INEC and the Nigerian Police, one is tempted to look at the sources of money that can be denied in this manner. The first of its kind is Security Vote, which is a Fund that is not only unappropriated, but it is also unaudited and unaccounted for, in the government.

Governors don’t account for Security Vote
The former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, in July 2010, gave a vivid example which was a comprehensive expose on how rigging of elections are financed in the country and he was one of the insiders in the political process. He asserted that money offered to Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in most cases came from this security Vote. He gave a lowdown on how money moved from Governors or Executive Officeholders to RECs in Nigeria.

For those who witnessed the impeachment saga of Senator Rasheed Ladoja, the then Governor of Oyo State as superintended by the Late Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu (I prefer to call him Ariyibi of Ibadan) who Dr. Ahmadu Ali, the then PDP chairman, referred to as the “garrison commander,” and former President Olusegun Obasanjo described as the “father of the PDP”, allegedly complained that Ladoja was too greedy.
In his words, ‘’Ladoja is too greedy. He was collecting N65 million as security vote every month. You know that governors don’t account for security vote. He was to give me N15 million of that every month. He reneged. Later it was reduced to N10 million. Yet he did not give me.”



Read more https://rezponder.com/n111million-river-run-wike-security-vote-and-unaccountable-governance/

The Lagos state government on today, Tuesday, February 7, demolished the sets of lock ups shops in the Ketu Alapere Garage at Ketu area of Lagos.

The shops that are about to be completed were demolished in the early hours of today by Lagos State Building Control Agency LASBCA men supervised by the Lagos State Task Force

It was learnt that Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the Governor of Lagos State has earlier visited the site of the construction some months back and the people of the area had foreseen this outcome.

“The state government had on several occasions warn the builder but he was adamant, LASBCA has demolished the shop at the foundation level with a lot of Armed Men but the building Constructor immediately rebuilds the foundation and continue the construction. This is the third time the men of LASBCA have been to this site.” a resident of Ketu told The Rezponder.



Read more https://rezponder.com/lagos-state-government-demolish-shop-ketu-garage/

…Says Hijab can be worn in Lagos School unless the Supreme Court gives a contrary verdict

Court of Appeal on Tuesday (today) struck out the motion seeking an injunction to stop the use of hijab in Lagos State. ‎The motion for stoppage was raised by the Lagos State Government in the case that came up in Lagos.

The case, CA/L/135/15, is between Lagos State Government, Miss Asiyat AbdulKareem (through her father), Miss Moriam Oyeniyi and Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria.

Explaining the implication of the judgement, Amir (President) of MSSN, Lagos State Area Unit, Dr. Saheed Ashafa, said students can continue to wear hijabs to primary and secondary schools in Lagos State.



Read more https://rezponder.com/lagos-hijab-case-appeal-court-strikes-out-lagos-state-motion/

The Court of Appeal will on Tuesday (today) hear the motion seeking an injunction to stop the use of hijab in Lagos State as earlier delivered by a full court of Appeal.

‎The motion for stoppage is raised by the Lagos State Government. The case, CA/L/135/15, is between Lagos State Government, Miss Asiyat AbdulKareem (through her father), Miss Moriam Odebiyi and Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria.

‎
Recall that the LASG appealed to the Supreme Court after being dissatisfied with judgements of the court of appeal delivered on Thursday, July 21, 2016 which gave approval to Muslim students to wear the hijab (veil for females) with their school uniforms.
‎
In a unanimous decision, the court set aside the judgment of a Lagos High Court which banned students in public primary and secondary schools in the state from putting on the hijab with their school uniforms.

A special panel of the court presided over by Justice A.B. Gumel held that the appeal was meritorious and should be allowed.

In his lead judgment, Justice Gumel held that the use of the hijab was an Islamic injunction and also an act of worship hence it would constitute a violation of the appellants’ rights to stop them from wearing the hijab in public schools.



Read more https://rezponder.com/lagos-hijab-case-court-hears-motion-stoppage-of-hijab/

Says education in tertiary institutions cannot be free



The governor, who had joined the students on the street and walked with them to the stadium, revealed that education in the state’s public primary and secondary schools is free but however added that “education in our tertiary institutions cannot be free, even though, we can subsidise it.”

He said there was no basis for comparison of the Pa Obafemi Awolowo era of free education with that of the present government, because “the population then cannot be compared with what we have now.”

On the alleged non-payment of subvention to the school, Amosun stated that, even though the subvention had been reduced, due to the dwindling resources of the state, it has always been paid regularly.



Read more https://rezponder.com/tasued-protest-amosun-assures-students-of-govt-intervention/

President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide, Mr Femi Adesina made series of attempts some days back to allay fears over the health of his principal, who was on a ten-day vacation in the United Kingdom but has not been seen or heard from since his departure since Mid January. But when President Buhari seeks to extend his medical leave due to health related matters yesterday many Nigerians reacted with amazement and disappointment. There were serious reactions from Nigerians on various platform and Public places.

Although they have confirmed that the Buhari not seriously ill and not in the hospital but the presidency is still silence over what exactly President Muhammadu Buhari is suffering from, and his handlers are giving room for suspicion. Why would any serious doctor ask a President of a country in almost a full year economic recession to wait in London just for the result of his tests that can actually be sent to him? Except the President will have to undergo some treatment for an ailment yet to be disclosed there is no valid point waiting for results.

His handlers are not helping matter at all. The secrecy in which the health issue of the president is cloaked will continue to be another height of disservice to Nigerians and President Buhari himself. When he was leaving Femi Adesina said ‘During the vacation, the President will also undergo routine medical check-ups’. The question one should ask is why is the routine medical check-ups taking atypical duration this time around.

If President Buhari is sick, why can’t the Presidency come out with it in plain language? What are they afraid of? What’s wrong in telling Nigerians that the President is going for treatment abroad? What good is expected to come out of the secrecy? Can the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo act indefinitely for as long as the president is absent from work? When will public office holder stop travelling overseas to receive treatment?



Read more https://rezponder.com/nigerians-question-as-president-buhari-extend-medical-leave/

Less than a week into his presidency, Donald Trump made good one of his electoral promises (at least in the meantime) by issuing an Executive order banning Muslims from entering America.

The ban continues to generate reactions all over the world with ‘victims’ beginning to emerge from among those who thought the President’s action was both silly and misguided. One such victim was Sally Yates; a federal attorney who was relieved of duty for urging government lawyers to stop defending what was thought to be an obnoxious order.


The timing of the order itself coincided almost with the anniversary of the World Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 26) set aside to remember the victims of Hitler’s World War II misadventure. Whether like Hitler, Trump intends to hand to Muslims their own holocaust episode is a matter for conjecture which can only be unravelled by events as they unfold.

However, something is strikingly similar in Trumps’ posture as in Hitler’s which perhaps threw him up for a president. The zeitgeist or the dominant spirit in some parts of Euro-America is the belief that their ‘lands of dream’ have been taken over by ‘strangers’; strangers who even though may have contributed more than ‘indigenes’ nevertheless remain ‘outsiders’ and therefore needed to be ‘cleansed’.

As it happened in Hitler’s Germany, an ‘enemy’ figure, nay a scapegoat has to be ‘manufactured’; and looking at how post- Cold War conflicts have been predicted (and worked towards), the ‘enemy’ has to wear not an ideological ‘garb’ this time around, but a ‘religious’ one

Reading the Executive order, Trump did not name the countries by himself. From other spokes organs of the US government, however, the names were learnt to include Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Syria all Muslim majority counties. To be sure that his target was Muslims, he emphasised his willingness to accommodate Syrian refugees of the Christian faith.



Read more https://rezponder.com/trumps-muslim-ban-the-realities-and-the-absurdities/

The former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who returned to Nigeria Saturday after serving jail term in the United Kingdom for corruption and met with the head of the State Security Service, Lawal Daura may be jailed again in Nigeria since he has a pending case in Nigeria before his extradition to the UK.

A lawyer, Bar. Tajudeen Balogun has confirmed to the Rezponder that Ibori actually he has multiple cases pending in court in Nigeria before his extradition to the UK. And with the Anti-corruption stance of the President Buhari government and the fact that the commission has recorded more convictions in the last one year than all the states and federal ministries of justices combined, it is a matter of time before the case will be reopened.



Rezponder recalled that six years after Justice Marcel Awokulehin theatrically struck out all 170-count charge of money laundering preferred against former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, a three-man panel of justices at the Benin Division of the Court of Appeal on May 15, 2014 ruled that the ex- governor who is currently serving a 13-year jail term in a London prison, has a case to answer.

With the above judgment, the coast was clear for Ibori to face trial in Nigeria upon the completion of his jail term in London. His conviction in a London court was largely based on the evidence supplied by the EFCC, the Commission secured the final forfeiture of the $15million bribe, which he allegedly offered to a former chairman of the Commission, to the Federal Government.



Read more https://rezponder.com/james-ibori-case-answer-may-jailed/

One of Africa’s most durable rulers, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has announced an end to his nearly 38-year reign. Now 74, the autocrat is Africa’s second-longest serving leader – one month short of Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

Image result for Angola
On Friday, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos told his ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party that he would step down ahead of August’s elections, finally ending his nearly 38-year reign. Dos Santos named Defense Minister Joao Lourenco, a former general, as his preferred successor.

Dos Santos has led Angola since 1979 – a tenure that included almost the entirety of the oil-rich southern African nation’s 1975-2002 civil war. During the investment boom that followed the civil war, dos Santos became the target of criticism, with some calling him secretive and corrupt as Angola’s citizens suffered dire poverty and state repression and his own family accumulated massive wealth and power.



Read more https://rezponder.com/angola-dos-santos-sets-hand-38-year-reins-elections/

In late January 2016, a Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Lovén went on a rescue mission on the streets of Nigeria, and discovered a starving child on the edge of death.

The moment was captured in a haunting photograph, in which she tilts a water bottle toward the frail young boy’s lips. One year later, the same boy is starting school after a full recovery, and a recreation of his first photo shows just how far he’s come.

You will recall that Anja Ringgren Lovén, Woman who rescued Nigerian ‘witch-child’ named World most inspiring person of the year 2016. Anja Ringgren Lovén works for an organisation called DINNødhjælp (‘your relief’) which found the abandoned boy, appropriately named Hope.

They rescue children labelled as ‘witches’, who are often tortured and killed by their own parents. Some religious leaders in Nigeria accuse children of witchcraft in hopes of charging parents for supposed exorcism services, an epidemic Anja and her team combat by sheltering affected children.



Read more https://rezponder.com/remember-starving-abandoned-child-found-nigeria-january-2016/

Early 2014, I was a die-hard Buhari fan. Addiction was an understatement to the passion and fire of love burning in me for my Hero.

Having realised that Buhari and Tinubu were coming together and PDP was falling apart, I knew the revolution I have been silently praying for was here. I knew and believe it’s the only revolution that could change the situation in this country.

My believe was cemented after watching a documentary on the Arab spring. I sincerely prayed for one but I knew it may be difficult to achieve in Nigeria because we were too divided to see a common enemy and fight him.

For the first time in my life, I donated my stipend to fund a politician’s ambition. I have never seen Buhari as a politician then but was 100% sure Tinubu is one.

I did not only donate, I canvassed and voted because I wanted change. So I needed no campaign to tell me it begins with me. I already did by voting change advocates.

Fast forward to February 2015, I did not only FeBuhari, I tried to get married in that month. But when it was not possible, I Marched forward and got married for Buhari in March.

My joy knew no bounds when he was sworn in.

I was ready to fight anybody to a standstill if they dare say nay of Buhari.

Few months after, the blame game started. It was this, it was that. No direction, nothing.



Read more https://rezponder.com/buhari-before-is-too-late/

World Hijab Day: Awareness about Women’s Right to Choose

Today marks World Hijab Day. The event will be held across the world celebrating a women’s right to choose what she wears and promoting tolerance and respect for the personal and religious beliefs of others. Given the current climate, World Hijab Day is of even greater importance. Muslims and Non-Muslims must stand up and clearly say that women have a right to choose what they want to wear.

Despite some recent progress, women still face discrimination at work or in their own communities. It is simply not acceptable for others to dictate what women choose to wear for whatever reason. We all have a civic duty to speak against intolerance and also act to work to educate our wider society.

Five years ago, a Muslim woman in New York decided to invite other women to experience what life is like in America when you wear a hijab. She wanted to foster religious tolerance and fight stereotypes about women, who choose to wear the hijab. Since then, the movement has spread across the globe, with women in 140 countries across America, Africa, Europe wearing hijabs for World Hijab Day.

Image result for world hijab day nigeria 2017

First marked on February 1, 2013, it has grown globally in recognition of the millions of Muslim women who choose to wear the headscarf. There’s now a World Hijab Day website, a Facebook page and, of course, in a social-media friendly universe, there are also hashtags: #IStand4Hijab and #WorldHijabDay.

This year World Hijab Day becomes important because of the high increase of Hijabophobia and Islamophobia. The day also takes place at a time of renewed concern for religious freedom across the globe following President Trump’s travel ban on people born in predominantly Muslim countries. This comes on top of a rise in anti-Muslim attacks, predominantly on women.

These women will stand together few days after someone walked into a Quebec City mosque and started shooting, killing six people and wounding others. They are gathering at a time when people Lagos State Government is in the court to challenge the right of female Muslim students to wear Hijab. This is coming few days after Lagos Television was on the wrong side of history with the Hijab saga.

“There is this Western stereotype that a Muslim woman who wears it did not have the choice to do so. It is seen a symbol of oppression rather than a symbol of devotion,” one Muslim woman who only wears a hijab when she prays said.

“For me, putting on a headscarf was emancipation because that was the moment that I reclaimed my identity,” another woman said.

A hijab is a piece of fabric that women use to cover their hair. In Arabic, “hijab” means “to cover.” Not all Muslim women wear hijabs and there are many different ways to wear it. Often, the way a woman decides how to wear her hijab for the day depends on her culture and her own personal preferences.



Read more https://rezponder.com/world-hijab-day/

Nigeria, with a statutory pensionable age of 50, has only 4.8 workers supporting each senior, compared with 19.4 as indicated by conventional measures. The world’s working-age population is shrinking faster than expected, leaving fewer people to support a growing number of seniors, according to the Bloomberg Sunset Index.

Conventional measures of old-age dependency calculate the ratio of people ages 65 and older with those of working age: 15 to 64. But many people stop working well before 65: Men in 66 percent of the 178 countries Bloomberg evaluated and women in 78 percent can begin receiving retirement benefits earlier.


So the Bloomberg index calculates dependency based on each country’s statutory pensionable age, revealing substantial differences in some places with 2016 estimates from organisations including the World Bank and United Nations. Nigeria, with a statutory pensionable age of 50, has only 4.8 workers supporting each senior, compared with 19.4 as indicated by conventional measures. Russia has 2.4 instead of 5.1, and Colombia has 4.5 instead of 9.4.


As seniors increasingly outnumber people still in the workforce, pressures rise on investment pools, medical systems and funds to build economies for future generations.

“The demographics cannot be ignored, but there are solutions,” said Suzanne Kunkel, director of the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. “Those solutions need to be cultural, political, economic. There is no magic answer. The reality is China will deal with it differently than Italy.”

Asia could be facing the toughest choices in allocating resources. The Asia Pacific Risk Center estimates the region’s elderly population will rise 71 percent by 2030, compared with 55 percent in North America and 31 percent in Europe.

The retirement age in China — with almost 22 percent of the world’s 65-plus population — is 60 for men and 55 for women. The Bloomberg Sunset Index shows 3.5 workers supporting each senior there; conventional calculations indicate 7.3.



Read more https://rezponder.com/nigeria-among-countries-struggling-support-retirees/

James Ibori, the former governor of Delta State who was recently released from a British prison after serving a sentence for corruption, has signalled a possible political comeback in Nigeria, the Africa’s most populous country.

As governor of the oil-rich state of Delta from 1999 to 2007, Ibori became one of Nigeria’s most powerful men and enjoyed a millionaire lifestyle, with luxury homes in several countries.

He was later extradited to Britain, where he pleaded guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering.



The case was initially hailed as a high point in the fight against corruption, although it has since become bogged down in allegations of misconduct by British authorities.

In line with normal British practice, Ibori was released in December after serving half of his 13-year sentence, taking into account pre-trial detention. He said he would return within days to Nigeria, where local media have reported that he remains influential in politics.

“What happens in African politics – you are in it until you die,” Ibori told Reuters in London on Tuesday.

“I am a politician, I will always be a politician. I play the politics in my party and in my country for the good of my people,” he said after a court hearing, part of ongoing legal proceedings in his case.

Nigerian media reported that Ibori’s release had prompted dancing in the streets in parts of Delta State.



Read more https://rezponder.com/james-ibori-signals-political-comeback/

Hon. Monsuru Obafemi Durosimi the immediate past Executive Chairman of Agboyi-Ketu Local Government Development Area is dead. He died after suffering from a two-day battle with a heart-related crisis in a Lagos hospital.



Rezponder gathered from a source closer to the Agboyi Ketu LCDA politics and political associates of Hon. Durosimi that the ex- chairman has been pencil down for the forthcoming Local Government election.

The Former members of House of Assembly Durosimi was a key supporter of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode during 2015 All Progressive Alliance Primary election and the general election.

Details Later…



Read more https://rezponder.com/obafemi-durosimi-lagos-lga-chairmanship-aspirant-dies/

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told U.S. President Donald Trump that the global fight against terrorism was no excuse for banning refugees or people from Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, her spokesman said on Sunday.
Steffen Seibert said Merkel had expressed her concerns to Trump during a telephone call on Saturday and reminded him that the Geneva Conventions require the international community to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds.

“She is convinced that even the necessary, decisive battle against terrorism does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion,” he said.

Seibert said the German government regrets the U.S. entry travel ban, would review the consequences for German citizens with dual nationalities, and would “represent their interests, if needed, vis a vis our U.S. partners”.

The German and Dutch foreign ministers issued a joint statement on Sunday saying they were pressing U.S. authorities to determine what the order meant for their dual nationals.

“We are determined to protect the rights of our citizens and will take rapid action within the European Union about the steps that are now needed,” Germany’s Sigmar Gabriel and his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders said.

Trump ordered on Friday a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily banned travellers from Syria and six other mainly Muslim countries.


Seibert’s comments were the first indication of discord over the issue between Merkel and Trump, who had highlighted common interests such as strengthening NATO and combating Islamist militancy in a joint statement after their 45-minute phone call.



Read more https://rezponder.com/muslim-ban-merkel-blasts-trump-say-fight-against-terrorism/

…15 Ways to detect Fake News Online

With the explosion of internet sites and social media that has made it easy for anyone to publish something and call it “news”, the rumoured death of President Buhari will not be the only one we are going to be coming across this year. Stories like one that claimed President Buhari dead while holidaying in London went viral on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp are just one of the many to expect in the year 2017.

Facebook has come under criticism for not doing enough to weed out Fake News; though it decline to provide a listing of the banned sites, Google has banned more than 200 publishers since it passed a new policy against fake news but the fight against the fake news must be wholistic and all individuals with access to the internet should be vaccinated against fake news.

A few days back when a person drops a post in one of the Whatsapp groups saying President Buhari is dead. I was quick to respond that this it was a lie that can only be promoted by faceless clowns and haters.

Image may contain: 1 person, sitting and indoor

From an unanticipated quarter, someone asked are you sure and how do you know that the post is fake? Because and many other that usually ask that same question, here is how to tell the difference between a fake news or rumour and genuine ones.



Read more https://rezponder.com/buharis-death-rumour-vaccinating-nigerians-fake-news-peddlers/

The 74-year-old Former Mexican president Vicente Fox has unintentionally inspired a global trending hashtag #FuckingWall. This is a response to the two executive order to build along the US-Mexico border signed by President Donald Trump.

Vicente has been one of the most outspoken critics of Donald Trump and his policies — especially on Twitter. He has However stepped up his expletive-laden attacks on the US president and his infamous border wall with the #FuckingWall.

After Trump signed two executive orders to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, Fox addressed the POTUS and spokesperson Sean Spicer directly in a tweet. “Mexico is not going to pay for that fucking wall,” he wrote. To accentuate his point, he hashtagged “#FuckingWall.”



Read more https://rezponder.com/fuckingwall-former-president-mexico-kicks-back-trump-hashtag/

It is common practice that, the will of the people ought to be clear after an election; but, as President Trump assumes office as the 45th President of the United States, there are deeply troubling signs that the country’s democracy, after 227 years of seeking a perfect union, might be said to have left the rails.
Same way as Buhari, Trump made a number of claims about what he’ll do…but which ones can he really carry out? Can he really deport millions of undocumented immigrants? Can he really build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and have Mexicans pay for the wall? Can he really repeal and replace Obamacare? Can he really cancel the Paris climate agreement? Can he really ban Muslims from entering the U.S.? Can he really defeat ISIS and other terrorist groups? Can he really “lock up” Hillary Clinton? Will he move the U.S. Embassy in Isreal to Jerusalem?

Can he? Will he? these questions are fueled by more than idle curiosity. Nevertheless, we can only watch the man who has defiled any previous analysis about him.

Image result for trump inauguration

It is a glaring reality that politicians make all kinds of passionate and wild campaign promises during elections; which they swiftly jettison or deny after they resume office. Just as President Buhari’s campaign promises that were denied or jettisoned, so would President Trump jettison some of the popular lines he used to woo millions of US voters.

Isn’t it sad, that in spite of Barack Obama’s vehement vows during the 2008 election, where he repeatedly promised to shut down the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, the prison is still open 8 years later, even after delivering his farewell speech in Chicago? Equally, he is unable to fulfil his promises to end the war in Iraq and‘finish the job in Afghanistan’ just as George W. Bush before him never established the‘Healthy Communities Innovation Fund’.

In the same vein, Italy Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, never fulfilled his promise to sell his assets in Fininvest (later Mediaset), after 12 years, having served three terms. Similarly, Fianna Fáil’s of Ireland never “permanently end all hospital waiting lists” by 2004 nor did he “create a world-class health service” through any reforms or expanded healthcare coverage with “200,000 extra medical cards”, as he had promised during his campaigns. Also, Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke was unable to fulfil his “by 1990 no Australian child will be living in poverty” campaign promise!

Just as Buhari may never be able to stabilize the Naira at 1USD to 1NGN nor create 720,000 jobs in the 36 states in the Federation yearly (20,000 per State), pay 5,000 monthly to the 25 million Poorest Nigerians and create at least 5 million new homeowners in the present four-year tenure of his administration; President Donald Trump may also find it rather difficult to fulfil his promises: “to build a great, great wall on our southern border” and “have Mexico pay for that wall”.

Presently, Buhari has begun to find his ‘war against corruption’, a herculean task, perhaps, more than he probably had presumed. Thus, one do not doubt the fact that Trump would face strong opposition over the delivery on his campaign promise of “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.

Just as some of the ex-Buharists in Nigeria are expressing some level of disenchantment, people in the myriad “alt-right” communities that have flourished online in recent years are already expressing their dissatisfaction that Trump appears to have abandoned, even before his inauguration, the most extreme of his policies- at least for now, such as building a wall and prosecuting Hillary Clinton.



Read more http://www.rezponder.com/buhari-trump-seductive-illusion-of-presidential-power/