Things have now gone totally awry between House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and his erstwhile main man, ‎Abdulmumin Jibrin.

Revelations after last Wednesday’s removal of Jibrin as chairman of the House Appropriation Committee indicate that trouble has brewed between the two over the past couple of months but things fell, totally, apart on Wednesday when the Falcon no longer heard the Falconer.

Anarchy would have completely descended on the house but for the lucky happenstance that the House is now on a short recess.
Those who follow the politics of this new dispensation will understand what this means, especially with all the accusations and counter accusations of last week.

Before the convocation of the National Assembly a little over one year ago, three men aspired to the position of Speaker. These were Yakubu Dogara, who later emerged, Femi Gbajabiamila and the man, Abdulmumin Jubrin.

In the course of what looked like the discriminating support of the All Progressive Congress (APC) establishment for Gbajabiamila’s candidature, Jubrin aborted his ambition and declared support for Dogara.
He went on to become the main spokesperson of the Dogara group and was handsomely rewarded with the chairmanship of the appropriation committee in line with the rub-my-back, I-rub-yours tradition of legislative politics in Nigeria. Twelve months on and the centre can no longer hold for these two men.

Of course one could say that there is nothing unusual about friends in politics turning against each other since the only enduring thing in politics is self interest but the damaging allegations from one side to the other in this feud are alarming and sufficient to send all parties out of the house were we in a more honourable society. But this is Nigeria.

Each side has presented its story as if the other party is the prime enemy of the state but Nigerians are discerning enough to see that the unfolding drama in the House of Representatives is the story of gross abuse of power and selfishness that has become the driving force of politics in Nigeria.

Starting with the appointment of Jubrin and so many others into the leadership of committees, leaders of the house have without doubt, served nothing but their own interests. And the attempts to pad the 2016 budget, as either party has alleged, has nothing to do with the people, even of their constituencies, but the selfish benefits of the dramatis personae.

Hopefully, Nigerians will insist on the transparent conclusion of this matter and see that everyone complicit receives the reward of their misdemeanor.

The time has come for us to insist that those who choose feathering their own nests over the welfare of the people who elected them into office are not worthy of the office.

http://www.sabinews.com/dogara-jibrin-politics-self-interest-niran-adedokun/

The Management of TecSync Technology Co., Ltd., makers of fast-selling smart mobile device brand InnJoo have restated their commitment to the growth of the Nigerian ICT sector and economy in general, with the company keen to revamp the technological landscape in Nigeria by expanding the rapid adoption of smart mobile devices and applications in the country.

With its headquarters in Dubai and supplying in Shenzhen, InnJoo devices which include a wide range of high specifications and cost-effective smart phones, tablets and smart lifestyle devices, among others, have occupied an increasingly prominent share of the Nigerian mobile market, with consumers and end-users won over by their sleek design, smart features and state-of-the-art functionalities.

InnJoo started its internet journey by joining hands with the regional largest e-Commerce platform. Riding on its success story in parts of the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt and other GCC countries, among others, the consumer electronics brand is desirous of tapping into the huge, under-penetrated and growing Emerging Markets of Middle East and Africa, with Nigeria in focus, at the right price points. This, it hopes to achieve, by becoming a key enabler for the migration of millions of Nigerian users from feature phones to smartphones by leveraging on its sustainable lean cost structure and focus on affordable smart devices.

President, TecSync Technology Co. Ltd, Jack Lee affirmed the organization’s recognition of the prime status of the Nigerian market as the biggest in Middle East and Africa, a factor which justifies its focus and permanent residence of the company’s senior executives in the country.

“Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, the 7th most populated country in the world and is by far the biggest market for mobile devices in Middle East and Africa. This fact is not recognized by many investors who would rather opt to focus attention and channel their resources to countries such as Dubai, South Africa and Egypt,” said Lee, President and CSO of the InnJoo brand which has risen quickly from its launch in 2014 to become one of the fastest growing smart device makers in Middle East and Africa.

“For us, we recognize the importance of Nigeria as a regional giant and as a force to be reckoned with in the global economy. This justifies our decision to make Nigeria the focus and centre-piece of our market operations. As the biggest market in Middle East and Africa, we have chosen to make Nigeria the hub of our activities. In line with this, a lot of our Senior Management and executives have relocated to Nigeria to direct our expansionary plans out of here and as a result, most of our new products and latest offerings will be unveiled here in the country first before they are received in other countries,” he noted.

Continuing, Lee disclosed that with a team of highly motivated and talented leadership team with experience from both mobile device, software, telecom and internet market leaders; the organization’s over-riding ambition is to build an eco-system with software services and provide access to content for millions of Nigeria’s value-for-money yet tech-savvy users. Lee also restated the commitment of the organization to contribute its quota to the growth of the mobile economy in Nigeria through sound intervention projects and other corporate social responsibility initiatives.

According to him, the state visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to China in April was timely as it has helped to strengthen trade relations and build stronger economic ties between both countries. Lee, who was a member of the Chinese delegation that engaged with President Buhari’s team in China, is optimistic that the visit of the Nigerian leader will open doors to areas of greater cooperation, with specific regards to the business terrain and the ease of doing business in the country.

With an ambitious roadmap founded on geographic expansion and capturing the underlying market opportunity in key growth markets, TecSync Technology’s tripartite price, content and distribution strategy has fuelled its rapid growth and strong presence in the Middle East and African markets – a strategy that has seen InnJoo rise to become the fastest-growing smart devices brand in the region.

http://www.sabinews.com/injoo-management-restates-commitment-to-nigeria/

I attend a small military catholic church close to Yaba. Last Sunday I bowed my head out of church before church closed, I felt ashamed. As a Catholic I was raised to sit my butt down no matter what, until the priest gives the final blessing.
Missing ‘the mass is ended let us go in peace’ is akin to not attending church at all but I left way before that. I left after offertory. We had not even done communion. Catholics understand this.

We started at about 7am, the mass was scheduled to close by 9am, but it was 9am and we were still sitting,clapping hands over ‘chief ABC’s, Ten Thousand Naira’. This was the unveiling of the harvest theme for the year. I understand that the church has to raise funds but why are we staying 3-4 hours in church because of funds? Did they extend time for mass because of praise worship or because of the sermon? No. It’s always because of some other frivolities.

That is still not why I left though; I left because of the announcers and the priest. I couldn’t even believe what my ears heard.
‘N20,000! From N20,000 and above, come out here. If you know the lord has blessed you, come and give back to him, Chief this, Daddy that, come out, the lord knows your income. Are you going to give to God what has cost you nothing?’
‘N10,000 to N19,900, if you are looking for husband, or wife, come out now, the Lord will hear your prayers.’
N5,000 to N9,500… if you are looking for a good job, good husband and wife, come out and donate.’

Since when did we start selling blessings? When did all these start in the Catholic Church? The sermon was based on giving. If you have preached why not allow God direct people to donate? What is all the coercing and mind blackmail for?Once I went to a church program when the priest said everyone should bring everything in their purses, bags, pockets, ‘if you don’t bring everything the Lord is seeing you.’

I was already irritated before the ‘theme unveiling’ began. The person that was supposed to announce, instead of him to do his job and go, he started by informing the church that he has never been to the hospital. ‘ I have never paid hospital bills, me and my family, when we fall sick, small panadol and we are fine, the lord has been good to us.’
Yes sir, because those who fall sick, the lord hates them and is not good to them. He continued, ‘I saw a man during the week, his face was scattered, like acid was poured on it, and I said to myself is this not a human being? And I thanked God for my life.’ The congregation hummed their yes, some people lifted their hands towards the ceiling, giving thanks too.

This is what we are now? People who rejoice over the misfortune of another person? Why is it we only remember to thank God for our lives when bad things happen to other people? I remember when that petrol tanker fell at Iyana Ipaja. Houses and shops were burnt down. Someone whose house was along the line of the fire but the fire stopped few feet before his own went about rejoicing, he called people to thank God with him and the people who went about saying, ‘our God is faithful, our God is faithful, God of *insert church* is too good to us.’

We make God out to be an unfair father. Punish A, save B. when we know we are all sinners because as 2face sang; nobody holy pass.
So, that Sunday it was already 9am. The priest and all those in charge of the harvest were not done and didn’t look like they had plans to hurry up.They continued, ‘if you are looking for a good job, husband, wife, children, whatever you are looking for, N5000 and above come out now.’ I had brought a non-Catholic friend with me to church that day. I was ashamed and that was the breaking point for me. I gathered my bulletin and purse and went home with guilt trailing me.

P.S I learnt a new prayer point from the MFM near my house: Holy Ghost fire, roar at my enemies, Roar! Roar!! Roar!!!

http://www.sabinews.com/catholic-church-nonsense-start-lucia-edafioka/