LIFESTYLE

HEART DISEASE CURES, AND PREVENTION FOR WOMAN OF ALL AGE

2018-08-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

The most important thing is to stay to as physically fit as possible. Every woman should work exercise into her lifestyle, find something she can enjoy doing, and do it regularly and often. In addition to exercising, every woman should follow the Mediterranean diet, which is high in fish and fresh vegetables, and low in processed carbohydrates.

Get your cholesterol checked, especially if there is a family history of heart disease or stroke. At age 20 women are seeing their OB/gynecologists who perform blood pressure checks, fasting lipid panels and fasting sugars. Even young women should pay attention to these numbers and be on alert if any are out of range. If these numbers are abnormal, they indicate that you are at risk for developing heart problems in the future. They are early warning signals, which if corrected and treated can help prevent the development of heart disease.

Lifestyle Changes

Often these numbers can be corrected with lifestyle changes including improving your diet, exercising and losing weight. If these measures fail, they can be easily corrected with medication. An initial, thorough heart check at age 40 is recommended if a woman has risk factors or a family history of heart disease, or at age 50 if there’s no family history or risk factors. In any other case, heart scans are not required until age 55.

Women should also be aware of stroke. Stroke prevention is very similar to heart disease prevention. Blood thinners and cholesterol drugs called statins have been shown to help prevent heart attacks and the need for bypass and angioplasty. These same drugs are also proven to reduce the incidence of stroke. Women are twice more likely to have a stroke than men. On the other hand, men have more heart attacks than women.

Stroke

“We are not sure why, but in the end, it’s likely all the same disease process and we treat them similarly. Stroke can have a devastating impact, not only on the survivor, but on everyone who cares for her. It’s another dramatic reason to take care of yourself, Several clinical trials designed to research new treatments and diagnostic tools in heart care for women.

The data in one study suggests that if you can perform an exercise treadmill stress test, the likelihood of having a cardiac event in the next five years is really quite low. “The good news is that heart disease can be prevented. You have the tools at your disposal. Take advantage of them,”

Stay Healthy

HEART DISEASE PROBLEMS, PREVENTIONS AND SOLUTIONS

2018-08-31T16:42:00.000-07:00

HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, HEART FAILURE, ANGINA

The HEART is a muscular organ responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. By taking some small good steps to care for your heart can prolong your lifetime by years. Diseases of the heart are the leading cause of death, causing a higher mortality than cancer. Coronary heart disease is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths. Around 1.3 million people suffer a new or recurrent coronary attack every year, and about 40% of them die as a result of the heart attack.

Some of the important Heart Care Tips. Ginger has a tonic effect on the heart. It inhibits blood platelet collection and lowers cholesterol. Ayurvedic health practitioners recommend eating a small amount of ginger everyday as one of the best measures to prevent heart attack.

Moderate Treatment

Every one should exercise every day for 30 minutes at least. Working out on a regular basis such at least thrice a week is good for cardiac action. The trick is to be moderate at exercising and not overdoing it. One should start with slow work out regime and then proceed to a target level that is achievable. However, it is also good to consult a doctor or a fitness instructor for the right type of exercise regime that should be followed. Don’t be too motivational and run into some tiring exercise schedule on your own.

After a full day’s work, your body needs to relax completely, which requires you to take rest sufficiently. Try to get six to eight hours of sleep, everyday. Inadequate rest or sleep can contribute to more stress.

Smoking

When it comes to heart care, smoking should stop mainly. Smoking is one of the top factors for heart diseases. Yet many people are heedless of this. Smoking can have a lot of adverse effects on the heart. Some of them include,: heart attacks, strokes heart failure, angina etc. If you quit smoking even after many years of this habit, you can hope to regain your health. Hopefully your heart will recover and even the cholesterol levels may reduce once people give up this cruel habit of smoking.

Swimming is another best exercise for the heart. Try to increase the speed and the amount of time you spend in the swimming pool. You can even play water games. Encourage even children to learn swimming at an early age.

HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, HEART FAILURE, ANGINA

Based on your family history, age and lifestyle, you may have to take extra care and frequent check-ups for your heart diseases. Ask your doctor to safety inspection of your cholesterol levels, to ensure that there is the right balance between LDL and HDL levels. Also have your blood pressure checked regularly. High blood pressure is also a major cause for heart disease.

Drink fresh juices like orange, apple, and pomegranate regularly. With the help of natural liquids, you would be immediately able to trim down your own blood pressure and cholesterol levels for long time. Try to avoid greasy foodstuffs always for the reason that they involve loads of fats and calories which often become the genuine cause of your heart assault.

Try to reduce using salt in the daily foods.

This helps keep fluid from building up and makes it easier for your heart to pump. Your doctor may want you to eat less than 2,000 mg of salt each day. That’s less than 1 teaspoon. You can stay under this number by limiting the salt you eat at home and by watching for “hidden” sodium when you eat out or shop for food.

Your Health Is More important.

THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF MALE INFERTILITY

2018-08-30T21:58:00.002-07:00

👉Low libido 👉Premature Ejaculation 👉Low sperm count 👉No sperm count 👉Low sex drive 👉Erectile dysfunction 👉Short penis size 👉Low sexual confidence 👉And many more

1. ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

Erectile dysfunction, or ED, is when it is hard to get or keep an erection that's firm enough for sex. ED affects as many as 30 million men.

Most men have problems with erections from time to time. But when this happens more than half of the time, then ED is present. ED can happen when health problems limit blood flow or damage nerves in the penis. ED can also be caused by stress or emotional reasons. ED can be an early warning of a more serious illness. Heart disease, high blood pressure and high blood sugar can all cause ED. Finding and treating the cause(s) of your ED can help your overall health and well-being

Sexually Aroused

When you are not sexually aroused, your penis is soft and limp. During sexual arousal, nerve messages release chemicals that increase blood flow into the penis. The blood flows into 2 erection chambers made of spongy tissue (the corpus cavernosum) in the penis. The "smooth muscle" in the erection chambers relaxes, which lets blood enter and stay in the chambers. The pressure of the blood in the chambers makes the penis firm, giving you an erection. After you have an orgasm, the blood flows out of the chambers and the erection goes away

According to Scientific Research, men with erectile dysfunction may experience some or all of these persistent symptoms

• Reduced sexual desire

• Trouble getting an erection

• Trouble keeping an erection

However, Problems with any of these systems can affect sperm production

2. LOW SPERM COUNT

The production of sperm is a complex process and requires normal functioning of the testicles (testes) as well as the hypothalamus and pituitary glands (organs in your brain that produce hormones that trigger sperm production). Here's what happened; Once sperm are produced in the testicles, delicate tubes transport them until they mix with semen and are ejaculated out of the penis.

That's one the main reasons for any man who have not been able to impregnate his wife for over 3-months of oral sex shouldn always seek an appointment with his doctorn Also, there may be problems of abnormal sperm shape (morphology), movement (motility) or function. Often the cause of low sperm count isn’t ever identified If you suffer from low sperm count or any form of male infertility, you might want to know more and finally safe your wife from all sort of insults, In the next article, you will be learn more about the rest infertility problem,

Just comment

REMEDYS FOR FEMALE SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION SYSTEM ( FSD )

2018-08-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

Formerly known as frigidity, female sexual dysfunction (FSD) has always been a controversial diagnosis, and now studies are pointing to relationship dissatisfaction and male performance as risk factors. Just whose problem is this, anyway? New research suggests that broad tactics such as treating a woman’s anxiety and improving communication with her partner may be more useful than focusing on the physical mechanics of sex.

Female Sexual Dysfunction

Is a broad diagnosis that indicates trouble in one or more of four areas: desire, pain, arousal and orgasm. Controversy about FSD has centered on two key points: whether those who are pushing it as a physiological disorder have something to gain from medicalizing it and whether it reflects society’s attempt to pathologize women’s naturally variable sexuality. According to sexologist of Sexual Medicine, “Describing a sexual dysfunction as a physiologically caused abnormality leaves out factors related to the patient’s sexual partners and socialization factors. Personally, I believe that we are using the term way too arbitrarily. Some women do have a physiological impairment that can contribute to sexual problems, Thinks that using loose diagnostic criteria lumps far too many women into the category of dysfunction.

Female sexual dysfunction ( FSD ) Study found that 5.8-8 percent of women around world reported recent problems with sex, and another 15.5 percent reported lifelong dysfunction. Hyposexual (low) desire was the most common problem overall, and the most common predictor of FSD was relationship dissatisfaction. This finding supports the criticism that the concept of FSD is misleading because it implies that there is something wrong with the woman who “has it, when in fact it is often the relationship that has issues. The study also found anxiety, experience of abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorder to be common predictors of lifelong FSD.

Relationship Dissatisfaction

A study also pointed to relationship dissatisfaction as a risk factor for female sexual dysfunction , as well as male premature ejaculation—so in this case, his dysfunction becomes hers, further obscuring the diagnosis. Rehearse sound way of life propensities. Go simple on liquor — drinking an excess of can limit your sexual responsiveness. Be physically dynamic — normal physical movement can expand your stamina and hoist your state of mind, improving sentimental emotions. Learn approaches to diminishing anxiety so you can concentrate on and make the most of your sexual experience. Attempt a gadget. Excitement might be upgraded with incitement of the clitoris. Utilize a vibrator to give clitoral incitement. Albeit a few ladies find clitoral vacuum suction gadgets accommodating for improving sexual excitement, those gadgets can be costly and not any more viable than a vibrator.

Minimize some of these issues is by including personal distress as a diagnostic criterion for FSD. Pain during sex or a lack of desire, arousal or orgasm does not indicate a disorder unless it is causing distress to the woman herself, and that does not include the distress she might feel because of her partner’s reaction in bed, Psychology cautions that the distress criterion nonetheless presents some concerns. “A considerable proportion of women who do not report a sexual problem do report feeling distressed about their level of sexual functioning, so there is the question as to what causes a woman to feel sexual distress, Is really an intrinsic feeling, or is it caused by societal expectations?”

Regardless of its cause. Distress about sex is quite treatable. McCabe authored a study last October showing Internet-based therapy to be effective for FSD when it focused on three objectives: helping participants feel more comfortable about their bodies, lowering their anxiety in sexual situations and improving communication with their partners.

RECOMMENDATION, HELP TO MOST WOMAN WITH CRAMPS DURING MENSTRUAL PERIOD

2018-04-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

MOST WOMAN FACES CRAMPS PAIN DURING MENSTRUAL PERIOD

During menstrual cycle, hormonal changes take place and your body retains water while digestion.slows down, that results pain. Assist yourself by drinking more water, at least two to three liters per day. The liquid flows through your intestine and speeds up your digestion.
⦁ Vitamin B6 is necessary for the proper maintenance of red blood cell metabolism, also eliminates bloating. Fish (Tuna, Salmon, Cod), hazel nuts, Pistachios, sesame seeds, garlic are the good source of vitamin B6.
⦁ Pineapple contains brome lain, an enzyme that helps relax muscles to relieve menstrual discomfort.
⦁ Ginger has generally been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a remedy for menstrual cramps.

⦁ Parsley is rich in apiol, a composite which is proved to stimulate the menstrual process and reduce cramps.

⦁ Fish that contain Omega 3 fatty acids and anti oxidants can prevent cramps as well as bloating. Salmon fish is the best source that contains anti oxidants.
⦁ Exercise can help lighten menstrual cramps by raising the level of beta-endorphins, which are chemicals in the brain associated with pain relief. Researchers have shown that beta endorphins have a positive effect on mood and behavior. Heavy exercising is not recommended during menses but gentle or moderate exercises, such as walking, will be beneficial.
⦁ Reduce the consumption of salt as much as you can, to prevent water retention that causes bloating.
⦁ Reduce intake of caffeine as it has a pain-enhancing effect during menstrual cycle.
⦁ Excessive spices are also known to cause acidity and digestion problems that enhance discomfort during period time. Massage your abdomen smoothly with lavender oil or with some pain relief creams for five to ten minutes to help increase circulation and for relief. Rest is very important during this time, sleep and relaxation can also reduce the pain and discomfort of menstrual cramps. The amount of blood loss during menses is 80 to 90 ml every month so you should consume lots of fruits and fruit juices, nutritious food including dark green vegetables to get back which you lost. Breast swelling and discomfort may be caused by water retention during menstruation. A healthy diet, reduced consumption of salt, caffeine and alcohol, and regular exercise are often effective in controlling these physical changes. Warm compresses help relieve stiffness and the associated pain. You can use a hot water bottle, warm towel or hot pads to get relief. A hot water herbal spa can help by relieving your muscles. Don’t carry heavy weights during your menstrual stage. You can temporarily get a relief by laying down on your side with your knees folding into your chest.
HEALTH IS WEALTH

The 5 Most Reasons Your Mobile App Needs Video Integration

2018-03-17T17:36:00.001-07:00

Mobile apps have the power to do many things, and you'll need to make choices as you decide which One decision you might not have considered: video
No matter what your app is or does, you should think hard about adding a video component. I can hear you wondering: Why would my app to help create a budget or play a game need video? Plenty of reasons! Here are just a few

1. User interface.
Humans are visual creatures who'd rather watch a video than read. Video within the app can provide an introduction, explain how to use various features or serve as a small advertisement about your app and what it does. Such videos will increase user satisfaction and engagement during time spent in the app.
Example: One store that sells appliance parts to homeowners includes a video for each part it sells. Every video presents a step-by-step installation guide for each specific model. Buyers can follow along to fix their dishwasher, stove or clothes dryer.

2. Statistics.
The stats around mobile video are astonishing. According to Statistica, the majority of consumers around the world mostly use mobile apps to access videos on their mobile devices. You need to be part of that
Example: A time-tracking app can provide a simple entry to video, with reminders on appropriate time logs.

3. Promotion.
A 30-second video will get users excited about your app in ways a screenshot simply can't. (Check out this beautiful video for the SkyGuide, which lets you view the night sky.) Videos can sell the app in an advertising format, offer a brief preview of your app’s functionality or do both. These videos are displayed prominently in Google Play and iOS stores. Plus, more than 300 alternative stores exist to help you promote and sell your app. Most of them, including Amazon, allow you to display a video.
Example: A game app can offer assistance via video at core parts of the game. Before prospective users knew what Angy Birds was, they were treated to a short intro video that depicted a giant finger pulling back a slingshot and knocking over pigs. It played just before the game began. This separate video demonstrates an award-winning game, Monument Valley.

4. Social media.
Speaking of advertising, you can use your app's promotional video on social media platforms, too. On average, Facebook reports more than 8 billion video views per day. (Mostly with the sound off, by the way.)
Example: An app could tackle complicated processes by highlighting excerpts on social-media channels. Walk users through the process by showing a calm and happy person slowly taking each step. With video, users can repeat as many times as needed to address their problem.

5. Customer expectations.
About 80 percent of apps are deleted after just one use. Some apps seem to promise one thing and deliver another. With more than 6.5 million apps out there, it will be easy for yours to get lost. That's probably not what you were expecting after all the work, time and money you put into building your app. An explainer video that demonstrates what your app is and what users can expect will go a long way. If a consumer is faced with two similar apps, but one offers a nice, short explainer video, odds are the one with video will get the nod. Even a short video can help reinforce a user's confidence that your app meets his or her needs.
Example: Linear-based apps, such as an income-tax form, could start with a video explaining the process. This relaxes the user before she or he gets started. Then, videos along the way can offer further instruction as needed.
Building videos that support your app.

Given the time, effort and money you’re putting into the app itself, you might feel tempted to use pre-built cartoons via a template service. Don’t. The videos in your app should match the overall app design and quality. Otherwise, you show potential customers that your app is thrown together. This mismanages their expectations.
Videos should be integrated into the app itself. A link that sends users to YouTube doesn't cut it. Each video should be so much a part of the app that it flows and feels like part of the user’s experience.

Digital Sound Technology (DST) Has Revealed Former US President, John F. Kennedy's, 'lost' Speech, Can Now be Heard

2018-03-17T17:03:00.001-07:00

Five decades now after his assassination shocked the world, former US president John F. Kennedy can now be heard delivering the speech in Dallas, Texas that he never made.
According to the Times of London The engineers have used new technology to recreate the voice of the 35th US president and the speech he was expected to deliver on November 22, 1963.

Mr Kennedy, aged 46, was shot dead by an assassin as his motorcade travelled through Dallas on his way to the Dallas Trade Mart where he was scheduled to give a speech to 2,600 people at a sold-out luncheon.
A copy of the speech he was to deliver was preserved and given to US Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who became president after Mr Kennedy’s death.
Now, the speech has been digitally created as part of the Times’ “JFK: Unsilenced” project. The speech, which was 2,590 words long, took eight weeks to create.
The Times teamed up with CereProc, a Scottish audio technology company, and Irish creative agency Rothco to create the lifelike speech by analysing hundreds of Mr Kennedy’s previous orations.
Sound engineers from CereProc, a text-to-speech technology developer, were able to recreate Mr Kennedy’s voice by analysing more than 831 of his past speeches. The engineers then pulled 116,777 sound bites from those records to create synthesised audio of Mr Kennedy performing the speech.
Particular attention was paid to pitch and energy, in order to capture the authentic cadence of Mr Kennedy’s famous voice and to make the delivery of the speech as lifelike as possible.
Mr Kennedy was travelling in a motorcade with First Lady Jackie Kennedy, Texas governor John Connally and his wife Nellie at 12.30pm on November 22, 1963 when shots rang out in Dealey Plaza.
The president was fatally struck by gunfire and pronounced dead at the age of 46.
The text of the — until now — “unspoken” speech seems to have unusual relevence to the state of American politics today, and Kennedy says: “In a world of complex and continuing problems, in a world full of frustrations and irritations, America’s leadership must be guided by the lights of learning and reason — or else those who confuse rhetoric with reality and the plausible with the possible will gain the popular ascendancy with their seemingly swift and simple solutions to every world problem.
We cannot expect that everyone, to use the phrase of a decade ago, will ‘talk sense to the American people.’ But we can hope that fewer people will listen to nonsense. And the notion that this Nation is headed for defeat through deficit, or that strength is but a matter of slogans, is nothing but just plain nonsense.

Us President, Trump upset, he failed to save son Don Jr’s marriage to wife, Vanessa

2018-03-17T16:20:00.001-07:00

The Us President, Trump reportedly tried to save his son’s marriage but Vanessa Trump thought her husband’s habits were becoming like his dad’s

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, reports that Mr Trump tried to intervene with Vanessa but to no avail,

Sources told the THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Don Jr. and his brother Eric, 34, are running the Trump Organization while their father is in office. Another of the sources told us, “Don Jr. has been busy traveling, which has contributed to their problems. Vanessa is a devoted mother, but she is increasingly lonely and alone in the house with the children.”

An issue, two of the sources say, is that Don Jr. “appears to have changed recently, and friends are concerned about him.” Their concerns were increased by Don Jr.’s tweeting, including when he liked a tweet linking antidepressants to mass murder, and another liking a tweet attacking a teen survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. The Daily Beast also reported that following the school shooting, Don Jr. urged his dad to stay strong on gun rights and hold firm against any assault weapons ban
Previously at Halloween, Don tweeted that he would take away half of his 3-year-old daughter’s Halloween candy because he wrote, “it’s never to [sic] early to teach her about socialism.” Then after his recent trip to India, he was heavily criticized for his tone-deaf remark praising the country’s poor because “There’s still a smile on a face.”

Supermarket chain Coles faces uncertain future

2018-03-17T15:40:00.003-07:00

The giant supermarket, Coles is about to go through a very big change. But there is one burning question that has yet to be answered

Wesfarmers made it clear the performance potential of the huge supermarket chain was not good enough for them to continue owning it.
Wesfarmers will measure its success over the next decade based on the returns that we generate, not the size of our portfolio,” said Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott on Friday. “While Coles still has many opportunities to grow … its earnings can now be expected to grow at a more moderate rate.”

The Coles business — which includes 800 supermarkets, 900 bottle shops and 700 convenience stores — has recently begun to struggle. In 2017 Coles revenue fell and so did profits. Wesfarmers shares rose sharply on the news that it was dumping Coles, up 6 per cent.
Part of the problem is Australians’ insatiable taste for lower prices. The average price of goods sold at Coles, excluding fresh food and tobacco, fell by 2.2 per cent in 2017. While a lot of the pain of those price cuts is passed onto suppliers, profit is harder to come by in a time of falling prices.
Coles can’t hike prices because if it does, shoppers will go elsewhere,

Prince Harry Said He'll Not signing a pre-nup ahead of wedding to Meghan Markle

2018-03-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Picture: APSource:AP

AHEAD of his wedding to Meghan Markle. Prince Harry has choose not to sign a pre-nuptial agreement to safeguard his $54 million fortune,
PRINCE Harry has Rejected to sign a pre-nup ahead of his marriage to US actress Meghan Markle, as it has been reported.

The 33-year-old, who has an estimated £30million ($54million) fortune, is determined that his marriage will last and won’t need the safeguard.
There was never any question in Harry’s mind that he would sign a pre-nup.
He’s determined that his marriage will be a lasting one, so there’s no need for him to sign anything.”
The romantic prince follows in his brother’s footsteps, with Prince William also refusing to sign a pre-nup before marrying Kate Middleton.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will tie the knot at Windsor castle in May this year, with the US actress becoming Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales.

Harry inherited £10million ($18million) after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and is also reported to have another £20million ($36million) in assets.

Meanwhile, Meghan, who was shot to fame for her role in Suits, has a reported fortune of £4m ($7m)

Tricks to Writing Blog Posts, That People Genuinely Want to Read

2018-03-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

1. Avoid promotion.
The first, and maybe most important, rule of blogging is to avoid promotion. Whether that is self promotion, promotion of an affiliated brand, or promotion of some guy off the street willing to pay you for a mention in a blog post. You may not realize it at the time, but direct promotion in a blog is obvious to nearly everyone. This isn't Years back when no one realized that people pay for contextual placements online. Do yourself and your brand a huge favor, and make your posts have great content. A lack of promotion is always the best promotion.

2. Use visuals.
Infographics, videos, pictures. Content these days can be so much more than just words on a page. Yes, it takes more time to put together great visuals with a contextual post, but when done right, the ROI can be astronomical. I wrote a blog post several years back about all the factors that go into SEO and what Google looks at when ranking a site. It drove some decent traffic, but a colleague of mine took that exact same content and put it into an amazing infographic and it literally put his name on the map. Visuals really can make or break your content.

3. Use examples.
See what I did above with that colleague of mine? Use examples. Your opinion is valuable, but life experiences and real world examples are priceless. Try to back up your writing by citing sources, using case studies, quoting experts and using as many types of examples as you can. It will help establish authority for you, your post and your brand.

Related: 4 Ways Guest Blogging Grows Your Audience Quickly

4. Personalize your posts.
Everyone has a unique writing style. We have clients we work with on digital marketing campaigns who don't want to touch their content, so we have one of our writers write it for them. We have some pretty amazing writers, but the content is never as great as if it were to come directly from the horse's mouth. Even if you don't have time to write all your own content, at least spend 10-15 minutes personalizing it. Add your personal flare. Establish your brand. Those little touches will make your content that much more readable and valuable to your readers.

5. Format properly.
No one is going to read a post without headings, organization and order. If you struggle with organizing your posts and having them flow naturally, then start with an outline or bullet points of what you want to cover, and make those topics into headings to help make the post flow. People, more often than not, will skim your post and just read the major headings, so make sure they are accurate and interesting.

Related: How to Start a Blog and Make $100,000 a Month Before You're 30

6. Have a means of getting readers.
Not everyone is going to have a huge following when they write a post. Make sure you have a strategy to actually get people reading your posts. Some of the most successful ways I find people discover my posts are

Email newsletter: Send all your posts out to an opt-in email list.
Social: Add a link to your site, and send each post out via all the major social media channels.
SEO: Optimize your post to rank for long tail keywords so when people search, they find you.
Syndication/contributions: Whenever possible, syndicate your content to other websites, and likewise, don't be afraid to contribue unique content to third party websites to grow your following.
Write regularly: Over time, you will grow a following on your blog through the above channels and through people who check back at your site. But make sure you keep your readers updated on a regular basis.
These are typically the areas where new bloggers struggle the most. If you manage to do these things right, over time, your blog posts will no longer feel like a chore, and you'll reap the benefits of regularly blogging

Super Eagles is representing Africa in World Cup

2018-03-05T17:39:00.000-08:00

President Muhammadu Buhari (r) with the visiting President George Weah of Liberia briefing State House Correspondents after their meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday (5/3/18)

George Weah of Liberia on Monday said that the Nigeria’s Super Eagles is not only going to represent Nigeria but the entire African continent

President George Weah of Liberia on Monday said that the Nigeria’s Super Eagles is not only going to represent Nigeria but the entire African continent. The Liberian President also warned Ministers especially those in-charge of the Sports ministry to desist from the habit of tampering with money meant for the welfare of players during any tournament. Weah stated this in an interview with the State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja

The Liberian President also warned Ministers especially those in-charge of the Sports ministry to desist from the habit of tampering with money meant for the welfare of players during any tournament. Weah stated this in an interview with the State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He expressed dismay over the attitude of African leaders who always complain when it comes to investing in sports, and thanked President Buhari for the qualification of Super Eagles to the World Cup. He said he was amazed when he met the President of France, Emmanuel Macron who spoke passionately on his sports agenda and how he plans to build capacity through sports. He said, “I have been fighting for so long for my national team to qualify. Imagine, in the world best here in Africa, the only world best. And I said to President Macron, that FIFA built one stadium in Liberia and we have one Balloon d’Or, so if you build 10 stadia in Liberia, you will have 10 ballon d’Ors. “I think Nigerian team is a model, we all followed them. I have played with great Nigerian players, I played against them. Now you have a new generation, the fact that they qualified is a good thing for Nigeria. “But I hope that they will prepare very early because they are going to represent Africa and we will be there to watch them, for them to bring the trophy for the first time if it is possible. But I think the seriousness to go to World Cup is not to pay players to go, I want every African government to know, if you win World Cup is a pride to Africa, it is not just to Nigeria, so we must do everything to ensure that the players are not stressed, make sure they concentrate, make sure their incentives are given to them to motivate them. “Some of the things you see at the World Cup, you will see an entire team go to represent a whole country and you will hear that one minister took the money, they did not pay these players and the players are causing problem. When players are going to camp, it is to relax and focus. And for them to be in camp they must have everything there for them not to worry. “Remember I played in European setting, when we go camp we have nothing to do. The only thing we have to do is to take a shower and prepare for the game, everything is laid down here and so you have no excuse. “So let the players not have excuse, support them and let them go and bring back that cup.” On what he is doing to revamp sports in his country, he said he had already started something and that he had gone to meet World Bank and they are giving his country $5 million to revamp the sports sector. “As a former coach, technical director and former sponsor of the national team, you know it is not only football. When Liberia goes to represent us at the Olympics, we only see the officials drilling with our flags, we don’t see any athletes. “This year, we have made sure that all of our sports, we will have someone to represent us and I will be there to monitor them. That is why we put a former player as the sports minister that I will work with to revamp Liberia National Team and I know he will do it best. “And those techniques that made Liberia qualify twice and missed the World Cup three times, I will make sure that I work with him so that he can do the work and ensure that our athletes go and represent our country.

FG sets up panel to probe kidnap of 110 Dapchi girls

2018-02-28T15:47:00.001-08:00

The federal government has set up a 12-man committee to investigate circumstances surrounding the kidnap of 110 schoolgirls from the government science and technical college, Dapchi, Yobe state.

The committee has representatives of various stakeholders and has until March 15, 2018 to submit its report.[left-sidebar]

M’Baye Niang inspires Watford win over 10-man Burnley

2017-12-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

Watford secured successive Premier League wins for the first time since September as 10-man Burnley saw their dismal away form continue.

First-half headers from Troy Deeney and January signing M’Baye Niang were enough for the Hornets to seal a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road and build on their stunning win at Arsenal in midweek.

Burnley played the majority of the game a man short after midfielder Jeff Hendrick was sent off after just six minutes.

Ashley Barnes’ penalty gave the Clarets hope but they have now claimed just one point from a possible 33 on the road, with only Sky Bet Championship strugglers Rotherham winning fewer away points in the top four divisions this season.

Deadline-day signings Ashley Westwood and Robbie Brady were named on the Burnley bench while Watford made two changes from their last game.

Mauro Zarate, who made his debut following suspension, and Jose Holebas started in place of Miguel Britos and Daryl Janmaat and Holebas would play a crucial role in the turning point of the match.

After a quiet opening, the visitors were reduced to ten men after six minutes when referee Michael Oliver dismissed Hendrick for a reckless two-footed challenge on Holebas. The Watford defender momentarily hobbled off but returned to the field, much to the dismay of the Burnley supporters.

Burnley’s afternoon went from bad to worse four minutes later. Niang cut in from the right flank and floated a beautiful cross onto the head of Deeney, who out-muscled Clarets defender Matt Lowton at the far post.

Niang, who has been impressive since his arrival from AC Milan last week, threatened again but Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton pulled off a brilliant save to keep out the Frenchman’s 20-yard curling effort.

The Clarets were presented with a rare chance to equalise after Valon Behrami brought down George Boyd on the edge of the area, but Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes tipped Boyd’s free-kick over the bar.

At that point, the visitors looked to have survived Watford’s onslaught but their slim chances of claiming a draw took a killer blow on the stroke of half-time. Niang leapt highest to get the deftest touch on Holebas’ cross and double the lead.

Clarets boss Sean Dyche sent on Brady in the 55th minute for his debut in hope of rejuvenating his side but the tempo dropped in the second half, with Watford happy to keep possession and maintain their lead.

Barnes had a claim for penalty denied after 67 minutes as Sebastian Prodl looked to have put his arm into the striker’s path. Heaton was on hand to pull off another great save at the other end to deny Deeney, whose outstretched boot connected with Niang’s cross.

Home fans paid tribute to former manager Graham Taylor in the 72nd minute but the visitors pulled one back moments later.

Following a scramble in the box, referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot after Joey Barton’s effort struck the arm of Prodl and Barnes stepped up to halve the deficit.

Burnley should have equalised in stoppage time when Craig Cathcart’s slip allowed Barnes a sight of goal in the box but Gomes got down well to block the shot. Deeney then had late goal disallowed for handball as Watford held on.

Cameroon coach savours winning over critics

2017-12-19T09:40:00.001-08:00

Cameroon coach Hugo Broos is savouring the prospect of Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final against Egypt having won over those who doubted him when he was appointed a year ago.

“There was a lot of negativity around me. It was not pleasant. I didn’t understand why at the beginning I wasn’t given my chance,” said the 64-year-old Belgian on Saturday when asked how he dealt with the initial scepticism surrounding his appointment.

Broos was appointed almost exactly a year ago and has revitalised a team that had been in disarray under Volker Finke and had not made it beyond the group stage of a Cup of Nations since 2010.

The Belgian had never coached an international team before but under him Cameroon have lost just once, and that in a friendly away against France.

In Gabon they have eliminated the hosts, Senegal and Ghana en route to Sunday’s final, where they will be hoping to win Cameroon’s first title since 2002.

He said: “When I started in Cameroon almost a year ago now, before arriving I already had a project in my head.

“As soon as I started, for me it was clear that I had two choices: either you do what the coaches before you have done, you don’t succeed and you leave, or you do what you have in mind, it doesn’t work out and you leave anyway.

“It is better to be sacked with your own ideas than doing what others before you have done.

“That has been my motto since the beginning. If it doesn’t work out, too bad for me, but I think today I can say that it has worked out.”

Messi’s free kick helps Barcelona cruise to victory

2017-12-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

Paco Alcacer opened the scoring on 18 minutes with his first league goal for the club and after the visitors had failed to make the most of their chances, Lionel Messi’s free kick squirmed past Bilbao keeper Gorka Iraizoz five minutes before half-time.

Defender Aleix Vidal added a third midway through the second half for Luis Enrique’s side, who have now played two matches more than Real Madrid.

The leaders are due to meet Celta Vigo on Sunday evening, but that fixture could yet be postponed for safety reasons after the bad weather which swept across northern Spain reportedly left the Balaidos stadium roof unsafe.

Barcelona coach Enrique mixed up his starting XI, with Luis Suarez rested and Alcacer coming into the frontline.

Bilbao, who were unbeaten in their prevous five league games, saw defender Yeray Alvarez return to the team having recently been diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Neymar’s booking in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg victory over Atletico Mardid meant he would miss next week’s return at the Camp Nou, and the Brazilian dragged an early chance wide.

The visitors, though, were within inches of taking a shock lead when Raul Garcia’s angled shot was tipped onto the inside of the post by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Inaki Williams then headed over from 10 yards, and it proved a costly miss as Barcelona swept into the lead on 18 minutes.

Neymar darted into the left side of the penalty area before cutting the ball back to Alcacer, who swept a first-time shot past Gorka Iraizoz inside the near post for a first league goal since his summer move from Valencia.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was caught in possession on the edge of his own penalty area and hauled down Raul Garcia as the forward muscled clear, but Ander Iturraspe clipped the resulting free kick over the crossbar.

After riding more pressure from Bilbao, which saw both Garcia and Williams test Ter Stegen, the hosts were gifted a second goal five minutes before the break.

Messi whipped in a free kick from the right up over the two-man wall and towards the near post, where Iraizoz somehow managed to allow it through his limp wrists and into the back of the net.

Neymar was close to adding a third when he powered into the left side of the penalty area and clipped a low shot just wide.

Javier Mascherano came on for Pique at the start of the second half, which continued with Barcelona on the front foot as Rafinha headed wide after being picked out by Messi at the far post.

The Brazilian had to go off in the 54th minute having collided with goalkeeper Ter Stegen and being left with a cut head, with Ivan Rakitic coming on.

With Bilbao looking unlikely to muster a recovery, and perhaps with one eye on Tuesday night’s cup tie, Enrique decided to give Messi a rest, bringing on Sergi Roberto.

Barcelona added a third on 67 minutes when full-back Aleix Vidal slotted in an angled drive.

Iraizoz saved from Neymar as the home side coasted to a seventh victory from eight matches.

Aguero says Manchester City future could be decided at end of season

2017-12-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

Gabriel has made a spectacular impact since moving to the Etihad in January and scored both goals in the win that moved City up to third in the Premier League.

With the Brazilian becoming the first choice for Pep Guardiola’s side in the last two games, speculation has grown over Aguero’s future at the club but he told reporters that he is ready to fight for his place.

“Sometimes this happens, when you’re on the bench you have to wait for your opportunity,” Aguero said. “I have three months to do my best and try to help the team and we’ll see what happens with my future.”

Asked if he was thinking of leaving, Aguero added: “No, no. I have to help the team as much as I can in these three months, afterwards we’ll see what the club wants to do with me.

“In three years my contract is up, that’s why I say I’m happy at the club.

“In these last three months [of the season] that are left I have to help the club and as I say the club will decide if I have a place here or not.

“I want to stay, of course.”

Aguero was finally introduced in the 83rd minute shortly after Gylfi Sigurdsson’s equaliser for the Welsh club.

Gabriel grabbed a 92nd minute winner and Aguero says he has been impressed by the Brazilian teenager and he can help him improve his own game.

“I was happy, obviously I was waiting to go on and fortunately we scored and won,” Aguero added.

“He’s a great player, he’s a very young player but he will learn a lot at City and he will have a great future at the club.

“At the moment I have to watch what he does, to learn, it could be a little bit. I am how I am. I have spent a lot of years in Europe playing the same way.”

Defense, counter-attacking now an art in EPL – Mourinho

2017-12-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

Sixth-placed United won 3-0 at Leicester City on Sunday, putting them within five points of second-paced Tottenham Hotspur, but leaders Chelsea are 14 points ahead of Mourinho’s men.

Speaking at his postmatch news conference, the United manager said: “My team is playing very well.

“But for many, many years in my career — especially in this country when my teams were ruthless and when my teams were phenomenal defensively and very good on the counter-attack — I listened, week after week, how that was not enough in spite of winning the title three times.

“It looks like, this season, to be phenomenal defensively and in counter-attack is art, so it is a big change in England.

“But I don’t want to change how we play.”

Leicester’s Schmeichel warns of relegation threat after Manchester United loss

2017-12-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

The Foxes — still without a league goal in 2017 — end the weekend a point above the drop zone after strikes from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata gave United a comfortable win at the King Power Stadium.

They have won just twice in their last 14 top flight games and goalkeeper Schmeichel told Sky Sports: “It’s not a situation that’s comfortable at all.

“We’re the reigning champions and quite frankly it’s been terrible — it’s been embarrassing.

“It’s not good enough and it sums our season up at the moment. Let’s not talk about last season. Last season’s gone, as you can clearly see.

“We have to improve right now. It’s time for every single one of us, right from the top to the bottom of this club to stand up and be counted, because if we don’t we’re going to end up getting relegated.”

Asked about a supposed rift between some of Leicester’s players and manager Claudio Ranieri, Schmeichel added: “I’m not going to comment on any newspaper speculation. I know what’s going on in the dressing room.

“We’re a group of players who are low on confidence but certainly not low on fight. We’ll fight to the end, whatever that might be but I can guarantee every player in there is hurting.”

Leicester never looked like recovering after Mkhitaryan and Ibrahimovic scored within 88 seconds of each other just before half-time.

A year ago they were five points clear at the top after winning 3-1 at Manchester City, but they go to relegation rivals Swansea on Sunday for what could be a season-defining game.

But Ranieri insisted the squad remained united despite their struggles.

He added: “We aren’t happy, we are sad, but it’s important to react. We were solid, strong and united last season. It is the same this season but without the results.

“We are together, we are solid, there is a solid dressing room and if they don’t want me they can tell this [to the chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha], but they don’t go there. We are together.”

Cameroon win AFCON as Aboubakar strikes late

2017-12-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

And just as the game appeared headed toward extra time, Aboubakar delivered a fine strike to give Cameroon their first continental title in 15 years.

How the media lost the public’s trust, and how they’ll earn it back

2017-12-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

Media lost the public’s trust,

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn and is republished with permission. LinkedIn editor Isabelle Roughol interviewed Democracy Fund Senior Fellow Geneva Overholser about the crisis of trust that faces news organizations, and how they can address it.

A tangle of questions troubles journalists these days: Why are we so distrusted? Can we survive the loss of the advertising that supports us? How do we stand up against the control that behemoths like Facebook and Google have over our futures? And what do we do about the growing assaults on truth telling from bots and hackers, viral deception and foreign meddling – let alone our own president?

I want to add this to the tangle: How can we bring these questions to you? And how can we bring you into the discussions? I want to do this because I worry that, unless journalism matters to the people it exists to serve, it may not exist at all for long. So, if you think that being able to count on a fundamentally reliable supply of information in the public interest is critical to you and to our democracy, here are four things I’d ask you to think about:

Journalists

1. Journalists increasingly (I could add, belatedly) understand that we need to do a better job of serving the public’s needs. There are scores of efforts underway to get at the question of how to win the public trust. Some are focused on being more transparent or more inclusive of different viewpoints and voices.

Others emphasize listening better and engaging with their communities in creating the news. There is a recommitment to ensuring that journalism is fair, balanced, verifiable and proportional, as well as a new awareness that we must focus not just on what goes wrong, but on the equally newsworthy (and hope-inspiring) things that go right.

Perhaps most important, there is a growing understanding that we must direct our fast dwindling resources toward watchdogging government and business, probing the dark corners of poverty and injustice, and providing the basic information needed for effective citizenship.

2. You – Mr. and Ms. Public

Also have a responsibility, one that is unfamiliar to most: to be the curators of your own media diet. Until recently, news simply came to you (for free or cheaply), and you received it. Nobody felt the need to teach her kid how to be mindful of seeking the balanced diet that would produce civic health, choosing what was best for her, demanding better when it didn’t satisfy.

ow that the top-down model is gone, it’s little wonder that we live in a chaotic world of half-truths and worse, or that we have trouble figuring out what information came from where — whether the author was a trustworthy source or a kid in Macedonia making a buck off our gullibility. All of us now shape our common news world through the choices we make about what to read or watch or view – and about what we write or share or like. But few of us understand how potent that responsibility is.

3. If news is going to survive,

It will be because the public views it as a civic good, a democratic necessity, and thus is willing to support it. We know that education is essential to a self-governing people, so we fund public schools. We know that human beings need art, so we pony up for admission. Our journalism has long been paid for by advertisers – you, the reader/viewer/listener were the product, not the customer, which made things run effectively but also had some unfortunate aspects, such as disconnecting journalists from readers.

Now that advertising tied to news is collapsing, and unlikely ever to return to its previously vigorous state, someone is going to have to pay for this often costly thing that is original journalism. Philanthropy has a role (community foundations, for example, as well as wealthy individuals), and we are already seeing it come into play. But I am convinced that the best journalism will be the journalism that is supported in substantial part by those whom it serves.

4. Journalists’ failures,

The public’s obliviousness to the challenges, have contributed to the parlous state of news today. But there are other potent forces arrayed against the public’s ability to receive a reliable and fair-minded news report. Powerful critics, backed by individuals of enormous wealth who feel inconvenienced by a free and independent press, seek to weaken it. Intrusions from other nations, as well as individuals making money off falsehoods and deceptions, thrive in the largely human-judgment-free zones of our social-media platforms.

Facebook and Google may at long last have acknowledged that they are indeed in the business of providing information – along with the viral deception that infests it – but their responses to date are baby steps. Meanwhile, they sap advertising from traditional journalism organizations, and strip them of their ability to project their own brands – a huge challenge to building trust (not to mention to building an economic model).

Extremist publications, poor in truth but rich in demagoguery, render the essential democratic necessity of coming together around common facts a near impossibility. These forces, arrayed against the time-honored notion that “the truth will out,” are not sufficiently understood. And they are far from being adequately addressed.

Americans widely distrust,

It’s clear that Americans widely distrust institutions generally, and media organizations in particular. And we seem intent on dividing bitterly along partisan lines, putting our faith (such as it is) in different news sources. So maybe an appeal to join in a common effort seems doomed. But I’m talking about something well beyond today’s dissatisfying landscape.

What if you truly felt that there was no source of information that you could rely on to sort fact from fiction? No one to turn to, in a disaster, to find out what really happened? No source you trusted to certify a quote, or a death toll, or determine whether your city council had passed a law that will change your life?

Neighborhood involvement is a critical factor in the sharing of hyperlocal news, research shows

2017-12-17T06:06:00.001-08:00

Conversations between academic research and local newsrooms are often siloed. Interesting and useful findings from research are trapped in long papers that those in local newsrooms may not know about or have time to sift through. To help highlight some key findings from recent research and what they could mean for those working in local news, we’re launching a new series here on the Local News Lab.

We will summarize some key findings from recent research on news and information, what the findings could mean, and some interesting takeaways to consider. To kick things off, we have research on how audience metrics can impact civic affairs reporting, who shares hyperlocal news and how, and how broad collaboration helps improve local news.

Metrics, Hyperlocal, and Collaboration

This week, we pulled research from the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). The meeting focused on the intersection of research and media practice. Papers can be found at AEJMC’s All Academic site. They are behind a paywall but can often be accessed by contacting the authors directly.

(Important to note for those that want more specific details — some identifying information, such as the names of news organizations or locations, are not specified in the papers due to practices to ensure that peer review processes remain blind. The goal is to ensure that reviewers cannot identify authors and will instead judge works based on their quality, rather than who the authors are).

Off the Screen and Into the Streets: Hyperlocal News Sharing Who Gets Vocal about Hyperlocal: The Role of Neighborhood Involvement and Status in the Sharing of Hyperlocal Website News, Petre Bobkowski, Liefu Jiang, Laveda Peterlin, and Nathan Rodriguez, University of Kansas. In a survey of 1,880 readers of seven hyperlocal news sites throughout the U.S., the authors found that news from hyperlocal news sites is shared more frequently via word-of-mouth than through either email or social media. Building on this, the study found:

Neighborhood involvement,

Critical factor in the sharing of hyperlocal news, especially via word-of-mouth. When measured on a scale of 1 to 5, every one-unit increase in neighborhood involvement increases the likelihood of word-of-mouth sharing by 49 percent. Although education, income, and employment—three markers of socioeconomic status—are all factors that influence news consumption and sharing, they weren’t particularly influential over the sharing of hyperlocal news.

Education influences sharing of hyperlocal news via word-of-mouth and email, and employment influences sharing through email, but income was not found to influence any form of sharing, whether in person or online. These findings provide valuable insight into hyperlocal news audiences. First, this suggests that hyperlocal news is able to bridge at least some socioeconomic divides that are common across news audiences.

Second, developing relationships with the most highly involved residents in their neighborhoods may be a worthwhile path for hyperlocal news publishers to better understand the needs of their communities as well as to have ambassadors in their communities.

Community News.

Moving Beyond Clicks: Web Metrics and Community News The Impact of Web Metrics on Community News Decisions: A Resource Dependence Perspective, Tom Arenberg and Wilson Lowrey, University of Alabama. This comparative case study of two small community newsrooms suggested that a heavy focus on audience metrics, especially reader clicks, in newsroom decision making in these newsrooms hurt coverage of public affairs and follow-up reporting.

One newsroom (the “Heavy Metrics Herald”) includes use of audience metrics for news decisions as part of job reviews as well as has multiple streams of constantly available real-time and recent metrics including newsroom monitors, twice-daily emails, and individual reporter dashboards. The second newsroom (the “Light Metrics Ledger”) does not include metrics in job reviews and has reports on audience analytics only available on a sporadic basis. The study specifically found:

The newsroom with less emphasis on audience metrics had a higher proportion of stories about civic affairs (25 of 75) than the newsroom with a heavy emphasis on audience metrics (25 of 98).

Several reporters at the newsroom with a heavy emphasis on audience metrics said disappointing metrics discouraged follow-up reporting on issue stories.

Collaboration and Community Engagement

While these findings aren’t generalizable beyond these two specific newsrooms, they offer important insights into how standard web metrics aren’t necessarily optimized for audience engagement or strong reporting. While newsrooms must rely on web metrics to attract ad dollars, use of tools such as American Press Institute’s Metrics for News and Center for Investigative Reporting’s Impact Tracker can help newsrooms identify content that plays to their strengths beyond just garnering traffic and to identify the specific impact of their work.

Collaboration and Community Engagement Build New News Routines. Disrupting Traditional News Routines Through Community Engagement: Analysis of a Media Collaboration Project, Jennifer Moore and John Hatcher, University of Minnesota.

In a case study of a collaborative reporting project on waterways in a Midwestern city, the authors found some evidence of success for an approach to local news that focuses on the connections among organizations and community members, rather than individual organizations. The authors also found community engagement to be a useful part of the reporting process. Specifically, the authors found:

Community Engagement

Community engagement fostered a willingness to participate in the project, particularly among non-journalism stakeholders such as local businesses and citizens. As a result, nearly 50 unique stories were produced on the topic. The project also lead to new cross-disciplinary partnerships leading to new formats of storytelling. For example, one playwright created a play based on stories from the project. The play went on to win national awards. Other participants say they learned new ways of storytelling through workshops and engagement with others in the community.

This case study points towards a new way to think about how we make and support local news. “Among the key findings of this study is that its success appears to have been its design and focus at the media ecosystem-level as a way of encouraging news organizations to consider participatory and collaborative journalism techniques” (p. 22). This is in contrast to many initiatives and funding which tend to support individual outlets or industry-level approaches.

Engagement and how we measure it are important pieces of the work of local newsrooms, be it reconsidering how we use web metrics or how we approach new reporting projects.

FG Releases N1.6bn For States Ravaged By Flood

2017-12-16T02:21:00.002-08:00

The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has approved the immediate release of N1.6billion as intervention funds for 16 states ravaged by flood

The states include Akwaibom, Kebbi, Enugu, Abia, Oyo, Plateau, Edo, Bayelsa, Kwara among others.

The money is expected to be taken from the ecological funds and released directly to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) immediately.
The development is coming days after states across the country witnessed massive flooding as a result of a downpour that went on for days.
The flood led to loss of several lives and property in states such as Niger and Lagos.Osinbajo on Monday, visited the site of the collapsed Mokwa-Jebba Bridge in Niger State for an on-the-spot assessment, after which he stated that the government had commenced work to make the roads passable again in about two weeks time.

Ikpeazu Announces Gradual Withdrawal Of Soldiers From Abia Streets

2017-12-16T01:56:00.000-08:00

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu says the gradual withdrawal of soldiers from the streets of Abia will commence tomorrow

The governor made the announcement on Thursday during a media briefing on the security situation in the state.
He said the security situation in the state in the past few days has become of great concern to both the government and the citizenry

Governor Ikpeazu condemned the reported attacks on police stations and military posts in Aba and Umuahia, warning that the state government would no longer tolerate such incident.

He also asked members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to desist from spreading what he called “false rumors” capable of throwing Abia State into disorder.

Read the full text below;

Dear brothers and sisters, the security situation in the state in the past few days, which led to the deployment of soldiers into our state ahead of the Operation Python dance 11, has become of great concern to both the government and the citizenry.

After several interventions, I want to inform you that by tomorrow morning, there will be withdrawal of solders from the streets at Aba and Umuahia, apart from the pre-existing military checkpoints at various location in the state.

With the expected exit of soldiers from the streets, we must warn that we will not tolerate agitators and protesters taking over the streets for any reason at all.

I will also be meeting the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, to discuss possible ways of relaxing the Operation Python dance 11 in the state for now.

Our attention have been drawn to ugly incidences of attacks on police stations and military posts at Aba and Umuahia and we hereby warn that we will no longer tolerate that, and all other acts that are capable of causing insecurity in the state.

We have also observed illegal acts of throwing petrol bombs and setting up of bonfires to obstruct free movements along some roads by suspected miscreants and wish to warn that such acts should stop forthwith.

To mischief makers who want to use Abia as their base, let me announce to you that henceforth, Abia will be too hot for you to carry out your wicked acts as the government will work with security agents to ensure the protection of lives and properties in the state without fear or favour. There will be no hiding place for you.

At about midnight yesterday, we received security reports that hoodlums and miscreants, some of whom were allegedly brought into the state by unscrupulous individuals, were mobilizing around Uratta road at Aba with a view to converging at Ariaria International Market to burn it down. Their aim was obviously to take advantage of the security situation in the state to cripple the economy of the state and cause widespread suffering.

It was this group that originated the rumors of attacks and counter attacks around the area and also tried to create panic to force people out of their homes to enable them execute their evil intentions under the cover of orchestrated crises.

Thankfully their plan was nipped in the bud by the combined team of soldiers and policemen that promptly moved to the area and later positioned around Ariaria market to protect the lives and properties of our people.

We have it on good authority that the same group of hoodlums attempted to burn down the police station at Ariaria market early today and security agents are currently on the hunt for them and those outside the state who are sponsoring their evil actions. Not even one of them will escape the full weight of the law.

Members and sympathizers of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) should henceforth desist from spreading false rumors capable of throwing our state into disorder. Those spreading such falsehood will be dealt with, according to the Law.

My fellow Abians, it is in the interest of all our citizens and residents for full and total peace and security to return to our state immediately. No meaningful progress can be made in an atmosphere of violence and anarchy.

Those at Aba are therefore advised to fully observe the current curfew in the city and ensure that they cooperate with security agents to maintain peace and order.

I swore to protect lives and properties of all Abians and residents and that I must do. I therefore call on all to support our efforts at making sure that lasting peace prevails in our dear state.

God bless Abia State.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Dr Okezie Ikpeazu

Court Orders Final Forfeiture Of N7.6bn Linked To Diezani

2017-12-16T01:15:00.003-08:00

The Federal High Court Sitting in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of a sum of N7,646,700,000 allegedly belonging to the Former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison Madueke

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission linked the offence to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke

About three weeks ago, the Commission who wanted the money forfeited to the Federal government had told a vacation judge, Justice Chuka Obiozor via an ex parte application that the N7.6bn was part of a sum of $153,310,000 which Mrs Alison-Madueke allegedly siphoned from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation sometime in 2014.

The EFCC also alleged that Mrs Alison-Madueke stashed the money in three banks, and the Federal Government had since February last year, through an order granted by another judge, Justice Muslim Hassan also of the Federal High Court, recovered part of the money from the other banks.

The anti-graft agency recalled that the Federal Government had recovered N23.4bn, $5m and another N9.08bn out of the $153.3m.

Justice Obiozor had granted the interim order on August 9 and directed the commission to cause it to be published. He then adjourned till today, August 28, 2017 for the bank and any other interested party to appear before him to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

At the proceedings today, Counsel to the EFCC, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo told Presiding Justice AbdulAziz Anka that the Commission had complied with the courts order and no one had come forward to lay claims to the money.

He urged the court to order the final forfeiture of the money.

Justice AbdulAziz Anka granted the order as prayed . He also held that all parties have a right of appeal.