Social Reporters News Service, published by IOE Publishers - CAC/BN/3400383

Is Pope Francis Too Political? Walter Moss / History News Network @myHNN Feb. 15, 2015 Franco Origlia—Getty Images Pope Francis attends the opening session of the Extraordinary Consistory for the creation of new cardinals at the Synod Hall on Feb. 12, 2015 in Vatican City, Vatican. Russia’s leading nineteenth-century philosopher would say “no” History News Network More Watch Pope Francis’ Surprise Visit to a Roman Shantytown This Chart Shows Most Americans Agree with Pope Francis on Spanking This post is in partnership with the History News Network , the website that puts the news into historical perspective. The article below was originally published at HNN. More Christians and Spanking Culture: How and Why to Stop It Fifty Shades of Grey Is a ‘Direct Assault’ on Marriage, Archbishop Says Winter Storm to Pelt 40 Million With Ice,

Punch Newspaper INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega | credits: File copy We must never permit a situation of having to lock the stable door after the horse had bolted. The constitution is clear and unambiguous: the process of removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, according to Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution, starts from the Senate and ends with the President. Reacting to the purported dismissal of Maurice Iwu by President Goodluck Jonathan in the Daily Independent in 2010 under the title, The collapse of the Rule of Law in Nigeria, I said inter alia: “Readers of this column would have observed my obsession with issues relating to the rule of law. My pen has never failed to spare any infraction of what I regard as the canon of civilisation, however marginal or minute is the breach. It is my firm belief that relations in any human concourse must be guided by a code, the breach of which must attract a penalty. This is what disti

7 Habits of Remarkably Successful Startup Entrepreneurs All successful entrepreneurs may be different from one another--but not in certain key ways. By Jeff Haden IMAGE: Getty Images On the surface, successful entrepreneurs seem to be the same as everyone else. But look closely and you'll see that in a few ways they are very, very different--and so is how they start and run their businesses. 1. They always prefer action to thinking. A detailed plan is great, but stuff happens, and most entrepreneurs don't make it past the first three action items before adapting to reality. (I started a company assuming I'd provide book-design services to publis

Posted by editor   Former President Olusegun Obasanjo Monday dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stating he is no longer interested. Chief Obasanjo reportedly went further to tear his membership card of the party in public. This is coming after many verbal and written attacks between himself and the presidency in recent times. However, the former Nigerian president has not declared his interest to join any other party. It would be recalled that Obasanjo is a founding member of the PDP and the first democratically elected president of the party. He was elected twice (1999 and 2003) on the platform of the PDP as president of Nigeria.  

Punch Newspaper All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in a warm embrace with his Peoples Democratic Party opponent, President Goodluck Jonathan, at the general elections sensitisation workshop on non-violence in Abuja... on Wednesday. | credits: NAN The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) may meet before the March 28 presidential elections. The PUNCH gathered on Sunday that the meeting which might hold outside the country   was to establish rapport between the two contenders before the election. A source close to the Presidency said, “We are trying to broker a meeting between the two leaders. “The way the presidential electioneering is going may create serious divisions among Nigerians. We need to stop this. “Apart from this, I think there is serious apprehension in the camp of the President that

Posted by the Editor An aspirant who sought to represent Lagos Island Constituency 1 in the state’s House of Assembly, Wasiu Sanni, has sued the All Progressives Congress for allegedly omitting his name in the final list submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Sanni, who claimed to have won the party’s December 2, 2014 primary with 186 votes, is accusing the APC of transferring his mandate to the first runner-up in the said election, Hakeem Masha, who was said to have polled 70 votes. Sanni, who is a former Executive Chairman of the Lagos Island Local Government Area, is seeking a declaration of the court that the alleged substitution of his name on the list forwarded to INEC with that of Masha, ran afoul of the provisions of sections 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 of the Electoral Act, 2010. He is seeking an order of the court restoring his allegedly stolen mandate as the lawfully recognised APC candidate to contest for a seat in the Lagos House of

The Huffington Post  |  By Brie Dyas Some people just aren't built for the mornings. Despite promises to change for the better, their earliest hours are often races against the clocks. If this sounds like how you start your day, know that there are a few things you can do to get a little more breathing space. It all starts with identifying the little things that trip up your routine. We've identified a few possible culprits for you -- and all of them have something to do with your home. 1. You never put up curtains in your bedroom. Whether it's the glow from the street lights or

Time management Are You Proud of How You’re Spending Your Time? When you feel like you’re just one e-mail away from failure at work, it can seem ludicrous to take your eyes off of what you believe absolutely needs to get done to consider what you might regret in the future. The amount of demands coming at you feels so crushing and so unavoidable that you justify a missed soccer game here, a canceled dinner with a friend there, and a never-used gym membership over there, with the thought, I was just doing what it takes to get everything done. Sometimes that thought is accurate when you have a truly urgent situation or a special event like preparing for an annual conference. However, in my experience as a time coach and trainer, I’ve found that reasoning is often a pretty façade for not k

Posted by the Editor Jonathan, Obasanjo The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation has told former President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop playing God over his numerous criticisms of President Goodluck Jonathan. The organsiation was reacting to the claim by Obasanjo that President Jonathan was planning to perpetuate himself in office. Apart from this, the former President also accused Jonathan of planning to cause chaos if he lost the March 28 presidential election. But the Director of Media and Publicity of the organsiation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, debunked the allegations, saying the former President under whom he served as Minister of Aviation and Special Assistant on Public Communication, was trying to play God. Fani-Kayode, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, accused his former boss of trying in vain to control President Jonathan. He said the problem between the two members of the ruling party had nothing to do with Nigeri

The federal government categorizes silencers as firearms, even though they are accessories that cannot fire bullets themselves. Silencers, and also fully automatic machineguns , fall under the National Firearms Act, which was passed in 1934 in the wake of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre to make it more difficult for gangsters to get certain guns. The basic background check for most guns requires the purchaser to present a photo ID to the retailer and electronically submit a form to the ATF. But purchasing a silencer requires the applicant to mail or Fax a photo and fingerprints to the ATF and to pay a $200 tax. The approval process for most guns takes about 20 minutes, but for a silencer it can take nine or 10 months. To offset the tax, another silencer seller, Advanced Armament Corp. of Lawrenceville, Georgia, offers a $200 tax credit to buyers. "Don't let a government-imposed tax stop you from practicing your right to shoot safe & silent,&quo

What is the problem of Olusegun Obasanjo Former President Olusegun Obasanjo Details later. . .

Posted by editor The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on all political parties in the country as well as all other relevant stakeholders in the electoral process to relegate all narrow group interests and join hands with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to guarantee the success of the 2015 general elections. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Sunday said all parties must come together in the interest of the nation and ensure that measures that create the environment for credible, free and fair elections are firmly put in place. “The responsibility of building a united, strong and prosperous nation anchored on democratic principles lies on all of us collectively. We therefore charge all political parties, other relevant groups and all stakeholders in the electoral process to jettison all personal/group interests and put that of our nation and its people ahead of all. “Th

The Nigerian Police, Edo State Command has declared wanted one Mr. John Nzubechi, for the crime of homosexuality which happened in a suburb in Benin City. According to the Police Spokesman, DSP Okoh, John Nzubechi was caught having sex with his landlord's son, Monday Osaro. According to the Police, the father of Monday Osaro, Chief Titus Osaro who is an influential politician in Benin, said it was the noise produced by John that attracted his attention. Then he peeped through the window and saw John Nzubechi having sex with his son, Monday. According to the Police Spokesman, Chief Titus Osaro claimed he had earlier suspected the move in several occasions and that whenever he interrogated John, he would denied. An eye witness who pleaded anonymity told the Nigerian Observer that when John and Monday were caught, Chief Titus Osaro called his political thugs to beat up and kill John, but before the thugs came, John had excaped through the window, while Monday walked out of the

Posted by editor The national security adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), has said that the new date of the general election, March 28 and April 11, will not be moved again and that all known camps belonging to the Boko Haram sect will be destroyed before the rescheduled polls. “All known Boko Haram camps will be taken out. They won’t be there. They will be dismantled,” Col. Dasuki told the AFP news agency. “Those dates will not be shifted again,” Dasuki said when asked if the polls, initially scheduled for February 14, could be pushed back further. The NSA said he believed the new military cooperation agreed two weeks ago between Nigeria and its neighbours – Cameroon, Chad and Niger – will prove decisive against the insurgents. Dasuki had urged election officials on Saturday to postpone the polls on the grounds that the military could not provide nationwide election security because all available resources were being deployed t

By Aloy Ejimakor   In the interest of full disclosure, let me say from the outset that this piece is nonpartisan. It is, instead, an apolitical academic exercise, primarily intended as a simple legal treatise, without being personal, on the legalities of tenure of Prof Attahiru Jega as INEC Chairman. Having said that, let me then give reasons why Jega’s tenure legally or actually comes to end on March 24, 2015, instead of the presumptive June 24, 2015. Jega was appointed by President Jonathan on June 8, 2010, and confirmed by the Senate on June 24, 2010. Under the law, his tenure runs for five years. Mathematically, therefore his tenure ‘exactly’ ends on June 24, 2015, counting from the date of Senate confirmation. But accordingly to extant rules and our time-honored conventions, his tenure ‘actually’ comes to an end on March 24 because he is required, without more, to compulsorily proceed on terminal leave three months to the mathematical end of his tenure. And

By the Editor Oluwasegun Adegbenjo Some yet-to-be identified gunmen have killed a 38-year-old tailor, Oluwasegun Adegbenjo, in Oke-Abiaye, in the Alagbado area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro learnt that Adegbenjo was shot dead in an uncompleted building where he had gone purportedly to meet someone. Our correspondent gathered from a source that the killers did not steal anything from the deceased. His jeep, which he drove by himself to the site, was also left untouched at the scene of the murder. The incident happened on January 28, around 11pm. The source said, “Adegbenjo is a popular tailor who had a shop in the Ikotun area of Lagos. He was also into fashion designing. He lived with his family in Iju-Ota, Ogun State. “On the fateful day, which was January 28, around 11pm, he had closed from shop and driven down to Oke-Abiaye in Alagbado. The place is a deserted area and people don’t live there. But you could find some uncompleted buildings

A total of 147 cluster bombs have been uncovered in Auno village in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State. Addressing a press conference in Maiduguri on Tuesday, the Borno State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Clement Adoda, said the bombs were uncovered at a location of about 27 kilometers from the state capital, Maiduguri, He said, “I am glad that at about 9am on Sunday, 147 unexploded cluster ordinances were recovered at about two kilometers away from Auno village, near Jakana, Konduga Local Government Area of Borno state.” Adoda added that a combined team of bomb disposal unit, policemen and troops, attached to Jakana general area, led by Capt. Daniel Yakubu, sighted the explosives, recovered and destroyed them in good time without injuries or damages to lives and property. The commissioner further explained that the state bomb disposal team had also recovered unexploded ordinance, suspected to have been launched during one of the Boko Haram attacks on Maidugur

Ogbeni Aregbesola: A Metaphor For Selfless Service By Igbotako Nowinta ‘‘Ogbeni Governor has exercised real power and achieved changes that dwarf the moon. Propelled by the extraordinary and moving determination of the people of Osun state who craved for change and democratic prosperity, Mr Governor has shown that he is indeed loaded with destiny,possibilities and purpose. For Mr Governor of the state of Osun, the best is yet to come’’ Quoted in Nowinta's book: OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA(In the foot steps of Obafemi Awolowo) page 107. As a very close watcher of the activities of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of the state of Osun, l had long concluded that he will definitely come out triumphant from the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, where Senator Oyiola Omisore had dragged him to shortly after he won the August 9th 2014 Osun State Governorship Election convincingly. As a veteran human rights and prodemocracy activist, who has written profusely on political a

Posted by editor The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the APC’s claims on the state of the nation’s economy as wild and baseless allegations shamelessly anchored on tissues of lies and unreliable posts copied from the social media. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Monday said it is disgusting that the APC has stuck to its stock-in-trade of fabricating and dishing out falsehood in an attempt to deceive Nigerians and distort facts on the glaring achievements in the nation’s economy under President Goodluck Jonathan in spite of the daunting challenges. The PDP which said it has continued to maintain a high moral ground in keeping to issue-based campaign, described the APC statement as a ploy to divert attention from its lack of acceptable economic blue-print and the refusal of its Presidential candidate, retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari to intellectually engage President Jonathan on economic an

Posted by editor My attention has been drawn to statements credited to the Hon. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in response to my latest article and call for a structured debate on the issues. According to the report, she no longer wants to join issues with me. In the circumstance of the moment, I therefore withhold parts two and three of my promised three-part response. Let me also state for the avoidance of doubt that I stand by every statement I made in the two articles viz: (1) “Buhari Vs Jonathan: Beyond the Elections”; and (2) “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Missing Trillions.” In particular, I insist that over N30 trillion has either been stolen or unaccounted for, or grossly mismanaged over the last few years. This figure does not include the estimated $40.9 billion (N8.6 trillion at parallel market exchange rate or nearly two years’ Federal Government budget) which the Africa