Obasanjo to Jonathan: ‘I have done my duty to you’

Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo today declined to make fresh reaction to the open letter sent to him by President Goodluck Jonathan, which was a response to Obasanjo’s earlier letter.
Obasanjo’s spokesman, Tunde Oladunjoye, told newsmen today at the hilltop residence of the former President in Abeokuta, capital of the western Nigerian state of Ogun that Obasanjo will not further trade words with Jonathan, nor dignify his letter with a fresh response. Chief Obasanjo in envisaging Jonathan’s response had clearly stated what his position will be: he will play mute.
Oladunjoye, the former PDP deputy governorship candidate during the 2011 governorship in the State, quoted Obasanjo’s position from his 2 December letter, titled, Before It is Too Late: where Obasanjo stated: “I will maintain my serenity, because by this letter I have done my duty to you as I have always done, to your government, to the party, PDP, and to our country, Nigeria”.

Jonathan, Obasanjo: no further comment

“Since the publication of the letter written by the President, Commander in chief of the Armed Forces of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, which was in response to the letter earlier written by the revered former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, we have received several
requests from local and international media, asking to know Chief Obasanjo’s reaction to Mr President’s response.
“Chief Obasanjo, GCFR, acknowledges Mr President’s letter/ response, however, Baba as he already indicated in his December, 2, 2013, does not wish to make further comments beyond the contents of his last
letter to Mr President or react to the said letter/ response from Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Let me reiterate here, that Chief Olusegun Obasanko GCFR, has tremendous respect for the office of the President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, the statement read.
President Goodluck Jonathan in a letter dated 20 December, 2013 responded to the letter written to him by the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo accusing his government of ineptitude in addressing the state of the nation.

Advertising Guru, Sesan Ogunro Murdered

Marketing communications guru, Mr. Sesan Ogunro Snr., has been shot dead.
Ogunro, the Managing Director, of Nigeria’s Eminent Communications, was shot yesterday night at Alausa Central Business District, Lagos, western Nigeria by unidentified gunmen in front of his wife, children and grandchildren.
A source told P.M.NEWS this morning that Ogunro was coming from a special Christmas service programme which he chaired when the gunmen stopped his car and demanded for the keys. Though he didn’t resist their order, yet one of the assailants shot him. He died few minutes later before help could come.
He was in his late 50s.
Senator Babafemi Ojudu, a friend of the deceased confirmed the death.

“It is true. So sad,” the Senator stated in a short message to our correspondent.
When contacted, the Divisional Police Office at Alausa, Ajao O. Adewale, a Chief Superintendent of Police, confirmed that a man was shot at 10.20 p.m. yesterday at Alausa. He added that his vehicle was snatched by his attackers. “We don’t know him but we have commenced investigations into the attack,” he added.
The atmosphere at his home on Atinuke Ologunde Crescent, Ogudu GRA, Lagos was filled with gloom as sympathisers trickled in to condole with the wife of the deceased. None of them was willing to speak with P.M.NEWS on the tragedy.
The Ekiti State-born Ogunro was one of the pioneers of advertising practice in Nigeria. He, alongside Mr. Biodun Shobanjo and others, changed the business of marketing communications when they all resigned from Grant Advertising to float Insight Communications Limited in January 1980.
He later left to establish Eminent Communications in 1982 and has been able to build the company to a reputable height.
Ogunro was a fellow of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON.
He was one-time Chairman of APCON’s Advertising Standards Panel, ASP, and Chairman of APCON’s Membership & Privileges Committee. The deceased was also the Chairman of Professional Practice Committee of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN.  Ogunro was survived by many children including talented music video director, Sesan Ogunro Jnr., Timayo Ogunro and Beat 99.9FM On-Air-Personality, Fade Ogunro.

PDP Chairman's Son Re-arraigned in Lagos for N1.8bn Subsidy Fraud

On Monday, Mahmud Tukur

Alex Ochonogor, Eterna Plc; and Abdullahi Alao, son of Ibadan-based businessman, Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao were also charged alongside Mahmud.

The accused persons were initially arraigned before Justice Onigbanjo on July 26, 2012. The re-arraignment took place before Justice Lawal Lawal-Akapo following the transfer of the former trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, out of the Criminal Division of the Lagos State Judiciary.

All the accused on pleaded not guilty to the nine counts of conspiracy and fraud preferred against them by the EFCC.

Justice Lawal-Akapo ruled that the accused be allowed to continue enjoying the earlier bail granted them by Onigbanjo. The case was adjourned to Febuary 24,2013 for further hearing.

, son of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and others were rearriagned before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged N1.8bn fuel subsidy fraud.

ASUU Versus Federal Government Again

Who blinks first as we enter the second deadline given by the Federal Government to ASUU?

As at Sunday morning, it remains uncertain whether the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities would call off its five-month-old strike, despite the Government’s Monday ultimatum. There were speculations that the university lecturers would suspend the strike after the burial ceremony for their ex-President, Prof. Festus Iyayi, who was killed in an accident involving Kogi State governor’s convoy.

But credible sources inside ASUU say government is yet to meet all their demands, strike continues...

The Chairman, ASUU, University of Benin, Dr. Tony Monye-Emina said, “The strike has not been called off. The authority (of the institution) is following government’s directive; we are not shifting our stand. It is not a local strike.

“It is not true we are calling off the strike. How can we be holding a meeting tonight? The burial is going on and it continues tomorrow (today).”

Also, ASUU in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, vowed not to obey government’s order that lecturers should return to classroom on Monday. The Chairman, ASUU, OOU chapter, Dr. Nasir Adesola said the lecturers would not succumb to threats by government to sack them.

Adesola, who is also the South-West Coordinator, ASUU, stressed that since the lecturers did not go on strike in the first instance because of government, they would not return to work by coercion from government.

He stated that the lecturers would only go back to the classroom when the government meet their demands.

“We didn’t go on strike because of government order. The reasons for which we embarked on the strike have not been discharged by the government. Those orders of government are just part of executive recklessness. We are not returning to work on Monday,” Adesola told Punch.

Similarly, the ASUU Chairman in Enugu State University of Technology, Prof. Gab Agu, said lecturers would not resume on Monday. He said it was a rumour that the union would call of the strike. He stated that the National Executive Council of ASUU would meet and agree before the strike could be called off.

Same with ASUU in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where the Chairman, Dr. Ifeanyi Abada, said only the ASUU NEC could announce the suspension of the strike.

Nigerian Couple Jailed For Global Internet Banking Scam Worth N4.9bn From Nearly 2500 People

Two members of a Nigerian gang, that executed an almost £19m (N4.9bn) global Internet banking scam, in which they hacked the accounts of nearly 2,500 people.
DailyMail reports that, Aderoju Bammeke, 22, and his girlfriend Jessica Ogunyemi, 20, both of Manchester, were the UK ‘platform’ for a Nigerian ‘phishing’ scam that made £41,000 (N10.6m) in just two months.
The gang reportedly sent fake emails to customers of banks in UK, including Barclays and Halifax.
The emails told recipients that their accounts had been hacked and asked them to complete a form with their log-in details.


But when victims obliged, Bammeke stepped in and helped the gang log in to steal money.
Investigators said Ogunyemi, who is a fashion marketing student, helped Bammeke launder the proceeds by putting funds in accounts, hiding cash and allowing him to buy her a £2,400 (N620,745)Vauxhall Corsa.
The Manchester Crown Court jailed Bammeke for three-and-a-half years after admitting conspiracy to commit fraud and unauthorised computer use.
Ogunyemi admitted five counts of money laundering and was given a suspended prison sentence.
Also, investigators found evidence of the scam on seven devices at Bammeke’s home, which had accessed 181 accounts from his address.
But Barclays found 2,439 customers had been affected and investigators say the true scale of the fraud will never be known.
Bammeke admitted he had been involved in the scam for more than a year. He played a ‘key role’ as England’s ‘platform’ for the scam, the court heard.
He said if the gang had tried to log into accounts from Nigeria it would have triggered the banks’ alarm systems.
Simon Nichol, defending Bammeke, said he felt regret and remorse for his actions.
He said his involvement – which began in an effort to tackle student debt – was ‘sporadic’ and although the scam was large scale with international dimensions, Bammeke’s part was not.
Michael Lavery, defending Ogunyemi, said she had brought shame on her family, including her train driver father and mother who works for Manchester council.
He said she had been ‘naive,’ she was predicted to get a first in her degree and was no longer in a relationship with Bammeke.

Nude Photo Scandal Crashes Actress Uche Iwuji’s Marriage

It is no longer news that the barely one year old marriage of controversial Nollywood actress, Uche Iwuji has reportedly crashed. What many, especially her teeming fans are oblivious of is the huge role some unclad pictures of the pretty thespian allegedly play in the collapse of the once happy marriage between Iwuji and her international businessman husband, Mr. Juwon Lawal.

Mr Lawal was said to have learnt that his wife, Uche, was having a secret affair with a top banker and he also discovered some BBM messages exchanged between her and her lover boy senior banker. Sadly, some of the BBM chats included naked pictures of the actress, which she allegedly sent to her randy and married lover boy…

In fact, information reaching ShowBizPlus has it that that shocked and disappointed Lawal has abandoned his matrimonial home and fled abroad to calm his frayed nerves and possibly get over the betrayal.

A close source who doesn’t want her name mentioned, confirmed the marriage crash, claiming that Uche Iwuji had always been unlucky with men, probably due to her way of life. It would be recalled that Uche had earlier denied that her marriage to Mr Lawal had crashed.

10 bad gifts for Christmas

The gifts we give others say quite a lot about how we see our relationships with them. Can't think of anything to give someone? Chances are you also don't have all that much to say to them. But there are gifts, which would be better not to give.

Recycled gifts. Last year you got something you didn't like, stuffed it into a drawer and now you are passing it on. Chances are the new recipient will also not like it – and who knows, it might find its way back to you next Christmas.

Very expensive personal gifts. These include things like jewellery. You could find yourself spending a lot on a ring for your loved one and they don't like the particular style, shape, colour of what you bought. Ask someone what they like before you spend so much money. It is better to spoil the surprise than to waste thousands.

Three of a kind. Right, you've got three sisters and little money to traipse around the shops looking for individual gifts, so you end up buying three of the same thing. Thing is, they're all round the same Christmas tree, and once the first one has opened her present, the surprise is gone for the other two. By all means buy three similar things, but identical is not a good idea.

Noisy toys. On Christmas Day, most families gather in large groups – often in not very large houses. Giving a three-year-old a drum might just spoil the whole day for everybody. Same goes for plastic trumpets and very squeaky plastic animals. Cheap plastic toys also usually don't survive the rough-and-tumble of Christmas Day. Rather go for something solid and wooden – and quiet.

Last-minute gifts. By the evening of the 24th of December, the shops are empty, and what remains on the shelves, is either ugly, or extremely expensive. You could find yourself having to fork out a fortune for something which is not ideal, or particularly wanted.

It's-the-thought-that-counts gifts. This usually means the present is dead horrible or definitely unwanted. Or a last-minute affair, just so you don't arrive empty-handed. Sometimes it is better to arrive empty-handed than with something that is so obviously a last-minute thing.

Chocolates. Always a bad idea. Most people are only too aware of how much weight they are gaining over Christmas, and receiving a further temptation under the tree only makes them even more depressed. Furthermore, when someone receives chocolates, there is subtle pressure on them to open it and share it out, so they don't actually receive a gift at all.

Socks and handkerchiefs and underwear. These are personal items that people like choosing for themselves. Unless you have very definite instructions on exactly what someone likes, don't go down this road. Rather give a gift voucher and let them choose for themselves.

Sale books and CDs. These can sometimes be a great success, but only if you keep in mind what someone's tastes are. If you come across Shakespeare's collected works for a mere R49,99, don't give it to someone who has never read anything more taxing than the sports page of the newspaper. It will remain unread and unappreciated. Your grandfather will also quite likely remain unimpressed with the Parlotones, regardless of whether the CD was a bargain or not.

Break-the-bank gifts. Before you consider buying someone a very expensive gift, try and find out more or less what they plan spending on your gift. It is embarrassing if you give a potential girlfriend three CDs and she gives you a pair of socks.