How long should sex last? By Tunde Ajayi

Many people would describe  sex as good, exciting, electrifying and refreshing, especially if done with consent and in a favourable atmosphere.The benefits identified to be derivable from the exercise include improved immunity through the increase in the levels of immunoglobulin A; reduction of blood pressure;  a good form of exercise; reduces pain as well as brings about the release of feel good hormones; reduces stress and the likelihood of prostate cancer in men and improved bladder control in women.Interestingly, the duration of the act may not really matter in determining whether the identified benefits would be derived from it or not, and according to experts, the duration does not even matter when it is done for procreation.But findings have shown that longer sexual intercourse does not only boost a man’s ego, it helps him to enjoy the act the more. While for women, the longer the act, the more the likelihood of them reaching orgasm.But the question is, How long should good sex last?According to a study by two scientists, Eric Corty and Jenay Guardiani, from the Pennsylvania State University in the United States, good sex doesnot necessarily have to last for hours. In fact, they said it could last for minutes. In their post onsciencedaily.com, they noted that satisfactory sexual intercourse should actually be between three and 13 minutes.The researchers involved 50 members of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research in the study, and these members include physicians, nurses, psychologists, marriage and family therapists and social workers who have attended to thousands of patients over several decades.These participants categorised the time sex should last, according to experience, into four, namely too short, adequate,desirable and too long, and the measurement of the time starts from the penetration of the vagina to the actual ejaculation.The experts categorised sexual intercourse that lasts between one and two minutes as “too short”. They said if it lasts between three to seven minutes,it is “adequate”, if it is between seven and 13 minutes, it is “desirable” while any romp in thesack that lasts between 10 and 30 minutes is deemed to be “too long.”The researchers pointed out thatpeople tend to judge their performance or that of their partner by the dictates from the society, and not what is okay for them.They said, “A man’s or woman’s interpretation of his or her sexual functioning as well as thepartner’s functioning relies on personal beliefs developed in part from society’s messages; formal and informal. Unfortunately, today’s popular culture has reinforced stereotypes about sexual activity. Many men and women seem to believe the fantasy model of large penises, rock-hard erections and all-night-long intercourse.”Corty, who is an associate professor of psychology, said their survey would help to rekindle people’s confidence in themselves and trim down on their fantasies, noting that the situation at hand had made people to have unrealistic expectations.He added, “This seems a situation ripe for disappointmentand dissatisfaction. With this survey, we hope to dispel such fantasies and encourage men and women with realistic data about acceptable sexual intercourse, thus preventing sexual disappointments and dysfunctions.“Also, if a patient is concerned about how long intercourse should last, these data can help shift the patient away from a concern about physical disorders and to be initially treated with counselling, instead of medicine.”Meanwhile, another study by a psychologist, Dr. Brendan Zietsch, from the University of Queensland, Australia, sought tounravel how long penetrative sexshould last. For the sake of avoiding complexities, he said given that there are many other activities that come before sex, like foreplay, the actual time of sex should also be when the man enters the woman. But, what did he arrive at?About 500 heterosexual couples drawn from around the world participated in the study, and what he did was to give each of them stopwatch and he told them to press start at the time ofpenile penetration and they should press stop at ejaculation.He observed that even though using a stopwatch was not a perfect measure, it was better than asking people to state how long it took them as there would be biases.He said, “I know there’s a lot more to sex than putting the penis into the vagina and ejaculating, but the rest is not always easy to define (kissing? Rubbing? Grinding?). To keep things simple and specific, we’ll just focus on the time to ejaculation.”After the study that lasted one month, Zietsch was able to deduce from the data he collatedthat the range of the time peoplehad sex was between 33 seconds and 44 minutes. He then pointed out that the average across all the participants was five minutes, four seconds.He also observed that the use of condom, which according to some, reduces the sensitivity of the penis, did not make any difference, noting further that the age of the couples played a role as younger couples, aged between 18 and 30, lasted longer (six minutes, five seconds) than older couples, 51 years and above, who lasted for four minutes, three seconds.Also, the participants recorded that in spite of the varying times their romp in the sack lasted, they were satisfied. Thus, Zietsch therefore noted that as far as sex is concerned, there is no standard or normal time that it should take as long as the parties were satisfied.Commenting on the findings of the studies, a psychologist, Prof.Oni Fagboungbe, said it would be difficult and unrealistic to establish a certain time as the standard duration that sexual intercourse should last.He said the goal of sex is for both partners to be satisfied, such that they would reach orgasm. He noted that regardless of the time it takes, as long as both parties are satisfied (ejaculation in the case of the man and orgasm in the case of the woman), the deed had been done.He said, “The essence of sex is to make the persons involved to reach orgasm and enjoy it, but we are not the same, so we cannot actually put a time limit on when one should reach orgasm because it depends on individuals.“Actually, it is the act of the man that makes the lady to reach orgasm, so a man must be able to locate the woman’s erogenous zone so as to assist her to reach orgasm. And since sex is an act, people can practise and learn it to be better in it and that is why some men use drug to delay the ejaculation.”Speaking on the factors that could make the man not to be able to perform well to the extentof satisfying a woman, he said the factors responsible could be psychological or physiological, adding that the size of the penis also plays a prominent role in sexual enjoyment.He said, “The ladies’ vagina has walls that are sensitive and responsive to touch. So, if the penis is too small, it is like wearing an oversized shoe, it won’t match, but if the penis is big enough and firm, it will be able to touch all the necessary areas, like the erogenous zones, especially the ones within the walls of the vagina.“Likewise, the physiological factors have to do with the health of the organs responsible,for example the turgidity of the penis to be able to penetrate welland deep, and the state of healthof the man. The psychological factors on the other hand include depression, tiredness, lack of concentration while the act is going on and the psychological acceptance between the parties is also key. Both parties have to be willing and prepared.”

Ad Sales Increases Google Sales

Alphabet - Google's parent company - has reported a 17% rise in quarterly revenue after strong advertising sales on mobile devices.

Revenue rose to $20.26bn (£14bn) between January and March, from $17.26bn a year earlier.

But Alphabet's share price fell about 6% in after-hours trading, as the revenue figure fell short of analysts' expectations.

Net income for the quarter was $4.2bn, up from $3.5bn a year ago.

The earnings report came one day after the European Commission issued formal antitrust charges against Google over claims that it abuses the dominant market position of its Android operating system.

Google's advertising revenue jumped 16.2% in the first quarter to $18.02bn. The company said the number of ads, also known as paid clicks, jumped 29%.

But the average price of online ads, known as cost-per-click, fell 9% in the quarter.

'Big bets'

Ruth Porat, chief financial officer at the parent company Alphabet, said the first quarter results represented a "tremendous start to the year", and that the company is "thoughtfully pursuing big bets and building exciting new technologies" which she hopes will put the company in a good position for long term growth.

Google embarked on a restructuring drive late last year and created a new parent company - Alphabet.

Under the rebranding, Google retained its best-known businesses, such as search, apps, YouTube and Android. Some of the newer entities, such as the investment and research divisions, the "smart-home" unit Nest, and the drone arm will be run under Alphabet.

Uganda picks Tanzania for oil pipeline

Oil reserves in Uganda are estimated at some 6.5bn barrels

Landlocked Uganda has announced it will build a major pipeline to export its oil through Tanzania.

Uganda had planned to send the pipeline through Kenya, which wanted a joint facility for oil from its own fields that are under development.

The pipeline will now be routed further south, with concerns about possible attacks by Somalia's al-Shabab Islamists said to be a factor.

The group has attacked targets close to where the pipeline would have passed.

Uganda announced its decision in Kampala at a summit of the East African Community bloc, which groups Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.

The 1,400km (800 miles) pipeline will connect Uganda's western region near Hoima, where big oil reserves have been discovered, with Tanzania's port of Tanga.

The project is expected to cost about $4bn (£2.8bn) and create 15,000 jobs.

The discovered oil reserves in Uganda are estimated at some 6.5bn barrels, and the country expects to start production in 2018.

France's Total, China's CNOOC and Britain's Tullow hold most of the licences.

Kenya, which has also struck oil, had wanted the pipeline to pass through its territory.

Uganda had initially signed such a deal, but Total later questioned the plan over security concerns, the BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in Kampala reports.

Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa said on Saturday that the cost was also a factor in choosing the project.

"We considered Tanga oil pipeline route based on a number of aspects - among them it is the least cost," he told the AFP news agency.

Reports also suggest that Uganda backed the Tanzanian route because the country's port of Tanga is already fully operational, while Kenya's Lamu port is still being built.

When completed, it will be East Africa's first major oil pipeline.

Meanwhile, Kenya said it would build its own pipeline from Lokichar, in the north-east, to Lamu.

Mum 'had to dump breast milk' at airport

A US mother-of-two has spoken of her frustration that she was forced to dump 500oz (14.8 litres) of breast milk at security at London's Heathrow Airport.

In an open letter posted on Facebook, Jessica Coakley Martinez, who was travelling without her eight-month-old son, said she felt "humiliated".

"You made me dump out nearly two weeks worth of food for my son," she said.

Heathrow says the UK government's rules on carrying liquids on planes are set out for passengers on its website.

The rules, set out by the Department for Transport, say that liquids may only be carried in containers holding 100ml or less in a transparent and re-sealable single bag.

The website says exceptions are made in the case of baby food or baby milk but only if the passenger is travelling with a baby. It says excess liquids should be carried as hold luggage.

'Unfair'

Ms Martinez wrote that, although she should have looked up the rules, the regulation that breast milk was not allowed if the mother was travelling without her baby was "incredibly unfair and exclusionary in consideration of all of the other working mothers like me".

She wrote: "If I acted irate, it's because it was the only appropriate reaction I could muster.

"I now don't have the option to solely breastfeed my son because I don't have enough milk to supply him while I'm at work, despite all of my best efforts.

"Being a working mother and ensuring both my job and my child get exactly what they need is the hardest thing I've ever done but you managed to make it nearly impossible in a single afternoon.

"Security is the priority, but it isn't and shouldn't be your only goal, and it certainly shouldn't punish those you intend to protect.

"Beyond literally taking food from my child's mouth, you humiliated me and made me feel completely defeated as a professional and a mother."

Rules restricting the amount of liquids which can be carried as hand luggage on flights leaving UK airports were brought in in the wake of the discovery of a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives on board seven transatlantic airliners in 2006.

'No sign' Prince's death was suicide

Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson : "We have no reason to believe at this point that this was a suicide"

There is "no reason to believe" that Prince's death was suicide, the sheriff of the Minnesota county where the singer had his home has said after a post-mortem examination.

There was no sign of trauma on the body, Sheriff Jim Olson said, suggesting the singer had died alone.

Prince, 57, was found dead in a lift on his Paisley Park estate on Thursday.

Fans have been wearing purple, the colour associated with the musician who sold more than 100m records.

His innovative music spanned rock, funk and jazz. He was at his peak in the 1980s with albums like Dirty Mind, 1999 and Sign O' The Times.

The sheriff warned that full results from the post-mortem could take several weeks, and the incident was still under investigation.

• Purple reign: Obituary of Prince

• What's really in Prince's vault?

• Five strange stories about Prince

• Sixteen pivotal songs

• Nick Robinson: My party with Prince

Mr Olson said it was not unusual for there to be no one in the residence except Prince.

The singer was last seen at about 20:00 on Wednesday night (01:00 GMT on Thursday) and was found unconscious by some of his staff at about 09:30 the next morning.

Prince had been rushed to hospital in Illinois six days earlier, while flying home from a concert in Georgia, but was treated and released a few hours later.

Prince had been touring as recently as this month

Fans gathered and danced to Prince's songs outside the Apollo Theatre in New York

A memorial wall has appeared outside Prince's estate

Quoting unnamed sources, US entertainment news site TMZ reports that Prince was treated in Illinois for an overdose of the painkiller drug Percocet.

Declining to give details of the preliminary findings, medical examiner spokesperson Martha Weaver said a full set of tests would be done on the body, involving tissue and blood samples.

Earlier, she announced that the body would be released to the family on Friday.

Sheriff Olson confirmed police were in contact with Prince's family.

"We have no reason to believe at this point that this was a suicide," he said, then added, "but again, this is early on in the investigation and we're continuing to investigate."

He spoke of Prince as a good member of the community and said he had been a "friend to [his staff] as well as being an employer".

Fans have set up impromptu memorials in his home town Minneapolis and in New York.

In London, US President Barack Obama said he and the US ambassador began the day by listening to Prince's hit Purple Rain and Delirious before attending bilateral meetings.

Prince had spoken about struggling with childhood epilepsy, the Associated Press reports, and friends say he had hip trouble.

His former percussionist, Sheila E, told the news agency Prince had suffered the effects of years of jumping off risers and speakers on stage while wearing high heels.

"There was always something kind of bothering him, as it does all of us," she said. "I hurt every single day. You know we're like athletes, we train, and we get hurt all the time. We have so many injuries."

•

• Stars pay tribute to 'creative genius'

• A life in pictures

• Fans pay tribute

• Why are so many celebrities dying?

A life in music

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958, he was a prolific writer and performer from a young age - reportedly writing his first song when he was seven.

He was also an arranger and multi-instrumentalist, and recorded more than 30 albums. Hits included Let's Go Crazy and When Doves Cry.

In 1984, he won an Oscar for the score to Purple Rain, a film in which he also starred.

Throughout his career he had a reputation for secrecy and eccentricity, once changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol.

Prince's latest album, HITnRUN Phase Two, was released last year and he had been touring as recently as last week.

MY CANDID LETTER TO THE SENATE PRESIDENT

By DELE MOMODU
This is the copy of the open letter written to his excellence, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki by Dele Momodu. You can compare it with the Senate President's response published also on this blog.
Your Excellency, I’m convinced the time has come to write you this letter despite the fact that Ihave some measure of access to you. I decided to do this in order to tackle the mischief makers who believe I’m your very close friend and as such must be a rabid supporter of yours. I have been accused of all sorts of garbage including being paid heavy sums of money from your bottomless pocket. I’m aware that most of these guys can never believe that anyone could stand up for principle without pecuniary gains. But before I go into the meat of this letter, I need to state my background briefly as I’m sure you don’t even know me well enough to understand and appreciate my socio-political trajectory.I have read all sorts about you and I and it is necessary sometimes to put the records straight for the sake of doubting Thomases who can never see anything good in others. You were a Governor for eight years and I can’t remember ever meeting you one on one. The only time I believe we exchanged physical pleasantries would have been at the 70thbirthday dinner hosted in honour of your mother-in-law, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora at The Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos some years back. I remember seeing and greeting you and a few of the former and current Governors present including Olusegun Osoba, James Ibori, BabatundeFashola and others.I would later see one of the pictures I took at the party and read many years after that I was busy drinking champagne with James Ibori who was being wanted for several casesof corruption and so on. I couldnot believe my eyes because the picture showed clearly that I was chatting with Chief Olusegun Osoba while Ibori minding his business behind me but someone needed to rubbish me for reasons I could never fathom. Not just that, Ibori was still a Governor and would I run away from a function or refuse to greet people so as not to be accusedof hobnobbing with corrupt leaders?The next time I interfaced with you was after you employed MrBamikole Omishore who was my American campaign coordinator in Washington DC, when I joined the Presidential race from 2010-2011. I was happy that you got such a brilliant young man to manage your social media. But you and I got closer for only one reasonin the past one year plus because we both campaigned vigorously for Major General Muhammadu Buhari and you and Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi were the best of pals and he has been my friend long beforehe became Governor of Rivers State. I loved the way you, Amaechi, Kwankwaso, Wamako, Tambuwal, Atiku Abubakar, and others took the bold decision that would change the course of Nigerian history for better or for worse when you abandoned PDP despite threats and harassments. I must have met you about twice in your Lagos home to strategise and was particularly impressed with your ability to rally the likes of Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Wale Tinubu and others who ordinarily would have felt a need to support the government in power. I was informed you were able to raisesome stupendous amount of money during and after the APC primaries. We talked moreon phone and you assured me constantly that everything was on course. The rest is history.However trouble started as soon as victory came. I knew you had only one ambition and that was to become the Senate President. I thought that was a legitimate dream but did not envisage that it would turn out to be your albatross. Politics in Africa, and probably elsewhere,is a deadly game. You’ve fought several battles in your life but I doubt if you ever bargained for this one. It all started like a joke. Your party apparatchik was obviously opposed to your candidacy. You were equally determined torealise your life ambition. One of the rumours then was that you could not be trusted with power and that in the next four years you would have become unstoppable if you decide to goheadlong for the Presidency. I’m not a member of your party so I could not understand what the hullabaloo was all about. The manner you emerged caught everyone unawares. The biggest problem was the fact that you sought and got the unequivocal support of members of the PDP in the Senate and even did a deal thatmade it possible for one of them to become your deputy. That was the hara-kiri you committed and your enemies would never forgive you for that.One thing led to another, and things fell apart and the centre could no longer hold. You probably underestimated the resolve of your enemies to cut you down to size. The next we saw were allegations of impropriety levelled against you at the Code of Conduct Bureau. You were said to have been dodgy in your assets declaration forms. Anyway, it seemed you had touched the tiger by the tail and it remained to be seen how you would wriggle out of the monumental trouble you had inadvertently courted by your rebelliousness and bellicosity. I was personally irked that we were back to the Nuhu Ribadu days and I voiced my opinion openly.I was not defending you but defending the rights of man. I had thought naively that APC knew what it was getting into with an ill-assorted assemblage of different characters from varied backgrounds. I presumed therewas an accord that all sinners became saints once they migrated and amalgamated with APC. The deluge of immigrants from PDP convinced me that President Buhari would have to sanctify the pollutants if any in the new party. Not once did I hear of any objection to the proliferation so I assumed all was well.I never said you should not be prosecuted but that we should discourage a situation where every successive government uses anti-corruption camouflage to punish its enemies. This position was notmeant to protect you but to discourage a perpetuation of such tradition. I wrote copiously against the harassment of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he went on similar trial. I had demonstrated publicly against the Yar’Adua cabal when they tried to stop Dr Goodluck Jonathan from assuming power when his boss was terminally ill. I remember also when I wrote an open letter to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in 2007 and how I was viciously attacked by his supporters. Butwhat happened after? Nuhu himself was forced into exile as a victim of impunity. MallamNasir El-Rufai and The Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi, formerly known as Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, became veritable victims of impunity and I was vehemently opposed to their ordeals.I needed to state this background very well as a way of documenting my modest contribution to the discouragement of impunity asa former victim myself under the military regimes. Now that it seems many Nigerians are comfortable with setting fire to an entire village in order to catch some rats, I will not belabour the issue further.  Please, permit me to now address the case at hand. I want you to know that no matter what you do henceforth,the case against you will go on.The earlier you resign yourself to fate the better. You have done all you can to prevent thisfrom happening and the time has come for you to defend yourself as best as you can. I understand the psychological trauma you are under. You are in utter shock that a party you laboured with others to build and nurture has decided to treat you as a pariah. You are stupefied at the sudden turn of events.But let me advise you, the Judiciary is still the best arbiterand if you’re truly innocent, youwill be vindicated but if you are found guilty after exhausting all legal options available in theland you must take a bow and accept the judgment with equanimity. Even if the APC decides to sweep this under the carpet, someone may still bring it uptomorrow. It is in your best interest to face the bullet and hope for a miracle. I’m not one of those who have written off the Nigerian Judiciary. I will also not join those who have already convicted you in the court of public opinion. I’m a Christian and I know none of us can castthe first stone and we should be careful not to gloat over anyone’s misfortune.Please, note that you must do nothing to pervert the course of justice by enacting hurriedly-packaged laws ostensibly meant to block your trial. It will further diminish you and make your sympathisers recoil in shame. To whom much is given, much is expected. God has been very kind to you and as a Muslim you must submit yourself only to the will of Allah, the only one who can forgive our sins. Who knows what the outcome may be at the end of the day?I beg you in the name of God totake courage. Stand like a man and carry your heavy cross.

I'm ‘persecuted’ because I frustrated Muslim-Muslim ticket in APC — Saraki

Senate President Replies Dele Momodu ‘s Candid Advice By Bukola Saraki

My dear brother Dele, let me thank you most sincerely for your article last weekend, “My Candid Letter to Saraki.” I take everything you said in that article to heart and I must commend you for your candidness indeed and the sincerity of your intentions. As you said in your article, you are someone I have known more by reputation than by any personal relationship, until recently when we struck up some personal acquaintance based on our shared political interests, especially during the last presidential election. However, I understand why you had to sound so defensive for knowing me at all and had to publicly map the boundaries of our relationship. We have got to that point in our country when we no longer believe that anyone could stand for anything based on principles and convictions alone. Moreover, in the growing culture of media crucifixion and presumed guilt; it is rare to find a voice like yours that calls for fairness and justice. I would have simply sent you a text message or call you up for your candid advice to me, which I take seriously. But I feel the need to make some clarifications on some of the issues you raised. One of them was that in seeking to be Senate President, I struck a deal with the PDP and made it possible for one of them to be the Deputy Senate President. I know this is the dominant narrative out there, but it is far from the truth. I did not do any deal with the PDP. I did not have to because even before the PDP Senators as a group took the decision to support my candidature on the eve of the inauguration of the 8th Senate, 22 PDP Senators had already written a letter supporting me. What I did not envisage was a situation where some members of my party would not be in the chambers that day, especially when the clerk had already received a proclamation from the President authorizing the inauguration of the Senate. Pray, if a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match and was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame the team that turned up and claimed victory? I believe those that made it possible for PDP to claim the DSP position were those who decided to hold a meeting with APC senators elsewhere at the time they ought to be in the chambers. What the PDP Senators did was to take advantage of their numerical strength at the material time. They simply lined up behind Senator Ike Ikweremadu while those of us from APC voted for Senator Ali Ndume. It was a game of numbers, and we were hopelessly outnumbered. If the PDP had nominated their own candidate for the Senate Presidency position that day, they would have won. It was as simple as that. Secondly, I don’t know if you were aware that in the build up to Senate inauguration, the National Working Committee of the APC sent two signals. The first signal specified how leadership positions in the National Assembly have been zoned. While we were trying to give effect to this decision, the second signal came, which contained names of people to which these zoned position had been allocated. What was not acknowledged was that the President of the Senate is not an executive president. He is primarily one of 109 senators. Therefore, I cannot decide by myself who gets what in the Senate. Therefore, when they said I defied party directive in the choice of principal officers, they are invariably ascribing to me the power that I did not have. My dear brother, most people talk about the Senate Presidency position, but this was not my only offence. I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some people’s opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate. But I have no problem with anybody. My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I doubt if we would have won the election if we had done this, especially after the PDP had successfully framed us a Muslim party. I felt we were no longer in 1993. Perhaps, more than ever before, Nigerians are more sensitive to issues of religious balancing. This, my brother, was my original sin. What they say to themselves, among other things, was that if he could conspire against our ambition, then he must not realize his own ambition as well. For me however, I have no regrets about this. I only stood for what I believed was in the best interest of the party and in the best interest of Nigeria. Now to the substantive issue of my trial. As you rightly noted, this trial is not about corruption. And I am happy that since my trial started, people who have followed the proceedings have now understood better what the whole thing is about. I have had opportunity to declare my assets four times since 2003. Over those years, the Code of Conduct Bureau had examined my claims. There was no time that they raised any issues with me on any item contained in my declarations over those twelve years. This is why you should be surprised that while I am being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the witness and the evidence supplied against me were all from EFCC. Like you, I have an abiding faith in the judiciary. May God forbid the day that we would give up on our judicial system. However, the onus is not on me to prove that I have confidence in the judiciary; the burden is on my prosecutors to prove to the world that justice is done in my case. If the process of fighting corruption is itself corrupt, then whatever victory is recorded would remain tainted and puerile! Some people have wondered, why has Saraki been “jumping” from one court to another instead of facing his trial? To those people, I would say that I have only gone to those courts in search of justice. Strange things have happened, and they are still happening. For example, Section 3(d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act states that the Bureau shall refer any breach or non-compliance to the Tribunal. However, where the person concerned makes a written admission of the breach, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary. It was on this basis that the case against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was dismissed in 2011, by this same judge in this same Tribunal on the grounds that he was not given an opportunity to deny or admit to any breach before he was brought before the tribunal. This was the ruling that I relied on in making my case. But what did the judge say? That he had judged in error in 2011 and he had since realized his error and departed from it. My question is whether a Tribunal of first instance has the power to reverse itself. I should expect that everyone would be worried if justice is applied differently to different people. However, in spite of my fears, I remain hopeful. Why? Because the judiciary does not end with this Tribunal. Do you know the genesis of my real problems with President Goodluck Jonathan? I have had a touchy relationship with him, but the turning point was in September 2011 when I moved a motion on the floor of the Senate that exposed the N2.3 trillion fuel subsidy racket. I remain proud that I was the Senator that blew the lid on the most elaborate corruption scheme ever in this country. But after that I became a marked man. My security was withdrawn. I was invited and re-invited by the EFCC and the Special Fraud Unit. I was even declared wanted at a point. I believe I am still one of the most investigated former governors in this country. I have no doubt that if the Jonathan government was able to find anything against me, they would not have allowed me to go unpunished. Let me make this point clearly. I do not expect to be shielded from prosecution because of my contribution to APC, if there was genuine basis for such action to be taken against me. But I have every reason to expect not to be persecuted by the party that I contributed so much to build. The New PDP may not have given APC victory in 2015, but it was an important factor in the dynamics that produced that victory. And with all sense of modesty, I was an important factor in the formation of New PDP; in leading that group to the APC; in ensuring our group’s support for the candidate during the primaries and in mobilizing substantial resources for the election. For these, I have not expected any special compensation. Rather, I only expect to be treated like every loyal party member and accorded the right to freely aspire! Some people have complained that I have been taken Senators with me to my trial. But I did not force them to follow me. The Senators have freely accompanied me to the Tribunal not because they are loyal to me as Abubakar Bukola Saraki, but because they are committed to the principle that produced me as the President of the Senate. The same principle that produced Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President and produced Ali Ndume as Majority Leader. They see all of us in the Senate leadership as manifestation of their jealously guarded right to freely choose their own leaders. Because they know they made us their leaders without any external interference; they are confident that they retain the power to remove us whenever they so wish. They also know what this trial is all about. They believe I am being victimized because they have expressed their right to choose their own leadership. This is why I am not in any way perturbed by my absence in the chambers during this trial. Because I was not imposed on the Senate, I feel confident that the Senate will protect its own choice whether I am present or not. It is never about me. It is about the independence of the legislature. It has always been so since 1999. It is so today and it would be so in 2019, it would be so in 2023, and as long as we practice a democracy that operates on the principle of separation of powers. My dear brother, let me end by observing that I am not alone in this trial. On trial with me in this process is the entire judicial system. On trial with me are our entire anti-corruption institutions and our avowed commitment to honestly fight corruption. On trial with me is our party’s promise to depart from the ways of the past, a promise that Nigerians voted for. And I dare say, on trial with me is our media; and their ethical commitment to report fairly and objectively. In the end, it is my earnest hope that whatever we do will ultimately ennoble our country. Dr. Saraki is President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Delay in signing 2016 budget gives Nigeria bad image abroad — NECA

THE Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, has bemoaned the prolonged delay in signing and implementing the 2016 budget, saying that such development gives Nigeria bad image before the comity of nations. This is just as the management of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF and NECA have concluded plans to convene an interactive forum in July on Safe Workplace Intervention Programme, SWIP, to provide employers who have complaints about its services to ventilate their positions. The Director-General of NECA, Segun Oshinowo, who lamented the delay in resolving the controversy on 2016 budget in an interview with journalists shortly after the Acting Managing Director of NSITF, Ismail Agaka visited him in his office, wondered why those responsible with the drafting and passing the budget would not complete and pass budget before the beginning of any fiscal year. Meanwhile, the NSITF boss has called for the institutionalisation of  corporate governance structures to boost its operations. Agaka explained that, “Corporate governance is a system, methods, processes and procedures that governs organizational businesses. Where there is a breakdown in the procedure, there would be negative impact not only on the organization, but also on other stakeholders who relate with the organization. “It is no secret that not only NSITF, but also the public sector over the years has witnessed this dysfunctional corporate governance. What we are therefore doing at the NSITF is in tandem with the change mantra of the present administration.” The NECA DG while commenting on the impasses the non-passage of the 2016 appropriation bill has caused, explained that such a development was an indictment on Nigerians as a people. According to him, “The inability of the National Assembly and executive to produce the 2016 budget is saying something silently loud about our country. I think it is shameful that there is no budget four months into the year.  

The women Prince loved

By Lisa Respers
Prince loved women. There was no doubt about that. From how he praised them in song to his many loves, he truly was an"International Lover."But there were three women who were central to his life. One he held as a baby and two he married.Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, and his ex-wives, Mayte Garcia and Manuela Testolini, were allowed inside the extremely private world of the singer who died Thursday at the age of 57.Tyka Nelson: 'My brother would play the piano and I would sing'Nelson is Prince's younger sister and his junior by two years. They were a musical family. Their parents, John Lewis Nelson and Mattie Shaw, were both jazz musicians."In the beginning, my brother would play the piano and I would sing, because that's what my mom and dad did," Tyka Nelson told City Pages in 2008.The pair had half-siblings but grew up together. Like her older brother, Nelson gravitated to songwriting and wrote her first tune when she was 10.She was also introduced to drugs early. By the time an 18-year-old Prince signed his first record deal, his sister had become a runaway.Nelson released her debut album, "Royal Blue," in 1988. But her career was derailed, she said, by insecurities that led her to dark places. She released an inspirational album, "A Brand New Me," in 2008.She said she was her own artist."It is not my intent to sound like anyone else and I have strived to be original in everything I do," she said in an article posted on her label's site. "Even though my brother is someone I greatly love and respect, there can and will be only, one Prince."On Thursday she appeared before fans at Paisley Park. "Thank you for loving him," she said.Mayte Garcia: 'This man was my everything'Prince and Mayte Garcia had their marriage annulled in 1999 on their third wedding anniversary. She is taking the lossof her ex hard."This man was my everything, we had a family," Garcia told People. "I am beyond deeply saddened and devastated."At the age of 8 she appeared on "That's Incredible" as the world's youngest professional belly dancer. The pair met after her mother slipped someone in Prince's camp a video cassette of her then 16-year-old daughter dancing in 1990. Prince eventually hired Garcia to dance with him on tour, and they later fell in love.She inspired his 1995 hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," and on Valentine's Day 1996 the couple wed in his hometown of Minneapolis.Garcia became pregnant soon after they married, but their son, Boy Gregory, was born with Pfeiffer syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the skull and the bones in the hands and feet. He lived for a week.The couple never really recovered from the death of their son, and Garcia talked to VH1 about life after Prince."When I got divorced it was another culture shock," she said. "I became a hermit and I just didn't go out much because I was scared."Garcia was later engaged to rocker TommyLee, though the couple never married -- but they did appear on the VH1 reality series"Hollywood Exes."Manuela Testolini: 'Prince and I had a magical journey'Manuela Testolini was Prince's second wife.They met in 2001 when she worked for his charity organization. The then 43-year-old Prince married the 24-year-old Testolini thesame year.The pair guarded their privacy and were equally quiet when they split in 2006.She told Entertainment Tonight that Prince had encouraged her to start her own charitable organization, which she did. Andnow she plans to build a school in his honor."Prince and I had a magical journey together and I loved him immensely," Testolini told ET. "I knew him as a husband, friend and fierce philanthropist. Philanthropy brought us together and it was Prince that encouraged me to start myown charity over 10 years ago."Testolini married R & B singer Eric Benet in2011. Benet was formerly married to actress Halle Berry.Testolini and Benet have two young daughters, Lucia Bella and Amoura Luna.

Huge US-Mexico drugs tunnel found .

US Customs and Border Protection released video from inside the tunnel

One of the longest cross-border drugs-smuggling tunnels between Mexico and the US has been found by authorities in San Diego, American officials say.

They say the 800m (874 yards) tunnel was used to transport an "unprecedented cache" of cocaine and marijuana.

It was the 13th sophisticated secret tunnel found along California's border with Mexico since 2006.

But a local official described it as "ingenious" and unlike anything seen before.

Three have been found on the same short street in San Diego that runs parallel to a border fence with Mexico.

In the latest incident about 1,016kg (2,242lb) of cocaine and 6,350kg of marijuana suspected of being transported through the tunnel was seized, officials say.

The entrance to the tunnel on the American side was hidden under a big bin

District Attorney Laura Duffy said smugglers were using the tunnel to transport large quantities of cocaine and marijuana

"This is the largest cocaine seizure ever associated with a tunnel," Southern California District Attorney Laura Duffy said, and is the second "super tunnel" to be discovered in recent weeks,

In March, authorities uncovered a 380m tunnel that ran from a restaurant in Mexico to a house in California.

The latest tunnel ran at a depth of 14m (46ft) from the bottom of an elevator shaft built into a house in Tijuana to a hole in the ground on the American side enclosed within a fenced-in lot set up as a pallet business.

The hole was hidden under a trailer-sized rubbish bin that smugglers used to move the drugs from the lot, federal officials said.

"They put the drugs in the dumpster and then hauled the dumpster to another location to unload it," Ms Duffy said.

Federal agents followed a truck that took the bin to a central San Diego location about 40km (25 miles) north of the border and witnessed the cargo being loaded onto a box truck, which drove away.

The tunnel is the latest in a series that have been discovered on the US-Mexico border

San Diego County sheriff's deputies then stopped the truck and seized the drugs, arresting three men in the process.

Ms Duffy said that federal agents searching the pallet lot and the tunnel recovered additional supplies of marijuana and arrested three more suspects.

The tunnel used in the operation was sophisticated, The Los Angeles Times reported, and had a ventilation system and lighting. On the Tijuana side, the tunnel was connected to an elevator that ascended into the house.

"I think it fair to say that few would suspect that traffickers were moving multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana in this very unassuming way, in full view of the world around them," the paper quoted Ms Duffy as saying.

"It's a rabbit hole,'' she said of the latest tunnel to be found.

"Just the whole way that it comes up right out into the open is a bit ingenious. It's something completely different than what we've seen before."

Brazil leader may appeal to trade bloc

 

Ms Rousseff has described the impeachment effort against her as a coup

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has said she could ask the South American trade bloc Mercosur to suspend the country if she is removed from office.

Ms Rousseff has repeatedly described the impeachment process as a political coup by her rivals to oust her.

She is accused of manipulating budget figures ahead of her re-election in 2014, but has denied any wrongdoing.

Mercosur has a provision which can be triggered if the elected government of a member state is overthrown.

It could lead to a series of sanctions by the bloc against the country, including trade benefits.

"I would appeal to the democracy clause if there were, from now on, a rupture of what I consider democratic process," she told reporters in New York.

• How did Brazil get here?

• The man who could lead Brazil

Observers said this was another indication that she would fight the impeachment process with all tools available to her.

Ms Rousseff repeated that she did not face corruption allegations and said foreign leaders had expressed solidarity.

Earlier this week, the lower house of Brazil's Congress comfortably approved to start impeachment proceedings against her.

The motion will now go to the upper house, the Senate, which is expected to suspend Ms Rousseff next month while it holds a formal trial.

Some 100 supporters of President Rousseff gathered outside the UN building in New York

There were also about 50 demonstrators against Ms Rousseff

Local media reports suggest that most of the 81 senators are likely to vote to consider her impeachment.

Ms Rousseff and her supporters have repeatedly said there is no legal basis in the process.

She is accused of juggling accounts to make her government's economic performance appear better than it was, ahead of her election campaign.

The president has defended her government's fiscal manoeuvres as common practice in Brazil.

Earlier, in a speech to the UN during the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change, Ms Rousseff had a softer tone, in which she avoided the word "coup."

"I cannot conclude my remarks without mentioning the grave moment Brazil is currently undergoing," she said.

"I have no doubt our people will be capable of preventing any setbacks."

If she is impeached, Vice-President Michel Temer would take over as interim president.

Ms Rousseff has accused him of being one of the ringleaders of the "coup" attempt against her.

In an interview to the New York Times, Mr Temer said: "I'm very worried about the president's intention to say that Brazil is some minor republic where coups are carried out."

Eight killed in Ohio gun rampage

Police said "There is a strong possibility that any individual involved is armed and incredibly dangerous"

At least eight people have been killed in "execution-style" killings in four separate homes in rural Ohio.

It is believed the victims - seven adults and one teenager - are from the same family, the state's attorney general said in a statement.

They were all shot in the head and police are still searching for the attacker, or attackers.

More than a dozen officials from multiple agencies were sent to crime scenes in Piketon, south of Columbus.

A pastor at the scene said the violence may have been the result of a "domestic situation".

All of the victims are members of a family called Rhoden, said Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader.

They were all found in homes along Union Hill Road in Pike County. The Pike County Sheriff said there are four active crime scenes spanning about 30 miles (48km).

Some of the victims appeared to have been shot as they slept, police said, including a mother in bed with her four-day-old baby close by.

Three children, including the infant, survived the shootings. The boy who was killed was 16 years old.

"There is a strong possibility that any individual involved in this is armed and incredibly dangerous," Mr Reader said.

Police have not determined a motive or officially identified the dead. They say none of the deaths appeared to be self-inflicted and they believe those responsible are still at large.

Aerial view of one of the locations being investigated in Pike County, Ohio

There are 'multiple crime scenes' in Piketon, Ohio

Ohio Governor John Kasich has promised that those responsible will be found.

"We'll find them, we'll catch them and they'll be brought to justice,'' he said, while campaigning in Connecticut for his Republican presidential bid.

Sheriff Charles Reader said he would "suspect the family was being targeted". He said he had met about 100 relatives of the victims at a church and they were being offered protection.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said it was "hard to believe" someone could kill a mother with her baby sleeping nearby.

Authorities are urging residents of the county to come forward with any information they might have.

Nations sign historic Paris climate deal

John Kerry held his granddaughter as he signed the book during the signature ceremony for the Paris Agreement

By Matt McGrath

Environment correspondent, New York

Amid hope and hype, delegates have finished signing the Paris climate agreement at UN headquarters in New York.

Some 171 countries inked the deal today, a record number for a new international treaty.

About 15 nations, mainly small island states, had already ratified the agreement.

But dozens of other countries were required to take this second step before the pact came into force.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "Paris will shape the lives of all future generations in a profound way - it is their future that is at stake."

Speaking at the opening ceremony, he said the planet was experiencing record temperatures: "We are in a race against time. I urge all countries to join the agreement at the national level.

"Today we are signing a new covenant for the future."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said delegates were signing "a new covenant for the future"

As the world marked the 46th Earth Day, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres explained what now needed to happened.

"Most countries, though not all, need to take the signed document and go back home and go to ratification procedures that in most countries requires parliamentary discussion and decision."

Analysis

David Shukman, Science Editor, New York

Only a few years ago the very idea of a global treaty to limit climate change seemed almost impossible. The ghosts of the failed Copenhagen summit in 2009 haunted the negotiations.

Now, in a total transformation in morale, almost all of the world's governments are here in New York to support the new Paris Agreement. The sheer scale of the turnout is seen as a signal of political determination. The atmosphere is positive, up to a point. Tough challenges lie ahead.

Hollywood actor and campaigner Leonardo DiCaprio also spoke at the ceremony

One is the task of ratification, another the continuing arguments over cash, a third the basic fact that the deal was only made possible because each country's actions are entirely voluntary. And then there's the awkward truth that, amid the celebrations, all eyes are transfixed by events beyond the UN buildings.

Mention of the name Trump triggers nervous laughter. A Republican victory would presumably lead to America's withdrawal from the agreement. And that would risk undermining the entire process.

Hollywood actor and climate change campaigner Leonardo DiCaprio said: "After 21 years of debates and conferences it's time to declare no more talks, no more 10-year studies, no more allowing the fossil fuel companies to manipulate and dictate the science and the policies that affect our future. This is the body that can do what is needed."

France's president Francois Hollande said the agreement in Paris was an "emotional moment, rare in the lives of politicians and leaders".

He added: "We need to go further than the pledges made there."

Even though the US and China represent around 38% of global emissions, getting to the 55% figure will not be that easy.

The European Union, which represents just under 10% of global CO2, will take a considerable amount of time as each of the 28 members has to ratify it themselves.

That is unlikely to begin until the EU can agree how much of the carbon cutting each country will have to undertake.

Small island states were upset with this approach.

"That exercise is going to take too long, we should all join together and tell our friends in the EU they must move along more quickly than that," said the Marshall Islands Ambassador for climate change, Tony De Brum.

"We did not expect that kind of distance in the process of ratification and approval."

Indigenous rights campaigner Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim commented: "Climate change is adding poverty to poverty every day, forcing many to leave home for a better future.

"If you do not increase finance for adaptation soon, there will be no one to adapt."

President Obama is also keen to see the new agreement take effect before he leaves office next January. A little known clause in the treaty means it would take four years if a new leader, less committed to climate action, wanted to take the US out of the agreement.

Other countries are also aware of this and are watching the US election process very closely.

"We don't know who the next President will be and what stand the new administration will take," India's environment minister Prakash Javadekar told BBC News.

"What happens in the US will have a definite bearing on how the world takes all these ideas and commitments and pledges in effect. So people are eagerly awaiting what happens in the US."

China said it would "finalise domestic procedures" to ratify the Paris Agreement before the G20 summit in China in September.

There is obvious delight here in New York at the record turnout of countries and leaders to sign the agreement. But some attendees are cautioning that this is merely the first rung on a very difficult ladder.

If action to cut emissions isn't ramped up quickly, and the world warms by significantly more than 2C, there would be consequences.

"If you have seen Syrian refugees, get ready to see climate refugees - it will be worse," said Tosi Mpan-Mpanu from the DRC, the chairman of the Least Developed Countries group in the UN talks.

"If people have had decades of gaining assets and livelihoods which are completely depleted in a season's dry weather - what do they have left?

"It is an open door to Boko Haram, it is an open door to Daesh, because people will be just desperate," he told BBC News.

Visas of 30,000 students a year curtailed By Judith Burns Education reporter

The government rejects suggestions the crackdown amounts to scapegoating

More than 30,000 non-EU students a year have had their visas curtailed by the Home Office in the past three years, figures obtained by BBC News show.

And 410 educational establishments had their licences to sponsor international students revoked in the same period.

The Home Office said it was cracking down on immigration abuse.

But the National Union of Students said international students were being "scapegoated" in order to meet targets on net migration.

The Home Office count incoming and departing international students when setting its targets on net migration, despite fears from some leading politicians that this risks harming UK universities.

The figures, released by the Home Office under Freedom of Information rules, show 99,635 students had their visas curtailed in the three years to the end of December 2015:

• 33,210 in 2013

• 34,210 in 2014

• 32,215 in 2015

Of the educational establishments that lost their licences, there were

• 199 in 2013

• 129 in 2014

• 72 in 2015

Some later had their licences reinstated - but, overall, the number of establishments holding them fell from 1,706 in 2013 to 1,405 by the end of last year.

'Immigration abuse'

In its response to the BBC's Freedom of Information request, the Home Office said it was unable to provide specific details of the types of institutions that had lost their licences.

But, in a statement, it said the revocations had been focused on "poor quality institutions".

During the period, no universities had their licences revoked - though a few had them temporarily suspended.

A Home Office spokesman said, since 2010, it had "cracked down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions which were damaging the UK's reputation as a provider of world-class education, whilst maintaining a highly competitive offer for international students who wish to study at our world-leading institutions".

He said the strategy was working.

"Visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 17% since 2010, whilst visa applications to our elite Russell Group universities up by 39%," he said.

"We will continue to reform the student visa system to tackle abuse and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest."

The spokesman said "migrants" whose leave to remain was curtailed "are encouraged to depart voluntarily".

"It they fail to do so enforcement action can be taken," he added.

'Draconian'

But Dominic Scott, chief executive of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), said: "If these figures are correct, then they show that the Home Office's action against students has been even more draconian than previously understood.

"And many fear of course that it may have been more in pursuit of meeting a net migration target than addressing real abuse."

Many international students feel unwelcome in the UK, according to NUS research

NUS international students' officer Mostafa Rajaai said the "shocking" figures were "clear evidence the Home Office is following a political agenda, rather than trying to remove real cheats".

"It has a clear disregard for the right to a fair trial and the past six years have seen the steady erosion of international students' rights within the UK," he said.

Mr Rajaai quoted NUS research suggesting most non-EU students thought the government was unwelcoming towards international students.

"If the government continues to scapegoat overseas students in order to hit its immigration targets, the damage to the UK's reputation as a desirable place to study will only worsen," he said.

"The only solution is for immigration targets to be scrapped completely."

According to official figures, 201,763 students applied for UK study visas last year.

These include:

• 166,366 at universities

• 15,982 in further education

• 2,930 in English language schools

• 13,675 in independent schools

According to an Office of National Statistics published in January, 192,000 international students arrived in the UK for long-term study in the year to June 2015 - down from a peak of 238,000 in 2010.

Most of this fall has been in further education, says the ONS, and is due to the tightening of immigration rules.

Osun state Permanent Secretary, others abducted

The Permanent Secretary of the Osun State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Adebimpe Ogunlumade was kidnapped by gunmen‎n while returning to Osogbo from Abuja today April 22nd. According to a statement released by the state's Head of Service, Sunday Olayinka Owoeye, Ogunlumade was kidnapped along with her driver, Oladapo Arogundade Ajani and a Director from the ministry, Tajudeen Badejoko.They were kidnapped at gunpoint at Obajana along Lokoja-Okene road in Kogi state. The state Auditor Generalwho also traveled with the officials escaped the scene of the kidnap."The officials were returning from Abuja where they attended the briefing on the State and Local Government Reforms Project; a World Bank and European Union Programme,” the head of service statement read in partThe Osun State Police Command Public Relations officer, Folasade Odoro, confirmed the incident and said efforts were being made to rescue those kidnapped.

US Ambassador to the UN joins #BringBackOurGirls

otos: US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power attends a#BringBackOurGirls gathering in AbujaUS Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power who is in Nigeria to highlight the growing threat Boko Haram‪poses to the LakeChad Basin region, attended a#BringBackOurGirls gathering yesterday, April 21, in Abuja."I 'm moved by strength of the activists that meet daily at Abuja Unity Fountain calling for#ChibokGirlsto be returned" – said Ambassador Power. See more photos after the cut..Read more »

Some of the IDPs are orphaned children and they don't know where they came from - President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration has begun the process of putting together comprehensive data on all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Nigerian refugees with a view to speeding up their resettlement.The President stated this while receiving the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Samantha Power, at the Presidential Villa, on Thursday, April 21.President Buhari said that the compilation of reliable data on the IDPs and refugees was being handled by designated Federal Government agencies, the military and other security agencies."We have frightening indices of the number of people and the situation in the IDP camps across the country.And in spite of the government’s efforts and the hospitality of individuals and organizations, the situation needs better handling."A large segment of the IDPs are mostly women and children. Some of the children are orphaned and don’t know where they came from."Now we are working on getting a comprehensive data of all the peoplein the camps so that the governmentand NGOs will be properly briefed on where and how to support them," he said.The President said that IDPs, who were into farming before they were displaced by the Boko Haram, will bemobilized and assisted by the Ministry of Agriculture to return to their farms.Ambassador Power commended theFederal Government for always being the first and highest responderto the IDPs in various camps in the country.Power, who had earlier visited Nigerian refugees in Cameroun, said the situation in the camps could be improved with more information on the number of people in the camps and their areas of need.

Source: Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity)

Some of the IDPs are orphaned children and they don't know where they came from - President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration has begun the process of putting together comprehensive data on all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Nigerian refugees with a view to speeding up their resettlement.The President stated this while receiving the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Samantha Power, at the Presidential Villa, on Thursday, April 21.President Buhari said that the compilation of reliable data on the IDPs and refugees was being handled by designated Federal Government agencies, the military and other security agencies."We have frightening indices of the number of people and the situation in the IDP camps across the country.And in spite of the government’s efforts and the hospitality of individuals and organizations, the situation needs better handling."A large segment of the IDPs are mostly women and children. Some of the children are orphaned and don’t know where they came from."Now we are working on getting a comprehensive data of all the peoplein the camps so that the governmentand NGOs will be properly briefed on where and how to support them," he said.The President said that IDPs, who were into farming before they were displaced by the Boko Haram, will bemobilized and assisted by the Ministry of Agriculture to return to their farms.Ambassador Power commended theFederal Government for always being the first and highest responderto the IDPs in various camps in the country.Power, who had earlier visited Nigerian refugees in Cameroun, said the situation in the camps could be improved with more information on the number of people in the camps and their areas of need.

Source: Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity)

​Murder of OPC member by Fulani Herdsmen: How bloodbath was averted in Ondo

PALPABLE fear has continued to grip farmers across Ondo State following the menace of Fulani herdsmen whose activities have left manydead and also led to wanton destruction of properties. The herdsmen has left many farmers devastated as most of their farmlands remain in ruins.Also, as a result of the destruction of farmlandsby the Fulani herdsmen many of the farmers, who took loans from banks to revamp their agricultural ventures, arenow indebted to banks.Findings in the state have revealed that  thereis hardly any medium scale or large scale farmer that has not had one encounter or the other with the herdsmen.Lamenting the activities of the herdsmen, which is affecting farm produce, the chairman of farmers association in the state, Akin Olotu expressed worry that themurder of an Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, member by the herdsmen has created fears in the farmers of the state.Olotu wondered that if a security guard of an influential politician could be killed like that what would be the fate of lesser farmers acrossthe state.He noted that the activities of the herdsmen had become a serious threat to the security of state saying farmers had called the attention of both the state and Federal Governments to the hydra headed problems of herdsmen, who he accuses of rape, robbery, kidnapping and destruction of their farms.
Aside, continued attackson the farmland belonging to former Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Chief Olu Falae is becoming worrisome.As a matter of fact, within the space of six months, the herdsmen have paid three unwanted visits to Falae’s farmland.Apart from the kidnap and eventual release, the herdsmen have continued to invade the former SGF’s farmland.As if that was not enough, the herdsmen again invaded the same farm located at Ilado, Akure North area of the state but were chased away by the security guards employed to man the farm.Killing of OPC memberAnother visit was paid tothe farm by the herdsmen last week but they were again prevented from invadingand destroying it by some OPC members employed by Chief Falaeto defend the farmland because of the menace of the cattle rearers.Reports had it that the herdsmen returned to the farm few days later and   succeeded in kidnapping one of the OPC security guards, Ayodele Ige.Ayodele was missing fordays only for security operatives deployed to search for him to discover his corpse floating on a pool of water far from the farm.The death of the OPC member created tension. In the state as other members of the congress planned a reprisal attack on fulani cattle rearers in Shasha areaa of Akure, the OndoState capital that weekend.Vanguard gathered that the foot soldiers within the group have been mobilized from across the council areas of the state and several meetings have been held.They were to strike the following day but their meeting was leaked to the governor, who swiftly moved in to douse the tension.Security reports had it that the intention of members of the group was to retaliate by killingat least five herdsmen and not less than fifty oftheir cow after which both parties can then resolve to bury the hatchet.But the timely intervention of governor Olusegun Mimiko, who pleaded with the founderof the group, Otunba Gani Adams to speak with his ‘boys’ not to turnthe state to a theatre of war averted what could have been a bloodbath and invariably an ethnic battle in the state.A detachment of policemen were immediately deployed tothe Hausa community inorder to prevent a breakdown of law and order.Otunba Adams immediately summoned the leadership of the congress in the state to a meeting where he pleaded that the killers of Ayodele should be fished out and made to face justice.After this, the governor then invited all the members of the congress across the 18 council areas in the state to a peace meetingwhere he appealed to them to allow security operatives handle the matter and not to resort to self help.Governor Mimiko assured them that wherever the killers happen to be hiding, they would be smoked out and made to pay for their sins.The state coordinator of OPC, Pius Ogunsanya said that  they have restrained from carrying out reprisal attacks following the prompt intervention of their leader, Otunba Adams, the governor and Chief Falae.The state OPC had giventhe security operatives in the state 48 hours to produce the killer of Ayodele or they would go on a revenge operation across the state.But the governor pleaded with them to drop the idea of retaliating saying the security operatives are on top of the situation .Speaking with newsmenafter the peace meeting with the members of the OPC across the state, the governor raised the alarming prospect of thecountry heading towardsa precipice following theunchecked activities of   Fulani herdsmen.Mimiko wades inDr Mimiko said: “We have put in place a lot offire fighting efforts in thelast 48 hours to ensure that there’s no retaliatory attack from the OPC.“There’s no question about the fact that this is becoming a monster of sorts. I have had cause to express my view on this and I think we all ignore this menace as a nation, I can see us moving towards a precipice and we must do something about it, it’s getting dangerous, the audacity is very disturbing. When it comes to killing now, killing people over their own property, or land that is a very big challenge.”Police holds stakeholders meetingAs a follow up to the peace meeting, the statePolice command met with stakeholders, Hausa/Fulani farmers, traditional leaders, village heads and Miyyatti Allah in Akure on the need to stop further blood shedding in the state and to allow peace reign.The State Police Commissioner, Hilda Harrison expressed concern over the killingsand the menace of the herdsmen noting that the police command would not take it lightly with troublemakers in the state.Speaking with Vanguard,the OPC state Coordinator, Ogunsanya said the group would no longer tolerate the act ofimpunity by Fulani herdsmen in the state.Cattle breeders deny involvementAlso, the Chairman of    Miyyati Allah Cattle Breeders Association , Alhaji Bello Garuba, denied allegations against his men saying those perpetrating the acts were not from the state.Garuba said herdsmen in the state are peace loving who will not destroy the existing peace in the state.

​US has shared needed intelligence with Nigeria on finding Chibok girls –Envoy

ABUJA — United States government said, yesterday, that it provided Nigeria every information and intelligence needed to rescue the over 200 missing girls abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.This came as the federalgovernment reiterated its commitment to find the girls, saying it remained its priority.The US government spoke through its Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Samantha Jane Power.Fielding questions from State House Correspondents after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Power, who was on a tour of the troubled spots in the North East of Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, stated that the US would not rest until the girls were rescued.Power added that the recent video was actually a proof that the girls were still alive and to essentially enable the families of the girls engage with the government.She said: “The issue of the Chibok girls and other adaptations is of huge priority to the U.S. And it was the issue I discussed at length withPresident Buhari today.”‘’We had moved to provide the information and intelligence needed to the Nigerian authorities. We have in recent months been ableto allocate additional information sharing platforms and additionalsurveillance to aid the fight against Boko Haram.“We will not rest. We will continue to deepen our partnership and be moreeffective without partners on the ground.‘’We are determined to support Nigeria and other neighboring countries’ efforts to secure more rescues of abducted people and releases in the days andweeks ahead.“What we talked about was the importance of pursuing every need related to the Chibok girls and making sure we have a mechanism whereby parents and family members who have been abducted by Boko Haram can be given information, whereby videos can be examined and family members offer their feedbacks on their impression on the videos to have a process by which family of those who are missing work more constructively with the government and, indeed,with those involved in the operations in trying to rescue the girls“So that was the nature of our discussion with the President. The recent video was one part of our discussion and the larger puzzle that we need to be unraveled”.It will be recalled that the students, all female, were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in April 2004.

Components of the National grazing bill - Clement Udegbe

The National Grazing Billhas Seven Parts.
Part 1, deals with the establishment of the national Grazing Reserve Commission, and it’s powers, to be should  controlled by a Governing Council whose membership tenure shall be four years, comprising a Chairman, one representative each from Federal Ministries of Agriculture Rural Development and Water Resources, Health, Environment Housing and Urban Development,and  National Commission for Nomadic Education.Part II, of the Bill deals with Functions of the Commission which includes, designating, acquiring, controlling, managing, maintaining, the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes; Constructing of dams, roads, bridges, fences and infrastructure considered necessary; Identification, retracing, demarcating, monumenting, and surveying of primary, secondary, and tertiary stock routes; Conservingand preserving in its natural state the National Grazing  Reserves and Stock Routes; Ensuring the preservation and protection of any objectsof geological archaeological historicalaesthetic or scientific interests in the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes; the development of facilitiesand amenities within thenational Grazing Reserves; Fostering in the mind the general public, particularly the pastoral and transhumance population the necessityfor the establishment and development of the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes with the object ofdeveloping a greater appreciation of the valueof livestock and environmental conservation; And doing all such things which thecommission may calculate and consider incidental to the foregoing functions.Part III deals with appointment of the Reserve Controller and other Staff of the commission some of which may be seconded from other government offices; their functions, and structure of the commission.Part IV deals with financial provisions for the commission including that the commission may, subject to the Land Use Act, acquire any land for the purpose of discharging its functions.Part V, is the source of concern, its states in part;“The following lands may subject to this Act be constituted as National Grazing Reserve and Stock Routes- Any land at the disposal of the Federal Government; Any land inrespect of which it appears to the commission that Grazing on such land should be practiced, andany land acquired by thecommission through purchase, assignment, gift, or otherwise howsoever; Any land in respect of which it appears to the commission that primary, secondary, or tertiary routes be established.The commission may take over the ownership, control and management of any existing Grazing Reserveand stock routes from any state government onagreed terms, with the state concerned.Before any land is constituted as National Grazing Reserve, due notice shall be given to the state governor wherethe land is situate, by thecommission on behalf of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the intention of the commission, the location, size or limits ofthe land…declaring its intention for the purposes of governmentor for the particular use and benefits, wholly or inpart, of any class of persons, or for the benefit of any community, state, or local government. Emphasis here is mine.The Commission shall pay compensation on any land acquired by thecommission; Any disputes over claim for compensation shall be referred to the Land Use Allocation Committee of the State concerned; Commission has power to enter into any negotiation with holders of Statutory or Customary Rights of Occupancy for the purpose of assignment or alienation to the Commission”Part VI deals with the Regulation of persons orclass of persons to use the Grazing Areas, Restrictions of conduct within the Grazing areas,offences which carry a fine of N50,000= or imprisonment for five years or both.Part VII called the Miscellaneous Provisions restricts any legal action or suit against the commission.A written notice shall first be given to the commission of the intention to sue it or any member of the council; “No execution or attachment of process shall be issued against the commission without the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation” The Commission is indemnified out of the assets of the commission against anyproceeding whether civilor criminal in which judgment is given….”The idea of this bill is to take farming land belonging to communities, all over the country, make it Federal land permanently held for any class of persons it may fancy or please, and in this case it is for the economic, social, and religious benefit of the cattle rearers, whom we know as Fulani Herdsmen.In the views of the proponents of this bill, it may well be their answerto resolving the communal clash between the Fulani Herds men, and rural farming communities across this nation, but the bill is laden with potentially explosive provisions.

Britain's EU vote matters to America:

The business relationship is still VERY specialAmerica really wants the U.K. to stay in the European Union.During a visit to London on Friday, President Obama joined eight former U.S. Treasury secretaries inurging the U.K. to remain a member of the 28-country group. The country's first national vote onEU membership in 40 years is just two months away."When it comes to creating jobs, trade, and economic growth in line with our values, the U.K. has benefited from its membership in the EU -- inside a single market that provides enormous opportunities for the British people," he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.He said that leaving the EU -- the Brexit scenario -- would make it harder for the U.K. to fight terrorism, deal with the migration crisis and economic shocks.Most independent forecasters say Brexit would deliver a shock to the U.K. economy, the fifth biggest in the world. Investors are already nervous, and the pound has fallen sharply this year.More uncertainty is the last thing the America needs. Here's why theoutcome of the June 23 vote matters to the U.S. economy.Business loves LondonAmerican companies can operate anywhere in the EU as long as theyestablish a branch or subsidiary in one of its 28 member states.London is the most convenient option for many firms, because of the language, huge talent pool, andeasy access to the rest of Europe. The market is crucial for U.S. companies -- 30% of sales made by American companies and their affiliates in Europe are made in theU.K.London is home to 40% of the European headquarters of the world's 250 top companies, according to a research by Deloitte. Paris hosts just 8%.Wall Street's gateway to EuropeBig Wall Street banks have a lot to lose if the U.K. drops out of the EU.Many American banks use Londonas a springboard for their businessthroughout Europe. That's becauseas an EU member, the U.K. has a"passport" that allows financial firms to offer services across the other 27 countries.Leaving the EU could disrupt this link. Banks may have to establish bases elsewhere in the EU, in addition to the U.K., to continue operating across Europe."EU membership allows banks based in London to sell their services across Europe without needing multiple regulatory approvals in each country. While Britain will remain an attractive center for finance even if Britain exits, it should not take for grantedits global primacy when it is no longer the gateway to Europe," the former Treasury officials said.Risk to tradeThe U.S. is the second biggest trading partner for the U.K., after the EU. The U.K. is the seventh largest trading partner for the U.S., after Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany and South Korea.More than 10% of British exports go to the U.S., worth $58 billion last year. And the U.S. is a key supplier to the U.K., exporting $56 billion worth of goods in 2015.The relationship is even more important when it comes to service industries -- the U.K. is the biggest foreign provider of services in the U.S., and vice versa.Telecoms, technology services and finance are the top areas for both.Brexit could change this. The EU and the U.S. are negotiating a free trade agreement covering their combined population of 800 million people.Those in favor of Brexit say the U.K. would be able to secure its own trade deals with the U.S., China, and other heavyweights.Their opponents say the U.K.'s negotiating position would be much weaker on its own, rather than as a member of the EU's 500 million-strong bloc.America is likely to prioritize free trade with Europe, so bilateral ties with the U.K. could suffer. There is currently no free trade deal between the U.K. and U.S.Mutual investmentsBritish companies are the biggest foreign investors in the U.S., having accumulated assets worth about $519 billion by the end of 2014. In that year alone, British investment accounted for more than 18% of all foreign direct investment into the U.S. And U.K. companies employ roughly 1 million people in the U.S.The flow is two-way. American companies are by far the biggest source of foreign investment in the U.K., where they and their affiliates employ 1.2 million workers.The U.K. receives about 30% of all U.S. investment in the EU -- a far bigger chunk than any other country.Researchers at John Hopkins University estimate that U.S. companies held $5 trillion in assets in the U.K. in 2014, more than 20% of all foreign assets held by U.S. corporations globally.

How the French learned to love their police

BBC News, Sens

A record number of people have applied to join the French police force over the past year. Many new recruits say the recent attacks in Paris inspired them to sign up. It also seems that the shootings have made the country rethink its attitude towards the police.

A young recruit pushes away a woman charging at her with a club. The recruit draws her revolver. "Police! Don't move!" she yells.

Audrey is taking part in a self-defence class at the police training school in Sens, eastern France, having signed up after gunmen attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket at the start of 2015.

"Since the [Paris] terror attacks in January and November last year, the danger confronting us is clear," she says. "Any one of us can be a victim. Every one of us needs protection. And we all want to help somehow. That's why I'm here. To help make this country safer."

In March this year, a record 35,000 people sat the exam to join the police - 50% more than last year.

Only 8% of those who took the test passed - the same success level as for the entrance exam for the elite Science-Po political science school in Paris.

Recruits taking part in firearms training

"I was really shocked by the video from the Charlie Hebdo killings of the policeman who was on the ground, asking for mercy, who they shot in cold blood," says another recruit, Perez, when I ask him why he joined the police.

"That made me want to defend our republic, defend our nation even more. In the morning we'll wake up and know that maybe today we'll risk our lives but we're more motivated than ever," he says.

The policeman Perez is talking about was called Ahmed Merabet, and the next recruit I talk to shares the same first name.

"I'm of Algerian origin," he says. "We had a lot of terrorism in Algeria when I was growing up. I remember the curfews when we went there on holiday. When the Bataclan happened in November I remembered Algeria, and in December I joined the police."

Three of the victims in the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket attacks were police officers, and the live TV coverage of their colleagues storming the shop to save hostages led many to see them as heroes.

French special forces storm the Hyper Cacher building in January 2015

Then, in November, the first man to confront the attackers inside the Bataclan concert hall in Paris was an off-duty police officer who happened to be passing. He entered the building and shot one of the gunmen dead with his service revolver. A few days later police stormed a flat in St Denis, just north of the city, killing the suspected ringleader.

"The terror attacks are a decisive factor for many in our new intake," says the director of the training college, Jacques Richard.

"I think these young people are discovering a sense of duty and the desire to help their fellow human beings.

"When something like this happens, people pull together. Everyone wants to make their own contribution. There's been a big increase in the number of people volunteering to give blood, for example. And more people have wanted to join the emergency services and the police. It's had a big influence on the way people think."

Policeman Ahmed Merabet was shot outside the Charlie Hebdo offices

The image of the police in France has changed significantly over the past 20 years. The 1995 film La Haine, a hit both at the box-office and with the critics, portrayed the police as sadistic and racist.

"It's an anti-police film," explained Mathieu Kassovitz, who won the best director prize for the movie at Cannes that year. When the cast climbed the famous festival steps, the police on duty there turned their backs in protest.

The police have had an extremely negative image in France for centuries, says historian Jean-Marc Berliere, who's written several books about them.

"Even in Louis XIV's time the people loathed the police," he says. "In the public imagination the police meant repression and the limitation of freedom."

Protestors clashed with police outside the Sorbonne in 1968

A defining moment was May 1968 when police and rioting students fought pitched battles around Paris's Sorbonne University. That revolutionary movement spread to workers bringing the French economy to a virtual standstill for two weeks. Violence erupted when President Charles de Gaulle tried to sort things out by sending in the police.

But the media always had a soft-spot for the paving-stone-hurling students.

But four days after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, something extraordinary happened. People filled the streets of Paris to show their sympathy for the the victims and demonstrate their support for the police. A video posted on YouTube captures the moment.

The crowd parts. There are women running - some of them laughing. "What's going on?" says the man filming with his smartphone. And then, police - in vans and on foot. Their black rubber shoulder protection giving them the kind of silhouettes usually associated with science fiction heroes. And the crowd starts to chant, "Merci, merci" - Thank you, thank you.

Demonstrators applaud police officers escorting families and relatives of the victims

"I couldn't believe it," says Jean-Marc Berliere who was there. "Here was a young, urban, intellectual crowd applauding the police! I saw women giving them flowers. I saw people shaking their hands. I saw women kissing them. And you could see how moved the police were. It was so unexpected."

For Audrey, it made her realise that "this job is, in fact, fantastic".

Something like this had happened only once before, says Berliere, at the liberation of Paris in August 1944. The police were the first to rise up against the Germans before the Allies got there. "Afterwards, when they marched, the crowds shouted 'Vive les flics!' - Long live the cops!" he says.

It's not clear if the police's popularity will last, or if it will sag like a souffle in a police canteen.

A video of a police officer hitting a young black demonstrator at a recent demonstration against labour reforms has not helped their image. Neither has a book by renowned anthropologist Didier Fassin, La Force de l'Ordre (Security Forces). He was allowed to follow the police in one part of the Paris region from 2005 to 2007 and reports widespread brutality and racism.

But, for the time being at least, a significant part of the French population is seeing the police in a new way. As heroes.