2013 Budget Proposal: Refreshments to cost Ministries N1bn

The budgeted amounts for purchasing generator fuel and refreshments appear to be a major part of the proposed spending recently submitted by the Executive Arm of government to the National Assembly.

According to reports, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) will spend a total sum of N1.126 billion on refreshment and meals as well as another N843 million on generator fuel, according to the 2013 budget proposal.

As the breakdown of the allocations to various MDAs show:

1.  Ministry of Education will receive N20 million for generator fuel and N10.6 million for refreshment and meals;

2.  Ministry of Culture and Tourism: N3.16m for generator fuel, N41.57m for refreshment;

3.  Ministry of Defence: N23.7m for generator fuel, N14.2m for refreshment;

4.  Ministry of Environment: N11m for generator fuel, N2m for refreshment;

5.  Federal Civil Service Commission: N24m for generator fuel, N180m for refreshment;

6.  Federal Character Commission: N6m for generator fuel, N8m for refreshment;

7.  Ministry of Finance: N65m for generator fuel, N44m for refreshment;

8.  Fiscal Responsibility Commission: N4.9m for generator fuel, N4.7m for refreshment.

9.  Ministry of Agriculture gets N5.9m for generator fuel, N3.2m for refreshment;

10. Ministry of Communication: N5m for generator fuel, N18m for refreshment;

11. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: N66.8m for generator fuel, N75m for refreshment;

12. The Code of Conduct Bureau: N3.6m for generator fuel, N10m for refreshment;

13. Ministry of Aviation: N13m for refreshment;

14. Wages Commission gets N6.5m for refreshment;

15. Petroleum Resources gets N35.5m for refreshment;

16. Power gets N8.7m for refreshment;

17. Special Duties gets N4m for refreshment;

18. Water Resources gets N19m for generator fuel.

Via YNaija

Husband Material by Tope Olofin of Toperants.com

I read this post from toperants.com and immediately fell in love with it, which gave impetus to the idea to re-post it here for my readers. This lady is somebody I admire a lot. She's down to earth and a very creative and intuitive writer. Enjoy!

This one is on request and might be opinionated. If you don’t agree, you always have the comment box to air your views, but for the next five seconds or so give me some space to rant away my feelings on the subject that has been thrust upon me.

The newest student in my class had me proof read his latest write up “Wife Material”. I must confess, as I read it, I had to blurt out “we have our own list too”. As one of the commenter’s pointed out, we most certainly have a list and Oknuges, don’t you worry we also do our own fair share of discussions on what we look out for as ‘husband material’. Here are a few of them. 

To all the beautiful and hardworking ladies on my BBM (Blackberry Messenger), who won’t settle for anything less than the specifications on their list a big shout out to you. To all the ladies who decide to compromise just because they feel life is passing them by, oh well all the best and if there is any other group I missed out, ‘sorry’ will have to do. I am not a robot, so you don’t expect me to remember everything. 

Before I go on with the list, I just want to set the record straight. Contrary to the popular opinion of the male species we aren’t looking for a guy with a fat account to drain just for the fun of it. Mind you I am not saying we would mind if he has twice the cash, I am just saying that it isn’t top priority. Of course we would like him to be financially stable, but take note of the word “POTENTIAL”. He must have potential and we will be willing to grow with him.These are the things we look out for: 

•  He must be godly, God-fearing. Seriously, if you cannot lift me up spiritually, then I think it is better you just leave me in my father’s house, after all who wants an anti-climax after marriage? It is supposed to lift you innit? This goes first on the list of any female individual.

• Don’t be domineering. We recognized and accept the fact that our Creator made you the head of the home. We are willing to respect and even acknowledge that, but you need not remind us every five seconds. Afterall the Lion is the king of the jungle and he doesn’t remind the lizards about it every blessed minute.

• He must be respectful. I believe the common saying is “respect begets respects” if you demand it from us, I believe we would be better followers if we see you being an example. Don’t you know that when respect is showered on any individual, it gives the feeling that you are appreciated despite your short comings?

• It has been said that a confident man is a successful man. Confidence in most cases gets you the girl. The opposite of confidence is a big turn off.

• He must be responsible. That is the big elephant in the room. I am entrusting my life into your hands, you are taking over from where my family left off. So if that trait is lacking you can be certain that I won’t budge no matter your other credentials are. Actually this comes second.

• He must be sensitive and patient. It is known that a lady has seasons. Sometimes we nag (it is in our DNA), sometimes we are rude, naughty and get angry unnecessarily. It is not an excuse, but your ability to overlook it and treat us like you would treat your younger sister will endear you to us. In our silliness, be patient with us. If and when you do this, we will be willing to give an arm for you.

He must be TRUSTWORTHY, understanding, supportive, caring, intelligent, hardworking, and kindhearted. Please don’t stop me, because I intend to keep on going. Okay, my time is up, but it still doesn’t change the fact that we want it all. And yes we want him to be knowledgeable in other matters which I chose not to mention here. But since we do not live in a perfect world, we might settle for close to 90 percent. (You aren’t allowed to judge, afterall, that’s an A.)The point is we are looking for someone who we can be ourselves with. We want a friend.I agree that loneliness can be horrific, but let’s face it guys, you cannot do without us!!!

Felix Baumgarter breaks YouTube record as 8 million viewers watch his space jump

Felix Baumgartner might not have broken Joe Kittinger's world record for the longest time spent in freefall, but he did smash a fourth milestone during his dive. In addition to records for the highest ever jump, longest distance fall and fastest downward speed, the stunt was watched by eight millionYouTubers at the same time. While the site hasn't divulged exact stats, that figure is apparently higher than those who watched President Obama's inauguration. That said, if you weren't one of the eight million, you can watch the highlights reel -- unless you're already bored of watching a man fall, unaided, you know, from space.

Via Engadget

Four Microsoft Windows 8 demo videos sneak online

As we get closer to Windows 8's October 25th launch date, expect the floodgates to open on a barrage of tidbits, insider peeks and revelations. One such early arrival is these four clips, lasting just under a minute, that demonstrate some of the new features that'll soon arrive onyour computer, tablet or hybrid.

Via Engadget

Samsung Galaxy S III Mini photo, specs and expected price leak in Germany

German site MobileGeeks has leaked further details about the new Mini version of the Galaxy S III -- a device that Samsung only just confirmed this morning. As expected, we're looking at a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and Jelly Bean-flavored TouchWiz, but if the source is accurate then most of the other specs are surprisingly budget: the screen resolution is a mere 800 x 480, the big bro's quad-core Exynos processor has been replaced by a dual-core STE U8420 chip running at 1GHz, there's 1GB of RAM, and the rear shooter maxes out at 5-megapixels. According to the leaked info, this all-round downgrade could lead to an expected price tag of 399 Euros ($510). No doubt we'll have more clarity after tomorrow's launch event.

Via Engadget

ALUU4: School shut down as UNIPORT Students burn houses, cars in protest

Angry students of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Tuesday invaded Aluu community where four of their colleagues were killed on Friday. By the time security operatives restored order to the troubled community, many houses and cars had been torched and about 30 students injured.

But the students’ action came with a cost: The UNIPORT authorities shut the 37-year-old institution indefinitely.

While the community boiled, the National Assembly condemned the UNIPORT and Mubi Polytechnic killings. The House of Representatives went a step further by summoning the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, over the rising  insecurity in the country.

Four second year undergraduates of UNIPORT – Biringa Lordson of Theatre Arts Department;  Ugonna  Obuzor of the Geology Department;   Mike  Toku of   Civil Engineering  Department;  and Tekema Erikena -were  lynched in Aluu for allegedly stealing a laptop computer and BlackBerry phone. The lynching was also videotaped.

Last week, gunmen had also invaded the off campus hostel of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi  with a hit list and butchered more than 40 students.

A source said that irate students who gathered under the auspices of the National Association of Nigerian Students had barricaded the East-West Road, vowing not to leave until the UNIPORT Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ajienka, addressed them. Some the students later moved to Aluu and began to set  houses and cars ablaze until security operatives came to disperse them.

The immediate past student union president, Mr. Rhino Owhorkire, said  that 30 students were injured during the incident that took place at about 4.30 pm. Owhokire, who hails from  Aluu, stated that he tried to calm the students and stop them from going ahead to torch the buildings to no avail.

“I am from Aluu and I tried my best to calm them down and stop them from burning houses . The initial plan was for them to make bonfire on the road and not to burn houses,” he said.

NANS Treasurer, South East and South-South, Mr. Iyere Onono, urged government to address the grievances of the students.

As the tension rose, the management of the university  ordered the immediate closure of the university to forestall the breakdown of law and order on the  campus.

Via Punch

Outraged Nigerians launch campaign to identify UNIPORT Students’ killers

Nigerians outraged by the lynching of four University of Port Harcourt undergraduates in Aluu, Rivers State, have launched an online campaign to have the killers identified and punished.

Although it was learnt that the community has been deserted following the arrest of the village head, Alhaji Hassan Walewa, and 13 others by the police, users of social media argued that some of the killers could still be traced.

Already, photographs of some of the suspected killers, have surfaced on the Internet. The photographs were frozen from the video tape of the killings.

One of the suspects was believed to have poured petrol on the students and lit the fire. For instance, a blog, AmeborTalk.com, has the photographs of two of the suspected killers and a crowd at the scene on its page.

A contributor on Nigeria Online Community wrote. “The guy holding the plank was an especially enthusiastic BEAST and deserves capital punishment.

“The video appeared to have been shot by the woman in purple/jeans. If you know anyone of them on this picture, have them reported to the police.”

Popular blogger, Linda Ikeji, wrote, “If the Rivers State government thinks this is an incident that will eventually die off, then they have another thing coming! They must prosecute and jail the people who committed this dastardly act before we let it rest!

“We the youths of this country demand that the River State Government look into this matter and arrest everyone in that video. Except the government want to tell us that they have given the youths of Aluu power to arrest and kill indiscriminately.

“The Rivers government MUST make a scapegoat of the people who did this so it doesn’t repeat itself. Next time, it could be my brother or your brother, my child or your child! We can’t let this happen again.”

A blogger, identified simply as Kel, warned that the United Nations would be alerted if any attempt was made to sweep the matter under the carpet, adding that “if our government can’t help us then I guess we’ll get help elsewhere.”

It was also being claimed on some blogs that some policemen were allegedly at the scene of the incident and when the mob told them the young men were killers, they gave their ‘go ahead.’

Some bloggers were enraged that contrary to claims in some quarters, neither arms nor “stolen items”were found on the four young men as confirmed by the JTF who brought their bodies to the mortuary.

Via Punch