THE NIGERIAN SENATE HAS PASSED A LAW ON MADE IN NIGERIA PRODUCTS

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to re-enact the Public Procurement Act, 2007.

The law will, among other things, make it mandatory for government at all levels to give priority to locally-manufactured products in all their procurement.

The decision of the federal lawmakers followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Public Procurement led by Senator Joshua Dariye.

The law was entitled, “A Bill for an Act to amend The Public Procurement Act to provide for and adopt a local content policy and timely completion of procurement processes and other related matters.”

Dariye said the bill, when assented to, would amend relevant sections of the 2007 Procurement Act to favour the patronage of local manufacturers and ensure speedy completion of projects.

According to him, the bill seeks to amend Section 15(1) of the Act by inserting additional clauses that will close the gap created by the Act, which is currently encouraging sharp practices in government’s procurement processes.

Dariye said, “Similarly, the issue of disposal, which is an integral aspect of procurement, has been aptly captured by the amendment in the new sub-clause 1(e). The committee has equally sustained the amendments of Section 34(1, 2) sought by the bill for the purpose of patronising made in Nigeria goods; this will go a long way to encourage our Nigerian manufacturers.

“The amendment proposed by the bill in Section 35 is to review upwards the mobilisation fee from 15 per cent to 25 per cent that may be paid to a supplier or contractor. This is aimed at enhancing timely completion of procurement processes at various phases.”

The Senate also approved the inclusion of Nigerian Institute of Architects and the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors as members of the National Council on Public Procurement.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, said the new amendments to the Act would help stimulate the nation’s economy.

He said, “We all have a role to play to ensure that the Executive complies, especially in the area of giving priority to locally-produced goods. This has helped many countries to develop when they had issues of downturn in their economies.”

Source: The guardian 

NOBEL IGWE BECOMES BRAND SMVASSADIR FOR CASPER & GAMBINI'S

Nigerian born fashion icon and entrepreneur Noble Igwe who just got married last weekend to his heart robe has landed an endorsement deal as the brand ambassador of luxury restaurant "CASPER AND GAMBINI'S 

The company entered Nigeria with their catering business and have since opened up their restaurant in Victoria Island, Lagos.

STUDENT AND ENTREPRENEURIAL FUND OF $500M LUNCHED BY NYPF

Great news for the Nigerian youth ! The Nigerian Young Professionals Forum in partnership with Heritage Bank, has launched a N500 Million Naira Grant seed capital set aside for young Nigerian entrepreneurs and students.Speaking during the launch, Dr Ahmed Adamu said,

“I am happy to be here to witness history in the making, it gives me great pleasure to see the dream we aspire comes true. Today, young people are taking the lead to help themselves by themselves. This is what we have been waiting for, to see young people not waiting for what someone or government can do for them, they are now doing something for themselves. This is the real leadership, where young people are saving and sacrificing from their income to help their colleagues and improve their lives through entrepreneurship and educational grants. This is not a loan, but a grant, we must therefore thank and congratulate the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) for initiating this grant. We thank the leadership of the NYPF, especially its founder, Moses Siasia, who has been a Young Politician and Young Professional (YP, YP) for the courage of launching this grant called “Young Entrepreneurship and Students Grant (YESGrant).

I have travelled wide across the world, especially among the Commonwealth Nations, where I have led the young people that numbered up to 1.2 Billion from these countries, and in all these countries, I have not seen this kind of direct youth-led entrepreneurship and educational grants. I am happy that this is coming from my own country. Congratulations once again.

This shall serve as motivation to other young people, so that young people can become real leaders. Like I keep saying, leadership is not about government positions, while other young people are out there spending their resources on sycophant political activities, here we have young people investing on their generation. This should be highly appreciated to encourage and inspire others. This project is exceptional, because it extends further to help students pay for their tuition fees. This project clearly showed that, it is not politically motivated, as no election is taking place right now, and no intention of using it to earn political advantage.

Having appreciated this achievement, I have some suggestions on how to effectively improve on the efficiency of this investment. Since our targets is to encourage young entrepreneurs, then we have to protect them, and make them compete with only local entrepreneurs. This can be achieved by banning importation of all kinds of products and services that Nigeria can produce, so that the competition will be between local producers, which will help enhance the quality of local products.

There is need for deliberate investment on the right psychology and cognition of young people. A self-motivated and productive minds engage in productive ventures even without support. So, the efficiency of this project depends on the cognition and perception of the beneficiaries. If the beneficiaries are after luxury or status, no matter how much they receive, they cannot get out of poverty/unemployment. So the beneficiaries shall develop passion and interest in productive ventures, so that with little support they can reinvest and grow patiently.

This also brings about the need to identify the interest and the choice of the beneficiaries. Without interest, there is no passion, once there is no passion, there is no sustainability. Therefore, before disbursing this money, there is need to engage in an independent survey without the participants knowing the purpose of the survey. This is the way we can have them declare their real business interest, their exact economic condition and their capital base requirement, and once we have this information, the disbursement will be made based on their interest, economic condition and capital scope of their chosen business. There is no need to restrict the selected types of businesses, the choice of the business shall be identified by the applicants themselves.

If this survey is conducted, we can then develop the indicators that we can use to evaluate the success and impact of this project. The emphasis shall not be on the number of beneficiaries, but the number of sustainable businesses created. Similarly, the rural poor applicants who cannot operate the computer or access the internet shall be accommodated. More than 60% of the unemployed are unschooled and from rural communities, so emphasis shall be made to the rural poor and uneducated youth, as they have less propensity to be employed and more likely to engage in crimes.

To beneficiaries, they should not think that this grant is aimed at making them rich, it is provided to allow them start now and grow in the future. They should never assume that they will be rich quick. It took perseverance to succeed. They shall not compete in luxury and status, they should not try to upgrade the standard of their living immediately, and they shall have the culture of reinvestment.

I would like to thank the Heritage Bank for believing in young people and for agreeing to partner with the young people in this project. I congratulate the NYPF for launching this N500 million entrepreneurship and educational grant. Congratulations, we wish you successful disbursement of this grant.”

The grant is open to Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 who wish to start a business or go to school. For more information visit  www.yesgrant.com

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LASSA FEVER

Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus.It is transmitted to humans from contacts with food or household items contaminated with rodent excreta.

Person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in the hospital environment in the absence of adequate infection control.

The Symptoms of LASSA Fever include fever, general weakness, and malaise. After a few days, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cough, and abdominal pain may follow.

In severe cases facial swelling, fluid in the lung cavity, bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract and low blood pressure may develop.

Shock, seizures, tremor, disorientation, and coma may be seen in the later stages. Deafness occurs in 25% of patients who survive the disease. Death usually occurs within 14 days of onset in fatal cases.

Transmission

HUMANS USUALLY BECOME INFECTED WITH LASSA VIRUS FROM EXPOSURE TO URINE OR FAECES OF INFECTED RATS.

Lassa virus may also be spread between humans through direct contact with the blood, urine, faeces, or other bodily secretions of a person infected withLassa fever.

Lassa fever occurs in all age groups and both sexes. Persons at greatest risk are those living in rural areas, especially in communities with poor sanitation or crowded living conditions.

Diagnosis

Definitive Diagnosis of the Virus requires testing.

Treatment and Vaccines

The antiviral drug Ribavirin seems to be an effective treatment for Lassa fever if given early on in the course of clinical illness.

Prevention and Control

Prevention  relies on good “community hygiene” to discourage rodents from entering homes.

Effective measures include storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, disposing of garbage far from the home, maintaining clean households and keeping cats.

 

Popular in certain parts of West Africa, the virus was not identified until 1969. It is a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the virus family Arenaviridae.

Here are Five Things You Should Know About Lassa Fever

Symptoms

DOES AN ANTI-ABORTION BILL CO-OPT BLACK LIVES.

A Republican state legislator in Missouri is attempting to pass a law to halt abortions there, but critics accuse him of appropriating the movement's name

Although abortion has been legal in the U.S. for 43 years, there are still those who would attempt to impede abortion rights, and at least in one case, possibly co-opt the language of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Missouri Republican state Rep. Mike Moon has introduced legislation called the “All Lives Matter Act,” which would actually further the agenda of abortion opponents.

Moon’s bill includes the definition that the “life of each human being begins at conception,” similar to so-called “personhood” legislation, which seeks to effectively outlaw abortion.

Critics have called Moon’s legislation an “outrage.” Christine Assefa, a St. Louis organizer for the Organization for Black Struggle, believes the bill is offensive to the memories of Blacks who have died at police hands, including Michael Brown, and further marginalizes Black women seeking abortions.

“This bill is directly in response to the Ferguson uprising and the Black women who were leaders in protest and boldly expressed their bodily autonomy by taking to the streets proclaiming and affirming that Black Lives Matter,” said Assefa. “Not only is the name of the legislation offensive, it is contradictory and a perfect example of the way in which the state uses policy to codify harmful stereotypes of Black women.”

But Moon does not agree: “The bill’s title was not meant to be offensive,” Moon told EBONY.com. “I believe that whether a person is black, yellow, brown, or white they should have access to the same opportunities as others.” When asked about his bill not addressing the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality, he explained that abortion is “what [he] calls brutality.”

Advocates, including St. Louis-based Reproaction co-director, Pamela Merritt, say these tactics aren’t new. “Attempts by the pro-life movement to appropriate the language of Black Lives Matter are just the latest example of that movement's long history of pandering to their conservative and often racist base by insulting Black women and dismissing Black activism,” said Merritt, describing how abortion opponents have presented a lack of support in the fight for reproductive justice issues, including infant mortality, ending poverty, expanding healthcare access, and addressing gun violence.  

“This same movement is silent when Black children are shot and Black women are raped by police officers,” she said.

Assefa agrees, saying that Moon’s only goal is to take the decision making power away from the women in his state.

“Rep. Moon is using Black women’s bodies as a site to police the decisions that all women in the state of Missouri are able to make when it comes to their health by re-defining personhood and wiping out abortion access, criminalizing the use of IUDs, in vitro fertilization, and the morning-after pill,” she said.

In this respect, Moon says his critics are correct. His goal for the legislation is to “make abortion illegal in Missouri.” He believes that the law is necessary because the Constitution does not define when ‘personhood’ begins, adding “that is, without a law saying when an unborn person’s life can be taken, so yes, abortion in Missouri would be illegal.”

Even if the Missouri signs Rep. Moon’s bill into law, it would likely face challenges in court. Recently, the Supreme Court declined to hear appeal arguments to a lower court’s ruling on similar legislation from North Dakota banning on abortion as early as 6-weeks and Arkansas at 12-weeks. The Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion until viability, which medical experts have defined as some point between the 24^th and 28^th weeks. States across the country have attempted to stop abortions at 20-weeks, however the fate of that legislation is questionable.

Still, Assefa questions Moon’s overall agenda. “If he really believes that all lives matter and is truly concerned about women’s health, then he would expand health care access in the state of Missouri, he would explore alternative birthing models like midwifery and make them available to rural women, indigenous women, trans/queer/gender expansive women,” she explained. Assefa goes even further and wants legislators to focus instead on creating laws that would end racist policing and invest in public education, health care expansion, and housing.

“They're seeking to assuage White guilt and bamboozle their base into thinking they're civil rights activists by denying Black women access to reproductive health care,” said Merritt. “There's no room in their hustle for true concern or legitimate advocacy on behalf of Black lives.”

Currently the bill, HR 1794, has not been scheduled for hearings and is not on the Missouri House calendar, according to its website.

Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/news-views/abortion-black-lives-matter-slogan#ixzz3yeUVvqqj 
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SCLC IN ATLANTA HONOURS PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN IN RECOGNITION OF HIS GOOD LEADERSHIP

Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was today (January 14th) honored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. He was awarded with the Presidential Award in recognition of his leadership in advancing human rights, social justice and the fight for universal freedom.

The SCLC, founded by the late American Civil Right leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, in January 1957 is currently led by Dr. Charles Steele Jr. The event is part of the activities leading up to the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday, January 18th, 2016.

Former President Jonathan is the first African leader to be so honored. Dr. Jonathan also received Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's sister, Naomi King during the event. Before his remarks at the event, Dr. Jonathan met privately with the president of the SCLC.


The president of the SCLC, Dr. Charles Steele Jr proposed to work with the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation to advance the cause of peace around the world and to bridge the gap between people of color in the Diaspora and Africa. Former President Jonathan responded that his vision is to help stabilize and promote democracy and peace in Africa.


He went on to say that without peace you can not have economic progress. He revealed that this was the reason he pushed for Nigeria's intervention to ensure peace in various African nations such as Côte d'Ivoire while he was in office. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and President Steele then agreed to collaborate along the lines suggested by the former Nigerian President.

At the event, former President Jonathan expressed his gratitude to the SCLC for inviting him and declared that it was "virtually impossible to separate this worthy body from its founder, the late great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, or from epoch making landmark events of the American Civil Rights movement".





He also said "My personal takeaway from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, is service to God and the brotherhood and equality of all men before their Creator. In keeping with that, I have learnt not to look up to any man, except he is taller than I, or to look down on a fellow mortal, except I am admiring his shoes".

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is the Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation and is in Atlanta, Georgia, on the invitation of a number of US institutions. Below are his full remarks at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

RENO OMOKRI PRESENTS HIS NEW BOOK TO PRESIDENT JONATHAN

President Goodluck Jonathan and his former New Media SA, Reno Omokri, recently reunited at an event where Reno Omokri handed copies of his books to the former President. Reno Omokri, an ordained pastor, is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center in California and author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God and Why Jesus Wept and the host of Transformation with Reno Omokri.

LOOK AT FEMI KUTI'S REPLY TO A FAN WHO ASKED WHY HE DOES NOT CRITICIZE GOVERNMENT LIKE HIS FATHER

Lol see his humorous response to the fan. What are your thoughts on this issue

THE SOCIAL NETWORK REVOLUTION

In a remote village in India, a farmer checks the price of rice in Chicago, U.S.A., to determine the best time to sell his crop. At the same moment, a pensioner smiles as she reads an E-mail from her grandson who is thousands of miles away. A teenager lies in his room, smiling to his iPhone as he chats with his new online friend. A mum returns from her pre-natal scan with the picture of her unborn child, she immediately creates a profile for the baby and uploads the scan. It is the first of many photos of the baby that will go online- an online presence for her baby! How wonderful! All thanks to the Internet.

An estimated 600 million people use the Internet worldwide; the Internet revolution has transformed the way the world communicates and does business.

Most of us have embraced, with open arms, this feature called the internet. In fact, you are reading this post using the Internet. The internet has evolved to cover various aspects and one remarkable aspect that the Internet covers is social networking – a dedicated website or other application that allows users to communicate with each other by creating, sharing or exchanging information, career, interests, ideas pictures/videos, in virtual communities and networks.

Persons of all ages make use of Social Networks, but research has shown that a higher percentage of teenagers make use of it. Although the Internet has proved so useful since its invention, it also has its dangers. In the wake of this, the EU recently amended its data protection rules to raise the ‘age of digital consent’ of Social Network users who are teenagers from 13 to 16. Any child below 16 who wishes to use social networks would need the express permission of his/her parents. I think it is a good rule and Nigerians should borrow a leaf from this and push for this bill.

Should teenagers be left to use Social Network unsupervised? One of the benefits of social network especially to kids is that it helps people stay in touch with friends and family and meet and interact with like-minded people. How then are social networks dangerous?

Children do not understand the need for privacy, neither do some adults. When one creates a social network account he puts up personal details which is accessible to all. Social network platforms have chat rooms where kids can meet and interact with other people who they think are their age mates. In reality, if you could increase your age to sign up for a social network platform or enter a chat room, how are you sure that there are no adults in such rooms who reduced their age to pose as teenagers?

The fact remains that an online friend who you do not know personally in real life is a stranger. Kids do not possess the perceptive powers to distinguish who is really trying to be just friendly and who has an ulterior motive. Even an adult can be deceived.

In 2012, a young lady named Cynthia was killed in Lagos by friends who she met online. She was 24 years old, way past her teen years. Also, another Facebook post that went viral showed the need to be careful of our online friends:

“A guy sends you a friend request, you don’t know him, but he’s got a cute profile pic, so you accept. It’s baby girl’s first day of school, she looks so sweet in her new outfit you just have to take a picture and put it on Facebook so all your friends and family can see. You’re so excited dropping her off that you check into her school on Facebook saying, I can’t believe how big she’s gotten, time sure flies. One proud mum/dad right here.

“Meanwhile, the mystery guy whose friend request you hurriedly accepted this morning is saving that picture you posted of your daughter in her cute new outfit to his phone and texting it to 60 other grown men across the world with the caption “Caucasian female, age 5, brown hair, green eyes $2,500”. Not only did you provide a picture of your little girl to a child trafficker, but you also handed him the name and exact location of her school on a silver cyber platter.

You go to pick her up at three this afternoon, but she is nowhere to be found, little do you know that your precious baby girl was sold to a 43-year-old paedophile before you even stepped out of her school this morning and now she is on her way to a strange country with a bag over her head, confused, terrified and crying, because a man she has never seen before picked her up from school and now she doesn’t know where her parents are, where she’s going or what is going to happen to her.”

In the light of this, it is necessary for parents to monitor their kids’ use of social network. How can they achieve this? A father in Kentucky, Kevin Jones forced his daughter to wear a shirt that read “I am 10 years old” boldly written in front and “5th Grader” behind, because she lied about her age, created a social network account and started dating.

Well, what works for this family might not necessarily work for another family. Seizing your kids devices or not buying them one at all would not stop them from creating accounts. Making up stories to scare them away from using social media is also not a good idea. Kids are more internet savvy than most parents, so they could quickly find out the credibility of your story, thus making it difficult for them to believe anything you say in the future. It is best to alert them to the dangers of social networks, periodically monitor their use of social network, and trust that they’ll take your advice having played your role as a parent.

As we enjoy the internet and all of its beautiful and exciting facets, let us be wary of the inherent danger especially to our kids. We should be social network smart!

ROBBERS DISGUISED AS POLICE MEN ATTACKED AND RAPED CORP MEMBERS

Seven female corps members serving in Ebonyi and Enugu states were raped while returning to their places of primary assignments after the Christmas holidays. According to reports, the commercial bus the Corp members were traveling in, was attacked by robbers dressed as Police officers at a spot on the Kaduna-Abuja highway last week Sunday January 3rd. The robbers after the attack stole their jewelry and other items.

LOL JUST PASSING THE SAY "F**K YOU DON JAZZY F**K YOUR GENERATION" OLAMIDE TWEETS AT DON JAZZY

Olamide is evidently still steaming from the #Headies2015 show.

The YBNL Nation music star took to Twitter to express his anger at the turnout of the night.

See his tweets below.

***Please note the use of strong language

(TEEP) 2016 ITS HERE AGAIN, APPLY FOR THE TONY ELUMELU ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme application portal opened for entries on January 1, 2016 and will accept applications until Midnight WAT on March 1, 2016.

To apply, entrepreneurs must complete the online application form on the web portal here

Successful applicants who complete the programme will receive the local currency equivalent of N850,000 as non-returnable seed capital, and are eligible for a further N850,000 in the form of either debt or equity, depending on business need and other criteria.

Selected entrepreneurs will join the existing cohort of 1,000 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs, from 51 countries, who formed the inaugural 2015 cycle of the programme and have thus far, received considerable benefits from their participation, including:

• Training: 12 weeks of training on how to set up and manage businesses with mentoring and financial support offered by The Tony Elumelu Foundation.
• Accelerated Growth: Over 90% of Tony Elumelu entrepreneurs, with existing businesses, have reported increased growth in the past year.
• Access to Further Funding: A significant portion of our entrepreneurs have accessed additional external funding through the platform provided by Tony Elumelu Foundation.
• Networking Opportunities: A flourishing alumni network has developed, providing personal linkages and business opportunities across the Continent.

Founder, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu said:

“I believe in empowerment that can change the face of Africa as we know it. African entrepreneurs are our future leaders and I am passionate about giving them the opportunity to succeed.

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme is a major, deliberate effort on my part, to institutionalise luck and provide seed capital funding, mentoring, business training, pan-African networking and springboard that our aspiring Entrepreneurs need to leap from.”

CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Parminder Vir OBE, made a call for an even broader participation in TEEP this year, saying,

“We encourage women and men with business ideas from all sectors, from every region, city, town and village across Africa, to apply. This is your programme and if you can demonstrate your passion and commitment, then this wonderful opportunity to become a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur could be yours for the taking.”

The Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme is open to citizens and legal residents of all 54 African countries. Applications for 2016 open on 1 January and can be made by any for-profit business based in Africa, including new business ideas which have been in existence for less than three years.

About TEEP

TEEP is a commitment by the Tony Elumelu Foundation to identify and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs over a 10-year period.

It is our answer to the question of how to catalyse change on a massive scale across Africa, seeking to add $10 billion of additional revenues to Africa’s economy; provide over one million new jobs; and create a new generation of empowered entrepreneurs.

TEEP commenced in December 2014, with a funding pledge of Naira 17bn (US$100m equivalent) by the Foundation and the inaugural 2015 round drew over 20,000 applicants from 51 African countries.