Prince William and Kate Middleton expecting their first child

St. James's Palace today issued a statement on behalf of the royals. It read:

"Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby. The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and members of both families are delighted with the news.

The Duchess was admitted this afternoon to King Edward VII Hospital in Central London with Hyperemesis Gravidarum. As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her Royal Highness is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter."

Big congrats to them... 

Governor Okorocha's ADC beats a policeman to coma

The Aide-de-Camp to the Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, Mr. Omo Gabriel, and two other police officers on Saturday, allegedly beat up a policeman attached the state government house for delaying in opening the gate for the governor’s convoy.

The incident, which occurred around 12:30am, when the governor returned from his wife’s birthday party, left the victim unconscious.

The mobile policeman, Corporal Itere Ewedor, was said to have been on duty at the security post when the governor’s convoy drove in.

Efforts to speak to Ewedor on Saturday were not successful as he was said to be resting but his friend, Mr. David Edhie, confirmed the incident.

He told SUNDAY PUNCH that after hearing the hooting of the horn from the governor’s convoy, the policeman opened the gate only for the ADC, a superintendent of police, and two other senior police officers to descend on him.

He said, “When the governor’s convoy got to the gate, the men of the civil defence corps and members of the Imo orientation corps, who were supposed to open the gate, were not around. So, there was a delay. Then my friend went to open the gate.

“When the convoy drove in, the ADC and some other police officers came down and asked him why he delayed. They wanted to collect his gun, but he refused. So, they started beating him. They beat him until he became unconscious, with bruises all over his face and parts of his body.”      

Edhie added that the ADC took Ewedor, in his unconscious state, to Shell Camp Police Station and requested that he be detained.

He said, “The police officers at the station refused. They said they could not detain someone that was dying. Then Gabriel made arrangements for Ewedor to be taken to the Federal Medical Centre Owerri, where he was admitted. After sometime, he regained consciousness.”

SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that Ewedor, was discharged from the hospital around 5pm on Saturday.

Edhie said the ADC had made frantic efforts to get Ewedor discharged from the hospital, because sympathisers, including journalists, were visiting the the place.

When contacted, the state Commissioner for Information and Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr. Chinedu Offor, refuted the report. 

He said, “The ADC to Governor Okorocha is a true professional, there is no way he could have descended so low to physically assault somebody. In order not to scare people away, we use men of the civil defence corps at the gate. We don’t use policemen at the gates of the government house. So, if anybody says a policeman was beaten up for refusing to open the gate, it is false. I was at the government house around 12:30am. Such a thing never happened.”

Source: Punch

Unbelievable!! They think they have the highest amount of authority. And this is commonly seen with the "security officers" attached to convoys. They need to be taught RESPECT for others.  

FEC Approves N2.2 Billion for the Construction of a 150-Seater Banquet Hall at the Presidential Villa

The recent approval of  the sum of  N2.2 billion for the construction of  a new banquet hall at the Presidential Villa, Abuja has not been received well by most Nigerians. on wednesday, during the meeting of the Federal Executive Council, the large 

sum was approved for the construction of a new banquet hall.

According to Vanguard, the approval is part of the final set of N19.4 billion contracts for this year covering road construction, rail transportation and infrastructural development in the Federal Capital Territory.

The new banquet hall would have a capacity of 150 seats. There is already an existing hall in the Villa where national events are held. However, the proposed 150-seater hall will have walk ways, security post, hall conveniences, technical room and press briefing room.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Muhammed, while defending the approval said that the council did so because smaller countries had befitting banquet halls in their seats of power. He added that the  contract for the construction was awarded to Julius Berger, a company that is already in charge of services in the Presidential Villa.

“The second project approved by council is the building of a 150-seater Banquet Hall in the Presidential Villa.

“We noticed that it (existing hall) is inconveniencing; it is not in tandem with what is outside the country. Even smaller countries have better Banquet Halls near their Presidential residences. Of course, part of the things we are going to provide there is a 150-seater (hall) with all the facilities that will cover the walk ways, security, hall conveniences, technical room and press briefing room that are more and more enhanced so that national broadcast can be done from there.

“The contract was awarded in the sum of N2.2billion to Julius Berger because they are more familiar with the terrain in the Presidential Villa and for security reasons.”

This large amount of money approved for the construction of a 150-seater Banquet Hall sounds quite exorbitant. I don’t claim to know the current state of the existing hall in the Villa but surely, there are a lot of other things that could be done in Nigeria with N2.2 Billion!

Thoughts?

Sanusi Lamido calls for the sack of 50% civil servants in Nigeria

The Nigerian Central Bank governor on Monday called for the sack of 50% of civil servants in Nigeria because according to him, 'the country spends 70 per cent of its earnings on salaries and entitlements of civil servants.'

“You have to fire half of the civil service because the revenue of the government is supposed to be for 167 million Nigerians. Any society where government spends 70 per cent of its revenue on its civil service has a problem. It is unsustainable,” he said.

Organized Labour, including the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, the Civil Liberties Organisation and Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union, have all condemned his statement, some asking for his immediate sack.

Governor Suntai of Taraba States aides return

The Chief Security Officer and the Chief Details of Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba state have arrived Nigeria after successfully undergoing medical treatment in Germany following the October 25^th plane crash. Governor Suntai and three of his aids sustained serious injuries in the plane crash and had to be flown abroad for urgent medical attention.

Governor Suntai and his ADC are still in a German hospital according to the Taraba state commissioner of Information, but says they are recovering well and hopes they will be discharged in no distant time.

Ebonyi State Governor Suspends Attorney General & Two Commissioners for Dressing “Casually” to a State Function

Is there actually any connection between dressing casually to a function and performing one’s duties effectively? The Ebonyi State Governor thinks so.

On saturday the 24th of November, the Ebonyi State Governor, Martin Elechi, suspended the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ben Igwenyi, and two other commissioners for what it called “improper dressing”.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, named the two commissioners as Hyacinth Ikpo, Commissioner for Culture and Tourism andChukwuma Nwandiugo, Commissioner for Works and Transport.

The commissioners were said to have dressed casually to a state banquet organised for the members of the Society of Gyneacologists and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON) at the Government House on Friday night.

According to the statement published by The Nation, the suspension was for a period of three months. The statement further directed the commissioners not to attend any state function throughout the duration of their suspension.

The governor was said to have been enraged by the commissioners’ “lacklustre dressing to the occasion which had in attendance members of SOGON from various states of the federation which seemed to portray a bad image of the state in the eyes of the visitors”.

Sources close to Government House revealed that the suspension is without pay, adding that the commissioners have been directed to hand over all government properties in their possession to their permanent secretaries.

What do you make of this news? The report did not state exactly what they wore to the event, but according to the state governor, “casual dressing” is “lacklustre dressing” which implies it is “improper dressing”.

Do you think they deserved a suspension for dressing casually to a state function?

Terry G wanted by the Nigerian police for hit and run

The new papa (just had a son) is wanted by the Nigerian police for a hit and run that occurred on Friday November 23rd.

According to police reports, Terry G hit the victim, Moshood Azeez, with his car while leaving Club Royale located on Oba Akran Rd, Ikeja.

Moshood, whose leg was crushed in the accident, was rushed to General Hospital Ikeja where he is still receiving treatment. Terry G was said to have fled the scene of the accident now making it a police case.

Police at Wemabod Estate, Ikeja invited the Akpako master for questioning but he didn't respond to the invitation. Corporal Linus Reuben who is in charge of the case said Terry G has left the country for the UK. He said they plan to go after him once he returns.