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.

CSR Activity - Day 4

On the 4th day, we went out to look for where we could purchase the tank and incinerator. I must say, that was definitly the most hectic day. We headed to a busy road known as "Mubi Road" where we were able to find tanks in different sizes. 

This tank as mentioned earlier will be placed slightly above ground level so the kids can reach it. The idea behind it is to prevent them from dipping their dirty hands into the whole drum and pouring back what they have remaining in their cups. It is very important health wise.


The incinerator was what really gave us a tough time. We resulted to seeking welders that could make one for us as we checked and asked all over town. 
In the end, we had to compromise, as we could not get hold of one, and all the places we asked for it to be made gave us a minimum of 5days. 
We were directed to a place known as "kasuwan Bola" direct translation of that will be "dustbin market" all the way at the other end of town with temperature at about 37ºc.
There we were able to purchase something as a substitute of the incinerator. 

Me in black and my group member, Mubarak wearing the jersey

CSR Activity - Day 3

We go everyday to check their progress and make sure everything is going well. 
On this 3rd day, we went and they had started putting in the new blocks as a base for the toilet. Also, they were about to begin burying the waste from the toilet into the hole they dug. 

Me in peach and a group member, Veronica 

CSR Activity - Day 2

On arrival at the school on the second day, as expected something came up. they had to dig a hole close to the toilet, so, as they empty the waste from both toilets they can bury it. 

As a sign of appreciation, their principal also had them sing their school anthem for us. 

CSR Activity - Day 1

As we have limited time, we commenced work immediately. We were able to contact contractors that can give them a stronger, presentable, more private toilet. 
They started by breaking the slab off the both toilets so they can clean and take out the weak blocks. 

without the slab

emptied 

CSR Activity - reasons and decisions

So, from the previous post, I mentioned that my group members and I decided to help the school with their toilets, waste bin and source of drinking water.
decision taken- rebuild the toilet
1.

This is what they had in place as a toilet and the kids were prevented from going there because as you can see, the slab is broken and the blocks underneath it are very weak. Therefore, leaving them with the risk of it collapsing at any time. 
2.

The kids all drink water from this black drum and same cup. It was disturbing to see them go to fetch the water, dip their dirty hands into the drum and pour back whatever is left in the cup after they finish drinking the water. 
decision taken- buy a tank that lifts off the ground that has a tap head and filter
3.

After every end of day, they empty all their dustbins just beside their toilet and when it piles up, a little more than we can see, they burn it. The ashes then fly around the school with the wind and litter their environment. 
decision taken- buy an incinerator so they can dispose of their waste there and burn.

CSR Activity- Location to carry out CSR

We first spoke to the director of Community Service from our school, Mr Dabo and he explained how there is a school that they currently visit on tuesdays and thursday to help with tutoring illiterate women during the kids break time. 

The schools name is Universal Wisdom Academy, Yola.

My group members and I went over to the school to seek permission to help them with any problems we could afford. The principal was very much pleased and gave us a very long list of things we could pick from and help. 

Looking and analyzing the list, as the group leader I suggested that we pick something that we can come back after a year and still see standing. They all agreed with this, and so we decided to go with their toilet, waste bin and source of water. 

CSR Activity- Company

Hello people, I'm about to bring updates about a CSR activity we have been asked to carry out as a group from a course I'm currently taking.
The task was to approach a company that does not usually participate in Corporate Social Responsibility, enlighten them about it and make a proposal asking them to be the middlemen between their organization and the people, community or environment.

My group members and I sat and decided to perform charity with the community. We went out and came back with a list of 3 organizations which are as follows:
1. Profile Group
2. Top 10
3. Imad Group
 And here is the story...

The first two organizations surprised us in different ways.
Profile group is a company based in Abuja and so while we waited for their response, decided to visit a local organization here in Yola known as top 10.
On arrival to top 10, we asked to see their manager and discuss what we are to be doing and how they can render help to the community and not us. He said he understood everything and then asked us to pay them to do the job for them. Long story short, we decided to let that go because we didn't have time and he was proving difficult.
Our first choice, Profile group, responded the next day with so much interest. They even called to ask more questions and immediately accepted to help.

The last one, well, we still haven't heard anything from.

So, thats how we got the organization willing to give back to the community which we are currently still working with.
"Profile Group"

Former Vice President Atiku kneels to greet former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo

A rather unusual but interesting piece of news that seemed to be trending as at the 27th of November, till now is that of the former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, kneeling down to greet his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Atiku and Obasanjo, who served as Vice President and President of Nigeria respectively, between 1999-2007, had an estranged relationship during the last lap of their second term in office. However, in a surprising turn of events, Atiku was reported to have knelt down and bowed his head to greet his former boss at a public function on monday.

According to Daily Times, the act took place at the venue of the 2012 Comptroller-General of Customs’ conference in Katsina.

Both men were among a retinue of VIPs invited to the opening of the week long Comptroller-Generals’ conference held at the newly inaugurated auditorium of Katsina State University.

Obasanjo, who arrived ahead of Atiku, was seated next to second republic President Shehu Shagari and the Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijuwade.

Atiku, who arrived nearly 40-minutes after his former boss, first greeted the Emir of Gwandu, Muhammad Iliyasu; Emir of Katsina, Abdulmimini Usman; the Ooni and Shagari who were seated at the podium.

When he got to Obasanjo, the former Vice President knelt down and bowed his head to greet his former boss. The delighted crowd followed the mild drama with applause.

I wonder where all the cameras were at this time. This is one picture I would have really loved to see.

Many have said the unusual public display by Atiku is an attempt to win favours for his political ambition in the 2015 General Elections. Others have said it is just a publicity stunt.

What do you say? What do you make out of this public show of “respect”?

Woman, 95, leaves £8million estate next door neighbor to thank her for buying her milk and bread

It is often said that a small act of daily kindness  goes a long way. But one lucky Australian could not have expected that her good deeds would land her a multi-million dollar cheque. 

The next-door neighbour, who helped an elderly widow with her daily chores, was left with a ‘thank you’ gift of eight million pounds.
Sydney widow Betty Harris, who died at the age of 95, left her an entire estate, worth $12.5 million (£8.18 million) to her neighbour Beatrice Gray.

 

Mrs Gray showed kindness to Mrs Harris in her later years in the wealthy harbourside suburb of Point Piper, buying her milk and bread and taking out her rubbish.
Mrs Gray told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph today that she was ‘extremely grateful to Betty Harris,’ but declined to comment further.

But Mrs Harris, widow of Keith Harris, a former horse breeder, spoke out strongly before her death against her relatives saying she wanted to leave her money to Mrs Gray and her husband because they were not expecting it and she trusted them.

‘The Grays would be surprised, while my family are waiting for me to die,’ she said. ‘I am determined that my relatives, after what they have put me through, will not get one cent.’

 

After the widow’s death a bitter legal battle erupted with Mrs Harris’ s niece challenging the gift in the New South Wales Supreme Court.

The niece, Caralie Hart, claimed that a will leaving the estate to Mrs Gray, was invalid because Mrs Harris was deluded at the time.

During one court hearing it was revealed that Mrs Harris had no children and was largely estranged from her nieces and nephews. She told hospital staff in 2005 that she had not spoken to them for 13 years.

Shortly after changing her will in favour of Mrs Gray, Mrs Harris complained that her niece and nephews ‘all want their bit of money.’

Inherited: Betty Harris left her multi-million dollar house in Point Piper, above, to her Mrs Gray

Exclusive: Point Piper, one of Australia's most expensive suburbs, pictured, where Mrs Gray and Harris were neighbours

The court was told that she complained her nephews were ‘a pretty pathetic lot’ and called another niece, Anne Nickolls , a bitch.

Justice Richard White, ruling today that Mrs Gray - a wealthy Sydney University academic and barrister - was entitled to the estate, said there was no doubt that Mrs Harris had ‘some degree of cognitive impairment’ but she was still capable of signing a will.

An earlier will, written in 1996, had left the entire estate to niece Mrs Hart, but then Mrs Harris revoked it after learning Mrs Hart wanted to put her in a nursing home and appoint a legal guardian to take control of her finances.
Mrs Harris lost control of her money through a number of legal moves, resulting in her borrowing money from Mrs Gray.

Mrs Gray and her husband helped Mrs Harris pay her bills, organise her car registration, replace light bulbs and wheel out her recycling bin.
The neighbours also checked on Mrs Harris’s house to ensure she had not been robbed.

Mrs Harris’s late husband Keith was not without controversy.
Although he had made his fortune making radios and televisions, he was a former vice chairman of the Sydney Turf Club and a horse breeder.

In 1987 he was jailed for conspiracy to bribe the NSW Corrective Services Minister, Rex Jackson, over a prisoners’ early release, a court was told.

Nigerian lady sentenced to 80 years in prison over deaths of toddlers in her care

A 24 year old Nigerian/American woman, Jessica Tata, was sentenced to 80 years in prison on Monday November 20th after being found guilty of the death of one of four children killed in a fire at her home day care in Houston.

16-month-old Elias Castillo and three other toddlers died after Tata left them unsupervised at her home while she went to a nearby store. Prosecutors say she left a pan of oil cooking atop a stovetop burner and that this ignited the February 2011 blaze. There were 7 children when the fire started, four died, three survived.

Tata still faces three more counts of felony murder in relation to the other children who died, and three counts of abandoning a child and two counts of reckless injury to a child in relation to three who were hurt. So she will be getting more years added to the 80 as other cases come up.

I'm sorry to say this, it might be a bit too deep, but I think she deserves the sentence.
How can one be so ignorant, to leave kids home alone? 

Meet Africa's Richest Woman - Mrs Folorunsho Alakija

Mrs Folorunsho Alakija used to be a designer back in the day, not sure if she is still at it. 

Anyway, she went into the oil business many years back; she has an oil bloc that pulls in N157 million a day. Yes, you read that right! She is the Vice Chairman of Famfa Oil and Gas limited and has emerged the richest woman in Africa according to Forbes November 2012 edition, with a net worth of $600million, which is about N94 billion.

The 61 year old former FADAN president is married and has four boys.

Gunmen attack Sars HQ less than 24 hrs after attacking military base

So a military base and police headquarters were both successfully attacked in less than 24 hours....

WOW!! Seriously? 

Bomb attack at the Jaji Military base yesterday morning killed at least 11 people, then this morning unknown gunmen attacked the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police headquarters in Abuja.

The details of the attack are still sketchy but there are are unconfirmed reports that detainees, including members of Boko Haram, were freed during the shoot out.

The Sars headquarters is located near several government buildings and security is supposed to be extremely tight in the area. 

What does this say about our security in Nigeria people?

No group has claimed responsibility yet..

N5trillion Stolen Under President Jonathan - Punch Investigation

Over N5tn in government funds have been stolen through fraud, embezzlement and theft since President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office on May 6, 2010, a SUNDAY PUNCH investigation has found.

Our correspondents arrived at the stolen sum after poring over the reports of the various committees set up by the President to probe some sectors of the economy, particularly oil and gas. SUNDAY PUNCHalso relied on disclosures by some senior government officials.

Five trillion naira is the summation of government funds said to have been stolen, according to the Mallam Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Task Force report; the Minister of Trade and Investment’s report on stolen crude; the House of Representatives fuel subsidy report and investigations into the ecological fund, SIM card registration and frequency band spectrum sale.

The Ribadu report on the oil and gas sector put daily crude oil theft at a high 250,000 barrels daily at a cost of $6.3bn (N1.2trn) a year. This puts the total amount lost through oil theft in the two years of Jonathan’s government at over $12.6bn (N2trn).

Oil theft is common in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. In June, a special naval team impounded a French ship, MT Vannessa, at Brass Loading Terminal, Bayelsa State, for allegedly stealing 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the country.

Our sister publication, SATURDAY PUNCH, had reported that the suspects, in their confessional statements, indicted some political office holders, many fuel marketers and some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Department of Petroleum Resources.

In October, Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, in a letter to the President, said 24 million barrels of oil worth $1.6bn (N252bn) was stolen between July and September.

According to Aganga, his signature was forged on the Export Clearance Permit that was used to export the crude oil from Nigeria.

Confirming that oil theft was depleting Nigeria’s resources, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in May, said the government lost a fifth of its oil revenues to theft in April.

Apart from income lost through oil theft, the Ribadu report also said ministers of Petroleum Resources between 2008 and 2011 handed out seven discretionary oil licences and that government lost $183m (N29bn) in signature bonuses via these deals.

n-Madueke, however, denied knowledge of the discretionary awards.

The Ribadu panel discovered that three of the oil licences were awarded under the current petroleum minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who took up her position in 2010. Aliso

Shortly before the Ribadu report, the House of Representatives had raised the alarm that the N2.6trn the Federal Government paid for oil subsidy in 2011 could not be properly accounted for.

The House said, “Fuel subsidy payments amounted to N261.1bn in 2006, N278.8bn in 2007 and N346.7bn in 2008, but, even after the subsidy on diesel had been removed, the ‘subsidy’ payments jumped to N2.58trn in 2011 — more than 900 per cent of the sum appropriated for the year (N245bn).”

A subsequent report by the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments, led by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, revealed that in 2011, 197 subsidy transactions worth N232bn were illegitimate.

These frauds are not limited to the oil industry, as similar probes have shown that almost all sectors are involved.

In July, the House of Representatives Committee on Environment discovered a tree seedling fraud worth N2bn awarded by the Ecological Fund office.

Chairman of the committee on environment, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, said this during an investigative hearing on the mismanagement of ecological funds for the development of tree nurseries and seedlings in the 36 states.

According to her, out of the N3bn approved by the Presidency in 2010, N2bn was released to the contractors and consultants without government getting value.

Minister of Environment Hadiza Mailafia, however, said the contract was awarded by her predecessor.

In the telecommunications sector, the House instituted a probe into the sale of the frequency brand spectrum, which was reportedly sold for less than its value.

The 450MHz frequency, which was valued at over $50m, was allegedly sold for less than $6m (a difference of $44m or N6.9bn) by the Nigeria Communications Commission.

In the same sector, the reps, earlier this year, commenced investigations into the N6.1bn SIM card registration project embarked upon by the NCC in 2011.

The investigation followed the delay in completing the exercise and the request by NCC for additional N1bn for the project in its 2012 budget.

The lawmakers insisted that the NCC had no business embarking on the project since various service providers were already registering their subscribers.

Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Communications, Mr. Usman Bawa, had said, “The NCC has no business with SIM card registration. Apart from that, the service providers have done about 80 per cent of the registration because they started before the NCC. To me, for the regulatory body to be involved in the registration is a duplication of effort, a waste of resources and time.

“Even, the manner with which the bill for the N6.1bn was passed during the Sixth Assembly showed that there was more to it than meets the eyes. From our investigations, from which our report was compiled, our interactions with the NCC contractors for the SIM card registration and the service providers, a lot has been exposed and this was part of the reason why we removed the N1bn that was budgeted for the same SIM card registration in the last budget.”

It would be recalled that the then Minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyili, had, in August, 2010, agreed that the amount budgeted for SIM card registration was exorbitant.

Reacting to the massive frauds that have greeted Jonathan’s tenure, Transparency International, told one of our correspondents that Nigeria would continue to slack in development as long as it keeps paying lip service to the fight against corruption.

It said via electronic mail, “President Jonathan should insist that those accused of corruption are properly investigated and punished if found guilty, irrespective of their positions and connections. The judiciary must be seen as impartial and fair.

“To signal a break with the past, the government should set up an independent investigatory panel to review charges of corruption within government and the private sector. President Jonathan should endorse the panel and commit to ensure it has both the scope and the power to investigate and prosecute.

“This is not just a matter of justice; fighting corruption can affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. The current culture of corruption hurts the majority of Nigerians while the inequality gap widens.”

Also speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, the Director, Centre for Applied Economics, Lagos Business School, Prof. Pat Utomi, said the spate of corruption in the country was unprecedented.

The political economist argued that prosecution and jail terms for corrupt individuals would not be as effective as building a societal institution that would prevent corruption.

A former Vice Chancellor, Crescent University, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, also warned that corruption would spell doom for the country if the trend continued.

He said, “It is unfortunate that the country will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goals. There is a need for the masses to hold a three-day protest against corruption to force government to prosecute those indicted for corruption.”

Similarly, Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said, “For Jonathan to fight corruption, he must start with his cabinet. The way Jonathan is going about his campaign against corruption is not the best way to go about it.”

A global audit and financial advisory firm, KPMG, had on Thursday stated that Nigeria accounted for the highest number of fraud cases in Africa in the first half of 2012.

The cost of fraud in the country during the period was put at $1.5bn (N225bn).

Source: PUNCH