HERE'S A FEW OF WHAT MADE NEWS TODAY

Good morning beautiful people, by now I believe you have made it a habit to include Nigeria and the whole world in your prayers every morning. We will pray this country back to health. While we do that though, it is noteworthy to remind us that the answers to our prayers will not come in one day, but they will surely come.

Mali Hostage Crisis Ends With 27 People Dead, Including Five Attackers, Military Officials Say

Soldiers in Mali’s capital shot their way into a Radisson Blu hotel, liberating scores of hostages in a seven-hour siege that military officials said left 27 people dead, including five attackers, and ended one of the biggest hostage standoffs in recent years.

Troops from France and the U.S., alongside United Nations peacekeepers, blocked off roads while Malian soldiers fought their way to the seventh floor of the hotel in Bamako, where gunmen had been holding 170 hostages, according to officials and witnesses.

President Buhari assures on privatisation as Peugeot returns to Nigeria

According to the Vanguard, President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated the commitment of his administration to privatisation and commercialisation policy.

This was even as Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria Limited announced that it would return next year for full commercial operations.

President Buhari spoke when he gave audience to Peugeot’s Executive Vice President for Africa and the Middle-East, Mr. Jean-Christophe Quemard at a courtesy visit at the presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday.

President Buhari however stated that greater consideration would be accorded to the technical and managerial competence of prospective buyers of government-owned companies.

A statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu stated that in the privatisation policy ” higher premium will be placed on the technical competence and financial clout of bidders in future privatisation exercises to avoid the running aground of privatised companies by ill-equipped and incapable investors.”

The president noted that “privatization could only succeed and yield desired benefits if buyers of government-owned companies possess essential skills and resources.”

Speaking earlier, Mr. Quemard assured the President that Peugeot was ready to reinvest in vehicle assembly in Nigeria.

He said that the company had outlined a three-phased plan to resume vehicle assembly first with 4,000 cars, rising up to 10,000 cars by 2021.

PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI INSPECTING A PEUGEOT CAR BROUGHT TO THE STATE HOUSE BY PAN NIGERIA ON THURSDAY

He however asked for appropriate policies and actions from the federal government.

According to him, the action will dovetail into higher local content in the assembly of Peugeot cars in Nigeria and the exportation of locally assembled Peugeot cars from Nigeria to neighbouring African countries.

It will be recalled that Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria Limited was privatized some years ago.

It has technically reverted to government ownership with up to 85 per cent of its shares now held by the Federal Government and the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

PRAYER ALONE WILL NOT FIX THE WORLD

I choose to pick the words of a great man, the Dalai Lama as my headline for today for many reasons, but most importantly because they are wise and true. It is a very Nigerian thing to pray rather than act when confronted with a problem, and it is a mentality we need to change.

When asked about the necessity of praying for Paris in the wake of last Friday’s attacks, he said, "People want to lead peaceful lives. The terrorists are short-sighted, and this is one of the causes of rampant suicide bombings.

We cannot solve this problem only through prayers. I am a Buddhist and I believe in praying. But humans have created this problem, and now we are asking God to solve it. It is illogical. God would say, solve it yourself because you created it in the first place.

We need a systematic approach to foster humanistic values, of oneness and harmony. If we start doing it now, there is hope that this century will be different from the previous one. It is in everybody's interest.

So let us work for peace within our families and society, and not expect help from God, Buddha or the governments".

Another set of people who need prayers this morning is MTN, as Governors of Nigerian states have commended the NCC on the record – breaking N1.04tn fine imposed on the telecommunications giant and insisted that the South African company must pay for their disregard for the laid out instructions.

International analysts think this will scare off investors, but I doubt if most Nigerians care. Sometimes you find yourself feeling bad for MTN, then you try to browse the internet and the network is as slow as an injured snail, you feel like killing MTN, but you realize that murder is bad but a fine is better.

Worse still for MTN, they have been fined $622,000 by the Ugandan Government.

Moving on to other issues, morning routines have now been altered; after your morning prayers (where I’m sure you prayed for your country), the next thing to do is to go look for fuel. The prices are rising; everybody at the station thinks they know who is to blame; you just keep quiet and wait for your turn, panic – buy as much as you can afford; go home, return to your routine.

More news, The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday that the population of Internally Displaced People (IDP) in the North East had risen to 2.2million due to the activities of you – know – who (Boko Haram).

Facebook is in the news today, the social networking giant has activated its famous “safety check” for Nigeria. This feature helps users to know if their friends are family members are safe in the event of an explosion.

Kogi state goes to the polls tomorrow to elect a new governor, and while we pray for hitch – free, peaceful and fair elections; Kogites however, must not pray for the result but go out and vote for candidates of their choice.

This big aunty from FRSC on TV just said ABS light on your car means your Airbag needs maintenance. I used to think this meant Antilock Braking System and SRS for airbags – but I’m not the expert, am I?

Robbers reportedly killed six people in Ibadan yesterday, among them a pregnant woman and two policemen. The police have however confirmed the death of only one officer.

It is another morning bearing plenty bad news; but it will get better and not just by praying, but by also making efforts – good efforts.

Anonymous ‘Operation Isis’ accused of wrongly naming innocent people after Paris attacks

Leading UK news house Daily mail reports that Anonymous’ “war” on Isis is leading to innocent people being wrongly reported as members of the militant group.The 'hacktivist' network launched an operation to identify and shut down the accounts of Islamic extremists in the wake of the attacks in Paris, but people who are not affiliated to Isis appear to have been identified as part of the group, according to reports on social media.

At least one person identified was correctly identified as part of the operation. But the Anonymous-affiliated user who first reported his identity has reversed the claim, after criticism that details being shared on Twitter was incorrect and that the person identified was not involved with the group.

@AhmedHuzeyfe @orovodj I am incredibly angry at myself for letting this happen and I am willing to do whatever is neccessary to defend him

— JhonJoe (@OfficialJhonJoe) November 17, 2015

The site claims it has found and shut down more than 5,500 Isis Twitter accounts. In line with previous operations — including one launched in the wake of Charlie Hebdo — the group is largely working to find accounts on Twitter and then have them suspended by reporting them to the network.Anonymous has previously appeared to have problems with its verification processes, including in a recent high-profile operation against the Ku Klux Klan. Activists affiliated with Anonymous leaked a supposed list of members of the group, but many of the identities on there appeared not to be genuine.

People affiliated with the group also wrongly identified a person that it claimed was the police officer who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson. It had, in fact, named another police officer who didn’t work as part of the local force, and his family were reportedly forced into hiding.

A person who claims to be behind the Operation Paris account told the BBC that those involved in the operation “run effective verification of intel (intelligence), and make sure that our leads are legitimate before we attack them”.

“In some cases, they could be sympathisers or followers that republish horrifying display,” the man, whose name is unknown, said.

“We guarantee that we are not making false accusations to those who aren't actually involved.”

The group has also drawn criticism from other hacktivists. The Jester, an anonymous online hacker, said the group’s efforts were unlikely to amount to much.

"It's the usual case of Anonymous jumping on a current big news story," he told Tech Insider.

"It'll amount to a hill of beans like always."

The Jester has taken on those behind the “OpParis” Twitter account, which has served as a repository and broadcast platform for much of the information about suspected extremists that is being shared.

@opparisofficial Little late now isn't it? Media praising u for naming these ppl as ISIS & ur like, well actually only 'some' *might* be.

— JΞSTΞR ✪ ΔCTUAL³³º¹ (@th3j35t3r) November 18, 2015

The Jester claimed the original video was likely uploaded as a stunt in itself, and that the group was forced to try and make an impact on Twitter as a way of backing up the claims in the video.

The hacker has also claimed in the past that Anonymous itself has been used by Isis and other terror movements as a way of furthering their reach online.

RANDOM MUSINGS ON TODAY'S EVENTS

What a day this has been. More eventful and tiring than most, I must admit; saw things, heard things, did things.

I had always had a neutral outlook on the case of big Uncle Dasuki in this whole period of trials and probes happening to him. But a panel just revealed that he was dubiously awarded arms contracts to the tune of N333bn. Every day I keep wondering why the amounts these suspected looters are accused to have siphoned always exceed all logic. It is hard to imagine what one man (and one at such and age) would need that much money for. Anyways, we pray that justice prevails and hopefully the money is not re – looted again if recovered.

In more interesting news, the acting Vice Chancellor of LASU Prof. Fidelis Njokanma has abandoned his office at the institution over charms surrounding the administrative block and the Senate Building of the institution, Punch reports. This is the part where I say something about it, but there's really nothing to say. I do hope it is fixed soon though because in the end, things like this always have their ways of coming back to bite the students in the butt.

An unknown substance is said to have gone off in the ancient city of Kano today. The substance, believed to be a bomb, exploded at the Kano GSM market around farm centre. Details of the incident are still sketchy.The incident came less than 24 hours after a similar explosion in a crowded park in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, left at least 34 people dead and 80 injured. 20 people are already confirmed dead, now there's a new city to add to tonight's prayers. #PrayForTheWorld.

Still on Paris, chants of 'Allahu Akbar' were reportedly heard in Istanbul as some Turkey fans shamefully booed a pre-match minute's silence for the victims of the Paris attacks.

The friendly itself against Greece was largely forgettable as the action finished 0-0 at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.

But the game was tarnished before it even started as a video emerged suggesting some of the Turkish faithful were voicing their dissent towards tributes for the 129 victims who were killed in last Friday's atrocities in Paris. Our world is indeed messed up.

We mustn't forget that the fuel scarcity is still biting harder , transport costs have gone up, the crowds at filling stations keep getting bigger; yet we keep hearing on TV that there is no scarcity, " avoid panic buying" they say. But they do not feel the scarcity, do they? To Whom It May Concern, whenever we find a filling station that has fuel and it gets our turn to buy, we will panic – buy and you will do nothing about it.

And they are saying that they will start paying unemployment benefit by 2016 from the TSA (I think that means Treasury Single Account). Big daddy Jega has also come out to say that TSA is a “Recipe for Electoral Disaster”. Big English that is always difficult to understand.

Today also dropped its fair share of lessons, they include

·         a. People are ungrateful.

·         b. Older people always feel that the younger generation is doing things wrong.

·        c. Children grow so fast these days.

·        d. Running into old friends always make your day.

·        e. CHANGE HAS NOT COME. At least I haven't seen it.

WHILE WE CRY FOR PARIS...

The chill of the harmattan in the air can no longer be mistaken, just like the chill that ran down our spines yesterday at the news of what happened in Paris. Gruesome shootings and bomb blasts that left dozens of people dead, several others injured and a whole lot more stranded for hours away from their home.
While I have never seen the sense in terrorism (nobody has, except maybe terrorists), it still defies my logic how killing random everyday people on the streets helps to achieve any worthwhile aim.
I am saddened and angered at the same time, because people like each of us - with dreams, hopes, plans and more - were killed yesterday, and life goes on with all of their dreams, and plans and everything else just dead, like that.

I woke up this morning, happy that it was a Saturday, until the memories of last night's news started flooding back, and the news items Google had waiting for me were just too painful to bear.
The Daily Mail reported over 150 people dead (that's more than the number of classmates I had this graduation year).
More inspiring though, is the spirit of solidarity that Parisians displayed towards each other - by keeping their doors open to people on the streets of the city at the time of these attacks and spreading the message on social media with the hash-tag #PorteOverte meaning open doors.
While President Obama rightly describes this as"an attack on humanity and the universal values we all share"; and the angst and sadness of it all transcends bothers, race and religious lines, something needs to be said (and done) about Islam.
Ironically, it is the famed religion of peace, but it has brought the world so much problem in the last couple of years that Islam is starting to seem like the biggest threat to world peace. While I agree that being a Muslim does not make you a terrorist, we would all understand my view that Islam needs a cleansing.
There are quite a number of religions in the world today, and none of their members seem to generate as much bloodshed as fanatics of Islam.
Eyewitnesses in Paris yesterday reported the terrorists saying this was about Syria, Iraq and
according to a woman in the restaurant where shots first broke out near the Bataclan, a gunman shouted 'Allah Akbar' (God is great in Arabic) before firing.
Islamic leaders need to do more than talk. They need to accept that their religion has been bastardized, the tenets and teachings of it misused by misguided individuals; and take proactive steps to clean it up and save the world.
Someone said on Twitter that Islam was fighting WWIII against the world...and that person may not be very far from the truth in the light of recent happenings.
Our thoughts are with Paris and its people, taking a second hit this year, 10 months after the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
Stay strong Paris. Mere terrorists cannot break the will of all of us. Our prayers are with you all.

10 things you need to know today: November 5, 2015

 

1.
U.S. says ISIS bomb might have downed Russian plane

U.S. and British officials said Wednesday that the crash of the Russian jet that killed 224 people in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula could have been caused by a bomb planted by the Islamic State. A Pentagon spokesman said that investigators are still reviewing evidence, but even before a cause is pinpointed U.S. workers should avoid going to the area. British Prime Minister David Cameron said all flights from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el Sheikh to Britain were being halted until the skies in the area are confirmed safe.[NBC News]

2. 

Trans-Pacific Partnership details released, kicking off ratification battle

On Thursday, the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord released the text of the agreement, starting the clock for the U.S. Congress to ratify the pact — crucial to its success — or reject it. The TPP agreement took five years to hammer out, and the secrecy of the negotiations made a lot of labor, business, and environmental groups nervous. The final agreement, running hundreds of detail-heavy pages, is 30 chapters long with several side agreements. If ratified, TPP will be the largest regional trade pact yet, lowering or ending most trade barriers between 12 nations that make up 40 percent of the world's economy.[The New York Times]

3. 

Elder ex-president Bush slams Cheney and Rumsfeld in new biography

Former president George H.W. Bush broke years of silence on the administration of his son, former president George W. Bush, with harsh criticism of former Vice President Dick Cheney and ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. In a Jon Meacham biography to be released by Random House next week, the elder Bush says Cheney's "iron-ass" approach exerted too much hardline influence, and Rumsfeld was an "arrogant fellow" who "served the president badly." Cheney told Fox News he took being called "iron-ass" as a "mark of pride." [The New York Times, Fox News]

4. 

Mexican Supreme Court takes a step toward decriminalizing pot

Mexico's Supreme Court said Wednesday that people should have the right to grow and consume marijuana for personal, recreational use. The ruling applied only to four members of a group advocating decriminalizing pot, but it established a legal foundation for others tochallenge existing drug laws. Mexican cartels provide much of the marijuana sold in the U.S., and the country has been ravaged by drug violence. Advocates for decriminalization say it could erode the power of drug cartels. [Los Angeles Times]

5. 

Investigators say Illinois officer staged suicide

An Illinois police officer whose death sparked a manhunt in September staged his suicide to look like he had been killed in the line of duty, Commander George Filenko of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force said Wednesday. The officer, Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, had radioed to say he was chasing three suspects, and was found dead a short while later about 150 feet from his squad car. Investigators believe he had been embezzling from the police Explorers program and killed himself because he feared he would be caught. [CNN, Chicago Tribune]

6. 

Justin Trudeau sworn in as Canada's prime minister

Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau was sworn in Wednesday as Canada's prime minister. Shortly before, Stephen Harper submitted his resignation from the post, formally ending nearly a decade of conservative rule. Trudeau, son of the late liberal political icon Pierre Trudeau, included an equal number of women and men in his cabinet, a first. "Gender parity in the national cabinet is huge," cabinet minister Sheila Copps said. "It sends a great message to our daughters and sons." [CTV, Mashable]

7. 

Yellen says rate hike possible in December with solid economic data

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said that December remains a "live possibility" to start gradually hiking interest rates, if the economy continues to grow at a healthy pace and inflation returns to the target rate of 2 percent. The remarks, Yellen's first since last week's meeting of Fed policymakers, pushed bond yields up, but dragged down stocks. Investors now put the likelihood that the Fed will start slowly raising rates from near zero at more than 60 percent.[Reuters]

8. 

Suspect shot dead after five stabbed at UC Merced

A male student allegedly stabbed five people Wednesday at the University of California, Merced, before being shot and killed by police. Two of the wounded had to be airlifted to a hospital. Four of the victims were students. The alleged assailant was shot on a pedestrian bridge students cross to get from classes to the school's dining area and parking lot. "The crime scene is the whole center of campus," said UC Merced spokeswoman Lorena Anderson. [Los Angeles Times]

9. 

Crews search for survivors after Pakistan factory collapses

A factory building collapsed in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people. As many as 150 others were trapped hours after the disaster as rescuers dug with construction equipment to free dozens of survivors. The four-story building was reduced to rubble, with nothing remaining standing. "People have received phone calls from three or four people from inside the debris, so we cannot remove the rubble recklessly," said Mohammad Usman, a senior local government official at the scene. [Reuters, Daily Mail]

10. 

Chris Stapleton wins big at Country Music Awards

Chris Stapleton was a big winner at the 2015 Country Music Awards in Nashville on Wednesday night, taking best male vocalist, as well as best new artist and album of the year honors. He and Justin Timberlake also brought down the house with covers of the George Jones song "Tennessee Whiskey" and Timberlake's "Drink You Away." Other winners included Luke Bryan (entertainer of the year), Little Big Town (best vocal group and single of the year for "Girl Crush"), and Miranda Lambert, who earned her sixth consecutive best female vocalist honors.[Fox News, Rolling Stone]