BRUSSELS IN MASSIVE LOCK DOWN

THERE IS FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN BRUSSELS

T-E-R-R-O-R S-T-R-I-K-E-S!!!

BRUSSELS IN MASSIVE LOCK DOWN

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU,

LIVE FROM LAGOS,NIGERIA

The recent terror strikes which shook Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the center piece of European Union’s operations has continued to generate a lot of attentions with lots of flaks directed at extremists  over the incident.

The New Office Desk of Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria while conducting its enquiries on the issue learnt that at least 31 people were now believed to have been killed in the twin terror strikes that took place recently at Zaventam Airport in Brussels and the Maelbeek Metro station ,believed to be the deadliest terror strikes at the heart of Europe in modern history.

The attack is seen as a strong message  being sent by the terror networks of radical Islam as Brussels warehouses the European Union Parliament and the other functions of the E.U.

Belgium has one of the largest Islamic Ummah in Europe as it accounts for 6percent of its population of 11 million people .

It also has the painful distinction of contributing the largest number of fighters to Islamic state in Syria and Iraq [I.S.I.S] as more than 500 Belgians are said to be working for the terror group.

In an exclusive chat with the News Office Desk of Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria,a public affairs commentator who refused in very strong terms not to be quoted in print told this reporter that the Schengen agreement which made visa related matters very easy in Europe may be one the earliest casualties of the current security tension in Brussels,Belgium.

He  affirmed that  since a lot of radicals now leave underground via sleeper cells in France and Belgium he was sure that European Union officials will soon look at how to checkmate this by putting up more stringent conditions before anyone will qualify for a visa especially if he was from the Eastern block of Europe,Middle East and Asia.

In a related issue,yet another analyst told this reporter France and Belgium helped fire up the culture of radicalization when it opened up its borders to all comers from its former colonies in the name of cultural assimilation with this coming to haunt them.

His words:”Now the whole world and indeed the whole of Europe is at cross roads as to how to find a balance to the problems caused by extremism ,I was in Germany as a student and I knew that with a Schengen visa most of my colleagues travelled around 26 out of 28 nations of Europe  but it was only with the United Kingdom and Switzerland that you will be forced to do a double check”

He explained that the danger in this type of arrangement was that once a lone wolf got away then a lot of the populace were in grave danger if there was a terror strike..

He added that the only other option apart from visa restrictions of immigrants who have no business in Europe was for islamic clerics to be engaged by the European Union directly so that the spiritualists can engage their adherents and urging them to abandon violence for peace.

T he Schengen Agreement (English pronunciation:  is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's borderless Schengen Area. It was signed on 14 June 1985 by five of the ten member states of the then European Economic Community near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg. It proposed the gradual abolition of border checks at the signatories' common borders. Measures proposed included reduced speed vehicle checks which allowed vehicles to cross borders without stopping, allowing residents in border areas freedom to cross borders away from fixed checkpoints and the harmonisation of visa policies.^[1]
In 1990, the Agreement was supplemented by the Schengen Convention which proposed the abolition of internal border controls and a common visa policy. The Schengen Area operates very much like a single state for international travel purposes with external border controls for travellers entering and exiting the area, and common visas, but with no internal border controls. It currently consists of 26 European countries covering a population of over 400 million people and an area of 4,312,099 square kilometres (1,664,911 sq mi).^[2]
Originally, the Schengen treaties and the rules adopted under them operated independently from the European Union. However, in 1999 they were incorporated into European Union law by the Amsterdam Treaty, while providing opt-outs for the only two EU member states which had remained outside the Area: Ireland and the United Kingdom. Schengen is now a core part of EU law and all EU member states without an opt-out which have not already joined the Schengen Area are legally obliged to do so when technical requirements have been met

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GTBANK LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE SERVICE DELIVERY CHANNEL – BANK 737

GTBANK LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE SERVICE DELIVERY CHANNEL – BANK 737

 

Over the last few weeks, Nigerians all over the country have been faced with the question; Whatisthe737? From billboards to hash tags and radio hypes.

Introduced by Guaranty Trust Bank plc, Bank 737 is more than just well rhyming numbers; it’s a simple, smart, and safe way to bank anytime, anywhere and on any device. Imagine if opening an account was as simple as dialing a number from your mobile phone or transferring funds was as easy as sending a text message, or paying bills could be done at any time of the day, even long after banking hours. Imagine if you need to make an urgent transfer online and your data just ran out and you don’t have your hardware token to complete the transaction. Truth is, at some point or the other we have all experienced those moments when we wished banking could be as simple as ABC’s and 123’s. Well, in this case, GTBank has made it as simple as 737.

In recent years, mobile phones have made life easier! You can now shop online, watch movies, surf the internet, play games, chat with loved ones, share and download information with the simple push of a button. While mobile penetration has witnessed an impressive growth in Nigeria, Internet proliferation hasn’t experienced similar success, owing largely to the cost of data. Built on a USSD interface, GTBank’s 737 banking is phone agnostic and works on any type of mobile phone and does not require internet access or registration protocols. With GTBank’s Bank 737, your mobile phone is now a service channel for all your banking needs. Users simply have to dial the short USSD *737# code on any mobile device to experience a new world of simple banking.

With Bank 737, GTBank customers can perform banking functions such as transfers to all Banks in Nigeria, check account balance, open a GTBank account, buy airtime, pay bills, BVN linking, token code generation, card less withdrawals and lots more from their mobile phones.

Commenting on the launch of the product, Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc said; “The launch of this product marks another milestone in our quest to make banking truly simple for our customers. We remain firm on our objective to deliver banking products and services tailored to meet the diverse needs of our ever-growing customer base by leveraging technology to make banking faster, safer and more accessible for all our customers.”

GTBank is regarded by industry watchers as one of the best run financial institutions in Nigeria and across its subsidiary countries. The bank is renowned for its innovative financial solutions, superior financial performance, world class corporate governance standards and excellent service delivery. The bank’s latest E-payment service, known as the 737 banking, is considered a veritable alternative to in-branch banking as it offers a faster, safer and more convenient way to perform financial transactions.

BOMBING OF PIPELINES FINGERED IN POWER CUTS

 

Destructions done to oil pipelines in the Niger Delta by militant groups is being raised as a point now for the continued power outage.

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU

The Bombing  of Oil Pipelines by militants fighting the Nigerian military high Command in  the creeks of the Niger Delta under the pretext of fighting to control their natural resources has being fingered as one of the reasons for the epileptic power supply across the country.

In an exclusive news interview just inside a crowd of protesters on the 23^rd of March,2016 as the crowd of protesters marched on into the Ikeja Electricity Distribution  Company Plc ,Ifako Ijaiye undertaking office in Lagos,Nigeria,an energy official in the firm who will not want to be quoted by the press said that the issue of Pipeline bombing which has taken its toll on operations nationwide could take some times before it is resolved.

His words:”generally ,there is no power supply at the moment  and I cannot now tell you of the level of power supply  at Kainji Dam as I do not work there”

The source while welcoming  the team of protesters to their  office  in Lagos lamented the power outage  but explained that the issue was temporal and that the agency was working night and day to correct the situation.

He noted that he lives within the  area at Ifako Ijaiye himself as such was even affected by the power supply which is at its lowest ebb in years .

He decried the level of usage of power by consumers which he fingered was the main problem in the system.

A member of Idiagbon Youth Association, Mr Lanre Arogundade pleaded with the officials to do something about the “working feeder “of the Idiagbon area as this was affecting the electricity supply.

Yet another power official while trying to calm down the frayed nerves over the unfortunate power crisis disclosed exclusively that there was a transformer now of about 2.5mva that was now being warmed up by a process he referred to as unsoak and will soon be installed shortly for power to be restored.

He advised the members of Idiagbon community not to insist on being transferred to another feeder because of a temporal problem which will eventually be fixed as they do not know what awaits them if they are migrated to a new feed.

A group under the platform of  Idiagbon Youths Association had sent a save our soul message to the News Office Desk of Paedia Express Mulltimedia on the night of 22^nd of March,2016 inistsing that it was ready to take its destiny in its own hands by shutting down Ifako Ijaiye in Lagos if the power crisis they have faced in the last two months did not get a respite.

It declared :”please be informed that due to lack of electricity supply in our community, insufficient pre paid meter and crazy tariffs ,we are prepared to launch our protests against the IKEDC policy”it stated in the  short release that was sent to Paedia Express Multimedia’s News Office Desk   as at eight P.M. on local time on the 22^nd of march,2016.

As at press time, what looked like peace was gradually returning to the Ifako Ijaiye community .

Prioritise people over profits in provision of water, ERA/FoEN tells state governments

Prioritise people over profits in provision of water, ERA/FoEN tells state governments

 

As the world marks 2016 world water day, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged the federal and state governments to put the interest of the people and jobs over profits in the pursuit of providing the citizenry portable water for drinking and other uses.

The international World Water Day reminds governments and peoples about the significance of fresh water and sustainability of fresh water resources management. The 2016 commemoration has as theme: Water and Jobs. It focuses on how enough quantity and quality of water can change workers’ lives and livelihoods and even transform societies and economies.

In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN said the global commemoration should be a wakeup call to the Nigerian government that water is a human right and in its provision, the livelihoods of people should not be mortgaged to privatisers.

ERA/FoEN Deputy Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “as we mark this global event which reminds governments of their responsibility in ensuring citizens have the highest basic standard of life which unhindered access to clean water represents, the sad reality in Nigeria is that the federal and state governments overtly or covertly dodge this duty and would rather go cap in hand to the World Bank and other promoters of privatisation whose interests are solely “for-profit only”

Oluwafemi explained that government at all levels should fully uphold the human right to water as an obligation, and that in doing this, the government should integrate broad public participation in developing plans to achieve universal access to clean water.

“Prioritising water for the people will lead to a comprehensive plan that invests in the water infrastructure necessary to provide universal water access, create jobs, improve public health, and invigorate the national economy.

Citing Lagos as an example of a potentially dangerous experiment in water privatization, Oluwafemi explained that, “in this state of nearly 21 million people the World Bank through its private arm – International Finance Corporation (IFC) is suggesting a Public Private Partnership (PPP) which will mortgage the future of the citizens of the state. The PPP water failures in Manila and Nagpur mirror what awaits countries that adopt this model”

The ERA/FoEN boss stressed that, while the World Bank and other agencies talk of the challenges of providing water for people like human rights activists do, their path to solving the challenges differ, even as he added that the solution to the identified challenges rests in keeping public water in public hands and not in the hands of a few who would rather exploit the situation for personal gain.

He listed fallouts of PPPs in the water sector to include rate hikes, poor service quality, and shut-offs to the poor who may not be able to pay the cost of water. He added that, “these happenings do not guarantee our right to water as espoused by the United Nations in 2010”

“Like the power sector privatization in Nigeria, water privatization will rob our people of their jobs in addition to other unanticipated fallouts. Privatisers in any cloak are only interested in maximizing profits to the detriment of workers in the sector. We reject this idea”, Oluwafemi insisted.