Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog |
- Shine A Light On The Gaps by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala & Janeen Madan
- Fresh Prince co-star Janet Hubert puts Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on blast over ‘White Oscars’ boycott
- Mosquitoe sucks fresh orange...lol (photos)
- Can you spot the Cat in this photo?
- Bird Flu: Plateau destroys 22,000 birds
- Photo: Kenyan Muslim who shielded Christians during Al-Shabaab terror attack dies
- Omawumi debuts new song & video, Play Na Play ft Angelique Kidjo
- Buhari threatens to deal with Niger Delta militants over renewed vandalization of oil pipeline
- Caroline Danjuma claps back at Instagram follower
- PDP releases statement on the handcuffing of Metuh, says action deliberate ploy to subjugate opposition Spokesperson
- Peter Okoye reaches out to his fans, says he's much better now
- World's oldest man dies two months before his 113th birthday
- CDQ drops brand new video for new single, Nowo E Soke ft Wizkid
- How sweet! IK Ogbonna spoils his wife with gifts on her birthday
- Photo: Fans come for Solidstar after he shows off his eggplant on Instagram
- Man makes his wife walk down the street naked after catching her sending nudes to other men and you won't believe where it happened
- People who know this Akin dude write to Ice Prince, say he was tampering with someone's investment
- Singer Morachi shares an upclose photo of his eggplant
- New Video: Reekado Banks - Oluwa Ni
- Photos from the fatal accident in Enugu this afternoon
- Oh dear! See the eye injury a UFC fighter suffered after fight (photos)
- Nigerian reggae singer Sly Estrada calls his dad 'a very wicked man' on Facebook
- Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) protest over Staff Schools’ Funding (Photos)
- Photos: 7yr old boy in India made to marry a dog and for the most preposterous reasons
- Photos: Patorankin visits Saraki, other senators at the Senate
| Shine A Light On The Gaps by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala & Janeen Madan Posted: 19 Jan 2016 01:43 PM PST  Financial Inclusion Matters for Africa's Smallholder Farmers Agriculture forms the backbone of African economies, accounting for 32 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). A majority of the continent's farmers earn their living on small plots of less than two hectares, which represent 80 percent of all farms across sub-Saharan Africa. But these smallholder farmers are largely excluded from financial services and are therefore constrained from improving their wellbeing and transforming their farms into economically viable businesses. Although smallholder farmers face a number of challenges to raising productivity, bridging the financial access gap must be a priority. There is much literature on expanding financial inclusion among the world's poor. The issue has been a development priority since Group of Twenty (G20) leaders launched the Financial Inclusion Action Plan in 2010. But Africa's smallholder farmers have received little attention, and women farmers—who make up half of the continent's agricultural labor force—have received even less. Being excluded from financial services has negative consequences for smallholder farmers. Access to credit can help raise farm productivity by expanding access to inputs as well as better storage, marketing, and processing. Access to savings instruments at harvest enables families to put money aside and helps smooth consumption at other times of the year. Access to payment platforms can offer a secure and efficient way to make transactions. And access to insurance products can protect against illness and weather-related shocks. In the absence of these formal mechanisms, smallholder households often rely on informal instruments. Although they are accessible and flexible, informal financial services can also be inefficient and costly in the short term, and they do not always offer the services needed to help transform subsistence farming into a profitable business. Understanding farmers' needs, and the range of financial services they rely on to meet those needs, must be the first step. But translating this knowledge into tailored products will be even more critical. While evidence is still emerging, digital solutions are at the forefront of these efforts. Smallholder Farmers Are Excluded From Financial Services Large gaps remain in meeting the financial needs of smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa. The Global Financial Index, or Global Findex, underscores the extent of their exclusion from the formal financial sector. Across forty-two African countries in 2014, only 29 percent of adults in rural areas had a mobile money account or an account at a bank or microfinance institution (MFI), compared to 34 percent at the national level. Although access to bank accounts in rural areas remains low, this represents an increase from 24 percent in 2011. Poor households and women are even more excluded than the rural population generally. Poorer households are much less likely than richer households to have a formal account (25 percent compared to 41 percent), and there is also a significant gap between women and men (30 percent compared to 39 percent). While more than half of all rural households saved and borrowed money over the past year, only a small percentage used the formal sector. Among those who reported saving, 13 percent saved at a bank or an MFI, and 25 percent saved with a community savings group. The majority saved money under the mattress or in tangible assets such as livestock. Rural households are also excluded from formal sources of credit; only 6 percent borrowed from a formal institution. Forty-two percent of those who reported borrowing turned to family and friends, and 5 percent borrowed from an informal lender, such as a trader or processor. Because they are borrowing informally, the interest rates are usually between two and ten times higher than commercial rates. Furthermore, only slightly over 6 percent of farmers reported purchasing crop or livestock insurance. Finally, a majority of farming households received payments from agricultural sales in cash; only 8 percent received payments via mobile phone, and 7 percent received money directly to a bank or MFI account. Demand and Supply Barriers Limit Access to Formal Financial Services A number of demand- and supply-side constraints explain why smallholder farmers are excluded from formal financial services. On the demand side, smallholder households cannot always afford fees or minimum balance requirements to keep accounts active. In Uganda, for example, annual account maintenance fees are almost 25 percent of GDP per capita. Rural clients must travel long distances to reach bank branches; to do so, they have to pay for transportation and forego daily wages. In addition, farmers do not always have the formal documentation, such as identification cards and land titles, required to open an account. There is also evidence of a lack of trust in financial institutions and low financial knowledge among the poor. For smallholder farmers in particular, the repayment cycles for standard bank and MFI loans often do not align with seasonal cash flows. Finally, gender dynamics further constrain women's access: Given multiple household responsibilities, women are often time constrained, which limits their ability to engage with formal financial services. Women also lack formal land titles, even more so than men. On the supply side, smallholder households are expensive to serve because a majority live in rural areas. And because agriculture is highly susceptible to weather shocks, financial providers perceive farmers as too risky to lend to. In addition, formal financial institutions often lack information about the credit histories of poor rural farmers, as well as the knowledge and capacity to serve agricultural households. Lenders sometimes fail to see farmers as a substantial source of savings and have therefore not traditionally marketed specific products to them. Digital Innovations Are Helping to Bridge the Gap Digital technology has the potential to address multiple demand and supply barriers by offering a new delivery platform to reach underserved clients. Mobile connectivity is rapidly expanding across sub-Saharan Africa; a 2014 Pew Research Center survey in seven African countries found that roughly 80 percent of people own mobile phones. Mobile platforms can allow clients to access bank accounts more easily, and also reduce delivery costs for service providers. To effectively close the gap in the availability of financial services, it is essential that digital products meet the unique financial needs of smallholder farmers. Digital by itself is not enough. Therefore, a complete understanding of these households' financial needs must be a priority. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), housed at the World Bank, has focused much-needed attention on smallholder farmers. Through its Financial Diaries of Smallholder Households project, CGAP aims to better understand how farmers in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Pakistan use financial services. Initial findings show that while smallholder households rely on multiple sources of income, including wage labor and off-farm businesses, agriculture accounts for 40 percent of earnings. However, findings also suggest that income from agriculture is seasonal, creating unique cash-flow challenges. Farmers receive a bulk of their income at harvest, making it difficult to cover expenses for school fees, health care, and religious celebrations throughout the year. Farmers require capital at the start of the planting season to purchase seed and fertilizer. During the growing season, households must stretch available resources until the next harvest. Income from agriculture can also be risky; crops are susceptible to weather fluctuations, pests, and disease. Considering these diverse needs, financial services for smallholder farmers must move beyond credit for agriculture and include insurance, savings, and transfers to smooth consumption. This approach can help ensure financial instruments have a transformative role on the lives of smallholder farmers. A suite of digital financial innovations for smallholder farmers has cropped up across the continent. These examples are neither exhaustive nor fully proven in their impact. But they nevertheless highlight the tremendous potential to connect Africa's smallholder farmers to financial services by addressing both demand- and supply- side barriers. In one model that addresses demand-side constraints, financial institutions are rolling out branchless banking to serve rural clients. For example, Opportunity International hires agents who drive to rural areas and use mobile phones to register new clients, deposit savings, and collect loan payments. In addition, mobile bank accounts are expanding across the continent, most rapidly in East Africa. M -Shwari in Kenya and M-Pawa in Tanzania allow M-Pesa clients to take out loans and make interest-earning savings deposits. Using a secure and familiar platform, rural clients do not have to travel to access accounts, pay fees, or meet minimum balance requirements. These are all important factors that can underpin widespread adoption. But there are still challenges in reaching the rural poor, including limited network coverage and low financial literacy. Furthermore, recent evidence shows that although account ownership has increased, regular use has lagged. Therefore, products should be designed to meet smallholder farmers' needs to help ensure that that they adopt and use them. To address low financial literacy, for example, the nongovernmental organization TechnoServe trains smallholder farmers in Tanzania on how M-Pawa accounts work in order to encourage the farmers to use them. Other programs are using mobile platforms to deliver credit and savings products specifically designed for smallholder farmers. For example, One Acre Fund has developed an asset-finance model with a flexible repayment schedule that helps over two hundred thousand farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania purchase high-quality inputs at the start of the planting season. Farmers make a prepayment (10 percent of the loan) prior to receiving inputs and have the flexibility to repay the remaining loan amount in any increment on any schedule, as long as they repay fully by harvest time. In countries like Kenya, where the mobile money infrastructure is well developed, farmers make repayments via M-Pesa. This loan product has helped farmers increase their earnings per acre by 50 percent. In addition, access to savings can play an important role. MyAgro, a mobile platform, offers a commitment savings device to farmers in Mali and Senegal. Rather than paying a lump sum to purchase seeds and fertilizer at the start of the planting season, farmers save small amounts throughout the year. Clients buy MyAgro scratch cards from local stores and make deposits into their savings accounts, just like buying credit for a mobile phone. Clients of MyAgro have increased their harvests, and raised their incomes by more than 70 percent compared to non-client farmers. Both these uniquely tailored products could serve as effective models for financial service providers. Digital technology can also be leveraged for payment transfers. Nigeria's mobile wallet program, established in 2012 by the Central Bank and Ministry of Agriculture, has digitized voucher distribution for subsidized fertilizer. The platform's fourteen million subscribers can use electronic vouchers to buy subsidized fertilizer from local agro-dealers. This platform is playing a critical role in connecting farmers to the formal banking system, and it has helped reduce corruption in fertilizer distribution by wiping out middlemen. Between 2013 and 2014, Nigeria's Ministry of Finance also provided additional budgetary incentives that enabled the Ministry of Agriculture to scale up the mobile wallet program's reach to an additional 2.5 million women farmers. According to CGAP, the mobile wallet platform reaches twice as many farmers as the previous distribution system at one-sixth of the cost. The Nigerian government has also established a mechanism to encourage financial institutions to lend to the agriculture sector. The Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) addresses an important supply-side constraint by providing a credit risk guarantee that covers between 30 and 75 percent of incurred losses on loans. NIRSAL enables the financial sector to expand its client base, and smallholder farmers and small and medium-sized agribusinesses gain access to financial services. Keeping Up the Momentum Promising innovations across the continent are leveraging the broad reach of digital technology to connect farmers to the formal financial sector. Ongoing research is providing rigorous evidence to better understand how these services are affecting smallholder households. There is no silver bullet and the gaps are still large, but there is tremendous international momentum around the issue of financial inclusion. Bringing Africa's smallholder farmers into the spotlight and expanding their access to financial services will be critical to achieving universal financial inclusion and accelerating smallholder farmers' contribution to the continent's economic growth. Author's Personal Story As a child, I spent Saturdays accompanying my widowed grandmother on the very long trek to her farming plots. We would set out before sunrise, me carrying water and her carrying food and implements, like small hoes and machetes. The main job was weeding between the mounds of yam. If they were in good shape, we would turn to the adjoining maize and vegetable plots. Lunch was roasted yam or plantain with palm oil and red pepper, which is still one of my favorite meals. I'd overhear my grandmother talking with other farmers about something called fertilizer or about new varieties of cassava and maize that could double output. But they had neither the money nor the know-how to make use of these tools. From the time I left Nigeria to study economics, I was always trying to figure out what could be done to make farmers' lives better. For my doctoral thesis I chose the topic of "Rural Financial Markets in Nigeria" and spent months living with rural households all over the country to understand their savings, borrowing, and consumption patterns. That was from 1979 to 1981. While numerous experiments in recent years have yielded promising solutions, the work won't be done until we've revolutionized the lives of African smallholders. SOURCE: www.cgdev.org |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2016 01:24 PM PST  Will Smith's former co-star Janet Hubert (the first Aunt Viv from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") had some choice words for Jada and her former 'nephew'. Looks like there's still bad blood here. Janet was fired by Will Smith from Fresh Prince. She later alleged that Will turned on her because she wouldn't kiss up to him and also because he wouldn't stand up for a raise for the cast. About the Oscar boycott, Janet began with a dig at Pinkett-Smith: "First of all, miss thing,does your man not have a mouth of his own with which to speak?"The second thing, girlfriend, there's a lot of sh*t going on in the world that you all don't seem to recognise. People are dying. Our boys are being shot left and right. People are starving. People are trying to pay bills. And you're talking about some motherf**king actors and Oscars. It just ain't that deep.""And here's the other thing, for you to ask other actors, and other black actresses and actors, too, to jeopardize their career and their standing in a town that you know damn well you don't do that. And here's the other thing—they don't care. They don't care! And I find it ironic that somebody who has made their living, made their living and made millions and millions of dollars from the very people you're talking about boycotting just because you didn't get a nomination, just because you didn't win. "Well karma must be a bitch, cause now here you are. Here you are, you've had a few flops and you know there are those out there who really deserved a nod,"I didn't think, frankly, you deserved a Golden Globes nomination with that accent, but you got one. And just because the world doesn't go the way you want it to go, doesn't mean you can go out and start asking people to stand up and singWe Shall Overcome for you."You ain't Barack and Michelle Obama. And y'all need to get over yourselves". Watch the video below..."You have a huge production company that you only produce your friends and family and yourself. So you are a part of Hollywood, you are part of the system that is unfair to other actors. So get real." |
| Mosquitoe sucks fresh orange...lol (photos) Posted: 19 Jan 2016 01:19 PM PST   |
| Can you spot the Cat in this photo? Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:54 PM PST  This black and white cat is almost impossible to spot but look closely and you'll find it... |
| Bird Flu: Plateau destroys 22,000 birds Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:54 PM PST  Chief Veterinary Officer of the Plateau State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Doris Bitrus, confirmed today that over 22,000 birds were destroyed as a result of the avian influenza/bird flu. According to her, about nine farms in the state had been affected by the disease and the government has taken necessary measures to contain the spread of the disease. |
| Photo: Kenyan Muslim who shielded Christians during Al-Shabaab terror attack dies Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:42 PM PST  Salah Farah, one of the Kenyan Muslims who shielded Christian passengers when their bus was attacked by Al-Shabaab Islamist militants has died in a Hospital in Nairobi. The Muslim teacher died during surgery to treat his bullet wound. On December 21, 2015, a group of Kenyans travelling on a bus from the capital Nairobi to the town of Mandera were ambushed by Al-Shabaab militants. The militants told the Muslims and Christians to split up but Farah was among Muslim passengers who refused telling the militants "to kill them together or leave them alone" At the time, Mr Farah told the BBC's Bashkas Jugsodaay that attackers had offered him an escape. "They told us if you are a Muslim, we are safe. There were some people who were not Muslim. They hid their heads," he said. "We asked them to kill all of us or leave us alone." In an interview with Voice of America earlier this month, Farah said that people should live peacefully together. "We are brothers. It's only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians so that the Christians also take care of us... and let us help one another and let us live together peacefully". Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet in a tribute to Mr Farah, described him as "a true hero". Rachid, Mr Farah's brother said he hoped his brother's death would bring religious harmony and encourage Kenyans to live as one community. |
| Omawumi debuts new song & video, Play Na Play ft Angelique Kidjo Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:34 PM PST  Singer/Songwriter/Entertainer, Omawumi has announced the release of her yet untitled third album due out spring 2016.The new age singer, introduces fans and newcomers alike to a new musical journey by recording a completely live album. Play Na Playis a live production arranged by Cobhams Asuquo. The video was shot on location in New Jersey by George Steuber for Monstar Film and Produced by Bukola Aré for OF A KIND Creatives. Fashion Styling by Rosemary Kokuhilwa with Make Up by Joyce Jacobs. The live album features production from longtime collaborator Cobhams Asuque, Grammy award-winning artist Angelique Kidjo, Grammy nominated artist Salif Keita and more yet to be announced international collaborations. Play Na Play is available on iTunes, Google play and all digital music platforms. Watch video below... For more Omawumi please visit: www.iamomawumi.com. |
| Buhari threatens to deal with Niger Delta militants over renewed vandalization of oil pipeline Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:27 PM PST  While stating that the Nigerian Armed Forces had already dealt "deadly blows" on Boko Haram, Buhari said the activities of oil thieves and vandals would soon be brought to an end "The oil thieves and abductors are a less problematic target. We will re-organise and deal with them," he was quoted as saying.In the same vein, he warned telecommunication companies operating in Nigeria not to place their desire for huge profits above the security needs of the country. He said all telecommunication companies operating in Nigeria must adhere to the rules and guidelines of the Nigerian Communications Commission in this regard. He spoke on his administration's war against corruption. |
| Caroline Danjuma claps back at Instagram follower Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:23 PM PST |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:29 PM PST  The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemns in totality the brazen display of authoritarianism demonstrated by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Government in handcuffing its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh even when the court is yet to hear his case.This development which unexpectedly elicited widespread public outcry clearly betrays an extra-judicial, top political witch-hunt policy of the APC, carefully designed to humiliate, embarrass and portray PDP leaders as common criminals and set the stage to cow and decimate opposition and perceived foes of the government. The question remains, if not to mortify, dehumanize and break our National Publicity Secretary, who has been very vocal against the APC administration, and of course to send a signal to others critical of the government, what else would have informed the decision to produce him in court in handcuffs, even when his case does not border on security threat? Is this an attempt to sway the court and ambush the judicial process against our National Publicity Secretary, all because of his stance against observed ineptitude and dictatorial tendencies of this administration? The PDP invites all Nigerians and the international community to note the emerging barefaced abuse of state power and violation of constitutional provisions regarding the arrest, detention and eventual arraignment of our spokesperson. Nigerians by now, should be extremely scared that our country is fast drifting into a police state where being in opposition or holding views divergent to that of the government makes one a criminal and an enemy of the state. For now, the target of the on-going lopsided war against corruption is the PDP and its leaders. All APC members, including those with known corruption issues are immune from investigation, arrest and prosecution. However, more worrisome is the fact that institutions of government, especially security and corrective agencies have now fallen victims of dictatorial abuses. Our fear now is that in no time, ordinary citizens of Nigerians, who in the last 16 years have lived under the rule of law and constitutionally guaranteed personal liberty, would begin to suffer brutality and oppression. Under PDP administration, some Nigerians, including APC leader and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu were tried but never humiliated; now we see security operatives under this regime being used to crush and humiliate the opposition. Finally, while we study the bail conditions, we urge all PDP members to remain calm, united, focused and continue to pray for the nation and her people. We also urge the media to remain on the side of justice, fairness and rule of law and resist the pressure of being used as a tool to promote arbitrariness and abuse of process in the so-called fight against corruption. Signed: Prof. Adewale Oladipo National Secretary |
| Peter Okoye reaches out to his fans, says he's much better now Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:08 PM PST   |
| World's oldest man dies two months before his 113th birthday Posted: 19 Jan 2016 12:04 PM PST  Yasutaro Koide, born on March 13, died today at the age of 112. The Japanese who said his secret to a long life was not to smoke, drink or overdo it. Koide worked as a tailor when he was younger and was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest man in August 2015.   He is succeeded as the oldest man in Japan by 111-year-old Tokyo native Masamitsu Yoshida. It was not immediately known whether Yoshida is now the oldest male in the world. According to the Japan's family registration records, the country has more than 61,000 centenarians. Nearly 90 per cent are women. |
| CDQ drops brand new video for new single, Nowo E Soke ft Wizkid Posted: 19 Jan 2016 11:57 AM PST   "I'm very happy to be in partnership with such a respected and well-connected name such as Tee Billz. I believe that together we will achieve great things and with God's guidance and Tee Billz' execution, I believe my career is in good hands." CDQ commented.      Video below... |
| How sweet! IK Ogbonna spoils his wife with gifts on her birthday Posted: 19 Jan 2016 11:48 AM PST |
| Photo: Fans come for Solidstar after he shows off his eggplant on Instagram Posted: 19 Jan 2016 11:35 AM PST |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2016 11:25 AM PST   When you hear of things like this, you think of ultraconservative, patriarchal societies. Stretch your imagination all you want but one particular nation doesn't come to mind. A man in America who caught his wife sending nude pictures and erotic messages made her walk down the street naked while he taped the humiliating affair. What's more, it didn't happen in the religiously conservative south but in liberal New York.   In the disturbing clip, the man trails the visibly shaken woman - who covers her modesty in nothing but a white towel. As he follows her, he shouts 'she's a tart', 'b****' and 'w****' and berates her for messaging seven other men. As the woman walks down the street in New York, with the towel wrapped round her, he shouts in Spanish: 'Take off your towel! Co-operate b****. Show what you are, so pretty and so great. She's a tart. Let's go. Let's go. Say hi to the camera and say why you're doing this. 'Take off your towel and pay the price for the shame I feel after telling you how pretty you were and that I wanted to start a family with you, but it the meantime you were talking to seven other men.' The woman retorted: 'But not to have sex with them.' This only served to anger him further and he scoffed: 'Oh wow, not to have sex! But conversations about kissing, with "love", "babe" and the pictures.'   As she continued to walk away from him, he said: 'Take off your towel. You're going to pay the price like a w****'. 'Since you're a w****, pose like a w****. Damn w****' 'Now the guys you're talking to will see if you're worth it, talking to seven men while I was with you.' He then ripped the towel from her, leaving her completely naked in the street, apart from a pair of boots.   As she tried to hide between parked cars, he continued to hurl insults at her. She then tried to cover her modesty with the protective sheet for a motorbike. As she stood with the sheet wrapped round her, he said: 'Now, like that, yes. That's what you're worth. 'Do you really think I'm going to stay with you while you're sending and receiving naked pictures, you damn b****?' She then replied saying: 'Give me the towel.' But he refuses, telling her bluntly: 'This is what you deserve.'   Predictably, the video provoked outrage from many people on social media. One wrote: 'I don't know what she did and I don't care. Nobody deserves to be humiliated [like that].' Another commented: 'Maybe this is just a hint why she was talking to other men...'And to think that is someone's daughter, sister, aunty, cousin. |
| People who know this Akin dude write to Ice Prince, say he was tampering with someone's investment Posted: 19 Jan 2016 01:46 PM PST |
| Singer Morachi shares an upclose photo of his eggplant Posted: 19 Jan 2016 10:33 AM PST |
| New Video: Reekado Banks - Oluwa Ni Posted: 19 Jan 2016 09:05 AM PST Reekado Banks is back with a brand new single titled #OluwaNi produced by Mavins own Altims. Enjoy. |
| Photos from the fatal accident in Enugu this afternoon Posted: 19 Jan 2016 09:00 AM PST |
| Oh dear! See the eye injury a UFC fighter suffered after fight (photos) Posted: 19 Jan 2016 08:55 AM PST      |
| Nigerian reggae singer Sly Estrada calls his dad 'a very wicked man' on Facebook Posted: 19 Jan 2016 08:45 AM PST |
| Posted: 19 Jan 2016 08:28 AM PST  LIB exclusively gathered that the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities are protesting over moves by the Federal Govt to exit salaries of university staff primary schools from the payroll of the nation's tertiary institutions. The Federal Government, through the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), said recently that it would no longer allocate monies from the Federation Account to the various universities for salaries of their staff schools' teachers. This has triggered an ongoing protest as they complained about sack letters which the federal government issued to the primary school teachers. They have also given an ultimatum to the Government to reverse these sack letters by the end of the month or bear with an Indefinite Strike by all teachers. Photos are from the University of Lagos, where they can be seen protesting around the Senate Building.     |
| Photos: 7yr old boy in India made to marry a dog and for the most preposterous reasons Posted: 19 Jan 2016 08:24 AM PST  For 7-year-old Mukesh Kerayi, the horoscopes held doom and gloom. It suggested his first wife will die young, and as if maternal burdens weren't enough for his young shoulders to bear, he grew a tooth in the upper part of his mouth, a most ominous omen in his hometown of Jharkhand, India.  It was with this in mind that his family arranged a marriage to the fated first wife, a dog, that way, there'll be no teary eyes when the bitch passes on. It is said that every dog has its day and for this dog, it was no puppy affair. For the big day, the family dressed the dog in a bridal outfit and the village turned out for the celebrations just like a normal wedding. They danced and cheered as though it was Mukesh's real life wedding, it was claimed. His grandfather, Ashok Kumar Leyangi, 43, said: 'We believe the marriage will ward off any bad omen attached to the boy. This is traditional practice in our tribal community and we still believe in these old customs. We feel that it is our adult responsibility to keep our children safe and happy this way.' These marriages usually take place between January 15 and January 21 each year.  The government in India is still trying to educate rural and tribal communities that these acts of superstition are wrong but despite these efforts, many of the region's tribal communities still follow horoscopes and other superstitions religiously. |
| Photos: Patorankin visits Saraki, other senators at the Senate Posted: 19 Jan 2016 08:14 AM PST |
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