Sadly, the UK votes to Leave...

It is with a heavy heart that i type that finally Brexit has been achieved the UK is going it alone.

Oh what a day... I have to prepare for a possible new application for a Separate Scottish Visa. I love Scotland and i know the Scots will be happy to have me visit...

Photo credit Munich Business School 

Smile: Linda Ikeji Posts a Brilliant Message for her Detractors... and they sure are many.

She posted the photo on her Instagram with the caption:

1h

• officiallindaikejiHome chilling! 😊😊 For the record: the FIRS report is false. The house is 1000% mine. They keep trying but they don't know that baby girl is only just starting. #Somethingbigiscoming.#Livingmydream. #Youtoocan.#Keepworkingkeepbelieving. Kisses to everyone 😚😚😚

• 
  

This is one Lady who makes me smile... She seems to dust off whatever controversy comes her way effortlessly. Now that's a pretty trooper...
 Following  information that was published earlier in the day, that the Federal Inland Revenue Service was on her case for Tax Matters, the Power Blogger just had to rub it in that she is actually in the good books of the FIRS and Lagos Inland Revenue Service LIRS.

Benue and IFAD flag off Rice Planting Season

Benue's Agricultural Development is underway.
Benue State has flagged- off its Rice Planting Season.
Civil Servants have been encouraged to head back to the land and return Benue to its food basket  of the nation status.

Fridays have been designated and announced as farming days for the Civil Service. It is hoped that this will lead to a reduction in the civil service workforce in a few years time with people opting to go into Agricultural Production full time.

At the Flag-off ceremony for the Rice Planting season  Benue indigenes were encouraged to join the agricultural revolution.
International Fund For Agricultural Development, IFAD has provided huge support with an N800 million facility available for farmers in Rice, Cassava Production for 14 communities.

Ajah Flyover and Abule Egba construction projects in Progress...

More infrastructure  projects is the recurrent decimal now. The Governor of Lagos twitter handle posted these pictures of more projects currently underway. Here are pictures of Men at Work on the construction sites of the Ajah Flyover bridge and Abule Egba.

Nigeria's Naira Finally allowed to float...Central Bank Announces its plans to clear all the backlog of about $3-6Billion of Forex Demand

Its good news for foreign airlines who have been buckling under the pressure of  not remitting their revenue gotten within the country and which has made airlines such as Iberia and United Airlines to halt flights to the country.
The Central Bank today announced it is working to clear out the backlog of Forex demand of between $3 and $5 billion dollars through spot and forward settlements.

In a statement released by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications of the Central Bank, Mr Issac Okoroafor, the move is to engender confidence, ensure credible price formation and sustain the integrity of the Nigerian inter-bank FX market.
This was announced as the new flexible forex trading begins on Monday.

The apparent  lower value of Naira and the inability of foreign carriers to repatriate their revenues had forced United Airlines and Spanish  Iberia to withdraw services to Nigeria.As at March 31, 2016, foreign airlines funds held back in the country was about $575 million.

I guess most airlines can now heave a sigh of relief, Its back to business for most of Nigeria's more than 1 million frequent fliers.

Dollars at the Interbank  at 10am today trading at $255 and the parallel market between $330 and $345.

So Infrastructural Spending seems to be the way to go... Nigeria on the right track...

Another week of  Infrastructure spending coming through.

It appears The  Office of the Minister for Works finally  has its wheels churning... The Loko-Oweto Bridge Project has begun again... Some much needed respite from long journey times and waste of agricultural produce for residents of the Nasarrawa, Benue and Abuja axis.

The Minister for Housing, Works and Power, Babatunde Fashola said when completed, the Loko-Oweto Bridge would boost socio-economic activities in Nasarawa State and Benue.

“You will see those who lost their jobs; they would come back to work. You would see increased merchandising and supply of building materials.

“When this project is completed, it would open up these communities; connect Nasarawa State and Benue; farmers would benefit from the movement and transportation of their farm produce.

“I am optimistic that we would get this project completed in 2018,’’ Fashola noted.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Loko-Oweto Bridge contract was awarded to RCC Nig. Ltd. in November 2011 at N36. 1 billion with original completion date of Nov. 15, 2015.

The project was stalled in 2014 due to lack of funding and currently, at a revised contract sum of N51.6 billion, the project is scheduled for completion in 2018.(NAN)

Julius Berger Returns to Lagos- Ibadan Expressway

It seems we can now begin to see some of the anticipated Infrastructure spending which Nigeria massively requires to help boost the economy.
Pictures released show that Julius Berger Nigeria has been mobilised to return to work on the ever busy and economic artery of the nation, the Lagos - Ibadan Expressway. Reynolds Construction Company too was seen beginning work on their end from the Sagamu-Ibadan Interchange.

Signs of good times to come hopefully...

Below is Reynolds Construction Company's (RCC) own portion of the road.

Photo Credit @AsoRock Twitter

Federal Government Launches the 500000 Teacher Recruitment Movement...

Vice President Yemi Osibanjo

The Federal Government of Nigeria, has announced the opening of its portal for the collection of applications through its internet portal for the N-power empowerment programme.

The programme is being launched to provide for the training and employment of 500, 000 unemployed youths in the teaching profession to provide for the shortfall in the numbers of teachers in the educational sector.

This information was contained in a statement signed and released by Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant (Media & Publicity) in the Office of the Vice President.

In the statement given below the government announced its plans for the programme:

“In what is the first roll-out of its N500 billion social investment programmes, the Buhari presidency will start taking applications online for positions in the 500,000 direct teacher jobs scheme, through an internet portal named npower.gov.ng.

While the portal would be live on Saturday June 11, applications are expected to start coming in on June 12, the beginning of next week. Young unemployed Nigerians are advised to visit the website and apply.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari in his May 29th Democracy Day broadcast to the nation formally launched the unprecedented social investment programmes already provided for under the 2016 Appropriation by the administration.

The 500,000 Teacher Corps, nicknamed N-Power Teach on the portal, is one of the three direct job creation and training schemes Nigerians can start applying for from Sunday, June 12.

Others are N-Power Knowledge which will train 25,000 Nigerians in the area of technology, and N-Power Build, which train another 75,000 in the areas of building services, construction, utilities, hospitality and catering, automotive vocations, aluminium and gas services.

All trainees would be paid for the duration of their training.

The N-Power Teacher Corps initiative which will engage and train 500,000 young unemployed graduates, is a paid volunteer programme of a 2-year duration. Unemployed Nigerians selected and trained will play teaching, instructional, and advisory roles in primary, and secondary schools, agricultural extension systems across the country, public health and community education-covering civic and adult education.

Besides their monthly take home pay estimated at about N23,000, the selected 500,000 graduates will also get computer devices that will contain information necessary for their specific engagement, as well as information for their continuous training and development. They get to keep the devices even after exiting from the programme.

According to the plan of the Buhari administration, the N-Power Teacher Corps programme is an invaluable opportunity for young Nigerians to make immense economic and social contributions to the nation while developing their skills. It will also help to address the problems of inadequate teachers in public schools.

Also, persons enlisted under the scheme will gain work experience and acquire key competencies through academic and non-academic capacity building programmes intended to improve their competitiveness in the workplace. Their devices will come loaded with knowledge-oriented applications and software that will enable them acquire the skills and capacity.

Under the N-Power Knowledge scheme, there are three aspects: Creative, Technology Software and Hardware. These three sub-divisions would will train 25,000 young Nigerians in all.

5000 of them would be trained in Animation, Graphic Design, Post-Production, Script-Writing. All of those under the sub-division of N-Power Knowledge-creative category.

The N-Power Knowledge scheme also has a technology category in two aspects: hardware and software. 10,000 Nigerians would be trained, and equipped in the area of software development, including web designers, and another 10,000 in hardware expertise including to repair, maintain and assemble mobile phones, tablets, computers and other devices.

Also the N-Power Build category was designed realizing that the presence of a well-trained and highly skilled youth population in any economy has direct impact on entrepreneurship/wealth creation, which in turn leads to a decline in unemployment.

N-Power Build is therefore an accelerated training and certification (Skills to Job/Enterprise) programme that will engage and train 75,000 young unemployed Nigerians in order to build a new crop of skilled and highly competent workforce of technicians, artisans and service professionals.

The other schemes in the Buhari presidency Social Investment Programmes which would soon be rolled out in the coming weeks. These include the Conditional Cash Transfer that pays N5000 monthly to one million Nigerians, the Micro-Credit Scheme for more than 1.5 million Nigerians, the Home Grown School Feeding programme that will serve 5.5 million Nigerian pupils in primary school a free hot meal per day this year and the Education support grant programme for 100,000 tertiary students in Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics, STEM and education.”

Photo Credit infromationng.com
                      nigerianuniversityscholarships.com

Media Queen Toke Makinwa Files For Divorce From her Estranged Husband, Maje Ayida

Media Queen Toke Makinwa who is a media entrepreneur and On Air Personality with the Silverbird Group Nigeria has filed for divorce from her estranged husband.

The couple dated for over eight years before tying the knot and it all came crashing down when Rumors of the husband's philandering and affairs with another young lady who got pregnant for him hit the airwaves.

In a post on LindaIkejisblog.com, who got access to the court documents, Toke Makinwa alleged that

1. She had to leave their matrimonial home in November 2015 after she could no longer tolerate the continuous adulterous acts between Maje and Anita despite promises from Maje to stop.
2. She alleged that Maje had some of his affairs in their matrimonial home while she was away at work.
3. She alleged that Maje made claims of not having money to take care of her or pay the bills in the house but was able to finance the birth of his child from Anita. She stated that Maje did not pay the rent on two occasions and as a result the landlord came to embarrass her.
4. She alleges that she lost a huge endorsement opportunity worth 20 million naira with a telecoms company because of the negativity that followed the 2015 scandal.
5. She alleges that she was treated with disdain and was never consulted for any business dealings whereas Maje was consulting with Anita.
6. She alleges that any slight complaint from her resulted in nagging and verbal abuse and the use of vulgar words even in front of their domestic staff.
7. She alleges that Maje has repeatedly sent text messages to Anita Solomon inviting her to live with him.

The divorce papers were officially filed in March, 2016.

I am a huge Toke Makinwa Fan and i wish her all the best with getting on with her life.

Lagos signs MoU with Kebbi State and San Carlos Group on Agricultural Production, Food Security and Job Creation

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode,has announced that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed with Kebbi State on agricultural commodity value chain, is in line with the agenda of the Federal Government to diversify the economy.

He said the agreement would also go a long way in ensuring there is food securityin the country and job opportunities are created  for the people, adding that it basically centres around the boosting of the production of rice, wheat, groundnut, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane and cows among others.

In a statement by his chief press secretary, Habib Aruna, the governor made the disclosure at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, during an official visit; stressing that the states are committed to boosting the economy of the country and to increasing Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

26-year-old Army Officer and IT analyst Is Miss USA 2016

The Army Reserve Lieutenant won the title of Miss USA, the first black Miss USA in 14 years.  

Deshauna Barber, graduated from Virginia State University in 2011. She then joined the military at a young age of 17. Her Family is a family of Soldiers as her parents and siblings also serve in the US Military. Her father was deployed  to Iraq in the aftermath the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I consider it to be a family tradition,” she said in a pre-show interview of military service. “It’s something that runs through our veins — patriotism and service for this country.”

Now, this girl don't play. Kick-ass beauty queen! These are the real patriots giving their all including their families to defending their country and way of life.

Congratulations Lt. Barber. You have indeed made your Family and Country proud.

Adieu Champ! The World's Greatest!

We love you and its time for you to take a Bow so we let you go!

Muhammad Ali 1942-2016

and a tribute from President Obama,

President Obama ‏ ‏@POTUS  19m19 minutes ago

He shook up the world, and the world's better for it. Rest in peace, Champ.

Ringside seats to see the Champ...