JENJE-BARA

  The Nigerian Army training exercise code named ‘Exercise Crocodile Smile’ has officially ended at Brass in Bayelsa State. The exercise was launched nearly two weeks ago, with the responsibility of traversing the South-South geo-political region. It was set up to also provide a practical training for Special Forces and other units of the Nigerian Army in Amphibious and Internal Security Operations in riverine environment Troops were also mandated to provide adequate security for residents as well as critical national economic assets in the region.   Largely Successful Exercise The exercise, which the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, described as largely successful also enabled the Nigerian military to offer educational materials to some primary schools in Brass Town. The soldiers have had to survive in this riverine environment which for many of them was their first time in such a place. They are in a celebrato...

  Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described the South American trio as turning “normal life into art”, as all three were on target to take their combined goals tally for the season to 106 in eliminating the English side from the Champions League on Wednesday. “I don’t think Barcelona depend on the three up front,” Messi said on Thursday. “There is a big squad and there is much more than three players. “We try to help offensively and defensively, but I don’t think the team depends on us.” Barca are on the brink of their sixth La Liga title in eight years as they lead Atletico Madrid by eight points with just nine games to play and will face Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final in May. But despite unparallelled success over the past decade, Messi claimed the winning mentality within the Barca dressing room keeps them focused on winning everything again this season. “There is a good relationship not just between Suarez, Neymar and I, but in the whole dressin...

  Fighting appeared largely to stop across most areas of western and northern Syria on Saturday after a cessation of hostilities came into effect, which the United Nations called the best hope for peace since the civil war began five years ago. Under the U.S.-Russian accord accepted by President Bashar al-Assad’s government and many of his enemies, fighting should cease so aid can reach civilians and talks can open to end a war that has killed more than 250,000 people and made 11 million homeless. The truce is the culmination of new diplomatic efforts that reflect a battlefield dramatically changed since Russia joined the war in September with air strikes to prop up Assad. Moscow’s intervention effectively destroyed the hope his enemies have maintained for five years — encouraged by Arab and Western states — to topple him by force. The fragile agreement is the first of its kind to be attempted in four years and, if it holds, would be the most suc...

The latest Dry Bulk Freight Forecaster from Maritime Strategies International (MSI) reports a deterioration of the consultancy’s cautiously optimistic view for improvement in the dry bulk market in the next six months.   Misery piled on misery for dry bulk owners in January as spot and timecharter rates reached new lows. Demand plummeted for a majority of dry cargoes and in the iron ore markets, a temporary hiatus in activity at Tubarao briefly dented Brazilian exports, whilst Australian exports were curtailed by weather disruptions during the cyclone season.   The beginning of the year is typically marked by a spike in recorded vessel deliveries, and January 2016 was no exception. Deliveries surged to 7.2m dwt, more than double average monthly deliveries during 2015. This was partly offset by a jump in vessels scrapped to 4.6 m dwt, the largest total since 5.6 m dwt was demolished in April 2015.   Positive news is limited to the demand s...

L to R: Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC and Amer Ali, Executive Director, DMCA. The Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), the government authority charged with regulating, coordinating and supervising all aspects of Dubai’s maritime sector, has committed its full support for the Dubai Maritime Club, a not-for-profit initiative aimed at nurturing a dynamic network of maritime professionals. Launched in collaboration with DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre), the authority on trade, enterprise and commodities in Dubai, the Club will facilitate regular meetings for members irrespective of the location of their activity, with the main purpose of sharing knowledge and expertise and providing a platform for productive dialogue geared towards improving the industry. Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC, said: "Dubai has a strong heritage in the maritime sector and sea tra...

                              Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has recalled the commissioner for Finance and Accountant- General of the state suspended last week. This is contained in a statement on Monday in Port Harcourt by Simeon Nwakaudu, special assistant to the governor on electronic media. It said the suspension of Commissioner Fred Kpakol and Accountant-General Abere Dagogo was lifted, following interventions by different political leaders. The statement quoted Mr. Wike as urging political appointees to differentiate between friendship and governance in the discharge of their functions. “Governance is a serious business. It is not friendship. When it comes to governance, I won’t know friendship. “I will lift the suspension on the Finance Commissioner and the Ac...

I would give anything to have my 1 dream come true. That dream is us, us being together forever. Spending my entire life with you, waking up next to your beautiful face every morning. Please promise me, that you will never give up on us. No matter what obstacles we’ll face in this life that’s ahead of us cause I know we will. You need to know that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I know I don’t always show it but the moment you came into my life it changed, for the better. I have this amazing person, my soulmate who I care for even more than myself, who I would do anything in the world for in my life, I will never let you go for you’ve become my life. You’ve taught me how to love, shown me what a bestfriend is, and how lucky I am to have such a special person. Some say first love never lasts, but it never dies. I want you to be my only love, to always have this fire that burns brighter throughout the years to come. I love you to the sun and back, forever. By: Debb...

Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter Max into this world!For her birth, we wrote a letter to her about... Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on  Tuesday, 1 December 2015

    Officials of the Imo State Government and the leader of the All Progressives Congress addressing the labour union after talks held to resolve the issues The Imo State government has recalled workers it suspended in 19 parastatals in the state, ending the disagreement between the government and labour union on the issue. Governor Rochas Okorocha announced the recall of the workers on Wednesday in the heat of a protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Members of the NLC from the 36 states of the federation led by the National President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba on Wednesday converged on Owerri, the capital of Imo State to hold a protest and force the state to reverse its decision. The protest was held to express their displeasure over the Concession Policy by the state government and the suspension of some workers. All activities at the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri and other government offices under the NLC were shutdown to effect the compliance of ...

Posted by Moses Harry on  Friday, 29 January 2016

A cargo vessel that went adrift off the west coast of Cornwall and Devon after encountering engine difficulties is currently under tow, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported.   The 91-meter-long vessel reported that it was drifting without power y Thursday just after 12:30 p.m. The ship is carrying a cargo of scrap metal, and all seven crew have remained on board.   The vessel is currently 5 nautical miles north west off Hartland Point heading to Lundy Island, and the Appledore and Padstow RNLI lifeboats are currently on scene along with the Dutch war ship HNLMS De Ruyter.    The HNLMS De Ruyter is now towing the vessel to Lundy Island, North Devon where the vessel can anchor and shelter from the weather.    Bremen Fighter, a tug from Holyhead Harbour is also on its way. It will take the vessel from Lundy Island to a suitable harbor.   A Coastguard Rescue Team from Hartland Point and the Coastguard ...

Asian spot LNG prices fell this week as top consumer Japan struggled with surplus stock and Chevron's new Gorgon project neared start-up, which will feed into an already oversupplied market.   The big worry was about Russia's Sakhalin-2 export plant, hit by a production "glitch" on Jan. 26, a spokesman said, as talk circulated of potential cargo cancellations.   Loading disruptions could tighten spot LNG prices for March delivery in Asia, trading lower at $4.90 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), from $5.10 per mmBtu the previous week.   Most traders said Sakhalin's technical problems will mean cargo rescheduling but not cancellation.   Gail India's purchase of a total of two cargoes from BG Group and Qatar's RasGas in February and March, respectively, signalled further bearishness ahead.   The February cargo sold for around $5.00 per mmBtu, while the March cargo was mid-$4s.   Stockbuilds at Japanese import term...

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state took to the streets today to celebrate his victory at the Supreme court with his people. See more photos after the cut...

    A lawmaker has warned the executive arm of government in Nigeria to be cautious in signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). Moving a motion on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, a legislator from Ekiti State, Segun Adekola, said that Nigeria was not economically ready for such partnership with a weak manufacturing base and infrastructural deficit. The motion argued that entering into such partnership without full preparation would amount to economic suicide for Nigerian industries and also confine the economy to a mere extension of the European Union markets. Some lawmakers, however, believed that such caution might be counterproductive unless other African countries involved in the EPA were carried along. In his response, the Speaker of the House, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, explained that the motion and the issue it presented was still subject to examination by the lower chamber, stres...

  The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has begun an inspection of ongoing projects across the country with a view to ensuring budgetary provision for them in the coming year. Mr Fashola told journalists in Makurdi that he was inspecting the Apir power plant of the Transmission Company of Nigeria along with officials of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, in order to ascertain its level of operation in the state. After inspecting the control room of the power plant, he said that the federal government would give priority attention to the project in the 2017 budget. The delegation also visited the State Governor, Mr Samuel Ortom, where the Otukpo-Enugu highway was one of the issues discussed The Minister was expected to also inspect the Makurdi-Lafia federal highway as the team leaves for Nasarawa State to round off his trip to the north central states.

Nigerians queuing for kerosene The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, has increased the price of Household Kerosene from N50 to N83. This is contained in its products pricing template, released on Sunday in Abuja. The agency stated that the N83 per litre price applied only to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, outlets. The template also showed that at N83, the Federal Government will be making a gain of N10.72 on every litre. It further puts the expected open market price, which is the landing cost plus total margins at N72.28 per litre. The expected open market price is the prevailing open market rate for the product in Nigeria, after taking certain costs into consideration. Giving a breakdown of the price, the PPPRA template put the landing cost of ‎the product at N57.98 per litre, while the total margin due‎ middlemen was put at N14.30. The retailers’ margin was put at N5 per litre; transporters at N3...

The Edo Police Command has recovered more than 32 sophisticated guns with several ammunition from suspected criminals in the last five months. The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Benin. Ezike said that the command also arrested 100 suspected criminals – kidnappers, rapists, armed robbers and cultists- within the period in review. He said the feat was recorded following the renewed efforts of the command at ensuring safety and security of lives and property. Ezike also attributed the achievements to the cooperation of traditional rulers and working synergy with the local vigilance groups. “We identified that hunters and vigilance groups are critical stakeholders in our quest to rid the state of criminal elements. “As soon as we established that understanding, we took the fight straight to the den of these criminals. “The success recorded at the Igarra bank raid was an ici...

  The Senate on Tuesday expressed concern over the inability of health officials to start awareness campaigns against the Lassa Fever Virus after it became an epidemic. The lawmakers, at their first legislative business of the year, therefore demanded an aggressive sensitization about the disease and provision of preventive measures against the virus. The concern of the Senate is coming just as medical practitioners at the Lassa Fever Reserch Center at the Irrua Specialist Hospital Edo State, accused the government of not giving the disease the attention it requires. They fear that if nothing is done immediately to curtail further outbreak and spread of the virus, it could end up being a national emergency. They however, declined a recommendation that the Federal Government distributes rat killers free of charge to Nigerians to help in eradicating rats from the environment. Instead, they agreed that its Committee on Health invite the Minister of Healt...

Photo: Port of Tampa Bay   Shifting international trade patterns at America’s seaports – with mega-size vessels requiring higher capacity road and rail connections serving ports, along with deeper harbors, bigger cranes and sturdier berths – can bolster a region’s economy while straining its infrastructure. Because there’s no stopping these trade shifts, ports – and the communities they serve – must learn to adapt in order to bolster job growth, prevent traffic snarls and remain competitive.     To address these issues, executives representing Port Tampa Bay and the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) – the unified and recognized voice of America's seaports – will hold a media briefing on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 10:30 a.m. The briefing is part of the ninth annual Shifting International Trade Routes conference at Le Méridien Tampa Hotel, in Tampa, Fla., Jan. 21-22.  Hoste...

  The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Ajjampur Ghanashyam, has asked Nigeria to ensure that its foreign policy continues to be one that is representative of not just itself as a country, but the whole of the African continent. The High Commissioner, who was at the National Defence College, said that besides being the largest economy in the continent, Nigeria continues to be at the forefront of development in the continent and as such it should increase its role on the global scene to stand up for the well-being of the African continent. According to him, an increased participation of Nigeria in global decision making will not only mean well for the country and the continent, but the world at large. On his part, the Commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Admiral Samuel Alade, said that the college would leverage on the lessons learnt in the strategic diplomatic relationships.

Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. -- who counts Justin Bieber and the Kardashians  among his flock -- is not as holy as he claims ... so say some Miami street artists who says the church stole from them. It seems Wilkerson's Miami place of worship, Vous Church, used a series of works done by artists like Typoe, Bikismo and Ahol Sniffs Glue in social media and newspaper ads ... without permission. The works the good Pastor lifted were murals for a local public school, never designed for "a well-funded celebrity church brand or its prosperous pastors." The lawsuit -- filed by Kushnirsky Gerber PLLC -- makes mention of Wilkerson's lavish lifestyle and celebrity connections (he officiated Kim and  Kanye 's wedding) but claims the church never once offered to ante up a penny. BTW ... the suit says even if Wilkerson asked for permission, they would have denied it.