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IG dismisses 50 corrupt policemen

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase has said the police under his leadership has fought corruption to the barest minimum, stating that the force has dismissed 50 police officers for corrupt practices and misconduct.

I committed no crime in kneeling before God in church – Ooni of Ife replies critics

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (OjajaII) has replied those attacking him for kneeling in church to worship God.

US spending bill tightens visa waiver programmme

Citizens of 38 countries, including many in Europe, will face new restrictions on travel to the United States under changes to the “visa waiver” programme tucked into a massive spending bill unveiled in the US Congress on Wednesday. US officials have been eyeing the visa waiver programme, which allows citizens of close allies to enter the country without being screened, since last month’s Islamic State attacks in Paris. Several of the attackers held European passports that would have allowed them to easily enter the United States under the existing system. If the $1.1tn funding bill passes as expected later this week, citizens of the visawaiver countries would be required to submit to interviews if they have visited “high risk” nations such as Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan since March 2011. It would also bar from the programme citizens from visa waiver countries like France, Britain and Germany who have dual nationalities.

Boko Haram plans to abduct for ransom, FG warns

The Federal Government on Friday issued a security alert, warning that Boko Haram terrorists, who had been put on the run by the military, were planning another sensational abduction of pupils and foreigners in a desperate effort to raise funds through ransom in order to meet their needs for food, medical and arms supply. In a statement issued in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the planned abduction was in line with the terrorists’ new modus operandi of focusing on soft targets, having being routed from their stronghold and their capacity to stage spectacular attacks substantially degraded. He said terrorists have now concentrated their attacks on soft targets, like motor parks, schools and entertainment centres as they had been degraded to a level that they are now incapable of staging spectacular attacks like they used to do. Mohammed said, “The kidnap of the Chibok girls in 2014, which attracted global attention to the terrorist group, is what it is now trying to repeat, hoping it can find vulnerable targets, especially schools, or a group of foreigners outside the frontline states. ”The plan by Boko Haram is also part of an overall strategy by the terrorists to seek to negatively impact on the psyche of the gallant troops who have routed them from their stronghold and also give the impression that they had not been defeated by the December 2015 deadline given by this administration to effectively degrade the insurgency in the North-east. ”This is why we have decided to issue this alert to enable the authorities of both public primary and secondary schools in remote locations, particular in the northern states, to upgrade security arrangements. “It is also aimed at alerting the general public, operators of hotels and entertainment centres, motor parks and similar facilities to also upgrade their security arrangements for the holidays.” The minister added, “Smoked out of their hideouts and badly bruised by our gallant military, the Boko Haram terrorists are desperate, especially in the face of the depletion of their food supplies. “In their desperation, they will not hesitate to embark on actions they feel can still make them relevant or enhance their survival. But the military is ready and able to prevent that.” He said the Federal Government would build on the successes recorded by the military, adding that the military had largely met the deadline to degrade the capability of Boko Haram.

Lagos govt retrieves hacked website

The Lagos State Government website, which was hacked early this morning has been recovered. A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said although the website had been retrieved, the bugs left behind from the hack were being cleared. Ayorinde promised that the website would soon be restored, better and stronger to continue in its tradition of giving accurate and up-to-date information on the activities, policies and programmes of the State Government. He said that the incident has been reported to the State Security Service and the Police for further investigation so as to uncover those behind the unscrupulous act. The Commissioner implored Lagos residents to be supportive of the present administration and continue to follow its activities on its social media platforms.

LG chairman dies two days after being sworn in

The Plateau State Government on Monday announced the death of the Chairman, Jos-East Local Government Area, Dr. Hosea Azi. The state Governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, said Azi, who was sworn in as the chairman of the council on Friday, died in a car accident at Geraku, Nasarawa State on Sunday. The governor was quoted in a statement signed by his Director of Press Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Nanle, as saying that Azi’s death was shocking. “I received the news of the sudden demise of the newly sworn-in Management Committee Chairman of Jos East Local Government Council, Dr Hosea Azi, with great shock,” Lalong said. The statement explained that Azi was on his way to Abuja when the vehicle he was travelling in ran into a stationary truck, killing him and two others. Lalong described Azi as an astute politician and an academic of

repute, who was appointed into government to provide the needed people-oriented leadership having garnered experience as a member of the Plateau House of Assembly. The governor sent the government’s condolences to the people of Jos- East, as well as the family of the deceased, and prayed God to grant everyone the fortitude to bear the loss. Azi was sworn in to replace Mr. Sanda Daura, who was removed from office “in response to the yearnings of the People of Jos East,” the News Agency of Nigeria reported. The statement, however, debunked the initial reports that Azi had the accident with kidnappers that were racing away with him toward an unknown destination. “Family sources have dismissed such rumour; government has actually confirmed that the death occurred while he was on his way to a legitimate function in Abuja,” the statement said.

Air India worker is sucked into jet engine and killed instantly at Mumbai airport

A member of Air India's ground crew has been sucked in to an aircraft's engine and killed instantly. The incident happened earlier today at Mumbai Airport in India while the aircraft was preparing for departure to Hyderabad. The technician was killed after being sucked into the jet engine during push back at 9pm local time.  Air India has said it is 'deeply saddened' by what it described as a 'mishap' and a 'tragic' inciden

t.  The aircraft, AI 619, was at a parking bay at the airport's T2 Terminal and was preparing for departure to Hyderabad. Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said this afternoon: 'An Air India technician died in a mishap during pushback of flight AI 619. The incident is being investigated. We are deeply saddened and regret the tragic incident at Mumbai airport. Our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.' An airport official told Hindustan Times: 'The body is still stuck in the engine, efforts are going on to retrieve it.' It is not yet clear how the worker came to be so close to the engine.  Air India bosses are yet to say how many people were on board the plane and whether any passengers had witnessed the incident.

Buhari rejects N750,000 bonus for Eaglets

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected a N750,000 package for each player of the Golden Eaglets squad, that won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile. According to reports, the presidency claimed the budget was “too much”. This week, Buhari’s government warned that next year will be rough for the country, as the economy is expected to get worse. In trying to contain that, government spendings will be cut down drastically. “The proposal has been reviewed after the first rejection. We wait for the green light from the presidency on the date for the reception and the reward,” an official of the Ministry of Sports disclosed to AfricanFootball. A much lower proposal of N150,000 per player, has now been sent by the Sports Ministry.

Harder times ahead, FG alerts Nigerians

The Federal Government had alerted Nigerians to prepare ahead for the tough economic conditions and policy responses it intends to roll out from next year just as it vowed to strictly monitor expenditure of all Ministries, Department and Agencies, MDAs to avoid wastes. The Federal Government has also planned to reduce the personnel cost from N1.8 trillion to N100 billion as part of moves to reduce expenditure and save cost. According to the minister, who appeared at the National Assembly, yesterday, attention would be given to Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, to fund the N6.1 trillion 2016 budget, adding that in 2016, it would remove fuel subsidy and reverse the earlier N10 per litre reduction effected by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan this year. Speaking at the meeting, Udo Udoma, who noted that it was important that substantial reductions were made on the spending pattern if the expected change must come in, said: “In preparing the MTEF, we seek a dramatic shift from spending on recurrent to spending on capital aspect of the budget. It is going to be tighter for everybody. All non essential expenditure would be cut out. We will reduce the overheads by seven per cent. “We are beginning a journey of change and change has to start with the clarity of purpose of where we are going.” On the issue of N500 billion for Social Welfare Programme, Udoma said: “As at the time we were preparing the MTEF, we didn’t have the number and we didn’t want to put in anything that we are not 100 percent sure of. We are still going to relate with relevant agencies on the issue. We are making this arrangement because the NNPC and other stakeholders had advised against subsidy in 2016 although consultations are still ongoing in this regard.” On sources of funding for the N6.1 trillion 2016 budget, the Budget and National Planning Minister, who disclosed that priority would be given to Internally Generated Revenue ,IGR, said: “We will also look at the accounts of agencies and sweep those surpluses that might not be on essential things that we want to focus on.” Udoma, however, told the lawmakers that “ultimately we must borrow N1.8 trillion to fund this budget apart from all those adjustments we are trying to make.”

Unemployment’ll reduce after passage of 2016 budget- Buhari

President Mohammadu Buhari stated that the problem of youth unemployment bedevilling the country would become history after the passage of 2016 national budget President Buhari spoke at a dinner he organised in honour of the visiting Alumni Association of the Indian Defence Services Staff College,DSSC, Wellingon, led by the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Ghanashyam. The delegation included a number of retired Indian army generals who were course-mates of the President. Lamenting that 60 per cent of the country’s youth population was unemployed, the President said: “We will sit down to see how we can rehabilitate industries. We will do this in order to clear the problem of unemployment. This is extremely dangerous for our country. We are meeting after the budget to see how to revive industry and secure the economy.” The President also explained that the insecurity in the North-East, abduction for ransom in the South and the sabotage of the oil industry in the delta region have connection with poverty and unemployment. “We are meeting after the budget to see how to revive industry and secure the economy,” he further assured.

Kaymu tackles pay-on-delivery, partners Interswitch on e-payment

In a bid to discourage payment on delivery considered one of the challenges of e-commerce in Nigeria, online marketplace, Kaymu.com.ng has partnered Interswitch to provide electronic payment options for its customers. Kaymu said through the partnership, hundreds of thousands of customers currently conducting business transactions via the Kaymu platform are provided with a reliable alternative pre-payment solution. Speaking on the partnership, Managing Director of Kaymu Nigeria, Sefik Bagdadioglu said: “Trust is a major issue in e-commerce and we take this very seriously at Kaymu. It is an essential component in every part of the transaction, from honest product descriptions right through to reliable payment options. This necessitated a partnership with Interswitch to promote a secure and enabling environment for people to make pre-payments for products purchased on Kaymu.” According to Bagdadioglu, the primary focus of this collaboration is to bring even greater convenience to the customer. By partnering with Interswitch to create

more accessible payment channels, Kaymu is further opening up the e-commerce space to all consumers. “By working with like-minded partners, we are offering the Nigerian consumer easy, secure and most importantly free payment options with the aim to continue to pioneer the Nigerian online ecosystem through innovation,” he said. He added that, “The pre-payment gateway promotes business transactions across the country via the Kaymu platform. Now, customers can make secure payments for products they desire from the comfort of their homes or offices irrespective of location and sellers encouraged to ship products outside of their states,” noting that “Kaymu’s partnership with Interswitch highlights its commitment towards developing effective payment solutions geared towards strengthening commerce and developing the country’s economy.”

Free Meal For School Children: FG tasked on quick implementation

The Principal of Babcock University Schools (BUS), Ogba, Lagos, Mr. Gabriel Fasanu has urged the Federal Government to quicken the commencement of the implementation of its free meal programme for children in public schools. Fasanu, who made this call during BUS Thanksgiving Service/Community Guest Day, pointed that the quick implementation of the programme will alleviate the hunger

problems millions of school children are facing, adding that most parents cannot afford three square meals a day. According to the educationist, poverty and malnutrition, often result to poor academic performance and increased number of children who are out of school. The Principal, however said the thanksgiving service was an opportunity for the school to thank God for its numerous achievements in the two years of existence, as well as to appreciate the contributions of staff, students, parents and its host community. On his part, the Vice-President, Spiritual Life in Babcock University, Dr. Tunde Ojewole in his message entitled “Receiving the full reward,” said that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Ojewole noted that God is not like man that rewards people partially. He charged the staff and students to always pray for full rewards in all they do, stressing that they should not allow sin to make their full reward impossible.

Fuel subsidy to go next year, FG to sell petrol at N97 per litre

— Following increased pressure on revenue and the expenditure profile, the Federal Government has finally yielded to domestic and international pressures to remove fuel subsidy. This is coming as crude oil prices hit a seven-year low with global reference crude, West Texas Intermediate and Brent trading yesterday at $34.7 and $36.7 per barrel respectively, effectively disrupting Nigeria’s $38 per barrel benchmark for 2016 budget. The crash has resulted into about N1.45 trillion shortfall in the value of the projected oil output in the international market based on production target increased in the 2016 plan to 2.2 million barrel per day (mbpd), up from actual 1.9 mbpd in 2015. On official exchange rate of N198/ $1 upon which the revenue projection was based, the value of the total budgeted oil output is $35.14 billion or N6.95 trillion but with the latest price development, the output would now yield $27.8 billion or N5.5 trillion. The latest price shock is coming less than a week after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approved the 2016 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, which outlined government’s revenue as well as a deficit budget to be funded largely by the oil income.The 2016 budget is derived from the MTEF which is a three-year fiscal plan. FG to introduce tougher economic measures Also, the oil price crash was coming at the backdrop of a warning from ministers in charge of the economic ministries and chief executives of federal parastatals in the economy sector that Nigerians should prepare ahead for what it called more austere conditions in view of the strict economic policies being put in place by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. The federal executives, who gave the warnings when they appeared before the joint committees of the National Assembly on Finance to defend the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, MTEF & FSP, documents presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari are Ministers for Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma; Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and State for Petroleum Resource,Ibe Kachikwu; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Babatunde Fowler. To make the warning real, they disclosed that Federal Government would move fuel price from N87 to N97 per litre in 2016 while removing fuel subsidy, lamenting that excess of N1 trillion has been paid for fuel subsidy in 2015 alone. 2016 budget deficit to increase With the latest crude oil price development, 2016 budget deficit would increase to about N2.7 trillion from N2.22 trillion, assuming government is able to meet its target of 2.2 mbpd, otherwise the deficit would be much higher. Also, the development, according to economy analysts, would put more pressure on the external reserves and the exchange rate while forcing the government to resort to more borrowing, thereby increasing both its deficit-to-GDP ratio and debt-to-GDP ratio. In the 2016 fiscal plan, deficit/GDP ratio was more than doubled to 2.2 per cent, from actual one per cent as at September 2015. According to the 2016 fiscal plan, Federal Government would only have a marginally increased contribution from value added tax, VAT, at N67.7 billion in 2016, from N67.5 billion in 2015 while additional inflow of N350 billion is expected to come from misappropriated funds recoveries. The deficit will necessitate borrowings worth N1.8 trillion of which domestic borrowing is fixed at N1.2 trillion while foreign borrowing is about N600 billion. If the oil price remains gloomy in the coming year borrowings would increase or the government would be forced to effect a further cut on expenditure. Already, recurrent expenditure is projected to fall from 84 per cent in 2015 to 70 per cent in 2016 while capital expenditure is expected to increase from 16 per cent in 2015 to 30 per cent in 2016. Strict monitoring of all MDAs Also, Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, who told the joint committee of the National Assembly that expenditure of all MDAs would be strictly monitored to avoid wastes, said government would take steps to ensure that whatever money was being taken from the account of any MDA was done electronically. The Finance minister, who noted that measures had been put in place to compel revenue generating MDAs to remit all funds they generated to the treasury, said: “The era when an agency generates money and spends 99 per cent of it is over.” On strategy to reduce costs of governance, the minister said: “The country paid N1.8 trillion in 2015 as personnel cost but there is a strategy in place in the 2016 budget to reduce it by N100 billion. For instance, we are already working with banks so that we can go cashless, so that we could give debit cards to MDAs to procure items. N1trn spent on subsidy in 2015 Also speaking, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, who disclosed that with NNPC inclusive, Excess of N1 trillion was paid for fuel subsidy in 2015, with plans to move fuel price from N87 to N97 per litre in 2016 as well as total removal of fuel subsidy next year. On the issue of daily oil production target, Kachikwu said, “From August this year, we have been exceeding two million daily production through stringent monitoring of our production by getting quick fixes to instances of pipelines breaking. The internal projection for our system next year is in excess of 2.4 million which is coming from enhanced and increased production from NPDC field. “A lot of efficiency had really been applied in this regard. NPDC will for instance be producing 300, 000 barrels on its own while other partners would process at least 2.2m barrels. We would address issues of security and other impediments to the realization of our target. We are looking at a collective and holistic handling of security issues between the NNPC and the oil majors with us taking the lead. On the oil price benchmark of $38, he said: “The projection at OPEC was along the line of the fact that once we do not interfere in term of production cost will lead to a southward movement in terms of pricing. We expect an increase as from early January when we expect it to go up by $45 to $50 per barrel in spite of OPEC projection. We expect it to hit $70 per barrel in 2017.” (Vanguard)

How This Entrepreneur Went From Trailer Park to Partners With Facebook in a Year

March 25, 2015 was a day that Jeremy Greene will never forget. It was the day Mark Zuckerberg went all-in on his company. At Facebook’s F8 developer conference, Zuckerberg announced the latest iteration of Facebook Messenger. It included a direct integration of PingTank, the social-media app Greene created that lets users customize photos with animation overlays. Overnight, PingTank was on 600 million mobile devices. The app is regularly touted by celebrities like Tyga, Akon and Mel B., and is backed by legendary venture capitalist Tim Draper. It’s a story torn from the script of The Social Network: Brilliant software engineer goes from reject to red carpet after his app takes the world by storm. Except for one tiny detail. Make that several tiny details. Jeremy Greene isn’t an engineer. He barely graduated high school. He grew up in Waterville, Maine, not Silicon Valley. And a year before the F8 announcement, he was living in a trailer park, on his last five borrowed dollars. He spent his formative years lost in the foster system. “They took me away because my mom couldn’t care for me and put me in a kid’s shelter,” Greene says of his troubled upbringing. Despite his struggles, he conceived, built and launched PingTank -- and then sold Facebook on his vision -- without spending a day in the shoes of the tech elite. Greene’s meteoric rise from Salem’s Lot to Silicon Valley was achieved through extraordinary hustle and deathless determination, irresistible salesmanship and a team he hired of mad geniuses who work and live out of the “PingTank mansion” in Hollywood (not Silicon Valley)—where the team’s latest marketing stunt involved Greene getting “arrested,” a helicopter and an impromptu performance by Tyga. His speed, unconventionality and boldness make him dangerous to competitors and have brought in millions in venture capital for the young company. His latest move? He made 12-year-old Sammy Parsley PingTank’s VP of youth marketing. It’s just one example of how Greene acts instantly on things you’ll see everyone else hesitate at.  “Jeremy is a force of nature who creates value out of thin air and runs through brick walls that stop others in their tracks. And that’s exactly the kind of person investors like me like to back,” says Rafe Furst, co-founder of Crowdfunder and a PingTank investor. The school of hard knocks Jeremy’s hustle, salesmanship and knack for leveraging star talent came from some lessons learned in the school of hard knocks. When he was 15, his mother relinquished her possession of him to the state. He tried to run away and the state put him in juvenile prison. “You’re in your boxers in a room with no windows that’s freezing cold and smells like piss,” says Greene. When he got out of juvie, a series of positive role models helped him get an education (he’s the first in his family to graduate high school) and move into his own place. He started working on his lifelong dream: music. “I realized music was my only way out, and I started using technology to get there,” Greene says. His timing was perfect. Before the days of 10-second messages and live-streaming video, MySpace was king, especially among musicians and their fans. So Greene started creating music and uploading it to the social-networking site. His popularity grew fast -- a little too fast. People started distributing his music illegally instead of paying for it. One day, he confronted a hacker who was giving his tracks away. “The hacker said, ‘Look, I’m actually helping you. I’m putting your music out into the world,’” Greene says. Most people would thrash back. But Greene was hustling to survive; he wanted the most exposure possible. “I asked him, ‘If you can hack my page, can you also hack MySpace?’” The answer was yes. Greene convinced the hacker to promote his already popular music further by gaming the MySpace algorithm. In one of those anecdotes that seems less strange the more you get to know Greene, MySpace didn’t shut him down; they offered him a record deal. “MySpace said, ‘We know you’re hacking us, but we don’t know how, and we can't prove it. But your music is so good, we’d like to sign you,’” Greene says. He met with the head of MySpace’s record label, and walked out with a deal. What followed was massive popularity on the social-networking site and a record deal with mega-producer Diddy, who found Greene through the site. Greene soon was collaborating with will.i.am, Pitbull, Chris Brown and LMFAO. But the success didn’t last. He parted ways with his record label and, eventually, went broke. His friends stopped calling. And prospective record deals dried up. He couldn’t afford his own place, so a friend bankrolled his rent at a trailer park while he worked on revitalizing his music career. “I just knew there was something bigger for me,” Greene says, when asked why he didn’t just quit. “I knew something would eventually happen if I kept going.” He was right. Something did happen. Greene saw a movie about the world’s youngest billionaire. Building a better social network Greene and his longtime friend (now PingTank CTO) Derek Myska watched The Social Network late one night in 2012 and realized they’d found their rocket ship.“ After watching The Social Network, I instantly knew we had to build something,” Greene says. He went to bed that night on fire with the idea of starting his own company—and woke up with the idea for PingTank fully formed after having a dream about it, he says. PingTank was born. Greene envisioned it as a new way for people to communicate. While users could "like" content on Facebook, there weren’t many creative ways for them to vividly express themselves through photos. PingTank wanted to change that. The app allows users to choose from hundreds of animations and lay them over photos on Facebook Messenger, iOS, Android and apps like Instagram. Users can “ping” the creation (the app’s version of the “like” button) or “tank” it if they dislike the photo. Myska, who has a computer-science degree, built the app. Greene, already a master promoter, sold it along with their third co-founder Christopher Dawes, who did event promotion. PingTank attracted 2,500 users in the first few weeks after launch through an email list Greene had from his MySpace days. And that’s when the trio knew they were onto something. There was just one problem: They were all broke.  Success wasn’t just the best option, it was the only option. Salvation came in an unlikely form. Greene connected with acclaimed music producer Lars Halvor Jensen on, of all things, Facebook by cold messaging him about his producing career. They bonded over music and set up a Skype call to talk further. “The first time I Skyped with Lars, I’m sitting wrapped in a blanket,” Greene says. “He asked me what was going on, and I told him I had nothing.” Greene’s heat in his trailer had been turned off, and he couldn’t pay to turn it back on. Jensen immediately sent him money to survive. The music producer didn’t just invest in Greene, he invested in PingTank. He’s now the company’s President and CFO. With Jensen on board and cash in the bank, Greene turned his sights on a man he knew could turn his social-network dream into a Silicon Valley reality. 'You’re probably looking at the founder of the next Facebook.' In one of his trademark bold moves, Greene cold emailed legendary venture capitalist Tim Draper. He got Draper’s email by reverse engineering his secretary’s email address and plugging in Tim’s name instead of hers. Just 20 minutes later, Draper invited him to come pitch the company in-person at his entrepreneur accelerator program, Draper University. There was only one problem: The pitch was happening the next day in Palo Alto, Calif. “I told Lars that Tim wanted to meet with us. The very next day.” Greene says. “And we were on the other side of the country in Maine. But Lars said, ‘You get one shot.’ We had nothing: no presentation and barely a website.” Jensen stayed up all night writing a business plan and putting his own unique spin on their pitch to appeal to Draper’s unconventional ways. (For example, he has had people do jumping jacks or give high-fives before pitching.) The PingTank mascot was a penguin, so Jensen rented a penguin costume and picked Greene and Myska up from the airport wearing it (nearly getting arrested by airport security in the process). They drove straight to where Draper was, and wearing a penguin suit Jensen stood beside Greene as he pitched one of the world’s most prominent venture capitalists in front of a room of young entrepreneurs. “I told my story, that I had just come from a trailer. I was honest,” says Greene. The team’s passion, honesty and commitment to standing out from the crowd paid off.  “When I was done, Tim turned to everyone in the room and said ‘You’re probably looking at the founder of the next Facebook,’” Greene recalls. Draper should know. He passed on an early opportunity to invest in Facebook. But he didn’t make the same mistake with PingTank. He invested right after Greene’s pitch. “I told Tim, ‘I don’t need your money, I need you.’ I knew that once I had Tim, I could get everybody,” says Greene. He meant it. With Draper as an investor, Greene sold everyone from celebrities to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (thanks to Draper’s connections) on the app. Most seem to see what Draper does. “PingTank has the potential to allow a whole new brand of communication,” he says. Draper’s involvement was just the beginning. PingTank has raised $2.2 million to date, has 17 employees and boasts over a million users. Not everyone, however, is bullish on the company. One investor who passed on the company, Zachary Zeldin, said he isn’t sold on the company’s vision. “We don’t believe that the influencers and partnerships that [PingTank is pursuing] will be as large of a driving force as [PingTank is making] them out to be,” Zeldin says. It’s a valid concern. But it’s not slowing down Jeremy Greene or his vision for the company. Greene has been the voice of the company since the beginning but that role is taking on new meaning. He’s rebooting his music career as a way to promote PingTank. He’s launching concerts on college campuses to spur student adoption of the app. He will also soon be rolling out a Snapchat competitor called ReallyYo. Like everything Greene does, you can be sure it’s going to be big. After all, Greene did his time in the foster system and the trailer park. Now that those are behind him and the chains are off, he’s moving at a pace that makes even Silicon Valley look slow.

Visa Agent Docked Over Alleged N502,000 Fraud

A 41-year-old visa agent, Okotie Alfred, on Monday appeared before an Osogbo Magistrates’ Court in Osun for allegedly defrauding Mr Alex Adedunwon of N502,000. The suspect, whose address was not disclosed in court, is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, theft and fraud. The prosecutor, Insp. Abiodun Fagboyinbo, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Feb. 14 at about 3.p.m. in Ota Efun, Osogbo. Fagboyinbo said the accused collected N502,000 from the complainant on the pretext of helping him to process a visa to South Korea. He said the offences contravened Sections 390, 419 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34 Vol. 11 Laws of Osun, 2003. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty. The counsel to the accused, Mrs Bose Adeyinka, prayed the court to grant him bail in the most liberal terms. The magistrate, Mrs Fatima Sodamade, granted the accused bail in the sum of N500,000 with one surety in like sum. Sodamade said the surety must reside within the court jurisdiction with evidence of tax payment, two passport photographs and an affidavit of means. The magistrate adjourned the case till Jan. 25 for mention. 

X Factor judge Rita Ora's six-bedroom home is burgled

X Factor judge Rita Ora has been warned she could be the latest victim of professional burglars who are believed to be behind raids on a number of north London homes, it has been reported. Jewellery, cash and electrical goods are understood to have been taken when thieves broke in to the singer's six-bedroom semi-detached house in the early hours of November 28. Just a week later, some £500,000 worth of valuables was stolen from Simon Cowell's £10million mansion less than three miles away. Police are understood to be investigating the possibility that the same gang could be behind both crimes, and as many as six others in the area. It comes as Mr Cowell revealed he believes whoever robbed his house has 'inside knowledge' of the property. A source close to Miss Ora told the Sun that the 25-year-old pop star has been ' very shaken' by the crime. The source said: 'Thankfully, Rita wasn't home at the time, but a family member was sleeping upstairs so it could have been so much worse if they had been disturbed. 'They called the police who arrived after 5am after they found out that cash, jewellery and electrical goods had been stolen. 'The police have told Rita she needs to look seriously into the possibility that this was an inside job and could be connected to a number of burglaries in the area, including the one at Simon's house.' Last week Mr Cowell, 56, admitted he had feared for his son's life when burglars stole £500,000 worth of valuables from his family home in an overnight raid. The music mogul said he and partner Lauren Silverman, 38, rushed to check on baby Eric when they learned of the break-in in the early hours of the morning on Friday 4. Cowell said it is 'frightening' that someone has been in their home, but said it 'could have been worse' as no-one was hurt. Last night he told the Daily Mirror that he believed the culprit had 'inside knowledge' of his property as the intruder knew how to avoid the bedroom where he and Ms Silverman were sleeping.

He said: 'He got up to the first floor and there were two doors, one to my bedroom and one to my bathroom, which leads to a dressing room where the safe was. 'So he could have walked into my bedroom. Instead, he chose the other so he went through the bathroom.' He added that it 'creeps' him out to know that someone was 'three feet away'.

Bauchi Govt Recovers N5.7bn Stolen Properties

The Bauchi State Government has recovered properties illegally carted away by officials of the last administration worth N5.7 billion. According to a statement signed by Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, Special Adviser to Gov. Mohammed Abubakar of the state on Media and Communication, the properties included movable and landed property carted away in eight years. Mohammed named 86 vehicles, generators, 31 air conditioners, 311.54 hectares and 97 plots of land as some of the property recovered by the committee. “The interim report on Orphans and Vulnerable Agency shows betrayal of public trust by the principal officers of the agency that doubled as procurement officers. “False documentation and inflation of costs exemplified by the purchase of six laptops at N6 million and granting approvals over and above official limit permeates the report.’’ He added that “N488.55 million expenditure consummated under questionable circumstances by the officials is yet to be accounted for.” Mohammed said the report further indicated that N2 billion loan obtained through the agency from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for the sustenance of Microfinance to boost Small and Medium Enterprises, was diverted. He asserted that “N1.5 million out of the N2 billion was diverted to address security challenges in the state leaving N500 million for disbursement to 13 Microfinance institutions for lending to enterprises.” The special adviser said that the report revealed a wanton disregard for laid down rules and regulations pertaining to the sale and allocation of government landed and movable property within the period under review. Alhaji Salisu Barau, former commissioner for Information during the period under review while reacting to the report described it as “false.” Barau said former Gov. Isa Yuguda of the state followed due process in allocating the property to his former aides and officials. He said the affected

N5,000 stipend will make youths unproductive – Alapa

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Nelson Alapa, has expressed reservations over the planned disbursement of N5000 monthly to unemployed youths, saying it will do no good. He expressed concern that the process may be abused, making youths redundant and unproductive and advised that instead, if such fund is available, it should be channelled into vocational training where youths can learn skills of their choice after which the funds can be accessed to aid them in their chosen trade. Alapa also called for the diversification of the nation’s economy against the backdrop of falling oil prices in the international market which is currently affecting the Nigerian economy negatively. He commended the federal government’s policy direction towards agriculture which he said is the only alternative to the current economic quagmire and urged the youth to embrace it. According to him, “We must diversify our economy against the backdrop of falling oil prices in the international market to enable us as a nation move forward and overcome the challenges we are facing. “It’s time we as a nation begin to work in the direction of agriculture which is the only alternative to the current economic quagmire and I also want to use this opportunity to urge the youth to embrace this gesture.”

FG will pay legally contracted, verifiable debts – Fashola

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola says the Federal Government is committed to the payment of all legally contracted and verifiable debts in the power sector. This is coming as the Chairman of Egbin Power Plc, Nigeria’s biggest power generating company, Mr. Kola Adeshina has said that the N47 billion debts owed the company had become a critical challenge hampering the efforts of the new owners of the facility to expand the capacity of the 1,320 megawatt-capacity plant. Speaking yesterday during the inauguration of additional 220 megawatts of electricity to be dedicated to Lagos State by Egbin Power Plant, Fashola commended the Sahara Group and the KEPCO of Korea, who are the new owners of Egbin Power Plant for putting their investments and talents to tackle a local challenge. Fashola also lauded the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and other stakeholders for taking the power sector far through the process of privatisation. On the debts owed the company, the minister stated that the government would pay debts that are legally contracted and verifiable. He promised to ensure that ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) pay their electricity bills promptly. In his speech, Adeshina also identified rising exchange rate as another critical challenge facing Egbin and appealed to the federal government to create a special foreign exchange allocation for the power sector as was done for the operators in the oil and gas sector. He noted that since the plant is run with offshore resources, the rise in exchange rate from N155.67 per dollar when the plant was acquired in November 2013 to the current official rate of N199 per dollar is hampering its operation. “Considering the fact our revenue is in Naira, this huge differential is impacting on the procurement of essential materials and payment of O&M services to our technical partners,” he said. According to him, the owners of the plant cannot access foreign exchange even at the high rate of N199 per dollar. Adeshina urged the minister to help the company recover the huge debts and also create special allocation to ease the access of operators to foreign exchange. He revealed that when the new investors took over the asset, generation was barely 400 megawatts, adding that the new management has since increased the generation to 1,100 megawatts. He further stated that as soon as Unit 1 is repaired in early next year, the plant will generate its full capacity of 1,320 megawatts. Adeshina also informed the minister that feasibility studies had been concluded to increase the capacity of the plant by additional 1,350 megawatts in the next four years. “We are delighted to have you inaugurate the dedication of the additional 220mw that is set to yield about 16 per cent more power supply to the Lagos State industrial community. We are equally pleased to inform you that a bilateral agreement to supply the 220mw to Ikeja Electric and Eko Distribution Company is already in place,” he said. “The story of Egbin is still unfolding as we have already commenced feasibility studies to double the capacity of the plant to 2670mw. As we prepare to power the change that will drive Nigeria to its next phase of sustained growth, we also target an Egbin that would birth an industrial park,” Adeshina added. [ThisDay]

Alleged land scam: I’m not on the run – Tompolo replies EFCC

Former Niger-Delta militant commander, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has debunked media reports that he failed to respond to an invitation extended to him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. It would be recalled that the EFCC had on Thursday given the repentant militant leader, one week to appear before the Commission on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos or risk being declared wanted. In a letter from the EFCC, the Commission says it is investigating Tompolo for unclear dealings involving the sale of parcels of land worth about N13bn to the federal government under the last administration. But in a statement on Saturday, Tompolo refuted reports of his invitation by the EFCC, alleging that he was only being witch-hunted because he bluntly refused to join the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as well as to support their Governorship candidate in Bayelsa State. According to him, “On the November 24th 2015, I was informed at about 4 p.m. that a letter of invitation had been dropped at my home in Warri, inviting me to EFCC’s office in Lagos by 10 a.m. on the 25th of November 2015. I responded by a letter from my Solicitors, Messrs. Jakpa, Edoge & Co. The letter dated November 25th 2015 was received by one Uduak Ouot, a staff of EFCC, on the 3rd of December 2015, after several attempts to deliver. I have proof of delivery from the courier company.” The ex-militant leader said he was surprised that the EFCC, which he described as “an otherwise reputable institution,” lied to Nigerians. He added that his lawyer’s letter “indicated I am already in court with the EFCC in Suit No: FHC/W/CS/152/2015. EFCC had been served with the court processes since 20th of October 2015 but they refused to attend court on several occasions, or to file any court papers, only to appear for the first time on 30th November 2015 without filing any court papers. They even asked for the matter to be adjourned to 17th December 2015, the date they are now inviting me to appear before them.” He stated that the anti-corruption agency invited him two months after he had sued them. He said he had informed the EFCC of his readiness to honor their invitation once the court rules on his own suit, adding that the agency seemed bent on harassing him through their “reminder of 9th December 2015, which was leaked to the media on the 10th of December 2015, the same day as it was delivered to my house in Warri.” Tompolo noted that, “As a full blooded Ijaw man and citizen of Nigeria, I have done everything in my power to follow the laws of Nigeria. Since the amnesty declared in 2009 by [the] late President Yar’Adua I have strained myself to ensure that we all live in peace in this country. Those who think they can push us to war must rethink the necessity of such a war. “How can a law-abiding Government declare a man wanted who is in the law courts with them? “They froze our business accounts since August 4th 2015, but we have not quarreled with anybody. We sued them to court, they refused to come to court. Now they are threatening to declare me wanted. “I know why they are after me. It is not the alleged multi-billion naira property transaction. After all, it went through due process and was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). And as such if there are any questions to answer, it is the people at the FEC, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Federal Ministry of Lands and Survey, Federal Ministry of Transport, NIMASA, etc who approved the transaction that should be answering such questions. “The real reason this All Progressive Congress (APC)-led Government is after me is that I bluntly refused to join APC and to support their Governorship candidate in Bayelsa State. We cannot all be in APC. Our people have always believed in the Nigerian project and had always hoped to join hands with this administration to move this project forward, but the conditions being attached are not acceptable. I insist on believing in the Nigerian project unconditionally! “We will continue to pursue our court case. The threat to declare me wanted is an unnecessary attempt to heat up the polity. I will go about my daily business, [as] usual. “Finally, let me say this: if people can come from Sokoto, Katsina or Lagos to campaign in Bayelsa, why can’t I, a full-blooded Ijaw man, go to my Bayelsa to campaign? I will only add this: let the will of the people of Bayelsa prevail. Nobody should attempt to force the outcome of the election. We have kept faith with our promise to Nigeria, we expect no less from this country. So if anyone tells you that Tompolo is on the run, tell him Tompolo is not going anywhere.” The High Chief is expected to appear at the EFCC training room on Thursday, December 17.

Britain is the online shopping capital of Europe

Britain is the online shopping capital of Europe, official figures showed. More than four out of five British adults have bought items from the internet, compared to just over half of adults across the European Union as a whole. Shoppers in Denmark, Luxembourg and Germany were the next most likely to buy online, while those in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Italy were the least likely.

Figures from the EU statistics agency Eurostat showed Britons were the biggest internet buyers of clothes, with three quarters of online shoppers in this country having bought them in the last year. British shoppers were also the most likely to buy household goods and toys, while Danish shoppers were most likely to buy holidays and event tickets. Older people in Britain were the most likely to have shopped online and the UK was one of just six EU countries where more than half of internet users aged 65 to 74 had bought goods online. Most e-buyers in the EU seemed satisfied with their online purchases and seven out of ten encountered no problems buying online. The most popular items bought over internet were clothes and sports goods, which were ordered by 60 per cent of e-buyers, followed by travel and holiday accommodation, and household goods and toys.