Wednesday, April 04, 2018
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg remained silent for far too long following the revelation that a shady political consultancy called Cambridge Analytica was able to steal personal data belonging to an estimated 50 million people using Facebook’s own tools. Now that Zuckerberg has broken his silence, however, he can’t stop talking. The Facebook co-founder and chief executive issued an initial statement nearly two weeks ago, and he has since apologized in a full-page newspaper ad as well as in several interviews. Of course, we’ve all been down this road many times before. Facebook screws up, Zuckerberg apologizes, Facebook makes a few changes to privacy controls, and the commotion slowly fades away until the next big privacy scandal pops up. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal is a big one, though. It is perhaps one of the biggest privacy scandals in Facebook’s history, which is long and full of privacy scandals. Using Facebook’s developer tools, the company was able to harvest private data belonging to more than 50 million Facebook users by circulating a fake “personality quiz” that was completed by only a few hundred thousand users. Facebook has been the target of a great deal of criticism since a whistleblower brought this scandal to light, and now Mark Zuckerberg has responded to one of Facebook’s highest-profile critics: Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Apple’s Tim Cook is the CEO of the biggest publicly traded company in the United States, and he used the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal as an opportunity to remind the world that Apple values its customers’ privacy. While companies like Facebook and Google make money by learning as much as possible about users to serve them targeted advertisements, Apple makes money by overcharging for cell phones. Both strategies have pros and cons, but the latter prevents Apple from having to deal with the blowback from privacy scandals akin to Facebook’s current predicament.

In an interview on MSNBC with host Chris Hayes last week, Cook had a lot to say about Facebook and its most recent privacy scandal. When Hayes asked the CEO what he would do if he ever found himself in Zuckerberg’s current situation, he offered a great response: “I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

As we all know, the user is the product with free services like Google’s search engine or Facebook’s social network. Google and Facebook are advertising companies. Cook reiterated that Apple doesn’t collect data and sell ads the way Facebook does, so the customer is not the product.

“[Apple could] make a ton of money if we monetized our customer,” Cook told Hayes during the interview. “We’ve elected not to do that.”

Cook continued, “I think it’s an invasion of privacy. I think it’s – privacy to us is a human right. It’s a civil liberty, and in something that is unique to America, this is like freedom of speech and freedom of the press and privacy is right up there for us. And so, we’ve always done this. This is not something that we just started last week when we saw something happening. We’ve been doing this for years.”

Well, it’s been almost a week since that interview, and now Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finally issued a public response. In an interview on a podcast with Vox co-founder Ezra Klein, Zuckerberg called Cook’s remarks “extremely glib and not aligned with the truth.” He went even further, suggesting that Cook was quick to tear apart Facebook’s business model when his company’s own model isn’t very consumer friendly.

“I think it’s important that we don’t all get Stockholm Syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you,” Zuckerberg said. “Because that sounds ridiculous to me.”

Zuckerberg went on to explain that Facebook is one of several ad-supported online products, claiming that its goal is to connect everyone, even those who cannot afford to pay for such a service. “The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people can’t afford to pay,” he said. “And therefore, as with a lot of media, having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service to reach people.”

Wednesday, April 04, 2018
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has called on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who allegedly looted the country blind to return their loot if they want the party’s apology to Nigerians to make any impact.





Was it panic that caused you to release the list of alleged looters?

We were challenged to do so. Don’t forget that on their own, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that they apologised to Nigerians for the way they ran Nigeria aground and we said, yes apology is accepted, but please return the funds. I think one of them challenged us to name those who had stolen money.

I think gradually it is becoming fashionable when you remind PDP that they brought us to this sorry path, they will say stop talking about what we did, please continue with your own. But we cannot move. It is important that Nigerians remember how we got here and the same people who have made no atonement say that they want to come back to power in 2019.

So, it is important for us to remind them. Let me tell you, this government is not in any panic mood. We are so proud of our achievements that in less than three years I can stand up and say this is what we have achieved in the area of security; this is what we have achieved in the economy, in the area of ease of doing business. There is no area we have not made our mark. We lifted Nigeria from number 165 in the ease of doing business to 145. It is not a mean feat! And we exited recession at a time when the price of crude was low; we were in recession when we implemented the diversification of the economy. It is on record that despite all these challenges we have not retrenched one person. So, why should we be afraid? Why should we panic?

I don’t see any reason why we should panic; I think it is the imagination of people that the government is panicky. No!



Do you intend releasing the list of alleged looters in the APC too?

There is a difference between allegations and established cases. All the cases I have mentioned (alleged PDP looters) are already in court. You see, how many times have people written that Lai Mohammed has billions of dollars. But these are allegations that are just ridiculous. I can assure you that if there is any allegation against any member of this government, this government will investigate it.

Nigerians are saying that there is no difference between PDP and APC because those people who left PDP for APC are being protected?

That is what you are saying! It would be unfair to say that everybody that joined APC from PDP is a looter, it would be unfair. I am saying that whether you are of ACN stock or PDP stock or CPC stock and you are found to be corrupt, you will be investigated.



Are you not overreaching yourself by pronouncing them guilty while they are still in court?

They have said name the looters and we said these people took money.

But the courts may decide otherwise.

That is the business of the court. I am saying that on the 24th of February, Secondus took N100 million in cash. The then National Financial Secretary took N700 million. These are facts! They said name, and I said these are the people that were reported to have stolen money. So, what is prejudicial about it? Let them go and solve their matters in court, but if you challenge us to name names, we will name names!




You cite your achievement of taking this country out of recession, but by the time the PDP handed over, this country was not in recession. What do you think?

Recession is when a country’s GDP slows in two consecutive quarters consecutively. It is a technical term.




But this happened under your government. Isn’t it?

Yes, no doubt. But for a recession to happen you look at what preceded those two quarters. Number one, we came in May 2015 by which time the major revenue for the country, petroleum had dropped in price by almost 50percent. We came in and met virtually no savings at all. What we inherited was $23 billion; we came at a time when at least 20 states could not pay salaries. We came in at a time when infrastructure was almost zero.

The vice-president gave an example that in 2015, the ministries of transport, power, works and housing combined had less than N100 billion released for that year. Whereas the year we came in, we had N565 billion invested in the same sectors.

It is a measure of the rightness of our approach that if you want to boost the economy, you must diversify the economy. So, we went into agriculture, went into mining, went into services and what actually brought us out of recession was agriculture, mining and the rest. That we were able to come out of recession and continue to consolidate means that our Economic and Growth Plan is working.



But the projects the president is commissioning were projects done by the states?

You see when the president visits a state, he visits to reconnect with the people of the state, but of course the governors of the states would want to have the opportunity to have the president commission their projects. They are not doing it just because they want to humour or honour Mr. President. They do it also because they want the attention of Mr. President in certain areas. This morning I was with Mr. President at the Eko Atlantic City. It was an extremely successful visit because Mr. President saw the enormity of the work going on at the Eko Atlantic City and the state government knows that you need this rapport with the federal government in order to achieve a lot.

On Thursday, I was with the president to commission the Ikeja Bus Terminal and the governor revealed there that Mr. President approved a waiver of customs duties payable for about 400 buses that are coming. This is because the president saw how that terminal is going to impact on the city. You can imagine what that waiver means to the Lagos State Government. So, when Mr. President comes to commission projects in the states, it is not because the federal government has no project of its own to commission.




How will you score the president on a score of 1 to 100 on how the administration has been able to achieve its campaign promises?

It is not for me to score him; it is for me to reel out what we have achieved. It is for the pubic to now say this is 1perecent, this is 2 percent, and this is 3 percent. Honestly, I can say without fear of equivocation that the government has done pretty well in the broad areas of economy, security and fighting corruption and the various social intervention.

I can start with the economy for instance, and I will tell you that with less than half of the revenue available to the previous government, we have been able to start a revolution in infrastructure by devoting N1.3 trillion to capital projects ranging from roads to railways to water ways to agriculture. In the area of roads, we took a N100 billion Sukuk loan and with that loan we are undertaking 25 roads spread across the six geopolitical zones.

Today, there is no area of government where you do not feel the impact of government on roads. Railways, the Lagos -Ibadan standard gauge will become operational I think at the end of 2018 or next year, meanwhile, the Calabar – Lagos has been awarded also. In the area of agriculture which is one area I think we have done very well, we have been able to create more rice farmers all over the country. From 5 million farmers, we have today about 11 million rice farmers. For you to see the rightness of our approach, so far, less than N100 billion has been invested in the anchor borrowers’ programme and we have this result.

Meanwhile, the federal government has paid more than N1.2 trillion as bailout. I can imagine if just 10percent of that were to have been invested in agriculture, probably today we would be talking of self-sufficiency not only in rice but probably in cassava and probably in wheat.

Our anchor borrowers’ programme has proven to be a success. In the area of the economy, you have heard me say that we inherited $23 billion in reserves; today we have $46 billion in foreign reserves. On ease of doing business we have moved from 165 to 145, in mining the activities in local mining have created thousands of jobs for people mining limestone and the rest.

In the area of the economy whether in terms of figures about employment or in terms of social infrastructure, we have done what no government has done. I don’t know of any government in Nigeria that has either fed 7.5 million pupils in one day. To many people it is not important, but can you imagine if you are feeding 7 million pupils and if it costs you just N70 to feed each pupil, it means in a day you are creating an economy of N490million across the value chain of cooks, vendors and farmers. And this has led to an increase of school enrolment.

All these have been done under three years and I think we are going to embark on a road show to inspect roads that are being done in virtually every state of the federation.

We have been able to bring back many jobs by renewing these contracts and many of these contracts that this government is doing are contracts that were signed in 2007, 2009, and 2012. We have hardly awarded any new contract.

In the area of power, we inherited 2,900 MWs of power; today we are generating more than 7,000 MW of power. Of course we are unable to transmit all the power because of the state of the transmission line, and don’t forget that even that power had been largely privatised even before we came in and we had been able to give support. We guaranteed N702 billion revolving loan that if you produce, we pay and that is why you have seen this exponential increase in power supply. So, I do not see any area where we cannot say we have not made progress.





But what of security, when you came in, there was not as much violence as we have today? People were not dying like this?

I think you were not noticing. A week ago, I was in Zamfara, and I did not know that cattle rustling started since 2009 until then. Do you know that more lives have been lost in Zamfara than in Benue State? Of course it is no consolation. I think thousands of lives have been lost there. I didn’t know that cattle rustling have been that dangerous. It didn’t start in 2015 neither did the farmers, herders’ clash start in 2015. The Agatu killings didn’t take place under this government. It is unfortunate that what is largely an environmental, economic, social issue; we have made it assume an ethnic and religious one.

Tuesday, April 03, 2018
This is the family of Mr and Mrs Othuke Kingsley Ikede of Bethel , Isoko, Delta state.

I was married to Kelvin Sean (Robor Ikede). I have one daughter (we have a 2years old daughter together.) He lives in Canada while I stayed with his parents in Warri. When we were married, he asked me to send him nude videos and pictures of myself. Which I have never done before. After much convincing, I did because he is my husband and I trusted him.

Months later, they began to blackmail me that I must give them the baby to take to Canada while I remain in Nigeria. If I refuse, they will publish my Unclad videos and pictures all over social medias. I was wise enough to keep recordings of their threats and blackmail. The case is still ongoing in Court as we speak.

They never appeared in court again and he traveled back to Canada.

Right now, they have carried out their threats and blackmail and have posted the nude pictures and videos on social medias with a social media account he opened for the singular purpose of publishing his wife's nudity she sent to him while they were married, inside their matrimonial room in his own parents house.

HOW CAN A FAMILY AND A HUSBAND PUBLISH NUDITY OF HIS OWN WIFE AND MOTHER OF HIS CHILD SHE SENT TO HIM IN CONFIDENTIALITY & TRUST AS HIS WIFE! This is more than inhumane.

Father: Mr Kingsley Othuke ikede (@kenikede)
Mother: Mrs patience Ikede.
First son(husband, & father of my child) Mr. Robor Ikede(@kelvinsean)
Second son: Oruaro Ikede(@iam_prophett)
Daughter: Sonia Oreva Ikede(@s.e_diary).

This family has grossly abused womanhood, motherhood, humanity and the sacredness of marriage with this inhumane act of theirs!

No amount of wrongdoing would make a husband do this to his wife. From my post, you can see that they had ulterior motives from the beginning that's why he asked me to send him nudes. Can you murder someone if they did you wrong? Ask yourself and ask the Law. Mind you, I did no wrong. I simply REFUSED to give up my less than 1year old child when they maliciously demanded that.




Tuesday, April 03, 2018
A 21-year-old man, Kenneth, has died after overdosing on an illicit drug combination called “gutter water” at a hotel in Ikorodu, Lagos.

According to reports, “gutter water” is a combination of codiene, refnol, tramadol, cannabis and water or juice. Kenneth, who is epileptic, took the drug on Saturday at Durak hotel and immediately started having seizures.

He was later rushed to the Ikorodu general hospital, where he eventually gave up the ghost.

Tuesday, April 03, 2018
A final year Chemical Science student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, has died, after drowning in the swimming pool of a hotel in the state on Easter Sunday.

According to reports, The man identified as "Oladipupo Ayooluwa" aka Pells, drowned, yesterday, at Soltrag hotel, Agbara, while hanging out with friends.

His body has since been deposited at the General Hospital in Ota. He was meant to add another year on the 22nd of April.
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