From what I've seen, we have no business with poverty –Buhari

President Mohammadu Buhari has said that from the information he has gathered so far, Nigerians have no business with poverty given the enormous resources which God has endowed the country with.

To this end, he has promised to take appropriate measures to stamp out corruption from the land and do all in his power to reposition Nigeria as a prosperous nation that can adequately cater for its citizens.

The President made the assertion Tuesday at the opening of the 45th Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Abuja.

President, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Anastasia Nwaobia blamed the poverty in the land on mis-governance and lack of transparency.

Meanwhile, former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, has recommended compulsory asset declaration for all principal officers in the executive arm of government as a means of checking the menace of endemic corruption in the country.

Woman Died in Edo State, Found Alive In Aba (SHOCKING)

For many who know her, Mercy (real name withheld) from an Edo State community had long been dead and buried by her kinsmen. But strangely and miraculously, she is still very much alive.

The story of Mercy is one wrapped up in mystery...

Before the mid ‘90s, the tall, dark and beautiful lady was living a normal and healthy live in a community in Edo State, where she was said to be involved in a business with which she took care of herself and members of her family.

Mercy, as she is now named, was said to have at times travel to Onitsha, Anambra State to purchase some goods which she sold at home. Loved by all, she was reportedly leading a happy and fulfilled life.

But one day, according to a report by a female relation, who pleaded anonymity and equally refused to give the name of their community for fear of people projecting them in bad light, Mercy got missing from her home.

According to the lady, there was confusion in their community as Mercy who was not used to traveling except on business trips, which she did not embark on at that time, could not been seen for days.

Confusion then made way for apprehension. Having waited for days and yet their daughter could not be found, leaders and youths of the community set out to look for her.

First, the police in the area were alerted on the search for the lady and they swiftly spread their dragnet to see if they could get a clue of Mercy’s whereabouts, but all yielded no fruits.

Having been satisfied that finding Mercy was beyond the police, the community decided to look for her in their own way.

But the result was the same, there was no trace of their daughter anywhere and they left her case to fate, believing that one day she would come home alive on her own. But that was not to be.

In Mercy’s community tradition forbids a missing person to be presumed dead until after a stipulated time if he or she was not found.

Within this window of time allowed by tradition, there was still high hopes that Mercy would come back home alive. But as this period elapsed without Mercy being found, the community went into mourning because their daughter had by the dictates of tradition died.

So, burial rites were reportedly performed. Although her body was not found, but as far as the community was concerned, Mercy was dead and buried and her name on the community’s register marked with red ink.

But years after, in 2014 to be precise, something happened. Mercy who had long been ‘buried’ in her community in Edo State was found roaming the streets of Aba as a mad woman.

How Mercy was found
The lady, who told Mercy’s story, was the one who found her. She said she was in Aba late last year on a business trip and went to see some of her customers within the Ogbor Hill area of the commercial city when she saw somebody who resembled Mercy.

She said two things crossed her mind, either she was seeing a ghost because Mercy who had long been ‘buried’ way back in Edo years ago had not been to Aba before, or she saw someone that resembled their ‘dead’ sister.

But out of fear, the lady could not make further enquiries.

When the lady went back after that business trip and narrated to her people what she saw, opinions were divided.

While some people were of the view that she saw somebody who resembled their sister, others believed she might have seen a ghost, yet another group encouraged her to sermon courage and approach the mad woman when next she visited Aba and sees her.

So, on a recent visit to Aba, the lady again was heading towards the Federal Housing Estate along Opobo Road, Ogbor Hill to see her customers.

As fate may have it, on getting to Emelogu junction, she saw Mercy coming in the opposite direction.

Instead of dodging as she did in the first time, when Mercy approached, she called her by the name for which she was known back home.

The mad woman recognised her and stopped. Both ladies greeted themselves and engaged in a lengthy sisterly discussion to the bewilderment of onlookers.

After the discussion, the lady gave Mercy some items she bought for her and reportedly told people around that she would take her case back to their community so that her people could come and take her home.

But checks by Oriental News showed that since then, nobody as promised has come for Mercy who is now domiciled in front of a disused factory building on Opobo Road, adjacent St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, Federal Housing Estate, Ogbor Hill, Aba.

When this reporter went to take her photographs, Mercy charged at him, calling him a mad man and threatened to deal with him if he ever took her picture.

A resident of the area, John Ndudi described Mercy’s case as pathetic.

He said if her people have been looking for her all these while and she was eventually found in Aba, they would have braced all odds to reach her irrespective of her current condition of health.

For the relations of Mercy who had looked for her over the years believing she was dead and performed a 'burial' for her, she is not dead and may recover from her present state of mind if proper care is extended to her, many in Aba believed.

Akpabio Flown Abroad after Crash Due to Traffic Disobedience

A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was on Tuesday afternoon flown out of Nigeria to receive medical attention abroad.

It was learnt that the senator, in company with about five aides, left the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja aboard a regular private jet that he usually travels with. It was learnt that the former governor was conveyed to his aircraft by a tarmac bus.

Sources at the airport told Punch that Akpabio and his team arrived at the General Aviation Terminal, local wing, of the airport around 12.40pm.

An official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, who saw the senator while he was about to board his aircraft, said, “He (Akpabio) was at the GAT local wing of the airport and one of the tarmac buses was used to convey him to his aircraft. He left around 20 minutes to 1pm.

“The flight conveying him on the trip taxied to the international terminal from where it took off. The former governor travelled with his own private flight and had about five persons who accompanied him on the trip.”

Akpabio, who is currently the Minority Leader of the Senate, was involved in a car accident on his way to the airport to catch an international flight on Monday after his Jeep disobeyed traffic.

Why These Men and Women Prostrated for Governor Fayose

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has asked the state Head of Service, Dr. Gbenga Faseluka, to take appropriate disciplinary action against 31 civil servants who resumed late to work on Monday.

The governor gave the directive when he paid an unscheduled visit to the state secretariat on Monday.

Fayose, who arrived at the place around 7.45am caught many of the workers who arrived after the official resumption time of 8:00 unawares.

Many of the workers rushed to work on learning about the unscheduled visit of the governor to the place while the 31 since in the photo above were unlucky to beat the governor.

As soon as the governor arrived at the place, he ordered that the gate should be locked at 8am.

Fayose expressed displeasure at the attitude of some workers in the state, saying such act of indiscipline must be stopped.

He ordered his aides and the Head of Service to take down the names of the affected workers and that stern disciplinary action must be taken against them.

The female workers knelt down while the men prostrated for the governor begging him to save their job.

But Fayose said, “If a labourer is worth his wages, the employer also is worth his services. I have warned workers in the state repeatedly about coming late to work or taking their jobs with laxity. Despite the paucity of funds, we have been regularly paying workers’ salaries.

“If workers are paid regularly, the workers too must justify our efforts and work for the money they earn. There are many people out there searching for jobs. I want to take the workers by surprise and I will visit a lot of places. This will be a continuous exercise. Those that are not disciplined and not ready to key in to our policy of taking the state to a greater height will be shown the way out,” he said.

AJALA.ng – A New Dimension to Online Travel Booking Portals

L-R : The Head of Brand Marketing & Projects, Ms Omolua Oyakhire, Head Customer Relationship Management, Mrs. Bukola Isaac-Oluwasanmi and the Travel Finance Scheme Manager, Ms Obianuju Mofunanya at the official launch of Ajala.ng Travel Management Service in Lagos.

AJALA.NG Debuts with Unique Online Travel Management Offerings 
Quantum Travels Limited,one of Nigeria’s foremost travel management companies has unveiled a new online travel platform – AJALA.ng; aimed at catering for the exponential growth and demands of their individual customers who desire personal, quick and unique travel management services.

The official launch of the online platform, AJALA.ng was held on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 at The Sojourner by Genesis Hotel, GRA, Lagos and was witnessed by key relevant stakeholders including customers, management and the media.

AJALA.ng is supported by a network of partners across the world delivering quick and affordable online travel management services ranging from flight/hotel bookings, travel finance, travel cards, tours/sightseeing, car hire/transfers, corporate meetings management /destination events, visa processing /advisement as well as group packages for both frequent and prospective travellers.

Speaking at the event, the Head, Brand Marketing and Projects, Ms. Omolua Oyakhire described AJALA.ng as a one-stop online travel management platform delivering unique offerings that allows customers take control of their travel plan and optimize different opportunities at the lowest cost possible.

“At AJALA.ng, our number one aim is to provide travel paths and plansthat won’t break the bank, whilst meeting our customers’ need. We provide a holistic approach to our travel service offerings thereby granting control to the traveler to create a travel experience that exceeds their expectations” she said.

Ms. Omolua Oyakhire explained further that the new online platform would help improve the ease of acquiring travel information and support customers who desire to travel but do not have adequate resources by providing them with the option of spreading payment over a specific period of time and still meeting their travelling desires with a relatively low cost.

Also commenting on the launch of AJALA.ng, the Head, Customer Relationship Management, Mrs. Bukola Isaac-Oluwasanmi remarked that the new travel platform is one of the most convenient, fast and user friendly website in comparison to what is currently obtainable in the industry, providing unique browsing experience for the customers. It provides a date search matrix to help see prices across a week at a glance, maps to help pinpoint one’s destination as well as other innovative tools at the customers’ disposal.

“More so, by utilizing a combination of automated tools and manual processes, we are able to deliver to our customers the lowest available airfare real-time at any given time. Every booking made would go through a rigorous lowest logical fare check to ensure the best fare is available for the traveler” she said.

Commenting on the unique service offerings of AJALA.ng, Mrs. Isaac-Oluwasanmi enjoined both current and prospective customers to take full advantage of the unique services available at AJALA.ng for a stress free travelling experience both local and international.

“At AJALA.ng, you are guaranteed the best of travel management services through our strong affiliations with Destination Management companies (DMCs) and low cost travel providers across the globe. This platform offers this unique service which is not obtainable from any other travel booking website as other platforms provide only international flight services for domestic travel routes” she said.

She urged customers to visit www.ajala.ng to get the lowest possible fare with just a simple click for all travel management services or flight booking.

Wishing you all a Happy New Month!!!

Abundant Blessings ,Overflowing Pocket that never Dries From Zimsglobal

Photos: Bukola Saraki plays basketball in honor of D'Tigers victory

Senate President, Bukola Saraki shared a video of himself playing basket ball in honour of Nigeria's basketball team, D'Tigers who won their first continental Championship victory yesterday August 30th. Continue to see more photos which I screen grabbed from the video...

Heartbreaking pics of a boy & man pulled out alive from rubbles after bomb blast in Syria

A man and a young boy were pulled out alive from a large pile of rubble following a barrel bomb attack in Syria yesterday August 30th. More photos after the cut...

Photos from the swearing in ceremony of new SGF, NSA & Adesina

Buhari pictured with VP Osinbanjo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.) Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina and others after their swearing in ceremony today. More photos after the cut..

Tonto Dikeh Is A Proud Married Woman, Praises Her Husband

I think some ladies need to learn a thing or two from Tonto Dikeh. She was interested in a flashy guy who can give her diamond ring and other flashy stuffs, but it turned out that the guy was a "fraud", in her own words. He dumped her for the daughter of a man who has money. Eventually, she came to her senses and realized that a truly decent life is not all about flashy things, in fact you can get better flashy things and even much more from a real man if you support him enough as a truly humble woman.

Tonto had her traditional marriage on August 29th and has been showering praises on her husband:

"On 29-08-15 my best friend paid my dowry and I traditionally now belong to him. In my culture after this event you can now move in with him as a family. 

Am super proud of his confidence. Am super proud of his courage, believe me he heard a lot of trash but stood firm and believed in his God and cut off anyone who spoke ill of me. Now that's a real man... one reason I will forever love, respect and serve him with my life..."