I love Dr Okonjo-Iweala. I love the fact that she has remained committed to the Nigerian project by offering her wealth of experience. I’ve however been feeling uncomfortable over her actions and inactions on the lingering oil subsidy saga that I’m beginning to question her wisdom. So, I set out to answer these questions: by insisting on “oil subsidy removal” by the corrupt administration of Goodluck Jonathan, is Dr. Okonjo-Iweala being stupidly intelligent? Is the revelation by the House Committee report a confirmation of her stupidity? Is the fact that she has remained the

Coordinating Minister in-charge-of the Economy a demonstration of how so intelligent she is, yet so stupid?

To critically answer these questions, I had to peruse a collection of studies conducted by some of the best minds in academia and published under the title “Why smart people can be so stupid.” In the book, the editor, Robert Sternberg, an expert in intelligence testing, contends that stupidity is not the opposite of smartness.  Sternberg defines wisdom as the ability to apply knowledge to achieve common good and argues that stupidity is opposite of wisdom.

With this premise, I will rephrase the questions above: did Dr Okonjo-Iweala apply her vast knowledge to achieve common good by insisting in oil subsidy removal? According to John Rawls, common good is defined as “certain general conditions that are...equally to everyone’s advantage.”

It can thus be said that common good is a social system, corporations (like NNPC) and environment that operates in a way that is beneficial to all people. Is there any wisdom in the removal of oil subsidy that is beneficial to 1% powerful, pure evils around Aso Rock, but at the same time compounding the woes of the poor 99%? If the answer is no, then it is stupidity.

I know Dr Okonjo-Iweala is smart. She had to be in order to have been the Managing Director at World Bank. But according to Sternberg, there are aspects of life in a smart person that actually fosters stupidity. Having successfully overseen the cancellation of Nigerian debt in the past, Dr Okonjo-Iweala thinks she is so smart that Nigerian economic survival does and should revolve around her. She foolishly believes her knowledge makes her omnipotent and that she can do whatever she wants and get away with it, even in a corrupt system like ours. I can now recall that in 2004 Dr Okonjo-Iweala had rejected the report of the Transparency International 2004 rating of Nigeria as the third most corrupt country in the world. I wonder what she thinks now or is it all part of intelligent people doing foolish things?

Dr Okonjo-Iweala once said that “to change something in Nigeria, you must give up something.” While the oil subsidy mess– “the biggest corruption scandals in Nigerian history” - was raging, Dr Okonjo-Iweala attempted and failed to make a swift return to the World Bank. Was that failed attempt based on the realization of the folly in her decision to enrich oil merchants in Nigeria through subsidy ‘removal’? If so, what has she done? From Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s first experience with Obasanjo’s administration, her redeployment to foreign affairs ministry and the discovery of the fraud in her new ministry should have been enough for her to honourably bow out after an unparalleled performance and achievements at the finance ministry.  With the revelation of the committee report, Dr Okonjo-Iweala has been surprisingly silent that I’m afraid she may have been compromised.

When on Thursday, July 1st, 2010, at the 16th Annual Convention and

Scientific Assembly of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA), in Washington DC, I listened to Dr. Okonjo-Iweala say that “in spite of what I had gone through, I will do it again” that night, I saw a woman that relished the challenges and triumphs of working with the Nigerian government. While it was clear to her that “crazy” people and circumstances will stand on her way to implement change, she was, however, stubbornly determined to succeed. Where is that stubbornness in Dr.

Okonjo-Iweala? Who has she confronted? Why did she not put her position on the line with the revelation of monumental corruption in the oil subsidy scam? Does it all add up to being foolishly intelligent?

As I conclude this, I think Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s second coming simply exposed her lack of two critical thinking skills – avoidance of my-side bias and avoidance of one-side bias. My-side bias was demonstrated by Dr. Okonjo-Iweala by the egocentrism fallacy that made her foolishly believe that because she is so smart in World Bank, everything about rescuing Nigerian economy should revolve around her. She forgot that the economic dynamics and principles that worked in a functional democracy would not necessarily work in Nigeria with sham democracy.
http://www.freshgist.com/

Will Smith slapped a reporter at the premiere of his new movie in Russia. The 43-year-old Men In Black 3 actor - who is married to Jada Pinkett Smith - clapped the male journalist across the face after he made two attempts to kiss him.

Ukrainian television joker Vitalii Sediuk made a play for Will as he went to interview him for his TV show.

However Vitalii's tries at locking lips with the screen star failed when the Summertime rapper managed to make several turns with his head at the same time as being gripped in a hug.

An angry Will told the prankster: "Hey man, what the hell is your problem?"

After slapping him and moving on down the line of press members, he later laughed the incident off.

He told another uninvolved reporter: "He tried to kiss me on the mouth. He's lucky I didn't try to sucker punch him. ... Sorry, I said that on camera."

This isn't the first time the clown has angered a celebrity.

He is best known for playing a prank on Madonna by presenting the singer with Hydrangeas, her most loathed flower.

The 'MDMA' star was later caught on camera after the incident at Venice Film Festival last year, telling her assistant that she hated them.
http://www.freshgist.com/smith-slaps-reporter-film-premiere/

THE strike embarked upon by doctors in the Lagos State Government employ entered another phase as their counterparts in Federal Government-owned hospitals in the state commenced solidarity strike yesterday.

This is coming after alleged several attempts by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to mediate in the impasse between the Lagos State Government and its doctors met a deadlock.

Doctors in the Lagos State employ had embarked on an indefinite strike to protest alleged poor implementation of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and force the state government to withdraw queries issued to them for embarking on a three-day warning strike in April.

In response, the Lagos State Government sacked 788 of the doctors for violating civil service rule of refusing to answer the queries and facing administrative panel set up to look into the matter.

But on Thursday, the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) informed the media that doctors in federal government hospitals in the state would be embarking on indefinite strike yesterday in solidarity with their sacked colleagues.

Affected by the fresh strike are the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba; the Federal Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi; the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba and the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta.
http://www.freshgist.com/

On May 20, our moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, creating a brilliant annular solar eclipse for some viewers and an equally amazing partial solar eclipse for many others.
   
An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon is at a certain distance from the Earth, so that it appears relatively smaller than the sun; in a total eclipse, the moon appears to be the same size as the sun. This all happens because the moon’s orbit around the Earth isn’t a perfect circle but rather is an ellipse, putting it sometimes a bit further from the Earth than others.

An annular eclipse gets its name due to the ring, or annulus, that forms around the moon when the eclipse reaches maximum.

Due to the size of the moon compared to the size of the sun (and the fact that the moon can’t block the sunlight for everyone on Earth at once), not everyone will be able to see this annular eclipse. Only a relatively small number of people will be in just the right spot to see the annulus. But if you’re outside of the ideal viewing area, by no means are you out of luck!


Where you can see the 2012 eclipse

Some of the major cities and places that lie along the path of best viewing for this annular eclipse include Tokyo; Alaska’s Aleutian Islands; Redding, California; central Nevada; southern Utah; northern Arizona; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

If you live anywhere in the western or midwestern United States or Canada, you’ll be able to see a partial eclipse. If you live in East Asia and near the Pacific Ocean, you’ll also be able to see the partial eclipse. Unfortunately, if you’re on the east coast of the United States, the sun will have already set by the time the eclipse starts.

There’s a lot more to the science behind why eclipses happen and why only some parts of the planet can see the annulus.
http://www.freshgist.com/annular-solar-eclipse-2012-20-solar-eclipse/

The Sun has reported that a British woman is facing the possibility of three years in prison in Dubai, after a taxi driver accused her of having sex with a fellow passenger in the back of his cab.
   

The woman, 27-year old recruitment consultant Rebecca Black, told The Sun she had spent five days behind bars before being released on bail. She denied the allegation, saying she was alone in the cab and instead arrested for drinking a bottle of beer, which is also illegal in the UAE.

Of course she’s not the first Brit to wind up behind bars or deported because they’re not clued up about United Arab Emirates laws.

According to the Foreign Office, 1.1 million Britons visited the UAE last year and 294 of them were arrested or detained by police – making it more likely to happen there than in any other country in the world.
http://www.freshgist.com/british-woman-facing-possibility-years-dubai-prison/

Facebook is updating its status to "public company" as its stock jumps in its debut on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The stock rose to $42.05 on Friday morning. CEO Mark Zuckerberg smiled as rang the opening bell from Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Surrounded by cheering Facebook employees and wearing his signature hoodie, the 28-year-old pushed the button that signals the opening of the stock market in New York.

On Thursday, Facebook and the investment bankers arranging the IPO settled on a price of $38 per share. The company and its early investors raised $16 billion in the offering, which valued Facebook at $104 billion. That makes Facebook the most valuable U.S. company to ever go public.

Now, the stock market will assign a dollar value to Facebook that will rise and fall with investor whims. It will be subject to broad economic forces as well as how much profit it earns from one quarter to the next. But Facebook is one of the rare companies whose IPO transcends Wall Street's money lust to become a cultural touchstone for the way technology is reshaping our lives. Since its start as a scrappy network for college students, Facebook has come to define social networking by getting 900 million people around the world to share everything from photos of their pets to their deepest thoughts.

It has done so while managing to become one of the few profitable Internet companies to go public recently. It had net income of $205 million in the first three months of 2012, on revenue of $1.06 billion. In all of 2011, it earned $1 billion, up from $606 million a year earlier. That's a far cry from 2007, when it posted a net loss of $138 million and revenue of $153 million. The company makes most of its money from advertising. It also takes a cut from the money people spend on virtual items in Facebook games such as "FarmVille."
Read More ... Click the link below
http://www.freshgist.com/facebook-stock-price-appearance-public/

Steve Carell’s character in Judd Apatow’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” can breathe a sigh of relief; he’s no longer the oldest virgin capturing pop culture’s attention.
   
Cabaret singer "The Sexational Pam" (or perhaps interested suitors should call her Pam Shaw, her real name) has announced that at 70 years old, she's ready to lose her virginity, UK's The Sun reports.
Shaw said she has yet to lose her virginity because she believes in waiting for marriage. But Mr. Right never showed, though there was one close call, she told The Sun:
"In 1976 I was proposed to by an oil rig worker in Blackpool. I said yes but later broke it off when I realised I didn’t fancy him."
With more than 50 years of performing under her chastity belt, it's not that the vivacious Shaw didn't have her share of offers:
“Men saw the outfits I wore on stage and thought I would be easy. But I’ve never really been intimate with a man, just a bit of kissing. I had a sexy stage name and dressed sexy but that was all for my career."
From the oil rig worker in Blackpool to stars like singers Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck, Shaw's charms attracted flirtations, but never went further than that. But she remains optimistic:
“I feel I am ready to give marriage a go and maybe go to bed with a man. You are never too old for anything. Just look at Joan Collins.”
http://www.freshgist.com/70yearold-british-virgin-suitorsays-im-ready-lose-virginity-70/

Bomb Blast in Portharcourt - Contrary to initial reports that at  least two people were  killed in a bomb explosion that rocked Port Harcourt today,official accounts said only the driver of the bus carrying the dynamites which exploded was killed .Governor Rotimi Amaechi  of Rivers state reportedly  said afterwards it was a case of robbery attempt  that turned awry and  bloody.Unofficial accounts however said several people were killed .

He added that that the robbery suspects did not die and that only their driver  was killed in the explosion. Two robbery suspects who survived the blast are now in a hospital where they are under observation, it was revealed.

Residents of the city said the explosion occurred at the Rumuokoro  junction  which is said to be right in the heart of the  famous Garden City.

The identity of the driver  killed in the blast remains  unknown.But the  blast occurred in a commercial vehicle at about 9.30am .
http://www.freshgist.com/bomb-blast-portharcourt-blamed-armed-robbers/

I didn’t cry. It was painful what he did, but I didn’t cry. He said it was ok.

I didn’t cry the second time either. I liked it. He was gentler. He told me it was our secret, our special thing, and no one should know about it.

I went to him the third time it happened, it was raining and the thunders scared me. We did it again, I enjoyed it. We began to do it more often, and each time I enjoyed it more.

I was twelve that first time, and a happy child, happier than any other child I knew. I doubt if any other child had so much love. I was my father’s lover and he was mine. Everything was perfect.

And then, on my twentieth birthday, the unthinkable happened.

My father broke up with me. Just like that. He said it wasn’t right, what we do, and that we must stop. End of matter. It felt like a full stop at the end of an epitaph. It was too sudden.

I had no warning, no premonition. The break up was like death. I had taken the week off from school just to be with the only man in my life, the best man I ever knew, or so I thought. I thought my birthday would have ended sensually, like all the others. It was usually the best birthday present he gives me, a passionate night of love making right out of a romance novel.

It had been a while. My higher education had taken me away. And I sorely missed my beloved father. I went home that day with thoughts of my father obscuring all other thoughts. I arrived late in the evening. He wasn’t home yet. I made myself as adorable as he liked. It was not hard. My allure had never needed much artificial furnishings; a touch here and a touch there, and I would be set to win any beauty contest. That evening I was at my best.

Click Here To Read More
http://www.freshgist.com/sex-father/

Nollywood News: Tchidi Chikere Moves In With Pregnant Actress Girlfriend

Nollywood director Tchidi Chikere who just ran out of his 9 year old marriage with Sophia is said to be dating nollywood actress Nuella Njubigbo for a while now.  According to our sources, Tchidi is living with Nuella who is pregnant for him. We hear that plans are being made to marry her.

Na wa for you Tchidi

http://knowplenty.com/nollywood-news-tchidi-chikere-moves-in-with-pregnant-actress-girlfriend/

A Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Finbank Plc, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and directors of Finbank from “selling or howsoever taking any steps and/or further steps to dispose and /or sell in any manner whatsoever Finbank Plc to FCMB.”Trial Judge, Okechukwu Okeke, also restrained them from taking further steps on a purported Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for business combinations recently signed between the two banks.

In his ruling on an ex-parte application filed by the former Managing Director, Finbank, Okey Nwosu and an erstwhile Executive Director of the bank, Dayo Famoroti, Okeke restrained the two banks from altering the shareholding structure of Finbank in favour of FCMB.

The orders are to subsist pending the hearing and determination of the suit fixed for May 26, 2011.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had directed all banks operating in the country to divest from non-banking activities effective May 14, 2012, and concentrate on core banking businesses.

Nwosu and Famoroti were among top bank chiefs removed by the Governor of the CBN, Lamido Sanusi, in the wake of the banking reforms embarked upon by the current management of the apex bank.

But in the fresh suit, Nwosu and Famoroti are challenging the propriety of the MoU signed by Finbank and FCMB without recourse to them as shareholders of Finbank.

Justice Okeke also fixed May 26 for hearing of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

Daniel said the committee is mandated to review the CBN’s divestment directive on bank-owned insurance companies; identify risk and challenges in the implementation of the divestment from the perspective of policyholders protection and corporate governance; prescribe measures that NAICOM can put in place to avoid or mitigate the impact of any identified risk; and recommend any other measures that will be necessary in the implementation of the divestment in the interest of the growth of the Nigerian insurance industry.

Mr. Lanre Laoshe, who sponsored the Insurance Act 2003, is chairman of the committee, which has members drawn from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), insurance industry and the legal profession.

The committee is expected to submit its report on July 15, this year.

Nwosu and Famoroti had listed Finbank, its Managing Director, Suzanne Iroche and two Executive Directors of the bank — Adam Nuru and Omoruyi Iyamu — as co-defendants in the suit.

The list also included nine non-Executive Directors of Finbank –Theo Osanakpo, Iheanyichukwu Anyadiegwu, Agnes Ebubedike, E.O Ofobi, Ernest Oji, Aliyu Gafar, Opeyemi Oye, Lamba Zannah and Usman Umaru as well as FCMB and CBN.

The plaintiffs in the petition, which was brought pursuant to Rule 4 (A) (I) of the Companies Proceedings Rules, 1992 and Sections 310 and 311 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2004, claimed that they were shocked to discover through newspaper publications that Finbank and FCMB had already signed an MoU for business combinations under the active supervision of the CBN without recourse to them as shareholders of Finbank.

The plaintiffs added that when they made further enquiry, they discovered that it had already been agreed under the said MoU that the entire capital base of Finbank would be cancelled, and that the bank will be dissolved without winding up.

Nwosu and Famoroti averred that they were illegally detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) till date when they went to report at the Lagos office of the anti-graft agency in line with the conditions attached to the bail granted them by the Federal High Court in Lagos.

They further alleged that ever since taking over the affairs of Finbank, the CBN-appointed management had been running the bank in “an oppressive and illegal manner” without recourse to shareholders and their shares.

They are therefore urging the court to mandate Finbank directors and CBN to render the account of their dealings in the bank ever since they took over the day-to-day running of the bank.

They are also seeking an order restraining the respondents from disposing the investments and assets of Finbank, including but not limited to the business operations and affairs to FCMB or any other similar entity.
http://www.nigerianewstoday.com.ng/court-restrains-cbn-from-selling-finbank/

The Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Festus Bode Ola was yesterday interrogated by the police for presenting documents believed to have been forged to the court.Festus Bode Ola, who contested with Babafemi Ojudu  on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), lost during the primaries and allegedly went to court with forged documents claiming he was the party’s authentic candidate.

The Senator who was earlier quizzed over the matter last Friday, according to sources was allowed to go home on self-recognition after he promised to supply the police with additional documents yesterday.
Read More... Click the Link Below
http://www.nigerianewstoday.com.ng/ekiti-state-police-interrogate-senator-festus-bode-ola-over-forged-documents/

AN unexploded substance suspected to be a bomb was discovered on the premises of a church housing a nursery school in Enugu yesterday.The school, which is located on the premises of Our Saviour Anglican Church, One Day Road Awkunanaw, Enugu South Local Council Area was in session when workmen digging a sewage pit discovered the suspected explosive. The workmen immediately abandoned their work and left the scene.

The children were immediately evacuated, while the resident priest of the church, Rev. Chukwudi Eneasato alerted security operatives including the police and the State Security Services (SSS).

The Divisional Police Officer for Awkunanaw division, CSP Bassey Ewa who rushed to the scene with his men had on sighting the explosive cordoned off the area and invited the anti-bomb squad of the state police command to recover the object, while men of the SSS carried out a preliminary investigation at the scene.

Upon arrival at the panic-soaked area about an hour later, the anti-bomb squad moved close to the pit where the suspected bomb was discovered and scanned the entire premises before taking away the substance.

Speaking with reporters at the scene, the Zonal Commander of the Police anti-bomb squad who led the operation, ASP Dappa Sogbere said the object was recovered as an ordinance, noting that it would be taken for analysis.

“For now, the much I can say is that what we have is an ordinance which will be taken for laboratory analysis after which the commissioner of police will make the finding public,” Sogbere noted.

Also, the Archdeacon of Achara Layout Arch-deaconry, which controls Our Saviour Anglican Parish, the Venerable Honest Nwosu described the discovery of the suspected explosive as divine.

He, however, allayed fears that the object might have been planted by unknown persons saying that “from what I’ve observed, this object may have been buried there since after the civil war long before we acquired this place but all the same, let’s allow the police to do their work and tell us their findings.”

One of the workmen said he alerted other workers when he discovered the suspected explosive, giving thanks to God that none of the workers was hit by the object.
http://www.nigerianewstoday.com.ng/bomb-scare-in-an-enugu-state-school/

Don't you know who your president is?