Lagos Lawmaker, Desmond Elliot, Celebrates B'Day, Empowers Constituents

Nollywood star cum politician, Desmond Elliot is a year older today, February 3rd, 2019 and in the spirit of celebration,  the lawmaker who's a core grassroot man used the opportunity to reach out to his own.

The rendezvous was the popular Paddington Field behind Stadium hotel, Surulere where the honourable member of the Lagos State House of Assembly hosted his constituency's grassroot politicians.

According to him,  the choice to celebrate with my people is just a way of thanking them for the undying support and encourage them to look forward to greater things yet to come.

The occasion was thrown open with special prayers for the celebrant followed by introduction of special guests present including the beloved mother of the celebrant who flew in all the way from Atlanta to celebrate with her darling son who's been making her proud.

There's no doubting the fact that Hon. Desmond is a man of the people as his guests practically turned the celebration to a campaign ground of sort drumming their support for a second term for the host of honour.

People from various fields of human endeavour including the locals stormed the occasion with great  excitement.Top personalities such as the local government chairman of Surulere, Hon. Tajudeen, actress Dayo Amusa and many others were all present.

To win hearts is an art. It is an art not everyone can perform, It really takes a lot of training and a bit of humility sometimea, Hon. Desmond Elliot must have possessed all these as he has effortlessly won the hearts of many who relentlessly vouch their support for his continuity in the House of Assembly as their representative.

The talented actor cum politician used this great occasion to give out assortment of expensive  gifts to politicians in his constituency commending their hard work and input in pushing Surulere forward.

 He gave out sewing machines, grinding mills, deep freezers, generators, digital cameras, ludo games,  sewing machines,  iPhones, volcanising machines, chairs, tables, just to name but a few.

While speaking to Enquirermag, the lawmaker said he decided to celebrate his birthday with his people as a way of making them partake in his blessings because God has blessed him.

He also went on to say his greatest wish on this beautiful born-date of his is that God should continue to bless his mother with long life and health so she can live to see her beloved son grow old gloriously.

To whom much is given like they say,  much is expected, the people of Surulere who're definitely proud of their choice and ready to see him through his second term also reciprocated the gesture by showering  him with gifts and dance presentations.

Support groups such as Little City G12, CWC Women, the Keggites and many others expressed their joy of being part and parcel of this great man's birthday and according to them they will always stand by the Hon. Desmond Elliot because he stands by what is right.

There were lots of drinks and assorted meals to savour at the event and everyone definitely went home feeling overfed

It is worth reiterating just how far the ambitious Hon. Desmond can go just to make the people he serves happy.

It was such a sweet  and unique  birthday celebration that whosoever  present  will no doubt leave to remember.

Chichi Marvis and Bisola Badmus

covered the event

How Prophet Akinbodunse Foretold Shepherd Bushiri, Wife's Arrest

News making rounds has it that popular prophet, Shepherd Bushiri and his wife have been arrested for fraud and money laundering today, Friday, 1st of February 2019.

The Enlightened Christian Gathering Church leader Shepherd Bushiri and his wife was arrested on fraud and money laundering charges involving more than R15m.

The Hawks confirmed the arrest on Friday, but did not name the couple. The church, however, issued a statement confirming that Bushiri and his wife, Mary, were taken into custody on fraud and money laundering charges.

Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said on Friday that the arrest took place at a “lavish hotel in Rustenburg”.

“The Hawks’ case against the pair concerns alleged offences of fraud, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). The crimes were committed from 2015 in relation to Exchange Control Regulations related to foreign currency in an amount of $1,147,200 (about R15.3m).

“The couple who run several business enterprises in South Africa and abroad are expected to appear before the Pretoria Commercial Crime Court on Monday,” he said.

The church statement said that, at about 7am on Friday, armed members of the police stormed the Sparkling Waters Hotel in Rustenburg.

“We were later made aware that they were members of the Hawks. They took the prophet and our mother, Prophetess Mary Bushiri, in handcuffs to Pretoria,” the statement said.

“As you will remember, from last year, we have struggled with reports that our father [Bushiri] was guilty. He has been detained and is being questioned by the Hawks in Silverton, Pretoria.

It will be recalled that the general overseer of Freedom for All Nations Outreach (FANO), Prophet Samuel Akinbodunse had earlier predicted that there will be a lot of trouble for fake ministries in 2019 during his 2019 prophecies.

In his words
“The Lord said to me more than 9 times that in 2019, he will open judgement on fake ministries, pastors, preachers of the world, starting from January."

"We Joined APC Because PDP Is Dead" ...Ekiti lawmakers

Mr Olarewaju Olayanju, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) representing Emure Constituency in Ekiti State House of Assembly, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He described PDP in Ekiti as party which had reached its ‘dead end’, saying he could not continue to be in a party which was divided against itself.

Olayanju announced his defection at a news conference at the Assembly on Thursday.

“I have reflected deeply on the current situation and I have informed my constituents that my interest and their interests can no longer be achieved in the PDP.

 “PDP in Ekiti is now in disarray. No leader to rally the members together, the leaders have destroyed the party through naked use of powers.

“The party is factionalised in Ekiti with leadership calling on the people to vote for opposing political parties; the party has reached the dead end.

“As a man of integrity, I can not stay and work against the party, therefore, I am willingly defecting to APC,”Olayanju said.

He said before now APC had not won in Emure in Emure Local Government area in long time, but as from now, he assured APC of landmark victory in the forthcoming elections.

The Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr Adeniran Alagbada, congratulated the new defector for defecting to the “Next Level of Progress”.

He said that although there were just four APC members in the Assembly, but he was optimistic that in the coming weeks more PDP members would defect to APC.

The speaker called on Ekiti people to vote enmasse for the President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid in Feb. 16 and other APC candidates.

Present at the news conference were the State Chairman of APC, Mr Paul Omotoso, his Deputy, Mr Sola Elesin, and the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr Tola Esan.

BUHARI IN KANO: "Why Ganduje Has Not Been Prosecuted"

President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday that Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, enjoyed immunity from prosecution as a sitting governor.

He also noted that under Nigerian laws, an accused remained innocent until proven guilty by the courts.

Besides, the President noted that the alleged dollar bribes Ganduje was seen stuffing in his pockets in a video widely circulated on social media, had become a matter already in a law court.

Buhari was reacting to criticisms in some quarters that he shielded his political associates like Ganduje among others, from prosecution in the face of glaring evidence.

Only on Thursday, the President, at an All Progressives Congress rally in Kano, raised up the hand of Ganduje for his second term bid before supporters.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Thursday, the President dismissed criticisms suggesting that his association with Ganduje was a smear on his anti-corruption stance.

The statement said some high-profile persons, including a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and a former state governor, were being prosecuted for corruption.

The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, was also cited as another government official serving administrative leave to pave the way for investigation into corruption allegations levelled against him.

“Despite some of the suspects being close to the President, he had not shielded them from investigation, administrative suspensions and prosecution”, the statement added.

Specifically, on Ganduje, the Presidency said, “as a sitting governor, (he) enjoys immunity from prosecution in his own right.

“Furthermore, under Nigerian laws, a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

“In the circumstances, the matter is in court and the President has no power to dictate to the court or the Kano State House of Assembly, which is already investigating the matter, about what to do with the allegations against Ganduje.”

 @thepunchng

CCT Resumes Justice Onnoghen's Trial Feb. 4

Following a request from the Federal Government, the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, in Abuja, on Thursday, fixed February 4 to resume proceedings on the non-assets declaration charge pending against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

The Mr. Danladi Umar-led tribunal, in a statement made available to Vanguard, disclosed that FG had in a letter that was signed by two legal officers at the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, Musa Ibrahim Usman and Fatima Danjuma Ali, applied for continuation of hearing on the charge against Onnoghen. 

Onnoghen who was last Friday, suspended from office by President Muhammadu Buhari, is facing a six-count charge bothering on his alleged failure to declare his assets as prescribed by the law. He was in the charge marked CCT/ABJ/01/19, equally accused of maintaining five separate foreign bank accounts, in breach of the code of conduct for public office holders. 

In the statement that was signed by the Head, Press & Public Relations, at the CCT, Mr. Ibraheem Al-Hassan, FG, via the letter it sent through the CCB on Wednesday, drew attention of the Mr. Umar’s three-member panel to a ruling of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which cleared the coast for Onnoghen’s trial to proceed. According to Al-Hassan, FG’s request read in part: 

“The above subject refers. This case came up for hearing of preliminary objection to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal on the 28th of January, 2019 but the Tribunal could not proceed due to the pendency of the case at the Court of Appeal. “However, in the wake of this afternoon, 30th January, 2019 the Court of Appeal has thrown out the appeal. 

“Consequently on the above, we urge the Honourable Tribunal to give us a date for resumption of the trial subject to the convenience of the Tribunal, most obliged my Lord”. 

The appellate court had in a unanimous decision by a three-man panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki, declined Onnoghen’s request for his trial to be temporarily suspended, pending the determination of an appeal he lodged to challenge the competence of the charge and the procedure adopted by the CCT.

How Jumia is Using Chatbots To Add Value To Customers Buying Experience

Chatbots are now widely used because getting quick feedback is essential to today's customers. Many businesses have recognised this fact and are deploying chatbots to assist the customer service team to drive customer engagement and interaction. This, in turn, will impact the Net Promoter Score (NPS), thus making customers more loyal. This said, here are 5 ways chatbots add value to the buying experience of customers.

24-hour customer service

Your customer service representative can sometimes be overwhelmed and cannot respond to all requests. This is where chatbot comes in. Because they use artificial intelligence to process information, they can respond and reply accurately to enquiries and queries at any time of the day.

Seamless live chat

The clarity of the response of a chatbot has made so many people think that they are actually chatting with a customer rep. Unknown to them, they are talking to a chatbot. For example, you can use Jumia Bot from the stables of Jumia, Nigeria's no 1 shopping destination to make enquiries about your shopping preference and resolve complaints.

Allows you to personify your brand

With chatbot, you can easily personify your brand depending on your brand vision. Chatbot can feature with various conversational styles that range from being friendly to helpful and playful. These different personalities will ensure that customers keep coming back.

Can handle endless queries

Chatbots have been set up to use human intelligence to sort out customer queries. As a result, chatbots can handle endless queries with little or no mistake. Despite the fact that chatbots can do the job, it doesn't mean you should remove the human touch.

Smoother purchase journey

Chatbot can do so many things that will ensure that the consumer's purchase journey is smooth. The bot can offer relevant information, video content and even voucher code. In addition, chatbots can also assist customers with aggregating information like the item they desire to purchase, the method they want to pay for the order, and how they want the order shipped. 

Leadership And Political Participation: The Story of Hon. Nnenna Ukeje-Elendu

BY EMMANUEL AJIBULU

There is growing recognition of the untapped capacity and talents of women and women’s leadership. Over the last two decades, the rate of women’s representation in national parliaments globally has incrementally increased from 11.8 percent in 1998 to 17.8 percent in 2008 to 23.5 percent in 2018.

 

Some regions have seen particularly dramatic increases, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where in the last 20 years the number of women in parliaments has risen from 11 to 23.6 percent, and the Arab States region, which has seen an increase from 3.1 to 17.5 percent.

 

Total global representation is still well below the 30 percent benchmark often identified as the necessary level of representation to achieve a “critical mass” a considerable minority of all legislators with significant impact, rather than a token few individuals; not to mention falling short of women’s representation as half of the world’s population.

 

For a fact, the full and equitable participation of women in public life is essential to building and sustaining strong, vibrant and productive democracies.

 

Accordingly, the meaningful participation of women in national, local, and community leadership roles has become an important focus on global development policy. Still, some may ask why it matters if women become political leaders, elected policymakers, or civil society activists.

 

Why does the world need more women involved in all aspects of the political process? Women's political participation results in tangible gains for democracy, including greater responsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines, and a more sustainable future.

 

Women’s participation in politics helps advance gender equality and affects both the range of policy issues that get considered and the types of solutions that are proposed. Research indicates that whether a legislator is male or female has a distinct impact on their policy priorities. There is also strong evidence that as more women are elected to office, there is a corollary increase in policy making that emphasizes quality of life and reflects the priorities of families, women, and ethnic and racial minorities.

 

Meanwhile, for posterity to be kind to Nigeria and her key stakeholders in decision making, an individual like Hon. Nnenna Ukeje-Elendu should not just be applauded, honoured or awarded with laurels; she needs to be given more national responsibilities where she can explore more of her esteemed potentials. At the National Assembly, her quality representation since the last 12 years in terms of sponsored Bills, Motions, and various presentations and contributions on topical national issues have raised the bar for good governance and legislative representation. Notable among her impacts was the diplomatic policy direction she offered when the infamous xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa and other parts of the world became prevalent.

 

No wonder Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential standard bearer embraced a gender friendly campaign team involving people of great ideas who are highly disciplined, and with enviable and indelible track records that Nigerians could be proud of.

 

More importantly, the choice of Alhaji Atiku to have this quintessential female lawmaker, Hon. Nnenna Ukeje-Elendu, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and member representing Bende Federal Constituency in marketing his candidacy for the presidency has turned out to change political narrative, a move that has incredibly added value to PDP's electoral victory come February, 2019.