Face-off between the Legislature and Executive

The Senate seems to be in a face-off with the executive. The decision was to protest its displeasure with the continued retention of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, despite his failure to get Senate confirmation.
The Senate’s action received mixed reactions from lawyers, ranging from support to disagreement on the point that the President’s seeming reluctance on Magu should not make the Senate abandon its constitutional duty.

The Senate had penultimate Wednesday refused to confirm Magu after screening the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency. The Senate rejection nonetheless, Magu has continued to act in that office, a development that drew the ire of the Senate, yesterday. It then resolved to stand down confirmation hearing of the 27 REC nominees.
The Senate is also not happy with the Presidency over comments by the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay, who was alleged to have described the exercise of the Senate in screening nominees of the Executive as mere confirmation.

Before plenary, yesterday, the Senate had met in a closed-door session where the Senate position was rehearsed. The tone of yesterday’s action at plenary was set by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP, Delta North), who pleaded that for the nation’s democracy to be protected, the Senate should step down confirmation process of the RECs since some of them are acting, alleging that President Buhari’s appointees were disrespecting the Senate. He also condemned comments by Professor Sagay that the Senate’s role in appointments was “merely” to confirm.
He said: “Recently in this Senate, we have dealt with the issue of confirmation and where are we today? The chairman of the Presidential Committee on Anti-Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay went to the press and said the Senate merely confirms.
“Today, we have now been given a list to confirm. Look at the list, we have eight of them here out of 27, eight of them are for re-appointment which means they are acting already, they are already working and they are still in position.
“My position on this matter is that since our confirmation is ‘merely’, let us suspend it until we now know whether we have the power as given to us by the constitution to look into confirmation matters or any other status,” he submitted.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu urged his colleagues to allow suspension of the request for only two weeks rather than indefinite suspension to enable the Senate President meet with President Buhari to communicate the sentiments of the Senate concerning Magu.

During the two-week suspension, Senate President Bukola Saraki is expected to meet with the President to resolve the issue of Magu, who was, yesterday, described by a senator as a terror to them.

Warning on soft drinks

A Lagos court the other day ordered the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to compel the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Plc, to carry a mandatory warning on its Fanta and Sprite brands, stating that the contents should not be taken with Vitamin C in order to avoid poisoning. Also, the court berated NAFDAC for poor regulation of the brands and awarded a N2 million cost, declaring that the agency failed Nigerians by certifying Fanta and Sprite fit for human consumption even when they were later tested and declared unfit for human consumption in the United Kingdom (UK).

The suit was filed by a company that tried to export Fanta and Sprite bottled in Nigeria to the UK. British authorities seized and destroyed the products for being poisonous by containing excess levels of benzoic acid and sunset additives. Benzoic acid, which serves as a preservative, if used excessively, can cause cancer and has also been linked to asthma problems and increased levels of hyperactivity in children. It can cause allergies, hyperactivity, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting in some individuals. Anyway, the questions at this juncture are: should the contents of Fanta and Sprite not be the same worldwide? What scientific explanations does NBC have for variations reported in the contents of the products in Nigeria? Is the issue of what is good for the temperate and tropical regions not too opaque and deserves better explanation?
NAFDAC has filed an appeal and a motion to stay execution of the judgment on Sprite and Fanta, while NBC has also said that the judgment was inaccurate as its products are safe for consumption in Nigeria and appealed the court judgment. This case has, however, brought to the fore the issues of consumers right to information and safety in Nigeria!

One thing is obvious –the case has been in the court for about a decade in the slow wheel of justice. Within the period, there was no attempt by the relevant government agencies to recall the batch of the drinks and join the media to sensitise the public on the use of soft drinks and Vitamin C with a view to ensuring the safety of consumers.
Anyway, despite the fact that NBC has argued that its Nigerian brands are safe for consumption, it is better to be cautious. Hence, the need for further investigations against the backdrop of the safety issue raised by the judgment, especially with regard to the effects of excessive level of benzoic acid and sunset additives on human health. Their interactivity with Vitamin C should also be srutinised. The investigation of these ingredients and their levels in the soft drinks product category should be extended to all brands in the country, because machines cannot easily pick carcinogenic disease and daily many Nigerians are dying without knowing the causes.
Furthermore, the various health conditions associated with the ingredients and their prevalence should be studied by experts to establish trends. It is only through such researches that the health concerns of taking soft drinks can be scientifically established while speculations and mistrust
concerning the health hazards will be addressed.

Furthermore, based on the findings of the researches, obligations of marketers to consumers, especially on health warnings will be established, and if possible contents of soft drinks recalibrated.
As a people, Nigerians should all be committed to ensuring that destruction and loss of lives especially through food intake are reduced to the lowest ebb if not totally prevented. As such, relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government such as NAFDAC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), should collaborate in a well-coordinated manner to conduct a broad and detailed examination of all food brands; while the consumer rights groups should hire independent investigators to do the same and make the findings public. This exercise in ensuring the safety of food and drinks should not be for only Fanta and Sprite but various others. Apart from doing this now, the duty bearers should carry out periodic monitoring and review for quality control and assurance; and to reassure consumers of the safety of products in the market. It should be done also to ensure that people get value for their money. Batch examination of food and drinks using stringent measures should be compulsory. If these are done,sub- standard goods will be stamped out of the markets and products consumed will be health compliant. Consumption is life and death. This is a task that must be done if Nigerians are truly committed to rebuilding their country. Where attention to details is missing, the nation will perish.

Source: Guardian

The organizers of  Miss Nigeria 40th Edition have announced their upcoming pageant which will be held on the 19th  of December at the EKO hotel Convention center, Victoria Island, Lagos. 
Red carpet starts 5pm to 7 pm. Event goes live at 7.30pm prompt (no African time)

Otunba segun osoba former governor of Ogun state and past MD/ CEO of the dailytimes nigeria,will chair the grand finale.

The minister of information and culture ,Alh Lai mohammed ,minister of environment and Amina mohammed are the special guests.
 Renowned Designers Frank Oshodi , Lanre da silva , kosibah, Adebayo jones and Eyiola will thrill guests with a RUBY fashion show.

The pageant’s official pet project “The green Girl Project” focused on the impact of environment degradation on the girl child and capacity building in  green project management skills For sustainable environment will be formally launched.

NEPC (Nigerian export promotion council) has also partnered with the  Miss Nigeria organization to train contestants on fashonomics and cloth construction to empower all contestants with valuable skills in keeping with the organizations mission of empowering women beyond beauty.

The current Miss Nigeria, Queen Leesi peter-vigboro  will speak on how her experience as Miss Nigeria gave her the opportunity to give back to the community, as well as  her training  at the Martin Luther King center at the Emory University Georgia Atlanta USA on non violent conflict resolution. This project was sponsored by AIR PEACE and federation for ethnic harmony(FEHN)

The winner of this 40th Miss Nigeria pageant   will Win a brand new Car , 3 million Naira ,opportunities to travel out for workshops  / holidays. and also become the culture and heritage Environment ambassador for Nigeria .

The activities in camp will include 80% empowerment training,fun choreography and etiquette classes .
Other activities planned for the camping duration, are exploring Nigeria’s culture and heritage in Benin , the International beach soccer courtesy of Powerhorse, and Mentorship by a renowed WIMBIZ member. amongst  others.....

Final auditions will hold in Lagos state
Date: 4th and 5th of December 2016
Venue : Eko hotel 
Time :  9am

 Contestants can Register  at the audition venue .
Contestants will be disqualified if pregnant,married , with child, Contestants  must be between 18 – 26.

Quote of the day

So true!!!!

Gov. Fayose pictured distributing groundnut and banana over the weekend

The stomach infrastructure governor pictured  distributing groundnut and banana to Ekiti-ete during an inspection visit in Ekiti state

Beautiful piece of writing

CELEBRATING YOU (by DA-CLARKE Godson)
No doubt most of us have been sated with oft-repeated stories of slaves of eons ago who were freed and their captors drowned; tales of children who were meted inhumane treatment by their so-called families and who later became benefactors to those same families; graphic illustrations of poor souls who rose dramatically from penury to prominence; dullards and dropouts who began to dominate different fields with astonishing breakthroughs. We have been inundated with heroic motivational speeches of some fellows meteoric jump to the top, and we all wish to be like those world-renowned figures of the past or the present. But why?
No, this writer is not against having lofty aspirations and even vaulting ambitions, and day by day we work (or at least think) in the directions of our expectations. We are encouraged to have foresight, insight, hindsight, high-sight, website. We are urged to memorize quotable quotes so as to ponder upon and recite at some imaginary plebiscite that goodness-only-knows about in the future. The number of sights, -sites and cites seems endless, and in the fast-paced world of this 21st century jet age we all wanna emphasize the human factor above the impersonal functioning of computers and robots because we fear for our jobs, even though we ourselves do make use of machines of different sorts because there is so much work to do and so little time to do it. The result: STRESS!
Stress is what happens when we refuse to take a pause. We push ourselves and let others push us too hard, forgetting that no one is indispensable. We feel so insecure about ourselves that we pretend before our colleagues at work, before our friends at play, and even before our families at home. But…hey, one reason you were able to grow up is to be able to celebrate your freedom to chart your own course. Nobody does it any better, and if you do not come to a point where you call the bluffs of the world and say, like the funny quip, Abeg, I cannot come and go and kill myself away, you will be the ultimate loser.
Here, then, is my advice: Take the time out. Visit that fancy place of which youve always dreamed. Buy up that house. Find that work (job or vocation) that gives you rest of mind. Return that ill-gotten money. Hang out with that person who means so much. Throw that party that has hitherto been mere wishful thinking. Join that club. Play that sport. Quit doing anything that keeps you in bondage. If it takes working extra hard in order to leave that prison and reach the palace, then do it. Enjoy yourself; life is too short. A famous quote says, If you dont like where you are, MOVE; you are not a tree (emphasis mine). The rewards far outweigh the cost when you live your life ultimately Celebrating You!

Before and after photos of Afrocandy

It's amazing how people can change so suddenly..Who would believe that this is the same person... #good girl gone bad