Headline news in Nigeria and the rest of the world.
Friday, July 29, 2011
House Passes Boehner Bill After a Good Hollerin’ Match
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Agreeing With God's Word
Agreeing With God's Word
When the twelve spies returned from searching the promised land, they said,
"We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we"
(Numbers 13:31).
That was the report they brought back—at least ten of them that is. The other
two, Joshua and Caleb, had this to say,
"Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they
are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with
us. Do not fear them" (Numbers 14:9).
They all saw the same things in the land of Canaan, but only Joshua and Caleb
chose to agree with God. The Lord had previously told them that He would give
them victory and that they would be able to drive out the inhabitants of the land.
The ten spies (along with all Israel) died without ever possessing what God had
promised. Only two men from that generation entered into Canaan and possessed
the land. I think you can guess who they were—Joshua and Caleb. The only
two who agreed with the declarations of God.
Check out what you have been saying. Do your words agree with God or not?
Your emotions are the shallowest part of your nature.
Salvation is the deepest work of God.
He is not going to do His deepest work in the shallowest part.
TSPOON93 is a registered mailer with
Community Action Team (CAT) of
America Online, Inc. 2000
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Automated banking deposits come to Nigeria
The ongoing revolution in the Nigerian Information Technology (IT) market will enable Nigerians to get access to latest technologies in banking services with the introduction of money deposit ATMs in Nigeria.
This development is being spearheaded by an initiative and partnership between Interswitch Nigeria, an electronic payment transaction and switching company, and Guaranty Trust Bank, to offer Nigerians an improved Automatic Teller Machines services in the country.
Under this development, Interswitch will implement an innovative cardless ATM cash deposit solution for GTBank that will enable cash deposits through GTBank ATMs without inserting or using a debit card.
The director for payment processing and infrastructure at Interswitch, Akeem Lawal, said the GTBank Cardless ATM cash deposit solution represents a big step towards full branch automation where entire banking operations are automated and customers are guaranteed an improved and consistent standard of service delivery at all automated bank branches.
The solution can be accessed on certain GTBank cardless ATMs by clicking the enter button on the machine, which prompts the customer to key in the account details of the beneficiary to be credited.
The ATM then requests for a confirmation of the account number and account name of the beneficiary. Once confirmed, the customer insert the amount to be deposited, the ATM counts the cash and credits the beneficiary’s account immediately.
The cardless ATM cash deposit solution allows a GTBank customer to deposit a bundle of different naira denominations and the ATM will sort through the different denominations.
Once sorted, the ATM displays the amount according to the different denominations and also the total amount deposited.
The ATM cash deposit solution has the ability to validate the account of the beneficiary, allowing the depositor to confirm or correct any error.
The deposited amount reflects in the beneficiary account real-time, and can be withdrawn immediately. With the cardless solution, the bank’s customers who wish to make cash deposits no longer need to visit the banking hall.
They can simply deposit their cash via the ATM into a beneficiary’s accounts at any time of the day, including weekends.
This provides customers the flexibility of depositing cash anytime; hence, they do not need to worry about carrying huge sums of money home.
Banks are leveraging the use of ATMs to provide improved consumer banking experience by taking self-service to a whole new level, he added.
“Cardless ATM cash deposit solution has reduced the number of customers who visit the GTBank branches,” said Lawal pointing out that the ATM solution for cash deposit transactions was the first of its kind in Nigeria.
Lola Odedina, head of communication and external affairs at GTBank, explained that the solution from Interswitch was bound to improve the Nigerian banking sector by providing a “secure, quicker and more effective channel for making deposits without visiting a banking hall” or using an ATM card.
Source: http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2011/07/automated-banking-deposits-come-to-nigeria/
Bimbo Omitooki
Dead Guy Wakes Up in Morgue
A South African man spent about 24 hours in a morgue this weekend. Not, like, hanging out! No, as a dead body. Apparently the guy's family couldn't wake him up one morning, and assuming (incorrectly) that he was dead called a private morgue to take care of the body. More »
Monday, July 25, 2011
Larry King Wants to Marry Anderson Cooper
Larry King Wants to Marry Anderson Cooper
Gentleman's Quarterly magazine, aka "GQ", recently sat down with milliongenarian TV personality and budding stand-up comic Larry King to ask him some weird 'n' wacky questions. More »
Esquire Sees Erotic Opportunity in DSK Rape Narrative
Esquire Sees Erotic Opportunity in DSK Rape Narrative
Bros: You know when you're hanging out with a girl, and she's talking about the time she was raped, and you're like, "Whoa, this chick is totally talking about her vagina. More »
FW: A WICKED MOTHER !!!
A 29-year old woman, Mrs. Grace Jacob, has been arrested for battering her 10-year-old son, Emmanuel, and forcing him to sleep in the staircase of their home at night.
If not that a non-government organisation, Esther Child Foundation, came to the rescue of little Emmanuel, he might have been dead by now as he now nurses severe injuries inflicted on him.
Mrs. Jacob, 29, who lives at 4, Muhammed Street, Santos, Egbeda area of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, gave birth to Victor when she was 19 years old.
She had the boy for her lover, Mr. Paul Emmanuel who had since left her. She is now married to a new husband and has a child for him.
It was gathered that Victor was severely beaten by his mother at the slightest provocation, which led to deep injuries and cuts all over the boy’s body. The boy’s face is swollen with deep cuts on his cheeks.
According to Mrs. Esther Ogwu, the founder of Esther Child Foundation, she received a call from a resident in Egbeda to come quickly to rescue a boy who was being abused and tortured in the most dehumanising way by his mother.
“When we came, we met Victor in the staircase and that is where he sleeps. When I saw the wounds on his body, I couldn’t stand it and we had to arrest the woman and bring the boy to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to take up the issue,” she explained.
She said that the woman beat her son severely because his new husband had told her he did not want to see the boy and that she should do something about the situation if she wanted him to stay with her.
Ogwu alleged that the woman’s intention was to kill the boy so that she would keep her new husband, adding that the boy needed urgent treatment and attention so that he would not die from the wounds inflicted on him.
“We rescued him because we don’t know the next action that may lead to the boy’s death. The boy does not even attend school,” she added.
At the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA, where the woman and her son were taken to, staff of the ministry were in shock when they saw the deep wounds on Victor’s body and could not believe that his mother could treat him like that.They described her as a wicked woman.
A top official of the ministry, who craved anonymity because she is not authorised to speak with pressmen, said the first thing the government would do was to write a letter to the management of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, to urgently admit the boy and treat him so that he would not die.
When asked if Victor was truly her son, Mrs. Jacob said yes, saying that she regretted her action, admitting that she was guilty of beating her son in such a deadly manner.
She was in tears but her tears did not move officials of the WAPA ministry who were angry at the way the boy was maltreated by her.
According to Jacob, she gave birth to Victor when she was not yet married and that Victor’s father used to beat and throw her out of the house on several occasions, which was why she left him.
Mrs. Jacob, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, said when Victor was brought to her from the village and that when she remembered the way her former lover treated her, she unleashed her anger on her son.
“Anytime he did something wrong, I vent the anger of what his father did to me by beating him. I was angry about the manner I was beaten by my former husband,” she said, adding that her new husband had left for South Africa because he did not want to see the boy again.
When asked, little Victor, who managed to speak in Pidgin English said his mother used to beat him with cable when he did something wrong.
However, the state government is considering prosecuting the mother under the child rights law, while Victor would be taken to one of the state’s rehabilitation homes for adequate care.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Reps okay Islamic banking, cash limit
Reps okay Islamic banking, cash limit
Lawmakers to educate constituents on benefits
THE House of Representatives has endorsed the Islamic banking and N150,000 cash withdrawal limit introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The endorsement came after an intensive briefing provided by the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on the two initiatives on the floor of the House yesterday.
The briefing, which was applauded severally by members, brought out the benefits of the non-interest banking and the N150,000 cash withdrawal limit.
Lawmakers occasionally burst into thunderous applause as the CBN boss explained the motives behind the initiatives, especially when he challenged opinion and political leaders to lead by example and appreciate initiatives that would take the country from the doldrums.
Sanusi told the House that the first memo for approval of licenses for Islamic banking was received and approved by the CBN during the tenure of his predecessor, Prof. Charles Soludo.
The apex bank boss insisted that if Nigeria must meet up with other countries in terms of development, her citizens must learn to put things right in line with international standards. Sanusi declared that profit sharing without interest banking was not restricted to Islam and Muslims alone.
According to him, the first memo for approval for licences for Islamic banking was received and approved by the CBN during the tenure of Soludo in 2008. .
His words: “The fact is that some people approached the CBN and said based on the Banking and Other Financial Institutions and Allied Matters (BOFIA) Act, which made provision for non-interest banking, they wanted a licence to operate Islamic banking. And we issued guidelines. Soludo played more roles in formulating guidelines for the establishment of Islamic banking. I am only completing the job.”
He said the guidelines issued by the CBN for the operation of Islamic banking stipulated that no form of discrimination would be allowed in terms of employment, structure and transaction.
The briefing which was characterised by occasional applause for the CBN boss, also revealed that Islamic banking, like every other non-interest banking, entailed ethical and socially responsible investment, unambiguous terms, non-faith-based products and services and the prohibition of unlawful businesses.
On the N150,000 cash withdrawal limit, Sanusi said it was meant to generate funds to offset cash management, adding that by 2012, direct cost of cash in the Nigerian banking industry is estimated at N192 billion.
According to him, the circular never prevented any individual from withdrawing cash above N150,000 but whatever amount one withdraws in excess of N150,0000, there will be a charge.
Tracing the genesis of the cash withdrawal limit, Sanusi said that the charges would help, “to reduce industry cost-to-serve by 30 per cent; increase access, convenience and service levels across the industry; enable greater financial inclusion and integration of financial services into the economy, with its attendant positive impact on economic development.”
Sanusi further lamented that most of the people criticising the limitation on cash withdrawal were in the elite class who, he noted, were supposed to educate the larger population on the wisdom of embracing a cashless economy.
He said: “cash transactions represent over 99 per cent of customer activity in banks. About 86 per cent of in-branch cash withdrawals are less than N100,000 in value while less than 10 per cent of transactions are more than N100,000.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no limit exists on cash transaction, but the very few high volume cash users should bear commensurate service cost while the most of Nigerians are exempted from subsidising them. The 90 per cent of Nigerians who are poor are subsidizing (the remaining) 10 per cent who are imposing the huge cost of cash on the system.
“The industry proposal is not to place limit on cash transactions, but to ensure that the 10 per cent of customers that make high volume cash transactions bear the associated cost and eliminate the subsidy by the mass public of banking customers. This will have a direct impact on banking industry efficiency and cost structure - reducing the cost of cash to the financial system, will result in significant savings that can be passed on to customers in form of reduced cost of banking services and lower lending rates to borrowers.”
Impressed by the submissions of the CBN boss, the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, who presided over the session expressed appreciation for the enlightenment provided by Sanusi on the two issues and declared that the motive for the invitation had been achieved.
Ihedioha said: “A number of us or all of us are satisfied with your presentation. We are better enlightened now on the issues.”
He said it was not meant to be a question and answer situation but to provide an opportunity for the CBN to enlighten Nigerians through the House about the contentious issues adding that the House was satisfied with the explanations provided.
Some members of the House have agreed to kick-start an aggressive awareness campaign to enlighten Nigerians on the merits of both the daily cash withdrawal limit and the non-interest banking policies.
The lawmakers, who fielded questions shortly after the CBN governor made his presentation, explained that the apex bank had not done enough to allay the fears of Nigerians on the grey areas in the policies.
Umar Adam Katsayal (CPC, Katsina State), said members needed to educate and enlighten their constituents to facilitate the acceptability of the Islamic Banking and N150,000 cash withdrawal limit.
Uche Ekwunife pointed out that many Nigerians were illiterate and stressed the need for the CBN to educate them to be conscious of the dynamics of contemporary banking especially in the area of Islamic banking.
Ekwunife, who represents Anaocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia Federal constituency, Anambra State explained that the rumour trailing the policies had made traders to resort to keeping their money at home, a situation she which, she noted, was likely to increase the rate of armed robbery in the society.
Also reacting, Robinson Uwak explained that many Nigerians were yet to understand what the CBN was talking about, even as he urged the authorities to take measures to help the apex bank win the confidence of the generality of Nigerians in the banking sector.
However, the Lawmaker who represents Oron/Mbo/Okobo/Udung Uko/Urue Federal constituency of Akwa Ibom State, berated the CBN governor, who he said, dwelled on ridiculing critics of his policies, especially some of the religious clerics who picked holes in the new policies.
“He left issues bordering on Islamic banking and attempted to ridicule some clerics who have commented on the issue. These are sensitive areas he ought not to discuss.
“The CBN needs to educate Nigerians thoroughly and prepare their minds because every citizen has the right to keep his money or not, especially the grass roots before reaching a decision.”
Razaq Bello-Osagie said that as the country was desirous of being one of the 20 largest economies of the world in the year 2020, it must align with universally accepted best practices everywhere.
But the director of Social Communications of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Rev. Fr. Hygi Aghaulo has described as extremely dangerous and unacceptable the introduction of the Islamic banking.
Tracing the history of what he called “past and on-going moves to enlist Nigeria into full membership of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC)”, Aghaulo noted that among the key conditions set out for that was the practice of Islamic (Sharia) banking and that the positions of petroleum and finance ministers must be reserved for Muslims.
He urged Christians in the country to summon their representatives in the various legislative houses immediately to direct them on how to ensure that the banking system did not take root in Nigeria as it was meant to protect only the interests of Muslims.
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