VIDEO: Action in Sambisa Forest..

This is an exclusive video of Military activities in the now infamous Sambisa forest.

Buhari Whets Appetite of Nigerians with Inspection of Chinese Train model….

Chinese company, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) visited the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari and presented a prototype of high speed rail project.

This meeting can be a sign that Buhari’s government may be looking to develop a high-speed rail system across Nigeria.

The Chinese delegation defined the president-elect on how the project would work.

Buhari was also shown literature about the project. Along with the Chinese delegation was the All Progressives Congress chairman, Chief John Oyegun.

Early last year, the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan got Nigeria’s exhausted railway network on its feet with a N24bn ($151.7m) investment programme that engaged the upgrading of tracks and signalling equipment.

With the purchase of 25 GE locomotives and renovation of 500 wagons and passenger coaches, services recommenced on the 1,126km Lagos to Kano line that had been closed for the last 10 years.

Meanwhile, the revitalized railway network stays old-fashioned and the administration planned to upgrade the whole network, which is still running on the narrow device tracks laid down by the British colonial government when they started the service in 1912.

Currently, Nigeria has only two major rail lines, with one connecting Lagos to Yobe and the other connecting Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

Apart from other things, it is expected to lead the job creation by improving commuter mobility and also decrease traffic and carbon emissions on congested highways.

With more overfilled roads and a higher number of car accidents a year, Nigeria urgently needs to move traffic off its roads and on to rail.

Before the presidential election the incumbent leader of the country President Jonathan said that he has satisfied his promise to recover a moribund railway system in Nigeria.

He said that when he came into office as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 6 May 2010, he promised to himself to put Nigerian railways back on track, as he considered that it offered the most inexpensive mode of transportation for the people.

INFORMATION NIGERIA

President Jonathan meets President-elect Buhari; schedules tour of Aso Rock..

President Goodluck Jonathan has proposed a tour of the presidential villa for President-elect Muhammadu Buhari.

The two leaders met Friday behind closed-doors. It was their second meeting since March 28 elections, won by Mr. Buhari.

Mr. Jonathan will hand over power to Mr. Buhari on May 29.

Speaking after the meeting, President Jonathan told journalists who sought to know what they discussed that a date would be scheduled to take Mr. Buhari on a familiarisation tour of the Aso Rock presidential villa.

“We will take a date when the president will come and I will show him round the state house but today is not for that. Today is to continue with our conversation. We don’t need to worry the President,” he said.

Asked how fruitful their conversion was, the president said “You can see that we are smiling, it was a fruitful one”.

He said the discussions were “in the interest of the country”.

Asked to comment on the meeting, Mr. Buhari said “The president had said it all”.

The meeting is in continuation of ongoing arrangements between the outgoing government and the incoming government for a smooth transition as well as the inauguration.

Mr. Buhari arrived the villa at about 3p.m. Friday.

Two transition committees set up by both the president and Mr. Buhari had also met twice as part of arrangements for a smooth handover of power on May 28.

PREMIUM TIMES

IRRITATED: Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) Fears for Nigerian Youth with Minds so Corrupted that they do not see SERVICE as SACRIFICE.

Nigeria is going through a phase. A positive phase I hope, where positive indefatigable personalities such as Oby Ezekwesili amongst us, speak up to shake the norm, damning consequences in the process. She took to twitter-land,  that place in cyberspace where faceless people take to social media to feel loved or melt out venom.  

This afternoon, the former Federal Minister of Education Obiageli Ezekwesili was quite irritated, to the point of disappointment on the mindset of Nigerian youths.

She had this to say; “I see our young reveal a Mobutu mindset on matter of Public Service. Tragic that even their Generation does not see SERVICE as SACRIFICE.”

Read her other tweets where she was so irritated to the point she threatened to mass block negative followers.

Personally, this woman is a heroine. A woman that should be admired for her beliefs and inner strength to stay rooted to a thankless cause – the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Yet, we have youths, who are unable to garner influence outside cyberspace, now see social media as a platform to prey on celebrities and achievers. And because of the decadence in society today, they amass a following, and overnight become a a voice that stale politicians pounce on to propagate their warped philosophies. This is my worry. So I agree with Oby. Service is Sacrifice and should never be seen as a route to accumulate wealth. More of us should rally around Oby and speak up, even if it would cost us. I don’t want to be cool. I just want to say it as it is.

Mayweather vs Pacquiao: Who has Mike Tyson tipped.. fascinating analysis…..

 Is this fight still tasty for you — or was it in the oven too long?

“It does have appeal for me because I am a fight fan. But what does it say about the state of boxing that, five years (later), it is still the biggest fight now? There are a lot of talented fighters, but there is a lack of stars.’’

Does Pacquiao have to jump on Mayweather in the first 6 minutes?

“The (first two rounds) are very important. My trainer Murph (Griffith) would tell me, ‘Establish and hold center ring.’ That is the key. Manny has to do that. Floyd has a way of controlling center ring. The only guy who didn’t allow him to do it was (Marcos) Maidana (in their first of two fights). He had (Mayweather) screwed up the first six rounds — then Floyd figured him out and started slapping him around. I think (Pacquiao trainer) Freddie (Roach) has him ready to burn for 12 (rounds). Throw punches in bunches right from the start. Make (Mayweather) fight; he is not used to that. See what happens. Manny might not be as quick as Floyd, but he’s pretty damn quick, so beat him to the punch first.’’

Could this fight be explosive despite Mayweather’s defensive sensibilities?

 “The thing about Floyd is, he won’t do (crap) if he doesn’t have to. He’ll slap the daylights out of you for 12 rounds but he won’t engage you if he doesn’t have to. And he hasn’t had to. But Manny comes with crisp, straight punches – he is going to make him fight. If Floyd ain’t ready for that … Floyd hasn’t had this type of fight where Manny has. If it becomes a fire fight, (Manny) has been in them. Floyd hasn’t.’’

Will Mayweather eventually be forced to go toe-to-toe with Pacquiao, and give fans what they paid record prices to witness?

“I would hope Floyd would stand there with him but I am not so sure. Floyd is a special fighter. I once told Ray Leonard, ‘Floyd can do things you couldn’t do.’ Ray said, ‘What do you mean by that?’ Floyd has this innate ability where, when he starts to throw a punch and a guy will lean away. Then, somewhere mid-punch, (Mayweather) will change the trajectory. And it lands. It is weird. You say, ‘How did that happen?’ But he never could have beaten (Sugar Ray Leonard). Here is why: Ray Leonard had a mean streak in the ring. He wanted to hurt you, annihilate you, embarrass you.’’

Is it conceivable that this might be Mayweather’s fight to lose?

“Um, I don’t want to say that. Manny is a bad style for him. Floyd leans to his right, out of the way of punches, but Manny doesn’t fight like a typical southpaw. Manny stands in front of you. He slides to the left, slides to the right, slides back. If he shoots the straight left hand, Floyd’s head will be right in the line of fire. I won’t say it is Floyd’s fight to lose. It’s a very difficult, close fight. I think Floyd wins, but if Manny beats him it is not an upset. Nobody should be (shocked) if Manny wins.’’

Can you envision Mayweather knocking out Pacquiao?

“Manny has a habit of doing that little bunny hop — he has done it forever. (Juan Manuel) Marquez threw a perfect punch (to knock him out in 2012). I think Floyd looked at that tape. Manny gives it away; he gives that certain tell before (attacking). It’s in Floyd’s head – this kid (Pacquiao) has been knocked out. No, (it wouldn’t surprise me). But I also think Manny can fight more freely because he has been knocked out.’’

Rate Mayweather as a self-promoter.

 “I met Floyd years ago – nice kid. I admire him for this: Not only he is a talented fighter, but he is a smart businessman. He knows you make a lot more money wearing the black hat. His lifestyle says everything. He doesn’t call out guys. He lives a lavish lifestyle that is the envy (of some). People say, ‘I want to see him get knocked on his ass.’ When anyone flashes the materialistic (stuff) – the clothes, the cars – they are doing it on purpose. Floyd knows how to drive the ire of people. He knows that there will be people who will pay to see him get defeated.’’

Does Pacquiao’s earnestness strike you as genuine?

“Manny is a very humble guy – ‘I am doing this for goodness, for all of the good people.’ I love what Manny says (regarding his just-beaten opponent) after a fight: ‘We can do Bible study together.’ I love that about the guy. He is sincere. It is an obligation for him, a mission of destiny.’’

Could Freddie Roach be the difference in this fight?

“What I love about Freddie is that he always devises a plan. I trust Freddie about that. Here’s what makes him so special: He talks to his guys – he doesn’t yell and look for the camera. He gives them direction. Freddie is a master at finding the opponents’ weaknesses and capitalizing.’’

Is this fight as much a canvas chess match between Mayweather, the brilliant defensive technician, and Roach the offensive-minded coach? In other words, is it Floyd vs. Freddie as much as it is Money vs. Manny?

“Good way of putting it. Yeah. Manny listens to Freddie. He follows instructions. Floyd doesn’t have that. And if he does, he isn’t listening. Floyd says, ‘I know how to do this, I know how to do that.’ He never says, ‘My corner.’’ He trains himself. So far, he has gotten away with it.’’

BOXING JUNKIE

#UCLdraw – It was always a possibility Pep Guardiola would be heading to Barcelona…

Pep Guardiola will be reunited with Barcelona after his Bayern Munich were paired with the Catalan giants in the Champions League semi-finals. 

The manager is to return to the Nou Camp for the first time since leaving in 2012. Real Madrid face Juventus in the the other semi-final. 

The first legs will take place on May 5/6 with the returns the following week.

Pep Guardiola is to return to the Nou Camp as Bayern Munich face Barcelona in the Champions League

Barcelona’s strikeforce of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi celebrate during the last-eight win over PSG

Javier Hernandez scored a last-gasp winner for Real Madrid against Atletico to put them into the semi-final

But it is the match-up between Guardiola and the club where he made his name that throws up the most exciting prospect.  

Bayern side swept Porto aside this week, hammering them 6-1 after suffering a surprise defeat in the first leg. 

Barcelona, meanwhile, were relentless in their pursuit of a last-four place, beating Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Paris Saint-Germain comfortably.

DAILY MAIL

INSPIRATIONAL: (QUOTE OF THE DAY)

PHOTOS: Caskets used in campaign at Aba re-run election exposes desperation of politicians.

Frontline candidates of the two major political parties in the Abia state gubernatorial elections, Alex Otti of APGA and PDP’s Okezie Ikpeazu; have both distanced themselves from the caskets that appeared in the streets of Aba.

Both candidates have condemned the act and denied responsibility for the coffins; while blaming each other for the situation.

Alex Otti, described it as “a despicable, shameful and barbaric act by desperate and frustrated politicians.”

On his part, Ikpeazu said ” such is the handiwork of the opposition who have shown their desperations in various ways since the beginning of the governorship contest.”

With barely 24 hours left until the Abia State elections are re-conducted, many residents in Aba were stunned, as caskets with threatening inscriptions littered the streets for over two days.

The warnings inscribed on the coffins state that if people fail to vote for an Ngwa governor, they will be killed.

It would be recalled that INEC ruled that governorship election results in the state were inconclusive, hence the decision to re-conduct the elections. NEWS WIRE

It’s an exposure of how desperately selfish Nigerian politicians are. If indeed, politics is to serve the people, why this desperation to serve, I ask.

SECURITY BEEFED UP: Buhari Relocates.

President Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has relocated to the Defence House in the Maitama area of Abuja metropolis where he now operates temporarily.

Buhari, who returned to Abuja from Kaduna on Monday to hold talks with Ivorian President Alassane Quattara at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, has been receiving guests at the Defence House since Tuesday.

He spent the better part of Tuesday and Wednesday receiving guests at the Defence House located opposite the Legacy House which serves as the campaign headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party.

When The Nation visited the place, a horde of security operatives were seen on guard while visitors were properly screened before being allowed into the premises.

It was also observed that the building was wearing a new look, a clear indication that it was only recently renovated.

Buhari, who was declared winner of the 2015 presidential election, was operating from his private residence in the Asokoro area of Abuja before leaving the FCT for Daura where he took part in the Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

He spent an extra one week in Daura receiving guests, both local and foreign before leaving for Kaduna where he received another set of guests including former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

On Tuesday, the President elect played host to the ECOWAS chairman and President of Ghana, John Mahama at the Defence House before leaving for his campaign headquarters where he received a delegation from Kogi and Kwara States.

The Spokesman of the All Progressive Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Garba Shehu, told The Nation that the Defence House has been made available to the President elect for his official engagements.

“Yes, the Defence House was handed over a few days ago after its renovation,” Shehu said in a text message when asked if the Defence House is now the operational base of the President elect.

NATION

The 4 Essentials to Building Your Brand on Social Media.

Whether you want to sell products, gain subscribers, persuade followers to a point or sway the hearts and minds of readers to your cause, they’ve got to know who you are in the first place.

Your ability to encourage any of these actions comes from your brand’s authority — and one of the best ways to build that is through the savvy use of social media. In fact, recent research from Econsultancy shows that 71 percent of brands plan to invest more heavily in social media in the coming year to reach new followers and build brand reputation. 

Want to join their ranks and become known in your industry? Here’s everything you need to know about using social media to build your brand:

1. Choose networks that support your brand image.

According to Convince and Convert, 22 percent of Americans use social media multiple times a day, making it one of the best mediums on which to build your brand. There are literally hundreds of social networks out there, but most of them aren’t worth investing your time and energy.

Instead, find the platforms that support your brand image, taking the following factors into consideration:

• Facebook is by the far the best platform for promoting brand awareness, as nearly three quarters of Americans adults use the site. Facebook is a great platform for promoting virtually any brand, due to its very heterogeneous user base.
• Instagram is a great option for brands that rely heavily on images, such as clothing companies and retailers. It’s also particularly effective for reaching young adults, Hispanics and African Americans.
• While Google+ hasn’t taken off as well as many people predicted, it can be a great platform to reach men in the technology industry, as two-thirds of the network’s users are men, most of whom work in engineering or other technical professions.
• Pinterest is an excellent social network to reach women, especially for brands selling jewelry or clothing.
• Finally, if you operate a business-to-business company, LinkedIn is a stronger choice for promoting business-related content and connecting with other corporate influencers.

2. Provide valuable and shareable content.

It should go without saying, but you’ll create a much stronger brand reputation if you focus on creating useful content that viewers will want to share, rather than cranking out content to meet arbitrary publishing calendars or that covers subjects only you’d want to read.

Keep the following principles in mind as you craft content for social sharing:

• Every single piece of content you share should support your brand image. Remember, humor can be difficult to pull off. If you can use memes effectively, they can be powerful brand-building tools. But if you aren’t 100 percent sure how your audience will respond to your image, resist the temptation to create memes or engage in clickbait strategies that have the potential to reflect poorly on your company.
• Figure out which content is most likely to gain visibility on your social networks. Images may resonate better with your audience than blog posts, but you won’t know that if you don’t look at your data.
• Don’t be afraid to use visual content. Articles with images receive 94 percent more views. Twitter content with images receives nearly twice as many views as text posts, even though there are seven times more text posts on Twitter.

One of the easiest ways to create content for deployment on social media profiles that’ll support your brand building efforts is to see what types of posts others have been successful with and put together your own, better versions.

Say, for example, that one of your competitors has received good social traction with a blog post titled “12 Strategies for Increasing Website Traffic.”

Instead of wasting your time building content around unproven topics, you could release a stronger content piece on this same subject. For instance, you could put together a post titled “102 Strategies for Increasing Website Traffic,” or you could go through your competitor’s list of techniques and put together your own guide that goes into more depth on how to put these principles into action.

To find the content pieces that are performing well in your industry, use tools such as BuzzSumo and sort based on past social engagement. To learn more about implementing this technique, check out the Backlinko blog’s guide on the subject.

3. Leverage influencers.

Publishing killer content to your social profiles is important, but it’s only one part of the equation. If you have a relatively unknown brand, your voice is likely getting lost in the noise. While you can eventually build your own audience through the creation of great content, this strategy is going to take time.

A much faster approach is to leverage the audiences existing influencers in your industry have already built. There are a few different ways you can do this:

• Mention their names or cite their websites in your content pieces. Influencers with Google Alerts or other notifications set up on their names will see your content after it’s published.
• Tag any influencers you’ve referenced when sharing content to your social media profiles.
• Email influencers after you’ve published your content to let them know they’ve been referenced in your work.

The goal of all these different actions is to get them to share your content piece with their followers via social networking. It can take time to build up the kinds of relationships that lead to influencer sharing, but if you’re consistent about producing quality content, your efforts will get noticed.

4. Use social campaigns to promote content.

Finally, keep in mind that, in an age of diminishing organic reach, paid campaigns — especially those run through native advertising platforms — may be one of your better options for building your brand on social networks.

A growing number of brands use strategies such as contests and other social media campaigns to successfully gain visibility and generate leads.

To take advantage of this effect, provide your audience with valuable incentives that encourage user participation and make sure that your campaigns offers value to all participants.

While social media is one of the most powerful ways to reach new leads, it’s easy to waste time or alienate people if you don’t use it appropriately. That’s what makes having a sound social media strategy in place so important.

If you make it a priority to consistently share great content and leverage the power of existing social media influencers, your brand building efforts are bound to pay off in the long-run.

by AARON AGIUS for ENTREPRENEUR

 

Tam David-West: “I wish to correct a wrong impression. N40 pump fuel price is my figure, not Buhari’s.”

FORMER Petroleum Minister and Professor of Virology, Professor Tam David-West, has said there was never a time the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), said he would reduce the pump price of fuel to N40 per litre as reported some days ago.

The don, who spoke with Vanguard in his residence in Ibadan, explained that the N40 per litre was his own preferred pump fuel price and should not have been attributed to  Buhari.

He said: “I wish to correct a wrong impression carried in the newspapers, entitled, “Buhari’ll reduce petrol to N40-David West.” I did not make such categorical statement and I’m sure that Gen. Buhari will agree with me that I could not have made such a categorical statement.

“Gen. Buhari and I have said it times without number that the phenomenon called subsidy is fraudulent. N40 per litre is my own figure which I have repeatedly used in all my write-ups and interviews.”

However, while alluding to a comment made by a Texas professor, who said petrol should sell for N35 per litre, he said it was possible for the price of fuel to be reduced drastically if all four refineries were serviced to produce at maximum capacity, adding that for now, the refineries were performing at minimum capacity.

One of the antidotes that could make life more comfortable for Nigerians, he said, was the complete removal of middlemen who import fuel, noting that fuel importation must stop.

“Nigeria can go directly to refinery owners. We have done it before during Buhari’s time.”  When asked if he could serve in the petroleum sector if invited or recommend anyone who could be of service to Nigerians, the erudite professor said it was God “who directs him and leads him on what to do next.

“In 1990, I wrote on sabotage theory of Nigeria’s refineries which was published by Vanguard. Our refineries can work, but some people sabotage the refineries. It is not because we don’t have Nigerians who can repair it and turn things around. If that fails, the people who built refineries can repair it. If people in government do it, there will be no more importation of fuel.

“I respect Gen. Buhari because he has much integrity and I believe that he would be a good leader. It is true that expectations of Nigerians are very high. No new leader can perform miracles. People should give him time and conducive atmosphere to perform. I don’t believe in 100 days in office, it is nonsense. If you are packing from one house to a new one, will 100 days be enough to settle down. How do you expect a sudden turn-around within 100 days when so much damage has been done for years.

“But, it will not take too long before Nigeria would experience that change they crave for. Between the first six months and one year, people would feel that positive change,” he said.

On the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan at the polls, he said he felt so happy that he lost, adding, “I have never supported him and I will not support him because I am an Ijaw man. His policies are very bad,” he maintained

VANGUARD