PINK REPUBLIC/ MY BLOG IS A STORY MARATHON.

     Coalition of Union Against Corruption, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, today in Lafia, Nasarawa State, embarked on a Road Walk in support of the activities of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, under the leadership of Ibrahim Magu. The Road Walk was led by Bashir Mohammed Jabiru, one of the co-convener of the programme.More photos below

      The Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday disclosed that the Federal Government had saved N68 billion on personnel cost in 2017. This brings the aggregate savings by the Government on personnel cost since 2007 to date to N288 billion. The Minister made this disclosure during her presentation of "Status Update on the Implementation of Federal Executive Council (FEC) Approved Projects" at the Council's meeting. The FEC meeting was presided over by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari. The savings, Adeosun explained, were funds that would have otherwise gone unaccounted for which, she added, were now free for the Government to fund capital projects. She said the savings were achieved despite increased in personnel, including the employment of 10,000 by the Nigerian Police. She confirmed that a total of 511 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had been captured under the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Info...

      Gloria Ernest Samuel, took to Facebook on Wednesday, March 14, to celebrate her housemaid of 13 years, who recently gained admission into a higher institution. Read her post below... I am proud of us... On 17th February, 2005, my husband brought her home as my house help. She was smaller than l wanted. I needed a much bigger girl, but the mum could only allow her as the elder sister was elsewhere. The only option was to manage her, but managing meant that l had to nurse her as she was too small to even wash her own clothes, the breakable kitchenwares etc. It wasn't also easy to raise a child with certain orientations. But l tried. When the task became too tedious, I packaged her home, but the father gave us a mind boggling question: if she is your daughter, will you throw her away? Please, train her as yours. I want her different. As stunning as that question sounded, l thank God that l took that challenge seriously and to my heart. I teach, I scream, I pl...

    Yesterday , The Queen visited the Royal Academy of Arts to officially open the new Burlington Gardens building and mark the Academy's 250th anniversary. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768 by King George III as a place to promote the appreciation and practise of the visual arts and architecture through exhibitions, education and debate. To this day, The Queen continues as the Academy's 'Patron, Protector and Supporter'. The Queen views the   Royal Academy of Arts   latest exhibition 'Charles I: King and Collector' - many items have been lent by the   Royal Collection Trust . Her Majesty meets Sir David Chipperfield RA who designed the new Royal Academy Burlington Gardens Building. The Queen unveiled the first painting to be displayed in the new building - a self-portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first President of the Royal Academy. The Queen is shown some George III paperwork, including the 'Instrument of Foundation', which was signe...

      Ekiti State Governor, Chief Ayodele Fayose, has said he intervened in the crisis that rocked the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti recently even though it is a federal institution because of the need to defend the interest of the people. According to the governor, corporate interest must be placed above personal or even political consideration. He stated this in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday when members of the board and the management team of the hospital paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House. In a press release by the governor's Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, the governor also reiterated the call that the Federal Government should include nominees of host state governments in the boards and councils of federal institutions, saying that would facilitate flow of information and cooperation. "What is important is Nigeria and our people. Public interest is the ultimate and we must protect it. The Federal Government should find states imp...

           The directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to all security agencies to do everything possible to secure the release of the Dapchi schoolgirls, who were abducted 19 Feb. 2018, has yielded fruits, with the confirmed release of 76 of the 110 abducted students in the early hours of Wednesday. In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the 76 are those who have been documented so far, adding that the release of the abducted students is ongoing. He said the girls were released around 3 a.m. through back-channel efforts and with the help of some friends of the country, and that it was unconditional. ''For the release to work, the government had a clear understanding that violence and confrontation would not be the way out as it could endanger the lives of the girls, hence a non-violent approach was the preferred option. ''Within the period when the girls were being broug...

     The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, 20 March, 2018, arraigned Leeroy Egebe, (alias Amedeo Dante William, Alhassan Davide) before Justice E. A. Obile of the Federal High Court, sitting in Warri, Delta State on an 8-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of $18,023.96 (Eigteen Thousand, Twenty- Three Hundred Dollars, Ninety- Six Cent. Ege be's troubles began when one Vivian Varotto-Guigoz, a citizen of Switzerland, petitoned the EFCC alleging that she met one Amedeo William Dante (the defendant) who claimed to be an Italian living in the United Kingdom on a social dating site called “Badoo”. They became lovers, exchanging emotions and later cash. She alleged that on several occasions, between 12 May and 14 October, 2015, she wired a total sum of CHF 196,701,44 and EUR 15, 957.43 to different individuals in the United Kingdom, Canada and Nigeria at the request of Dante, for sundry reasons...

      President Muhmmadu Buhari is presently presiding over the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meeting, at the Council Chamber, State House, Abuja.More photos below.

      The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) released a Press Statement entitled: 'FAAN AUTOMATES PSC COLLECTION.'. It reads in part: "As part of efforts aimed at easing passenger facilitation at the nation's airports, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has automated the collection of Passenger Service Charge at her local airports. This is in line with the directive by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Ease of Doing Business, that check-in procedures at the airports be streamlined to improve the facilitation of passengers. With this development, the use of the Passenger Service Charge sticker at the departure gate was discontinued with effect from Monday 19th March,2018. Henceforth, departing passengers who have checked-in prior to arrival at the airport can proceed directly to the boarding gates".