Trouble in federal civil service over employment racketeering

A report shown that some top Federal Civil Servants have been fired for allegedly extorting about N160million from desperate job seekers.

The deal was carried out in one of the parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture during the last dispensation, it was revealed yesterday.

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed said the dismissed officials collected N400, 000 each from 400 people whose names were then included in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel System (IPPIS), according to The Nation.

Mohammed, at a meeting with On-Air-Personalities in continuation of his five-day consultations with critical stakeholders in the media industry, said the culprits included Grade Level 17 officers in  the parastatal.

“The first scandal I met in one of the parastatals when I assumed office was the illegal employment of 400 people,” he said.

“This scandal started with very senior officers up to level 17 in that department. They sent out letters and text messages asking people to apply for jobs for a fee of N400, 000 and they were given letters of employment.

“They did not stop there. They invited these people to go and be captured on the IPPIS and they even took cameras to hotels to get them captured. At the end of the day the bubble burst.

“One of the victims told these officials, ‘you cannot take my money and still disengage me. I have a valid letter.’

“That was how we got to know that there was a dedicated account these people paid into. Of course, we dismissed these officials and we even handed them over to the Police,“ the Minster said.

Mohammed said that the incident showed how faulty the IPPIS was and how it had been compromised by unscrupulous elements.

He said that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was doing all it could to make the IPPIS tamper-proof and guide it from people who might want to load ghost workers on it.

He described On-Air Personalities as very important in the media industry and urged them to leverage on their platforms to educate the people on government`s policies.

The minister said the current war against corruption was a war of survival for the nation and urged all Nigerians to give it the necessary support.

Only last week, Communications and Technology Minister   Adebayo Shittu, suspended the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack indefinitely for “misconduct”.

The suspension, according to Minister’s Special Assistant on Media Victor Oluwadamilare, was on the strength of petitions over alleged wrong doings in NITDA and subsequent preliminary findings of an Investigative Committee set up by the Ministry.

Oluwadamilare said: “The petitions against Mr Jack relate to illegal employments not approved by the appropriate authority and procurements carried out in direct contraventions of laid down rules and procedure unknown to Civil Service administration in Nigeria.”

He added:” Some of the infractions identified by the Investigative Committee made up of three senior Ministry officials include unauthorised illegal recruitment of additional staff totalling 245 within a spate of seven months.

“According to the Committee’s startling findings, “as at 29th May, 2015, NITDA only had a staff complement of 74. But from May, 2015 to 31st December, 2015, additional 245 staff were employed in questionable circumstances despite clear instruction from the Ministry directing suspension of employment in the Agency.

“These disclosure were deduced from the records provided by Mr. Jack, although he was unable to provide concrete information on whose authority he embarked on the massive recruitment and who granted him the authority for officials to be seconded to NITDA from other MDAs,” the statement added.

“Prior to this development, the suspended DG was specifically directed by the Ministry not to embark on a recruitment exercise purported to have been scheduled for 17th December, 2015, but he defiantly went ahead to recruit without authority.”

Soon after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in May last year, the federal government suspended the last recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) conducted on the directives of the immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan between March and April 2015.

The Board of Prisons, Immigration, Civil Defence and the Fire Service directed immediate suspension of every activity related to the recruitment until further notice.

The NIS headquarters instructed State Commands and heads of training institutes to recall newly recruited persons sent for training at the Immigration Service Training Schools at Orlu, Kano and Ahoada.

During the now suspended employment exercise, less than 5,000 Nigerians, including candidates of families that lost loved ones in the botched 2014 recruitment that resulted in the death of about 15 applicants were enlisted and sent for training to become personnel of the service.

Wenger run will be Unique - Hiddink

Chelsea interim boss Guus Hiddink thinks no Premier League manager will be given the same amount of time that Arsene Wenger has had at Arsenal.

Wenger, 66, has been in charge of the Gunners for nearly 20 years and has won the Premier League title three times.

However, the Frenchman went eight seasons without a trophy before lifting the FA Cup in both the last two years.

"He might be one of the last to sit on the chair that long," said Hiddink, who is in his second spell at Chelsea.

"Him being in charge in those years without a title means there is a lot of confidence from the board. It's always good to have men who have a long period at a club."

In the 19-and-a-half years Wenger has been at Arsenal, Chelsea have changed their manager 12 times - and won the Premier League title on four occasions.

Asked why Wenger's longevity might be a thing of the past, Hiddink, who replaced Jose Mourinho after he was sacked in December, added: "I don't know why. Maybe the instant result is required.

"It depends on the club, on the philosophy and the calmness of a club."

Arsenal entertain Chelsea on Sunday and will return to the top of the Premier League with a win, although the Gunners have not beaten the Blues in eight Premier League games, a run stretching back to October 2011.

But Wenger is still talking down their chances of winning the league for the first time since 2003-04.

"Sixteen games to go is a long way. Sixteen games in some countries is the championship," said Wenger.

"I believe we have a strong spirit but spirit is a bit like the weather in England. It can change very quickly. And we have to take care of that."

With BBC

Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) pointed Nigerians in the wrong direction - Audu Ogbe

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, has blamed the poor run of Nigeria’s economy on the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) introduced by former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida according to Channel Television.

He disclosed this during an interview in Otukpo, Benue State, at the flag off of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Benue South Senatorial re-run election campaign for its candidate, Mr Daniel Onjeh.

The Agric and Rural Development Minister, who blamed Nigeria’s over-reliance on crude oil, claimed that the Structural Adjustment Programme pointed Nigerians in the wrong direction.

He advised Nigerian youths to take advantage of the oil crisis in other to diversify into Agriculture and non-oil sectors.

Ogbeh also expressed concern over the high rate of unemployment among Nigerian youths with the advice that they take up opportunities being created in the agric-sector, in other to earn themselves legitimate sources of livelihood.

Deadly snowstorm buries much of US East Coast

The massive winter storm that's clobbered the East Coast is heading out to the Atlantic, but the problems it caused aren't over.

Crews are scrambling to clear the roads before the work week starts.

But while the sun and rising temperatures expected in some areas Sunday may help cleanup efforts, meteorologists are worried about ice, which could make roads more hazardous.

And on the New Jersey coast, flooding is a major concern as residents keep a wary eye on rising waters.

The storm has brought more than 3 feet of snow to some areas, killed 14 people, grounded thousands of flights and shut down travel in the nation's largest city.

But snowfall in most of the major cities affected will likely finish early Sunday morning, except for some isolated flurries, CNN meteorologist Sean Morris said.

Jason Pellegrini woke up Saturday morning at his home in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, expecting to see flooding. But when he looked outside, he saw none.

"Then no more than 15 minutes later, I heard commotion out my window and I looked and I saw the raging water," he said. " It came in to the low-lying areas and it rushed fast, and it was like a tsunami."

The restaurant Pellegrini owns was damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but he says this surge came from the back bay and bodies of water to Sea Isle's west rather than from the ocean.

"It was overwhelming," Pellegrini said. "I rushed to move my car to higher ground, and by the time I got back I was in waist-deep water."

Coastal flooding remains a big concern for much of New Jersey due to the timing of the storm.

It hit during a full moon, which means high and low tides will reach their zenith and nadir for the month. Two high tides have come and gone, but a third is coming Sunday morning, during which forecasters predict more widespread flooding will occur.

After that, Pellegrini said, "I expect our town to be under considerable water."

The National Weather Service has issued a warning for the New Jersey coast until noon Sunday.

"Unfortunately we went through this a few years ago with Sandy," Pellegrini said. "I think now I'm just becoming accustomed to it."

After Sandy, sand dune walls were built to help keep water from flooding ashore.

They worked well during this storm, helping to push back waves that were as high as 20 feet, said Vincent Jones with the Atlantic County Office of Emergency Preparedness.

"They are basically the first line of defense," he said.

Margate City, just down the coast from Atlantic City, was also affected.

"In a lot of our business areas and our back bay areas, water is coming over the bulkhead in a lot of the same areas as Hurricane Sandy hit," Lt. Matt Hankinson of the Margate City Police Department said. "Some areas I would say it's thigh- to waist-deep."

Farther south in North Wildwood, the high tide was much higher than anticipated and caught many of the town's 5,000 year-round residents off guard -- with flooding levels that actually exceeded those during Hurricane Sandy, said Patrick Rosenello, the city's mayor.

"We had a lot of evacuations, a lot of people who had stayed in their homes not anticipating this, needing to be rescued," Rosenello said.

Most of the city was without electricity, he said, and the phones at the emergency dispatch center were jammed all day.

The National Weather Service said "significant" beach erosion was likely. Rosenello said Saturday's flooding "devastated" the dune system.

"There's going to be major cleanup. There's going to have to be major renovations," Rosenello said.

At least 14 people have died as a result of the storm -- six in North Carolina, three in Virginia, one in Kentucky, three in New York City and one in Maryland.

And New York's Central Park, Baltimore's Thurgood Marshall International Airport and both major airports in Washington all broke daily snowfall records Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the blizzard will almost certainly rank among New York City's "top five snowstorms" in recorded history in terms of snow accumulation.

"I've never seen snow like this," said Luis Abraham Garcia, a doctoral student from Mexico City, as he trudged along snowy sidewalks with his suitcase.

With CNN

Manchester United job: Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has written a six-page letter to the United board

Jose Mourinho has written to Manchester United to state his case to become the club's next manager, according to a report in the Independent on Sunday.

The newspaper states that former Chelsea manager Mourinho has sent United a six-page letter in which he outlines why he would be a suitable fit for the position, which is currently occupied by under-pressure Dutchman Louis van Gaal.

United declined to comment on the report when contacted.

Mourinho left Chelsea in December after a poor start to the season, despite his team winning the Barclays Premier League in the previous campaign.

According to the report, Mourinho explains in the letter how he would be prepared to adapt his style of management to suit the demands at Old Trafford, and how he would seek to overhaul the squad.

The 52-year-old Portuguese's fondness for United is well known and he has been linked with the job before, but United chose David Moyes to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and Van Gaal to come in a year later.

As well as two spells at Chelsea, Mourinho has previously bossed Porto, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

After he departed Chelsea before Christmas, Blues coach Steve Holland predicted Mourinho would want to soon be back involved in the game at the highest level.

'He's a guy who needs and wants football,' said Holland. 'There will be clubs and big clubs who will want him.

'And he's not in my opinion the sort of guy who's going to spend six, seven, eight months sitting at home doing nothing in particular.'

Pressure mounted on Van Gaal after United's 1-0 defeat to Southampton on Saturday, which left the Red Devils five points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.

With Mailonline

Villagers discover 'plane debris' washed up on Thailand beach

Discovery: The large piece of curved metal (pictured) washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, according to a local officia

A piece of suspected plane wreckage has been found on a beach in southern Thailand, prompting speculation it might belong to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

The large piece of curved metal washed ashore in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, according to a local official. 

Villagers discovered the piece of metal and reported it to the authorities to help identify it, said Tanyapat Patthikongpan, head of Pak Phanang district.

'Villagers found the wreckage, measuring about 2metres wide and 3metres long (6.6 by 9.8 feet),' he said.

The find has sparked speculation in the Thai media that the debris could belong to MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.

There has been no official confirmation that the wreckage belongs to a plane. 

The barnacle-covered piece of metal has some identifying features, which should help narrow down whether or not it came from a plane.

The number ‘323’ is printed near its ragged edge, as pointed out by the villagers. Elsewhere, the numbers ‘307’ and ‘308’ are printed.

On the reverse side of the shard, a red wire can be seen dangling over what appears to be a serial number ‘SG5773-1’.

The edges of the piece of metal appear to reveal a 'honeycomb' structure, which is widely used in aircraft and rockets due to its light weight. 

According to Patthikongpan, local fishermen said it could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging by the barnacles on it.

Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course.

Most of those on board the fated flight were Chinese. Beijing said it was following developments closely. 

Lingering uncertainty surrounding the fate of the plane has tormented the families of those on board. Some have said even the discovery of debris would still not solve the mystery. 

It is the second wave of speculation about the missing passenger jet this month, after search teams mistook a 200-year-old shipwreck in the Indian Ocean for the plane wreckage. 

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), based in western Australia, located the large metal object, which looked eerily similar to the fuselage of a plane, using an underwater sonar vessel. 

The search for the plane is due to end in June this year, despite the Chinese relatives pleading for it to be expanded.

Elsewhere, French prosecutors confirmed ‘with certainty’ in September that a wing part found on a remote Indian Ocean island was from missing flight MH370.

Tests were carried out on the flaperon, which was found on La Reunion in July, by the French body responsible for civil aviation accident investigations.

At the time of the discovery on the French territory last month, Malaysian officials said it was 'almost certain' the wing flap came from a Boeing 777 – the same model as the Malaysian airlines jet.

The 6ft-long wing flap washed up 3,500 miles from the doomed jet's last-known location, fuelling hopes across the world that one of aviation's greatest mysteries could finally be solved.  

Some families have previously said that they do not necessarily believe their family members have died. Rather, they said, they believed the passengers were being held prisoner somewhere for an unknown reason.

With daily mail

Ancient village: Inside 3,000-year-old 'lost world'

Bronze Age Village

"It feels almost rude to be intruding. It doesn't feel like archaeology any more. It feels like somebody's house has burned down and we're going in and picking over their goods," Mark Knight says.

Knight is the director of a remarkable project: the excavation of the best-preserved Bronze Age village ever found in Britain.

Lost deep in the marshlands of eastern England, in a clay quarry not far from a frozen french fry factory, the Must Farm site is yielding secrets from 3,000 years ago.

Two newly discovered Bronze Age dwellings provide an extraordinary insight into the domestic life of our ancestors.

These large, circular, wooden houses, built on stilts above water, would have been home to several families.

The settlement, dating to 1200 to 800 BCE -- the end of the Bronze Age -- was destroyed by a dramatic fire and collapsed into the river, preserving the contents in situ and in an astonishing condition.

As a result, archaeologists are finding rare small cups, bowls and jars, even a cooking pot containing a wooden spoon and the remains of grainy porridge, which suggests the last meal in the house was abandoned as the owners fled the fire.

"We are learning more about the food our ancestors ate, and the pottery they used to cook and serve it. We can also get an idea of how different rooms were used," says Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, a government agency helping to fund the work.

Literally following the preserved footprints found on the site, we encounter glass beads forming part of an elaborate necklace and exceptional textiles made from plant fibers such as lime tree bark. These were obviously relatively wealthy families.

Clearly visible are the well-preserved charred roof timbers of one of the roundhouses, timbers with tool marks and a perimeter of wooden posts fencing off the settlement.

The finds, taken together, provide a fuller picture of prehistoric life in Britain than we have ever had before.

"It is a window of opportunity to explore this lost world," Knight says.

1,200-year-old Viking sword discovered by hiker.

The site came to light in 1999 when a local man, Martin Redding, spotted a wooden post on the side of a disused quarry. After 15 years of intermittent research, the current dig started in September and will continue through March.

Once the digging is complete and further analysis and conservation has been done, the findings will be displayed at Peterborough Museum and at other local venues.

The enterprise is being co-funded by brick manufacturer Forterra, which owns the Must Farm quarry.

The site, the exact location of which we've been asked not to reveal in order to protect it, is 1,100 square meters and 2 meters (6 feet) below the modern ground surface.

Knight and his colleagues suggest there is much more to be discovered as work continues over the coming months.

"The roof of the building collapsed, and what's fantastic is that there is a sort of hump beneath that center, which suggests the contents of the building are underneath the roof as well. So over the next few weeks we will take the roof away and see what's underneath," Knight says excitedly.

A human skull has already been found on the site. In the coming weeks, we might learn how the fire started -- and find out what happened to the people in those houses.

With CNN

Man Utd fans are right to boo me - LVG

United failed to score a first-half goal for the 11th home game in a row, before Charlie Austin got the winner in the 87th minute.

United are fifth in the Premier League, five points behind fourth-placed Tottenham and 10 off leaders Leicester.

"They are right to boo. I cannot deny that, I saw the match," said Van Gaal.

"For better or for worse we have to stick together," added the Dutchman after his side's six league defeat of the season.

United have taken 37 points from their first 23 games, their lowest total in the Premier League era and three points fewer than under David Moyes during the 2013/14 season.

Van Gaal added: "We are working very hard, but we have had a lot of injuries. That you cannot change."

On Saturday, United were without Ashley Young, who Van Gaal says faces "a long time" out with a serious groin injury, and lost fellow defender Matteo Darmian mid-way through the second-half following a clash with Shane Long.

Van Gaal revealed that the Italian was "spitting blood" after leaving the pitch and had gone to hospital.

If the 26-year-old is now sidelined it will leave United without a fit senior full-back, with Luke Shaw still out after suffering a double fracture of his right leg last September.

With BBC Sport