THE CRIES OF THE MARGINALISED: A CASE OF THE PROSPECTIVE 2017 NDDC FOREIGN POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES

THE CRIES OF THE MARGINALISED: A CASE OF THE PROSPECTIVE 2017 NDDC FOREIGN POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in May, 2017 advertised on its website the 2017 NDDC Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship and called for application from suitably qualified candidates in the 9 (nine) NDDC states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers, who gained admissions to pursue MSc. and PhD degrees overseas in diverse professional fields that could contribute to rapid development of the oil producing region and curb youth restiveness. The commission invited shortlisted candidates for the Computer Based Test (CBT) in July, 2017 at the Rivers State University, Nkpolu, Portharcourt, Nigeria. Barely a week after the conclusion of the CBT, candidates who met the commission’s prescribed cut-off mark were invited for an oral interview at the Golden Tulip Hotel, GRA, Portharcout, Nigeria. The candidates were requested to bring along both originals and photocopies of credentials and other specified documents. Successful candidates in the exercise were expected to resume full academic work by September, 2017 in different institutions across the globe. While prospective scholars were waiting for the release of the list of successful awardees, to their utmost surprise, the management of the Commission announced the suspension of the exercise citing non-payment of previous scholars as the reason behind their action. Prospective scholars in the 2017 NDDC Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship accepted the development until January, 2018 when it was gathered that the payments have been made to the scholars.

Candidates who participated in the oral interview were supposed to be paid transport stipend of N10, 000.00 (Ten Thousand Naira) only (about USD 27.80) on the day of the interview. However, they were asked to provide their account details for the payments to be made after the approval of the NDDC budget of 2017 as alleged by the Commission. Several months elapsed; nothing was heard from the Commission, until on March 19, 2018, messages were sent out through emails with a link requesting for bank information for payment of the transport stipend. The details were supplied by the affected candidates. It was on May 4, 2018 that candidates received the sum of N 8, 450.00 (Eight Thousand, Four Hundred and Fifty Naira) only (about USD 23.49) from Marg Education International Limited, Portharcout, Nigeria as against the earlier N10, 000.00 agreed by NDDC. Many were confused and had even wanted to formally report to their various banks that the transactions were made in error until it was confirmed that the deposits were made by Marg Education International Limited on behalf of NDDC after tax deductions as alleged.

The MD/CEO of NDDC in the person of Mr. Nsima U. Ekere had earlier promised as published in the NDDC website that every issues relating to the NDDC scholarship scheme will be concluded by May, 2018 in order to enable scholars resume studies fully by September, 2018. May has come and gone, the story remained unchanged. This has amounted to about 12 (twelve) months the Commission started the process of 2017 NDDC Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship. There are so many speculations and rumours surrounding the credibility of the purported exercise, considering the fact that other Federal Government of Nigeria agencies and commissions that organise similar scholarship programme concluded their 2017 scholarship programmes and successful candidates left the shores of Nigeria to study in various institutions abroad. Some of the scholarship awarding agencies are almost concluding their 2018 scholarship scheme; yet, NDDC has not released the list of successful candidates in their 2017 scholarship scheme let alone mobilising them for onward movement overseas even though the 2017 budget was approved long ago and the 2018 budget passed by the legislative chambers waiting for the presidential assent. Previous scholars have been complaining of gross negligence by the commission and some are almost at the verge of being sent back due to irregular payment of tuition fees and living expenses by the Commission.

2017 candidates of NDDC foreign postgraduate scholarship scheme are requesting that; 1) The commission under the control of Senator Victor Ndoma Egba as chairman and Mr Nsima U. Ekere as MD/CEO should release the long awaited 2017 list of successful candidates for the award of the foreign postgraduate scholarship.

2) Investigation be carried out on the credibility or otherwise of the list of candidates captured in the 2017 scholarship scheme. This has become necessary due to the very long delay in the conclusion of an exercise that was started 12 (twelve) months ago. It is alleged that the Commission has sent some “scholars” abroad through the “back door”. This should be verified once the list is released. This could be done by confirming from the institutions where all the scholars whose names appeared on the list as to when he/she resumed studies, when was the tuition fees paid and who made the initial and subsequent payments of the fees.

3) The Commission should ensure that all the benefits due to the qualified beneficiaries of the 2017 NDDC Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship and those of previous scholars be paid and on time hence forth.

Senator Melaye speaks on arrest, alleged escape from police van

Senator Dino Melaye has reacted to his arrest by the police - Melaye was reported to have jumped off police van on Tuesday, April 24 when he was being taken to Kogi state 
The senator's media aide, Gideon Ayodele, said Melaye did not deserve to be forcibly taken to Kogi state to stand trial in a slew of criminal indictments

The senator representing Kogi state west at the Senate, Dino Melaye, has explained the events leading to his reported escape from a moving police vehicle that landed him in a hospital in Abuja on Tuesday, April 24.

Premium Times reports that in a statement signed by Melaye's media aide, Gideon Ayodele, on Wednesday, April 25, said the senator voluntarily submitted himself to the police and, therefore, did not deserve to be forcibly taken to Kogi state to stand trial in a slew of criminal indictments that include murder and armed robbery.

Ayodele said: “Earlier in the morning, Senator Dino Melaye as a law-abiding citizen voluntarily submitted himself to the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who had laid siege to his private residence since around 3.35pm of Monday, April 23. “He, along with his lawyers and personal aides, was driven in his private car to the SARS office in Guzape district of Abuja, sandwiched among the numerous police vehicles earlier deployed to his house." "But shortly after Melaye entered the police custody in Abuja, officers dragged him in a vehicle and headed towards Lokoja, the Kogi state capital which also falls under his Kogi west senatorial district. "Melaye feared that his life would be in danger if taken to Lokoja, amongst other alleged sinister motives of both the police and the state government there. "The senator also refused to go to Lokoja because he had previously secured a court relief for the case to be moved to Abuja. “The public will vividly recall that this same case involving Senator Dino Melaye had already been transferred to Abuja by the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court after Senator Melaye expressed worry about his safety in Lokoja. "Now, the question is why will they want to forcefully take him to Lokoja?

The Senator believes they are doing the Kogi Governor’s bidding in order to assassinate him.” The aide said the police have never written to Melaye contrary to their claims in the media. “For the avoidance of doubt, he had never evaded police invitation before now because there was none extended to him in the first place. Rather, what the Police FPRO, Jimoh Moshood, had been doing was to summon the Senator through media briefings, a practice which is unconventional,” he said. While it wasn’t clear whether or not the police wrote to Melaye as a person, Premium Times reported last month that the police wrote to Senate President Bukola Saraki requesting for permission to grill Melaye over the criminal cases allegedly linked to him.

The police had explained that they wrote to Saraki and the Clerk of the National Assembly for permission to interrogate Melaye after some arrested criminal suspects named the senator their financier and armed supplier. The police accused Melaye of frustrating all attempts to get him in for interrogation, although the senator denied this and all other criminal allegations against him. After some of the suspects escaped from police custody, the police launched a nationwide manhunt and added Melaye amongst the suspects who were at large.

The police also said Melaye and other suspects had been placed on the Interpol red alert, but Interpol later distanced itself from the claim and said Melaye would not be placed on its watch list because of the political undertone of his case. Ayodele said family members and political associates of the senator are traumatised by his ordeal. He also said his principal did not jump out of a moving police vehicle as reported in the media based on witnesses’ accounts. But he failed to say how Melaye managed to escape from the police vehicle before he started writhing on the ground as captured in viral videos.

The police’s account was that Melaye escaped through the window of their vehicle, but this was readily disputed considering that the senator is over six-feet tall and by every account quite a large individual. Melaye had been at the hospital since Tuesday, April 24, although the police said they have re-arrested and planned to take him to Lokoja to stand trial. Ayodele said the scene created on Tuesday was “a last resort by Senator Dino Melaye in order foil attempt to kidnap him and kill him by agents of Kogi state governor in connivance with the police.”

Although Kogi state Governor Yahaya Bello and Melaye have been in bitter political rivalry in the state, the governor strongly denied involvement in the criminal allegations the police slammed on the senator.

SECRET REVEALED: How to Last Longer in bed

How To Make Sex Last

When it comes to sex, men and women are wired quite differently. While the man is happy to be Usain Bolt, the women prefer it if they were more akin to Lance Armstrong. Either ways, the duration bit is definitely one of the most difficult sync ups there are. Is there an in-between, a proverbial road less travelled, which will somehow prolong your time in the sack with your partner? There are several ways in which this can be done, their results may vary from person to person, and may be you might need to find one or a combination of a few ways to see what suits you best. 

Woman on Top: While this hasn’t been scientifically proven, the woman on top position is said (according to many men’s and women’s health websites) to prolong intercourse. Also, this position helps the woman control the depth and tempo of the act, and is quite the power trip (if that’s is your kind of thing).

Long, relaxed foreplay: Adopt what some love gurus call the gradual build-up technique. That’s just fancy talk for ‘don’t-rip-his/her-clothes-off-instead-indulge-in some-heavy-petting’. Indulge your more devious side with some roleplay, get a little more experimentative with erotic painting, or try something that will turn him on like a massageor something a bit more daring.

Administer the delay gel: If you’re tired of your man just rolling over after he’s had his fill (so to speak), you might want to take matters into your own hands (figuratively speaking). Talk about using a delay gel, a product whose active ingredient is benzocaine, which desensitises the member in question and makes him go longer. That being said this isn’t a cure for the problem, but more of a short term quick fix. 

Aphrodisiacal allure: Aphrodisiacs like champagne, oysters and strawberries maybe placebos at best, but they sure set the mood for a long, luxuriant evening or session in the sack.

Massage and candles: Who wouldn’t want to be pampered by a naughty masseuse, especially if the massageculminates in something a whole lot steamier. Set the ambience with aromatherapy candles and oils and volunteer to massage him (read erotically, into a state of sheer bliss.) 

Remember that sexual satisfaction is a two way street and helping each other achieve fulfillment is the way to go to prolong every lovemaking session.

*Data Courtesy: Samir Saraiya, CEO, that's personal

How to Last Longer in bed

How To Make Sex Last

When it comes to sex, men and women are wired quite differently. While the man is happy to be Usain Bolt, the women prefer it if they were more akin to Lance Armstrong. Either ways, the duration bit is definitely one of the most difficult sync ups there are. Is there an in-between, a proverbial road less travelled, which will somehow prolong your time in the sack with your partner? There are several ways in which this can be done, their results may vary from person to person, and may be you might need to find one or a combination of a few ways to see what suits you best.

Woman on Top: While this hasn’t been scientifically proven, the woman on top position is said (according to many men’s and women’s health websites) to prolong intercourse. Also, this position helps the woman control the depth and tempo of the act, and is quite the power trip (if that’s is your kind of thing).

Long, relaxed foreplay: Adopt what some love gurus call the gradual build-up technique. That’s just fancy talk for ‘don’t-rip-his/her-clothes-off-instead-indulge-in some-heavy-petting’. Indulge your more devious side with some roleplay, get a little more experimentative with erotic painting, or try something that will turn him on like a massage or something a bit more daring.

Administer the delay gel: If you’re tired of your man just rolling over after he’s had his fill (so to speak), you might want to take matters into your own hands (figuratively speaking). Talk about using a delay gel, a product whose active ingredient is benzocaine, which desensitises the member in question and makes him go longer. That being said this isn’t a cure for the problem, but more of a short term quick fix. 

Aphrodisiacal allure: Aphrodisiacs like champagne, oysters and strawberries maybe placebos at best, but they sure set the mood for a long, luxuriant evening or session in the sack.

Massage and candles: Who wouldn’t want to be pampered by a naughty masseuse, especially if the massage culminates in something a whole lot steamier. Set the ambience with aromatherapy candles and oils and volunteer to massage him (read erotically, into a state of sheer bliss.) 

Remember that sexual satisfaction is a two way street and helping each other achieve fulfillment is the way to go to prolong every lovemaking session.

*Data Courtesy: Samir Saraiya, CEO, that's personal - India's first personal gifting website

*Image courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

Breaking: Police declare Dino Melaye wanted, place him on Interpol watchlist

The police on Wednesday, March 28, declared Dino Melaye wanted. The lawmaker was declared wanted alongside Mohammed Audu, son of a former governor of Kogi state, Abubakar Audu.

Police said the duo have also been placed on Interpol watchlist for allegedly providing false information to the police in relation to an allegation of attempted murder on Melaye’s life sometime last year, Premium Times reports. The announcement, according to the news outlet, was made in a statement signed by Ali Janga, Kogi police commissioner and distributed by the force headquarters on Wednesday, March, 28.

The Nigerian police issued a message to Senator Dino Melaye asking him to appear before it and comply with the court case against him or risk being declared wanted. The police issued this statement on Saturday, March 25 and accused the senator of deliberately ignoring the request to appear before it in spite of the message sent to him. 

The police said that two suspects who were arrested in Kogi claimed the senator gave them firearms to create social unrest. Kogi West senatorial district to recall senator Dino Melaye from the Nigerian Senate.

APC crisis: Buhari sacrifices Oyegun, Nullifies tenure extension of NWC, others

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacrificed the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the search for new formula of rebuilding the ruling party and repositioning it for 2019 general elections.

Accordingly, President Buhari at the National Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday in Abuja nullified the elongation of the tenure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Working Committee (NWC) and other executives endorsed at the February 27, 2018, NEC meeting in Abuja chaired by President Buhari, declaring it illegal.

The President stated that after due consultation, it has become necessary to overturn the NEC resolution of February 27, 2018, which endorsed tenure elongation.

The President remarked that tenure elongation breaches the constitution of the APC and Nigeria’s constitution which prescribes that everyone seeking to occupy public office must present himself for election.

President Buhari also told APC members that they must avoid actions that will lead to litigations in court which could deepen the conflicts in the ruling party.

APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was absent at the meeting. Tinubu had also on Monday cautioned APC that elongation of the tenure of Oyegun, the NWC and other executive breaches the party’s constitution.

President Buhari may have aligned with the Tinubu argument in his decision.

Polls reordering: Senate re-introduces Electoral Act amendment bill

The Senate has begun a fresh move to amend the Electoral Act 2010. A new bill on the amendment is to be presented and passed for first reading today, Tuesday, March 27, according to the Order Paper for today’s plenary, Punch reports. The first version of the bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives, had been passed by the National Assembly but vetoed by President Muhammadu Buhari. 

The bill had sought to reorder the sequence of polls during a general election, which generated controversy over the allegation that it was targeted at Buhari in the 2019 elections.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Independent National Electoral Commission have given reasons why the court should not allow the NASS to tamper with the already released sequence for the forthcoming general elections.

The NASS, through its lead counsel, Joseph Daudu queried the jurisdiction of the court to stop it from securing two-third majority to override President Buhari’s refusal to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2018, which altered the election sequence. The NASS equally challenged the locus-standi of the plaintiff to institute the action, noting that it failed to tender its Certificate of Registration to enable the court to confirm that it is a genuine political party.

We’ve Learnt From Our Mistakes, PDP Apologises To Nigerians

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Uche Secondus, has apologised to Nigerians for what he described as mistakes made while the party was in power prior to the 2015 general elections.

Giving a keynote speech on Monday, at an event in Abuja with the theme: Nation-building: Resetting The Agenda, he admitted that although the Party did its best while in government, it was not void of mistakes.

According to Secondus, the ability to admit one’s mistakes is key to moving forward especially as the Party has learnt from them.

He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to put all the party’s wrongs behind and support it in the coming elections.

He said: “I hereby admit that the People’s Democratic Party made many mistakes and it is human, we are not spirits. The ability to admit is a key for moving forward, it is a key for learning. We admit that we have made several mistakes. We also admit that by the grace of God, we have passed through all our challenges, with experience that no other party can boast of.

“Consequently, we were roundly sanctioned by Nigerians, occasioning our loss at the polls in 2015.

“Let me seize this opportunity to apologise for our past mistakes, we have learnt from our mistakes unlike the APC government,” he said.

Speaking further, the PDP National Chairman criticized the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) saying that the nation has never been more divided than it is now, under the present government.

He, therefore, stressed the importance of nation-building especially at a time like this.

“There are certain circumstances that make nation-building top priority

“Our economy has been under immense pressure especially in the last 34 months of governance by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). not even during the civil war has this country been so divided along ethnic and religious fault lines.

“When a country is in such precarious situations, nation-building becomes absolutely inevitable.”

While criticizing the APC for its failure to deliver on its key campaign promises which include fighting corruption, improving national security and boosting the economy, Secondus noted that his party was the only one among several others, that is truly rooted in “strong democratic principles and ideals”.

He, therefore, asked Nigerians to support its cause.

“Realizing the importance of free, credible elections in the life of any democracy, the PDP embarked on massive electoral reforms that ensured the conduct of free, fair credible elections and saw a ruling party lose in an election successfully transcended power top the opposition, it is the first time it is happening in our country and even an example for the entire continent.

“Even though sad about our loss, we as a party are immensely proud of what we consider our most significant achievement of willingly transferring power to opposition when the time came, thus giving a lie to all predictions that Nigeria will break up in 2015.

“Let me alert the current ruling party that no less is expected of them and we hope that they will heed to that advise.

“Only a party like ours, truly founded on strong democratic principles and ideals, ultimately drawing its inspiration from the people hence its motto, ‘PowerTo The People’, could have submitted to the superior will of the people and we did just that in 2015.

“We must humble ourselves before God who created us and tell the truth. We can’t continue as a nation of lies – what are we going to give to our children?

“On behalf of my colleagues and members of this party, we apologize to Nigerians that we have made our mistakes and we are ready to correct them and to build on a new note, on a new agenda because experience is the best teacher and no other Party has it,” Secondus said.

Apologies Are Not Enough-"Confess your sins and fully atone for it", APC Tells PDP

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a swipe at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the apology it tendered to Nigerians for mistakes made during its 16-year rule.

A statement signed by the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, Tuesday, said although acknowledged, the apology was belated as Nigerians still suffer from the PDP’s years of misrule.

The APC also said despite the apology, the PDP still needs to “confess their sins and fully atone for it, before restitution is considered”.

The statement read: “The All Progressives Congress (APC) acknowledges the apologies by the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) for the damage the party has wrought on the country’s democratic fabric during its sixteen-year rule.

“However, despite this belated grovelling apology, PDP will need to come clean, confess to their sins and fully atone for it, before restitution is considered.

“As they say, to err is human but forgiveness is divine. We join PDP in praying to God to forgive them, but Nigerianss are human who are still suffering from the years of PDP’s misrule.

“Therefore, even if Nigerians are gracious enough to forgive, they will not forget in a hurry.”

News Lense Also Published: We’ve Learnt From Our Mistakes, PDP Apologises To Nigerians

The PDP on Monday admitted to making mistakes while it was in power and therefore, apologised to Nigerians.

National Chairman of the Party Mr Uche Secondus, made the apology while giving his keynote speech at an event in Abuja with the theme: Nation-building: Resetting The Agenda.

He said the Party was ready to start afresh on a clean slate and therefore, appealed to Nigerians to put behind its wrongdoings.

“We must humble ourselves before God who created us and tell the truth. We can’t continue as a nation of lies – what are we going to give to our children?

“On behalf of my colleagues and members of this party, we apologize to Nigerians that we have made our mistakes and we are ready to correct them and to build on a new note, on a new agenda because experience is the best teacher and no other Party has it,” Secondus said.

MMM Founder, Sergei Mavrodi Dies Of Heart Attack

FILES PHOTO  Founder of the MMM financial pyramid Sergei Mavrodi leaves Matrosskaya Tishina prison in Moscow. The inventor of the largest financial pyramid in Russia, Sergei Mavrodi, died at the age of 62, said on March 26, 2018, the
assistant of this man who spent several years in prison.
Dima KOROTAYEV / AFP

Sergei Mavrodi, an eccentric Russian mathematician who founded the notorious MMM pyramid or Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s that swindled millions out of their savings, has died, his assistant said Monday.

Mavrodi, whose bespectacled face once featured on vouchers issued by the grandiose scheme, died at age 62, his assistant Alexander Vlasov told Moskva news agency.

The fraudster was found unconscious at a public transport stop, Interfax news agency reported, citing a source.

A mathematician who became one of the earliest computer programmers, Mavrodi first went into business selling pirated videos and CDs. He founded a company called MMMM that initially imported office equipment.

He then gave up trading and founded the financial pyramid of the same name that became the largest in Russia.

Lured by a catchy television advertising campaign, an estimated 10 to 15 million people invested and received vouchers that promised a huge return.

Mavrodi became “one of the most recognised personalities” in the country’s popular culture, Rossiiskaya Gazeta state newspaper wrote.

Fresh out of the Soviet Union, Russians generally had little financial knowledge and were naive.

“Mavrodi’s success came from the fact that such types of swindles were a novelty in Russia at the time, plus this was accompanied by a really mass-market and quite cleverly made advertising campaign,” economist Sergei Khestanov told Sputnik radio station.

Mavrodi was elected as a national MP in 1994 — giving him immunity from prosecution as he faced tax evasion charges — although he never turned up to parliament.

The pyramid scheme paid out as long as it continued to grow but inevitably crashed as investors tried to sell off their vouchers at once.

Reportedly 50 committed suicide after the scheme collapsed in 1997 and the company was declared bankrupt.

Mavrodi went into hiding and was eventually arrested in a Moscow rented flat in 2003, reportedly while wearing a wig.

He was charged with fraud, for which he received a 4 1/2 year sentence in 2007, almost all of which he had already served in pre-trial detention.

Not dissuaded and still protesting his innocence, he announced several new MMM schemes in various countries that were based online and even launched a new crypto-currency called Mavro.

A Russian-language film based on his life called “The Pyramid” was released in 2011.

Zuckerberg’s Facebook in Deep Trouble Over Cambridge Analytica Data Harvesting

Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg       

Mark Zuckerberg rose to wealth and fame with a mission of connecting everyone through Facebook but now faces the wrath of users outraged he isn’t doing more to defend their data.

The latest crisis laying siege to the leading online social network has raised the spectre that he has lost control of his creation and been naive about the unintended consequences of people sharing so much about themselves.

“If Facebook was a typical company, and Zuckerberg was the founder, he would probably be gone,” said tech industry analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

“He looks like a guy who really doesn’t know what he is doing. He is not the hero that a lot of people had viewed him as; his reputation and image are badly damaged.”

Facebook has prospered on digital advertising that benefits from being able to use what people share about themselves to target ads.

If Facebook was betting on people’s better natures when it came to truthfully sharing, respecting others, and being able to connect with anyone, it wasn’t always a winning wager.

The California-based social network has been a flashpoint for controversies about bullying, harassment, free speech, extremist propaganda, election meddling, privacy, and more.

“They don’t put enough effort into making sure the user is protected and the experience is assured,” analyst Enderle said.

“They only care about the advertisers, and the user is basically a digital slave.”

Dropout to billionaire

A public apology by Zuckerberg failed to quell outrage over the hijacking of personal data from millions of people, as critics demanded that the social media giant go much further to protect user privacy.

Belatedly speaking out about the harvesting of Facebook user data by a British firm linked to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, Zuckerberg admitted Wednesday to betraying the trust of its more than two billion users, and promised to “step up.”

Vowing to stop data leaking to application makers and to give users more control over their information, he also said he was ready to testify before US lawmakers following — which a powerful congressional committee promptly asked him to do.

Zuckerberg has grown from a Harvard dropout who changed what it means to be social into a billionaire philanthropist bent on shaping a better world for his daughters.

Zuckerberg and his doctor wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to give away their Facebook fortune to make the world a healthier, happier place for children.

“Having kids changes a lot,” Zuckerberg said this week in an interview with CNN.

“I used to think that the most important thing to me by far was having the greatest impact across the world as I can; now I just really care about building something my girls are going to grow up and be proud of me for.”

Zuckerberg cemented his fortune, and a place in Silicon Valley history, by leading Facebook to a historic Wall Street debut in 2012.

The $16 billion IPO was structured to keep control of Facebook in the hands of Zuckerberg, who has been Time’s “Person of the Year” and cracked the Forbes list of 20 richest people in the world.

The hoodie-wearing 33-year-old, depicted in the Hollywood drama “The Social Network” as a socially challenged computer geek, has evolved into a confident chief executive.

Zuckerberg still favours t-shirts, jeans and sneakers, topped off by his trademark hooded sweatshirt and a mop of curly hair.

He is known for setting annual goals, which have included wearing ties every day; only eating meat of animals he kills himself; and learning to speak Chinese.

His personal goal this year is to fix Facebook, making sure it fosters real-world community.

‘Thefacebook’

Born on May 14, 1984, Zuckerberg was raised in Dobbs Ferry outside New York, one of four children of a dentist father and a psychiatrist mother.

He began writing computer programs at the age of 11, including one said to resemble Pandora’s musical taste program which reportedly drew the interest of AOL and Microsoft.

He went to high school at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, where he was captain of the fencing team, before entering elite Harvard University.

Zuckerberg launched Thefacebook.com, as it was then known, from his dorm room on February 4, 2004 with some of his roommates and classmates.

Facebook’s early years were not without controversy, however.

In 2008, a $65 million settlement was reached with three Harvard classmates — twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra — over their charges that Zuckerberg had stolen the idea for Facebook from them.

The conflict was at the heart of “The Social Network,” the Oscar-winning film written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher.

Zuckerberg left Harvard in May 2004 for Silicon Valley, where he received his first major funding — $500,000 — from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

He has been referred to by some as being struck in the mold of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Zuckerberg has praised Jobs as a friend and a role model.

AFP

UK Regulators Search Cambridge Analytica Offices

People are seen through blinds searching inside the offices of Cambridge Analytica in central London on the evening of March 23, 2018. Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP

British regulators on Friday began searching the London offices of Cambridge Analytica (CA), the scandal-hit communications firm at the heart of the Facebook data scandal, shortly after a judge approved a search warrant.

Around 18 enforcement agents from the office of Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham entered the company’s London headquarters at around 8:00 pm (2000 GMT) to execute the warrant.

The High Court granted the raid request less than an hour earlier, as Denham investigates claims that Cambridge Analytica may have illegally harvested Facebook data for political ends.

Note that few days ego, News Lense reported that Jonathan’s billionaire supporter hired Cambridge Analytica to hack Buhari’s medical, financial records ahead of 2015 elections

A full explanation of the legal ruling by Judge Anthony James Leonard will be issued on Tuesday, according to the court.

“We’re pleased with the decision of the judge,” Denham’s office said on Twitter.

“This is just one part of a larger investigation into the use of personal data and analytics for political purposes,” it added in a statement.

“As you will expect, we will now need to collect, assess and consider the evidence before coming to any conclusions.”

The data watchdog’s probe comes amid whistleblower accusations that CA, hired by Donald Trump during his primary campaign, illegally mined tens of millions of users’ Facebook data and then used it to target potential voters.

Fresh allegations also emerged Friday night about the firm’s involvement in the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.

Brittany Kaiser, CA’s business development director until two weeks ago, revealed it conducted data research for Leave.EU, one of the leading campaign groups, via the UK Independence Party (UKIP), according to The Guardian.

– ‘I was lying’ –

Kaiser, 30, told the newspaper she felt the company’s repeated public denials it ever worked on the poll misled British lawmakers and the public.

“In my opinion, I was lying,” she said. “In my opinion, I felt like we should say, ‘this is exactly what we did.'”

CA’s suspended chief executive Alexander Nix told MPs last month: “We did not work for Leave.EU. We have not undertaken any paid or unpaid work for them, OK?”

Nix was suspended this week following the Facebook revelations and a further media sting in which he boasts about entrapping politicians and secretly operating in elections around the world through shadowy front companies.

He has already been called to reappear before British lawmakers to explain “inconsistencies” in past testimony about the firm’s use of the data.

Meanwhile, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been forced to issue a statement outlining his firm’s role in the scandal and apologised Wednesday to its billions of users for the breach.

The company has seen its stock market value plunge by around $75 million amid the crisis, as shares closed the week down 13 percent — their worst seven days since July 2012.

Cambridge Analytica denies any wrongdoing and said Friday it was undertaking an independent third-party audit to verify that it no longer holds any of the mined data.

“As anyone who is familiar with our staff and work can testify, we in no way resemble the politically-motivated and unethical company that some have sought to portray,” acting CEO Alexander Tayler said in a statement.

He apologised for the firm’s involvement, but said it had licensed the data from a research company, led by an academic, that “had not received consent from most respondents”.

“The company (CA) believed that the data had been obtained in line with Facebook’s terms of service and data protection laws,” Tayler said.

– New review –

Aleksandr Kogan, a University of Cambridge psychologist, created a personality prediction app that harvested the data of 270,000 people who downloaded it — as well as scooping up the information of their friends.

That was possible under Facebook’s rules at the time, and Kogan this week claimed he was being unfairly blamed.

“I’m being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica,” he said in interviews Wednesday.

“We were assured by Cambridge Analytica that everything was perfectly legal and within the terms of service” of Facebook, he added.

However, Cambridge University announced Friday it was “undertaking a wide-ranging review” of the episode and had written to Facebook “to request all relevant evidence in their possession”.

“Should anything emerge from this review, or from our request to Facebook, the University will take any action necessary in accordance with our policies and procedures,” it said in a statement.

AFP

Some Persons want To Tarnish My Image, Says Jonathan

Nigeria’s immediate former President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said some persons have launched a campaign aimed at tarnishing his image.

In a post on his official Facebook page, the former President posted a disclaimer that a campaign of calumny has been launched against him by some persons who according to him are faceless and some identified.

“It has been brought to my attention that while I am away promoting democracy in Sierra Leone, a campaign will be unleashed against me to falsely impugn my name using both faceless and identified persons,” his post read.

The former President’s name has recently been mentioned in the media concerning some certain issues.

An ex-employee of a UK-based company, Cambridge Analytica had claimed that the firm, influenced by an ally of former President Jonathan, interfered in Nigeria’s 2015 elections.

Cambridge Analytica has earlier been accused of obtaining data of Facebook users for election manipulation, an issue which has raised specks of dust in various countries, including Nigeria.

The ex-employee of Cambridge Analytica claimed that the firm interfered in Nigeria’s 2015 elections by hiring hackers to dig information about President Muhammadu Buhari who was a candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).

The whistle-blower in an interview with Guardian UK did not reveal the identity of the person who paid Cambridge Analytica for its services but described him as a Nigerian businessman who wanted to ensure former President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election.

Also in Nigeria, Jonathan’s administration has been in the news over alleged funds mismanagement.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had claimed that the former President’s administration shared about N150 billion before the 2015 elections.

Professor Osinbajo made the allegations on Monday, last week while speaking on issues of corruption and past failures of governments at the 7th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum in Abuja.

In his disclaimer on Sunday, Jonathan did not mention names of the persons he claimed are campaigning to tarnish his image. He, however, emphasised that his political ideals of disdain for bloodletting and falsehood remain.

“When I was in power I said my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Even out of power, I continue to hold that belief.

“What I will say, however, is that no matter how far and fast falsehood has traveled, it must eventually be overtaken by the truth. GEJ,” his post read.

Jonathan has since not reacted to the claims by Buhari’s administration or the allegations raised in the Guardian UK interview.

His aide, Reno Omokri in an interview on Channels Television’s Programme Programme, Politics Today, however, countered claims by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. He said the allegations are “completely false”.

Sympathy for white Austin bomber stirs debate about race and racism in the United States

ADDS THE YEAR 2010, WHEN THE PHOTO WAS CREATED - This 2010 student ID photo released by Austin Community College shows Mark Anthony Conditt, who attended classes there between 2010 and 2012, according to the school. Conditt, the suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorized Austin, blew himself up early Wednesday, March 21, 2018, as authorities closed in on him, bringing a grisly end to a three-week manhunt. (Austin Community College via AP)

A cellphone recording left by the Austin serial bomber as "the outcry of a very challenged young man," the remark caused an outcry of its own.

Because the bomber was white, some people almost immediately questioned whether the same level of compassion would have been afforded a person of color.

"Here you have a case of a young white male who killed and injured people of color, and we're culturally more concerned about his story, about his life, about what led him to take these lives," said David Leonard, professor in the department of critical culture, gender and race studies at Washington State University. "It's a striking reminder of a racial empathy gap that persists."

For many observers and activists, the comments about Mark Anthony Conditt were just the latest example in which a white suspect seemed to receive an injection of humanity that is less often extended to blacks, Muslims and others.

Conditt kept the Texas capital in a state of fear for weeks, planting five bombs that killed two people and badly wounded four others. The 23-year-old community college dropout died Wednesday after setting off a bomb inside his SUV as police were about to arrest him.

Investigators said his motive was still unclear, despite the discovery of the 25-minute cellphone recording in which he talked about the bombs.

U.S. law has defined acts of violence or intimidation linked to foreign groups such as the Islamic State as terrorism. Homegrown extremist groups such as neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan have not been labeled that way, even if they've employed similar tactics.

Similarly, when Stephen Craig Paddock was identified as the gunman who rained bullets down on a Las Vegas concert last fall, the white retired accountant was characterized as a "lone wolf." That label has also been attached to other mass killers who acted alone, including Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooter James Holmes, a white man who killed a dozen people in 2012.

On the recording, Conditt "does not at all mention anything about terrorism, nor does he mention anything about hate," Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. "But instead, it is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point."

The reaction on social media was swift.

"Remember how they talked about innocent black children" like Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice or Freddie Gray, tweeted Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

"I believe passionately in acknowledging the humanity of those who commit even terrible crimes. Reading this police chief's empathy for this young white man highlights the awfulness — the plain awfulness — of the persistent refusal to extend this empathy to young black people," Ifill added.

Those young black males were described as "thugs" by some authorities and in popular discourse. Another case often cited is that of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old fatally shot by a white officer in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. The New York Times described Brown as "no angel" in a profile, a phrase that drew an angry response from readers and was criticized by its own public editor.

Brown got into a scuffle with then-officer Darren Wilson after Wilson yelled at Brown and a friend to get out of the street where they were walking. Wilson said that when he shot Brown, the teen was moving menacingly toward him. Some witnesses said Brown was surrendering.

The initial unrest erupted after Brown's body lay in the street for hours in the summer heat. More protests gripped the Missouri town after a grand jury in declined to charge Wilson, who later resigned. The Justice Department also cleared him, but an investigation by that agency uncovered patterns of racial bias and profiling in Ferguson's police and courts.

Some critics have also taken exception to media coverage that included Conditt's friends and family describing him as nerdy and kind.

"Language is always shot through with power dynamics. What this shows us is the way that we can talk about people determines how we can treat them," said Koritha Mitchell, an associate professor in the English department at Ohio State University. "Because we are determined to treat white men as citizens no matter what, to treat them as people who belong in the fold no matter what, that is the reason we will not use words like 'terrorist.'"

The Rev. Yvette Griffin, a black Detroit pastor, said blacks and Muslims don't seem to get the same presumption of innocence as other suspects.

"The words are kinder and gentler" for whites, she said.

Associated Press Writer Jeff Karoub in Detroit contributed to this report.