Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro Orders 60% increase in country’s minimum wage

 As the world celebrates 1st May which "Worker's Day", a President has increased his country's minimum wage, effective from Monday.

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela

 

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has ordered a 60% increase in the country’s minimum wage, effective from Monday. Including food subsidies, the worst-paid workers will now take home about 200,000 bolivars a month – less than $50 (£38) at the black market rate.

According to BBC, the pay rise is the third this year from Mr Maduro, and aims to benefit government workers and the military.  It comes a month after deadly protests erupted in the country. Demonstrators first took to the streets on 1 April to demand elections, after the courts tried to strengthen the president’s grip on power. Marches in various cities descended into clashes between riot police and protesters, which have left 28 people dead.

 Observers fear 1 May, could bring a spike in unrest, with opposition and pro-government supporters planning rival marches. Pope Francis has offered to mediate between the Maduro government and its opponents, but the opposition has rejected the overture. Its leaders say the president has installed a dictatorship, and blame him for Venezuela’s economic crisis. Even a 60% pay rise may come as scant consolation to millions of the country’s workers, whose buying power has been damaged by a stricken currency. Critics say the move will merely fuel the country’s runaway inflation rate.

 Venezuela has one of the world’s highest inflation rates, which could hit 720% this year according to the International Monetary Fund.

 Even residents of traditionally pro-Maduro districts have been joining the protests against him in recent days.

“I have been a month now joining in all the protests because I want my country to be free of this dictatorship,” said 42-year-old Yoleida Viloria, a hairdresser from the capital, Caracas.

 

-NAN

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What US Ambassador Told President Biya

Michael S. Hoza, US Ambassador to Cameroon met in a tete-a-tete with President Paul Biya to review bilateral cooperation between the United States and Cameroon among other pertinent issues. Reports say their discussions centered around the current socio-political deadlock in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. Michael S. Hoza is quoted to have said that “The United States strongly supports the search for peaceful solutions and dialogue in Cameroon.” He added that Washington was satisfied with the return of the Internet in North West and South West Regions of Cameroon, Michael Hoza revealed the Trump administration was in support of an inclusive dialogue as a way of resolving the crisis the two English speaking regions. Michael Hoza also saluted the bravery of the Cameroonian soldiers combating the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.The United States is an important ally for Cameroon in this crusade against terrorism and violent extremism. In addition to the 300 US marines stationed in Garoua, who have been involved in intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions since October 2015, the US is supporting Cameroon in military training and equipment.

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Ahead International Labour Day: CamCCUL Extends Hand of Fellowship to the Needy

In keeping with its long tradition of respectfully sharing and caring with the underprivileged, needy and lovely members as well as communities of the broad credit Union family, the president of CAMCCUL led donations and prayer visits as part of activities marking International labour day. 

The delegation which was led by CamCCUL President Musa Shey Nfor stormed the Emmanuel sisterhood and Magdalene Home care centre at Akum with goodies and prayers. The prayer session was organised with some 43 kids including anglophones, francophones, Christians, Moslems, mentally challenged, orphans etc. CamCCUL extended a hand of fellowship by donating gifts to the centers. The Musa Shey Nfor delegation moved to the Bamenda central prison where they met close to 800 inmates with whom they shared gifts and prayers. The President encouraged them not to loose hope but rather to learn trades so that upon leaving prisons the credit unions can finance their activities. Other similar visits followed in Achah Annex where they communed and donated to patients before moving to Abangoh orphanage. In this orphanage with close to 100 orphans (with the youngest being 13days old) timely gifts were donated. Prayers and dancing were top. Next was the Sajoka centre in Bafut with similar agenda

Pics of the trip to Akum below

Pics of the visit at the Bamenda Central Prison below

Pics of the visit to Achah Maternity below

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Fulani Herdsmen Have Invaded My Home-Nigeria's Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka Cries Out

Highly revered Nobel prize winner, Wole Soyinka has cried out after Fulani herdsmen invaded his home in Ogun.

Wole Soyinka

Nigeria's Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Friday revealed that herdsmen have again invaded his home in Ogun State.

Herdsmen had last year attacked Soyinka’s home while he was away abroad. He had said then that he returned from a trip outside the country only to “find that my home ground had been invaded, and a brand-new “Appian way” sliced through my sanctuary. That ‘motorable’ path was made by the hoofed invaders. Both the improvised entry and exit are now blocked.”

PM News reports that while speaking with newsmen on Friday at the Freedom Park, Lagos Island, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, Soyinka said this time the herdsmen came through another path to his doorstep.

Soyinka said with this recent invasion of his home by herdsmen, it meant that “we are living in dangerous time,” saying that the invasion convinced him that the attack was a deliberate act of provocation.

According to him, the attack was life-threatening and alarming as his home and that of his neighbours were invaded by the herdsmen, adding that he had reported the matter to the police in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The Nobel laureate said it was sad that the government was virtually doing nothing about incessant herdsmen attack across the nation as they left behind trails of blood, pains and anguish.

Soyinka said the herdsmen were everywhere now and that they normally come to territories not as peaceful neighbours, but as conquerors.

He stated that it was dangerous when herdsmen begin to come to people’s doorstep, especially his home, as such invaders could become potential suicide bombers, decrying that the leadership of this nation must take drastic steps to nip in the bud incessant attacks from herdsmen.

Soyinka said the time had come to wake up the leadership of the nation to take precise action to remedy the dangerous menace of herdsmen with their conqueror’s mentality, lamenting that the behaviour of the police and other security agencies was that the citizens should look after themselves in this dangerous times.

 “We need to wake up the leadership, let them know the seriousness of the issue on ground; these sorts of conquerors,  these herdsmen are worse than Boko Haram,” he said, adding that some kind of action was required to make the government to take drastic action, saying that such action could be abstinence from anything beef to call the leadership to its responsibilities to take holistic action about the issue on ground.

 Soyinka also frowned at the plan by the government to create a grazing corridor for herdsmen in the country, saying that would compound the problem on ground.

 “Creating corridor for cattle grazing will compound the problem, I do not think that is the solution,” he said, adding that creating ranches for the herdsmen could be part of the solution,” he said.

Earlier, Soyinka adapted the speech he delivered a year ago at the National Conference on Culture and Tourism, saying that “they must be taught however that there is a culture of settlement, and learn to seek accommodation with settled hosts wherever encountered.

“The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and offer solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents on the way to that learning school. For every crime, there is a punishment, for every violation, there must be restitution. The nomads of the world cannot place themselves above the law of settled humanity.”

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Director of Radio Biafra Granted Bail

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and director of Radio Biafra has been granted bail after spending close to two years in Kuje prison, Lagos Nigeria. 

Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu

 

The prominent leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and detained by Nigerian Government in relation to his ideology.

His lawyer Ejiofor is quoted to have told Punch in an interview that “Nnamdi Kanu left the prison at about 5pm after meeting the bail conditions,”.

However, it is alleged that his co-defendants in a treason trial are still in detention. Worthy to note that his release was made possible after a Federal High Court in Abuja granted him bail on health conditions. 

 Reports say  Mr. Kanu's immediate release followed a series of negotiations between a few politicians and activists from the Igbo-dominated southeast geopolitical zone and members of President Muhammadu Buhari's government. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the sources, a close associate of Mr. Buhari’s administration, disclosed that one of the central concerns of the negotiations was to find ways of de-escalating the political tension that has arisen due to renewed agitation by pro-Biafra separatists led by Mr. Kanu and others.

 A prison source revealed that Kuje prison authorities released Mr. Kanu's  a few minutes ago adding that the paperwork to realize the separatist leader’s release was finalized by Mr. Kanu’s lawyers and government officials.

Mr. Kanu, who has gained greater popularity during his detention, is expected to meet with several politicians and activists in the days ahead.

 As part of his bail conditions, Mr. Kanu has been barred from granting press interviews or being in a gathering of more than 10 people. 

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ESPN Ranks Michael Essien as Chelsea’s 2nd best African player of all time

ESPN has ranked Michael Essien as Chelsea’s 2nd best African Player of all time in the English Premier League. The Ghanaian midfielder was ranked just behind Cote d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba and ahead of Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel in the ranking by ESPN.

Reports say Essien was chosen based on the fact that while at Chelsea he proved himself with his extraordinary tackling techniques. These techniques made him a star at Stamford Bridge. His trappings at Chelsea include 4 FA cups  and 2 English Premiership trophies.

But he was able to clinch the Champions League in 2012 despite not being used much of that season. Nowadays Essien has decided to spend the rest of his playing career in Far East Indonesia where he joined the club Persib and has become an instant superstar.

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Lesson from Nigeria: Dangote to Create 3,000 jobs with Truck Assembly Plant

Dangote

Aliko Dangote, Nigerian entrepreneur, aims to create 3,000 jobs with the establishment of a truck assembly plant in Ikeja, Lagos. According to The Nation, the plant is the result of a partnership between the Dangote group and Sinotruck, a Chinese heavy-duty truck company. The Nation quotes a statement by the firm stating that “the decision to go into the truck assembly plant project was informed by the need to conserve forex in view of the current economic recession. The deal, worth $100 million, expected to have an assembly plant that will produce 10,000 trucks per year, was signed in May 2014, in China. According to the deal agreement, the plant is 60 per cent owned by Dangote Group, trading under Dangote Industries Limited, leaving Sinotruck with the remaining 40 per cent equity stake,”.

Anthony Chiejina, chief corporate communication officer of Dangote Group, is also quoted to have confirmed that the project had taken off and that when fully operational, the nation would be spared the forex expense of importing the heavy-duty vehicles. He explained there would be room for the expansion of the project in years to come, saying: “As it meets the national truck demand, it will explore exportation to neighbouring countries to generate foreign exchange for the nation.”

Consequently, Dangote Agro Sacks Limited, which occupied the Oba-AkranOgba premises of the former Nigerian Textile Mills, until recently, has been relocated closer to the group’s major operational hubs, particularly the cement plants in Obajana, Kogi State and Ibeshe, Ogun State.

 










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Members of the Commission on the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism Installed

Prime Minister Philemon Yang has installed the 15 members of the Musonge Commission. Before commissioning the members today at the Yaounde Congress Hall, Prime Minister Yang Philemon called on them to be duty conscious and reminded them of the roles and responsibilities. Appointed on 15 March, 2017 following its creation on January 23, 2017 by the Head of State, they are expected to play a primordial role in informing government on pertinent issues.

The creation of this commission was one of the remedial measures to the sit-in strike action by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers’ Trade Unions asking for a better consideration of the bilingual nature of the country, reasons why President Biya signed a decree to lay down the Establishment, Organization and Functioning of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism. In announcing his decision to create the Commission, President Biya on December 13, 2016 while addressing Cameroonians said it was important for sons and daughters of Cameroon to learn to work together, paying little attention to divisive issues given the intricacies involved.

Prospects are high at that with members of the Musonge Commission drawn from diverse backgrounds their experiences, knowledge and ideas will go a long way to consolidate diversified opinions.

 

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Do You Really Want to Succeed? These are 6 Important Mindsets You Need to Achieve Success

Have you been searching desperately within yourself on what to do to achieve tremendous success in your life? These are things you need to know today.

 

 

Life doesn’t just happen to you unless you let it, and your life will continually feel out of your control because you have chosen to relinquish control. In the end, your life is ultimately your creation and your mindset is the most important tool you need to shape it. Jumia Travel and Jumia Mobile Week share 6 important mindsets you need to succeed.

 

1. Self-Discovery is a Process

 

Life and living is a journey, therefore understand the process and be patient with it. Don’t be impatient and hurry through the different stages of your life. In the end you will have missed a lot of what you shouldn’t miss and have too many regrets. Be open to explore the unknown and be strong enough to deal with, embrace and learn from surprises and bumps along the way.

 

2. You are Responsible for Your Life

 

You need to learn to take responsibility for your life. You truly begin to live when you decide your life is your own and you alone are responsible for the quality of it, with no apologies, no excuses and no one to blame.

 

3. Not Everything Goes as Planned

 

Unfortunately, though most people know this, they often times forget. You need to understand that life isn’t perfect and things will not always turn out like you planned or imagined. This is why you need to learn to create safety nets and have back-up plans or measures in place to deal with these setbacks. Don’t let things take you unawares.

 

4. There is a Way Through, Under or Above Every Obstacle

 

Thomas Edison tried 1000 ways to create a light bulb. This man was resilient in a way that was almost ridiculous and at the 1001th try, he got it. Be like that. Learn persistence and resilience, understand that there is always a way out and don’t give up until you find it. What matters is not the obstacle but how you see it, react to it and if you keep your composure through it.

 

5. Done is Better than Perfect

 

It is important you understand that continuous improvement is better than perfection. Perfectionism is unhealthy primarily because it’s an unhealthy combination of high standards and brutal self-criticism. Truth is, the real world doesn’t reward perfectionists; the real world rewards people who get things done.

 

6. You Can Do It

 

Believe in yourself. Believe that you have what it takes to succeed, if you don’t, aside a miracle, there is little that can help you succeed. Even if by some amazing stroke of luck you do succeed, it won’t last because you don’t have what it takes to maintain it. Learn to believe in yourself.

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2017 Public Peace Prize: How The Eye Newspaper Got to the Final Stage

The Eye Newspaper was nominated for its promotion of democratic tolerance in communities of Donga Mantung in the North West Region of Cameroon. After the 2013 municipal and legislative elections, homes, marriages and families were shattered. Politics was transformed into an instrument of destruction and uncertain peace, fighting erupted during campaigns, court cases were opened, and thousands of citizens were not on speaking terms with others of different political opinions. This intolerance slowed down development and affected business as well as community activities.

The Eye Newspaper set up an awards program to encourage political and democratic tolerance, and to rebuild mutual co-existence. Families that displayed the principles of democracy were rewarded and distinguished for their efforts to promote political tolerance.

Read more:
https://publicpeaceprize.org/the-eye-newspaper/

The jury joins its congratulations and encouragement to the support received from the public for the important work accomplished by the The Eye Newspaper, 2017 Public Peace Prize finalist in the category Peace and Non-violence Initiatives through Education and Medias.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Brain Age Could Help Predict Risk of Early Death- Researchers

Researchers at the Imperial College London are predicting a person's brain age to determine if they are at risk of early death.

The team of neuroscientists at Imperial College London combined magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, with a machine learning algorithm to train computers to give a predicted brain age for people based on their volume of brain tissue.

"We've come up with a way of predicting someone's brain age based on an MRI scan of their brain," Dr. James Cole, a research associate in the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, said in a press release. "Our approach used the discrepancy between their chronological age and what we call their brain-predicted age as a marker of age-related atrophy in the brain. If your brain is predicted to be older than your real age than that reflects something negative may be happening."

The work was part of a worldwide effort by scientists to find reliable biomarkers that can be used to measure age.

The technique measures brain volume and uses machine learning to estimate the overall loss of white and grey matter, which is a key component in the aging process in the brain.

Cole and his team then tested the technique on publicly available datasets of MRI scans of more than 2,000 healthy people's brains, resulting in maps that could accurately predict a person's age.

Researchers tested the technique on a population of 669 older adults over age 70 or older in Scotland who were part of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.

The study found that the greater the difference between a person's brain age and their actual age, the higher their risk of poor mental and physical health and early death. Participants whose brain age was older than their chronological age performed worse on standard physical tests of healthy aging including lung capacity, walking speed and grip strength.

Participants with older brains were statistically more likely to die before age 80, and had an average discrepancy between brain age and chronological age of eight years for males and two years for females.

"In the long run it would be great if we could do this accurately enough so that we could do it at an individual level," Cole said. "Someone could go to their doctor, have a brain scan and the doctor could say 'your brain is 10 years older than it should be,' and potentially advise them to change their diet or lifestyle or to start a course of treatment. However, at the moment, it's not sufficiently accurate to be used at that sort of individual level."

The study was published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Source: UPI

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Elections Cameroon: Enow Abraham Catapulted to the Position of President

Enow Abraham Egbe

Enow Abrahams Egbe is the new President of Elections Cameroon (Elecam), a body charged with the organization and management of the elections. Enow Abrahams Egbe, who is former Governor, was appointed by President Paul Biya last Tuesday.

The civil administrator replaces Dr. Samuel Fonkam Azu'u, who has been at the helm of ELECAM for nearly eight years ever since the electoral body was created in 2008, to replace the National Elections Observatory (NEO). Mme Amougou née Abena Ekobena Appoline Marie was also appointed Vice President and she replaces Justin Ebanga Ewodo. Elecam members it should be noted are appointed for a four-year renewable term. While some members were flushed out by the Presidential decree, some new names into the Board included amongst others, Mr. Mbu Peter who apparently replaces Fonkam Azu’u from the North West Region. Tongues are still waging as to whether it is the brouhaha between Dr. Fonkam Azu’u and Abdoulaye Babale that has ignited the mighty storm at ELECAM or not. However, Dr. Fonkam Azu’u quits Elecam shoulders high.

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Donald Trump Back Paddles on Mexico Border Wall Campaign Promise

 US President Donald Trump has temporarily suspended his plans to erect an expensive border between Mexico and the U.S as a fulfillment of his election campaign promise.

 

President Donald Trump

 

President Donald Trump is pulling back from his threat to hold Obamacare hostage in order to get a down payment on his US-Mexico border wall.

 Late Monday, Trump told roughly 20 conservative reporters that he was going to revisit the question of funding his border wall in September, according to a report by ABC News.

 He did this to avoid a government shutdown, which will occur on Saturday if Congress fails to pass a $1 trillion spending bill. Although Trump had previously indicated that he would hold certain aspects of Obamacare hostage if he couldn’t receive border wall funding, congressional Democrats were adamant that they would not support funding his border wall, while many of Trump’s fellow Republicans were reluctant to allow the government to shut down over the measure.

 Although the border wall is believed to cost more than $20 billion, Trump was hoping to receive $1.4 billion as a down payment in order to get construction started.

 Considering that this would fall on the 100th day of Trump’s presidency, it is likely that he would not want this particular milestone to coincide with such a disastrous event.

 “It’s good for the country that President Trump is taking the wall off the table in these negotiations. Now the bipartisan and bicameral negotiators can continue working on the outstanding issues,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

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Gianni Infantino, FIFA President to Introduce Video Refereeing at 2018 World Cup

 It has been revealed that video refereeing is set to be introduced at the 2018 World Cup after a trial last December in Japan.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino

 

Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA has revealed on Wednesday that video assistant referees will be used at next year’s World Cup in Russia for the first time.

 According to Agence France Presse, Infantino revealed this at a congress of the South American Football Confederation in Santiago, Chile.

 He said: “We will use video refereeing at the 2018 World Cup because we’ve had nothing but positive feedback so far.”

 Video assistance was introduced to support referees with “game-changing” decisions for the first time in a FIFA competition at the Club World Cup in Japan in December.

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