When it comes to the recruitment process, a lot of factors come to play. You might be aware of a few, but there is a lot that goes undetected. Even some brilliant people have been found committing these deadly sins that deter them from their dream job.

When I worked in Human Resource Management a few years ago, I discovered that there are numerous mistakes been made by prospective employees. The saddening aspect is that they had what it takes for the position. But because they were unaware of some glaring red signs, they flopped. In this article, I am going to disclose ten deadly sins of interviewing. With this knowledge, you will be able to bomb that job interview.

1. Lying To Your Recruiter

Now, this is the biggest of all sins. A lie they say will beget another lie. No matter how exceptional your skills are, no company hopes to hire a liar. You don’t tell your hiring manager that you resigned from your former job when you were fired. No matter how bad the truth hurts, you have to say it. The fact is, someone is going to verify every claim you make. It will be a futile effort trying to lie your way to a job.

2. Showing-up Late

I think this is a glaring sin. But unfortunately, numerous potential employees keep showing up late to a job interview. We all seem to have a pretty good reason for not showing up early to an event. But to an interview, your excuses are invalid. In order to avoid committing this sin, adequate preparation is required. If you live in a location prone to traffic jams, that means you would have to begin your journey hours earlier.

3. Failing To Do Your Homework

Most applicants are fond of committing this deadly sin. How can you show up for an interview without knowing anything about the company? You are probably going to walk back home without that employment letter. If you need something, you have to work for it. You need to know everything there is about the proposed company and the interviewer. One of the places to find valuable information is the company’s website. Your knowledge about the company is an edge you can exploit.

4. Talking Too Little Or Too Much

When the interviewer poses a question you might not have expected, you don’t need to scrabble around with words and hoping to hit the mark. You don’t also need to say two words and stay mute. Moderation is key! You shouldn’t be seen as being loquacious, nor a dumb. Furthermore, preparing some questions which you will ask gives the interviewer a peek at how you reason and think. You might not master this at a go; you will have to practice to be good.

5. Appearing Desperate

You don’t need to worry yourself about how rough the labor market is, or the unemployment rate in the country. Don’t allow that impact on your interview, making you appear desperate. Companies want a lot of things, but what they fear the most are desperate employees. These desperate fellows can kiss the devil to get what they want. When you are desperate, you project some thoughts to your interview. Trust me; these thoughts are often not good. They often lead to you not getting the job.

6. Dressing Like A Star

The aspect of dressing is a delicate issue among interviewers. But what determines your mode of dressing is the company. You don’t need to dress like someone who is dancing among the stars. It shouldn’t be too short, too clingy, too low-cut, or whatever. Such wardrobe missteps don’t speak well about your personality. Your interviewers don’t only access you based on your words or written performance. Your appearance speaks a lot and is usually one of the enormous criteria used to hire people.

7. Excessive Love Of Self

Confidence is incredible, but you don’t need to be too over the top, or it becomes repulsive. You might have years of experience, skills, etc. Who knows, you might have gotten a few accolades and respect. No matter what you have achieved, you need to treat everyone with respect. That lady you barked at might be the assistant manager. You can never tell! From the gateman to the receptionist, be humble, and treat everyone as warmly as possible.

8. Not Following Up

After an interview, candidates often lay back and relax. While some begin with another job hunt. By failing to follow up on your interviews, you are missing potential employments. HR managers believe that a ‘thank you’ mail can sometimes do the magic. These days, you can easily do that using your email, and it won’t cost you a cent. By such an mail, you show that you’re full of gratitude, even in uncertain situations.

9. Not Having A Weakness

Even Superman has a weakness, so don’t form almighty when asked about your weakness. At that moment, makeup something. Something you can improve on that won’t affect the position you’re applying for. Some hiring manager is fond of throwing this question to applicants. The fact is, it always throws unprepared candidates off guard. By discovering a weakness that you can work on, and that won’t affect the position you’re applying for, you will pass in flying colors.

10. Not Knowing The Job You’re Interviewing For

As funny as it may sound, many applicants often don’t have a position in mind when applying for a job. They show up, hoping to be fixed in any available spot. That is a sin you shouldn’t commit if you’re serious about getting a job. It shows you off as desperate and cheap.

Wrapping Up!

There are numerous deadly sins of interviewing, and they are often the reason many candidates don’t hear back from their potential employer. By knowing these red flags and working on them, you’re less likely to bomb the interview. I wish you good luck!

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday threatened to mobilise its members for a nationwide strike if the Federal Government stopped the salaries of lecturers for resisting enrolment on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System .

The union noted that its experts had designed a “ unique prototype of the IPPIS for the university system named , University Transparency and Accountability Solution, which it urged the Federal Government to implement in universities instead of the IPPIS .

The ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi , stated this in Abuja at a press conference on the outcome of the National Executive Council meeting of the union held at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, between December 7 and 8, 2019 .

Ogunyemi said the UTAS designed by a team of crack software engineers, who are based in the Nigerian universities, unlike the IPPIS , would address the uniqueness of the university system , particularly the flexibility of the payroll and personnel management .

He noted that the attempt to impose enrolment in the IPPIS on university lecturers by the Federal Government was a plot to distract the union from the ongoing 2009 agreement renegotiation .

Ogunyemi said , “ We salute the courage of our members for resisting the tactics of the Accountant- General of the Federation to cunningly migrate them to the IPPIS platform
“ As resolved at the ASUU- NEC meeting at FUT Minna, should the Accountant- General make bold his threat of stopping the salaries of our members, the union shall activate its standing resolution of “ No Pay, No Work.

“ NEC did not only reiterate its unequivocal rejection of the IPPIS as an ill - wind that will blow the Nigerian university system no good , it also resolved that no amount of blackmail, intimidation and outright misinformation of the Nigerian public will make ASUU lose focus on its historic role as the conscience of the university system.

“ ASUU will resist government’ s attempt to repudiate any aspect of the 2009 FGN/ ASUU Agreement , which provides a blueprint for the revitalisation of the Nigerian universities. The future of Nigeria depends on it.

“ The FGN /ASUU Memorandum of Understanding 2013 indicates that N 1.3tn will be massively injected into public universities to address the rot and decay documented by the Federal Government- sponsored NEEDS assessment in 2012 .”

The Presidency says Nigeria is a sovereign nation and will not be bothered about the reports from the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union as regards human rights abuses.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said this on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Wednesday.

Adesina was asked to react to reports from the EU, UK and the US that Nigeria’s high record of human rights abuses.

He was also asked to react to the invasion of the Federal High Court, Abuja by men of the Department of State Services who arrested the Publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, last Friday.

Responding to the question, Adesina said, “We are not answerable to the US, the UK or the EU. We are Nigeria, a sovereign country. Those countries and entities have issues of their own. Let them deal with their issues. Let Nigeria also deal with her internal issues. We are not answerable to them.”

When asked to respond to criticisms against the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) by Prof. Wole Soyinka, Adesina said the Nobel laureate was free to express his opinion.

“We respect Prof. Soyinka. You don’t have too many of them in the country or even on the continent. He is an avatar and he is well respected but his opinion will remain his opinion. It will be considered and if there are things to act on, we will act on them,” he said.

Adesina said the Presidency would not take the opinion of a few Nigerians as that of the majority.

He said the ultimatum issued by 14 civil society groups as well as the editorial by The PUNCH was not the mind of the majority of Nigerians.

“Genuine issues will be looked into. We have had instances in which the government had to reverse itself because there were concerns raised. It shows that the government is responsive but you cannot listen to a babble of voices. It will distract you from what you are doing,” the President’s spokesman said.

When reminded of the fact that he was also a journalist before taking up the job to be the President’s spokesman, Adesina said he would remain true to his calling.

“I am still in the media. It is just that the roles are a bit reversed… when I am done with government by the grace of God, I will still return to the media,” he said.

Adesina said he would not make any comment on the allegations levelled against the nephew of the President, Mamman Daura; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu; by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mrs Buhari had alleged that Shehu, took orders from Daura, adding that Daura ordered Shehu to issue a statement announcing that the office of the first lady had been scrapped.

When asked to react to the allegations, Adesina said the questions should be directed to Shehu since it was he that the allegations were levelled against.

He further stated that he did not like to meddle in the President’s family affairs except he was asked to speak on the matter by the President himself.

Orji Uzor Kalu’s descent from the Red Chamber of the National Assembly as a senator to a prisoner is certainly a turning point in President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption in the country.

Although it took about 12 years in coming, the shock was no less when it happened. Kalu has become the third ex-governor in the country to be jailed for corruption. But his was the most shocking.

If Kalu had an inkling of what judgment was coming his way last Thursday, he probably would have feigned illness. Like most politicians, he was confident that nothing untoward will happen.

After all, he now belongs to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), where, he believed, he had met all the criteria for his sins to be forgiven and even forgotten.

He had joined the party from the opposition. He had also vilified his former colleagues in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at every opportunity. What’s more, he had won a ticket to the Senate on the platform of the APC. He was a political asset!

He must have been confident that he would be acquitted of the corruption case; and that the the court process was simply a formality, to send him home with the injunction to sin no more.

However, that was not to be as he was found guilty of corruption and handed the “Go to Jail Directly” card.

The shock for Kalu was sudden, shocking and devastating. He was heard pleading with correctional officers: “Please don’t handcuff me, I will cooperate with you.”

It was the rise and fall of an ultimate power broker. The descent of a larger than life man; from a former governor to a senator; and now, to a prisoner!

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos and presided by Justice Mohammed Idris found him guilty. The judge said Mr Kalu was guilty of the charges against. After the conviction, Kalu’s lawyers pleaded with the court for a favourable sentence.

Kalu has been facing trial for over a decade after he was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly carting away billions of naira belonging to the state while he served as Abia governor.

He was tried alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Limited, and Mr. Udeh Udeogu, who was the Director of Finance and Accounts at the Abia State Government House during Kalu’s tenure as governor.

The Road to Perfidy

Although Kalu claimed that he started business at age 19 years and at 20 years, he was already a millionaire; this could not be ascertained. When he was barely 30 years, he had had brushes with the law. He was expelled from the University of Maiduguri for, as he claimed, activism.

But he gained notoriety when he allegedly donated cash to the Borno State Development Fund. Coming from a university drop out, the huge donation made the headlines, but the content of the box was later found out to contain blank papers neatly cut to size and covered with actual Naira notes. He was promptly arrested. Lke a Ninja, was able to explain himself out of the mess. By this time, he was already a known face in the nation’s business and political sphere. He began to hobnob with shakers and makers of the military, business and political hierarchy.

In 1999, at the age of 39 years, like a cat with nine lives, he came out from obscurity to win the Abia state governorship election to the consternation of many.

The Political Businessman

At the time he became governor on May 29, 1999, the new state had no state secretariat complex. Government businesses were conducted from rented apartments with civil servants squeezing themselves into buildings that were inadequate let alone comfortable.

Kalu took advantage of this to rent houses he hurriedly built for himself and others belonging to friends, family and cronies to the government at an exorbitant rate. Making fast money at the expense of a government in which he was the executive governor.

Throughout his eight years as governor, he never attempted to build a state secretariat even though land and monies were allocated for the purpose.

Education

That Kalu was expelled from the University of Maiduguri was no longer news. The news was how he gained a first degree from the Abia State University, Uturu; an act that could only have been imagined by a master storyteller.

As governor and visitor to the Abia State University, Kalu enrolled for his degree programme. Barely three years later, he was awarded a first-class degree without ever attending classes for one day!

What’s more, to justify the certificate he has just gotten on a platter of gold, Kalu compelled the university to award him an honorary doctorate to boot. Hence the appellation, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu that he bears today.

More than 14 years after the alleged graduation, nobody has called this certificate to question!

Revenue Allocation

Although, Kalu’s conviction for stealing over N7.7 billion came over 12 years after he was first arraigned, up to that time, the state was one of the poorest in the country.

The revenue to the state from Federal Allocation between 1999 and 2007 when he was governor was N180, 913,356,049.45. What this means is that the state was barely making over N22 billion yearly, yet almost N8 billion was stolen within the period.

With a population of 2,833, 999, and raked 14th in the states allocation index, he dealt the state the unkindest cut.

Personal Wealth and Business Venture

As Kalu entered the prisons to begin his 12 years sentence, he was said to be worth over $300 million, according to the American magazine, Forbes in its ranking of richest businesspeople in Africa

Kalu is the founder of Slok Holdings, a conglomerate with interests in shipping, banking, oil trading, manufacturing and the media. He claims to have started in business at age 19 after being expelled from the University of Maiduguri for spearheading a series of student riots.

He borrowed $35 from his mother and started trading commodities like palm oil, rice and sugar. He diversified into furniture manufacturing and transportation and became a millionaire by the time he was 20!

He later hit the big time in the early 80s when the Nigerian military government awarded him lucrative contracts to import and supply arms and ammunition to Nigeria’s military.

The Slok Group operates in all sectors of the economy, mainly focusing on Oil and Gas, Banking and Finance, Media and Publishing, Real Estate, Manufacturing, Trading, Insurance, and Tourism.

Politics

Following a fall out with the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kalu founded the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA). The party won gubernatorial elections in 2003 and 2007 in Abia state and also won the governorship election in neighbouring Imo State that same year.

In Abia, Kalu’s handpicked candidate, Chief Theodore Ahamefula Orji became the governor even though they later fell apart, while in Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim became the governor.

In the April 21, 2007 National Assembly election, the party won three of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives and one of the 109 seats in the Senate. This cemented Kalu’s leadership as force to reckon with in the politics of the nation.

Following the 2007 election, the PPA’s journey into oblivion began when the party agreed to join the PDP government of President Umar Musa Yar’Adua. For Kalu, the journey back to the PDP was like a homecoming as he was a two-term governor under the party, but for PPA, its death knell was just sounded.

The Journey to APC

But as the corruption case continued to dog him, the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 on an anti-corruption pledge forced the former governor to rethink his fortunes.

The EFCC renewed interest in his corruption cases, a situation which forced Kalu to abandon both PPA and the PDP for the APC. It was a classic case of a mother abandoning her child to nurture another person’s baby.

Senatorial Bid

The fact that he was standing corruption trial did not stop the former governor from returning to politics as he successfully contested a senatorial election under the APC and won.

He had in 2015 lost his bid to be elected senator. But he returned to win the Abia North senatorial election in February 2019. Kalu won with 30,580 votes while the closest opposition candidate from the PDP, Mao Ohuabunwa, who beat him in 2015 recorded 21,940 votes. He later emerged as the Senate Chief whip.

Orji Uzor Kalu’s Mother

In Nigeria’s political firmament, the prevailing scenario is that the wives of governors or political office holders gain notoriety by becoming the power behind the throne. In most cases, such ladies become the go-to-person if you want any favour from her husband.

But in the case of Abia state during Kalu’s reign, his mother took this bill, leaving his wife in the lurch.

Kalu’s mother, Mrs. Eunice Kalu was so powerful that she was called “Mother Excellency.” She even caused a rift between her son and then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Not surprisingly, the former governor believes his corruption ordeals stemmed from this rift with Obasanjo.

According to him, Obasanjo unleashed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on him and his mother because she refused to endorse an elongation of tenure for the president.

Kalu disclosed in an interview with a national newspaper that men in police uniform once stormed the Aba home of his mom in a bid to arrest her, but they were resisted by security men at the premises who denied them access to the house. They fired sporadic gunshots for over two hours and subsequently left. That was how powerful she was.

The Fall

After 12 years of standing trial, Kalu was eventually sentenced to 12 years in prison. As he was being led to the gallows, Kalu reportedly smiled at reporters and said, “2023, here we come” as he was led out of the courtroom by Correctional Services officials after his sentencing.

However, his steely behaviour soon gave way to reality as he begged the correctional officers, “please don’t handcuff me. I will follow you.”

QUOTE:

As the corruption case continued to dog him, the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 on an anti-corruption pledge forced the former governor to rethink his fortunes. The EFCC renewed interest in his corruption cases, a situation which forced Kalu to abandon both PPA and the PDP for the APC. It was a classic case of a mother abandoning her child to nurture another person’s baby.

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its strike action embarked upon on Wednesday to draw federal government’s attention to the plight of its members.

Following a meeting with officials of the federal government, the union accepted to discontinue the one-day old strike action.

According the National President of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero who confirmed the outcome of the meeting to THISDAY, the workers’ grievances were conclusively addressed.

He said that all the concerns of the union and it’s members were addressed at the talks which lasted till the wee hours of today.

“ We have concluded deliberations and all issues were addressed but we are awaiting implementation.

Meanwhile, our strike action is suspended,” Ajaero said.

Following the expiration of the 21 days ultimatum issued by NUEE to the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, to implement their demands, and the failure of the minister to dialogue with the union before the ultimatum which lapsed midnight Tuesday, a nationwide blackout was imminent as electricity workers began indefinite strike Wednesday morning.

The strike action led to the shutting down of most of the offices of Distribution Companies (Discos) across the country.

Prince Tony Momoh, a former Minister of Information on Wednesday said Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has no business interfering in the affairs of the party in Edo State.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Independent, Momoh, a former national chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) said the task of organising and funding the party is the sole responsibility of Governor Godwin Obaseki, who by the party’s constitution is the leader of the APC in Edo State.

According to him, going by APC’s constitution, the governor is the chief executive officer of the party in any state where APC is the ruling party.

He advised Oshiomhole to focus on his task at the national level saying there are lots of issues that needs to be addressed by the national chairman of the party nationwide.

“Oshiomhole is the national chairman of APC. In states where we have a governor, the head of the party or chief executive officer of the party in the state is the governor. That is the structure of APC. So, I don’t think Oshiomhole and Governor Obaseki are at loggerheads.

“Obaseki is the Chief Executive Officer of the party in Edo State according to our structure. He organises the party, funds the party and so on. I believe Oshiomhole is not claiming to be the party leader or chairman of APC in Edo State, because he is not.”

As national chairman, he has his hands full at the national level so what will he be doing in Edo state? He has no business in the organisation of the party in Edo state”.

“ I know some people who are trying to cause crisis in Edo state are doing so in the name of Oshiomhole but I don’t think Oshiomhole can be advised to champion anybody’s cause in Edo state because he has so many things to do at the national level” he said.

A Nigerian citizen living in Accra, Ghana, has been extradited to Memphis to stand trial for an indictment charging him with cyber crimes and identity theft.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee indicted 64-year-old Babatunde Martins with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Martins was also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud.

The indictment alleges that Martins, along with other Africa-based co-conspirators, hacked into the servers and email systems of a Memphis-based real estate company in June and July of 2016. Martins and his co-conspirators allegedly sent fake emails to “relevant business parties,” and redirected money to final destinations in Africa.

The indictment was handed down on August 23, 2017, but Martins did not make his initial appearance in a West Tennessee court until Monday, December 9, 2019.

The Department of Justice says that Martins is also charged with perpetrating romance scams, fake check scams, gold-buying scams, advance-fee scams, and credit card scams. The indictment alleges that proceeds from these scams were transferred from the U.S. to locations in Africa.

Five other people have pleaded guilty to being involved in the scheme. Olufalojimi Abegunde, 33, and Javier Luis Ramos-Alonso, 30, were convicted in March after a week-long trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Abegunde received a 78-month sentence, and Ramos-Alonso received a 31-month sentence for their roles in the scheme.

The Department of Justice says that several others are still at large.

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You arrested me with your powerful performance in ‘Boyz in the Hood’ when you ordered Laurence Fishburne to “sit his ass down” and he did!!!!!! From that day I watched anything you featured in - ‘Waiting to Exhale’ ‘How Stella got her groove back’ ‘What’s love got to do with it’ and of course your role as mother in ‘Black Panther’. I bow!!! Angela I don’t know you personally, but you’ve inspired me so much that I would play ALL your roles for free! Today is my birthday but I choose to celebrate YOU - Ms Angela Bassett..........Thank you for paving the way for other black actresses. �❤️��� #Actors #Craft #Inspiration #Love #Thespian #Nollywood #African #Legend #Tribute #Career #GoFARwithActing #Thankful #TvAndFilm #Hollywood #FunlolaAofiyebiRaimi @im.angelabassett

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You convincingly play ‘wicked’ in many of the films you feature yet when I had the privilege of working with you, you showed Me Warmth, Understanding and Patience. You accommodated my schedule, waited for me and amidst your jokes, we were able to tell a beautiful story. Today is my birthday but I choose to celebrate YOU - Aunty Patience Ozokwor........Thank you for paving the way for me!�❤️��� #Actors #Inspiration #Mentor #Craft #TvAndFilm #Thespians #Nollywood #Africa #Legends #Tribute #Career #Love #TvAndFilm #Thankful #2019 #Birthday #FunlolaAofiyebiRaimi @patienceozokwo

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Prominent lawyers, including Mr Femi Falana, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa and Jiti Ogunye, on Wednesday supported the decision of PUNCH to henceforth address the President of the country as Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

But the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Alex Izinyon, opposed PUNCH’s decision.

The PUNCH, in a front page comment on Wednesday, assessed the President and stated that Buhari, who ruled the country as a military head of state from 1983 to 1985, had failed to “wean himself off his military antecedents.”

A few hours after PUNCH’s comment was published, two presidential aides expressed reservations about the decision to prefix Buhari’s name with Major General.

The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in a statement, said PUNCH’s decision was an indication of freedom of speech in the country.

He stated, “A newspaper says it will henceforth address President Muhammadu Buhari by his military rank of Major General.

“Nothing untoward in it. It is a rank the President attained by dint of hard work before he retired from the Nigerian Army. And today, constitutionally, he is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

“All over the world, just as in our country, a large number of retired military officers are now democrats. It does not make those who did not pass through military service better than them.

“Rather than being pejorative, addressing President Buhari by his military rank is another testimony to free speech and freedom of the press, which this administration (or regime, if anyone prefers: it is a matter of semantics) has pledged to uphold and preserve.”

But the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, in a separate statement, disagreed with the newspaper for changing the title of the President to Major General. He said a newspaper did not have the power to change the title of a President.

He said PUNCH “never changed President Olusegun Obasanjo’s title from the President to General Obasanjo, despite the latter’s refusal to comply with the Supreme Court judgment ordering him to release N30bn to Lagos State.”

Shehu said when “General Ibrahim Babangida, who wasn’t democratically elected, assumed the title of President,” PUNCH did not challenge him.

He recalled that Babangida closed media houses, including PUNCH, for several months.

“The Constitution of Nigeria recognises the President as the formal official title of the occupant of that office. Can the Punch newspapers, in their hubris address the President as Prime Minister as it pleases?” he asked.

NBA backs PUNCH

The Nigerian Bar Association, however, threw its weight behind the decision by PUNCH to begin prefixing the President’s name by his last military rank, major general.

The National Publicity Secretary of the association, Mr Kunle Edun, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the newspaper did not violate any law by its decision.

He noted that the newspaper was only expressing its right to freedom of expression in reaction to the acts of the regime.

Edun stated, “We all know that military regimes have no respect for the rule of law and the judiciary is usually under attack,” he stated.

Edun said referring to Buhari as a major general was not defamatory since it was his last rank in the military.

He said, “I am not aware of any law that expressly states how the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be addressed or prefixed; whether as Mr President, a General or simply as Alhaji, is of no consequence at the moment because it is a fact that Buhari is a retired military general and someone who has undergone the mandatory hajj.

“Moreso, the appellations used are not defamatory. Punch has just decided how to express its fundamental right to freedom of expression in conveying its reactions about certain actions of this government.”

PUNCH has not violated any law – Falana

A Lagos-based rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said PUNCH had not violated any law, adding that the description was appropriate for the present regime.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria explained that the reactions of both Adesina and Shehu did not address the grave allegations of gross human rights abuses that had become the hallmark of the Buhari regime.

Falana noted that contrary to the diversionary ploy of the presidential spokespersons to cover up the desecration of the Federal High Court in Abuja last Friday, the State Security Service had apologised to Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu and the Chief Judge of the court for the armed invasion of the temple of justice.

He said, “While commending PUNCH for imposing the symbolic sanctions on the Buhari regime, it is pertinent to remind Mr Garba Shehu that he was arrested and detained by the State Security Service in 2006 during the Obasanjo/Atiku face-off. It was the human rights community that fought for his release from the illegal custody.

“In the case of the IGP vs ANPP (2008) 12 WRN 65, we also won the Nigerian people the right to protest for or against the government without police permit. In exercise of the right of freedom of expression won through the court, Major General Buhari and other APC leaders convened rallies to protest election malpractices and insecurity in the country. But as far as the Buhari regime is concerned, any Nigerian citizen, who participates in a peaceful rally, is liable to be charged with treasonable felony or terrorism.

“Mr Garba Shehu alluded to the illegal closure of the PUNCH newspaper by the Babangida junta. It is embarrassing that the senior journalist is not aware that the closure was declared illegal, while the sum of N22m was awarded in favour of the newspaper by the Federal High Court. The said judgment has since been affirmed by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The era of military dictatorship in Nigeria has passed. The current era of civilian dictatorship will pass too.

On the 12th December last year at 9.24am, my prince was born.
The are no words to describe how much you mean to us. You bring us so much joy and we thank God for you every day.

Thank you for bringing me a new purpose; thank you for making me a better person; thank you for being one of the best things to ever happen to me, and above all thank you for choosing me to be your mum.

I love you to the moon and back, and my daily prayer for you is for God to always keep and protect you, and that you live up to your name - ASHER.

Asher means happy, fortunate and blessed.
May you be HAPPY, and may you bring HAPPINESS to everyone around you.

May you be FORTUNATE, and may you bring GOOD FORTUNE to everyone around you.
May you always be BLESSED, and may you bring BLESSINGS to everyone around you.

Air Peace said on Thursday that none of its aircraft was siezed in Atlanta, in the United States.

The airline said it had no links with any airplane seized in the U.S.

According to Air Peace Corporate Commumications /Media Executive, Stanley Olisa, the company does not currently have any aircraft in the US.

He said :” Linking Air peace to the aircraft that was seized in the US is the act of mischief makers locally who are bent on tarnishing the image of the airline and its owner.

“We have since learnt that the actual owner of the aircraft appeared in court on Tuesday in the US but unfortunately, some people are still linking the aircraft to Air Peace.”