6 ministers with governorship aspirations set to quit GEJ's cabinet

Ahead of the February 2015 general elections, 6 serving ministers including Sen. Bala Muhammed (Min. for Federal Capital Territory), Mr. Labaran Maku (Min. of Information), Chief Emeka Wogu (Min. of Labour), Mr. Nyesom Wike ( Min. of State, Education), Dr. Samuel Ortom (Min. of State, Trade, Industry and Investment) and Senator Musiliu Obanikoro ( Min. of State, Defence) are expected to tender their resignations in October to enable them pursue their Governorship aspirations in their various states.

While Mr Wike is bidding to take over from Rivers state Governor Chibuike Amaechi, Sen. Bala Mohammed is said to be gunning for the government house in Bauchi state. Sen. Obanikoro is to contest for Governor of Lagos state while Dr Ortom is to contest for Governor in Benue state. Mr Labaran Maku is gunning for the Nassarawa state governor's seat while Mr Wogu is said to be eyeing the Abia state governor's seat.

A source at the Presidency who confirmed the Ministers impending resignation said;
"Their resignation will come very soon. You know the President will have to fill the vacancies that will be created before the general elections in February 2015. You also know that the Senate must approve nominees. It is therefore important that the list be forwarded to the senators before everybody will be engrossed in election matters in their various constituencies,” the source said.

COURTESY: LINDAIKEJI BLOG

Dr Dre, Jay Z, Drake top the World's Highest Paid Hip-Hop Acts of 2014

Forbes released their annual list of Highest Paid Hip Hop Acts today and of course, Dr Dre led the pack with a whooping $620 million from June 2013 to June 2014. Apple bought his Beats by Dre for $3billion so... See the top ten highest paid below...

1. Dr. Dre - $620 million
2.  Jay Z (tie) - $60 million
2. Diddy (tie) - $60 million 
4. Drake - $33million
5. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - $32 million
6. Kanye West: $30 million
7. Birdman: $24 million
8. Lil Wayne: $23 million
9. Pharrell Williams: $22 million
10. Eminem: $18 million
See the top 20 after the cut...

11. Nicki Minaj: $14 million
12. Wiz Khalifa: $13 million
13. Pitbull: $12 million
14. Snoop Dogg: $10 million
15. Kendrick Lamar: $9 million
16. Ludacris: $8 million (tie)
16. Tech N9ne: $8 million (tie)
16. Swizz Beatz: $8 million (tie)
16. 50 Cent: $8 million (tie)
20. Rick Ross: $7 million (tie)
20. J. Cole: $7 million (tie)
20. DJ Khaled: $7 million (tie)
20. Lil Jon: $7 million (tie)
20. Mac Miller: $7 million (tie)

You are annoying your boss and colleagues any time you take your phone out during meetings

You are annoying your boss and colleagues any time you take your phone out during meetings, says new research from USC's Marshall School of Business, and if you work with women and people over forty they're even more perturbed by it than everyone else.

The researchers conducted a nationwide survey of 554 full-time working professionals earning above $30K and working in companies with at least 50 employees. They asked a variety of questions about smartphone use during meetings and found:

• 86% think it’s inappropriate to answer phone calls during meetings
• 84% think it’s inappropriate to write texts or emails during meetings
• 66% think it’s inappropriate to write texts or emails even during lunches offsite
• The more money people make the less they approve of smartphone use.

The study also found that Millennials are three times more likely than those over 40 to think that smartphone use during meetings is okay, which is ironic considering Millennials are highly dependent upon the opinions of their older colleagues for career advancement.

TalentSmart has tested the emotional intelligence of more than a million people worldwide and found that Millennials have the lowest self-awareness in the workplace, making them unlikely to see that their smartphone use in meetings is harming their careers.

Why do so many people—especially successful people—find smartphone use in meetings to be inappropriate? When you take out your phone it shows a:

• Lack of respect. You consider the information on your phone to be more important than the conversation at hand, and you view people outside of the meeting to be more important than those sitting right in front of you.
• Lack of attention. You are unable to stay focused on one thing at a time.
• Lack of listening. You aren’t practicing active listening, so no one around you feels heard.
• Lack of power. You are like a modern-day Pavlovian dog who responds to the whims of others through the buzz of your phone.
• Lack of self-awareness: You don't understand how ridiculous your behavior looks to other people.
• Lack of social awareness: You don't understand how your behavior affects those around you.

I can't say I'm surprised by the USC study's findings. My company coaches leadersusing 360° assessments that compare their self-perception to how everyone else sees them. Smartphone use in meetings is one of the most common coworker complaints.

It’s important to be clear with what you expect of others. If sharing this article with your team doesn't end smartphone use in meetings, take a page out of the Old West and put a basket by the conference room door with an image of a smart phone and the message, "Leave your guns at the door."

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Kevin Kruse is a NYT bestselling author, accomplished speaker, and expert in employee engagement and leadership. Download free articles at his website KevinKruse.com

Dr. Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book,Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world's leading provider of emotional intelligence tests, emotional intelligence training, andemotional intelligence certification, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. Dr. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.

FFS 16

Under-fire Newcastle boss Alan Pardew will be given more time by Mike Ashley after surviving fan protest

Pardew will be allowed time, no matter what the atmosphere on the terraces after his team showed spirit to fight back from two goals down against Hull and rescue a point

Serena Taylor

Time: Newcastle boss Alan Pardew will get the chance to turn things around

Alan Pardew will be given more time by owner Mike Ashley after emerging strengthened from his fan-power trial.

Pardew has striker Papiss Cisse fit again and he struck scored twice to rescue a point for Newcastle. His previous two goals took 30 games.

The planned demonstration against the Toon boss ended up being isolated to a few thousand holding up posters calling for him to be sacked, the odd chant, and booing when Pardew caught the ball in the technical area.

The players who looked so limp against Southampton a week earlier showed they are still playing for their manager.

There was a bizarre moment when Cisse ran to high-five Pardew in ­celebration of his equaliser, prompting booing among the joy.

A home draw against Hull is not much to shout about – these games must be won. However Pardew’s men showed backbone, spirit and decent build-up play to give hope of ­improvements ahead.

A message from Ashley came via a confidant. Pardew will be allowed time, no matter what the atmosphere on the terraces.

He was not given a long-term contract for nothing, and knew there would be “dark moments”. Ashley has no appetite for upheaval and will be as loyal as possible. He points to Newcastle having had 18 managers in the last 30 years – none of whom won anything – and wants to change that short-term culture.

ANDY DUNN: Fightback signals faint hope for Pardew

It seems likely there will be a review of results in a couple of months.

Perhaps Toon fans ­realised Ashley was not for turning as they stuck with their team at 2-0 down, a moment when St James’ Park could have gone into meltdown.

Cisse’s return after a broken knee-cap looking sprightly and hungry is an important factor.

He played with a head-cold and just five days training behind him, but ended up the hero, dedicating his moment to team-mate Jonas Gutierrez who revealed his cancer battle this week.

Cisse said: “On Friday night I spoke to Jonas and he told me to get a goal. So those goals were for him – and the gaffer too.

“I know it’s been very, very hard for the boss this week, but Jonas’s news puts it into perspective.

“The gaffer said we had to be disciplined and work hard together as a team. We had to forget ­everything else and concentrate on the pitch and play football.

“I didn’t think I’d be playing. I started training on Tuesday. Then, on Friday, the gaffer said, ‘I think I’ll put you on the bench because you look right and good’. And I was OK. He put me on the bench and then I scored two. I’m happy.”

Cisse struck twice in 14 minutes late on after a ­spectacular overhead kick from Nikica Jelevic and Mo Diame’s brilliant 25-yard shot gave Hull a second-half lead.

Tigers boss Steve Bruce said the draw “felt like a defeat”.

Will Alan Pardew complete the season as Newcastle manager?

• YES
• NO

Gallery: Newcastle fans' protest

VIEW GALLERY

 

Liverpool star Mario Balotelli racially abused on Twitter after mocking Manchester United's 5-3 defeat at Leicester

Police are investigating after hate-filled social media fans viciously attacked the Liverpool and Italy striker after he goaded the Red Devils this afternoon

Mario Balotelli was racially abused on Twitter today after he mocked Manchester United's 5-3 defeat at Leicester City.

Hate-filled social media users targeted the Liverpool and Italy striker after he goaded the Red Devils fans with a tweet which simply read: 'Man utd ... LOL.'

One vile tweeter, known only as iMonko, wrote: "Monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey."

Another, using the Twitter handle Maroc, tweeted: "You're a f*****g monkey. Oo Oo ah ah."

And one particularly disgusting tirade read: "@F**k you Mario you f*****g n****r. Go eat some bananas and get ebola you dirty monkey."

Many others came to Balotelli's defence and some screen-grabbed and re-tweeted some of the vile messages, and forwarded them on to police.

The football equality group Kick It Out said in a message on Twitter that it was aware of the racist tweets directed bat Balotelli and that it would be reporting the matter to the authorities.

Merseyside Police has since said it is investigating.

The force posted a message on Twitter, which read: "We can confirm officers are looking into offensive comments made on Twitter about Mario Balotelli earlier today."

Asked if they were launching an investigation, a Merseyside Police spokesman said "yes, we are", adding: "As far as I am aware there have been no complaints but we have been made aware of it by a number of press inquiries."

Manchester United led 3-1 at half-time before conceding four second-half goals in 21 minutes against newly-promoted Leicester.

Balotelli was joined by others from across the world of football left in disbelief at United’s latest horror show.

Former Arsenal midfielder and Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson said: "Man Utd a Gillion miles away from winning the title."

TV presenter and Arsenal fan Piers Morgan tweeted: "To be fair to Van Gaal, he has brought in a new era at United - they're worse than I've ever seen them."

 

And Match of the Day presenter and former Leicester striker Gary Lineker simply said: "S*** on Man United!"

The controversial 24-year-old, born to Ghanaian immigrants in Italy before being fostered by an Italian family, suffered from racism throughout his career in Italy, and was even racially abused by fans at a national team training camp ahead of this summer's World Cup.

In April 2009, Inter president Massimo Moratti said he would have taken his team off the pitch following the abuse the 18-year-old received at Juventus.

And during the summer of 2009, he had a banana thrown at him in Rome in the city centre.

In an interview published in GQ magazine in July he said: "They (the abusers( aren't used to seeing people who are different, not white, who act not as rebels but normally.

"I think what the ignorant people don't like is that people who are different are allowed to act that way.

"These stupid people, they get angry with me, they say horrible things, but I haven't done anything different from other people.

"I have made mistakes, like everyone does, and I have always paid for my mistakes.

"I think that if I was white maybe some people would still find me irritating or annoying but it wouldn't be the same.

"Absolutely not.

"Jealousy is a horrible thing, but when this jealousy is towards people who are different from the majority, and who maybe also have more than you, then it becomes anger, it becomes rage, and that's the overt racism."

source - the mirror

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal not happy with throwing away a lead at Leicester City

The United boss watched on as his side built a two-goal lead in the second half, only to capitulate and concede four goals inside 21 minutes

Beaten: Louis van Gaal reacts on the substitutes bench

Shell shocked Louis van Gaal admitted Manchester United’s dramatic collapse was as bad as his most traumatic day as a manager.

The Dutchman was furious after United ­squandered a 3-1 lead in the last half hour at Leicester – making it their worst ever start to a Premier League campaign.

He accused his team of having the game “in our pocket and then giving it away”.

“I’ve been in this ­profession for 25 years and the only other experience I’ve known like that was in my first year as coach at Barcelona,” said the Reds boss, thinking back to 1998.

“We were three goals ahead with a quarter of the match to play and lost 3-4. That was also at a top club, but you never expect that to happen when you’re 3-1 ahead and are leading by two goals for the second time.

“It can happen in football, but it’s not good because we had the game in our pocket and we gave it away – not because of Leicester but we gave it away, and I don’t like that.

“You have to kill the game and keep possession, but we couldn’t do that. And then, of course, you give it away with penalties.”

Gallery: Leicester 5-3 Man United

VIEW GALLERY

England captain Wayne Rooney let rip at referee Mark Clattenburg, who awarded Leicester two penalties and sent off United’s 20-year-old defender Tyler Blackett.

United’s back four had a torrid afternoon, and despite a £150million transfer spree, they still looked woefully short of defensive know-how.

Van Gaal insisted his team should share responsibility for a result which leaves them eight points behind leaders Chelsea after five games.

He insisted: “You can’t say the defence was weak. You play like a team – Leicester showed that. We didn’t play like a team in the second half, and that’s not only the defence.

“In a defensive situation the whole team is responsible.”

source. mirror

Political Thugs Storm Lagos As GEJ Start Rally- Fracas in Lagos Island as popular politician is killed

Political campaigns have begun and the first casualty has been recorded in the centre of Lagos politics, the Lagos Island. A popular local politician named Azeez Ashake was shot dead at close range in front of his house at Isale Eko on Saturday September 20th by suspected political thugs.

His son, Usman was also shot but is said to still be alive receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Lagos Island. Azeez Ashake is said to be a strong leader of a particular political group in Lagos Island, and is said to be very influential. His killing caused a lot of chaos in Isale Eko over the weekend, where it's been reported that four people have so far been killed in retaliation for his death. Warning *Graphic pic when you continue*


The police tried over the weekend to restore peace to the area. Several policemen and police patrol vans were deployed to the area, but this didn't stop political thugs from fighting at intervals.