Welcome to VinMike's Blog

The first shots shattered the peace of the night at the Abeokuta Garrison of the Nigerian Army a few minutes after midnight on July 29, 1966. Three casualties lay instantly dead in the persons of Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Okonweze, the Garrison Commander, Major John Obienu, Commander of the 2nd Reece Squadron, and Lieutenant E. B. Orok, also of the Reece Squadron. It was the beginning of the much-touted revenge coup of Northern Nigerian army officers and men against the regime of Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi.

Hillary Clinton on Thursday accepted the Democratic Party's White House nomination, casting herself as a tireless champion of the people and rejecting Donald Trump's dark picture of America. Becoming the first woman to win the nomination of a major political party, Clinton promised to be a president for "all Americans," whether they voted for her or not.

The Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Hammed Ali, has decried the increasing influx of firearms into the country.The Customs boss said the act can be curtailed if security agencies work together.

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has praised Fidson Healthcare Plc for its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sango, Ogun State. He reiterated the Federal Government’s support for indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturing, saying with the facility, the firm deserves the support and patronage of the government and  stakeholders. The Minister, who spoke to reporters during his familiarisation tour of the factory described the facility as a ‘wonder’, saying he is “impressed with its enormous production capacity” and pledged government’s support. “What Fidson has built here is extraordinary. We must encourage and support this project in terms of patronage and tax relief to ensure that the company is able to coordinate production in a sustainable manner,” Adewole said. The Minister said part of the support would be in raw materials’  import. “We will get the Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority to witness this so that there can be support in terms o...

The Lagos State AIDS Control Agency(LSACA) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) have kicked off an HIV intervention campaign at  New Garage, Ojota. The campaign is aimed increasing   awareness of  HIV and AIDS among Lagosians and NURTW members.

Enugu Rangers have appealed to their fans not to give up on them in their quest to put an end to their title drought after their last weekend’s home draw against Lobi Stars in a NPFL Match Day 28 tie in Enugu.

In one of Oracle’s largest ever acquisitions, it will position ERP seller NetSuite in a complimentary role. Oracle has bought cloud ERP provider NetSuite for $9.3 billion (£7bn), with Oracle claiming the two companies will “coexist” in the marketplace “forever”.

Kenya overtook South Africa to become the biggest investor in other African countries in terms of the number of projects in 2015. Kenya invested in 36 projects last year in other parts of the continent against South Africa’s 33, a new study by financial consulting firm Ernst & Young shows.

Celestial Church of Christ, CCC, which ordained Francis Taiwo a pastor and deployed him to head one of its parishes in the Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, yesterday, issued a statement condemning the man’s action concerning his nine-year-old son.

Niger State government has informed the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of large quantity of crude oil in the Bida Basin awaiting exploration.

Ride-hailing services like Uber will be legal in China as of November, Bloomberg reports, citing a document from the country's transportation ministry. Uber and its Chinese rival, Didi Chuxing, have so far been operating in a legal gray area, as the two companies vie for supremacy in the world's largest ride-hailing market, but the new regulations reviewed by Bloomberg will now allow them to compete freely.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Democrats to carry Hillary Clinton to victory over Donald Trump, saying the 2016 White House race was not just about party politics, but the nature of American democracy. The two-term president offered potent testimony on the third night of his party's national convention about how Clinton, his onetime rival, became an ally and trusted adviser.

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) convoy was ambushed after their vehicle ran over an explosive in Fino Town, Mandera County. The convoy was responding to an early morning attack where suspected Al-Shabaab militants destroyed a communication mast.

Fifty years after THAT goal at Wembley, West Germany captain Uwe Seeler still insists England's Geoff Hurst's controversial shot never crossed the line in the 1966 World Cup final. Hurst's second goal in the 101st minute of extra time  which put England 3-2 ahead after the match had finished 2-2 over 90 minutes  is arguably the most controversial goal in international football history.

Colombian giants Atletico Nacional won the Copa Libertadores for only the second time in their history on Wednesday after a 1-0 victory over Ecuadoran minnows Independiente del Valle secured a 2-1 aggregate triumph.

Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas was sent off for a reckless lunge at Liverpool new boy Ragnar Klavan, overshadowing a 1-0 friendly win at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on Wednesday. The Premier League giants locked horns in the pre-season International Champions Cup in a match which was more remarkable for its clumsy fouls than free-flowing football.

AN Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ijero Ekiti has issued a warrant of arrest against the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Olajide Awe and three others to answer the charge of murder filed against them by the state government. The three other persons wanted in court are Faboro John Ojo, Aniramu Basiru and Falayi Busuyi.

THE Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) has indefinitely suspended four students of the institution, who were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged N16 million Internet fraud. The EFCC had arrested the affected four suspects and another from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba (AAUA).

Union Bank Plc yesterday donated N30 million to support athletes and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) participating in the Olympic Games holding next month in Rio, Brazil. Speaking yesterday during the cash donation in Lagos, the bank’s Transformation Director, Joe Mbulu, said the lender recognises the value of sports to youth and grassroots development, which translates to national growth.

Nigerian business tycoon, Gen. TY Danjuma, has been named Board Chairman by the NatCom Development & Investment Limited “NatCom”, trading as ntel. The announcement was made on Wednesday, July, 2016 following General Danjuma’s inaugural board meeting.

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), yesterday, jerked up its Monetary Policy Rate  (MPR)to 14 per cent, attracting criticism from  business experts who predicted that the hike will lead to increased  corporate failures, unemployment  and decline in the nation’s stock market.

Despite strident denials by top officials of the National Assembly, it has been discovered that the legislators padded the 2016 budget to the tune of N481 billion. Documents obtained by Vanguard showed that apart from padding the budget with the huge sum, forcing the Presidency to raise alarm over it, NASS also unilaterally jerked the votes meant for constituency projects from N60 billion to N100 billion.

Three persons were shot dead yesterday, during a shootout between hoodlums and some officers attached to the Federal Operations Zone A, Ikeja, of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, at White Sand community in Ijora Badia area of Lagos State. Three others, among who was a Customs officer, also sustained gunshot injuries. Trouble started, Monday, following a clash between Hausa and Yoruba residents over accusation by the latter that the former had been terrorising the area. A resident, Tajudeen Shamsudeen, explained that a boy, identified as Ojo, said to be on his way home, was allegedly stabbed to death by some Hausa boys. Shamsudeen said: “For long, these Hausa boys have been attacking people here. They waylay people, dispose them of cash and belongings. Even rulers of both ethnic groups are aware of the issue.” The attack on Ojo, according to him, sparked a riot during which dangerous weapons were freely used by both parties. But for the timely arrival of policemen from Ijora Bad...

Google has launched a new service in the United Kingdom that will allow emergency responders to more accurately locate a caller’s position, and has partnered with BT, O2, Vodafone and EE to roll out the service. The feature, called Emergency Location Service, sends location data from your phone to emergency services when you dial 999.

BlackBerry says its slimmest ever device is also the world’s most secure Android smartphone, hoping the DTEK50 can revive its fading fortunes in the market. The handset runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and comes equipped with hardware and software based security features aimed at both consumers and businesses, particularly as privacy concerns become increasingly important.

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to increase the tempo on crude oil exploration activities in the northern part of the country.

ViaSat promises US President will have the same level of connectivity on Air Force One as they do in the White House Satellite operator ViaSat is to provide broadband and communications services to Air Force One, claiming US government officials, including the President of the United States, will have the same level of connectivity in the air as they do in the White House.

Yahoo’s core assets finally sold off as Mayer claims: ‘Yahoo is a company that has changed the world’ Yahoo has finally sold off its problem-addled internet business to buyer Verizon for $4.83 billion (£3.86bn), 16 years after Yahoo grabbed headlines during the dot-com bubble in 2000 with a market capitalization of $125 billion.

Cloud Natural Language API and Cloud Speech API opened as betas for analysing large chunks of text and speech.  Looking to sell customers better tools for extracting value from large sets of unstructured data, Google has released beta versions of two new machine learnings APIs for its Google Cloud Platform.

The  most significant risk factor for liver cancer is chronic infection with hepatitis B virus  and hepatitis C virus. These are viruses that can spread from person to person through the  sharing of contaminated needles (such as in drug use) and through unprotected sex. Hence some liver cancer may be prevented by not sharing needles and by engaging in safer sex practices (such as consistent use of condoms).                                                          Common symptoms of liver cancer.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency from Thursday, saying it was needed to hunt down the "terrorists" behind last week's attempted coup. Ankara said it would also suspend the European Convention on Human Rights, pointing out that France had taken similar action and declared a state of emergency after jihadist attacks.

Wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki has been selected to speak at this year’s White House Global Development Summit in Washington DC. Mrs. Saraki who is also the President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), will be speaking on the progress made in moving towards achieving Global Development Goals (GDGs) and also emphasising on the fact that there is so much left to be done.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday that it recorded about 1,447 incidences of pipeline vandalism across the country resulting in the loss of millions of litres of products worth billions of naira in 2016 alone. NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin in his office. According to Baru, “In 2015, Nigeria lost 643 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) valued at N51.3 billion through pipeline vandalism alone. He said the volume of products lost through vandalism of oil and gas infrastructure alone underscored the need for stakeholders especially security agencies to devise more effective strategies to address the menace. Acknowledging that security agencies were doing much to address the menace, the GMD said the persistence of oil thieves and saboteurs was affecting even the 2016 budget implementation. His words, “The supply and distribution o...

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has replied former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah on his alleged comment that Biafra is for Igbo alone, asking him to explain who Philip Effiong was if Biafra is just for Igbo.

Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has donated his European Cup winners bonus totally £275,009 to a Kids Cancer Foundation.   Ronaldo was recently rated as the number one most charitable sportsman and has reportedly given more than £10million to different charities across the world and this time around, he decided to help kids suffering from Cancer. 'He did the same with Champions League bonus.' Hopefully, other footballers will learn from him and learn how to be charitable.

Police will be paid higher allowances and salaries that match those of other civil servants.The National Police Service Commission said on Wednesday (NPSC) that the new pay begins in September and will be pegged on skills, responsibility and risks.

Lafarge Africa Plc, a leading cement and building solutions provider, yesterday announced a loss of N30.1 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2016, compared with a profit after tax of N27.3billion in the corresponding period of 2014.

Wema Bank Plc’s unaudited results for the six-month ended June 30th, 2016 have shown that the bank recorded a 10 per cent improvement in profitability on the back of 42 per cent growth in fee income.

The federal government has been advised to adopt e-governance strategies in tackling corruption, which has been identified as the bane of good governance and Nigeria’s development.

Zenith Bank Plc has again been rated Nigeria’s most customer-focused bank by the leading advisory and consultancy firm, KPMG.

Olabisi Onabanjo University is set to hold the 2nd edition of her annual fashion awards tagged OOU Fashion Awards. The award celebrates and recognizes fashionistas who are epitome of decency when it comes to fashion. It also serves as a means of improving the goodwill and image of the university.

Pop diva Lady Gaga and actor Taylor Kinney have called off their engagement, reports said Tuesday, more than a year after she thought she had found the right match. The singer has in recent days appeared without her engagement ring in photos she posted on Instagram from the resort town of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where she has been volunteering at a charity for needy children.

The Philippines' brash anti-establishment President Rodrigo Duterte told his government Thursday not to call him "Your Excellency". Duterte, 71, in a statement from his office, said he wanted to be referred to simply as "President" in all official communications.

The Department of State Service, DSS, has detained, in Abuja, Speaker of Zamfara State House of Assembly, Sanusi Rikiji, his deputy, Muhammad Gumi and other principal officers of the Assembly allegedly on the order of Governor Abdulaziz Yari over impeachment move against him.

NIGER  Delta Avengers, NDA, has denied claims by the Nigerian Navy that it arrested the group’s logistics supplier, saying its operatives were intact adding that the militants were winning the war. The militant group in a statement by its spokesperson, self-styled Brig. General Mudoch, said: “The news that the Nigerian Navy has arrested Niger Delta Avengers’ logistics supplier is the biggest joke of the 21st  century.

The PDP has raised alarm over an alleged plot by the APC to rig the September 10 governorship election and called on government institutions and security agencies not work with the APC in subverting the will of the Edo people. At a campaign rally for the party’s governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu,  in Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area, the party also challenged the outgoing governor to declare how much rights a private company allegedly close to the APC candidate, Godwin Obaseki has invested in the Edo University, Iyamho (EUI).

MAN. UNITED have locked down a world record £105million transfer fee deal with Juventus for midfielder Paul Pogba. Pogba is expected to sign a five-year contract to move back to Old Trafford in the transfer that sees him earning more than Gareth Bale and Christiano Ronaldo as the world’s highest paid footballer. The two clubs who have been in talks with the 23-year-old France star’s agent, Mino Raiaola agreed on the fee after failing with an initial offer of £90m. Respected French newspaper L’Equipe claims all that is left before the move is finalised is for Pogba to agree personal terms.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele on Tuesday gave conflicting prognoses of the Nigerian economy, with the fund forecasting that the Nigeria economy was likely to contract by 1.8 per cent this year, warning that it was heading towards recession. Emefiele, on the other hand, during a closed-door briefing with the Senate, informed the upper legislative chamber that the economy was suffering from stagflation. A recession is defined as a significant decline in activity across the economy, lasting longer than a few months. It is visible in industrial production, employment, real income and wholesale-retail trade.                                  

At least 34 people have mysteriously disappeared and 11 others were killed in what is suspected to be the coordinated work of local security forces, a new report by a human rights watchdog has revealed. Witness statements collected by Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicate that all the 45 victims may have been under investigation for alleged links to Al-Shabaab.

Kenya has been cited as one of the countries with “stubborn” HIV new infections. Kenya’s rate of new HIV infections has risen steadily over the past decade, more dramatically than in other countries, a study has shown. Beyond Kenya, the world faces “significant challenges” in ending the Aids epidemic by 2030. According to the study, more than 1.8 million Kenyans were living with HIV in 2015, and 39 per cent were on anti retroviral therapy drugs to slow the disease’s progression.    

Social media manager Hootsuite has integrated OneDrive, Google Drive, Box and Dropbox into its publishing platform, meaning users can have direct access to their documents like photos or GIFs straight from the platform. While Hootsuite promises the upgrade will make it simple to access and publish “engaging and dynamic content”, in reality, the feature just cuts down on time-to-GIF for social media users who want to react with appropriately hilarious content in reaction to other social media posts.            

Yahoo has failed to update investors on the sale of its core internet business as it revealed it suffered a £332 million loss in its second quarter. Instead, CEO Marissa Mayer said that “progress” has been made on its strategic alternatives but failed to define what that subjective term meant. Yahoo saw a rise in revenue to $1.3 billion (£1bn) in the second quarter, with mobile revenue growing from £252 million to $378 million (£287m).