What Facebook's Page Post Targeting Means to Your Business

Facebook

Facebook added new meaning to the term “target audience” last week with the unveiling of a powerful new tool that enables small business owners with Facebook Pages to fine-tune their marketing message in order to fit the interests of each of their followers.

It’s called Page Post Targeting and this new feature appears to be custom made for Facebook Page administrators who want to steer away from the shotgun approach to marketing their brand by targeting their status updates to the users who are most likely to benefit from them.

Before this week, Page administrators were limited to culling audiences by location and language, which is a far cry from interest-based targeting. Under the new options, Page managers will potentially be able to narrow the field of interested readers by their age, gender, “interested in” (men, women), relationship status, education level, place of employment, in addition to current language and geographical location. Another tweak now allows the location to be narrowed down to the users' city, state or country.

To access Page Post Targeting, click the “crosshair” icon at the bottom of the status update box. Don't worry if you don't see it right away, Page Post Targeting will be available to all Facebook Page administrators within the next few months. In the meantime, here's a break down of what to expect, and what it will mean to your business.
 

• More relevant posts. The ability to post content that is more relevant and interesting to segments of your company's fan base, is the biggest draw. For example, a company that specializes in motorcycle equipment can publish a status update related to the efficacy of leather jackets for women, targeting only women in their 20s to 30s among their many Facebook fans. Under the new scheme, the status update would never make it into a male's (who is less likely to be interested in the news) News Feed.

• Fewer “unsubscribes” and more “likes.” Content culling frees marketers to create and post several highly targeted messages per day, for free, without fear of saturating fans with content. This should lead to fewer “unsubscribes” and an increase in “People Talking About,” which could lead to more “Likes.”

• Timeline might get awkward. Since this new feature only applies to posts to the News Feed, all fans of your business or brand will be able to read all posts on your Page’s Timeline, which could prove awkward. For example, if you decide to rewrite and post several updates in order to draw readers of different ages to a product, the words you use to describe it under multiple posts could get confusing.

• One size fits all posts still available. Where targeted posting goes wrong is when fans that don’t fit the specified criteria (or friends of fans) notice several different posts next to each other on the company’s Timeline. Fortunately, Facebook admins can select a generic version of any altered post and hide the rest. 

10 Questions to Ask Before Determining Your Target Market

Image credit: Shutterstock

The better you understand your customer, the faster your business will grow. But new ventures often struggle to define their target market and set their sights too broadly.

"We often overestimate the market size, and in many cases there may not be one at all," says Robert Hisrich, director of the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Ariz.

Who would pay for my product or service?
First, try to understand the problem that your product or service can solve, says Greg Habstritt, founder of SimpleWealth.com, an Alberta, Canada-based advice website for small-business owners. Then, use that information to help determine who would be willing to pay for a solution. "Not only do [your potential customers] need to have the problem, but they need to be aware they have the problem," Habstritt says. He recommends using Google's keyword tool to see how many people are searching for words related to your business idea.

Who has already bought from me? 
To refine both your target marketing and your pricing strategy, see who has already bought your product or service, says Amos Adler, president of Memotext, a medication compliance app maker in Bethesda, Md. You can gain valuable insights by releasing the product in a test phase and letting potential consumers speak with their wallets.

Am I overestimating my reach?
It's easy to assume that most people will need your service or product. But rather than make assumptions, reach out to groups of potential customers to get a more realistic picture of your audience and narrow your marketing efforts. You can conduct surveys, do man-on-the-street type interviews in stores, or organize small focus groups. "We get so passionate about the idea and how good it is that we overestimate the market size," Hisrich says.

What does my network think?
As you try to understand your target market, it may be challenging -- and expensive -- to seek feedback from potential consumers through surveys, focus groups and other means. But you can tap into your social networks to get free feedback. Many people in your extended network will likely be willing to take the time to give you opinions and advice, says Bryan Darr, founder of Mosaik Solutions, a data analytics company in Memphis, Tenn.

Am I making assumptions based on my personal knowledge and experience?
Your own personal experience and knowledge can make you believe that you understand your target market even before you conduct any research, Habstritt says. For example, if you're a fitness buff and want to start a business related to personal health, you may assume you know your customer. "Don't assume that you can think like your target market," Habstritt says. "You have to ask them and talk to them to really understand them."

What's my revenue model?
Figuring out how you'll reap revenue can help you find your target market, Hisrich says. Social ventures can be particularly tricky, he says, because without a specific plan for getting revenue it's easy to overestimate the size of the customer base. But if you're revenue model is simply selling a product online, it can be easier to figure out a target customer.

How will I sell my product or service?
Your retailing strategy can help determine your target market, Hisrich says. Will you have a store, a website or both? Will you be marketing only in your home country or globally? For example, an online-only business may have a younger customer than one with stores. A brick-and-mortar business may narrow your target market to people in the neighborhood.

How did my competitors get started?
Evaluating the competition's marketing strategy can help you define your own target customer, says Darr. But of course, don't simply copy the marketing approach of your biggest competitors once you define your target consumers. "You must have a way of differentiating what you are doing from what the other guys offer," he says.

How will I find my customers? 
As you start defining your target customers, try to determine whether you can efficiently market to them. You'll need to do some market research and study your target audience's demographic, geographic and purchasing patterns. If you're selling from a storefront, you need to know how many people in your target market live nearby. If you're selling from a website, you need to learn about your prospective customers' online behavior. Understanding how to locate your customers early on can help you establish a game plan once you start building a marketing strategy, Hisrich says.

Is there room to expand my target market?
Be prepared to redefine your target market or to expand it over time, Darr says. For example, figuring out whether you're targeting a domestic consumer or customers throughout the world can be a good start. As the power of mobile mapping has grown in the last decade, he's seen the number of target markets grow at his own firm. In the beginning, Mosaik dealt mostly with wireless operators, but now he also counts cable providers and broadcasters as clients, Darr says. 

Why The Competition Isn't Your Business Enemy

Image Credit: Shutterstock

heard many people say that in business you should focus your energy on beating an “enemy.” The notion is that if you concentrate on beating out your closest competitor, you will one-up them each and every time and “win.”

Ouch. This makes me wince. I’d much rather focus on my customers and what they need and want from me -- constantly striving to do better and better. I don’t need the motivation of beating someone else. My happiness comes from generating a love for my brand that instills incredible customer loyalty. That’s how I win.

But you can only do that if you continually keep an open and active relationship with your customers, better than they can get anywhere else. You need to keep your brand alive and fresh in their minds, so that they don't turn to your competitors.

Think about the brands surrounding your life. You’re probably loyal to a short list of brands that get you through your day. I can think of a handful I interact with each morning. I can’t imagine life without them. They have my loyalty because they focus on what I need. And those great brands never acknowledge their competitors because they know I wouldn’t care to hear about it.

I’m not advocating that you should ignore your competition by any means. You have to stay on top of what others in your category or industry are doing and benchmark against them. Keep a competitive spirit, but place your energy and time on customer satisfaction.

If you're looking for an enemy, make it mediocrity, complacency and apathy. Push back when others say, “We tried that before,” or when you’re confronted with someone telling you -- “that will never work.” That’s your enemy, and it can easily be beat with a passion and commitment to your customers.

This Tiny Gadget Can Turn Virtually Anything Into a Musical Instrument

It seems like every other day we read about some far-out, new technology that makes us scratch our heads and say, "What the heck?" In this series, we'll take a look at all types of crazy new gadgets, apps and other technologies -- and the entrepreneurs dreaming them up.

Music and technology have been comfortable bedfellows since before someone strummed the first electric guitar. But creating your own instruments -- electronic or otherwise -- can be a difficult proposition, and not one easily undertaken by someone without training.

That is exactly the problem British creative agency Dentaku decided to tackle when it created theOtoto, a pocket-sized circuit board designed to be a "musical invention kit." Translation: this thing can turn virtually any object into a musical instrument.

Simple enough that anyone can use it, the Ototo lets even the most musically or mechanically inept create a musical instrument out of just about anything -- no coding or soldering involved. It consists of a small control board about the size of a cassette tape that has a speaker and 12 triangular touch inputs which come pre-programmed so you can use them like piano keys.

Even more fun can be had when you use the included set of wires with alligator clips on the ends to connect the Ototo to any object that's even slightly conductive, letting you turn pots and pans, aluminum foil, a chocolate bar or even a plant into a musical instrument. Other accessories act like wah-wah pedals, letting you add even more variety to the sounds you can make.

The platform is also fully-hackable and compatible with the Arduino open-source electronic prototyping platform, so if you're more mechanically or electronically inclined, the possibilities are nearly endless. The sounds created by the Ototo are reminiscent of old-school Moog synthesizers, with a fun, futuristic feeling that's only heightened when you realize you can even turn a pencil drawing into something that plays music.

When it was time for the designers at Dentaku to seek funding for the Ototo, they decided to skip the now-ubiquitous Kickstarter crowd-sourcing method in favor of applying for traditional arts grants. A British arts program called Near Now found their idea intriguing enough to work with, and offered to fund it. Near Now focuses on arts and technology in everyday life, and Ototo is an example of interactive art that promotes design and digital literacy. Near Now Director Mat Trivett explains in Wired that they are "excited at the potential of Ototo as both an accessible tool to learn the basics of physical computing and interaction design and as an advanced tool for artistic expression, all whilst making awesome musical projects."

Pricing and an official release date haven't been determined yet, but budding composers and music producers who are interested in more information can sign up for the Ototo mailing list.

Clara Chime, First Lady of Enugu State, Begs Human Rights Groups To Release Her From House Arrest Imposed By Governor Sullivan Chime

Posted: October 28, 2013 - 17:03

Governor Chime and Clara

By SaharaReporters, New York

Clara Chime, the First Lady of Enugu State, says Governor Sullivan Chime, has placed her under house arrest, and has cried out for assistance to reach human rights bodies to rescue her.
In a letter dripping with pain and suffering, Mrs. Chime disclosed that she married Mr. Chime in October 2008 but that she has been unable to share the matrimonial bed with him for over four years.
Describing her desperate situation, she said that even President Goodluck Jonathan and First Lady Patience Jonathan have intervened with her husband without success.
“My father is late, my Mum and few of my siblings are confused and have done all kinds of prayers they know of, 3 of my siblings prefers me dead than to see me leave the Government house.  He treats my Mum and my siblings bad,” she wrote.
The Enugu State First Lady said she has been introduced to two psychiatrists whose names she gave as Dr. Onwukwe and Dr. Agumo, who have prescribed “all kinds of drugs that ends up keeping me acute depressed and also drives me into hallucinations.”
The doctors, she noted, are scared of her husband the Governor, to whom nobody can tell the truth.  
 According to the letter, the Catholic Bishop of Enugu state (Callistus Onaga), and top priests have come to intervene, as have the President and the First Lady of the nation, without success.  
Mrs. Chime further complains that Governor Chime has ordered her to leave with her four-year old son whom she conceived before their wedding.  However, the governor, according to her, later threatened to disown the boy should she leave with him.
“He has told everyone he can reach that there is no marriage between us that I can leave if I wish to but whenever I plan to leave he instructs them to lock me in.  I have told him through Sms that I will leave my son behind and leave alone but still he instructed
his securities to lock me inside the house.”
Mrs. Chime further complains she has lost touch with the real world and all that makes her beautiful because of the side effects of the drugs she is taking, stressing that she is under house arrest for committing no crime.
Of the situation in Government House, she said, “He does not take care of me personally, the government gives me allowance to run the house and that's where I save little from to take care of my elf, my Mum and few of my siblings,” she said in the letter.  He shut me out of his life years ago; I don't have access to his apartment. The problem is enormous; I don't know where to start to explain from.”
She said that even the security detail in the lodge has resorted to praying for her, while the few that can be bought with money are taking advantage of the situation.
“Police and SS men have been instructed by Br Sullivan Chime to confine me in a place for a long time now against my wish [but] it is my wish to leave these premises,” she said, begging, “Please assist me to reach to the human rights and say to them to please come hastily and release me.”

New PDP Says Members Being Persecuted And Arrested In States, Warns About 2015

Posted: October 28, 2013 - 21:57

A meeting of the Caucus of the New Peoples Democratic Party (NPDP) has expressed sadness that President Goodluck Jonathan has failed to critically examine and act on some of the issues it has raised.
Instead, it observed in a statement signed by Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, its National Publicity Secretary, NPDP pointed out, using Bayelsa and Gombe States as examples, that its members in various States are being persecuted, humiliated arrested and put into prison.
The meeting, which was held on Sunday in Abuja, congratulated and commended the Alh. Abukakar Kawu Baraje-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party for exhibiting quality and purposeful leadership, and urged the team not to relent until the PDP is restored to the right path of democracy and civilised conduct unlike the draconian style of leadership being exhibited by the Alh. Bamanga Tukur faction.
“To further demonstrate that they don’t want peace in the party, Tukur has continued with his hidden agenda by setting up parallel chapters in states where he has nobody backing him to ensure that PDP is destroyed without any remedy,” the statement said.  “Some of the demands presented by our Governors include the need to reverse the impunity in Rivers State, where a sitting Governor was suspended from the party against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the PDP Constitution, and refusing to uphold the result of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum election that saw Governor Amaechi winning 19 to 16 votes against Governor Jang. Others include our request for the removal of Alh. Bamanga Tukur as our party National Chairman knowing his flawed election as our party Chairman, and ending the impunity in Adamawa State, among other demands that will put PDP in a strong position as a political party but for reasons not too clear to some of us failed to receive the blessing of Mr. President. To us, we see all these as attempts by the Tukur’s faction to destroy the party seeing that they have no stake in the party anymore.
With reference to the peace meetings so far held with President Jonathan and the Tukur faction of the party, the Caucus commended the governors of the NPDP for the maturity they have exhibited, even though all the issues the faction raised and presented through the General Olusegun Obasanjo-led Elders Committee to President Jonathan and his people were bluntly turned down.
The meeting also condemned the deployment of the police to the vicinity of the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge in Abuja to scuttle yesterday’s Caucus Meeting, but that the address had merely been used as a decoy since the NPDP was well aware of the evil mentality of their opponents.
“This is the same Police that cannot find a solution to the menace of Boko Haram, kidnapping and other security challenges of the country but now used to harass innocent unarmed civilians like our members!” it declared.
It however urged its Governors to continue to pursue peace within the party in the hope that the President Jonathan and Tukur faction would stop the persecution of the party faithful and allow common reason to prevail in the efforts to restore peace to the party.
It warned, however, that should all the NPDP efforts to restore peace to the party fail, Nigerians should know those to hold responsible for the destruction of the PDP when the 2015 general election arrives.
According to the statement, the NPDP chieftains that attended the meeting included Governors Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); former governors Adamu Aliero (Kebbi State); Bukola Saraki (Kwara State); Danjuma Goje (Gombe State); and Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa State).
Others included the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje; Deputy Chairman Sam Sam Jaja; National Secretary Olagunsoye Oyinlola; and Vice-Chairman, North-West, Ibrahim Kazuare. The excuse by the Governors of Kwara and Niger States to be absent from the meeting was tabled and accepted.

doctors advice parents on social media

Docs to parents: Limit kids' texts, tweets, online

Monday Oct 28, 2013  |  Lindsey Tanner for The Associated Press

Docs urge limits on kids' texts, tweets, Internet

Credit: The Associated Press

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Pediatricians want bedroom ban on smartphones and limits on kids' Internet, social media use

CHICAGO (AP) — Doctors 2 parents: Limit kids' tweeting, texting & keep smartphones, laptops out of bedrooms. #goodluckwiththat.
The recommendations are bound to prompt eye-rolling and LOLs from many teens but an influential pediatricians group says parents need to know that unrestricted media use can have serious consequences.
It's been linked with violence, cyberbullying, school woes, obesity, lack of sleep and a host of other problems. It's not a major cause of these troubles, but "many parents are clueless" about the profound impact media exposure can have on their children, said Dr. Victor Strasburger, lead author of the new American Academy of Pediatrics policy
"This is the 21st century and they need to get with it," said Strasburger, a University of New Mexico adolescent medicine specialist.
The policy is aimed at all kids, including those who use smartphones, computers and other Internet-connected devices. It expands the academy's longstanding recommendations on banning televisions from children's and teens' bedrooms and limiting entertainment screen time to no more than two hours daily.
Under the new policy, those two hours include using the Internet for entertainment, including Facebook, Twitter, TV and movies; online homework is an exception.
The policy statement cites a 2010 report that found U.S. children aged 8 to 18 spend an average of more than seven hours daily using some kind of entertainment media. Many kids now watch TV online and many send text messages from their bedrooms after "lights out," including sexually explicit images by cellphone or Internet, yet few parents set rules about media use, the policy says.
"I guarantee you that if you have a 14-year-old boy and he has an Internet connection in his bedroom, he is looking at pornography," Strasburger said.
The policy notes that three-quarters of kids aged 12 to 17 own cellphones; nearly all teens send text messages, and many younger kids have phones giving them online access.
"Young people now spend more time with media than they do in school — it is the leading activity for children and teenagers other than sleeping" the policy says.
Mark Risinger, 16, of Glenview, Ill., is allowed to use his smartphone and laptop in his room, and says he spends about four hours daily on the Internet doing homework, using Facebook and YouTube and watching movies.
He said a two-hour Internet time limit "would be catastrophic" and that kids won't follow the advice, "they'll just find a way to get around it."
Strasburger said he realizes many kids will scoff at advice from pediatricians — or any adults.
"After all, they're the experts! We're media-Neanderthals to them," he said. But he said he hopes it will lead to more limits from parents and schools, and more government research on the effects of media.
The policy was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics. It comes two weeks after police arrested two Florida girls accused of bullying a classmate who committed suicide. Police say one of the girls recently boasted online about the bullying and the local sheriff questioned why the suspects' parents hadn't restricted their Internet use.
Mark's mom, Amy Risinger, said she agrees with restricting kids' time on social media but that deciding on other media limits should be up to parents.
"I think some children have a greater maturity level and you don't need to be quite as strict with them," said Risinger, who runs a communications consulting firm.
Her 12-year-old has sneaked a laptop into bed a few times and ended up groggy in the morning, "so that's why the rules are now in place, that that device needs to be in mom and dad's room before he goes to bed."
Sara Gorr, a San Francisco sales director and mother of girls, ages 13 and 15, said she welcomes the academy's recommendations.
Her girls weren't allowed to watch the family's lone TV until a few years ago. The younger one has a tablet, and the older one has a computer and smartphone, and they're told not to use them after 9 p.m.
"There needs to be more awareness," Gorr said. "Kids are getting way too much computer time. It's bad for their socialization, it's overstimulating, it's numbing them.

Ex-Powell's worker pleads guilty to embezzling

Tuesday Oct 08, 2013  |  The Associated Press

Ex-Powell's employee pleads guilty to embezzling from union

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A former worker at Powell's bookstore in Portland has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $40,000 from Local Union 5 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
The Oregonian reports that Britta Duncan (http://is.gd/xgB9sG ) admitted converting union funds to her own checking account and falsifying financial records while serving as the local's secretary treasurer.
Duncan's lawyer says his client plans to make full restitution and pleaded guilty without benefit of a plea agreement.
She will be sentenced Jan. 28.

Ex-US Navy officer wanted for murder dies in Chile

Thursday Oct 03, 2013  |  Eva Vergara for The Associated Press

News that ex-US officer sought in 'Missing' killings has died in Chile stuns victim's family

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The anonymous death in a Santiago nursing home of a former U.S. Navy officer wanted for trial in the 1973 killing of two Americans in a case that inspired the Oscar-winning film "Missing" is generating frustration and questions in Chile and the United States.
Courts in Chile have long sought former Capt. Ray E. Davis, believing he was living in Florida. Last October, Chile's Supreme Court approved an extradition request for Davis to face trial for the deaths of American journalist Charles Horman and U.S. student Frank Teruggi, who were killed in the early days of the 1973-90 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
But Davis was secretly living in the Chilean capital all along. A Chilean death certificate says he died at age 88 of "multisystemic failure" at a nursing home in an affluent Santiago neighborhood on April 30.
"They were working to get Davis extradited and he was literally less than a couple of miles down the road," said Peter Kornbluh, author of "The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability."
"You'd think that the foreign ministry has records of who enters the country and when, and that those documents get shared with official authorities," Kornbluh said.
The surprising discovery that Davis lived and died in Santiago not only thwarted Chilean justice, but also has left Horman's widow, Joyce, deeply frustrated and questioning of the news.
"I just don't like what I hear and would like to have additional proof from the U.S.," Joyce Horman told The Associated Press. "After 40 years, this is extraordinarily frustrating."
Mrs. Horman wants the U.S. government to demonstrate that Davis' pension was suspended to confirm he is dead.
"I need to get real verification from the United States that this man is either dead or alive," she said. "And I don't see that happening because the U.S. Embassy is accepting the death certificate from the Chileans, which sort of absolves the U.S. about having to say anything about this man. And that's wrong."
Judge Jorge Zepeda, who requested Davis' extradition, also seems not to be convinced of the death and has asked the U.S. government to confirm the information. Documents obtained by the AP show Zepeda told Chile's Supreme Court in June that "there is no record that can help conclude without a doubt that the death certificate ... belongs to the person wanted internationally as there are five U.S. citizens named Ray Davis" in Chile.
The U.S. Embassy in Santiago said it found out about Davis' death on May 10 and added that "the U.S. government was not aware that Davis had been living in Chile."
Citing "privacy concerns," the embassy would not provide details on when Davis left the U.S. and entered Chile. It declined to comment on Davis' pension or whether the U.S. would provide any further proof of his death.
After Davis was charged with murder in 2011, the AP contacted his wife, Patricia Davis, at her home in Niceville, Florida. She said her husband previously denied any involvement in killings. She also said he no longer talked because of Alzheimer's disease and was in a nursing home that she declined to identify.
Records obtained by the AP say Davis was cremated at Santiago's Parque del Recuerdo cemetery.
Davis commanded the U.S. military mission in Chile at the time of the Sept. 11, 1973, coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Marxist President Salvador Allende. Davis was investigating Americans as part of a series of covert intelligence operations by the U.S. Embassy targeting those considered subversives or radicals, said lawyer Sergio Corvalan, who represents Horman's widow.
Horman, a freelance journalist and filmmaker, was arrested Sept. 17, 1973, just days after the coup and taken to Santiago's main soccer stadium, which had been turned into a detention camp. He was 31.
A national truth commission formed after the dictatorship ended said Horman was executed the next day while in the custody of Chilean state security agents.
The commission said Teruggi, then a 24-year-old university student, was executed Sept. 22.
The search for Horman by his wife and his father was the topic of the 1982 movie "Missing," which starred Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon. The film won a best screenplay Oscar.
The film suggested U.S. complicity in Horman's death and at the time drew strong objections from U.S. State Department officials.
The case remained practically ignored in Chile until 2000, when Mrs. Horman came and filed a lawsuit against Pinochet. She said she was acting on behalf of all victims of the dictatorship.
The government estimates 3,095 people were killed during Pinochet's rule, including about 1,200 who were forcibly disappeared.

Chile: 4 sentenced in brutal murder of gay man

Monday Oct 28, 2013  |  The Associated Press

Chilean court sentences 4 in murder of gay man that prompted Chile to adopt hate crime law

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean judges have sentenced a man to life in prison for the beating death of a gay man whose body was carved with swastikas.
The killing of Daniel Zamudio last year prompted Chile's Congress to pass an anti-discrimination law.
The three-judge panel imposed a life sentence on Patricio Ahumada Garay. It sentenced two others to 15 terms, and another was sentenced to seven years.
Zamudio's family and friends clapped as the sentences were read out.
The attackers burned Zamudio with cigarettes, beat him with glass bottles and broke his right leg with a heavy stone before they abandoned him to die in a park on March 3, 2012.

Switzerland extradites man linked to Finmeccanica probe to Italy

Monday Oct 28, 2013  |  Reuters

ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland has extradited a man to Italy in connection with a probe into allegations of bribery in an Indian helicopter deal won by Finmeccanica <SIFI.MI> unit AgustaWestland, Swiss authorities said on Monday.
The Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement it had handed over Guido Ralph Haschke, an Italian and U.S. citizen, who lives in Lugano, Switzerland, to the Italian authorities.
Haschke is being investigated in Italy on allegations he was an intermediary in a bribe paid to secure a 560 million euro ($770 million) contract for 12 helicopters won by Finmeccanica unit AgustaWestland in 2010 from India.
($1 = 0.7250 euros)
(Reporting by Alice Baghdjian; editing by David Evans)

Two Syria chemical sites inaccessible because of war: watchdog

Monday Oct 28, 2013  |  Agence France Presse

A United Nations vehicle is seen at the Lebanon-Syria border as UN inspectors return to Syria on September 25, 2013

Credit: Str/AFP/File

The security situation in war-torn Syria has prevented international inspectors from visiting two remaining chemical weapons sites, the global watchdog said Monday.
Inspectors had by Sunday visited 21 of 23 chemical sites, but "the two remaining sites have not been visited due to security reasons," The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement.
Efforts by the joint OPCW-United Nations mission charged with destroying Syria's chemical arsenal by mid-2014 "to ensure the conditions necessary for safe access to those sites will continue," said the OPCW, which won this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Syria has submitted a formal declaration of its chemical weapons programme ahead of an October 27 deadline, together with a general plan of destruction.
Inspectors on the unprecedented mission in a war zone were supposed to have visited all sites declared by Syria by the same deadline of Sunday.
Damascus was required to submit the destruction plan under a US-Russian deal agreed last month that headed off military strikes on Syria.
President Bashar al-Assad's regime has handed over an inventory of its chemical weapons and facilities, and international inspectors are already busy inspecting and destroying them.
A first monthly report of the inspectors, covering their work on the ground since October 1, is to be sent to the UN Security Council by UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
The OPCW's Executive Council will use the Syrian declaration to decide by November 15 on "destruction milestones" for Syria's arsenal.
Syria has also sent in a declaration of its chemical weapons activities and facilities, meeting its obligations as a new state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention

Kiosks may replace tourist brochures from SC to NY

Saturday Oct 26, 2013  |  Bruce Smith for The Associated Press

From South Carolina to New York, interactive tourist kiosks may replace ubiquitous brochures

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — In tourist towns worldwide, visitors are greeted with racks of brochures promoting everything from tours and museums to restaurants and hotels. But in the world of computers, smartphones and tablets, a new interactive visitor kiosk developed in South Carolina and deployed as far away as New York City might make such brochures a thing of the past.
Chad Priest says it was one of those cluttered racks in Charleston, a city that attracts 4.5 million visitors a year, that prompted the idea for the kiosk.
"We said there's got to be a better way, with all the technology we have now," said Priest, chief operating officer of City Corridor, the technology firm that developed the flat-faced kiosks with a large touch screen for visitors to see ads for attractions, make reservations and print out maps, menus and more.
Forty-two of the kiosks, an answer to what he called the "spray and pray mentality" of using tourist brochures, are now located in hotels and other businesses in Charleston. They also include a bank card reader so visitors can immediately purchase tickets to attractions.
Priest, whose background is in retail and digital signs, developed the kiosks with Caleb Yaryan, whose background is in software and network security. Yaryan is the company's chief technology officer.
They say the kiosks also serve advertisers by offering quick feedback on how many people click their ads or print coupons. And businesses can quickly alter the content of their ads, if needed, by computer. A camera on the kiosk also provides information on who uses the machines and whether they be children, young adults or retired people.
The Charleston machines have been nicknamed Charles, and each has a logo with a bow tie. Thirteen also have been placed on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Last summer, four were placed at the New York City visitors center in Macy's in Herald Square. Those kiosks can print in nine different languages. Priest said City Corridor is working with New York City and Co., the city's tourism bureau, to place more kiosks there in the coming months.
Priest said the basic technology of the City Corridor kiosks is not new: "There is no one piece of technology that we have that no one else has." But he said there was no device bringing together the various tasks the City Corridor kiosk performs in one machine while providing feedback to advertisers.
Rick Mosteller, vice president of Fort Sumter & Spiritline Cruises in Charleston, said the kiosk is like having a billboard in a hotel lobby for his business.
"It's a perfect way to reach our clientele, and we have seen our sales increase as a result of that," he said.
The bank card reader also helps sell tickets immediately, as opposed to someone picking up a tour brochure and forgetting about it. "It helps consummate the sale right at the point where people's interest is piqued and they say yes, that is what I'd like to do," he said.
A few years ago, such kiosks would have been impossible, said Rick Swain, a systems architect with Verizon in South Carolina, whose wireless network is used for the Charleston machines.
"Solutions like this can't exist without powerful wireless backbones," he said.
Ken Finnegan, City Corridor's CEO, said, "Everyone would be reluctant to have it on their network and you would have firewall and security issues." But now he said the kiosks only require a small footprint - often less than that of a brochure rack - and an electrical outlet.

Exhibition of rare Islamic objects opens in Spain

Friday Oct 25, 2013  |  The Associated Press

Exhibition of rare Islamic objects opens in Spain

Credit: The Associated Press

Exhibition of rare Islamic scientific and art objects opens in Spain

MADRID (AP) — A private museum in southern Spain is opening an exhibition of rare Islamic art and scientific objects that highlight the use of light in decoration and studies in the Arab world.
The exhibition, "Nur: Light in art and science in the Islamic world," is sponsored by the energy company Abengoa and has gathered 150 pieces from collections such those of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and private collectors from around the world.
Curated by Sabiha Al Khemir, a Tunisian writer and expert in Islamic art, the exhibition opens on Saturday at the Focus-Abengoa Foundation's gallery in Seville.
From there, it travels next year to the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas, where it will be open to the public from March 30 to June 29.

Norway snub shows sharp edge of Chinese diplomacy

Monday Oct 28, 2013  |  Christopher Bodeen for The Associated Press

Norway snub shows sharp edge of Chinese diplomacy

Credit: The Associated Press

3-year snub of Norway over Nobel Peace Prize award shows sharp edge of Chinese diplomacy

BEIJING (AP) — Mainly associated with conflict resolution, foreign assistance and cozy Scandinavian prosperity, Norway makes an odd target for China's ire.
Yet for three years, Beijing has frozen relations with Oslo since a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, deeply embarrassing China's leaders. Diplomatic ties have been gutted, meetings canceled and economic ties hamstrung by an unofficial partial embargo on Norwegian salmon and a freeze on trade talks.
The protracted snit shows the lengths Beijing will go to punish other nations for offenses or perceived slights. It's one of several relentless spats China has maintained with countries as varied as Japan and Lithuania, aimed at winning concessions and discouraging criticism.
China considers such retaliation the best way to draw attention to "issues that they consider core interests that other states do not at first easily grasp," said Andrew Nathan, an expert on Chinese politics at New York's Columbia University.
Yet, such fits of pique also come at a price. Maintaining a grudge against Norway over Liu reminds other countries of China's poor human rights record, even while Beijing is seeking to be taken seriously on international stage. China is seen as defining its interests all too narrowly in a way that upsets the usual give-and-take among nations, said Boston University China scholar Joseph Fewsmith.
"I think China hurts its reputation. China needs to think more about providing the public goods that maintain the international system," Fewsmith said.
The spat with Norway entered the news again this month when the installation of a new Norwegian government offered an opportunity to end the rift. Instead, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman demanded Norway take "concrete action to create conditions for improving and developing bilateral relations."
"Whoever tied the ring around the tiger's neck must untie it," Hua Chunying told reporters, using a familiar Chinese expression to apportion blame.
But China has not said what it wants Norway to do. While the Nobel is awarded in Oslo by the parliament-appointed committee, the Norwegian government has no direct say in who gets it. At the time of the award, Beijing bitterly accused Norway of insulting China by interfering in its internal affairs and glorifying a criminal.
Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison after co-authoring a document calling for sweeping changes to China's one-party political system. His wife has also been placed under illegal house arrest and his brother-in-law jailed on what supporters say are trumped-up fraud charges.
Norway's Foreign Ministry declined to respond to specific questions about China ties, but spokesman Svein Michelsen said Oslo is hopeful of better relations.
"Norway's new foreign minister, Mr. Borge Brende, has confirmed that re-establishing good relations with China is a key priority and will pursue the available opportunities toward this end," Svein Michelsen said.
Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University, says China expects some at least symbolic act of contrition, although he didn't say exactly what form that should take.
"We find it difficult to forgive these foreigners who support (Liu's) views insulting the Chinese people," said Yan, a hardliner whose views closely mirror those of Chinese leaders.
China's retaliation seeks to exact real economic pain. According to the Norwegian Seafood Council, Norway's share of China's salmon market plunged from 92 percent in 2010 to 29 percent in the first half of this year. While the Norwegian salmon industry remains robust, operators are wary of what this portends as China's appetite for salmon grows.
Along with barriers on Norwegian salmon imports, Beijing has abandoned yearslong talks on a bilateral free trade agreement and excluded Norwegians from visa-free treatment on brief visits to China. Norwegian businesspeople, journalists and academics have been denied visas for unexplained reasons.
Similarly, economic exchanges with Britain were held up after David Cameron met last year with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, whom China reviles as a separatist. Those exchanges were restored only this month following London's assurances that Cameron had no further plans to meet the 78-year-old cleric.
China also was critical of Lithuania for hosting the Dalai Lama. Many other nations have suffered similarly for angering Beijing over issues such as Dalai Lama, human rights, territorial disputes and support for Beijing's rival Taiwan. Beijing banned Filipino bananas and disinvited the country's president to a regional trade meeting following a dispute over islands in the South China Sea.
Relations with Japan, always complicated by lingering ill will over World War II, have sunk to new lows since Tokyo last year nationalized a group of uninhabited islands claimed by China.
In Beijing's calculus, not all nations are equal offenders, however. Although Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the Dalai Lama in her official office in 2007, Germany is a key economic partner and Beijing issued barely a peep. Beijing also tends to overlook the Dalai Lama's meetings with U.S. officials in deference to its crucial relationship with Washington.
The lack of a common policy in the West toward China's trip-line issues allows Beijing broad freedom to react, and European states especially are quick to capitalize when a neighbor falls afoul. Norway's loss in salmon exports, for example, has been a boon to other exporters, especially Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
While Beijing punishing Norway offers little risk, some question what China ultimately gains. Chinese leaders appear to have locked themselves into a game of political chicken from which they don't dare back down, said Marc Lanteigne, a China scholar at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
Beijing may find other interests outweigh punishing Norway, particularly its desire for economic cooperation in navigating newly ice-free shipping routes in the Arctic and accessing Norwegian expertise in deep-water oil drilling, Lanteigne said.
"I would say that China's handling of the Nobel Prize affair has accomplished little for Beijing and I think the Chinese government is seeking the best way of breaking the ice, so to speak," Lanteigne said.
Thus far, though, Beijing seems to expect Norway to make the first move.

LG unveils curved-screen smartphone

Monday Oct 28, 2013  |  Agence France Presse

Image provided by LG Electronics on October 28, 2013 shows the company's new "G-Flex" smartphone, which uses flexible OLED screen technology to feature a curved 6-inch display

Credit: LG Electronics/LG Electronics/AFP

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LG Electronics unveiled Monday a curved-screen smartphone, taking on rival Samsung in a niche market seen as a first step on the road to fully flexible products.
Despite its name, the "G-Flex" does not bend, but uses flexible OLED (organic light-emitting diode) to produce a curved six-inch display.
The model is "the best representation yet of how a smartphone should be curved," the president of LG's mobile unit Park Jong-Seok said, in a clear dig at Samsung.
Earlier this month, Samsung started retailing its "Galaxy Round" -- a 5.7-inch (14.5 centimetre) handset with a display that curves from side-to-side to fit the contour of the hand.
The "G-Flex" is curved on the vertical axis in order to, the company said, "follow the contour of the face".
Curved displays are already commercially available in large-screen televisions offered by both Samsung and LG.
The displays are supposed to offer a more immersive viewing experience but are significantly more expensive than standard screens.
The Galaxy Round is currently only available in South Korea and retails at 1.08 million won ($1,000).
Curved screens are still at a nascent stage in display technology, which is shifting towards flexible panels that are bendable or can even be rolled or folded.
LG said the G-Flex would be available to South Korean consumers from November, but did not provide a price estimate.

baby found in car boot in france

Shock in France as baby found living in car boot

Monday Oct 28, 2013  |  Agence France Presse

France was shocked Monday after the discovery of an underfed and dehydrated baby girl who had been forced to live hidden in a car boot, possibly since birth.
The little girl, aged between 15 and 23 months, was found by mechanics on Friday when her mother brought the car to a garage in Terrasson, in central France.
Police said one of the mechanics heard "bizarre noises, like moans" coming from the car boot and opened it to discover the girl, who was naked, lying in her own excrement, dehydrated and feverish.
The girl was taken to hospital where doctors said she was suffering from delayed growth and mental problems.
The girl "was hidden, it seems since birth, and more seriously, she is suffering from significant (developmental) delays," local prosecutor Jean-Pierre Laffite told AFP.
The situation "defies belief," he said.
The girl's mother, 45, and her 40-year-old partner were arrested and charged on Sunday with child abuse and endangering a minor.
The two face up to 10 years in prison.
The mother told police that she had given birth in secret and hidden the baby's existence from everyone, including her partner, the girl's father.
The couple have three other children -- a four-year-old girl and two boys aged nine and 10 -- who were handed over to social services following their parents' arrest.
The mechanic who found the girl, Guillaume Iguacel, told AFP on Monday that he was still reeling from the discovery.
"I'm still having trouble sleeping, it was a horrifying sight, seeing this little girl in her own excrement, not able to hold up her head, white as a sheet," he said.
Iguacel said the girl's mother appeared to have little concern for her daughter.
"We were deeply shocked because she didn't find this abnormal. We told her to remove the little girl (from the boot) and give her something to drink right away," he said.
The couple, who were both of Portuguese origin and both unemployed, lived in the village of Brignac, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the garage where the baby was found.
Neighbours told French media the mother had been behaving strangely and was seen spending an unusual amount of time in the car.
"We had the impression this woman lived in her car. She never left it," a neighbour identified as Pascale told Le Parisien newspaper.
"I remember seeing her several times a week with her car parked in a lot about 200 metres from her home. The boot was always open. I was wondering what she could be doing," she said.

Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.

This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire. Original article © Agence France Presse

union bank plans big

Union Bank has obtained the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to divest its non-banking subsidiaries.

The bank will complete the divestment process within the next 18 months, it said on Friday.

The move is in line with the directive of the CBN which requires banks to stop operating as universal banks.

The banking sector regulator had  three years ago stopped issuing universal banking licences and enforced new minimum capital requirements for banks in a bid to avoid a repeat of a 2009 near collapse of several lenders, including Union Bank.

Union Bank scaled a recapitalisation hurdle after the central bank propped it up and it agreed a $750 million cash injection by a group of investors to keep it afloat.

'Following (central bank) approval, Union Bank will proceed to divest its interests in its non-banking and portfolio companies … and operate as an international commercial bank,' Union's Chief Executive Emeka Emuwa said in a statement.

Emuwa said the bank had 18 months to implement the divestment, citing that owning non-banking units had become less important with the growth in its core business and its ability to partner with other firms to cross-sell products.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi launched a historic $4 billion bailout of nine banks shortly after taking office in 2009, pledging to reform the industry and get credit flowing to the productive real sector and small businesses.

The new banking model requires lenders to sell all non-core businesses and form a holding company if they intend to carry out insurance, asset management and capital market activities.

Sanusi has said his primary objective is to ensure banks are effectively supervised and to ensure the safety of depositors' funds by prohibiting them from speculative capital market activities.

'The post-divestment structure will … reduce the overall risk profile of the bank, while increasing the protection of depositors' funds,' Union's Chief Risk Officer Kandolo Kasongo said, adding that the sale proceeds will be used to boost its balance sheet.

Two planes collide at Lagos airport

By The Rainbow

Leadership is not about your position, is about the life you have influence. By: Friday onyebuchi

Nigerian aviation industry was in the news again, this time over  a minor accident on Friday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, which involvied a Turkish Airline aircraft and a Max Air plane.

Reports indicate that the Turkish Airline plane wings collided with that of Max Air plane which had brought in Pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.

The damages to both airplanes were minor and they were immediately taken away for repairs.

Turkish Airplane had landed safely but was taxiing to stop at the airport's apron when its wing collided with that of Max Air.

The Spokesman, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, who confirmed the incident, was quoted in the reports as corroborating the fact  that the damages to the aircraft belonging to both airlines were minor and that both planes had been taken away for repairs.

It will be recalled that a similar incident occurred last year in Jos, Plateau State, when an Arik plane wings brushed an Airforce jet parked at the apron when the plane was taxiing to stop. There was also no casualty in the incident but only damages to both planes.

74 Boko Haram members killed in Borno

By The Rainbow

TO LIVE IS TO SUFFER TO SURVIVE IS TO FIND MEANING INTO SUFFERING. By: DMX ,ACENE

Nigerian troops killed 74 members of Boko Haram in in the latest an air and ground offensive against Islamic insurgents.

The military said on Friday the offensive on Thursday targeted Boko Haram camps in the remote villages of Galangi and Lawanti in northeast Borno state where the militants have their strongest presence.

“The operation, which involved ground and aerial assault supported by the Nigerian Air Force led to the destruction of the identified terrorist camps, killing 74 terrorists while others fled with serious injuries,” Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Dole said in a statement.

Reuters reported that military claimed only  two soldiers were wounded, adding that the Nigerian military has in the past played down its own losses and those of civilians, security experts say.

The army said it had killed 37 Islamists in a similar strike last week in another remote area of Borno.

Nigerian forces have intensified attacks against Boko Haram since May, when President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states in the northeast.

Boko Haram is fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria. While the offensive against it appears to have scattered the movement, it has also seen reprisal attacks against civilians suspected of cooperating with the authorities.

Thousands have been killed since the sect launched its uprising against the state in 2009, turning itself from a clerical movement opposed to Western culture into an armed militia with links to al Qaeda’s West African wing.

The group is seen as the biggest security threat to Africa’s top oil producer. Although their activities are located hundreds of miles away from its southern oil fields, they have bombed the capital Abuja at least three times, including a deadly attack on the United Nations’ Nigeria headquarters in 2011.

National CONFAB turnout excites Okunroumu

By The Citizen

The Chairman, National Conference Advisory Committee, Dr Femi Okunroumu, on Monday expressed happiness over the impressive turnout by Nigerians at the different venues of its sittings.

Okunroumu, whose committee is in Benin for the South-South zone, made the disclosure in an interview in Benin on Monday.

'Nigerians have accepted the need to have this conference. We have been to four centres  Minna, Akure, Jos and Calabar, and the turnout has been impressive and overwhelming.

'In all the centres, Nigerians came from the rural areas, even from the remotest villages to make presentations to us and there are 'no-go areas at all.

'We are to listen to all Nigerians and I am happy that the turnout has been encouraging to the extent that we requested for bigger halls,'' he said.

The chairman noted that 'we have been listening to different groups and views, but no single group who threatens to dismember Nigeria has come before us''.

He said that 'Nigerians all over the world are entitled to submit their views, but they must not be in the committee to air their views.

They have our e-mail address.   'Let them submit their memo to us and their views will be acknowledged. This is the essence of the committee.

'That is why we are going round to know what are the things agitating the minds of Nigerians.

'We will include these views in our report and these will definitely set the agenda for government and tell government how they want to be governed,'' he said (NAN)

the reality of asuu

Since July 2, 2013, lecturers in all but one public university in the country have been on strike. This strike has been necessitated, nurtured and sustained by the Federal Government's failure to implement fully all components of the ASUU/Federal Government agreement of 2009. Ever since the strike commenced, there have been series of meetings held between ASUU and the Federal Government that have yielded no tangible results. The result is that the strike has been allowed to escalate resulting in loss of several weeks that would have been used for serious and rigorous academic studies while thousands of students have been idling away at home. Some have already taken to various nefarious engagements.

As a result of the strike, the Federal Government has taken some measures to assuage the union to call off the strike which has not been convincing to ASUU. The measures so far taken by government need to be critically examined. The N100bn released by government for infrastructural development in all public universities is grossly inadequate to meet the appalling and compelling infrastructural needs of these institutions that have deliberately been starved of necessary funds over the years. Again, the inflation in the country will surely make a mess of whatever sum each university will receive from this government 'largesse'. In any case, it has been authoritatively said that no university has received a dime of the sum accruable to them from the money so far after over five weeks ago. And so the unpleasant drama continues.

Now let us also discuss the N30bn released for the payment of earned allowances to lecturers. The Finance Minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, affirmed that it was all that the Federal Government could muster and that ASUU should either take it or leave it. Very interesting indeed! Government's offer is quite commendable but did ASUU unilaterally concoct the figure of N92bn and foist it on the government to pay its members? The answer is an emphatic no. ASUU reached and signed an agreement with the Federal Government in 2009 and payment of earned allowances was a major part of that agreement. Government in its wisdom refused to implement that agreement. In 2012, ASUU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government as a road map to implementing the 2009 Agreement. Despite all these patriotic and laudable efforts by ASUU, government treated the issue of implementation of the agreement with monumental disdain and orchestrated levity. The arrears that accrued from the non-payment of the earned allowances since 2009 are what account for the N92bn. In any case, ASUU has since explained that the afore-mentioned sum is for the payment of the earned allowances to all university workers and not just the lecturers alone.

The offer of N30bn by government is as unilateral as it is despotic in outlook. In the course of this strike, government's negotiating team had offered to pay 10 per cent for the earned allowances out of the 15 per cent already agreed by the Implementation Monitoring Committee composed of both government and ASUU representatives while ASUU insisted on the 15 per cent agreed with the government ab initio. The offer of N30bn, which is less than five per cent of the agreed sum, smacks of insincerity. The bogus claim that the sum is to help the various University Governing Councils pay the earned allowances is both hypocritical and deceitful. Where and how on earth can these councils raise the sum of N62bn differentials in order to pay the earned allowances in the various universities? This is an indirect way of telling the lecturers to stay at home in perpetuity. Just recently, the Federal Government added another N10bn to the earned allowances fund bringing the total to N40bn. ASUU has however insisted that the sum does not address the issue of the payment of the earned allowances as agreed by both parties.

Those who do not understand ASUU's stance on this strike have called the union a selfish organisation. We do not intend to join issues with such people since ignorance according to Plato the great philosopher is a vice. But even if that is the case, do such people also forget that ASUU is a trade union which has the primary mandate to fight for the welfare of its members? If fighting for the welfare of its members amounts to the union being selfish, so be it. Again, those who accuse ASUU of selfishness should ask the political class how much they are paid. While a university professor with all his unassailable contributions to nation building receives a paltry N6m per annum as his entire emolument, a minister gets a whopping sum of N32m per annum. The National Assembly members, on their own, take home outrageous sums as wages per annum and the nation continues to wobble under such a vast and tremendous illegality.

Dragging the current strike to a religious angle as some government officials have tried to do is most unfortunate and smacks of critical irrationality. Yes, that the current President of ASUU, Nasir Fagge Isa, is a Muslim. But what has he done to warrant being called a religious bigot or seeing the current strike as having a religious coloration? This is only a dirty ploy by government and its agents to discredit the union which will surely fail. ASUU in the past has also been on strike during the tenure of Christian presidents. It is pertinent to condemn in its entirety the statement credited to the Minister of Information Labaran  Maku, that the country will collapse if government were to meet ASUU's demands. May we ask Maku some salient questions. Did the nation collapse when the nation's billions of dollars were squandered on President Olusegun Obasanjo's ill-fated and disastrous power projects which brought us more darkness than light? Did the country collapse when this present administration pumped in over N3tn to stabilise some ailing banks as a result of the financial recklessness of some prominent and highly connected citizens of this country who borrowed monies excessively from those banks and refused to pay back? Again, we may wish to ask whether the nation crumbled when this present government pumped in over N500bn to revamp the aviation sector? What about the billions of naira this government doled out to Nollywood as if government has become Father Christmas?

The pretentious and deceitful intervention of Governor Gabriel Suswam and the so-called NEEDS Assessment and Implementation Committee is disappointing and unfortunate. Again the governor's assertion that the strike has become political is false, dishonest and calculated to deceive the general public and also divide the union. It is not true and can never be. Suswam is just being economical with the truth. The current strike and even previous ones never had any political undertone. If the President was looking for a governor to be appointed to such a very sensitive position, certainly Suswam is not among the best performing governors in the country to warrant his being given such an appointment.

Finally, we appeal to the Federal Government to toe the part of honour by implementing fully its 2009 agreement with ASUU and save the nation's public universities from going into extinction. Appealing to the lecturers to call off the strike in the interest of the students as they have regularly done since the strike began is hugely hypocritical as the nation's universities need highly motivated intellectuals in order to become true centers of academic excellence. Instead, the government should save these helpless and deeply traumatised students the misfortune of having a truncated future by ensuring industrial peace on our universities. To do otherwise will amount to pursuing shadow and not the real substance. It must be stressed that those in government who state that Nigerian graduates are unemployable without making critical efforts to fund our universities adequately so as to produce employable graduates are simply unpatriotic and should bury their heads in shame.

•Okaneme wrote in from the University of Abuja