Aero Contractors becomes national carrier by Simon Ateba/Aviation correspondent

 
Nigeria’s Federal Government is set to turn heavily indebted Aero Contractors Airline into the country’s national carrier, the Nigeria’s oldest commercial airline will now be called the Nigerian Eagle and will be launched by President Goodluck Jonathan once he returns from London, sources said.
One of Aero Contractors’ planes with registration number 5N BLC has already been painted into Nigeria’s national colours of green and white, a photograph shows.
The plane now resembles the aircraft once used by Nigeria Airways, the mismanaged government airline that crumbled years ago.
Sources said the government has also bought ten new Embraer planes to flag off the new national carrier.The ten Embraer aircraft will be added to the planes already in the fleet of Aero Contractors Airline, the source said.

Critics have criticised the move saying that Aero Contractors was so badly indebted that the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, took it over last year, when the airline couldn’t pay its debts.
They said with the takeover, billions of naira borrowed from Nigerian coffers have been erased and nobody has been held accountable for the big losses.
Besides, critics argue that national airlines are no longer viable in the world as they are often being mismanaged or abused.
The new national carrier to be launched by President Goodluck Jonathan will be a privileged airline that will receive waivers for virtually everything, the source said.”Arik Air will just die because it won’t be able to compete.
The Nigerian Eagle will operate from the General Aviation Terminal in Lagos,” the source said.

Employment Offer From Oasis Petroleum Is A Scam - Jobs/Vacancies

There has been a recent circulation of a very convincing invite for interview from oasis petroleum but it is PURE SCAM. The message they are circulating reads:

Dear Candidate, Upon receipt from Invitation letter from
us, we implore all candidates
to send the following documents to the
following 1. Invitation Letter from Oasis Oil
2. Personal Details to: Executive director, Human Resource edhr@oasispetroleum.com cc: career@mail2oasis.com All candidate outside Lagos should
send their document alongside a short
note applying for accommodation Find attached and print along to the
venue. All mails received should be
acknowledged. Accommodation Check in Starts 4pm on
13th September 2013. Only Candidates who receives this mail
from us are selected for
employment. If you have this mail sent
to you from our HR Database
through EDHR, then you are eligible for
our employment processes. Absenteeism will not be re-considered.

.Reasons why it's a fake:
1. The mail was sent to edhr@oasispetroleum.com (which doesn't exist. They added it there to make the mail look authentic) and then added your own email as a blind carbon copy(bcc).
2. You'll be addressed to as "dear candidate" instead of your name. No sensible company does that.
3. The invitation letter and terms of employment etc. attached are all substandard trash prepared with microsoft word 2000(the slowpoke still lives in the past).
4. They will require you to reply the mail to edhr@oasispetroleum.com(which will bounce) and a carbon copy to career@mail2oasis.com which is the operating email of the scamer.
5. The Address stipulated is 12/13 Admiralty Road, Ikate Elegusi, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; 12/13 Admiralty is a bungalow service apartment not an office, the only oil Company in ikate is Delta Afriaafrik Bay Atlantic Tower No. 4 Freedom Road 3rd Roundabout Lekki-Epe Expressway Ikate, Lekki Phase 1,
 6.finally, they'll ask you to pay the sum of 3000naira to the account of one isiamu: dr okoma samson, account number: 3073605554 before a certain time limit for the recruiter(which is still the fool).
If any of you have a way of making sure the people behind this scam is arrested and brought to book, it'll be for the greater good of the general public and the nigeria youths. Please help to send this to the public
Regards to you all

5 Superfoods You Need to Eat

It seems like every day there's a new weight-loss product the marketing gurus are trying to convince us to buy. "Get six-pack abs in six weeks." Yeah, right - this most likely isn't going to happen unless you have insanely good genetics. Though these claims may not hold up, and there are no shortcuts, pills or powders, we're always discovering more foods that are beneficial to our health. Take advantage of these superfoods, and you'll reap the benefits of a healthy inside and glowing outside. Too cheesy? Alright, just eat the foods. You'll look and feel amazing.

Coconut oil.

This product has been exploding in popularity over the past year. Previously shunned by health fanatics because of its high amount of saturated fat, it is now used on skin and as a leave-in conditioner, and it's commonly eaten in several different ways. Sometimes, this means with a spoon; other times, straight from the jar. Gasp! But aside from saturated fats, virgin coconut oil is composed of medium chain triglycerides, which research suggests help boost the body's metabolism.

Bonus: It doesn't have to be refrigerated, but it will melt if it sits in temperatures above 76 degrees Fahrenheit. It makes an excellent alternative for butter in baked goods or as oil for sautéing fresh vegetables.

Hemp seeds

These are another must-have product to add to your pantry. They can be eaten raw, ground into a meal, made into milk, used in baking and more. You can also find hemp protein powder, which is an excellent source of vegan protein. They contain all of the important amino acids, making it a complete protein, and the essential fatty acids are in abundance.

Use hemp seeds on a salad in place of croutons or sunflower seeds, or try them as a topping for yogurt instead of granola. A mere three tablespoons packs a whopping 16 grams of protein and only seven grams of carbohydrates, five of which are from fiber.

Not all stores carry the seeds or protein powder, so your best bet may be to buy them online.

Chia seeds

Meet another "superfood." These are packed full of healthy omega fats, protein, antioxidants and dietary fiber - clocking in at six grams of fiber in just two tablespoons.

Sprinkle them on yogurt, baked potatoes and salads for a nutty crunch. When added to liquid, chia seeds expand tremendously, which makes them great for thickening smoothies and soups. Since they soak up liquid, they're marketed as a helpful weight-loss tool - they slow digestion and expand in your stomach, helping you feel fuller quicker and for longer.

Mixing the seeds with a bit of water creates a chia gel that can be used in place of fats in certain recipes. For every whole egg you want to replace, use one tablespoon of ground chia seeds mixed with three tablespoons of water.

Cinnamon

This may seem like an odd suggestion, but research suggests it helps prevent and treat muscle spasms, the common cold, infections and loss of appetite, among other health conditions. Still sceptical? In medieval times, doctors used cinnamon to cure arthritis, coughing and sore throats.

This might be the easiest product to find. Almost every grocery store sells it, making it an easy go-to for an extra boost of nutrients. Toss some in your oatmeal, swirl it into your smoothie or add it to your rice pudding.

Flax seed

These little gems are another great source of healthy fats, antioxidants and fiber. Recent studies have shown flax seed may help lower the risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease. To reap the most benefits from flax seed, they should be eaten ground, not whole.

Flax seedscontain alpha-linolenic acid, which boosts heart health and helps maintain healthy skin, hair and nails. Two tablespoons contain about five grams of healthy fat and four grams of fiber. As with the chia and hemp seeds, you can sprinkle flax seeds on yogurt and salads, or use it in baked goods.

Hungry for more? Write to eatandrun@usnews.com with your questions, concerns and feedback.

Jolynn Toma has a bachelor's degree in marketing and is an ISSA Certified Personal Trainer, as well as an ISSA Specialist in Fitness Nutrition. She owns a private personal training studio in Illinois, specializing in strength training, cardio endurance and nutrition. Connect with her on her website, Lift Pray Love, or one of her many social outlets: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Study ties nuts to lower cancer, heart death risk

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE 

.

Regular nut eaters were less likely to die of cancer or heart disease — in fact, were less likely to die of any cause — during a 30-year Harvard study.

Nuts have long been called heart-healthy, and the study is the largest ever done on whether eating them affects mortality.

Researchers tracked 119,000 men and women and found that those who ate nuts roughly every day were 20 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who never ate nuts. Eating nuts less often also appeared to lower the death risk, in direct proportion to consumption.

The risk of dying of heart disease dropped 29 percent and the risk of dying of cancer fell 11 percent among those who had nuts seven or more times a week compared with people who never ate them.
The benefits were seen from peanuts as well as from pistachios, almonds, walnuts and other tree nuts. The researchers did not look at how the nuts were prepared — oiled or salted, raw or roasted.
A bonus: Nut eaters stayed slimmer.

"There's a general perception that if you eat more nuts you're going to get fat. Our results show the opposite," said Dr. Ying Bao of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
She led the study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The National Institutes of Health and the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation sponsored the study, but the nut group had no role in designing it or reporting the results.

Researchers don't know why nuts may boost health. It could be that their unsaturated fatty acids, minerals and other nutrients lower cholesterol and inflammation and reduce other problems, as earlier studies seemed to show. Observational studies like this one can't prove cause and effect, only suggest a connection. Research on diets is especially tough, because it can be difficult to single out the effects of any one food.
People who eat more nuts may eat them on salads, for example, and some of the benefit may come from the leafy greens, said Dr. Robert Eckel, a University of Colorado cardiologist and former president of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Ralph Sacco, a University of Miami neurologist who also is a former heart association president, agreed.
"Sometimes when you eat nuts you eat less of something else like potato chips," so the benefit may come from avoiding an unhealthy food, Sacco said.
The Harvard group has long been known for solid science on diets. Its findings build on a major study earlier this year — a rigorous experiment that found a Mediterranean-style diet supplemented with nuts cuts the chance of heart-related problems, especially strokes, in older people at high risk of them.
Many previous studies tie nut consumption to lower risks of heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer and other maladies.

In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration said a fistful of nuts a day as part of a low-fat diet may reduce the risk of heart disease. The heart association recommends four servings of unsalted, unoiled nuts a week and warns against eating too many, since they are dense in calories.
The new research combines two studies that started in the 1980s on 76,464 female nurses and 42,498 male health professionals. They filled out surveys on food and lifestyle habits every two to four years, including how often they ate a serving (1 ounce) of nuts.

Study participants who often ate nuts were healthier — they weighed less, exercised more and were less likely to smoke, among other things. After taking these and other things into account, researchers still saw a strong benefit from nuts. Compared with people who never ate nuts, those who had them less than once a week reduced their risk of death 7 percent; once a week, 11 percent; two to four times a week, 13 percent; and seven or more times a week, 20 percent.

"I'm very confident" the observations reflect a true benefit, Bao said. "We did so many analyses, very sophisticated ones," to eliminate other possible explanations. For example, they did separate analyses on smokers and non-smokers, heavy and light exercisers, and people with and without diabetes, and saw a consistent benefit from nuts. At a heart association conference in Dallas this week, Penny Kris-Etherton, a Pennsylvania State University nutrition scientist, reviewed previous studies on this topic.

"We're seeing benefits of nut consumption on cardiovascular disease as well as body weight and diabetes," said Kris-Etherton, who has consulted for nut makers and also served on many scientific panels on dietary guidelines. "We don't know exactly what it is" about nuts that boosts health or which ones are best, she said. "I tell people to eat mixed nuts."

EFCC accuses Ikuforiji of 57 illegal cash transactions

Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji
 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday told a Federal High Court, Lagos that there were 57 illegal cash transactions involved in the money laundering charges it preferred against the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, and his aide, Mr. Oyebode Atoyebi.

At the commencement of the trial on Thursday, the first prosecution witness,  Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, who is an EFCC investigator, said the cash transactions were above the threshold prescribed by the Money Laundering Act.

Both Ikuforiji and Atoyebi are being prosecuted by the EFCC for 54 counts of allegedly receiving over N600m from the Lagos State House of Assembly without passing through a financial institution between April 2010 and July 2011.

The EFCC said the alleged offence contravened Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.

Adebayo, who was led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), said the anti-graft agency in June 2011 received a petition which “was a complaint of siphoning of public funds against the first accused person (Ikuforiji).”

The witness, upon being asked by Obla, told the court, presided over by Justice Ibrahim Buba, that investigation conducted by his team, revealed that “57 cash transactions” were involved in the charges.

He said, “We received documents from the Lagos State House of Assembly – Cash Release Registers. On analysing the documents, we discovered that various amounts of money were released to the second accused person (Atoyebi) on behalf of the first accused person (Ikuforiji).

“On further analysis of these documents, we also discovered that the cash releases were above the stated threshold in the Money Laundering Act.”

He said Atoyebi received the cash payments on all the 57 occasions on behalf of the Speaker.

He said when confronted with the allegation, the Speaker, Atoyebi and other concerned members and personnel of the House of Assembly admitted in their various statements to the EFCC that the cash transactions actually took place.

Upon an instruction from Obla, Atoyebi read a portion of a statement dated October 28,  2011 credited to Ikuforiji, who was quoted to have confirmed that Atoyebi “properly delivered” the money to him.

The matter was adjourned till December 2. - by Ade Adesomoju

                                                                        

BY EVELYN USMAN

LAGOS — Operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos have arrested a 24-year-old man who posed as a lady to defraud a United States of America couple of $42,497, purportedly  for the purchase of a property in Lagos.

The suspect,  identified as Olafinraye Adedamola,  admitted the offence while being paraded yesterday.

He was said to have connived with a Malaysian lady to defraud the couple. The Malaysian lady, according to him, was his Facebook friend, adding that he had intended to use the money to further his studies in a tertiary institution.

How he was arrested

Explaining how the  artisan who trained in aluminum works was arrested, spokesperson for the unit, Ngozi  Isintume-Agu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said: “An intelligence report dated September 24, 2013 from Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Abuja addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit (SFU)  alleged that one Olafinraye Adedamola opened a USD Domiciliary Account No. 273/6980678251/0 with the Demurin, Ketu, Lagos Branch of Sterling Bank Plc and through suspicious circumstances, cumulative sum of USD 42,497 was paid into the account by unsuspecting victims abroad between August 13, 2013 and September 16, 2013.

The suspect, Olafinraye Adedamola illicit inflows were followed by immediate cash withdrawals by the suspect who appeared to have no known affiliation with the international depositors.

“SFU operatives swung into action and investigation carried out on the domiciliary account revealed that $18,129.92 is still left in the account and a lien was immediately placed on the account.

“The suspect was traced to his house at 7, Agidi Road, Oshogun, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos but he evaded police arrest and his father, a proprietor of a moribund driving school, feigned ignorance of his son’s whereabouts. However, the fleeing suspect was later apprehended by the Police.

“Olafinraye Adedamola who posed as a lady named Janet was born in 1989 in Kosofe LGA Ketu, Lagos.“An artisan who trained in construction of aluminum but currently a driving instructor in his father’s moribund driving school located in Ketu, Lagos claimed he met a Nigerian at a conference in Malaysia who introduced him to the victim who requested that he purchased property for him in Nigeria which was the basis for the disbursement of the money into his account and that he had already bought a building at Ogba, Ikeja for N4 million and that the documents were with him.”

I intended to further my studies with the money— Suspect Adedamola who noted that this was his first attempt, said he first met the couple on Facebook and in the course of their discussion, booked for a meeting in Malaysia. According to him; “I posed as Janet on the Facebook, using a white woman’s photograph. I told the couple that I was an estate manager and convinced them to buy property in Lagos.

“Since they have not been to Nigeria, they asked us to meet elsewhere and when I stumbled on a business conference that was holding in Malasia, I booked the meeting. “On reaching Malaysia, I told a Facebook lady friend to pose as Janet after telling her what to say. That was how the deal was struck and they paid the dollar equivalent of N3.4 million into my account. I intended to use the money to further my studies because I am determined to be a graduate. I used part of the money to travel again to Malaysia for leisure in August.

“My regret is that I was caught at the end because I used my genuine data to open the account. I guess it was because it is my first time.”

The suspect, according to Isintume-Agu, will be charged to court.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/24-yr-old-nabbed-defrauding-us-couple-42497/#sthash.L3tm6j4h.dpuf

24-yr-old nabbed for defrauding US couple of $42,497

on November 22, 2013   /   in News 12:32 am   /   Comments

BY EVELYN USMAN
LAGOS — Operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos have arrested a 24-year-old man who posed as a lady to defraud a United States of America couple of $42,497, purportedly  for the purchase of a property in Lagos.
The suspect,  identified as Olafinraye Adedamola,  admitted the offence while being paraded yesterday.
He was said to have connived with a Malaysian lady to defraud the couple. The Malaysian lady, according to him, was his Facebook friend, adding that he had intended to use the money to further his studies in a tertiary institution.
How he was arrested
Explaining how the  artisan who trained in aluminum works was arrested, spokesperson for the unit, Ngozi  Isintume-Agu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said: “An intelligence report dated September 24, 2013 from Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Abuja addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit (SFU)  alleged that one Olafinraye Adedamola opened a USD Domiciliary Account No. 273/6980678251/0 with the Demurin, Ketu, Lagos Branch of Sterling Bank Plc and through suspicious circumstances, cumulative sum of USD 42,497 was paid into the account by unsuspecting victims abroad between August 13, 2013 and September 16, 2013.

The suspect, Olafinraye Adedamola

“The suspected illicit inflows were followed by immediate cash withdrawals by the suspect who appeared to have no known affiliation with the international depositors.
“SFU operatives swung into action and investigation carried out on the domiciliary account revealed that $18,129.92 is still left in the account and a lien was immediately placed on the account.
“The suspect was traced to his house at 7, Agidi Road, Oshogun, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos but he evaded police arrest and his father, a proprietor of a moribund driving school, feigned ignorance of his son’s whereabouts. However, the fleeing suspect was later apprehended by the Police.
“Olafinraye Adedamola who posed as a lady named Janet was born in 1989 in Kosofe LGA Ketu, Lagos.
“An artisan who trained in construction of aluminum but currently a driving instructor in his father’s moribund driving school located in Ketu, Lagos claimed he met a Nigerian at a conference in Malaysia who introduced him to the victim who requested that he purchased property for him in Nigeria which was the basis for the disbursement of the money into his account and that he had already bought a building at Ogba, Ikeja for N4 million and that the documents were with him.”

I intended to further my studies with the money— Suspect

Adedamola who noted that this was his first attempt, said he first met the couple on Facebook and in the course of their discussion, booked for a meeting in Malaysia.
According to him; “I posed as Janet on the Facebook, using a white woman’s photograph. I told the couple that I was an estate manager and convinced them to buy property in Lagos.
“Since they have not been to Nigeria, they asked us to meet elsewhere and when I stumbled on a business conference that was holding in Malasia, I booked the meeting.
“On reaching Malaysia, I told a Facebook lady friend to pose as Janet after telling her what to say. That was how the deal was struck and they paid the dollar equivalent of N3.4 million into my account. I intended to use the money to further my studies because I am determined to be a graduate. I used part of the money to travel again to Malaysia for leisure in August.
“My regret is that I was caught at the end because I used my genuine data to open the account. I guess it was because it is my first time.”
The suspect, according to Isintume-Agu, will be charged to court.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/24-yr-old-nabbed-defrauding-us-couple-42497/#sthash.L3tm6j4h.dpuf