Google restores Linda Ikeji Blog

Around midnight Friday, popular blog, Linda Ikeji’s blog was restored on the Google blogging platform, Blogger.
Embattled blogger, Linda Ikeji, announced the news on Twitter.
“And Google restores. I hear it’s a record. Normally it takes weeks or months to restore a deleted blog. But not LIB,” she tweeted six minutes after midnight.
In a follow up tweets, she explained that Google had restored the blog after verifying that the allegations of plagiarism were “bogus and deliberate sabotage.”
On Thursday night, a few hours before announcing the restoration of her blogger site, Ms. Ikeji had directed readers to her new site, lindaikejionline.com.
The blog was shut down on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade,  Google’s communication and public affairs manager for Anglophone West Africa had declined to categorically say  why  it shut down the blog.
Mr. Kola-Ogunlade said the company  does not discuss individual a
ccounts.
However, speaking generally, he said: “We take violations of policies very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users. When we are notified of the existence of content that may violate our Terms of Service, we act quickly to review it and determine whether it actually violates our policies. If we determine that it does, we remove it immediately.”
In a tweet following the blog’s shutdown, Ms. Ikeji had informed her followers that it was still up on lindaikeji.mobi; apparently, a stop-gap arrangement, and that she was working to get a new one.
She also alleged that cybersquatters had acquired all her potential domain names.
On Tuesday, in a blog post, Ms. Ikeji accused “cybersquatters and hackers” of trying to bring her blog down.
She pointed a finger directly at Mukhtar Dan’Iyan, the Editor-in-Chief of US-based The 15 Past Eight Media Group, who uses the handle @AyeDee on Twitter.
Ms. Ikeji said Mr. Dan’Iyan was equally guilty of what he accused her of -lifting articles from other websites without permission, and alleged that he owned the domain name lindaikeji.net under an alias, Emmanuel Efremov.
In an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, Mr. Dan’Iyan said he had emailed Ms. Ikeji repeatedly about contents she lifted from his site before filing a formal DMCA complaint to Google.
A Digital Copyright Millenium Act, DMCA, is an avenue to report content that you would like removed from Google’s services under applicable laws.
According to Mr. Dan’Iyan, Ms. Ikeji had used over 10,000 copyrighted pictures and stories over the past five years without the authorisation of the copyright owners.
He also said “Emmanuel Efremov” was one of the directors in his company.
“Emmanuel has never tried to sell anything to Linda, nor has he ever demanded any sort of money from her. In fact, I doubt he’s ever had any interaction with here even in passing,” Mr. Dan’Iyan said.
Source: Premiumtimes

FG releases N527.6m to pay unity schools’ staff

The Federal Budget Office has released N527.6m to the Central Bank of Nigeria for the settlement of salary arrears and entitlements of staffs of the 104 Federal Unity Colleges in the country.

The staffs of the unity colleges have been on strike for the past three weeks.

The money, which is part of the arrears and entitlements estimated at N1.8bn, is for onward transmission to the Federal Ministry of Education to start the payment of the first batch of promotion arrears.

But the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria has directed its members in the Federal Ministry of Education to continue with the industrial action “until directed otherwise.”

The ASCSN in a statement by its Secretary-General, Mr. Alade Lawal, on Thursday in Abuja, said the strike would continue until the government meets the association’s demands, particularly the payment of promotion arrears to its   members in the Federal Ministry of Education Headquarters, the Inspectorate Offices and the unity colleges.

Lawal said, “We can confirm that the sum of N527,643,440.00 has been released by the Budget Office to the CBN for onward transmission to the Federal Ministry of Education to start the payment of the first batch of promotion arrears.

“We are hopeful that the money will start dropping into the personal accounts of members of the association at the headquarters of the ministry, the Inspectorate Offices and the 104 Federal Unity Colleges beginning from Friday (today)”

According to him, a meeting which held at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity on Wednesday, with the representatives of ASCSN and the Federal Ministry of Education in attendance, had agreed that the tripartite task force should continue to work to ensure the release of the outstanding N1.7bn with the Budget Office.

The sum, he said, would cover all other arrears of promotion and other allowances.

“Other conclusions reached at the Wednesday meeting include the fact that both parties to the dispute should get the necessary mandate from their principals so that when the tripartite meeting reconvenes on Wednesday, October 15, 2014, the strike would be reviewed,” he added.

The ASCSN scribe commended “the heroic actions” of its members.

Source: Punch

Nigeria repatriates 82 foreigners because of Insecurity

The Federal Government, on Thursday, said it had repatriated a number of foreigners over what it described as nefarious activities which might undermine the security of the country.

The foreigners, who were repatriated from Jos, included a Chadian, Nigeriene and Senegalese.

According to the coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC), Mr Mike Omeri, those nationals repatriated were jobless in Nigeria.

 ‘‘We also have the report that 82 foreigners made of Chadians, Nigerienes and Senegalese were repatriated to their countries from Jos. Their activities were adjudged to be fostering criminality within the area because they sell drugs and participate in unholy activities. None of them have valid papers, nor do they have handiwork that they were doing.

“The government needed to be proactive by ensuring that they return to their countries. It was done in a friendly atmosphere and it was not meant to challenge the freedom of movement of citizens of the sub-region and they have since left,” Omeri said.

Speaking on the fight against terrorism, Omeri said the Nigerian military had successfully executed military operations from active intelligence on Boko Haram.

He further stated that, following the recent training and newly-established intelligence sharing mechanism, the Nigerian army would continue to make positive gains against the insurgents with new equipment providing wide territorial coverage and increased response capacity.

While commending some neighbouring countries for their efforts in combating insurgency, Omeri called on others who try to rubbish the image of Nigeria to have a rethink.

ss“We equally call on ?others wishing to make political capital and rubbish the image of Nigeria and her efforts in the fight against terror to have a rethink.

“As it is Nigeria today, it could be the turn of another country tomorrow, hence the need for collaboration and cooperation in whatever capacity”, Omeri said.

The Centre however commended the efforts of Nigerians, the Military, local community militia? And other security forces for their complementary roles in the success recorded so far in the campaign against terror in the North East.

Nicki Minaj Pregnancy Plan: Rapper Reveals She’ll Break From Industry In 4 Years – Ready For A Family!

Nicki Minaj will break away from the entertainment industry in four years to begin raising her family. The rapper wants to get pregnant! Nicki Minaj’s sole mission these days is to promote her third album she put out called The Pink Print. It also appears like she’s out to reinvent herself, as well solidify her place in the world of fashion

. However, despite Nicki’s successes and her continuous climb in many aspects of the industry, she’s established a 4-year plan that will allow her to gracefully take a break when the time is right in order to start a family.

We continue to see multiple aspects of Nicki’s persona and, at times, it seems to evolve before our very eyes. The rapper has always placed great emphasis on her music, so to hear that she wants to raise a family might surprise some.

Nicki Minaj’s music appears to have always been her passion. However, in 4 years, once her hiatus begins, will she really go through with motherhood — or is it just an idea that seems good to her now, in the moment? Does she sincerely want to start a family, or is she merely beginning the baby talk early to keep her name in the spotlight. We all know very well that baby bumps on celebs keep their names in the papers — and when/if Nicki gets pregnant, every magazine will want her glowing self to grace the front covers, even more than they do so now.

Nicki Minaj is a prominent songwriter and entertainer who knows what it takes to succeed. Do you think she’s up for this entirely different challenge, however? Is Nicki ready to bring in the next generation of Minajesty?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!