Amachukwu Innocent's Blog

Facebook has been told that it cannot collect WhatsApp users' data in Germany after the messaging app updated its terms last month to allow information sharing with its parent company.  Regulators expressed fears that the policy changes could infringe on WhatsApp users' privacy by giving Facebook access to their phone numbers, as well as  information about their phones and operating systems. Responding to such concerns, a German regulator has ordered Facebook to stop collecting WhatsApp data and delete all of the information that has already been transferred from the messaging app to the social media giant.  "It has to be the 35 million WhatsApp users in Germany's decision whether they want to connect their account with Facebook," said Johannes Caspar, the data protection commissioner for Hamburg. "Facebook has to ask for their permission in advance. This has not happened."  When Facebo...

By Favour Nnabugwu The lack of institutional accreditation body in the country have hindered access of goods and services to other countries of the world, the Minister of State for Industry Trade and Investment, Hajia Aishat Abubakar has said. Abubakar at the opening ceremony of the 7th African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) hosted by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in Abuja yesterday, said the establishment of a national accreditation body in the country would boost the access of goods and services of small scale to other countries. The establishment of a well-functional national accreditation body would provide the requisite infrastructure to support the growth of the over 37 million Micro, Small and medium Enterprises in the country by enhancing their productive capacities and production processes. “The benefits of the availability of the services to the MSMEs cannot be over-stated since it would enhance the competitiveness of their products, thereby availing them un...

In the last post we looked at how countries are tagged to be in a recession, we looked at how business owners can survive in a recession. Today we are looking at how a salary earner can survive in a recession. A mentor of mine JIM ROHN once said “if a man can’t save, the seed of greatness is not in him” most people will argue with the comment but in general I will say he is correct. But saving alone is not the way to survive a recession. Here is how we believe you can Pick up the slack – Most firms now will be laying people off and since this trend will continue for the next 2years at least. Your Job is not safe for now. You should learn to pick up the slack, be the first to come to work and the last to leave. Ask for the impossible projects and make sure you deliver on them. Look for opportunities to save money for your firm and drive results . People do not fire their best player. Boost your importance – As an employee whenever you achieve a reasonable succes...

S o the presidential election debates are almost upon us and one can safely assume that we will not get 90 minutes of reasoned argument. Donald Trump’s prime tactic during the primary debates was to hurl abuse at his rivals. Marco Rubio was “the little guy”, Ted Cruz was “the basket case”. So it is reasonable to assume that Mr Trump will hammer away at “Crooked Hillary” – hoping to bring her down in much the same way as “Little Marco” and “Lying Ted”. Capitalising on Benghazi and the email scandal, he believes he can secure victory with the backing of millions of voters who would not trust Mrs Clinton further than they could throw her. I'm relaxed. YOU'RE the basket case. Go ahead, don't get nervous. Donald Trump to Ted Cruz S o how does she counter this? A forensic examination of the Trump tax plans may play well with the chattering classes, but Mrs Clinton has their backing anyway. Her lead among college graduates is pretty overwhelming....

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is gradually taking Nigeria out of the wilderness just as Moses took the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. Osinbajo made this statement on Sunday at the 56th Independence Anniversary Interdenominational Church Service at the National Christian Centre, Abuja. According to the VP, the promise of God, included building a new Nigeria where there would be peace from North-East to the Niger Delta, and where there would be jobs for the unemployed. He said, “We are on our way out of the wilderness. We should not be like the children of Israel when He took them out of Egypt and after few problems, became grumblers-in-chief. “As children of God, we must declare this nation will prosper, we must be like our father who is the great encourager. Our message to Nigeria is ‘be strong and be of good courage; do not be dismayed’, every Nigerian will benefit from the new Nigeria. “God saw our ...

Few weeks ago it was declared officially that Nigeria was in recession, and like most people we either panicked, ignored it or sort to prayer and fasting. Before all that did we bother to find out what recession really is. Recession has generally accepted definition which is a period where economic activities slow down. That definition is so simple yet so confusing. The National Bureau of statistic came about their findings through 2 major ways Threshold findings- A country can be defined as being in recession when the output falls below a certain benchmark or threshold. For example if the GDP has not grown with regards to the population growth with a pre-established time line e.g. if GDP grows 2% while population grows 3% then it is a threshold recession because the number of people eating(Population) the same bread(GDP) has increased and the bread has not. GDP growth- A county can also be defined as being in a recession when the GDP falls two quarter in a row. This...

Nigeria’s digital television company StarTimes said it has further scaled up its sports offerings and package to excite sports loving Nigerians as it now broadcasts over 50 LIVE matches weekly across eight dedicated sports channels. “We are going all out to get more for our subscribers who are very excited about sports. Now we have a high number of LIVE soccer matches on our platform and subscribers are able to enjoy all Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Chinese Super Ligue and one EPL matches per week LIVE. All games on other leagues like MLS, Belgian Pro League, Scottish League etc are also available on Fox Sports and Fox Sports 2 LIVE. StarTimes keeps growing as a very strong football platform and sports powerhouse in terms of soccer broadcasts where Nigerian subscribers are now assured of over 50 LIVE soccer matches per week which explains our move to have the eight sports channels available to our subscribers to ensure they enjoy robust sporting entertainment actions....

GOVERNOR Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State says his administration has procured equipment worth N300 million to commence the operation of a newly established vocational institute in the state. Al-Makura stated this in Lafia on Monday while receiving a delegation from the Institute of Technical Education in Singapore who would install and train indigenes on how to operate the equipment. According to the governor, the equipment, imported in 25 containers, had been cleared and were now at the Government House ready for installation and use at the institute located in the state capital, Lafia. “The vocational trainings to be offered by the institute will not only offer jobs to our youths, it will also make them employers of labour.” Al-Makura explained that the training institute would consist six vocational departments – Electrical, Electronics, Plumbing, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Bio-Medical Technology and Building Technology. “The electrical section will tr...

Nasarawa State governor, Umaru Tanko Al-makura has said the success recorded by Team  Nigeria at the ongoing Rio Paralympic Games in Brazil has proved that there is ability in disability. Team Nigeria has so far won eight gold, two silver and two bronze medals to remain Africa’s best in the quadrennial Games scheduled to end this weekend. The governor who made the statement through a press release, signed and made available to newsmen by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Ahmed Tukur said, that the physically-challenged have demonstrated once more that they have potential to excel even where able bodied men and women failed to deliver medals. Al-makura said the Paralympics team has proved to the world that Nigeria had potential in every area of human endeavour and are not deterred by their physical challenges. He emphasised that with a great attention for people living with disabilities the country would witness great development and prosperity. Al-maku...

Liverpool central defender Joel Matip says he does not listen to players who try to wind him up. Liverpool face Chelsea on Friday evening, with Diego Costa in particularly prickly form so far this season. Matip, who has slotted comfortably into Liverpool’s central defence, is confident of seeing off Costa’s threat with his own fighting qualities. “If an opponent tries to talk to me during the game, really, I don’t give a f***,” Matip told the Daily Telegraph. “There are players who try to say things in a game, but I never care about this. They can say what they want. I don’t think anyone is like Costa. You can play against players who like to make you uncomfortable, but not too many with his size or as famous as him. “It is always a fight against these big teams and you have to take on the battle. You have to go in there and fight, there is nothing else. As a defender that is something you like, to go out there and win the ball. “But I don’t prepare on...

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has assured that his administration will support a constitution amendment to free local government areas from the stranglehold of states and better the lot of Nigerians at the community level. He gave the assurance while receiving the leadership of the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON) in Abuja, on Thursday. The president said a constitution amendment was urgently required to clearly define the relationship among the tiers of government. While describing the frosty relationship between states and local government as “a very serious constitutional problem,” he added that “the relationship between the three tiers of government is not a very nice one, especially that between the local government and the states. “The states feel like they own the local government, if they are of the same party.  It is worse if they are not. “This is a very serious constitutional problem and unless there is absolute clarity and transparency, t...

Everyone will at some point in a life time have life threatening deeply hurtful and upsetting experiences. Some people recover in a few days but some don’t. Vera Onana writes about this disorder and how it can be handled. For Temilayo Omooba, a young academic, sleep has eluded him in the last three months and the night time has become his undoing. Before any of the nightmares and insomnia, Temilayo had a very healthy sleep routine, but all changed after he was attacked by a six-man gang of armed robbers. He tried escaping by the whiskers, but was severely beaten. He had almost lost hearing ability in his left ear due to the innumerable stinging slaps the gun men had inflicted on him. Though all the locks had been changed, Temilayo could barely shut his eyes for an hour straight before screaming out loud. Temilayo, like several other Nigerians suffer such fate. In most cases, it is erroneously referred to as spiritual attack and in some other cases, people close to them,...

Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has donated N5 million to two students of Lagos State College of Health Technology who designed new technology of generating Biogas through the treatment of animal waste. The students, including Sarunmi Oluwafemi and Dada Samuel, were among the 422 successful graduates of the Ready, Set, Work (RSW) programme of the state government targeted to equip graduates of tertiary institutions in the state with necessary entrepreneurial skills and to make them emerge as ready products for the increasingly competitive labour market, as well as job creators. Oluwafemi and Samuel, who emerged as first place winners of the pitchcompetition of the programme, were also on Thursday, equally given N1million seed funding and placed on N100,000 monthly working capital for six months, all geared towards encouraging their business idea to grow. The business idea, which is Biogas production, involves the treatment of animal waste in order to gener...

Fuel injectors when fail can lead to a bunch of problems that can affect the engine performance. Nobody would love to come across such a snag, especially for those who have experienced the hefty repair charges from their local mechanics. There’s no substitute for replacement if the fuel injector is really bad. However, you can save other parts of the engine from getting damaged, if you manage well enough to look for the striking signs, which point towards a failing fuel injector. Here’s a list of the 5 most known signs that indicate a bad fuel injector. Abrupt Engine Power It is easy to understand that when a fuel injector is clogged, the fuel supply will be irregular too. With such lopsided flow, the engine will fluctuate between low and high rpm’s causing it to deliver the power in chunks, rather than being smooth and gradual. Engine Misfire In case when the injector keeps on struggling against the clogging of foreign particles, a time may come when it might miss o...