Stakeholders caution Lagos legislature over Land Bill

The Lagos State House of Assembly has been advised by various stakeholders in the state to apply caution over its new Land Bill, describing the proposed law as sensitive.

Speaking at a public hearing on the “Bill for a law to prohibit forceful entry and occupation on landed properties, violent and fraudulent conducts in Lagos State and for connected purposes” at the House of Assembly complex, most of the contributors pointed out the need to rework the 17-section bill.

In his submission, the Dean, Faculty of Law, University Of Lagos, Professor I.O. Smith, analysed the bill section- by-section and alerted the House of Assembly to some contradictions in the bill and its implication rightful land owners.

Smith called for an in-road into an immediate recourse anyone whose property has been wrongfully possessed.

He called for the creation of a remedy clause under the proposed law; consideration for the third party and the need for a taskforce on investigation of land matters.

Falana, Aturu differ on INEC’s law against defection

Mr. Femi Falana

Two  prominent lawyers have expressed divergent views on a recent proposal by the Independent National Electoral Commission which seeks a law against frivolous defection by politicians.

INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Election Party Monitoring, Hajiya Amina Zakari, had made the comment on Tuesday at the opening of the National Stakeholders’ Forum on Electoral Reforms in Abuja.

She said the law would also empower INEC to enforce internal democracy in the nomination and substitution of candidates for election by political parties.

Reacting to INEC’s position, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, told Saturday PUNCH that INEC’s intention was in order.

 In Britain, hunger hurts while in Africa, hunger kills - but we single mums try to do our best

Food poverty campaigner, single mum and blogger Jack Monroe visits Tanzania and finds some surprising similarities with her own situation

Here To Help: Jack in Tanzania with Irene and daughter

Mora McLagan/Oxfam UK

She is 24 years old, a single mother to a two-year-old girl. She lost her job in 2012 and has moved house at least four times since. Unable to find work, she is living in a friend’s bedroom in a shared house, borrowing food from neighbours.
Her name is Irene and she lives in Tanzania but her story feels immediately familiar to me.
I’m a British single mum aged 25 with a three-year-old son.
I was forced to give up my job in the UK fire service because I couldn’t make my childcare fit around the unpredictable hours. I fell into severe poverty.
I have also borrowed food from friends and food banks. I’ve moved house five times since I become unemployed and my son has moved eight times in his short life.

A blog I kept about my experiences is being made into a book called A Girl Called Jack, and because of that, Oxfam invited me to visit Tanzania.

Sex is better exercise than going for a jog - plus much better fun

Is it a myth that sex is just as good for burning off calories as traditional exercise? Not according to recent studies

Horizontal jogging: healthy alternative

Getty

I remember once reading that a 20-minute sex session burned as many calories as going eight rounds with Muhammad Ali.
It seemed like a bit of an exaggeration but a new study throws light on this conundrum.
The issue of sex as exercise has remained largely unexplored.
“There are these myths, including one that sex burns at least 100 calories per session,” says Antony D Karelis, a professor of exercise science at the University of Quebec.
He did a study, published in the on-line research journal PLOS One in October, to look at how much energy is actually exerted during sex.

Major Coffee Producer Kenya Still Lacks Processing Plant

A farmer and businessman in the small central Kenya town of Othaya, Paul Njagi is among the thousands of coffee farmers who are increasingly frustrated by the lack of a coffee processing plant in Kenya.
“Any investor who decides to set up one will definitely reap huge benefits,” Njagi told AFKInsider. Othaya is in Nyeri County, about 130 kilometers north of the capital, Nairobi.
The hilly county is one of the main coffee-growing regions in Kenya, and farmers such as Njagi find it unjustifiable that Kenya still has no processing plants more than half a decade after independence.
The country, which has produced coffee since 1893, is famous for the Arabica breed of coffee. The Robusta breed, which is useful in blending Arabica coffee, is in its early stages of development and its market is still green

Climate Change in Ghana Linked to Poverty, Lack of Wildlife Resources

Thinkstock From Ghana Business News

Ms Barbara Serwah Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has cited negative effects of climate change as one of the major causes of poverty in Ghana. She said  in Ghana the effect could be seen in the rapid change in rainfall patterns, long dry seasons, drying up of major streams and rivers, heavy erosion, loss of soil fertility, loss of biodiversity, drastic decline in none timber forest product among other things.
Speaking on Wednesday at a workshop on effects of climate change for high level policy makers and politicians, she said such negative effects had culminated into an increase in poverty in many rural communities which derived direct livelihood from forest and wildlife resources. The Workshop organised by the Ghana Climate Change Agricultural and Food Security (CCAFS) Platform, was attended by farmer based organisations, NGOs, religious bodies, researchers, academia and policy makers

Justin Bieber’s private jet 'searched for marijuana' after landing in New Jersey ahead of Super Bowl

The aircraft had just arrived in New Jersey ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl when authorities claimed they could detect a strong odour of pot

Bieber's plane reportedly smelled of pot

Justin Bieber’s personal plane was held at an airport tonight after authorities suspected it was carrying marijuana, police sources said.
The aircraft had just arrived in New Jersey’s ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl when authorities detected what was described as a strong odour of pot.
The plane, believed to be a twin-jet Raytheon Hawker 800, was ordered to be held at Teterboro Airport until drug-sniffing dogs could check it out.
It was not clear if the singer was on board after the plane touched down from Toronto.
Bieber had chartered the private jet to fly him, his father and friends to the game which sees the Seattle Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos.