The re-opening of unresolved murder cases

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the acting Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to reopen investigation into the unresolved murder of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige and ex-Deputy National Chairman, South-South, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Aminasoari Dikibo, with a view to bringing their killers to justice.
We recall that the killing of the two prominent politicians caused national outrage with Nigerians calling on the then President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to apprehend and punish the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Nigerians also called on that government to revisit all unresolved murder cases in the country.
Since the presidential directive to reopen these murder cases, the Nigerian Police authorities have reportedly commenced moves to arrest some of the principal suspects in the case. To that end, crack detectives are said to have started recalling the case files to apprise themselves with the details of the incidents and search for leads.
Many of those who were arrested at the time of these two murders were released and even participated in the 2003 general polls. The Police have boasted that they will deploy forensic technology to investigate and conclude the cases.
We laud President Buhari for ordering the reopening of these murder cases with a view to resolving them once and for all. This is one of the good initiatives of the Buhari administration. The government deserves commendation for recognising the need to conclude these cases that have become an embarrassment to the country.
It is good that the government appreciates the fact that life is sacred and should not be taken away by anybody. The security of life of every Nigerian citizen should be uppermost among government’s responsibilities to the people. If any life is taken outside the dictates of the law, it is the duty of government to fish out those behind such crime.
In other lands like Britain and the United States, the apprehension of perpetrators of such crimes is mostly done with dispatch and resounding success. Very few criminals escape justice perpetually in these nations. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same thing for Nigeria. We have a long history of unresolved murders with those responsible for them getting away with the crime. The statement by the police that the Ige and Dikibo cases were never closed is beside the point. Let them get on with the investigation and prove that they can identify and bring the killers to justice.
Beyond these two high profile murders, there are many others that were never resolved by the police. Many occurred both before and after the Ige and Dikibo cases. The suspected killers of Ige were arrested and arraigned but nothing came out of it. Now that Buhari has ordered the reopening of these cases, let them be resolved in earnest.
Among the unresolved high profile murders in the country are those of Dele Giwa, Alfred Rewane, Marshall Harry, Funsho Williams, Uche Ogbonnaya and Barrister Barnabas Igwe and his wife. These   should also be revisited and resolved. We say this because the re-opening of some murder cases and leaving out of other equally heinous ones that are also in the public consciousness will be a great disservice to the victims of these crimes. Not revisiting them will heighten the trauma of the relatives of the murdered persons.
This new probe should not go down like others before it. Let those behind these murders be apprehended and diligently prosecuted. We remember that the former president, Goodluck Jonathan, also gave a similar order for the unresolved cases to be reopened, yet nothing came out of it.
We, therefore, expect the investigation to be thorough and targeted at achieving the desired results. The victims of these heinous murders must get justice and the only way to do this is to ensure that their killers are arrested, prosecuted, convicted and punished.
Now that President Buhari has resolved to conclude these murder cases, he should ensure that they are, indeed, resolved and concluded to bring closure to the dastardly incidents.

Culled from Sun

Exclusive: Donald Trump’s brand is taking a hit-by Rick Newman

In Chicago, some embarrassed residents of the tony Trump Tower give their street address or say they “live by the river” instead of naming the building they live in to avoid association with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. In New York, media commentator Keith Olbermann declared, “I can’t stand to live in a Trump building anymore,” and said he’s moving out after “nine happy years.” And online, thousands of Trump protesters have called on retailers such as Starbucks (SBUX), Nike (NKE) and Gucci to move out of Trump buildings.

Trump revels in such controversy, of course, and often finds ways to turn it to his advantage. But there’s new evidence that Trump’s combative demeanor as a presidential candidate, combined with inflammatory statements about Muslims, Mexicans and other groups, may be financially harming the brand Trump has spent more than 30 years carefully crafting.

Redfin, the national real-estate brokerage, conducted an analysis of Trump condominium prices for Yahoo Finance and found that the value of Trump properties has suffered as Trump’s fame and notoriety has spread. A separate analysis by StreetEasy, an online real-estate search service, shows Trump properties are holding their own in the developer’s home market of New York. But Yahoo Finance also examined nightly rates at Trump hotels across the country and found modest discounts there too, compared with other luxury brands. On the whole, it appears Trump’s rambunctious presidential campaign isn’t helping his brand at all—and is hurting it in some areas.

Before Trump became a candidate, Trump properties bearing his name had a significant pricing advantage over other properties offering the same range of amenities—the “Trump premium,” as some in the industry referred to it. But that pricing advantage has disappeared this year. “We found that Trump units would fetch more than the competition in 2015,” Redfin analyst Taylor Marr told Yahoo Finance. “We can no longer attribute any pricing differential to Trump’s name being associated with the properties we studied.”

Redfin compared the value of condos in Trump buildings, which are typically at or near the peak of the luxury market, with similar buildings no more than half a mile away in nine different markets: three suburban communities north of New York City, Jersey City, N.J., Hollywood Beach, Fla., Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Chicago, Las Vegas and Honolulu (Waikiki). The analysis controlled for size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and other factors. (The full methodology is here.) Overall, the analysis covered sales of 161 Trump units and 920 comparable properties.

Here’s a summary of the Redfin findings. The Trump premium is the amount Trump properties sell for, above comparable units:

Source: Redfin

Redfin considers the 2016 Trump premium numbers to be statistically insignificant, which means if Trump properties have any pricing advantage, it’s very unlikely it’s due to the Trump brand. That means there is essentially no Trump premium anymore in the nine markets Redfin studied. The Trump name, as famous as it may be, no longer boosts property values.

In prior years, before Trump became a politician, Trump’s name could boost values by as much as 70%, according to court filings and other documents reviewed by Yahoo Finance. In court depositions, Trump himself attributed that premium largely to the fame he gained as star of the reality TV show, “The Apprentice.” The rising value of his name as a brand allowed Trump to license his name to projects run by others for millions of dollars and move away from the riskier work of constructing, financing and marketing buildings. These days, the majority of “Trump” buildings are owned by someone else.

Here are a couple examples of the comparisons Redfin made as part of its analysis. In March of 2015, a two-bedroom condo on the 53^rd floor of Chicago’s Trump Tower—which Trump does own—sold for $1.675 million, or $1,046 per square foot. Two months later, a similar luxury condo on the 39^th floor of 600 N. Fairbanks, about eight blocks away, sold for $1.4 million, or $822 per square foot. The 2015 Trump premium: $224 per square foot.

Culled from Yahoo finance.

Lawyer challenges proposed immunity, life pension for lawmakers On July 19, 20163:51 pmIn NewsComments Lagos – A Federal High Court, Lagos, has been urged to restrain the National Assembly from passing into law, any bill seeking to grant immunity and life pension to officers of the assembly. A rights activist, Mr Kabir Akingbolu, made the call in a suit he filed at the court on Tuesday. Joined as respondents in the suit were Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. Akingbolu, in his originating summons, said the move by the federal lawmakers was not only detrimental to the well-being of every citizen, but amounts to gross violation of constitutional provisions. He argued that the move by the National Assembly to propose life pension for its leaders at a critical economic period was crude. Relying on sections 15 (5), 16 (1) (b), (2) (a) (b) and 17 (1) of the Constitution, Akingbolu argued that the proposed life pension and immunity laws by the lawmakers, was a total departure from the provisions of the constitution. He contended that such proposal would not only further impoverish the citizens as resources meant for their common good would be concentrated in the hands of a few, but also encourage corrupt practices. In a supporting affidavit, the lawyer averred that the lawmakers failed to take into consideration the constitutional provision bordering on maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen, before proposing such laws. He averred that what was required of the National Assembly at the moment were laws that would foster maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen. According to him, for decades, no officer of the National Assembly has been granted immunity and there is no harassment of the holders of the said offices. “The move to obtain immunity for officers of the National Assembly for offences while in office, is anti-people and unconstitutional. “All over the world, there is nowhere members of the legislature are granted immunity against offences; therefore any grant of same is a crude attempt to place lawmakers above the law.’’ No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/lawyer-challenges-proposed-immunity-life-pension-lawmakers/

How Visa is using Marvel’s superpowers to teach your kids about money-Vanessa Sanchez

Personal finance addresses the ways in which individuals or families budget, save and spend their money. Although this is a topic that everyone should be educated on, there are only 17 states in America that require their high school students to take a course in personal finance. This means there’s a large population of adults who lack some measure of financial understanding.

In an effort to educate the public, one of Visa’s financial literacy programs, Practical Money Skills for Life, focuses their efforts on “creating quality, engaging and innovative materials that can bring interest and fun into financial education.”

“It’s important to start financial literacy at an early age and to continue often if we actually want to end up with adults who have good money management skills,” says Hugh Norton, head of US Financial Education at Visa.

The idea of a personal finance comic book originated in 2012 when Visa partnered with Marvel Custom Solutions for the very first time. “It really just seemed like a natural winning combination to put together our financial literacy expertise and their iconic characters,” says Norton.

Marvel Custom Solutions, Marvel’s in-house creative agency, is often approached to take on educational projects. Editor and project manager at Custom Solutions, Darren Sanchez, says educational comic books are a great way to teach kids important lessons while still keeping them entertained.

With about half a million copies distributed in eight different languages in 42 countries, the first comic, “Avengers: Saving the Day,” was nothing short of a success.

Now, after four years, these big name companies worked together to create their latest comic, “Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket’s Powerful Plan.” Superhero characters from both “Avengers” and “Guardians” comic series appeared in blockbuster movies, the most recent being “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” scheduled for release in 2017.

The months it took to create “Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket’s powerful plan” included endless approvals and a team of talented writers and artists. But the challenge with these types of educational comics, says Sanchez, is making sure the comic incorporates Visa’s main teaching points, includes all of the characters and making sure kids engage with its message.

For this issue, Visa wanted to teach their readers about saving up for an emergency and how to save up for big-ticket items that they need but can’t normally buy.

“Rocket and Groot are the stars of the comic. It’s called ‘Rocket’s Powerful Plan’ and he’s the one that’s saving money,” says Sanchez. “He’s the mastermind behind all of it. And Groot is the irresponsible side to show what not to do.”

The colorful 20-page issue is filled with action-packed fight scenes and finds a way to seamlessly integrate the story with financial terms like “investment,” “exchange rate,” “live within your means,” “savings account” and “emergency fund.”

“We’ve rationed out money for living expenses,” says Rocket in the comic, “squirreled away cash for emergencies and now after all that time we finally have enough for our new toy! The newest in stark tech.”

In an effort to be more aggressive in spreading financial literacy, this time around, Visa also partnered with the Public Library Association.

Norton tells Yahoo Finance that they didn’t want to just hand the comic book over to people in hopes they would use it. “We wanted to to be able to put real learning materials in people’s hands and partnering with the public library association allows us to put that comic into communities across America in a much more accessible way than if it was only available through our site.”

The initial launch of “Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket’s Powerful Plan,” was translated into eight languages. But the May release was so successful that it is now being translated into an additional eight languages, including Turkish and Fijian.

“It’s a myth that an ill-informed consumer is somehow better for business,” says Norton. “In the long term an informed and educated consumer who knows how to deal with their own finances is better for everyone. It’s the right thing to do and we need to start financial education early.”

Culled from Yahoo