Akin Olagbende

well rounded individual always in pursuit of knowledge.

[Head to Head @AJHeadtoHead]

“I never said that.”

Here is the evidence for every quote Nigeria’s presidential spokesperson Daniel Bwala denied saying in his appearance on Head to Head with @mehdirhasan.

▶️ Full episode https://t.co/PrWvGs9tkq

[D. H Bwala @BwalaDaniel]

Kindly take a listen to the Head to Head interview I had with Mehdi Hassan in London Conway Hall

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Reverend Jesse Jackson called on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope; to step forward and say “Send me” wherever we have a chance to make an impact.

How fortunate we were that Jesse Jackson answered that call. What a great debt we owe to him.

[West Africa Weekly @WestAfricaWeek]

In Violation Of International Law, Netanyahu Orders Ghanaian Peacekeepers To Yield For Planned Israeli Assault On Lebanon https://t.co/d04tFWhSjX

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The tower has caught the rocket!!

[David Hundeyin @DavidHundeyin]

The thing that tires me the most about talking to Nigerians is that no matter how bitterly they complain about how much they suffer, they don't really mean it.

Nigeria is a country of people who have the emotional depth of a teacup. Their feelings are shallow, and their memories are short. They may say something and feel it in the moment, but 5 minutes later, they will forget.

Anyone who is linked to or in favour of the Tinubu government should be physically afraid for their lives by now, if Nigerians actually believed any of the anger and frustration they express on the internet everyday. But these people are walking the streets just fine, and they will continue to do so because Nigerians are not people who even take themselves seriously.

Nigerians are people who feel nothing and believe in absolutely nothing, including the Abrahamic religions and African traditional practises they carry on their heads. They cannot fight even for their own children's future because even the love they feel for them is largely performative and inch-deep.

All this anger ends online. Offline, everyone who is responsible for creating or enabling this suffering is perfectly fine. Not one of them is scared of Nigerians because they know the mannequins will never do anything.

By December, this same class of Twitter users crying about being reduced from middle class to poverty will be celebrating their nonexistent blessings from 2024, and praying to their deaf Abrahamic deity to grant them an economic miracle in 2025.

A miracle that will never come.

[Ayo Sogunro @ayosogunro]

This man was the DG of the Nigerian Law School.

Think of that.

He spent years studying as a law student, then became a lawyer, worked as an academic and then rose to the rank of a professor, until he took the role of the top legal educator in the country.

Then he was politically savvy and his qualifications recognised enough to be appointed the minister of education. By all indications, a seemingly profound purveyor of education and scholarship.

And yet his most critical idea, his great contribution, his big vision from his decades of academic rigour is: “We need to stop people from going to school too early”.

The kind of reasoning about social problems you hear at the barbershop from the local philosopher who stops you for some beer money: totally devoid of root cause analysis, disengaged from contextual situationing, unbothered by the exceptions of genius and prodigy, and unencumbered by statistics or sociological research.

This is the same level of mental effort that concludes that a reversal of the national anthem to an older version will revive the country’s glory days.

Nigeria is failed daily by its leaders.

[Pat Utomi @UtomiPat]

So it was Gov Amosun’s violation of contract terms signed by his predecessor that brought the shame of seizure of jets from the Presidential fleet. I hope he is happy at his achievement’. The whole matter is Khama at work. The Chinese were not the only victims. One prominent Ogun indigene allegedly committed suicide with similar Amosun action. I too was a victim. I had leased OPIC land in Lagos in a BOT agreement under Gov Daniel. Amosun stopped all such on being sworn in. I called him. He said he did not see my name on the list. I went to Abeokuta and he called in Yewandw Amusan who said mine was a straight forward deal they did not include it. He asked that all be included but mine be quickly sorted. That began a rigmarole that went on for years. I made another trip to Abeokuta. He drove me back to Lagos at the wheels with my driver trailing along with the escorts and sirens. He had earlier asked that I make a request for refund of what I paid even though my South African partners and I had invested 200m in addition to the lease amount at the time. With just two of us in the car he advised I make a claim for100m and write for additional payments the day after I cash the cheque. It was surreal but if I got nothing more it would be better than being in court until we both retire. I took the case to APC leader BAT and Baba Akande. No result. Took it to Dapo Abiodun when he took over. Nothing came of it. If this happened to Frieda I wondered what enemies were going through.I lost my weary SA partners who owned a successful regional chain across Southern Africa and Asia. I licked my wounds and Slaved to pay off the loans. The Chinese had better leverage. They took it and all are shamed. My new book Power Policy Politics and Performance documents a similar case study in Enugu involving SA investors as the gubernatorial batons changed hands. When shall we learn. Values shape human progress

[Rishabh @Rixhabh__]

The 20 most creative and iconic ads you've ever seen:

1. Sam- looking for a designer

[Senator John Owan Enoh @OwanEnoh]

The Olympic Games, Paris 2024, has ended, and I accept that our performance should have been a lot better. It obviously fell short of our objectives, expectations, and hopes of Nigerians. I must apologize to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong while looking forward to the Paralympic Games, Paris 2024(August 28- September 8th).

When I assumed office as the Minister of Sports Development in August 2023, I was confronted with the task of executing four international competitions namely the AFCON, the African Games,the Olympic and Paralympic Games in a matter of a few months. I was also reminded that the Olympic Games is the world's supreme sports competition, and countries require at least four years to prepare for it. I held extensive discussions with the management staff of the Ministry and got to know that preparations for the Olympics, which was less than a year away, had not started.

In the true Nigerian spirit, it was our view that we should spare no effort to sustain the international sports image of our country. Our target was to re-enact the Atlanta 1996 performance or even improve on it. To this end, we embarked on a progressive approach to drive forward the performance of our athletes and coaches. In my first week in office, I requested all National Sports Federations to furnish me with plans and programmes. I also embarked on a nationwide inspection of our sports facilities.

Subsequently, I constituted a Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee comprising seasoned sports performance professionals to drive our preparations.
At this time, we had hardly qualified for the Olympics in any sport. We focused on both the AFCON and the African Games (both of which were happening in quick succession)while our athletes also participated in Olympic and Paralympic qualification tournaments. This had the disadvantage of compelling the athletes to attain peak performances several times within a short space of time. I was also enlightened that athletes of many countries had qualified almost one year ago and had already structured their training programmes for the Olympics. We were not deterred.

I convened a series of meetings involving the Presidents of the National Sports Federations, their Technical Directors, and Secretaries General. These meetings examined the preparations for the competitions. The Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee was in attendance to discuss and streamline methodologies and training methods in the best possible way, considering the time constraints.

After the African Games, subsequent meetings were limited to the Federations that had bright chances of qualifying for the Olympics. Medals projections were made by all the Federations, although their athletes were still trying to qualify; which lasted until about June 2024. The concerned Federations obviously prioritized qualification over preparations for the Games. This seems to have always been the case.This has to change.
At the end of the qualification period, the selection of athletes and coaches was the absolute responsibility of each Federation.A few attempts to question selection after i got complaints were strongly resisted and defended.

To achieve our targets, we approved onshore training in different locations in the country in addition to the offshore training camps for our teams in Saarbrucken, Germany, and Sevilla, Spain. Ten out of the eleven sports trained in Germany. The choice of the training facilities in Germany was based on the very positive recommendations of the Ministry team and included the President of one of our Federations who as a former world champion and Olympic gold medal winner, is quite familiar with Olympic-standard facilities and equipment. At the training camp, the Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee offered scientific preparation and mental strength training support.

[NERC Nigeria @NERCNG]

Order on the Transition to Bilateral Trading in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry

Post-unbundling of PHCN, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) was established in 2010 to manage energy procurement between GenCos and DisCos. NBET's role as a bulk trader was initially for 10 years and was renewed in 2021 for three more years. The Electricity Act 2023 mandates the transition to bilateral trading, moving away from NBET’s single-buyer model.

Trends in Wholesale Energy Trading
- Since 2022, NERC has issued trading licenses to private companies interested in bilateral trading.
- Several GenCos intend to exit NBET agreements and contract directly with DisCos.

Current State of Energy Trading
- NESI has faced liquidity challenges due to non-cost reflective tariffs, subsidy delays, and poor billing by DisCos.
- Only 8 out of 28 GenCos have fully effective contracts backed by payment guarantees with NBET.

Objectives of the Order
- Transition to bilateral contracting to limit government fiscal exposure.
- Foster a competitive market by moving away from a sole bulk electricity trader in NESI.
- Allow GenCos with "take-and-pay" contracts to trade directly with DisCos.
- Move towards "take-or-pay" contracts for predictability and market discipline.

Key Provisions
- NBET will cease entering new contracts for electricity and ancillary services.
- NBET will continue administering existing contracts with five specific GenCos.
- DisCos are encouraged to contract bilaterally with GenCos.
- GenCos must notify NBET of bilateral contracts by 30 September 2024.
- A framework for energy dispatch and payment prioritization is established.

This Order aims to steer the Nigerian electricity market towards a more competitive, efficient, and financially sustainable structure by promoting bilateral contracts between generation and distribution companies.

Read the full order at: ORDER-ON-THE-TRANSITION-TO-BILATERAL-TRADING-IN-NESI.pdf (https://t.co/xQRN6ytloB)

[oseni rufai @ruffydfire]

Nigerian Girl becomes Deputy Head Girl in English School.

Oluwaferanmi Ogunbiyi becomes New Deputy Head Girl at Woldingham School, Surrey, United Kingdom

The Ogunbiyi’s continues to blaze the trail in academics and in life, feranmi’s Aunt, Ore Ogunbiyi was also Deputy Head girl in that school.

Woldingham School is an independent boarding and day school for girls, located in the former Marden Park of 700 acres (280 ha) outside the village of Woldingham, Surrey, in South East England. The school was founded as the Convent of the Sacred Heart in 1842 in Berrymead, London by the Society of the Sacred Heart; the first Convent of the Sacred Heart in England.[1] The Society had been founded in France in 1800 by Madeleine Sophie Barat (canonized in 1925) immediately after the French Revolution (1789–1799). The first Sacred Heart school had opened in 1801 at Amiens, France; others were soon established in France and across Europe.
The Convent of the Sacred Heart moved to Roehampton, London, in 1850. Shortly after the 1939 outbreak of the Second World War, the school was evacuated, first to Newquay and later to Stanford Hall, near Rugby. Because the house at the Roehampton site was badly damaged during a 1941 air raid and later had to be demolished,[2] the school decided, at the end of the war, to find a new location. Marden Park was purchased by the Society in 1945, and the school moved in one year later. Early in the 1980s, the Society decided to commit the school to lay management under the trusteeship of the Society. In 1984, Philomena Dineen was appointed first lay Head of School for the newly renamed Woldingham School; she took up her duties in January 1985.

[SportsDokita (Odogwu ☝️) @Sports_Doctor2]

His Club still didn't like it but he still persisted.

On the 12th of August 1989, “Nigeria vs Angola" in Lagos, something happened!

On the 77th minute, "He Slumped And Never Got Up" and by the time he got to the hospital, he was dead!

An autopsy showed he had a heart defect called “Congestive Heart Failure”.

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Singer Sinead O'Connor has died aged 56, Irish media reports

https://t.co/KS7Rr7bVAW https://t.co/Y7BfLUcFbv

[Akin Olagbende @Kinzobee]

@MTN180 Hello, I loaded a data plan for my 5G today the 22nd of June and was debited. I have not received my data nor a refund. Please can you assist?

[Piers Morgan @piersmorgan]

BREAKING NEWS:
Confirmed: the 5-man crew of the Titan submersible have all very sadly died.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st

[Nigeria Stories @NigeriaStories]

Ever read about the “Esther’s revenge” ?

This is the story of “Esther’s revenge”

A Thread
Retweet To Educate Someone

[Gary Lineker @GaryLineker]

After a surreal few days, I’m delighted that we have navigated a way through this. I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming. 1/4