President Obama takes action against LGBT discrimination!

In fulfillment of his 2008 campaign promise, and with his action affecting federal employees, President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order banning workplace discrimination against millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors and the federal government.

The executive order has two parts: It makes it illegal to fire or harass employees of federal contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and it explicitly bans discrimination against transgender employees of the federal government. The part targeting federal contractors affects 24,000 companies employing roughly 28 million workers, or about one-fifth of the nation's workforce.

"America's federal contracts should not subsidize discrimination against the American people," Obama said during remarks at the White House just before signing the order. "I'm going to do what I can with the authority I have to act."

The provision affecting federal employees takes effect immediately, while employees of federal contractors will have their new protections in place by early next year, according to senior administration officials.

To the relief of the LGBT community, Obama did not include a sweeping religious exemption in the executive order, something the community feared could happen in the wake of last month's Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case.

Instead, Obama simply added the categories of sexual orientation and gender identity to an existing executive order that protects employees of federal contractors from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. President George W. Bush amended that executive order in 2002 to allow religiously affiliated federal contractors to prioritize hiring employees of their particular religion, however, and Obama is keeping that language intact.

Tony Rapu's message to married and to-be-married women!

This thought provoking  message from Pastor Tony Rapu to married and soon-to-be-married women has been making the rounds. 

Roving Informant came across it and as it is our custom, we share with our esteemed readers. Hope you find these tips useful in your relationships.

Lagos inaugurates panel on burnt BRT buses!

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday inaugurated a three-man panel of inquiry to probe the July 4 burning of some Bus Rapid Transit buses in the state following the death of a soldier.

Inaugurating the probe panel, Fashola described the incident as regrettable, especially as it resulted in loss of life and destruction of property.

According to the Punch, the panel which is chaired by retired Justice Ebenezer Adebajo has as members, Mr Nurudeen Ogbara, a lawyer, and Mr Jude Igbanoi, the Deputy Law Editor of Thisday Newspapers.

They are to investigate the cause(s) of the incident and how the victim died as well as ascertain the actual perpetrators.

The panel is to submit its findings within 60 days.

One of the BRT buses had reportedly knocked down a soldier on motorcycle at Palmgrove on Ikorodu road.

Authorities of the Nigerian Army, however, said hoodlums, not soldiers, were responsible for the violence.

Fashola advised the panel to do its work without hindrance, especially as there were reports that the mayhem was actually caused by soldiers.

The governor, who described the military as a profession of disciplined and noble men, noted that there might be some bad eggs who were giving the army a bad name.

He said, “Societies and institution will fail if men and women fail to do nothing. Like the Nigerian Airways which was the symbol of our pride in 1973, the Nigerian Army is also a symbol of pride to this nation.

“The job of the panel is to find out what happened, how the soldier died, what killed him and what could be done to avoid such accident in future.

“This and many others are the questions that I hope this tribunal will help to unravel and explain to Nigerians.”

Boko Haram insurgents kill 100 people as they take control of Nigerian town!

The guardian reports that Boko Haram extremists killed more than 100 people and hoisted their black and white flag over a north-eastern town left undefended by Nigeria's military, according to a civil defence spokesman and a human rights advocate.

Hundreds of people in another north-eastern area, Askira Uba, are fleeing after receiving letters from the Boko Haram threatening to attack and take over their villages, Abbas Gava, a spokesman for the Nigerian Vigilante Group said.

"Nine major villages are on the run," he said.

Survivors said on Saturday that the insurgents had attacked the town of Damboa before dawn on Friday, firing rocket-propelled grenades, throwing homemade bombs into homes and gunning down people as they tried to escape the ensuing fires. Most of the town had burned down, they said.

A human rights advocate said Boko Haram had struck again as people were trying to bury their dead, and that the toll was probably much higher than 100. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to reporters.

The only defence came from vigilantes armed with clubs and homemade rifles, Gava said.

The town had been under siege for two weeks, since Boko Haram dislodged soldiers from a new tank battalion camp on its outskirts.

The defence ministry claimed to have repelled the attack and killed at least 50 insurgents for the loss of six soldiers, including the commanding officer, but locals said many soldiers had been killed and that the military had been driven from the base. They said in the past week the extremists have twice ambushed military convoys trying to reach the base.

The militants cut off access to the town on Monday, when they blew up a bridge to the south of it. Damboa is on the main road south from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, and at a strategic crossroads for farmers bringing their produce to market.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers have been driven from their land by the five-year-old insurgency, and officials have been warning of imminent food shortages.

Boko Haram has attracted international condemnation for the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls who have been held in captivity for three months.

The insurgents have increased the number and ferocity of their attacks this year, particularly in their north-eastern stronghold, and they also have detonated bombs as far away as Lagos, the commercial capital in the south-west.

Human Rights Watch published a report this week which said Boko Haram had killed more than 2,000 civilians in an estimated 95 attacks during the first half of 2014. That compares with an estimated 3,600 people killed in the first four years of the insurgency.

Kate Henshaw goes into politics!

Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw recently indicated interest to contest for the Federal House of  Representatives for Calabar Munical/Odukpani Federal Constituency under the PDP platform.




She was officially unveiled on www.campaign.ng on her 43rd birthday, which was July 19th.

The primaries is scheduled to hold in October.

She is an inspiration to the Nigerian woman, that through resilience and hard work, one can live her dreams.  

 
We wish her best of luck. 

The Media celebrates 45th Anniversary of Apollo 11's Moon Walk!

Forty-five years ago, three brave astronauts launched into space with the goal of becoming the first to walk on the moon. The now-legendary crew of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins left the planet on July 16, 1969, setting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and arriving on the Moon four days later. On July 20, "with one small step," Neil Armstrong made history, becoming the first person to set foot on the moon. The next day, his smiling face was on the cover of Newsweek.

Photos from that trip:

Ibinabo responds to Mr. Ibu's alleged mismanagement of funds- He is detached from reality!

President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Ibinabo Fiberesima has responded to comic-actor, John Okafor’s comments that she should not re-contest because of her alleged mismanagement of funds received from President Goodluck Jonathan.

Ibinabo said that Okafor better known as Mr Ibu is detached from reality and that, unlike him, she doesn’t beg state government or politicians for money.

“Which money is he talking about? That is why I said he is detached from the realities on ground. When we went to visit the President, there was no money promised to anybody. We didn’t go there to beg for money as Mr. Ibu is used to doing; we didn’t do that. They push you to the extent that you say things that you don’t want to. I’m not about money, for once they should stop and think, see what my team and I have achieved in two years.”

“Mr. Ibu cannot vote for me, he does not have the power to do that. He cannot even run for office because he is not a member, and I was expecting to see the names of the members whom he referred to because I don’t know them, and I hope they are members of the Guild because we have actors who are not members.”

She also added that no amount of bad press and false allegations would hinder her from running for re-election to remain AGN president.

“You should not because of your interest in a name feel you can come out and talk off point to become relevant. When people say people should have education, it is for this kind of reason so they will know how to speak in public.”

“They think running to the press and running me down on Facebook and others will deter me. No. I was not brought up like that, I’m a very thorough breed. I will do what I have to do to get to where I am going. It is the love that I get from people whose lives I have touched that keeps me going, not those who don’t know where they are going, because every sentence they make is money, where is the money?”