Nintendo Sunday celebrated the 30th anniversary of Super Mario, one of the best-known characters in video game history, at an event where artists performed his theme music for fans dressed as the hyperactive plumber.

Super Mario series creator Shigeru Miyamoto appeared on stage as a crowd cheered at a packed live-music venue that can house up to 700 people. He watched a human-size mascot Mario blow out candles on a birthday cake.

“I was touched when I sang a birthday song with all of you,” Miyamoto said.

“Happy birthday, Mario!”

Video game music composer Koji Kondo played music used for newly released Mario software on a keyboard. Other musicians, including performers on a violin and an accordion, separately performed well-known Mario music.

Masako Iwata, one of the fans at the event, said she was looking forward to seeing Kondo, Miyamoto and Mario himself, whom she described as her hero.

“I love Mario. I’ve been playing the series since I was four or five,” said the 26-year-old, sporting a hand-made Mario red cap and blue overall.Since Mario first hit the screens under his own name on September 13, 1985, Nintendo has sold more than 310 million units featuring the plucky plumber’s adventures fighting off Goombas and Koopa Troopas as he races to save Princess Peach.

The character had earlier made an appearance in the Nintendo arcade game “Donkey Kong”, but under the name Jumpman.

With his distinctive uniform and moustache, the hyperactive little plumber is instantly recognisable, a rare quality in the games market.

In his best-known adventures, Mario comes to the rescue of Princess Peach, but he has also been inserted into formats featuring football, golf or karting.

The games have often been accompanied by technological advances, such as the fully three-dimensional format introduced by “Super Mario 64” in 1996.

To mark the three-decade milestone, Nintendo last Thursday released in Japan “Super Mario Maker” on the WiiU console. This allows players to create their own worlds for Mario, or use those created by other players and shared through the Internet.

Nintendo is also eyeing the booming smartphone games market — a long-awaited departure from its consoles-only policy.

The Kyoto-based company said in March it would create games based on its host of popular characters, but did not release any details about which characters would be made available for smartphones or tablets.

The company hopes to offset weakening demand for its 3DS portable game system by tapping into the smartphone games market.

Primary Source:Guardian News 

Trucks and Trailers Restriction Law Clarified.

Apparently disturbed by trailers and trucks flouting the ban placed on them by the Lagos state govt, not to ply the roads between the hours of 6am-9pm, the Lagos State Government has come out to make clarification of the Section of the Road Traffic Law 2012 which restricts trailers and long vehicles and also the classes of vehicles. 

In a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Oluseyi Whenu, the government said while Section 2 of the Traffic Law ‎restricts movement of trailers and long vehicles, only petrol tankers and long vehicles used in conveying passengers are allowed to travel within the metropolis between the stipulated time.

Vehicle with more than one real axle or six tyres are hereby restricted between the hours of 6am and 9pm with the exemption of the following in accordance with Section 2 and 38 of the Road Traffic Law 2012.

“These exemptions are tour bus/passenger buses, fire service trucks, rescue and recovery trucks, patrol trucks, perishable farm products trucks, refuse collection trucks‎, cement mixer trucks, tractors and refrigerated trucks”, he said.

Whenu said the clarification became necessary following the controversy generated by the enforcement of the Law, ‎after a fatal accident involving a container laden trailer claimed three lives in the state a fortnight ago.

He said the state government remains committed to the protection of lives and properties of residents irrespective of social, cultural or economic classification and therefore solicits the compliance, cooperation, support and understanding of all and sundry as regards the renewed enforcement of the Law.

Son Cofiscates 4 Billion Worth of Substandard Product in 2015

The Director-General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, Joseph Odumodu, has said that the agency has seized substandard products worth four billion naira since the beginning of the year.Mr. Odumodu made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday, adding that in September, the agency seized substandard telephone sets worth N350 million.

“In the last three days, we have confiscated over N350 million worth of telephone sets that are substandard.

“If I add that to the number I have earlier, we have a number of about four billion naira this year alone.

“I tell you that is not a thing of joy because all these products were imported, paid for with genuine dollars and would be destroyed and they are Nigerian money,’’ he said.

Mr. Odumodu called for a law to jail people involved in the importation of substandard products into the country.

According to him, the organisation now has a new act that confers additional power to prosecute offenders on it.

“I promise you that before the end of this year we may be celebrating the jailing of, at least, one major substandard kingpin in Nigeria,” Mr. Odumodu said.

He said the organisation was doing everything possible to ensure that the importation of substandard products into the country was reduced to 10 per cent by the end of the year.

“My target is before the end of this year, the organisation will reduce substandard products from its current 40 per cent level to 10 per cent.

“We have killed our industries because they are competing with substandard products.

“We need to do things that will make a lot of difference to us.

“When I started the journey in 2011 we had a level of substandard products with over 80 per cent in all the sectors.

“Today we are around 40 per cent to 45 per cent; in this new dispensation we will reduce it further by 90 per cent,’’ Odumodu said.

He said the target would be achieved through the integration of SON’s certification programme with the Nigeria Integrated Custom Information System (NICIS).

The director-general said the computerisation of SON’s services and the integration of its e-product certificate into NICIS platform would aid trade facilitation.

He said with the introduction of the platform, importers would find it easy to import goods.

“Right now if you want to bring in any products that are regulated by us you do not need to come to SON, you just deal with people we call international and credited firms.

“They will give you what we call product certificate, with it you can open your form M and when the products come, they will also issue you the after testing aboard.

“They will give you certificate with which you can clear but the certificates are at the electronic level,” Mr. Odumodu said.

According to him, the importation of substandard products has caused the closure of many industries in Nigeria.

“When they bring substandard products, they are stopping Nigerian companies from producing, employing people and making those products available for Nigerians.

“Statistically, Nigerian made products account for less than five per cent of substandard goods while imported products account for over 90 per cent of substandard products in terms of quantity.

“It is the imported products that are essentially substandard so they are the ones killing our economy,” he said.

(NAN)

Nigeria Army Chief Spends Night In Boko Haram Formal Enclave

The border town of Gamboru, a town in North-Eastern Nigeria, has witnessed several attacks by Boko Haram insurgents. Apart from attacking the village and sending residents fleeing to nearby communities including Fotokol in Cameroon, Boko Haram also occupied Gamboru and for about a year lorded over the area.

However on Wednesday, one week after Nigerian soldiers recaptured the town after fierce battles with the insurgents, the Nigerian Army chief, Tukur Buratai, vowed the town would never fall to insurgents again. In an unprecedented move, the army chief not only visited Gamboru to fraternise with soldiers, he slept in the quiet town.

In a display of strength, Mr. Buratai, a Lieutenant General, also ordered the hoisting of Nigeria’s flag that was a taboo during the Boko Haram conquest.
For anyone that saw what the terrorists made of the once bubbling and economically vibrant Gamboru, having a army chief pass a night there would be one of the craziest things a top soldier would consider doing.

The Trip

The trip from Maiduguri to Gamboru is just 145km. But it took about 12 hours to get there, as the Explosive Ordnance Department of the Nigerian Army had to sniff every inch of the route for land mines. Many land mines buried by Boko Haram were unearthed and defused by the bomb experts. 

But one went off, injured some soldiers and destroyed one of the Armoured Personnel Carriers.
The Chief of Army Staff alongside other top army rednecks arrived Gamboru at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday. PREMIUM TIMES and other journalists were also part of the trip.

Mr. Buratai’s first  task after addressing cheering soldiers was to hoist Nigeria’s flag in the liberated territory. Boko Haram had forced the residents of Gamboru to flee their homes for many months now. Most of them are still taking refuge in Fotokol, about 500 meters away. Nigeria and Cameroon are separated in that area by a river, which has a concrete bridge across it.

PREMIUM TIMES observed that when the Chief of Army Staff and his troops arrived near the bridge to hoist the Nigerian Flag, the quiet area almost turned chaotic as over 3000 Nigerians taking refuge in Fotokol went wild in excitement,  hailing the soldiers from the bank of the river on the Cameroonian side. The mood caused tears from some observers especially as the poor villagers, who had spent months looking at their devastated hometown from across the river, continued to chant ‘Sai Baba Buhari, Sai soldier (meaning ‘all hail President Buhari, all hail Nigeria soldiers).



A night with Nigeria’s Chief of Army in Gamboru

After a brief ceremony and statement from the army chief , everyone at the venue sang the Nigerian National Anthem in high pitch, as a soldier who was the last bearer of the flag after it went through the hierarchy of command from the army chief, hoisted the Green-White-Green flag. The villagers, chanting from across the river bank, provided a rhythmic melody to the national anthem. Even the generals shed tears as, once again, Nigeria’s territorial control and integrity was restored in the Gamboru area.

General Buratai’s words echoed from the loudspeaker over the desolated  town of Gamboru and into Fotokol as he delivered a brief speech at the flag hoisting ceremony.

“We are here today to observe this significant and symbolic ceremony of hoisting the Nigerian national flag,” he said.”If you could remember, this town of Gamboru was occupied by the Boko Haram terrorists for almost one year ago. The Chadian troops came to help recapture it but could not hold the town, so they later withdrew and the Boko Haram returned again.

“In line with my vision which is to have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army that is abreast of its constitutional roles, and one key underlying phrase in my mission is the constitutional role,  today, under my command, we are here to discharge and redeem our territorial integrity as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Today we are hoisting our flag and we will never allow any bunch of criminals in the name of Boko Haram to come and take an inch of our territory again.”
Mr. Buratai thanked soldiers who partook in the operations to recapture the town.

“I will like to commend officers and soldiers of the Operation Lafiya Dole, especially the officers and men of 7 Division and indeed the 7 Division Strike Group, who have proved to be resilient, dedicated and highly patriotic. Nigerians are proud of you, Nigerian Army is proud of you and indeed Mr. President is very proud of you.

“We have to maintain the momentum and from now on you must maintain an aggressive posture to constant patrols along this routes and all other routes into this area.”
More Work Needed

The Army Chief lamented the ability of the insurgents to still lay mines in territory in control of soldiers.

“The incident of mines being laid along the routes must be stopped! Troops are not here to come and sleep at night while Boko Haram bury mines on our roads.

“We still have a lot to do. The war is not over. The terrorists have changed their tactics from moving out from their camps to attack communities to now moving in pockets, planting IEDs via humans or vehicles.

“On our way to this place, we saw how some IEDs were uprooted from the road by our troops and unfortunately one of the mines got detonated and affected our vehicles, from which some soldiers got wounded.



A night with Nigeria’s Chief of Army in Gamboru

We once again, thank Mr. President for reposing his confidence in us to help deliver his mandate. We are making progress and definitely we would achieve that mandate within the time given by Mr President. On this note I have the singular honour and pleasure to present the Nigerian Flag to the Commander Operation Lafiya Dole for hoisting and never to come down again.

Shortly after the flag had been hoisted, Mr. Buratai moved across the bridge to address the Nigerian refugees down the bank of the river in Cameroon and spoke to them in the local language of the area – Kanuri.

The atmosphere went electric, as the people applauded every assuring word of Kanuri being uttered by the number one soldier.
Soldiers danced and exchanged pleasantries with their counterpart from Cameroon.

At night, the senior officers simply took their seats in one of the destroyed fuel filling stations that momentarily became the makeshift Army Headquarters and continued to interact with the gallant officers and men in the field.

At about 7:30 p.m., the army chief had a private chat with non-commissioned officers and soldiers for about two hours during which he personally took down the complaints and suggestions each soldier made.

The dark night was even more petrifying as some of the soldiers informed PREMIUM TIMES reporter that “there is 50/50 chance that we may be attacked by the Boko Haram because that is what they do every day. But we are ready for them; and that is if they will be bold enough to come here after how we dealt with them days back.”

Meals were cooked and two rams were slaughtered and barbecued for soldiers and journalists.  Then the army chief led other officers and soldiers to ignite a burn-fire that lit the bushy surroundings. Soldiers danced wildly as they sang at the top of their voices – chanting different lyrics that ridiculed the Boko Haram.

“They (Boko Haram) are hearing us even now that we are here singing”, said an excited Corporal.

The excitement was paused midway for the decoration of a gallant Major, Muhammed Abu Ali, to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Mr. Abu Ali, an officer in the Nigeria Armoured Corps, actively took part in leading most of the recent operations in the most dangerous Boko Haram camps. His colleagues described him as the panacea to Boko Haram when he drives his War Tank (T72). The Army spokesperson, Colonel Sani Usman, described him as “hero of our time”.

After the burn-fire, the celebration went on until a heavy rainfall began. There was no shelter for both officers and soldiers except the building of the filling station. Soldiers on sentry stood their grounds to ensure no Boko Haram crept nearby, while others took shelter in their vehicles.
Mr. Buratai and other officers like the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Yushau, the GOC 7 Division, Lamidi Adeosun; the Commander, Multi- National Joint Task Force, Major General Iliya Abba; a Cameroonian Colonel, Fonkon Djio Venerd Richard; and Chadian Lieutenant Colonel D’ Aviation, Mohammet Yahaya, continued to chat with journalists and some of the soldiers.

Sleep was an option many would rather not take. Some that tried sleeping only did so for about three hours before the officers asked everyone to board their vehicles at about 5:30 a.m. on Thursday for a return to Maiduguri, shortly after the morning prayers.

The Return

The 145km return journey that started at 6 a.m. from Gamboru ended 13 hours later. The convoy had to move at snail speed, about 12km per hour, as soldiers of the bomb detection unit, sniffed the route on foot ahead of the convoy.
At the destroyed Gamboru bridge bombed by Boko Haram in 2013, the convoy spent two hours manoeuvring the bridge.

There was apprehension during the remaining part of the journey after the bridge – through Dikwa, Logomani and Mafa – as soldiers had to charge their way through likely flash points for ambush.
Everyone arrived Maiduguri safely, except for the soldiers that suffered the blast from one of the land mines.

Primary  Source  and Photo Credit : 

Destination Paris:Buhari to Meet With France President and Ministers

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday depart Abuja for Paris to begin a three-day official visit to France at the invitation of President Francois Hollande.

The President will be accompanied on the visit by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno , the Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Ministries of Defence, Finance, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment as well as the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said.

As the composition of his entourage indicates, President Buhari’s talks in Paris with President Hollande and other senior French Government officials will focus on the further strengthening and consolidation of ongoing bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in the areas of defence, security, trade and investments, Mr. Adesina said.

Apart from his scheduled meeting with President Hollande at the Elysee Palace on Monday evening, President Buhari and his team will also confer with the French Minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian; the French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, Michel Sapin; the French Minister of Economy and Industry, Emmanuel Macron; and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Laurent Fabius.

The Nigerian President is scheduled to visit the Headquarters of MEDEF, France’s largest federation of investors and employers, where he will participate in a France/Nigeria Investment Forum with leading Nigerian and French entrepreneurs.

President Buhari will also confer with the Chief Executive Officers of leading French multinational companies such as Total and Lafarge on their current and future investments in Nigeria.

The President’s other scheduled engagements in Paris include a meeting with African Ambassadors to France and an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community.

He will conclude his visit to France on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 and return to Abuja the same day.

Osinbanjo Lambasts Northern Leaders

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the present crop of
northern leaders is responsible for the backwardness of the region, saying they have abandoned diligence and selfless service and resorted to personal aggrandizement.

Osinbajo made the remark at the opening ceremony of Northern Reawakening Forum (NRF) Summit, held under the theme “Building a Safe, Secure and Economically Inclusive Northern Nigeria” and held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, on Saturday.

He regretted that the elite had jettisoned the foundation set by the founding fathers, leading to the challenges confronting the country.

“Our history reminds us of the visionary leaders in Nigeria, who fired our imagination through their vision, diligence and selfless service, who did not live or fight to enrich themselves; they did not leave vast personal estates behind, but their names and legacies live in the hearts of the people”, the VP said.

“Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Abu bakar Tafawa Balewa, Mallam Aminu Kano, J. S. Tarka and countless others clearly understood the varied issues afflicting the region, thought through them, laid the plans and worked selflessly to realize them”.

He explained that in the 19 northern states of Nigeria, the human development indices “are by far poorer than the rest of the country”.

Osinbajo said the Northern Nigerian Economic Summit of 2012 was the first forum to draw attention to some of the depressing statistics about the condition of the North.

Primary Source :
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/osinbajo-lambasts-northern-leaders/

Like PDP We Won't Hang Buhari's Portrait in Our Offices

Two other political parties, the Labour Party and Progressive Peoples Alliance, have joined the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, in refusing to hang the portrait of President Muhammadu Buhari in their respective secretariats.

The two parties hinged their decision on the action of the ruling All Progressives Congress, which before it came to power, allegedly refused to hang the portrait of former President Goodluck Jonathan in its national secretariat.

Both the LP and PPA stressed that their action was a payback for the APC.

This is as chieftains of the PDP expressed divergent views on their party’s action, which was announced by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, on Tuesday.

“We will never hang his (Buhari) portrait in this office, because President Buhari is not known to our party. He is not a leader of our party and, therefore, we will never put his portrait here. We are a political party, very partisan and therefore, we are not going to hide that,” Metuh had told our correspondent on the telephone.

One of our correspondents, who visited the national secretariat of the PPA, situated along Emeka Anyaoku Street, Area 10, Garki Abuja, on Friday, observed that the President’s portrait was conspicuously missing.

The National Chairman of the party, Mr. Peter Ameh, explained that the APC blazed the trail of “subtle civil disobedience” when it was in opposition.

Ameh said, “Your storyline should be whether the APC had the photograph of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. They did not. And that is the story; the APC did not have Jonathan’s portrait in the party’s national secretariat.

“Everything is about precedent. Throughout Jonathan’s tenure, the APC didn’t have his photograph; so, may be other political parties are also learning from the precedent set by the APC. They are following in the footsteps of the party during the last administration.”

A similar situation obtained at the national secretariat of the LP also situated in Garki.

The National Chairman, LP, Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, said the party did not have Buhari’s portrait, noting that apart from the fact that the APC never accorded Jonathan such respect, the new administration had failed to make the official portrait of Buhari available to it.

Abdulsalam said, “We don’t have the photograph of President Buhari in our secretariat because the APC never had the photograph of ex-President Jonathan in their offices.

“We are supposed to get it but we don’t. The fact of the matter is that the Federal Ministry of Information should have called us, not only political parties, to say that the President’s photograph is available at the Federal Ministry of Information and that all organisations should apply for it.”

Meanwhile, top chieftains of the PDP have expressed divergent views on the position espoused by Metuh.

A stalwart of the party in Oyo State, Senator Lekan Balogun, said hanging of the President’s portrait should not be an issue to Nigerians.

Although he questioned PDP’s position on it, Balogun, however, said that if the constitution did not back hanging of the President’s portraits in all places, discretion should be exercised in doing so.

He said, “If it has become acceptable by the years, it is left for anybody to hang it. It will sound partisan to the extreme. It is not a constitutional requirement, but the PDP should not be the party that will reject hanging the President’s portrait, bearing in mind that when Goodluck Jonathan of the party served as President, everybody put his portrait in their offices at the time.

“Unless you can prove that when Jonathan was ruling, the APC did not hang his portrait, it should not be an issue. It is the kind of thing Nigerians play on.”

A prominent member of the party from the state, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), refused to comment on the issue. He told our correspondent that if the PDP had taken a position on the issue, he would rather not comment on it.

The Chairman and the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kwara State chapter, Iyiola Oyedepo and Rex Olawoye, however differed with Metuh.

In separate telephone interviews with one of our correspondents in Ilorin, they stated that Metuh’s position was wrong, adding that as the President of Nigeria, Buhari’s portrait should be everywhere and that he deserved to be respected.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Mohammed, dismissed the controversy as “a non-issue.”

A constitutional lawyer, Fred Agbaje, who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH in a telephone interview, described the practice of displaying presidents’ portraits as a civic responsibility embedded in the constitution.

According to him, though the constitution does not expressly provide that the President’s portrait be hung, failure to do so in public places amounts to reneging on a civic responsibility, which is a constitutional requirement.

He said, legally, by one of those old 1960 laws, which we inherited, we are supposed to do that (display presidents’ portraits). “Even if it is not part of our constitution, it is part of our civic duty under the constitution that all public places should display the portrait as a mark of respect for constituted authority.”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Ngige, similarly told SUNDAY PUNCH that although the constitution did not explicitly provide that the President’s portrait must be hung, it had become a universally accepted convention as a sign of accordance of respect.

Primary source:http://www.punchng.com/news/like-pdp-we-wont-hang-buharis-portrait-lp-ppa/