Traveling to 8 Nigerian cities in 14 days is an idea that I have been brewing for a very long time and on the 1st of September 2017 I decided to explore the railway system and make that dream come true, so I fixed a date – start 26th September and end on the 15th of October 2017!
Starting from Lagos – Ibadan – Osun – kaduna – Abuja – Jos – Enugu – Port Harcourt

After Exploring Ibadan, I headed to Osun by bus to board a train heading to Kaduna.

After much anticipation, 26 hours wait at Osogbo train station (sleeping bathing and brushing at the station) for the arrival of 1 KL (Kano Limited), At exactly 5.45 PM on Saturday the train finally arrived, tickets sold 45 minutes before arrival. Discovered the train was delayed 26 hours as a result of technical and maintenance issues as stated by one of the train hosts onboard! who chose to have his name withheld, stated, ” na rain damage and no maintenance from authorities na e cause am.”

He said, I respect his sincerity and candid opinion. The situation started first with the cancellation of the train route from Lagos to Ibadan, now a long 26 hours wait in Osogbo train station. Really sad I have to start my review on this trip from a negative perspective, but first impression matters right?

Excitedly been my first train trip, I bought a second class train ticket for N1,700 a mistake that became a pain in the ass. Would describe my first entrance at the second class train coach as horrific, first sighting a bunch of people choked in a single space, secondly restrooms oozing out like it’s been abandoned for weeks, sweats, odours oozing from every nook and cranny . It was extreme discomfort!

For the sake of adventure I decided I would stay in second class coach, explore and show the world what it is like in there. So I went searching for a conducive space, however, the more I search, the more nausea I developed, thinking of my health, states and distance we still have to cover, I headed out to replace my second class ticket to a first class.

The second class was occupied by 80% Hausas and 20% all other tribes judging from the train destination (Kaduna, Kano, Minna, Niger, Abuja, dressing) language and dressing. It is characterised by rooftop riders, people standing in every corner, people sleeping on the floor and so on!

Fairly, this coach should be described as an embodiment of distress and the word poverty, no pun intended. More painful is the fact that the train ticket costs enough to get a better treatment.

So who deserves a second class Nigerian train ticket in this present day? Class regardless, the second class coach shouldn’t be as bad as it is for the amount it’s been Sold. The space looks like it was sold for N500 or less but for N1700,it is not acceptable.

Our first class session welcomed an elderly man sweating profusely all the way from second class, according to him name withheld, “the place hot too much and e far from here.” Definitely not disputing the fact, having experienced it.

The second class is one area, the Nigerian railway corporation need to deal with, The first class of 1 KL could be made second class while a more developed version be created as first class. A proper and regular clean-up, proper maintenance should be ensured, and this can be achieved if those in authority selflessly commit, research on foreign train systems and maintenance emulate and make it work here. Sharing her experience in the second class session my train sit partner, name withheld “ko da! four people sat on my seat, it wasn’t good at all since then I haven’t tried it again.”

Not content with his ad hominem attacks on former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Garba has turned his attention to me.

I congratulate him. For historical purposes, let me state that It was Garba who first came for me after I proved him a liar for his claim that any attempt to vote out the All Progressive Congress and vote in the Peoples Democratic Party In next year’s elections would mean that Dame Patience will benefit as a ‘looter’.

I proved that not only was this not true, but that Garba Shehu himself is a part and parcel of the PDP. In his statement calling me a liar, Garba claims that I alleged that he was a Special Assistant in the Buhari Administration for five years. That claim is either a function of dishonesty or semi literacy because I never made such a claim.

I said that Garbs was a Special Assistant in the Obasanjo administration and served that government and the PDP for years. This is a fact and no lie from Garba can change that. Next up, I thank God that Garba Shehu DID NOT deny writing anti Buhsri statements. But how could he, when I have proof? I must commend him for his honesty in that regard.

Let me now take up Malam Garba Shehu’s other points one by one and expose him for the liar that he is. Yes, in 2003 when I returned from England, I was a Personal Assistant to a principal officer in the Obasanjo administration. I was a young man in my 20s and I distinguished myself as my boss attested to. I never claimed to be otherwise.

However, my office was opposite Garba Shehu’s office as I wrote previously. I thank Garba Shehu for saying I was “personable”, but the truth is the truth. I remind Garba that that principal officer is still alive and well as are other witnesses. But even if Garba Shehu denies that his office was opposite mine, at least he was forced to admit that he worked at the Presidential Villa at the same time I did for a PDP administration. 

Since that is the case, what moral standing does Garba Shehu have for today writing and releasing statements against the same Peoples Democratic Party administration and officials that he once served as an SA Media? Garba Shehu says he is not an AGIP (Any Government in Power), but then the facts contradict this. What do you call a man who now issues statements for a man and a party he once attacked against the men and party he once praised? I CAN NEVER DO THAT! Garba is the dog that returned to his vomit. 

Between Garba Shehu, a man who serves the people he once attacked and myself, a man who had remained loyal to my party in and out of power, who has moral authority? If those things Garba once wrote against Buhari are true, then why is Garba Shehu serving Buhari today? If those things which he wrote were lies, then why did Garba Shehu write them?

I await Garba Shehu’s answer. And to show how much of a liar Garba Shehu is, he is toddy claiming that the visa on arrival policy of the Nigerian government is an achievement of the Buhari administration. This policy was a policy initiated by the Jonathan administration and the Buhari government has no hand in its formulation. 

However, when a government is desperate for achievements, it will clutch at straws. Again, Garba Shehu claimed the Nigerian Maritime University in Okerenkoko, Delta State as an achievement of his achievement-less government. Such desperation! A simple Google search will prove this claim to be a fallacy. 

The fact is that nobody in the Buhari administration can take the #BuhariChallenge and name even one project that the Buhari government has initiated, started and completed in the last three years. This is the reason why paid vuvuzelas of the Buhari administration will keep directing their fallacious tongues at people like me who expose their desperate lies. 

Reno Omokri

President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines caused a stir in the orthodox Catholic country for calling God “stupid” but his spokesman on Monday defended the contentious statement as his personal belief.

The president made the statement on Friday evening during a speech in his southern home city of Davao, where he questioned God’s logic in the Biblical creation story of Adam and Eve.

“Adam ate (the fruit of knowledge), then malice was born. Who is this stupid God?” he said. “That son of a bitch is stupid if that’s the case.

“You created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work.”

Duterte also questioned the rationale of original sin, noting,

“That was your mother and father’s deed – you weren’t born yet, but now you have original sin.

“What kind of religion is that? I can’t accept it.”

Amid the criticisms over his statements, presidential spokesman Harry Roque urged the public to accept that Duterte tends to use strong language when he expresses his beliefs.

“That is the personal belief of the president,” he said. “We are free to believe in religion and we are also free not to believe in religion.

“The president has his personal spiritual beliefs.”

“We cannot fault the president if he has no sense of hypocrisy and we should accept that because even when he was just a candidate, he never hid that from us,” he added.

According to Sbs.com.au, Duterte has in the past lambasted the Catholic Church in the Philippines, where more than 80 per cent of the population practices the religion, calling priests out for allegations of corruption and sexual abuse

 

A mysterious "canid animal" shot by a Montana rancher in May had wildlife officials scratching their heads about what kind of beast it was, but DNA testing finally has answers.

It resembled a wolf — mostly — though some features were distinctly un-wolflike, which led to some pretty wild speculation about whether it was a dire wolf (they're long-extinct, so definitely not), a dog-wolf hybrid (dogs and wolves can interbreed) or perhaps a dog-human hybrid (seriously, people?), The Washington Post previously reported.

But DNA analysis showed that the beast wasn't so mysterious after all, and it was merely a gray wolf (Canis lupus), from the northern Rocky Mountains. [My, What Big Teeth: Wolves Gallery]

Tests conducted at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) forensic laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, put the wild rumors about the wild canid to rest. After comparing the animal's DNA with thousands of samples taken from wolves, dogs and coyotes, lab officials confirmed the suspicions of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks' (MFWP) wildlife health lab — that the mystery canid was a female gray wolf, and "a relatively normal looking" one at that, MFWP representatives said in a statement.

She was probably about 2 or 3 years old, weighing about 85 pounds (39 kilograms) and measuring nearly 4 feet (1 meter) from nose to rump when she was killed, MFWP officials reported. Adult gray wolves typically weigh between 70 and 110 pounds, and can measure up to 6 feet (1.8 m) long, according to the FWS.

And though her dark brown color is unusual in gray wolves, which are typically a mix of brown and gray with lighter fur on their legs and bellies, their coats can also be solid brown, black or white, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

However, her legs were shorter than is normal for wolves, and her ears were unusually large, which fueled confusion about her species. Upon closer inspection, officials noted that the size of her paws and canines (too small and too short, respectively) also called into question whether she was truly a wolf.

The female wasn't lactating when she was killed, so it's unlikely that she had the opportunity to pass along her unusual physical features to a litter of pups. However, it's possible that genes for these deviations in her limbs, teeth and ears could be carried by her siblings and parents, and so may surface in Montana again, possibly sparking more mistaken sightings of wolf-dog hybrids, long-extinct dire wolves, or the mythical wolf-human cryptid known as Dogman.  

Original article on Live Science.