HOW TO SHOW COURTESY TOWARDS COLLEAGUES

• Greet everyone you encounter cheerfully and with a smile on your way into the office. On your way out, remember to thank the receptionist / office boys etc.
• Good bosses, employees and colleagues don't forget their manners. Remember 'please' and 'thank you'.
• Always show your appreciation with a smile.
• Small talk and light chitter chatter at work is essential; it expresses friendliness without demanding attention. Whether you talk about the traffic or the weather, the vital message is that you are all part of the same team.
• Be polite to hired help like peons, drivers, delivery boys etc.
• Do not talk loudly when you talk over the phone or to your colleagues. Talk in a soft and clear voice.
• Take instructions with grace and give instructions gracefully.
• On occasions like birthdays, staff members should receive a personal gift, good wishes and words of appreciation from the boss and colleagues.
• Always be considerate. The last person to leave the office should not have to switch off all the lights, air conditioners and computers. For example, when a photocopier runs out, whoever used the last sheet of paper should refill it.
• When you are going to get yourself a cup of tea, coffee or a cold beverage, offer to bring one for your co-workers as well

Suspension: Sanusi drags Jonathan to Court

Embattled Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, yesterday, went before a Federal High Court siting in Abuja to challenge the powers of President Goodluck Jonathan to suspend him from office.

President Goodluck Jonathan and Lamido Sanusi

In the suit he filed through a consortium of lawyers led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Kola Awodein, Sanusi,  told the high court that his purported suspension was as a result of some discrepancies he discovered in respect of amounts repatriated to the federation account from the proceed of crude oil sales between the period of January, 2012 and July, 2013.

He maintained that his sin was that upon discovering the financial anomalies, he had cause to inform the National Assembly considering the fact that the revenue of the federation and the national economy was directly affected.

He further insisted before the court that his purported suspension by President Jonathan was aimed at punishing him for the disclosures he made with regards to how revenue that accrued to the federation was being mismanaged.

Sanusi contended that the President did not approach or obtained the support of the Senate, saying his discussions with several lawmakers including Senator Bukola Saraki, confirmed that the decision to oust him from office was unilaterally taken by the Presidency.

Consequently, he urged the court to restrain President Jonathan, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector General of Police, from giving effect to his purported suspension from office as the CBN Governor, pending the determination of his suit.

Besides, he begged the court to make an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from obstructing,disturbing, stopping or preventing him from in any manner whatsoever from performing the functions of his office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and enjoying in full, the statutory powers and privileges attached to the office of the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

In an affidavit he deposed in support of the suit, Sanusi averred: “I have been informed, and I verily believe the information given to me by senator Bukola Saraki to be true and correct that the senate did not give the President any support for my purported suspension and removal from office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria”

Sanusi told the court that his interlocutory application was necessary considering the issues raised in the suit, saying delay would entail irreparable and serious damage and mischief on him in the exercise of his statutory duties as the CBN Governor.

He urged the court to exercise its discretion in his favour by granting the interlocutory injunctions as the President’s continued unlawful interference with the management and administration of the apex bank, unless arrested, poses grave danger for Nigerian economy.

It was his prayer that the court should order the maintenance of status quo ante bellum, which he said should be that he should return to his office as the Governor of the CBN.

Sanusi further averred that the actions of the President in suspending him from office was contrary to provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act relating to the appointment and removal of the CBN Governor.

He said his purported suspension, “amounts to unlawful interference in the administration and management of the apex bank and is therefore illegal, null and void.”

He said it would be in the interest of Justice for the court to grant all his prayers.

Meanwhile, the suit, dated February 24, is yet to be assigned to any judge for hearing.

- Source: www.vanguardngr.com

B-Haram slaughters 43 students in Yobe

Over 30 secondary students were slaughtered this morning and their hostels burnt down. (pic above). See a State House Press Release condemning the attack below, signed by Reuben Abati..

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has received with immense sadness and anguish, news of the callous and senseless murder by terrorists of scores of students at a college in Yobe State in the early hours of today.

On behalf of himself and the Federal Government, President Jonathan extends heartfelt condolences to the parents and relatives of the murdered students.

The President wholly condemns the heinous, brutal and mindless killing of the guiltless students by deranged terrorists and fanatics who have clearly lost all human morality and descended to bestiality.

He assures the nation that his administration will not relent in its ongoing efforts to end the scourge of terrorism in parts of the country which has sadly claimed more innocent lives today.

The Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies will continue to prosecute the war against terror with full vigour, diligence and determination until the dark cloud of mass murder and destruction of lives and property is permanently removed from our horizon.

Reuben Abati

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

February 25, 2014

10 Things You Might Not Know About Love

01 It Can be Hard to Talk About Love in Scientific Terms

The vision of love that emerges from the latest science requires a radical shift. I learned that I need to ask people to step back from their current views of love long enough to consider it from a different perspective: their body's perspective. Love is not romance. It's not sexual desire. It's not even that special bond you feel with family or significant others.
And perhaps most challenging of all, love is neither lasting nor unconditional. The radical shift we need to make is this: Love, as your body experiences it, is a micro-moment of connection shared with another.

02 Love Is Not Exclusive

We tend to think of love in the same breath as loved ones. When you take these to be only your innermost circle of family and friends, you inadvertently and severely constrain your opportunities for health, growth and well-being.
In reality, you can experience micro-moments of connection with anyone -- whether your soul mate or a stranger. So long as you feel safe and can forge the right kind of connection, the conditions for experiencing the emotion of love are in place.

03 Love Doesn't Belong to One Person

We tend to think of emotions as private events, confined to one person's mind and skin. Upgrading our view of love defies this logic. Evidence suggests that when you really "click" with someone else, a discernible yet momentary synchrony emerges between the two of you, as your gestures and biochemistries, even your respective neural firings, come to mirror one another in a pattern I call positivity resonance. Love is a biological wave of good feeling and mutual care that rolls through two or more brains and bodies at once.

04  Making Eye Contact Is a Key Gateway For Love

Your body has the built-in ability to "catch" the emotions of those around you, making your prospects for love -- defined as micro-moments of positivity resonance -- nearly limitless. As hopeful as this sounds, I also learned that you can thwart this natural ability if you don't make eye contact with the other person. Meeting eyes is a key gatekeeper to neural synchrony.

05  Love Fortifies The Connection Between Your Brain and Your Heart Health

Decades of research show that people who are more socially connected live longer and healthier lives. Yet precisely how social ties affect health has remained one of the great mysteries of science.
My research team and I recently learned that when we randomly assign one group of people to learn ways to create more micro-moments of love in daily live, we lastingly improve the function of the vagus nerve, a key conduit that connects your brain to your heart. This discovery provides a new window into how micro-moments of love serve as nutrients for your health

06 Your Immune Cells Reflect Your Past Experiences of Love

Too often, you get the message that your future prospects hinge on your DNA. Yet the ways that your genes get expressed at the cellular level depends mightily on many factors, including whether you consider yourself to be socially connected or chronically lonely.
My team is now investigating the cellular effects of love, testing whether people who build more micro-moments of love in daily life also build healthier immune cells.

07 Small Emotional Moments Can Have Large Biological Effects

It can seem surprising that an experience that lasts just a micro-moment can have any lasting effect on your health and longevity. Yet I learned that there's an important feedback loop at work here, an upward spiral between your social and your physical well-being.
That is, your micro-moments of love not only make you healthier, but being healthier builds your capacity for love. Little by little, love begets love by improving your health. And health begets health by improving your capacity for love.

08  Don't Take a Loving Marriage for Granted

Writing this book has profoundly changed my personal view of love. I used to uphold love as that constant, steady force that all but defines my marriage. While that constant, steady force still exists, I now see our bond as a product of the many micro-moments of positivity resonance that my husband and I have shared over the years. This shakes me out of any complacency that tempts me to take our love for granted. Love is something we should re-cultivate every single day.

09  Love and Compassion Can Be One and The Same

If we reimagine love as micro-moments of shared positivity, it can seem like love requires that you always feel happy. I learned that this isn't true. You can experience a micro-moment of love even as you or the person with whom you connect suffers.
Love doesn't require that you ignore or suppress negativity. It simply requires that some element of kindness, empathy or appreciation be added to the mix. Compassion is the form love takes when suffering occurs.

10  Simply Upgrading Your View of Love Changes Your Capacity for It

The latest science offers new lenses through which to see your every interaction. The people I interviewed for the book shared incredibly moving stories about how they used micro-moments of connection to make dramatic turnarounds in their personal and work lives.
One of the most hopeful things I learned is that when people take just a minute or so each day to think about whether they felt connected and attuned to others, they initiate a cascade of benefits. And this is something you could start doing today, having learned even just this much more about how love works.

(culled from Times of India)

Honesty may not be best policy at work

Honesty is usually said to be the best policy in social situations but the proverb may not essentially hold true when it comes to the workplace, researchers say.

Scientists gauged levels of "authentic self expression" in 533 volunteers to see how far they opened up to people they interacted with socially.

The results indicated that participants were more likely to "be themselves" with partners, followed by friends and then parents. However, they were much less likely to show their true self to work colleagues.
Those who showed their true selves to partners tended to have greater well-being and were more content with life. But the same benefits were not observed in being authentic at work.

"You hear self-help gurus say that the secret of happiness is ''being yourself'' or ''expressing your true feelings'', but that doesn't seem to apply in the workplace - at least for the sample we studied," the Daily Star quoted Dr Oliver Robinson, from the University of Greenwich in London, as saying.

"So in some circumstances, it may be that a polite smile or tactfully keeping quiet may be more conducive to your well-being than saying what you actually think and feel to work colleagues," Dr Robinson added.

Mikel boost for Chelsea against Galatasaray

 

After two days of worries, Chelsea have received a triple injury boost ahead of their Champions League last 16 clash with Galatasaray on Wednesday with news that Mikel Obi, David Luiz and Oscar are all in Jose Mourinho’s squad  list for the match in Istanbul.

Luiz and Mikel missed Saturday’s 1-0 win against Everton through injury, while Oscar was substituted at halftime because of an ankle complaint. Mikel’s  state is also a major concern for Nigeria as the country prepares to face Mexico in a friendly match next week.

Mourinho was able to call on the trio for the first leg encounter with Roberto Mancini’s Galatasaray as the club revealed that the players have travelled to Istanbul, Goal reports.

The Blues face the Turkish Super League champions in the Turk Telecom Arena but will be without January signings Nemanja Matic and Mohammed Salah, who are both ineligible to play, having featured in the tournament with their former clubs earlier this season.

Chelsea topped their group, pipping Schalke to top spot with a record of four wins and two defeats from six games. Galatasaray, meanwhile, sneaked into the knockout phase, eliminating Juventus by defeating the Italian champions 1-0 in the final group game.

Mancini is counting on former Chelsea forward  Didier Drogba, as well as Wesley Sneijder for the first leg contest.

Before the latest Stamford Bridge news on the status of the players, Mourinho had told reporters on Saturday that it was a wait-and-see game for the club until they get their final medical reports.

“We have three days so let’s see,” Mourinho told reporters after the Everton game. “With Mikel and David Luiz, I don’t know if they can recover. It’s important we have at least one of them because we don’t have Matic for the Champions League.”

On the  Brazilian Oscar, he said, “It’s not a dangerous one, just a painful one.”

 “He said he could cope with the situation, clearly he could not. Ramires had a situation similar to Oscar’s, I tried to protect him and not play him but the game demanded I play him. Clearly, though, he could cope with the situation.”

Sanusi is still CBN governor –Jonathan

 

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said  that  Mallam Lamido Sanusi  was still the  Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Fielding questions from a panel of journalists during  the presidential media chat in  Abuja, Jonathan  said Sanusi would only cease to be  governor of the bank if found guilty of infractions levelled against him.

But he was quick to describe as “unfortunate,” the controversy surrounding his suspension of the Kano State-born banker.

He reminded critics of his action that he had absolute powers to do so  without recourse to the Senate.

The President  said he could only revert to the  Senate  if he intended to sack the governor completely.

He added that Sanusi’s  suspension was not in any way connected with the alleged $20bn missing funds from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

The President also used the opportunity of the programme aired on national television stations for about 75 minutes to state that there was no time subsidy was removed on kerosene.

While answering questions on the continued violence in the North-East, Jonathan also described a statement credited to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State that Boko Haram  insurgents were better equipped than security forces as “unfortunate.”

He expressed his readiness to withdraw soldiers from Borno State  for one month and see whether Shettima would still remain in the Government House.

On the Sanusi saga, the President said because he had oversight functions on the CBN, he could not close his eyes against infractions in the bank as revealed in the report of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.

He said it was not necessary for him to approach the Senate before suspending Sanusi because he could still return to his duty post if cleared.

Jonathan  said, “The  CBN  issue  is quite unfortunate. The  question is whether the President, by virtue of the constitution ,  has powers to suspend the governor of  the CBN and I will tell you yes.

“The President has absolute powers to suspend the CBN governor. CBN is not even well defined in the Nigerian constitution.

“If you look at the Nigerian constitution, Section 153 talks about executive bodies like Federal Character Commission, Civil Service Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, the Judicial Service Commission and the  Code of Conduct. There are about 14 of them;  these are clearly defined . The section states that   the President appoints but the Senate clears.

“For the President to remove anybody, he must go through the Senate. The CBN as the number one bank is not even well defined in the constitution, but the CBN law makes the provision that to appoint the governor,the  deputy governors and non-executive directors, the President appoints and sends to the Senate.

“But the President has oversight functions over the  CBN. So, if somebody tells you that the CBN is a different entity, it is not true because for the CBN governor to change the colour of the naira, the President must approve.

“Normally, when you audit the CBN, you publish it. After auditing, for you to publish it, the President must approve.That means the President must accept that that audit report is correct.

“But Sanusi is still the governor of the CBN and people must know that. That is why there can never be a substantive governor until the issue is sorted out. Sanusi can come back tomorrow to continue his work because the issues raised are the issues that the board of the CBN with the Financial Reporting Council, the authorities that have powers to look into the financial transactions of the CBN, will deal with.

“On the  issue of suspension, the CBN Act is somehow anomalous. The CBN governor is the chairman of the CBN board. He is the Chief Executive of the CBN and at the same time the chairman of the CBN board, so if there are allegations about the CBN governor, it becomes a problem for you to look into them.

“There were issues raised based on the 2012 audit report and for you to look into those issues, we felt that for you to be sure of what you are doing, the CBN governor  should  just step aside.

“Immediately the board and the council sort out those grey areas and if they do not accept, the governor comes back to do his work. So you cannot now say you are going to the Senate to ask for power to suspend . Maybe in one week or so, the board and the council sort out the grey areas, then you   can  go back to the Senate  and say the man is coming back.

“No. It is when you want to remove the governor completely. Assuming the board and the council looked into those grey areas and felt that the infractions are grave enough for Sanusi to leave completely, then I have to go to the  Senate.

“No matter the issues they raise, I cannot say I am firing him. It is the Senate that can do so. I can place those issues before the Senate and if the Senate agrees with the report, then they will say yes, he can leave.

“ People must realise that the  issues of suspension and removal are very different.”

Jonathan justified the seeming delay in suspending Sanusi since he claimed the issues culminating in his decision started in April 2013. He said  that matters relating to the nation’s treasury must be dealt with carefully.

The President said that he  needed to consult widely before taking a decision on the matter because as a sensitive issue, no President would wake up one day and take such a decision.

On the missing $20bn, Jonathan said the suspended CBN governor had been brandishing different figures, thereby  making it difficult for him to know which one to believe.

Despite this however, the President said as a government, it is important to find out what was amiss even if one dollar was missing.

In doing that however, he said he would follow due process and obey the rule of law.

He said those who expected  him as the President to carry a stick and  hit  anybody accused of wrongdoing either rightly or wrongly were getting things  wrong.

Jonathan  insisted that there were processes involved in auditing government agencies and parastatals.

He said, “You are journalists, you can go and interview the Auditor-General. Nobody is covering anybody up. Sanusi’s suspension has nothing to do with the alleged missing money. The first query sent to him was in April. The second was in May.

“The right thing must be done irrespective of whose ox is gored .”

On whether the government would prosecute the suspended CBN governor, Jonathan said the decision would be based on the outcome of ongoing investigations.

He said even if he was found to have a case to answer, the nature of the case would determine whether Sanusi would be prosecuted.

While saying that he might be spared of prosecution if the case was not criminal in nature, Jonathan added that prosecution could only come in if a clear case of fraud was established against  him.

When asked why he spared the bank’s deputy governors when they were all indicted alongside Sanusi, Jonathan said it was not a wise thing to remove everybody especially when nobody had convicted anybody.

He said Sanusi must take responsibility as the chairman of the board just as he (the President) also takes all the blame as the President of the country.

He however added that during further investigation, if any of the deputy governors was found to be involved, he  could be asked to also step aside.

On kerosene subsidy, Jonathan said  when he was   vice -president during the administration of the  late President Umaru Yar’Adua, he could say boldly that at no time was subsidy removed on the commodity.

He explained that government toyed with the idea when the price of crude oil dropped significantly in the international market but had to drop  it  when labour leaders opposed it.

He said the argument of the labour leaders then was that the drop in price could be short-lived.

The President said if Nigerians had allowed his administration to remove subsidy on petroleum products when he came on board, all the arguments on kerosene subsidy would not have come up.

On Boko Haram, Jonathan said, “The  statement credited to   the governor of Borno State is a bit unfortunate  because I don’t expect a governor to make that kind of a statement.

“Since the governor of Borno State felt that the Nigerian armed forces are not useful, he should tell Nigerians, I will pull them out of Borno State for one month, whether he will stay in the Government House, just one month.

“Then I will go back and take over the state. If he thinks what he said is correct, then I will pull out the military from Borno State for one month.

“The governor should be mindful of what he is saying. Yes, there are issues. No matter how frustrated you are, you don’t make that  kind  of statement.”

 The President also said contrary to media reports , he had no plan to appoint a military administrator for the troubled state.

He however said he was worried by continued violence in the state despite the current emergency rule there.

He promised that his administration would continue to work hard to put the situation under control.

While saying that the Federal Government was working with the Camerounian authorities on the issue, he assured Nigerians and friends of the nation that the country would get over the security challenge.

He said the military option would continue while the government  continued to explore dialogue.

Jonathan  observed that unlike the Niger Delta militants who did not hide their identities, terrorists had a different mode of operation.

He accused them of using false religious teachings to brainwash sect members.

On  the power sector, Jonathan said his administration had   performed more than anticipated.

He however asked Nigerians to endure some of the challenges associated with the transitional phase.

Jonathan disclosed that barring any change in plan, he would formally inaugurate the planned National Conference on March 10.

Ahead of the inauguration, the President promised to announce the names of the conference’s chairman, deputy chairman and the secretary on March 3.

He said the principal officials would be given administrative staff who would work with them for one week before the formal inauguration.

He insisted that the unity of the country remained a no-go area for the conference because he could not preside over the disintegration of Nigeria.

He said the conference was not convened out of fear that the country would break up.

Although he said he would not talk on party issues when asked if he believed the ruling Peoples Democratic Party would still do well despite the recent defection of five governors to the All Progressives Congress, the President said it was not every time that a governor defected that he went with the electorate.

Jonathan also maintained his stance on whether he would contest the 2015 presidential election, saying, “At the appropriate time, you will know whether I will contest or not.”

He however argued that his physical presence at  recent rallies organised by the PDP was in order because as the party leader, he was duty bound to lead the PDP to victory irrespective of whether he would contest or not.

On the nation’s centenary anniversary, Jonathan said it was worth celebrating because many countries disintegrated before reaching that landmark age.

While saying the celebration was private sector-driven, the President  added that  the only area where his administration would spend money was on the hosting of heads of government.