Libya was under foreign rule for centuries until it gained independence in 1951. Soon after oil was discovered and earned the country immense wealth.

Col Gaddafi seized power in 1969 and ruled for four decades until he was toppled in 2011 following an armed rebellion assisted by Western military intervention.

In recent years the country has been a key springboard for migrants heading for Europe. Concerns have also been raised over the rise of Islamist militancy there.

hile addressing people at the 9th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (who is also Nigeria’s Vice President), claimedthat the Federal Government has spent N1.7 trillion in capital investment in two budget years.

“I am convinced that we can crack the jobs problem and we are in the right direction. First, by investing in infrastructure; we are investing more in infrastructure today than any previous governments in our history.

“We have spent so far in two budgets, N1.7 trillion in capital investment – that is the largest in the history of the country despite earning 60 percent less; we are doing far more with far less resources,’’ said the Vice President at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja.

N1.7 TRILLION IN CAPITAL INVESTMENT IS THE LARGEST IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY

The vice president said spending N1.7 trillion in capital investment is the largest in the history of the country despite earning 60 percent less.

Since Prof Osinbajo was referring to a two-year expenditure of this current administration, we verified this claim by assessing the budgetary allocation and expenditure of 2016 and 2017. This year (2018) was not included because the budget was only passed a few months ago and technically, has not been spent yet.

According to the Budget Office of the Federatio, the 2016 budget, as approved by President Buhari has an aggregate expenditure of N6,060,677,358,227 (N6 trillion) out of which N1, 587,598,122,031 (N1 trillion) was projected as capital expenditure but the total release for capital projects in 2016, according to the Accountant General, was N1,219,471,747,443 (N1.2 trillion) which translates to only 20% of the total budget size was spent on Capital Projects. Here’s a more visual way to look at this:

A Nigerian filmmaker, Adekunle “Nodash” Adejuyigbe, has revealed the reason why he shot a Boko Haram themed movie titled, “The Delivery Boy.”

Shot multiple times in 2015 and 2016 by The Elite Film Team and produced by Something Unusual Studios, the film poignantly situates its theme on the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.

During an interview with PREMIUM TIMES in Lagos on Saturday, Nodash said the movie represents the current happenings in Nigeria.

“I was told not to make this movie,” he said.

“Three of the actors I casted, and the production designer I hired, turned down the project after reading the script. They all agreed it was a good script but they felt uncomfortable talking about the things that, in the Nigerian society, we typically refuse to talk about.”

The movie’s sensitive plot nonetheless, the film earned him a standing ovation during its Nigerian debut at the 2018 Lights, Camera, Africa film festival that ended penultimate Sunday.

According to Nodash, people initially did not want him to shoot the movie with his personal funds.

“On the financial side of things people felt it was crazy making a self-funded movie that would likely not be allowed to screen in Nigerian cinemas. They felt it was more prudent to make the usual slapstick comedies the Nigerian film industry (Nollywood) was known for.

“But these are the exact reasons why I felt it was important to make the movie. I believe one of the main purposes of Art is to ‘tour guide’ the audience through ideas and places that they normally wouldn’t dare explore. I also wanted to present Nigerians/ Africans as I saw them.”

The movie follows the story of Amir, a young orphan raised in an extremist group who runs away on the eve of a suicide mission, taking his bomb vest with him. He has a mission of his own. On his way, he runs into Nkem, a young prostitute escaping a lynch mob for a crime committed while trying to get money to save her dying brother. Before the night is over, they traverse the underbelly of the Nigerian metropolis as they search for their identities, their stolen pasts, money, and any semblance of peace they can find.

Their journey takes them through the underbelly of the city exposing the hidden backside of the African society and its dangerous culture of silence in the presence of evil.
The Delivery Boy stars Jemima Osunde, Charles Etubiebi Oke, Kehinde Fasuyi, Jude Chukwuka and Jamal Ibrahim.

Explaining why he chose to cast a teenage orphan boy to play the lead, Nodash said it was based on his artistic judgment.

“People have different theories as to why a young Nigerian would willingly wear a bomb vest and blow himself/herself up and The Delivery Boy is my presentation of another possible theory. It is a theory that places the responsibility for this menace, not just on a few people, but also on the shoulders of every member of the Nigerian/ African society.

“A few years ago, Nigerians woke up to the reality that there was a terrorist group operating within the country and that some of their suicide bombers were Nigerians. Most people found this strange because Nigerians are regarded as some of the most self-preservative people on the planet. So why suicide?” he explained.

The filmmaker also added that the film seeks to answer questions like, “Who is responsible for creating these monsters that haunt us? And how would this story end?

Nodash is known for his unusual story telling abilities and his unique style of capturing images. He was the cinematographer in the movie “The Encounter” a short film based on true events, which won the Special Jury Recognition for Short Film at the African International Film Festival.

In 2016, he was also the cinematographer for Silence (2016), Gidi Up (2014), Season 3 and a Nollywood movie, “Isoken.”

Georgia Sen. David Perdue has stirred up a host of new questions after he appeared to dodge a college student's inquiry by ripping the student's cellphone out of his hand in the midst of a video recording.

The GOP senator was at Georgia Tech on Saturday to campaign for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp when he was approached by a member of the school's Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter and asked about tens of thousands of voter registrations that Kemp, as the current secretary of state, is refusing to process.

The student in the video can be heard starting to ask Perdue a question, but he's cut off before finishing.