LYTUMANIAC WORLD

I will not fail says Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan promised Nigerians on Monday that he would not fail as President, but challenged the citizens to renew their hope and faith in the possibilities that lie ahead. “Let me assure all Nigerians that we shall not fail,” Jonathan told Nigerians in a dawn broadcast to mark the nation’s 52nd Independence Anniversary. The President added, “I am confident that Nigeria would continue to be a source of pride to its citizens, to Africa and the black race and to humanity. We have remained a strong nation. I bring to you today, the message of renewed hope and faith in the many possibilities that lie ahead.” The anniversary was celebrated within the Presidential Villa amid tight security all around the Federal Capital Patience absent The President’s wife, Patience, was expectedly absent from the event witnessed by top government functionaries and friends of the administration....

Nigeria, in a strong move to increase the contribution of the aviation sector to its GDP, has approved the sum of 106 billion naira ($707 million), through the Federal Executive Council (FEC), for the construction of five new, world-class international airports. According to  BusinessDay , the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah disclosed the development during a media briefing in Abuja. Upon assuming office, the minister had penned the construction of five new international terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu as the second phase in the ministry’s development strategy for the aviation sector which had been struggling with debts, lack of qualified personnel, below industry standard operations, among others. In September, Nigeria’s national carrier, Air Nigeria sacked a substantial number of its employees, leaving only a staff of 50 to try to resuscitate its shut down operations within a year, after management was mounted with overbearing debt...

Cape Town — Researchers say they have identified a possible single-dose malaria cure molecule, with the potential to cure millions of people and, it is hoped, to prevent person-to-person transmission. The molecule, MMV390048, was discovered during collaborative research by the Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3-D) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, and Geneva-based Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). Tests indicate that the molecule is highly potent: after being administered a single dose, mice infected with malaria parasites were completely cured, and the molecule is also active against wide-ranging drug-resistant malaria strains. MMV390048 is due to enter the clinical trials stage late in 2013. Kelly Chibale, H3-D's director, said he was very excited that MMV390048 has been selected for further development. "Our team is hopeful that the compound will emerge from rigorous testing as an extremely effective medicine for malaria," he said....

The controversy over Rick Ross’ music video shot in the slums of Lagos will not end anytime soon maybe until another event overtakes it but for now, it is on the front burner. MI Abaga in his blog post, “God forbid it!” wasn’t discerning enough as it has caused divided opinions rather than taking a definite stand on the issue. But this time, Michael Stephens, popularly known as Ruggedman, has taken a very clear stand that is easy to comprehend. His objectiveness and rhetoric is worth commending as most of us miss the point over that “Hold Me Back Video”. Enough of the talking, read his views below: I will start by saying that some people in the international community already have a bad image about Nigeria. This is due to the dubious actions of some bad Nigerians they have encountered, both government officials and normal Nigerians. So I don’t see how one music video shot in the Nigerian slums (which we know we have) will tarnish the image of Nigeria. When Nigerians...

Pioneers in laser eye surgery, hearing-aid devices, fuel cells, hepatitis B treatment and wireless communication honoured in Copenhagen The European Patent Office today announced the winners of the European Inventor Award 2012, which honours outstanding inventors for their contribution to social, economic and technological progress. At the ceremony at the Royal Danish Playhouse in Copenhagen, the Danish Crown Prince and Princess and some 350 other guests, among them Danish Minister Of Economy Ole Sohn, the UK Secretary for Intellectual Property, Baroness Judith Wilcox, Gytis Andulionis, Vice Minister of Justice of Lithuania, and Bence Rédváry, State Secretary of Hungary's Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, as well as other political and economic decision-makers, scientists, researchers and intellectual property specialists watched as the trophies were handed out to the winners in each of the five categories: Lifetime Achievement: Josef Bille , Heidelberg Uni...

DStv Mobile has announced the launch of iDrifta and Walka 7 adding to its range of mobile devices delivering TV content on the go. The foremost Mobile TV company in Africa says the service builds on the ongoing success of its mobile TV devices like Drifta, Drifta USB and Walka. General Manager of DStv Mobile Nigeria, Mayo Okunola says that, “the iDrifta is a plug and play mobile DVB-H receiver specifically designed for Apple mobile devices. It is portable and lightweight, and will allow users with Apple devices to enjoy all of the great entertainment they’ve come to expect from DStv Mobile.” According to the company which announced that the device will debut at a retail price of N9, 500, the iDrifta device is compatible with the iPod 4 th Generation, iPhone 4/4S and iPad 1/2/3 and is simple and intuitive to use. “After plugging it into your iOS device, the iDrifta device redirects the user directly to the DStv Mobile application on the apple store and the user o...

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. is now ranked as the world’s best university, pushing Britain’s historic academic centre into second place. MIT was third on the list last year. Oxford maintained its position at number five in the table compiled by QS World University Rankings. University College London climbed from number seven last year to number four in the new rankings, placing it above Oxford University. Imperial College London is ranked sixth, meaning that for the first time four of the top six universities in the world are British. Britain has a total of 18 universities in the top 100 – one fewer than in 2011. The rest of the top ten are all in the U.S. Harvard University, which held the top spot for six years between 2004 and 2009, is ranked third in the list. The QS World University Rankings are compiled using six indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international facu...