Goldberg To Heyman:See you next week edition on Raw

                                              
As previously reported, Paul Heyman appeared on Monday night's edition of WWE Raw to address comments made by Goldberg on a recent edition of ESPN SportsCenter, as well as to state that Brock Lesnar was challenging Goldberg to a one-on-one fight that could take place anywhere, anytime.
Goldberg has now responded to Heyman's segment via his official Twitter page, announcing that he will be on next week's edition of Raw to answer the challenge that was laid out:

  Bill Goldbeg
              @Goldberg
Booking my flight to answer that big mouth @HeymanHustle 's challenge next week in person on MondayNightRaw  WhosNext? seeyathere @WWE

Election cyber threats: More American states request DHS assistance

                                     
 More states and local election boards have asked the Department of Homeland Security to help with cybersecurity, the department announced .

The total, which has been steadily rising in recent weeks, has reached 33 state and 11 county or local election agencies, DHS said.

More than two dozen states were known to have requested help before the updated tally.

DHS has been urging states to take advantage of its resources, which include scanning systems for vulnerabilities and recommendations for improving cybersecurity on election and voter registration systems. 

 The update from Secretary Jeh Johnson warned those on the fence to make a decision. 

 

"Time is a factor. There are only 29 days until election day, and it can take up to two weeks from the time we receive authorization to run the scans and identify vulnerabilities," Johnson said. "It can then take at least an additional week for state and local election officials to mitigate any vulnerabilities on systems that we may find."

 While it would be extremely difficult for any hackers to affect the outcome of the presidential election by attacking voting machines, experts say voter registration databases could be more vulnerable to tampering.

FG to raise N1trillion for housing scheme - Osinbajo

                                    

Vice-President Yemi Osinbanjo has said that the  Federal Government is working with stakeholders to raise one trillion naira to  provide affordable housing for Nigerians.

The vice-president spoke at the 22nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja on Tuesday where he chaired a Roundtable on Job Creation, Skills and Employment at the summit.

He said that the proposed project would also help to create jobs.

Osinbajo said that the job creation unit in his office had worked out a framework with the  Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) to focus on three sectors to create employment.

He listed the three sectors as construction, agriculture and information communication technology (ICT).

Under construction, the vice-president said the Federal Government was trying to work on a social housing programme, called the Family Home Fund.

“The Family Home Fund is a financial intervention into social housing in the country.

“We are trying to raise a fund which will come to about one trillion naira; we have aggregated fund from the private sector, local and international funds already.

“The whole idea is to be able to intervene in mortgage financing so that developers can build special houses to the specification of the Federal Government.

“Already eight or nine states are giving land and certificate of occupancy for social housing scheme.

“The idea is that any Nigerian who can afford N30,000 should be able to own a house,’’ he said.

Osinbajo said that there would emerge  job creation opportunities as technicians, engineers and skill workers would benefit from the scheme.

He said there would also be training opportunity from the scheme.

The theme of the summit is “Made-in-Nigeria’’.

The problem of housing in Nigeria has been of interest to every administration and official estimates suggest that more than 17 million houses are needed to cover the country’s 180 million citizens.

Each administration has introduced a different scheme but the impact is not felt by the people.

 

Source: Sun News

BREAKING NEWS:Buhari Appoints Notherners as New Supreme Court Justices

                                   
President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the Senate to consider and confirm the nominations of two judges as Justices of the Supreme Court. The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, read the letter conveying the request after the Senate returned from a closed-door session on Tuesday. The nominated judges are Sidi Bage, Nasarawa State, North Central; and Paul Jauro, Taraba State, North East. In the letter read by Mr. Saraki, Mr. Buhari said his request followed Section 231(2) of the Constitution of Nigeria, as amended.
The President sought the expeditious attention of the Senate, Mr. Saraki read.
Mr. Jauro, who was born on June 26, 1954, became a judge of the High Court in 1998. Ten years afterwards, he was appointed Justice of the Court Appeal.
Mr. Bage, born on June 22, 1956, became Federal High Court Judge in 1992 before his appointment as Justice of the Court of Appeal in 2000.
The two Judges had been recommended for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court by the National Judicial Council.
Their nominations came amid a clampdown on allegedly corrupt judges in the High, Appeal, and the Supreme Courts, by the State Security Service.
Of the 15 said to be under investigation, seven were arrested weekend.
They were granted bail on Monday on self-recognisance.

Social Stalking Is Not a Sales Strategy

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It happened again. I accepted a LinkedIn invitation from someone I didn’t know, sent a personal response to greet my new connection, and immediately received a cold calling message from someone looking only for lead generation:

“I’d love to talk and hear about you, what’s happening in your business and how you think I can contribute to your success. In fact, after looking at your profile I would like to loop in our VP of marketing, [name], and invite you to our free strategy call for lead generation and list building. He is one of the best in the country when it comes to marketing strategies. We will get to know each other and I promise to share at least four to five new strategies that you could utilize in your business right away to get consistent flow of targeted leads. Here is the calendar link: By the way, what would be a good # to reach you at?”

But that’s not all. Two days later, I got another message from the same person.

“Thanks for accepting my invitation. I’ll be sure to check out your profile in more detail now that we are connected. I’ve found that talking offline is a great way to obtain deeper connections with my network, and deliver even more value. After you check out my video, let me know a good time for a 5-10 minute chat.”

Really? Why would I do anything he asks — attend a strategy call, watch his video, talk to him offline or give him my phone number?
He’s cold calling on social media
Obviously this seller’s response is automated, or at least “canned.” If he’d actually read my profile, he would know that buying lists goes against everything my business stands for, that my lead generation strategy is asking for referrals, and that my phone number is on my LinkedIn profile.
Like so many salespeople, he’s just clicking buttons and banking on “return on clicks.” It’s exactly the same as tele­marketers and their cold calling blitzes. If you make 100 dials, you’ll get 10 people on the phone, schedule a few appointments, and maybe (if you’re lucky) close one deal. Where’s the relationship? Where’s the connection? Where’s the return?
This is not social selling. It’s social stalking.
Stop the madness
Sales reps abuse social media to the extent that I typically delete more LinkedIn invitations than I accept. (No, I’m not a snob; I just don’t have time for cold calling nonsense.) They invite person after person to connect using the same old standard invitation, and then immediately blast sales pitches to anyone who accepts. This bad behavior is not entirely the reps’ fault. Sales leaders understand that relationships drive sales; yet they measure their teams on the number of connections accumulated, dials made and emails sent.
The problem: Just because someone agrees to connect on social media does not make that person a qualified sales lead. Qualified prospects are actually interested in your product or solution. They want and expect to hear from your salespeople. Otherwise, sales reps are simply cold calling on social media, which is both annoying and ineffective.
The best way to get a qualified sales lead is to receive a referral introduction from someone your prospect knows and trusts. When reps have that kind of “in,” they don’t have to mess with cold calling on social media. Yes, sales reps should use social media to research prospects and learn how they’re connected to the prospects they want to meet. But the next step is to pick up the damn phone and ask their connections for referral introductions.
Social selling only works if you’re actually social, not selling something. No pitching. No inviting people to connect with you on LinkedIn and immediately following up with a sales pitch. And no spamming people just because you belong to the same LinkedIn group. You might as well be dressed as a giant pizza slice, screaming your sales offering at random strangers leaving a conference for the lactose intolerant. That’s not selling. That’s obnoxious.  

 Written by Joanne Black
Joanne Black, a leading sales coach and author, is an advocate of referral selling. The author of “No More Cold Calling,” she shares sales and marketing insights at NoMoreColdCalling.com.

From Banners To Sponsored Content: The Changing Face Of Marketing

                                   
If there is any one aspect of doing business which has more impact than any other, it’s the marketing. And if there is any one aspect which is changing more and more as time goes on, that’s marketing too. Why this might be is itself a long and complex issue. In all likelihood, it has a lot to do with the central importance that the marketing strategy plays in any business affairs. And we can’t forget the fact that the consumer is becoming increasingly more vigilant. They are becoming more and more savvy of marketer’s tricks and techniques. It is often in response to this that the most innovative and exciting marketing strategies arise. But how exactly is the face of marketing changing, and what recent changes seem set to stick? To answer that, let’s take a brief look at some of the major innovations of recent years.

The Role Of Content

In many ways, the marketer’s job was significantly easier in the early days of the Internet. They had open to them many channels which the consumer was not yet aware of. There was a brief period when banner advertisements genuinely worked in a powerful way, for example. These days, such methods are automatically taken by many to be trite or overly obvious. In response to the increasing level of understanding, marketers have had to adopt more subtle techniques. Now, to be seen amongst the flurry of advertisements, it is often better to be as unique as possible. The best marketers know that content is the vehicle which drives successful advertising. Produce fascinating and shareable content, and the brand will take care of itself.

The Integration Of Mobile

The statistics are quite clear on the central role that mobile now plays. Over 80% of emails are now read on a mobile device first. Even if, later, they are replied to on a non-mobile platform. What this means for the marketing team of today is that they will benefit from a more integrated approach. Marketing methods must now be equally adept at appearing on mobile as well as non-mobile platforms. Otherwise, they run the risk of being altogether ignored. Expert like Hello World know that this forms a major part of any modern marketing campaign.

The Growth Of Native

As we have already discussed, one of the recent trends in consumer response is that people are becoming particularly savvy. People are gaining an understanding around digital marketing. It is now more obvious than ever to most people what is advertising and what isn’t. This is where native advertising has grown as a response to this issue in marketing. Native advertising is the camouflaging of advertising so that it produces a more positive response. Some of the most powerful recent examples include sponsored content and sponsored feeds. These enable marketers to disguise advertising as something else. This in turn lends credibility to that being stated. Any marketing team which wants to get ahead today need to take this one on board in particular.

Source; BusinessBlogs

Price of Rice will fall by November- Ogbeh

                                    

The Federal Government of Nigeria have declared that the price of rice would start to fall from November this year.

It stated that more Nigerians had returned to their various farms, adding that at the next harvesting season next month, the price of rice would start to crash.

This came as the government said that the delay in the approval of the 2016 budget had made it impossible to implement the capital expenditure in the agricultural sector.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said this while addressing members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.

Ogbeh, who stated that the government could not be involved in the importation of rice as speculated in some quarters, stressed that his ministry would not encourage rice importation because it would be detrimental to local production.

He said the Federal Government was against rice smuggling and noted that the Seme border had become a notorious route for the smuggling of contraband products into the country.

“We will not encourage rice importation and there is no way our ministry or government can be involved in importing rice when we are working hard to be self-sufficient in local production. By November when the full-scale harvest starts, rice prices will fall,” the minister said.

Early last month, the government had warned that the price of rice might hit N40,000 a bag. It is currently being sold around N20,000.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said that the $22bn annual food import bill had led to the astronomical rise in the price of rice and other commodities.

He stressed that if Nigerians failed to produce some of the items being imported before December, the price of rice could skyrocket to N40,000 a bag.

Ottawa bans new Sussex embassies over security

                                 

The federal government of Canada is forbidding the construction of new embassies on Ottawa’s Sussex Drive following a stark RCMP assessment of the potential for “violent events” in the high-profile neighbourhood.

Countries with diplomatic missions already located on the well-known boulevard include the United States, France, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

It is also home to Rideau Hall, where the Governor General lives, as well as the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex. Justin Trudeau and his family are living in a house on the Rideau Hall grounds while federal officials consider badly needed renovations to the traditional address of Canada’s leader.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion was advised of the ban on new embassies in January by Daniel Jean, then his deputy minister, records released under the Access to Information Act show. Jean has since been named national security adviser to the prime minister.

“A recently concluded RCMP security assessment advises against any additional foreign embassies being located along Sussex Drive,” says Jean’s memo to Dion, obtained by The Canadian Press.

“As a result, the department will no longer be approving requests by diplomatic missions to acquire land in the affected zone.”

Canada requires foreign states to obtain its consent before buying property for use as diplomatic chancery offices or official residences.

Nairobi satellite towns sells lands at high prices

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Juja, Ruiru and Limuru have recorded the fastest growth in land prices among Nairobi satellite towns over the past one year as ongoing and proposed infrastructure developments attract land speculators and housing developers.

The HassConsult property index for the third quarter of 2016 shows the price of an acre of land in Juja has gone up by 43.1 per cent over the past one year to Sh10 million on average, followed by Ruiru at 42.9 per cent to Sh21.3 million and Limuru at 34.9 per cent to Sh19.4 million.

Juja and Ruiru have gained in recent years from the ease of access brought by the expansion of Thika Highway, as well as the proposed commuter rail, while Limuru land prices are being driven up by the ongoing construction of the Western Bypass.

HassConsult reports that land prices for the satellite town of Nairobi in general have gone up at a faster pace of 21.4 per cent compared to the suburbs, where prices have grown by 5.67 per cent in the past year.

“Property and rent prices in Nairobi suburbs are subdued. The only real and massive change is in the land prices in the satellite towns, which is the only sector of the market that is bucking the trend at the moment,” said HassConsult head of research and marketing Sakina Hassanali.

“This is to be expected when you have the big infrastructure spend by the government in these areas. The people who are buying are land speculators and developers who want to use the new accessibility to provide property that is within reach of more people.”

Other satellite towns that have benefited from infrastructure driven price rallies include Ruaka, which lies on the Northern Bypass, at an annual growth of 32 per cent in price to Sh74.7 million an acre, and Thika town at 25.8 per cent to Sh18.1 million shillings an acre.

Satellite towns located along roads that are prone to congestion have recorded much slower growth in land price.

The Hass survey shows that the price of an acre in Mlolongo has fallen by 16.5 per cent over the past year to Sh23.3 million and Athi River’s has only grown a marginal 0.3 per cent to Sh11.2 million. Both are accessible using the chaotic Mombasa Road.

Some suburbs have, however, outperformed the sector average price growth, especially those located within reach of the Southern Bypass and Outer Ring Road, whose expansion is ongoing.

As a result, the price of an acre in Donholm has gone up by 34 per cent in the past 12 months to Sh60.8 million and that of an acre in Lang’ata is up by 14 per cent to Sh54.8 million.

On the rental and house sales side, the growth has been modest across all areas of the city compared to land purchase prices.

Buhari highlights the Challenges Of Niger Delta Militancy

                                               
President Muhammadu Buhari has said his major challenge in resolving the Niger Delta militancy was the inability to clearly pin-point leaders manning various factions within the group.
He said it has been uncovered that the militant groups were seeking to colonise Nigeria as reflected in their careless destruction of critical oil installations in the region.
Buhari, who played host to the Foreign Minister of Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walters Steinmeier, at the State House, Abuja, said Germany could be of assistance in curbing the menace of oil theft in Nigeria.
President Buhari said the Niger Delta situation was more complex since the militants had no central command and some of them were mere extortionists, but promised that a handle would be found to the unrest soon.
The president particularly said such assistance could be in the areas of equipment, training, and sharing of intelligence with the Nigerian Navy.
“Another serious form of insecurity has reared its head in the Niger Delta. The objective is to colonise the country economically by sabotaging oil and gas installations.

“We have been trying to speak with their leaders, to know how many groups there are, and we are also working with the oil companies.
“The militants engage in sophisticated sabotage, using skills they had gained from trainings either by government, or the oil companies, to vandalise installations deep in the sea.
“We need to understand who the real agitators are, and engage with them, so that confidence can be restored in the region,” the president added.
He lamented that Nigeria’s oil was still being stolen, and taken away through the Gulf of Guinea, but that adequate training and equipping of the Navy will prevent this trend from escalating.
He told Steinmeier that the security challenge in the North East of the country was under control with Boko Haram largely defeated.
Dr. Steinmeier, in his response, said Germany was happy to hear of the strides taken by the Buhari administration against insurgents in the North East, adding that they were equally willing to lend a helping hand in resolving the crisis in the Niger Delta.