Remembering Hugh Hefner, a Playboy men’s lifestyle magazine publisher and an American icon

Hugh Hefner, a social and cultural pioneer dies at age 96.

ICMS, Inc Reports
By Tom Okure, Ph.D

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Memorable Quote:

"Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream" ~ Hugh Hefner

Hugh M Hefner: Playboy Men’s Lifestyle Magazine Publisher

Hugh M. Hefner, an American icon and a men’s lifestyle magazine publisher who introduced the world to a new brand of magazine in 1953 called Playboy died peacefully on Wednesday September 26, 2017 from natural causes at his Playboy Mansion surrounded by loved ones according to a statement from his spokesperson.

Hugh M. Hefner with son Cooper

The phrase died from natural causes simply and usually means that the deceased individual did not die of foul play, did not commit suicide, and did not die of a drug overdose or accident. In short, the person’s death has been determined to be devoid of any external factors.

Hugh Hefner with playmates

Hugh Hefner founded his famous Playboy magazine at the age of 27 years in 1953. At the pick of the magazines fame in the 1970’s, it is estimated that it was selling more than 7 million copies for a single issue. During the period, Hefner was regularly attacked by feminists groups as exploiting women. The popularity of the magazine led to Hefner amassing a very large fortune in the millions of dollars. Hefner's fortune is also attributable to his later careful cultivation and promotion of his Playboy brand. There are issues over how much Hefner is worth upon his death or who will inherit his fortune.

Hefner with his wife Crystal 60 years his junior.

In 2016 Hefner sold his notorious Playboy mansion to one Darren Metropoulos for an estimated $105 Million dollars, an amount said to be way below its actual value. The mansion is famous for the wild parties that was frequently held there. Hefner continued to live at the mansion until his demise. Hefner was married three times. His last marriage was to one of his play mates Crystal Harris in 2012. Initially she had called off the wedding ceremony in 2011 on the basis of having cold feet. Crystal Harris was 60 years his junior.

During a 2005 appearance on a Larry King show, Hefner indicated that he wanted to be remembered simply as “somebody who had some positive impact on the social sexual values of his time." He was consistent in various interviews with other news outlets such as USA Today about how he liked to be remembered.  He always insisted that he did not care about being remembered for the famous individuals that his magazine interviewed, including Malcolm X, Bette Davis, or the famous Marilyn Monroe which his magazine helped to make a star of.  

Hefner is survived by his wife, Crystal, and four children from his first two marriages. His daughter Christie from his first marriage served as Playboy Enterprise CEO for over 20 years. His other children are David, Marston and Cooper, the latter of whom presently is the chief creative officer at the company. Cooper is the youngest of Hefner's children and is 26 years old. He is a member of the California State Military Reserve and the founder and former CEO of the upstart media company Hop.

Read more about Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner’s wife Crystal Harris, 31, ‘won’t inherit ANYTHING from Playboy founder’s £40m fortune because she signed a prenup and wasn’t in his will’

Just exactly how much was Hugh Hefner worth upon his passing?

Hugh Hefner's wives cheated on him

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Nigeria takes a bold step to promote free movement of goods and travelers by abolishing checkpoints across the country.

Nigerian Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Ibrahim K. Idris, orders the immediate removal of all roadblocks across the country

ICMS, Inc Reports
By Tom Okure, Ph.D
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The Nigerian government has introduced a new and very welcome policy across the country to improve the safety of travelers and enable the free flow of goods and travel in the country. 

Nigerian Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Ibrahim K. Idris

In an announcement and statement signed by a spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, the Nigerian Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Ibrahim K. Idris, ordered the immediate removal of all roadblocks across the country. 

Nigerian Police officer taking bribe from a commercial bus driver

More specifically, and according to the statement; the directive immediately abolishes road blocks especially along the Lagos-Ibadan, Shagamu-Benin, Benin-Onitsha, Okene-Abuja, Kaduna-Kano, Katsina-Kano, Otukpo-Enugu, Enugu–Port Harcourt expressways. These checkpoints and many similar road blocks across the country have been a source of frustration to the general public over a very long period of time.

According to the statement from the IGP, “No police department, section, squad or unit should mount roadblock without the express permission” from him. The announcement noted that the Special X-Squad teams of the Nigerian Force are being deployed nationwide and are directed to arrest, investigate and discipline any police personnel violating the directives. The statement cautions police personnel conducting patrols to properly identify their patrol vehicles, especially those serving along the border routes in the country.

Also expected to be dismantled immediately are illegal revenue and tax collecting road blocks across the country representing various transportation unions which restrict the free movement of vehicles and the unrestrained passage of passengers and commercial goods.

Excerpt from the IGP's statement:

“For avoidance of doubt, the Taxes and Levies act, Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004 section 2 (2) disallowed any person, including a Tax Authority from mounting a Road block in any part of the Federation for the purposes of collecting any Tax or Levy. “While monitoring and ensuring full compliance of this directive by all the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, the Force hereby advised the relevant State Governments, Local Government Councils, Boards of States Internal Revenue service, and various Transport Unions, Labor and Traders Associations that it is against the law for any organization to create a blockage to restrict or restrain members of the public the free usage of Roads and Highways anywhere in the country,”

Commentary

What is amazing about this current action of the Inspector General is this. About two years ago, a similar directive was given by President Muhammadu Buhari ordering the immediate dismantling of all military checkpoints ‎in the country. 

Military check points where abolished by Nigerian  President Buhari over two years ago

The president directed the Nigeria police to take charge of internal security in the country. The directive at the time from the president had instructed the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff to get the Chief of Army Staff and Inspector General of Police to remove all the military men along the road across the country. 

The question is why was it necessary as a policy decision to remove the military men from Nigerian check points and allow the police to man the check points? Was the Nigerian police better able to man check points than the military? Whatever may have been the underlying policy rational then to maintain check points across the country, it now appears that the whole notion of maintaining check points has proven to be a bad policy from the government perspective, both from a safety and economic development perspective. What led to the Nigerian government to change its mind regarding the value of mounting road check points? 

Nevertheless, one must applaud the government's determination and realization that road blocks in Nigeria are bad and inhibit the free flow of traffic and limit the free movement of goods and travelers. Road blocks also provide opportunities for corrupt police officials, armed robbers etc., to rob and extract brides from travelers. There are also frequent incidences of skirmishes between travelers and road blockers that have resulted in the unwarranted deaths of travelers. Commercial drivers and traders are especially vulnerable at check points and are subjected to various types of harassment, extortion, intimidation, illegal revenue/tax collectors across the country.

The economic cost associated with these road blocks over the decades has never been determined but it is assumed to be in the millions of Naira in terms of increased cost of doing business, loss of economic efficiency etc. Only time will tell whether the actions taken by the Inspector General of police will result in a marked improvement of road safety and security and increased economic efficiency across the country. One thing that will definitely and immediately be obvious is a sense of relieve from harassment and intimidation to the traveling public.

Links to read more:

Breaking: IGP orders dismantling of road blocks nationwide

Why Inspector General of Police ordered dismantling of all roadblocks

Inspector General Of Police Orders Immediate Removal Of Checkpoints Nationwide

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All rights reserved by Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc (ICMS, Inc). The information included in this publication may not be used, reproduced, transmitted, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written permission of ICMS, Inc. 

Nigeria and South Africa Declared to be Out of Recession.

Nigeria and South Africa are declared to be Out of Recession.
ICMS, Inc Reports

Reporting: Tom Okure, PhD.

Map of Nigeria

Africa's two largest economies Nigeria and South Africa are declared to be "Out of Recession." Nigeria and South African together account for about 40% of Africa's total GDP. Nigeria's growth indicators show that the economy has registered successive positive growth over the last five quarters.

According to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics, the second quarter of this year (Q2 2017) indicates that the economy grew in Q2 2017 by 0.55% from -0.91% in Q1 2017 and -1.49% in Q2 2016.  As a consequence of the continued growth of the economy after five successive quarters of contraction, it is confident to declare that the Nigerian economy has exited recession.

The oil sector and the agricultural sector coupled with foreign exchange stabilization efforts by the central bank of Nigeria are major contributing factors to lifting Nigeria out of the recession.

Map of South Africa

Reacting to the good news today, Aso Rock (The Presidency) stated through a spokesperson to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo ( Laolu Akande) that the “Buhari administration welcomes news of Nigeria’s exit from recession with “cautious optimism and will continue to drive Nigeria’s economic growth by vigorously implementing the Economic Recovery & Growth Plan launched earlier this year by President Muhammadu Buhari.” The challenge for both Nigeria and South Africa is whether both countries can sustain the registered growth and prevent the countries from falling back into recession due to the very small marginal growth registered by both.

Read more:
Presidency reacts to Nigerian economy being out of recession

The Merchandising of the Gospel in Nigeria

The Merchandising of the Gospel in Nigeria
ICMS,Inc Reports

Donors try to outdo each other to gain recognition. The largest donors get special prayers dedicated to their continued success, and frequently conferred recognition awards and prominent church positions. The competition for status and recognition has turned the church from a place of sanctuary for the followers of Christ to a feel good gathering for parishioners. Church pastors don’t question the sources of income of their donors. Churches have become a means of laundering stolen and corrupt (blood) monies.