WHY NOW? : Explosions rock Maiduguri as Jonathan plans visits ...Vanguard Newspapers

BY Ndahi Marama & Wole Mosedomi
MAIDUGURI — Six persons were, yesterday, feared dead as four major explosions rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
This came as nine governors in the All Progressive Congress, APC, gathered in the troubled city to push the merger plans of the country’s leading opposition political parties.
Several others were injured in the explosions and are receiving treatment.
The governors in a communiqué vowed that they would rescue Nigeria from what they described as a visionless leadership.
The explosions occurred simultaneously on Baga road, Customs and Gamboru areas at about 3p.m, while a fourth exploded at London Ciki at about 6p.m.
A top security source regretted the incident, claiming that the state administration may have triggered the incident through the invitation of the APC governors to the state as he said intelligence reports had advised against the meeting.
Six feared dead
An unconfirmed report from a hospital source said six dead bodies including security operatives and civilians were brought to the mortuary of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, while those who sustained injuries were admitted for treatment.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yuguda Abdullahi, however, claimed knowledge of only one blast, saying he personally visited that site. He declined comment on the number of casualties.
Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa could not be reached for comments.
The governors were, nevertheless, undeterred in pledging their solidarity with the people of BornoState and together donated N200 million to Borno and YobeStates, the two opposition party held states that are at the centre of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Jonathan to visit Borno
Meantime, the bond of solidarity from the APC governors is coming ahead of the expected visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the troubled city. The president who has not visited Borno State since the insurgency got to troubling levels is expected to visit the state within the next two weeks.
Eight governors and one deputy governor from the four parties forming the APC were present at yesterday’s strategic meeting that lasted about four hours. It was reportedly focussed on how to properly position the emerging party in the polity.
Roll call
Present at the meeting were Governors Rochas Okorocha (APGA Imo), Kayode Fayemi (ACN Ekiti), Babatunde Fashola (ACN Lagos), Umaru Tanko Al-Makura (CPC Nasarawa), Ibikunle Amosun (ACN Ogun).
Also present were Governor Rauf Aregbesola (ACN Osun), Deputy Governor of Yobe, Abubakar Aliyu (ANPP), and the host,Governor Kashim Shettima. Governors Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo and Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara were among the opposition party governors absent at the meeting. They, however, sent messages of solidarity.
…donate N200m to Borno, Yobe
Reading a communiqué to newsmen after the meeting, Governor Aregbesola said the APC governors had collectively donated N200 million to Borno and Yobe State governments for emergency relief and support in the light of the Boko Haram insurgency affecting the two states.
Despite the explosions of yesterday, the APC governors also noted the relative lull in the insurgency in Maiduguri and, therefore, offered solidarity to the governments and people of Borno and Yobe states.
The communiqué
“The Forum reiterated our irrevocable commitment to the emergence of the new party, All Progressive Congress (APC).
“In solidarity with the government and people of Borno and Yobe states, we are pleased to witness an upsurge of tranquility and happy that the situation has calmed down considerably in Maiduguri, contrary to the image of rampant violence that has been painted to the whole world. We have discovered the people are going about their businesses without hindrance. We wish to commend the efforts of our brother-governors in the two states and the security agencies for the restoration of peace and stability.
“We also sympathize with the families of those who lost their lives and property and wish to donate N200 million to Borno and Yobe governments for emergency relief and support.
“We wish to commend the Central Merger Committee of the APC on the progress so far made in the establishment of the new party, particularly the recent inauguration of three major committees on constitution, manifesto and legal/INEC compliance.
“Finally, we wish to inform Nigerians that we shall soon embark on a national outreach and sensitization activities and we call on Nigerians to support our effort to rescue the country from a visionless leadership.”
IBB backs merger of political parties
Meanwhile, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) has said that the merger of some political parties was a welcome development in our political system as it would serve as a strong opposition to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Answering questions from newsmen at his hill top mansion, Minna, Niger State, the former military president said as a strong advocate of two political parties for the country, the emerging scenario would surely vindicate him on his stand for two political party system which he said was the only way out for the country politically.
Two-party system best for the country
He said: “I have been a very good advocate of two party system for the country since I was the president. When I said we need only two parties some years back, they said I am a soldier and I should shut up but now, many are seeing relevance in my agitation.
“I am happy with the merger talk that is going on. It is a welcome political development in our political experience and if it succeeds, it will surely vindicate me and move the country on politically.”
The former military president who took a swipe at the nation’s political leadership so far said most politicians in the country were concerned about the votes they garnered from the electorate during elections but have failed to serve them more appropriately after wining the elections.
...berates political leadership
He noted: “It is unfortunate that the political elite have failed to enlighten the ordinary man and carry them along. Nobody is talking about educating the ordinary man because they are only interested in their votes and soon forget them after getting to power.
“The only thing we are busy doing is wasting our energy in fighting over who becomes the chairman of this or that and until we carry the people along and serve them diligently, we will have a long way to go in this country.”
On whether he was comfortable with the comments of former American president, Bill Clinton, accusing the Federal Government of mismanaging the country’s resources, the former president said it was what the foreigners read from the home-based journalists that they rely and comment on.
“You don’t need a foreigner to tell you this. You write it yourself and they read it and so, what is the problem with the comment. I am comfortable with the comment,” Babangida said.

SOUTH AFRICANS ARE GENERALLY RACIST AND INTOLERANT OF OTHER BLACK AFRICANS : South African police dragging video underscores fears of brutality (THIS HORRIFIC VIDEO FOOTAGE SAYS IT ALL) .... Yeye de smell.

A video of uniformed Johannesburg police dragging a man behind their truck has sparked a homicide investigation and renewed fears of police brutality in South Africa, a country that has long struggled with the issue.
The video — which may be disturbing to some, and which was posted by Johannesburg’s Daily Sun on Thursday — shows several police dragging a man to a large truck. Police then appear to handcuff the man’s hands to the back of the truck and drive away, as a horrified crowd chases after it and another police vehicle follows behind.
The National Post reports the man, a taxi driver from Mozambique, was later found dead in his police cell of head injuries and internal bleeding. He had been arrested for parking illegally.
“Do you still think apartheid was any better?” Reads one of thousands of comments on the video. “As a country we are … moving backwards.”
But while South Africa’s police watchdog and police commissioner have both expressed “shock” and promised investigations, incidents like this are not uncommon in South Africa.

According to Amnesty International’s annual report on human rights, 797 people there died in custody as a result of “police action” in 2012, alone. Last August, police shot dead 34 miners striking at the Marikana platinum mine, the most deadly police action since apartheid ended. And in July 2009, according to Independent Online, South Africa’s then police commissioner told reporters he wanted police to “shoot to kill” suspects without worrying about “what happens after that.”
The issue came up again just last week, when news broke that Hilton Botha, the lead detective in the Oscar Pistorius case, faces attempted murder charges dating back to 2009.
Not long after those charges came out, Justice Malala — a South African writer and political analyst — argued in a column for The Guardian that police violence is only getting worse.
“So soon after the horrific shooting of 34 striking mine workers at Lonmin’s Marikana mine last August by police, the Botha charges draw attention to this question,” he wrote. “Is democratic South Africa’s police service turning into a violent force akin to its apartheid predecessors?”

Photos: South African Man Dies After Being Chained To Back Of Police Van And Dragged To Death

JOHANNESBURG (TheBlaze/AP) — They bound his hands to the rear of a van, and then sped off, dragging the slender taxi driver along the pavement as a crowd of onlookers shouted in dismay. Following the horrific scene, the man was later found dead.
A gut-wrenching video of the scene is all the more disturbing because the men who abused the Mozambican immigrant were uniformed South African police officers and the van was a marked police vehicle.
The graphic scenes of the victim struggling for his life shocked a nation long accustomed to reports of police violence.
“The visuals of the incident are horrific, disturbing and unacceptable. No human being should be treated in that manner,” said South African President Jacob Zuma.
The Daily Sun, a South African newspaper, posted video the footage Thursday and it was quickly picked up by other South African news outlets and carried on the Internet. It sparked immediate outrage about police behavior.
“They are there for safety, but we as a people fear them more,” said Johannesburg resident Alfonso Adams. “You don’t know who to trust anymore.”
Some of those in the crowd who watched the scene unfold in the Daveyton township east of Johannesburg shouted at the police and warned that it was being videotaped. The police did not seem at all concerned by all the witnesses and the presence of cameras as they tied Mido Macia, a 27-year-old from neighboring Mozambique, to the back of a police vehicle, his hands behind his head. At least three policemen participated in the incident. Macia was found dead in a Daveyton police cell late Tuesday.
“We are going to film this,” several onlookers shouted in Zulu as the police tormented Macia. One bystander can be heard on the videotape shouting in Zulu: `’What has this guy done?”
A murder probe is underway on the evidence that Macia suffered head and upper abdomen injuries, including internal bleeding, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, the police watchdog agency, said Thursday. The injuries could be from the dragging and he could also have been beaten later in police custody.
“The allegations are that he was dragged behind a vehicle and his head was bent on the police vehicle. There are also allegations of assault,” said the investigative unit’s spokesman Moses Dlamini.

“As horrific as it is, it is not exceptional. Hardly a week goes by without such stories of brutality,” said Jacob van Garderen, national director of Lawyers for Human Rights.
At first, Macia, dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt, is dragged along the road by the vehicle at slow speed, the footage shows. He awkwardly tries to keep step even though he is almost horizontal above the ground. Then the van stops, two policemen pick up the legs of the taxi driver and drop them to the ground as the van picks up speed and drives off, beyond the view of the camera.
The police watchdog agency said the incident started just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday when the cab driver was allegedly obstructing traffic with his vehicle. Then Macia allegedly assaulted a constable and took his weapon before he was overpowered, the police investigative unit said.
Macia was found dead in a cell over two hours later by another policeman, according to the watchdog agency.
National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega “strongly condemned” what happened. South Africans are “urged to remain vigilant and continue to report all acts of crime irrespective of who is involved,” said Phiyega in a statement.
Phiyega has tried to upgrade the reputation of the South African police since her appointment last year. Last month, Phiyega told a group of police officials the standing of the force `’has been severely but not irreparably tarnished over the past several years.”
The problems, though, are immense for a police force that has expanded from some 120,000 to almost 200,000 over the last decade, “often failing to match the increase in quantity with sufficient quality,” said Johan Burger, who served for 36 years on the force before becoming a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.
Several experts contacted by The Associated Press also said that in recent years there has been an increasing willingness to use a shoot-to-kill approach to the crime and violence.
An average of 860 people a year died in police custody or as a result of police action between 2009 and 2010, up from 695 a year from 2003 to 2008, according to Burger of the security studies institute.
Further staining the reputation of the police is the Marikana shootings when, on Aug. 16, 2012, a line of South African police opened fire on a crowd of striking miners, killing 34 at a platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg. A judicial commission is investigating allegations that many were killed in a rocky hill, near the much-filmed initial scene of the attack, shot in the back as they tried to escape.

BREAKING NEWS (SEE PHOTOS, VIEW WITH DISCRETION) : Lewd singer Damoche shot dead at LASU.

Lifeless body of Damoche

Aproko247 has authoritatively confirmed that lewd singer known as Damino Damoche has been shot dead.
A source at the Lagos State University, LASU, in Ojo, an outskirts of Lagos, told Aproko247 that the Nigerian singer was shot dead by suspected cult boys at LASU.
He was reportedly shot at the school gate on Thursday evening.
As at the time of filing this report, it was not confirmed if Damoche was a cult member or has anything linking him with the suspected cultists.

  

 

 

INDECENT EXPOSURE (SEE PHOTO) : Why Should A Popular Lady Dress This Badly? : Remember her from the BIG BROTHER HOUSE?

 

SEX SCANDAL : Séx Scandal Rocks Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro; 2 Lecturers Suspended

Litanies of extortions and séx scandals have hit the Delta State Polytechnic Ozoro, leaving two of its lecturers suspended by the school authorities. There suspension was as a result of extortion and séx romps allegedly perpetrated by the lecturers.
Findings revealed that extortion and séx for grade are rampant among the lecturers who display condoms before the female students during negotiations for séx while the male students were made to pay between N5, 000 and N10, 000 to get favourable grades.
The suspended lecturers were allegedly caught outside the school premises where they had gone to have séx with two new female students and having satisfied their libido, they were coming out when they ran into the rector who had laid siege on them based on a tip-off.
The rector disclosed that the lecturers upon interrogation admitted to the act while the school resolved to place them on suspension to serve as a deterrent to others.
According to those who know, séx between the female students and the lecturers has been common and had become the means to guarantee success in examinations.

PENSION FUNDS THIEVES. MAINA FIGHTS BACK : Maina Rents a crowd, disrupts traffic in three arms zone, spread banners supporting him ... THE COMEDY CALLED NIGERIA ON FULL DISPLAY.

                                            
                                                    Maina’s supporters protest in Abuja


Supporters of the embattled chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, PRTT Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina yesterday in Abuja disrupted traffic flow within Three Arms Zone area, linking the Federal Secretariat and the Supreme Court, as they protested at the entrance of the National Assembly

The protesters, mainly, youths under the aegis of Pensioners’ Children said they were at the National Assembly to protest against the witch-hunting of Maina by the Senate, stressing that the Senators overreached themselves when they went outside their constitutional powers of investigation as contained in Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution.

Spokesperson of the group, Mr. Etuk Bassey Williams, said the call by the Senate on President Goodluck Jonathan was unconstitutional and appealed to the president to disregard the resolution.

According to Williams, it was untrue that Maina misappropriated N159 billion of pensioners’ fund when in fact, “he recovered N251billion from suspected fraudsters, and the recovered amount is lodged with the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, a statement from the task team by its consultant on media, Jide Fashikun in Abuja disclosed that there was credible and verifiable intelligence that the Federal Civil Service Pension Office was going back to the looting era, as pensioners were being denied of their monthly pensions.

About 98 per cent pensioners had been grossly underpaid and some of them totally denied pensions in the months of November 2012, December 2012 and January 2013.

Fashikun noted that in November 2012; the Head of Service Pension Office hijacked the preparation of monthly pension’s payment without the knowledge of the Pension Task Team or recourse to its authentic biometric database.

This singular act showed that the Pension Task Team does not approve and had no control over their finances unlike what Nigerians are made to believe.

THE SUN NEWSPAPER

BABANGIDA ALIYU'S BUFFOONERY : Single Term Pact: Jonathan’s Men After Me ... Gov Babangida Aliyu

Niger State governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has alleged that there is a plot to silence him and pit him against the party.
The governor also alleged that some political gladiators in Abuja have concluded arrangements to print posters with his portrait and a message, “Vote Babangida Aliyu for President”, thereby pitting him against his party which has placed an embargo on campaigns for the presidency.
The development is sequel to his declaration recently that President Goodluck Jonathan had a pact with PDP governors to serve for only one term.
In a statement by his chief press secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, Aliyu claimed that some media houses had been commissioned to write negative reports against him as part of a grand design to discredit him and the state government.
The statement reads in part: “But Gov Aliyu is a law-abiding member of the PDP and is very much aware of the party’s directive to members not to commence campaign for the 2015 presidential election.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Aliyu has not declared for the presidency. If anything, he is at the moment focused on delivering on the mandate given to him by the people of Niger State and would not be distracted.”
Submitting to divine intervention, Aliyu said “God is the ultimate decider of who becomes what” and therefore cautioned Nigerians to be wary of people who may want to discredit others for selfish gains.
Aliyu reaffirmed that he would continue to remain committed to his present assignment and would not be distracted by any devious plot by mischief makers.
He said his commitment to the ongoing efforts at re-engineering the state to achieve its vision of becoming one of the top three most developed state economies by the year 2020 remained unchanged.
LEADERSHIP had exclusively reported that the presidency had mounted security surveillance on three PDP governors: Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger).
The watch, sources disclosed to LEADERSHIP, was necessitated by their rumoured presidential and vice-presidential ambitions.
Aliyu particularly, the source revealed, has been put on the security radar because of his recent revelation that President Jonathan entered into some form of political agreement to serve for only one term.
Already, two separate teams of crack detectives comprising anti-corruption and security agencies have been set up to gather evidence against the trio.
The committees, according to the source, have four months to complete their assignment and turn in their reports.
The development, said the source, is a tacit confirmation that the president would contest the 2015 presidential election.
Jonathan Free To Contest In 2015 – Tukur
Meanwhile, the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has stated that President Jonathan is free to contest for the presidency in 2015.
Tukur, who stated this while fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja yesterday, denied insinuations that President Jonathan’s 2015 ambition was responsible for the constitution of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PGF), adding that there was nothing wrong if Jonathan chose to.
Tukur had frowned at the insinuation that the PGF was set up so as to facilitate Jonathan’s re-election bid, saying, “Let me tell you, that is in order in politics. Jonathan is the president under our party and what is wrong if he decided to run?”
Akwa Ibom State governor Godswill Akpabio was Sunday night elected the new chairman of the PGF, a move seen to have cut the powers of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers who, many felt, was using the body to boost his alleged 2015 presidential election.
But Tukur said he saw nothing wrong with the constitution of the PDP Governors’ Forum. It is proper for the PDP to have its own governors under the umbrella to facilitate effective dissemination of party policies, he noted.
He stated: “I see the NGF as very important. I can tell you why. Look at Nigeria, we have so many colourations — ethnic, religious. Now, if you don’t have this kind of association, whereby people have to meet and discuss, how can Nigeria sustain its role as a regional power?
“You cannot do that, unless the help comes from governors. So, NGF is very healthy, because we have to be frank with ourselves. If we understand our differences, then, we can work together better. If they are working together to ensure peace and whatever is good, we all agree to that extent it is a very important forum,” the PDP chairman said.
He said though opinions may differ amongst the PDP governors, it didn’t mean that the party’s position would be respected: “Babangida Aliyu had his opinion. Well, it is an opinion. It doesn’t mean that all our governors agree with him. He can say so but I have explained to you as the chairman of this party that they are all my governors. We may not share the same position on the formation of PDP Governors’ Forum, but I have explained to you our intention as a party. We want our governors to come together.”
He explained that the party would soon be embarking on e-registration, noting that the time called for it.
The party’s attempt to embark on e-registration during the tenure of its former chairman, Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, ran into trouble waters when governors under the party kicked against the policy.
Anenih emerges through due process – Gana
Amidst mixed feelings over the re-emergence of Chief Tony Anenih as the chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Prof Jerry Gana, who led the committee on the restructuring of the BoT, has said that Anenih emerged through a credible process.
Gana, a former minister of information and  presidential adviser,  told journalists in Minna yesterday that the  committee’s report that led to the emergence of Anenih was not delivered through the backdoor but with due recourse to openness and transparency.
Apparently defending the emergence of Anenih, Gana posited that the last board meeting where Anenih emerged as chairman had the highest attendance in the history of the board.

FIREWORKS IN THE MAKING : LEADERSHIP Publisher Sam Nda-Isaiah A Conman, Says Yobe Governor Ibrahim Gaidam (SEE LETTER WRITTEN BY THE GOVERNOR HERE) ... Sahara Reporters

Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam has dismissed the publisher of LEADERSHIP Newspapers, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, as a conman hiding under the umbrella of journalism to extort money from, and blackmail Nigerians who refuse to advertise with him.
Mr. Gaidam, who made the claim in a strongly-worded protest letter he caused to be circulated around the country and published in several dailies today, threatened to take action against Nda-Isaiah if he continues in his unethical practices.
“He has committed grave ethical infractions that strike at the very core of the integrity of journalism,” the governor said of the publisher, adding that Nda-Isaiah’s brand of journalism will expose the profession to ridicule.  “The publisher has decided on a deliberate editorial policy to fabricate lies against us, ridicule our institutions, pillory our achievements and maliciously libel our functionaries all because we refused to yield to his unceasing demand for advertisement patronage. Recently, he has invested enormous editorial energies to malign and lie against the government and people of Yobe state - he is likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”
The governor cited an incident this month in which the newspaper published an editorial attacking the State government, followed by a personal comment in Mrs. Nda-Isaiah’s column that he attributed to his having refused to place advertisements in Leadership.
Mr. Gaidam also offered a 2008 example of conflict between the government and Leadership concerning a N10 million payment to the newspaper for the publication of special supplements.
“This followed Nda-Isaiah’s visit to Damaturu where he met our late governor, Senator Mamman Ali,” the governor’s complaint said.  “But the project did not even go half-way when the governor passed on. Leadership stopped the supplements following Governor Mamman Ali’s death and to date there is no explanation on this or a refund of the balance of the money collected.  This, however, did not stop us from placing adverts in the paper whenever we saw the need to do so. But on almost all occasions we have had reason not to patronize the paper; we never fail to receive harassing calls from Nda-Isaiah or some members of his staff.”
He said his government recognizes the media’s responsibility to alert it to its duties, which is why it does not regard all negative stories about his administration as a declaration of hostility or as a slight on individuals.
The governor further said: “Some negative stories can be constructive and redemptive.  But there is a world of difference between critical journalism and blackmail journalism. It is blackmail journalism when a publisher abuses the privilege of his medium to traduce and manufacture lies against people simply because they refused to place adverts in his or her news medium.”
Having made his case, Mr. Gaidam urged the public to discountenance any future insults or campaign of disinformation against the Yobe government or its officials that Leadership may engage in, as there is more to what the newspaper writes than meets the eye.

Excerpts from Governor Gaidam’s Letter:
“We are writing to call public’s attention to the disturbingly unethical practices of Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, publisher and chairman of Abuja-based Leadership newspaper. Since November 2011, we have been victims of Nda-Isaiah’s blackmail. He has committed grave ethical infractions that strike at the very core of the integrity of journalism. We feel obligated to state the facts because we are concerned that Nda-Isaiah’s brand of journalism will expose the profession to ridicule.The publisher has decided on a deliberate editorial policy to fabricate lies against us, ridicule our institutions, pillory our achievements and maliciously libel our functionaries all because we refused to yield to his unceasing demand for advertisement patronage. Recently, he has invested enormous editorial energies to malign and lie against the government and people of Yobe state - he is likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
“In one week, Leadership wrote an editorial titled “Yobe and the Murder of Korean Doctors” on February 13, 2013 where it tendentiously accused Yobe state governor of being responsible for the regrettably cold-blooded murder of three Korean doctors in our state (about which the security agencies with the support of the state government are working tirelessly to unravel). We wrote a rejoinder (in Daily Trust, Blueprint, People’s Daily and The Nation on February 15, 2013) calling attention to the untruth of the editorial’s claims and pointing out the many inaccuracies that informed its conclusions. A few days after our rejoinder, Nda-Isaiah again dedicated his personal column, under the title “Yobe Governor Should Be Held Responsible for This” (February 18, 2013), to hurl coarse invectives and repeat the same false statements against us. He called the governor a “sadist” and his media adviser a “thuggish underling,” among other unsavoury insults. That is clearly beyond the pale.
“So, why is Nda-Isaiah so fixated on Yobe state and its officials? Well, it is because we have had occasions to spurn his entreaties for advertisement patronage, and he seems unwilling to accept the fact that it is absolutely our decision to choose which media to patronise with our advertisements.As a state government, we do place advertisement in the media from time to time. We do so because we think it is the best way to record our achievements and inform our people at home and elsewhere about our programmes, projects and policies. In doing this, we are guided by the imperatives of availability of funds and the reach and relevance of the media we patronize. We have in the past had occasion to place advertisements in Leadership when we thought it was appropriate to do so.
“For instance, in late 2008, Yobe state government paid ten million naira to Leadership to publish special supplements on the state. This followed Nda-Isaiah’s visit to Damaturu where he met our late governor, Senator Mamman Ali. But the project did not even go half-way when the governor passed on. Leadership stopped the supplements following Governor Mamman Ali’s death and to date there is no explanation on this or a refund of the balance of the money collected.This, however, did not stop us from placing adverts in the paper whenever we saw the need to do so. But on almost all occasions we have had reason not to patronize the paper; we never fail to receive harassing calls from Nda-Isaiah or some members of his staff.
“As a government, we recognise the media’s responsibility to alert us to our duties. That is why, as a policy, we do not regard all negative stories about our administration as declarations of hostility or as slight on our persons. Some negative stories can be constructive and redemptive. But there is a world of difference between critical journalism and blackmail journalism. It is blackmail journalism when a publisher abuses the privilege of his medium to traduce and manufacture lies against people simply because they refused to place adverts in his or her news medium.
“Of course, we recognise the importance of advertisement to the survival of the news media. As a government accountable to God and the people, we spread our adverts as best we can within the resources available and the possibilities of local consumption. There are many national dailies which are happy to receive adverts from us but would never resort to blackmail if they did not. The relationship between advertiser and medium must necessarily be based on trust, not blackmail, coercion or extortion.
“With the foregoing, we believe the people of Yobe state and Nigerians who have followed the bizarre and unbelievable saga between Leadership and the Yobe state government are now better informed about the context in which the newspaper picks and targets the state government and its officials in an unfair and unprofessional manner.We, therefore, ask the public to discountenance any future insults or campaign of disinformation against the Yobe government or its officials that Leadership may engage in. Anyone who sees such libellous material from the newspaper should recall the above historical background and know that there is more to what the newspaper writes than meets the eye.”

(SEE SEDUCTIVE PHOTO) NA BY FORCE? : Nollywood Actor Yemi Solade Threatened To Kill Me If I Don’t Sleep With Him – Bola Animashaun

Cute Yoruba actor Yemi Solade who got involved in a messy s*xual harassment scandal last year with a lady identified as Bunmi Ladipo is currently in another messy scandal.
Last year Bunmi Ladipo, a US-based lady accused the actor of harassing her sexually after they met on Facebook and exchanged BB PIN.
In the previous scandal, below was what the lady said:
“I accepted his friendship request because I recognized him as an actor.
“After accepting his friend request, we started doing normal chatting and along the line, exchanged Blackberry pins. But unknown to me, his intention was beyond the normal relationship as he began to disturb me for something else, but I politely told him it is impossible because I’m happily married.
“At a point, I felt it was someone impersonating him. But I got the biggest shock of my life when he started sending me his unclad pictures and sorts. He later called on phone and I recorded the conversation. In fact, that was when I was convinced that he was actually the one harassing me sexually.”
Yemi Solade is now in a new scandal with a lady identified as Bola Animashaun who spoke to Best of Nollywood Award organizers few hours ago.
She said she met the actor on Facebook two years ago and they started talking. They exchanged blackberry pins in the process.
As their relationship progressed, the lady said the actor started pressurizing her to see him and she has been rejecting the offer.
The lady claims Yemi Solade got really upset and sent her a scary message that she will die if she refuses to see him.
The message got her really scared and she sent out a Blackberry announcement to few friends and relatives.
It read: “Yemi Solade jus placed a curse on mi dt i wont c d end of dis year all becos i refused to sleep with him pls if anytin apuns to mi he is responsible.”
Bola Animashaun who confirmed the report to BON few hours ago said she is about to file an official report at the Police station.
She also said she will report Yemi Solade to Association of Nigeria Theatre Act Practitioners, ANTP.
Yemi Solade has denied ever knowing the lady.
Source: BON
  

SCANDALOUS OUTBURST : Weeks After Parking Spot Stabbing Incident, Lagos Police Spokesperson In Public Outburst With Reporter (Sahara Reporters)

Only weeks after the Lagos State Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, allegedly attempted to stab another female police officer over a parking spot at the Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja, a female journalist said Ms. Braide today in the same premises threatened to fight with her.
The journalist, a PM News reporter who requested anonymity, said she had gone to obtain a comment from Miss Braide on a story she was working on, but said the spokesperson became furious, threatened a fight, and ordered her to leave the office.
According to the journalist, “She became angry and told me that my friends and I are peddling lies that she fought with a CSP in public.  Miss Braide went on to call me all sorts of names and accused me of blackmail. She went on to order me to leave the office but I told her that I will not leave because the Lagos State PPRO's office is a public office and does not belong to her.  At this point she got up from her seat and charged towards me as if she wanted to fight me.  I still stood waiting to see what she will do next. She walked towards me and she said, ‘Take your dirty body out of my office. This is my office.
You and your friends can go on to say all things and blackmail me. I don't care.’  At this point some journalists held her and prevented her from fighting me."
She said she was shocked and dismayed at Ms. Braide’s behavior but was not surprised as the spokesperson has quarreled with other reporters before and even gone as far as threatening a superior police officer with a dagger over a mere parking space at the police headquarters.
“She fought with this female CSP until her breast was exposed,” the reporter said.  “Other policemen had to restrain her that day.  This is something that happened in public and is well known but she is lying, denying that it never happened.”
She said she did not blame Ms. Braide, as the Inspector General of Police and some other journalists were shielding her, giving her the opportunity to continue to misbehave, but expressed the hope that the spokesperson does not one day stab the commissioner or even the IGP.
For herself, she said she would contact her lawyer and then petition the authorities. “This is a threat to my life and defamation of character," she said.
In a previous incident, Ms. Braide was reported to have threatened to stab a senior police officer, identified as Cynthia Ibeama, over the use of a parking spot in the office premises.

STELLA DAMASUS: I'M NOT FIGHTING WITH LOLA ALAO OVER MARRIED MEN

Stella Damasus Denies Fight With Lola Alao Over Single Ladies Dating Married Men Comment

Two top Nigerian entertainers namely Stella Damasus and Lola Alao were recently rumoured to be in a tough war of words over a comment Lola Alao made about single ladies and married men.

In a recent interview, the Yoruba actress said dating a married man as a single lady is not a bad idea.

The actress stepped on a lot of toes with the comment. She was accused of trying to mislead single women by encouraging them to date married men.

So a couple of days back, the web went viral with the rumour that Stella Damasus attacked Lola Alao over the comment.

To set the fact straight, the actress has denied the rumour via her publicist, Square Image Associates, the mother of one said she doesn’t have any problem with Lola Alao, and there was no time she made any comment about her.

Stella Damasus is using this medium to inform people to ignore the rumour.

PHOTO GALLERY OF OMOTOLA JALADE EKEHINDE'S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY BASH : Happy Birthday to you Omosexy!

On arrival at the Golden Bee suites in GRA, Ikeja from Atlanta, USA, Nollywood's gorgeous actress Omotola Jalade Ekehinde was led by her husband Capt. Matthew Ekehinde to an already booked room through the restaurant  portal which unknown to her where anxiously waiting friends and family waiting to receive her with a SURPRISE.

 

She almost tripped when she opened the door and saw everyone jump on their feet screaming SURPRISE!

 

With a heart full of warmth and appreciation he hugged everyone one after the other after which she asked for permission to go freshen up for the party. Banky W eager to serenade the actress, seized the break and rendered an acapella version of the conventional Happy birthday song during which Omotola jokingly revealed her age to be FIFTEEN.

 

A show of her great appreciation for her husband's effort was when the actress planted a warm and intense kiss twice on her hubby's mouth in the presence of everyone which had the guests cheering and cameras going off with flashes capturing the moment.

Omosexy who had flown 15 hours from Atlanta and must have been enervated seemed to have had verve restored at the sight of the people, the acknowledgement of the surprise, and...hmmm...that kiss. She danced hard, took photos with friends, family, and well-wishers, granted interviews, among other elating activities.

Her effervescent hubby, when asked by a reporter to share he back how he feels having his wife back home after 5 months, he buoyantly said: "What I’ve not been able to do for five months, I must do tonight."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS : Jubilation in Kano as Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero Returns

KANO – The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, Wednesday evening returned to the ancient city of Kano aboard a Presidential jet.
The Air force Jet touched down at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport at about 6.50pm into the waiting hands of a crowd that consisted of Government functionaries, traditional title holders, businessmen and artisans.
Ado Bayero looking hale and healthy,  acknowledged greetings  from well wishers  at the presidential wing of the airport before he and his two sons were conveyed, amid tight security,  to his palace while the  crowd chanted Allahu Akbar (God is Great) .
The emir was flown abroad  for medical treatment along with his sons, Sanusi Ado Bayero and Aminu Ado Bayero , January 21st, 2013, following an unprovoked attack on his convoy,  where his driver and three royal guards were killed.
Commenting on his return, Action Congress of Nigeria chieftain, Alhaji Bashir Gentile told Vanguard that “Kano is happy for his return and we shall remain committed in our prayers for Allah’s mercy”
He said that “you can see it yourself, the emir is hale and hearty and we remain garteful to Allah”.

CONFUSED NOLLYWOOD ACTRESS : "I DON’T KNOW WHO TO DATE" ... ACTRESS EBUBE NWAGBO

PROPHETS FOR SALE AND HIRE : Ghana's celebrity preachers clash over prophesy of president's death Rival pastors in unholy row over prediction of imminent disaster

They prefer to be known for preaching about peace and loving thy neighbour, but Ghana's celebrity pastors are becoming embroiled by a rather ungodly row.
A well-known pastor has sparked outrage amongst his colleagues by making what Ghanaians are describing as an "earth-shattering" prophesy, that the president John Dramani Mahama, will die this year.
The reverend Isaac Owusu Bempah, founder of one of Ghana's burgeoning new charismatic churches, the Glorious Word Ministry International, says that the message came to him directly from God.
Owusu Bempah, who first announced the prophesy on New Year's Eve and has repeated it several times on local radio, has also cautioned that the president's refusal to meet him might hamper attempts to avert the disaster.
"I have not been able to meet the president and inform him. A similar thing happened when I prophesied about the late President John Atta Mills (who died last year), but they turned me away," he said.
But senior figures from other churches have hit back at the prediction, claiming it was unethical, and did not meet the criteria of a genuine prophesy.
"According to the new testament, if you give prophesy, it should edify, exalt or confirm," said Bishop Dr Charles Agyin Asare, founder of the Word Miracle Church International and former vice president of the Ghana Pentecostal and Chariasmatic Council. "The scripture says we should judge prophesies to see whether they be of God, not that we should swallow them hook like and sinker. If I were to judge this prophesy, I would judge it incorrectly," Agyin Asare added.
Dramatic prophesies are not uncommon in Ghana, where churches are big business and celebrity pastors compete to fill conference centres, theatres and arena for special weekend long services and prayer gatherings.
Agyin Asare, one of Owusu Bempah's main critics, says he himself was called to ministry after hearing the audible voice of God in 1983 calling him to "heal the sick, raise the dead, preach the kingdom."
But less than a year after Ghana's last president John Atta Mills died suddenly in office, there has been limited appetite for predictions of doom in the presidency.
"We lost our president last year, and if [Owusu Bempah] was really concerned, the president is a Christian, he has a pastor, he could seek audience with him. But if you just dump your prophesy into the public domain, then you are just trying to scare people. That is not what a Christian minister is supposed to be doing," Agyin Asare said.
Owusu Bempah was not available for comment, but it is not the first time the reverend, who is a regular fixture in the media in Ghana, has warned of impending disaster. A previous prophesy that Ghana could descend into civil war during December elections failed to materalise, after a new government was elected peacefully.
He is not without controversy. In 2011 he was accused of impregnating a member of his congregation whose mother brought her to the church to be exorcised of an evil spirit. Owusu Bempah denied those allegations, blaming a junior pastor in his employment who he said had fathered three children simultaneously with members of the church. He admitted taking the young female member of the congregation in to live with him in his home.
There is no official regulator of churches in Ghana, where two-thirds of the population is Christian and church attendance is high, although no figures exist. But some Christians are critical of the conduct of Ghana's churches. "Most of these churches and their leaders are affiliated to a political party, they just make money out of the ignorance of the people," said Charlotte Biney, 49, a resident in Accra. "The churches hypnotise them and the people believe whatever they say. Even educated people fall for it – deep down in our culture most of the people believe in spiritualism and devilish spirits. It's mind-boggling – sometimes you look at them and ask yourself what's wrong with them."
Such is the level of concern about the conduct of some churches that even pastors said that there should be closer monitoring of the activities of church leaders. "I think that there should be more ethics in ministry," said Agyin-Asare. "Being a pastor doesn't mean you are not accountable – you should be accountable to your church and you should be accountable to a group of ministers. As human beings we are not perfect – God calls imperfect people to do his work."
 

GOOD NEWS FROM NOLLYWOOD : Ngozi Nwosu Off To UK For Treatments

Ailing Nollywood actress, Ngozi Nwosu has now been flown to the United Kingdom for treatments. The actress, according to information gathered, jetted out of Nigeria last night aboard a British Airways flight.
The sultry actress will be treated in a UK hospital for both heart and kidney related diseases. She has been ill for months now until she left Nigeria around 11:45pm last night for treatment abroad.
In December 2012, Lagos State governor, Raji Fashola donated the sum of N4.5million for her treatment. She got N1million from ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ game show in 2012 also for her treatment.
An appeal call of N6million was raised for her last year to keep her alive.

GOD DELIVER US FROM THE HANDS OF MEN : "I Never Planned To Marry Foluke, 65 Pastors Told Me To Do So" ... Kayode Salako

It’s longer rumour that Foluke Daramola, the busty actress has ended up marrying Kayode Salako. They both got engaged in a glamorous manner penultimate week. Well, while people are going about spreading rumours that Foluke Daramola, mother of two broke the 13th year marriage of Bukola and Kayode, simply said it’s all lie and that there is nothing like that.
The man about town explained how he never intended to marry her but his vision and many revelations from men of God up to 65 led him to succumb.
Hear him, “about 17 years ago, a prophet from the Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S) Church in Mafoluku area of Lagos prayed for me and told me that in the journey of his life, I was going to come across one woman. He told me he didn’t know if I was going to marry her or not, but that what would make me know when I come across the woman are two things; the way I would feel about her and that I was going to meet her with two children; one boy and a girl.
When I meet her, that is when the story of my life would change and God would start re-writing my fate and that the woman is the woman of my destiny and that the two of us would travel, we would be very close, we would have a bond and travel on a journey of life, which would fetch us a lot of greatness and beautiful testimonies, since the day I received the vision, I had been looking forward to the woman I would meet like that.
I have never met a woman with a boy and a girl until I met Foluke Daramola and when I met her, I went back to ask if she was the one and over 65 pastors said that she is the one. Can 65 men of God, people that God talks to be wrong, I went to Cotonou, I went to Benin Republic, I traveled out of Lagos State to go and find out whether Foluke was the woman of my destiny and when I asked who she would be, everybody told me she is my wife that I should go and marry her and that I should not allow anybody to discourage me from marrying her,”

CARELESS NATION : We Dont Share Intelligence With Nigeria, Terrorists Have Informants Within Govt ... USA

Nigeria—The shooting clattered on for 30 minutes, residents of this dusty town say, and when it ended, four militants holding a German engineer hostage were dead.
So were the engineer, and four innocent bystanders.
In vast West Africa, a new front-line region in the battle against al Qaeda, Nigeria is America's strategic linchpin, its military one the U.S. counts on to help contain the spread of Islamic militancy. Yet Nigeria has rebuffed American attempts to train that military, whose history of shooting freely has U.S. officials concerned that soldiers here fuel the very militancy they are supposed to counter.

It is just one example of the limits to what is now American policy for policing troubled parts of the world: to rely as much as possible on local partners.
The U.S. and Nigerian authorities don't fully trust each other, limiting cooperation against the threat. And U.S. officials say they are wary of sharing highly sensitive intelligence with the Nigerian government and security services for fear it can't be safeguarded. Nigerian officials concede militants have informants within the government and security forces.
For the U.S., though, cooperation with Nigeria is unavoidable. The country is America's largest African trading partner and fifth-largest oil supplier. Some 30,000 Americans work here. Nigeria has by far the biggest army in a region where al Qaeda has kidnapped scores of Westerners, trained local militants to rig car bombs and waged war across an expanse of Mali the size of Texas. Last month, al Qaeda-linked extremists' attack on a natural-gas plant in faraway Algeria left at least 37 foreigners dead.
In Nigeria, a homegrown Islamic extremist group loosely called Boko Haram has for years attacked churches and schools. The name translates as "Western education is sin."

Now, the sect's followers are joining a broader holy war, led by al Qaeda and financed by kidnappings. On Feb. 16, militants in Nigeria's Muslim north abducted seven mostly European construction workers.
Three days later, gunmen crossed into neighboring Cameroon to kidnap a family of French tourists outside an elephant park. The family appeared in a YouTube video posted this week, its four children squirming on camera, as a spokesman read a message for France, which last month attacked al Qaeda fighters in its former West African colony of Mali.
"We say to the president of France, we are the jihadists who people refer to as Boko Haram," the turban-shrouded man said. "We are fighting the war that he has declared on Islam."
French officials said they were analyzing the video and considering the difficulties in either entrusting Nigerian soldiers to rescue their citizens or staging a rescue raid in a foreign land.
Such kidnappings, like the attack in Algeria, show how extremist groups are leapfrogging borders.
Boko Haram has fought alongside the regional al Qaeda affiliate known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, according to residents of Mali. Hundreds of self-identified Boko Haram fighters last year learned to fire shoulder-mounted weapons at an AQIM-affiliated training camp in Timbuktu, Mali, said a cook who fed them and neighbors who watched them. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau spent much of last year in Mali, according to a senior Nigeria security adviser.
In Boko Haram "you have a group that's becoming increasingly efficient and one that al Qaeda, AQIM, can use down the road,'' said John Giacalone, a Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent in New York who oversees counterterrorism work in Africa.
Days after the gas-plant attack in Algeria, French oil company Total said it was moving expatriate workers from Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to the south of the country, where kidnappings are more common but less violent.
While the French battle militants in Mali, the Obama administration has limited its role to providing logistical and intelligence support and drone surveillance from a base in nearby Niger, believing others such as France, Nigeria and other African allies have more immediately at stake and should assume most of the risks and costs.
That fits a broader U.S. pattern: After a decade of troop-intensive land wars that have strained American budgets and left the country war-weary, the U.S. is depending increasingly on regional powers.
"It can't just be the United States. It can't just be Europe. It's got to be the African nations as well joining in this effort," departing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in an interview.
The new national-security team President Barack Obama has chosen is expected to embrace a light-footprint approach that relies on special forces, drones and local partners to combat terrorism, officials say.
Mr. Panetta brushed aside doubts about relying on Nigerian forces. "You can't give up on this thing," he said. "It's really important for the African nations to be able to develop their capabilities. I don't think we should just assume that we can't do that."
John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, said Nigeria is the African country of the greatest strategic importance to the U.S., but has sought to keep the American military at arm's length. "The Nigerians regard themselves as the hegemons of West Africa, and they are traditionally suspicious of other powers involving themselves," said Mr. Campbell, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Doyin Okupe, senior special assistant to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, agreed that "Nigeria sees itself as a regional power in Africa. It's the dominant force, really. Nigeria is a very proud nation. We feel that to subjugate our military under another world power would be to really compromise our integrity."
He said Nigeria is willing to let Western nations supply equipment, "but we might not be too predisposed to subjugating our forces to undergo training under another military."
Washington has struggled for years to cement close ties with the Nigerian army. The U.S. military's Africa Command invited the Nigerian military seven years ago to participate in Operation Flintlock, an annual multinational counterterrorism exercise. Nigerian generals balked at sending a large contingent of soldiers. The U.S. later proposed setting up a specialized counterterrorism unit within the Nigerian military, but it foundered, according to U.S. officials.
After a Nigerian recruited by an al Qaeda branch tried to blow up an airliner approaching Detroit on Christmas 2009, the U.S. ramped up its approach. Since the thwarted attack, the U.S. has been working with Nigeria on creating an "intelligence fusion center" for rapid sharing of information collected by various Nigerian security services, say State Department officials.

U.S. military officials see this as an important first step to see whether the Nigerians can handle security threats themselves. After two years of effort, the plan has only inched forward, owing to mistrust among agencies and fighting over funding, officials in both countries say.

Nigerian officials have acknowledged that Boko Haram has a web of informants within the government and security services, inhibiting closer cooperation with the U.S.
"Some of them are in the executive arm of government, some of them are in the parliamentary arm of government, while some of them are even in the judiciary," said Mr. Jonathan, the Nigerian president, after a bomb blast leveled a church in 2011. He added: "Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies."
U.S. officials, especially at the State Department, worry that the Nigerian security force's free-shooting ways make the security situation worse.
Nigeria Police Force Order 237 allows officers to shoot anyone "who takes to flight in order to avoid arrest" and lets the police decide what constitutes avoiding arrest. The country's National Human Rights Commission estimates the police kill 2,500 Nigerians each year. By comparison, Boko Haram has killed around 2,000 in the four years since the once-obscure group grew into an insurgency, New York's Human Rights Watch estimates.
Amnesty International posted a report on Nov. 1 that accused the Nigerian army of burning houses, cars and shops and of shooting dead "people who were clearly no threat to life—unarmed, lying down…cooperating with security forces." One day later, Amnesty said that in just two days, the Nigerian army had shot at least 30 young men. The local nickname for a branch called the Mobile Police is "Kill and Go."
"Military and police heavy-handedness in the north is core to the story of Boko Haram's emergence," said Michael Woldemariam, a professor of African security studies at Boston University. "You can't discount the effects of the state's brutality in the north."
Nigerian generals reject such criticism and note that they send more peacekeepers to the United Nations than all but four other countries. "We are respected all over the world," said an army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mobolaji Koleoso. "We are talking about decent men and women who are well-trained and well-schooled…. It's not that we're going outside to go and kill people." He called the Amnesty report "frivolous."
But a growing chorus in the capital is pushing for reform. "There is a recognition here that things are going to have to be done differently," said Fatima Akilu, a psychologist named last year as director of the Nigerian national security office's new hearts and minds campaign. "Nobody can win this situation using force alone," she added.
The hostage case in Kumbotso offered a glimpse of the security forces in action.
Edgar Raupach was among hundreds of German engineers working in Nigeria's booming construction industry, helping pave stretches of road.
In January 2012 he disappeared from the northern city of Kano, and word spread in nearby Kumbotso that some men had brought home a German hostage. Locals said these men were unpopular outsiders who didn't speak the prevailing Hausa language.
If the outsiders weren't popular with the Nigerian villagers, Nigeria's national police and armed forces were even less so. Residents at a town council meeting quarreled over whether to tell the security services, some arguing that doing so might just make matters worse, according to people who attended. The outcome was unclear, a council official saying he sent a letter to the government but got no reply, while other residents doubted a letter was ever sent.
Two months after his kidnapping, the engineer appeared in a video begging his government to meet the demands of men he described as holy warriors from al Qaeda. The group asked for the release of a jailed German woman, Uma Saifullah Al-Ansariya (born Filiz Gelowicz), who had been convicted in Germany of supporting a terrorist group.
As it happened, she was due to be released from a German prison in April. She was freed. Mr. Raupach wasn't.
His Nigerian employer ran an ad in Arabic and English in the region's leading newspaper: "100 DAYS MISSING. Edgar Fitz Raupach," it said. "Your sister Uma Saifullah Al-Ansariya (Filiz Gelowicz) is free since two weeks. When do you release our brother EDGAR?? HIS FRIENDS ARE WAITING FOR HIM."
Eventually, someone slipped word of the hostage's whereabouts to an agent of Nigeria's secret service. The response was swift. As village residents rose from the following morning's prayers, hundreds of Nigerian soldiers stormed into the town. They began to "shoot everywhere," one resident says.
The gunfire lasted about 30 minutes. The army says the soldiers killed all four kidnappers. Residents say the kidnappers actually numbered about 10. They say four Kumbotso bystanders died in the crossfire.
The military unit declined to comment beyond a press statement. It said that the soldiers weren't aware the hostage was there and that his captors stabbed him to death.
Hours later, soldiers returned with a bulldozer and destroyed what remained of the kidnappers' compound, along with any evidence of their identities. Investigators still aren't sure who they were.

BREAKING NEWS : Court of Appeal Nullifies Nyako's Election as Adamawa Governor!

The Court of Appeal, Yola, Adamawa State, has nullified the election of Admiral Murtala Nyako (Rtd) as PDP candiadte in the 2012 Adamawa Gubernatorial election!

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON : Court Remands Ex-Governor Audu’s Son in Kuje Prisons Over N18Mn Scam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday arraigned the son of former governor of Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, Mustapha Audu, his wife Zahrah M. Audu, alongside their company, Constructor Guild Limited before Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja for obtaining money under false pretence to the tune of N18 million.

The son of former governor of Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, Mustapha Audu

One of the charges against the accused persons read, “That you Mustapha Audu, Zahra M. Audu in your capacity as Directors of Constructors Guild Limited and you Constructors Guild Limited on or about the 7th day of January 2010 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court obtained the sum of three Million naira from one Nike Kolawole under the pretence of helping her to get a four-bedroom townhouse at Ruskin Terrace situate at Katampe Extension Abuja which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3)of the same act.”
The accused persons who pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge were alleged to have falsely obtained the money in their capacity as directors in the said company from one Nike Kolawole under the pretence that they will get her a four- bedroom house at Katampe Extension, Abuja; and another property at Caemly Estate, Idu Sabo, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Following their plea, their counsel, Kingsley Akpokona moved a motion for bail on behalf of his clients, but was opposed by the prosecution counsel, Samuel Ugwuegbulam who prayed the court for time to respond to the application.
While consenting to the prosecution’s request for time to respond to the application for bail, Justice Umar remanded the first accused, Mustapha Audu in Kuje prison but allowed the second accused person, Zahrah M. Audu to continue to enjoy the administrative bail earlier granted her.
The case has been adjourned to Thursday February 28, 2013 for hearing of the bail application.

AWADA KERI KERI : CAN to mobilize for recall of bad political leaders

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has expressed its commitment towards ensuring that the masses are mobilized against bad government in Nigeria.
The South-East chapter of CAN took the stand yesterday after their meeting on Tuesday, in Enugu.
Briefing journalists on the outcome of their deliberations, South-East CAN chairman, Rt. Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma said the church would not sit on the fence and watch politicians take the masses for granted.
“All the politicians who have not performed will be re-called, before talking of second tenure and all that. They should come and give account of stewardship to the people.
“Anything short of that, shall lead to a massive mobilisation against them; the church shall act as a catalyst to chase all non-performing politicians out”, CAN stated.
It also called on the federal government to make both the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu and the Onitsha Seaport functional as soon as possible.
Chukwuma, who is also the Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, said: “we are also saying the Seaport in Onitsha should be made functional. We don’t like the political way the Seaport in Onitsha is being handled. Ever since we were told the port was commissioned, it has not been operational.
“We are demanding that the dredging should be completed, vessels should be arriving at the port, otherwise it will be a white elephant project.

“Similarly, the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, should be given serious effort. It has since been designated international airport, but what we are saying is that such status should not end on the paper”.
It called for the immediate resolution of all the conflicts surrounding the 2013 budget, noting that the continued delay in signing of the nation’s budget was an obvious bad sign.
“We are not happy that the 2013 budget is being delayed either because of benchmark or other conditions”, CAN stated, adding that “we want to see it signed and implementation commenced immediately”.
The religious body vowed to resist any plan by government to impose taxes on churches, insisting that “government does not give us any form of subvention, so they have no right to demand taxes from churches”.
CAN urged all the factions in the Ohaneze to drop their personal interest for the good of Ndigbo.
It said it was necessary to make sure that Ohaneze leadership positions were occupied by men of proven integrity and selflessness.

DO AS I SAY AND NOT AS I DO : Be transparent with oil wealth, Iweala advises Ghana ... YEYE DE SMELL.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria, has cautioned Ghana to employ greater transparency and accountability in managing its fledgling oil industry in order to avoid the challenges associated with harnessing the natural resource.  “My sisterly advice is that you should be uncompromising on issues of transparency and accountability in the sector,” she stressed.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Nigerian Coordinating Minister of the Economy, made the recommendation during a lecture on, “What Africa should do to claim the 21st Century,” at the 2nd John A. Kufuor Global Development Series 2013 in Accra.
She said that before her country discovered oil, its economy was well diversified, with agriculture contributing about 64 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while the manufacturing sector accounted for about five per cent.
However, “once oil came on stream, the non-oil sectors contracted, the psychology and mentality of the people changed, and a lot of entrepreneurial energy was now directed at rent-seeking activities like chasing after government contracts rather than productive investments”, she said.
By 2010, agriculture had shrunk to about 40 per cent of GDP while manufacturing had slipped to about four per cent.
Okonjo-Iweala said Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management Act has been widely praised because the legislation specifies how petroleum revenue should be collected and allocated.
However, she warned that temptation could set in at some level and therefore recommended that policymakers and leaders to be more transparent in the negotiations of contracts.
They should also do their homework thoroughly before beginning contract negotiations with foreign oil firms and investing the oil income in public infrastructure, she recommended.
Okonjo-Iweala, former Managing Director of the World Bank Group, called on African leaders to pay close attention job creation, addressing widening inequalities, building resilience against climate shocks, financing development and deepening regional integration.
She noted that Africans could do better if they work harder at regional and sub-regional integration, stressing, “Nigeria and Ghana can be a collective powerhouse of Africa and West Africa if we can look closely at economic ties we need to build to bind us…together.”
“Infrastructure is certainly key, like making the West Africa Gas Pipeline work better. But trade is also important and we need to facilitate commerce in our sub-region, making it easier for the private sector to manufacture and sell goods in our countries.”
Okonjo-Iweala observed that the necessary building blocks for development are finally falling into place: good economic policies, good governance, and investments in infrastructure and skills. “With these building blocks in place, we can create a platform for the private sector to grow,” she said.
Former Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor noted that human and natural resources abound in Africa but that due to poorly groomed and nurtured leadership, the people live in abject poverty.