Popular Mavin records singer, Korede Bello is having an amazing 2015 as he continues to shine and deliver electrifying performances at different sold out concerts.
The singer who is presently on tour did an unbelievable feat during his performance for his fans in Togo. He balanced his whole body weight on just one of his hands and his fans couldn’t help but gush about how talented he is.
Jezzz. That’s what this girls were caught doing to each other.Trust no one!! This babes ain’t loyal anymore. Na make God give us better babe/wife remain now
Chidinma and Flavour who performed their collabo- Ololufe last night at Phyno Fest in Onitsha, shared a kiss at the end of the song.
"When you speak because you want to sell books, I don’t read. I don’t read. I like good interviews. I like interviews from big guys like Didier with good journalists, newspapers or television. But this is not an interview. It was to sell books.
"It doesn’t disappoint me. It was just the reality. It was just to sell books. I can analyse Didier’s interview with pleasure, but not Didier selling books.”
The appeal court has today nullified the victory of Former Senate President, David Mark over APC candidate, Comrade Daniel Onjeh in this year’s Benue-South senatorial election, and ordered for fresh polls.
More details shortly…
Members of the Benue State House of Assembly have rejected Governor Samuel Ortom’s list of nominees for the Benue State Judicial and Local Government Service Commissions sent to them for screening and approval.
At a rowdy session yesterday when the list was unveiled before the house, several members cited that there was no proper representation of the three senatorial zones as required by the constitution.
Rt. Hon. Joseph Ojobo, member representing Ogbadibo State Constituency, who raised the first observation, cited the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, Section 14 and 44(3) explaining that the constitution made it mandatory for any such statutory bodies to have persons to be appointed spread evenly across the zones in line with the Federal Character principle. He pointed out that no person was appointed from Benue South Senatorial Zone and it would therefore be wrong for the house to accept the list for screening.
Similarly, the Minority Whip Hon. Tor Ayeh (Katsina-Ala East) observed that Benue North East Zone was not represented in the list of Judicial Service Commission.
The house therefore unanimously agreed to send back the list of nominees to the Governor for necessary action in line with the Federal Character
Tyson Fury is ready to take his place alongside sport’s global superstars - claiming the heavyweight title will see him rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as a modern-day icon.
The 27-year-old is on a mission.
Not only to end Wladimir Klitschko’s heavyweight rule at Dusseldorf’s Esprit Arena - but also to restore the status of one of sport’s most prized titles.
For all of Fury’s antics - the outbursts and the publicity stunts - his love and respect for boxing cannot be questioned.
He is an historian of the sport - and a man determined follow in the footsteps of his heavyweight heroes like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
While Klitschko has dominated for nearly a decade, Fury believes the Ukrainian has failed to give the title of heavyweight champion the grandeur it deserves.
In an age when footballers are at the top of sport’s food chain, he is convinced he can be the man to lead boxing back to the summit.
“The way I am, I could be one of the most famous sporting stars in the country – in the world – right now,” he said. “A win over Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday night puts me right up there with all of those players.
“It depends on the champion.
“We have a WBA regular champion Ruslan Chagaev and he would rank with the Morecambe players, with Leicester and all those sort of players.
“But then we have the Mike Tysons of the world and he’d rank with the Messis and the Ronaldos of today.
“Klitschko at the moment, he doesn’t rank up there with the superstars from today. Take him out of Germany and boxing fans, then he’s not really that known.
“When I beat him, I can be a global phenomenon because of my personality, my boxing style and the way I conduct myself.
“I think he’s taken the heavyweight champion under water a bit because he’s got no flair or flamboyancy.
“It’s just strictly business and not everybody likes to see that.”
Few could accuse Fury of lacking flair.
Dressing as Batman to a press conference with Klitschko is just a taste of his sense of showmanship.
He has promised to serenade the German fans if he’s victorious - and couldn’t resist bursting into song during a public workout at Dusseldorf airport earlier this week.
He was refrained during Friday’s weigh-in, other than initially refusing to shake Klitschko’s hand on stage.
After a stare-off that lasted the best part of a minute, Fury eventually did shake his rival by the hand.
For his part Klitschko is adamant the British challenger’s attempts to get under his skin have failed - but he adds that they will provoke a reaction in the ring.
The 39-year-old said: “I don’t like it when things are boring and done in a certain way and we try to hype up the excitement around a fight.
“I don’t need to do that in this case because my opponent is doing everything for me.
“I always perform better when I am challenged, but when I am not challenged there is no emotion.
“You want to be emotionless in the ring, but in this case there is motivation.
“He is playing into my hands because I know when I am challenged like this I need to perform, I need to pull something out of my closet a lot more to win.
“Usually I just do enough to win, I’m expecting a very, very tough fight.”
“I just kind of wanted my Dad to give me away on my wedding day,” Kalia Kirby told WBTV.On Wednesday morning, Kaila Kirby and her fiancé Daniel Pardue stood beside Jubal Kirby’s hospital bed at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., and said their vows.
“He said he wanted to make an honest woman out of her,” Kaila’s older sister, Jessica Harrison, told the Observer.
Eighteen-year-old former student of Vaatia College Makurdi, Benue State, Master Samuel Nder was on Thursday, November 26, honoured as the best candidate in the May/June West African Senior Certificate Examination (WASSCE) taken by over 1.7million candidates nationwide.
At a colourful award ceremony held in Akure, Ondo state during the 53rd Annual Meeting of Nigera National Committee (NNC) of West African Examinations Council (WAEC), master Nder and two other candidates were rewarded for their performance in the May/June 2014 WASSCE.
Aside Nder who obtained 9A1s in the school exam to emerged the best candidate, 18-year-old, Miss Onyinye Oguejiofor formerly of Marist Comprehensive College, Nteje, Anambra state placed second with 9A1s while 17-year-old Master Oluwatobi Raji formerly of St Francis Catholic Secondary School Idimu, Lagos, recorded 9A1s in the WASSCE.
In the May/June 2014 WASSCE, with exam number 4081345036 Master Nder recorded A1 in Economic, Geography, English Language, Further Mathematics, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics with total T-score of 659.4325 while Miss Ogueijiofor’s T-score was 648.5706 and Master Raji had T-score 640.2125.
Currently, the best candidate is studying Software Engineering at Saint Peterburg’s Electro-Technical University in Russia, Miss Onyinye is studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Master Raji is studying Petroleum Engineering at the University of Lagos.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, said as a demonstration of the state’s avowed commitment to nation building through the apparatus of educational development.
His words: ‘’we have always welcomed with passion any educational programme that the state is privileged to host. Our passion is always borne out of the convictions that, no nation can ever rise above the quality of her education. This is because education is the vital organ and the very pivot around which all national life resolves.’’
Mimiko who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Oluboyo, commended WAEC for its unrelenting efforts in conducting standard examinations and producing credible results over the years.
The governor congratulated the three best schools in the state that were honoured by the council for their candidates performance in the May/June 2014 WASSCE and appreciated WAEC for it investment in the future of the children.
The chairman of WAEC NNC, Mrs. Anne Okonkwo said the awards are aimed at encouraging the youth to strive for excellence in their academic pursuits noting ‘’it is my hope that some of the youth who are here today to witness this ceremony, will be challenged by these Awards to work harder in order to win similar laurels in future.’’
She also disclosed that NNC would present books to the three best schools in the May/June 2014 WASSCE from Ondo State stressing that it was in accordance with the decision of the Nigeria Sub-Board of the WAEC Endowment Fund Board of Trustees at its 4th meeting held in November, 2012.
Mrs Okonkwo use the opportunity laud the federal and other state governments for their support to the council over the years even as she thanked Governor Mimko for his investment in education and the performance of schools in the state in WASSCE.
The Head of National Office (HNO), Mr. Charles Eguridu, disclosed that the NNC ensures that the policies of the council in Nigeria are decided in the best public interest, and appropriate decisions are taken at all times, for the smooth conduct of the WAEC’s operations.
Eguridu appreciated the support and understanding which the state government has continued to give to the council in its efforts to improve service delivery to numerous stakeholders in the state and Nigeria as a whole.
At the event, 40 WAEC staff were given long service award for their 20 years meritoriously service in various capacities while Governor Mimiko described the awardees as worthy ambassadors of the council and wished them more years of productive service to the council and the nation at large.
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has condemned as unwarranted the action of some youths in Ukum LGA of the state for disrupting the burial ceremony of Ter Ukum, Chief Daniel Dzahan at the weekend.
The youths of the area had reportedly prevented the immediate past Governor of the State, Dr. Gabriel Suswam and his representative and current Commissioner for Agriculture; Mr. James Anbua from speaking at the burial, a development, which caused confusion at the burial as sympathizers were forced to disperse.
Ortom, who in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Termer Ukase, expressed displeasure at the incident, recalling that he has always preached peace and harmony in all parts of the state as demonstrated by the amnesty programme of his administration.
He also recalled that the late Chief Dzahan was a peaceful man who loved and cared for his people, saying it is therefore unacceptable that some persons would disrupt his burial.
Today, International Business magazine, Bloomberg.com published an article title “Buhari Bounce Becomes Bust as Nigeria Policies Irk Investors”.
The article states that President Buhari’s policies since assuming office has continued to chase investors away and has dashed the hopes of many who believed in him when he assumed office. Read the article below
“When Muhammadu Buhari clinched victory in Nigeria’s presidential elections in March, stocks soared as investors looked to the former military ruler to reverse decades of economic mismanagement and policy inertia.Now hopes have fizzled in his ability to turn around Africa’s largest economy and oil producer. Money that flowed into stocks and bonds in the West African nation, which McKinsey & Co. says could become one of the world’s 20 biggest economies by 2030, is now fleeing as growth prospects diminish along with oil prices. While Buhari, 72, has prioritized stamping out the graft that has plagued Nigeria since independence from Britain in 1960, policy-making appears as uncertain and haphazard as ever. “After the initial euphoria, people have become disillusioned,” Ayodele Salami, who oversees about $500 million of African equities as chief investment officer of London-based Duet Asset Management Ltd., said by phone. “He would probably say that he’s being deliberative and cautious. But we expected more.”
Duet’s Africa fund has cut its investments in the country to about 24 percent of the total from 38 percent in the last year. Buhari waited five months before naming his cabinet, hasn’t proposed a clear plan to revive growth and backed foreign-exchange controls aimed at defending the naira. His retention of gasoline subsidies, plans to raise spending in the face of declining revenue and silence about a $5.2 billion fine levied on mobile-phone operator MTN Group Ltd. have added to investor unease. Nigeria’s benchmark stock index has plunged 22 percent since reaching a year-high on April 2, the day after Buhari was declared the winner of the presidential race against incumbent Goodluck Jonathan. That’s the third-worst performance globally in the period, after the bourses in Ukraine and Egypt. The index advanced 12.5 percent in the two days after Jonathan conceded. To be sure, Buhari inherited depleted government coffers and a bureaucracy that multiple probes have blamed for looting billions of dollars of oil revenue.
The president has said he delayed appointing ministers because he needed time to vet suitable candidates. Garba Shehu, a spokesman for Buhari, didn’t immediately respond to written questions after requesting they be sent that way. The hiatus has compounded the pain caused by the slide in the price of crude, which accounts for two-thirds of government revenue and 90 percent of export earnings. Growth, which averaged 6.3 percent annually over the past decade, is set to slow to a 16-year low of 3.3 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Many filling stations ran dry this month as the government withheld fuel subsidies to suppliers, preventing them from restocking. Lengthening lines forced Buhari to ask lawmakers for permission to pay 413 billion naira ($2 billion) in overdue payments, an amount that hadn’t been budgeted for. While next year’s budget has yet to be finalized, Buhari wants to raise spending by 56 percent, according to a person who attended a briefing on the government’s plans and asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the government plans to spend its way out of a slowing economy and that an infrastructure fund will be created with public and private financing.
The penalty imposed on MTN’s Nigeria unit last month for failing to register about 5 million subscribers may be an attempt to plug the hole in government finances, according to Cobus de Hart, an economist at NKC Independent Economists. “You cannot deny there might be a fiscal element to the massive fine,” he said by phone from Paarl, near Cape Town. “It will make investors a little bit more wary of investing in Nigeria.” An even bigger concern for many investors is the authorities’ naira policy. The Central Bank of Nigeria, with Buhari’s backing, has burned through $4.3 billion of reserves this year and choked off supply of foreign exchange to banks and their customers to defend the naira, even as major oil exporters such as Russia and Colombia have let their currencies slide. The restrictions prompted JPMorgan Chase & Co. to remove Nigeria from its local-currency emerging-market bond indexes, tracked by more than $200 billion of funds, in September, triggering a selloff in the nations’ assets. While the naira has been all but fixed at about 198 to 199 per dollar since March, forward prices suggest it will drop by almost one-fifth, to 243.5, in a year.
The number-one issue is the exchange rate,” Andrew Howell, a Citigroup Inc. frontier markets strategist, said from Lagos. ”Access to foreign exchange is becoming a widespread problem.” Nigerian Breweries Plc, the nation’s biggest brewer that’s controlled by Heineken NV, said it takes two weeks to obtain dollars to pay for its imports, twice as long as it required a few months ago. Nestle SA’s Nigerian unit has had to wait six weeks for dollars, according to Renaissance Capital Ltd. analysts. Buhari has won plaudits from leaders including President Barack Obama for his effortsto tackle graft. He replaced the management of the state oil company, which was accused of withholding billions of dollars from the government, and has stepped up the fight against an insurgency being waged by Islamist group Boko Haram. “The degree of transparency we’re starting to get with the new administration is hugely positive,” Douglas Rowlings, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, said in an interview in Lagos.
“It gives investors the perception that operating in Nigeria will now be done following proper procedures.” Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore Group Plc, which oversees almost $60 billion of emerging market assets, remains unconvinced that Buhari is up to the job. The fund manager sold all its Nigerian government debt in the past year. “So far the Buhari administration has done all the wrong things,” Dehn said by phone from London. “Not only has he been incredibly slow in taking any action, when he finally has taken action on the economic front it’s been diametrically opposed to sensible policy. That is a major disappointment given expectations prior to his election.”
Immediate past President of the Senate Senator David Mark has expressed sadness over the demise of the first class traditional ruler in Benue state His Royal Majesty Tor Tiv Alfred Akawe Torkula .
Senator Mark in a message to the government and people of Benue state regretted that ” the people of the state are heart broken over the demise of the Tor Tiv who was a father to all.”
Senator Mark noted that the Tor Tiv stood for the people who relied on him for counselling and direction especially at critical times.
He noted the immeasurable contributions of the late Tor Tiv to the peace, unity and development of Benue state and beyond saying that the foremost monarch left a vacuum that would be hard to fill.
Senator Mark recalled how the late Tor Tiv brought colour, glamour and integrity to the traditional institution to the admiration and pride of all citizens of Benue state.
According to the former Senate president who is also an indigene of Benue state:” the Tor Tiv was a respected traditional ruler who stood for the truth, hard work, commitment and upheld the sanctity of fairness, justice and equity.
” We shall miss his wise counsel. We shall miss his candour . We shall miss his frank and honest disposition especially on issues that affected the welfare and well-being of citizens.”
Senator Mark however told the people of Benue especially the bereaved family to take solace in the fact that the late Tor Tiv lived an eventful, fulfilled and accomplished life worthy of emulation.
"Humai is an AI company with a mission to reinvent the afterlife. We want to bring you back to life after you die."Humai, based in Los Angeles, is funded entirely by CEO and founder Josh Bocanegra.
"The artificial body functions will be controlled with your thoughts by measuring brain waves.
"As the brain ages we'll use nanotechnology to repair and improve cells," he adds, saying that cloning technology is going to help, and: "We believe we can resurrect the first human within 30 years."
Singer, Olamide has lost his dad. The superstar artist wrote a message on Instagram using a photo of a solid black background, which is used to depict the loss of a loved one.
He wrote,
“O God, who hast commanded us to honor our father and our mother; in Thy mercy have pity on the soul of my father, and forgive his trespasses; and make me to see him again in the joy of everlasting brightness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Rest well Dad.. Forever in my heart ”.Olamide’s father has been a topic in his music at least twice. On his ‘Street OT’ album released in 2014, Olamide wrote about his father getting shot by armed robbers on the track ‘1999’. He also raps about his father on his popular song ‘Anifowose
Nollywood actress, Oge Okoye turned 33 recently and had a party with friends and colleagues on Sunday. More photos from the star-studded birthday party…
Muslims all over the country will rise up, if need be, to challenge the decision by the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to ban the use of long hijab (veil) in orientation camps, the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, warned on Wednesday.
The NYSC Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, had while receiving a receiving Muslim youth under the aegis of Muslim Youths in Da’wah in his office in Abuja on Tuesday, said the ban was necessitated by “security reasons”.
He was quoted as saying:
"The security situation in the country is tough. There is the danger of somebody using hijab for other reasons. There have been cases where young girls put on hijab and eventually turn to suicide bombers."
But MURIC, in a statement by its director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, rejected Olawumi’s reason for the ban of hijab, urging him to purge himself of Islamophobia.
“The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) rejects the purported ban. It is reckless, baseless and preposterous. No public officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should speak in such manner.
“The pronouncement smacks of power drunkenness. It is a hate statement. The Director General needs to purge himself of Islamophobia”, Akintola said.
The group insisted that security reason was not enough for the NYSC boss to ban the use of hijab because there are examples of armed robbers using police uniforms to rob.
“Has anyone thought of banning police uniform? About forty armed robbers dressed in army uniform attacked six banks in Agbara, Ogun State last week. They killed a policeman and a pregnant woman. Should we ban army uniform because of that?” MURIC queried.
“Brigadier General Johnson and his ilk are hiding under the security challenge facing Nigeria to implement a hidden agenda, namely, to stigmatise Muslims and to embarrass our daughters and wives who wear hijab.
“Is General Johnson aware that female Muslims in the British police use hijab on top of their uniform? Can he tell us how the hijab disturbs a corper’s uniform?
“Does the DG know that hijab is an integral, nay, the most vital part of a female Muslim’s dress? Does he know that female Muslim corpers feel as if they are unclad when disallowed from using the hijab? Is he aware of the psychological trauma such female Muslim corpers go through?
“How can we spend a lifetime training our daughters to dress decently and you dehumanize them in your camp within 24 hours? How dare you?
“We affirm that we will use every constitutional means to stop this religious apartheid against Muslims in the name of discipline and regimentation.
“Why must Muslims face persecution everywhere in Nigeria? Why can’t the Nigerian system accommodate and integrate the Islamic culture? Why can’t Nigerian officials allow Islamic landmarks to stand pari passu with British colonial and Christian culture?
“Is Nigeria truly independent or is it a banana republic created to serve only the interest of the British imperial masters? Must Muslims be forced to accept British Christian mode of dressing?
“We must ask who designed Nigeria’s school uniform? Who designed the army and police uniforms? Was it not the British? What is the religion of the British? Is every Nigerian in the same faith? So why can’t we allow the Muslims to retain their identity? Why can’t the Muslims enjoy religious freedom in this country?
“Why must Muslims be forced to dress like Christians? Why must Muslims be denied the dividends of democracy? Any policy that fails to carry us along is exclusive. Nigeria is for all of us. We reject an NYSC that promulgates anti-Muslim decrees.
“We remind the DG that he cannot turn Muslims in NYSC camps into slaves. This is not military rule. NYSC officials, including the DG will be acting ultra vires if they take actions which violate the laws of the land.
“Section 38 (i) & (ii) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees religious freedom. We seek the enforcement of this right.
“Yet the hypocrisy of the system has been exposed. Can the NYSC Director General explain why the NYSC allows female Muslim corpers in places like Kano and Sokoto to use the hijab while their counterparts in the South are harassed and intimidated?
“Why this double standard? Is the ban only meant for the South? Or is it further proof of the mythological ‘Northern-Muslim and Southern-Christian dichotomy’? It had better not be.
“We hope it will not get to a point when Nigerian Muslims will decide to opt out of the NYSC service year. Yes, we may have no other option than to ask our daughters to ignore an institution which targets them for ridicule, torment and persecution.
“MURIC charges the NYSC to revisit its rules. Any aspect of those rules which fails to respect the faith of Christians, Muslims or traditionalists should be expunged. Such rules are draconian and counter-productive. They only serve the interest of neo-imperialists.
“We appeal to the National Assembly to save Nigerian Muslims from annual embarrassment in NYSC camps. Our daughters are being derobed in public courtesy of a system that is blind to sociological realities, a system that has allowed itself to be enslaved by the culture of the colonial master.
“We call on the Director General of the NYSC to desist from precipitating a religious crisis of monumental proportion over the hijab saga. Nigeria has enough on its hands already. The DG should stop stirring the hornet’s nest.
“We insist that Nigerian Muslims cannot be intimidated. Nobody should test our will. Nigerian Muslims have the capacity to mobilize for peaceful protests in all NYSC camps across the country if the molestation of our daughters continue. Enough is enough.
“We did not bargain for an NYSC that has been hijacked by religious bigots and Muslim-haters!
“MURIC has a duty in loco parentis to cry out against the persecution of female Muslim corpers. They are our daughters and also our members. We charge all Islamic organizations in the country to rise to the occasion.
“We cry out to our mothers-in-Islam in the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN), the Criterion and all other female Muslim organizations. It is taboo for a woman to ignore her child’s cry! Muslim women arise, the slave masters are dragging our daughters in the mud”, Akintola said.
MURIC called on all female Muslim corps members to continue to use their hijab as it is their “Allah-given fundamental human right”, noting that it is presently keeping its ears to the ground to hear if those it termed as “unscrupulous elements” will snatch the hijab from the “heads of our daughters or those power drunk officials who will expel them from NYSC camps”.
