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Showing posts from October 31, 2015

FG owes Anambra State N25bn,' governor reveals

He reiterated that the Federal Government owed the state N25billion accruing from construction of federal roads in the state. The Anambra State governor,  Willie Obiano  has revealed that the Federal Government is owing the state to the tune of N25billion. Obiano made this revelation while inspecting the erosion sites along the Onitsha and Owerri Expressways on Saturday, October 31, 2015. He reiterated that the Federal Government owed the state N25billion accruing from construction of federal roads in the state. " This is the reason why we must get permission from the Federal Government before embarking on palliatives on the eroded site. "It is very clear from the gravity of the erosion that the state alone cannot handle the project with its meagre resources because it will run into billions of naira ’’, Obiano said. Thus, the governor called on the Federal Government to save the Onitsha/Enugu Express Road and Onitsha/Owerri Expressway from imminent collapse due to ...

Windows 10 to 'automatically download' in 2016

Starting from next year   Windows 10   will automatically download into all Microsoft computers and devices without the users knowledge. This reports comes after the recent announcement of more than 110 million devices are already running Windows 10, which proves that the company’s latest OS is efficient. Microsoft aim is to roll out the upgrade with the system settings changed into a “recommended update” and automatically download.  “ Depending upon your Windows Update settings, this may cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device, if you are on a metered connection on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, then you have the option of turning off automatic updates, we strongly discourage this in today’s connected world because of the constant risk of internet threats ,” says Microsoft.

IS claims responsibility for Russian plane crash in Egypt

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the crash of a Russian plane on Saturday in Egypt’s Sinai , which killed more than 200 people on board, in a statement posted online. The Sinai-based group “Sinai State” that had announced loyalty to the IS said in a statement posted on Twitter that its militants managed to target the Russian plane and killed all its passengers. It said the attack was in revenge for Russia’s military operations in Syria. A video released by the group showed that a plane was suddenly caught on fire and fell down, but the video cannot be verified for the moment. Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said that military planes have spotted the wreckage of the Russian plane in central Sinai with 224 passengers and crew members on board. Meanwhile, a statement released by the Russian embassy in Cairo said the plane carried 212 passengers and seven crew members, all of whom were killed in the crash. The aviation ministry said the wreckage was found in Hassana, ...

I have confidence in the judiciary, says Governor Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that he has absolute confidence and respect for the Judiciary to do justice in the state governorship legal tussle, pointing out that based on the April 11 election, his mandate would be upheld in the course of the Appeal process .                                             Nyesom Wike Also, Rivers State Stakeholders on Thursday declared that they are solidly behind Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike who was duly elected on April 11. The stakeholders included elected senators, House of Representatives members, traditional rulers, Elder statesmen and state legislators. Speaking at the Stakeholders meeting at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Nyesom Wike advised the people of the state never to criticise judges despite the judicial setback, pointing out that the appeal process will correct the judicial o...

Saraki Begs PDP Senators For Truce Over Amaechi

Senate president Bukola Saraki is trying to broker a truce with senators of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the acrimonious  confirmation of former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as a minister. The Tribune reports that sources from both sides confirmed that reconciliation was ongoing and that the Senate president had reached out to the PDP legislators to sustain their friendship. One of the sources said: “ The Senate president is unmindful of the friendship between him and the PDP senators and he is not taking that for granted. He has immediately reached out to the senators and assured them that party loyalty was responsible for his actions. I think they are resolving the grievances.” He added that the lawmakers expected that Saraki would “make up for the lapses” in the distribution of the chairmanship of senate standing committees which he is set to announce next week. According to some other sources Saraki had made spirited attempts ahead ...

Romania declares national mourning over nightclub fire

Romania’s government has declared a three-day national mourning after an overnight fire ripped through a nightclub in the capital Bucharest, killing at least 27 people and wounding more than 180 more. The fire broke out at about 11pm on Friday night at the Colectiv nightclub in the Romanian capital, with hundreds of people inside attending a rock concert. Victor Ionescu, who was at the club with his girlfriend, told Antena 3 TV by telephone that there were huge flames after the explosion. “People were fainting – they were fainting from the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampling on each other,” he said. A young man filmed by Antena 3 said that flames engulfed clubbers, burning their skin and hair. The official death toll was raised to 27 early on Saturday morning and Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat said the toll may still climb further. Journalist Sanda Nicola, reporting from Bucharest, told Al Jazeera that the Romanian health ministry has put out a notice calli...

Oprah Winfrey Finally Opens Up About Her ‘Secret Son’

Popular Media proprietor Oprah Winfrey has finally addressed reports of her “secret son” Calvin Mitchell. Reports flew out last week when a young man in braids attempted to speak with the philanthropist outside of The Stephen Colbert Show earlier this month. The man was identified as a 35-year-old truck driver, Calvin Mitchell, whom Oprah took under her wings several years. Admitting the existence of their relationship, Oprah told ET host Nancy O’Dell: “I met Calvin around the early ’90s, I think it was 1992. I was doing a film for television called There Are No Children Here. We were shooting in the projects in Chicago and I was sitting on set during a break, and this cute little sparkly-eyed boy came underneath the yellow tape to hand me a soda. I was so charmed by him that I started talking to him about his family, his school life, and found out that he was in a situation where his mother didn’t have a job and they were stuck in the projects.” Winfrey further admit...

I paid my brother £75,000 to stop him coming out as gay - John Fashanu

John Fashanu has opened up on how he tried to prevent his brother, Justin, from coming out as gay. Justin became the first British footballer to take the bold step, despite John paying him £75,000 to keep quiet. He eventually could not cope with the public outrage and depression, which led him to commit suicide in 1998. “I begged him, I threatened him, I did everything I could possibly do to try and stop him coming out,” John revealed. “I gave him the money because I didn’t want the embarrassment for me or my family. Had he come out now, it would be a different ball game. “There wouldn’t be an issue, but there was then. Things are different now. Now he’d be hailed a hero.” Justin burst onto the scene, after scoring a sensational goal for Norwich against Liverpool in 1980, a feat which made Brian Clough pay a £1million transfer fee – a record for a black player – to take him to Nottingham Forest. In 1990, he then told a newspaper, that he had an affair with a married Tory ...

Future Igbo President Must Stop Injustice - Balarabe Musa

First civilian governor of old Kaduna State and elder statesman, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, on Saturday, October 25, claimed that future president must be from Ndigbo to end decades of injustice against the tribe. Balarabe Musa, who is also chairman Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, said the prolonged marginalization of South East would bring disunity and other serious threats to the nation. Although, the Peoples Democratic Party had zoned its 2019 presidential candidate to the North three years ahead of the polls, Musa calling on all political parties to zone its 2019 presidential candidates to the South. Musa advised the Southeast zone not to stop sit and wait but to become proactive in the struggle for power shift to Ndigbo who he described as being also competent to rule Nigeria. He asked President Muhammadu Buhari for not appointing any person from South East into his kitchen cabinet. He also stressed the present administration should rather heal the ...

Jerry Heller Sues Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Straight Outta Compton Producers for Defamation | News

Jerry Heller, the music executive who managed N.W.A. , has filed a defamation lawsuit against Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, the estate of Eazy-E, NBC Universal, and other parties associated with the  Straight Outta Compton  biopic, as   TMZ reports. He said he never gave permission to use his likeness in the film, and that excerpts from his memoir  Ruthless   were used without his permission.  Heller claims the movie portrayed him as "a sleazy manager who took advantage of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube," according to TMZ, and that it was filled with factual inaccuracies. Amongst those alleged inaccuracies: Heller says he wasn't fired by Eazy-E, nor did he push Dr. Dre and Ice Cube to sign bad contracts or withhold money from Cube. (He also said he didn't eat a lobster brunch when those bad contracts were being signed, as the movie depicts.) Heller is suing for $35 million in compensatory damages as well as $75 million in punitive damages. He also wants all profit...

Pope Francis Drops His Debut Album!!!

Pope Francis recently announced his debut album  Wake Up!  and shared “Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!”. Today, His Holiness has dropped “¿Por qué sufren los ninos?” (“Why do children suffer?”) from the album. Watch the lyric video for the song below,  via Telemundo . “Por qué sufren los ninos?” features an excerpt of a speech he gave at St. Thomas University in the Philippines. It also includes a Latin hymn, “Jesu Dulcis Memoria”, performed by Italian artist Anna Tosato. He is backed on the track by acoustic guitar and choir. Wake Up!  is out November 27, and part of the proceeds from s

Emir Sanusi Sued by His Uncle

The Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II has been dragged before a Kano court by his Uncle, Alhaji Salim Abubakar Bayero over his alleged plan to demolish some historical structures in the palace to build offices for district heads. A High Court in Kano on Friday restrained the Emir from demolishing any historical structure within the palace pending the determination of the substantive application filed before it by the emir’s uncle. Other parties in the case are the Kano Emirate Council and the Attorney General of Kano state. Reports say Sanusi was bent on demolishing and destroying some structures at Ka’iya and Kachako sections as well as the graveyard of some past emirs of Kano located within the palace. He told the court that the purpose for the demolition was to build offices for district heads, arguing that such action has never happen in the history of Kano where district heads have their offices within the palace. The presiding Judge, Justice A.T Badamasi has slated the ...

Godsay Orubebe denies charges against him

Former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe, has denied charges against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) sitting in Abuja. Reacting to the allegations, Orubebe said he will address the media tomorrow. He said he did not demand and collect bribe of N70 million from a contractor handling a skill acquisition project for the ministry when he was minister and does own the plots of lands in Asokoro and Kyame, as alleged. “I cannot lay claim to plots of land I had since donated to other people and moved on in life. “I have an image and integrity to keep and none of the people who know me can say that I have ever collected a bribe from anyone,” the former minister said.

Reports from Egypt have it that a Russian airliner has crashed in central Sinai with about 271 passengers and seven crew members on board.

Confirming this to BBC was the office of Egypt’s prime minister, which stated that the Airbus A-321 had just taken off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg. As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear yet where the plane crashed, as some suggested that it may have disappeared over Cyprus. Most of the passengers on the plane operated by the Russian airline, Kogalymavia, were said to be Russian tourists. Details later…

Femi Fani-Kayode: The insolence of Rabiu Kwakwanso and the words of Inua Wada

I am saddened that the former Governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Kwakwanso, a man whom I have always considered a friend and one whom I have always respected could insult our revered Yoruba elders. A few days ago, during a function in Ibadan, it was widely reported in the media that he asserted that the recent demand by the Yoruba elders that all Fulani herdsmen ought to be banned from the south west as a consequence of the hideous atrocities that they have been committing against our people is somehow inappropriate and misguided. Instead of stopping there, he went further by attempting to give us an unsolicited lecture about his Fulani heritage and pedigree and about the benefits of having a good education: imagine that coming from one of them. He concluded by telling the Yoruba elders to just ”shut up”. Such impudence and insolence is rarely seen and this final insult may represent a defining moment in the history of the relationship between the Yoruba and the Fulani in ou...

Chief Edwin Clark Replies Rueben Abati's Memo ''Do Not Use Me As Scapegoat For Your Failure In Office...''

Below are excerpts from the open letter, dated October 26, 2015, by Chief Edwin Clark, replying former Special Adviser on Media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, and other critics over his recent comments on the former president. ''ORDINARILY at my age and position in life, I should not have to justify myself in a press controversy on my voluntary decision to quit partisan politics particularly when this personal and well intended act has come under unfair politicization of persons of mediocre temperament. For a couple of days now, I have been more bemused than angry by the not-so-funny, but, predictably, negative ingenuity of Nigerians, aided by an equally incredulous media, to create unpleasant things out of nothing.  It has been a circus of those convinced that they have found a peg to hang their own, disloyalty, failure, shallowness and hatred unto, a ball to kick around, over my statement, not for the first time, that I was quitti...

Don Jazzy Arrives Italy For A Movie Premiere Featuring 'Gentleman's Wager II'(Photos)

Mavin records boss, Don Jazzy has arrived in Rome, Italy to attend the premiere of the Gentleman's Wager II. A movie that stars Oscar-nominee Jude Law and  Giancarlo Giannini, The movie will be launched internationally on October 31, 2015. He was pictured with Joe Ciroc and the lovely @kaverikhullar. 

MTN Has Till November To Pay Its N1.4trn

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given MTN Nigeria a deadline of 16 November to pay the N1.4 trillion fine imposed on it for failing to disconnect the sim of 5.1 million subscribers who did not register their details as at when due. This came as the JSE Limited (formerly Johannesburg Stock Exchange) where MTN is registered in South Africa, launched an investigation into the timing of the operator’s announcement of its penalty. According to a report, the spokesman for the NCC was quoted as saying that the outcome of the discussion may affect the date. A statement by MTN said its CEO is still in talks with the Nigerian authorities and its senior management and advisers are also talking to JSE, after the announcement of the fine knocked around 20 percent off the company’s stock price. “That’s why they are having the discussion so that they can reach a solution,” the spokesperson said. In his reaction, head of the regulatory division of JSE, Andre Visser, said “t...

Customs orders officers to declare assets

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has ordered all its serving officers to declare their assets, The Nation has learnt. The directive came just as the service retired 29 senior officers in addition to five others whose voluntary retirements were announced on Thursday. The Nation investigation revealed that all officers from the first bar were directed to collect their asset declaration forms from their zonal offices with a view to determining the property they have illegally acquired. Sources close to the service told our correspondent yesterday that any officer who made a false financial declaration would be detected through their bank verification numbers (BVNs) recently introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). More heads, a source said, will roll after the completion of the exercise. The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NCS, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, said in a statement yesterday that the retirement of 29 officers was part of the efforts of the new Comptroller-General (...