₦airaland Forum

Thirty-five women were, disqualified by the Kano State Hisbah Board from participating in the mass wedding organized and sponsored by the state government. Those disqualified included 19 divorcees said to have tested positive to HIV and 16 others said to be pregnant.

Altogether, at least 1, 111 divorcees and widows from the 44 local government areas in the state were joined in matrimony at the City Central Mosque during a brief but colourful ceremony.

It is another round of mass wedding conducted by the Chief Imam of Kano Central Mosque, Professor Muhammad Zaharadeen. The event was attended by the state Deputy Governor, Dr Umar Ganduje, along with top Islamic clerics across the state.


However, each of the grooms signed an undertaking not to divorce their spouses without recourse to the board, as contravention will attract a N50,000 fine.

Addressing the couples shortly after the ceremony, Commandant, Kano Hisbah Board, Sheik Daurawa explained that the measure was adopted to check rising cases of divorce in the state.

He said: “We cannot fold our arms and watch our heritage destroyed. What we have done remains the best in the light of several cases of divorce among couples in the state, to halt the destruction and bastardization of our heritage,” Daurawa said.

Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State hosted the couples to a grand reception at the Government House, beamed live on radio and television stations across the country.
http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/35-women-in-kano-fail-mass-wedding-test.html

Some people on Facebook took some time out to discuss if former Governor Alao Akala was right when he said he was not bleaching his skin. Most of them think he is, but then, just like the Governor said in the real interview, that has anyone seen his childhood picture? Another person asked the same question, and said until then he believes the Governor is not bleaching. Their responses are just wow! You see, these are the kind of privileges you get when you are friends with journalists on Facebook. Bad belle people, lol.

http://chrisbassey..com/

A charity worker who spent £5,000 bringing his new Jamaican bride to the UK was left heartbroken after she abandoned him within 20 minutes of walking through his front door.
Johnny Gannon spent thousands arranging a visa for 24-year-old Patrice Chambers so they could live in marital bliss in his council flat in Perth, Scotland.
But as soon as Patrice arrived in Perth, she sent trusting Mr Gannon, 57, out to buy Pot Noodles. When he returned she grabbed her bags and told him she was going.
False pretences: Mr Gannon pictured with his new wife after their wedding in Jamaica
Within 20 minutes of arriving through his front door she had flagged down a car and caught a train. He found out she had also run up a £500 bill on his mobile phone.
Heartbroken Mr Gannon, who married Patrice in Jamaica early this year, believes his new wife fled to Bristol to meet a Jamaican boyfriend with whom she had organised the scheme.
He told the Daily Mirror: 'I was looking forward to spending the rest of my life with Patrice but I think she had planned all along to do this.

http://chrisbassey..com/

The news filtered in yesterday but it wasn't confirmed. It's now been confirmed. After more than five months, the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has officially called off its strike action starting from today November 17th.

The strike was called off after a meeting in Minna, Niger State yesterday, days after ASUU signed a new agreement with the Federal Government. Congratulations, students!

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/ASUU-strike-finally-over.html

Enugu State Governor, Sullivan chime has been quoted to have said that he would resign as governor even if the constitution was amended beyond 2015 to contest for the senate position of Enugu West under the platform of People’s Democratic Party in the state.

The governor allegedly made the assertion during a courtesy visit of members of Enugu Unity forum, a non political organization at the government house, Enugu, saying that he wants to teach the serving national assembly members how to wind down, since they could not do that on their own.

The governor allegedly received the Forum behind closed doors at the government house where he declared to run for the senatorial position of Enugu West, since the earlier agreement in the state of those that have served for two terms or more at the national and state assemblies to step aside for new entrants did not go down with some of them.

According to him, “since a good number of them were allegedly agitating and indirectly resisting the earlier accord at the state PDP caucus, I want to teach them how to wind down, even if it means dropping the governorship, I can risk it to contest the senatorial position”, he explained.

The governor allegedly expressed surprised that the members of the national assembly can forget so soon a written agreement that nobody should go beyond two terms in the national and state assemblies.

Since some of them were charting another dimensions to the agreement, and could not wind down on their own, I will teach them how to wind down by running for the senatorial position of Enugu West, even if the constitution was amended beyond 2015, I will resign as Enugu State governor to contest for the 2015 Enugu West Senatorial position, he noted.

Earlier the national president, Enugu Unity Forum, Mr. Tahill Ochi, expressed satisfaction with chime for maintaining his earlier promise of shifting the 2015 Enugu guber to Enugu North Senatorial Zone.

Mr. Ochi applauded Chime on infrastructural development, education, peace and security in the state, explaining that the state has enjoyed a clear democratic transformation of the governor’s four point agenda, than what was obtained in the past administrations in the state.

In a vote of thanks at the parley the national secretary, Dr. Chuka Ezema who later briefed Vanguard exclusively, noted that the life achievement of Chime in Enugu State was peace and security which clearly brings back memories of the state as a Coal City in the South-East and South-South geo-political zones in the country.

Dr. Ezema said that the stand point of the governor on Enugu North Senatorial zone to produce the PDP candidate for 2015 was a manifestation of honesty of the state PDP caucus meeting for the governed.

He explained, that “the Enugu Unity Forum is a non political organization with political interest and would use template formular to determine a credible candidate for Enugu North 2015 guber project”, he said.
READ MORE: http://chrisbassey..com/

At least 15,316 Nigerians are in various prisons abroad, with the largest number of 752 in the United Kingdom, Abdulazeez Dankano, the Director, Consular and Immigration Services, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has confirmed.

Dankano said many of the prisoners were in the Asian-pacific region for drug-trafficking related offences.

The revised figure is 6,000 more than the earlier figure published by the ministry in June this year.

“This figure cannot be exact because some countries’ laws do not allow them to reveal such information. Sometimes our missions go through serious challenges to get the information,’’ he said.

Dankano explained that Nigeria and Thailand were currently implementing a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA), which has seen the repatriation of about 400 Nigerian prisoners since 2008. He stated that the PTA allows the return of a prisoner to serve out his sentence in his home country where both jurisdictions are in agreement.

Dankano listed the UK, Hong Kong and India as other countries with which Nigeria had concluded bilateral PTA but have yet to sign the agreements. “The three agreements are ready for signing and at a convenient time for the countries, they will be signed,’’ he said.

Dankano said the agreement with India was concluded last month following the visit of a high-level Nigerian delegation to New Delhi to negotiate some outstanding agreements with the country.

On UK, Dankano said that Nigeria had an existing PTA under the Commonwealth scheme that had facilitated the repatriation of only one prisoner. “Under that (commonwealth) agreement, the prisoner has to consent before repatriation as that is the practice in international human rights. The commonwealth scheme is still open and convicted prisoners can opt to come back through that scheme or through the bilateral PTA that will soon be signed,’’ he said.

He said that about 300 Nigerians in UK prisons are qualified for repatriation under the bilateral PTA, and that the UK government would defray the cost of bringing them home. Dankano said that 22 Nigerian prisoners in Hong Kong had indicated their willingness to return home to complete their terms. “I went to Hong Kong recently and met with each of the prisoners and they indicated their interest to come back home and complete their prisons terms.

“Hong Kong is a special administrative region under China, so we had to seek the Chinese government approval before going into the negotiations. We got the approval, did the negotiations and in the New Year we will find a convenient time to sign the agreement and bring back the 22 Nigerians.’’

He noted that under the transfer agreement “the consent of the convicted persons is required before repatriation, in addition to the consent of the authorities in both states’’.

The ministry official said that there are 665 Nigerian prisoners in various prisons in India and the ministry was yet to determine how many of them are qualified for transfer to Nigerian prisons.

He explained that Nigerians serving capital punishments cannot be transferred home even if they consent to return home. Dankano told NAN that repatriating prisoners back home was usually a hard bargain for the country as most airlines are cautious of transporting them.

“We have not recorded any incident yet and the Nigerian government does not pay for any prisoner to be transported home. We can only facilitate their return and when they come, government will shoulder the responsibility of maintaining them until they end their term; that is what is in the agreement,’’ he said.

www.chrisbassey..com

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/south-african-sign-language-interpreter.html

Details have emerged about the violent crime charges that Thamsanqa Jantjie, the fake sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's funeral sevice faced a decade ago.


The bogus sign language interpreter at last week’s Nelson Mandela memorial service was among a group of people who accosted two men found with a stolen television and burned them to death by setting fire to tires placed around their necks, one of the interpreter’s cousins and three of his friends told The Associated Press Monday.

But Thamsanqa Jantjie never went to trial for the 2003 killings when other suspects did in 2006 because authorities determined he was not mentally fit to stand trial, said the four. They insisted on speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the fake signing fiasco, which has deeply embarrassed South Africa’s government and prompted a high-level investigation into how it happened.

Their account of the killings matched a description of the crime and the outcome for Jantjie that he himself described in an interview published on Sunday by the Sunday Times newspaper of Johannesburg.

“It was a community thing, what you call mob justice, and I was also there,” Jantjie told the newspaper.
Jantjie was not at his house Monday, and the cousin told AP Jantjie had been picked up by someone in a car Sunday and had not returned. His cellphone rang through to an automatic message saying Jantjie was not reachable.

Instead of standing trial, Jantjie was institutionalized for a period of longer than a year, the four said, and then returned to live in his poor township neighborhood on the outskirts of Soweto. At some point after that, they said, he started getting jobs doing sign language interpretation at events for the governing African National Congress Party.

Jantjie told the AP last week he has schizophrenia and hallucinated, seeing angels while gesturing incoherently just 3 feet away from President Barack Obama and other world leaders during the Tuesday ceremony at a Soweto stadium. Signing experts said his arm and hand movements were mere gibberish.

In the interview last Thursday, Jantjie said he had been violent in the past “a lot” but declined to provide more details and blamed his violence on his schizophrenia, for which he said he was institutionalized for 19 months in a period that included time during 2006. The cousin and the three friends said the “necklacing” killing of the suspected thieves occurred within a few hundred meters (yards) from Jantjie’s tidy concrete home near ramshackle dwellings.

The four spoke to the AP on Monday in Jantjie’s neighborhood, and one of the friends described himself as Jantjie’s best friend.

Necklacing was a method of killing that was fairly common during the struggle against apartheid by blacks on blacks suspected of aiding the white government or belonging to opposing factions. The method was also used in tribal disputes in the 1980s and 1990s. While people who encounter suspect thieves in South Africa have been known to beat or kill them to mete out punishment, necklacing them has been rare.

An investigation is under way by South African officials to determine who hired Jantjie as the onstage interpreter at the Mandela memorial service and if and how he received security clearance. The officials have not said how long their investigation will take place, and reaching them for updates was difficult Monday, a public holiday in South Africa.

Four government departments involved in organizing the historic memorial service have distanced themselves from the hiring of Jantjie, telling the AP they had no contact with him. A fifth government agency, the Department of Public Works, declined to comment and referred all inquiries about Jantjie to the office of South Africa’s top government spokeswoman, who has only said a “comprehensive report” will eventually be released.

Jantjie told the AP he was hired for the event by an interpretation company that has used him on a freelance basis for years, but government officials have said the owners of the company have disappeared. The address that Jantjie provided for the company was occupied by a different company that is not involved in interpreting for the deaf.

The AP was unable to verify the existence of the school where Jantjie said he studied signing for a year. An online search for the school, which Jantjie said was called Komani and located in Eastern Cape Province, turned up nothing. Advocates for the deaf said they have never heard of the school and said there are no known sign language institutes in the province.

The Star newspaper of Johannesburg reported Friday that Jantjie said he studied sign language interpretation in Britain at the “University of Tecturers.” A British charity that awards qualifications for deaf and deaf-blind communications techniques said it had never heard of the university.

Happy Birthday Regina Askia 'Williams'', LLNP and more years to come.

A Nollywood super actress and former model

My favorite movie from her is ''Suicide Mission'' featured Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), when she was in acting in Nigeria.

She is now a qualified Nurse in the United States.

She won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 1989, Miss UNILAG 88

She is now an American-based registered nurse (RN)

She is married to American Rudolph 'Rudy' Williams

Happy Birthday to Regina Askia 'Williams', I love you and your family.

www.chrisbassey..com

There is joy in the Kuti household as music star, Seun Kuti and his girlfriend/back-up dancer Yetunde Ademuluyi welcomed their first child together.

The couple gave birth to a baby girl yesterday.

Yetunde according to reports is the grand daughter of Lagos monarch Oba of Egbeda Land, Samseen Alade Balogun’s second wife, Oloori Patricia. Yetunde has been dancing with Seun’s band, Egypt 80, for over five years.

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/another-kuti-is-born-seun-kuti-welcomes.html

A soldier attached to the Amphibious Battalion Training School, Ikot Enim, Calabar has been reportedly beaten to death by hoodlums at Ikot Nakanda, Akpabuyo local government Area of Cross River State.
The soldier whose name was given as Sugibee Emmanuel, a private from Benue State, was deployed to GloTrust, a communications company that operates in the area as a security guard but over the weekend, he along with a colleague had confrontation with hoodlums, which led to his being beaten to death.
“His girl friend came to visit him so he and Umaru decided to go to the market at Ikot Nakanda on a motorcycle to buy some ingredients to prepare a meal for her but on their way to the market, a bus double crossed their motorcycle and they stopped the bus and asked if the driver knew who they were”. A source, which prefers anonymity, said.
The conductor, our source said, in turn asked the soldiers who were not wearing their uniform who they thought they were and with his right hand “showed them the ‘waka’ sign which in Hausa means ‘your mother’ and this infuriated the soldiers who grabbed the conductor and gave him severe beating”.
The beating of the conductor by Sugibee and Umaru was said to have attracted the sympathy of a commercial bike rider popularly known as ‘okada man’ who asked if they wanted to kill the boy.
“The okada man asked them if the beating was not yet okay since the boy had begun bleeding and the soldiers also grabbed the okada man and assaulted him too.”
The assault on the okada man by the soldiers allegedly angered his colleagues and other hoodlums who then went after the two soldiers with sticks and stones and when the attack became too much on them, Umaru was said to have escaped leaving behind Sugibee and by the time he came back, he saw his friend on the ground bleeding profusely and he had to rush him to the Akpabuyo General Hospital for medical attention but the attack was too much on the man and he died the on Sunday morning.
DSP Joe, the Officer- in- charge of Homicide at the Cross River State police Command headquarters, Diamond Hill, said one Glory Eno Edet, her son, Edet and the youth leader of Ikot Nakanda have been arrested and were undergoing interrogation.
Mr. Hogan Bassey, the spokesman for the state Police Command said the three arrested were being interrogated to get leads to others involved in the attack. “These three arrested are by no means all the suspect; we are interrogating them to get information on the other suspects”.
When CrossRiverWatch reporter visited Ikot Nkanda on Monday evening, the place was a ghost town as most people particularly youths have deserted the area for fear of revenge attack by soldiers or arrest by police.

www.chrisbassey..com

Images have emerged of what's happening at the newly discovered healing river in Nachi, a community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Already named 'Orimiri Jordan' [River Jordan], it has become a pilgrimage centre of sorts, playing host to people from all parts of the country.
Apparently, the photos below were taken in the area.

See more after the cut. WARNING: VIEWER'S DISCRETION IS ADVISED

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/photos-sick-flood-enugus-healing-river.html

The actor who is well loved by so many people, due to the way he effectively carries out his roles, is down with a heart disease. Mr Bakare has been in and out of hospital and presently at his home now. He says, he feels weak, and can’t do anything at the moment and he’s asking for the help of well-meaning Nigerians. His words;

“I'm weak; I cannot do anything for now. I've also not been able to work for a while now as a result if this illness, so I'm calling on well-meaning Nigerians for support.”

http://chrisbassey..com

A total of 130 couples have said "I do" in a mass wedding at Rio de Janeiro's Superior Court of Justice, marking the city's first gay civil marriages. In mid-May, Brazilian courts determined that public offices that oversee marriages cannot reject gay couples. The ceremony held on the 8th of Dec. 2013 and most of them were close to tears as their dreams of getting married came true. See photos on the website below

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/photos-brazil-hosts-mass-gay-wedding.html

Here is what he said when he posted the photo. “The finished “Nelson Mandela” lookin out of the prison bars by @NikkoHurtado done on my side. 7 hour sitting…. Few more hours to tie in the tats around it & we solid. #NelsonMandela #RIP #Legend #Leader #Freedom #Peace #Equality #Tattoos #SouthAfrica”. Another photo of him after the cut.

more on www.chrisbassey..com

OK, I promise this is the last you will hear of this matter...lol. Flavour has apologised to Waconzy for telling a fan that a collaboration with him, (Waconzy) will probably never happen.

www.chrisbassey..com

Okwui Eneowo, a.k.a Mr Perfect has just been awarded the most Best Focus producer, in the AGN end of the year Award Night Enugu.
if you can recall Mr Perfect is a Veteran Movie producer, and he hasnt stopped on that over the years, after many Successful movie such as,
OSOUFIA IN WORLDCUP, LOVE AND OIL, The Great Servant, Etc

Informations also has it that he is presently working on Cinema Movie to be shot in Calabar, and guess what RED camera would be used all
through in this movie. The Cinema movie would starr the likes of MERCY JOHNSON, MAJID MICHEL,ALEX OSIFO, AMEACHI MUNAGUO,SOLOMON AKIYESI. etc.

Audition on this Movie would be held on the 13th @Hunger Spot *Former Gabby/Delight) Etta Agbo Calabar by 8am.
In Calabar. Cross River for Enquiries 08038350652

We wish him luck

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/movie-producer-mr-perfect-backs-award.html

A twenty-four-year-old man, Ndifreke Uko has allegedly impregnated his younger sister, Otobong Uko.

The incident occurred at Ikang Etta Street in Calabar Municipality of Cross River State, where residents are still shocked as to what may have led the duo to engage in such sacrilegious act.

Narrating her ordeal, Otobong said: “My brother has been having regular sex with me until I suddenly realized what the whole thing was all about. And when I noticed it, I told my father, but he advised me not to make it public, until three months after I realized that I had missed my period.”

Investigations revealed that the same Ndifrek had allegedly impregnated one of the sisters some years ago, leading to the death of the girl in the attempt to abort the pregnancy.

When our correspondent visited the compound, nobody including the landlord was willing to talk. But it was observed that the property of the Uko family had been thrown out.

A neighbour who spoke with our reporter on condition of anonymity said: “This is incredible. How can this boy engage in this kind of wicked act? We are highly angry for what the boy has been doing. I think he is cursed.”

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/24-yr-old-man-impregnates-sister-in.html

…Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, Bosnia fixtures allegedly fixed


Eurosport blog has alleged that Group F, involving Argentina, Nigeria, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina may have been fixed. Quoting series of social networking websites allegedly opened 24 hours to Friday’s draw, it claims that conspiracy theories are flying after a user on Twitter apparently correctly predicted two major elements of the draw.
The Twitter account named “Brasil 2014 Fraude” and written in Spanish. It was reportedly shared tens of thousand times around the world.
However, it was also being suspected as an elaborate hoax by a group of computer hackers. The first element correctly predicted was that Italy would be the European team to be moved from Pot 4, which initially contained nine teams to Pot 2, which had seven teams comprising five from Africa and the two unseeded South American teams.
“Brasil 2014 Fraude” also correctly predicted that Argentina would be in a group that would have Nigeria, Iran and Bosnia- Herzegovina.
According to the blog, the twitter, using the hash tag “#FifaFraude,” the string of messages in Spanish started with a bold declaration against FIFA and asserting that the tournament winner had already been chosen.
The EuroSport blog translated the Spanish message thus: ““We profoundly lament that a sport that is so pure is manipulated by an international organisation that acts on its economic interests.
“We are not trying to rid the World Cup of its excitement and euphoria. However, if this corrupt manipulation goes on, we will consider ourselves obliged to publish the name of the winner of the competition, which has already been dictated by Blatter and his company from Switzerland.
“On the other hand, neither is it our intention to ruin all the drama of the World Cup draw. With that in mind, we will only publish the group in which Argentina will play. Let’s begin.”
According to Eurosport, there had been conspiracy theories running for years about possible ways of fixing the draw, with the favourite being that the balls are heated up somehow, or perhaps even vibrate via remote control, to let those doing the drawing know who to pick out next.
Eurosport explained that the idea sounds ridiculous as the very best teams were already kept apart in the group stages by the seeding system. It was, however, intriguing that the predictions came the night before the draw took place.

http://chrisbassey..com/

The 2014 FIFA World Cup draw took place in Brazil today and Nigeria will play against Argentina, Iran and Bosnia-something...lol. Nigeria's opening game will be against Iran and even though Bosnia looks like it will be an easy game for us, the country is ranked higher than Nigeria in the world. They are ranked 21st, while Nigeria is ranked 36th, but I'm sure we'll qualify alongside Argentina.

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/fifa-world-cup-2014-draw-pairs-nigeria.html

Nelson Mandela made a profound impact on South Africa, democracy and lives around the world — including Oprah Winfrey’s. Upon hearing of Mandela’s passing on Thursday, Oprah released the following statement.

“One of the great honors of my life was to be invited to Nelson Mandela’s home, spend private time and get to know him. He was everything you’ve ever heard and more — humble and unscathed by bitterness. And he always loved to tell a good joke. Being in his presence was like sitting with grace and majesty at the same time.He will always be my hero. His life was a gift to us all.”

more on chrisbassey..com

Nigeria is Drawn to Group F with the Following team

ARGENTINA
NIGERIA
IRAN
BOSNIA

I believe this is not so Hard Group for us

more on www.chrisbassey..com and http://fifa.com-2014-world-cup-draw

A young man named Sadiq Afolabi (pictured above) was stabbed with a bottled and nearly killed by his friend named Lawal Alarape during a fight at a bar in Alagbado Lagos on Monday night December 2nd.

Lawal was arrested by the police on Monday night but has since been release while Sadiq is still in the hospital battling for his life, a family member told me. They kinda want the story out so they can get justice for their relative. The case is being handled by the police at Ijaiye Ojokoro police station, Alagbado.

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/graphic-pic-man-almost-stabs-friend-to.html

The Police Command again has uncovered another baby-making factory in Egbu, near Owerri the State capital, arresting the proprietor, one Dr. James Ezuma who runs a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and a clinic. 16 girls were rescued in the process. The girls were kept in two rooms in the building that houses his NGO, with no windows while repulsive odour oozed out from their rooms
The girls, aged 14-19 were encouraged to get pregnant and take home the sum of N100,000 at delivery, on the condition that they would abandon their babies who would be eventually used for purposes ranging from child trafficking to rituals
The commissioner of Police has warned the general public to endeavour to keep an eye on their girls so that they would not fall prey to such miscreants like Dr. Ezuma, who does not mean well for the society.

One of the girls who spoke amidst tears said, her boyfriend rejected the pregnancy and was directed here by her aunt. She said though she was given N100,000 after delivery, on the promise that they would train her baby, but she never knew her baby would be sold to unknown persons even without her consent.

Also speaking, another victim, 18 year old Blessing A. who came from Lagos, told journalists that she became stranded when she got pregnant, but was directed to the place with the promise that her child would be taken care of.

The suspect while speaking to journalists insisted that he was not into child trafficking, and that the child was given out for adoption on the consent of the mother.

Other items recovered from the suspect include, a gun and 10 exotic cars of different models

more on www.chrisbassey..com

Visiting US hip-hop kid, Wale, no doubt, is now a happy young man having realized his age-long dream to assist his parents return to their fatherland after a long sojourn abroad.

Before his open confession two weeks back that he, indeed, longed to visit his homeland Nigeria but for lack of financial will by his parents, many had concluded that the 29 years old was bedeviled with the White mentality and may never visit Nigeria.

But many did not know that a 2006 recording deal actually saved Wale's family from rotting in poverty perpetually. The rapper himself stated publicly during his visit that 'I grew up poor', adding that 'though I had longed to visit Nigeria with my parents since I was 15, little could we do with a $20,000 annual income from which you had to pick every bill including paying high school fees, and things were really very tight...

Wale's poor parents moved in 1979 from Austria to the US in search of greener pastures.

Born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, Wale who is now signed on rapper Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group did make his opening fortune when he met producer Mark Ronson who in 2007 signed him on Allido Records. He was later signed for a $1.3 million deal on Interscope Records.

He made his first signature with 'Dig Dug (Shake It) in 2006.

'Attention Deficit', Wale's debut album, did not make much impact but luckily was nudged by three successive singles; 'Chillin', 'Pretty Girls' and 'World Tour'.

Indeed, it was a sweet homecoming for an homeboy.

www.chrisbassey..com

VA
I did a double take after reading this report on Thenet.ng. According to the investigative news portal, singer Burna Boy was part of a gang that stabbed someone to death in the UK in 2010. See it below...

Burn Boy’s ‘uncontrollable’ mannerism and persona didn’t just start yesterday; NET investigations and sources have linked him to a criminal past, a period of his life he would rather not make public knowledge.

We are told on good authority that while in the UK back in 2010, Burna Boy was arrested by London Police for allegedly being part of a gang and stabbing someone to death. He was tried as a minor and sent to jail.

After 11 months, he was released and given two months parole plus community service on the grounds of being of ‘good behaviour’. But Burna is said to have disobeyed authorities and travelled back to Nigeria where he signed a record deal with Aristokrat.

He later travelled back to the UK but was arrested at the airport and deported to Nigeria. He is currently barred from the UK for the next 15 years.

Oh wait, or did they say he was the one who stabbed someone to death? Oh dear..
more on www.chrisbassey..com

I am sorry for blocking the road-Widow

SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN CITY-GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state, Monday, gave the sum of N2million to Madam Joy Oviengbede Ifije, the widow whom the Governor carpeted last week for blocking the walkways along Mission Road with her goods.

Besides, the governor and his family gave scholarship Bright Ifije, the son of the widow in his education in order to help the family. The N2million was given to her to a rent a shop and set up a business so as to resist the temptation of selling along the walkways in future.

Oshiomhole and the family of the widow reconciled Monday during a breakfast meeting, where the governor reiterated his earlier apology to the woman following his outburst at her, which he confessed was as a result of anger from the way traders and drivers are frustrating the state government’s efforts to beautify Benin City.

Madam Ifije who knelt down to express her gratitude to the governor, said her actions on the said day was not intentional and pledged to join the state government in its campaign to ensure sanity and orderliness in the city.

While addressing Madam Ifije who was accompanied to Government House by her sister Patience Ajayi and the landlord, Mr Omobude Osakpanwa, Oshiomhole said he was sincerely sorry for the uncomplimentary words he used against the widow, adding that it was as a result of his passion to see that sanity returns in the city.

According to him, “my anger was that when I saw you blocking the road I said if your blocking the road do you want people to be killed and you said you are a widow and I said if you want other people to be killed. I am sure you know that we don’t want accidents on our roads and that was why we built the walk ways so that pedestrians will have their way and vehicles will have their way.

“Because we still find people abandon the markets to come and sale on the walkways blocking the road and you find out that the expansion that we have done, some time out of six lanes you find out that only two are functioning. They just block one of the roads, while buses will block another part of the road and there will be serious traffic.

“ I am doing my best to see that we make Benin City a beautiful city that it was before. You see, when you send a lot of money, government money to try and beautify the city, to build roads and all that, you find the roads are not working, I get very angry. The second issue is that when you put your goods on the roads, the buses can run into you or like those that sales tomatoes or pepper, those things can be contaminated because of the exposure which is not good.

“That was why I said to you if you are a widow do you want more people to be widows, but when I said go and die, I was really touched that I said that to you because I understand that looking at you, you are struggling but I was really angry but I realized that even at anger I can achieve the same result without talking to you the way that I did.

“Though I apologize to you from the bottom of my heart because even my own daughters they have been harassing me on your behalf. I was really angry that day because I was going round and I found out that a lot of things were wrong and it was a pity that that anger, that aggression was transferred to you and I hope you forgive me” he stated.

He further urged the widow to “assist me to talk to traders first to keep our roads clean, not to block on roads so that people walking, people walking can have the roads free. The state government will employ you to do this job for us and we will give you all the assistance you need”.

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All Catholics in the world will go to hell because they worship Satan and are led by an Anti-Christ Pope who is a friend to the devil, Nigeria’s controversial preacher and former presidential candidate, Chris Okotie, told his congregation on Sunday, leaving members bewildered.

Fifty-five year old Okotie, while preaching in his Household of God Church in Ikeja area of Lagos, western Nigeria, said the Catholic church is “a counterfeit church set up by Satan” and that Catholics “bow to idols and crucify Jesus every Sunday when they eat bread claiming they are eating Jesus’ body.”


“They are not Christians and have never been,” Okotie told a stunned congregation.
“They don’t know Jesus. They believe that when they eat bread on Sundays, they are eating the body of Jesus. It’s ritual,” Okotie said.

He said Pope Francis is an Anti-Christ who does the job of the devil and that time is fast approaching when the Catholic church will pledge allegiance to Satan.

http://chrisbassey..com/2013/12/catholics-members-will-go-to-hell-pope.html
“The pope is an Anti-Christ and the Catholic church will soon declare for Satan. This is the end of times,” Okotie erupted.

He advised members of his church to come to the rescue of Catholics and evangelise them.
This, he said, was not out of disrespect but out of respect for the word of God.

He said those who know the truth should bring it to those who do not know it in the Catholic Church.
Okotie said one of the Catholic most revered Popes, Pope John Paul 11, surrendered the Catholic Church to Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus Christ, instead of Jesus himself. He said even the current Pope Francis has also done same.

He said Catholics are not Christians and do not worship the same Christ that he preaches in his church, at least the one spoken about in the Bible.

Okotie said he did not write the Bible but it was clear to him that those in the Catholic church were lost and were heading to hell fire.

“They don’t believe in heaven. They believe in purgatory, the purgatory that they invented,” Okotie said.

“That church, the Catholic church has been there for Satan and at the right time, they will declare for Satan,”Okotie said.

Okotie who has been married twice and divorced also twice said a beauty pageant will take place in his church next Sunday to select the most beautiful woman in his church.

He also said his yearly “Grace programme” where he makes donations to charity organisations will also take place next Sunday.

The once rock star turned celebrity preacher and politician has been controversial for years.
He once said it was the devil who told him for the first time that he was going to be a preacher.
He also said Nigeria’s famous preacher Prophet T.B. Joshua is the son of the devil and his followers will go straight to hell.

In recent years, he has been saying that God has anointed him to be Nigeria’s president. That prophecy has not come to pass in two presidential elections that he participated in.

There was shock at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos, after a commercial sex worker, Thesie Emoven, who was arrested for stealing a gold chain worth N650, 000, brought out the chain from her private parts.
The 26-year-old suspect had spent three days in police custody, denying that she stole the chain, until she could not endure police interrogation any longer.
The owner of the chain, who identified himself simply as Cosmas, said he had gone to patronise the suspect at an hotel in Ikeja, when she drugged him.
He alleged that after he fell asleep, the suspect stole his chain.
He said, “I am a 26-year-old footballer from Esan, Edo State. I am not married, but have two children. Around 9pm last week Sunday, I went to the hotel to have fun with a prostitute, but while I was on her bed, she gave me some tablets and told me to take it as this would make me last longer. I agreed and gave her N3,000
“However, I fell asleep immediately only to wake up around 1am. The girl was not in, but a few minutes later, she came in. I noticed that the gold chain was missing. I asked her where it was, but she denied taking it.
“I explained to her that the chain belonged to my elder brother, Martins, but she continued to deny taking it, so I started shouting and this attracted the manager, who called policemen from Ikeja Police Station. After two days at Ikeja Police Station, she continued to deny it and the matter was transferred to SARS.”
Emoven, who spoke to our correspondent, however, described the matter as a domestic, rather than a criminal matter.
She said Cosmas was her lover and she had a good reason for taking the chain
She said, “Although I am a sex worker, Cosmas is my boyfriend and we have been dating for over a year. I even got pregnant for him, but I aborted it. We made love a lot, but he never paid me for my service.
“Last week Sunday, he came to my room and just before we could have sex, he said I should buy him codeine, so I gave him my phone to hold for me. When I returned, he was playing snooker downstairs and when I asked him for my phone, he said he couldn’t find it.
“We went back to my room and he gave me N3, 000 to buy a new phone. We had sex and we went to shower. However, I grabbed his chain and kept it.”
She said Cosmas started shouting and even threatened to stab her with a bottle if she did not return the chain.
She said the manager intervened and involved the police and when the room was searched and the gold was not found, they were taken to the station.
She said, “On our way to the station, I removed the pendant and gave my cousin to keep it for me. When we got to the station, I was told that all our belongings would be collected at the counter so I put the chain in cotton wool and nylon and inserted it in my private part.
“I was searched and nothing was found on me. Two days later, I was taken to SARS. After intense interrogation, I confessed to them and brought it out.”
Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, told our correspondent that the suspect would soon be charged.
“The Officer-in-Charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, was able to get the suspect to confess after she denied the crime for three days.
“She discharged the chain from her private parts. She will be charged for stealing,” Braide said.

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