₦airaland Forum

Buchiano(m):
Was he a Nigerian citizen before

yes na!

Notorious for his role as a Militant commander in the Niger Delta who led his army of well armed youths against the Nigerian state and made even more famous recently for his volte face in supporting his benefactor, Goodluck Jonathan, Mujahid Asari Dokubo has taking his tantrums to a whole new level by denouncing his Nigerian citizenship.

According to him, “In protest against the inability of Nigeria to grant IJAW REPUBLIC, I have relocated my corporate investments to Benin Republic. Benin is my adopted homeland today”.


www.informationng.com/2013/01/asari-dokubo-adopts-benin-republic-dumps-nigerian-citizenship.html/asari

Did d president referred 2 d constition
b4 paying d severance allowance.Know
4 sure that this is man know man affair
& it has a political undertone.It hs 2 do
wt 2015 political permutations.God wl
punish all those who are making life difficult 4 d commoner.

The slush funds were routed through
the Katsina state government, the
home state of the former president. The payment includes about N150
million to Mrs. Turai Yar’adua, as well
as the late president’s aged mother,
his married daughters, and sons. It is yet unclear if any provision was
made for his second wife, Hauwa
Umar Radda, whom the late president
divorced in 1997, shortly before he
became the governor of Katsina
state. Although she has received the biggest
payout, it would be recalled that it
was the controversial former First
Lady, Turai, who pushed Nigeria to
the brink of a political crisis between
2009 and May 2010 while her husband was hospitalized in Saudi Arabia. He
eventually returned and died inside
the Aso Rock Villa. Mrs. Yar’Adua was at the head of a
cabal of Ministers, aides and security
agents that manipulated the nation
for many tense months as they clung
to power, almost leading to the
collapse of the government.
www.informationng.com/2013/01/president-jonathan-pays-close-to-n1-billion-in-severance-to-yaradua-family.html
www.247nigerianewsupdate.com/president-jonathan-pays-close-to-n1-billion-in-severance-to-yaradua-family/

Being a lady or a man has been proven so many times to be by chance. Being famous could be subject to luck and hard work, but being sexy could be as a result of so many things, choice is one of them. Below is a list of arguably the sexiest Men and Women on this side of the planet.

WOMEN
From brains to busts to business sense and
b*tts, perfect manners to a polished image;
sultry demeanour to striking confidence;
incredibly sexy, and a flawless sense of style.
Brilliant success in their fields, and good public
persona…these are the Top 5 hottest Celebrity Women on this side of the planet!

Tolu Oniru (Toolz) Meet Toolz, the most liked on-air-personality
and the girl with the most mind-boggling
figure in the world! Toolz is like the carving of
a goddess, something Michelangelo could have
sculpted in his days. Men (even women!)
wonder what she’d look like unclad because it is almost inconceivable for anyone to be
created with every feminine attribute in
generous proportion like she has. This makes
the OAP the most wanted Nigerian woman
alive! Every Nigerian man would want to, at
least kiss her hand and ask how it must feel to come in such a body worthy of worship. With a
killer body comes a killer career. There’s
nobody as good as Toolz on the radio on a
hot Lagos afternoon.
Kemi Adetiba Kemi is classic beauty. Her sexiest feature is
her intellect; not forgetting her newly svelte
figure, something she acquired through a lot
of discipline and hard work. That, too, adds to
her résumé as one of Nigeria’s most sought-
after beauty. An inspiring go-getter, Kemi continues to push the boundaries, succeeding
in almost every area of entertainment and still
able to look like a princess at the underbelly
of sheer diligence and industry. She knows a
thing or two about everything in the world –
politics, basketball, music – name it, and has served brilliantly on and off the camera as
one of the able presenters and hosts of radio
and TV programmes. Guys love Kemi because
she seems like she could roll up in a shirt and
watch football with him all night, and still be
as sexy as ever the next morning!
Damilola Adegbite The actress transformed right in front of our
eyes, graduating from just a regular TV star
to a sexy screen siren. It’s exactly the way we
want an actress to look – great looks with a
personality and style that seems to evolve.
The sexy thing about Damilola is that her private life isn’t splashing all over tabloids. So
there’s still a mystery to her that keeps us
guessing, and men do find that very
attractive.

MEN Below is the hottest “meal” ever! The top 5
celebrity men on this part of the globe who
make our hearts skip!
Chris Attoh Chris Attoh was created on a Sunday! God
took his time- moulded his nose, shaped his lips,
put a sexy blush to his skin, and voila! One of
the most handsome creatures on the face of
the earth was made! Chris has had his hands in
the entertainment pie for a while. He has worked as an OAP in Ghana’s Groove FM and
Choice FM, and also on “Show Time” a TV show
in Ghana. But we all know him and fell in love
with him as a cast on Tinsel.
Peter (Psquare) One-half of the P-square sensation is a s*x
symbol! Peter has a body sculpted like a god.
He takes his time to look good, and it shows
anytime he takes off his shirt, which he does
quite often. Being so ridiculously sexy is a lot
of hard work, and the ladies appreciate it!
Ebuka Obi-Uchendu Ebuka is a complete package of looks, style,
brains, and finesse. The dude can be anything
he wishes to be. He is vast in politics, sound in
entertainment, and a lawyer; a red-carpet
delight, cerebral and sharp-witted. It’s a
package that comes one in a hundred men! And there’s also that sense of modesty that
makes him oh-so sexy! Ebuka is the dude you
want to wake up next to; every woman wants
a smart guy not too far away from her!
Lynxxx If Lynxxx didn’t make it to the top 5, it’ll be a
crime. He is the epitome of the perfect male
form. A very good looking guy – the kind of
guy that you think his looks is just enough,
why does he need to be brainy or talented?
Now that is what makes Lynxxx an exception, his talent is just as delightful as his
appearance.
Flava N’abania Have you seen Flava bare-chested? Is it not
the most gorgeous display ever? Flava’s music
is embellished with the musician’s well-kept
body – lithe, slim, with muscle contours and
outlines in all the right places. He is our newest
crush and we just had to show him off! His music and his beautiful abs are worth more
than silver and gold.
www.informationng.com/2013/01/the-top-5-sexiest-men-and-women-of-2012.html

The soccer star, Austine Jay Jay Okocha is
said to have put one of his many houses for
sale due to God knows what. Though, some people said his idea of selling
the house may be unconnected to global
economic crunch that is eaten deep on him. The property, according to a reliable source,
is one of the many properties owned by the
footballer within and outside Nigeria.
Information gathered indicates that Okocha
is putting up the building located in Akute,
Ogun state for sale at the cost of N17 million. At the moment people are living in the house. A
source within the area where the house is
located informed us that Okocha rarely visit
the house but he has people who manage the
place on his behalf.
www.informationng.com/2013/01/hard-times-austin-jay-jay-okocha-puts-house-up-for-sale.html

gbanikiti: Another Dumb thread in favour of the CLUELESS ONE! Sincere 9gerian, you should be ready to give up soon cos i will do to you exactly what SR and THE PUNCH did to your sorry azz!

U Dey CRAZE.

I read a numbers of interesting articles
dealings with subject of bribery and
corruption.I quite agree with many of the
contributors that the canker-worm bribery
and corruption has actually eaten deep into
the fabric of our society. The social diseases of bribery and corruption now stinks in our
society like a bad ulcer. It is even infectious
and it has infected the Christians, the Moslems
and the pagans alike. Thus almost everybody
in involved and so it has become a vicious
circle. For instance, the employer takes bribes from
the poor applicant before the employs him or
her and when he is employed, the applicant
( now tan employee) in turn,steals from his
employer.
Of course, it is not only the employer who takes bribes,the policeman and custom
officials, by the nature of their work,are more
often found guilty of bribery and corruption
than any other people in other walks of
life.For instance, the corrupt traffic
policeman and the FRSC takes bribes from the reckless drivers and allows him to drive with
worn-out tyres and even without driving
license.
Similarily, the dishonest custom official takes
bribes from the die-hard smugglers and lets
him go free.Policeman and custom officials are however, not the only culprits.The disease
of bribery and corruption has spread far and
wide to other fields.For instance, the
unscrupulous government auditor takes
bribes from the chief accountant and
connives at his embezzlement of government funds. The dishonest tax assessment officer in
the ministry of inland revenue takes bribes
form the big business tycoon and reduces his
tax considerably.The government engineers
responsible for the building of public
palaces,engineers everything for his own pocket; he see the half of the government
building materials are clearly diverted to his
private building.Those who award
government contracts have earned for
themselves in this country, the notorious ( or
famous in the society?) name of ten per centers! And even in the university lecturers
award undeserved high marks to the beautiful
female undergraduate he fancies! Yes, that is
“bottom power” at work!
The funny thing is that here is this country
those who publicly and vehemently condemn bribery and corruption are those who put up
mansions for themselves with the money
acquired by foul means.Everybody in this
country, says ” country no good”; too much of
bribery and corruption!But it is all talk,talk; all
bla, bla!The question is how many people are free from bribery and corruption in this
country?How many people are really honest?
Many of us never even to stop alarming the
effects of bribery and corruption on the
individuals and the society as a whole.For
instance,nobody can deny the fact that the federal , state government and the various
government agencies lose much of their
annually revenue through corrupt practices
of governors,deputies, speakers, civil
servant,officers and justices, who deliver a
shamble judgment to the masses. But that apart,bribery and corruption
debased the individuals and rob them their
sense of value and sound principles.Hard
labour and honesty is scorned at and laziness
is encouraged.All that people want is the
shortest possible cut to easy money.The honest man is discouraged.Honesty is no
longer the best policy.The honest man now
finds out painful that honest no longer pays.
And when individuals are blinded by
materialism;when they no longer have sense of
values, when honesty is thrown over-board and the twin evils of bribery and corruption
become the order pf the day, them such a
society is doomed forever.
Is there any hope for this country? Is there
anyway out? who will be the great physician
to cure our sick society and purge us all the of the twin evils of bribery and corruption?
When the Military Government came to power
they promised to stamp out all form of
bribery and corruption but is too tyrannical
without liberty.As a matter of fact, their ugly
heads have become uglier and bigger! However, I still believe that there must be a
way out. After all, where there is a will, there
is a way. This means, if we really want to put
an end to bribery and corruption, every body
in the country must be involved; we must all be
determined to turn a new leaf and change our sense of value.In short, there must be a
revolution in our society.once our society get
the right message, the right to govern well,
then we will begin to see bribery and
corruption as two deadly evils that must be
avoided. Secondly, the various government must
enforce very strict laws with
punishment.Anybody found guilty of bribery
and corruption,whatever the social position,
must be dealt with severely.Hitherto, a poor
pick-pocket who stole ten naria is thrown into prison whereas a VIP who embezzle
trillions of naria belonging to the government
is left free. such a partial attitude should no
longer exist.
Then,of course, while the government and the
citizens should be punished severely for those found guilty, it must also give handsome
rewards to those who have been found
extremely honest in the position of trust. This
will go a long way to prove to the people
that after all, honesty really pays.
From Me Fatdon2

The national Christmas tree was initiated by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) with the aim of showcasing Nigerian culture to the world.

A statement issued by the special adviser on media and publicity to the minister of state for FCT, Oluyinka Akintunde, disclosed that the Christmas tree, which is 20.9 metres high, is located at the Unity Fountain Park beside Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja and designed in the national colours of green and white.

Prominent Nigerians expected to grace the first of its kind ceremony, according to the statement, are, members of the National Assembly, wives of governors, members of the Federal Executive Council, chairmen of Area Councils in the FCT and their wives, heads of ministries, departments and agencies of government, heads of secretariats, departments and agencies of the FCT administration, diplomatic corps and the media, among others.

According to the statement, Minister of State for the FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide have described the event as part of efforts to showcase Nigeria and the FCT to the world as a centre of tourism.

It reads, "The Christmas time is traditionally recognised and celebrated as a season of peace, goodwill and hope across national boundaries. It also offers us a unique opportunity to reinforce this same message of love, unity, reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.

"It is consequently our anticipation that an annual lighting of the Nigerian National Christmas tree will play a similar unifying role for our people," Akinjide added.
www.m.naij.com/news/17354.html

Abuja – The Minister of Health,
Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on
Monday said that the ministry
had started the printing of new
yellow fever cards with encoded
security details to replace the old ones. Chukwu said this when the newly
appointed WHO Country
Representative to Nigeria, Dr Rui
Gamavaz, paid a courtesy visit to
the ministry. In May, about 125 Nigerians were
deported by the South African
authorities because they were
alleged not to have possessed
genuine yellow fever card. He said that Nigeria had
established collaboration with
the Global Alliance for Vaccine
Immunisation (GAVI) to ensure
effective control of any
unforeseen eventuality that might arise as a result of
outbreak from neighbouring
countries. “On the yellow fever aspect, the
issue we have with South Africa
diplomatically, it has been
resolved but for the health
aspect. “What we are doing now, we are
printing new yellow cards, which
once they are printed, these ones
have better security features
and they will gradually replace
the old yellow card. “ We are walking with GAVI now
to some extent they have
accepted our proposal for a
campaign for yellow fever. “So, if able by next year with the
assistance of GAVI we will
source yellow fever vaccines we
will begin a special campaign. “Because we remain at risks, even
recently Cameroon had some
outbreak and we are neighbours
with them and from either ways
the disease can cross from either
ways but we need to get more people immunised in Nigeria if we
are not to have recurrence of
1995 disaster.’’ Chukwu expressed concern over
the ineffectiveness in the use of
mosquito treated net to
eradicate malaria in Nigeria. He said that the method did not
conform with the country’s
weather condition, stressing
that a lot of people complained
that it was generating a lot of
heat. Chukwu said that the indoor
residual spraying was an
expensive method to embark on,
besides, many Nigerians
preferred staying outside to
receive fresh air. The minister also appealed to
WHO to collaborate with the
country in ensuring that polio
was totally eradicated. He said that more laboratories
would be established for polio
diagnosis. Chukwu said that Nigeria was
also making progress in reducing
maternal and new born mortality
through the Save One Million
Lives initiatives. He pledged Nigeria’s cooperation
with the new country
representative to achieve
success in promoting the health
of the citizens. Responding, the WHO country
representative appreciated the
Federal Government’s efforts in
promoting the health of
Nigerians. Gamavaz gave the assurance
that WHO would identify the
health challenges in Nigeria and
work toward addressing the
issues. He pledged to build on the
existing relationship of his
predecessors, stressing that
efforts would be put in place to
ensure success in promoting
good health of the people. (NAN)
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/nigeria-starts-printing-of-new-encoded-yellow-fever-card/

Reports say Tunde of the R&B group Styl Plus
has left the group. The R&B group had not been able to attain the
success achieved by their debut album that
contains songs that will be forever green in
many hearts. Despite the travails, the group has managed
to stay together, releasing a song to debunk
rumours of a break-up after four years of
being together, each of the members singing
lines that they remain faithful to the group,
but the break-up has started as Tunde’s decision to leave will definitely leave a big hole
in the group which naturally would encourage
other members to try their luck in solo
careers. If the reports are anything to go by, Tunde
has rebranded himself as NativeBoy, and has
recorded several songs under his own record
label B.A.T. Records. As much as Tunde will be sorely missed if Shifi
and Zeal decides to continue with the group,
his departure won’t come as a big shock.
Tunde won’t be the first member the group
would lose. Lanre was lost to death in 1999,
while Yemi left the group in 2002. In 1999, the group which started in 1997
consisting of Tunde Akinsanmi, Shifi Emoefe,
Yemi Akinwonmi, and Lanre Faneyi which was
then called STYL lost a member, Lanre Faneyi
who died, paving the way for Zeal Onyecheme
to join, and the name of the group changed to STYL-Plus. Yemi left in 2002 and the remaining
three members of the group launched the
group’s label STYL-PLUS in 2003.
Tunde, Shifi, and Zeal were dubbed Africa’s
Boyz II Men after their first album Expressions,
which featured several chart-toppers. Tunde’s decision to go solo may not be
unconnected to his unbridled passion for
music which other members of the group may
not share the way he’d have loved. Sources who studied in the same university
with members of the group who all studied at
Federal University of Technology, Akure say
Tunde is the one really passionate about
music; Shifi played more of basketball, while
Zeal was just a fine boy with a nice voice, although they were all members of the Rhema
Campus fellowship choir. Tunde may be tired of not working hard
enough as some of their fans have suggested
when asked why they think the group might
have gone down, so to say. Going solo may be the best thing for his
career. Of course, if he had always wanted
this, I believe he’s waited enough.
www.informationnigeria.org/2012/12/tunde-leaves-styl-plus.html

Former BBA winner, Karen Igho will not let the
guy who slapped him go unpunished as she
says she’s doing everything she can to get
justice. “My team are on this. I’ve also called my
lawyer. I know I have a good heart but I
won’t let this go without fighting for justice
because he might do it to someone else. Thank
God he didn’t shoot me.” Karen Igho was at the Smirnoff party last
Friday to support a friend Denrele who
hosted the party, but she got more than she
bargained for as she left the party with a
swollen after she got beaten by a security
guard. Karen poured her heart out to followers on
Twitter about how ‘hurt and beaten’ she was;
“Wow I got slapped at a smirnoff party by a
security guard! Is it because I’m a woman?”
she tweeted. “He loaded his gun and put it to my face at the
car park. Said he would shoot me if I didn’t
give him money. I said I didn’t have. He slapped
me!Now my face is swollen and I’m in pain!All I
wanted to do was to go support my friend,
Denrele who hosted the event. I feel abused and hurt. The slap sent me landing on the floor
and hitting my head.” Whatever Karen did or said to the security
guard, no one deserves to be beaten like that,
especially not a woman. Karen might have said
some ugly words to the guard which is not
unusual of some ladies who are generally rude
to waiters, drivers, guards, but it is irresponsible of any man to raise his hand at a
woman.
www.informationnigeria.org/2012/12/i-wont-let-this-go-without-fighting-for-justice-karen-igho.html

The minister while thanking Nigerians, the
government and the Police, also expressed
appreciation to God for bringing her mother
back. “I can’t give all the details because we don’t
want to compromise on-going investigations”,
she said while speaking for the first time on
the kidnap saga. “But I can tell you one thing:
My mother suffered a great deal during this
ordeal. It was only the Almighty God that rescued her from a situation that could very
easily have ended tragically. “Apart from the emotional trauma of being
violently taken away from her family and kept
incommunicado for five days in a strange
environment, a woman of 83 years was left
without food for five days. We give glory to
God that she is alive today to tell the tale. “While she was in their custody, the
kidnappers spent much of the time harassing
her. They told her that I must get on the radio
and television and announce my resignation.
When she asked why, they told her it was
because I did not pay ‘Oil subsidy money’. “They also said I had blocked payment of
money to certain components of the SURE-P
programme.” The minister however denied the
claims that she blocked payments for oil
subsidy maintaining that all verified claims of
oil subsidy were being paid after going through the necessary processes. However
she said, “in the case of SURE-P, that is a
totally different process that I have no
control over.” She however insisted that fraudulent subsidy
claims would not be acknowledged. “For
marketers whose transactions are proven to
be fraudulent, the position of the Jonathan
government is also clear: we cannot and we
will not pay. We will not back down on this. We will continue to stand firm,” she declared. “This is the right thing to do. And this, I believe
is what the Nigerian people want,” Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala concluded.
www.informationnigeria.org/2012/12/my-mothers-abductors-held-her-for-5-days-without-food-okonjo-iweala.html

The Federal Government disclosed weekend that $150 billion (N23.4 trillion) will be spent to meet Nigeria’s annual rice demand by 2050 as the nation’s population and appetite for imported rice continues to rise. It also revealed that Nigeria currently imports five million metric tonnes of rice and that the figure will increase to an estimated 36 million metric tonnes by 2050. These revelations were made by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) workshop on Financing Nigeria’s Agricultural Revolution. According to the minister, “Nigeria is now the largest importer of rice in the world. As our population rises, demand for rice is projected to rise from the current level of five million MT to 36 million MT by 2050. Unless Nigeria begins an aggressive import substitution programme for rice, it will spend $150 billion annually importing rice by 2050 and the nation will be broke,” he said.
He disclosed that the Federal Government’s policy for now is to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production by 2015. “To encourage the production and milling of local rice, the Federal Government has raised tariffs on imported brown rice and finished rice. The policy is working. In the last
12 months, 13 new rice mills, with a total capacity of 240,000 MT, have been set up by the private sector,” he said. He further disclosed that Miva and Ashi rice in Benue, Ebony rice in Ebonyi State, Umza rice in Kano, have all hit the market, stressing that they are so popular and better than imported rice in terms of quality and
price. He also said that a new investor, Dominion Farm is currently investing $40 million in commercial rice production in Taraba State and that this rice farm will use small holder contract farmers and out- growers to produce close to 300,000 metric tons of rice within 24 months which will create close to 15,000 jobs and replace 15 per cent of rice being imported. He explained that to ensure Nigeria has in place industrial capacity for international quality grade milled rice that can compete with imports; the Federal Government is facilitating the acquisition of 100 large scale integrated rice mills, with
a total capacity of 2.1 million MT.
“They will be owned and operated by the private sector. This is being acquired under a low interest rate facility from the China EXIM Bank. For the first time in our history as a nation, Nigeria will soon have the full industrial capacity to mill internationally competitive quality rice,” he said. Adesina explained that as Nigeria population rises, the government is focused on developing and transforming agricultural value chains that will provide new income opportunities for farmers, for all of our major crops, stressing that in this way farmers will have expanded and assured markets for their products. “We are also encouraging agro- processing to add greater value to all of our agricultural commodities,” he added.
In her remarks, the Director General of SEC, Arunma Oteh, noted that agriculture permeates our society because it makes up about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and provides employment opportunities for 70 per cent of the country’s population. She then wondered why Nigeria is the third largest importer of wheat in the world and the length of time it has taken the country to get to where it is today given the important nature of agriculture to the Nigerian economy. She however expressed confidence that the agricultural revolution that is being masterminded by President Goodluck Jonathan and coordinated by the Minister of Agriculture whom she described as an agricultural transformation evangelist would set an example for the world to emulate.
www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-nigeria-to-spend-n23-4tr-on-rice-importation/133777/

The family members and friends
of one Miss Tanwa Serifat Sanni,
a 36-year-old lady, have been in
great distress since her sudden
disappearance on Friday
October 12, 2012.
It was gathered that Serifat, a
graduate of Business
Administration, Lagos State
University (LASU),on that fateful
day left her residence at No 116
Ezeagwu Street, Ojo Road, by
Alao Bus-stop, Ajegunle, around
5am without disclosing to
anybody where she was going to.
Prior to her disappearance,
Serifat was given N500,000 (cash)
by her parents to start up a
business of her own since she
couldn’t gain a meaningful
employment 11 years after her
graduation.
She was said to have left her
house that day with the money,
then mysteriously disappeared.
Speaking with the Press, a close
family member to the missing lady
told newsmen that the young
lady,who is about 5ft tall, is
mentally balanced and had never
suffered from dementia.
They however appealed that
anyone with useful information
about the whereabouts of
Serifat should kindly contact
Alhaji Sanni Isiaka on
08054018208, Agboola Ganiyat
on 08032262731 or the nearest
police station.
www.247nigerianewsupdate.com/36-year-old-graduate-missing-after-receiving-n500000/

DECEMBER 16, 2012 BY AGENCY
REPORTER.
on at an Indian hospital after
battling an undisclosed ailment
for some months.
Meanwhile, The PUNCH’s Enugu
State correspondent, Ozioma
Ubabukoh, was harassed by seven
men who claimed to be security
agents in front of his apartment
in Enugu around 11.45pm on
Saturday.
The men seized Ubabukoh’s phone
and his laptop in order to stop
him from sending stories to the
head office.
As at press time, the men were still
in Ubabukoh’s apartment and
insisted that they were not
leaving until 3am.
Efforts to get across to some
commissioners in the state were
not successful as their phones
were switched off.
www.punchng.com/news/chime-feared-dead/

Hundreds of Commuters in
Lagos were, Friday, groaned
for hours in traffic snarl on
the Lagos roads following
the visit of President
Goodluck Jonathan to
Redeemed Christian Church
of God, (RCCG) convention.
While passengers were
stranded at different Bus
Stop for several hours, as
security officers attached to
the President closed the
roads from Marina axis of the
state on the Lagos Island to
Lagos- Ibadan expressway.
Speaking to Vanguard, Mr.
Adewale Adekoya, a motorist,
lamented,” I closed from work
early today but to my
surprise, I was told that I
cannot make use of the road
now because the President I
elected into office want to
pass. This is appalling.”
Adekoya explained “I have
been this traffic for hours
and due to this, I am hungry
here now because I did not
eat at work hoping to get
home early and eat.”
Vanguard observed that the
right side of the road was
closed completely to resist
the movement of motorist
and commuters for the
president to have easy
passage thereby causing the
traffic gridlock on the roads.
Some of the roads visited by
Vanguard were: Lagos Island
through Lagos Ibadan
Expressway to Lateef
Jakande Road Nurudeen
Olowopopo, Amara Olu and
Ogunnusi roads, among
others.
Visit to these roads by
Vanguard, further revealed
that there was long queue of
vehicles which ran into
adjoining streets and
highways.
As this traffic snarl increases,
commuters who could not
bear the stress of waiting at
the Bus Stops for vehicle
resorted to an endless
trekking because the vehicles
were trapped in a bumper-
to-bumper traffic.
Mr. Simeon Anthony, a
commuter, said “I had no
option than to trek because I
cannot say when the traffic
would subside. And for me, I
cannot wait at the Bus Stop
for a commercial bus that I
do not know when it would
arrive.”
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/traffic-gridlock-as-jonathan-attends-rccg-convention/

Is D’banj and his estranged business
partner and friend, Don Jazzy, in a
competition to out do each other? Since
their acrimonuous split sometime in
March 2012, the two entertainment
giants have been silently engaging in a
battle of supremacy.
Earlier today Don Jazzy tweeted the
launching of his own night club, “PoP”
scheduled for Friday, 21 December 2012
at Victoria Island. Not long ago, Dbanj
also confirmed he would be flinging the
doors open to his own night club today in
a post on Twitter.
The club which is located on Adetokunbo
Ademola Street in Victoria Island, would
be known as ‘One Eleven’ and will be
opened with three days of partying,
according to the Kokomaster.
It would be recalled that when the duo
were together at the defunct Mo’Hits,
they co-owned the then popular ‘Koko
Lounge.
www.informationnigeria.org/2012/12/what-don-jazzy-can-do-dbanj-opens-night-club.html

https://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64772000/jpg/_64772928_messi_chitalu_624.jpg


Fifa has refused to get involved in the debate about who holds the world record for scoring the most goals in a year.

It was widely reported that Lionel Messi's 86th goal of 2012, which he scored on Sunday, surpassed a mark set by Germany's Gerd Mueller 40 years ago.

But the Zambian Football Association claimed Godfrey Chitalu had scored 107 goals for club and country in 1972.
Play media

Fifa does not keep domestic records, so "it's not an official Fifa record", spokesman Alex Stone told BBC Sport.

The world governing body said that, given it only maintains statistics for the international competitions it runs, it is not possibly to ratify records from club football around the world.

"We don't have a database which details every football game played in every country from around the world since day one of their formation," Stone said.

"It's certainly nothing to do with bias - if we can confirm records from our tournaments we like doing that.

"It's the sort of data fans and the media like to see."

Stone confirmed that Fifa has not recognised Messi as holding the record.

"It's a record where someone in the media obviously collected statistics from somewhere and noticed Messi was about to pass that record


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20727929

Respected head of Nigeria’s
central bank Lamido Sanusi called
to appear before MPs but says
he is ‘unaware’ of arrest warrant
The head of Nigeria‘s central
bank has denied any wrongdoing
after he and 14 other officials
were threatened with arrest
warrants over £5bn missing from
government funds.
Lamido Sanusi, a highly respected
banker, was told he faced arrest
unless he appeared before
Nigerian MPs to answer questions
over the missing money. The
warrants were signed because
the officials failed to respond to
invitations to explain the alleged
failure to transfer the money to
the treasury, according to the
office of the speaker, Aminu
Tambuwal.
Sanusi told the BBC he was
unaware of the arrest warrant
and that he was not in Nigeria,
but that the deputy governor
would appear before MPs. “I
personally don’t believe the
speaker signed such a warrant
as these things are not personal,”
the BBC quoted him as saying.
Sanusi said the central bank had
made remittances to the
treasury in accordance with the
law. “Our accounts are audited
by two reputable external
auditors … No government agency
or department even comes near
our contribution to the budget,”
he said.
Tambuwal’s spokesman, Imam
Imam, said other officials for
whom warrants have been issued
include Andrew Yakub, group
managing director of the state-
owned Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation, and National
Pension Commission director
general Muhammad Ahmad.
Sanusi was named central bank
governor of the year by the
global financial publication the
Banker last year. He rankled
parliament this month when he
suggested reducing the number
of MPs from 360 to free up money
for development. He also called
for the number of public servants
to be halved.
In a recent interview with the
Guardian, Sanusi was highly
critical of Africa‘s political class,
accusing it of acting narrowly to
protect particular ethnic or
religious groups. “It’s the big
elephant in Africa that nobody
wants to talk about,” he said at a
meeting on governance held by
the Mo Ibrahim foundation in
Dakar , Senegal.
“You’ve got an elite that is
predominantly of a certain age
that is definitely male, sometimes
also representative of a
particular ethnic or religious
group, that appropriates
political power in its interest and
then pretends that there’s some
kind of economic tinkering that
can be done to take care of
women if they’re excluded and all
that,” he added.
Sanusi, who said he agreed with
99% of the arguments made by
Occupy Nigeria (but not on
maintaining fuel subsidies),
criticised African governments
for failing to develop
manufacturing capacity and for
relying on the export of minerals
and natural resources to
countries such as India and China.
“My argument is that Nigeria and
African countries have not been
able to make the move partly
because it’s so much easier to
make a lot of money from rent
than from production and
profits,” he said. “It’s a logical
thing that flows from the top: is it
going to be an economy that
encourages domestic production
and job creation or one that
encourages conspicuous
consumption?”
Nigeria has a notoriously corrupt
oil sector. A study in October led
by the former head of Nigeria’s
anti-corruption agency, Nuhu
Ribadu, said the country has lost
out on tens of billions of dollars in
oil and gas revenues over the
past decade from cut-price deals
struck between multinational oil
companies and government
officials.
The confidential report, leaked
to Reuters, said oil majors Shell,
Total and Eni made bumper
profits from cut-price gas, while
Nigerian oil ministers handed out
licences at their discretion. This,
while not illegal, did not follow
best practice of using open bids.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in
signature bonuses on those deals
were also missing, it said.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest crude oil
exporter, shipping more than 2m
barrels per day, and has the
world’s ninth-biggest gas
reserves and one of its largest
liquefied natural gas export
terminals. But Nigeria’s elite
rather than the wider population
have benefited from its oil wealth.
www.247nigerianewsupdate.com/sanusi-denies-wrongdoing-over-5bn-missing-funds/

FROM her audition in Benin City, up
till the point she made it to Lagos
for the show proper, no one
would have tipped 8-year old
dancer Amarachi Uyanne for
Nigeria’s Got Talent show top
prize. With strong contenders
such as Rapper Chuka, DJ Nath,
the Expendables, Dr. Bariyu,
Impulse (an acapella group from
Port Harcourt), dancer
extraordinaire, Boniface Ukeme
and Toke in the finals, the
primary-five pupil from Igbodo,
Delta State was never in the big
picture.
Following her impressive run in the
competition, Amarachi emerged
from a cast of 10 finalists, which
was later reduced to six, and
then four. Through votes from
viewers, the list was finally
trimmed down to three, with the
little dancer included. As they
stood on stage, waiting for the
final verdict from the judges, the
palpable tension that had built up
finally gave way to a rapturous
ovation, dancing and celebration
when the show host, Andre Blaize
announced Amarachi the winner.
With this achievement, the Delta
State native has become the
youngest non-inheritor millionaire
in Nigeria, having broken the
previous record set by Solomon
Ebuka Nwanke Ubani, who became
a millionaire at age 20.
An elated Amarachi, who had a
brief chat with the media shortly
after receiving her cheque,
promised to use part of the
money to support orphans, as
well as pursue her long dream of
becoming a medical doctor.
“I’m shocked because I didn’t see
this happening to me. I am
grateful to God for giving me the
passion and the energy and for
also blessing me with a gift that
has made me known to the world.
I’m also deeply grateful to Airtel
and Rapid Blue Format because
without them, I would not be
here. I want to help orphans with
the money, and also for the
education of my two siblings as
well as mine,” the young dancer
said.
The grand finale at the OMG
Studio, Ikeja, was loaded with
energy and entertainment,
featuring performances and
special appearances by some of
Nigeria’s entertainers such as
rapper Skales, Niyola and Dammy
Krane, while poet Sage spiced the
evening with spoken word.
The fight for the big prize began
with the 10 finalists nervously
waiting to hear who would make
it to the top three. Amarachi,
Godwin and Jess & Ogeh were
announced as the three vying to
take home the grand prize. Jess &
Ogeh gave yet another
spectacular ballet performance,
but Godwin Ogechukwu’s
mastery of the violin provided
some stiff competition. Amarchi
displayed incredible talent and
danced her way to victory,
triumphing over ballet dancers
Jess & Ogeh and violinist Godwin
Ogechukwu. With her unique
blend of cheeky dance moves and
enthusiastic energy, the crowd
had no option than sing her
praises.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive
Officer and Managing Director,
Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop
assured that Airtel Nigeria was
committed to creating platforms
that would help to discover and
nurture talented Nigerians to
stardom, just as he expressed
satisfaction over the
organisation of the NGT.
www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107570:nigerias-got-talent-fleet-footed-amarachi-becomes-nigerias-youngest-millionaire-&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos
State has commended Thursday's
court ruling upholding the
constitutionality of the Lagos
Traffic Law, saying the verdict
was in the best interest of the
residents.
Speaking with newsmen shortly
after the judgment, Fashola said
the decision of the court had
justified the state government's
stance that municipal traffic
management was the sole
responsibility of the state.
He said that the government
explored the normal procedures
in promulgating the law, adding
that those who had challenged
the constitutionality of the
legislation had only embarked on
a futile exercise.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that Justice Aishat
Opesanwo of Ikeja High Court
had on Thursday upheld the
constitutionality of the Lagos
Traffic Law, saying it did not
violate anybody's rights.
Some commercial motorcyclists,
under the aegis of All Nigeria Auto
Bike Commercial Owners and
Workers Association (ANACOWA),
had challenged the restriction of
their operations to 475 routes by
the Traffic Law, saying that it
violated their right to freedom of
movement.
``The court has restated clearly
what is the law, the responsibility
for municipal management of
traffic in any state can only
reside in the elected authorities
of that state.
``The legislative power,
therefore, belongs to the
parliament of that state; so if
parliament sits down and passes
a bill into law and it follows all of
the processes, governor`s
assent and so on, what else?
``I think people, in the name of
freedom and access to justice,
should not just do whatever they
like; I think the action challenging
the constitutionality of the law in
the first place was an extremely
frivolous and ill-conceived action,''
Fashola said.
The governor said that the fact
that the law was passed by the
people's representatives made it
binding on everyone, and urged
compliance by all residents.
In his coments, Mr Ade Ipaye,
Attorney-General and
Commissioner for Justice, said the
ordinary people of the state
were the winners of the court's
decision.
``If there is any winner at all, it is
the good people of Lagos who
desire to commute in a safe and
secure environment.
``It is also a relief to have legal
confirmation of the sensible fact
a state House of Assembly has
powers to make laws, regulating
conduct on every road within the
state's territory,'' he said.
Mr Kayode Opeifa, Commissioner
for Transportation, commended
the decision of the motorcycle
operators to challenge the law in
the court.
Opeifa said that it was their
constitutional right, adding that
the operators should partner
with the state government in
putting an efficient and
sustainable transportation
system in the state.
He encouraged the operators to
take advantage of the various
skill acquisition programmes put
in place by the government in
order for them to be productive.
NAN reports that the Lagos
Traffic Law was promulgated on
Aug. 2. Apart from restricting
operations of commercial
motorcyclists, it also prohibits
making phone calls while driving.
www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/42511/2012/12/13/fashola_lauds_court_rulling_traffic_law_says_decision_good_residents.html

Jigawa state governor Sule
Lamido has faulted the media
report that his son, Aminu
Sule who was arrested at
Malam Aminu Kano
International Airport for
carrying fifty thousand US
dollars ( $50,000) on him while
on his trip to Egypt was on a
money laundering mission on
his behalf.
This was contained in a press
statement signed by malam
Umar Kyari, the Director of
press to Governor Sule
Lamido which was made
available vanguard
Wednesday night, states “
for the purpose of removing
this notion that he was
embarking on a money
laundering mission on my
behalf, that I find it
necessary to clarify the
allegation”.
According to the governor,
the impression EFCC gave
was that his son had
embarked on several trips
overseas on money
laundering mission on his
behalf, which he described as
false and mischievous to that
extent.
It states “The impression the
EFCC gave was that he had
been carrying monies on
several trips overseas on
money laundering on my
behalf is therefore false and
mischievous to that extent”.
He then explained that Aminu
has a daughter born with
spinal problem and was taken
to Cleopatra hospital in
Cairo, Egypt last year, and
that the little girl was in the
hospital for three weeks for
treatment and was asked to
return for the second phase
of the treatment, which was
done about four months ago.
At the end of second phase
of the treatment, they were
asked to return to the
hospital for final examination
after three months.
He added that it was on this
third leg of the visit that his
son, Aminu was arrested by
the EFCC while trying to
board Egypt Air on Tuesday
11th December, 2012 around
11.30pm’
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/gov-lamido-faults-reports-on-sons-arrest-over-on-money-laundering/

ABUJA—The Presidency said
yesterday that the current
rating of the Transparency
International was not the fault
of the present administration
but due to decades of endemic corruption in our polity. Faulting claim by the Action
Congress of Nigeria, ACN, which
placed the blame for rating of
Nigeria as the 35th most corrupt
nation, at the door step of the
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Senior Special
Assistant to the President on
Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe
said such claim “is preposterous
and lacking in credibility, and can
only be best described as pure political mischief. He said, “Lai Mohammed knows
they, in the Action Congress, live
in glass houses and should not
throw stones because his party
is home to some of the most
notoriously corrupt Nigerians ever. He should not throw stones
just to score cheap political
points. His party has no moral leg
it can stand to pontificate
about corruption. According to Okupe, “Nigerians
are not fools and cannot be
fooled for too long that there is
endemic corruption within the
rank and file of his party. It is an
undeniable fact that corruption is a major challenge to the
nation and its people, and
everyone agrees it is endemic
and has been with us for over
three decades. “Few days ago we spelt out
details of commendable efforts
of this administration in fighting
corruption and also confirming
the demonstrable political will of
this administration to take up this onerous challenge. Critics of this administration
appear to be deliberately
undiscerning, confusing
incidences of corrupt practices
unraveled by this administration
and legal steps being taken by the administration as being
corrupt practice of the same
administration. Part of this mischief and attempt
to bring opprobrium on this
administration was the assertion
by President of the Campaign for
Democracy, CD, Dr Joe Okei-
Odumakin. She said N5 trillion was stolen under Jonathan, and that
“the non-implementation of the
Farouk Lawan report as well as
the Nuhu Ribadu Presidential
Task Force findings has
completely killed the fight against corruption in Nigeria.” The above calls to question her
respect for facts because it is a
fact that the Lawan report has
been handed over to the EFCC,
and there are ongoing
prosecution deriving from this, while the President just set up a
White Paper committee on the
Ribadu report. How do you
implement a report without a
white Paper?. We reiterate that the conclusion
that N5 trillion was stolen under
President’s Jonathan’s watch is
gross misinformation and
absolute falsehood. Nowhere in
the Ribadu was that conclusion reached. It never happened, and
it is wholesomely untrue. “We want to state categorically,
for the umpteenth time that it
was this administration that
exposed the oil subsidy scam,
pension scam, and also set up
the Nuhu Ribadu committee to look into the rot in the oil sector. “We must state that the fight
against corruption is not a short
boxing bout, but a long fight
that will be systemic, strategic
and institutional. The role of the
judiciary in bringing culprits to justice cannot be
underestimated in the war
against corruption. No matter the Federal
Government’s commitment , the
President has no power to jail
any suspect by presidential fiat.
Therefore he should not be
made a scape goat for the failure of other arms of
government who fail to
judiciously discharge their
responsibilities. It is also not true that lack of
funding is stalling the fight as
concluded by Chairman, Coalition
Against Corruption, Debo
Adeniran. We must not forget
what the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde said recently
about how judges and lawyers
stall trials of high profile
suspects. The two trials of James
Ibori in Nigeria and the United
Kingdom fully underscore this point. “The Federal Government, mindful
of this judicial stumbling block,
has put together a bill to reform
the criminal justice system, so
that justice will no longer be
evaded through sundry abuses of court processes. “We assure Nigerians that in spite
of the persistent and perplexing
mischief of deceitful politicians,
and some unpatriotic Nigerians
who never sees good in whatever
government does, the administration will continue its
unrelenting fight to rid our
society of this menace. This is a war the President has
set for himself and he has
demonstrated the will and
capability to prosecute same.
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/corruption-jonathans-govt-not-to-blame-for-transparency-international-rating-presidency-2/