How I survived cancer, by Okonjo-Iweala

Abuja—A rare insight into the past physical challenge of the coordinating minister of the economy and minister of finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emerged yesterday when she disclosed that she survived cancer 15 years ago affirming the scare is not the end of life. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala She spoke at the service of songs for the late Oronto Douglas, special adviser to the president on research and documentation that held in Abuja last night. The service was attended by a cross section of the society from civil society, government, the media, the clergy among others. President Goodluck Jonathan was represented by Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, at the service which remarkably brought together his associates from both sides of the political divide including former Governor Kayode Fayemi, Pastor Tunde Bakare who brought greetings from General Muhammadu Buhari, ministers, former chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Senator-Elect Ben Murray Bruce, deputy managing director of Thisday, Mr. Kayode Komolafe among several others. In her remarks at the occasion, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said: “Oronto and I had two similarities in life, we both had cancer.

Why Keshi can’t pick assistants

Returnee Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi does not have the power to select or appoint his own assistants, his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation have clarified. In a chat with Sports Vanguard in his office at Onikan Stadium, NFF first Vice President and chairman of the Lagos State FA, Barrister Seyi Akinwumi said Keshi lacked that prerogative. Head coach Stephen Keshi of Nigeria gestures during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group F match between Nigeria and  FIFA/FIFA Asked why the coach was not allowed to pick his assistants, Akinwumi quipped, “will he pay them from his pocket?” He said the federation was not excluding Keshi from the process of getting his assistants. “The most he can do is to recommend who he would like to work with. Based on his recommendation the technical committee would then sit and consider the candidates.

South African women narrate discrimination they face for marrying Nigerian men

South African women married to Nigerian men have narrated the discrimination they face for marrying men outside their country. Seeing the disaffection their kinsmen show them after finding love in the hands of Nigerian men, the women decided to form an association, the United Nigerian Wives in South Africa (UNWISA) club about two years ago where they give support and succor to each other.


42 year old Lindwela Uche who serves as the chairwoman of the group told AFP that they saw the xenophobic attacks coming and alerted their husbands but they did not take their warning seriously "We saw this thing coming and that’s why we formed this association. If only they (the authorities) had listened to us… they would have known that there’s a fire burning slowly and they would have seen how to tackle it.”she said
One of the members of the association,“Lufunu Orji who is married to a Nigerian resource consultant, Ogbonnaya Orji, says being married to a foreigner is very challenging

Niger Delta Militant Group Blows Up Gas Trunklines In Delta

UGHELLI—AN Urhobo militant group, Urhobo Gbagbako, yesterday, claimed responsibility for two explosions that rocked two major gas trunklines belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, located on the boundaries of Afiesere and Ekredjebo communities and Otedo and Edjovwe communities both in Ughelli North and Ughelli South Local Government Areas of Delta State.

Urhobo Gbagbako, in a statement by its spokesperson, Priest Omodjuvwu, said that the explosions were in protest against those he called “traitors” the NPDC had continued to send to Urhoboland in a bid to manipulate their unsuspecting and once peaceful communities.
He said: “These petty crumb eaters can only cause pains to the NPDC, Shoreline and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in a promised sham settlement to the lingering crises to these companies and government agencies.
“In believing the empty promises of these evil doers and traitors, you continue to slowly drive your NPDC, NNPC and Shoreline into a certain abyss you will never recover from and we the Urhobo nation will continue to demand for our fair share of the pipeline surveillance contract jobs for the sake of equity and justice.

Soldiers Humiliate Civilians At Fatgbems Filling Station,Mile 2,Lagos(Photos)

 Some soldiers stormed Fatgbems,Mile 2 Lagos Filling Station today and gave some civilians the punishment of their lives.

Because of fuel scarcity in some states in Nigeria including Lagos and federal government's plan to remove fuel subsidy,fuel marketers decided to stop fuel distribution temporary.As a result of the scarcity,some Lagosians were involved in fighting and exchange of words today while trying to queue up to get fuel at Fatgbems filing station in Mile 2.Few minutes,soldiers came and ordered them to lie down on the ground and face the sun for about 30minutes.They later left after giving them the treatment of their lives.

Surep/ferma Task Force Workers Protest At NHRC Lagos Zonal Office

 Workers of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme ,SureP/FERMA Federal Task Force today in Ikeja protested against the fraudulent extortion of money from them by the some executives of the programme.The protesters carried placards,singing and chanting solidarity songs round Ikeja GRA.

They workers named their National co-ordinator,Alhaji Abdurazak Rafiu ,Chief Bode George the Empowerment Co-ordinator,Senator Ogunlewe and others as for been responsible subjecting them to such dehumanized condition and extorting money from them..

According them the co-ordinators of the Federal Task Force SureP/FERMA programme in Lagos mandated them to pay outrageous sums before they were employed for the job.Three years after employment and resumption of duties they are yet to be paid.

Messi: I'm going to be a father again

 

Lionel Messi has revealed that he will become a father for the second time.

The Barcelona star and girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo celebrated the birth of Thiago, their first child, in November 2012, and revealed on Facebook that they will become parents once more.
The 27-year-old posted a picture of the pair's son kissing his mother's stomach, with the Argentine adding the message: "Can't wait to welcome you into our world!!! We love you! Thiagui, mum and dad," to the post.
He also posted the same picture on Instagram, saying "Waiting for you baby! We love you".
There has been no announcement as to when the child is expected or how far along Roccuzzo is in her pregnancy

Nigerian Convicted of Murder by British Court

Woolwich Crown Court, 

 

A British court, Woolwich Crown Court, on Thursday convicted a 24-year-old Nigerian, Mr. Jeffrey Okafor, for the fatal stabbing of another Nigerian, Carl Beatson-Asiedu, in 2009.

According to a statement issued by the British High Commission in Abuja, Okafor, who would be sentenced today, had fled after he stabbed Asiedu in the heart following an argument. He had sparked a five-year international manhunt.

“Carl was discovered in the back seat of a car suffering from a serious stab wound. Police officers provided first aid as well as calling the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance. Doctors tried to save Carl’s life but sadly all medical assistance was unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead,” the statement read.

It added that a forensic examination identified Carl’s DNA on a glove that was handed to the police by Okafor’s girlfriend. “Detectives attended Okafor’s home address in the early hours of 13 August 2009 but he was not there. 

Money Laundering: Michael Igbinedion Bags Six Years Jail Term

A former aide to the former Governor of Edo State, Mr. Patrick Eboigbodin, was on Thursday sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on a ten-count charge of money laundering.

Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin-city sentenced Eboigbodin to two years each on each of the ten counts which are to run concurrently without the option of fine.

The former governor’s younger brother, Micheal Igbinedion, who was the second accused, was also sentenced to six years on a three-count charge but with an option of fine of N3 million for the three counts.

Justice Liman also pronounced that the sixth accuse, PMI Security Nigeria Limited, which is a corporate body, be wound up and its asset forfeited to the government. Before the sentence was passed, counsel to the first and second accuse presented their brief where they pleaded for leniency and an option of fine rather than jail term for their clients.

Chief Richard Ahonanuogho, counsel to the first accuse, Eboigbodin, noted that though the relevant punishment for the offence is jail term, the court also has the description to impose fine.

He posited that no money was traced to the personal benefit of the accused and as such, he deserved a lighter punishment.

Nigerian Army Rescues More Women And Children From Boko Haram

Nigeria's military rescued another set of women and children who had been kidnapped by Boko Haram militia and were being detained in Sambisa forest where the Islamist group has been holed up, an army spokesman said on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the army said it rescued nearly 300 women and girls from the same forest in the north eastern Borno state as it fights to quash the six-year Islamist insurgency.
"They have been evacuated to a safety zone for further processing," Colonel Sani Usman said in a statement without specifying the number of people saved from the group, which seeks to create a caliphate in western Africa.

The group, whose name means "Western education is sinful", has snatched at least 2,000 women and girls from their families since the start of 2014, according to Amnesty International.
Many of them have ended up as sex slaves or are used as human shields by the militants.
The uprising poses the greatest security threat to Africa's largest economy and leading oil producer, but it was only the mass kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from a school in Chibok a year ago that focused the world's attention.

Assistant Police Commissioner escapes assassination attempt, aide killed

THE Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Nasarawa State, Mr. Ibrahim Tarfa, on Wednesday morning narrowly escaped assassination as he was riddled with bullets, when gunmen suspected to be assassins invaded in his private residence in Lafia, the state capital.
Sources told the Tribune Online that the incident, which happened at his private residence around Lorem Hotel, on Shendam road, left one of his aides, a corporal, dead, while his AK47 rifle was also taken away by the gunmen.
Investigations further revealed that the gunmen, who gained entry to the compound through the fence, then shot the late aide dead, after his several resistance to lead them to his boss's room.
Informed top police sources told in the Tribune online that as Mr. Tarfa was approaching the door, the gunmen riddled him with bullets. He was said to have been rescued by a combined team of State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and Operation Nasara.

FEC approves Edwin Clark’s varsity

Chief Edwin Clark

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the establishment of two new private universities in the country.

The decision was taken at the weekly meeting of the council, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan.

One of the new universities is Edwin Clark University located in Kiagbodo, Delta State.

The university belongs to Chief Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader and major supporter of the President. Clark was also a former Federal Commissioner of Information in the First Republic.

The Minister of Information, Patricia Akwashiki, announced the approval for the new universities during the post-FEC press conference in Abuja.

Akwashiki also named Hezekiah University, located in Umudi, Imo State, as the second private university approved by the council.

Four-month-old baby rescued in Nepal quake

The rescued baby
| credits: The rescued baby

A four-month-old baby has been rescued from the rubble of the earth quake that rocked Nepal on Saturday.

The baby, whose name had yet to be identified, was said to have been rescued by soldiers 22 hours after the incident.

The Independent reports that the child had let out a faint cry which was traced to the site of the rubble.   Incredible images of the moment the baby was rescued have emerged. The Nepalese newspaper Kathmandu Today published images of the dust-covered baby boy as he was pulled to safety by members of the army assisting the ongoing search-and-rescue effort.

It was said that soldiers initially missed the child as they searched through the wreckage for survivors. He was found from beneath the ruins of the building, leading them to check the entire area again.

Pacquiao-Mayweather pay-per-view to KO records

The potential pay-per-view television revenue for Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao’s blockbuster welterweight showdown with Floyd Mayweather is so stratospheric that with just four days to go, an actual figure is impossible to predict.
Stephen Espinoza, vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, said interest in the bout is unprecedented to a degree that the usual markers for predicting the number of purchases and revenue just don’t apply.
“Usually we get day by day updates of where the cable operators are in terms of their buys,” Espinoza told AFP. “I can compare Wednesday to prior Wednesdays in prior pay-per-views.
“In general, that’s fairly accurate. On this particular week, we’re seeing numbers that have no precedent — so encouraging and so massive that you really can’t extrapolate anything from them.”

Mayweather and Pacquiao

Certainly Pacquiao-Mayweather, a fight more than five years in the making between the top pound-for-pound fighters of their generation, will shatter the records for pay-per-view purchases and — at a price in most markets of about $100 for a high-definition version — crush the record for PPV revenue.

Ex-footballer Bags 2-year Jail-term For Match-fixing

A former Premier League footballer has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after being convicted of match fixing allegations. Delroy Facey, of Woodhouse Hill, Huddersfield, was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of conspiring to bribe non-league players.
Judge Mary Stacey said Facey’s offences struck “at the very heart of football”. Facey, who played for Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, had denied any wrongdoing.
Former non-league player Moses Swaibu, 25, of Tooley Street, London, was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery. He was jailed for 16 months for his part in the conspiracy. The two were arrested as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into match fixing.
The trial heard Facey urged a footballer at a struggling non-league club to make some “easy money” by fixing the result of a match. He also told a contact some Football Conference teams would “do” a game in return for payment, the jury heard.
In one text conversation in late 2013 Facey tried to corrupt a Hyde FC player by offering him £2,000.

Remove Fuel Subsidy, Face Our Wrath - NLC, TUC Warn Buhari

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have warned against any move by the government to remove subsidy from petroleum products.

Nigeria’s National Assembly had passed the 2015 appropriation bill without allocating any money for subsidy payment.

Speaking on Wednesday, Deputy President of the NLC and chairman of the joint May Day celebration of the NLC and TUC, Peter Adeyemi, told journalists that organised Labour believed that government had never subsidised petroleum products.

The Labour leader lamented that the bane of the sector had been corruption, pointing out that past government tried without success to address the issue.

He said: “If you are asking whether we will back the removal of fuel subsidy, the answer is no. It is not as easy as that. You know that it has been a very contentious issue over the years. We have always said that there is nothing like subsidy. It is all about corruption.

Man shot dead by armed robbers in Abuja just 3 days to his wedding

This young man was murdered by arm robbers on his way to Abuja on Monday April 27th, just three days to his traditional wedding and five days to his white wedding which was supposed to be 2nd of May. So sad! His friends sent in the sad news! May his soul rest in peace, amen.

Mother Sells Her Child For 300,000 Naira

 The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has recovered a baby boy, David Johnny, who was stolen by a doctor with the connivance of his mother, Esther Johnny, and sold to a woman in Abuja.

It was learnt that the mother initially denied knowledge of the crime as the police intensified efforts to unravel the whereabouts of the baby.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, Akwa Ibom State, Mike Okoli, said this in Uyo on Tuesday.

OPC Sacks Fasheun As President

Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr. Fredrick Fasheun, has been overthrown as president of the organisation by a faction of the group led by Comrade Dare Adesope, who has been announced as the new president of the congress.

At a news conference on Tuesday at the congress’ secretariat, Egbe area of Ikotun, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, Adesope said OPC has lost confidence in the leadership of Fasheun who had thrown the organisation into crisis and politics.

Malaria vaccine reaches final stage

Africa has made a giant stride towards the prevention of malaria in children.

The first ever trials of a Malaria Vaccine is in the final stage and is expected to protect millions of children against the disease.

When approved by the relevant authorities, the vaccine will be used to immunise against the seven other killer diseases.

The Chairman of the Clinical Trial Partnership, Dr Kweku Poku Asante said though the efficacy level of 30 percent is low, it will help achieve the purpose of which the trial was initiated.

Malaria vaccine reaches final stage

Africa has made a giant stride towards the prevention of malaria in children.

The first ever trials of a Malaria Vaccine is in the final stage and is expected to protect millions of children against the disease.

When approved by the relevant authorities, the vaccine will be used to immunise against the seven other killer diseases.

The Chairman of the Clinical Trial Partnership, Dr Kweku Poku Asante said though the efficacy level of 30 percent is low, it will help achieve the purpose of which the trial was initiated.

Ogun now playground for kidnappers as another 5-yr-old boy abducted in Lagos found there

Ogun State's sobriquet is the Gateway State but it is gradually changing it's name to kidnapper's playground as most of the victims of kidnapping from Lagos and other neighbouring states have been traced to the rocky town.

Barely a week after a three-year-old girl who was kidnapped from a church in Lagos was found in Ogun, another five-year-old, Abraham Adeyemi, a pupil of New Way Nursery and Primary School, Lagos, was kidnapped and later discovered in front of the Foursquare Gospel Church, Imedu Nla, Mowe, in the Obafemi-Owode local government area of the Ogun State.

The kid who was found and brought to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat at, Iwe Iroyin, Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta, reportedly told said his parents was in lagos and could only remember the name of his school.

Mother convicted for killing 5-yr-old daughter, dumps corpse in trash bin

A 41-year-old Arizona woman, Jerice Hunter, was on Monday, April 27, 2015, convicted of abusing and killing her 5-year-old daughter, Jhessye Shockley, after she deprived the girl of  food and water until she died, USA Today reports.

Hunter was convicted of first-degree murder and child abuse of her child who prosecutors said was beaten, neglected and confined to a closet before being dumped in a trash bin in 2011.

After the verdict, the jury determined that four aggravating circumstances related to the child abuse charge had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

As a result, prosecutors said Hunter could face at least 35 years and up to life in prison when she is sentenced on June 5.

Xenophobia: Nigeria To Demand N84m Damages From South Africa

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, on Tuesday in Abuja, said the Nigerian government will demand N84 million from South Africa to pay victims of xenophobic attacks.
Mr. Wali stated this while briefing the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on his visit to South Africa.Mr. Wali said the attacks were instigated by some chiefs to kill Nigerians in their country.
He, however, noted that the South African government was not in support of the killings.
Giv​ing​ a rundown of damages ​done by Nigerians, Mr. Wali said: “Total of Nigerians wounded or hospitalized is two, shops looted and damaged five, number of displaced Nigerian men is two, number of displaced women six, and number of displaced children eight.
“In terms of these attacks, our situation is minimal and luckily there are no fatalities and there is no serious injury.

PwC Audit Report Reveals NNPC's Subsidy 'Fraud'

Nigeria - The PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report probing the finances of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has revealed that the corporation made double subsidy claims on petrol and kerosene.

In the final report made available by the government on Monday, the auditors said the the corporation over-claimed $980m (N19.3bn based on the interbank exchange rate of N197 to a dollar) as subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit and Dual Purpose Kerosene between January 2012 and July 2013.

“Our examination of the PMS and DPK import verified by PPPRA revealed that some discharges were apparently verified and subsidy advised to NNPC more than once,” the report stated.

PwC alleged “repeated subsidy” for PMS amounting to N3,709,879,190 ($23,954,796) and another “repeated subsidy” for DPK amounting to N6,169,502,266 ($39,836,652). It added that the there was another $36.05m “over-statement” in PPPRA’s PMS subsidy payment advice to the NNPC.

It also called for a review of the current NNPC Act to make it pay all revenues accruing from crude oil sales into the Federation Account.