58 quotable quotes of Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan @ 58

Ex-President Jonathan casting his vote in the March 28, 2015 Presidential election.

Fifty-eight years ago, former President Goodluck Jonathan was born in Otueke, a predominantly fishing community, presently in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

 He lost to General Muhammadu Buhari, but called him shortly to concede defeat and congratulate him.

On that fateful Wednesday of November 20, 1957, baby Jonathan was born into the family of Mr. Lawrence Jonathan. His mother is Mrs Eunice.

Rising from what he (Jonathan) has always described as a journey from ‘grass to grace,’ the son of canoe makers, rose from a Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State to becoming Nigeria’s President, the highest office in the country.

Jonathan, who held sway as the country’s No. 1 citizen for 60 months/24days (5 May 2010 – 29 May 2015) is many things to many people.

For instance, recently, Jonathan who led the Commonwealth international observers team to monitor the Tanzanian general election held on October 25, 2015, was described as ‘a hero of free and fair election in Africa,’ having contributed largely to the successful conduct of the election which was declared peaceful, free, fair and credible by international observers.

Basking in the euphoria of the high respect they have for Jonathan, particularly for making that unusual and unprecedented sacrifice to concede defeat to his opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari (now President), The Daily News of Tanzania, in an editorial before the election, titled, ‘Salutary lessons for Tanzania from Nigeria’s latest elections,’ paid glowing tributes to Jonathan.

The newspaper commended him for taking his defeat in the last presidential election “in all magnanimity,” stressing that, “Jonathan may very well have averted bloodshed that is characteristic of incumbent leaders who cling in power tooth and nail, fang and claw! What lesson is there in this for us in Tanzania, pray?”

The paper maintained: “It is generally admitted that the election in Nigeria was unprecedentedly free, fair and transparent, whereby the opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, won the Presidency. What is more remarkable is that the incumbent president who sought re-election, Goodluck Jonathan, … most graciously accepted the results promptly!

“Oh, I don’t know beyond the fact that Tanzania could tragically do worse if it fails to dedicatedly take a leaf out of Nigeria’s newest book on elections!”

Similarly, the Guardian of Tanzania, in its own editorial entitled, ‘High profile figures among observers will add credibility to poll process, results’, poured encomiums on the former Nigerian president, describing him as a democrat who has pointed the way forward for the rest of Africa.

The Guardian further wrote that “Jonathan’s voluntary handover of power to the opposition wrote a new chapter for Nigeria’s democracy, given the fact that it is rare for sitting presidents in Africa to hand over powers to winning opposition parties.”

Against this backdrop, Vanguard captures 58 quotable quotes of Ex-President Jonathan as he clocks 58.

Quote 1

The stronger the boat of (democracy), the more it is able to meet the challenges of its voyage and deliver on its promise to citizens.

Quote 2
The air of freedom we breathe today is the result of the sacrifices of thousands of pro-democracy activists, human rights campaigners and others who organised as civil society.

Quote 3
My political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

Quote 4
No minister will be allowed to go on a mission of endless search for solutions.

Quote 5
In the comfort of our offices, let us not forget that majority of our people live below the poverty line.

Quote 6

Terrorism has no conscience and spares no one.

Quote 7
Any society or country that closes the vital valves of its democratic space cannot develop at a reasonable pace

Quote 8

Where there is no opportunity for one man one vote, there will be no accountability and no responsibility.

Quote 9

Democracy is a journey that every nation mindful of advancing the liberty of its citizens must undertake.

Quote 10

Nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.

Quote 11
Our votes must count! One man, one vote! One woman, one vote! One youth, one vote!

Quote 12
Nobody should rig for me. I am assuring Nigerians that though I am contesting, nobody must manipulate votes in my favour. Our votes must count.

Quote 13
I congratulate the candidates of the other political parties. I regard them not as opponents but as partners.

Quote 14

In presenting myself for service, I make no pretense that I have a magic wand that will solve all of Nigeria’s problems or that I am the most intelligent Nigerian.

Quote 15
I have come to launch a campaign of ideas, not one of calumny. I have come to preach love, not hate. I have come to break you away from divisive tendencies of the past which have slowed our drive to true nationhood. I have no enemies to fight. You are all my friends and we share a common destiny.

Quote 16

Democracy calls for sacrifice and tolerance an open ear and a strong voice.

Quote 17
For the PDP family, the contest for party offices does not produce winners and losers.

Quote 18
I believe in the politics of give and take.

Quote 19
Separation of power is not separation of government.

Quote 20
We are all Nigerians and I will be a President to all. This is the new dawn we crave

Quote 21
Our unity is firm, our purpose strong, our determination unshakable.

Quote 22
Being a Nigerian is a blessing (and) a great responsibility.

Quote 23
We have a duty to be loyal to our country.

Quote 24
If God did not will it we will not be Nigerians.

Quote 25
Our founding fathers… did not dream of a country where neighbours and friends would exchange bullets in place of handshakes.

Quote 26
I prefer to see the silver lining in the dark cloud rather than the dark cloud in the silver lining.

Quote 27
We may not have overcome our challenges, but neither have our challenges overcome us.

Quote 28
We are not sworn enemies… We are neighbours who sometimes offend each other, but can always sit down to talk over our differences.

Quote 29
Over-dependence on oil has put an unpleasant bracket in our national economic freedom.

Quote 30
Economic diplomacy does not need to be a zero-sum game where the gain of partner automatically translates to the loss of the other.

Quote 31
Peace and security are the barest irreducible conditions for social and economic development.

Quote 32
I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy. I don’t have accounts or property abroad. All my children live and school in Nigeria.

Quote 33
The time of lamentation is over. This is the era of transformation. This is the time for action.

Quote 34
Cynicism and scepticism will not help our journey to greatness. Let us all believe in a new Nigeria.

Quote 35

The goal of achieving positive macroeconomic stability is no end in itself.

Quote 36

I have no intention to inflict pain on Nigerians. To save Nigeria, we must all be prepared to make sacrifices.

Quote 37
While we may not have landed a spaceship on the moon or developed nuclear technology, our inventors and innovators have made globally acknowledged contributions

Quote 38

Transformation in my view simply means taking what you have and making the best of it and in so doing produce results that can bring about a paradigm shift.

Quote 39
I want to assure Nigerians that crude oil is not our ‘Black Gold.’ The real ‘Black Gold’ of Nigeria are her people and they can grow in value from gold to diamond via education.

Quote 40

We must quickly move away from partisan battlegrounds and find the national common ground.

Quote 41
Let me put you on notice: the assignment of offices is not an allocation of privileges.

Quote 42
Nigeria is a nation of resilient people. We will never yield to the forces of darkness. Nigeria will never ever, disintegrate.

Quote 43
The quality of governance is as good as the quality of the civil service.

Quote 44
The best advertisement for good governance is its positive expressions of happiness in the lives of the governed.

Quote 43
In my early days in school, I had no shoes, no school bags. I carried my books in my hands but never despaired; no car to take me to school, but I never despaired. There were days I had only one meal but I never despaired. I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day, but I never despaired. Didn’t have power, didn’t have generators, studied with lanterns, but I never despaired. In spite of these, I finished secondary school attended the University of Port Harcourt and now hold a doctorate degree.

Quote 44
I was not born rich and in my youth, I never imagined that I would be where I am today, but not once did I ever give up.

Quote 45
As the most populous black nation on earth it seems our manifest destiny is to champion the cause of African emancipation and integration.

Quote 46
African renaissance remains an unfinished business, but the work that remains should not stop us from focusing on new priorities and challenges.

Quote 47
I am happy that the black man has put the shame of dispossession behind him and is moving on.

Quote 48
The dark patches in the Niger Delta will give way to light.

Quote 49
On the football field, nobody cares who scores for Nigeria. You can be a Musa or a Moses; you can be a Christopher or a Mustapha, nobody cares.

Quote 50

We have a duty to stand firm against those who threaten the sovereign integrity of the Nigerian state. Our will is strong, because our faith lies in the indivisibility of Nigeria.

Quote 51
Nigerians are peace-loving people; these sad events perpetrated by those who do not wish our nation well have not changed the essential character of our people.

Quote 52
No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terror.

Quote 53
Africa must declare an end to the era of self-inflicted wars and conflicts.

Quote 54
Africa must turn its begging bowls into baskets of prosperity and opportunity.

Quote 55
It is the supreme task of this generation to give hope to the hopeless strength to the weak and protection to the defenseless.

Quote 56
We must develop a democratic culture in which the will of the people will be treated as sacred and be immune to subversion by anti-democratic elements.

Quote 57
As we strive to advance our democratic development, there will be times when our will shall be tested, our patience provoked and our belief questioned.

Quote 58
The beauty of democracy is that its practice is never final and always has room for improvement no matter how old a democratic society may be. Where we falter we must not fall. When we are weak, we
must not surrender.

I killed my boss for Xmas money – Guard

Yesterday, reported how a daredevil security man connived with his friends to murder a 25-year-old final year Civil Engineering student of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Imo State, Mr. Innocent Ndukwe.
A security guard, who was recently arrested by the Imo State Police Command for allegedly stabbing his boss to death and stealing his belongings, said he committed the dastardly act because he wanted to celebrate Christmas lavishly.

Punch reports that the guard, David Kwaguru, and two of his friends Friday Ayuba and Francis Amos, made away with the deceased’s Nissan Pathfinder with number plate, KRD109AD, two plasma TV sets, one home theatre and other valuables.

Confessing to the crime, the security guard said that the rationale behind their evil act was that they needed money to celebrate Christmas next month.
He said,
“Since oga Ndukwe had the money (because of his wealthy parents) and expensive household electronics, we decided to kill him, put the devices inside his vehicle and drive to Plateau State where we come from.
“We waited and monitored him. And when he went into the toilet, we broke the door open, tied his hands and legs and started stabbing him all over his body. We stabbed him several times in the neck and abdomen so that he would die quickly. After killing him, we drove off in the jeep only to be nabbed by the police at West End Road in Owerri.”

Also speaking, an accomplice, Ayuba, said that it was Amos that first struck the victim in the neck while he stabbed the student in the stomach.
He said,
“It was Kwagwuru who told us about the student. Since we are all from the same state, we decided to run back to Plateau after the crime, and not to return to the South-East ever again. We also planned to sell the vehicle and other valuables and share the loot.”
While parading the suspects, the CP said the police control room got a call on the incident and policemen raced to the crime scene.

He said, “As a result, the assailants who tried to escape were subsequently apprehended along West-End old Nekede road, Owerri.”
He said that the deceased was found in a pool of blood in a toilet at his residence when policemen arrived.

AY set for next movie

• AY and former Miss Jamaica, Rebecca Silvera

Having made a huge fortune from his debut movie, 30 Days in Atlanta, popular comedian, Ayo Makun, aka AY, appears set for another feature film.

With a title teaser that reads ‘A trip to Jamaica’, there are indications the comedian intends to continue the Akpo’s adventure as a sequel to his last effort.

Although the comedian is yet to reveal full details of the movie, he uploaded a photograph of himself and former Miss Jamaica, Rebecca Silvera on social media with the caption: “My Name is Akpos, see what I caught in the Jamaican Waters!!! Who is ready for Another AY’s Movie:A trip to Jamaica!!!.”

A versatile entertainer, AY who is also a radio and TV presenter, writer, director and MC, hails from Ondo State. Although popular for his annual A.Y Live Show, he ventured into movie business with30 Days in Atlanta, a test run which made history as the highest grossing film in Nigerian cinemas.

Rivers: House Denies Sitting At 6:00am To Approve Loan For Wike

The Rivers State House of Assembly has denied allegation by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that it sat as early as 6:00 am to approve N10 billion loan request for Governor Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike.

The APC had in a statement issued on Wednesday by its publicity secretary, Chris Finebone, alleged that the House of Assembly had convened at the Assembly complex by 6.00am and approved the sum of N10 billion loan for the governor and also considered another N22 billion loan from an undisclosed bank.

Policeman killed, many injured as robbers raid bank in Ogun

A gang of armed robbers in a Commando style, raided a bank in Agbara, Ogun State yesterday morning.

A policeman was killed and many people were injured.

Sources said other people were also shot dead, but it could not be confirmed last night.

There are also various accounts of how the robbers stormed the area.

The gang, believed to comprise about 20 members – some of them women, others in hoods – in one of the accounts, stormed the industrial estate, which houses about 10 branches of banks on motor bikes and a Camry car hijacked a few minutes earlier from the owner.

Soludo faults TSA implementation, forex restrictions

… Says forex policy regime inconsistent with the objectives of creating jobs, growing income, reducing poverty
By Jonah Nwokpoku & Prince Okafor
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Professor Charles Soludo has faulted the implementation of the Treasury Single Account, TSA by the Federal Government as well as the policy regime of foreign exchange restrictions of the CBN.

Horrific Crash Claims 32 Lives In South Africa

                          
A collision between a bus and a car has killed 32 people in Osizweni, KwaZulu, South Africa today. According to reports, 32 people have died and four others were injured. Paramedics are however still on the scene treating victims. The cause of accident is still unknown.

South Africa is notorious for road carnages, which claim more than 1,000 lives per month, causing huge social and economic losses.

Road crashes cost South Africa 300 billion rand (about 21 billion U.S. dollars) per annum in direct and indirect costs, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Abia guber: Otti appeals against tribunal judgement

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the April general elections in Abia, Dr. Alex Otti, has filed a notice of appeal against the judgment of the trial tribunal which sat in Umuahia and handled his petition.

Speaking on the development in Umuahia with newsmen, Otti’s counsel, Mr Oracle Nwala, said that the notice of appeal was filed at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abia state capital on Wednesday.

According to Nwala, Otti took the measure after consulting with leaders of his party as well as major stakeholders and a cross-section of the people of the state freely gave him during the election.

He said, “The people of the state needed to be consulted before the next step is taken by my client as you all know that the people massively voted for him during the governorship election.”

He further expressed the hope that the Court of Appeal would grant Otti’s prayer to be declared the winner of the poll, “Considering the judgment of lower tribunal, which upheld the cancellation of the results of the election in three local government areas.”

Nwala said, “Otti has implicit confidence in the ability of the judiciary to assuage the yearning desire for justice by the people of Abia, who voted for him to bring positive change and transform their lives.”

Otti appealed against the judgment, urging the Appeal Court to remove the figures recorded in favour of the cancelled local government areas and declare him the winner.

It will be recalled that the three-member tribunal, headed by Hon. Justice Usman Bwala, while delivering their judgment said that the petitioner failed to prove that the elections were not held at Obingwa, Osisioma and Isiala Ngwa North council areas.

Justice Bwala said that the panel has searched through the electoral act and did not find any where the returning officer is empowered to cancel the result of an election and therefore upheld the reversal of the cancellation of the election in the three council areas.

The panel chairman noted that the petitioner took part in the supplementary election and is now asking the tribunal to jettison the supplementary election result and use the main election to declare him the winner, “You cannot probate and reprobate in an election.”

Court Dissolves Six-Year Marriage Over Fornication, Pride

                       

An Ile-Ife Customary Court on Thursday dissolved the six-year old marriage between Sunday Adelakun and his wife Rasidat over fornication and pride.

The husband, had on November 2, urged the court to dissolve the union for alleged fornication, uncooperative attitude, pride and constant fighting.

Father Xmas Grotto Beauty Pageant For Girls Aged 9 - 15 Years..

                         

Father Xmas Grotto Beauty Pageant For

Girls Aged 9 - 15 Years..

Scholarship Award To Winner Teen Beauty Pageant. Game Shows And Lots More.


DATE: FATHER XMAS GROTTO

:: DEC 12 -20TH

TEEN BEAUTY PAGEANT / DANCE COMPETITION

:: DEC 20TH


TIME : 12 NOON - DAWN.

VENUE: KIDZ FUN WORLD, NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM UMUAHIA

FATHER XMAS GROTTO TICKET @ N500

Fuel Scarcity - Free Petrol: Kachiukwu Orders DPR to Distribute Hoarded Fuel Free To Nigerians

                              
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachiukwu yesterday ordered the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to sell off for free, the petroleum products of any fuel station that is caught hoarding petrol during this period of fuel scarcity. He gave the order after a working visit to some retail outlets in Abuja.

A cougar confesses: Men of my age don’t do It well for me!

Ubong, just turned 63 and a grandmother recalled a recent date she had with a man ‘her age’. A merry widow in the real sense of the word, she’s a fairly successful real estate agent and spent a fortune looking after herself – and the results are spectacular. Against her better judgement, she’d decided to go to the movies with him when he kept raving about a Nollywood film he was involved with. “Shuffling self-consciously in his seat beside me at the cinema, I sensed that this my date, was about to make his first move: said Ubong,”

“He went for the old’:fashioned romantic option and gently took my hand in his and gave me a squeeze. But rather than making my heart melt, the gesture made me cringe.

“Staring ahead at the scream, all I could think was: ‘How soon can I extract my hand from his without appearing rude? I waited a few seconds, subtly slipped my hand out of his grasp and edged myself away from him. At 66, Ovie was a few years older than me. We’d been introduced by a mutual friend who thought we would be a good match. Ovie was a wealthy, highly successful, intelligent, divorced chap who’s invested in several profitable ventures. He owned homes here and abroad and is supposed to tick every box going on a date with me. In the flesh, however, it was another story. He was

scruffy with a scratchy-looking grey beard that made him look horribly unkempt. He also suffered from a bad back, which gave him an old man’s gait. The thought of being intimate with him repulsed me. If he looked so unappealing in his clothes, what on earth would he look like naked?

“I tried to push aside mental images of grey chest hair, a sweaty bald patch and a flabby stomach. There was no way I could ever sleep with this man.

Not tonight. Not ever! In fact, if they were like this, I doubted whether I

could ever sleep with any man my own age. Experience had shown I was better off with toyboys, so why have a swing to the other end of the age scale?

A few months ago, before my 63rd birthday, my friends made it known they

were fed up with my escapades with toyboys. I was urged to try a man my age. One of the more unpleasant accusations was that my adventures with younger men had turned me into ‘shop soiled goods’, and that this would deter any ‘nice’ man. According to this friend, my actions meant I faced a sad and lonely old age. Try man my age.

“While I could easily disregard the vitriolic views of my friends, some of whom I suspected were merely jealous or prudish, I did feel it would be sensible to put my experience in perspective by dating some older men. Surely they

had charms and allure of their own? And so it was I decided to date this

ageing industrialist. We had dinner at his palatial residence, and yes, it was

easy to converse with a man who ‘had’ the same things as me. Yet, as the

conversation steered predictably down the safe avenues of favourite holiday spots and people he’d worked with, my mind wandered back to those playful exchanges I’d enjoyed with one of my favourite younger chaps, during our wonderful sexy afternoons.

“Aged 32, I teased him endlessly about political figures he had no clue about.

But he was confident about his toned body and what to do with it. Was I being too fussy? Had my flings with younger men led me to set the bar unrealistically high? Let’s face it, a paunchy man fast approaching his 70th birthday will not compare favourably with a 32-year-old stud. But let’s turn the table. If I was frumpy, over weight, with unkempt grey hair and dressed in sensible shoes and polyester slacks, would Evie have asked me out in the first place? No! So why on earth should I settle for an out-of-condition old

codger like him just because society deems it appropriate for me? Especially

not when I still feel vibrant and youthful enough to attract the hot young thirty-somethings of this world?

“Since Evie, I’ve crossed paths with other older men and I’ve discovered how world-weary and bitter they can be, desperate to off-load their emotional baggage on any female who would listen. One top civil servant in his 50s stifled me with his tales of woe. “I divorced my wife after only four years of marriage and haven’t found a replacement since then. And that was 18 years ago,” he whined. Yawn. “My longest relationship was barely two years.

Why is that? Why am I so hopeless when it comes to women? What is it about me? Am I not attractive?” No, you’re not, I wanted to bark. Because you whinge and whine the whole time.

“Another date launched into a tirade against his former wife, claiming she was a terrible woman who’d had affairs and abandoned their children. Then he started on his subsequent partner – she was a selfish gold-digging alcoholic apparently. I’ve got my own gripes about exes, but I wouldn’t dream of bad- mouthing them to a virtual stranger.

“Let’s face it, to days middle-aged men are clueless about most things. They’re not great on grooming, mistakenly taking their lead from the young. I mean, designer stubble can look sexy on a cute 30-year-old, but it makes a 62-year- old look like a dishevelled pensioner. On the other hand, mature women these days are all too aware of the importance of taking care of the face, hair and body, and of dressing well in order to hold the interest of the opposite sex. Why don’t older men think the same rules also apply to them?

“And it isn’t just about appearance. Older men don’t seem to know how to conduct themselves around women. They hail from the era when ‘men were men.’ They were the provider, the defender. They made the moves, they called the shots. But that doesn’t wash in a modem society filled with strong, independent women. The balance of power has shifted and this seems to confuse a lot of 55-plus men, even the successful ones. They don’t know whether they should pay for dinner, or whether it’s OK to compliment you on your legs.

“Men in their 30s neither know nor care about ‘rules’. Used to the notion of equality between the sexes, they are more spontaneous and natural. If they think you look sexy, they tell you. If they disagree with you, they tell you.

And a lot of them are financially independent not the gold-diggers they’re often painted to be. A few months back, I entered an enjoyable part-time relationship with a man who lives outside the state. Every few weeks, he comes to Lagos to see me his ‘naughty secret.’ At 37, he’s no youngster, but he’s still almost two decades younger than me. I see him as a sort of compromise. He is neither young enough to be my grandson nor old enough to look like my father. It will end at some point, probably when his wife finds out, but for now this arrangement will do me very nicely, thank you!”

By Bunmi Sofola

I’m not a thief, and not afraid to face trial, ex-NSA, Sambo Dasuki, tells Nigerians

The immediate past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has said he is not a thief as being speculated by President Muhammdu Buhari and his aides.

The former NSA also accused Mr. Buhari of being desperate to hang some former public and military officers who risked their lives to serve the country.


In a statement Wednesday, Mr. Dasuki, a retired colonel, described the way the Presidency was feeding the public with allegations against his person and other yet-to-be-named public officers as “theatrical.”

President Buhari had on Tuesday received the interim report of the investigative committee on arms procurement with an order for the arrest of all indicted persons in the arms scam.
The information was contained in a statement by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

According to Mr. Adesina, the committee which was inaugurated on August 31 is yet to complete its work.

He, however, noted that the interim report has unearthed several illicit and fraudulent financial transactions.

“As part of the findings, the committee has analysed interventions from some organisations that provided funds to the Office of the National Security Adviser, Defence Headquarters, Army Headquarters, Naval Headquarters and Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, both in local and foreign currencies,’’ the report stated.

It stated that so far the total extra budgetary interventions collated by the committee was N643.8 billion while the foreign currency component was $2.2 billion.

But Mr. Dasuki debunked the allegations, saying the Presidency quoted absurd findings in a bid to draw public sympathy.

“For undiscerning Nigerians, they may tend to assume that the allegations were true and pronounce the former NSA guilty as charged,” Mr. Dasuki said.

The former NSA said the statement by the presidential spokesperson and former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, was nothing short of propaganda aimed at casting aspersion on his person.

“To set the records straight, Nigerians should appreciate that the AVM Jon Ode-led panel did not invite the ex-NSA under any guise before arriving at its ambiguous findings.

“At least, fairness demands that the panel ought to hear from Dasuki instead of its recourse to hasty conclusions.

“If the panel had been more patient and painstaking, it would have been availed of all relevant documents on some of the jaundiced findings.”

As if acting a script, Mr. Dasuki said the Presidency alleged that the panel accused him of awarding fictitious contracts between March 2012 and March 2015.

But contrary to the claim, Mr. Dasuki said he was not the NSA in March 2012 and could not have awarded any contract during the period.

According to him, the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, appointed him NSA on June 22, 2012.

He explained that all contracts and accruing payments were made based on the approval of Mr. Jonathan, adding that due process and military procurement regulations were followed in all the transactions.

“Nigerians should note that all the services generated the types of equipment needed, sourced suppliers most times and after consideration by the Office of the NSA, the President will approve application for payment,” said Mr. Dasuki.

“For sensitive sectors (military/security), there was no room for awarding fictitious contracts. The conclusions of the panel were presumptive, baseless and lacked diligence.

“There were no fictitious contracts; contract sums were not diverted and the relevant services in writing acknowledged delivery of equipment. For all procurement, the Nigerian Army, the Air Force and the Nigerian Navy have their contractors.”

While awaiting judicial process on the allegations, he argued that it was proper to make some references to show that the presidency was just desperate to hang some former public and military officers who served the nation at the risk of their lives.

He said it was laughable for the panel to assume that four Alpha jets and 12 helicopters were not delivered to the country.

He cited a memo from the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Adesola Amosu, with reference number NAF/905/D/CAS, dated November 28, 2014, in which the Nigeria Air Force acknowledged receipt of Alpha jets and the helicopters.

On October 21, 2014, he said NAF also confirmed the receipt of F-7 N1 aircraft combination of 250kg bombs and accessories at $2,894,000 with the cost of freight at $1,200,000 as well as receipt of 2xTri Shield 36DG Tactical radars.

In another letter of December 1, 2014, signed by L.S. Alao (on behalf of the Chief of Air Staff), the Air Force said it received five containerized fuel storage and dispensing units with equipment.

He also noted that the Nigerian Army wrote to the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, to acknowledge the delivery of 14 armoured tanks.

In a December 13, 2014 memo, he indicated that the Brigade of Guards thanked ONSA for releasing N30m for RCA, Operation allowance for Troops on Op Urban Sweep II for third and fourth quarters of 2014.

He further indicated that his office installed CCT cameras at the Brigade Headquarters, two backscatter bomb detection vans and other equipment.

On November 26, 2014, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, sought approval of the award of one pair of uniform (in the interim) for the Armed Forces at N165, 375 to El-Jahab Mubarak Nigeria and N330, 750,000, for two pairs.

“These are some of the acknowledgment letters submitted to me by the end-users (the services). It is not for me to go and find out whether the equipment were delivered or not. I am not the one keeping the inventories, Mr. Dasuki stated.

“To show that I have nothing to hide, I submitted a comprehensive list of all requests for procurement by the services, the items bought and those equipment being awaited to His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, long before I left office. If there were issues, I should have been questioned.

“I was just the clearing house, I did not award contracts to my company or proxies. There was no contract awarded or equipment bought without approval from the then President and Commander-In-Chief. I am not a thief or treasury looter as being portrayed.

“In order not to endanger the nation’s security, there are many salient issues and contracts which I cannot put in public domain. I am ready for trial on all these allegations in order to prove to Nigerians that I did nothing untoward in office. We will certainly meet in court.

“I have a lot to tell Nigerians but in the interim, they should not believe some of the allegations as the gospel truths. The good thing is that some of the key actors in the present administration were parts of the past process being viciously challenged.

“As for my tenure as the nation’s NSA, I acted in the interest of the nation and with utmost fear of God. I did not use the office for any self-serving agenda. I occupied the Office of the National Security Adviser at a difficult moment in Nigerian history when terrorism was at its peak and I am leaving posterity to judge me accordingly.”

Nothing Will Make Me Join Five Star Music Says Presh

                    

Former member of the defunct KC Presh music duo, Presh, has been trying hard to bounce back into the music industry after a long hiatus. He released few singles, which got people dancing in clubs.
But he has not been able to pull much weights like his former group member, K Cee, who is now a lead act of Five Star Music, owned by his brother, Emeka Okonkwo, fondly called E-Money.
In a recent interview with Ebony Life TV, the singer disclosed that he is in good terms with K cee but will never accept the offer of joining Five Star Music.

Presh expressed that when he plans to leave Eric Manny’s label, he would like to float his own label.

“Actually no, I won’t. Not because I have anything against them, no. Because if I leave Eric Manny, it’s Presh, I’m going to float mine, so I won’t,” he said when asked if he can be tempted to join KCee at Five Star.

Paris terror plot mastermind 'is dead

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The mastermind behind the Paris massacre, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, is dead, according to two senior intelligence officials. According to Washington Post ,the 27-year-old Belgian jihadi leader is said to have been killed by French commandos when a flat was raided in the early hours of this morning. More than 100 armed officers stormed a flat in Saint-Denis believing Abaaoud was inside with six other terrorists.

                        

Security sources said earlier today it prevented a new ISIS double terror attack on Paris.

Eyewitnesses said a blonde female suicide bomber who blew herself up during a raid by French police screamed 'Help me, help me' moments before detonating a device as snipers opened fire. This afternoon police were seen removing two bodies from the apartment.

Man Kills Woman During Rough S*x Session

      

A “freaky s*x” session between two young people ended in tragedy in Tampa city, Florida, USA.

Tyrone Fields, 21, and Christina Meagher, 18, were having consensual sex in a hotel room two days after they met, when the incident occurred. According to Fields, the young woman had asked him to put a gun to her head as a part of ‘role-play scenario’ during rough sex.

Christina Meagher, 18, died from a single gunshot wound to her head when she asked Tyrone Fields to hold a gun to her head

But in the heat of the moment the man accidentally pulled the trigger of his 9mm handgun and shot her. During interrogation Fields admitted that he removed the magazine but forgot to remove one single bullet from the chamber.

Early in the morning he called 911 to report he had shot the woman in the head. Minutes later paramedics rushed Christina to a local hospital, where she unfortunately died. An autopsy revealed that the 18-year-old was shot at close range behind her left ear.

Fields has been arrested and charged with manslaughter. He is currently in prison, where he is being held on $30,000 bond. The case is under investigation.

Source: NY Daily news

Prophet Engage Women In Marathon S*x For Deliverance

Okezie, a resident at 6 Olowo-Okere street Idimu, is faced with a two-count charge before a magistrate court in Ejigbo.

In August 2015, the father of four was first brought to the court for allegedly defrauding a 27-year old Philomena Ajil to the tune of N550,000.

It was also gathered that the “man-of-God” allegedly took Philomena to a hotel in Ikotun area where he engaged her in sex for days.

According to PM News, the sex romp lasted for several days before the victim realized it was a scam. However, the prophet was granted bail by the presiding Magistrate, Mrs J.O.E Adeyemi.

In another case, Okezie was arrested and charged to the same court for allegedly defrauding a 26-year old woman, Amarachi Dike to the tune of N1m.

He also indulged her in marathon sex in a hotel under the guise of giving her spiritual empowerment.

The victim, Amarachi, narrated in court how she fell into Okezie’s trap while returning from church service in Festac.

She said Okozie and two of his “gang members” accosted her while on her way home from service.

According to Amarachi, they pretended to be taxi operators plying from Festac to Apo junction near mile 2 area.

                           

Okezie allegedly used this golf car to pretend as a taxi driver. A victim said she became unconscious just as she got in. Photo: PM News

While in the car, she lost her consciousness and they took her to Ikotun. On awakening they allegedly began to engage her in certain business deals.

They said they would supply her some goods, which mysteriously turned out to deliverance prayers.

Amarachi narrated that Okozie who acted as a prophet forced her to drink a substance,which made her comply then on with all his orders.

The victim said that under the spell, she borrowed money from her relations and was sending to Okezie.

She noted that he would have endless sexual intercourse with her, and explain that they were sessions of liberation from the devil’s bondage.

It was only when those she borrowed money from started putting pressure on her, that she realised Okezie hypnotised and duped her.

The case was reported to the police and the “fake prophet”was arrested and charged to court.

A Golf car with registration number AAA 821 BE which Okezie used to lure women into his fraudulent activity, was recovered by the police. It was tendered as exhibit before the court by the police.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against him, claiming that all the allegations were false.

Mr A.A. Fashola, the presiding magistrate, granted Okezie bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The matter was adjourned till Wednesday, December 2, and the embattled prophet was remanded in prison pending when he perfects his bail.

A similar case was heard in the Ejigbo Magistrates’ court on Thursday, November 5. The case involved one Pastor Emmanuel Okwedimbu who allegedly obtained N1.4 million under false pretence from one Amobi Charles.

PHOTOS: Mob ties,beats and burns down church of pastor who made congregation eat snakes, grass..

         
On Sunday November 15th,an angry mob invaded the church of controversial South African pastor, Penuel Mnguni, of the End Time Disciples Ministries .They had him and one of his associates tied up and beaten.His church was also burnt to ashes in Mmakaunyane Village in the North Western part of South Africa.
Penuel had been in hiding for sometime after South African vigilante group, the Economic Freedom Fighters, burnt his church at Soshanguve in Tshwane. He then relocated inside a bush in Mmakaunyane community but was nabbed.

The pastor has come under fire forgiving his congregation fuel to drink, snakes to eat as well as feeding them grass. He is also known to sit on their backs or stomp on them.

        
Resident Johanna Baloyi said the pastor and his congregation were not allowed in their area.

“How can a person eat a rat and claim it tastes like chocolate? That’s evil!”

        

          

           

Official Rascals LASTMA officials caught on video brutalising driver

                                 
Despite warnings by the Lagos State government to men of the state Traffic Management Authorities, LASTMA, they still seem to go about their jobs unprofessionally, brutalising motorists and road users in the process.

One such incident was recorded on Monday, November 16, at the Berger Bus Stop, where a bus had a punctured tyre and the hapless driver pulled up with the aim of changing it.

Jealousy Wife stabs husband to death after she found another woman's photo on his phone

An Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, woman has been arrested and charged to court for allegedly stabbing her husband to deathafter she found the photograph of another woman on his mobile phone, reports Emirate247.

Though the woman told the court she did not intend to kill her husband, claiming she was only threatening him, she has been charged for murder after it was established that she stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife.

The cause of the deadly disagreement came when the woman found another woman’s picture on his mobile phone and the husband confessed to that she was his second wife.

“She told the judge that she went mad and threatened him with a kitchen knife. She said the couple then pushed each other and the knife pierced into his chest by accident,” the Arabic language daily, Al Khaleej reports

Woman bathes husband with hot water over breakfast

Last Thursday morning at Gbagidi, Ijanikin area of Lagos State, a housewife known as IyaDeborah, reportedly emptied a bowl of hot water on her husband, identified as Ajagadi.

Iya Deborah had complained bitterly after her husband gave her N700, out of the N800 he had, to prepare yam and sauce breakfast for the family. She bought the yam, but emptied the boiling water on her husband, who was fiddling with his phone in the sitting room, waiting for his meal.

The couple have been married for eight years, has four children, including a six-month-old baby.

A neighbour said: “I was in front of the compound when I heard the victim screaming and his wife running out of the compound as if the devil was chasing her. Neighbours who were still in the compound ran into their apartment only to see him in pains.

“When we asked him what happened, he said his wife poured hot water on him. We bought raw eggs and honey which we poured on the burns, before taking him to the hospital.”

Vanguard learned that angry neighbours later caught Iya Deborah, and dragged her to the hospital.

When Vanguard visited the victim at Ademola Hospital, he was still writhing in pains from burns and blisters on his chest, face, right hand, and lap.

‘It’s the devil’

A nurse told Vanguard, on the condition of anonymity: “When the wife of the victim came to the hospital, she kept saying that she did it because the money her husband gave to her was too little.

She alleged that he has been cheating on her with other women and keeps complaining that there was no money, but keeps spending on his lovers.

Feeling a lot more remorseful, Iya Deborah, who is currently undergoing interrogation at Ijanikin Police Divisional Headquarters, said: “I don’t know what came over me; it is the devil’s handiwork.”

Vanguard gathered that the suspect once attacked a neigh-bour in their former compound with hot groundnut oil.

Driver steals company vehicle over N25,000 salary deduction

A 27-year-old company driver, Godwin Eneche, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing a Hilux van which belongs to the company he works for, Cerendry Solutions.

Eneche, however, told PUNCH Metro that he took the vehicle from the company which is located on Victoria Island and drove it to Kaduna State after the company deducted N25,000 from his monthly salary which he considered as improper.

The suspect said a reckless driver had hit the vehicle and the company management had said he was responsible for the damage.

According to the police, the case of conspiracy and stealing was reported by one of the executives of the company, Mrs. Salamat, to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja.

Our correspondent learnt that the suspect took the van to the Maraba Rido area of Kaduna and was allegedly looking for buyers when the SARS team went after him.

It was gathered that Godwin was arrested on Monday, November 2, while the vehicle had also been recovered.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Eneche said after the deduction of his salary which he considered as unjust, he had no option but to take the vehicle to his friends in Kaduna State to sell it.

The suspect added that one of his prospective buyers, identified as Alhaji, had offered to pay N800, 000 for the van before the police arrested him.

He said, “After finishing my secondary school education, I got a job as a driver with Cerendry Solutions on Victoria Island. I have worked with them for a number of years.

“In June 2015, I had an accident. It was not my fault. A reckless driver had brushed the vehicle and it needed repairs. My supervisor, who was also there, said the man should not pay for the damage, and he left.

“But when I returned to the office, they deducted money from my salary. My supervisor did not plead with the management on my behalf. They deducted about N25, 500. I felt cheated.

“So, I escaped with the Hilux in October. I then took it to my family house in Abuja, and told my uncle what had happened. He was afraid. So I moved on to Kaduna. I was in the Maraba Rido area. I was using the vehicle to convey tomatoes and pepper. I was also looking for buyers.

“One of the prospective buyers was one Alhaji, who wanted to buy the van for N800,000. That was on October 29. But I was arrested on October 30. I was arrested in Kaduna and driven to Lagos. But if I secure my release, I will not go back to crime. This is my first time of being arrested by the police.”

The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the case was under investigation, adding that the command would ensure that criminals were dealt with by the police.

Cultism: Eight Secondary School Students Arrested During Black Scorpion Initiation

Eight secondary school students have been arrested by the police in Sagamu area of Ogun State in with the assistance of members of a vigilance group .

According to a statement released to the Nigerian Tribune by the command’s police public relations officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, the students arrested were supposed members of the black scorpion cultist group.

The students were arrested while trying to initiate one Ayoola Ahmed, a student of Remo Divisional High School, Kara, Sagamu.

The arrested black scorpion students were Sodik Suleiman (16), Seyi Okebiyi (15), Olaide Sodik (15), Dare Sodiya (16), Ogunfuwa Samson (17), Adegba Michael (18), Usman Adams (17) and Isa Suleiman (18).

Siasia, U-23 Team Escape Plane Crash

Nigeria’s Olympic team escaped a plane crash on their way to Gam

bia for final preparation ahead African U-23 Championship. The U-23 team tagged Dream Team VI chose Gambia for their training camp after visa issues halted the trip to Morocco.

Nigeria’s Olympic team escaped a plane crash on their way to Gambia for final preparation ahead African U-23 Championship. The U-23 team tagged Dream Team VI chose Gambia for their training camp after visa issues halted the trip to Morocco.

Goal reports that the team could leave Ghana on Sunday evening depending on any new flight arrangements by the Nigeria Football Federation.

The Africa U-23 Cup of Nations will be played in Senegal from November 28 to December 12. Nigeria are drawn in Group B at the U23 Nations Cup along with Egypt, Mali and Algeria.

The top two teams will advance to the knockout stage of the competition with the best three teams qualifying automatically for Rio 2016.

Four years ago, Nigeria failed in Morocco to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

Enya: I don't need to flaunt to sell the music

HOW DOES Enya do it? As Ireland’s most successful solo artist her ethereal, almost hypnotising music is instantly recognisable but if you passed her in the street you probably would not have a clue who she was.


Anti-fame, publicity-shy and fond of taking years out between albums, the 54-year-old singer songwriter has sold more than 80 million records worldwide without doing any concerts, a phenomenon labelled Enyanomics.

Defined as the inexplicable growth in sales of an artist in inverse relation to how much exposure they have, it is how Enya has rocked since she urged us all to sail away in her 1988 hit Orinoco Flow.

Yet with album sales in terminal decline thanks to downloading and piracy, and record companies pushing live performances more than ever, could Enya’s first “gig” be just a whisper away with her latest album Dark Sky Island? As ever, the Celtic queen is keeping her cards close to her chest.

“It’s much easier to talk about touring now that stage productions are massive.

"Today we can have an orchestra but in 1988 it wasn’t really seen as practical, especially for a debut album. I don’t know.

"The album has just happened so there’s a lot to think about. I’m just going along with it. I almost quite like not knowing what’s coming next.”

Enya has just returned from New York, where she was introduced to the Metropolitan Opera’s pioneering “live” series when her performance was simultaneously beamed into cinemas around the world.

“That was an idea that has been strongly put forward, so we’ll see,” she says.

One gets the impression that whatever happens, Enya will have the final say, with the help of the couple she describes as her “musical family”, producer and manager Nicky Ryan and his lyricist wife Roma.

Having managed Enya’s real musical family in Clannad, the group including three of her siblings, it was Nicky who persuaded the then 20-year-old to go solo in a move that prompted an “it’s the Ryans or us” showdown with her parents and a falling out with her siblings that dragged on for years.

Asked whether she still sees her family in County Donegal, Enya is characteristically guarded, although she chuckles at the notion of being forced into anything against her will.

“You make it sound very dramatic, like I was kidnapped or something!”

The truth is she craved independence. Having trained as a classical pianist, Enya toyed with the idea of becoming an opera singer before “surprising” herself by agreeing to join Clannad.

“I was very strong in that regard. Anything that I thought of, any step I had to take had to be my own step.

"Every decision is my decision and that comes from being at boarding school at 11 years of age.

“When you’re in a big family, your older brothers and sisters make all the decisions. Then suddenly I found myself at school, hearing my own voice saying ‘What would you like to do?’ So I got very used to that.”

Born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin in 1961, the sixth of nine children, “Enya Brennan” proudly tells me her grandmother was “the first female drummer in Ireland” and recalls having mixed feelings about her stage debut as Red Riding Hood when she was three years old.

“I loved it but it was odd being out front. You’re looking up at the stage and all of a sudden you’re looking down at the audience at such a young age.”

Solo singing competitions were “a part of life” in the Gaelic-speaking village of Gweedore, where her father ran the Irish folk music venue Leo’s Tavern and her mother taught music at the local school. “There’s this lovely story about Dad,” she says, in a rare moment of candour.

“He played a lot of beautiful Irish ballads combined with the big band sound, like Glenn Miller but he was self-taught. One day he tried to write music.

“He said, ‘Daughter, I sharpened my pencil, took out a manuscript and I sat there all day and I didn’t write anything, but I feel that that’s come through your work’.

He has lived my success and loves the fact he passed on his passion for music.” Read more EXPRESS

PHOTO: Aunt tortures toddler to coma for defecating

A housewife, Grace Monday,has been arrested in Lagos for allegedly torturing her three-year-old niece, Miracle Peter, to a coma.
Monday allegedly flogged the victim for several hours at their home in the Ireodun, Agege area of Lagos State and subsequently slammed her head against a wall causing the toddler to faint.

Punch reports that Monday had been married for seven years without a child and had travelled to Kaduna sometime in July, 2015, to get the victim from her elder brother.
It was learnt that the toddler was always messing up the house with excrement and after verbal correction did not work, the suspect resorted to beating her.

On the day the toddler was beaten to a coma, she was rushed to a private hospital and was later referred to a general hospital in the state for intensive care.

Monday’s neighbour, Adijat Fatai, said she had warned her on several occasions to stop flogging the victim.
She said,
“Miracle (Peter) always defecated all over the house. I called Grace and advised her to be patient with the little girl because it could be that God was using the girl to test her patience.
“Sometime in October, I saw her cleaning the child up after she had defecated; she was beating her as well. I warned her three different times to stop flogging her because it was getting excessive. She didn’t listen to me and I immediately suspected she was under a spell.
“I told her husband to caution her but he told me Miracle’s father instructed them to beat her till she stopped purging. I left them and went inside my room. It was the following morning she came to call me that the girl had fainted.”
PUNCH Metro gathered that the landlord, Fatai Alimi, reported the matter at the Isokoko Police Division.
He alleged that Monday had inflicted several injuries on the body of the victim, adding that she slammed Peter’s head against the wall.

“We rushed her to a private hospital and I had to borrow money for her to be admitted and treated because the hospital management said we must deposit some money. She spent three days at the hospital. When they could no longer handle it, they referred her to a general hospital,” he added.
Alimi, who said Peter was placed on oxygen, added that she was incapacitated by the torture.
But a friend of the suspect, Alice Abuye, claimed that Monday did not slam her niece’s head against the wall.
Abuye, who claimed to be a confidante of the suspect, said she (Monday) had called her to express her frustration with Peter’s incessant defecation.
“Grace (Monday) loves little children. Unfortunately, she had been married for seven years without any issue. She said I should release my child to her so she could train her till she got her own but I refused. I told her to go to her village and get her relative’s child.

“On the night preceding the incident, she called me that the girl had started defecating again. After beating her, Miracle (Peter) told her if she confessed the reason for her misbehaviour, some spiritual forces would punish her. Grace and her husband prayed till 3am after hearing that.
“Around 8am, she woke up and saw that Miracle was still sleeping. She woke her up to give her a bath. She was about leaving the house when she saw the girl had hit her head against the wall. Grace did not touch her.”
But the Divisional Police Officer, Isokoko Police Division, Badmos Dolapo, said she was in tears after seeing the victim.

“In all my years in the police force, I have never cried. But seeing the damage that had been done to this child, I could not hold back tears; I wept like a baby. She had been brutalised. We will not leave any stone unturned in this case,” she said.
The Lagos State Office of the Public Defender had taken custody of the victim.
The Public Relations Officer of the OPD, Adeoba Adeniji-Adele, who spoke for the Director of the agency, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, said the victim could no longer walk.
He said the agency was awaiting the doctor’s report on the case.

Robbers attack Lagos police station, sink gunboat

Armed robbers on Sunday stormed the Marine Police Post of the Lagos State Police Command in the Epe area, exchanging gunfire with the policemen.

During the attack, the robbers attempted to steal the station’s gunboat and other ammunition.


Our correspondent learnt that the robbers, said to number about 20, came in a speedboat to the Marine beach at about 12.30am.

It was gathered that policemen from the Epe division, the Rapid Response Squad and the Counter-Terrorism Unit, were mobilised to the scene to repel the attack.

A police source told our correspondent that the robbers, who escaped in their boat, riddled the station with bullets. The gunboat, which they attempted to steal, sank in the water.

He said, “It was at about 12am that the militants invaded the Marine Police Post, Epe. Their mission was to kill the policemen and dismantle the security structures around the place so that they could embark on a bank robbery maybe on Monday.

“The gunfire lasted for several minutes, and the whole area was riddled with bullets. Eventually, they succeeded in sinking the gunboat. No policeman was killed but some might have been injured by the bullets.”

Our correspondent learnt that the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, went to the station on Sunday and assessed the damage.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, who confirmed the attack, said the CP had directed that the area be electrified and the gunboat replaced.

Offor added that the police had increased surveillance in the area and normalcy had been restored.

He said, “The Epe Divisional Police Officer, the Rapid Response Squad and the CTU repelled the gunmen. The CP visited the place and ordered that the beach be electrified.

“The area commander, the DPO and other officers have made efforts to recover the gunboat. We are still working on it and we have fortified the area. Banks have been asked to go on with their usual activities, and there is no cause for alarm.

“No arrests have been made so far. Efforts are on to replace the gunboat.”

punch

Enyimba Crowned Kings, Deny Sunshine Continental Ticket

More than 10,000 fans of Enyimba International Football Club of Aba got the Teslim Balogun Stadium vibrating as they whooped loudly and sang, as they People’s Elephant were presented with their trophy, after holding continental ticket-seeking side Sunshine Stars to a goal-less draw.

Enyimba had already won the trophy last week, but had to wait till the final day for the presentation, but they started out enterprisingly, not giving up much, until the hosts took the battle to them, in order to earn a win and clinch the remaining ticket to the Confederation of African Football Cup.

Both goalkeepers kept their sides in the game, but it was Enyimba’s safe hands, Femi Thomas, who did the most, denying Afolabi Okiki moments into the game and coming to his side’s rescue a number of times.

Thus, the Aba side finished the league with 70 points from 38 games.

In the 43rd minute, Mfon Udoh saw his shot come off the cross-bar with goalkeeper Shuaibu John well beaten, but, in the end, both sides had to settle for a draw, while Sunshine had to rue the loss of the ticket which was within reach.

Meanwhile, Wikki Tourists pulled off a resounding victory, defeating hapless Kano Pillars 2-0 in Bauchi.

Rangers flattened Bayelsa United 3-1 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Awka, while continental hopeful Nasarawa United piped Giwa FC 2-0 in Lafia,thanks to goals from Ugochukwu Leonard and Philip Auta. However, after two of its players were given their marching orders, the Jos-based side refused walked off the pitch in the 35th minute.

The League Management Company (LMC) will determine who gets the Confederation Cup ticket.

NYSC discovers 17 suspects with fake certificates

PIC. 6. NYSC ACTING DIRECTOR, CERTIFICATION, ALHAJI ALIYU TAURA (L) AND DIRECTOR, PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, MRS BOSE ADERIBIGBE, UNVEILING THE NEWLY IMPROVED NYSC CERTIFICATE IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY (13/10/15). /13/10/2015/JAU/BJO/NAN


THE National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has discovered 17 suspects with fake certificates of exemption and exclusion.

Its management said three of the suspects using the certificates to work in one of the financial institutions, were on the run.

Four have been handed over to security agents for prosecution.

The suspects are Olatunbosun Abolarin, Yusuf Adekunle, Akan Macaulay and Abdullahi (other name withheld).

The suspects confessed to reporters at the NYSC headquarters at the weekend that they paid money ranging from N25,000; N40,000; N60,000 and N20,000 to get the fake certificates.


Speaking at the handing over in Abuja, the NYSC Director of Certification, Alhaji Hudu Aliyu Taura, said the arrest was made possible through the cooperation of their employers, who requested verification of their certificates.

He noted that 17 certificates were found to be fake during the verification exercise carried out by the scheme, adding that the remaining people and those on the run would soon be arrested.

Taura said it had become necessary for employers of labour to check with the NYSC to ascertain the genuineness of certificates submitted to them by applicants

When asked if any of the scheme’s workers was culpable in the matter, he said: “No! No NYSC staff was involved. They have mentioned the name of the person, their bank account and the amount they paid.”

In Zimbabwe Wife caught having s*x with co-tenant in the bathroom

The entire Rujeko suburb in Zimbabwe are still wallowing in shock over what happened last Tuesday when a man caught his wife red-handed having sex with his co-tenant.

The woman who has been identified only as Mai Shield was found having a good time with a man identified as Chingwa in the bathroom.

It all happened after Mai Shield wife to Mr Tafi excused herself from her husband’s company when they were watching TV together after received a an sms from Chingwa a co-tenant she has been having an affair with for them to meet in the bathroom.

The two lovers were busted after Mr Tafi noticed his wife was taking too much time from using the bathroom and decided to go check on his wife.

Mr Tafi got the shock of his life when he found Chingwa and mai sheid in his bathroom after forcefully breaking in because his wife wouldn’t open the door even though she claimed she had already finished bathing.

Clinton urges war on Islamic State, not Muslims

                   

                                                             Hillary Clinton

White House hopeful Hillary Clinton called for global unity to crush the Islamic State group, as the carnage in Paris took center stage at Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate.

The three candidates began their debate with a moment of silence for the victims in France, bringing Friday’s horrific attacks an ocean away to the forefront of the 2016 race as they dominated the first half hour of the political showdown.

Clinton, liberal US Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley united in calling for the destruction of the jihadists accused of massacring at least 129 people in the French capital.

“We are not at war with Islam,” said the former secretary of state, choosing her words with care as she warned ordinary Muslims should not be viewed as a threat. “We are at war with violent extremism.”

“Our prayers are with the people of France tonight, but that is not enough,” she said, calling for global resolve to defeat ISIS, “a barbaric, ruthless, violent jihadist terrorist group.”

The Islamic State group (ISIS or IS) claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks on a Paris concert hall, restaurants and bars, and outside France’s national stadium — calling it retribution for French air strikes in Syria.

“It cannot be contained, it must be defeated,” Clinton said of the group which has overrun swathes of Syria and Iraq.

With all the talk of battling the jihadist wave, the Democrats on stage refused to use the term “radical Islam,” which moderators used Saturday — and Republicans in the presidential race have used throughout the campaign — to describe the scourge.

“Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking our Muslim-American neighbors… are the enemy,” O’Malley said.

Former Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush spoke up from afar during the debate, tweeting: “Yes, we are at war with radical Islamic terrorism.”

While Democrats displayed equal determination to eradicate jihadism, fissures appeared between the candidates on whether the United States should lead the struggle.

Clinton said American leadership was critical in the effort, with all the diplomatic tools at Washington’s disposal beyond just military might, “but this cannot be an American fight.”

– America’s fight –

That drew a sharp disagreement from O’Malley.

“This actually is America’s fight,” he insisted. “America is best when we are actually standing up to evil in this world.”

Relatively hawkish Clinton, self-described democratic socialist Sanders and low-polling O’Malley took the stage in Des Moines, Iowa for their second Democratic showdown in the 2016 primary cycle.

With 79 days before the first state-wide vote in Iowa, frontrunner Clinton has reinforced her status as the woman to beat in the race.

Her poll numbers have risen steadily since mid September, to more than 54 percent today according to a RealClearPolitics average. Sanders is at 33 percent, while O’Malley is languishing at three percent.

With Sanders eager to take the fight to Clinton on the economy — he is calling for an economic revolution, while knocking Clinton for her ties to Wall Street — the refocus on terrorism shifted the early portion of the debate in favor of the former top diplomat, fluent in foreign policy.

But Sanders stood his ground, arguing that the Iraq war, which then-senator Clinton voted to authorize in 2002, laid the foundation for the surging jihadist threat that once more sowed carnage on Friday.

“I would argue that the disastrous invasion of Iraq, something that I strongly opposed, has unraveled the region completely and led to the rise of Al-Qaeda and to ISIS,” Sanders said.

The Iraq war, he repeated, “was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the modern history of the United States.”

On the economic front, the candidates sparred — gently, compared with their Republican rivals who have already clashed in four on-stage debates — over how to increase wages and expand the work force.

Clinton also said Saturday she had a “very aggressive plan” to rein in Wall Street’s big banks.

Sanders shot back with a blunt message — “Not good enough” — and essentially challenged Clinton to disavow much of her connections to Wall Street millionaires who back her campaign.

“They expect to get something, everybody knows that,” Sanders said, implying that establishment candidates like Clinton would be in debt to Wall Street supporters.

“The business model of Wall Street is fraud,” Sanders said. “I will break up these banks” if elected.

IPOB fires back at Mbaka, says Biafra more than money

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has reacted to a recent comment credited to Enugu-based fire-brand catholic priest, Rev Father Ejike Mbaka, where he called on the pro-Biafran youths protesting for the immediate release of Radio Biafra Director and Leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, to go back to their businesses as the protests could lead to their death.

During a sermon at his weekly Adoration Ministry, Mbaka was said to had criticised Biafra supporters who embarked on the massive protests across South-East and South-South states, to demand Kanu’s immediate release.

Kanu is still being held in detention by the Department of State Services, despite having been granted bail by the court.

Mbaka had said: “Locking up your shops and disrupting economic activities will not add any naira to your pocket, whatever grievance you have could be resolved through dialogue,’’ he said.

However, responding to Mbaka, in a broadcast on Biafra Radio, IPOB denounced him as a compromised priest speaking from both sides of his mouth.

Deputy Leader of IPOB, Uche Mefor, who fired back at the cleric, stressed that “Biafra is more than money!”

Mefor noted that the youths are protesting against injustice, oppression and subjugation, which is motivating them to seek their freedom.

The deputy leader further wondered why Mbaka who is a priest could not find courage to condemn Nigeria government’s extrajudicial detention of Kanu. He also advised him to refute his statement immediately if he was misquoted.

According to Mefor, Biafran youths have seen the truth having been enlightened on the need to restore Biafra, and nothing can stop them from demanding their rights.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of Nnamdi Kanu, Egechukwu Obetta, has recently made a statement, in which he listed his next steps.

According to Obetta, they comprise hosting “a meeting of representatives of all non-governmental organizations in Nigeria, as well as the petitioning the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the National Human Rights Commission, the National Assembly and the Nigeria Bar Association.”

Children made to walk on their hands in bloody punishment for truancy

The incident first came to light when pictures showing bleeding palms first caught the attention of parents of students at Xixiang Middle School.

The pupils reportedly told their parents that they were punished by their physical education (PE) teacher after they tried to skip class.

The harsh teacher from the school in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district - in South China’s Guangdong Province - is said to have wanted to instil some discipline in the teenagers, and made them walk on their hands as punishment.

The PE teacher wanted the punishment to teach the students some punishment

Despite the parents’ understandable outrage, it was the pupils who came to the defence of their PE teacher - reportedly an intern - as they admitted to purposely bunking class.

The young students apparently even asked their parents not to blame the school for the punishment they received.

The school was forced to issue an apology

However, after the local Education Bureau caught word of the unorthodox and somewhat medieval treatment, the school officials and the teacher were ordered to apologise to the parents - which they did in person.

The school has also promised to cover all medical expenses for the punished kids.

Source:

The error Jonathan, PDP made was not sacking Jega – Okupe

Former spokesperson to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, on Sunday, reacted to claims by Chairman of DAAR Communications (AIT), Chief Raymond Dokpesi, that the candidacy of Jonathan was in error.

Okupe who took to his Facebook page to react, affirmed that the decision by then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to pick his ex-boss was in order, stating however, that the only error by the PDP administration was their failure to sack the immediate-past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, despite his alleged political leaning.

Okupe said: “The impression created in the media recently that the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan was an error is itself a grand fallacy which totally undermined the whole truth about the sanctity and correctness of the wisdom of the PDP National Executive Committee which made and ratified that decision.

“All over the World, when an incumbent signifies intention for a second term, it is customary that the established machinery of the party wholly backs and gratifies such intentions.

“If any error was made, it was firstly the failure of the PDP administration to sack the unfair and compromised electoral Officer who was allowed to conduct the election in spite of his obvious and profuse partisanship.

“The second error was the inexplicable acquiescence of the PDP government to the use of the infamous Card Reader which was skilfully manipulated to the disadvantage of the PDP presidential candidate.

“The third error of the PDP was to have fielded a good, God fearing and patriotic man who in spite of his enormous power,
the avalanche of deployable arsenal of war at his disposal, transformed himself to be the victim and refused to fight so that his countrymen may live and his Nation survived. The situation in Burundi today is highly instructive.

“Certainly history will treat Goodluck Jonathan as one of the greatest Heroes of this generation of African Leaders. Definitely not an error by any stretch of imagination.

“I speak today not as a spokesman for President Jonathan. An episode and a proud chapter of my life which has since come to a Close. Rather I speak as a student of History and a veritable stakeholder in the Nigerian project,” said Okupe.

Vanguard

Two Presbyterian clergymen charged for marrying gay couples

Two Presbyterian clergymen appeared before a church tribunal in Johannesburg last week on charges of misconduct after they officiated over four same sex unions, according to a report.

“As far as I am concerned they are charging the wrong people,” Hansie Wolmarans, a professor of theology at the University of Johannesburg.

“Homosexuality cannot be harmful or a sin.”

Wolmarans, along with Reverend Martin ‘Chunky’ Young, appeared on Monday at the Parktown offices of the Church’s provincial ruling body, the eGoli Presbytery.

A complaint by a minister in Cape Town was laid against Wolmarans and Young, after they presided over the four same sex unions.

Presbyterian Church ministers may not register for a civil union licence. However, Wolmarans, who holds such a licence, would perform the legal requirements of the marriages, while Young would “bless” the union.

In their heads of argument, the two men argued that the church’s current rules contravene South African law that allows for same sex marriages.

The church’s provincial and national bodies declined to comment to the newspaper as the outcome of the hearings has not been finalised.

Dutch Reform Church's decision postponed

Meanwhile, this weekend, Rapport newspaper said that the Dutch Reform Church’s majority decision – to allow gay people to marry in the church and for gay ministers to be ordained, without having to be celibate – has been postponed on appeal.

According to the newspaper, some of the church leaders who originally voted in favour of the changes, have now changed their minds.

The church’s leadership will meet again next week where the issue will be discussed.

Nelis van Rensburg, the DRC's moderator said that he hoped the next discussions over the matter would be done so in a “spirit of love”.

He told News24 last week that the DRC was a “movement for all people...

“We are expanding our walls to make room for more people.”

The East Griqualand Fever reported last week that the Dutch Reformed Church in Kokstad stated its disagreement with the decision taken by the church’s general synod.

“We do not hate people, we love all people and we cannot reject people, but it cannot be that ministers and reverends, who are supposed to lead people to God, are allowed to practice what the Bible regards as sin.” Reverend Petrus Fouché was quoted as saying.

Source: News24