NIGERIA - SURVIVING THE CRUDE OIL CRUNCH.

The lingering decline in crude oil prices, which has greatly affected Nigeria’s revenue from crude oil exports, has taken another dimension in recent months. About 35 million barrels of the country’s crude oil remained unsold at the international market as at December 2014.

Sales have been low this year as the fortunes of August and September deliveries remain uncertain, even as oil prices continue to hover on the lower band of $50 a barrel. As it stands, the nation is on a financial cliff and can fall off except a miracle happens.

The one commodity that provides life support for the economy has not only seen its price at the international market fall to as low as $48 per barrel, the volume sold is shrinking as well. There is no sign that things will get better soon. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has even predicted that crude oil prices may fall to as low as $20 per barrel.

HONOUR KILLING - TWO BROTHERS BEHEAD SISTER OVER DISAPPROVED ROMANCE WITH A COUSIN.

Two Indian brothers have decapitated their teenage sister and paraded her severed head through their village because they disapproved of her 'romantic relationship' with a cousin.

A dozen people watched on in horror as Phool Jehan, 17, was dragged out of her house, severely beaten and beheaded by her two brothers on Monday.

But they did not tell the police. The crime was only later reported by a local security guard, one officer explained. 

BARCELONA'S PIQUE BANNED FOR 4 MATCHES FOR INSULTING LINESMAN.

Barcelona star Gerard Pique has been banned for four matches by the Spanish soccer federation after he was sent off for insulting a linesman in Monday's Spanish Super Cup second leg against Athletic Bilbao.

The La Liga side can appeal and may get the sanction reduced but if that fails the Spain international will miss the Spanish and European champions' opening four La Liga matches, including Sunday's trip to play Bilbao and the game at Atletico Madrid on September 12.

Pique said he was sorry on Tuesday but denied using insulting language, which was reported as 'I s*** on your f***ing mother.'

GIRL GOES CRAZY ON THE STREET AFTER BEING DUMPED BY BOYFRIEND VIA TEXT MESSAGE.

Dumping your girlfriend by text is possibly not the most adult way to end a relationship - but what this woman did next was certainly not a grown-up way to deal with it.

The woman, realising she had been dumped, threw herself down on the floor of a busy Hong Kong street and threw a tantrum which a toddler would have been proud of.

The epic meltdown - which included headstands, and a number of other poses more usually seen in a yoga studio - went on for an eye-watering 90 minutes.

NIGERIA EARNS N2.4TRN FROM EXPORT OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS IN 3 MONTHS, 44% BELOW BUDGET.

Nigeria earned N2.512 trillion from the export of petroleum products in three months, between April and June 2015, according to data released Wednesday, by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.

The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Second Quarter of 2015, also stated that Nigeria recorded total merchandise trade of N4.372 trillion and a trade surplus of N1.4 trillion in the month under review.

It is instructive to noted that the amount the country earned from petroleum products sale in the second quarter of 2015, was 56.8 per cent of the country’s N4.49 trillion 2015 budget.

PETER BELLO, CO-PILOT OF THE CRASHED BRISTOW HELICOPTER SET TO BE BURIED IN CALABAR.

The co-pilot of the ill-fated Bristow helicopter, Peter Bello, who was one of the six people who died last week in the Lagos crash will be buried today in Calabar.

May his soul rest in peace.

GOV. AMBODE REVOKES CONCESSION OF FALOMO SHOPPING CENTRE GRANTED BY EX-GOV FASHOLA.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, yesterday, revoked the concession granted by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, LSDPC, to Afriland Properties for the redevelopment of the Falomo Shopping Centre, Ikoyi. He also issued stern warning to contractors handling various road projects in the state against shoddy jobs, saying the state would not accept any act that will cause untold hardship for the residents. 

The revocation order was contained in a statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Habib Aruna, saying the decision was taken based on a recent discovery that the concession was grossly detrimental to the interests of the people of the state.

According to him, only N50million was paid by the concessionaire, Afriland Properties, for a 50-year lease of the property belonging to the government.

OONI'S THRONE - SUCCESSION TUSSLE TOUGHENS.

As the process of choosing a new Ooni of Ife gains momentum, Prince Adeyemi Adeoye Aderibigbe Ologbenla who is from one of the ruling houses in Ile-Ife, has advised all stakeholders in the selection process of a new monarch to be wary of those jostling for the title, noting that most of them are not from any of the lineages that produce kings in the town.

This came just as he dismissed the claim of one Prince Ramon Adegoke Adedoyin who said the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade had anointed him as his successor, adding that no king since inception of the ancient town, had ever chosen a successor.

The retired Professor of Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University said the claim of the prince was a complete falsehood, adding that he was not recognized as a member of any of the ruling houses from Ife.

19-YR-OLD NURSING STUDENT WINS MISS VIRGIN CONTEST.

At a time many people are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the rate of sexual immorality among the youth, a 19-year old student of the School of Nursing, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, Mosunmola Oladipo, has won the Miss Virginity 2015 beauty pageant.

Oladipo beat 51 other self-confessed virgins at the event held on Saturday in Surulere, Lagos.

According to her, there was a lot of pressure from many people outside, but she was able to preserve her flower based on her conviction.

OBAMA APPOINTS FIRST OPENLY TRANSGENDER WHITE HOUSE STAFF.

The White House has hired its first openly transgender staff member.

The White House announced Raffi Freedman-Gurspan's appointment on Tuesday as the Outreach and Recruitment Director for Presidential Personnel in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

Freedman-Gurspan, 28, who in the past went by the name Rafael, was adopted from Honduras and grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Freedman-Gurspan previously was a policy adviser for the National Center for Transgender Equality's racial and economic justice initiative.

Advocates hailed her appointment as an important step for the LGBT community and for ensuring that the federal government includes the voices and experiences of all Americans.

LIST OF LOCAL & FOREIGN SONGS BANNED BY NBC.

The Nigerian government through the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), has placed bans on some songs from airing on Broadcast Media.

Established on August 24, 1992, the NBC derives its powers from Act 38 of 1992 and Act 55 of 1999 as amended.

The songs that were banned include Wizkid‘s In My Bed, Fans Mi by Davido (featuring American rapper Meek Mill), Olamide‘s Shakiti Bobo and Iyanya‘s collaboration with Don Jazzy, Gift

WIFE CATCHES HER PASTOR HUSBAND HAVING SEX WITH A CHURCH EVANGELIST.

A 42-year-old woman, Mrs. Doris Oseni, has told a Customary Court in Ondo town, Ondo State, that she caught her husband of 12 years, Prophet Femi Oseni, on the floor of the church office, having sex with another woman.

The woman, who is also an evangelist in the church, therefore asked the court for the dissolution of their marriage on the grounds of adultery, desertion and lack of love on the part of the husband.

The plaintiff said her husband’s behaviour towards her changed after seven years of their marriage with no child, adding that the defendant had been sleeping around with different women, most of whom were their church members.

POLICE ARREST SSA TO AREGBESOLA OVER DEATH OF LOVER.

The police in Osun State have arrested a former Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Mr. Bode Olugbore, after a 29-year-old woman, Kemi Arobieke, was allegedly found dead in his apartment.

Kemi, who the family claimed was Olugbore’s lover, was found dead in the ex-SSA’s apartment on Saturday, August 8.

Our correspondents gathered that Kemi, an event planner, came from Lagos to visit Olugbore in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Thursday, August 6, and promised to return on Saturday.

APC HEAVYWEIGHTS SHUN FASHOLA'S BOOK LAUNCH.

The chilled political relationship between two former governors of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Mr. Babatunde Fashola came to the fore yesterday, when the mainstream of the state’s political class abstained from the launch of three books on Fashola’s stewardship of the state. 

However, a testimony of Fashola’s credentials among technocrats was evident as the occasion had a surplus of professionals from various sectors of the society, who thronged the event for the launch.

The anxiety that preceded yesterday’s book launch was aptly echoed by erstwhile chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr. Fola Adeola, chairman of the occasion, who described those who came for the launch as brave.

The notable political players from the state present were immediate political associates of the former governor, former governorship aspirant, Mr. Supo Sashore, former deputy Governor, Alhaja Lateefat Okunnu, former commissioner for finance in Lagos State, Mr. Wale Edun, Senator Munirudeen Muse, Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Funmilayo Atilade and Mr. Joe Igbokwe, the spokesman of the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

OSHIOMHOLE WAS WRONG ABOUT JONATHAN'S AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMME - AKINWUMI ADESINA

Immediate past Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has slammed Edo State Governor, Adams Oshimhole, for describing the Agricultural Programme of former president Goodluck Jonathan as a scam.

Adesina, who is warming up to assume office as the President of the African Development Bank next month, said it was unbecoming of Oshimhole to tag Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda, ATA, as a dismal failure.

In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, the former minister said it was most uncharitable for the governor who was in a better position to know the success of the ATA to attempt to discredit it for reasons best known to him.

NIGERIA NAVY DESTROYS 78 ILLEGAL REFINERIES IN RIVERS STATE.

This certainly is not the best of times for operators of illegal refineries in Rivers State as men of the Nigerian Navy Ship, Pathfinder, are already making good their threat of putting them permanently out of business. In fact, in the last two months, 78 illegal refineries have been smashed in various creeks in the State.

According to Commander Shuwa Abdulrahim  Mohammed of the  Nigerian Navy Ship Pathfinder in the state: “The heat is already on oil thieves and those running illegal refineries in the state. The anti-oil theft war is on, no compromise”.

He said his men will not relent until all illegal refiners are flushed out. “We will  smoke these oil  thieves out of their hideouts. They will have no peace unless they change from this illicit act,” he told newsmen at the base.

FOREIGN AFFAIR MINISTRY IN DISARRAY FOLLOWING ARREST OF TOP ISIS TERRORIST WHO HAD A VALID NIGERIAN VISA.

The Federal Government has ordered a full investigation into how a wanted terrorist was granted Nigerian visa in Lebanon to visit the country.

An official of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in Abuja, yesterday, that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate the circumstances surrounding the issuance of Nigerian visa to the wanted terrorist who has been on the wanted list of several governments.

It will be recalled that a radical Muslim cleric, Ahmad al-Assir, was arrested by Lebanese authorities as he attempted to leave Lebanon for Nigeria via Cairo.

PRESIDENT BUHARI ORDERS PROBE OF NITEL/MTEL.

President has ordered probes into the sale of Nigerian Telecommunications, NITEL and Mobile Telecommunications, MTEL sold by the previous government of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.

President Buhari however said he was not opposed to the sale of the telecommunication companies belonging to the federal government but was concerned about the process.

It will be recalled that former President Jonathan’s administration sold the telecom company for $252m to NATCOM consortium in December 2014.

PRESIDENT BUHARI SACKS AMCON EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TEAM, APPOINTS MR. AHMED KURU AS NEW MD.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday dissolved the Executive Management Team of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

The president swiftly gave approval for the reconstitution of the management team of the corporation.

In the new team, Mr. Ahmed Lawan Kuru was named the Managing Director.

Other names assigned various portfolios in the Corporation included, Mr. Kola Ayeye, Executive Director, Mr. Eberechukwu Uneze, Executive Director and Mr. Aminu Ismail also an Executive Director.

HORROR IN GERMANY AS 17-YR-OLD DAUGHTER OF BUSINESSMAN KIDNAPPED FOR €1MILLION IS FOUND DEAD.

The body of a teenager kidnapped last week and held for a one million euro ransom has been found in Germany.

Anneli-Marie R. was snatched off the street last Thursday in the city of Meissen in the east of the country as she walked her dog at 7.30pm. 

A police blackout on the abduction was lifted on Monday after weekend negotiations with the kidnappers broke down.