JUSTIN BIEBER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM MUSIC AT THE TENDER AGE OF 19, BLAMES MEDIA..

The teenage music sensation has officially retired from music after many speculations.

Justin Bieber who is just 19 made the announcement via twitter  on Christmas day.

The talented & rich teenager blamed the media for his decision. He might stage a comeback soon though.

Merry Christmas Justin

I STAND BY MY LETTER TO PRESIDENT JONATHAN - OBASANJO

President, Chief  Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, declined to respond to President Goodluck Jonathan’s reply to his December 2 letter, saying that he stands by the contents of his missive.

Obasanjo who spoke to newsmen at his hilltop mansion in Abeokuta through his media aide, Tunde Oladunjoye, said he would not reply the letter because he has chosen to maintain his serenity.

President Jonathan in a 14-page response to Obasanjo’s 18-page letter, said he only had time to respond to the most serious of the charges which question his sincerity, personal honour and commitment to his oath of office. He said Obasanjo did him grave injustice by accusing him of “deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness, divisiveness and insincerity,” among others and challenged Obasanjo to substantiate the allegations.

END GAME FOR JONATHAN PRESIDENCY - LEKAN SOTE

For the moment, please look away from the “Mummy Dearest” letter that Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello purportedly wrote to her father, former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Even though it was a classic case of personality profiling that only Sigmund Freud can unravel, it should not be allowed to distract from the profound submissions of Obasanjo himself, on the state of the nation, and the jam that he thinks President Goodluck Jonathan has put himself. After weightier matters of state have been resolved, domestic matters of “Citizen Obasanjo House of Commotion” can be looked into. Right now, if the hand of the President is stuck in a cookie jar, all care must be taken to extricate it without breaking the jar. In his letter, Obasanjo observes that Jonathan, as President, occupies five strategic positions in Nigeria: As leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party; political leader of the nation; Headship of the Federal Government; Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces; and Chief Security Officer of the nation. These are positions, whose duties may be delegated, but  the responsibilities remain with the President.

PERFECT CHRISTMAS FOR DBANJ AS GLO RE-APPOINTS HIM....

KOKO MASTER - DBANJ has been re-appointed as a GLO ambassador 3 years after his initial contract with the telecoms company expired.

Glo had to act fast as the award winning artiste is on the rise and they wanted to avoid the same mistake their competitors ETISALAT made with SAKA when he jumped at MTN's offer.

There is an Asha Glo line/Phone pre-loaded with 50 of Dbanj's best songs....

You're definitely easier to see when you are in flight.............

EFCC WAKES UP FROM SLUMBER - ARRESTS LAWMAKERS IN KANO IN AN OBVIOUS POLITICAL WAR GAME

The Ibrahim Lamorde led EFCC has suddenly woken up from its long sleep and swung into action. 

Sadly, their major targets are the perceived political enemies of President Jonathan and their associates while Stella Oduah who the House of Reps have indicted as not following due process in discharging her functions relating to the purchase of  2 armored vehicles at an inflated sum is walking freely.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arrested the Speaker, Kano State House of Assembly, Gambo Sallau and 10 other principal officers of the house.

Their arrest followed an alleged a petition over the N25bn supplementary budget presented by the governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso to the lawmakers on December 5. There are suspicions that the supplementary budget is a cover up to financial misappropriation.

ROADMAP TO THE HEADIES 2013

                                                  ROADMAP TO THE HEADIES 2013

Watch your favourite artistes speak about the categories they have been nominated for THE 2013 HEADIES....

Vote  >>>>>  HERE.

FIRST LADY "PATIENCE JONATHAN" IN BMW IMPORT WAIVER MESSPATIRNCE

PATIENCE JONATHAN 

The scandal generated by the purchase of 2 armoured vehicles by NCAA under the instructions of Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah is still raging. This time, our dear first lady is in the middle of the crisis.

Sahara Reporters revealed that Nigeria’s First Lady, Patience Jonathan, sought and received import waivers that she then turned over to Coscharis Motors, a private car dealer, to import 200 BMW cars in 2012.

Figures released by Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance budget office show that Mrs. Jonathan secured the import waivers in the name of her pet project, African First Ladies Peace Mission. The ministry just released a list of beneficiaries of import waivers for 2012.

Other prominent beneficiaries include the Lagos State government which got waivers for the importation of 200 BMWs, Fords, Land Rovers, Range Rovers, Lexus, Mercedes, and Jaguar for the 18th National Sports Festival. Part of the waivers granted to the Lagos State government was fraudulently used by Coscharis Motors to import two BMW armored cars for Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah.

Whereas the Ministry of Finance outlined the reasons for giving out waivers to the Lagos State government, it just stated that the waivers granted to the First Lady’s NGO were for the importation of “units of assorted brands of BMW” cars.

TRIBUTE TO THE YOUNG AND BRAVE PHOTOGRAPHER "MOLHEM BARAKAT" WHO LOST HIS LIFE IN SYRIA WHILE ON FREELANCE DUTY

A teenage photographer whose images of war-torn Syria were circulated around the world has been killed while covering a conflict at a hospital. 

Molhem Barakat (17) died on Friday as he took photographs of rebel fighters and Government forces battling over the Kindi Hospital in Aleppo, which had allegedly been turned into a regime barracks. 

The 17-year-old, who worked for news agency Reuters on a freelance basis, took dozens of photographs capturing the city's unrelenting violence. 

His portfolio is equally weighted with images depicting civilian life in the divided city. The teenager had been sending images to Reuters since May, with many of his photographs being published around the world. 

FATHER THROWS SON(3) OVER 52 STOREY BUILDING THEN COMMITS SUICIDE AFTER HE WAS ORDERED TO HANDOVER CUSTODY TO HIS EX-WIFE

Dmitriy with his Ex-wife and son

A heartless 35-year-old threw his three-year-old son to his death from the roof of a 52-story skyscraper and then jumped killing himself, after a judge ordered him to hand over the boy to his estranged wife. So sad.

The killer dad has been identified as Dmitriy Kanarikov, a systems analyst from Brooklyn.His son Kirill plunged 46 stories after being pushed from a ledge on the roof of the building. He landed on a sixth floor landing before crashing down onto a John Jay College building next door to the highrise. He was alive when paramedics arrived on scene, but died minutes later at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital.

Kanarikov was found on a fourth floor landing of the Midtown Medical Pavilion next door. He died at the scene. He lives in Brooklyn, but reportedly accessed the South Park Tower at West 60th Street and Eighth Avenue because a friend lives there, according to the New York Post.

He threw the Boy down from this apartment before also jumping to his death

(PICTURE) THE MAGICAL MOMENT GABRIELLE UNION SAID "YES" TO DWAYNE WADE'S PROPOSAL

NBA star, Dwayne Wade finally proposed to his girlfriend, Gabrielle Union with a One Million Dollar  diamond set on a platinum band ring and as expected, she said YES.

Wade (31) has been dating his Actress sweeteheart Gabrielle(41) for quite some time. It was the most romantic moment of her life and  couldn't contain her joy.

The picture released reveals the Miami Heat basketball player Dwyane Wade's proposal on Saturday and shows her embracing her new fiancé while he is still on bended knee. The cute picture shows Union dressed in a white skirt and grey and black vest top holding Dwayane’s head in her hands. While her face is hidden by her glossy black hair, his huge smile is clearly evident as he poses on bended knee with his head leaning against her, clearly having just proposed. 

MEET TIWA SAVAGE'S STEPSON & STEPDAUGHTER....

Tiwa Savage's husband Tee-Billz is not new to parenthood. The dude has 2 lovely children known to Tiwa even though he didn't share pictures of them before their marriage.

Some commentators feel Tiwa might have made a bad choice hooking up with a man with children when there are numerous single and eligible bachelors bu hey "LOVE IS STILL BLIND".

We wish their family, the larger family the best in their sojourn....

EMMANUEL EMENIKE MAKES TOP 100 FOOTBALLER LIST FOR 2013

EMMANUEL EMENIKE

Super Eagle's powerful striker, Emmanuel Emenike has been ranked 97th in the world by British newspaper Guardian. This was published on its electronic edition a list of the top 100 footballers in the world for the year ended 2013.

The Fenerbahce striker scored  four goals for the Nigeria  at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. “Emenike staked an early claim as one of Africa’s most influential players when his exploits propelled Nigeria towards a long overdue success in the Cup of Nations. “Emenike was prolific, consistent and finished as the competition’s top scorer.

“It is the determination and pace of his runs that make the difference to Nigeria’s counter-attacking strength – Emenike’s team-mates figure that if the pass is half decent, he should find it.

“Brazil 2014 could be a useful shop window for the Fenerbahce striker,”said the editors of Guardian. This season, Emmanuel Emenike has netted 6 goals in 14 Super Lig matches for his Fernerbahce side

THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) WILL COLLAPSE SOON - PRESIDENCY BOAST

The war of words between the media aides of the President and the major opposition party rages on. 

The Presidency declared that the on Sunday that the APC will not last. It said it  was evident that the party was suffering from a leadership deficiency and  hence its  penchant for   embarking  on   journeys  in search of leaders to give  it direction.

The Presidency, through the Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, therefore predicted that the APC would soon collapse. Okupe, in an interview with journalists after addressing a press conference on the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos, was apparently referring to the visit of the opposition party leaders to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday.

The APC leaders had also paid a similar visit to a former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. But the APC, through one its leading members,Rotimi Fashakin, said the Jonathan Presidency had since “lost direction and does  not really know how to constructively engage the myriads of problems that are besetting it.” Okupe however  expressed the  view that members of the APC seemed  to have forgotten that God had a hand in their search for capable leaders.

YOU LIED AND DID ME GREAT HARM - PRESIDENT JONATHAN REPLIES OBASANJO'S LETTER

The President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan has replied the CONTROVERSIAL LETTER written to him by Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Read the full text of the letter below........

December 20th 2013

His Excellency,

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR

Agbe L’Oba House, Quarry Road,

Ibara, Abeokuta.

RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE

I wish to formally acknowledge your letter dated December 2, 2013 and other previous correspondence similar to it.

You will recall that all the letters were brought to me by hand. Although both of us discussed some of the issues in those letters, I had not, before now, seen the need for any formal reply since, to me, they contained advice from a former President to a serving President. Obviously, you felt differently because in your last letter, you complained about my not acknowledging or replying your previous letters.

It is with the greatest possible reluctance that I now write this reply. I am most uneasy about embarking on this unprecedented and unconventional form of open communication between me and a former leader of our country because I know that there are more acceptable and dignified means of doing so.

But I feel obliged to reply your letter for a number of reasons: one, you formally requested for a reply and not sending you one will be interpreted as ignoring a former President.

Secondly, Nigerians know the role you have played in my political life and given the unfortunate tone of your letter, clearly, the grapes have gone sour.  Therefore, my side of the story also needs to be told.

The third reason why I must reply you in writing is that your letter is clearly a threat to national security as it may deliberately or inadvertently set the stage for subversion.

The fourth reason for this reply is that you raised very weighty issues, and since the letter has been made public, Nigerians are expressing legitimate concerns. A response from me therefore, becomes very necessary.

THE MATCH MAKING OF 1,111 WOMEN IN KANO'S GOVERNMENT SPONSORED MASS WEDDING CEREMONY

More than 1,000 Muslim couples tied the knot at a mass wedding Thursday in Nigeria's second city of Kano, part of a government programme aimed at promoting stable families.The elaborate event at the city's central mosque included 1,111 previously divorced women and an equal number of men, many of whom had also been married before.

The mass wedding programme was launched last year by the state government and sharia police, or Hisbah, who enforce Islamic law, in response to what officials have described as a divorce epidemic.

'We are gathered here today to solemnise the weddings of 1,111 couples under Kano state’s mass wedding programme,' Deputy Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said at the ceremony, the fourth of its kind since May 2012.

'The high divorce rate in our state leads to rampant cases of births outside wedlock, with children being born and dumped which leads to appalling social decay,' Ganduje said. Hisbah chief Aminu Daurawa said the programme has arranged 4,461 marriages over the last 18 months.

APC LEADERS VISIT OBASANJO IN OTA

Leaders of the major opposition party in Nigeria, All Progressives Congress (APC)  will today visit former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The meeting is scheduled for the Ex-Pesident's palace in Ota, Ogun State.

At the residence of a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday, former Head of State and a chief of APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, hinted that the next stop of the party’s leadership in its visits to notable Nigerians would be Obasanjo’s residence.

Buhari said APC will meet Obasanjo and explain to him the reason for the formation of the party.

A source noted that the team to Obasanjo will be comprise of select leader of the party and some governors.

“The visit in happen tomorrow. Select leaders of APC will visit Obasanjo tomorrow. Some APC governors will also be there,” he said. The source however did not mention the names of the APC leaders, who will be part of the delegation, but noted that it would include largely the same set of the party’s leaders that had visited other former Heads of State such as Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

Apart from the Interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, other leaders such as former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu are expected to be part of the delegation to Obasanjo.

LAST PICTURE OF THE NOTORIOUS BRITISH TRAIN ROBBER RONNIE BIGGS

Wrapped in a football scarf and blanket in his north London care home, train robber Ronnie Biggs is pictured just days before he died. The sad image shows the decline of the notorious figure, who died in the early hours of Wednesday. 

Biggs had suffered with ill-health for years, which led to his return to Britain in May 2001 after decades on the run in Brazil after playing his part in the infamous Great Train Robbery of 1963. He had suffered three strokes while abroad, leaving him in need of medical care which he could not afford. He contacted Scotland Yard to arrange handing himself in, and struck a deal with The Sun newspaper, which flew him back to England, where he was arrested on arrival.

After serving eight years on his jail sentence, he was released in 2009 by Jack Straw, then the Justice Secretary, on 'compassionate grounds'. He was seen again in public this year giving a defiant gesture to the cameras at a funeral for his friend and fellow train robber Bruce Reynolds, who was said to be the mastermind of the heist.

RAPISTS TO SERVE LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN KATSINA STATE

 

The Katsina State House of Assembly, on Tuesday passed a law that prescribed life imprisonment for those found guilty of rape. The assembly, which amended Section 283 of Katsina State Penal Code Law, Cap 96 of 1991, also provided 14-year jail term and a N50,000 fine for those with lesser offence.

The sponsor of the bill, Alhaji Rabiu Idris from Funtua Local Government, had earlier said that the amendment was to ensure that rapists received severe punishment to serve as deterrent to others. Idris said the measure became necessary in view of rampant cases of rape in the state.He observed that judges were constrained in handing over severe sentences as the offence was not specified in law.

The new amendment now reads: ``Whoever commits rape, shall serve life imprisonment or lesser charge of not less than 14 years in jail together with N50,000 fine.'' The law also requires the offender to pay compensation to the victim.

The Speaker, Alhaji Ya’u Gwajogwajo, directed the legal department of the house to prepare a clean copy of the law and forward it to the state governor for assent.

It would be recalled that the house had recently passed another law, which was signed by the governor, prohibiting homosexuality, lesbianism and sexual harassment in the state.

The law prescribed 14 years imprisonment on conviction and N10,000 liable for offenders.

Credits: NAN

NIGERIA RANKS 37TH BEST IN THE WORLD BEHIND THE LIKES OF IRAN & ALGERIA

African champions, Nigeria have dropped one place in the latest rankings released by World Football governing body, Fifa.

The Super Eagles notched up 730 ranking points but are now ranked 37th in the World and fourth in Africa in the latest rankings released on Thursday. The Ivory Coast, Ghana and Algeria who were all unmoved from the rankings for November are the three African countries higher placed than Nigeria in December’s rankings.

Nigeria’s highest position in the rankings is fifth, a feat which was achieved in 1994.

Spain remains at the summit of the World rankings for December with 1507 points while Germany, Argentina, Colombia and Portugal complete the top five places in the latest

See the best ranked 30 teams after the cut........................

THE NEW LOOK OF THE NIGERIA HOUSE OF REPS TROUBLES JONATHAN & OLD PDP

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was last night locked in a meeting with the remnants of the party caucus in the House of Representatives in Transcorp Hotel, Abuja. Last night's meeting was one of several carrot and stick options initiated by the party hierarchy to hold other fidgety legislators contemplating leaving the party. The day before the meeting 37 members of the PDP caucus in the House defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC turning the once dominant majority into a minority.

One of the responses from the presidency was the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to absent himself from the presentation of the 2014 budget proposals to the National Assembly. In his stead, the coordinating minister of the economy and minister of finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala presented the proposals to the two houses of the National Assembly. It was the first time that a sitting and fit president would present the country's financial projections to the legislature in absentia.

Stakeholders were, however, divided whether the president was right to absent himself from the presentation or not.

The absence of the president some alleged, was out of apprehension that the APC members and especially the new ones just decamped from the PDP would embarrass the president by booing him.