BIG BROTHER NAIJA - TELEVISION AS MADNESS - WRITTEN BY REUBEN ABATI (@Abati1990).

What a relief! So, the Big Brother Naija reality television programme is finally over. It ended Sunday evening with 23-year old Efe Michael Ejemba, University of Jos graduate of Economics and singer winning the N25 million + SUV at stake, with 57.6% of the votes from over 24 million voters across Africa. Warri, where Efe’s family lives, erupted in excitement. At the Multichoice viewing centre in Ikeja, Lagos, where Katung Aduwak took charge so brilliantly, there was a similar eruption of incandescent joy. I was relieved because for about 70 days, the Big Brother Naija show was a big distraction, crass capitalism at its most cynical edge, a source of unmanageable madness in homes and on the streets. Now that it is over, it is time for some honest frank talk for the attention of all stakeholders involved.

DOCTOR COMMITS SUICIDE IN LAGOS BY JUMPING INTO THE LAGOON FROM THIRD MAINLAND BRIDGE.

A Medical Doctor whose identity is yet to be announced was returning from church when he ordered his driver to park the vehicle on Third Mainland Bridge, he then opened the car door and jumped into the Lagoon.

The motive for this suicide act is unknown. He reportedly wrote his home address on his note pad in the car. The Police are currently investigating this incident.

Please save someone from depression and suicide today by calling the number below.

"Nigeria Suicide Prevention Initiative - Hotline +234806 2106493"

Champions League Quarter-Finals Ties Predictions by Football Pundit @Iam_kenzo.

Leicester City vs Athletico Madrid

Leicester's reward for defeating Sevilla is a quarter final pairing with another Spanish giant and beaten finalist in 2 of the last 3 champion league final, Athletic Madrid.

Craig Shakespeare's men are the underdogs in this contest and are England's remaining representative in Europe's elite club competition.

LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS ARREST OF FEMALE DEHUMANIZER PRETTY MIKE.

The Lagos State Government has confirmed the arrest of Mike Nwogu, the owner of Club Uno who has been seen in social gatherings dehumanizing females by chaining them like dogs.

Read previous post HERE.

PRETTY MIKE WRITES UNDERTAKING AS LAGOS POLICE COMMAND INTENDS TO CHARGE HIM FOR CHAINING 2 GIRLS LIKE DOGS.

Club owner, Mike Eze Nwalie popularly called Pretty Mike who recently became notorious for chaining 2 girls and dragging them around at social gatherings was invited by Lagos State Governor and he wrote an undertaking.

POLITICIANS SPONSORED BOKO HARAM, 21 FREED CHIBOK GIRLS TELLS PASTOR BULUS.

Pastor Bulus Baba of Kaya community in Chibok local Government Area of Borno state, has said that the story they received from the released Chibok girls during their visit to celebrate Christmas with their parents and relations in Chibok revealed that some top politicians who are sponsors of the Boko Haram insurgents were allegedly involved in their abduction, probably to frustrate the past administration under President Goodluck Jonathan.

The man of God said, his discussion with some of the released Chibok girls shows that, they were not taken immediately to Sambisa Forest as we were made to believe in many reports, rather, they were taken to Maiduguri, the state capital and kept at a location in GRA, where they spent about two months before they were relocated to Gwoza local government, which later became Boko Haram Caliphate.

PASTOR ADEBOYE RETIRES AS RCCG GENERAL OVERSEER, APPOINTS PASTOR OBAYEMI AS NEW GENERAL OVERSEER.

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Saturday appointed a new General Overseer for the RCCG Nigeria as he retires, ahead of his 75th birthday on 2nd March 2016.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS AT #SoundcityMVP2016.

The biggest, realest and the most credible awards show in Africa right now, the #SoundcityMVP2016 held Lagos by storm on the 29th of December, 2016 at Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos honouring various African musical talents.

Hosted by one of Africa’s funniest comedians, Basket Mouth and co-host Do2tun who thrilled the crowd, the event had spectacular performances from Olamide Badoo, Patoranking, Tekno, Niniola, Lil Kesh, Koker, Victoria Kimani among others and appearances by Wizkid, Banky W, Adesua Etomi, Marcy Dolapo Oni, Omowunmi Akinifesi, Noble Igwe, Mai Atafo, OC Ukeje, Lala Akindoju among many others.

Check out the full list of winners…

FULL LIST OF WINNERS AT HEADIES 2016 AS KISS DANIEL WINS 3 AWARDS, WIZKID WINS ARTISTE OF THE YEAR.

The 2016 Headies awards has finally come to an end.

The show which took place at Eko Convention Center, Victoria Island, Lagos, yesterday, December 23, 2016, saw Kiss Daniel winning three awards out of the 5 he was nominated in.

See the full list of winners below;

MEET NIGERIA'S FIVE YOUNGEST PhD HOLDERS.

 

A list of Nigeria's youngest PhDs has been compiled by Nigerian scholars and it is presented below:

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DID NOT EXPECT FALCONS TO WIN 2016 AWCON - SPORTS MINISTER DALUNG SPEAKS.

The Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung on Thursday said that Super Falcons winning the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) trophy last Saturday, took the government by surprise as proper arrangements were not made.

According to him, funds were not available because the team was not expected to win the trophy.

The victorious female footballers expressed their disappointment in Abuja on Wednesday as they seized the trophy and refused to vacate their hotel rooms.

NOTHING BUT JOY AS WE CELEBRATE THE BARRISTERS.

This is the day the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

For over 2 years, I looked forward and prayed for that day when the youngest member of our family, "Dina Omotolani" will be called to bar for one major reason.

FULL NOMINEES LIST FOR HEADIES 2016.

The 2016 Headies awards, has officially kicked off as the nominees list has been released.

This year’s award is set around 21 categories, with Wizkid and Wande Coal, snagging three nominations each.

With the year in review being July 2015 – June 2016, below is the complete list of the 2016 awards.

HOW BOKO HARAM TERRORISTS KILLED NIGERIA'S FINEST SOLDIER LT COL MUHAMMAD ABU ALI.

Had fate chosen a separate sequence of events, Muhammad Abu Ali, the lieutenant-colonel killed by Boko Haram on Friday, would still be alive.

Abu, commanding officer of the 272 Task Force Tank Battalion, died at about 10.00pm on Friday when suspected insurgents attacked the 119 Battalion Nigerian army location at Mallam Fatori, northern Borno state.

A witness said that "Our Formation was attacked and some infantry troops abandoned their trenches during the attack. BHT crawled and occupied their arc. At the end of the fire fight and mop up, Lt Col Abu Ali is accustomed to checking and encouraging troops in their trenches. On arrival at the occupied arc another gun battle began. He was shot in the head. I looked at his direction and saw him fall, all hell was let loose!"

BOKO HARAM ATTACK 119 BATTALION, KILLS LEGENDARY TANK COMMANDER "LT COL MUHAMMAD ABU ALI" & 4 OTHER OFFICERS.

Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram on the 4th of November attacked 119 Battalion of the Nigerian Army located at Mallam Fatori in the northern part of Borno State. 

A statement released by Army spokesman, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, confirmed the attack. The attack, which took place around 10 pm (Nigerian time), claimed the lives of one officer and four soldiers. "One of those killed in action was Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Abu Ali, the Commanding Officer of 272 Task Force Tank Battalion," said Colonel Usman. He did not name the other casualties. In addition, four other soldiers reportedly sustained injuries in the gun battle.

NIGERIAN ARMY RESCUE ONE MORE CHIBOK GIRL AND HER BABY.

One of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist Boko Haram insurgents in April 2014 has been rescued by Nigerian troops in Pulka, Gwoza local government are of Borno state.

A press statement issued by the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army Col. Sani Usman said the girl named Maryam Ali Maiyanga was discovered while the army was screening latest escapees from Sambisa fresh about 6:00AM on Saturday. 

The rescued girl was carrying a 10-month old baby reportedly born to a Book Haram commander.

DOUBLE TRAGEDY: IDP OFFICIALS ARE ABUSING WOMEN AND GIRLS DISPLACED BY BOKO HARAM.

Abuja) – Government officials and other authorities in Nigeria have raped and sexually exploited women and girls displaced by the conflict with Boko Haram. The government is not doing enough to protect displaced women and girls and ensure that they have access to basic rights and services or to sanction the abusers, who include camp leaders, vigilante groups, policemen, and soldiers.

In late July, 2016, Human Rights Watch documented sexual abuse, including rape and exploitation, of 43 women and girls living in seven internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The victims had been displaced from several Borno towns and villages, including Abadam, Bama, Baga, Damasak, Dikwa, Gamboru Ngala, Gwoza, Kukawa, and Walassa. In some cases, the victims had arrived in the under-served Maiduguri camps, where their movement is severely restricted after spending months in military screening camps.

“It is bad enough that these women and girls are not getting much-needed support for the horrific trauma they suffered at the hands of Boko Haram,” said Mausi Segun, senior Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It is disgraceful and outrageous that people who should protect these women and girls are attacking and abusing them.”

2 SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL 9 AND INJURES 24 IN MAIDUGURI.

Nigeria’s northeast city of Maiduguri woke up to Two suicide bombings on Saturday morning, killing at least nine people and injuring scores of others, emergency services said.

“Two suicide bombers riding in motorised rickshaws this morning detonated their explosives 10 minutes apart, with one of them targeting the Bakassi IDP (internally displaced persons) camp on the outskirts of the city,” Mohammed Kanar, spokesman for Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said.

HOW NIGERIAN ARMY ALMOST BUNGLED RELEASE OF 21 CHIBOK GIRLS.

Inter-agency squabbles and a jostling for superiority by the Nigerian army nearly marred the release of 21 Chibok schoolgirls on Thursday, according to tips provided by sources knowledgeable about the complex operation.

Sources said that agents of the Department of State Security (DSS) had concluded the negotiation with Boko Haram fighters to release the first batch of Chibok girl kidnapped by the insurgent Islamist sect in April 2014 and were invited to pick the girls inside Sambisa Forest when the Nigerian Army was contacted to provide cover. Only a few military generals were aware of the entire operation because they coordinated with the DSS to visit Sambisa Forest in the middle of the night. Boko Haram had stipulated that no soldiers could accompany the DSS team that would recover the 21 abducted girls.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF ASO VILLA - REUBEN ABATI.

People tend to be alarmed when the Nigerian Presidency takes certain decisions. They don’t think the decision makes sense. Sometimes, they wonder if something has not gone wrong with the thinking process at that highest level of the country. I have heard people insist that there is some form of witchcraft at work in the country’s seat of government. I am ordinarily not a superstitious person, but working in the Villa, I eventually became convinced that there must be something supernatural about power and closeness to it. I’ll start with a personal testimony. I was given an apartment to live in inside the Villa. It was furnished and equipped. But when my son, Michael arrived, one of my brothers came with a pastor who was supposed to stay in the apartment. But the man refused claiming that the Villa was full of evil spirits and that there would soon be a fire accident in the apartment. He complained about too much human sacrifice around the Villa and advised that my family must never sleep overnight inside the Villa.