SALT LAKE CITY – When Josh Ferrin closed on his family's first home, he never thought he'd make the discovery of a lifetime — then give it back.

Ferrin picked up the keys earlier this week and decided to check out the house in the Salt Lake City suburb of Bountiful. He was excited to finally have a place his family could call their own.

As he walked into the garage, a piece of cloth that clung to an attic door caught his eye. He opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder, then pulled out a metal box that looked like a World War II ammunition case.

"I freaked out, locked it my car, and called my wife to tell her she wouldn't believe what I had found," said Ferrin, who works as an artist for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

Then he found seven more boxes, all stuffed full with tightly wound rolls of cash bundled together with twine — more than $40,000.

Ferrin quickly took the boxes to his parent's house to count. Along with his wife and children, they spread out thousands of bills on a table, separating the bundles one by one.

They stopped counting at $40,000, but estimated there was at least $5,000 more on the table.

Ferrin thought about how such a large sum of money could go a long way, pay bills, buy things he never thought he could afford.

"I'm not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn't mean I didn't think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren't able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought," Ferrin said. "But the money wasn't ours to keep and I don't believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children."

He thought about the home's previous owner, Arnold Bangerter, who died in November and left the house to his children.

"I could imagine him in his workshop. From time to time, he would carefully bundle up $100 with twine, climb up into his attic and put it into a box to save. And he didn't do that for me," Ferrin said of the man who had worked as a biologist for the Utah Department of Fish and Game.

Bangerter purchased the home in 1966 and lived there with his wife, who died in 2005.

After most of the money was counted, Ferrin called one of Bangerter's sons with the news.

Kay Bangerter said he knew his father hid away money because he once found a bundle of cash taped beneath a drawer in their home, but he never considered his dad had stuffed away so much over the years.

"He grew up in hard times and people that survived that era didn't have anything when they came out of it unless they saved it themselves," Kay Bangerter, the oldest of the six children, told the Deseret News. "He was a saver, not a spender."

Bangerter called the money's return "a story that will outlast our generation and probably yours as well."

"I'm a father, and I worry about the future for my kids," Ferrin said. "I can see him putting that money away for a rainy day and it would have been wrong of me to deny him that thing he worked on for years. I felt like I got to write a chapter in his life, a chapter he wasn't able to finish and see it through to its conclusion."

Extracted from 

Business has returned to normal at Opebi Road, Ikeja, after a robbery attack at one of the shops in the area.

About four armed persons had, on Friday, stormed a Sharp Electronics shop at the area and made away with mobile phones, video cameras, and an undisclosed sum of money. According to eye witnesses, the incident, which occurred at about 10am, and lasted between 45 minutes to one hour, recorded no casualty. A police officer, said to be eating at a nearby restaurant, arrived about one hour later to engage the robbers in a gunfight before they escaped.

“They drove in with their vehicle just like every other customer that comes here,” said a security officer at the shop who did not want to be named. “Some of the customers who come here usually come with Echolac bags because they may be going to the airport and so when we saw them with those bags, we never suspected anything. They smashed all the LCD televisions and also went upstairs to destroy the CCTV there. They robbed a woman of her N50, 000 and her car keys and tried to use her car to escape before a police bullet deflated one of the tyres and they had to abandon it.”

A business centre operator nearby, who gave his name as Mark, said he heard sporadic gun shots and had to lock his shop. “They were shooting into the air and no one was challenging them,” he said. “I bolted my door and lay down on the floor to avoid any stray bullet.”..

Businesses in the area also closed to avoid being victims of the armed robber

Nigeria's next supermodel returns

Anna Okon

The 2010 edition of the hit reality show, Nigeria's next supermodel promises to be suspense packed as the organizers are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the show is a success and one that will make Nigeria proud.According to Joan Okorodudu, CEO Nigeria's next supermodel, the show which is billed to take place later in the month has all the glare and fanfare accompaniment befitting an international show. "We have several multinational companies buying into the show, it is going to be one of the best," she says...

Last year's winner, 21-year-old Aisha Bello is already putting plans in motion for a worldwide tour; she is to represent Nigeria in international modelling competitions.

As for the initial set back of entering the competition as a Muslim, she tells beauty corner that her family quickly got over their inhibitions when she was declared winner of the show.

Then Mr Ribadu the more popular of the two .

The former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nasir el-Rufai, will return to Nigeria on Saturday, NEXT can exclusively report.

Mr. El-Rufai has been on a self-imposed exile since November 2009, and even though he had announced that he would return to the country in December, he released a statement, five days to his planned arrival, saying he had postponed his return for security reasons.

At the time, his lawyer Bamidele Aturu, in an interview with NEXT, said that “in the light of the uncertainty surrounding the exercise of public power in Nigeria in general, and security matters in particular, it would be decidedly unguarded for Mallam El-Rufai to return to Nigeria on 27 December 2009.”.

Since then, a lot has changed on Nigeria’s political scene, with the former Vice President stepping into the shoes of ailing President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. It is still not clear if this has a bearing on Mr. El-Rufai’s decision to return, but sources close to him told NEXT that his flight is booked and he will be arriving at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, on Saturday, aboard a British Airways flight BA0083.

It is also unclear what Mr. El-Rufai’s plans are once he returns to Nigeria, or what he intends to do about the two arrest warrants issued against him. The first warrant accused Mr. El-Rufai of conducting treasonable activities abroad. While the second, issued on November 5, described Mr. El-Rufai as wanted “for acts contrary to Sections 96, 120, 123 and 124 CAP 532 laws of the federation of Nigeria” as well as “some provisions of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act (of) 2000.” Former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa, had also announced the commencement of extradition proceedings on Mr. El-Rufai, based on the Senate Committee on FCT’s report, which also allegedly indicted the ex-minister.

Mr. El-Rufai is also being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to account for almost $250 million spent during his tenure as Minister of the FCT. He, however, in a terse email letter to the anti-graft agency, ahead of his planned return last year, stated that “for the avoidance of any doubt, I am returning to Nigeria on the 27th of December, 2009. I will never be afraid to face a bunch of lackeys like you.”

He is facing an eight-count charge for criminal conspiracy and abuse of office while he served as minister along with Altine Jubrin, a former director general, Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), and Ismaila Iro, former general manager of the same organisation.

As of the time we went to press, neither Mr. El-Rufai nor his lawyer Mr. Aturu could be reached for comments.

Mr. El-Rufai’s return might add to the complications and internal crises presently experienced within the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He is a card carrying member of the PDP, although it is not clear which of the factions in the party he belongs to.

Yar’adua returns to work next week – Associates – Daily Trust

The on-going scramble for positions in a soon to be reconstituted Federal cabinet could shortly hit a brick wall because President Umaru Yar’adua intends to resume duties in his office next week, a top source close to the ailing president told Daily Trust yesterday. However, another family source separately told Daily Trust that Yar’adua will be fit to resume work by the end of next month.

According to the top sources, Yar’adua intends to make a national radio and television broadcast to signal his resumption of work as early as Monday or Wednesday next week. They said Yar’adua may not write a letter to the National Assembly intimating it of his return because he did not transmit a letter before he proceeded on medical vacation, even though his spokesman later said Yar’adua recognised Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the Acting President.

Both sources said Yar’adua has made much progress physically since his return to the country late last month, and that his remaining medical problem now is speech-related. The sources said the ailing president now walks around the house and also around the garden, where there are many birds and animals.

They said Yar’adua brought a speech therapist with him from the Saudi Arabian hospital and the doctor has been working since then to improve his speech. Both sources said he has made progress in his speech. One of the sources told Daily Trust that Yar’adua’s return to the country last month was “premature,” and that he was brought back before he finished his therapy “for political reasons.”

Turai Yar'Adua has bundled her gravely ill husband onto an air ambulance and the couple and a coterie of close aides were making their way back to Abuja last night, scheduled to arrive in the pre-dawn darkness, highly placed sources told us last night.

As the nation's capital was gripped in the anxiety and near panic induced by the news, a convoy of vehicles including a new Ford E-250 intensive care ambulance made its way from Aso Rock and arrived in a secluded area of the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, awaiting its fragile cargo.

As at the time of going to press, it was not clear if the aircraft had landed, or in which city it would land. The sources say the ambulance was accompanied by the Presidential jet and that the recent installation of additional life support machine at the Presidential Villa suggests that Mr. Yar'Adua will be taken directly to Abuja, although apparently the flight plans filed on departure also list Kano and Katsina.

The news of the President's arrival is reportedly causing a lot of anxiety in Abuja especially among politicians, many of whom had prepared themselves for a post Yar'Adua era. Speaking to NEXT on condition of anonymity a source said the timing of the President's return is suspect especially as he is still clearly ill and in no position to undertake such an arduous journey. "We face total political chaos and government paralysis," an influential retired general told NEXT.

It is being speculated that Mrs. Yar'Adua, who orchestrated the return, is fearful of acting president Goodluck Jonathan's growing stature and acceptance as de-facto president of the country.

It is still unclear if the intention of this sudden action is to regain the upper hand in a power game that has steadily slipped out of Mrs Yar'Adua's control in the last few weeks.

The final turning of the tide appeared to come on the 9th of February when the Senate and the House of Representatives, invoking a "Doctrine of Necessity", passed resolutions asking the Vice President to assume the position and title of Acting President of the country. The powerful Governors' Forum wasted no time in shifting their pro-Yar'Adua stance and assured Mr. Jonathan of their support.

The Acting President immediately took charge of the government, effecting a minor cabinet reshuffle. He was immediately elected Acting Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to replace Mr. Yar'Adua.

In the last few days Mr. Jonathan has also garnered a groundswell of international support. Over the weekend he met separately with the former Presidents of America and Ghana, George Bush, and John Kuffour respectively, and the former Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair, who congratulated him and assured him of their support. The international community has in the last few weeks been vocal in expressing its concerns about the state of affairs in the country.

President Yar'Adua has been away from the country since the 23rd of November, 2009, when he was hurriedly flown to Saudi Arabia to seek medical attention. Days after his departure his personal physician revealed that the President had been diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining of the heart. That announcement, made through the President's spokesperson was the last information that would be revealed regarding the President's state of health, in all the time he has been away.

The three months since the President's departure have been marked by widening intrigues and campaigns of misinformation originating from the President's camp and aimed at concealing the actual state of his health, and obviating the need for a transfer of power to the Vice President. These schemes have been met with rising resistance from civil society groups, opposition parties and groups of influential politicians, including former heads of state.

On the 12th of January, two days after NEXT exclusively reported on the President's poor state of health, the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast a telephone interview purported to have been conducted with the President.

Mr. Yar'Adua's return is coming barely twenty-four hours after Mr.Jonathan carried out his first official correspondence with the legislature, by sending a letter to the Senate requesting confirmation of his nominees for membership of the Code of Conduct Bureau.

If you think her entry into professional music was a gamble and Gba – her debut album, a fluke, think again. Nollywood’s beauty and screen diva, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde has decided to reiterate her commitment to music by releasing a thirteen-track album tentatively titled ‘Feel Alright’.

This follow up album is coming after five years of musical silence (her debut album was released 2005).The sexy mother of four, has teamed up with a group of professionals including, singer and guitarist Harrisong- who doubles as her voice coach, producer DelB and singer cum producer Paul PlayDairo, to produce, mix and master her sophomore album which consists songs divisible into the Pop and Rock genres.

And unlike Gba which was targeted at commercial success, Omosexy says ‘Feel Alright’ is a different kind of project.

“The songs (in her new album) are not the type that’ll become popular easily. They are songs deliberately written to send out particular messages. The focus is not to get attention”, she said in a telephone chat. Ask her who writes her songs and she says, “I write them myself except for the parts where I featured other persons”

Some of the tracks contained in the coming album are Feel Alright, Get Busy, Harmony, Through the Fire and Barren Land. Barren Land was specially written for the United Nations to address food crisis in affected countries.

Already the lead track titled Feel Alright is receiving air play and a second single will be joining it on radio in the first week in March, says the actress turned singer and songwriter.

Rights to her debut album were sold to Sound Factory- a music-oriented company which operates in Nigeria and the United Kingdom- for a sum she wouldn’t disclose but ‘enough to reward my hard work’. It was a three-year agreement. The album, according to the singer ‘was one of the best deals in 20005’ and sold ‘over a million copies’.

Omotola does not plan to sell out her new work. Now she’s interested in the music business and how it works especially in Nigeria. As it is now, the singer is talking to certain international music companies and a few Nigerian fellas on the commercial details of the new album, she further revealed. Feel Alright is expected to drop in May, ‘by God’s grace’.